Chapter 28

It was a couple days later and things had started to return to a somewhat normal routine. Ignacio had demanded that Justin and Austin go back to school, seeing no need in keeping them there every day when they should be going to class. Of course Justin had tried to argue, but after a long and meaningful conversation Ignacio had explained how much he wanted for him. All he wanted was to see him happy, but if he screwed up school because he was too bored or had his mind on other things then his future possibilities would be limited. It was already hard enough being a kid of minority descent, on top of his sexuality, and graduating high school was the very least he could do to give himself a leg up in this world when he was starting out so far behind from everyone else just because of who he was.

It wasn't fair, and it wasn't right, but this is the world they have to learn how to live in, and Ignacio would be damned if his kids and grandchildren weren't given every opportunity possible to make successes of themselves and their lives. It was all he ever wanted. Justin broke down and buried himself in his grandfather's embrace, realizing just how much he was loved by his family. Hilda had been listening on the other side of the door, trying to keep back her tears. Ignacio always had a way of reaching Justin when others couldn't. She was grateful her father had always been there for them, and although Marc was a great friend to them and really stepped up to help Justin navigate the world as a gay man, he still needed his first father figure around and she thanked God and every saint she could remember the name of for not taking Ignacio away yet. They still needed him, and this was a prime example of why.

For the next few days they had all been swapping between the house in Queens and Hilda and Bobby's place in the city. A couple of nights Betty and Daniel spent in separate places, and while it was hard to deal with at first they knew they couldn't spend every night together. She needed to spend time with the family too. He had dinner with his mother a couple of nights, just the two of them and it didn't take her but a moment to figure out that something had changed within her son, and he admitted to her how happy he felt. He expressed his worries and concerns with her about the delicacy of the situation, but Claire also chastised him for not thinking of it sooner. Surely he had considered this before? When he admitted it never crossed his mind, she admonished him, but also offered her support in whatever way she could. She offered that if all else failed they could always return to Meade and she would find places for them in a heartbeat. He thanked her, but reminded her that they had moved to London to start over and Betty had become a real success, he wasn't about to let all that hard work crumble into dust because of him.

One night he invited Betty over to dinner with Claire, Tyler, and Amanda at Claire's apartment, and they had enjoyed the night immensely. Daniel took the opportunity to really talk with Tyler. Tyler of course wasn't so sure at first, but warmed up quickly as he saw the changes in Daniel. He made a point of keeping conversation light, and asked questions about him and the way he grew up, trying to get to know him better. He never gave him a chance before, and they were pleasantly surprised to find out they had much more in common than they realized. They bonded over sports and troubles with their fathers. Tyler admitted that it hurt that his biological father wanted nothing to do with him, but he also hinted that maybe he would like to reach out to Matt, knowing he had one more half sibling somewhere out there in the world. Daniel couldn't help the jealous rage burning within him and the anger that he felt over how Matt had left Betty, but reminded himself that everything had worked out the way it was supposed to, and in his favor, so in an odd way he actually had Matt to thank for the door it opened to the possibility of Daniel and Betty being together. Daniel offered the advice that he should keep a tab on Matt and the next time he was back in the country to maybe try reaching out through underground channels like Amanda. Nobody was even sure if Matt was aware of Tyler's existence. He didn't like the idea of asking Betty to get in contact with him, and he already knew that Betty wouldn't be interested in reaching out. He had come up in conversation once in front of Betty and a flash of anger and sadness crossed her features but overall she seemed completely uninterested. She wished him well, but that part of her life was over.

Claire watched her sons talking by the fireplace and smiled, thinking how differently this could have turned out. She was proud of them both, and it meant the world to have her family connecting and being together like this. Now that Amanda was engaged to Tyler (not to mention how well the two women got along anyway, Amanda being the one to encourage her to reach out to him to begin with) she truly felt like she had another daughter and wanted the best for her. Betty being here brought her a peace she didn't know she needed. It wasn't just Bradford who saw something in her and the way she was able to keep Daniel on his path. It seemed her family simply kept growing and though she would never tell the two couples, she was secretly hoping to hear news about grandchildren soon. DJ was half a world away and she would like to get to know her future grandchildren before her age started catching up with her too much, though she certainly had plans to be around for a very long time.

After the dinner Daniel and Betty returned to the Meade mansion for the night, the family deciding it was a good time to have a mandatory couples night. Justin and Austin were out in the city seeing a show, and Hilda and Bobby had actually gone to a hotel that Daniel had surprised them with reservations for. At first they said they couldn't accept it, but he insisted stating that they needed some breathing space, and shot Bobby a look and winked without Hilda or Betty noticing. Bobby laughed at the reference, and quickly started packing bags for the two of them.

They settled into the den, another type of living room on the ground floor of the house but this one offered a tv and a large collection of movies to choose from. It wasn't as cozy as the study, but also offered a comfortable couch and arm chairs and small work space in the corner with a laptop and printer set up. They put on a comedy and laughed as they ate their popcorn and cuddled on the couch. When it was over they stayed there, just being content to spend time together. Earlier in the day they had taken some time to conference call with the Dunne offices, cross checking emails and sending files back and forth as Betty directed the team on what to do. She reminded them that she was not sure when she would be able to come back, but if they were willing to work with her this way she would be available as often as possible. It also gave Daniel a sense of relief knowing that she was still able to focus on the job, even with everything going on around them and being on another continent. She was the same Betty, able to compartmentalize things and he enjoyed working with her. She had made sure to let him help more this time, even though there wasn't as much to do. She had learned her lesson and made a vow to never treat him that way again. There really was a lot he could do, and she couldn't believe she had ever held him back in any way. It hurt every time she thought of it, but tried to focus on the here and now.

"Daniel?" Betty turned to him and he sat back down on the couch after changing over the dvd to a romantic comedy that he knew she liked.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning the volume down on the movie as it started to roll through the ads and trailers before the movie played.

"Can we talk about something important?" she asked softly.

He turned in the seat so he was facing her completely, "Of course. What is it?"

"I think we need to talk about… us, and how we're going to deal with this at work?" He took her hands in his and rubbed circles with his thumbs.

"I think you're right. I didn't want to bring it up with your dad and everything else, but yes we do." She let out a breath of relief, thinking she may have been treading on uncomfortable territory.

"Well, we love each other, right?" she asked.

"Yes! Of course."

"Right, but Daniel, I'm worried. I mean we haven't defined what this means yet, and this definitely isn't a professional relationship anymore…"

"No, can't say that." He wiggled his eyebrows at her causing her to giggle, but she wanted to talk about this seriously.

"I don't want either of us to lose our job, but we can't exactly keep this going for too long. We're not at Mode anymore. I don't know how forgiving they would be of something like this. People can tell. It took everyone all of two minutes the other day to figure it out! They cornered me in the bathroom when we all went out to lunch, when Marc and Amanda came to the hospital? I asked them not to say anything and I trust them, well sort of." Daniel nodded smiling at how true that was. "If anyone at work found out, especially Mr. Dunne, well I'm honestly not sure what would happen. I don't want this to ruin things, or ruin your chances before you've been able to start moving up. I meant what I said when I told you that there is a lot you can do, and I know how capable and intelligent you are. Daniel you deserve a promotion. You earned it months ago, but I just wanted to keep you around, and I didn't want to lose that feeling of working so closely again. I mean I didn't keep you from anything, but with this… new development, I'm not sure how to go about this." she looked at him and could see that he was feeling the same way, not exactly sure what to do. He was smiling at her compliments though.

"Betty, I don't want us to lose our jobs either. You've worked too hard to get where you are, and I would never jeopardize that for you. I would love to move up in the company, of course I would, but moving to London was never really about the job. I mean yes I want to find my own way, and see what I can without the Meade name opening doors for me, but I didn't move to London for the job opportunities. I moved to London to be with you." He kissed her hand and she smiled gratefully at him. "So that's why…. I have to quit. I can't be your assistant anymore Betty."

She looked shocked and mildly angry at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't mean right away! There's too much going on to do this right now, but you need to know that when we do go back to London, I think I'm going to start looking elsewhere for a job. I might even switch things up. I'm not even sure that I want to be in publishing anymore. That was always my father's plan, and I never really got the chance to see what I wanted to do on my own." Betty suddenly had a flashback to a very similar conversation with Matt, and she couldn't hold back her discomfort at the parallels. In fact it scared her, and he could see it in her eyes. "But Betty, you have to believe me when I say this, I am not leaving your side. Everything I could ever want is right here in front of me. I can work anywhere, but without you in my life? I'll do any job, anything, as long as it means I get to come home to you." He looked into her eyes, hoping she understood him.

"So, what are you saying?" she asked, unable to say much, there was so much information to process. What is he saying?

"I'm not saying anything more than this; I want to give us a chance. I don't know what the future holds, nobody does, but I want to find out. I feel like I finally have the chance to do something really great, but I can't do it without you. I need you Betty."

"I need you too." She almost whispered.

"So what do you think?" he asked.

"Think? I don't know. I mean, I really like having you as my assistant, and I did think that you wanted to keep working at Dunne, but if this is what you really want then I'll support you. I want to give us a chance too. But, what are you going to do? What do you want to do?"

"Well there's always advertising, but I was actually thinking about philanthropy. After Molly, I realized that there was so much more I could be doing. Hell even Matt went off to help people in a third world country. I want to do more."

She smiled at him, beaming at his revelation. "Oh, Daniel! I think that's great! I'll do whatever I can to help, you know that right?"

"I do now." He said, kissing her on the lips gently. "But for now, let's just enjoy our time together, and be here for your family, and we'll figure out the rest as it comes."

"Agreed." She said, hugging him tightly. This conversation hadn't gone exactly the way she expected, but she was happy to know they were okay. They would be just fine.

"So… um…" he began, but stopped clearing his throat and trying to keep his blushing down to a minimum.

"What is it?" she asked gently.

"I can't believe I'm asking this…" he started again.

"Daniel, what is it?" she said amused.

"Can… can we make this official? In private I mean. We don't have to say anything to anyone yet, not even our families if you don't want to, but I want to be able to call you my…girlfriend?" he asked so shyly it almost made Betty 'awe' from how cute he was being in this moment.

"Oh Daniel…" she cupped his chin and made him look her directly in the eyes, "of course I want to be your girlfriend. I mean, some might think it's moving a little fast. We haven't even been together a week" she winked at him, "but I'm so glad you asked! This isn't exactly the usual progression of a relationship here, is it?" He lunged at her for a deep and tender kiss, laughing at how happy they felt in that moment.

"Oh Betty, that makes me so happy!" he said earnestly and kissed her again then pulled her in for a hug.

"I doubt we'll be able to keep this a secret from our families for long, but for right now, let's just be together and deal with the rest later." She said to him.

"Agreed."

Yay! They made it official! Even if it is still technically a secret, but secrets can be much much more fun! Let me know your thoughts, please leave me a review. How am I doing? Do you like it? More to come! Much love ~ Ashlee