Ugly Betty

It Takes A Village

A/N: I am so glad that you all liked the last chapter. Thanks heaps for the wonderful reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I affiliated with Ugly Betty in anyway.

Chapter Three: Feeling Sorry for Ourselves

"Betty, it is way too cold in here for you," Daniel said, marveling in just how cold the apartment was.

"It's okay once the heater kicks in," she said, throwing her bag down on the worn couch. "I just can't keep it on all day because I can't afford that."

"If you move in with me, you wouldn't have to worry about that," he answered, walking into her tiny kitchenette and helping himself to a glass of water.

"Daniel, I can barely afford the rent on this place. Your apartment would be so much more expensive. There is no way I can afford to live in your place," she argued.

"Who said anything about being able to afford anything?" Daniel asked.

"Well, I would have to pay half of everything," Betty said, sounding confused. "That's normally how it works when you move in with someone."

"I don't expect you to pay for everything. You forget, I know how much you earn and you are going to need every single penny of that for your child," Daniel answered. "If I didn't think it was going to be better for you, I wouldn't have asked you to move in."

"I couldn't move in for free," Betty exclaimed. "And besides, if I leave my apartment, I have to pay out the rest of the lease and I cant afford that."

"I'll take care of it," Daniel said. He had been badgering her to move in for four days now and he could tell she was close to giving him in. "I know you wont take charity so think of it as a loan. You can pay me back when you're back on your feet and if you insist on paying something, I guess you can always pay my body corporate fees. I'll give you the account number and you can put money in each week."

"Fine," she said, rolling her eyes and wrapping her arms around her body. "I'll move in with you but only because it is freezing."

"Fantastic," he said, flashing her a grin. "And since most of your stuff is still in boxes, it wont take long at all. I'll call the removalists and we'll have you moved in in to time."

"My things wouldn't be in boxes if you didn't work me so hard," she grumbled. He raised his eyebrows at her but she smiled at him. "Thanks for this, Daniel."

"It's my pleasure, Betty," he answered. "In the meantime, why don't you pack a bag and you can come home with me now."

"Right now?" she asked. "Are you serious?"

Daniel woke to the sounds of dry-retching. For a moment, he panicked. Who was in his house and why were they throwing up? He didn't even remember going out the night before. And then he realised who it was and why exactly they were throwing up. Just the noise made him feel sick. He was glad he couldn't see or smell the vomit as that would be the end of him.

There was a moment's reprieve in the noises and he could hear Betty's heavy-breathing. He hauled himself out of bed and padded out of the bedroom and down the hall to the guest bathroom. He knocked on the closed door and called out lightly.

"Go away!" Betty yelled.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay," Daniel murmured through the wood.

"I'm not doing to good," she sighed.

"Can I do anything to help?" he asked.

"Unless you can throw-up for me, I don't think there is anything you can do to help me," Betty answered. He could hear the sarcasm in her voice and it cheered him ever-so-slightly. He nodded, even though she couldn't see him, and then made his way to the kitchen where he poured some water into a class and after some rummaging, pulled out a packet of water crackers. He grabbed the packet and the glass of water and took them to the bathroom.

"I have some water and some crackers for you," he called out.

"Real helpful, Daniel," she answered. He heard her shift and then the heaving began again. As soon as Daniel heard the vomit hitting the water, he felt himself turn green. He began to sweat and his stomach tied itself into knots. He calmly set the water and crackers down outside the door and then made his way to his own bathroom. He knelt in front of the toilet and stayed there for a whole three minutes and waited. He soon realised that he wasn't going to throw-up so he lay down on his side and waited it out.

He had never been able to handle other people throwing up. He could barely even handle throwing up himself. There was just something to disgusting about it. The noise and the smell, it was just disgusting. The only thing that stopped him from feeling worse about himself was the fact that he didn't have to go through it himself every day. For poor Betty, it was an everyday occurrence.

"This sucks, this sucks, this sucks," Betty whispered to herself as she braced herself for another episode. She retched but nothing came up. "Come on! You always feel better afterward."

She sunk back onto the floor and rested her head against the wall. She had never felt so terrible in her life. She knew that morning sickness was a good sign, that it meant the body was accepting the baby but she wondered why it had to feel so bad. She was already giving up her womb and agreeing to carry the child around for forty weeks and then push it out of a hole that nothing that big should ever have to fit through. Yet she was doing it and she was happy about it, surely the throwing up wasn't necessary.

She sighed again and realised that Daniel had come and gone. She stuck her head out the door and heard him dry-retching in his bathroom. She covered her mouth and grinned. Her boss couldn't stand a little… as soon as the thought entered her head, she found herself hovering over the toilet again. She groaned.

She was so sick of this. She was just plain sick. It just wasn't right.

"Daniel, what's going on?" Betty asked when she walked into the living room half an hour later. Her boss was still in his pyjamas and was sitting in front of the television, a half-eaten slice of toast and jam on his plate.

"We've called in sick today," he said, looking up at her. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were bloodshot and watery. She looked pale and had dark circles under her eyes. "I think we need it."

"Is that your way of telling me I look like crap?" she said, sitting on the couch next to him. "Because that isn't very nice."

"It's just my way of saying 'I'm really sorry you have to go through that every morning,'" he shrugged. Betty started to laugh and he knew she hadn't seen through him.

"You were nearly sick," she laughed. He rolled his eyes and tried to downplay it but eventually he joined in with her laughter. "Oh, Daniel. Are you still sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I even boiled you some rice because I know its one of the only things you can stomach."

Her face fell from a happy grin to a touched smile and she screwed up her nose.

"Thanks, Daniel," she said. She stood up and walked into the kitchen and found a bowl of boiled rice with a side of water-crackers and she smiled. It seemed that she was making the right decision moving in.