KISS ME SLOWLY/CH 1

"She warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within." - little beauty. Beauty & The Beast

"You don't know how beautiful you are" - Get On Your Boots, U2

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(PERFECT and beautiful song! Definitely not new but sweet and fit this story.)

It had definitely been quite a day! As Daniel turned off the TV, he groaned, trying to will himself to get off the couch and go to bed. He must have fallen asleep downstairs again. Now that he had sold Molly's place, he probably needed to sell his loft, too and get a new place where he didn't have to go upstairs. He heard soft knocks and stretched and yawned as he grabbed his ratty robe, surprised to see Betty there.

"BETTY! Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry to wake you so early! I'm just...upset. I couldn't sleep. I really...need you, Daniel. Can I come in?"

"You need ME? That's a switch!" Daniel smiled, and raised his eyebrows, looking slightly confused, but led her inside, "Sure, Betty, come on in. You want...some coffee?"

She nodded and headed to the sofa, looking somewhat dazed.

He looked up as he was preparing their coffees, "So are you going to tell me what happened; why you're so upset? Oh, I almost forgot; how did Matt's surprise art show go? Was it a hit? That was really nice of you, Betty! I hope the guy appreciates how much trouble you went to to set that up for him! You're a really nice girlfriend! Not that he deserves it... " He mumbled that last bit under his breath.

He couldn't help it, The Hartley men definitely didn't deserve his mother or his best friend in Daniel's opinion. Maybe that was partially because nobody did or ever would be good enough for the two women he most cared about. Cal and Matt Hartley were both huge douches as far as he was concerned.

"I...we...we broke up! Matt stormed out. I really messed up! I should have looked at the paintings before I let that woman display them! They were...well, they were terrible!"

Daniel handed her a cup and sat down, sipping his coffee, "Really? That one painting you showed me of the building was not that bad! And that other one of you I saw was...awesome!"

Betty's eyes widened in embarrassment, "You SAW that one of me...naked?"

He shook his head, "You weren't naked! You had a scarf or something on."

She rolled her eyes, hitting his arm, "A SCARF? But it was see through! Why were you looking at that picture, Daniel? It was private!"

"OW! You hit hard! I'm sorry, okay? Cut it out! I didn't paint it! He did! I just happened to see it in your office."

"It was against a wall!"

"Fine, so I was curious, okay? It's normal for art to be...of the human form. Don't be embarrassed. It was actually … really good! Oh wait, is that the problem? Were ALL Matt's paintings nudes of you? And they were all hanging in some...gallery? Oh my God, Betty! I can see why you're upset."

She shook her head, "No, that would have been...bad enough. No, they were all of me when we were broken up before. Here, just see for yourself! He literally thinks I'm a monster!" She handed him her phone, with pictures of several of the paintings.

Daniel's eyes widened as he scrolled through several of the pictures, trying not to chuckle at some of them, then handed it back to her, "Well, hey, I have to say, the guy really can paint!"

She hit his chest, "Daniel! NOT the point here!"

"HEY! Don't take it out on me! I'm sorry! So...tell me what happened."

"We had this huge fight and...I told him if this is the way he sees me...he must not love me. He said it was because I hurt him so much before with the whole stupid Henry kiss thing...I don't know, Daniel! Why do I always do this? I told Walter I was done with him after he cheated on me with Gina and yet...I ended up taking him back.

And yes, God help me, you were right, my papi was right, your mom was right, everybody TRIED to tell me not to keep letting Henry back into my heart, but did I listen? No! Just when I thought I was over him, he kept coming back! He was like...a boomerang!"

"Yeah he was!"

"And now...am I doing the same thing with Matt? We broke up before. And it was awful. Obviously, for BOTH of us! I didn't realize he actually HATED me that much! But clearly he did. So why would I...I mean, to see all those paintings hanging in a gallery like that….it was sort of...scary!"

Daniel pulled her to his chest, cradling her as she cried and brushed the back of her hair, "I can only imagine! I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you, honey. I just...thought...well, I didn't think you or Matt would really want ME there. Plus, not to be a baby, but I didn't want to see stupid Cal there with my mom."

She sniffed, pulling away to look up at him, as he wiped her tears away gently, "It's okay. I understand. Are things any better with you and your mom? How did it go with Wilhelmina?"

"She got the money back from Connor."

She smiled, squealing and hugging him then giving him five, "Really? Now you have your money back, Daniel. That's amazing!"

"Betty, stop it. Don't turn this around and make it about me. Yes, of course I'm relieved and happy about getting my money back. But we're not talking about me right now. You're the one who's upset here."

She wiped at her face, shaking her head, "It's fine. I don't really want to talk about Matt anymore. So, wow! Wilhelmina actually came through, huh? Great! Now you can get rid of Cal."

He looked at her carefully, "Yeah, about that. Is that really okay with you if I do? I mean, he IS Matt's dad, and I know you two actually get along now."

She shrugged, wiggling her hand, "Eh! Sort of. A lot better than I do with Mrs. Hartley at least. But that's not saying much.

You might have been right about Matt AND Cal. He doesn't seem like he's really a good person. Definitely not good enough for your mother. I love your mom. Did you talk to her about backing you to buy out Cal?"

"Yeah. She was pretty mad at me at first, asking me how could I side with Wilhelmina. And she brought up a good point about how much she's been through. So I told her that I don't want Dad's company to come in between us. I only want her to be happy."

Betty's smile widened as she hugged him again, "Daniel, that's wonderful! I'm so proud of you! That's so sweet! You really are… such a good guy!"

"Thanks, Betty. I learned from the best. I mean...not that you're a guy, but...you know what I mean!"

"Mhmm"

She always understood him. Daniel always loved Betty's hugs. They were so warm and loving. They felt like...home. They made him feel amazingly happy and special. The first time she ever hugged him, it felt so foreign. He wasn't used to people who hugged.

So many women in his life had always wanted something from him. But most of the women he had been with before Molly had seemed to see him as some kind of prize to be won. He had a very hard time trusting them when they complimented him on anything more deep and meaningful than his blue eyes or nice ass.

Now, he not only reciprocated her hugs, but often reached out to hug her, too. Of course, even though she wasn't directly working with him as his assistant anymore, he was still technically her boss, so he was always careful not to be in too public of a place, not to stoke the fires for all the nosy gossips at Mode, who were so jealous of Daniel's obvious special treatment of Betty.

Nobody understood their relationship. He wasn't sure he did sometimes. Of course, many people at Mode just assumed that ...well, that they were sleeping together. Like Matt had, after Daniel got back from Tibet and was going through a rough time. Betty was the only person who truly understood Daniel. He needed her. It seemed like he always needed her.

But now, it appeared that the tables were turned and she actually had come to him for comfort. There had been the occasional times she talked to him about being upset over Henry, but usually Daniel had to practically drag that out of her, since he had pissed her off with the whole calling her stupid thing and effectively pushed her into the guy's bed that time at Wicked!

But Matt Hartley was a guy Daniel was really starting to feel almost as annoyed with as he had been with Grubstick! He had frankly been a little thrown when Betty told him they had gotten back together in the Bahamas. But then again, he should have seen it coming. After all, she did go there to "compete" with Amanda for the guy! He couldn't exactly take the moral high ground when he had ended up sleeping with Amanda to "comfort" her after Matt dumped her to go back to Betty.

Initially, he had been extremely relieved that at least that unbelievably embarrassing technical issue he had with the girl at the bar was apparently just a fluke!

He didn't especially like the fact that Matt had been helpful in rescuing him from that damn cult and when he heard Amanda went to bail Matt out of jail while his mom and Betty went to save him if felt...well, the whole thing was like some kind of terrible nightmare!

"Walking through that gallery was like some awful nightmare! To think that a man I THOUGHT I loved and who I stupidly thought `loved me would ever see me that way! It just...I didn't know where else to go! I'm sorry, Daniel."

He shrugged, "Sorry for what? I was just getting up, actually."

She rolled her eyes, "Right! At four in the morning on a Saturday? Since when? Have you suddenly become a fisherman or a farmer?"

"Haha! Very funny, young lady! No, I sort of fell asleep on the couch again and got up to…"

"Go upstairs to sleep in your bedroom? See! I was disturbing you. I shouldn't have come…"

"Betty, stop it, will you? You know you're always welcome! You're my best friend and you're understandably very upset about this crap with Hartley. Where else would you go?"

She smiled, "Well, I was thinking about getting my old place back, actually. I walked around the gallery for a long time, because I didn't really feel like going back to Queens with Hilda and Papi tonight. Besides, after what happened with her, well, they needed to talk!"

"Why? What about?"

She shook her head, "She had this huge fight with Bobby in the gallery and let it slip that she's pregnant! And of course Papi heard, too. Well, everybody heard, actually. You know how loud Hilda is when she's mad, especially!"

"Hilda's pregnant...and it's not that Councilman's, huh? Whoa! Bobby? Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Bobby Talercio. He...is the one who taught me to drive a stick shift recently when I did my 'Fearless' article."

Daniel smirked, "Oh, yeah! The one you had a crush on? And kissed in the gym of your old high school? Yeah, I remember. That guy, huh? Well, right, didn't you say he and Hilda used to date? So they're having a kid, now, huh? Wow!"

Betty nodded, and started to get up, "Do you want another cup of coffee? I do. I'll make us one."

He put his hand on hers, "Hey! Sit down! Betty? What's up? Why are you acting so weird? Are you jealous of Hilda? Do you still have a crush on this Bobby guy?"

"NO! That's not...it at all!' She shook her head, sitting back down, and finding her hand suddenly very interesting.

Daniel lifted up her chin, "What are you not saying?"

She stood, knowing she was going to have to come clean finally, "I never said anything before, but...a few weeks ago, Hilda and I both thought we might be pregnant! We both took pregnancy tests and mine was negative but hers was positive. That's one reason she broke up with Archie."

"Well, yeah, I guess that would do it alright. But that's…wow! So you really thought you might be pregnant? Why didn't you tell me?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. Matt was actually sweet about it. He said he never knew what he wanted to do but if I was the mom … how could that not be great? But I totally freaked out! I did NOT want to be pregnant with his child! And I told you about that crazy daydream I had when he didn't go to puck night!"

He laughed, "When you imagined you were Elizabeth Taylor and got annoyed by that stupid 'miss you much' card he sent you? Yeah, that was hilarious! Not that I can ever see you as being that mean! Even though he deserved it.

Geez, Betty, thank God you didn't have his kid, you would have had TWO children to take care of! It's a good thing you weren't pregnant! But I still don't get why you didn't tell me? We tell each other everything!"

"I know. I guess I didn't want to think about it." She didn't tell him because she hadn't wanted to see that look on his face.

He stood and intertwined their fingers, "I'm sorry that you're upset, but I'm so relieved that you broke up with that asshole! He didn't deserve you!

Come here!" he pulled her to him for a warm hug and after holding her closely, just savoring feeling her in his arms, he whispered, "I've missed spending time with you, Betty."

It felt so good to be in Daniel's arms. Why did it feel so much better than Matt's, she wondered? Daniel was just her friend.

Finally, after holding her for what seemed like an eternity, he reluctantly let her pull away slightly, but leaned his forehead against hers, unwilling to completely let her go.

Her heart was beating so fast. Why was she so happy to have him holding her like this? It was just Daniel! Her Daniel. Okay… that didn't sound right.

He let out a slow, even breath and lifted up his head, staring at her with those intense, amazing eyes of his, "Betty? I don't want to take advantage of you being vulnerable right now, but…um…"

She had never been so taken off guard by her own feelings like this. This was insane. She knew this man. Why was he suddenly so...so...irresistible? She bit her lower lip and felt as if she was floating above her body as she heard herself whisper, "Daniel? Please kiss me…"

"Okay, Betty. No problem!" His eyes widened and a smile spread slowly as he nodded and began to inch his lips closer to hers. She put up her hands on his chest and managed to add, "Slowly."

"Sure!" He pulled her by her waist to close the small distance between their bodies and began to kiss her sweetly and tenderly. He couldn't honestly say how many times he had actually dreamed about doing some variation of this over the past four years!

He knew maybe she only needed a friend right now, someone to make her feel better about herself, but after all she had done for him, he was going to do whatever she needed from him to feel better.

After a very short time, he felt her responding to his kiss. Her lips were so soft, so full, so...kissable! He felt her tongue, tangling with his own. Her full breasts were pushed up against his bare chest since his robe had begun to come loose. He was going to have to concentrate to keep things from escalating.

Unless she really wanted that of course. He certainly wouldn't mind if she...wanted more, if she told him she wanted him to make love to her. He told himself that he could deal with it if she used him as some kind of a rebound guy. Whatever his Betty needed he would gladly give her.

Hell, Betty deserved anything, everything he could offer to help her anyway he could. The woman was so sweet, so kind, so giving, so...so SEXY! DAMN!