Set in "And the dish ran away with the spoon" – the car scene. Just some musing, no real plot.

Daphne had never been this happy. Never. She found herself smiling for no reason whatsoever – well, Niles was the reason. The months with Donny vanished quickly; when they mentioned about him or Mel, she felt an itch of guiltiness. Then Niles would smile at her and suddenly it didn't matter anymore. All that mattered were them. They seemed to be living in a microcosm. Daphne knew Niles loved her – he loved her, a simple girl from Manchester. That's when she started thinking.

In the past, Daphne had had many boyfriends; she couldn't deny that. She'd started dating when she was 15. None of these boys had meant anything to her. It was just the way it was. Life as a working girl was boring, it was spent in bars and hanging with the boys. Having had so many brothers, she was used to being around manly men. So she had started dating them. All of them. When she thinks back to these days, she doesn't know how to feel about this. Naturally, she hadn't slept with all of them – she wasn't like that. Many others had been. There had always been something different about Daphne though. While most girls had known they would get married to one of these boys, Daphne had known she wouldn't. She was a romantic at heart, even then. She wanted to be in love for the first, and really, any time she had sex. So she had waited. And waited. There had been moments when she thought she'd been in love. Back then and not so long ago. Donny was the best example of what she'd always done. Looking at Niles, she felt the difference; this was completely new and so different than anything she had ever felt before in her life. Still she was scared of this love inside of her. How could she love Niles? She didn't know how to love someone like him. He had always been with women like Maris and Mel who were worthy of him. She dared another side glance at the love of her life (she knew that much) and knew neither woman had loved him as much as he deserved to be loved; as much as Daphne loved him.

As she listened to Niles talk to his brother and his father, she realized how much more sophisticated he was. How did Martin cope with this? Had coped with this for so many years? Suddenly, Daphne was thrown into something she had never really belonged to. Yes, she had lived on the periphery of this life for many, many years now. Not the same thing. Things would be expected of her now. She feared she couldn't be the woman Niles needed. She tried not to dwell on this feeling, this fear inside of her. It made her heart beat as fast as her love for this man. He held her hand in this; his grip was tight, apparently afraid to let go of her. Ever again. The thought scared her. No one had ever loved her like this. He was so passionately, so desperately in love with her. He had been in love with her for such a long, long time. How could she ever live to up to whatever expectations he had to have about her?

"Hey." Niles suddenly whispered into her ear. His breath was warm against her skin and made her shiver all over. In the front seat, Frasier and Martin chatted on. They were all alone in the backseat, the rest of the world didn't exist. Not until they arrived in Seattle where reality awaited them. Donny was angry and Mel had disappeared for the moment. Daphne wondered if it was all truly worth it. She loved Niles – so much – and he loved her (she knew that like she knew her own name). She just couldn't shake off the fear; what if she wasn't the right woman for Niles after all?

"You look sad, I hope I-" Daphne put a finger on Niles' soft lips. She had kissed them last night. She knew their texture, their taste. She longed to feel it again. She blushed for a second, having such thoughts when she should be thinking about their future.

"I was just thinking about us again and this mess we've caused."

"Daphne, I love you. I know this wasn't – isn't – easy, but isn't it worth it?"

As she looked at him, she couldn't deny how beautiful he was. He wasn't the kind of man she had fallen for back in England. Not one of these manly, macho guys. No, he was so very different than them. That's why was she scared. Then again, when she looked into his eyes, his honesty and love almost blinded her; he would do anything for her, she realized once again. When she looked deep into his eyes, it didn't scare her. She was no longer afraid of not being who he needed her to be. In his eyes, Daphne saw that she was everything he had ever hoped for.

"It's more than worth it." She whispered and kissed him softly.

END