Thanks to Dustinw522 for the prompt!
Daphne dialed the number by heart. She tried to come up with a reason why she was calling him and not anyone else. As she listened to the dial tone, however, she couldn't come up with anything. All she knew was that he was the person she thought of just now.
"Dr. Crane?" Daphne had promised herself not to cry; now that she heard his voice, it was hard to keep her emotions at bay.
"Daphne, is that you? Are you all right?"
"I'm – I'm in jail."
"You're what?" Daphne heard Dr. Crane hyperventilate and immediately regretted calling him.
"I'm fine," she quickly added and waited for his breathing to return to normal, "I just… I was with your brother and he abandoned me, which is why I didn't want to call him and I know I could have called your father, but I was scared your brother would-"
"Daphne, I'll be right there."
Niles raced through the city. His hand gripped the wheel tightly, afraid that if he let go he would never make it. Every other car seemed out to hinder him. Traffic had never seemed so slow. But he reminded himself that this was normal; this was merely a psychological misconstruction. Time never changed its pace. It went on relentlessly and didn't care for people's feelings. Just like Frasier, Niles thought bitterly. He didn't know what exactly had happened with Daphne and Frasier and it didn't matter anyway. In her words Frasier had abandoned her and as much as Niles loved his brother, he didn't doubt Daphne's words even for a second.
When he finally arrived, he rushed past several people. Some of them cussed. Many probably figured he was a lawyer ready to defend his client. No one could know he was just a man desperately in love. And he would defend her, too. At least he would get her the best lawyer money could buy.
"Daphne Moon. I'm here for – to bail out Daphne Moon." His voice sounded rushed, because he was out of breath. He put his shaking hands on the counter for stability. His whole body seemed to be an earthquake.
"The riot, I suppose." The police office was all business. He punched the keyboard, nodded at the screen and told Niles a sum. He handed him his credit card without listening. Money didn't matter; only Daphne mattered.
Niles paced the small waiting area and tried not to make eye contact with anyone. Some of these people were scary, others were just plain loud. He started counting his breaths as a means to calm himself. Nothing worked. Niles needed to see Daphne. He needed to make sure she was indeed fine, just like she'd said.
"Dr. Crane!" Daphne almost jumped into his arms. Her arms locked behind his neck and she held on to him tightly. All he could do was hold her. His face vanished in her hair and it still smelled unmistakably like her. He sighed in relief; unfortunately, it broke the moment. Daphne let go and Niles immediately missed her warmth against him.
"I'm so sorry you had to come down here and," she blushed and looked away for a moment. When she returned her gaze to him, tears shimmered in her eyes. "And you had to bail me out! I'll give back whatever you had to-"
"Please don't worry about that, Daphne."
"But I can't let you-"
"How about dinner?" Daphne was taken aback by the sudden change of subject. And so was Niles. Just looking at her disheveled self, he couldn't help but realize how close he'd come to losing her. Each day they made choices that at first seemed so random, so minor. But each choice could lead to something like this; a disaster in the making. Worst of all was: Daphne had no idea how important she was to Niles. How much he needed her in his life.
"What?" She asked, but her eyes lit up.
"Dinner. Daphne, would you have dinner with me?" Niles never thought that he'd ask her like that. In the middle of the waiting room of a police station. Her clothes and face dirty. Her hair looked as if someone had tugged at it. And yet she was the most beautiful woman Niles had ever laid eyes on.
"Oh, Dr. Crane," Daphne teared up, "But I look terrible!"
"You look absolutely beautiful, Daphne." Niles assured her.
"How about I freshen up and put on some clean clothes first?"
"It's a date." And they both blushed.
Niles should have known it was a bad idea. Daphne yelled, Frasier yelled and before long she disappeared into her room. The door slammed and all three Crane men startled.
"You just left her there!" Niles complained to his brother.
"I said I was sorry!" But Frasier didn't know what else he'd done wrong.
"Yeah, well. That's not going to help anyone right now." Niles was about to pour himself a sherry to drown his sorrows and another missed chance, when Daphne reappeared. She seemed determined to get out of the apartment as fast as possible.
"Is our dinner date still on?" Daphne asked when she saw Niles with the pitcher in hand, obviously frozen.
"Date?" Frasier squeaked.
"Yes, date. Unlike you, your brother cares for my well-being." She looked pleadingly at Niles, who put down the sherry carefully. His hands shook and he didn't trust them. If he were to make a mess now, it would destroy everything.
"Yes, yes I do." Frasier opened his mouth as if to say something, but his father's hand on his arm stopped him. To Niles it felt like a blessing and he gave his father a thankful smile. He helped Daphne into her coat and they left. Outside, Daphne stopped and let out a breath she probably wasn't aware of holding.
"Thank you, Dr. Crane." She said and kissed Niles' cheek. He wasn't sure what she was thankful for, but he accepted it. Any reason to see her smile was worth it.
It was enough for Niles to just watch Daphne eat. She must have been famished, because she dug in heartily. Niles had never seen her eat like that. In between bites she told him everything – from the protest, to the police to the people she met in jail. While she wasn't a born story-teller, he hung on her lips. Her occasional giggles made him smile involuntarily and he was happier than he'd been in a long, long time.
"Daphne." He suddenly said, surprising them both. She looked up at him.
"I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you. I just-" But he didn't know. Her name had been on his lips. Just like it was always on his mind. There were so many emotions toiling inside of him and they had culminated in that word, in just her name.
"It's fine, Dr. Crane. I didn't mean to bore you."
"You didn't bore me one bit. Quite the opposite actually." A sense of calm came over Niles. Here he was with the woman he loved and maybe it was in the way she was looking at him just then. A tentative smile and interested eyes. Maybe the decision had been made earlier when she thanked him. Or maybe it was a spur of the moment thing that no one could have ever predicted.
"Daphne, there's something I need to tell you." Slowly she put her fork down. Niles watched her actions, but he no longer felt scared. He had been scared before; when he didn't know what had happened to her. When he didn't know whether she was fine or not. This, he realized, was nothing compared to the thought of losing her.
"I realized something earlier. And I've been meaning to tell you for so long, but I was scared – a real coward - I was so scared of how you might react, but…" He stopped to breathe. He needed all the air in the world to say this right.
"Today I realized… the fear of losing you is so much greater than the fear of telling you how I feel." Finally, Niles looked at Daphne, whose eyes were big and wet. But she made no attempt to stop him and that was enough for him to go on.
"Daphne, I – I love you. First I thought it was just a crush but… I love you. I love you with all my heart. I am in love with you." Niles felt like flying; now that he told her, he didn't want to stop saying these words. He was in love with her and he wanted the whole world to know it, too.
"You're in love with me? Is that why you always smell my hair? Stand so close to me?" Niles swallowed hard. He hadn't expected her to react like that. But there was no accusation in her voice. Rather, if he dared think it, she sounded amazed.
"I-I thought you never noticed."
"I'm not stupid," and suddenly she smiled warmly at him, "I did think I was imagining things. I thought… me own feelings clouded me judgment."
"Daphne, what are you saying?"
"That I have feelings for you as well. I tried to deny them, because I mean look at us – we're so different! We're from different worlds."
"What does it matter? Maris and I were alike in so many ways and we were a catastrophe. Look at Frasier and Lilith."
"You're sure about this?" Niles was almost rendered speechless; despite her words, her lips curled upwards into a smile.
"I am sure. I love you, Daphne."
"I love you, too… Niles." Niles closed his eyes to savor the moment; hearing her say these words, using his name – heaven couldn't be sweeter than this. Unable to wait any longer, he was out of his seat and stood before her. His heart beating fast, he offered her his hand. She took it and when they were face to face, finally as close as possible, he just reveled in the moment. How different all of this could have gone. How would their story have gone had she called someone else – anyone, really – earlier? But Niles' mind went even further back: what if Frasier had never hired Daphne? What if -
"Are you going to kiss me or not?" Daphne whispered to him. All thoughts and doubts vanished. Because finally there was an answer; and a new question that was leading to a new life for both of them. And what else could he do but do as she asked?
THE END
A/N: This turned out really sappy – I have no idea how that happened! Anyway, my prompt for the story was this (and by the way, prompts are ALWAYS welcome!):
What if after Daphne gets arrested in "Sweet Dreams", she calls Niles to bail her out and afterwards he ends up asking her out to dinner? What if during the dinner, Niles ends up confessing his feelings to Daphne and they get together?