Daniel not only brought over an outfit and the other stuff she'd need for the next day, but he thoughtfully remembered to bring something comfy she could change into for the evening as well. He'd found a pair of yoga pants and a long sleeve cotton shirt and she put them on almost immediately. He disappeared upstairs to change from his work clothes before trying to tackle dinner.

As he shuffled around the kitchen looking for utensils he'd probably never used before, she had to smile. He looked a little lost but incredibly determined. She offered to help but he adamantly refused saying she needed to work, which was true, but she was also hungry and wondered, if she left him to flounder, how long she might have to wait.

She focused back on work, ignoring the rummaging in the kitchen for the next several minutes and when she looked up again, he was quietly chopping the veggies he'd found in her fridge, stirring the chicken that was in the wok, and his laptop was open beside him on the kitchen counter and he kept peeking at occasionally. He must have found a recipe to help.

Betty managed to get a significant amount of work done before supper but she was still struggling with the layout of the sequence of articles, photos, and commentaries on the Chilean miners trapped underground. She'd been struggling with it, on and off all day, just not able to find the right combination that made sense. It was several pages long and that seemed to be complicating everything. After supper Daniel insisted she get back to work while he cleaned up. Several minutes later she was still staring at the layout because she couldn't get it the way she wanted it.

He was wiping his hands on a towel as he walked over to where she was sitting on his living room floor, the laptop open on her lap as she leaned back against the foot of his leather armchair and stared at the screen and the layout in the program she was working in.

"That's a look of concentration, if ever I've seen one."

"It's not right," she said, feeling discouraged.

He sat down in the chair she was leaning against. "Do you mind if I take a look?"

"No, go ahead." She handed him the laptop and stood up to stretch and get a drink of water.

He took several minutes to familiarize himself with the content of the articles while she drank her water, used the washroom and walked around his loft trying to clear her head. Eventually she wandered back over beside the chair and looked over his shoulder.

"What if you put this article first," he pointed to the article in the middle of the spread.

"Why?"

"Well," he was thoughtful for a second before he continued, pointing at the screen. "That would allow you to put these two articles together with this sequence of photos, followed by this commentary because they feel like they should go together." He turned his head up to look at her questioningly.

"I guess. But then this article doesn't fit anywhere." She pointed to the article on the far left. "And it's pretty significant. I don't want to cut it. Plus, then what do I do with this commentary? It would feel like it was just thrown in at the end."

Daniel nodded. Betty sat back down in her spot on the floor against the chair and Daniel handed the laptop back to her. They continued the discussion like that for another twenty or thirty minutes, arranging and rearranging everything several times. Finally, something worked and everything seemed to fit, like completing a jigsaw. Betty smiled as the relief settled in.

"Oh my gosh, I thought I was never go to get that right," she turned her head and smiled up at him. "Thank you."

"I didn't do much; I just offered a few suggestions."

"A few great suggestions that I never would have thought of."

"You would have figured something out eventually," he shrugged it off. He stood up and walked back over to the kitchen to put the towel away. "I think it was the combined effort. Like I've said before: We make good team."

She nodded thoughtfully, looking at the layout, and said softly, "We do, don't we?" Her mind started wandering to the future and other non-publishing related assignments…

The two of them sitting around a laptop on the table selecting courses for Daniel's program; Daniel smiling proudly as he escorts her to a Londonesque charity event; the two of them arriving at the door of Harrods and immediately spitting up to divide and conquer the Christmas shopping; both of them dragging a Christmas tree up to his loft and decorating it as they drank hot chocolate and listen to Christmas music; an adorable, goofy Daniel babbling incoherently to a tiny bundle wrapped in a blue blanket right before he hands the precious cargo to her and says "I think it's your turn, he's hungry, Betty…Betty…"

"Betty?" Daniel 's voice snapped her out of her stupor and for some reason she could hardly look at him. Oh my God, she was NOT just picturing that. Talk about getting ahead of herself. They hadn't been dating longer than a month and she was nowhere near ready to have a baby! What on earth was wrong with her?

He gave her an odd, concerned look from his position in the kitchen. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. I'm fine. Just thinking…" about having your babies, she refrained from finishing. She tried to sound nonchalant about it. "Uh, what were you saying?"

He hesitated while he examined her for a second but then didn't pursue it. "I said, I guess I should do some work too, huh? I assume you still have stuff to do?"

"Tons. I still have to red-line all of this." She gestured to the files spread out around her and tried to forget the betrayal of her overactive imagination.

She pulled her red-line pencil out of her bag, grabbed a file, and leaned back against the foot of the armchair, pulling her knees up to use them as a desk while she reclined. Daniel pulled his laptop and some files out of the bag and brought them over to the sofa where he stretched out with it on his lap and the files on the coffee table beside him. They worked companionably like that for a long time. Betty wasn't even really aware of how much time had passed but the sun had set a little while ago. Her eyes were getting blurry and strained, so she paused for a second and looked over at Daniel. He was staring out the window, not at his laptop.

He pushed his laptop aside and hopped up.

"Come on, you're missing it." He grabbed her hand and tugged her up.

"What? What am I missing?"

He let go of her hand long enough to scoot over to the wall switch and flick off the lights so they could see out the enormous window better. He pulled her over and faced her out the window, wrapping his arms around her from behind and pulling her back against his chest.

"Wow." She felt almost speechless as she took it in. "The harvest moon."

The full moon was larger than she ever remembered seeing it in her entire life and the eeriest autumn orange as it shone low over the tops of the trees.

"I know. It's amazing," he agreed. "It almost looks fake, it's so big and bright."

"It does kind of….almost like it's Photoshopped onto the background. I forgot it was happening this week. Did you know this year is the first time in over a decade that the full moon is occurring on the actual autumn equinox – the traditional definition of a harvest moon, by the way," she stated as she stared out the window at it.

Daniel looked down at her with an amused smile. "How do you know that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it's because I read a lot."

"Well I bet you didn't know that it's not really the fact that it's a harvest moon that makes it look so orange, it's the fact it's near the horizon. The thickness of the atmosphere near the horizon lets red light shine through more than blue light so it gives the moon it's orangy-yellow tint," he stated matter-of-factly.

She turned to look at him, completely dumbfounded. "You're right, I did not know that." She smiled, clearly impressed. "Wow, more than just a pretty face. How do you know that?" she asked, firing the question back at him.

He shrugged. "I guess it's because I read a lot too." He was pretty evasive about it, not even looking at her and she squinted at him suspiciously so he caved in. "Okay, it's because in college I dated a girl who was studying astrophysics."

"You did not." Betty didn't believe a word of that.

"I did, honest. There were a few hot chicks in the science department," he argued defensively. "She was really goodlooking but it didn't last. She wanted to study all the time and I didn't."

"Imagine my surprise," Betty shook her head.

"And I think I might have offended her once when I told a racy joke about a red giant, a white dwarf, and a supernova, particularly when I got to the part about the black hole and the milky way." He cringed a little with chagrin remembering it and Betty rolled her eyes. Then he looked like he was thinking. "I think the joke went something like..."

Betty held up her hand to stop him. "You know, I don't need to know. In fact, I think I'm better off not knowing."

"Are you sure? It's pretty funny."

"Yeah, I'm positive," she nodded heartily.

They stood peacefully looking out the window for another minute or two and then he started to release her.

She grabbed his arms to stop him and tilted her head back to look at him. "Not yet. Just a few more minutes, okay?"

"As long as you want. I could stay here all night," he squeezed his arms around her and kissed the side of her head.

They stood for another few minutes and then suddenly Daniel exclaimed, "Did you see that?" He pointed out the window. "In the trees, down by the path there was a wolf or something."

Betty chuckled. "Daniel we're in the middle of the city. It was probably someone's dog."

"It wasn't a dog," he was insistent.

"I don't even think they have wolves in England."

His eyes went wide and with a perfectly straight face he said, "Maybe it was a werewolf. It is a full moon."

"Shut up," she shook her head at him.

"What? It could be. Okay so maybe not a werewolf, but what about some other supernatural, paranormal phenomenon hiding in the woods." He lowered his voice to an eerie whisper and continued. "When I was moving in the neighbour told me a creepy story about people going missing in that forest. It's been happening periodically for years. The only trace they find is a single shoe, or glove." Despite how ridiculous his claim was, the dark apartment, his eerie whisper, and the odd sized moon all contributed to the fact that she couldn't help feeling creeped out a little, like she did whenever she watched a scary movie. "Legend has it that in the night, if you're careful, you can see shadows of the creature they suspect is responsible lingering around the path just waiting for his young, naïve, unsuspecting…PREY!" He growled the last word loudly, and simultaneously poked her in the ribs, causing her to start and scream.

She quickly turned and smacked him hard on the shoulder, her heart racing. "Dork."

"Oww." He rubbed his shoulder but he was laughing like it was the most amusing thing he'd seen in a long time. "I can't believe you bought that."

"I did not buy it. I only jumped because you scared me with your voice and that poke," she defended. "And that wasn't funny," she added sternly, crossing her arms.

"Oh come on, it was a little funny," he prodded gently, wrapping his arms around her.

"It wasn't funny, at all," she insisted looking up at him, even though part of her was softening.

He held up his thumb and index finger about an inch apart. "It wasn't even an itty-bitty, mouse-sized amount of funny?" he questioned, looking so playful that the rest of her softened.

"A mouse isn't that small," she smirked up into his bright eyes and relaxed into his embrace; all pretense of being annoyed had completely vanished.

He leaned down to kiss her warmly. Betty wrapped his arms tightly around his neck, standing on her tiptoes to reach him better. He pulled her closer, practically lifting her up as their bodies pressed together.

He slowly lowered her back down when they broke from the kiss. "Mmm…" She closed her eyes and leaned into his chest. "I wish I was finished all of my work," she whispered.

"Me too." He leaned his cheek on the top of her head. "Oh well, first things first, right?" He kissed the top of her head affectionately and released her to head back to the sofa.

She sighed lightly, missing the warmth of his arms all of a sudden. She wanted to groan but refused to allow herself to. She loved her job and she wasn't going to complain about it. She mused with a small smile that it was Daniel who pulled them back to work and not the other way around.

The entire break was brief, probably no longer than about ten minutes in total, but it was exactly what she needed and when she reluctantly sat back down to continue her work she was productive again.


From her position sprawled out on the floor, Betty looked over at his hunched, sleeping form on the couch. His head was resting on his arm which was stretched out over the arm of the sofa. The book he was reading was dangling loosely from his fingers probably one sleep-filled twitch away from being on the floor. Betty wondered how it was possible it hadn't fallen out of his hand yet. It was like it was defying gravity the way it just clung there. His mouth hung open and he hugged a throw pillow up close to his chest with the other arm. He was utterly adorable. He'd finished working a couple of hours before and although he'd tried desperately to stay awake to keep her company, obviously he'd failed that task. Not that she minded. It was late and she was so focused on what she was doing it wouldn't have mattered if he'd gone to bed hours ago. But the thought that he'd tried, for her sake, was so endearing a part of her wished she had some kind of supernatural strength so she could carry him upstairs instead of having to wake him up. In fact, all of this evening endeared him to her more than he already was.

She logged off her laptop and packed up the files she'd finished redlining as she waited for it to power down. After putting everything back in her work bag she walked over to him and crouched down beside the sofa.

"Hey." She shook his shoulder gently. "Hey, wake up, it's time for bed." She smiled at the irony in that statement.

He stirred and blinked a couple of times. Sure enough, the book dropped to the floor and Betty reached over and picked it up, putting it on the coffee table. "Hey," he replied softly. "What time is it?"

"Late," Betty answered. "Come on, let's go to bed." She grabbed his hand and tugged him up.

He looked at the clock on the kitchen stove. "One o'clock!" He muttered his surprise.

"I told you it was late."

"You are going to be so tired tomorrow. Did you finish everything?" he mumbled, half asleep.

"Not everything, but most of it."

He smiled sleepily. They climbed the stairs up to his room and quietly got ready for bed. A few minutes later, Betty climbed in beside him and snuggled into his side. He reached up and clicked off the lamp.

"I think you might be the sweetest man in the world," she whispered as she gave him a tight squeeze.

"Oh yeah?" She could see him grinning even in the dark room thanks to the street lights shining in through the curtains.

"Yeah." She squeezed him again. "I am so lucky. I can't believe you went to my apartment to pick up some clothes for me, and then made me dinner, and then helped me figure out the best order for the articles on that spread, and then stayed up way past your bedtime just so you could keep me company."

"I wasn't too successful with that last one," he said apologetically.

"Who cares? Just that you tried is sweet enough." She stretched up to give him a kiss which he welcomed warmly, turning over onto his side to face her, so he could continue it. She looked at him affectionately. "I'm sorry I wasn't much company tonight."

He smiled sincerely. "I'd rather an uneventful evening of work with you than a party with anyone else."

"Aww." Her heart melted just a little and she put her hand up to her chest. "Oh my gosh, that was it. That last statement was the clincher. You are officially the sweetest man in the world." She moved her hand to his cheek.

"There should be some kind of award for that, don't you think?" he said playfully.

"Did you have something in mind?" She smiled curiously.

"I have a few things in mind." He leaned in to kiss her again and she responded warmly and eagerly. "Wow…that was so…" He paused while he seemed to be searching for the word and landed on "appreciative."

"I am very appreciative," she assured him, kissing his chin.

"It's too bad it's one o'clock in the morning, otherwise I think I'd like to find out how great appreciation sex is."

Betty chuckled. "Appreciation sex would be awesome, I assure you. It's definitely too bad it's so late," she taunted him. "I can't believe Daniel Meade is choosing sleep over sex though; this has to be a first."

"I wasn't choosing sleep over sex," he seemed surprised by the suggestion. "I was thinking I was letting you choose sleep over sex."

"Oh my gosh, you already won the award. Are you banking up points for next year?"

"Can I do that?" he asked with mock seriousness.

She laughed softly, feeling more enamoured with him than she ever had. The time seemed completely irrelevant right now, and sleep so overrated. She lightly ran her fingers over his shoulder and down his arm and back up again before leaning in and kissing him deeply, running her hands through his hair, gently grasping what she could between her fingers. When they broke from the kiss, he immediately leaned in for another one, but instead she pushed him backward onto the bed assertively, threw her leg over him, and sat up on his thighs, running her hands under his t-shirt, across his abdomen and over his chest.

He inhaled sharply. "Or maybe you're not choosing sleep over sex." He smirked up at her, looking thrilled, and caressing his hands softly over her thighs. "And I think I'm really going to like appreciation sex by the way it's starting."

Betty yanked at his t-shirt. He sat up so she could pull it off over his head and she leaned in to kiss him. He slowly slid his hands underneath her shirt and a little gasp escaped before she remembered her resolve, and pushed him back down onto the bed. She grasped his hands in hers firmly, entwining their fingers together and pressing them into the mattress on either side of his head. She leaned down and kissed him again, before taking his earlobe between her teeth and nibbling. He tried to move just a little but she held him firm.

"God, I love appreciation sex," he groaned. "And you are so hot when you're bossy. Are you absolutely sure we should do this, though? It's one o'clock in the morning," he reminded her after another kiss. "And we have to get up for work."

She shrugged. "I'm young and full of spunk and energy, remember? It's you I would be worried about," she teased.

His mouth dropped open in shock. "Oh, you did not just say that." He sat up quickly, taking her completely by surprise and reminding her that the only reason she was holding him down was because he was letting her. She emitted a delighted squeal as he flipped her over onto her back. "I'll show you who is young and full of energy," he promised with a small smirk and bright eyes before he bent down and kissed her wildly.