Disclaimer: I do not own Ugly Betty or any of its characters.
Rating: Teen
Pairing: D/B
Being Here
She stood there behind him with her hand wrapped in his on his shoulder for what felt like forever. She doesn't think that she should still be here and that she is preventing the two siblings from comforting each other as they should, but every time she tries to slip her hand from Daniel's grasp he clutches it tighter.
She gets the hint, he doesn't want her to leave, but she really feels that she should despite the fact that even Alexis seems utterly unperturbed by her presence. It's almost as though Daniel's beautiful sister believes that Betty has every right to be there in the room where her father just died.
It's disturbing, even more so when she takes into account that the man who supposedly loves her has made similar assumptions. He left a couple of hours ago telling her that he didn't want to intrude on Daniel's family, which would be exactly what she would normally expect of a man as sweet and considerate as Henry, but the scary part is that he apparently includes her in the 'Daniel's family' category of his brain.
He just left, never asked her if she wanted to leave with him or if he should call her later at home, just left; apparently assuming that tonight she would be by Daniel's side. It's as though it is expected of her to be there for him, which is fine because he's her friend, but even Henry seemingly thinks that as soon as Daniel needs her his claim to her supersedes all others.
And yes, she gets that right now Daniel probably does need her more than anyone else, but it's the way that everyone assumes that it is her right to be there and his right to expect her to be that worries her. Surely people don't think that they're that inseparable?
Her presence here in this room in the face of Daniel's grief speaks of a relationship between them that is far more intimate than she believes theirs to be. Sure Christina has told her over and over that their working relationship isn't normal, but she'd put it down to him being her friend as well as her boss.
This situation however has her thinking that maybe Hilda and Christina were right. Even her own father had believed that this was where she ought to be, telling her when he left with Henry that he would see her tomorrow, assuming that she would stay with Daniel tonight.
Which was pretty ironic because he still frowned disapprovingly whenever she stayed at Henry's and yet here he was happily accepting her spending the night with one of New York's most promiscuous men. Of course she doubted even her overprotective father was paranoid enough to think that Daniel was in any fit state to make a pass at anyone right now.
But still it rankled that even he believed that this was where she ought to be. And though Daniel was her friend and she cared for him more than enough to be here for him right now if he needed her, it was a little disconcerting to think that everyone from his sister to her own boyfriend and everyone in between assumed that it was her that should be by his side right now.
The conversations she had had with his parents today had set these warning bells off in her head. The first person his mother had come to for help with Daniel was her and most disturbing of all had been the conversation she had had with Bradford right before he'd passed on.
She had no problem with him asking her to watch out for Daniel. For all of their problems he obviously loved his son and wanted someone to keep an eye on him when he wasn't there to, but the rest of their conversation had frankly frightened her.
She wasn't anything special, was actually still totally certain that Bradford Meade had only really hired her because she was the only one of the applicants that Daniel was unlikely to sleep with. And his insistence that Daniel needed her; would be 'lost without her' was a little surprising coming from Mr. Meade whom she had always thought barely knew that she existed.
But this was the man's dying wish that she be here for his son when he needed her and be here she would even if her head was now ringing with alarm bells at how totally Daniel and his family had consumed her. She really should have listened more closely to Christina a few months ago when she had tried to point out to Betty how much of her time and energy, how much of her life that Daniel was taking up.
It seemed that she'd come to the party a little late. But there was no more time to think about it now because they were finally moving and now that she had finally opened her eyes to what everyone else apparently already knew she wasn't even surprised when she found herself at Daniel's front door rather than her own.
And later when he had finally worn himself out and fallen asleep beside her she wasn't even all that surprised to find herself in his bed.