"Loving you
Like I never have before.
And needing you.
Just to open up that door.
And begging you.
Might somehow turn the tides.
And tell me to
I've gotta get his off my mind."
Hanson, Save Me
Niles stood facing his door for several minutes, trying to register in his brain what had just happened. Daphne had been here. At his apartment. In her pajamas. At -- he glanced at his watch -- 1:00am. On some level, he could dance and announce that one of his fondest dreams had come true... Except now she was gone.
Again.
He sighed as he fell back onto the sofa, suddenly thinking of marvelously worded scenarios in which Daphne was still with him and he was a bit more courageous. He always thought of these things after seeing her, because when she was in the same room as he was, his mind could only focus on one thing.
And yes, there was a difference between focusing on her when she was there and focusing on her when she wasn't.
He calmly watched the Niles and Daphne in his head close in for a kiss -- this was the best part, you know -- but they were interrupted. By a knock on the door...
He stood up very quickly, nearly causing himself to black out, and rushed to the door. Please, God, he prayed. please let it be her...
He opened the door.
"Dr. Crane," Daphne said, blushing slightly. "I seem to have locked my keys in my car... would it trouble you to give me a ride home?"
Niles Crane was feeling very carefree. So what if he drove a hatchback? So what if his life was very near to Hell for him? Not only had God blessed him with a divorce, but Daphne... and Daphne locking her keys in her car. He was driving her home -- and though it was not a relatively long trip, it was much better than nothing.
He knew, because he had nothing once.
"It's really not like me," she said, staring out the window at the rainy streets of Seattle. "being so forgetful with my keys... Sometimes I'd swear I'm loosing my mind,"
"You're not loosing your mind," he interjected. Their drive being paused by a stoplight, he had time to steal a brief glance of her as he spoke. "Perhaps you were supposed to lock your keys out there."
"You believe in destiny, don't you?" she asked, her focus still on the scenery she must have viewed one-thousand times by now. He didn't know it, but she was smiling.
"...Sometimes, yes."
The hatchback had resumed its motion, ambling down the road while Niles and Daphne sat in silence. He made sure to drive at the slowest possible speed until they reached Elliot Bay Towers.
"Is it alright if I walk you up?" he asked quietly.
"Oh, Dr. Crane," she said, chuckling.
"I hate to sound even the smallest bit chauvanistic," his tone became very serious. "but you never know who is lurking in the shadows of places like this. It could be dangerous,"
Indeed, it could have been. As the two of them rode up the elevator, the small speaker up in the corner began playing a jazzy lounge number. Daphne turned to him and smiled.
"I love this song," she said, sighing. "Burt Bacharach's The Look of Love... Would you dance with me, Dr. Crane? Just until we reach our floor?"
Did he ever say no?
"Alright, but don't get any ideas,"
And so they danced. And -- although Niles had feared it -- the cord holding up the elevator did not snap, and they were not thrown to their doom... or extreme amount of injury. They reached her floor safely, the two of them dancing over to Frasier's door, and then stopping to laugh for a minute.
"Thank you, Daphne," he said with a smile. "for the most fun I've had in a very long time..."
"And thank you for driving me home," she said. "I'm very glad we didn't run into any mysterious gents hiding in the shadows,"
They said their goodnights, and Niles turned for the elevator expecting to hear the sound of a door closing... But instead, he heard:
"Oh, damn."
He turned back around and found Daphne struggling with the doorknob. "Daphne," he said, approaching her yet again. "Is your house key with your car keys?"
"Yes," she muttered, releasing the handle and falling back against the wall. "Oh, I just feel so stupid..."
She sat down on the floor and, somewhat precariously, Niles followed. "Is there any chance of Dad or Frasier being able to hear the doorbell?" he asked.
"No... You're father sleeps like a log and your brother wears those sound-proof earplugs..."
It was very quiet. She would sigh, and then he would sigh...
"I'll stay here with you," he said.
"Dr. Crane..."
"Daphne, I highly doubt I'll ever have the opportunity to do this for you again, so please... Just let me stay with you."
In the morning, Dr. Frasier Crane would go out to get his paper only to find his younger brother and his father's physical therapist asleep in the hall. He would notice that Daphne was in her pajamas and Niles was not, and he would notice that the two of them were holding hands in their sleep.
Frasier was not the sort of person to ruin a moment like this. And so, he would inform his dad -- who, in turn, would go out and smile down at the two of them -- drink his coffee, and read his paper.
It was possibly the nicest thing he could do for Niles.