A/N: (Feel free to skip my useless rambling) Hello again, all my wonderful and O-so-amazing readers and reviewers! I apologize for how late in the day this was posted, I had it 3/4ths of the way done at 7:30 this morning but then my computer crashed and I lost the whole thing and was forced to rewrite it from scratch, and I hadn't the time to do that until after dinner today. So, sorry about that! Anyway, this chapter's...eh... a bit angsty, but not as much. Still haven't really gotten back into the fluffy side of things yet. That'll come soon enough though. Enjoy and Review! :)

10

Goodbye, Hello

Matt stared down at his cup as Alex walked away. Karen and Arthur were quiet, beings as Karen was trying to debate on if she should have another drink and Arthur was falling asleep in his tequila. He glanced over at Daisy, hoping she might offer some sort of conversation to ease the awkward silence that had descended. He was surprised to see her looking a little distant, thoughtful… pensive? No…that couldn't be right… and yet it was the only word he could think of that fit. He never would've used pensive to describe Daisy, not in a million years. She was carefree, happy, maybe sometimes a little on the ditzy side… but… pensive? She looked like she was trying to decide something, and that made Matt shift in his seat a bit, fingers tapping on his glass. Had it something to do with the dance with Alex? She'd assured him it was okay… but now he wasn't too sure. He bit his lip and stared down at the table, not wanting to interrupt her thoughts.

"Matt?" He looked up when Daisy finally spoke, "Can I borrow you for a minute?"

He nodded, "'Course." Matt grabbed his coat and followed her outside, past the burgundy walls and the crowds of people, his hand slipped in hers, but she pulled away, and Matt frowned at that. That wasn't like Daisy. They stopped outside under a blonde street-light, the moon tracing spirals in the midnight sky as the cool Cardiff air swirled around them breezily. He could see Daisy's breath in clouds as she tried to formulate how she was going to say whatever she was going to say.

Matt hopped from one foot to the other nervously before noticing that Daisy had been too preoccupied to remember her jacket. He quickly slid his off and put it around her shoulders before asking, "Is everything okay, Daze?"

Her eyes met him as her fingers curled around the lapels of his jacket, tugging it closer around her small frame. It hung almost like a blanket around her. "Matt- I just…" She swallowed and turned away from him, trying to think. After another lengthy and impregnated silence, she finally whispered, "We both knew this was going to happen eventually." He felt her shiver when he put a hand on her shoulder, walking up to stand next to her. He didn't know what to say. He wished he could deny it, say that he had no idea what she was referring to, but the trouble was… he knew exactly what she was talking about. Daisy looked up at him, first at his eyes, then at his lips, and back at his eyes again, "You, me…this…was never meant to be permanent. We both knew that someday one of us would move on and find somebody that was…" she paused and took a deep breath, looking down and straightening his collar before continuing her sentence, "Better."

"Daisy... it's not like that…" Matt tried to stop her. He wouldn't necessarily call Alex better. He still really cared about Daisy and he didn't want to break her heart like this- but- he loved Alex.

"-Shut up." Daisy said softly, "I can see it in your face, every time you see her, the way your eyes light up and you look like you'd be willing to go to the ends of the earth to make her happy. You love her like crazy, Matt, and she loves you, and I don't want to be in the way of that." She wrapped her arms around herself and Matt's heart shattered. Why did he feel like he was stepping all over Daisy to get to Alex? He didn't want to do this…and yet he did. He gently took Daisy by the wrist and forearm, un-wrapping her and taking her hands.

He swallowed, "I don't want to hurt you like this, Daze… and Alex- Alex probably doesn't feel the same wa-"

Daisy laughed mirthlessly, pressing a finger to his lips, "Hush, stop being daft, Matt. Alex is crazy about you, and she needs you. Ok? And don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I think it's time we let each other go and move on." Her fingers whispered across his lips and then his nose, and Matt reached up to take them.

"What if I'm not ready?"

"Then I'm going to push you in head-first." She replied, a ghost of a smile crossing her face. "You deserve her, and she deserves you, and I am not going to let you mess up on this one and not go after her. You can't, not when out of all the charismatic, handsome men in this world, Alex Kingston chooses lovable, dorky you." She chuckled softly and stared down at the sidewalk.

Matt laughed as well and let go of her hand to scratch the back of his head, "No idea why…"

"You're an idiot." She blurted out, before shaking her head and looking back up at him, "Look, Matt. We'll still be friends, okay? Just- I'm not going to be in the way of you and Alex." She swallowed and then, when he wasn't meeting her eye, she commanded, "Matt, look at me."

Matt did. Honestly, why was he so reluctant to do this? He just… he felt like he was betraying Daisy somehow, or like he already had. She was sweet and lovable, and right now he was seeing that thoughtful side that he almost never did. He honestly didn't know she was that deep of a person, and that only pointed to how shallow their relationship really had been. He chewed on his lip and then looked down at her, staring into those eyes of hers.

Daisy took a deep breath and fondly straightened his collar before continuing, "I want you to go after her. Promise me that you'll act on all those feelings that I can see bottled up inside of you." She paused, "I want you to be happy, and I want you to make her happy like I know you can… like you've made me happy, only… you know…without all those limits that we put on ourselves."

Matt's lips pursed, his face tight as he nodded, trying to swallow that twisted knot in his throat. "I promise."

She smiled, "Good…I'm going to go get my coat." She went back inside the club, leaving Matt outside under the street-lamps to think.

He was free to go get Alex… He was free to express that he loved her. At least… as far as Daisy was concerned. He still felt awful, like he'd pushed Daisy into a corner somehow and left her no choice. He just hoped he wasn't the complete jerk he felt like right now. On the other hand, he felt like a weight had been lifted. He paced back in forth in front of the club. He didn't have to choose between Alex and Daisy anymore, Daisy had chosen for him. But…right now, he was terrified. Terrified because he was in a position that now put him up for direction, what if Daisy had been wrong and Alex didn't love him? What if she wasn't ready, just like him? He wasn't sure if he could deal with it if she rejected him. He knew he was young for her, but somehow, he hoped this would all work out.

Daisy came out a few minutes later, her coat and bag wrapped around herself. "I haven't told Karen and Arthur." She said quickly, "I'm- going to go home-"

"-I can drive you, if you like." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"No. It's fine." She replied, tugging on her jacket sleeve and then squeezing his hand, "I'll just get a taxi. Go have fun, Matt. Don't let me down, now." She gave him a wink and then waved, her hair blowing a bit in the wind as she walked away, carrying a little bit of Matt's heart with her.

He chewed on his lip and turned, looking back at the doorway to the club. Well, he might as well walk in there and start this now. It was like, for the past few weeks, he'd been standing on the edge of the pool, just touching his toes to the water and shivering at how cold and deep it seemed, and now Daisy had just shoved him in, clothes and all. He wasn't sure if he was happy about that or not.

Matt walked back into the club, sitting down at the table and looking around, surprised when he didn't see Alex. How long did it take for the bathroom? Was she okay? He looked at Karen and Arthur.

"Where's Alex?"

"She went home." Karen supplied.

Arthur nodded, looking tired, "-Said she felt sick."

Matt frowned in worry, this was not how he'd envisioned this to go. Well…he might as well leave her alone until she felt better, then. Though, if she wasn't feeling better soon, he might be forced to find out where she lived and check on her, no matter how dodgy that sounded in his head. "Oh. Okay."

A few minutes later, much to Karen's chagrin, Arthur announced sarcastically that he'd had a lovely birthday but that he needed to get home and sleep. He wasn't looking forward to the hangover in the morning. With that, the impromptu birthday party was ended, and the three drove back to set, and went to bed.

Before he went to bed that night, Matt, out of habit, picked up his phone to text Daisy goodnight… but then he thought better of it and tapped in a new number.

G'night, Kingston. Feel Better.