She's in front of Frasier, more nervous than she's been in her whole life. Her mandatory sessions with the therapist, after the disastrous chain of events that led to that multiple car accident, far from helping her with her stress and emotional issues, have left her more confused than ever.
Because Niles Crane has somehow carved his way into her heart and now the prospect of marrying Donny looks wrong, and she's terrified of going along with what now is turning into a big mistake.
For weeks, since Frasier, under the effects of those strong painkillers he took to alleviate his backache, had spilled out about Niles's feelings for her (added to Mr. Crane providing unadvertently the shocking detail that he'd held his tongue about the topic for six years, and that meant nearly the entirety of her stay with the Cranes since she had landed the job), she hasn't been able to push the youngest Dr. Crane out of her thoughts.
Now lots of small details since the beginning of her acquaintance with him make sense: his almost constant presence at his brother's condo, his intense, ardent stares, his reactions when she talks about intimate matters like her underwear or whenever he sees her in sexy clothes or evening dresses, his fixation with the smell of her hair and with her bum (she's noticed that too, of course), his gallant behaviour, his words and sentences that now, in retrospect, are charged with an interest toward her that clearly went far beyond mere friendship or camaraderie. Also his eagerness and insistence that she is present at meals, and also when the family attends events and social gatherings, or asking her to accompany the family in trips around the country or when they visit Freddy in Boston.
She realizes that she hasn't been oblivious to any of that, like she's pretended. She's just discarded all the signs because she considered greatly improbable the possibility of him developing a romantic interest in her. The reasons were overwhelming: first, he'd been a married man and he loved his wife despite the fact that Mrs. Crane clearly didn't requite his feelings to the same extent. Secondly, he has a refined education, is sophisticated, highly cultured and an erudite, whereas she, even though she has improved and learned a lot since she's been living under Frasier's roof, and she doesn't see herself as a complete ignorant either, she is still very far from his level. Besides, he's rich and she's poor. However, something she has in common with him is that, even if she hasn't ever been a snob like him, and won't ever be, she also appreciates high-quality things. She loves dressing in finery, French champagne, luxury cars and elegant mansions. She's not much for jewelry, just the right amount to wear discreetly in the appropiate occasions, and not more; she barely can afford them anyway. To top it all in the topic of differences, she has a loose tongue and is bad tempered whenever something annoys her a lot or tries her patience.
In short, they don't have a lot of things in common and she's very far from his league. That's why any notion of him taking an interest in her has always looked absurd in her eyes. Until now.
She remembers vividly the Snow Ball, four years ago. Had they been acting, as she had suggested cowardly as a scapegoat? Now she's sure that they hadn't. They'd both spilled the truth, it seemed, but she'd been too scared and incredulous to admit that they'd poured their hearts to each other. Looking at it from the perspective of years, the hurt in his eyes after her cruel dismissal was genuine. She had hurt him badly that night, but she'd done it out of skepticism and self-preservation. It hadn't been her intention to crush any hopes she couldn't believe he harboured toward her.
But at present, even if his love for her has been there in the past, there's no guarantee that he still feels the same for her. He's been dating Mel for months and looks quite smitten with her, to the point that he even indulges her acts of pettiness like a man blinded by love. Mel is manipulative, resentful and arrogant at times; even Daphne has noticed. However, Niles chooses to look the other way and pretend that they're just funny and inoffensive traits, which bothers Daphne. Can't he see that no one in the Crane household, or even in their circle of friends and acquaintances, stands her? They all are polite to her just for Niles's sake. Even Daphne, who always tries to see the good in people, finds difficult to like Mel. In addition, the woman treats her patronizingly. She passes it for bad jokes, but Daphne sees it as it is: an air of superiority because she's a prestigious plastic surgeon, whereas Daphne is just little more than a housekeeper in her eyes.
All in all, Niles looks happy with her. He most probably has moved on from his past feelings for Daphne, and she's just deluding herself. Perhaps all this turmoil is not more than nerves due to the impending wedding. Surely if she makes the effort to push this all out of her mind, tomorrow she'll wake up laughing at it and recovering the certainty that she's in love with Donny.
Nonetheless... The nagging feeling is there, persistent, and she has to talk with Frasier. He's a dear friend and she trusts him to at least listen and give valuable advice. He's sometimes wrong, but he's a good psychiatrist and he's known what Niles has felt for her all these years and both brothers are very close, so Frasier is best suited to help her sort out her own feelings.
"Dr. Crane," she begins, struggling to find the proper words. "I.. I know about your brother's feelings for me. Or what he used to feel for me at least." Her heart is jumping in her chest.
"For God's sake!," he exclaims in dismay. "Who's been the disgusting gossip? Dad? Roz?," he accuses, altered.
Well, if she needed more confirmation (which she really didn't) that she hasn't been crazy imagining all this nightmare, here it is. Frasier's knee-jerk reaction can't be more revealing.
"It was you," she cuts him off before he goes on ranting.
"Me?," he asks in bewilderment. "That's not possible, I've never..."
"It happened when you took those painkillers for your back," she interrupts him. "I was giving you a massage and you were under the effects of the pills. When I asked you what your father had meant earlier when he told me that he'd kept silent for six years, and then the misunderstanding about your own friendly feelings for me was clarified by yourself just minutes later, you revealed that he'd been referring to your brother, and that he's crazy in love with me." Daphne now understands the times Niles has been on the verge of hyperventilating in her persence whenever he's felt overwhelmed by something. She's about to hyperventilate herself, waiting for Frasier's reply.
Frasier looks as if he wants the earth to swallow him whole. "Oh, did I? In my defense, those painkillers were very strong. I took a couple of them. I'm quite a big sized man...," he rambles nervously.
She once again cuts him off. "Please, would you drop the topic of the damned painkillers?"
He looks apologetic. "Of course, of course, sorry. It wasn't my intention to be a snitch, it was involuntary, I swear to you. But what you affirm I said is true. Niles has loved you for all these years, Daphne. The day his divorce from Maris was finally official, he and I saw you and Donny at Café Nervosa very affectionate to each other, and that crushed him after so many years pining for you. But it was Donny's marriage proposal to you what definitely undid him. From then on, he's tried very hard to move on from you and, I believe, pretend that he's over you. He met Mel and I'd bet that what he has with her is mostly a rebound relationship in order to forget you. But..." He stares at her carefully. "Are you suggesting that you have feelings for him and that's why you've brought up this topic?"
Daphne decides to be as honest as she's capable of. "I think so. But maybe he doesn't feel the same anymore. He's with Mel now." It's the simplest way of expressing her deepest fear.
"You should talk to him and clear the air, Daphne," Frasier recommends.
"It's not easy to have that conversation," she hesitates.
"Better have it now than after your wedding," he warns bluntly.
She sighs. "You're right. I'll go talk to him as soon as possible. Do you know if he's gone to his house?," she inquires, trying to summon her courage.
"Probably." He pauses and then goes on. "Daphne, I care for you very much as one of my best friends, and the advice I can give you is that it would be good for your future happiness to sort this out. Getting married is a huge step and there's a lot at stake. You shouldn't take it if you love Niles and it turns out that he still loves you in return and there's a chance for the both of you. Either way, I'm proud of your bravery. Doing the right thing is rarely easy."
Daphne hugs him, moved. "Thanks, Dr. Crane. You're a great friend. Now I'll go to your brother's before I chicken out. I hope I catch up with him and that he's alone. I'm not sure I'll be able to talk to him with Mel around."
"Then go right away, and good luck," Frasier urges with an encouraging smile.
Daphne grabs her coat and handbag and rushes for the lift, more determined than ever in her life.
When she reaches for the doorbell by the apartment door, she hesitates for some moments, pricking up her ears to try to hear any sound which indicates that Dr. Crane is inside and, luckily, alone. There's silence but she pushes the doorbell all the same, just in case. She has to do this before she goes insane.
Her heart speeds up when she hears steps and the door is opened by an astonished Dr. Crane. "Daphne? What... What can I do for you?" He looks as nervous as herself.
"May... May I talk to you, Dr. Crane?," she asks, wringing her hands. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. In that case, I'll go..."
"Of course you can talk to me, Daphne. You aren't interrupting anything. Come in, please." She steps inside the living room and he closes the door behind her. He then turns to her. "Allow me your coat, please." He helps her take it off, always gallant. She's reminded of when he did the same just a few days ago when he made up a ridiculous pretext to make her go to his apartment, where all her people were waiting to celebrate her bachelorette party (and Donny's bachelor's party at the same time). But she'd believed the pretext to be a true invitation to be alone with her, and she'd put on her best dress for him. She was in for a big (and in a guilty way, disappointing) surprise.
She loves those small gentlemanly gestures Niles does like second nature. He hangs her coat and turns to her again. "By all means, take a seat. Do you fancy a drink? Something to eat?," he offers.
She shakes her head and sits down on the fainting couch. "No, thank you."
He sits down next to her, at a respectful distance. "Well, Daphne. What is it?"
She inhales deeply, bracing herself. This is terribly embarrassing. "Dr. Crane, I... God, this is difficult." She covers her face with her hands, suddenly regretting having come here. Don't be a chicken. Grab the bull by the horns, or for the rest of your life you'll regret losing this chance. The doctor is waiting patiently, looking at her cautiously. "I know what you feel for me," she blurts out, almost stuttering.
His eyes open wide. "What? How... How do you know?"
Her heart does a somersault. She's spoken in the present tense, and he hasn't denied it. "Your brother told me, but in his defense, he wasn't aware. He was barely conscious, to tell the truth. He had a backache and he took some strong painkillers. Earlier, I had heard him telling your father that he loved me, and I felt horribly awkward believing that he had romantic feelings for me..."
"What?," he interrupts, sounding panicked. "He did what?"
She immediately grasps his misunderstanding, and rushes to assuage him. "Oh, no, no, Dr. Crane, it's not that! He doesn't have romantic feelings for me! He realized that I was behaving oddly because of what I'd heard, and then he told me that he loved me as a friend. That was such a relief! Well, I gave him a massage, and he'd taken his pills. But I remembered something that your father had said when I told him that your brother loved me, before the confusion was cleared up. He'd revealed that he'd kept the secret for six years. And later, when I was giving your brother the massage, I realized something odd. If Dr. Crane didn't love me romantically, then what did Mr. Crane refer to? I asked Dr. Crane, the painkillers were taking effect and he spilled out that your father was referring to... to you," she explains hastily, almost stumbling with her words. "Please, don't blame them for letting your secret slip. It was a heap of misunderstandings and those painkillers..."
Niles looks down at his hands. "I'm sorry. You must feel so awkward about all this..."
"Do you?," Daphne blurts once more, and he raises his head, staring directly into her eyes. She shivers. "Do you still love me?" She holds her breath, waiting.
He nods firmly. "Yes. I do. I've never stopped. I doubt that I'll ever will. But I won't ever bother you about this if you don't..."
She kisses him on impulse, making him shut up effectively. As soon as their lips touch, she trembles and feels a rush of electricity and heat throughout her body. His lips are so soft, and feel so right against hers. He wraps his arms slowly around her waist and she embraces his neck to deepen the kiss. They moan softly, lost in their intimate world of shared pleasure, until she comes back to her senses. "I love you too. I have for a while now. I think I've loved you for longer than I've been aware of."
Niles's gaze makes her shiver once more. No man has ever looked at her like he does, she notices. "Daphne." And no one says her name like he does, either. "I can't believe it. Is this a dream? I'm afraid of waking up."
She grabs hold of his cheeks, her eyes tearing up. "It's not a dream. I'm really here," she reassures.
He takes her hands. "Are you sure? You'll have to call off the wedding and I'll break up with Mel." She feels him trembling.
The thought of breaking Donny's heart is very painful, but she's sure. Her heart belongs to Niles. It has for long now. "I'm sure. It's going to be hard, but Donny deserves the truth."
"I'll talk to Mel too." He squeezes her hands. "I'm eager to... to start this new stage of our lives, together. I've dreamed of this moment for years, Daphne." He looks down again. He does that every time he feels embarrassed or ashamed. "I... I was trying to move on, to get over you. After you got engaged to Donny, I felt crushed. A while later, I met Mel, and I hoped that I would move forward with her and that one day I would wake up without thinking about you. But I was just deluding myself. You've always been the one for me, Daphne."
She kisses him again, bursting with emotion and joy. "I'm here now. I'll go break up with Donny and from then on, the future is us."
He's smiling so widely that his face lights up. He's so handsome when he's happy. "I'll do the same with Mel. Will you call me later?"
She nods. "Of course. I'll call you in the evening, if that suits you. I think it would be better if we wait until tomorrow to see each other again. We should take the rest of the day to sort all this out."
He nods. "Okay. It's the least we can do for Mel and Donny."
Daphne stands up and he follows suit, walking her to the entrance door and helping her with her coat. "I'll wait for your call, Daphne. I hope that things go smoothly with Donny. I wish I could be there to support you."
She squeezes his hand again. "You will. I'll be thinking that you're next to me. And I wish I could be there for you too. Something tells me that Mel isn't going to take it well."
He shrugs. "I'll survive. Don't worry about that. And Daphne..." He trails off.
"Yes?," she asks, expectant.
"You can call me Niles now," he requests with a teasing and hopeful glint in his blue eyes.
"Okay, Niles," she agrees, and she leaves with a wink.
She steps into the hallway and turns to look at him one last time with a smile, his awed gaze following her all the way until he vanishes from her sight.