Disclaimer: I don't own Baby Daddy and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Nearing midnight on New Year's Eve, neither Danny nor Riley had anyone to kiss and it was bothering them. Danny had an idea that he hoped she agreed to. "You want to kiss, Riles? Just this once, for New Year's?"
Riley eyed Ben kissing his girlfriend and then shrugged. "Sure. I don't mind kissing you at midnight at all." Danny was her best friend, after all, and she was willing to help him out, especially when she didn't have anyone else to celebrate the holiday with.
Tucker eyed them warily and pulled Danny aside. "Are you sure kissing Riley is a good idea? I don't think you're going to like how this ends." He was still shocked that Danny hadn't told Riley how he felt yet and that she was still oblivious. Danny was so obvious that even Ben was starting to notice that something was going on between the two.
Danny nodded. "What could go wrong? It's just a kiss between two friends on New Year's Eve. That's it. Nothing's going to happen."
Tucker felt like smacking Danny or himself, but refrained from doing so. "You're in love with her, Danny. So much could go wrong. Don't be a moron." He had a feeling that Danny wasn't going to listen to him anyway, so Tucker wasn't sure why he had even tried in the first place.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Danny went over to get some pretzels and waved to Riley, who was in the corner talking to one of their friends. She waved back and smiled.
When midnight was about five minutes away, Riley joined Danny in the kitchen and grabbed some pretzels with him. "So, you ready for this, Wheeler?"
"Always." He smirked at her and tried to tamper down his worry. He had nothing to be worried about it – This was just a kiss between friends on New Year's. That was all. One of his resolutions was to tell Riley how he felt, however, and he hoped she felt the same way. But that night wouldn't be tonight. He'd let her enjoy the holiday before confessing his feelings. When the countdown started, Danny turned to face her.
As soon as the bell dropped completely, Danny went in for a kiss. Riley was shocked at the intensity, but she melted into it. The kiss went up a few notches in intensity, and the two hadn't realized they had started to make out until Tucker purposely coughed to interrupt them. They pulled apart quickly. "Wow," Riley murmured. She didn't know why she was so into the kiss, but it was scaring her.
"You can say that again." Danny considered admitting his feelings right there and then, but decided against it. Too many people were there and it wasn't the right time.
"Wow. That was nice." Riley wasn't sure why they had started to kiss like that, but she wasn't about to think too much about it right now. She didn't want to go down that road at that moment, especially when they had an audience.
"I'm glad. Hey, you want to go talk to Ben?" Danny was desperate to change the subject now, and Riley went along with it.
"Of course I do." She laughed nervously and then practically bolted over to Ben's side. Meanwhile, Danny willingly went to go talk to Tucker, who was ushering him off. Bonnie made a beeline for them both when she saw where they were heading.
"That was stupid. Now I've scared her away." Danny now wanted to go to bed and wished he could turn back time. Kissing Riley had been fun, but he had a bad feeling they had made a mistake. He couldn't shake it off, either.
"I told you to confess your feelings earlier, but you didn't listen. And didn't I warn you about this? Just hope that you can lie and convince her that the kiss meant nothing." Tucker had a bad feeling, too. That kiss had meant something, and everyone knew it.
"I think you should tell the truth, honey. What do you have to lose? Riley should know how you feel. Actually, you should have told her a long time ago." Bonnie just wanted her sons to be happy, and clearly, Danny was happy with Riley. She just hoped Riley felt the same way.
Danny sighed. "Fine, I'll talk to her in the morning and tell her how I feel. But I'm blaming you two if this ends badly."
Bonnie laughed. "You do that." She kissed his forehead and then went off to join the rest of the partygoers.
Danny couldn't sleep at all that night, too worried about Riley's reaction. What if this ended their friendship for good? He wanted her in his life any way he could get her, whether that was as his girlfriend or just his friend. He was terrified he'd lose her if she knew how he really felt, especially since she was still hung up on Ben. He still had nightmares about Ben and Riley's relationship going anywhere, since it was a very real possibility. He knew his brother had feelings for Riley now, but neither was doing anything about it. He hoped that it never became a relationship, although he'd be happy if Riley if she was truly happy. When Danny finally had enough and got out of the bed around six, she was sitting at the counter, drinking coffee and whispering to Emma. "Oh, you're still here."
She nodded. "Yup, Ben asked me if I could help with Emma since he knew he'd be too hung-over to take care of her." Riley didn't add that she had been freaking out about the kiss since he probably felt the same way.
"We should probably talk, Riles." Danny wanted to get this conversation out of the way so he wouldn't have to wonder anymore. He was sick of being hopelessly in love with her and keeping it a secret.
"You're right. Come on, Emma, time to go back to bed." She picked the baby up and headed towards the bedroom before returning to the living room. Danny had sat down on the couch, not wanting to talk in the kitchen.
"So, last night shocked us both." Danny wasn't sure where he was going with this, but he to start somewhere. He figured he'd rather rip the band aid off when he was ready.
Riley sighed. "What was that about? And tell me the truth, please." She wasn't sure she was ready to hear it, but knew she had to. This was probably going to be one of the most important conversations of her life.
"I have feelings for you. Actually, I'm in love with you and have been for a long time, but I didn't do anything about it because you liked Ben. I only meant to kiss you as a friend last night, but it clearly got out of hand." He felt so much better for actually telling the truth, but Danny still had a bad feeling about where this conversation was going to go. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling he had to save this conversation now.
"Wow." Riley had actually been expecting it, had been preparing herself for Danny to admit he had feelings for her, but she was still pretty shocked. She wasn't sure why, though. She had to think about what to say, how to let him down gently and easily. Unfortunately, Riley didn't have any feelings for Danny other than friendship.
Danny sighed and closed his eyes in preparation for the worst. He knew what she was about to say, and he was expecting it to hurt. Why had he been so stupid last night and got caught up in the stupid holiday? Now he had most likely ruined everything. "Yeah." He waited for her to break his heart and tried to steel himself for the pain that was most likely about to come.
"Well. Danny, believe me when I say that I appreciate the way you feel about me, but I'm sorry. I'm not in love with you, and I only see you as a friend. I don't want to hurt you, but it's the truth. I'm in love with Ben and I want to see where that goes." She tried to blink back tears because she didn't want to cry, but failed.
Danny was near tears himself and his voice broke as he started to speak. He cleared his throat, but it didn't work. "It's okay. I knew you didn't feel the same way about me, but I had to try, right? I just had a moment where I was really stupid. Don't worry about me, Riles. I'll be fine." He laughed through his own tears. He wasn't fine now, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever be. His heart had definitely been broken, and he wasn't sure what to do next. He hadn't had plans for life after rejection, even though he had figured that's where they would end.
"I'm so sorry." Riley let out a sob and hugged him. Danny sniffled and reluctantly hugged her back. He was still worried that he had ruined everything, however, and was terrified of her next actions.
"I'm sorry too." A few minutes later, after both had tried to stop crying and gather themselves together, they pulled apart.
Riley wiped the tears off her face and sniffled. "I probably won't be by for a while unless it's to take care of Emma. It's going to be a little awkward for a long time. Can you deal with that?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Wouldn't want it to be awkward or anything. Don't worry about it, Riles." Danny was just going to wallow in self-pity as long as possible, but no one was going to stop him.
She laughed and choked back another sob before hugging him again. "I'll always love you as a friend, Danny. I'll see you later." Then Riley walked out of the apartment – And Danny's life.
Danny and Riley tried their best to get over the rejection, but unfortunately, nothing worked, especially after Ben and Riley got together. Their friendship was irreparably damaged as a result of New Year's and they'd never get back to what they were beforehand.