Work Text:
D & C
The first time he spied with his warm brown eyes one Christina Porter, Danny Castellano was intrigued. As a first-year resident, his life at that time was centered around the hospital, the hospital’s grimy cafeteria, the hospital’s even grimier locker room and home (occasionally). That fateful day Danny stepped into Rock Around the Bean coffee shop half a block from St. Brendan’s, he hadn’t known his world would tilt and shift on its axis. Christina was the weight that caused that shift. A blond, smoking-hot, rock-hard body with legs-for-days weight.
She was the antithesis of every woman he’d dated. The girls he’d hung out with in the past were dark-haired/dark-eyed Puerto Ricans or passionate Italians with impetuous and unpredictable temperaments. Christina had a placid manner-especially for one who just dumped their chai green tea all over a harried and frazzled resident on a 5 minute break. Christina wasn’t impressed he was a doctor. Christina had a cool, Nordic charm that felt like a brisk autumn day when the leaves are changing color. He felt it. He knew it. So what that he scoped all of this in the 8 minutes she took to mop the tea off of him with too-small napkins? When Danny was certain, he was Staten certain.
D & M
The first time he spied with his frosty brown eyes one Mindy Lahiri, Danny Castellano was apathetic. As a third-year resident-and top dog in his program-his life at that time was focalized on an ambivalent atmosphere at home, maintaining said top-dog status in his residency and keeping an eye on his Ma and brother Richie in Staten. Mindy was loud. Mindy was bubbly. Mindy got on his very last (best) nerve. It didn’t help that he saw the potential within her to be a great physician. Her personality clashed so violently with everything Danny was at his core. He was cantankerous; she was sunny. He was pessimistic; she was optimistic.
Danny had the thought that Mindy Lahiri was possibly the most irritating woman he’d ever met (and that’s saying something for a dude from Staten). Sure, first impression: she was capable of fantastic things. On second impression, she was a squeaky-voiced, overexcited, teen-woman that didn’t know a douchebag from a real man. Hey, when Danny was certain, he was Staten certain.
D & C
The first time Danny kissed Christina, it was…nice. There were no harps or a chorus of angels singing, but her lips were soft, she was a more than willing participant and there was no teeth-bumping. Perhaps it lacked a little passion, but Danny felt Christina was simply being Christina. Blond. Cool. Calm. Collected. He would teach her fire. He would blaze a path down her body when they coupled. He knew they’d be perfect; she’d just need to let him work at it. Staten certainty at its best.
D & M
The first time Danny kissed Mindy, it was…harmonious. A million cherubs singing sweet melodies, surrounding them in a cocoon of warmth and desire. So what they were on an airplane. So what that he’d just helped her write a stupidly romantic letter to get her d-bag, ex-boyfriend back? What he felt when he kissed Mindy that first time was deeper, more heartfelt, more EVERYTHING than the tens of thousands of kisses he once shared with his harpy ex-wife. She was his best friend. She was his colleague. How the hell did she become his reason for living? These thoughts raced through his mind the minute that turbulence hit. When he gripped that armrest, gulped those fears down and glanced at the empty seat beside him, he felt something greater than himself propel him toward the back of that plane. As he grabbed Mindy’s backside and deepened their unity, Staten certainty never looked so damn good.
D & C
The first time they broke up, Danny doesn’t like to think of it. He won’t think about it. He won’t talk about it.
The second time they broke up, he knew it was for the best. It didn’t hurt. It didn’t ache. It just felt right. Sometimes Staten wisdom comes in very handy.
D & M
The first time (the ONLY TIME) Danny broke up with Mindy, he regretted it with every fiber in his being. He didn’t know. He didn’t know it could hurt like this. He didn’t know he could be so miserable. He didn’t know how loving someone so much could cause so much internal affliction to himself and to her. He didn’t know. He didn’t know. He just didn’t know.
D & M (cont’d)
They say that the firsts in a relationship solidify the path that a couple takes for life. They say that the seconds in a relationship iron forge that couple into an unstoppable force. Danny finally got it. He finally understood. All of his firsts, all of his seconds from henceforth would be completed with Mindy. He didn’t necessarily know why it worked, but God in Heaven, was he ecstatic that it did. Staten Island certainty sure knows what it’s doing sometimes.
Fin