Disclaimer: I have no ownership or hold over any of the characters of Ugly Betty.

All the While

Daniel sat his desk mimicking his former pose of an hour ago. Flipping through random pages in files all the while, staring moodily through the window at Betty. Actually, now that he thought about it, he'd spent an enormous amount of time staring moodily lately. It was becoming a bad habit. But he couldn't help it. It had been a month and a half since Renee had tried to burn Betty to death. So maybe he had become a little bit obsessive/protective after that, but who could blame him? Renee had been charged with attempted murder. He didn't care what the gossip magazines wanted to print about him and his choice of partners. Betty was safe and that truly mattered. He was sure that if anyone else's best friend had been attacked they'd be feeling the same way. Not that he's been hanging off Bettys skirts or anything. Maybe he'd taken to making sure he took her home to her doorstep at night and always made sure he knew where she was for lunch. He didn't think she'd noticed and she hadn't mentioned anything to him about it. He was still leaving her privacy. She might not have had a personal life but she loved spending all night every night with him at work.

He swivelled around in his chair and leaned back. He pictured Betty's face if she ever realised he had become her permanent shadow over the last month. But really, it was in his nature. He looked after the ones he cared about. He had too few of them to ever let one slip through his fingers. Maybe he didn't show it in his public image. But he had realised early on in a hard learnt lesson, that weakness would only be exploited. So, it was only when you got close enough you would realise his particular trait. He knew he developed emotional dependence but then again, maybe it was Betty that so drew that particular emotion out of him. He sighed. Time to go back and rehash some other thoughts. He generally tried to avoid all deep and insightful thought because they normally gave him a headache and truthfully, he didn't have them that often. Only in the past year it seems. He breathed in deeply and let it out in a rush. He was going to have to admit it to himself. He had a thing? A something? For Betty. Something that went beyond the involved friendship they shared. He depended on her, laughed with her, argued with her and shared loves and losses with her.

His mind jolted to one word even he wasn't ready to admit to. So, he ignored it and moved on.

They worked so closely together so how was it that she didn't pick up on any of his feelings? Was he that good at pretending? Maybe he was. After all he had pretended most of his life away and still did to an extent. But then, she was Betty. And he was Daniel Meade! Her expectations were purely work orientated, apart from the friendship they had built. He knew she appreciated what they shared but would never aspire to anything more. Again that was his fault. He had put up the barriers and now he was the only one trying to tear them down. Let's face it buddy, he dragged his finger over his face, you need her. So, the 100,000 dollar question is: What are you going to do about it?

Betty stared at her screensaver and sighed. What was she going to do about Daniel? He'd been acting so weird ever since Renee and she didn't know what to do! He had been the most unDaniel like in the last month than ever before. Even weirder than when he was on those 'special pills'. It was nice to know he cared but boy, was it getting annoying.

Groaning she whacked her forehead, now she sounded ungrateful! She had a wonderfully egocentric boss, who was starting to worm his way into her heart and she should be happy. He'd had two majorly failed relationships in the past year, so it wasn't really any surprise he was clinging to any semblance of normalcy. He didn't deal well with rejection and at the moment his haven was Mode and his assistant. He'd thrown himself into his work and had progressed so much. It was a pleasure to work with him now and to see him focus. She really enjoyed the change of attitude. They had been spending extra hours together after work, making sure the layouts were perfect, the articles were informative and edited correctly and that the photo shoots were placed well and were lifelike. During those times when it was just them, he had started to reveal more of himself. Slowly but surely she was chipping into the barriers he had around his heart since childhood.

His low self-esteem had become evident, shocking her. Maybe they were more similar that she had realised. She'd never pictured herself thinking that. Her and Daniel Meade similar! Crazy talk! Although, one of the first traits that had become apparent was his overwhelming protectiveness of the ones he lov…hmmm liked. And his willingness to do anything - anything at all to help them. She thought back to his cold stare and even chillier voice when he had addressed Alexis. He had been in protective mode. She smiled slightly, Papa Grizzly. He hated the nickname. Maybe she'd start addressing all his messages to that.

So, he was protective. So was she. Especially of her family. And how many times had she stuck up for Daniel, Christina and even Marc or Amanda to a degree? So she couldn't really complain about it. Because Daniel was generous. He showed his true appreciation by giving what help he could. She thought of all the long rides home on the subway she'd avoided, by Daniels insistence on having her driven home. Or the meals provided at late night sessions. She tapped her finger over her computer mouse in frustration. Ok, so Daniel had his good side but he was also…also. She dropped her head in defeat. He was Daniel Meade. And she was just Betty. And she was definitely trying to read into things too much. He was only being overprotective because he didn't want to lose a good assistant and his only loyal ally at Mode. That was is. No hidden signals or hidden meanings. He knew she was still upset over Henry leaving. She paused there.

Was she really upset about Henry leaving? Honestly? She lifted her hand to swipe at her hair. She pulled a band out of her top drawer and for the first time, drew her hair back into a simple ponytail and fixed it at her nape. So, was she? She slowly shook her head, forcing herself to admit it. No. She wasn't upset. Oh Boy. Did that make her a crummy ex-girlfriend? No! She stiffened her spine. She had no need to feel upset anymore. He was gone and it was time to move on! Daniel would eventually sort himself out, so until then she would just focus on getting her job done and enjoy their unique friendship. Plus, there was always Gio, if Hilda and Amanda were to be believed. That decided she gave a decisive nod and turning to her computer opened the companies files on one Clint McLennan.

A/N: Thank you for the kind and helpful reviews. I really enjoyed reading what you thought.

And again: Clint McLennan I pulled off Google, so no harm is intended by use of his name.