I really apologize for not posting this sooner, but I unfortunately had to have emergency surgery. Thankfully, I already had most of this written before everything happened, so here is the final chapter. Thank you so much for reading and for all of your reviews - they're much appreciated! :)

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Betty woke up the next morning hoping it had all been a nightmare. Even though she could smell the same stench of burnt toast and eggs from almost a year ago, Daniel was nowhere to be found . . . maybe it was just a bad dream. Only as she went to the kitchen, it was a complete disaster – dirty pots and pans everywhere, eggshells and charred toast on the floor . . . And when she got to the coffeemaker and started to press the button, she found a Post-it:

Don't Touch - Broken! – Went to pick up a few things - be back soon.

Love,

Daniel

P.S. Please don't change the locks on me!

She couldn't help but laugh at the last part. What was she going to do? Not just about the mess, but Daniel? She kept going around in circles getting nowhere. If she didn't take him back, she lost the only man she'd loved with her entire heart and was screwed. If she did take him back, she lost her whole sense of self-worth and she was screwed – it was a Catch-22.

He was trying, she'd give him that. He refused to give up, refused to leave until they worked things out. But the one thing she needed from him was the complete truth, and he refused to give it to her. How could she live with someone who couldn't trust her – who she couldn't trust? There was no solution if he couldn't let her in. And even then, how could she fully move on with him without doubting every little thing that came up in their future . . . without wondering if he wasn't hiding something else?

But god she loved him . . . so much it hurt . . . She couldn't imagine what her life would have been without him. She would probably be still working clean-up crew at the cat hospital in Queens and engaged or married to Walter, head manager of Pro-Buy – a life she had never aspired for herself. Daniel and his father had given her a chance to succeed – to work her way up in publishing, to have enough experience and exposure to go wherever she wanted. And that was just the business aspect.

In friendship and love, he had been her rock. He had stood up for her and was there for her whenever she needed him, put his job and playboy reputation on the line – even left his career for her, eventually. And when she turned him down and broke his heart, he gave her another chance. Didn't he deserve the same from her? Didn't they both deserve a chance to finally start their lives together? She wanted that so badly. But that damn voice in her head kept telling her not to give in so soon . . .

Her phone rang – Daniel was probably lost on the Tube or something. She picked it up without even bothering with the ID.

"There's a local market a couple of blocks down – you didn't need to go all the way downtown," she spoke.

"Betty, it's Tyler," the voice on the other end told her.

"Oh. Tyler? Hi. It's really early your time - is Amanda okay? Is something wrong with Claire?" Betty panicked, since she and Tyler had never really had a full conversation before, much less exchanged phone numbers.

"No. Amanda's fine – so I hear. And Mom's good, too - don't worry," he assured her. "I just needed to talk to you."

"Okay . . . What about?" she wondered.

"It's Daniel. I know you guys have been having problems. I just don't want you to give up on him. It's my fault he wouldn't say anything to you about what's been going on. After I found out, I told him he needed to tell you, but he refused. He said he hadn't been there for me in the past, but he wanted to show that he would be from now on," he said.

"I don't understand – are you in some kind of trouble?" she wondered.

"No, uh – Amanda broke up with me. I thought she would've told you?" Tyler assumed.

"No – I haven't heard from her in over a month. Apparently she's been preoccupied . . ." Betty replied.

"Yeah . . ." Tyler scoffed. "She and my other half-brother, Matt, had been getting close while we were still dating."

"Wait – she hooked-up with Matt again?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah – I guess she likes to play 'musical brothers' or something. Anyway, when I saw them together, I lost it. I broke a window and a bunch of other shit in my apartment. Then I went to a bar and had about ten shots. I didn't want Mom to know how bad off I was - she was so proud of me for staying sober. So I called Daniel," he went into detail.

"He mentioned you guys had gotten closer. I'm glad – I never thought he should have taken everything out on you last year," Betty said.

"Thanks. Yeah, we have. He's been trying to get me through all this without anyone knowing about it . . . He tried to track down the only therapist who wouldn't leak anything to the press – that's why those pictures of his ex-girlfriend showed up. Her father specializes in alcoholism - he's kept celebrities who have it out of the media - and he wasn't in the phonebook anymore, but Kimberly was," Tyler explained.

"Oh," Betty responded, wrapping everything around her head. "So is she in the same profession or something?"

"No, but she told us where her father was and got him to fly in from Columbus," he answered. "He's a professor at OSU now."

"So why were she and Daniel all over each other?" she wondered.

"It's not what you think. Daniel and Kimberly had known each other since elementary school. They hadn't seen each other since seventh grade. They dated for a week when Kim's mom died in a car accident. She and her dad moved back to Columbus, where their family was from. She's now an off-Broadway actress, trying to make it big. She and Daniel were just bonding over the past and commiserating over the people they had lost.

"Well, she certainly seemed to be enjoying her time with Daniel and didn't care that he had a girlfriend – or who knows – maybe Daniel didn't even tell her," Betty commented.

"He did," he assured her. "And Kim has a fiancé who's also a struggling actor – they both know how good publicity is for them – whether it's true or not."

"Okay . . . So who was that other girl in the picture? She seemed to be drooling over Daniel even more," Betty questioned.

"That's Keri, Kim's friend. She has a celebrity crush on Daniel, so Kim made a deal in fun to contact her dad, if Daniel agreed to have another dinner, with the two of them. That's why he brought me along," he answered.

"Oh . . . So the reason Daniel couldn't tell me all of this was because you thought I'd tell Claire?" she assumed.

"No – I knew you were friends with Amanda. And we both didn't want you caught in the middle," he clarified. "Please don't be mad at Daniel. He was only trying to help me. You're the best thing that's ever happened to him."

"He said that?" she said, surprised.

"Yeah, he did . . . Look, I know you don't really know me and have no reason to believe any of this, but I'm telling the truth – and so is Daniel. He'd be lost without you. He already was, actually – when he came back from London after you'd turned him down. He'll never admit it, but he was worse than anybody had ever seen him. Mom was scared she'd lose him to a cult again – I guess that's what happened with his wife, right?"

"Molly, yeah," Betty said.

She couldn't believe Daniel would go off the deep-end over her. It wasn't like she had been sick or he had thought she was dead or something. Was she really that important to him? Had he really been that in love with her? Had she really hurt him that badly?

"Anyway, we kinda bonded during that time, so I know how much you mean to him. He wouldn't have kept anything from you if he hadn't been trying to prove to me that he really did want to be family – make up for what happened the first time. I'm sorry I got between you guys. You seem really great from what Dan's told me about you," Tyler apologized.

"Thank you. And it's okay - you needed help and family comes first. I'm just glad that Daniel has finally warmed up to you. I never agreed with the way he treated you in the beginning," Betty said.

"Thanks. Hopefully we can get to know each other sometime," he suggested. "Unless you think Amanda would have a problem with it?"

"I wouldn't worry about Amanda – I love her, but unfortunately, she's not too great with the whole commitment thing. I'm really sorry that she hurt you," Betty said. "And I'd love to get to know you, now that Daniel's not so adamantly opposed."

They both laughed.

"Okay, well I just wanted to make sure you knew the truth and didn't take it out on my brother," Tyler said.

"Thank you, Tyler. I hope you get the help you need and everything goes okay," she told him.

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later," he replied.

"Okay. Bye," she said and hung up.

So Daniel was helping Tyler the entire time? And Amanda dumped him for Matt? That explained why she hadn't heard anything from her – she probably had been afraid to tell her – especially since she didn't know about her and Daniel. Daniel . . . Oh god . . . the things she had accused him of when he was only trying to help his brother. Obviously, she couldn't blame him for what he had done – if she and Hilda had had a strained relationship like his and Tyler's, she probably would've felt obligated to do the same . . .

She heard keys in the door and looked up.

"Hey, sorry about the mess – still haven't mastered French toast, but I figure McDonald's pancakes could work?" Daniel apologized, setting the holder of coffee on the end table. "And if not, I've got –"

Betty stopped him with an apologetic and loving embrace, causing him to drop the bag of food in his hands.

"Hey . . ." he chuckled. "If I had known you loved pancakes so much, I would've gone to McDonald's in the first place."

She laughed in between soft sobs.

"I'm sorry . . . I-I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions . . ." she sniffled.

"What are you talking about?" Daniel asked, kissing the top of her head, then her forehead and cheeks, wiping away her tears.

"Tyler called . . . He told me everything," she said.

"I told him not to do that . . ." he groaned. "Now you're stuck in the middle of it . . ."

"It's okay. I haven't talked to Amanda in over a month. I can't believe she'd do that to Tyler – that Matt would do that to Tyler . . ." she shook her head.

"Matt doesn't know. Tyler never had a chance to tell him. He just got back from his extended stay in Africa not a week before Amanda decided she wanted him back," Daniel explained.

"Wow . . . neither one of them wasted any time, did they?" Betty shook her head.

"I guess not . . ." he agreed. "And I should be the one apologizing. You've gone out of your way to protect me over the years; I should have known you could've handled this – regardless of who was involved."

"Yes, you should," she teased. "I can take care of things on my own – I've had a ton of experience."

"Hey – I wasn't that bad, was I?" he protested.

She smirked.

"Okay, maybe I was," he grumbled.

"But I loved you anyway," she grinned. "Just do me a favor and don't keep any secrets from me again. I can handle whatever it is."

"Promise," he said. "So are we good, now?"

"We're good," she said, firmly kissing his lips. "Except for one thing."

"What?" he asked worriedly.

"You broke my coffeemaker. How does anyone break a single-cup machine?" she said, crossing her arms in mocked annoyance.

"Hey – that thing's complicated. What made you stop going to Starbucks anyway?" he excused.

"Maybe the insane lines and inflated prices – plus, Hilda and Bobby had one left over from all of their wedding gifts," she answered.

"I'll buy you a new one," he promised.

"You'd better," she joked. "It's worth $150, since it's a deluxe model."

"We can go out and get one today, if it'll make you happy," he chuckled.

"It will. But first I want to take care of two things – breakfast, and welcoming you home," Betty smiled, making a trail of kisses along his collarbone as she removed his jacket.

"Mmm . . . home?" he questioned, teasing her lips. "But I thought we were finding a bigger place?"

As Daniel expertly began mouthing her ear, Betty moved his face to meet hers.

"Daniel?" she said.

"Yeah?" he asked, eyes dancing.

"Shut up," she playfully commanded, pulling him into her.