~ IX ~

Daniel discovers that although his life isn't a fairytale by any stretch of the imagination, it does come pretty darn close sometimes.

Since that day there've been changes of course but in many other ways, things stay the same. Maybe it's because he and Betty are who they are now rather than the people they were back then; the playboy boss and the dorky assistant would never have been able to handle things this way.

Whether intentional or not they'd waited, growing into each other until they couldn't tell where one ended and the other began. And even though their relationship is still shiny and bright and new he knows in his bones that this thing with them, whatever it is – is the real thing.

(Baring any unforseen hiccups of course; it's entirely probable, knowing himself as well as he does, that he'll do something boneheaded along the way. But he has faith in her and faith that he'll do the best he can; it's the only thing he's always been able to give her.)

She doesn't melt immediately into a pile of excited Betty goo after the initial whirlwind of excitement leaves them. While she leaves him in no doubt she's ecstatic and excited and other words he has to secretly check in the dictionary, she's her own woman and being with him isn't as all-consuming as it once would have been. They both have jobs and lives that sometimes happen to be separate and given their friendship, she suggests they transition slowly and yeah, Daniel has to agree with that.

He knows she's scared; they both are, wouldn't be human otherwise. He thinks he's daunting a proposition for her, not because he's still one of the most eligible bachelors in New York (hey he's only quoting Mode's annual list) but because she's seen him in romantic action and boy, does that action suck. He's screwed up so many times he cringes knowing that not only was she a witness to every sordid detail of his history, it'd been more often than not that when crap hit the fan, she'd been the one to scrape it off the ceiling. So yeah, it makes him squirm like a sissy man.

So they both have things to get over and the going slow idea is a good one, initially. After four weeks though, he's completely over it. (The taking it slow part, not the Betty part.) And being Daniel, he's not so subtle about making it known.

He's just flown back into New York after a business trip to the west coast and she's the first thing he sees when he passes the gates at JFK. She flies into his arms as soon as she sees him and if they're being slightly silly about the hugging and the clinging it's only because they only have about four years of that to catch up on (amongst other things) and besides, they've always hugged. It's one of the things he fell in love with.

She's happy despite the early hour and lack of breakfast; he can tell by her smile and the hundred mile an hour chatter only she can maintain on minimal caffeine. Daniel leans back against the seat of the car as it whisks them to Betty's office and marvels at the early morning sunlight hitting her hair, bathing her in a golden glow.

He's only been away for two days and yet, he'd missed her. Badly. And yeah, he's a sap, a big, gigantic, Daniel-shaped sap – and proud of it.

He shakes himself out of it by broaching what he thinks will be a slightly sensitive subject. He'd been thinking incessantly about it which is what always happens when he has too much time to think.

"Betty, I'm not sure I like the whole 'slow and steady' idea anymore."

She makes an unintelligible sound. To be fair she's in the middle of re-tying his tie which he'd hastily thrown around his neck three seconds before landing. She hasn't done that since her assistant days and had been careful after she quit not to do anything too assistant-like like that. He'd missed it and suspects she did too (the taking care of him part, not the assistant part), which is why he loves it now when she can't help herself doing small things like this.

He stills her hands. "Did you hear what I just said?"

She frowns, looks up at him through still freshly cut bangs. They're soft and airy and frame her face really nicely and despite the more grown up style she looks more girl-like than ever; realises anew how vulnerable she still can be. "You've squished your tie so it's all crumply again. How many times have I told you not to squash it into your bag?" She puts the finishing touches, leans back to admire her handiwork. "And I thought we agreed slow and steady's the best way to go forward. As a –".

" – couple I know." He jumps in; knows she still hasn't wrapped her head around that particular change yet (not that he blames her). "But I don't think we need to be so cautious anymore. Think about it. We've had a month to get used to it. Even Hilda's stopped teasing us. I think it's time to … take it up a notch."

She smiles that small, secretive smile that's been just one of a million new things about her he's learned in the last month. He thought he'd known everything there was to know about Betty Suarez but it turns out there's probably a million more he's yet to see.

"And by taking it up a notch, what exactly do you have in mind?"

He shrugs, tries not to think about the one thing they've both danced around but haven't alluded to but come on, he can't deny it's at least part of why he wants to step it up. It's been a month and, well … a man has needs.

Not that it's all about the sex, but still, surely, there should be sex at some stage.

Right?

"You know exactly what I mean." He impulsively folds himself against her, lightly brushing her knee with a practised hand. He's careful to only brush against her skin; the last thing he wants to do is pressure her but at the same time doesn't want to leave her in any doubt about his intentions. "I want to be with you. You know that."

He thinks it's adorable the way she reddens, fumbles with his tie once more even though it's perfectly done like it always is when she does it. Stutters a bit then decides sitting on her hands as far from him as possible and avoiding his eyes is the better course of action.

"Hey, look at me."

"I'm just scared, that's all." She blurts, meeting his eyes. "It's kind of a big step. I … I'm nervous about it. Believe me, I've thought about it … a lot."

And believe him, Daniel's thought about it a lot too, perhaps way too much for someone who's supposed to have been concentrating at a very serious advertisers meeting. Business and pleasure never mixed so badly.

"And I haven't …" She mumbles but he can just make it out. " … I haven't, you know, been with … that many people."

Her vulnerability disarms him, every time. He reassures her the best way he knows how; gently reaches out and takes her hand. "Hey. This isn't about that. I don't want to pressure you. I'm just saying … I'm ready when you are. And that I'm crazy about you and will wait for as long as you need to, okay?"

She squeezes his hand and plants a kiss on his lips; rewards him with a shaky smile. "Thank you Daniel. I just … I need time. For things to settle down. To get used to this, us … everything. Don't think I don't want to … you know. I do, I really, god, I really do."

"Okay." He whispers; brushes bangs from her face before he kisses her and it's odd to realise anew that he really loves her. The realness of the feeling scares him but he swallows the panic down. He's learning and adapting and she's assured him hundreds of times he's on the right path and yes, he trusts her fully in this. "I'm not going anywhere. You know that, don't you?"

"I do Daniel. I do."

Her eyes shine; her hands creeping around him as she snuggles against his chest. He holds her tight, closes his eyes as she melts into him and he's so happy it really does feel like he's floating on that imaginary cloud nine. If that's the case, he never wants to come back down to earth.

They've seen each other at their best and worst moments and everything in between. What sets his heart racing is the anticipation that he'll get to share even more of those moments, with her.