[for Mindy: dated 17th October]

[so_catholic]

It's a good thing Danny had found a gym so soon after arriving in Darrow. Without one, he's pretty sure he'd have had trouble even lifting Mindy's purse from her desk, let alone lugging it down a few flights of stairs, her coat slung over one arm. He's not sure what she carries in there and he has no desire to find out, but if it means she'll follow him downstairs faster, an aching bicep is a price he's willing to pay.

She had been with a patient when he'd left, so Amelia is tasked with ensuring Mindy not only gets the message but gets a move on too. She doesn't really know what's going on but there's been no doctor drama or slamming of doors, so she's counting today as a good day. So far, anyway.

She's a little tentative as she catches Mindy leaving phlebotomy.

"Doctor Castellano said to tell you he's waiting for you downstairs." She checks her notepad in her hands. "Also that he-- I'm quoting-- has your bag and will donate an item from it to a homeless person every thirty seconds that you're not there. He also said you have to use the stairs..."

Comments

[so_catholic]

"You like it?" He asks quietly, his breathing turning shallow when Mindy looks at him. This was supposed to put a smile on her face, not upset her. Maybe he's just unknowingly made a dick move and forced her to think about everything she's been missing for the past year. Making her sad isn't part of the plan.

[beyoncepadthai]

"I love it," Mindy confirms, glancing at the cityscape once more before pulling Danny into a hug. She's emotional, yeah, but that's the surest sign she's truly impressed. She doesn't need to squeal or clap her hands when something is as incredible, as thoughtful, as this. Pulling back, she kisses his cheek.

[so_catholic]

"Yeah?" The sheer amount of relief he feels surprises him, though it's quickly surpassed by the hug that Mindy draws him into. There's a sudden sense of deja vu as he returns it, only this time there's no office party echoing in the background, no chance of being interrupted by co-workers with impeccably poor timing. There's no Cliff.

An auto-remind kicks in at the memory, one that Danny has steadfastly installed within himself since he'd arrived. This is not the same Mindy he left behind. He can't expect to pick up those moments again like all they'd done is hit pause.

"I uh, so I spoke to your building manager and found out that your tenancy in Dimera started on the 17th, so I figured today's gotta be your first anniversary. And I just..." He gestures at the wall, then at the rest of their surroundings, his verbosity a much needed release of nervous energy. "I didn't think it should go unmarked. If you woke up feeling sad then, y'know, I could try and cheer you up and if you woke up happy and wanted to celebrate, then I thought it'd be nice to share that with you." A second later he cards his fingers through his hair and blurts: "I got you a friendship cake."

[beyoncepadthai]

In truth, Mindy hasn't really thought about the date itself. She's just been too busy getting ready for Kate's party. But she's aware of the month, aware that it's been almost a year since she saw her parents, since she saw Rishi, since she saw everyone from her old life but Danny.

It's why she's all the more grateful that he's here, and she can't stop smiling, glancing over at the table that's set up for two. Part of her wants the whole thing to be romantic, because it really is, but a bigger part of her doesn't want to push Danny into something he doesn't want. It turns out, maybe, she respects him too much. "A friendship cake?" she asks, not bringing herself to move away from him too far just yet.

[so_catholic]

"Yeah, I mean, it's not the kind of cake you'd tell your period story over," he warns her with a wave of his hand, just in case Mindy has got her hopes up. Danny's pretty comfortable with highlighting the negatives; it's safer, it lowers expectations and it's kind of what he's grown used to hearing over the years. "And it's not from some princess place because I couldn't find anywhere like that, but it is offensively pink and sprinkly."

He brings it over to her, reaching into his back pocket for his lighter, then touches the flame to the candle's wick. He's normally of the opinion that birthday celebrations are the worst but since it's not technically Mindy's birthday, he surrenders to a tradition he's usually the first to mock. "Make a wish."

[beyoncepadthai]

Mindy doesn't know about offensively, she thinks the cake is perfect in its pink and sparkle, but she grins and takes a long moment to wonder what to wish for.

For a long time, if not forever, she's wished for the perfect guy for her birthday. Save for Tom, she was almost always single on her birthday, as if all of the men of New York knew better than to commit themselves to that.

So she thinks of wishing for the perfect guy, but then she looks over at Danny and wonders what that's even supposed to mean. No guy is going to put up with her Kardashian obsession and pretend to like it, too, no guy is going to act like every Nora Ephron film is better than Rocky or the Terminator and agree with every inane thing she says about how she's totally the Indian Meg Ryan of OB/GYNs.

But one guy has been there through every dumb breakup for a long time. One guy found New York for her at a time he knew she'd be missing it most.

So she closes her eyes, blows out the candle and dammit, here goes nothing, she turns and kisses him.

[so_catholic]

Over the years Danny has witnessed Mindy's innumerable smiles, each a little different from the rest. She's got her your-baby-is-perfectly-healthy smile, her there's-an-underground-sample-sale-this-afternoon-and-no-one-else-knows smile, her scheming-genius-four-step-plan smile and her Christmas-music-playing-in-September smile. There are countless others. Danny likes to think he could even spot the smile - though rare - that she wears when she's not actually happy at all.

The one he sees right before she closes her eyes is a hundred percent genuine and it takes care of any worry he'd been harboring over this entire gesture. He'd hoped for a smile like that, as distracting as that, but a kiss is something he's far less prepared for. It's either the searing pain in his thumb, blind and utter panic or the sudden distinct odor of burning hair that prevents him from even thinking about returning it.

"Mindy, your hair--ow," he hisses, finally flipping the lighter's flame out and clamping his thumb between his teeth. "Mindy, your hair."

[beyoncepadthai]

The romance of it all is dashed pretty quickly, and Mindy has to sigh because there's so much more comedy in this than she'd hoped for. Though she's hardly laughing.

It's not the first time she's burned her hair but it is the first time she's felt this mortified. She pulls back and refuses to meet his eyes, reaching up and patting at the singed hair to ensure it doesn't suddenly go alight. For moments like these, she keeps emergency scissors in her purse, and she searches for them so she can snip off the offensive piece.

And she still really, really can't look him in the eyes. Because her chest hurts too much at the thought of how stupid she's been, the idea of anything actually romantic happening to her too infantile a dream. Because maybe it's just the smoke, but she thinks she might actually cry.

[so_catholic]

Danny's not sure exactly what just happened but his automatic reaction is to file it neatly away in a box to deal with at some point that isn't right now. Except Mindy not being able to look at him ironically hinders his need for avoidance.

"It's fine, it's fine," he mutters around his thumb, removing it to reach out and finger the ends of her hair as proof. It's barely noticeable and he pushes her hand holding the scissors away. "You okay?"

[beyoncepadthai]

"I'm great," she says, though there are cracks in her voice and she's never been a very good liar. Which, whatever, this is all of Danny's fault for planning something so romantic when it was clearly never meant to be to begin with. Maybe she's just as doomed in Darrow as she was back home. It's been a year since she's even gotten laid, so nothing seems to be boding well.

Sitting down at the table she stares at the cake. "What about your hand?"

[so_catholic]

"I'm okay," Danny replies, swallowing around a dry mouth. "Nothing some aloe vera ointment won't fix. Do you want me to leave?" The question is seamlessly tacked on the end of the sentence, like he thinks he should have asked it already. Heck, maybe he's supposed to have left already, who knows. Danny doesn't trust his own judgement right now; it's clearly not done him any favors so far.

[beyoncepadthai]

"What? No," Mindy shakes her head, because she can think of few things as depressing as being abandoned on her anniversary, just because she did something so spontaneous and dumb. "I want you to take a seat so that we can eat this friendship cake," she says, gesturing at it.

It's awkward, yeah, but she's sure his leaving will make things even more awkward in the future. And she's tired of walking on eggshells with Danny. This is not how friends are supposed to be.

[so_catholic]

So maybe Danny's not entirely convinced that staying is the best idea but he finds himself at the table before he even realizes he's moved.

"Okay, this was supposed to be dessert," he points out, picking up a knife to slice. "But I can break with tradition. I'm cool. Say when." He's made one incision and now he's slowly moving the knife around the cake, flicking up his gaze up to Mindy every split second to wait for her word.

[beyoncepadthai]

Mindy doesn't think that she could stomach dinner right now, and the piece of cake that she asks him to cut is pretty small, too. Well, for her. "That's fine," she says. "When. That's perfect, thanks."

She helps him ease the wedge onto a plate and she pokes at it with a fork for a few seconds, looking up at him every so often to see if he's still watching her.

[so_catholic]

"I knew you weren't fine," Danny says as soon as she starts poking at the cake. He doesn't cut himself any; instead he lowers the knife to the table and leans back in the booth, elbows resting behind him. As much as he doesn't want to discuss what just happened before he's had a chance to think about it, he also can't knowingly let Mindy be this upset if there's a possibility he can fix it quickly.

So before he's even considered everything, he continues, "Look, I get it, Mindy. There's New York City, delicious cake, it's about four degrees too hot in here, there's a little drizzle outside... You got caught up in a moment." He shrugs and waves a hand in her general direction, as if rationalizing the behavior of all women, not just her. "I get it. It's natural, it's only human. I coulda been anybody."

[beyoncepadthai]

"Yeah, I was just caught up in the moment," Mindy agrees, both grateful and annoyed for the reprieve. Part of her wants to forget the whole thing, the rest of her hates how easily he lets things slide. Still, she softens, starting at the cake in earnest because he'll never believe she's okay if she's not eating. "Really, it's fine. All of this is amazing. Thank you, Danny."

[so_catholic]

It had nothing to do with him. Just as he'd thought. Danny doesn't know whether he has the right to feel disappointed that she'd agreed with an explanation he himself had given, but he is. Undeniably so.

He hides it easily, eyes darting around the room before he dips his chin to his chest, his voice turning into a rumble from the constriction. "You're welcome. You deserve it. What're friends for."