Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter.

I just want to let everybody know that I now have an account on Archive of Our Own. I'm in the process of transferring stories to that site but I've decided to go back and edit all the stories before I post. I may even be adding a little bit more to certain stories.

I will continue posting on for now, unless the policies get any worse. However, the chapters I post here will be edited for content.

This is an edited chapter

Warning sexual content

Chapter 4: Tongues, Thai food, and Target

Contrary to what Jamie assumed, she and Daniel did not need any of the 'supplies' from the upstairs bathroom. She did not let Daniel get that far. Okay, he got further than Wilbur- she means Walter did, except for right after her mom's funeral and they were together six months before she realized he was slightly deranged.

She didn't feel pressured to go farther, like she did with Walter. He may joke about it but Daniel was letting this go at her pace, which was unbelievably slow compared to what he was used to. Compared to Daniel, she might as well still be a virgin. She wasn't ready for traditional sex but she wasn't opposed to trying some of the other things that Daniel suggested, because at the very least she was curious. (Okay so she may have a slight fear of ending up like her sister, even though she loves her nephew which is why she was still hesitant now that she knew Daniel was serious.)

Today she had her first encounter with oral sex. It wasn't as creepy as she thought it would be. She actually liked it. Daniel didn't make her feel stupid for doing something wrong or asking questions. He made her want to try new things and become comfortable with her own sexuality.

"I wish I met you years ago? You are absolutely brilliant at everything you do." Daniel said from the guest bathroom after cleaning up from there afternoon activities. Daniel was currently dressed in a pair of sweatpants that he kept at his brother's house for emergencies. The pair of jeans he was wearing before were ruined and let's just leave it at that. She was currently dressed in something they found buried deep in Alex's closet that almost fit her, even if it was a bit long. Why did she have a feeling that this particular dress did not belong to Jordan?

"Up until about four years ago, that would have been illegal in the state of New York." She said just as he kissed her again. "Technically, I'm not even supposed to drink for three more months."

"Even though you had about three glasses of wine today." He said smugly.

"It was better me than Jordan. This whole thing with your brother is really hard on her and she's having trouble dealing with everything." Betty explained.

"I won't say anything to your dad. Sometimes I forget how much younger you are than I am because you are so much more mature than I am. Compared to me, you have been a grown-up for years. Where I still act like I am a college kid, forever on spring break. Betty, you helped your sister raise her son. You even gave up an internship at the Washington Post just so you could spend the summer with your mother."

She told Daniel about that when he was trying to convince her to let him find her a better job than clean up after sick cats.

"They're my family, it's not a sacrifice. I know you're a good person and would do the same. You're not that guy that everyone thinks you are. If you were, Daniel, you wouldn't be here helping Jamie and Jordan clean out your brother's house. You definitely would not have driven your mom to rehab twice in the same week. If I thought you were the player of New York, I wouldn't have done anything with you earlier, even if we did not do that." She blushed, as she remembered earlier. .To get certain inappropriate images out of her mind she decided to start boxing up some of the things in the bedroom.

"Actually, I don't mind. I rather do what we did than what I did last week with Bambi. Even though we didn't have 'real' sex, what I did with you was a lot more intimate." Considering the fiery look that Daniel was giving her she knows that he means that.

"You actually slept with somebody named Bambi?" Betty said pulling away.

"I don't know; that probably was not her real name. See I actually remember your name; therefore, what we did was more important." He joked but Betty knew there was some truth to what he was saying.

"The sad thing is I know you're being sincere." Betty said with a frown.

"I know you are now very well aware of my crappy reputation which is why you don't want to go any farther." Daniel said with a hurt look in his eyes.

"I also know that supposedly crappy reputation is because the last time you gave your heart to somebody she broke it into little pieces. Due to the fact the first guy I ever slept with cheated on me with some random girl because I didn't want to sleep with him again, I am just as relationship shy." Betty explained.

"I really should not have left you with my brother's widows." Daniel said shaking his head.

"I don't think you can be a widow if you were never actually married in the first place. Also, in Jamie's case, if he was married to Alex he would be a widower."

"You know what I mean." Daniel said with a sigh.

"Yeah, I do. So is it true that you have not had a real relationship since Lucy and you're afraid to try again?" Betty asked.

"It's more complicated than that."

"Tell me." Daniel explained the whole story of Lucy as they finished packing up the room. He cried a few times. She wasn't sure if he was crying for the one that got away or his dead brother but she's starting to think his tears are more Alex related than anything else.

"She really did break your heart?" She asked him once he was done.

"Pretty much." Daniel said as he threw a bunch of things in one of the boxes.

"Yet, for the last 10 years you have been letting her ruin your life." She felt so sad for him.

"You're afraid to have sex with me because your last boyfriend cheated on you." Okay, that accusation made her angry.

"That's not it. You and I come from two different worlds. Guys like you don't 'date' girls like me. I had to have my nephew dress me this morning. I'm just waiting for my carriage to become a pumpkin again." She tried to explain.

"I think I like your nephew. He has good taste." Daniel said trying to complement her. It did not work.

"That makes me feel so much better."

"Betty, I don't care what you're wearing. Personally, I prefer if you're not wearing anything." Her response to that was to throw a pillow at him.

Seriously why does he always put his foot in his mouth around her? He's always saying the wrong thing. If this was just about sex, he wouldn't care, but this was about her. He hated hurting her.

"Okay, that came out the wrong way." He said going over to Betty. "What I'm trying to say is I like you. I really like you. I like spending time with you. I like talking to you. You are probably the only reason why I'm in this house and not at the bar down the street with Jamie and Jordan. I'm not going to disappear the moment that I get to come inside you. I will keep telling you this until you actually believe me." She blushed again at his words.

He really loved making her blush. Because she was near virginal, anything sex-related made her cheeks go this brilliant shade of pink. He enjoyed it. He almost enjoyed as much is making her scream out his name.

"I'm not worried about that." She said not looking at him, which of course meant that she really was worried about that.

"Yes, you are," he spat back." Just to alleviate your other crazy fear, if the condom happens to break, I will not disappear." The way she blinked told him that she was scared of that too. He can't blame her because of what happened with her sister.

"How'd you know me so well already?" She asked with acute expression. He loves the way her nose scrunches up sometimes.

"I don't know. Probably, the same way you know me. You know I'm half convinced that you dress the way you do to scare people away. It's like if they can't look past the crazy colors to see the real you, they're not worth your time." Again, she wasn't looking at him, which told Daniel that he hit closer to the truth than she would've liked.

"I dress the way I do because it's what I can afford." She said defensively. He did not believe her.

"I've been told by Marisol that there's this wonderful store called Target that sells designer styles at Wal-Mart prices. Apparently, they're all over New Jersey and the other suburbs." He joked.

"Have you actually been into a Target?" She asked.

"Not really. Designers usually just send me stuff. I do a lot of the fashion articles for Hudson." He said with a shrug. He can't remember the last time he actually had to go shopping for himself.

"That must be nice." She said sarcastically.

"I'm not as spoiled as you think I am. After we are done here, I'll let you take me to a Target. Let me tell you after spending several hours with my mom in 'clothing museums', it's a miracle that I'm willing to go shopping with you." Betty just smiled at him.

"So you're going to take me shopping at Target to prove that I can look good on a budget?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm taking you shopping to prove that I want to spend time with you. I'm not Walter. You make me want to try something more than a one night stand. Getting you into a coat that doesn't remind me of a giant blue marshmallow is just a bonus." She rolls her eyes before he adds, "although, you are an adorable marshmallow."

"Despite that, I'm still not going to sleep with you right now. You're still hung up on some girl who screwed you over more than a decade ago. You never really got closure with her." She told him. He wondered if this was just another excuse.

"I personally think closure is overrated. You try to talk with Wilbur about what he did to you and he completely ignored you your concerns. He tried to kiss you again."

"Actually, he is probably standing outside of my house again. He hasn't figured it out yet." Okay, that scared the hell out of him. He really didn't trust that guy.

"I'm worried about him." Daniel told her.

"He's a jerk but he's harmless. With everything going on I'm not ready to just jump into things. I just think we should take things slow."

"As long as we get to do what we did earlier I can deal with your definition of slow." He said with a smirk as he tried to kiss her. That got him another pillow in the stomach.

"You know, I'm starting to reconsider my assessment of your character." Betty said with a glare.

"You know you like me. I will make you a deal when I go to France in a couple of weeks to settle Alex's affairs I will try to find Lucy and get this closure that you believe is so important." He suggested, not that he actually was going to do that. Although now that he suggested it, Betty will probably make him go through with it. However, he may be willing to face her if it meant that Betty will come with him.

"That will be good for you. You can't move forward and you deal with the past." Okay now he knows he will have to do it because Betty is just like that.

"I will deal with my past, if you deal with your present and get a restraining order against Wilbur." If she is going to force him to do something, he was going to get something in return.

"Why do you keep calling my ex-boyfriend Wilbur?" She asked doing the cute scrunchy thing.

"He's too much of a bastard for me to bother to remember his actual name." Actually, it was because he liked calling the idiot Wilbur.

"I still think he's harmless." She protested.

"He's stalking you. You told me he tried to follow you into the restroom at school yesterday even after your father had threatened him with bodily harm. I'm worried and I'm going to be in France for a few weeks to deal with everything. I'm not going to be able to scare him off. I just want you to be safe. Though, you can always come with me?" He decided to use this as an excuse to convince her to come with him.

"I can't go with you. We've only known each other for a week." She protested halfheartedly.

"Jamie's parents got married after three weeks. They have a much more stable marriage than my parents do. By the time I leave for Paris, we would have known each other for at least five weeks." Daniel pointed out to her.

"He mentioned the same thing. As much as I would love to go to France with you, if I could afford it, I have this thing called classes. Due to everything that happened with my mom, my grades dropped during the last two semesters and if I don't get straight A's this semester I may lose my scholarship." He could tell by her expression that was a legitimate concern. He decided it's probably best not to point out that he would be paying for everything.

"However, to alleviate your worries I will get a restraining orderon one condition." Why did Daniel have a feeling he was not going to like this condition?

"I guess Paris is not an option right now but it could be a reward if you get straight A's this semester. An all-expenses-paid trip would be the perfect motivation. What is your condition?" He asked before she could object.

"That we don't go any farther than what were already doing. You still want to take me to Europe?" She asked him, slightly surprised.

"I want to take you everywhere." He said kissing her again.

He successfully managed to convince her to have 'Not sex' twice before he had no choice but to drive her home very late that evening. Also, at some point they may have ordered Thai food. Due to all the 'not sex' they didn't finish boxing up Alex's apartment. Despite the fact that Jordan and Jamie never came back, they managed to get half of the loft packed up. Regardless of the fact they kept getting 'distracted'.

As agreed-upon, she arrived at his loft at 11 onSunday. She may have also given him a strange look when she saw the artwork in his bedroom. He's going to have to get rid of it, if he ever wants to get Betty naked in that bedroom.

Because neither he nor Jordan and Jamie could deal with Alex's house again they opted to get professionals to clean it out. Therefore, Daniel made good on his promise to go to a Target with Betty to prove to her that she could dress well on a budget. (Okay, maybe he just wanted an excuse to buy her something other than snowman panties.)

Because it was Sunday, they had to stay in New York due to the blue laws in various counties in New Jersey. They ended up at the Target at the Palisades Center because that mall also had several arcades, a bowling alley, an ice-skating rink, a Ferris wheel, and an IMAX theater. There was also a merry-go-round that Betty just had to force him to go on. It was good to just hang out with her without being followed by paparazzi. He wasn't very recognizable in a baseball cap and non-designer blue jeans. He was sure none of them would ever think to find him in a Target picking out clothes for his new girlfriend. This day would be perfect if they would let him go in the dressing room with her.

"I can't let you buy all this stuff for me. There has to be at least $1000 worth of clothes in the cart." She said looking at the grocery cart filled with clothes and other things that he picked out for her. If she thought this was all lot of stuff, he's glad he didn't take her into some of the more upscale stores in the mall.

"The pants that you destroyed yesterday, due to your inpatients, probably cost more than everything in that card combined. Also, I did destroy most of what you were wearing yesterday, including the snowman panties. I'm just paying you back a little bit early for all the other things I plan to destroy." He said holding up the cute black and white lace panties that he convinced her to get.

"You wore pants that cost more than $1000 to clean your brother's apartment?" She asked grabbing the underwear out of his hands and burying it under the new not puffy coat and other things he was getting her.

"They were old." He said as an excuse.

"No wonder you think buying me $1000 worth of clothes is not a big deal." She said incredulously.

"You have probably saved me that much in therapy sessions." He joked.

"Fine, but I'm buying lunch and I'm paying for ice-skating." She said in acquiescence.

"I'm rich I can easily afford to get you some nicer things, especially at these prices. I can't believe that coat was only $70. I had no idea Isaac Mizrahi was doing a diffusion collection. These are all really nice pieces." He said enthusiastically. He was actually having fun dressing her up. He liked fashion but don't tell anybody that.

"But I don't want you to think that I'm only with you because of that."

"I never would, although, I know you're not going to give up, so let's just go to the food court. I think I saw a Nathan's in there. I don't think I've had a hot dog in months. Let me pay for this and then you can get me a hot dog." He said with a smile.

"Deal." She said kissing him on the cheek.

To be continued.