Daniel arrived at Betty's flat just after six thirty. He had no idea if it would be wise to bring her flowers or not - he opted not to. The text just said they had to talk. Was that ever a good thing? To him it sounded like Betty wanted to have that talk - the "let's just be friends" talk. She had invited him to dinner though…on a Friday night…maybe that was a good thing. She could have chosen to meet up somewhere later and had the "let's just be friends" talk then. He had decided to pick up a bottle of wine on the way over. Wine was a safe, platonic kind of dinner gift. Plus, it had the added benefit of dulling any unwanted sensations that might be inflicted upon him this evening should they end up having the talk after all.

"Hey Daniel." She said with a hesitant smile as she let him in.

"Hi. How was work?" Daniel tried to keep the mood light.

"Great. Come in. Make yourself at home."

Betty's flat was tiny with just the bare minimum of furniture. She'd been so busy with the magazine she hadn't had any time to decorate. She had a small kitchen table with two chairs and a sofa in the living area with a television on a stand. In the corner she had a small desk with a laptop on it.

Daniel put the wine on the table while Betty grabbed dinner out of the oven. She'd picked up Chinese food on the way home.

"Take out?" Daniel commented "I thought you were going to cook for me." He teased.

"Believe me, you'll be glad I didn't. Papi did most of the cooking when I was at home. Once I moved out I managed to master pasta. But other than that, I still have a lot of learning to do in the cooking department. I'm not really ready to subject anyone to my amateur skills."

"I love Chinese food." Daniel said appeasing her while he opened the bottle of wine.

While they were eating Betty asked Daniel how his job hunt was going.

"Great." He said. "I have an interview lined up for Monday and another one on Thursday."

"That's fantastic! I'm sure it won't take you long to get something." Betty's smile was beaming. Daniel smiled back.

After they finished Betty started cleaning up and Daniel got up to help her. They worked in silence for a few minutes and then Betty excused herself to go into the back bedroom. As luck would have it Justin's parcel had arrived for her earlier in the day. She picked it up off the bed where she had left it and walked back to the kitchen. Daniel had just finished putting the last stuff away and was pouring himself another glass of wine. Betty thought now was as good a time as any. She placed the magazine down on the table gently. Daniel looked at it and froze for a second.

"Where did you get that?" He asked

"Justin sent it. It arrived today."

"Have you read it?"

"Parts of it."

"Any interesting parts?" They were tiptoeing around it.

"Daniel, I read your letter." She couldn't stand the evasive talk any longer. She took a deep breath and added "Why didn't you tell me?"

"In New York or last night?"

"Either."

He paused for a minute collecting his thoughts, and then he started. "Well, I didn't tell you back in New York because I had barely figured it out myself. And I knew you needed to take this job – it's your dream. I didn't want to get in the way of that. I didn't want to confuse you. Besides, how do you say something like that to your best friend?"

"Well what about last night? Why didn't you say anything last night?"

"I kind of tried…" He said raising his eyebrows.

Betty scoffed lightheartedly. "You mean by trying to stick your tongue down my throat?"

"Hey! There was no tongue. There were hardly any lips." Daniel defended and then added "There was some forehead and some concrete but definitely no tongue." They both laughed.

She sat back down at the table and Daniel followed.

Daniel asked more seriously "So what now?" He held his breath waiting for her to answer.

"I don't mean to play games Daniel…but I just don't know. I've never thought of you that way before."

"Never?"

Betty shook her head.

"Never…ever?" Daniel was really searching for some hope.

Betty was amused "Is that so difficult to believe?" she teased him.

He was not deterred. "Not even once? Not even in the deep subconscious recesses of your mind."

Immediately Betty thought back to last night's very interesting dream. She didn't answer. Daniel noticed and that was enough for him.

"So you have…haven't you?" he started grinning.

Betty was flustered. Why was he able to read her so well? "Only once…last night…and it was just a stupid dream." She said quickly trying to defend herself.

"You had a dream about me?" Daniel was intrigued.

Betty stood up and turned her back to him, pretending she needed to wipe off the counter. Her face had gone beat red. The heat was rising from somewhere around her toes.

Daniel noticed her discomfort and the light bulb went on. "You had a dream about me." This time it wasn't a question and his amusement and delight were evident.

"Was it a good dream or a bad dream?" He asked, emphasizing the word bad. He was obviously teasing her now.

"Daniel…I'm a little uncomfortable with this conversation." She was hoping to appeal to his more compassionate side.

"Obviously." He became more serious. "It doesn't have to be a dream you know?"

"Are you kidding me?" Betty turned and looked at him amazed. "You're not seriously handing me a line right now?"

Daniel looked a little sheepish and he realized all the things he loved about Betty – her wit, her intelligence but mostly her ability to cut through all of his crap - were going to prove to be interesting in the romance department. If I get the chance. He thought to himself.

"Yeah. I guess I was, a little. You can't blame a guy for trying." There was silence for a minute and then he decided to bring them back to the real point of the conversation. "So where does that leave us?" he asked.

"I don't know. Our friendship is really great – I don't want to mess with that. I don't want things to change between us."

"They already have Betty. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Remember when we went from being boss and assistant to being friends? It wasn't the same but we stayed close - became closer in some ways because our relationship was built on friendship rather than responsibility. We spent time together because we wanted to not because our jobs dictated it. Our relationship evolved and I think it can evolve again if we let it."

He stood up and walked over to the counter where she was standing.

"Look…I don't want to pressure you." He took her hand gently. "You know we'll always be friends, right? Even if you decide you don't want to give us a try." He was being sincere – he didn't want to loose her completely – but, truthfully, a part of him wondered how he would cope if that was what she decided.

"What if we try it and it doesn't work?" She voiced her biggest fear.

"What if we don't and we always regret it?" He retorted.

Betty thought about that for a minute. She'd never been one to let fear get in her way when a great opportunity came along. Was this a great opportunity? Her relationship with Daniel - as friends - was wonderful. They knew each other so well; they supported each other; they always had fun together; they always knew they were on the same team. But could she feel more than that? That was the question she'd been asking herself since Justin and Hilda had read her the letter. She thought maybe she could. For one thing she couldn't get that stupid dream out of her head.

Then she looked up at him and said "I don't want to let my fear hold me back…hold us back."

Daniel looked back at her, searching her face for the meaning behind her statement. He wanted to hope that she meant she was willing to give them a chance but she hadn't exactly said that.

Betty continued "But the timing…" Daniel's heart sank - he knew what she was about to say. "I'm working so hard to get this magazine up and running. I didn't want any complications…any distractions."

One word in the last phrase gave Daniel hope but maybe he was reading too much into it…

"You said "didn't" not "don't"." Daniel wanted to clarify.

Betty looked at him unsure what he meant.

Daniel continued. "You said you didn't want any complications or distractions – as in: in the past you were hoping no complications or distractions would arise. But now that there are some…what are you going to do about them?"

"You missed your calling…you should have been a lawyer." Betty was amused. "What am I going to do about them?" She asked almost to herself.

"I don't want to interfere with your work Betty. I know that's why you came here in the first place…but just remember that there is more to life than magazines and work."

There was something about that statement that resonated with her. She'd always wondered if it was possible to have both a great career and a wonderful personal life. Wilhelmena had told her once that you couldn't have both. If she pushed Daniel away just because she was afraid of him interfering with work, would she end up bitter and alone like Wilhelmena some day? Many of the people she respected most in the world – Hilda, Papi, even Christina – seemed to be able to have both. Besides, even if she ended up succeeding with this magazine wouldn't it feel sort of hollow without someone to share it with? And then a final realization: Apart from maybe her family, Daniel would always be the one she wanted to share it with the most.

She knew what she wanted. But this was Daniel and it all seemed so strange.

"So…how would we go about…evolving…if that's what we wanted to do?" She asked awkwardly.

Daniel looked at her closely. He was still uncertain if she was all in but his hope had returned, so he took a chance. He took a step toward her and his face was within inches of hers.

"We could start here…" He said putting his hand up to her cheek and caressing it softly with his thumb. He gave her that look that she'd had trouble reading last night, only tonight she knew exactly what it meant. The tingles were back but this time they excited her. His eyes were so blue…how did she never notice that before? Her heart was pounding in her ears and her stomach flipped a little. He bent down slowly and just as Betty thought he was going to kiss her he stopped and pulled back slightly as if a thought had occurred to him. He whispered "If I try to kiss you now will I end up in the emergency room?"

"Only if there's a bee around." She chuckled at her own joke.

"What?" Daniel didn't understand.

"Never mind." She grinned up at him.

He bent down again and this time he did kiss her…very tenderly. He pulled back to look at her.

"Is this weird for you?" He asked.

"A little." She had to be honest. It was definitely weird but amazing at the same time. She didn't want him to get the wrong idea so she added "But in a good way. Maybe we just need a little practice." She couldn't believe she just said that.

Daniel smiled knowingly and he kissed her again still tenderly but with a little more purpose. Betty wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her close to him. His lips were so warm and sweet and Betty never wanted it to end. After a minute he pulled away slowly, resting his forehead against hers. Betty started to breath again.

"So tell me…was that like your dream?" Daniel asked teasing her again.

"Much, much better." Betty replied.