Summary: Daniel Meade thought he could keep his feelings a secret. What happens when the woman with the keys to his heart gets hurt in an accident?

Author's Note: Thank you guys so much for reviewing these first two chapters the way you did! I wasn't expecting that kind of response for this story but I'm really excited about writing the rest of it. Enjoy!!!


Daniel rolled over in bed, bumping into something soft. He opened his eyes, giving them time to adjust to the dark.

"Hey there," she smiled down at him. "Betty?" Daniel asked in surprise, his cobalt eyes growing wide.

"Who else would it be silly?" Betty grinned, her brown eyes gleaming as she propped her head up on her elbow.

Daniel smiled, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer. "Is this a dream?" he mumbled, nuzzling her neck. He heard her giggle. "I hope not," she replied.

He pulled away, admiring the way she looked in the moonlight. "You're so beautiful, Betty," he cupped her face, caressing one of her rosy cheeks, "I love you." She gave him a trademark smile.

"I love you too, Daniel." He leaned closer to her, barely grazing her lips…

Daniel's eyes popped open as the clock on his nightstand came into focus. He sat upright, rubbing his eyes.

He glanced to his right, half-expecting to see her there. It was just a dream, Daniel. Get a grip. He slowly got out of bed, flipping the light on in his bathroom. He turned the faucet on and splashed cool water on his face, staring at his reflection.

He sighed deeply, realizing it'd been awhile since he'd slept through the night. Daniel had started dreaming about her some time ago.

The dreams he'd had of her then had started out innocently enough and hadn't been all that frequent. The work-oriented dreams didn't get to him. He'd been quick to dismiss those at the time and simply thought it was due to all the late nights they'd spent in his office putting together numerous issues of Mode.

Then, he'd started to have dreams where they weren't in the office. They'd be somewhere random…but always having a good time.

It was after these dreams that Daniel missed his cheerful assistant and looked forward to seeing her smiling face the next morning. But, somewhere in between the Sophia fiasco and now, his dreams had taken a more serious turn.

The first time he'd kissed her in his dream, he found it odd, as most people would, that he was thinking of Betty in that way. He'd actually found it quite funny and accepted that it was his way of coping over being dumped.

After the second, third, and fourth kisses however, he realized there was more to it. The more time he spent with her, the deeper his feelings became…and, consequently, Betty Suarez came to occupy his dreams almost every night.

His lack of sleep wasn't because he had trouble falling asleep. In fact, he looked forward to dreaming about her. It was after dreams like the one he'd had tonight that kept him awake in the early hours. These dreams tugged at his heart…he wished they were reality, but they were anything but that. And they likely never would be.

Daniel blinked at his reflection, running a hand over the stubble on his face and trying to clear his mind. How had he gone from a playboy to a lovesick fool? Betty. That's how.

A year ago nothing would have gotten to him. Hell, he wouldn't have even looked Betty's way, let alone had feelings for her.

Now he was having dreams about confessing his love for her. The dream had felt so real.

The feeling he had in his chest when he'd told her he loved her. And how the feeling multiplied as she whispered those three words back… he could still feel the tingle of her lips on his and the softness of her skin beneath his fingertips...

Daniel shook his head slightly, a small grin at the corner of his lips. The whole idea was just crazy…sure he'd developed some strong feelings for Betty, but he wasn't in love with her. Was he? He wasn't even sure what love was…not after the Sophia debacle.

He turned off the bathroom light and walked back to his bed, staring at the spot occupied by Betty in his dream and suddenly longing to have her near him again.

He lay back down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. His eyelids got heavy as wishful thoughts that Betty was up late thinking about him entered his mind…

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to be continued...

next chapter will be up within a week or so. and as always, please tell me what you think :-D