Not Such a Lonely Thanksgiving, After All Chapter 4, an ugly betty fanfic

Author's Note:Okay, everybody, this is it! I can't thank my readers enough - all of the reviews I got just kept me writing faster and faster! I already have a new idea in my head, so my next story should be up soon!

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"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way..." Justin was singing as Daniel came to the top of the stairs.

"Batmobile lost a wheel and Joker got away," Daniel added, laughing at how being in the Suarez house for just five minutes made him so giddy.

"Hey Daniel, you came!" Justin greeted him as he stepped off the ladder leading into the attic.

"Of course I did. I told Betty I'd be here," Daniel replied.

"Well, I heard Aunt Betty telling my mom earlier that if you weren't here by 2:15 she was going march straight over to your apartment and force you over here, even if she had to drag you by your ear," Justin laughed.

Daniel shook his head with a smile, "Your aunt..." he stopped. "Would have done just that. But – I'm here – by my own free will - and she said you needed some help carrying some Christmas boxes down?"

"Yeah, there's still a few more up here," Justin replied as he started climbing back up the ladder.

Daniel followed. "This...is a few more?" he asked as he noticed an entire corner of the small attic stacked with boxes labeled "Christmas" in Betty's neat handwriting.

Justin laughed, "Yep, just this stuff on the left side of the wall," he pointed to another stack further down the wall. "All of that's stuff of my dad's that my mom hasn't been able to go through yet..." he said quietly, staring at the boxes.

Daniel looked at the stack for a minute and then back at Justin. "I'm sorry about your dad, buddy."

Justin finally looked away from the stack of Santos' stuff, "Yeah, yours too," he said.

"Thanks." The two stood in silence for a few seconds until Daniel finally broke the silence, "Okay, we better get this stuff downstairs before Betty decides that she needs to drag both of us down to the table by our ears!

Thirty minutes later Daniel and Justin had all of the Christmas boxes sitting in 3 neat stacks in the living room, minus two boxes that Hilda had sent Daniel back upstairs with, claiming that the stuff in them was ruined with the stench of the homemade potpourri Betty had attempted the previous year.

"Okay everybody, go wash up, dinner's just about ready!" Betty hollered from the kitchen

After everyone had washed their hands and sat down at the table, Betty carried over turkey and sat down at the empty chair between Daniel and her father. "Okay, everybody, dig in!"

"Oh my gosh, I am SO full!" Daniel exhaled as he sat down on the couch.

Betty laughed, "I know! I think I just ate more food in one sitting than some of our models ate this entire year!" she said as she sat down next to him.

"Okaaayyy, who's ready to decorate the tree?!" Justin sang as he entered the living room.

"Not yet, Justin. Let our food settle for a little bit, hand me the remote control," Betty said.

Justin rolled his eyes, but handed her the remote control. She turned on the TV and flipped channels until she exclaimed, "Oh, I love this movie! And it's just starting! Do you like this one, Daniel?"

Daniel stared at the screen to see a movie that looked like it was at least 25 years old, starring a blonde haired boy wearing glasses. "I have no clue what this is, Betty."

"You've never seen 'A Christmas Story'? It's a holiday tradition! We're watching it!" she said as she curled her legs into her body, and moved slightly closer to Daniel.

"Okay, movie's over, food's settled, let's decorate!" Justin exclaimed as the credits started rolling on the bottom half of the screen, while the movie started over again on the top half. "Me and Grandpa already put the tree up and the lights on, so now all we have left are the ornaments and stockings."

Betty and Daniel slowly got up and made their way over to the tree. Betty started rummaging through the boxes and began taking things out and hanging them on the tree. Every so often she would chuckle as she took something out of the box, and a few times rolled her eyes as she'd put something back in. Hilda came in and started doing the same thing, as Daniel just stood and watched.

"Daniel, come on, you can hang this one. My mother helped me make it when I was 8," Betty said as she handed him a wooden angel, whose wings were covered in silver glitter. Daniel took the ornament and hung it near the top of the tree, where few ornaments were hung and as he turned back around, Betty already was holding another ornament out for him to hang.

As the last ornament was hung, the clock chimed. "Seven o'clock," Daniel said. "I should probably get going if I want to get home at a decent hour, with all the traffic out."

"Are you sure? You're more than welcome to stay over as long as you like," Mr. Suarez said.

"Yeah, we haven't even gone in for leftovers yet!" laughed Hilda.

"Thanks, but I really should be going," said Daniel. He turned to Betty. "Thank you for having me over and turning into what would have been a pretty lonely Thanksgiving, into a pretty great one," he said loud enough for everyone to hear, but never taking his eyes off of his assistant.

"You're welcome. Any time," she said with a smile as she walked him to the door and handed him his coat.

"Well if you two aren't going to come in for leftovers, I guess I'm going at it alone! " Hilda teased as she headed into the kitchen.

"I'm right behind you, mija! And Daniel, I'll go ahead and call you a cab," Mr. Suarez said as he followed his oldest daughter into the kitchen.

"Thanks, Mr. Suarez," Daniel replied."Okay, well I guess I'll see you Monday," he said as he turned to Betty and put on his coat.

"Yeah. Or, you can always come over tomorrow for leftovers...if we have any," she said with a smile.

"Hey you guys," Justin said in a sing-song voice, as he looked above them with a smile.

Betty and Daniel looked up and saw that Justin had hung a sprig of mistletoe right above the doorway where they were standing. Justin laughed and headed into the kitchen, leaving them alone.

"Well," Daniel said, nervously biting his lip.

"We don't have to...kiss. It's just stupid tradition," Betty whispered, looking back up at the mistletoe.

"I thought you liked traditions," Daniel smugly whispered back as he took her hands in his and placed them on his neck.

"I do, but..." she started back, as he lightly put his put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer.

As he leaned in she slowly stood on her tippy toes and their lips lightly touched. She almost pulled away but he slowly moved his hand to the middle of her back and pulled her back in. She responded by clasping her hands behind his neck. Finally, their lips parted and he bent his neck, resting his forehead on hers, "Happy Thanksgiving, Betty."

"You too, Daniel."

After a moment he kissed her on the nose and they stood apart. "Okay, well, good night," she said nervously as she opened the door, "Oh, look, your cab's already here."

"Great, okay, well, goodnight Betty, and thanks again...for everything," he said, walking out the door.

"You're welcome," she smiled. "For everything."

He smiled back and walked down the steps and got into the car and gave the driver his address. After a few minutes he put his hands into his pockets and pulled a business card out. He looked at it for a minute and then smiled and took out his cellphone, and began dialing the number on the card.

"George, hi, it's Daniel Meade. Listen, I'm sorry to be calling you on the holiday but my assistant told me you're decorating the office this weekend, right?"

"Yes sir, that's correct."

"Great, I just have a simple request. Would you mind putting some mistletoe above my office door?"