Disclaimer: I don't own Daniel and Betty.

Author's Note: This is only a oneshot. Happy New Year!

Betty sat alone on her living room sofa in front of the television set with a bowl of popcorn and a can of soda. It was 11:45 p.m. New Year's Eve when her doorbell rang. In her red terry cloth bathrobe and matching red bunny slippers, she headed to the front door. Through the peephole, Daniel stood on the other side of the door.

"Hello, Betty," Daniel said. "You look good in red."

"Daniel, what are you doing here?" Betty asked, hugging the door. She eyed him from top to bottom. He was handsomely dressed in a black tuxedo.

"Isn't it obvious?" He held up a bottle of champagne, and two wine glasses. "To ring in the New Year with you." His blue eyes glistened at the sight of her.

"Me?" She pushed her glasses against the bridge of her nose. "Me?"

"Yes, you. So, are you going to let me in or not?" he asked, inching his way into her apartment.

"You got stood up or something?" she asked, as he followed her footsteps.

Daniel smiled. "What makes you say that?"

She held out her hand. "Well, did you look in the mirror before you got here? You're all dressed up. You weren't just in the neighborhood. You probably had a date, but she..."

"Hey! I didn't get stood up," he said, placing the items on her coffee table. "Watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve?"

"I was."

"Have you ever been there, Betty? To Times Square? To watch the ball drop."

"Never. Every year I tell myself to experience it at least just once, but so far, I haven't. I'll bet you've been there lots of times." Betty pushed her blanket aside which had been wrapped around her for warmth.

"Several times. I like it better on television, watching it...that way you get a close up view of that ball dropping. Besides, it's cold outside."

Betty gave him a playful punch. "Come on, who was she?"

"She who?" Daniel asked, pulling her down beside him on the sofa, then proceeded to open the bottle of wine.

"The one that stood you up. Blonde? Redhead?"

"I told you no one," he said, uncorking the bottle.

"Daniel, why are you here? Don't you have better things to do?" Betty watched him as he poured the white liquid in the crystal glasses.

"You ask too many questions." Daniel glanced at his 18k gold Rolex watch. "Betty, it's five more minutes until 2009. Are you going to ask me a million and one questions or are we going to sit and watch the countdown?"

"I've been watching this since I was a little girl...with the whole family. Hilda invited me back home, but I wanted to watch this in my own apartment, and..."

"Uh-huh," Daniel said, staring at the television. "Anyone tell you that you talk too much?"

"I'm glad you're here, Daniel. I've never spent New Year's Eve with anyone other than with my family."

"No one else? No kiss at midnight by a boyfriend?" Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"Look who's talking too much now." Betty shook her head. "Never."

"All girls want to be kissed at midnight. That special kiss a girl believes in...with that certain someone to be happy, and spend the rest of the year with. If the guy's lucky enough, to spend the rest of their lives with." Daniel gazed into her eyes.

"You believe in that?"

Daniel shrugged. "Maybe."

"Okay, Daniel, countdown time!" Excitedly, Betty clapped her hands, and counted aloud. "Come on, Daniel...ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two...ONE!"

Daniel smiled. Just the littlest things made Betty happy.

"What?" she asked. "What are you smiling at?

"You. It doesn't take much to make you smile."

"Did you even watch the ball drop?"

"I guess I missed it. I was busy watching you."

"You missed the best part! Well, Daniel, it's a new year!" Betty held out her arms. "Happy New Year, Daniel!"

She had barely wrapped her arms around him when he swooped her up into his strong arms for a drawn out embrace which caught her by surprise. "Happy New Year, Betty!"

Pulling apart after a couple of minutes, Betty stuttered. "Hap...Happy New...New Year, Daniel." Her face turned to a rosy hue.

Drawing Betty into him, Daniel lowered his face down to hers. They shared a long, passionate kiss. "Happy New Year, Betty," he said, in between kisses. "Now you know how it feels to be kissed at midnight. Watching that ball drop is not the best part. This is," Daniel said, kissing her again.

The End