"So, what do you want for dinner?" Betty asked after she got Daniel settled on the couch. "There's spaghetti with that jar sauce you like, frozen pizza, or takeout," she went through the almost empty supply of food, since she hadn't felt like going anywhere lately. Not that she knew how to cook much, anyway.
"Pizza's fine," Daniel answered as he carefully stood up and walked toward the kitchen.
"Mind if I take a shower?" he asked.
Betty looked up from putting the pizza in the oven.
"So that's what that smell was?" she teased.
"You spend an hour with a punching bag and a treadmill and see if you still have the scent of vanilla and cocoa butter," he countered.
Betty couldn't believe he still noticed.
There was an awkward silence.
"Go ahead – I'll start a salad and by that time, everything should be ready," she answered.
"Ok," he smiled.
Betty went back to chopping then stopped.
"Daniel – wait!" she yelled.
"What?" he walked back in.
"The doctor said no showering for a couple of days. She doesn't want you to get your hand or stitches wet – or for you to accidentally pull them out - sponge bath only," Betty informed him.
"Right . . ." Daniel unfortunately remembered. He hated having to rely on her.
"I'll be done in just a few minutes," she nervously told him.
After changing into something that she didn't care about getting wet, Betty timidly walked into the bathroom, finding Daniel sitting in his boxers on one of the benches next to the sink. He was attempting to get his shirt off himself, but failing.
"Here, let me help," she offered and carefully eased his arms out, making sure not to get his injured hand or shoulder caught in the material.
She ran water in the sink and grabbed a bottle of shampoo, body wash, a couple of washcloths and a hand towel. She folded the towel and placed it at the edge of the sink.
"Lean your head back," she said.
As she slowly eased his head under the sink, making sure his neck was padded by the towel, they briefly caught each other's eyes before immediately turning away.
She awkwardly cleared her throat and placed a folded washcloth over his forehead to protect his stitches. She wet his hair, carefully cupping the water in her hand, making sure not to splash any. She then drained the water out of the sink and started applying the shampoo in his hair, gently massaging his scalp.
What was she trying to do to him? Her fingers running through his hair were driving Daniel insane. Feeling her breath and being so close . . . knowing how hard she was trying to take care of him, despite their problems . . . He knew he was supposed to be mad at her, but it was almost impossible when she was making him feel so good . . .
His guard began to let down even more when Betty started washing his face. Making eye contact was unavoidable. The cool water on his skin . . . her gentle touch . . . her lips so close to his . . .
Keep it together, Betty, she told herself as she forgot what she was doing and rubbed the cloth too hard against his chest.
Daniel winced.
"Sorry - I'm so sorry!" she apologized and tried to focus.
It's just a sponge bath, she repeated in her mind. It wouldn't be any different if she were a nurse. Do the job and get out. He's just a wounded guy, she silently reasoned with herself.
Except he wasn't. He was Daniel – her Daniel. And he was naked and hurt, and regardless of their trust issues she couldn't help but be drawn to him. Honestly, there wasn't much of anything about him that hadn't turned her on – from the way he obsessed over the pettiest things (like which shirt to wear to a media event) to his unsuccessful poker face (the twitching corners of his mouth and the twinkle in his eyes always gave him away) . . .
"Betty? Are you okay?" Daniel snapped her back to reality as she realized she was clutching the washcloth so tight that it made a small puddle of water on his stomach.
"I–I'm fine!" she said, a little too perkily, as she quickly grabbed a towel. She continued to gingerly wipe down his scratched-up arms.
As she reached over to get his other shoulder, her breath on his neck . . . her cleavage practically in his face for a brief moment . . . he couldn't take it any longer. The heat between them was too much for him to bear.
He gently grabbed her arm. She was startled at first, but then timidly leaned her head in as they brushed each other's lips. Sinking more into the moment, he tenderly latched onto her upper lip, immediately regretting it.
"Ahhh!" he cringed in pain, forgetting his mouth was busted.
"Ohhh . . . Baby I'm sorry. I should've known better," Betty caressed Daniel's jaw line in concern.
"No, it's my fault. Don't worry about it," he rubbed her arm, assuring her.
They stared awkwardly at each other, then began to laugh at the whole situation.
"Is something burning?" Daniel noticed.
"Oh my god – the pizza!" Betty ran out of the bathroom to check on it. She came back in a few minutes later. "Unless you like your pizza extra charred, I think it's ruined," she informed him.
Daniel laughed.
"So much for multi-tasking," he mused.
"Hey! I will have you know that I am the queen of multi-tasking. I had to be, working for you," she joked.
He smiled.
"So what now?" he asked.
"I just called and ordered another one," she said as she handed him clothes to change into and helped him put them on.
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"I thought we could pick out a movie while we wait for the pizza." Betty suggested, once they were back in the living room.
"Okay," Daniel agreed as Betty brought out their salads. "Hey, Betty? Where are all of my movies?" he asked, having a really bad feeling when he glanced at a glass on top of what appeared to be a DVD.
Oh god! Betty suddenly remembered what she did. "Umm . . . Let's see what's on TV – or better yet, let's play a game. I want a rematch in Scrabble –" she stalled.
"Betty . . ." Daniel knew she was hiding something.
"You know . . . this is funny – I promise you're gonna laugh," she nervously and too perkily said.
He gave her a skeptical look.
"I was going through an anger phase a couple of days ago and I . . ." she trailed off and started mumbling.
"What?" Daniel anticipated a more coherent response.
"I . . . I used them as coasters and threw the rest out in the trash," Betty spit out and then ducked for cover.
"You what? Betty!" Daniel exclaimed, shocked and pissed at the same time.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" she told him. "I regretted it a few hours after I had done it – I was just so frustrated at the time, I didn't think about what I was doing . . ." Betty tried to defend herself.
Daniel reluctantly held back his anger and remained silent.
"I'll replace them – I promise," she insisted. He still didn't speak. "I'll even throw in that Blu-ray player you want for Christmas . . .?" she bargained, hopefully.
"Fine," Daniel grumbled.
Betty grinned and kissed his cheek.
"I really am sorry, Daniel." she said, seriously.
"I know," he said, putting his good arm around her. "So, what are my choices now? And please don't make me watch a cartoon!" he begged her before she started showing him the remaining selection.
He finally settled on "When Harry Met Sally". It was a classic, and at least it had a guy's point of view to it.
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Eating proved harder than he had thought it would, with his busted lip. The salad was worse than the pizza, but he still ended up having to have Betty cut it up for him. He felt like a child, without the use of his hand.
After eating, they curled up on opposite sides of the couch and watched the rest of the movie, unaware of gradually falling into their familiar patterns together by the end.
Both lying on the same side of the couch, Daniel had his arm wrapped around Betty's stomach and Betty was absently playing with his fingers, which were intertwined with her own. There was silence when the credits were finished.
"You still awake?" Betty coyly looked up at Daniel.
"Yeah," he smiled down at her.
"I'd better set the alarm on my phone just in case. And it's time for you to take more of your pain meds," she broke the moment and slowly got up, careful not to harm Daniel in the process.
"It's only 9:30PM – wanna watch another one?" she asked.
"Sure. You pick, this time," he agreed.
Betty searched through her stack of movies and landed on "Two Weeks Notice". She needed another comedy, and that one always brought back memories.
"That one, again?" Daniel questioned.
"What? It's one of my favorites," she countered.
"Yeah, I know – haven't you worn it out by now?" he joked, secretly liking it himself.
"Like you haven't worn out 'The Godfather', 'Lethal Weapon', or 'Austin Powers'?" she playfully fired back.
His mouth dropped.
"Fine. You got me – let's get this over with," he rolled his eyes.
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"I can't believe he called her at 3AM for advice on another girl," Daniel remarked.
"I can," Betty argued, giving Daniel a look.
"What? I never did that to you," he innocently insisted.
"Daniel, you drunk-dialed me so many times over the years I lost count. And most of those calls were about whatever random girl you were with at the time," she corrected him. "I also remember even having to come get you a few times," she pointed out.
Daniel grumbled in regretful agreement.
Further into the movie, Betty started laughing and shook her head at Daniel.
"Don't look at me like that!" he said, defensively.
Betty paused the movie.
"Thanksgiving, a few years ago? You called me out of dinner with my family, claiming it was an emergency. I rushed all the way to your apartment only to find you couldn't decide on a shirt to wear to impress Sofia Reyes. You were just as bad, if not worse sometimes," she mused.
Daniel hung his head.
"Alright – I was scum," he admitted.
"No. You were just incredibly needy. Not that I minded. I actually found it cute, most of the time," Betty assured him. "And you got better – stopped coming to me at all, certain times last year. I was out of the loop with Tyler – Amanda, of all people, filled me in. What was that, anyway?" she asked.
"I don't know. I guess after going to extremes to protect you from Matt and trying to protect you at work, I realized I probably needed to back off. You weren't my assistant anymore, and I knew you had your own problems to work through without me dumping on you," he explained.
"After what happened with Molly, I was trying not to rely on you so much – prove that I could handle things on my own. I didn't do so well, and Amanda was already my 'fun buddy', so I just told her my problems. Believe me, she was no you. But that time when we were fighting over your blog award, she really helped me gain some perspective," Daniel confessed.
"I'm sorry you felt like you had to distance yourself from me. I know I told you I didn't want special treatment at work, because everyone knew how close we were. But it didn't mean I wanted us to stop being friends. You could have always come to me. It hurt a little when you turned to Amanda - especially when I caught you in my hallway in your boxers – not the greatest way for me to find out about you two," she admitted.
"So that's why you were acting so weird when you saw me? Because it's not like we hadn't been caught in worse situations before. Were you jealous?" Daniel asked, enjoying it a little too much.
"No! Well, maybe. I mean, I didn't want to think about you two . . . you know. And you never said a word to me about it before then. Plus I was stressing out with my family living with me . . ." she excused.
"You were jealous," he grinned, satisfyingly.
"Okay, okay. Yes. I was jealous. You were flaunting your sex life in my face and I had no one at the time," she continued to deny it. "Can we go back to the movie now?" Betty pleaded.
"Whatever," Daniel smirked, amused.
She rolled her eyes and turned the movie back on.
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Betty woke up, in Daniel's arms on the couch, to the sound of her alarm. It was midnight and he was still fast asleep.
"Daniel? Hey, Daniel?" she gently nudged him.
"Hmmm? What? Come back to bed, babe," he muttered.
"No. Daniel, sweetie, you've gotta wake up for me," she nudged him a little harder this time.
"Huh?" Daniel's eyes sprung open and his head shot up.
"Hey," Betty quietly said. "Sorry – Round 1 of making sure you're still okay," she smiled. "Besides, I think you'll be more comfortable in a bed anyway. C'mon," Betty helped a sleepy Daniel off the couch and settled him in their bed. She turned to leave when Daniel stopped her.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I'm sleeping on the couch," she innocently replied.
"Why?" he wondered.
"I just thought you wouldn't . . ." Betty trailed off.
"Stay," he requested.
"Okay," she hesitantly agreed. "Let me go get my phone," she headed off to the living room.
Were they actually making progress? There were some moments earlier when she thought they might still have a chance. And his asking her to stay was a pretty big one. But it could just be the drugs and sleepiness, she second guessed, trying not to get too hopeful.
Just take it slow, she told herself as she took a deep breath and went back into their bedroom.
Daniel had already fallen asleep again, and Betty quietly crawled in beside him. He moaned and sub-consciously wrapped his arm around her. She smiled and closed her eyes.
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Betty's alarm went off again. It was 8AM - the last of many awakenings throughout the night. She reached for her phone and groaned.
"Daniel . . ." she absently felt for his arm.
"Mmm . . . Yeah . . ." Daniel muttered.
"Daniel . . . You have to get up," Betty half-heartedly insisted as she turned over to face him.
"Hey . . . ." he sleepily smiled.
"Hey," Betty smiled back. "You feeling okay?" she asked.
"Like a truck ran over me," he replied.
"I'll go get your medicine," Betty started to get out of bed.
"Wait," Daniel grabbed her arm. "I wanted to talk to you," he tried to sit up.
She warily lied back down next to him.
"I . . . uh . . . I want to thank you for what you did for me yesterday. I know I didn't make it easy on you and I'm sorry," he apologized.
"Daniel . . ." Betty began.
"Wait. Just hear me out," he requested. "You didn't have to come get me, and you didn't have to take care of me. But you did. You put up with all my crap, despite everything we've just been through. And I realized, it doesn't matter what the tape shows or what Tyler or the tabloids say. I believe you. I know now that you didn't do it, because anyone who would go out of their way like you did, wouldn't have cheated in the first place," he recognized.
"I'm so sorry that I couldn't see it earlier. I just – I've always had trust issues. My entire family life has consisted of lies and schemes and cheating at one point or another. And when I thought you were just like them, I broke down; because you were the only person I could count on no matter what," he revealed.
"I know we promised a long time ago not to put each other on pedestals, but I couldn't help it. I've been happier in these past few months than I've ever been before. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the dream to be over. And for a moment, I thought it had. I'm so sorry, baby, and I completely understand if you can't forgive me," Daniel took a breath in and nervously waited for Betty's response.
Betty was silent for a few minutes while she gathered her thoughts.
"You have to know by now that I would do anything for you, Daniel. A part of me wants to just forget everything that's happened the past few days and just go back to normal. But I can't. I know you've had problems with your family, and it's clouded your judgment," she hesitantly fidgeted with the comforter, knowing what she might say next could end their relationship for good.
"But you can't compare me, or anyone else, to them. It's not fair. Especially after all we've been through together. You really hurt me. And I'm sorry that you had to go through this - I know you were hurt, too. But we have to support each other – even if all the evidence is stacked against us. Otherwise, this won't work. I love you - more than anything in this world - but I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me," Betty told him, trying to hold back tears.
"Hey . . . Hey . . . Look at me," Daniel wiped her tears with the pad of his thumb. "The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you. It's going to take some time for both of us to heal, to get back to where we were before. But I'm willing to fight, if you are. There's nothing that I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you too much to let you go. So are you with me?" he asked.
Betty meekly nodded as Daniel held up his good hand. Betty skeptically slapped it.
"Alright!" he grinned.
"You're such a dork," she teased.
"Yeah, I know," he smiled, embarrassed.
"But I love you anyway," Betty tenderly kissed his cheek.
They held each other, relieved to have the worst behind them, and ended up falling back asleep again.
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Betty slowly opened her eyes and fumbled for her phone – 9:30AM.
"Hey, babe, you want me to get you a bagel?" she gently nudged Daniel. "Babe? You really need to take your pills," she tried again. "Daniel?" she gently shook him.
He didn't budge.
"Daniel, this really isn't funny. Baby, wake up! Daniel!" Betty began to panic. She checked to see if he was still breathing, and let out a sigh of relief before frantically calling an ambulance.