Betty tossed her glasses back on the nightstand and grabbed hold of Daniel's face, pulling him to her for a searing kiss. It was a drastic measure, but she was desperate. She had to do something to stop herself from saying the words she might regret, to stop him from saying...what she was scared he might say. They had been friends for almost four years now. What was going on, suddenly to change that? Things were moving way too fast!

This was all stupid Zack's fault! If Daniel hadn't felt he had to take her out dancing that night, to get back at Zack for dumping her...who knows, things might have gone on the same as they had always been. Her, watching on the sidelines, while Daniel did something silly, like keep on dating girls like Amanda! Was that really what she wanted, though?

Okay, maybe trying to distract Daniel by kissing him while she was in his bed hadn't been the brightest idea after all. She felt him react to her surprise attack with a heat and passion she had never felt before. He slid his hands around her waist, pulling her body closer to his, and moaning into her lips.

She felt his tongue exploring her mouth, and his hands had begun to wander over her body to the point that she was starting to get swept up. Before she knew it, he was touching her in ways that made her forget her name. The man was kind of an octopus; what was going on here?

"Daniel...um...what are you doing?" she panted, as he started kissing her neck and rolling on top of her on the bed.

"Huh? I thought you were...you know...excited?"

She pushed him away, "It was supposed to be just a kiss!"

He pushed himself away, "JUST a kiss? In my bed? With you wearing THAT? Sorry, but...okay, Betty, what the hell is going on here? I'm...confused. You act like you want me, but then you put the brakes on.

Can you PLEASE tell me what you DO want? Make up your mind, woman! I think our little 'teamwork' thing needs to do some re-assessing. You say I'M a bad communicator! Why did you kiss me?"

She shrugged, shaking her head, "I don't know."

He sighed, trying to clear his head, to get better control of himself, to shake off her come on, "Bullshit! Why are you lying? You do too know why! I think you were trying to keep from saying how you feel about me just now, weren't you?"

"Maybe."

He spoke softer now, smiling as he touched her cheek, "Okay. Do you need me to say it first, is that it? Because I think I know exactly how you feel. I care about you a lot, too, sweetie I can't imagine my life without you. Hell, I couldn't even think straight when you came here and were only gone a few days, I missed you so much! Betty, I lov…"

She kissed him again. This time, Daniel lay down across the center of the bed and pulled her on top of him, wrapping his arms around her. And she ran her hands on his bare chest, underneath the tee shirt he was wearing.

After a few minutes of kissing feverishly, she helped him pull his shirt off completely, then took a deep breath as she reached out and touched his chest. God, the man was built! His chest was so firm and perfect. She was having a very difficult time focusing on anything else right now other than how hot he was.

He lay on his back, looking up at her with wonder, touching her cheek softly, "God, you're amazing, Betty! You're so beautiful, you're smart, you're funny, you have the sexiest damn lips I've ever kissed, and your smile is like… uh ...sunshine? And okay, maybe I already used that line on you, but it's true!

I'm just wondering; are you going to keep kissing me to shut me up every time I try to tell you I'm in love with you? Is that what this "attack" is all about? I mean, not that I object. Quite the contrary. But, it's not working very well, is it?"

She made a face, "I noticed! Not the brightest idea I've ever had, was it?"

He chuckled, "Uh, well, no, not really. Kissing the guy who uses sex as a distraction to 'distract' him? Afraid not, honey. Now, instead of just kissing you chastely and telling you how much I love you I'm kind of revved up and thinking I want to sleep with you tonight, but...hey, whatever turns you on, baby. I mean, when you think about it, four years IS a hell of a long time for being in the 'friend zone', isn't it?"

"Friend zone? Is that what you think we were in?"

"No. I guess you're right. That's not what I'd call it, really."

"What would you call it then, other than just friendship?"

"Foreplay!" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, grinning.

Betty laughed, but took the moment to try and cool down their passionate kissing and stood up, "Daniel, I think...we need to stop this before we go any further, don't you? You're right. I was scared to talk about my feelings, so I kissed you. But that wasn't fair to you. I'm sorry. I don't think we should...um...keep this up…"

"I swear, if you say we don't know each other well enough, Betty…"

"No, it's not that. I mean, of course we know each other...pretty well."

He sighed, getting out of bed, and standing up, somewhat invading her space as if he were going to kiss her again, but instead, leaning down to grab her glasses and put them on her, "You might need these to see better, sweetie.

Although that was pretty damn sexy when you threw them off, I really liked the 'sexy librarian' move if that's what you were going for, it definitely turned me on. Obviously." he glanced down at his still erect penis, then walked towards the living room, leaving Betty in surprise.

She saw that he was sitting on the large, comfortable sofa, with a blanket over his lap when she walked in. He patted the seat beside him, "Sit down, please. I'd say you could sit in my lap, but..that might not be wise right now. Hopefully, we can just talk for awhile and I'll be okay soon, without having to take a cold shower."

She sat down cautiously, chewing on her bottom lip and sitting with her legs folded under her. She went to grab part of his blanket, "Can I have some, please?"

"Sure! But I thought you said you wanted to wait?" He laughed, raising one eyebrow, and she rolled her eyes, hitting his arm, "Very funny!"

"Alright, alright, sorry, of course. Here you go. I'll share. Get over here." She moved slightly closer and he waved to her, "closer. I won't bite. Unless you want me to." he teased, putting the blanket over her legs as well as his.

Once they were both comfortable, he smiled at her, "So...how long have you REALLY had a crush on me, Betty? Was Renee actually right all along? Or did it start even sooner, back when you first saw me? Was it love at first sight?"

She rolled her eyes, shoving his chest, then pulled away, seeing that naked chest of his, "No! Get over yourself, Daniel! I did NOT have a "crush" on you at first, because you were...well...frankly kind of a self-involved, spoiled JERK! I didn't agree with Sofia Reyes's mean-spirited, unfeeling way of teaching you a lesson for her own gain, BUT I did agree that you needed to stop treating women like your own personal playthings!

And although Grace Chin was only out for revenge at first, she didn't have it totally wrong, either when she made you realize that you had hurt a lot of women in your past! You had a LOT of growing up to do when I first met you!"

He nodded, taking her hand in his, "All true, sadly! It took you, being my friend anyway, showing me unconditional love and support that I never got from my dad, and me, losing Molly to help me have at least a slightly better idea of what love really means and that it's something to be cherished, not disregarded or treated lightly, like a 'toy'. But that's not sex, it's real love, Betty. And I've always loved you, what you showed me it means to care about somebody, to be there for them. YOU are the one who really taught me how to do that because you did it for your family and for me.

Honestly, I would never in a million years have even looked at a girl like Molly let alone married her if I hadn't known you first. You made me a much better version of myself. But lately...I've been really trying NOT to notice how much you've changed, how much you've grown, too. Because if I did, I'd have to stop 'distracting' myself with work, or with...girls like Amanda, I'd have to admit to myself just how much I love you, and how that love has grown into something different, something much deeper, just like we both have in our own ways. Does that...all make sense?"

She nodded, tears in her eyes, and bit her lower lip, "Yes! Of course it makes sense, Daniel! It's...that's...absolutely the sweetest, kindest, most...wonderful thing anyone's ever said to me! I love you, too!

You...you're...the most giving and generous person I've ever met! I don't just mean with your money, but with your soul! You do care about people, and you have such a huge heart! I appreciate everything you said, but I don't really think I can take credit for your 'education' as much as…"

He cut her off with a kiss this time, pulling her to him, and wrapping his arms around her as their lips blended. When she finally pushed away, she smiled, "Um...was that to shut ME up?"

"Uh huh."

She started to get up, but he pulled her back down onto the sofa, "Touche, Daniel. I guess I deserved that. Although, it's not much of a punishment! Listen, I...think I'd better go back to my own hotel, before I...before we...you know, do something we'd both regret, like we did in The Bahamas, only...well, this time, at least we'd be doing it with the right person. Just maybe not at the right time."

He raised his eyebrow, "Wait, so...you regret sleeping with Matt back then?"

She nodded, looking down at first, "Uh huh. I have a really bad habit of not being willing to let go of a relationship when I should. Out of...I don't know, fear of being alone or something, I suppose. But I definitely had decided I was done with Matt, and was more than willing to 'give him' to Amanda. I really thought they made a good couple. I was just having a hard time letting go, like I always do.

And Matt...well, I think he did what he always does and changed his mind about who he wanted. First, he wanted her, then when he had her, he decided he wanted me again, just because I was vulnerable and STUPID enough to take him back!

Then we went from one crazy thing to the next, those scary paintings of his and the baby scare and…" she stopped, looking up quickly as she realized what she had just said.

Daniel looked at her, squeezing her hand that he had never let go of, "Baby scare? You thought you were pregnant?"

She nodded, "Uh huh."

"You never told me that!"

She shook her head, "I...know. I...couldn't. I didn't want you to know. For some reason. I didn't want anyone to know. It would have made it more...real. Besides, I couldn't tell YOU, Daniel. It felt...wrong."

He pulled her into his arms, and hugged her gently, stroking her hair, as he rested his chin on top of her head, "I wish you would have told me. You could have talked to me about it, Betty. We tell each other everything. I would have understood. I'm sorry...you lost a baby. You'd make a great mom! I mean...you sure 'mommy' me all the time. And your whole family. Were you...happy about it?"

She pulled away and gave him a look and he chuckled, "Oh! Okay. So...I take it you weren't happy about it, then?"

"NO! Definitely not! I was terrified! Which made me seem even more awful when Matt was all happy about it and excited thinking I was pregnant!"

"Sweetie, how did that make you seem awful? It just means you're more mature than he is. Because you realized neither of you were really ready to be a parent!"

She smiled, "How do you always do that? You always make me feel good about myself!"

"Well that's pretty easy. Most of the time, you SHOULD feel good about yourself because you're such a good person!"

"Thank you. You are, too, you know."

"Well, thank you, Betty. Coming from you, I'll take that as an even bigger compliment. Wait, before you said...at least now we'd be doing it with the right person. So, does that mean you think...I'M the right person for you?"

"Maybe." she blushed.

He grinned, "Don't 'maybe' me, Suarez! You drive me crazy sometimes, you know that, right? Look, Betty...I really don't want you to leave. I mean, I can't make you stay here tonight, of course, but I think it's something we'll both regret if we DON'T do it. Maybe not tonight. But tomorrow and for the rest of our lives."

"You're so silly sometimes, Daniel!" She rolled her eyes, hitting his chest, but keeping her hands on him.

He smirked at her, raising his eyebrows, and put his hands over hers, then lifted them both up and kissed them, one by one, holding them up, "Yes, I know I am, but you love me, anyway, don't you, Betty?"

"Maybe." she teased.

"Okay, that does it! You're in for it, now! I'll tell you what. Let's treat London like Vegas. If you don't want anyone back at Mode to know we're...together, that's up to you. I'll keep my mouth shut. Especially if you keep kissing me to shut me up in private! But as for me, I think that Boule character was a total idiot! I want everybody to know just how much I love you, Betty!"

"Prove it!" she bit her lip, smiling at him.

"Yes, ma'am! I thought you'd never ask!" he took the blanket off himself and her, revealing that he had never 'gotten over her' and pulled her to him for another kiss, as she fell on top of him on the sofa.