A/N: I have some notes on where to take this story from here, but I'm losing motivation to continue it, especially because I would rather start writing some things in relation to the current season (OMG you've got sext, are you kidding me). But, if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be willing to think about them. I think this one needs to come to a close very soon. I've been experiencing some writer's block, and I think it's because I really want to write something different, but I feel obligated to finish this one first.

CH 24

Mindy adjusted the strap of her purse on one shoulder and carefully balanced the pizza box on one hand. Her knuckles rapped on Danny's door with a little more force than she'd intended. She had butterflies in her stomach. An unexpected nervousness bubbled up within her. Wincing she pulled back and looked down at her stinging fingers. It was hard to gage Danny's mood in the few texts they'd exchanged.

There had been too much time to think about their exchange at the office. He was right, of course, but god it irked her when he was the voice of reason. She heaved out a long sigh and knocked again. Where was Danny?

She knew it was a ridiculous idea to have sex at the office. Some juvenile part of her wanted to test him. To see if he would let go of his rational side for her and just be imprudent for once. Her insecurity drove her impulsiveness like nothing else. It was intensified by the undefined nature of their relationship. What the hell were they doing? Dating? Were they casual? Her nose wrinkled at the thought.

The ploy with Brendan had been another attempt to test Danny. Which was stupid because he was an adult and not a teenage boy. It was the kind of thing that could easily make him decide she was too much of a hassle. She sighed and lifted her hand to the door once again, this time palm up, and pounded on the door. "Danny! Come on!"

Danny heard her words through the heavy door. He wiped his palms on the front of his sweats. He'd heard the first knock, then the second. Something had stopped him from walking up to the door and swinging it wide open the way he'd wanted to.

When she'd texted him earlier, he'd seen it for what it was. An olive branch. She was far too stubborn to admit she was wrong, but he knew that's what it meant. What he didn't understand is what she expected. His jaw clenched at the thought that she wanted to continue with him casually while dating randos like Deslaurier, and he felt sick when he thought she was over this thing between them. The idea of going back to being her only a friend was nauseating.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His eyes snapped open when he heard her call out, the door rattling a bit with the force of her pounding. The irritation mingled with impatience pulled him out of his own thoughts. He frowned. She was irritated? He was the one who should be irritated. Yes. He rolled his shoulders back, a look of determination settling on his face.

He yanked the door open just as Mindy's knuckles swung downward about to knock again. "Alright, Godzilla, try not to tear the building apart." Danny reached forward and took hold of the wrist hanging in mid-air and pulled her into his apartment, shutting the door behind them.

He took the pizza box from her hand and set it on the table beside the door. Mindy looked up at him, wide-eyed, clearly confused about her reception. "Danny, what are-?"

"No, I have something to say. Just be quiet for a minute, ok?" He positioned himself directly in front of her. The expression of open curiosity painted across her features stopped the words in his throat. He pushed through it. "We need to talk about this." He gestured back and forth between them. As usual, he'd lost his ability to eloquently articulate his thoughts around her.

She nodded slowly, taking a quick little breath. "Well, Danny, I did want to say that –"

"Mindy. Stop, for one second. I, uh, I have something to say, and if I lose my momentum here I might not say it at all." He stepped back from her, putting a little space between them, his hands outstretched still, as though imploring her to stay put.

"Danny, I need to –" She started to step toward him.

He interrupted her again. "No. Stay where you are." He needed to think clearly. "We need to clarify what's going on here. I mean, we've been doing this flirty fighting thing for so long, and it just escalated so quickly in the past couple weeks." He crossed his arms and looked away. "I don't know what you're expecting. Sometimes I don't know what I'm expecting. You get me so riled up, I don't even know where I'm going till I'm already there."

He sighed. "Like right now. That's not what I want to be talking about. I wanted to tell you that it worries me sometimes that you think I'm inflexible. That maybe you see that as a 'deal breaker.' That you can't see how much I just want to be around you. That sometimes I hang around in the doctor's lounge after a delivery in the hopes that you will show up so we can talk and watch terrible tv. That I like arguing with you about pop culture because you get so passionate about it for god knows what reason, and your cheeks get all flushed and your eyes get bright. That even though having sex at the office in the middle of the day would have been ridiculous, there's a part of me that wishes I could have let go just once."

He stopped to take in a deep breath. Mindy kept her mouth shut, sensing he wasn't finished. He looked back at her. "But, that's not who I am. That could have been really awkward at the office, especially since we haven't even had this conversation yet. I mean, it would be one thing if we were a couple. Then people might be able to just 'tsk' in our general direction, but if you think this is one of those 'buddies with benefits' kind of things, I'm sure there would be repercussions." He was rambling, and getting completely off topic. He wanted to tell her that he wanted more, but the simple statement wouldn't form.

Mindy gazed at him thoughtfully. A small wrinkle of concentration formed on her forehead. "Danny, it's not 'buddies with benefits.' It's friends with benefits." The statement was made absentmindedly, as though she were still inside her own head, processing what he'd said.

He blew out an exasperated sigh. "That is what you're taking from this conversation?!" He threw his hands up in the air, spinning on his heel in the opposite direction before thinking better of it and turning back to her. "Were you even listening?"

She snapped back to herself, her eyes focusing in on him. "Of course I was listening." She put on an air of indignation. "What kind of person doesn't listen to someone who is clearly having some sort of psychotic break just because they like someone?" She smirked and stepped toward him.

Danny felt a sense of relief edging up on him, but there was still a hesitancy. He hadn't said what he'd meant to. "No, wait. There's one more thing." He looked at her, trying to convey a sense of absolute earnestness. "No more dates, ok? No more going out with Deslaurier or the some guy you meet at a fro-yo shop. No more dates, unless they're with me."

A slow smile spread across her face and she closed the remaining distance between them, stepping up and laying a quick kiss on him. She leaned back again to look him in the eyes. "You know, I actually came over here with the intention of apologizing." Her eyes sparkled. "But then you got all Danny 'Macho Man' Castellano with that 'don't speak' business, and you didn't get to hear it."

The relief, formerly held at bay by his doubts, washed over Danny in a flood. "An apology, really? You know how the rarest things are the most valuable? Your apologies could finance an expedition to the south pole."

She rolled her eyes. She wanted to be annoyed by the pleased expression on his face. It was the same one he always got when he thought he was being funny. The annoyance never materialized, and she found herself just staring back up at him with a matching grin on her face.

She raised herself up on her toes, and started to kiss him again, but he stopped her. "I'm still waiting."

She grunted impatiently. "Fine." She stepped back and assumed her speech giving stance. The one she believed held the gravitas of President Obama and the elegance of Beyoncé. "First, I would like to say. I am sorry that I behaved childishly about you not wanting to get it on at the office. It was a miscalculation fueled by insecurity." She reached up and smoothed her hair down. The only nervous tic she allowed herself. "Secondly, I know it was immature to try and use Brendan to make you jealous, but I don't regret it, because it led to a revelation for me."

Her heart pattered nervously in her chest. She waited for him to respond.

"A revelation?"

She swallowed. "Yes." Smoothing her hair down suddenly wasn't enough, she began toying with the end of it, eyes averted from Danny. "I realized that it was insensitive of me to use Brendan like that. Especially when it's you, and only you, that I want to be going to awful restaurants with." She sighed, breaking out of her pose. "I like that you fight me on things. I like that you temper my impulsiveness with your forethought. Granted, usually it only ends in a minor compromise of some sort, but still it's nice whe–"

Her last word was cut off when Danny's lips crashed down on hers. She was surprised by the suddenness of it. He pulled her to him, encircling her in his arms. She sighed into the kiss, closing her eyes. Danny started to pull her toward his bedroom. She broke the kiss for a moment. "But the pizza will get cold, Danny."

He continued to pull her along. "Sure, cold pizza. The best way to eat it. At least, in my opinion, at this very moment, no kind of pizza sounds better than cold pizza. Wouldn't eat it any other way." He punctuated his phrases with kisses along her neck and jawline.

She smiled. "Oh, yeah. Cold pizza, and how long exactly does it take for pizza to get good and cold? Twenty minutes?" Her eyes sparkled mischievously, an effervescence rivaling the best champagne tingled along her limbs.

Danny feigned being insulted as he dragged her across his apartment. "Twenty minutes? No, that pizza place is very good. It will probably take an hour, maybe two, for that pizza to reach the perfect coolness."

She let out an amused chuckle as he pulled her impatiently into his room.