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As he watched her saunter down the steps , Daniel could feel himself relax if only for a second. The moment she turned back to look at him , his body seized up again. Funny how things could change so quickly... For the last four years , she had been the one person he could always be himself around. He'd never felt nervous or awkward around her. On the contrary , for some strange reason , he'd never felt better or more in control than when Betty was by his side. Sure , she had acted as a kind of mother-hen , or guardian angel , always there to fix things for him , to offer him advice or reprimand him when he was acting like an idiot. She'd had her work cut out for her , especially in the beginning , seeing as how he hadn't been a very good person when they'd first met. But she'd changed all that. She'd changed him. He didn't know when or how it had happened , but somewhere along the way she'd become a part of him. He couldn't imagine what his life would have been like if fate hadn't brought her to him. Not wanting to dwell on that horrible thought , he took a deep , cleansing breath , turned and started back toward his hotel.

Two months ago , he had still been in denial. A deep , dark denial that nothing but the threat of losing her could have snapped him out of. Well , that and his mother... He chuckled now , as he thought about the way Claire had cut through the bull , and made him face what he should have known all along... That he was in love with his best friend. Completely and totally in love with the girl who had come storming through his life in a Guadalajara poncho and turned it upside down. Shaking his head as if to put his thoughts back in place , he turned up his collar against the cold and crossed the street to walk along the Thames. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that love would play such a huge part in his life and that he'd leave everything and everyone behind to go chasing after it.

Two months he'd been without her. Two long , torturous , interminable months where he'd felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest. The first week without her he'd hardly been able to breathe. It didn't help that he had felt like a complete ass for not saying goodbye to her. He hadn't been able to face it. To face the fact that she wouldn't be in his life anymore. It was ironic. Just as he had discovered the intensity of his feelings for her , she had disappeared. Well , not exactly. She had tried to call him several times , leaving messages on his phone that he would delete without even listening to them , because it hurt too much to hear the pain in her voice. It hurt to know that he had caused it. He'd hardly been able to function until he'd had the epiphany in his office. It had hit him like a ton of bricks. Once his decision had been made , everything had seemed to fall into place , and he'd been able to very quickly put his affairs in order before heading to London. It had been so easy , once his mind had been made up , that he had taken it as a sign that he was doing the right thing.

Now though , after actually seeing her , and talking to her , he wasn't so sure anymore. He'd meant to go easy on her , to play it cool and act as if he'd merely bumped into her by coincidence. But once he'd set eyes on her , and touched her , his plan had been shot to hell. She'd looked so fresh and beautiful walking toward him , chatting on the phone with that smile on her face... And when he'd casually mentioned dinner , he'd seen the knowing look on her face. But how much did she understand ? How much did she think she knew ? Up until that very moment , he hadn't really given a thought as to how she might feel about him , because he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer. He knew she loved him , that he was as important to her as she was to him. But did she want what he wanted ? Was she ready to change their relationship like that ? Would she , in true Betty style , listen to what he had to tell her , and then let him down gently ? God! He would have to drop from the face of the earth if that happened !

Well , he'd just have to sweat it out until dinner , and hope for the best.