The Moon Dances and the Tide Changes

Chapter Seven

She didn't know who had started it, all she knew was that it was happening. She was kissing Niles Crane and it was incredible. It was like nothing that she had ever experienced. It felt wonderful, and magical, and good, and right.

But it shouldn't feel that way. She shouldn't feel any of these things toward Dr. Crane. Reality came crashing down on her and she was bombarded with memories of what had happened only minutes before…

"Oh, Daphne. I adore you!"

"I adore you, too."

"Oh, how I've longed to hear those words"

"Oh, how I've longed to say them."

"You're beautiful. You're a goddess."

"This is the most glorious night of my life."

"Oh, mine too."

Her blood ran cold as she realized what she had done. She had let her guard down and allowed her feelings to come to the surface. She knew that she had let her heart to get the better of her and now Dr. Crane was going to pay the price. She was going to have to break his heart. She didn't want to but she knew that if she gave into her feelings and began a relationship with him, it would never work out and he would end up with a broken heart anyway. It seemed like the better option to break his heart a little bit now rather than shatter it into a million pieces later on.

Her mind began to race at a million miles an hour while she tried to figure out how to make it all better. She wanted to let him down as gently as possible to spare his feelings as much as she could and to make sure that their friendship stayed intact. Ideas popped into her head as quickly as they were discarded and then she saw the snooty couple sitting at their table staring at the two of them and looking completely shocked. That was it! She could pretend it was all a show and give him the out of pretending the same thing. At least this way he could walk away with his dignity and maybe it would help offset the pain a bit.

"Daphne, I'm a new man. Do you have any idea what I'm feeling," he asked as they sat back down at their table.

His words tore through her as though she had taken a bullet straight to the heart. How could she have been so reckless? She had always been so careful about making sure that he never found out that she knew about his feelings and she had been doubly careful about making sure that she never gave even a hint about her feelings towards him. And now she had ruined it all and given him false hope. She felt like the worst person in the world but she knew what she had to do.

She was almost convinced that it was going to hurt her just as much as it would hurt him but she knew that she had to do it now; before his hopes became even higher. It would be just like removing a Band-Aid.

Take a deep breath, brace yourself for the pain…

"Of course I do. Your friends look positively dumbstruck. From now on there'll be no more of that 'poor Niles attitude'," she began.

"Far from it," he replied.

And rip…

"I knew you were a good dancer, but I had no idea you were such a good actor," she said.

"Actor," he replied, obviously a bit confused.

"Daphne you're a goddess. Daphne I adore you," she mimicked. "We fooled everyone didn't we?"

She could only look at him for a split second because the instant she saw the pain in his eyes, the knowledge that she was the one that put it there had her wanting to take it all back and give into her desire to jump back into his arms and kiss him again. So she looked down at the table and waited for his response.

"We certainly did, didn't we," he said, sounding more defeated and depressed than she had ever heard him.

There was a deafening silence that followed and it lasted for what seemed like an eternity. For every second that passed, she felt her inability to continue with the charade multiply ten-fold. Just when she thought that she couldn't stand it any longer, he said,

"I think we should be heading home. I don't want to incur the wrath of Dad if I'm late dropping you off."

Daphne agreed and they were on their way. The ease of being with one another that they normally enjoyed had disappeared completely and neither one of them was sure what to say, so they remained silent.

A feeling that she could not describe had come over her and she tried desperately to figure out what would help it go away. She realized that what she really wanted to do was cry but she knew that she couldn't cry in front of Dr. Crane so instead she focused on replaying the events of the evening over and over again in her mind, trying to pinpoint exactly where she had gone wrong.

She was so lost in her thoughts that the next thing she knew, she was standing in the elevator of the Elliot Bay Towers and the doors had opened in front of apartment 1901. She stepped out into the hallway with her mind trying to catch up and remember how she had gotten there.

As they stood in front of the door, Daphne found herself at a loss for what to say to him. She so desperately wanted everything to go back to normal and she finally decided that the best thing to do would be to put all of her feelings aside and act the way she normally would. She tried her best to act as nonchalant and carefree as possible as she thanked him for the evening and wished him a good night.

Much to her relief, he seemed to take his cue from her and he acted much more like himself as he returned her sentiments and then thanked her for accompanying him to the ball and for all the time that she had spent on his lessons.

She watched him step into the elevator before she turned and unlocked the door and stepped into the apartment.