Title: Help Find the Way
Author: Romantic Southerner formerly known as Creative Dreamer
Summary: Daniel seemingly has the perfect life with someone from his past, but what happens when she points out the one thing that's been in front of his face the whole time?
Disclaimer: No matter how hard I try, Ugly Betty will never be mine. I just created the woman from Daniel's past.
Author's Note: This is the sequel to "Things Aren't Always What They Seem." If you have not read that yet, please do so! I do apologize for the confusion when it comes to me abandoning my first try of posting this fic as something untitled, but after some time, a lot of consideration and the realization of how I want to go about writing this, I had to give this fic a fresh start, but I didn't want to lose my reviews and everything from the other attempt so the first chapter is just the same, but combined with chapter two like I had originally started writing it. Once again, sorry for the confusion; hopefully, you'll stay tuned for the rest! :)

Chapter One
Trucking through the Fog

Daniel Meade finally was able to catch a break in his office at Mode. He was in the middle of a hectic day filled with countless meetings and a couple of conference calls among whatever else he had to deal with for the upcoming issue of his magazine. As much as he wanted to focus on work (which he had been), suddenly he caught himself drifting back to a certain talk he had with his fiancée, Julie Madison a few weeks ago about a certain person who was working on something at her desk.

The editor-in-chief stood by his desk as he leaned against his arm while he was looking out the window of his office. He could feel the coolness from the surface of the glass as he sighed to himself.

"How am I different when I'm around Betty?" He asked himself quietly.

He tried to piece together thoughts of why Julie would ever thing such a thing about his assistant. Daniel knew that Betty was a great girl with a huge heart and she was amazing, but she wasn't for him. He had Julie in his life. She was a successful publicist that had no intentions of screwing him for her personal gain. He knew Julie held his heart, and there was no point in letting go of the greatest thing in his life for a could-be fling…whatever with his assistant. Betty was his best friend (besides, Julie of course), and he never thought about her that way. Julie thought Daniel saw Betty as something more than that, but she was just Betty, plain and simple.

He began to chuckle to himself as he couldn't fathom the idea of how he was different around Betty, his assistant, the one person he cared about and didn't need to complicate things with. He shifted his focus from the day outside back to the surroundings in his office.

The editor-in-chief took a seat in his chair behind his desk before he started to watch Betty. She was at her desk working on his schedule from what he could tell. She was so wrapped up in what she was doing that she wasn't paying attention to her boss staring at her.

Daniel tilted his head to the side as he watched his assistant from afar. He tried to make sense of the idea that he could have feelings for Betty. The old Daniel would have already bedded his assistant and more than likely moved on to the next one in an endless cycle of being an infamous playboy, but now that Betty was in his life, that wasn't the case. She had been his guiding light from what he could tell, but being in love with her and appreciating her for the way she had gotten him to grow up were two different things, weren't they?

The younger Meade sibling gulped at the thought. He knew he loved Julie and he was thankful for Betty and her help considering if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be engaged to Julie right now. Thanks to the girl from Queens, Daniel would probably still be a bachelor with his whoring ways just like his best friend Becks. So, Betty had helped him grow in more ways than he saw for himself, but was he in love with her or cared for her more than just a friend? He wanted to laugh at the idea, but for some reason he couldn't.

All of a sudden, Betty looked up from her work and flashed him a small smile along with a little wave that she tended to do from time to time and for some reason, it made him feel different. He returned the gesture with his own little wave before he glanced down at his watch.

"Betty's just your assistant…right?" he asked himself out loud before he caught himself staring at her again.

At that moment with just one glance and that smile, it was like he suddenly couldn't give himself an answer without having to think about it for a longer than he should if Betty was just his assistant…or even his friend.

The work on his desk seemed harder to focus on now that he wasn't so sure of himself and the way he felt about his assistant. He recounted several times in his memory where his assistant was more of a friend and a companion than just his assistant.

"Just your assistant, right?" He repeated to himself, hoping that it would be easier to come up with an answer.

And the more Daniel tried to come up with an answer to the inevitable question or take in the information that he needed for his next meeting he couldn't. He had read the same sentence like ten times and the words began to swirl on the page.

The editor-in-chief of Mode couldn't take this anymore. It was like the walls of his office all of a sudden began to close in on him. He could feel his chest tighten slightly like he couldn't breathe.

Instinctively, he grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair before he called for his town car. He needed some time away from the office, to think, to make sure he could come with that answer for himself without having to strain for it.

Daniel drew in a deep breathe before he walked out of his office. He had to pass her desk. He knew she'd be there without fail just like she always was.

Don't look at her, he reminded himself. Just don't. You'll give yourself away and she'll want to ask God knows how many questions.

"Uh, Betty, I am going to go out for lunch today. I'll be back before you know it…before my next meeting, I promise," he managed to get out in a calm tone.

"But Daniel…" she managed to get out, unable to finish her thought, "Um, okay."

The younger Meade noticed the confused tone in her voice with a slight twinge of concern. He couldn't help but frown at himself for leaving her hanging, but it had to be done. Looking at his assistant would be an indication of weakness on his part and he was sure that Betty being the person she was would want to help him through whatever this was.

Daniel made his way down the orange hall to the reception desk. He barely noticed the flirty smile Amanda gave him as he passed by to get to the elevators. He frantically pressed the down arrow button, hoping that it would get there sooner rather than later.

---

Finally, Daniel managed to break from to get away from his clouded thoughts at Mode. He drew in a deep breath as he ran a hand through his hair as he was in the middle of a long walk through Central Park. Somehow walks through the park helped him think about how to handle women. And this time wasn't really different from the other times, right?

The editor-in-chief of Mode had to get a grip on how he felt about his assistant. Betty was his friend and he was thankful for everything she had done for him, but there was no way she could be more than that. He had a fiancée, and he loved Julie so much that he wanted to marry her. He wanted their relationship to work more than he ever thought he could, but if it wasn't for Betty, there wouldn't be an Autumn Julie Madison in his life, not for the long haul anyway.

Daniel made his way to the Bethesda Terrance in Central Park. He could feel the warm air on his cheeks from the nice weather outside and he loved days like this in park. It was days like this where Daniel hated having to be at work, but he knew especially at this moment that ditching work was not a option.

Besides the Shakespeare Garden, this was his favorite part of the park where he felt like he could get lost in the crowd and think about whatever was on his mind. He did have some things to think about after all. Why did Julie see Betty as an issue when it came to their lives? His fiancee was never the jealous type, but why this? Why Betty? Why now?

There was no telling why the high-profile publicist felt the need to be insecure about the way Daniel was with Betty. His assistant managed to fill this spot in his life that was seemingly made empty once he and Julie parted all of those years ago. He always needed someone to keep his grounded and he appreciated the way both Julie and Betty did that for him, but how in the world would his fiance see that as him seeing his assistant as something more than just that?

It was like Betty was filling the void had left behind all those years ago. That was it, Daniel saw the girl from Queens as the one who filled the void that Julie left behind. It made perfect sense.

A void…that makes sense, he reasoned.

He strolled down the stairs with his hands shoved his pockets for the time being. Daniel wasn't sure why he was thinking about this now considering he had that conversation with Julie weeks ago. He missed her company, being close to her because Julie had given him the space he needed to figure out how to deal with this whole situation about Betty.

"I thought I'd find you here," a familiar voice called out from behind Daniel.

The Editor-in-Chief of Mode couldn't help but smile at the sound of her voice. He turned around to look at his fiancée of some time now. Julie walked over to him and looped her arm through his as they began to walk together.

"Hey, Jules," Daniel greeted as he gave her the best smile that he could under the circumstances.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she snuggled against him. "I thought you were booked solid today."

"Well, a guy's gotta eat," he mentioned nonchalantly.

"I don't see you eating," she countered with a giggle.

Daniel couldn't help but chuckle softly to himself as he realized he was empty handed. "Touché." He took his hand out of his pocket and wrapped an arm around the woman in his life. His lips grazed the side of her forehead with a kiss.

"I figured you'd spend the entire day in the office since you have countless meetings."

"Well, I was going a little stir-crazy," he sighed. "There is only so much work a guy can take."

"Come on, out with it," Julie said as she looked up at him as they walked around the waters edge of the lake at the Bethesda Terrance.

Daniel was caught off guard with her prodding. "Out with what? I just needed some fresh air."

"What are you talking about?" she pulled back from him slightly. "I said, 'come on, don't you need to eat?'." She chuckled softly to herself. "You have been in the office too long since you're beginning to hear things."

Daniel gave Julie a suspicious look, but from the look on her face, he must have been mistaken. He was sure she was questioning about the way he was being, but maybe he was putting too much thought into it. Out of habit, he took his hand out of his pocket and took Julie's hand into his.

"So, how did you find me?" he grinned, letting his guard down.

Julie laced her fingers together with Daniel's as they continued their walk. "Well, I called your office to see what you were doing for lunch, but Betty told me you stepped out. She wasn't sure where you went to, but I had a feeling it would be here."

"Mhmm.."

"What? I know you've been stressed with the magazine and all so I figured you'd be here. You do realize you become a little predictable after time," she teased with a giggle.

"Hey…" the younger Meade began to protest as he let go of her hand. He stopped in his tracks, but he then remembered who he was talking to and couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"I thought so," she playfully grinned. "So, what are you in the mood for?" She asked over her shoulder as they moved toward a quieter part of the park.

Without warning, Daniel snaked his hands around Julie's waist and pulled her close, propping his head on her left shoulder. "Well, you know what I am in the mood for." His breathe grazed her ear and his voice was low.

"What are you doing?" She giggled softly as she gulped, unable to say much of anything else. She felt her knees start to buckle under her.

As much as she wanted to give in to Daniel right there, right now, it wasn't the right thing to do. Her heart began to race in her chest. She licked her lips as she could feel the heat between them through the fabric of their clothes.

"Jules…" he purred into her ear. "You know you want to…" He lightly grazed her skin with his lips, placing light kisses along her neck.

Julie drew in a deep breathe and held it in briefly before exhaling slowly. "Uh…," she cleared her throat as she tried to get out of her fiancee's grasp, but wasn't having much success. She tried to ignore what he was doing to her. Between the kisses and the way his hands were searching for her bare skin, she knew if he kept this up, she was going to give in. "You know, you really don't play fair, Mr. Meade."

Daniel chuckled softly, "I just try to keep things interesting." He started to nibble on that spot on Julie's neck where he knew would make her putty in his hands. "Come on, Jules….live a little."

Julie gulped as she closed her eyes, trying to resist the urge to give in to what her fiancee…what she wanted way his mouth worked his magic on her skin, giving much needed attention to her sensitive areas was totally winning her over.

Daniel needed to see his fiancee's face. He wanted to see the look on her face, to see how open to she was to what he wanted. Did she feel the same way he did? He knew the look on her face would be tell him everything. Besides if she was apprehensive to the idea, he was sure he could convince her with his lips.

Julie wasn't sure when or how it happened, but the next thing thing she knew Daniel had engulfed her in a kiss. He was going to make sure by the time this kiss was said and done that the woman in life would not say no, not now, not in this moment.

After several seconds, he slowly pulled back from the kiss, leaving just a couple of inches between their faces. From what he could tell, she was surprised that he had withdrawn his lips from hers. He couldn't help but look into her eyes in silence as he waited to see what she was going to say.

Her eyelashes fluttered open as a look of surprise crossed her features. Julie licked her lips before she drew in a breath. She noticed the hint of a slight smirk on Daniel's face and resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. She tilted her head to the side as she watched him closely without saying anything and from what she could tell, there was a look of disbelief in his eyes.

She couldn't help but return the smirk before she pulled Daniel toward her slowly. "I had you going," she giggled softly as her lips were merely centimeters from his.

Daniel gulped as he felt her warm breath on his lips but before he had a chance to respond, Julie closed the gap between them and from he could tell, he was going to get his way, but instead of returning the gesture, Jule only kissed the corner of his mouth briefly before she pulled away. His eyes widened with slight surprise. "You've got to kidding me," he muttered. It was like she was testing him which wasn't entirely fair considering this was his idea and he thought he had to convince her not the other way around.

She teased with a giggle. "You started it…"

Daniel's face tensed slightly with annoyance, but before he could say a word, Julie pressed her lips against his and this time she wasn't kidding around. He could tell that Julie had kept up her usual professional front as best she could until this very moment where she gave into her passion, the way she wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss.

The two of them got lost in the moment unaware of anything else around them. Nothing mattered but being together and spending so much needed us time considering how busy the two of them had been with the lastest issue of MODE and Julie's involvement with this huge movie project. Moments like this were seemingly harder to come by now with either one of them working late and being so caught up in their lives away from each other.

Without warning, a cellphone rang and the moment between the editor of Mode and the publicist had been broken. Julie grumbled as she had to break the kiss from the man that she loved. Daniel chuckled softly to her reaction considering he knew that he had won this round. He gave her a smug smirk and without fail, Julie rolled her eyes at him before she winked at him.

"Ah, it's mine," Julie sighed as she cleared her throat and tucked some hair behind her left ear before Daniel withdrew his hand from touching her soft skin. She began to dig through her purse to find her phone.

"Autumn Julie Madison," she said as she answered her phone as she briefly glanced at Daniel. "Oh, hi."

Daniel watched her closely as she had her conversation on the phone. He couldn't tell who she was talking to, but obviously with the look on Julie's face, it must have been important. When did she start to refer to herself as Autumn Julie Madison? It was a nice change considering she had made it quite clear that it was just Autumn Madison.

He wondered when she made that change. Maybe he'd ask her about that later. And now that he thought about it, would Julie even add Meade to her name when they got married or would she keep it like it was? Autumn Julie Madison-Meade was seemingly a mouth fill, but maybe he could get her to drop the Madison all together. That would be nice. Something to keep in mind to ask when the time was right.

She playfully poked her fiancee in the side before she gave him a curious look since she noticed the look on his face. She held in a giggle since she was still on the phone. "Oh, right…of course."

"Who is it?" he mouthed trying to figure out who she was talking to.

The publicist shook her head and held up a finger to signal him to hold on a minute.

"That's not a problem. I'll be in touch. Bye."

Julie ended her phone call and tossed her phone into her purse before she pulled the strap up on her shoulder again. "So, what's that look on your face for?"

"What look?" He shrugged.

"That look on your face you just had. The one where you aren't with me. Like you are fae away in your own little world." Julie grinned as she reached down and took Daniel's hand into her.

He just shrugged without saying much of anything else.

Julie eyed him for a second. "Now that you've gotten that out of your system." She cleared her thought as she licked her lips at the memory. "Why don't we actually go grab something to eat?"

Before Daniel could object, he heard his stomach grumble. "Well, I guess I do need to eat something after all."

"Yeah, you do…we both do," Julie mentioned as she led the way.

Daniel looked down at his watch and noticed that it was getting closer to time for him to be back at the office. "Whatever it is, it needs to be something quick."

"Well, if you weren't trying to distract me," she playfully rolled her eyes, "then you would have already ate something by now."

"Of course," he mused as he noticed the way Julie was trying to act mad, but was failing miserably when it came to him, "but what's the fun in that?"

Daniel grinned as he pulled her back to him so he could wrap his arm around her waist. He held her close as they walked together. He watched her carefully as he tried to hold back a smirk, knowing that she was right.

"Oh, don't try to be all cute with me, Daniel," she groaned. "I know you're all not wanting to go back to work, but this issue of Mode is either hit or miss because of your schedule today."

She watched him carefully, knowing that he wanted to object, but she knew she was right. Julie sighed as she watched him quietly, waiting to see if he'd find something to say.

"But Jules…"

She glared at him. "You've got to get through your day and you can be rewarded for your efforts later…" She winked at him.

The Editor-in-Chief groaned as he remembered something. "Can we have a raincheck for tonight?"

The publicist looked up at him and arched an eyebrow. "A raincheck? Why?"

He sighed as his face fell, "I've been so wrapped up with work, but I forgot about about this dinner I have tonight with a cilent."

"You know what…I am not going to think about it. I better enjoy the time I have with you right now because there is no sense in me getting upset over that. Duty calls, Mr. Editor-in-Chief."

"You're too good to me, Jules." Daniel gave her a warm and kissed the side of her face as they continued their stroll in the park.

"Yeah…I am because at the end of the day, I know you're mine no matter what," she grinned. "I like having you around, besides, men like you are hard to come by."

Daniel just smiled at his finacee without saying a word. The eyes met and a silence fell between them. Moments like this weren't awkward between them. He watched her carefully as he slowly lifted a hand to her face and his thumb gently caressed her cheek. Julie drew in a deep breath before she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

"I've missed you, Jules," he whispered.

Her eyelashes fluttered open to look into his eyes. "Daniel…" she softly said as she cupped her hand around his on her cheek. "I've missed you too."

Daniel withdrew his hand from Julie's face before he took her hand into his. Julie glanced down at their hands out of habit and noticed Daniel's watch. "Okay, we better get going or we're never going to grab a bit to eat."

He chuckled softly. "You never give up, do you?"

"I didn't give up on you, did I?" She smiled as she lead the way. "Besides, I am sure that Betty thinks I kidnapped you."

Betty, he groaned inwardly, hoping Julie wouldn't notice the way he felt at that moment, the reason why I am here in the first place….