A/N: Can It be?! Yes! It is an update! I have been SWAMPED with eveything in life this past semester. I have the rest of this story written out in my notebook (it's been for quite some time), it's just that I need to find the time to type it all up and make it all pretty like!
Many thank yous (as usual) to my amazing friend Erin who always checks it over to make sure it's fine. Here is your sugarstick sweetie!
I do have to say that I feel like a part of my soul is ripped out when I found out that this is the final season of UB. The past four years watching the characters grow, has been amazing. I will definately be sad to see this go. Bright side: it is rumored right now that Chris Gorham might be back for the series finale and they are talking about a wedding. So let's keep the hope alive!
Happy Valentine's/Singles Awareness Day to all and enjoy my valentine to you all: Nerd Love. :D
~Bridget
It might be Saturday, but Betty needs to get some work done in order to make the deadline. So after breakfast, she politely excuses herself to her family and makes her way to her apartment, showers, changes into fresh clothes, and makes her way towards MODE around lunch. On her way, she passes a very familiar place and walks in. As she waits in line to give her friend her order, she picks up her phone and dials. Her friend picks it up second ring.
Hello?
"Christina, it's Betty. Are you free for lunch?"
Yeah. Where are you?
"At Gio's shop. 15 minutes?"
Of course. Let me wake up Stuart so he can be up if something happens to William at school.
"Thank you Christina. Bye" she hangs up as she approaches the counter.
"Hi Betty." Gio says with a smile. He saw that something was up when she walked in and maybe that dinner did not go as well as she planned.
"Hi Gio."
"The usual I presume?"
"Yeah." she says in monotone. He puts in the order and leans on the counter.
"So..."
"So what?" Betty asks in an irritated tone.
"How was dinner?"
"Christina will be here in about 10 minutes. She'll want the same as me just so you know." Betty says, changing the subject.
"Oh, OK, I get it. Well when you want to talk, you know where I am." he says. "I'll bring your lunch over when Christina shows up."
"Thank you Gio." Betty says walking to her usual table in the back of the shop.
"Betty." She turns around. "Are you alright?"
"I don't know." Betty says with a slight frown as she makes her way and sits at the table. Gio looks over the counter at her as me makes the sandwiches, worried about his friend. All he thinks is what did he do to her?
"I went to unpack and when I looked through the pockets, there it was. I forgot that I brought it with me. But why did I? Why did I bring the ring? I don't know mom!"
"Don't kid yourself sweetie. You know why you brought it." Henry's mother, Helen says in her usual calm, cool, collected tone.
She knows that Betty is a sensitive topic with her son. Henry was not in the best of conditions when he returned from New York with Nate and Charlie five years ago. Correction: he was a wreck! She knows that he did not show it on the outside when he was among everyone else, but she knew he was hurting and when they finally did talk one-on-one when he got back, it broke her heart to see her son crumble when he told her what happened and what he did.
She knows that even having never meeting her yet, she knows that Betty is The One for her son. She sees the sparkle in his eye when he speaks of her. She hears the emotion in his voice when he speaks of her. No matter who he brought home to meet her, she knows that he was always comparing and that they will never be on the same caliber as Betty. She knows that he has unfinished business with her and he needs to get it done.
"You know what you need to do." she tells her son.
"Yeah, I know, but what happens if-"
"Do you really think that she will?"
"No, but-"
"Then what are you waiting for?!" She ask him. He sits there, contemplating he situation in his head. She knows what he is thinking. He is going over odds and statistics on the situation, but deep down she knows that he doesn't care about the statistics or the chances. He will risk anything and everything (except for Nate of course) for Betty. He looks back up at his mom.
"So?" Helen asks. Henry smiles sheepishly.
"Will you watch Nate for me?" He answers with a smile.
"Of course! Good thing you didn't finish unpacking huh?" she laughs.
"Yeah" he says getting up from the table and grabbing his luggage, filling some of his already half-filled luggage along the way. He calls a taxi and twenty minutes later, the cab driver is honking his horn from outside. Henry gives his mother a hug.
"I want a call when you land. I want the play-by-play, you got it?" she tells her son.
"Yes Mom. I love you."
"I love you too." she says. Henry walks to the cab and gets in after putting his luggage in the back. "Go get her!" Helen yells at her son as the cab drives away, a smile on her face, with a feeling that things will be working out for the good for him.
"Where to?" the cabbie asks.
"New York City" Henry says with conviction.
"Business or pleasure?" the cab driver asks.
"Love." Henry says simply. The driver looks in his rear view window seeing the look on the passengers face looking out the window and smiles...
"And he just left like that? All high, dry, hot and bothered?!"
"In the simplest terms, yes." Betty says chomping on another chip. She has not even touched her sandwich, just eating a chip every now and then, here and there.
"Oh my, that is bad." Christina says.
"Tell me about it. I don't know what I would do if it happened. I don't even want to picture it!"
"Understandable." Christina answers in her thick accent.
"So what do I do? Do I just let it go? Do I ask him about it?"
"No. I say you should-" the ringing of her cell phone interrupts her train of thought. She checks the ID and mouths a "sorry...Stuart" before picking up.
'Hello Stuart what's- oh! Oh ok I will be right there." Christina says before shutting her phone and quickly getting out of her seat.
"Sorry Betty,have to go. School is having trouble with little William and they called him; something about chocolate sauce and grated Parmesan cheese. I need to go get him."
"Yes, go, go!"
"We'll finish this conversation later sweetie!" Christina calls from the door before flying out of the building. Betty just sits there looking at her sandwich, having lost her appetite. That conversation did not help at all she thinks to herself. The shifting of the chair in front of her snaps her out of her thoughts to look up and see the friendly face now sitting in front of her.
"So that conversation did not help." the friend said.
"Gio, you read my mind. Tell me about it." Betty scoffs, putting her head in her hands. After a moment, she looks up at Gio.
"Gio, you know what happened. Don't tell me you did not ease drop our conversation."
He sighed sarcastically. "You got me. I did ease drop. I am a horrible person." he continues with the sarcasm. Betty smiles a small smile.
"There she is, there's Betty." Gio reassures her friend, but her small smile quickly fades again.
"But really, what do I do now Gio? I don't know. I feel that if we continued the way that were going, something was gonna happen, something big. I had a feeling that he was hiding something from me, but he wanted to." she ponders out loud, then a thought comes to her. "You don't think...no. No! No he wouldn't! It's crazy! Why would I even think of that? No, he's not that crazy to do that- or would he?" she looks at Gio with that look. He knows exactly what she means.
"But what if he would?" Gio asks.
"He wouldn't do it unless he was sure I..." Betty trails off.
"Well, do you?"
"Of course! I never stopped. Oh if only I kissed him! If only we did!" she says in frustration.
"Well would you if-"
"Yes. In a heartbeat. I've been regretting this decision for five years Gio. It was not until then night that I knew how much I really regretted what I decided to do. And to tell you the truth, I do not want to wait five more!"
"Then what are you going to do about it?" Gio asks. She jumps out of her seat.
"I have to go!" she says getting her things and making her way to the door.
"Where are you going?" Gio calls with a knowing smile.
"Correcting the mistake I did five years ago!" Betty yells, running out the door. Two subway trains and a cab later, she arrives at the airport ready to start another epic journey...
Wow, I feel like I was just here. Oh wait, I was. Henry laughs to himself as he walks out of the airport and into the cab, taking him to Queens. He arrives at the familiar house and pays the cabbie as he grabs his luggage and makes his way to the door, ringing the door bell. The slight breeze of the early evening blow on his face, feeling cool on it, hopefully drying the sweat on his forehead.
"Henry, what are you doing here? Where's Nate?" a stunned Ignacio asks when he answers the door.
"Nate is in Tucson. I am alone. I need to talk to Betty. Is she here?"
"No. Actually, I have not heard from her all day. Last time I remember, she was going to grab lunch then get some things done at MODE. You look tired, please, come in for coffee-"
"Thank you Ignacio, but I just need to find Betty. I need to talk to her."
"Ok Henry, are you sure-"
"Sir, I know that we were never on the same page about this, especially after my son was born. I know I hurt your daughter deeply, but I did not mean to. I love your daughter. I have never stopped loving your daughter. Five years ago, I took a leap of faith. I forgot to hold her hand and I let her go. I just can't do that again. I can't let her go this time." Henry says with a sudden surge of bravery. Ignacio looks at him in a different way. He knows deep down that Henry did nothing but mean well. He knows that seeing him and his daughter is like looking in the past, seeing himself with Rosa. He knew deep down that this was the man his youngest was going to end up with. He already loves Nate, and he always accepted Henry as part of the family, no matter how much he showed otherwise.
"Ok. Go what you need to do mijo." Ignacio says with a smile. Henry takes a huge step and envelops the older man in a hug. He is so much more relieved now that he knows that Ignacio is finally on board. "Thank you!" Henry calls off as he runs towards the subway, luggage and all. Three subway trains later, he is in times square barreling towards Gio's shop. He barges in just as Gio was about to close the shop.
"Henry, what are you doing here?"
"Where's Betty?" he breathlessly asks.
"Not here. She left a couple of hours ago."
"Oh, so she's probably at MODE or on her way to her apartment, can you tell me where-"
"Henry, she's not even in the city. Or in that matter, the state if my calculations are correct." Gio answers him.
"Gio, where is Betty?!"