Hey, everyone! I'm finally back with some new chapters! Thanks to all who read and comment - it's really appreciated! :)

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Betty knocked on the door to Daniel's apartment. She wasn't sure why she was so apprehensive about coming over. He had assured her earlier that he wouldn't try anything and was willing to wait as long as she needed. But she was still nervous and felt like a tease. If Wilhelmina and Marc hadn't walked in on them, they would have already crossed that line. In the heat of the moment, she had no doubt that she had wanted him. She still did - but once it happened, there was no going back.

What if she didn't measure-up to the rest of Daniel's women? It'd never occurred to her until now, because Daniel had always treated her like the sexiest woman on earth. But what if he didn't feel like she was afterward? Not even mentioning track records, she wasn't a Size 0 like the other girls – far from it. But she knew he knew that and surprisingly didn't seem to care. However, while she was able to look alright in most of her new form-fitting clothes, being naked was a whole other story . . .

Clothes hid most of the flab, cellulite and other imperfections. Take those away, put her in a spotlight and she was screwed. She had never been able to pull off a bikini in her life. But as long as they were in the dark, that part wouldn't matter, right? Oh, god! What if this ruined everything? She hadn't felt happier in her life than when she was with him.

What if this was the beginning of the end for them? She was ready to run in the other direction when Daniel opened the door.

"Hey . . ." he smiled that gorgeous smile of his, the one that made her melt every time.

"Hey," she smiled back.

Too late to bail out now. Besides, tonight was safe – she had until after the wedding to stop stalling and smack some sense and self-confidence into herself, right?

"So, how was your party?" Daniel asked as Betty walked in his dimly lit apartment to find candles and rose petals everywhere, soft music playing in the background, and a blanket and picnic basket on the floor.

"What's this?" Betty asked, trying to mask her fear with feigned enthusiasm and intrigue. So much for waiting . . .

"Don't freak out – " Daniel began. Damn. She could never get anything past him.

"This isn't what it looks like – I mean, it's exactly what it looks like, but nothing more than that," he tried to explain. "It's just my pathetic, inexperienced attempt to be romantic . . . I know you've been stressed out dealing with Hilda's wedding and then today's incident at work and I sprung Fashion Week on you . . . I just wanted to give you a chance to relax."

"Daniel," she smiled.

She couldn't believe how sweet he was . . . so anxious about not offending her . . . so worried about impressing her.

He awkwardly cleared his throat.

"So, I drew you a bubble bath in the spa tub – don't worry - it's only for you. A robe and some PJs are there for you to change into afterwards. And once you're done, I've got some wine, cheese, chocolate covered strawberries, caramel popcorn, and one of your favorite movies we can curl up to – if you want?" he nervously finished.

She nodded and slowly hugged him. She was speechless. He had thought of everything. Little things like this made her question why she'd ever doubt crossing the 'dreaded' line with Daniel. If he cared this much about romancing her, with no strings attached – even endearingly nervous about getting everything perfect – she should have nothing to worry about, right?

Regardless, she needed to enjoy it while she could and worry about the other when it actually happened. She only had this night before she had another full day of work and then had to pack and leave for London afterward . . . for an entire week without him.

"Thank you," she managed to get out as she broke their embrace.

"Anything for you, baby," he said, kissing her cheek and gently shoving her towards the bathroom.

While Betty was taking her bath, Daniel waited, wondering if he had done too much. He wanted to reassure her that she was worth waiting for - that he truly did want more with her than just sex. But the whole romance thing was new to him. He was still learning. With Sofia, he basically knew nothing . . . with Molly, he didn't really have enough time with her to get it perfected – even their wedding ended up being Betty's creation.

Betty. She had unselfishly offered her thought-to-be-doomed YETI project venue she had worked so hard on, to him and Molly. She was such a hopeless romantic and such a good friend. He remembered dancing with her and telling her she was right about perfect not always looking like you'd imagine. He wondered if she had caught onto the implication that he was talking about her - because she really was unexpected perfection.

Even then, he had felt something special for her. Maybe it wasn't romantic, but it went beyond friendship. She literally slammed into his life all those years ago and he never fathomed she'd be exactly what he needed, but she was. And in the months to come she was his greatest strength . . . holding him when he couldn't stop crying . . . distracting him when he couldn't sleep . . . staying with him when he couldn't make it through the nights alone . . . bailing him out before he almost got arrested . . .

She stopped him from breaking everything in sight . . . got him out of that ridiculous cult . . . helped him sort through Molly's things. She even helped him repaint the apartment and went with him to pick out new furniture, when he was ready to move on. Even all those times he tried to push her away she refused to leave his side. God she had been amazing – and she still was . . .

"Hey, Daniel?" Betty called. "Yeah?" he shook himself out of his thoughts. "Could you come in here for a minute?" she asked. "Sure. What is it?" he wondered as he headed for the bathroom. "I can't reach the towels," she answered as he came in, covering his eyes with his hand. "Babe, you don't have to do that – I'm covered by the bubbles in all the important spots," she assured him, amused that Daniel Meade of all people wasn't trying to look. "Oh. Ok," he uncovered his eyes and grabbed a towel.

As he turned to hand it to her, he briefly glimpsed at her figure in the tub – her shapely legs propped up on the edge . . . bubbles precisely covering the rest of her body, stopping just above her breasts . . . her arms casually resting on the sides of the tub . . . her hair messily pinned up in a bun . . . her glasses off . . . What he wouldn't give to – "Daniel?" Betty looked at him expectantly. "Here," Daniel quickly handed her the towel and turned back around.

"Thanks," Betty said, standing up and wrapping the oversized towel around herself. "You can turn back around, now," she informed him, smiling awkwardly as she attempted to step out of the water. Daniel turned around just as Betty slid on the tile, knocking him backwards, falling directly on top of him. "Oops! You know, you really should keep some sort of mat or at least an extra towel to step onto," she giggled. "Well who knows, maybe I meant for this to happen so I could rescue you in my arms?" he teased.

"My shady hero . . .!" she fake-swooned. "For that, you are rewarded a kiss for being a good – but naughty - boy . . ." she laughed, sweetly touching her lips to his. He graciously reciprocated, inhaling the fresh scent of vanilla on her skin. He ran his hands over her soft shoulders and back, beginning to push the top of the towel lower in order to explore more of her with his touch, before pulling away. "Betty, no offense, but you've gotta get off me," he told her.

"Huh?" she was lost, not even paying attention to anything but the taste of his tongue . . . the way his hands felt as he caressed her back. "Unless you want me to rip that towel off of you and take you right now, just do it!" he warned. She honestly pondered the proposition – she kind of wondered what that scenario would be like . . .

"Betty?" Daniel snapped her out of her fantasy, a look of urgency on his face. "Oh! Okay – right! Sorry!" she quickly scrambled off of him and he helped her up. Her hand, resting on his chest for support, still lingered around his open collar. She started to move in for another kiss, but restrained herself. "Umm . . . I should get dressed . . ." she suggested, her loosened towel slowly slipping down. She quickly pulled it back up as he tried not to stare.

"Um, yeah . . . I'm gonna go out there and set up the movie and the food," he nervously said, rubbing the back of his neck as he headed for the door. Betty sighed in frustration. She reached for the robe he had bought her. It was extremely soft, red terrycloth; form fitting - much nicer than her blue one she'd had for so many years that holes were wearing in it. She put it on and opened the bag on the counter to find a black cami with lace on the top, and white, red, and black plaid, light cotton PJ bottoms.

She looked inside again and found two other rather slinky, scented, garments – edible underwear? What the hell? "Daniel . . .!" she shouted. "What? What is it? Did you fall again?" he rushed into the bathroom in a panic. "You wanna explain to me what these are?" she asked, only half-annoyed. "Edible underwear? Damn it! I specifically told her nothing kinky! Remind me tomorrow to kill my assistant before she leaves with you guys . . ." Daniel said, shocked, embarrassed, and extremely pissed.

"Let me guess – Amanda helped you?" she assumed, amused – leave it to Amanda to take it too far. "Yeah," Daniel replied, sheepishly. Betty laughed. "It's okay. It's the thought that counts – and you're extremely sweet for trying," she smiled. "Now go, so I can finish changing!" she affectionately chased him away and began to shut the door. "You're not gonna wear those . . . are you?" he peeked his head back in, curiously. "Go!" she giggled and rolled her eyes.

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"Hey," Betty quietly spoke as she timidly approached her boyfriend. "Hey, you look . . . great," Daniel smiled. "Thank you. They're just PJs and a robe though . . ." she modestly smiled back. "True, but you make them look hot . Come here . . ." he grabbed her hand, trying to pull her onto the blanket beside him. "Are you sure that's a good idea . . . considering what happened only ten minutes ago?" she said skeptically. "I promise we'll be fine – sit," he patted the blanket.

"Ok . . ."she cautiously sat down across from him. "So . . . how did your party go?" he asked. "Good. Everyone loved my braces-free look – especially Justin," she laughed taking a cube of cheese. Daniel smiled as he poured glasses of wine for each of them.

"And Hilda's so excited about London. But she's driving me up the wall, insisting on seeing all these places together because once she's a 'married woman' she'll hardly get to spend time with me. She might be taking a vacation, but she's knows I have to work –" she ranted, rolling her eyes in frustration.

"Don't work yourself too hard – it's not even our Fashion Week. You don't have to race around trying to help me run it or set up or clean up afterwards. Enjoy the shows, focus on getting the latest on the hottest new designers, and make sure Dylan gets some great shots of the models. You'll have plenty of time to hang out with your sister. Take her to some of the runway shows – she likes those. That way you'll be spending time with her while you're working," he suggested.

"Good idea. I just wish that was my only problem," she sighed. "Wedding troubles?" he assumed. "How did you guess?" she smiled and shook her head. "Hilda's flipping out because the caterer refuses to use Mami's special recipe for the tamales and she's not about to ask me or Papi to do it because we're supposed to be in the wedding and enjoying the reception. I'd do it anyway, but the tamales have to be fresh – not frozen or even made the night before – or they don't have the same flavor," Betty explained.

"And then there's the flower crisis – the florist agreed to a certain price for all the arrangements, but after Hilda decided she wanted to change one type of flower, the florist upped the price $5 per small arrangement and $10 for the large. That wouldn't be so bad if there weren't 25 arrangements in all when you count the ones at the church, her bouquet, my bouquet, and all the tables at the reception – that's another $300 right there!" she complained.

"And the alteration department literally hit a snag with her dress and isn't sure if they'll be able to fix the problem and get it altered, so Hilda's insisting she has to lose ten pounds in case they can't let it out in time. She's eaten nothing but celery sticks, lettuce and some sort of nasty herbal concoction for the past week. Everything's a mess . . ." she buried her head in her hands.

"Whoa! Hey . . . calm down! It's going to be okay – alright?" he pulled her toward him and loosened the top of her robe, starting to massage her shoulders. "I didn't mean to get you all worked-up – this was supposed to be about you relaxing. You try so hard to take care of other people - including me. So. Tonight I want to take care of you. If you want, go ahead and throw MODE's name or the company around in order to play hardball with the caterer and florist – you do it so well," he grinned and kissed her cheek.

"And since Christina's skills aren't really convenient, I could have MODE's stylist make Hilda's dress alteration top priority," Daniel offered. "You'd do that, for me? Oh my god, that's so sweet. Thank you!" Betty accepted, hugging him. "You do know that under normal circumstances I wouldn't ask for special treatment . . . but I'll admit having a boyfriend with connections does have its perks sometimes . . ." she teased and gently kissed his lips.

"Well, I'm glad I can help," he smiled modestly. "So . . . what movie are we watching?" she asked, taking a handful of caramel popcorn. "'Casablanca'," he replied. "Aww . . . that's one of my favorites – but you hate black & white movies?" she pointed out. "Yeah, but I can sacrifice every once in a while – especially for you. Besides, it does have some classic lines in it," he added. "You're too good to me," she smiled, feeding him a strawberry. "I know," he smirked and fed her one back.

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The candles had been blown out earlier and the only light was the flickering of the TV. Daniel rubbed his eyes and looked over at Betty, still fast asleep in his arms. He hated to wake her, but the whole blanket on the floor idea wasn't very comfortable for sleeping purposes, and he wasn't going to leave her there alone. "Baby, wake up," he gently shook her. "Betty?" he nudged her. "Mmm . . . 'here's lookin' at you, kid' . . ." she muttered. Daniel snickered and gave up.

He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, tucking her in, removing her glasses. He stripped down to his boxers and climbed on the other side, making sure there was enough room between them that he didn't feel any inconvenient urges. However, Betty instinctively gravitated towards him, wrapping her arm around his waist and burying her head in his chest. He smiled and held her close, kissing the top of her head.

It wasn't as if they hadn't slept in the same bed, couch, whatever before. The difference was that there really hadn't been any boundaries since they were a couple. Whatever happened . . . happened, and most of the time they didn't even get that far - were too tired or had to get ready for work or some sort of something. And it never really bothered him actually – which was new, considering he had sex with a woman on the first date as a general rule.

But now that there was a boundary he was finding it nearly impossible to refrain from crossing it. Two weeks – one week, he wouldn't even see her so that would fly by, right? Only one more after that . . . unless she really was stalling for some other reason? Nah, she was all over him in the office yesterday – he knew she would've stopped him if she hadn't wanted it too . . . Damn Wilhelmina for barging in on them . . . He sighed and fought to fall back asleep.