Quietly they walked hand in hand out of Café Nervosa en route to his car. But they'd only taken a few steps forward when Daphne turned around and glanced at the café where through the window, he could see the elderly woman still sitting at the same corner table. Daphne turned and looked worriedly at Niles. He knew exactly what she was thinking, because he was thinking the exact same thing.
The elderly couple, whom they had been watching from their table across the café for several days, was not the happy couple they were thought to be. He and Daphne had grown quite fond of them, prompting a discussion about what they would be like when they grew older. It was nice to see an elderly coupled still so seemingly in love.
They found it hard to hide their shock when, as the man and woman sat holding hands, another woman who turned out to be the man's wife, stormed into the café. Apparently the old man had been having an affair with the other woman. Almost instantly the idea of the elderly couple being in love vanished, leaving nothing but uncertainty. Niles had to admit that although the couple and the angry wife had nothing whatsoever to do with his relationship with his angel, it still left him as shaken as it had Daphne.
As she stood staring at the woman through the window, Niles had no idea what to say to her; no idea at all. And so he gently laid his hands on her shoulders, massaging them. When he leaned to kiss her cheek, she turned and looked at him, still wearing the worried look.
"Niles…"
"Daphne, I-."
"That couple…"
"I know, Daphne."
"What are we going to do?"
He smiled and touched her cheek, a feather-light touch that made her smile. "Nothing. We're not going to do anything. Because we're not that couple."
"But Niles…"
"We love each other and we've both been in other relationships enough to know that our love is strong enough to survive anything. We don't need anyone else… or at least I don't. I'll never love anyone but you, Daphne, ever."
She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. "I feel the same way about you, Niles Crane. I just wish I would have fallen in love with you years ago, I wish I would have realized-."
His lips stopped her words. "That's in the past. I think we should focus on the present and our future. I love you so much and I'm going to love you until we are old. And then one day, we'll be in Café Nervosa and a much younger couple will see us and be envious of the love we have."
"Thank you, Niles… and I'll love you forever…"
They kissed once more and then held each other a little longer. And soon Niles was no longer worried about growing old with Daphne… He could hardly wait for it to begin.
THE END