Kairos (Ancient Greek: καιρός) / noun: The perfect, delicate, crucial moment; the fleeting rightness of time and place that create the opportune atmosphere for action, words or movement.
Prompt: Let's drive out of here
Universe: AU
Relationship Status: Friendship
Author Notes: None
Now that most of the anger is gone, all that is left is the usual pounding headache. There's a new feeling though; numbness. She's been there, sitting in her car in front of Niles' office for almost an hour, with the heater off in the middle of November… and yet she feels nothing.
The two gentle taps on the driver window unleash some of the storm that is brewing within her.
"Daphne?"
She had texted him, asking to meet her after work and there he is, wrapped in his Armani coat and scarf. The look of concern on his face tells her everything that she needs to know.
Her shame is leaving her unable to answer him.
Gently, very gently, he opens the driver's door and kneels in front of her.
"What happened?" he asks, leaning forward to wipe a tear away from her cheek, his concern turning to worry when feels how cold she is.
"Dear lord Daphne, you are freezing!"
She just looks at him trying his best to warm her shaky hands, in the middle of one of the busiest streets in Seattle with one knee on the filthy pavement. But she can't talk, because if she does, everything will crumble, and, and, and…
"Sit on the passenger seat Daphne" he instructs while turning the car heater on "I'll be right back"
In less than two minutes he's back from his own car, wraps her in the thickest, softest blanket she had ever felt and sits on the driver's side.
"What are you d…"
"Let's drive out of here" he simply says, a soft smile twitching upon his lips.
"What did he do?" he asked between clenched teeth, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
He knows. He's always seen what she's been unable to see. Now that the truth is about to come out she's afraid of losing Niles the way she almost lost him when he called Joe out and she got mad at him and made him promise that he wouldn't say a bad thing again about his boyfriend. Ever.
"Came home early from work yesterday and caught him cheating on me with his best friend's girlfriend. They were in our bed… doing it. When he saw me, he… he tried to denied it Niles"
The man besides her says nothing, his own experience with his now ex-wife stirring within him. But it's not his past what's fueling his anger. His dear Daphne, his best friend for many years, the woman he's now falling in love with, is suffering.
Silently, he turns to Northlake Way to park the vehicle outside Gas Works Park. There's a decent view of the sunset over the lake and for a while they just sit in complete silence, trying to soak in its beauty.
"I… I don't know what to say"
A dry, harsh laugh leaves her mouth.
"That's exactly the last thing he said before I left the house."
He holds her hand again, warmer now and relief washes over her. She still has her friend.
"Is there anything I can do for you right now?"
She shook her head and sighs. He has done more than enough already.
"I just want him to stop calling and message me. Right now I can't stand the look of his face. But I have to go home to collect my things and he will probably will be there. And even though he leaves the place, I wouldn't be able to live there, let alone sleep in the same bed where they…"
She's about to break again and she hates herself for it.
"I'll do that" he simply says, his words carrying an overpowering strength "I'll go to your place and get your things. And if he's there, I'll tell him to stop bothering you; that it is over"
"But I don't have a place to…"
"Yes you have. You'll stay with me. I have a guest room for you until… until you find something else"
"But I can't ask you to… You've already done so much… I just can't…"
"Daphne" he cuts her off gently, his voice already healing her aching heart "The only person that stood by my side when my marriage ended, apart from my family, was you. Please, let me repay all the goodness your friendship has brought into my life"
She sees something then, in his piercing blue eyes, that ignites a warmth within her. A wonderful feeling she is beginning to wish that it never fades away. Just like the feeling of being safe whenever she is with him.
"OK" she breathes.
