Author's Note: This takes place towards the end of season 4, sometime after Daniel and Amanda had called off their 'thing'. Italics are Daniel's memories of the night before. Enjoy!

Betty walked into the office she shared with Mark looking more than slightly perplexed. Her morning had not gone at all how she would have expected. As she sat at her desk, she began dissecting the morning trying to decide exactly when it had taken a turn for the unexpected. Mark strolled into the office looking all too pleased with himself with Amanda draped on his arm.

"What's up Betty?" Amanda questioned, currently with more interest in potential gossip than true concern for her friend's distracted appearance.

Betty looked up as if just realizing she was no longer alone in the office and blinked a couple of times at them trying to focus on the present. "I don't want to talk about it, let's just get to work." Betty replies slightly flustered and avoiding eye contact with anything but her computer.

"Oh come on Betty, you'll feel lighter, I mean better if you get it off your chest."

"Mark didn't you just say something yesterday about trying to remain professional..."

"Well, if you don't spill soon, Chimichanga, we may have a new office mate." he theatrically whispers behind his hand as he points at Amanda, and completely dismisses ever making a statement about professionalism.

"Yeah, I'll move in your office like I did your apartment. And I'll never leave." Amanda threatens.

"Fine" Betty concedes knowing this will continue and none of them will get any work done, "Well, this morning was... weird." It was the only word she could think of to describe it or the feelings it caused. She paused going over everything in her head again until Mark started snapping his fingers in her face, "I don't have all day here, Betty." He sounded slightly agitated, but his face betrayed his interest.

Betty looked up and continued her story. "Daniel spent the night on my couch again."

"Oh right, your couch." Mark said with a wink at Betty and a 'yeah right' look tossed in Amanda's direction. Mark had managed to find any opportunity to express his doubt since he ran into Daniel leaving Betty's apartment early one morning before work. Ever the gossip queen, Mark knew that Amanda had moved on from their no strings attached fling and Daniel hadn't been seen with anyone but Betty in months.

"Anyway," Betty continued, "He said he didn't want to go to sleep last night so we stayed up and played cards."

"Is that what the cool kids are calling it these days?" Mark joked to Amanda.

"That or sex." said Amanda clearly agreeing with Mark about the "couch".

"Okay if you two are finished... " Betty said in frustration, "after we finished playing cards he turned on a movie."

"Blah, blah, blah. Does this story ever get interesting?" Mark asked

Tired of being interrupted, Betty rushes through the next part of the story, "And then I feel asleep on the couch with Daniel."

"Now that's interesting." Mark said leaning forward in his chair with an intrigued look.

Betty sighed as she continued, "And then I did something I have never done before in my life..."

"You plucked your eyebrows!" Amanda guessed, playfully oblivious of the direction Betty's story was taking.

"No Mandi, we would've noticed that, you decided to give solid colors a try? Unsuccessful, huh." Mark jested lightly, with a flourish of his hands at Betty's brightly patterned outfit. Amanda moved closer to examine Betty's appearance carefully, as Betty tried to back away.

"No, if you would let me finish..." a knock at the door interrupts Betty's story this time. All three companions turn as the door slowly opens to reveal a slightly flustered Daniel. "Hey Betty can we talk", as he glances around the crowded room he adds, "in my office, please?"

Mark notes Daniel seems genuinely worried that Betty will not follow him until he see her slight head movement forward meant to signal her compliance to his request. He had never witnessed these two so standoffish. Mark is instantly intrigued, wondering what could have possibly happened between the pair. He suddenly wished they hadn't interrupted Betty's story so many times, as she stands with an uncomfortable sigh and sends a look in his direction that he knows means she is dreading whatever is coming and heads towards the door to follow Daniel. "So that's what you've never done in your life before." he comments with a Cheshire cat grin. Betty sends him a glare that tells him he hasn't completely missed the mark as she closes the door with a loud thunk.

"Geez, you'd think she was getting fired instead of getting laid." says Amanda as she leans out the door to watch her walk to her 'impending doom' or so it would seem. She looks back at Mark to judge his reaction, he simply shrugs and then heads down the hallway to spy at Amanda's desk. He and Amanda pretend to be having a private conversation in direct eye line of the action as it unfolds.

In Daniel's office, things are awkward at best. "Betty, I think we should discuss what happened this morning." Daniel starts. Betty's cheeks turn a light pink. If that wasn't enough to tell him she is embarrassed, he would have known from her silence. He sits in the chair next to the one she dramatically plopped down in when she walked into his office. He tries to repress a sigh as he turns to face her and look her in the eye for the first time since what he has come to call the 'perfect morning' in his head. Daniel thinks he wouldn't mind a repeat, but from her reaction, he's not holding his breath. 'Could it have been only four hours since their first kiss.' Daniel thinks as he remembers the events of last night.

He was having a rough night and he wound up at Betty's apartment, again, somewhere around midnight. It wasn't the first time this had happened in the past couple of months. It wasn't even the first time this week and she generously offered him her couch, a pillow and blanket. He hastily accepted the proffered items, but he wasn't anywhere ready to sleep. So, he talked her into a late night game of cards. After much discussion of their card playing abilities, or lack thereof, they settled on War. As Daniel shuffled and dealt the cards, he searched for a topic of conversation. He started talking about work because it was the first topic that came to mind, although the conversation took on a direction of it's own as they covered everything from families to dreams to their thoughts on colored legging . Betty was for, Daniel was against. The game finally came to an end three hours later when Betty laughingly threw her 44 cards in Daniel's face while exclaiming, "War is the worst game ever, it never ends!"

Daniel begrudgingly agreed to the ceasefire as he laid down 8 cards. Ever the optimist, he silently thought he could have won with a little more time. He reaches for the remote on the coffee table and turns it to the first movie he can find, as Betty leans back against the couch. Her eyes are drooping heavily, but she is determined to be a good friend, even at 3:00 in the morning. She smiles a little as she recognizes the opening strains of The Pirates of the Caribbean. "I love this movie", she sighs. "me too." he says as he looks over to see her quickly falling asleep.

He felt Betty lean against his shoulder and slide her feet under the blanket she had laid out on the couch for him. He carefully wrapped his arm around her making sure any space that was left between the two of them ceased to exist. She shifted slightly but did not open her eyes and he turned his attention back to the movie.

The next thing he knows, he is waking up with a soft weight on his left arm. He slowly opens his eyes and takes in his surroundings, Betty's couch again. But the weight on his arm is something new. He glances to his left and sees a pile of unruly brown hair and smiles to himself, 'so this is what it's like to sleep with Betty.' he thinks. He would be lying to himself if he denied that he had thought about it more than once in recent months. He quietly sighs as he enjoys the warm heat against his left side. He looks at his watch and closes his eyes trying to doze off for another fifteen minutes.

A knock at Betty's door and a loud shout about getting something out of the fridge ended their peaceful dozing. Betty popped up and used a hand against Daniel's chest to keep her upright. At the realization that it was just Amanda and she could wait until her alarm clock went off, Betty laid her head back against Daniel's chest. He felt her body tense and knew realization had set in as to her current situation. She tentatively looked up into Daniel's eyes and sat up quickly, again. Daniel wasn't ready to give up the contentment he woke up to this morning, and made no sudden movements to extract himself from the situation. "Sleep well?" he questioned with a smile tilting one side of his mouth. Betty sat beside Daniel slightly confused trying to piece together the events of last night. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head. She finally responds, "I have to get ready for work." sounding a little unsure.

Daniel, realizing she wasn't ready to deal with this, finally sat up and put his shoes on and grabbed his cell phone off the coffee table. He walked out the door and turned to face Betty as she leaned tiredly against the door frame. "Thanks, you know, for last night." he said shyly. Daniel leaned to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, but Betty turned into it and he briefly kissed her lips instead. They both were startled by the unexpected kiss. Daniel, never one to pass on a perfect opportunity, leaned in and cupped Betty's face with his left hand, holding her in place for the second kiss. At first, Betty stood there in shock that seemed to prevent her from doing anything else. But as Daniel slowly moved his lips against her's trying to deepen the kiss, she finally responded in kind. He slid his other arm around her waist pulling her up to him and enjoying the feel of her against him for the second time this morning.

He felt her tense again and knew she was about to freak out about this. He tried to prepare himself for the speech that he knew was inevitable. But what he gets surprised him more than he can explain. Betty pulled away from him and stood staring at him in silence for a full minute before she regained her ability to form sentences. She quickly mumbled something about getting ready for work and shuts the door in his face. 'Well that was, odd, unexpected... nice' he thinks and smiles as he walks out of her building. Work should be interesting today.

Daniel looks up and realizes Betty is waiting for him to speak. He knows he may live to regret this, but he can't help himself. He has been going to her apartment for months now and he has known for a while that there was more than mere friendship there. She is the only one he trusts. She is the only one who knows him so well, respects his opinions, protects him from himself. He loves here, he knows that now. He leans across the space between the two chairs and whispers, "Hey can you do me a favor, and just... not freak out?" He gives her a few seconds to process his statement before he precedes to invade her space and kiss her senseless.

Mark and Amanda stand outside the window in Daniel's office where they witness the unexpected kiss. They both pull out their cell phones and video for as long as they can. They click a couple a photos, just in case. Once their phones come down they both glance at each other to gauge the other's reaction and simultaneously sigh happily.

Betty walks out of Daniel's office several minutes later with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step until she notices both Mark and Amanda sitting at Amanda's desk, looking at something on their phones. "What are you guys doing out here?"

"Looking at a startling photograph, wanna see?" Mark questions, grinning like a fool. He holds up his phone to show Betty the photo of her and Daniel kissing. She smiles and continues walking to her office. "I've seen it first hand." she says over her shoulder, a content smile smoothing out the worried features on her face.

Mark smiles at Amanda, "Well, it's about time." he yells down the hallway after her.