A/N: A short drabble I couldn't get out of my head. Set very early in the show.

"Niles, you've got to stop staring at Daphne!" Angrily, Frasier pushed his brother into the kitchen. The smaller man had a painful brush with the kitchen counter and hissed under his breath.

"It's not like I'm… molesting her or something."

"But you are! She's probably too polite to say something."

"She's never caught me looking." Leering more like.

"How do you know? She was desperate to get this job. I doubt she'd do anything to lose it again this quickly."

"Frasier, I love her." Niles' words were spoken softly, earnestly. They clashed with Frasier's hard and angry glare. For a moment he thought he'd convinced his brother with these simple words, but it passed and revealed Frasier's true colors and his inability to see the smaller details in life.

"Don't kid yourself, Niles. You don't know this woman. You might feel attracted to her, because your wife is who she is, but you don't love Daphne. You don't know her well enough." With these words Frasier left his brother alone in the kitchen. Niles couldn't move. He was physically unable to move a muscle or a bone. Was Frasier right? Was he kidding himself? Was Daphne really just a sweet distraction from his disastrous relationship with Maris? His heart felt heavy, because he feared his brother might have a point after all.

"Dr. Crane you're awfully quiet tonight." Daphne said with a hint of worry when the whole family (minus Maris of course) sat together having dinner.

Call me Niles, please.

He'd asked her several times and she would always smile shyly, maybe even touch him briefly. His hand or his shoulder – his arm once in a lingering moment. She never called him Niles. He was always Dr. Crane to her. Whether they talked like this, or even in a more intimate moment. Just the other day she had admitted how much she missed her father who seemed to be an alcoholic. She had called him Dr. Crane then too. Thinking about that, Niles felt like Frasier was right; he couldn't be in love with Daphne. And most importantly, whatever he felt for her, she didn't reciprocate the feelings. Otherwise she wouldn't insist so vehemently on being this professional.

"I'm… I'm sorry Daphne."

"I hope you're all right." She didn't pose it as a question exactly; more like a statement. His father, still slowly chewing his steak, looked at him. Frasier, too, directed is gaze at him. He at least must have had an inkling what all of this was about.

"I'm fine. Thank you, Daphne." To his surprise, she squeezed his thigh under the table. Niles froze. As the conversation amongst them resumed, he still felt the gentle pressure where Daphne's hand had been moments ago. He hadn't imagined it happening. And he wasn't imaging his feelings for her either.

Compassion

Whenever Niles came over to Frasier's apartment, Daphne made sure to ask him how he was. Unlike his brother – Sherry, Niles? – who seemed to consider the question after his brother's well-being a nuisance, she was actually interested in him and his life. Once he came over early one morning even before his father was up. He asked her why she was up already. She laughed a deep laugh that proved she'd only gotten up shortly before. Some kind of delayed jet-lag, she answered. Why are you up so early? I hope your wife isn't giving you a hard time for being here so often.

And Niles started telling her this and that. He tried to keep it vague, but her soft eyes and her small smile spurred him on. When his father finally got up, Daphne seemed almost angry. Their conversation couldn't resume. But she gently squeezed his shoulder, a promise that she'd always be there for him if need be. Since then he made sure to be there a little early so they could talk to each other without interruption.

Passion

"No!"

Niles entered Frasier's apartment the exact moment Daphne yelled out her disagreement. He stopped uncertainly in the doorway and played nervously with the knob. It made Daphne turn around to face him. Immediately her face lit up.

"Dr. Crane! Please come in. I was just watching the latest football – I mean soccer match – between Manchester United and Manchester City. It's always such a bloody fight."

Carefully, Niles entered and sat down next to Daphne. Soccer was one of the many sports he couldn't care less about. He knew it involved a ball and that was all. He stared at the small screen where several men ran after the small black and white object. Sometimes they would kick and tackle each other. How could anyone watch this voluntarily? He wondered not for the first time.

"Bloody? Not in the literal sense I hope." Daphne laughed.

"Sometimes. Oh bloody hell, NO!" Niles almost jumped up. And then he just watched her. She screamed obscenities at the screen. She threw her arms up in the air, kicked into nothingness. Once she ran over to the TV set and yelled directly at it. Niles wasn't sure she remembered he was there as well. As much as he tried to feel uncomfortable around her, he couldn't. He was amazed. Amazed how much she could feel just watching a stupid game on the TV. Niles never understood his father, who seemed to watch every sport known to mankind. But this was Daphne. And she loved this. Just this. And watching her passionate behavior he couldn't help but fall in love with her. Just a little bit.

Her smile

There was nothing Niles hated more than these days when Seattle was gray and dusty. Unfortunately, the Emerald City often didn't live up to its name. How he longed for sunshine! In his depressive mood, he decided to pay his brother a visit. Frasier, however, was still at work. Daphne informed him that he had called earlier and wouldn't be back for a while.

"That's too bad."

"You sound sad, Dr. Crane." How she always did this – listening to the smallest nuances in people's voices - was beyond him.

"I guess I am."

"I know I'm no psychiatrist, but I am a pretty good listener."

"Ah, thank you, Daphne, but it's not really something I could name."

"I understand, Dr. Crane." And then she just looked at him and smiled. Not just any smile. It was as if someone had switched on the light – no, the sun. The whole room lit up. As well as Niles' insides. Warmth trickled through him like honey and his mouth opened to say something. When no words came out, Daphne chuckled. It intensified her smile and Niles' knees began to buckle. Even though he was sitting down. It was the day he found out that her smile could brighten the darkest of days.

"Niles, could you at least pretend to listen?" Frasier's dark voice cut through his thoughts like a sharp knife. All his memories ran away from him, hid in their respective places. Niles was back at the dinner table. His thigh was still tingling from earlier when Daphne had touched him there. It was almost enough to put a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"It doesn't matter now. But help me put the plates away. I think Daphne has done enough for today."

"Thank you, Dr. Crane!" Daphne said genuinely surprised. "And Mr. Crane, I guess that means we can do some exercises."

"So soon after dinner? Are you trying to kill me?" Their voices ebbed away as Frasier and Niles stepped into the kitchen.

"What is the matter with you today?"

"I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Do you need to know everything?" Frasier thought about it a moment.

"Yes, I do."

"Well, if you must know I was thinking about Daphne and what you said the other day. About me not loving her."

"And?"

"And you're wrong. You're right there are plenty of things that I know nothing about. I have no idea what her favorite color is or what kind of music she likes, but it doesn't matter. I do know her, Frasier. And the more I learn about her, the more I fall in love." This time it was Niles who left his brother in the kitchen. Back in the living room, Daphne gave him a reassuring smile. He would get to know her better. He would learn everything there was to know about her; the important and the less important things.

And one day he would let her know about it.

THE END