Meeting Betty
A/N: My second UB fic. I disclaim everything necessary. Please share your thoughts. :)
Betty has gone off with Gio. She is going to Rome, using the tickets that Daniel bought, staying in the hotel room he'd booked. Enough is enough, she'd told Henry - he'd better go focus on his son. And she couldn't, couldn't move to Tucson. There was too much for her in New York, and subconsciously what Daniel has said is lingering in the back of her mind.
Daniel is in France with his son, and they are going around, bonding, but the more they hang around the more his son reminds him of someone else...but someone pleasantly in his mind as connected to the warm balmy days of childhood. Daniel Jr.'s school holidays begin and he wants his father to take him somewhere. Daniel finds his son has never been out of France before except on his trip to the USA, and so he decides to go on a Grand Tour of Europe.
There first stop is Rome, and Daniel and his son see Betty, who is waiting outside a restaurant for Gio, who has gone to use the toilet.
"Hey!" Daniel exclaimed, seeing a familiar light blue coat from across the road. "That's Betty!"
His son gave him a wary, are you sure? look.
Well, it was to be expected. He'd had way too many false alarms in the past two days; for some reason, each time he turned a corner here he hoped desperately he'd see her. Rome couldn't be that big, could it?
Why did he want to see her so badly? Maybe it was just that after this whole Henry thing he wanted to...check up on her. Although what business had he checking up on her...he was her boss, not her -
Not her father or something.
And besides, Gio was a much cooler guy than Henry.
Yes, Daniel really wanted it to be Betty but at the same time he felt so terribly guilty and scared. Because he had been fired and - and she didn't know. He couldn't ruin her holiday like this. This was supposed to be her break.
He watched as the light-blue-coat-woman turned slightly, and he saw her face in profile - there was no doubt about it. It was Betty, his Betty! Well not his, but you know, the one he knew.
"It is her this time," he told Daniel Jr, smiling triumphantly.
His son rolled his eyes and smiled at the same time, and something tugged affectionately in Daniel's heart. That gesture was so familiar; he was sure he'd seen it so many times before in his childhood. "Bon."
Daniel grinned, taking the boy's hand. "Come on, let's go say hi."
The pull was natural. She was his best friend, he'd depended on her for so long, and no matter how guilty he was he still had to go and say Hi. Only it might seem as though he'd followed her here...he'd known she was coming, hell, he'd bought her tickets. But oh well. Who gave a damn? Not him. She was here, and he was here -
He stumbled the last few steps toward Betty, losing his balance over an old lady's shopping trolley, letting go of Daniel Jr's hand.
"Ah-" he knocked into Betty's side, causing her to drop the bag she was holding. He dove forward for it, miraculously snagging the top with his right hand; but it was too late to do anything else, and he brought Betty down with him. She fell on top of him with a slight shriek, and despite the pain of the impact he smiled at the mere familiarity of seeing Betty again, her glasses, her hair, her braces.
"How could you -" she groped for her glasses, patting something solid beneath her, glaring around for the nasty man's face as she did so.
As she slid on the glasses, the first thing that came into focus was a pair of familiar blue eyes. She grinned involuntarily. So it wasn't some horrible stranger, then, but her clumsy boss. He wasn't wearing one of his usual suits - but then he was on holiday. After all, he was in Rome. Why was he -
"Betty?" Gio's voice reached her from far, far above. He stared down at her, a strange expression on his face.
Betty looked down. Daniel's face was directly below hers; she realised she was still lying on top of him, grinning, hand resting on his chest from when she'd been scrabbling for her glasses.
Wow, was his skin hot or what? And he was so hard - muscles -
She shook her head dazedly and scrambled off him. "Oh - oh - er, Gio, look who's here!" She pointed at Daniel. "Daniel!"
Daniel nodded awkwardly at Gio, straightening his collar. "Hi, Gio."
"Hi, Mr. Meade," Gio said.
"Don't be silly," Betty said, poking him in the arm. "It's Daniel."
The two men looked at each other for a split second before Daniel Jr. jumped over. "Bonjour," the boy said, smiling at Betty.
"Daniel!" Betty said, smiling hugely. "Wow! Hi! Is your daddy taking you all over Italy?"
Daniel Jr eyed her weirdly.
"Betty, he's eleven, not six," Daniel said, laughing. "And Daddy?"
Betty sighed tiredly. "Fine, he's not so small. And aren't you a Daddy?" It felt odd saying that, but strangely good. She smiled.
"Well, I suppose I am," Daniel said, thoughtfully. "Hm."
"Fancy meeting you here, Daniel." Gio smiled suspiciously at him. Why had the guy followed Betty and himself? Didn't he trust him with Betty? And besides, what was Daniel to Betty that he would check on her anyway...his expression became friendlier at this last thought. Daniel was just the boss. The sight he'd been greeted with, Betty sprawled all over Daniel, was just another one of those eccentric scenes the two of them could make...
"You mustn't think I'm stalking you," Daniel said, reaching for his son. "Oh, no. I was taking my son on a tour of Europe...and just happened to see Betty across the road."
"Not for ze first ti-" Daniel Jr. began in his beginner's english, before Daniel quickly covered his mouth, muffling the rest of the sentence.
Betty smiled puzzedly at the two of them. "Oh, but won't a tour be a very long break? Is your leave of absence that long?"
Daniel felt a drop of ice slide between his ribs, but he managed not to let the feeling show. "Oh it's okay."
Betty looked concerned, her eyes boring into his. As usual, it seemed she were the only one there; he would bend to her will soon, spill all -
"Well, nice meeting you guys," Gio broke in, smiling cheerfully. "Have a nice stay. Betty and I have some sightseeing to do. Isn't that right?" He gently brushed Betty's hair back, kissing her on the cheek, just above the jawline. The intimacy gave Daniel's throat a strange twinge. Unbidden, the thought of the hotel room he'd booked came to his mind. One room. Why did he do that again? Because one room meant one bed - and one bed meant sharing - and
Do not go there, Daniel! That's Betty's privacy!
He smiled at Gio instead, trying to fend off the improper wonderings. "Have fun - we'll be off, then." He patted Daniel Jr. on the shoulder.
"Oh, no," Betty said, suddenly.
"No?" Gio looked at her. "I thought you wanted to see the colis-"
"Yes, but that was before Daniel turned up," Betty said, smiling patiently at Gio. "We can't just meet them and then leave."
"Oh," Gio said.
"Betty - you don't have to -" Daniel said, awkwardly.
"Of course we have to," Betty said, firmly. "How could we just part like vague acquaintances?" She gripped his arm (and Gio's, almost as an afterthought) and smiled at Daniel Jr., and marched them all down the street to find some nice cafe.
