Archive of Our Own

Watching Matt and Amanda walk off together leaves Betty with a pit in her stomach for the rest of the day. It doesn’t exactly make watching the hot models gyrate with any and every guy they want any easier. Betty knows she’s supposed to stay there and watch the models so they don’t get hurt or, worse in Wilhelmina’s eyes, eat, but she doesn’t think slipping away to the bar for one drink will be a problem. She gives the waiters strict instructions to stay away from the models and trudges off.

“Hey, Betty.” It’s Daniel. He looks about as downcast as Betty feels. He seems to be collecting the little umbrellas from his fruity pineapple drinks. He’s sticking them behind his ears. Betty plucks off a purple one.

“Had a few drinks?” she asks.

“I’m on vacation,” he points out.

“I’m not judging,” she assures him. “I’m here for the same thing.”

Except she is not successful in getting the bartender’s attention. She’s pretty sure he’s ignoring her on purpose. She’s not quite desperate enough to start jumping up and down, but another minute and she might get there.

“Here.” Daniel slides his pineapple over to her. “You look like you need this. What’s up?”

Betty sighs and takes a long drink. “Matt and Amanda,” she says. She remembers Matt feeding Amanda and dives for the straw again.

“Uh oh,” Daniel says.

“I know I shouldn’t care. I mean, I’m over him. I am! I was. I thought.”

Daniel snorts. All he has to do is nod and the bartender brings over another drink. Betty scowls at the guy, who is completely unabashed at his awful behavior. Jerk.

“It doesn’t sound like you’re over him.”

“It’s just…” Betty sighs again. “I don’t know, it’s just so typical that he would choose Amanda.”

“Oh, God, not this again,” Daniel groans.

“Hey,” Betty says, offended. “What?”

“Betty, listen.” Daniel even puts his drink down—he must be serious. “Every time it doesn’t work out with a guy, you try to blame it on men being shallow and you’re not pretty enough and blah, blah, blah.” He blinks as his own words catch up. “I mean, men are shallow, and you are pretty enough. For the record.”

“Thanks,” Betty huffs.

“But you make excuses,” Daniel presses on. “Instead of just accepting the real reason.”

“Oh, yeah? So what’s the real reason?” Betty asks.

“You and Matt weren’t right for each other,” Daniel says simply. “I mean, you’re—you know, you. And he’s an asshole and the son of the devil.”

That makes Betty laugh out loud. “Daniel,” she scolds.

“Betty, look how he treated you after you broke up! He wouldn’t listen to you and he made your work life miserable to get back at you for a personal problem.”

“He’s been getting better,” Betty protests weakly. She looks down at the empty pineapple and then steals the one Daniel’s working on. He’s had way more than his share. Daniel pouts for a second, then nods at the bartender again. This time the guy brings two, which Betty thinks is pretty smart.

“Besides, I’m still mad he has all that money and kept forgetting his wallet and making you pay for stuff,” Daniel says disgustedly.

Betty gasps. “How do you know about that? I specifically did not tell you that, even before I knew he was rich, because I knew you’d get all chauvinistic and annoyed about it.”

“Hilda and I talked about it during one of my haircuts,” he says smugly.

During the few months when Mode was in trouble, Daniel went to Hilda for his haircuts. He still does now, even though he can afford someone else, and he pays her the same price he would at his usual salon. Hilda would probably find a way to give him the nuclear launch codes if he asked.

“Ugh, she’s such a gossip,” Betty grouses.

“I’m not even sorry I punched him,” Daniel says firmly. “I did a good thing.”

Betty laughs and knocks her shoulder into his. He wobbles a lot more than he should. She raises her eyebrows. “So what are you over here drinking about?”

Daniel blows out a breath. “I am not telling you.” Which means it isn’t about the Community of the Phoenix thing, like she was a little worried about. She’s a little worried he shouldn’t be drinking, what with all the drugs they had him on, but he keeps insisting he’s fine. It's been a while, anyway, so any damage he might've ended up with probably would've shown up by now.

“Oh, come on. You’re out here, sad and alone, drinking all these pineapples, and you won’t tell me why?”

“I wasn’t alone,” Daniel says. “Marc was here. But he found a guy for his gaycation.”

“Gaycation?” Betty echoes.

“It’s what they say. The gays.”

“Okay.” Betty takes his drink again. She hasn’t even finished hers this time, but she thinks he’s probably had enough. “So why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

“It’s embarrassing,” he mumbles.

“More embarrassing than me scheduling your monthly colonics?”

“Wow.” Daniel rubs his forehead. “You’re not making me feel better.”

“I’m a mean drunk tonight,” she says apologetically. “So just tell me.”

Daniel sighs. He doesn’t say anything for a minute, but Betty can tell by the look on his face he’s breaking. He glances around quickly, making sure no one can hear them.

“Marc helped me find this girl,” he says lowly. “And, um, she was into me. And we went back to my room.”

“How is this embarrassing?” So far this is the same as all his morning catch-ups the first two years she was his assistant, give or take the 60 days with Sofia.

“Well, I had a little trouble.”

Betty shrugs. “With what?”

“With…her.” Daniel gives her a look. Betty’s not getting it. She shoves aside the last two empty pineapples and does her best to burp quietly.

“With her what?” she asks. “Did she have complicated buttons on her dress like that girl you hooked up with after Fashion Week a few years ago?” Betty saw the dress. Those buttons weren’t actually all that complicated.

“No, Betty.” Daniel’s face is bright red. He really is embarrassed about this. As Betty opens her mouth to ask him, annoyed, to just say it, everything clicks in her head.

“Oh,” she breathes. “Oh. You had—trouble. Okay.”

Daniel covers his face with his hands. “That’s never happened to me.”

“Amanda mentioned—”

“God, okay, one time,” he cuts her off, voice high in panic mode.

“Daniel, it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she assures him, patting his shoulder. “I mean, that was the first woman you tried anything with after Molly, right?”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “And I, uh. Might’ve mentioned that to her. A few times.”

Betty winces. “Yikes.”

“Thanks, that’s helpful.”

“Well, you know, drinking isn’t going to help,” Betty points out, jutting her chin at the array of drink umbrellas. “That makes that particular problem worse. It used to happen to Walter all the time.”

Daniel makes a face. “Oh, Betty, that makes me so sad for you. Anyway, not like I’m planning to try again,” Daniel says. “I guess it was too soon. I thought I was ready, but I’m not.”

Betty blinks so she can figure out which Daniel to look at. She really should not have slammed those three drinks so fast, especially when she’s hardly eaten today. “Daniel. Was it too soon, or are you scared?”

“What would I be scared of?” He asks it so quickly she knows she’s right. Ha.

“Well, you could be scared that you’re never going to feel what you felt with Molly ever again. Or you could be scared that you will and you feel guilty about the thought of moving on at all.”

“How are you a therapist?” he asks. “Especially after drinking all that so fast?”

“Hilda went through this,” Betty reminds him. “After Santos died. The first guy she went for after Santos was married, so as long as you don’t do that, you can’t screw up worse than she did.”

Daniel slumps on his stool and rests his forehead against the bar. “I’m tired.”

Betty glances at her watch. “Well it is—oh wow. It’s already eleven? How did that happen?”

“It was ten about an hour ago,” Daniel offers. Betty nods sagely. Then they both realize what he just said and laugh. “Okay, I think we’re drunker than we thought.”

“I didn’t actually eat dinner,” Betty realizes.

“Oh, that was a bad idea.” Daniel sweeps a hand over the wreckage they’ve made of the pineapples and the drink umbrellas. “You just had like nine pineapples.”

“I had three,” she corrects.

“No, you had four and a half.” He points at the one in front of him. “You drank mine, too.”

“Oh.” Betty sticks another umbrella behind Daniel’s ear. “Well. Whatever. There’s not even that much in these pineapples so you have to drink at least four to equal two regular drinks.”

“Yeah, Betty, it’s a resort,” Daniel says. “They want your money.”

“Your money,” Betty points out. “Mode’s money, anyway.” Even if Mode weren’t footing the bill for all of this, she knows Daniel would pay for her drinks. He always does when they’re drinking together.

Daniel laughs. “Let’s go. They don’t have food at this bar, but you need to eat something.” He only stumbles a little when he gets off his stool. He grabs Betty’s shoulder to steady himself. “Hey, I did it.”

“That’s not what she said,” Betty crows.

“What who said?” Daniel asks, confused.

“The girl. Because you guys didn’t do it.”

He stares at her for a second. Then, all he says is, “Wow.”

“Okay, I need to eat something.”

It takes a certain degree of stumbling and Betty does trip at one point, but they make it back to Daniel’s room. “Just do the room service thing,” Daniel says, kicking off his shoes. “They’ll make you anything you want.”

“They can’t make my dad’s huevos,” Betty points out. “That’s what I want. That’s what I always want when I’m drunk. I don’t think I’m really drunk though. I didn’t drink that much.”

“You’re trying to scroll on a hairbrush,” Daniel says. Betty looks down. He’s right.

“Where’s my phone?”

“In your purse,” Daniel says.

“Do you have a minibar in here?” Betty asks. “Now I want mojitos.”

“I don’t have the stuff for mojitos, but I do have champagne.” Daniel picks up a bottle from the coffee table and gives it a little shake to slosh the contents around. “Only a few glasses left. But you have to order something to eat first.”

“You’re so responsible,” Betty praises. “I trained you well.”

“Is it possible I trained myself?” Daniel asks. Then he shakes his head. “No, that’s ridiculous, you’re definitely right.”

Betty doesn’t actually remember what she orders, but she’s excited when it turns out to be nachos. That was a good call on her part. Then they drink champagne, and Daniel eats half her nachos even though they both know the cheese is going to make him gassy, and then they order chili fries and more champagne.

“We should probably stop drinking,” Betty says at one point. She doesn’t know where her shoes are and she hasn’t been able to get off the floor in ten minutes.

“Yes,” Daniel agrees. “But I have to finish this glass first.”

“True,” Betty says. “We can’t waste it.”

The last thing she remembers is mumbling, “My room is right next to Amanda’s. What if I hear them?”

“Just stay here,” Daniel says. “I’ll sleep better with you here anyway. Then we can make sure neither of us chokes, right?”

“It’s a real problem that kills people,” Betty says defensively, because he’s making fun of her for something she said years ago. “But okay,” she says. “I’ll just roll over there. Eventually.”

And then suddenly it’s morning, and they never closed the shades so light is streaming in through the balcony door and Betty wants to murder the entire sun. Her eyelids are stuck together and gritty. She’s still wearing her glasses, but not her dress.

She vaguely remembers swapping it out for one of the robes that come in all the rooms. She doesn’t remember why or how it ended up thrown over the lamp like that. She never made it off the floor and is in the space between the bed and the wall.

“Oh, my God,” she groans. “I’m dead.”

A muffled sound startles her until she remembers this is Daniel’s room. He drank more than she did. He might actually be dead. Where did he end up? She manages to roll over once and finds him. He’s also on the floor, on the other side of the bed. He looks like he was trying valiantly to get up there. He’s in only his boxers, which would be a little mortifying if not for the fact that Betty’s brain and emotions stopped working at some point with the second bottle of champagne.

“Why did we do that.” He doesn’t even make it a question. “And what is that noise?”

Betty can’t hear much over the blood rushing in her head. She holds her breath for a second to see if that helps. “It’s your phone,” she says.

“Whose phone am I holding?” he asks. Betty grabs the side of the bed and pulls herself to a sitting position.

“Hey, that’s mine.”

“What the hell happened last night?” His eyes go wide. “Um, are you wearing underwear?”

“What? Of course I am!”

“Oh, okay. I mean, me too. I just wanted to make sure—you know.”

“You thought we got so drunk we slept together?” she asks, scandalized.

“Wow, you don’t have to sound so horrified,” he mutters. “Women used to fight over who got to be my drunken hookup, you know.”

“They sure did,” she soothes distractedly. “Is my phone ringing now, too?”

“Oh.” Daniel looks down at the item in question, still in his hand. “Yeah.”

A pounding on the door makes them both whimper. “Everything is very bright and very loud,” Betty whines.

“No offense, but please don’t talk,” Daniel says. “You are so shrill.”

“If I could, I would yell at you.”

“Raincheck.” He crawls over to the door. He has to hang onto the wall to stand up. “Oh, no,” he mumbles. “I’m gonna puke.”

“You’re on your own,” Betty whispers. She’s avoiding being shrill.

“It passed,” Daniel assures her. “Okay. Wow. Okay.”

“Are you going to put pants on?” Betty asks.

“I don’t need pants. I’m dead.”

He pulls the door open and slumps against the doorframe. Betty can’t see who it is, but Marc immediately starts talking and the pace and timbre make her head pound some more.

“Okay, so, the good news is we know where the models are. The bad news is they are not here. Also, this is not something I find alarming but might be something you care about—we’re not entirely sure where Betty is.”

“Here,” Betty calls weakly, like Marc’s taking roll at school.

“How did you possibly get here before me?” Marc demands, stepping further into the room so he can see her. “Oh…” He looks around the room.

“What are we going to do for the shoot?” Daniel asks. His voice sounds like he’s been gargling broken glass.

“This room smells like my short-lived attempt to be straight in college,” Marc says, nose wrinkled. “But as we all know, these hips don’t lie.”

“Shakira!” Betty yells.

“Oh, God, Betty, shrill,” Daniel complains.

“Yes, Shakira, Christina, Britney, we need to do something about this shoot!” Marc says. He definitely sounds shriller than Betty. Why doesn’t Daniel whine about that?

“I know what to do,” Betty says. “I have an idea. And I’m gonna…” She blows out a breath. “As soon as we hit land, I’ll take care of it.”

“You two are disgusting,” Marc says delightedly. He raises his eyebrows at Betty’s dress on the lamp. “So…no rush or anything, but—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Betty cuts him off. “Okay.”

The rest of the morning is a blur. She has no idea how she convinces Shakira to do the shoot, but she does enjoy getting to be smug to Daniel about her swimsuit idea. And then with the FBI showing up to take away Connor, she sort of forgets about their night. The raging hangover is certainly a reminder, but the details were already hazy anyway. She has to pack her suitcase while trying to keep her head completely still.

She drops into the seat beside Daniel on the plane and rests her head against the seat with her eyes closed. “Our next issue can be about zombies running fashion shoots, because I think we just demonstrated that possibility. This is the worst hangover I’ve ever had.”

“It’s pretty bad,” Daniel agrees without agreeing. He’s obviously had worse. “Did you take anything?”

“Yeah, this morning,” Betty assures him.

“Have you eaten anything?”

“Considering I’m still tasting the nachos and chili fries, I haven’t really wanted to,” Betty says. Daniel presses a hand over his mouth and swallows hard.

“Oh, God, don’t remind me. But, you know, you should eat a little. Or at least drink a lot of water.”

“I have been hungover before,” she points out. He gives her a look. “Okay, not often, but it has happened!”

He laughs a little. Then he glances around and sighs. “You know, I was hoping everything with Connor and Shakira would finally make everyone forget about the cult stuff, but everyone’s still staring.”

Betty tries to casually glance around. He’s right. “Well, don’t worry, they’ll forget all about it soon,” she promises. “You know the Mode gossip. There’s always something to focus on.”

They both sleep for most of the flight. Betty rests her head on Daniel’s shoulder and he rests his head on top of hers. When the plane touches down, Betty wants to groan as she anticipates the long trip home. At this time of night—or morning, rather—it’s going to take so much longer to get back to Queens.

“You’re not going all the way home right now, are you?” Daniel asks, concerned, when Betty says something about the subway or getting a car. “Betty, it’s two am!”

“Well, normally this is the kind of night I’d stay at my old place,” Betty admits. “But obviously that’s not an option.” She glances over to where Amanda and Matt are walking off together. Daniel makes a face.

“Oh, yeah. Well, just stay with me tonight. You have your suitcase anyway, and I know you packed at least two extra outfits just in case.”

Betty huffs. He’s right. And it’s an incredibly tempting offer. “Well…”

“Come on.” He grabs the handle of her suitcase and leads her to the elevator. “No arguing. I’m the editor-in-chief.”

“It’s adorable how you think that gives you some kind of authority,” Betty comments. He elbows her. They climb into a Mode car, and Betty leans against the window. Even with all the sleep she got on the flight, she’s ready to pass out now. They have a brief scuffle when Daniel insists he’ll take the couch and give Betty his bed and she tries to protest, but neither of them have much fight left in them.

“Fine, whatever,” Betty finally says. “Your house, your rules.”

She changes into her pajamas and climbs into the bed. It smells like Daniel. It reminds her of late nights at the office, sitting close together to look at layouts. She doesn’t have time to think of much else before she falls right to sleep.

“Okay, wow,” Megan says when Betty comes into their office, coffee in one hand and suitcase in the other, holding her bagel in her mouth. “I mean, a walk of shame is one thing, but you’re being so much bolder about it than I would’ve guessed.”

“What are you talking about?” Betty asks after she sits down and takes the bagel out of her mouth.

“I know he’s the boss and all, so you don’t have to worry about getting in trouble with him, but don’t you care what other people think?”

“Megan, what are you talking about?” Betty asks. She’s getting kind of annoyed. Getting a break from catty Megan in the Bahamas was nice. Megan could at least have the courtesy to let Betty finish her coffee before starting up with all this.

“You and Daniel,” Megan says. She rolls her eyes. “I mean, we all suspected you were sleeping with him when you were his assistant anyway, but at least you guys tried to keep it secret then.”

Betty just stares at her. “What?”

“Come on, Betty, you blew that secret up in the Bahamas.”

“We…” Betty stops, remembering Marc’s wide eyes and the state of the room when he came in. “Oh, no,” she rushes to say. “I didn’t sleep with Daniel.”

“Sure,” Megan says. “You woke up naked in his room on accident.”

“Um, okay, first of all, I wasn’t naked, not that it’s any of your business,” Betty says. “But really, we did not have sex. We were both upset about—things, and we drank too much, and—”

“Betty, I really don’t care,” Megan says.

Before either of them can say anything else, Daniel comes in. “Uh, Betty, you have a second?” he asks, eyes wide.

Megan laughs a little. “I’ll go,” she says. “Office is all yours.”

Daniel waits until she leaves, and then he pounces. “Okay, why are people saying we slept together?”

“It had to have been Marc,” Betty says. “He’s the only one who saw us.”

“You really think he’d tell people?” Daniel asks. Betty gives him a look.

“The opportunity to make fun of me and spread gossip?”

Daniel groans. “God, what a little weasel.”

“And you just hired him to be your new assistant,” Betty reminds him.

“Oh, no, that’s definitely not happening.”

“Well, Daniel, I mean, he is a good assistant,” Betty reasons. “And you need someone who actually knows what they’re doing.”

“Except he obviously has no discretion!” Daniel says. “That’s not the kind of thing he should be telling people. I can sleep with whoever I want and he should keep that to himself.”

“And we didn’t even sleep together,” Betty points out.

“Oh, yeah, that too.”

Betty sighs. “So what do we do now?”

Daniel shrugs. “Wait for it to blow over, I guess.”

Betty groans. “You know everyone’s going to say this is why you promoted me to editor.”

“They better not,” Daniel says hotly. “You want me to send out an email? Call an emergency mandatory meeting?”

Betty shakes her head, helpless. “I don’t think any of it will matter. People are going to believe what they’re going to believe. Anything we say is just going to make it worse.”

Daniel slumps down into Megan’s chair. “Betty, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Betty says. “It’s Marc’s.”

“Want me to hold him back and you can punch him?” Daniel asks. “I’m not allowed to assault my employees anymore.”

Betty laughs a little. “That would be satisfying,” she admits. “But I don’t think it’d help.”

Neither of them knows what else to say. Daniel spins slowly in Megan’s chair. “Lunch this afternoon would probably be a bad idea, huh?”

Betty sighs. “I don’t know. I mean, if we spend time together, people will say it’s proof we’re sleeping together. And if we avoid each other, people will say that’s proof we’re sleeping together.”

Daniel considers that. “So no matter what we do, people are going to read into it what they want to anyway.”

“Yep.”

“So lunch or no lunch?”

Betty shrugs. “I guess lunch. If they’re going to gossip about everything we do, we might as well do what we want to, and we scheduled that before we even left.”

“Okay.” Daniel taps the arms of the chair before standing up. “See you later.” He opens the door and at least three people scurry away. He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Should I yell at them?”

“You’re not normally a yeller,” Betty points out wearily.

“Right. Okay.”

He heads back to his office. Betty drops her head to rest on her desk with a thunk. She can’t believe this is happening. Of all the gossip she ever expected to be involved in, sleeping with Daniel never even crossed her mind. And it’s totally unfair, because she didn’t even sleep with Daniel. If people are going to gossip about Betty having sex, she kind of wishes she at least got the actual sex out of it.

But not with Daniel. That would be weird. Sure, it would probably be good—she’s heard the rumors, of course, and she’s never heard a woman complain about what happened in bed. They would usually complain about him not calling them later. And they always wanted him to call later, which suggests it was enjoyable enough that they wanted to repeat the experience.

Betty’s cell vibrates on her desk and makes her jump about a foot in the air. Okay, she was so not thinking about sex with Daniel. That’s just creepy. He’s her boss, technically, and he’s one of her best friends.

“Hi,” Betty answers. It’s Hilda. “What’s up?”

“I thought you were coming home last night,” Hilda says. “Just wanted to make sure your plane didn’t crash or something.”

“Oh, sorry,” Betty says. “We didn’t get back until late, and it was just easier to stay at Daniel’s. I already had all my stuff and everything and it would’ve taken forever to get home. Besides, he has that nice memory foam mattress. I could sleep on that bed every night.”

Of course Megan walks in as Betty is saying this. Because Betty has the worst luck in the world. Megan’s mouth drops open in delighted surprise. She turns right around and rushes back out, no doubt off to spill this latest misunderstanding. Betty growls.

“Ugh, Hilda, everyone is spreading this gossip about me and Daniel sleeping together.”

Hilda hums, considering. “Well, did you?”

“Hilda!”

“Alright, jeez, just checking. I mean, you guys did get crazy drunk together the other night.”

“I know, but—” Betty freezes. “Wait, how’d you know that?”

“Oh, you called me, Betty,” Hilda says. She’s enjoying this way too much. “Yeah, first you texted me twenty-seven times, then you left me two voicemails, and then I finally answered the last call and the two of you told me all about your nachos and champagne for fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, my God,” Betty says. “How do I not remember any of that?”

“You were bombed,” Hilda crows. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me you slept with Larry King.”

“Ew,” Betty mutters.

“And then there were the pictures you put on Facebook,” Hilda goes on.

“What?” Betty shrieks. She immediately brings Facebook up on her computer. She has more notifications than she ever has. She’s almost afraid to look. But look she does, and it’s bad.

They made an entire album. Most of it is fairly innocent; drunk Betty is a far worse photographer than sober Betty, which is really saying something, so a lot of the pictures are too blurry to even make out. There’s a harmless enough one of the two of them clinking their glasses together that would actually be kind of cute if either of them had their eyes open and if it weren’t so hideously obvious they’re wasted.

Also, since Betty was taking the picture herself, her head is way too close to the camera. God, Amanda and Marc are right; she needs to take better care of her eyebrows.

But then there’s one of Betty throwing a peace sign, and Daniel’s in the background taking off his pants. That one has a lot of comments. The next one is even worse, because Betty somehow managed to get a picture of herself in the process of throwing off her dress, and Daniel is still in the background, now in just his boxers. No part of Betty is actually visible except her hand pulling off her dress, but the picture has forty-five comments on it.

“Oh, no,” Betty moans. “Oh, God, no. Hilda, gotta go, bye.” She sprints as fast as she can to Daniel’s office.

“I cannot believe you would do something so irresponsible,” Daniel says, currently in the process of chewing Marc out. Marc is silently fuming.

“No!” Betty yells, closing Daniel’s door behind her. “It wasn’t Marc.”

“Huh?” Daniel asks.

“Oh, God, Daniel it was me. I mean, I think it was both of us, because it’s super obvious you’re the one who typed out the album description, because I’d never use the word bam that many times, but…” Betty grabs her hair. “Come here.” She spins him around and leads him to his computer. “This is so bad.” She pulls up the pictures and takes a step back, watching the dawning horror on Daniel’s face as he scrolls. He actually yelps when he gets to the last one.

“What the hell?”

“I’m actually kind of remembering a few things,” Betty says. “Um, I think I remember that we decided to put some pictures on Facebook to show everyone how great we’re doing. Like, to show everyone we’re not sad or lonely.”

“Oh, yeah, those pictures certainly prove that,” Marc mutters.

“And we decided to post a picture of us taking off our clothes…why?” Daniel asks.

“Yeah, no, I have no idea about that,” Betty admits. “We also called Hilda a bunch of times.”

Daniel rubs his eyes. “Okay, so we’re…we’re part of some online sex scandal now? Is that what this means?”

“I think an online sex scandal would be if you posted a sex tape,” Marc points out. “We’d be able to spin that how we wanted. This is more pathetic than anything.”

“That’s not helpful,” Daniel says, muffled from where his hands are covering his face. “Has this gotten out anywhere but Facebook?”

“Actually, Betty’s total lack of friends or social life came through for once. I didn’t see anything on any of the gossip sites or anything like that,” Marc reports. “And I checked, because I do know how to do this job.”

Daniel looks chagrined. “Sorry.”

“Okay, I’m deleting it all right now,” Betty says, pushing Daniel aside to do it from his computer.

“I don’t think it’d be that bad if it did get out,” Marc says. “It’s not like everyone doesn’t already know you sleep with your assistants.”

“She’s not an assistant,” Daniel says, at the same time Betty says,

“But he doesn’t anymore!”

“Uh, okay,” Marc says, eyebrows rising like he’s decided not to bother addressing their points. “But I’m saying in terms of damage control. It wouldn’t really require any. No offense, Daniel, but you sleeping around isn’t exactly news. The only thing they’d have a field day with is Betty’s whole…” Marc gestures broadly at Betty. “Bettyness.”

“Hey,” Betty says.

“So if it does get out, you chalk it up to the Bahamas, too much to drink, and you being sad over your dead wife so you jumped into bed with the first woman who spoke to you.” Marc shrugs. “They’ll make fun of you for finding someone so furry, but I can’t imagine it would last longer than a few hours.”

“Are you saying the worst part of this is everyone making fun of Daniel for sleeping with me?” Betty asks, a little offended. She knows she’s not exactly Daniel’s type, but still. She does have some positive qualities.

“By far,” Marc assures her with a mean little laugh.

“What about my reputation?” Betty asks. “Everyone will think Daniel only gave me the promotion because I slept with him.”

“Betty, no one believes you slept with Daniel before this trip,” Marc says. It’s almost reassuring, except then he adds, “His reputation from before is helping in that regard. Everyone thinks it’s just because he didn’t want to get attached to the first woman he gave it up to after Molly so he found someone he’d never fall for.”

“You know we didn’t sleep together, right?” Betty checks. “Because we didn’t. Really.” She’s not going to address how insulting the rest of it is.

“Betty would definitely have beard burn if we did,” Daniel points out. He blinks. “Although—I guess maybe not on your face.”

That stops Betty cold. Marc snorts. “He’s a giver,” he says. "Congratulations."

“Okay,” Betty breathes, because that’s more information than she needed. “I’m just saying. For the record. We did not sleep together.”

“I have never been interested in heterosexual relations,” Marc promises. “Even less so when you’re involved.”

“So now what?” Daniel asks. “Stick to our plan of acting the same as we always do?”

“I guess,” Betty says. “I don’t know what else we could do.”

“You could plot some kind of accident for someone else to get the heat off you,” Marc suggests. He rolls his eyes at the looks they both give him. “Okay, fine, no plots on this side of the office, got it. We’ll just pretend nothing happened and wait for someone to actually do something more interesting on their own.”

“Nothing did happen,” Betty reminds him.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Marc stands up. “Can I get back to work? You have a ton of messages about Shakira and the FBI thing.”

“Oh, my God, the FBI and Connor,” Daniel says. “I forgot.”

“Okay,” Betty says. “Um, maybe lunch isn’t a great idea.”

“Yeah,” Daniel says. “Let’s wait until like…next week. Maybe things will calm down by then.”

“Okay.”

There’s an awkward pause. Marc is looking between Betty and Daniel, face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. Daniel scratches the back of his neck.

“Alright,” Betty says, and she can hear how high-pitched her voice is. Now she knows why Daniel called her shrill. “I’ll, uh…see you around.”

She practically runs out of his office. Things don’t often get awkward between her and Daniel, but the idea of everyone gossiping about them having sex is working hard to get them there.

Every time Betty looks up, she can see someone looking at her and whispering. It’s usually Megan, but everyone else who walks by does it, too. And even though she deleted the pictures, people are still writing on her wall, asking what the deal is with Daniel. Even Gina Gambarro is piping up, and she's telling everyone about the time Daniel came to her house.

It’s not the worst day Betty’s had at Mode, but it’s pretty bad. On the plus side, she manages to avoid Matt and Amanda all day, so at least she doesn’t have to see them canoodling or anything like that. She genuinely doesn’t think she could handle that today.

By the time she gets home, she wants to put her pajamas on and just end this day already. Of course that doesn’t happen. Her father wants to talk Christmas dinner plans. That’s not so bad, at least. Until he asks, totally innocently,

“Should we invite Daniel? Or does he have plans with his mother?”

Betty groans loudly and rests her head on the table. Hilda makes a fake sympathetic face. “Oh, no, lover’s quarrel already?”

“Lover’s quarrel?” Ignacio asks quickly. “With Daniel?”

“No, no, no,” Betty jumps in. She gives Hilda a dirty look. “There was a stupid misunderstanding at work and now everyone’s gossiping.”

“About you?” Ignacio asks.

“About me and Daniel. Together.”

“Oh.” Ignacio raises his eyebrows. “Is it true?”

“No!” Betty insists. “Why does everyone keep asking that?”

Hilda and Ignacio exchange a look. “So does that mean we’re not inviting him to Christmas dinner?” Ignacio asks.

Betty sighs. “No, it’s fine. That’s not for a month. It’ll all blow over by then. I’ll see what he’s doing. And then everyone will start gossiping that we’re getting married or something.”

“Yeah, but they already called you Daniel’s girl anyway, right?” Hilda reasons. “So it’s no big deal.”

“I can’t believe this,” Betty complains. “I put up with their gossip about my outfits, and my hair, and my braces, and that time they stole my bunny, but this is just too far.”

“Those Mode people aren’t very nice,” Ignacio says loyally. “Okay, I’m going to run to the market. We’re out of milk.”

Hilda watches him leave. Then she turns to Betty. “You’re totally, 100% sure you didn’t sleep with Daniel?”

“Yes!” Betty insists. “Why?”

“You were so drunk, Betty. And you guys have always been really close.” Hilda shrugs. “It wouldn’t be that surprising if you turned to each other for a little comfort.”

Betty shakes that mental image from her head. “Okay, well, we didn’t. And Daniel apparently can’t even—” She snaps her mouth shut. Hilda gasps.

“What?”

“Uh-uh, nope.” Betty stands up from the table. “That is none of your business. None of mine, either.”

“Oh, my God,” Hilda shrieks. “I would never expect Daniel to have a problem getting—”

“I didn’t say he did!” Betty interrupts. “And anyway, if he had a problem with that, which I didn’t say he does, it wouldn’t be something to laugh about and it’s definitely not something you should hint about next time you’re cutting his hair! He hasn’t been with anyone since his wife died and he’s having a hard time.”

“Or not,” Hilda mutters. She holds up her hands in surrender at the dark look Betty gives her. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’m not going to make jokes about that. That’s awful and really sad and I remember how bad I felt the first time I got with someone after Santos.”

Betty is a nice person and a terrific sister, so she doesn’t remind Hilda that some of that guilt was due to Coach being married. Betty sighs. “People whispering about his sex life at work probably isn’t helping.”

Hilda winces. “Probably not.”

“God, I can’t believe we were so stupid. I mean, Facebook? Really?”

“You were trying to make Matt feel bad for not taking you back,” Hilda points out. “You kept telling me that. You were having so much fun and wanted the world to know.”

Betty groans. But she can’t help but laugh a little. “Marc’s right. That does seem kind of pathetic.”

“Yeah,” Hilda agrees. “But it’s normal.”

“I really thought I was over Matt,” Betty says with a sigh.

“I don’t think it means you aren’t,” Hilda says. “You just don’t want him getting with someone else before you do because he was mean to you.”

Betty considers that possibility. “I don’t know,” she says. “I felt pretty bad seeing him with Amanda.”

Hilda clicks her tongue sympathetically. “Well, yeah, no one wants to see their ex parading around the new girl.”

“I don’t even know what I’m feeling anymore. All of this is confusing and embarrassing. And insulting. Did you know Marc said the biggest scandal of all of this was that I’m not good enough for Daniel?”

“He said that?” Hilda puts down her nail file. “Daniel would be so lucky.”

Betty knows Hilda pretty much has to say that, as Betty’s sister, and Hilda has always said stuff like that, about every guy who’s hurt Betty. Except that little interlude with Walter, but that was Hilda trying to look out for Betty, too. Even knowing Hilda may be the only person on the planet who thinks that way, Betty feels a little better.

“Yeah,” Betty says. But then, loyally, she adds, “Though Daniel’s a much better catch than he used to be.”

Hilda shrugs. “So? He’d still be lucky.”

Betty huffs. “Well, thank you. I just hope something happens to someone else soon that’ll get everyone to forget this. Is that bad of me?”

“Maybe a little,” Hilda admits. “But at least you’re not doing something to make everyone forget it. That would be worse.”

Betty shakes her head, thinking of Marc’s suggestion. That just seems cruel. Her phone buzzes and she looks down to see another Facebook notification. Maybe they’ll keep that cruel plan on the backburner. Just in case.

Things are already a bit better by the next morning. Daniel and Betty aren’t doing anything to feed the gossip, so half the office has lost interest. Plus, like Marc mentioned, most people at work stopped being interested in Daniel’s sex life years ago.

The problem comes when the features department does their pitch meeting. Betty takes her seat and double-checks her list of pitches she wants to bring up. She glances up as Matt enters the conference room and smiles at him. She can be the bigger person here, even if he jumped right to her old roommate and possibly sometimes friend. He doesn’t smile back. Betty blinks. Well, maybe he didn’t see her. It’s not like she’s the only person in here.

They start the meeting and hear some pitches. Following a shoot in the Bahamas with Shakira on the cover is a tall order, so Matt wants them to bring their A-game. When it’s finally Betty’s turn, she sits up straighter. It’s a confidence technique she read about in a book Claire Meade gave her about commanding a room.

“Okay,” Betty starts. “I have a few ideas I’ve been playing with.”

“We don’t have a lot of time left here,” Matt tells her. “There’s another meeting scheduled right after this, so one pitch each.”

“Oh.” That takes the wind out of Betty’s sails for a second. “Well, that’s okay. I’ll be quick.”

“That’s what she tells Daniel, too,” Megan stage-whispers. It draws titters from around the room. Betty bites her lip, but she squares her shoulders. She’s not going to take Megan’s bait.

“One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot is the way art and fashion intersect. Not just in the sense that both are beautiful, but, you know, as methods of self-expression. So I was thinking we could get an up-and-coming visual artist and a designer we want to feature and give them both a concept, like an emotion or a scenario or something, and see what they come up with, and then we can play up the similarities and differences.”

“And how is that going to interest our ad partners?” Matt asks flatly. “Do we advertise to paint companies?”

Betty flounders for a second. “Well, I…I think the designer and the model would still be the big draw, probably, but—”

“So what’s the point of the artist, then?” Matt hasn’t blinked once since Betty started her pitch. Betty swallows hard.

“It’s just a parallel,” Betty tries.

“It seems unnecessary,” Matt says. “If you pick up a fashion magazine, why do you care what a painter’s doing?”

“I…”

“That’s your top pitch?” Matt asks. “That’s not the caliber of idea I’m looking for.”

Betty doesn’t know what to say. She looks down at the table, embarrassed, and he moves on. He doesn’t shoot down anyone else the way he shot her down, not even Richard’s absolutely ridiculous pitch for an entire shoot with accessories made from whatever the models could find in the garbage. He doesn’t even spin it as a way to highlight the high levels of waste in society. He just thinks it would be funny to watch models dumpster dive.

“We can think about it,” Matt tells him. Betty’s almost fuming by the time the meeting wraps up. And no one is waiting at the door, which makes her think there isn’t another meeting scheduled after theirs.

Betty snaps her notebook closed and decides she’s not letting Matt get away with this. He doesn’t get to be harsh with her. She thought they were over this.

“Matt,” she calls, standing up. He walks out the door and now Betty’s mad. Does he think she can’t tell he’s doing this on purpose? Again? She rushes after him. “Matt!”

He sighs and turns around. “What?”

“What was that?”

“What was what?” he asks, annoyed.

“Why did you shoot me down like that was the worst idea you’ve ever heard when half the pitches in there were awful? Richard’s pitch was literally garbage and you told him you’d think about it.”

“I think we could put an interesting spin on it,” Matt says blithely.

“But you don’t think we could put an interesting spin on linking fine art and fashion?”

They’re both starting to lose their patience, and their raised voices are attracting a crowd. Betty doesn’t care. She knows she’s right, and he’s the one being a jerk. He’s going to have to at least give her an explanation for it.

“I don’t think that’s the kind of thing Mode readers care about,” Matt says. “Do you really think our target audience spends much time at the Met?”

“Maybe we can get people interested,” Betty shoots back. “And I bet the Met would buy some ad space!”

“Not every pitch gets picked up, Betty, not even from you. I know that’s not what you’re used to, but it’s how it works,” Matt spits.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Betty asks.

“Just because you slept with Daniel to get your dumb swimsuit cover shoot doesn’t mean everyone else has to just give you what you want!” Matt yells. The Tube goes silent. Betty’s stomach drops.

“That…” Her voice falters. “That didn’t happen.” She can feel the threat of tears in her throat and she swallows hard, trying to keep them at bay.

“Sure it didn’t,” Matt mutters, turning away. “And you didn’t sleep with him for that promotion, either, right?”

Betty’s breath catches. She’s losing this fight against tears. She was afraid people would think that way, but to hear him say it out loud hurts. And it hurts extra coming from him, because he saw first-hand how hard she worked in YETI. He knows how much this means to her.

“Hartley.” It’s Daniel, his voice is low and angry. For some reason that’s what sends Betty over the edge to actually start to cry. She’s afraid Daniel’s going to punch Matt again, and she’s humiliated that Matt just proved Daniel right again about being a jerk. “My office. Now.” Daniel glowers until Matt scowls and walks off. Daniel looks around at the people watching, jaw clenched. “If anyone needs work, say the word. We’ve got plenty to do.” It sends everyone scurrying off to their desks. Daniel comes closer to Betty. “Betty.”

“Daniel, it’s fine,” Betty says, pushing her glasses up so she can swipe at her eyes. “I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry,” Daniel says, putting his hand on her arm. “I don’t think ignoring this was the right way to go. I’m going to fix this.”

Betty lets out a shuddering breath. “How?”

Daniel hesitates. “Well…I don’t know. But I’ll think of something.”

“I just can’t believe he’d say that,” Betty mutters, trying to get her tears under control.

“Yeah, well, he’s about to get a lesson in supervisor-employee relations in the workplace,” Daniel says darkly. “I don’t think I can fire him, but I’m sure as hell going to make him wish I would.”

“Don’t,” Betty says. She’s exhausted. She wants to go home and it’s not even eleven am. “Daniel, don’t do anything that’ll get you on Mr. Hartley’s bad side.”

“I’m already on his bad side,” Daniel points out. “Might as well stay there for a good reason. And this isn’t even just about him saying it to you. You got your promotion when I still had Molly. I know I have a reputation, but I never cheated on my wife.” He brushes a hand through his hair and shakes his head before Betty can reassure him. “And besides. That was incredibly inappropriate for a managing editor to say.”

Betty laughs a little. It’s shaky and barely more than an exhale, but it’s there. “You promise you’d yell at any managing editor for that?”

“Absolutely.” His voice is high because he’s lying and he does the lying thumb’s up. But Betty lets it slide, because it’s making her feel better. He squeezes her shoulder. “I’m going to take care of this.”

“Okay,” Betty says. She sniffs. “Thanks. I’m going to—I just need a minute.”

“Yeah, maybe go to the bathroom,” Daniel suggests. “You, um, have mascara on your face.”

She takes his advice. It seems unfair that she has mascara on her face when she barely cried. This mascara must not be very good. She’s swiping at it with a piece of toilet paper when Amanda comes in. Betty groans quietly. She can’t take this.

“Hey,” Amanda says softly.

“Amanda, please,” Betty begs. “I am so not in the mood.”

“Matt shouldn’t have said that to you,” Amanda says in a rush. “I mean, for one thing, we all know you’re not Daniel’s type. He definitely wouldn’t sleep with you, not even if he was desperate and sad after his dead wife or whatever.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“But also because everyone knows you deserved that promotion, Betty. You worked hard for it and you earned it. And you got Shakira to do the cover shoot at the last minute for almost no money. Matt’s just mad because of that rumor about you and Daniel.”

“Don’t know why he cares,” Betty says.

“Don’t you get it?” Amanda asks sadly. “He’s not over you.”

Betty looks at her quickly. “But didn’t you two…?”

“Yeah,” Amanda admits. “And it was pretty wild and amazing. I don’t know how he’d possibly go back to you, a bush woman, after he had me.” She shrugs. “But obviously he wants you. I was just…a placeholder. It’s weird that the placeholder was prettier and better than what he really wanted.”

Betty ignores the insult. Amanda actually has tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Amanda.”

Amanda shrugs, trying to look careless. “Whatever. I just wanted sex anyway.” Her attempt at her usual unaffected voice falls flat. Her lower lip is trembling a little.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m not taking him back even if he asks,” Betty says. She didn’t know that’s how she felt until she said it, but it’s true. He was awful enough the first time, but this is worse. He said she only got her promotion by sleeping with Daniel, and he slept with Amanda even though he was still hung up on Betty. It’s not fair to Amanda, either.

Amanda smiles tremulously. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Betty promises.

Amanda raises an eyebrow. “Because you drank from the Daniel well?”

“Ew,” Betty says. “Did you have to phrase it that way? That’s really weird. And no. We didn’t sleep together. You said everyone knows we didn’t.”

“Well, you guys are always weird and hugging each other,” Amanda points out with a shrug. She apparently feels good enough to start posing in the mirror. “Who knows? He’s all different and sad now since his wife died and he joined that cult. Maybe the drugs were still in his brain.”

“Thanks.” Betty’s just going to let the insults pass. They’re no worse than Amanda’s usual fare, and Amanda was just nice to Betty. This is one of those moments where Betty considers Amanda a friend.

“Anyway, it’s cool how we both dumped Matt,” Amanda says, even though she’s done no such thing and, technically, Matt dumped Betty. “That’ll teach him to be a jerk.” She flounces off. Betty would never have imagined it, but Amanda just cheered her up. Wonders never cease.

Betty takes a steadying breath before heading back out to her office. Megan is probably going to have a field day. Except Megan isn’t in there when Betty gets in. Claire Meade is.

“Oh,” Betty says, surprised. “Hi, Mrs. Meade.”

“Betty,” Mrs. Meade says warmly. “Have a seat, won’t you?”

It’s a little weird to be invited to sit down in her own office, but Betty’s come to expect things to be a little weird when Mrs. Meade is around. Betty sits in her chair and turns to face Mrs. Meade. “Is there something you need?”

“I’ve been hearing some things,” Mrs. Meade says conspiratorially. Betty sighs.

“No, I have never slept with Daniel. We did not sleep together in the Bahamas. And no, I don’t need to hear how it would be some kind of drunken miracle for him to ever go slumming so low to sleep with me!”

She did not mean to yell that last part. But it’s getting a bit grating. It shouldn’t matter—it doesn’t matter—but it’s not exactly a nice feeling to hear everyone say you’re so horrible and hideous even a notorious manslut wouldn’t take you.

Reformed notorious manslut, she reminds herself. Just because she’s cranky doesn’t mean she needs to take it out on Daniel, even if it’s just in her own head.

Mrs. Meade blinks. “That…was not what I came to talk to you about. I hadn’t heard anything about you and Daniel.”

“Oh. Uh. Well. There’s nothing to hear. It was all a misunderstanding. What did you—”

“What happened in the Bahamas?” Mrs. Meade asks, concerned now. “Why are people gossiping about that?”

“No, it’s—Mrs. Meade, really, it’s not a big…”

“You sound upset,” Mrs. Meade points out.

Betty looks at her hands, considering, but she knows Mrs. Meade isn’t going to let her off the hook. And Daniel will probably end up telling her, anyway, because he’s back to telling his mom everything.

“Okay. Um. While we were in the Bahamas, we were both upset about—stuff.” She’s definitely, definitely not telling Mrs. Meade about Daniel’s issue. “And we got drunk together and ate nachos and chili fries and nothing actually happened, you know, like, we didn’t have sex. We just had fun together, hanging out. But while we were drunk we posted some pictures on Facebook and they looked, um…suggestive.” Betty sighs. “And now of course everyone’s gossiping about it and Matt said the only reason I got the cover shoot and my promotion was from sleeping with Daniel.”

“How dare he,” Mrs. Meade says right away. She’s totally offended on Betty’s behalf, which is really nice of her. “You got that cover because of your hard work. You have incredible ideas, Betty, and you always put in the work to pull them off.”

“Thank you,” Betty murmurs. “I know I shouldn’t let it get to me. I know the truth. It just hurts to hear people saying it. And it’s kind of insulting that they all think I’m some kind of ogre or something and Daniel had to have been on death’s door to even consider sleeping with me.”

Mrs. Meade shakes her head, giving Betty a sympathetic smile. “Betty, don’t worry. In ten years, these people will still be junior editors and assistants, and you’ll be running the damn company. Besides, Daniel’s slept with plenty of women in this building, and he never gave any of them promotions.” She rolls her eyes.

Betty can’t help but laugh a little. That is definitely true. “Thanks, Mrs. Meade. But what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh, I just heard about you getting Shakira for your history of the modern swimsuit cover and wanted to congratulate you. I think it’s fantastic and bold. Definitely not something anyone else will have on their cover.”

“Are you a Shakira fan?” Betty asks, kind of skeptical.

“She’s a big hit in the women’s prison,” Mrs. Meade confirms with a wry grin. “One of Yoga’s favorites.” That makes Betty laugh for real. Mrs. Meade pats her hand and gets up to leave. She pauses at the door. “Oh, and Betty? They’re right. You’re not Daniel’s old type. But that’s a compliment, dear. And he would most certainly not need to be on death’s door to sleep with you.”

Betty snorts. “It’s not like I’m saying I want him to want to sleep with me,” she explains quickly, not wanting Mrs. Meade to get the wrong idea. “It would just be kind of nice if people didn’t act like that’s impossible.”

“I think the only impossible part would be that it would be just one night of meaningless sex,” Mrs. Meade says. She winks, and then she leaves.

Betty’s smile fades as Mrs. Meade’s words hit her. Surely she wasn’t implying—no. That would be ridiculous. Daniel is…well, he’s Daniel. And Betty’s Betty. Daniel can’t have feelings for her. Any kind of feelings. Mrs. Meade was just being nice. She didn’t mean Daniel, specifically; she just meant men in general. That’s all it was. Betty nods decisively to herself.

She looks up then and sees Daniel in his office. He crooks his finger, asking her to come in. She can see Matt’s still in there and she makes a face at Daniel. He makes a face back and crooks his finger again. Come here, he mouths.

Betty rolls her eyes but stands up. She probably has to sign a release promising not to sue for sexual harassment. Honestly, with everything that’s happened here, if she hasn’t sued by now she never will.

Matt won’t look at her when she comes in. Betty was feeling better, but seeing the scowl on his face is making her a little shaky again. Sure, she’s decided she’s done with him, romantically, but he’s still her boss. She’s going to have to keep working with him, and if he’s going to go back to making her life miserable with pointed barbs about her sex life, things are going to be pretty bad.

“Betty, have a seat,” Daniel says, using his formal editor-in-chief voice. “Matt has something he’d like to say to you.”

Betty raises her eyebrows. Daniel nods encouragingly, getting that earnest look on his face that means he’s trying to do something nice. Betty can’t help but smile a bit at that face. He tries so hard sometimes. She sits down, far away from Matt, and looks over at Matt expectantly.

He doesn’t say anything. He won’t even look at her. Betty looks back at Daniel, whose lips are pursed. He clears his throat.

“Hartley,” he says warningly.

Matt exhales sharply. “I’m sorry, Betty,” he says stiffly, without meeting her eyes. “What I said was inappropriate and out of line. It won’t happen again.”

Betty looks at Daniel again. He’s beaming, so proud of himself for making Matt apologize. It makes Betty’s chest hurt a little. It’s not exactly Bobby Talercio slamming a guy against the car window to apologize, but it’s Daniel’s professional version of it. And he did already punch Matt before.

“And will you be unfairly and overly-harshly judging my pitches again, or will you be professional and unbiased?” Betty asks, feeling bolder now that Daniel’s throwing his weight around.

Matt grits his teeth. “Professional and unbiased.”

Betty nods. “Okay. Thank you. Apology accepted.”

“Anything else?” Matt asks.

“No, you can go.” Daniel has his arms folded over his chest. He looks kind of menacing, all angry and protective, and that’s a lot closer to Bobby Talercio. Betty has to swallow and look away.

What the hell, Suarez? she asks herself. She gives her head a little shake. Mrs. Meade’s words are messing with her. Matt beats a hasty retreat and Betty lets out a breath, slumping back against the couch.

“Thanks,” she tells Daniel. “I don’t know if he’ll actually be professional and unbiased, though.”

“Oh, he will,” Daniel says confidently. “Unless he wants me to tell his father a few things.”

Betty wrinkles her nose, confused. “You have dirt on Matt?” She didn’t know there was dirt to have on Matt.

“Not really,” Daniel admits. “Not yet. But I’ll find some if I need to. And Hartley’s a smart businessman. He knows we could have a lawsuit on our hands from that kind of behavior.”

Betty laughs. “My hero,” she teases.

“He was way out of line, Betty. And look, I know sometimes maybe I do give you special treatment. But that’s like—when I buy you coffee, or when you trip and knock over an entire table of shoot props and I don’t yell at you.” Betty rolls her eyes. That’s only happened twice. “Never real work stuff. You have always earned every achievement you’ve gotten here. You know that, right?”

“Thank you, Daniel,” Betty murmurs. “And yeah. I know. It just hurts to know he thinks that.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think he actually thinks that,” Daniel says. “Come on, Betty, he knows you. He was with you at YETI. He knows how smart and determined you are. I think he was just trying to get under your skin. He’s jealous.”

Betty shrugs. “He shouldn’t be.”

“Yeah, I mean, we didn’t sleep together,” Daniel says.

“Well, and because of Amanda,” Betty points out.

“Oh, right,” Daniel agrees. “Oh, yeah, poor Amanda.”

“I saw her in the bathroom, and she was pretty upset,” Betty confesses. “She deserves better.”

“So do you,” Daniel says firmly. “He’s a jerk.”

“Yes, he is,” Betty agrees. “But he is my managing editor. So I’m going back to my office to use some of that determination to make pitches so good he can’t possibly turn them down.”

“That’s my girl,” Daniel praises with a dorky little fist pump. Betty shakes her head at him. She doesn’t know what’s worse—that he did that awful gesture, or the way she’s filling up with a tender fondness for his dorkiness and the fact that he called her his girl.

She practically runs out of his office. Then she keeps her head down and sternly forces herself to focus solely on work for the rest of the day. She is not going to think about what Mrs. Meade said. And she is certainly not going to picture Daniel’s face when he told her she’s earned everything she’s achieved.

When Betty gets home, she sighs and leans against the door. What a rollercoaster day.

“Betty.” Betty yelps and jumps. Ignacio raises an eyebrow. “Long day?”

“Sorry,” Betty says, pressing a hand to her chest. “I just didn’t know you were there.”

“Did you ask Daniel about Christmas dinner?” Ignacio presses. He shakes his list at Betty. “I need to know how much food to make.”

Betty groans. “Papi, that’s not for a month.”

“Three weeks and two days!” Ignacio corrects.

“Why are you freaking out about this?” Betty asks.

“I’m not freaking out,” Ignacio protests. “I’m just being prepared.”

Now it’s Betty’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Dad.”

Ignacio sighs, putting his arm around Betty and drawing her into the kitchen. “I…invited someone to dinner this year.”

Betty gasps. “Dad! Who?”

“Just someone I met around the neighborhood. But I guess I’m a little nervous.”

“Aw, Papi, don’t be nervous,” Betty soothes. “We’ll all be on our best behavior. And she’ll love you. How could she not?”

Ignacio preens a little. “Thank you, mija. So. Daniel or not?”

“Sorry, I forgot to ask,” Betty admits. “Things at work today got…” She trails off and blows out a breath.

“What happened?” Ignacio asks. “The gossiping still?”

“Well, um.” Betty doesn’t want to tell him about Matt. It’s one thing for Daniel to see her cry; it was the direct aftermath of it all. Betty’s feeling better now, but she knows Ignacio’s indignation would set her off into tears again. She doesn’t want to spend the evening crying over a guy she’s already spent too many nights crying about. And then he’ll tell Hilda, and Hilda will probably hunt Matt down and hit him with a car or something. “We just got busy with pitches. You know, we’re back from the Bahamas and we need to think big.”

Ignacio looks at her closely. He can probably tell she’s lying. She’s not a good liar anyway, but her dad’s always been extra good at seeing right through her. She smiles winningly.

“Hm,” is all he says. “Well, okay. Ask him tomorrow, would you please?”

“Of course,” she promises. “Do you want me to invite Mrs. Meade, too, if she doesn’t have other plans?”

“Sure,” Ignacio says. “But I want firm commitments. No maybes, you hear me?”

Betty snorts. “Okay, Dad, I’ll have them swear a blood oath.”

“Gracias.” He kisses the top of her head and walks away humming. Betty heads hopefully to the fridge. After the day she had, she needs something sweet.

She does remember to ask Daniel about Christmas dinner at work the next day, and he accepts. “My mom got all weird and evasive when I asked about her plans, so I made sure to ask her housekeeper to double-check for booze,” he adds. Betty gasps.

“You don’t think she really started drinking again, do you?”

Daniel shrugs. “I mean, she was never evasive about it before, but maybe she feels guilty now. I don’t know. She said she’s going out of town for Christmas. She’s never done that before.”

“So she won’t be coming with us, then,” Betty says.

Daniel huffs. “Well, she might say yes to you. She loves you more than she loves me.”

Betty gives him a look. “Don’t be a needy baby fishing for compliments.”

It makes him laugh out loud. “Is this the kind of welcome I’m going to get at Christmas dinner? Jeez.”

“Oh, no, and speaking of—my dad is inviting some woman he’s interested in, so everything has to go perfectly, got it? Be good.”

“Ooh, who’s the lucky lady?” Daniel asks.

“No idea. He just said some woman from the neighborhood. And it’s the most excited I’ve seen him since Elena left, so I’m going to make sure it goes well.”

Daniel shakes his head, smiling a little. “God help anyone or anything that tries to stand in your way.”

Betty nods decisively. “That’s right. Okay.” She sighs. “Follow-up pitch meeting.”

“Hey, if he doesn’t behave, you come right back in here and tell me, got it?”

Betty sighs again. She doesn’t want to have to go running to Daniel every time a meeting doesn’t go her way. She told Matt she’d be fighting her own battles. But if Matt’s going to shoot her down just because, she doesn’t know what else she’ll do. Sometimes she just needs some backup in the form of the guy who’s in charge of it all.

“Okay,” she agrees. Maybe she should’ve made muffins again, just in case. That worked last time, before Daniel came back and sort of tanked everything by being too overeager in helping her.

She can’t help but smile a bit at the memory. Sure, Daniel made things worse, but he was trying. It was sweet, even if it was misguided. Betty gives herself a little mental shake. She needs to focus. She needs to be ready for this meeting.

She has to be firm but not demanding, polite but not cold. She wants Matt to know he can’t push her around, but she also doesn’t want him to think she’s going to tattle over just anything.

The pitch meeting is fine. Matt uses the same cool tone with everyone, including Betty. He doesn’t meet her eyes, but he doesn’t shoot down her pitch. He doesn’t approve her pitch, either, but he doesn’t single her out.

He hands out assignments and doesn’t give Betty the best story or the worst story. It’s a sort of bland piece about which shades of purple are in this year, but, Betty reminds herself, this is a fashion magazine. It can’t all be trailblazing women jailed for swimsuits. Maybe she can work in something about The Color Purple. That’s a good challenge for herself.

She sets to work, and at one point she looks up and meets Daniel’s eyes through their glass walls. He raises his eyebrows questioningly and she gives him a thumb’s up. He grins and Betty’s stomach swoops. She gulps and looks back down at her desk.

She cannot do this. She cannot develop some misguided feelings for Daniel just because he’s her friend and his mother made an offhand comment Betty’s reading into too much. That way leads to disaster for sure. So no.

She will not examine her swooping stomach or the way Daniel smiles when she steals sips of his coffee. She will not consider how good his beard actually looks or remember what he said about beard burn not being on her face. She will not picture the times she helped him pick an outfit and saw the muscles in his back when he turned around. She will not think about how much he’s learned since she first met him or the complete difference in his maturity and problem solving.

Betty lets out a tiny little growl of frustration. Her not thinking about it plan failed, because now she’s thinking about it. No, she scolds herself. Daniel is her friend. Thinking like this about him is not fair. He gives her his friendship, and she’s not being a good friend by returning that friendship with half-formed fantasies and swooping feelings. So she closes her eyes hard for a second to clear her brain, and then she focuses on the color purple.

“What are we going to do about that beard?” Marc asks Betty a week or so later.

“What?” She’s fighting with the copier and he all but cornered her. She didn’t even hear him follow her in here.

“That thing on his face!” Marc says. “Who told Daniel he could pull off facial hair?”

“I think it looks good,” Betty says absently, pressing hopefully at the copy button.

“Ugh, of course you would,” Marc says. “You always think he looks good.”

“Uh, what?” Betty asks, voice going a little high. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Marc blinks. “Because you’re Daniel’s little cheerleader,” he says slowly, eyes narrowing.

“You know, you’re supposed to be Daniel’s cheerleader now,” Betty points out, hoping he doesn’t have some kind of superhuman hearing to clock how her heart just sped up.

“Okay, I don’t know who taught you to be an assistant—”

“It was Daniel,” Betty supplies. “Well, really more myself.”

“—But your job is to make him look his best. Not just say yes to everything he says.”

“This is a bit rich coming from Wilhelmina’s lap dog,” Betty says.

Marc gasps a little. “Betty, who knew you had a little bitch in you?”

“I’m from Queens,” Betty reminds him. Then the copier starts beeping angrily. “No,” Betty groans. It says it’s a paper jam. Of course. She has to halfway climb into the thing to find the jam.

“Problem?” Daniel’s voice comes from behind Betty. She jumps and smacks her head.

“Ow,” Betty says.

“Sorry,” Daniel says. “I thought I heard my name in here.”

Betty straightens up and turns around. Marc flicks Daniel’s chin. “We were talking about your need to shave,” he says.

“You were?” Daniel asks.

“We were,” Marc confirms.

“But I like my beard,” Daniel says, frowning. “I thought it looked good.”

“Well, Betty said—” Marc starts.

“You don’t like my beard?” Daniel asks, turning to Betty with a wounded look.

“I never said that!” Betty protests, shooting Marc a dirty look. That is, in fact, the opposite of what she said.

“So you do like it,” Daniel checks, and for some reason that makes Betty tongue-tied.

“I never said that either,” Betty says, too quickly. Oh, no, she can feel herself blushing. Oh, God. And she just implied his beard looks bad. He’s looking all sad again. “I mean—it’s fine. No, it’s—it does look good.”

“It does?” Daniel asks.

“Yeah.” Betty pushes her glasses up and forces herself not to sound breathless. “I like it.”

“Do you actually or are you just saying that?” Daniel asks. “Tell me the truth, Betty, come on. Your opinion matters.” Oh, God, there goes her heart again.

“No, I really like it, Daniel,” Betty promises. She does.

“Okay.” Daniel smiles, ducking his head. “Yeah, sorry Marc, I’m keeping it.” He walks out backward, arms spread. “If Betty likes it, it stays. You know she’s the boss.”

Betty has to resist the urge to fan herself. This is ridiculous. He is making a joke. She laughs and it comes out shrill. She needs to get a grip.

When Daniel’s gone, Marc rounds on her. “You!” he hisses. “And him! You! When? I know it wasn’t in the Bahamas.”

“We never did anything,” Betty hisses right back. “You shut your mouth!”

“I’m seeing it right here with my eyes!” Marc pokes at her shoulder a bunch of times.

“You’re seeing nothing with your eyes!” Betty slaps his hand away. “Nothing happened!”

Marc stares at her for a second. Then he gasps dramatically. “But you want it to!”

Betty jabs a finger in Marc’s face. “You and your—your eyes, just shut up! You don’t know anything and you didn’t see anything and you don’t know anything.”

“You already said that,” Marc says delightedly.

“Marc,” Betty says warningly. “I’m serious. There is nothing going on. Nothing has gone on. Nothing will go on. Ever. Stop.”

She must sound serious enough to get it through his head. He looks at her for a minute. “You know, I don’t think it’s completely impossible,” he starts.

“Stop!” Betty says. “Seriously. Stop. There’s nothing to be possible or impossible. Just don’t.”

Marc opens his mouth. Then he closes it. Then he says, kind of softly, “Okay.”

“Thank you,” Betty says. Then, with as much dignity as she can muster, she climbs back into the copy machine and fixes the paper jam.

But aside from that one beard slipup, over the next few weeks, Betty manages to stay professional with Matt and normal with Daniel. Marc keeps his mouth shut and only occasionally gives Betty knowing looks that she resolutely ignores. Because everything is normal. There’s nothing for Marc to know.

Daniel’s busy fielding questions about Connor and the FBI and the money anyway, so he doesn’t have a lot of time to sit on the edge of her desk and chitchat or go out to lunch.

It’s actually a relief. By the time he’s free again, Betty will have herself under control and everything will be back to normal. She’s probably just hormonal or something. And maybe a bit frustrated, considering it’s been a while since she’s had sex.

Her theory is slightly tested when he tells her, “Good news,” in a low voice one afternoon while they’re both getting coffee. “Everything works again.”

“Oh, great, somebody fixed the copier?” Betty asks. The paper jams are happening at a ridiculous frequency. And Amanda convinced everyone that Betty’s the only one who can fix it, so everyone keeps coming to her for help. Her hands are stained black from the ink. Betty’s starting to wonder if Amanda’s jamming the copier on purpose to mess with her.

“What?” Daniel asks. “No. Copier? What?” Betty should have known better. She’s not sure he could pick a copier out of a group of machines. “I mean, you know.” Daniel shrugs, ears going red. “With me. I went out with that sales rep from de la Renta’s party.” He wiggles his eyebrows. He looks stupid and she’s suddenly full of the urge to smack him. “Good to go.”

Betty feels like she’s going to throw up. “Good for you,” she says, hoping her voice doesn’t feel as tight as her chest. God, this is horrible. Stupid feelings. It’s completely normal for him to tell her this stuff.

“Why’d you say it like that?” Daniel asks. “I wasn’t even gross or sleazy about it, I promise. I was really up front with her about it being a one-night stand and that’s what she wanted, too.”

“I said good for you,” Betty says defensively. “I’m really happy for you.” Okay, she can hear how aggressive she sounds. She needs to reel it in. She accidentally crushes the cookie she was holding.

Daniel does a double take at her face. “Are you okay?” he asks, concerned. “You don’t look so good.”

“Well, thank you for that, Daniel,” Betty snaps. She’s making this way worse. He looks alarmed now. “Nice to know your people skills haven’t gotten much better!”

She leaves him confused and wounded at the coffee station, but she brings him gummy bears later to apologize after she’s gotten herself under control. He forgives her, of course, because Daniel’s incredibly easy. And Betty keeps herself under control. She white-knuckles control over herself for the next few weeks.

So when Christmas rolls around, Betty’s not worried about Daniel coming over. Daniel’s been to her house plenty of times. This won’t be new and it won’t send any thoughts spiraling or stomachs swooping. He’s not going to bring up sex in any capacity with Betty’s family there. It’s all going to be normal and fine. Betty can put all her focus into Papi’s new squeeze.

She wrinkles her nose at herself. New squeeze? Come on.

She jumps when someone pounds on the bathroom door. “Betty, I need the bathroom!” Hilda shrieks. Jeez, what’s her deal? Betty knows it isn’t PMS, because they’ve been synced since Hilda got her periods back after Justin.

“What’s wrong with you?” Betty asks when she opens the door. “Oh, no, did you eat at the food truck by the freeway off-ramp again? I told you, the health department—”

“Get out!” Hilda yells.

“Jeez, God, okay,” Betty says. “I’m going to check on Papi. He’s so nervous.”

“Whatever,” Hilda mutters, slamming the door. Betty huffs and heads down the stairs. You’d think with Archie and things going a little better for Justin at school, Hilda would be in a better mood.

Ignacio’s in a flurry in the kitchen, frantic energy that’s already making Betty tired. She sighs a little as she ties on an apron.

“Put me to work,” she offers.

And he most certainly does. Betty has flour across her cheeks and her hair is all frizzy from the heat in the kitchen when someone knocks on the back door. Daniel pops his head in before anyone can get to the door.

“Hi,” he says. “Sorry, I know I’m early. I thought I could help?”

Oh, God. There goes her stomach. He came early to help. She wants to stomp her foot and whimper. Three weeks of hard work, down the drain. All the swooping feelings are back. Ignacio is, of course, fawning over Daniel. As if Betty hadn’t come in here first to help.

Okay, she’s getting snippy.

“Wait,” Betty says, putting out a hand so Daniel won’t lift the lid off a pot. “You need an apron.”

“I do not need an apron,” Daniel laughs. “I think I can handle stirring something without spilling.”

“No, you can’t,” Betty says, at the same time Ignacio says,

“You should probably wear an apron.”

Daniel looks a little miffed, but he holds out his hand. Betty pulls an apron out of the drawer for him and hands it over. Betty has to look away once he gets it on. He just looks very…domestic. Betty focuses on mashing the potatoes.

“What ever happened to your sister?” Ignacio asks. “She was in the bathroom earlier and said she’d come down.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Betty realizes. “She was definitely in a mood earlier, though. I can think of a few ways she might make tonight awful.”

“Betty,” Ignacio warns.

“Sorry, but she was,” Betty says. “Just saying. I’ll go check on her. Can I be done with the helping?” she begs.

“Fine, you’ve done your duty,” Ignacio says. “The potatoes look great.”

“Sorry, can I ask about the, uh, latkes?” Daniel asks. “I mean, I know my family’s never done Christmas in the most normal way, but latkes?”

“His new girlfriend is Jewish,” Betty tells him as she leaves the kitchen.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Ignacio calls after her.

Betty goes into the bathroom first, because she needs to check out her face and hair situation. It’s not good. She groans a little and wets a piece of toilet paper to try to clean herself up. She should straighten her hair, too, but she’s not sure she really has time right now.

And what’s the point? If she’s trying to be normal, there’s no need. Daniel’s seen her look worse than this. She’s staunchly avoiding thinking about why that might matter. Because it doesn’t.

“Betty,” Hilda hisses from behind her.

“There you are. Dad was wondering why you didn’t come down to help.” Betty catches sigh of Hilda’s frantic eyes in the mirror and drops the toilet paper. “What’s going on?”

“I’m pregnant,” Hilda whispers.

“Oh.” Betty isn’t totally sure how she’s supposed to react. The first time this happened, it was not a happy thing. But Hilda’s not in high school this time. “Well, Archie’s a great guy.”

“Yeah.” Hilda looks down, swiping at tears that are starting to fall fast from her eyes, and Betty gasps.

“It’s not Archie’s?” she asks, hushed.

Hilda shakes her head, pressing her lips together.

“Who?” Betty asks. But the doorbell rings just then and Hilda tenses up.

“That’s probably Archie. I don’t know what I’m going to do, Betty.”

“Okay,” Betty says. “Um. Okay.” She’s trying to think, but her brain feels frozen. “Well, I mean, you don’t need to do anything tonight, right? We’ll get through dinner, and then we can get up early tomorrow and make a game plan.”

“Girls!” Ignacio calls up the stairs. “Come down, please!”

“Oh, God,” Hilda moans. Betty pushes her to sit down on the toilet and hands her the wet piece of toilet paper.

“Here, come on,” Betty tries to soothe. “Keep it together, okay? We’re going to figure this out.”

Now is not the time to be judgy Betty, that’s for sure. As much as she does want to yell at her sister for being so stupid. Cheating’s bad enough, but to not even be careful about it?

“Girls!” Ignacio calls again.

“Coming!” Betty yells back. “Okay. I’m going down and I’ll keep everyone occupied. Get yourself under control and come down as soon as you can, okay?”

“Okay,” Hilda sniffs. “Thanks, Betty.”

Betty gives Hilda a quick hug. Judgy or not, Hilda’s crying, and Betty can’t just leave her like that. “It’s going to be okay,” she says, far more confidently than she feels. Then she runs down the stairs and practically runs right into Daniel at the bottom.

“Whoa,” he says, catching her and putting his hands on her shoulders to steady her. She works not to focus on that. Or wish he’d put his hands back when he pulls them away. “Your dad sent me up to get you. Is Hilda coming?” Hilda. Right. That certainly helps Betty focus.

“She’s—yeah,” Betty says, glancing back up the stairs. She shakes her head. “In a minute.”

“Everything okay?” Daniel asks, concerned. “You seem upset.”

Betty rubs her forehead. “Um…I can’t talk about it. Not right now.”

Daniel puts his hand on her arm. “Betty, are you okay?” He’s all worried and caring. His thumb is rubbing against Betty’s skin. She’s having a lot of competing emotions right now.

“Hilda,” Betty whispers to him. “She’s got a problem. But we can’t talk about it. Don’t say anything, okay?”

“Okay, I won’t,” he promises. “Anything I can do?”

“Just…” Betty blows out a breath. “I have no idea.”

“Betty, where’s your sister?” Ignacio asks.

“She’s fixing her makeup,” Betty says quickly. “She’ll be down in a minute.”

“I want you guys to meet Jean,” Ignacio says. He’s got his tight, nervous smile on. Betty smiles at the woman behind him and he relaxes a fraction.

“Hi, it’s so nice to meet you,” Betty says. “Um, happy Hanukkah?”

“Thank you,” Jean says. “I brought a menorah.”

“Oh, cool.” Betty doesn’t really know if there’s some kind of holiday-appropriate response she’s supposed to give. Then the doorbell rings again.

“Must be Archie,” Ignacio says. “Oh, Daniel, you haven’t met Archie, have you?”

“No, I’m excited,” Daniel says. Betty cringes a little. He raises his eyebrows and she shakes her head at him.

“So, how long have you two been together?” Jean asks politely as Ignacio leaves to get the door.

“Who two?” Betty asks distractedly. Jean looks between Betty and Daniel and it clicks, making butterflies shoot through Betty’s stomach. “Oh! No. He’s my boss. Well, he was my boss. Actually, you’re still my boss, technically. You’re everyone’s boss. Well, everyone at Mode. Not everyone ever. Although, everyone at any Meade publication, right?”

“Okay,” Daniel says, pressing his hand to Betty’s back. “Maybe tone down the babbling.”

“Sorry,” Betty mutters. She looks back to Jean. “We are also friends.”

“Okay.” Jean looks a bit uncomfortable.

“Anyway, why don’t we all go sit down?” Betty suggests. “We don’t need to stand here in the hallway. Did you already get a drink, Jean?”

“No, not yet.”

“Okay, great, I’ll grab drinks. Daniel, come help me.” Betty shoves him into the kitchen in front of her.

“I feel like I’m about to get a lecture, and I just want to say I do not think I deserve one at all right now,” Daniel says, holding his hands up and turning around like Betty’s robbing him or something.

“You don’t,” Betty agrees. “I do. I’m freaking out.”

“Betty, what is going on?”

He’s doing that concerned face again. God, Betty needs to go lie down and think for a few minutes. Or years.

“I probably shouldn’t tell you,” Betty whispers. “Because it’s not my thing to tell, it’s Hilda’s. But I’m freaking out!”

“I won’t say anything,” he promises. A lot of people don’t know this about Daniel, but he loves gossip. And he actually is really good at not spreading it. He just likes to know.

“Okay,” Betty breathes. She checks over her shoulder to make sure they’re alone and Daniel snorts. “Hilda’s pregnant.”

“Whoa,” Daniel says. “But hasn’t she been dating this guy a while? Maybe it’s—”

“It’s not his,” Betty hisses. “She didn’t tell me whose it is but she’s freaking out.”

“God, yeah,” Daniel says. “She’s got to break up with Archie, right?”

“He’s such a nice guy,” Betty tells him, starting to pace. “I mean…a bit dorky, yeah, and sort of boring, sure, but he’s nice. And he adores Hilda. I don’t get why she’d cheat on him.”

Daniel shrugs. “Dorky and boring and adoring doesn’t always equal passion,” he points out.

Betty throws up her hands. “So? Break up with him first!”

“You’re getting judgy,” Daniel warns. “That’s not going to help right now.”

“You’re right, you’re right.” Betty stops pacing and pushes her hair out of her face. “Okay, no judgy. Not tonight, anyway.”

Daniel rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling. “I guess it would be too much to ask for no judgy ever?”

“Oh, please. We both know that’s not possible.”

“Betty, are you getting drinks?” Ignacio calls.

“Oh, right.” Betty puts her hands up to center herself. “Okay. We are totally good. We are cool, we are normal.”

“Yeah, that pep talk definitely makes it seem like we are normal,” Daniel teases. He’s grinning at her and Betty is frazzled and freaking out about Hilda and confused and he somehow has a smudge of cinnamon or something on his forehead and she just…can’t take it anymore.

“You can’t—look like that,” she says, frustrated. But then his face does that wrinkled-up confused thing and even that looks good.

“What do you mean?” he asks. “Look like what?”

“How you look!”

“Did I wear the wrong color or something? You didn’t mention a dress code. I didn’t want to call you to help me pick my outfit because I knew you’d be busy helping your dad.” His face drops. “Oh, no, you really don’t like my beard.” That damn beard.

“I can’t deal with this,” she mutters.

“Betty?” Ignacio calls, voice strained.

“I’m coming!” Betty shrieks. Daniel jumps a little. Then he puts his hands on her shoulders.

“Okay, Betty, I know you’re freaking out right now, but we have to keep it together for your dad, remember? You said you weren’t going to let anyone or anything ruin his night.”

“You’re right,” Betty admits, taking a deep breath.

“I’m sorry if I did something wrong.” Now he’s got his worried eyes like she’s scaring him with her craziness. It’s pretty unfair that she recognizes that look so well considering she’s spent the better part of the last four years cleaning up his messes and dealing with his craziness. “After we finish making sure everything goes smoothly for your dad, you can explain what I did and I promise I will apologize.”

To her dying day, Betty will never be able to explain just exactly what happens next. All she knows is he’s got his hands on her shoulders and that smudge of whatever on his face, and he’s kind of leaning down to reassure her, so their faces are closer together than normal, and he was wearing an apron earlier, and he’s reminding her to help her dad, and he’s talking about handling this together, and then…Betty’s kissing him.

As soon as she realizes what she’s doing, Betty jumps back. She hits a chair, which hurts. Daniel’s eyes are wide and he’s frozen like someone turned him into a statue.

“I knew you two were dating!” Ignacio is in the doorway, apparently fed up with waiting for Betty to bring the drinks. “Finally. I don’t know why you kept it a secret, though.”

“We…” Daniel looks at Betty. He very quickly looks away. Then Hilda comes into the kitchen and immediately pauses.

“Whoa,” she says. “Very strange vibe in here.”

“Um.” Daniel has apparently lost all power of speech. Betty isn’t sure if she should take that as a compliment or an insult.

“We,” Betty starts, but the inability to talk is apparently contagious.

“Okay,” Hilda says slowly. “We have guests waiting for drinks out there.”

“That’s what I came in here for,” Ignacio says. “I didn’t know they’d be in here kissing.”

“Whoa, they were what?” Hilda asks. “Betty, why didn’t you tell me you two finally got together?”

“No,” Betty says. But she has nothing else to add. Ignacio gives her a strange look. He goes to the fridge and grabs a few beers.

“I have one for Jean and one for Archie,” he says, making Hilda’s face tighten. He walks out and Hilda grabs Betty’s arm.

“I need to tell you something,” she says lowly, glancing quickly at Daniel.

“Um, I kind of…already told him,” Betty whispers.

“Betty!” Hilda hisses.

“I’m sorry! I was freaking out. He won’t tell anyone.” They both look over at Daniel, who kind of looks like he’s been hit over the head. But he shakes his head.

“I won’t.”

Hilda exhales sharply. “Okay, well, Papi’s friend Jean? She works at the drugstore. She saw me buy the test.”

“Oh, jeez,” Daniel murmurs.

“What am I gonna do?” Hilda moans.

“She’s not going to say anything,” Betty promises. “Isn’t it the law? Like, she has to keep confidentiality.”

“Really? Are you sure?” Hilda asks.

“Well, no, I’m not sure,” Betty admits. “But I think so.”

That’s when the back door opens and Bobby and Justin come in. Bobby’s been driving Justin around an awful lot lately. And for some reason he’s holding a baby Jesus. Betty looks over at Hilda to say this and notices the stricken, desperate look on her sister’s face. Betty gasps.

“Bobby?” she asks incredulously. Hilda gives her a panicked look.

“Hey,” Bobby calls, coming in to talk to them. “What’s up?”

All Betty knows is she can’t make things worse for Hilda right now. “Hey, it’s Bobby!” she says. “Bobby in the house!” She happens to catch Daniel’s eye and gulps. Then his eyes bug out and she knows he’s put it together, too.

“Guess chipmunk still has a crush on me,” Bobby says with a grin.

“Wait, what?” Daniel asks, shooting a look at Betty.

“Uh,” Betty says.

Bobby looks around the kitchen. “No offense, but there is a very weird vibe in this room.”

“Bobby, we’re just having drinks before we start dinner,” Ignacio says, coming back to the kitchen behind Bobby. He’s still holding the beers he just walked out with. “Why don’t you join us?”

“No!” Hilda yells.

Bobby makes a face. “Jeez, Hilda. Thanks.”

“Hilda, don’t be rude,” Ignacio scolds warningly. “Bobby, you’re welcome to stay.”

He glances at Hilda. “Uh…”

“Did you need help?” Jean must really want that drink, because now she’s in the doorway, too. Hilda swallows hard and then takes a deep breath.

“It’s fine,” she mutters. “Stay.” She pushes through the doorway without even looking at Bobby and goes back to the living room. Betty bites her lip as Bobby follows her.

“Oh, no,” she murmurs.

“Sorry,” Ignacio tells Jean. “Sometimes it just gets crazy in this house.” He hands her a beer and they walk back to the living room.

So now Betty and Daniel are alone. After she just kissed him.

“Daniel,” she tries, but then she has nothing else to say.

“Look, Betty, um…let’s get through this, with your family, and then we can deal with…this.” He hasn’t looked at her. Betty’s stomach drops. Kissing him was completely impulsive, and she can admit it was kind of a terrible decision without talking to him first.

But now she realizes there was a little part of her that thought maybe the kiss would make him realize he’s in love with her. She thought the kiss would unlock his passions or something. Instead, she’s completely ruined everything. He sees this as something they’ll have to deal with.

It reminds her of when Renee thought Betty was in love with him and he wanted to let her down easy. At least that time Betty didn’t actually need to be let down. Now she thinks him being nice is going to make this a million times worse.

Betty swallows hard. “Okay,” she says meekly. “Sorry.”

She doesn’t wait for a response, and she doesn’t look back as she rushes into the living room.

This has to be one of the most uncomfortable evenings the Suarez house has ever seen. Hilda is avoiding looking at or speaking to Bobby, which is awkward because he keeps trying to talk to her. She’s also avoiding touching Archie, which is especially awkward because they’re sharing a chair.

Betty and Daniel are sitting on different sides of the room, not looking at or speaking to each other, which is awkward because everyone is expecting them to sit together and at least acknowledge each other’s presence.

Jean is valiantly trying to teach them about Hanukkah, but Ignacio and Justin are the only ones really responding. And then Betty feels guilty, because she promised Ignacio this night would go perfectly, and she also feels guilty because she thinks she’s being culturally insensitive.

Someone rings the doorbell, and Betty practically flies out of her seat. “I’ll get it!” she offers, fleeing. Before she opens the door, she takes a minute to just stand in the empty hallway and breathe. God, this is a disaster. She puts on a smile and opens the door.

It’s Matt.

Betty can’t even say anything for a few seconds. He is so absolutely the last person she expected to see on her doorstep on Christmas.

“Uh, hi,” she finally manages to say.

“Hi,” he answers. “Listen, I’ve got some edits on your purple article and I need you to make the changes before Monday.”

Betty blinks. “It’s Christmas,” she points out.

“Yeah, and we’ve still got deadlines to hit.”

“Are you kidding me?” Betty demands, frustration bubbling over. “Listen, you do not get to be so mad at me. Those rumors were just rumors. Nothing happened with Daniel. Not that you get to care about that anyway, because you’re the one who broke up with me in the first place. And it’s really unprofessional for you to take out your personal frustrations at me at work. Again! I thought we got through that and were being friends again. And it was really wrong of you to sleep with Amanda and make her think you wanted to be with her if you weren’t over me and were just using her.” She’s a little breathless by the time she finishes.

Matt’s completely nonplussed. “Are you done?”

“No!” Betty fires back. Except she doesn’t really have anything else to say, so she adds, “You don’t get to come to my house on a holiday and give me extra work.”

“You’re the fourth assignment I’ve given today,” Matt says flatly. “I had to come over, because you weren’t answering your phone.”

“Because it’s Christmas,” she repeats. “I’m having dinner with my family.”

“Look, Betty, you don’t want to be singled out? Fine. I’m treating you exactly the same way I’ve treated all the other junior editors. We have an issue to publish and I need you to work. I get that it’s a holiday weekend and no one wants to work, but we have to.”

“Betty?” Ignacio narrows his eyes when he sees Matt. “Hello, Matt,” he says coldly. As coldly as he ever gets, anyway.

“Mr. Suarez,” Matt says. “Sorry to interrupt.”

“Papi, who is it?” Hilda calls.

“No—” Betty tries to say, but then Ignacio’s telling everyone,

“It’s Matt.”

“What,” Hilda screeches. “Oh, hell no!”

Betty rubs her temples. “Do you have the edits?” she asks. Matt hands over a file just as Hilda rushes over, Bobby, Justin, and Daniel all hot on her heels. Archie and Jean are the only ones with a shred of manners, apparently.

“You got some nerve,” Hilda starts.

“Who is this guy?” Bobby asks, halfway between protective and amused.

“Aunt Betty’s ex,” Justin fills him in. “And he was a huge jerk to her at work after they broke up.” He says the last part with raised eyebrows at Matt. The amusement leaves Bobby’s face.

“You can’t handle a breakup in a civil manner?” he demands.

Matt lets out a little huff, lips pressed together. “Well, well, well. Daniel’s here.”

“Don’t start with me, Hartley,” Daniel warns. “What are you doing here giving Betty extra work on a holiday?”

“No, it’s not extra work,” Betty tries to explain. “Everyone should just calm—”

“Nothing happened with Daniel?” Matt asks Betty, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. “Right.”

Betty can’t help the indignation that rises up in her at that. “That’s none of your—”

“Oh, something happened with Daniel, all right,” Hilda says triumphantly. “Yeah, they’re together now.”

“Hilda,” Betty says, horrified. “No—”

“Surprise, surprise,” Matt scoffs. “Why don’t I just take that article back? I’ll do it myself. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he makes you my boss now that you’re sleeping together.”

“Hartley, what did I tell you about talking to her that way?” Daniel yells. But he’s got competition in yelling at Matt, because Hilda yells,

“What did you just say?”

And Bobby steps up closer and says, “You need some kind of lesson in how to talk to a lady?”

Betty holds out her hands, pressing one on Bobby’s chest and one on Daniel’s in an effort to hold them both back. Hopefully Ignacio or Justin will grab Hilda, because Betty only has two hands. “Guys, please, stop.”

“Listen, chipmunk, he doesn’t get to disrespect you,” Bobby tells her.

“It’s not the first time he’s pulled this crap,” Daniel informs him. “I’ve already had to punch him and give him an official write-up with HR about it.”

“Looks like it didn’t stick,” Bobby points out. “Maybe we better give it another try.” Well, Betty thinks weakly, at least they’re bonding.

“No one is punching anyone,” Betty says desperately.

“I just don’t get why you won’t admit you’re together,” Matt says. “If everyone knows, why are you still lying?”

“I’m not—”

“They were kissing in the kitchen,” Hilda reports, more to Bobby and Justin than to Matt.

Matt laughs angrily. “See? I knew it.”

“That wasn’t—we’re not together!” Betty yells. “That was just me. I kissed him, and he didn’t even kiss me back.”

There’s a beat of silence while everyone absorbs that. Bobby raises his eyebrows at Daniel. “Man, you didn’t kiss her back?”

Daniel’s completely caught off guard. “She kind of ambushed me,” he says defensively. “And then she ran away before I could even say anything.”

“Well, that’s not true,” Betty can’t help but say bitterly. “You made your feelings pretty clear.”

“Wait, what?” Daniel asks.

“As much as I love being here for your love connection,” Matt cuts in sarcastically. “Give me back the article, Betty. I’ll give it to someone else.”

“No, you won’t,” Daniel fires back. “It’s Betty’s article. You’re not touching it.” He doesn’t even know what article they’re talking about.

“You’re gonna have to get through me first if you want it,” Bobby adds. He has even less of a clue about the article than Daniel.

Betty covers her face with the folder holding her article for a second. “Dad, help me,” she begs.

“Bobby, Daniel, go in the living room,” Ignacio orders. When neither of them move, he pulls out his best tough dad voice and barks, “Now!”

“Yes, Mr. Suarez,” Daniel mutters.

“Sorry, sir,” Bobby adds, and the two of them march off with their eyes downcast.

“Hilda, you too,” Ignacio says.

“If he thinks he can just—”

“Young lady, do not make me say it again,” Ignacio says, teeth clenched. Hilda sulks out, muttering under her breath the whole time.

“Thanks, Papi,” Betty says. “Matt, I’m doing the edits. It’s my article. None of this changes that. Goodbye.”

“Hang on,” Ignacio says as Matt starts to turn away. “Matt, I understand you’re hurt about what happened between you two, but I don’t appreciate you coming into my home and speaking to my daughter that way.”

Matt flushes. “I’m very sorry,” he says stiffly.

“Whatever does or doesn’t happen between Betty and someone else isn’t your business anymore, because you’re not together. It’s been months, and you need to realize that.” Matt doesn’t look at either of them and doesn’t say a word. Ignacio huffs. “Alright, goodbye.”

Betty blows out a breath as she watches Matt walk away. This whole evening has been so humiliating. She closes the door and leans her head against it.

“Betty,” Ignacio says. “Sounds like you need to talk to Daniel.”

“Oh, no, Dad, I don’t think now’s the time,” Betty points out.

“I think it is,” Ignacio contradicts. “I’m going back in the living room. Justin’s going to send Daniel back out,” Ignacio says pointedly. Justin, who was quietly hovering in the background in hopes of going unnoticed and witnessing everything, makes a face and heads back to the living room. Ignacio comes closer and kisses Betty on the forehead. “If you kissed him without talking about what was happening, you definitely need to talk to him,” he says.

“I didn’t want to ruin your special date,” Betty says plaintively.

Ignacio snorts. “Mija, I’m afraid that ship has sailed.”

Betty sighs. “I’m sorry, Papi.”

He shrugs. “Yeah, well. If she couldn’t handle this craziness, she might not have been a good fit, anyway.” They both turn when the floorboard creaks behind them. Daniel’s walking back out, meekly, and Betty wants to run upstairs and lock herself in her bedroom. Ignacio nods. “I’ll leave you two to have a little talk,” he says. He shakes his head. “I’ve got to go talk to your sister. She is on a hair trigger tonight for some reason.”

“Oh, no…” Betty says at his retreating back. She sighs again. “That’s not going to end well. Hilda gets mad enough when you tell her she’s being cranky even without the hormones.”

She finally risks a look at Daniel. He has his hands in his pockets and he’s biting his lip. Typical nervous Daniel behavior. “Hi,” he says.

“Look, Daniel,” Betty starts.

“Hang on,” he cuts in. “What did you mean when you said I made my feelings clear?”

Betty shrugs. “Well, um, I…” She cringes. But her dad’s right—they have to talk about this. Besides, everyone knows what’s happening out here. They might as well actually have the conversation. “I kissed you, Daniel. And you didn’t move a muscle. And then you said we’d get through the night with my family and then deal with this.” She shrugs again. “Doesn’t exactly sound like you were happy.”

“Betty, you gave me no time to process,” Daniel points out. He huffs helplessly. “I mean, come on. You know me. I am…Betty, I’m an idiot. You have to explain things to me. Slowly. Sometimes with charts and pictures. Did you really think my brain was going to work fast enough to have any idea what was going on?”

“You’re not an idiot,” she protests. “But I guess you’re right about me kind of ambushing you.”

“And then by the time I thought I was figuring out what happened, you jumped away like I was poison,” he reminds her. “I started thinking—well, did I kiss you? And you didn’t want me to? So I had no idea what was going on.”

“I’m sorry, Daniel,” Betty says in a rush. “I just…I don’t know, ever since the Bahamas, with everyone talking about us being together, I guess I was thinking about it. And you were being so nice, and you were right there, so it kind of just…happened.”

Daniel nods, processing that. “So…you’re just confused?” he asks. “You think—you don’t really have any feelings for me?”

It would be so easy to say that’s what happened. She could just say she was confused and she doesn’t have real feelings for him and they can go back to normal. Except that won’t work, will it? She’s been trying that for almost a month and here she is.

And no matter what she says, she kissed him. Right on the lips, too. She can’t claim cult drugs like when he thought she was Molly. Even if Betty says she doesn’t have feelings for Daniel, the kiss happened. They’re both going to remember that, and it’s going to change things. She might as well be honest. It’s the only hope they have of clearing the air.

Betty steels herself. She takes a deep breath, ignoring the way her stomach feels like it’s lurching out of her body. “No, I don’t think so.”

Daniel looks at her quickly. “What?”

Betty bites her lip. “I think this just showed me the feelings I already had. Helped me realize them.”

Daniel doesn’t say anything. He’s just looking at her. Betty tries not to hunch her shoulders or anything. She’s very close to the verge of tears. It’s been an intense night, and she’s terrified right now. If he says the wrong thing, even jokingly, Betty is going to start hysterically crying.

And she doesn’t even know what the wrong thing is, so this is a very dangerous situation.

Daniel steps closer to her and Betty sucks in a sharp breath. He has his lips pressed together and his thinking face on. Does he really have to think about this? Shouldn’t he just know? But, Betty reminds herself, she’s been stewing about this for almost a month. She should give him some time to catch up.

“Huh,” he finally says, considering.

Betty’s pretty sure that counts as the wrong thing to say, but luckily she doesn’t start crying. She just stares at him. “Huh?” she echoes. “I—kind of just poured my heart out here and that’s all you have to say?”

Daniel makes a face. “That counts as pouring your heart out? Really?”

“Daniel, are you seriously critiquing my word choice right now?” Betty asks incredulously. “I’m standing here waiting for you to respond to what I said and you—”

He kisses her. Now she really understands what he meant about being ambushed, because she doesn’t kiss back. She’s too shocked. He pulls back and raises his eyebrows, hands coming up in confusion.

“Okay, you are giving me a lot of really mixed signals tonight,” he points out worriedly. “Can you please just draw me a chart to help me figure out what the hell is going on?”

“I’m sorry, but you were totally right about being ambushed and how hard it is to respond!” she admits. “Can you just—come here.” She puts her hands on his shoulders and goes up to her tiptoes. He leans down to meet her and they actually kiss for real this time, both of them with forewarning and intention.

It makes quite a difference. Betty always thought the best kind of kiss would feel like fireworks going off in the background, a big, exciting event with bells ringing and cheering crowds. That’s not what this feels like. This is gentle. Daniel’s lips are really soft. She’s seen his exfoliating routine, so that’s not surprising. His hand is big and warm on her hip as he pulls her closer and Betty sighs dreamily.

This kiss feels like sinking into a hot bath, like finally snuggling into bed after a long, hectic day. She melts into him a little and they fit perfectly. It’s not a big, loud production. This is soft and quiet and comfortable. This is right.

They break apart and Betty doesn’t open her eyes. She buries her face in Daniel’s chest and he wraps both arms around her to hold her tightly, like he's done so many times before but somehow so different this time. She doesn’t want to open her eyes or say anything or end this perfect moment. She can hear her family, so loud in the other room, and cars passing by on the street, but right now it feels like the entire world is just her and Daniel.

“Betty,” he says, and she can feel her name rumble through his chest. She never wants to move. Except he pushes back a little so he can tip her face up to kiss her some more, and that’s okay. That’s more than okay.

She gets both hands in his hair and he walks her backward to press her against the wall. The soft, gentle kisses are changing, getting deeper. For all that comfort she felt earlier, there’s hunger lurking under the surface. She tugs at the bottom of his shirt, untucking it so she can touch his skin. She feels dizzy, delirious, completely unlike herself.

His beard is scraping against her face in the most delicious way and it’s driving her wild, even more so when she remembers what he mentioned about the beard burn. She hitches a leg up and he makes a noise in the back of his throat, grabbing at her and lifting her up. She’s heard every rumor under the sun about what he’s like in bed. Now she wants to find out for herself. He leans down to scrape his teeth against her neck, one hand sliding up her thigh, and she exhales shakily, arching up.

A shriek from behind them makes them both jump. Daniel lets her down gently even as he’s jumping away from her, and once they’re apart Betty can see how completely wrecked he looks. His hair is wild, his shirt is untucked, and her lipstick is all over his mouth. She can only imagine how she looks. She tugs self-consciously at her skirt.

Poor Jean is standing there in the doorway, staring at them. Betty can only see part of her, because her glasses are fogging up. Daniel’s panting like he just finished running. Betty can’t help it—she starts giggling.

“I’m so sorry,” Jean says awkwardly. But her shriek brought everyone running, and now Betty’s entire family, plus Bobby and Archie, are standing there, openmouthed. Betty slaps a hand over her mouth as her giggles get more intense, but she can’t stop them.

“Um,” Daniel says, totally breathless. He swipes a hand over his mouth and only succeeds in smearing lipstick all over himself. “I—uh.”

“Oh, shit,” Bobby laughs. “Damn, girl, you turned off his brain!”

“Oh, my God,” Hilda says, giving Betty an impressed look. “Right here in the entryway with everyone in the living room? I’ve never even done that.”

“No, we weren’t…” Daniel’s wide-eyed in horror.

Betty would love to chime in and help him out, but she’s hysterically laughing and she cannot make herself stop. This whole situation is just ridiculous. She’s spent the last month battling to make everyone realize nothing happened between the two of them, and then they almost completely embarrassed themselves in the entryway of her father’s house.

“Betty, this isn’t what I had in mind,” Ignacio says uncomfortably, and Betty knows she shouldn’t laugh at that because this is her father, but now she’s howling with laughter. Tears are streaming down her cheeks and fogging up her glasses even more.

“What did he do to her?” Justin asks, worried. “She’s acting crazy.”

“Honey, you’ll find out when you’re older,” Hilda says. Bobby snorts and tries not to laugh. Hilda shoots him a dirty look. Archie looks between the two of them with a frown on his face.

“No,” Betty gasps. She has to put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder to steady herself. He shoots her a horrified look.

“Get it together,” he hisses. His hair is so messed up and it’s totally obvious it was from Betty running her fingers through it and it makes her laugh harder. He looks like a hedgehog. Kind of how he used to do his hair when she first met him.

“Come on, let’s give them a minute,” Ignacio suggests. Then he narrows his eyes at Betty and Daniel. “To compose themselves. Not to do anything else.”

“No!” Daniel yelps. “We won’t.”

“I’m sorry,” Betty manages to say between peals of laughter. “Papi, I’m so sorry.”

Her family files out, though Hilda turns back to give them a wink and a thumb’s up that is so horrifically inappropriate, and then Daniel turns to Betty, looking at her like she’s just grown another head.

“What is going on?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” she says helplessly. At least her laughter is starting to die down. “It was just—the look on her face, and the way you looked, and my glasses were all fogged up from the kissing, and I just…”

Daniel snorts. But he schools his face. “Betty, this is really embarrassing.”

“I know,” she says. “Whew.” She sniffs and wipes her eyes.

“I’m never going to be able to look your father in the eye again,” Daniel says desperately.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Betty soothes. “Once a father goes through a daughter getting pregnant in high school, he loses a lot of illusions about his kids’ sex lives.”

Daniel groans. “This isn’t a good impression,” he frets. “Your dad already knows I’m kind of a dog and an ass, and now what’s he going to think?”

Betty feels kind of warm inside, listening to him worry about this. She puts her hand on his arm. “Hey,” she says. He blinks down at it and then at her.

“Hey,” he replies. He gives her a sheepish smile. “I guess we didn’t talk, huh?”

Betty laughs a little. “No, we didn’t.”

“I mean, it kind of…feels like we understood each other. Even without the talking.”

Betty’s cheeks are heating up. “Yeah, I think we got our point across.”

Daniel ducks his head. He’s blushing, too. Betty feels giddy. She can’t believe this is happening. No, she never imagined they’d get caught by her entire family, but knowing he feels the same is a heady feeling.

“So,” he says. He smiles and takes her hand. “Maybe we can talk after dinner?”

Betty’s cheeks are starting to hurt from how wide her smile is. “Okay, but we have to actually talk,” she admonishes. “For real this time.”

“Deal,” Daniel says. “But do you think it would be okay if I gave you one more innocent little kiss before we go back in there?” He makes a pleading face. “For strength?”

Betty laughs, tugging him in close. “Fine,” she acquiesces, pretending it’s a real sacrifice. “For strength.”

“I feel stronger already,” he murmurs against her lips.

“Hm, one more for luck,” Betty says. Daniel laughs and kisses her, but then he pushes her back to arm’s length.

“I did not anticipate having to be the strong, mature one,” he tells her sternly. “But I am already not very good with parents, and I’ve already scarred your dad for life, so I’m not letting you get me in more trouble.”

Betty laughs again, trying to wipe the lipstick off his face. “See, I’m a risk-taker,” she tells him. “Not just losing the bangs.”

“You’re taking a risk with me,” Daniel counters. “With my life. Your dad’s not going to run you out of here with a shotgun.”

Betty cracks up, pulling him toward the living room. “My dad doesn’t have a shotgun, and he wouldn’t know how to use one if he did.”

“Okay, what’s he going to chase me out of here with?” Daniel asks. “I want to be prepared.”

“Probably a frying pan,” Betty tells him. “Or maybe just a handgun. That’s what he used to kill someone before.”

Daniel’s eyes bug out. “What? Your mom’s first husband? You said he just beat him up and the guy didn’t die!”

“I’m kidding!” Betty says. She forgot for a second Daniel already knows basically everything about her and her life.

They walk back into the living room holding hands. Bobby wiggles his eyebrows at them. Ignacio gives Betty a look.

“Are we ready for dinner?” he asks pointedly.

“Yes, Papi,” Betty says obediently. “And we’d like to apologize for…um, that.” She cringes a little. “Jean, we especially apologize to you because you…saw it.”

Daniel looks like he’s trying to melt into the floor. Jean nods, a little awkwardly. “It’s no problem,” she says gamely.

“Okay,” Ignacio says, rubbing his hands together. “Turkey time.”

Christmas dinner seems a little anticlimactic when all Betty wants to do is lock herself away in a room with Daniel. But this is her family. She promised her dad this day would go perfectly, and she definitely did not deliver. The least she can do is stay present at dinner.

Daniel keeps his hand on Betty’s leg under the table, and he keeps stopping and just looking at her. She blushes every time she notices, and then he squeezes her leg every time. She can’t believe this is happening. If someone had told her two months ago she’d be holding hands with Daniel after her whole family caught them making out, she would’ve thought they were crazy.

Or she would’ve realized she had feelings for him, apparently. Oh, his mom is going to be so smug.

It becomes very obvious very quickly, though, that Hilda is starting to crack. Bobby’s still there, saying repeatedly that he can’t stay long but never getting up to leave, and Archie keeps looking at him, eyes getting narrower and narrower while Hilda starts to look more and more desperate.

Archie’s opening his mouth to say something, eyes fixed on Bobby, so Betty jumps in before he can talk. “Hey! Uh.” She didn’t actually come up with anything to say. She swallows. “What do you guys think of purple?”

She gets a bunch of confused looks in return. Justin’s first to recover. “I think it depends on the shade,” he says. “Eggplant’s making a comeback.”

“Really?” Daniel asks. He sounds a little too interested. Betty remembers all the purple he used to wear before someone—Wilhelmina, probably—made one too many comments about it not going with his pasty skin.

Justin looks a little pained as he looks over at Daniel, so Betty’s pretty sure he’s thinking the same thing Wilhelmina did. “Um, maybe not.”

Betty has to cover her laugh with a cough and another bite of her turkey. Daniel gives her a little mock-glare that is intensely adorable. Betty can’t fight a smile, and then Daniel smiles back at her.

Hilda bursts into tears.

“Whoa, Hilda, what’s wrong?” Bobby asks.

Hilda presses a hand to her mouth and gets up from the table. “I’m sorry,” she sobs. Betty pushes her chair back, too, but Archie stands up faster.

“Betty, why don’t I handle this?” he says. “I have a feeling it’s about me.”

“Oh, no,” Betty says, watching him walk after Hilda.

“I should go,” Bobby says. He’s looking back toward the hallway, where Hilda went. He looks back to the table. “Thanks a lot, Mr. Suarez. Justin, I’ll see you Monday.” He nods at Jean and Daniel and then throws Betty a wink. “Go easy on him.”

It’s a little awkward to sit at the table knowing Hilda and Archie are most likely breaking up a few rooms away. Ignacio gives Betty a worried look.

“Do you have any idea what that’s about?”

“Um…” Betty glances quickly at Justin and then shakes her head at her dad. He nods in understanding.

“It doesn’t take a detective to know Mom and Archie are on the rocks,” Justin says. “You don’t have to talk around me like I’m some little kid.”

“Justin—” Ignacio starts.

Archie goes storming past and heads straight for the door. He even slams it after he leaves. Hilda doesn’t come out. Betty looks toward Hilda’s salon. “I’m gonna…”

“Yeah, go,” Daniel says, giving her leg a last squeeze before taking his hand back.

Betty goes through to Hilda’s salon. Hilda’s sitting on the floor, crying. “Oh, Hilda,” Betty murmurs. She slides down the wall and wraps her arms around her sister. Hilda leans on her shoulder and cries.

“It’s over,” she says. Betty kind of figured that part out on her own, but she doesn’t say it.

“I’m sorry,” is all she settles on.

Hilda sniffles. “I know it’s my own fault.”

Betty can’t argue with her there. “Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.” She went through this with Matt, though to a much lesser degree.

“I just…” Hilda sighs. “I saw you and Daniel looking at each other and I couldn’t remember the last time Archie and I looked like that. Before Bobby came along, even. I just want—I want that, Betty. But…God, everything’s such a mess. Why do I have to ruin everything?”

Betty rests her head on top of Hilda’s and just holds her until she cries herself out. When she can tell Hilda’s got herself under control, Betty helps her stand up. “Come on,” she says. “Let’s get some pie.”

It’s almost surprising to see Daniel in the kitchen. It’s not like Betty forgot what happened, but she’s on a crazy emotional rollercoaster tonight. She almost jumps at the sight of him.

Ignacio and Jean are nowhere to be found. Daniel’s eating a piece of cheesecake at the table, nodding along while Justin talks about the new cheerleading routines.

“Where’s my dad?” Betty asks. Daniel gives her a questioning look, eyes cutting quickly over to Hilda. Betty shakes her head minutely.

“He’s walking Jean home,” Justin reports. “I guess she lives a few blocks away.”

“I don’t know if there’s any saving that,” Daniel says with a wince. “She seemed kind of terrified. It was a pretty dramatic night.”

Betty wants to reach out and touch him, but the pause while she was with Hilda has her feeling off-kilter. Did he change his mind? Was he terrified by all the drama?

Well, probably not. Stacked against his family’s faked deaths, murder plots, and amnesia, this is nothing.

Betty sits down beside him and he pushes the cheesecake over to her. If nothing else, he certainly knows her well. She takes a bite and rests her head on her hand. She jumps a little when he rubs her neck.

“Sorry,” he says awkwardly. “Um, did you not want…?”

“No, sorry,” Betty says. “I mean, yes. I mean.” She stops herself.

“Oh, my God,” Justin says judgmentally. “I thought when you got old you weren’t so awkward anymore.”

“Why does everyone keep calling me old lately?” Daniel asks faintly.

“Justin, come here,” Hilda says. “You and I gotta have a talk, and so do they.”

Justin rolls his eyes, but he gets up. “Get it together,” he suggests. “You and Mom can’t both go through breakups at the same time. I will not relive that.”

“Bye, Justin,” Daniel says pointedly.

They can hear Hilda practically pushing him up the stairs, and then it’s just the two of them and the cheesecake. Betty wanted pie. But Daniel doesn’t like pie. Something about hot fruit freaking him out or something. Betty doesn’t think now is the time to get up and go to the kitchen for a different dessert.

“Are you thinking about how you wanted pie instead of cheesecake?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Betty admits.

“I would’ve gotten you pie, but I didn’t know how long you’d be with Hilda.” Daniel looks down at the plate. He smashes a crumb from the crust with his fork. “So…?”

“So,” Betty agrees.

She and Daniel have had more awkward moments in the last month than in the rest of the four years they’ve known each other. And that’s ridiculous, because she has physically pulled him away from women he was trying to have sex with at clubs. This shouldn’t be more awkward than that.

“We can go back to how things were,” Daniel mumbles, not looking at her. “If that’s what you want.”

“Is that what you want?” Betty asks.

Daniel shrugs and shoots her a look. “You just jumped about a foot in the air when I touched you and now you’re sitting really far away.”

Betty didn’t realize how far her chair was from his, but he’s right. She’s sitting weirdly apart from him even if they hadn’t made out less than two hours ago. She moves her chair closer. “Sorry,” she says. “I just…I don’t know. I’m scared.”

“You think I’m not?” Daniel says. “Betty, you’re the only stable thing I’ve ever had in my life.”

“Daniel,” Betty says helplessly. “That’s a lot.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Betty traces the grain of the wood on the table with her finger. “I’m scared that’s what this is. You—you want comfort. You’re confused about your actual feelings for me.”

Daniel doesn’t answer right away. Betty sneaks a look at him. He’s just looking at her, biting his lip. “I don’t think I’m confused,” he says. “But I guess I’ve never been very good at understanding my own feelings.” He laughs a little, but it doesn’t sound very happy. “I usually trust you for that.”

“I don’t really do casual, you know,” Betty says. “But I don’t know if you’re ready for serious.”

“I don’t think we could be casual,” Daniel points out. “Too much history, too many feelings.”

Betty feels like she’s going to start crying. “So…we’re not going to do this?”

Daniel turns sideways in his chair to face her. She copies him. He holds her face in his hands and brushes his thumb across her cheek. “I don’t know if I can go back to not having this,” he says. “I know it’s only been like two hours, but…” He shakes his head. “It feels like a lot of things about us make more sense now. And I don’t want to lose that.”

“You just said we could go back to how things were,” Betty reminds him.

“Yeah, I was hoping you’d tell me no. This is why I can’t gamble.”

Betty laughs, but it’s watery. Daniel’s eyes look a little shiny, too. Betty leans forward and rests their foreheads together. “Well, maybe we could…try taking things slow,” she says. “We don’t have to jump right into a serious relationship. I mean, we haven’t even gone on a date.”

“Won’t it feel kind of like going backwards?” Daniel asks. “Isn’t the point of dating to get to know someone and figure out if you’re compatible? We already know that.”

“We don’t know that we’re compatible,” Betty counters. “Not like this.”

Daniel groans. “Betty, come on. We know.”

“Daniel, we don’t,” Betty insists. “Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean this would work.”

He eases back a little so he can look at her, but he’s still got his hands on her legs. “You’re serious about this? We could just…pretend to be starting from ground zero?”

“I don’t know about that,” Betty says. “Neither of us are good enough actors for that. But it’s just a different context. Maybe when you’re not thinking of me as just a friend you’ll think my laugh is annoying or something.”

He makes a face. “I won’t.”

Betty laughs a little, starting to feel happy again. “Daniel.”

“I’m willing to try,” he says. “If you think we need some time, okay. We’ll take things slow.”

“And…” She doesn’t know if this is too much to ask, especially with his track record. “I kind of feel like…maybe you should see a therapist. Just…to work through some things.”

“What, like my wife dying and me joining a cult and getting drugged and wanting to date my best friend?”

“Aw, I’m your best friend?” Betty asks. She would also add in how horrible his father treated him and the way he was essentially neglected all through childhood and the entire twisted ball of yarn that is his relationship with Alexis, but she’s sure a therapist will get to that part, too.

Daniel laughs at her. He turns back to sit the right way in his chair and goes back to his cheesecake. “I already found a therapist, you know. I have an appointment Monday after work.”

“Wait, really?” This is the first Betty’s hearing about it, which is shocking. She would’ve thought he’d tell her that right away.

He ducks his head a little. “I do learn from my mistakes. Sometimes. I didn’t want to tell you until I went a few times to make sure I’ll stick to it.”

“And the therapist is—”

“A man in his sixties,” Daniel assures her. “Board certified and highly recommended. I don’t think this one will get me hooked on pills or sleep with me.”

“I sure hope not,” Betty says without really thinking.

Daniel snorts. “Okay, someone’s getting ahead of herself.”

“I meant for your sake!” Betty protests. Daniel laughs and Betty pushes his shoulder. Somehow she ends up leaning against him more than sitting upright in her own chair. He doesn’t seem to mind. He abandons the cheesecake and puts his arm around her.

“So. Betty Suarez. Can I take you out on New Year’s Eve?”

“Oh,” Betty says.

“What?” Daniel asks. “You said we should go out.”

“No, I know,” Betty says. “It’s just—I mean, that’s a whole week away.”

Daniel stares at her for a second, and then he cracks up laughing. “You want me to hurry up going slow?”

“Yeah, I meant go slow figuratively, not literally.”

He nudges his nose against hers. “So I shouldn’t kiss you right now? Would that be literal or figurative?”

“You’re the editor-in-chief,” Betty breathes. “I think you can figure it out.”

The back door opens. “Come on,” Ignacio groans. “Again?”

Daniel jumps away from Betty so fast he almost dumps himself out of his chair. “Mr. Suarez! I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry, Dad,” Betty says.

“Well, I’m glad someone’s relationship is going well,” Ignacio says, a bit grumpily.

“We’re going to take things slow,” Daniel reports, like that’s a novel idea. It is for him, actually.

“Ay, dios mio,” Ignacio mutters, throwing up his hands and walking out of the kitchen. “Por qué mis hijos siempre me prueban…” He leaves them with his discontented Spanish. Betty watches him go, chagrined.

“Okay,” Daniel says. “Let me try this again. Tomorrow night? An official date?”

Betty pretends to think it over. “Yeah, I guess I’m free.”

Daniel’s grin is wide as he leans in to kiss her again. This is very nice. “I had no idea Christmas dinner was going to be such a big deal,” he murmurs.

“Me neither,” Betty says. “God, your mom’s going to laugh so hard.”

“What do you mean?” Daniel asks.

“Oh, she—I said something about how annoying it was that everyone thought I was too horrible for you to sleep with—”

“So untrue, for the record,” Daniel cuts in. “Always has been.”

Betty looks at him for a second. “Are you trying to get lucky?”

“Yes,” he says honestly. “I thought that was obvious.”

Betty laughs and elbows him. “Going slow, remember?”

“I can do it any speed you want,” he promises.

“Daniel!” Betty laughs. She can feel herself blushing. God, she’s not going to think about that with him right here in front of her. They have traumatized her father enough for one day.

He laughs, too. “Okay, I’m guessing my mom was not a fan of the idea of you being too horrible for me to sleep with?” He blinks a few times. “Oh, God, okay, I bet she said I have feelings for you, didn’t she?”

“She implied it,” Betty says. “How’d you know? Wait, did you tell her—”

“No, I told you, I’m just figuring this all out tonight. But she’s been asking about us for years.” He tips his head. “Huh. Have I really had feelings for you all along and I’m too stupid to realize that’s what it was?”

Betty tries not to laugh. She contains it to a snort. “I don’t think so,” she says. “Remember when Renee was all convinced—”

“Okay, yeah, okay,” Daniel cuts her off, cringing. “Although, you know what? This is one of the things I was talking about that makes more sense now. When you made fun of me for thinking you had a crush on me, there was a little part of me that was kind of disappointed. I just thought it’s ‘cause I’m arrogant and always want women to want me.”

Betty snorts. “Well, that part’s true, too.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Well, seems like it’s working out for me now.” He shakes his head. “Wait, there’s something I need to ask you, though.”

“What?” Betty asks, feeling a little nervous.

“What exactly does going slow mean?” He makes a face. “I know you’re going to laugh at me, but I actually really don’t know.”

Betty does laugh at him. But he laughs, too, and she knows he can tell she’s not making fun of him. Well, not too much. “Well, let’s make some rules,” Betty says. It’s possible her tone could be described as gleeful.

Daniel’s face is decidedly less so, but he says, “Yeah. Good idea.” He sounds like she just suggested a root canal.

“Daniel, rules are important,” Betty reminds him.

He sighs. “They’re not very sexy.”

“Uh, speak for yourself,” Betty says. “And if you’re good and follow the rules, you get rewards.”

“This is starting to sound sexier,” Daniel says, interested now.

“I actually meant treats,” Betty admits. “But your idea is probably better.”

“Wow, I wish I was recording you saying that,” Daniel mutters.

Betty ignores that. Maybe if he had better ideas, she’d listen to them more often. She doesn’t even point that out, because she’s a good—whatever they are.

“So, normally, I’d say going slow means probably at least a month of dates before sex.”

She forces herself to keep this factual. She is not going to get embarrassed. They are adults embarking on an adult relationship and they have to establish boundaries. They have to talk about sex and she cannot blush and hide her face.

“Oh,” Daniel says. He’s trying to keep his face neutral, but he’s doing a terrible job. He hates this rule. “Yeah, okay,” he says gamely.

“Wow,” Betty says. “Are you just going to agree with everything I say?”

“Probably,” Daniel admits. “I’m pretty out of my depth here.”

“I feel really powerful,” Betty says. “I could definitely use this for evil.”

“But you won’t, right?” Daniel asks. He squeezes Betty’s leg. “Please.”

Betty considers. “Probably not. For example, I was going to say we probably don’t need to wait a month.”

“Oh, thank God,” he breathes. “That was going to be the worst month of my life.”

“I don’t know if I really have a time frame in mind,” Betty warns. “We can just play it by ear.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Daniel says. “But probably not a whole month?”

Betty laughs a little at how worried he is. “Probably not,” she says. She doubts she’ll last that long. “However,” Betty goes on.

“Oh, dammit.”

Betty bites her lip as she considers if she really wants to put this out there. “I think…maybe…you should go on dates with other people, too.”

Daniel’s mouth drops open. “No!”

“Daniel,” Betty says seriously. “The whole reason I want to go slow is because I really don’t think you should jump into a serious relationship for your first relationship after Molly. If we’re just exclusively dating each other but not having sex, that doesn’t actually solve the problem. I know you slept with that ad rep from the de la Renta party, but that’s not a relationship.”

Daniel blows out a breath. “I—yeah, I get what you mean, but…” He crosses his arms over his chest. “I don’t want to.”

Betty can’t stop herself from smiling. “As much as I like that,” Betty says, “and believe me, I do. I don’t…” She sighs. “I don’t want to always wonder if it was just because I was the safe option. Comfortable.”

Now Daniel sighs. He thinks that over and nods. “Yeah. I guess that’s a smart idea.” He drums his fingers on the table for a second. “So if I just went out and had another quick fling—”

“I would still think you should keep dating,” Betty says. “At least until we sleep together.”

He cuts his eyes over to her without moving his head. “Until,” he says. “Because we—that definitely is happening.”

“I was certainly planning on it,” Betty says. At this point, she’s going to be pretty damn disappointed if they don’t.

“God, yeah, okay, good.” Daniel shakes his head. “This is kind of weird to just, like, discuss rationally.”

Betty doesn’t point out that a lot of his past relationship problems could’ve been solved by a few rational discussions. It’s just mean at this point. “This is my sweet spot,” Betty tells him. “Rational discussion, going slow, making rules? This is the Betty Suarez dating experience.”

Daniel laughs. “Okay. Then I’m happy to be here.” He glances over at her. “You know, Sofia wanted me to go out with other women.”

Betty gives him a look. “Okay, well, I’m not manipulating you for PR. That’d be a really long con.”

Daniel huffs. “And I guess this isn’t necessarily a test.”

“No,” Betty agrees. “I’m not trying to test your feelings, necessarily. Just making sure you get out your wild oats.”

“I’ve been getting out my wild oats for years,” Daniel points out.

“Well, maybe you built up new ones, I don’t know,” Betty says. “I think we should try it this way first.”

Daniel sighs, but he nods. “Yeah, okay. So. Do I have to sleep with any of these other dates?”

“No,” Betty says immediately. Kind of forcefully, too. A little louder than necessary.

Daniel smirks at her. “Uh-huh.”

“I just mean, you obviously don’t have to. If it, um, happens…” She makes herself say it. “Then, sure. Just maybe don’t tell me about it.”

“First off, it’s not going to happen,” Daniel says. “Second, I would never tell you.”

“You have literally always told me,” she reminds him. “That’s why I got all mad at you about the de la Renta girl.”

“Yeah, but I mean now I won’t!” Daniel says. “I’m not some selfish jerk who wouldn’t think of your feelings.” He blinks. “Anymore.”

She pats his arm. “You’re so considerate now.”

“That was so condescending,” Daniel laughs.

“I know, sorry. But I was being sincere,” Betty promises. “Mostly.”

He rolls his eyes. “So is there some magic number of women you want me to try dating before I can decide I don’t want someone else?”

“You can’t just speed date your way out of rebound status,” Betty says.

Daniel huffs. “Wow, you know me really well. That’s definitely what I was going to do.”

Betty snorts. “I know. That’s why I think time is a better option than quantity.”

Daniel sighs. “God, maybe you should’ve become a lawyer. You’re a hard bargainer.”

Betty preens a little. “Boy, you are trying to get lucky.”

“Hey, my flattery comes with no strings,” Daniel promises. “Unless it’s working.” He checks her face. “No, okay, no strings.”

That makes Betty laugh again. “Wow, I feel giddy,” she says.

Daniel laughs, too. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” Then he says, “I should go.”

“Well, that makes me less giddy.”

He smiles at her and kisses her again. Betty doesn’t think that’s ever going to get old. “Yeah, but I will see you tomorrow. To take you out.”

“We should probably, you know…keep this quiet,” Betty says. “At work, I mean.”

“Oh, definitely,” Daniel agrees. “They were all being annoying enough before anything even happened.”

Betty groans. “But, wait, Matt knows.”

“Right. God, that’s not going to be good.” He’s smirking, though, and Betty rolls her eyes.

“Really?” she asks. “You’re going to be smug about this?”

“Yes, I am,” Daniel says, unabashed. “You are very worth being smug over.”

“Okay, you really have to go,” Betty says.

Daniel pouts. “I thought I was being flattering again.”

“You were,” Betty says. “That’s why you have to go. We’ve scarred my father enough for one day.”

It makes Daniel laugh, but he obligingly stands up. Then he leans back down to kiss her. The kiss goes on for a while. Longer than it should, really, if the goal is not to traumatize Ignacio again. But he hasn’t walked back in, so whatever.

“Okay,” Daniel breathes, resting his forehead against Betty’s. “I should go.”

“You should go,” Betty agrees. Neither of them move.

“Seriously, Betty, we cannot rely on me to have all the willpower for very long,” Daniel warns, pulling back. “I’m trying my best, but we both know that’s not my strong suit.”

“You’re doing great,” Betty defends him. Defending him to himself isn’t new. “But point taken. I will try to be more responsible.”

Daniel laughs. “Wow. I never thought that would be necessary.”

“The new me,” Betty says. “Risk taker.”

“I’m a fan,” Daniel says, leaning back in. But he only gives her a kiss on the cheek, and then he stands up for real. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he murmurs.

“Bye,” Betty says.

She watches him leave and then rests her head against the table. She lets out a little puff of a breath. Holy cow. Never in her life would she have expected tonight to go like this.

“Did he go?” Hilda asks. Betty jumps and shrieks a little. “Jeez, okay,” Hilda says. “I would’ve expected you to be all blissed out instead of so jumpy.”

“We didn’t—Hilda, what, in the living room? With everybody home?” Betty asks.

Hilda shrugs. “Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.”

Betty wrinkles her nose. “Ew, does that mean you—no, never mind, I don’t want to know. Speaking of what you gotta do…”

Hilda sighs. “Betty, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Her eyes well up with tears. “I can’t believe I’m back here again.”

Betty tugs at Hilda’s hand until she sits down in Daniel’s vacated chair. “Hilda,” she murmurs. “It’s different this time. You’re an adult, for one thing.”

“I’m alone again,” Hilda chokes out.

“Hey,” Betty says. “You weren’t alone then and you aren’t alone now.”

Hilda swipes at her eyes. “You’re right. God, I’m gonna have to talk to Bobby.”

Betty cringes. “Well, he’s a good guy, right?” she asks. “I think he’ll do the right thing.”

“Betty, I don’t know what the right thing is,” Hilda says. “I don’t know if I want…I don’t know.”

Betty pulls Hilda over to hug her. “It’s going to be okay,” Betty promises. She doesn’t know how it’ll be okay, but she knows it will. She won’t let it not be okay. Things are going great for Betty right now—she wants things to be great for Hilda, too.

Betty takes off her sweater and throws it toward her bed, adding it to the pile of discarded clothes. “Whoa,” Hilda says, coming into Betty’s room.

“Hilda, I have nothing to wear!” Betty wails.

“You are freaking out,” Hilda observes. “Betty, it’s not like it’s your first date ever.”

“But it’s Daniel,” Betty points out. “He’s so—and I just—but I don’t—” She blows out a breath and tugs on a plain black shirt.

“Mama, the man has seen you at your Jell-o-covered worst,” Hilda says, making Betty roll her eyes at the reminder. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Besides, he’s just going to want to get you out of what you’re wearing.”

“No,” Betty says warningly. “We are taking things slow.”

“Ay, ay, ay,” Hilda says, rolling her eyes. “Betty, you’ve been taking things slow for four years.”

“We have not!” Betty protests. “We’ve been friends. And he was married, remember?” She throws another skirt on the pile. “I just don’t want him to get here and change his mind.”

“Betty,” Hilda sighs. “You’re not that little girl sitting home on prom night anymore, okay? You got a big job in Manhattan, you’ve dated a bunch of—well, okay, some guys.”

Betty rolls her eyes a little at the correction, but she lets it slide. “You’re right,” she decides. “But I still don’t want to show up in the same thing he sees me in all the time.”

“He’s never cared about what you wear, right?” Hilda asks.

“I know, but…” Betty feels a little silly. “I want him to.”

Hilda grins and wiggles her eyebrows. “Oh, okay, so you’re taking it slow, but you want to torture him first.”

Betty snorts. “I don’t know about torture.”

“Good,” Hilda says. “Make him sweat.”

“It’s not about that,” Betty protests. “It’s just—I don’t think he should jump straight into a serious relationship so soon after Molly. I don’t want this to be some rebound fling.” She gives Hilda a look. “Speaking of rebound flings…”

“We are not,” Hilda says. “Shh. No. Stop doing that.”

Betty sighs and holds up her hands. “Okay, fine.”

“I haven’t made any decisions, alright? Don’t ask me again.”

“Pinky swear,” Betty promises. She holds up a ruffled purple blouse. “What do you think of this?”

“Um…it’s cute,” Hilda lies.

Betty groans in frustration. She shoos Hilda out of her room and looks around at the chaos she’s unleashed on her room. She flops face-down onto her bed, amidst the clothes, and wonders again if this is the right decision.

Everything was very charged last night. Maybe spending the day apart made Daniel reconsider. Maybe he’s not even going to show up.

Betty rolls her eyes at herself. Okay, he would still show up. Even if it was just to let her down gently. She wasn’t lying last night—he’s very thoughtful these days.

And even at his sleaziest, Daniel wouldn’t have done that to Betty. He couldn’t even last a week intentionally making her miserable, and that was before they even really knew each other. He’s always taken extra care of her feelings.

Oh, God, she can’t sit and think about that. She needs to get dressed.

She settles on the plain black shirt and a black skirt and goes to the bathroom to make sure her hair and makeup look okay. She was a bit frizzy yesterday. She doesn’t want to repeat that.

“Betty!” Ignacio calls up the stairs. “You have a gentleman caller!”

Betty rolls her eyes, but she laughs a little. She takes a deep breath and tries to settle herself. This is Daniel. Yes, he’s very hot. And rich. And has slept with about 90% of the models in the entire world. Okay, this train of thought is not going where she wanted it to. He is also dorky and caring and insecure and adorable. And waiting for her downstairs.

She comes down the stairs and he smiles when he sees her. Betty can’t stop the smile that takes over her own face. Oh, God, she’s very into him.

“Hi,” he says softly.

“Hi,” she echoes. She feels weirdly shy.

“Aunt Betty, you look good!” Justin says.

“Yeah, you do,” Daniel agrees.

“You look like you’re going to a funeral,” Hilda says.

“Hilda,” Ignacio scolds.

“Black is very chic,” Betty defends herself.

“Sure,” Daniel says. There’s a little furrow between his eyebrows. “But where are the patterns? Polka dots?”

“You like the polka dots?” Betty asks skeptically. She still hasn’t forgotten that he had that blog about her outfits bookmarked.

He shrugs, laughing a little. “Yeah, I mean, now I see polka dots and I immediately think of you. So I do like polka dots.”

“Oh, God, Daniel,” Betty says. She feels like she’s in a movie or something. This can’t be her real life.

“Was that wrong?” he asks.

“No,” Hilda supplies.

“Yes,” Justin says. “Please, God, keep her in the black.”

“Shh,” Ignacio says.

The movie would be a little more fun if her family weren’t watching from the living room. “Okay,” Betty says. “Give me one second.”

“Sure,” Daniel says, grinning now.

Betty runs back up the stairs and grabs the cute blue sweater she’d discarded earlier. It has multicolored hearts and peace signs all over it. She wore it to work once and Wilhelmina sent out an office memo banning all “hippie symbols.”

“Okay,” Betty says, coming back down the stairs. “Ready.”

Daniel’s smiling. “There she is.”

The butterflies in her stomach are trying to escape. She laughs a little out of sheer giddiness. She still can’t believe this is happening. She waves goodbye to her family and Daniel takes her hand as he leads her outside to the town car waiting for them.

“Okay, I had, um…” Daniel huffs as the town car takes off. “I hope this wasn’t a stupid idea.”

“I’m sure it’ll be great,” Betty says.

She’s not exactly looking forward to eating some tiny plate of snails or caviar or whatever at a dark restaurant in Manhattan, but she’ll deal. It’s worth it to be going with him. She puts her hand on his leg, feeling bold. He looks down at her hand and grins.

“It’s already pretty great,” he says.

She’s a little confused when the car doesn’t head toward the restaurant district. Instead, they end up on a vaguely familiar looking street. They’re at a…pizza place.

“Hang on,” Betty says when they walk inside. “Is this…?”

“We did karaoke here,” Daniel says. He’s blushing. He’s embarrassed. “I don’t know if you remember.”

“Daniel, of course I remember,” Betty says.

“That night was really special to me,” Daniel says softly. “I haven’t had a lot of friends, you know? Not good friends who actually cared about me beyond my trust fund or my name getting us into parties. And that night I realized you did.”

“It took that long?” Betty asks, mock-outraged.

Daniel laughs. “No, I knew before then. But just, you know, you sticking with me after Sofia really meant a lot. But, um, if you’d rather go somewhere fancy—I just didn’t know…” He trails off. “I reserved a table at Madison Six, too, just in case. No snails, I promise, I know you hate them. I didn’t want to do some generic date I always take women on,” he explains. “But I didn’t want you to think I was being lazy with you.”

Betty shakes her head. What a guy. “It’s perfect,” she tells him.

“Yeah?” he checks. “You don’t have to say that just to be nice. I’m still learning all this romance stuff.”

Betty leans over to kiss his cheek. “This is very romantic,” she tells him. “And not at all lazy. A date tailor-made for me. And us.”

“Yeah,” he says. He leans in and kisses her. “You’re special. You know that, right, Betty?”

How is this her life? She wants to pinch herself. “You are too,” she tells him. She’s pretty sure he doesn’t hear that a lot.

Obviously, they have to do karaoke. There’s no way they couldn’t, even if it didn’t make their pizza half off. It feels a lot less silly this time. They sing the same Sonny and Cher song, of course, but this time Betty’s got butterflies in her stomach while they sing.

There’s an older couple sitting in the front row and the wife keeps shooting Betty conspiratorial looks, just like the first time they did this. This time, though, Betty’s in on the conspiracy. She gets it, and she wants the woman to know she’s right. Betty smiles back at her. She hasn’t stopped smiling all day, it feels like.

“So should we find a wedding reception to crash?” Daniel asks when they’re leaving.

That makes Betty laugh. “If I remember right, you got three phone numbers from that wedding reception.”

“And I didn’t call any of them,” Daniel says.

“You promised!” Betty says.

“Yeah, well, that’s when Alexis showed up, remember? I got a little distracted.”

They stop at their spot on the bridge. Daniel puts his arm around her and Betty leans into him. “I was worried you’d change your mind,” she says softly. “After you slept on it.”

“I didn’t,” he says unnecessarily. “I’m not going to, Betty. I know I haven’t always been reliable—”

“You have always come through for me,” Betty reminds him.

“Well,” Daniel says. He laughs while he says the next part. “You got me, babe.”

“Oh, my God,” Betty groans, laughing too. “That was so cheesy.”

“Would you be surprised if I said I was worried you’d change your mind, too?” Daniel asks.

Betty thinks it over for a second. “Not that surprised, actually,” she decides. “You’re kind of insecure.”

Daniel snorts. “Thanks.”

“I’ll never forget when we stood here and you told me I was better than any model,” Betty says, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I meant it,” Daniel promises. “And I was right.”

Betty tips her head up to look at him. “Wow, taking things slow is really hard.”

Daniel cracks up laughing and rests his forehead against hers. “Tell me about it. But you’re right. I’ve always rushed into everything. Time to make a change.”

Betty sighs. “Normally I love being right. But normally being right comes with perks. This time being right just sucks.”

“Hey, there can still be some perks,” Daniel says. He puts his hand under her chin and kisses her. It takes about two seconds before the kiss deepens and they’re basically making out on the Brooklyn bridge.

Well, Betty’s certainly had worse first dates.

They don’t make out for very long, because standing on the bridge isn’t exactly the most conducive to making out. Daniel calls the car to come get them and they make out in the backseat for a while. It’s a little weird with the driver politely pretending to ignore them, but it’s hard to focus on him.

At some point, Ignacio comes out with the trash. Betty wouldn’t have noticed, since Daniel’s hand has been steadily inching its way up her thigh and Betty has done nothing to discourage it, except Ignacio drops the trashcan lid with a clatter.

Betty and Daniel both jump. “When did we get here?” Betty asks, dazed.

“I have no idea,” Daniel admits.

“I guess I should go in,” Betty says. She huffs when she looks at Daniel. She skipped the lipstick tonight, but it’s still very obvious what they’ve been up to. His shirt’s untucked, four buttons are undone, his hair’s a mess, and his lips are bright red. He also kind of looks like he has a head injury, all unfocused and stunned.

It’s very gratifying.

“Yeah,” Daniel says, clearly not actually listening. He’s pressing kisses along her collarbone and Betty is really having trouble remembering why exactly she thought it was so important that they take things slow.

Ignacio spots the car and comes walking over. “Betty?”

“Shit,” Daniel murmurs, easing back and starting to button his shirt. The windows are fogged over. Betty’s glasses would be, except she was smarter this time and took them off. She has to scramble to find them and put them back on.

“Oh,” they hear Ignacio say when he’s close enough to notice the windows.

“Oh, God,” Betty groans. “Okay. Well. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Daniel says. “I’m not going to kiss you again, because—yeah. I can’t.”

Betty laughs a little. “See you tomorrow,” she says, giving his hand a squeeze.

“It’s going to be torture,” he pouts. “Every time I look up in my office, I’ll be able to see you. But I won’t get to touch—”

“Is it safe?” Ignacio interrupts from outside.

Daniel covers his face with his hands. “Only from the waist up,” he says under his breath.

Betty snorts and tries to smooth down his hair for him. “Not even that, really.” She opens the door. “Hi, Dad.”

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Ignacio says.

“You are,” Betty says.

“No!” Daniel protests guiltily. “Um, hi, Mr. Suarez.”

“Hello, Daniel,” Ignacio says. “So nice to see you.” He raises his eyebrows. “You missed a button.”

“Okay,” Daniel says, wincing and covering his chest. “Well, um, good to see you. Goodnight. Goodbye.”

Betty starts giggling. Ignacio rolls his eyes. “If you’re going to keep this a secret at work, you both need to work on your acting skills.”

“Yeah, we’re in big trouble,” Daniel agrees. “It’s just a little hard when I want everyone to know how amazing Betty is.”

Ignacio huffs. “Daniel, I already like you. You don’t need to butter me up.”

“That’s a relief,” Daniel says. “But I was being sincere.”

Ignacio smiles. “Well, good. You know, I’ve always liked you, since the day with the Christmas tree. I knew you were a good man when you stood up for Justin.”

Daniel ducks his head, smiling almost shyly. “Thank you.”

“But maybe you could keep your hands to yourself in my driveway.”

Daniel covers his face again. “Yes, sir.”

“Goodbye, Dad,” Betty says pointedly. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“Bye, Daniel,” Ignacio says, all proud of himself for embarrassing them.

“Bye,” Daniel says.

Betty rolls her eyes, but she’s laughing a little. “Goodnight,” she tells Daniel.

He catches her hand and squeezes it. “Goodnight. Tomorrow really is going to be hard.”

“Well, we can just act normal,” Betty says. “I mean, we already spend time in your office and go to lunch together anyway.”

“Yeah,” he says. “But it’s just not the same.”

Betty snorts. “Okay. Well, just focus on the end of the day.”

Daniel raises his eyebrows. “Do I get a reward if I’m good?”

“You’re going to therapy after work tomorrow,” she reminds him.

The smirk wipes right off his face. “That is not a reward,” he sulks.

Betty leans in and gives him a small, chaste kiss. “But maybe you’ll get one if you’re good at therapy,” she murmurs in his ear.

“Yes.” He fist pumps and she laughs helplessly.

“Bye,” she says.

“Bye.”

“Thanks,” she tells the driver. “Um, and sorry?”

“No worries, miss,” the driver says. “This was pretty tame for a Meade car.”

“Wow, Carl, really? Thanks a lot,” Daniel mutters.

Carl winks at Betty and she laughs. “Like I didn’t already know.”

“Goodnight,” Daniel says.

Betty closes the door on him and walks inside. She gives herself a little pinch when she’s inside. It hurts. Okay, this is real. She sighs kind of dreamily, which would be embarrassing if she cared at all. She doesn’t. She’s too happy.

“Betty, can I see you in my office?” Daniel asks before Betty’s even sat down in her chair. His voice is stern, arms crossed over his chest, and Betty feels goosebumps break out on her arms. She wants to loosen his tie and take off his shirt.

Off to a roaring start on being subtle.

“Ooh, trouble in paradise,” Megan mocks once Daniel’s walked out.

Betty ignores her and follows Daniel into his office. He’s got such dark thunderclouds on his face people are scurrying out of the way. Betty closes the door behind them and Daniel immediately presses her into the corner behind it. It’s the only part of his office blocked from view.

“Good morning,” he breathes into her mouth.

“Daniel!” Betty scolds, even as she’s wrapping her arms around him. “I thought I was actually in trouble.”

“You did not,” he says.

“Okay, I didn’t,” she admits. “God, this is sexy.”

He laughs and pulls back a little. “You like sneaking around?”

“I like sneaking around with you,” she says.

He looks very proud of himself at that. “At least there’s one benefit to keeping this quiet.”

“Okay, but we can’t stand here in the corner anymore,” she points out. “I think you overcorrected a little. Everyone’s going to be expecting you to be reaming me out.”

“Oh, my God,” Daniel says, jaw going a little slack. “Find a different way to say that or I’m going to embarrass us both.”

Betty laughs and schools her face, leading Daniel back to his desk. “Pretend you’re mad at me for something.”

“What should I be mad at you for?” he asks.

“It doesn’t matter. Just talk about whatever but make your face mad.”

“I want to take you to dinner tonight after I have therapy,” Daniel says, eyebrows pulled down.

Betty has to work hard not to laugh. “Oh, my God,” she says, just realizing something. “I’ve seen your mother naked before I’ve seen you.”

Daniel just stares at her for a second. “Uh, what?”

“When we went to that spa after Alexis came back and your dad got arrested,” Betty says. “She was…very comfortable getting undressed.”

“Well, she goes to spas a lot,” Daniel says. “And she was very drunk, I’m sure.”

Before Betty can respond, Marc opens the door and comes in. “Messages, dry cleaning, et cetera,” he says.

“Marc, I’m in the middle of something,” Daniel says.

“Oh, yes, you’d sure like to be,” Marc says crisply.

Betty gasps. “Marc!”

“Please. I noticed the second you walked in. You two obviously put the rumors to bed by going to bed.”

“That’s not—no,” Daniel protests.

“You have a hickey,” Marc says.

“No, he doesn’t!” Betty says. “I was so careful!”

“Ha!” Marc cries. “Now you’ve admitted it! Besides, you have beard burn on your neck.” He raises his eyebrows. "I believe we determined that meant you hooked up."

“Dammit,” Betty mutters, tugging up her collar.

“Jeez, you are good,” Daniel says.

“Yes, I am,” Marc says. “You two aren’t. You can’t act like you’re that mad at her. No one believes you would ever bring Betty into your office to yell at her.”

“He’s done it before,” Betty says.

“When?” Marc asks.

Daniel and Betty look at each other. “When she…” Daniel trails off.

“That time…” Betty huffs. “Okay.”

Marc sighs, aggravated. “Obviously I’m going to have to run interference on this. You’re not experienced at plotting and sneaking.”

“I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Betty says.

“Well, it is for this,” Marc says. “Now, Betty, go back to your desk and don’t talk to anyone. Pretend you’re upset. Pretend you just heard there’s a burrito shortage or something.”

Betty rolls her eyes, but she has to admit that Marc definitely has the upper hand when it comes to sneaking around in the office.

“Bye,” she says.

“And as for you,” Marc says to Daniel. “I assume this means I’m canceling your lunch with that lingerie model?”

“Yeah,” Daniel says easily.

Betty turns back around. “No,” she says.

“Betty,” Daniel says.

“Daniel,” she shoots back. “We agreed.”

“Kinky,” Marc cuts in.

Daniel shuts him up with a dirty look. “You’re really serious about this?”

Betty ignores the dread in her stomach and chirps, “Yep!”

Daniel folds his arms. “Really.”

“Really,” Betty says firmly. “Have fun. I’m going back to my office to do some work now. See you…” She falters a little. “Well, um, later.”

“Dinner,” he supplies.

“Okay, dinner,” Betty agrees, more relieved than she wants to let on. “See you then.”

Marc is giving her some kind of look she can’t read, but she ignores it and walks out. She lets out a long breath when she gets back to her office.

“Not so fun not being Daniel’s girl anymore, huh?” Megan taunts.

“Shut up, Megan,” Betty says. She’s more Daniel’s girl now than she’s ever been. She can’t think about that right now. She sits down at her desk and opens a random document. Her purple article, which she already sent back to Matt.

Oh, God, Matt. Is he going to say anything? Hilda and her big mouth. Okay, that’s mean. Hilda thought she was helping. She’s also going through her own stuff that had her distracted. Betty shakes all those thoughts away and starts doing actual work, researching her pitches for the wedding issue. It’s three months away, but it’s such a big issue they start working on it early, and Betty has a feeling she’s going to need her absolute A game to overcome Matt’s hurdles.

She looks up absently at one point and notices Daniel leaving his office. She glances at her clock and sees it’s noon. Oh. His lunch date. With a lingerie model. That he was going to cancel and she told him to keep. She swallows hard, stomach lurching.

He glances over and meets her eyes. He gives her a concerned look. She pulls up a smile and gives him a thumb’s up. He rolls his eyes. He starts heading toward her office, but she shakes her head and makes a little shooing motion.

Now he purses his lips. Go, she mouths. He makes a face. No, he mouths back. Daniel, you have to go, Betty mouths. She gets his confused face in return. Too many words to lipread, she figures. She sighs. Go.

He pulls out his phone and a few seconds later, hers buzzes with a text. You don’t want me to go!!!

His vehemence makes her laugh a little. She smiles at him and types back, Taking things slow, remember?

She can hear his sigh from outside her office. That makes her laugh again. Fine, he texts her. But I am not going to enjoy myself!!!

Betty snorts. He’s overusing exclamation points to make sure she really gets it. Usually he uses no punctuation at all. She gives him another thumb’s up and a grin that makes him laugh. He leaves, throwing a last backward glance at her. She keeps smiling until he’s out of sight. Then she drops her head into her hands and sighs. Picturing Daniel with a lingerie model is making her want to throw up.

“What are you doing over there?” Megan complains. “Why do you keep breathing so loud?”

God, this is going to be a long day.

Betty makes it through another ten minutes of work. Or, at least, she keeps her computer awake for another ten minutes. She’s not really doing much work. But it’s lunchtime. So she should get lunch. She heads out to get a hot dog. But getting the hot dog, eating the hot dog, and walking back to the office only takes a grand total of twenty minutes.

Betty sighs as she heads back into the office. And she collides with—oh, it’s Matt. Great. Just what her day needed.

“Betty,” he says stiffly.

“Sorry,” she says.

“Were you out with Daniel?” he asks.

“It’s none of your business,” she warns. “But no. He’s on a lunch date, if you must know. With a lingerie model.” Maybe that’ll get him to leave her alone.

Matt narrows his eyes at her. “You said you kissed him.”

“Yeah, well.” Betty shrugs, trying to look unaffected. “Kisses don’t always mean something.”

“Of course you’d say that,” Matt mutters.

“Okay,” Betty says, rolling her eyes and turning away.

“Wait,” Matt says. “I’m sorry, Betty. I know I’ve been a jerk.”

Betty turns back to him cautiously. “Does this mean you won’t be a jerk from now on?”

“I’m going to try my best not to,” Matt says. “I just got jealous when I heard those rumors about you and Daniel.”

“They’re just rumors,” Betty says. She feels a tiny bit guilty. She’s not technically lying. Everyone was talking about them sleeping together in the Bahamas, which they did not do. They haven’t slept together at all. But she feels like she’s kind of lying because they’re going to sleep together. At some point. Sooner rather than later, with the way things have been going.

“I know,” Matt says. “I’m sorry I said you only got your promotion and swimsuit cover because of that. I know it isn’t true. Even if you had slept with Daniel, you’d deserve those.”

“Well, thank you,” Betty says. Daniel comes walking in then. He meets Betty’s eyes and raises his eyebrows, silently asking if he needs to come over and intervene with Matt. She shakes her head subtly. He nods, but he frowns a little. Betty can’t focus on that, because Matt’s talking again.

“I just…” He sighs. “I still have feelings for you, Betty.”

Betty snaps her attention back to him. “Um. Yeah, I mean, I kind of got that—”

“I want to get back together,” Matt says.

“Oh,” Betty says.

“I know it might be a little weird, since I’m your boss,” Matt starts.

“Oh, no, I don’t think that’s a problem,” Betty says absentmindedly, thinking of Daniel. Then she blinks, realizing how that sounds to him. “Um, no, Matt…” There’s some part of her that enjoys hearing him say this, some part of her that’s glad he still has feelings for her. But overall, this isn’t what she wants, and hearing him say this makes her realize she doesn’t really still have feelings for him. “I can’t do that.”

“Because of Henry?” he asks.

“No, definitely not,” Betty says. She hasn’t even talked to Henry since he left.

“Because of Daniel?” Matt asks.

“Because of me,” Betty sidesteps, and it’s the truth. “You belittled my work, Matt. In front of everyone. I can forgive you, and we can be friends, but I don’t know if I can really trust you again.” She can’t imagine going home and telling her dad she got back with Matt after Ignacio had to give him a little lecture. It would be humiliating.

Matt huffs. “Friends.”

“I would really like us to at least be civil,” Betty says.

Matt hangs his head. “Yeah. I guess this is on me.”

“It’s on both of us,” Betty says, because she obviously played her part. She remembers what Daniel said at the bar. “We’re just not right for each other.”

Matt swallows hard, but he nods. “Well. Okay. I guess I’ll see you around the office.”

“Bye, Matt.”

He walks the other way, out the doors, and Betty goes back upstairs. She heads straight to Daniel’s office.

“You’re back early,” she says as she walks in.

“Yeah, I didn’t have a very good time,” Daniel says.

“Why not?” Betty asks innocently.

He just gives her a look and doesn’t bother spelling it out. “Was Hartley behaving himself?” he asks.

“Oh, yeah. And guess what? He said he wants to get back together,” Betty says. She doesn’t even think about it before she tells Daniel. Of course she’d tell Daniel. There’s never been a time when she wouldn’t tell Daniel something like this.

He tenses. “Oh.”

Betty blinks. “Obviously I said no,” she says. She can’t believe he’s questioning that.

“Well, if you want to be with him—”

“I don’t,” she cuts him off. “I’d be worried every time we get in an argument he’s going to take it out on me at work. And he really…” Betty shakes her head. “He really hurt me with what he said.”

“He’s an asshole,” Daniel says.

Betty huffs. “Yes, you’ve made your feelings very clear. He said he’s going to do better.”

“Trying to win you back,” Daniel mutters. “Damn Hartleys.”

“Well, he’s not going to win me back,” Betty says.

“I mean, if I’m going on dates with other women, maybe you should be, too.” Daniel blinks. “With other men, I mean. Unless you want to date other women.” His eyes go kind of wide. “That would definitely be something—”

“Stop sexualizing lesbians, we talked about this,” Betty scolds. “I don’t want to date anyone.”

“Oh,” Daniel says. He swallows hard and nods.

“Oh, my God, Daniel, you’re frustrating. I don’t want to date anyone else.” She knows why he’s insecure, and she usually feels very privileged that he doesn’t try to hide it from her like he does everyone else, but sometimes she needs him to have a little of the self-confidence he projects.

“Right, okay,” he says. “Neither do I, you know. I only went on this date because you told me to”

Betty sighs. “I don’t know what to do,” she says plainly. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea for you to rush into anything.”

He sighs, too. “Well, maybe I can ask the therapist today,” he says, brightening. “If he thinks I’m fixed enough, won’t that be okay?”

“Fixed?” Betty echoes. “You’re not broken. You’re healing.”

He sighs again. “Fine. But I’m still going to ask him if he thinks it’s a good idea. If he says yes, are you in?”

“Am I in?” Betty asks, kind of amused.

“Yeah, I mean, we can still go slow,” Daniel says. “Whatever that is. We can wait to have sex, if that’s what you want. But I don’t have to waste my time with other women. And their time, too. It’s kind of cruel, Betty. They get to go on a date with me but they can’t have me.”

That makes Betty laugh out loud. “Well, I’m very glad you’re considering these poor women’s feelings, even if you are being a little full of yourself.” She can’t believe she just wished he’d do that.

“I don’t even get points for ditching a lingerie model for you?” Daniel asks plaintively.

“Oh, you get points,” she promises, because hell yeah is that a good feeling. “Like a zillion.”

“Yeah?” he asks. He’s leaning toward her over his desk now. “What kind of prize can I get with a zillion points?”

“Hmm, I’ll have to think it over,” Betty says. She’s trying to make her voice kind of seductive. Judging by the smirk taking over Daniel’s face, it’s working alright.

“My God, straight people do not know how to be discreet,” Marc complains, rapping on the door frame. “Hello! Open door, glass office walls.”

“We’re not doing anything,” Daniel says defensively.

“Your eyes are in her pants, even if the rest of you isn’t!”

Daniel groans and tips his head back to voice his frustration at the ceiling. “Why are my office walls glass, anyway? Who thought that up?”

“Your father,” Betty reminds him. “Because you wouldn’t stop having sex in your office.”

“Not that you let the glass walls slow you down before,” Marc adds.

“I don’t like when you two are on the same side,” Daniel pouts. “Betty, come back to my team.”

“You know I’m always Team Daniel,” she soothes. “But right now, I’m going back to my office. We apparently can’t be in the same room anymore.”

“But dinner tonight,” he says.

“Yes, dinner tonight,” Betty agrees. She can’t help her smile. He smiles back at her, until she says, “Have a good therapy session.”

He makes a face. “Yeah, great,” he mutters.

“Thank you, Marc,” Betty says on her way out. “You’re a very good assistant.”

Marc gasps. “That was bitchy!” He sounds delighted, like she was emphasizing that he’s still an assistant and not an editor and he’s proud of her for it, so she doesn’t tell him that she didn’t even mean it to be.

She does make it through the rest of the day. She sees Daniel leave for his therapy session around four, and she texts him good luck! and a heart. But other than that, she keeps her head down and works.

Lying low at work and not attracting undue attention, especially from Matt, is the name of the game. She did not lie about her and Daniel. But she didn’t actually tell the truth, and she has a feeling he’s not going to appreciate that. He said he’d be more civil, but Betty’s not sure how much stock she can put in that.

She’s packing up her stuff, unsure of how long she should wait for Daniel, when he calls her. “Hey,” she picks up. “Are you done?”

“Yeah, I’m in a car downstairs,” he says. He sounds tired.

“Are you okay?” Betty checks.

Daniel sighs. “Can I see you?”

“Yeah, I’m heading out now,” she promises. “Be right there.”

She doesn’t run. But she may speedwalk. She gets in the car and Daniel drops his head to rest on her shoulder. “Real therapy is way less fun than the bad kind I got last time.”

Betty laughs, but she pets his hair sympathetically. “Rough?”

“We talked about my dad a lot.”

“That’s probably good,” Betty says. She’s pretty sure most of Daniel’s issues stem from Bradford. Daniel pulls himself back upright as the driver leaves the curb.

“He said it actually seems like I’m dealing with Molly really well,” Daniel reports. “I mean, now. Away from the Community. He said I sound like I’m healing in a healthy manner and moving on appropriately.”

“Really?” Betty asks.

“Okay, you don’t have to sound so surprised,” Daniel says. “And he thinks it’s smart for us to wait to have sex.”

“Ha!” Betty says triumphantly.

“You weren’t hoping he’d give us the green light?” Daniel asks.

“Oh, I mean, yeah,” Betty says, realizing what they’re actually talking about. “Man, I just really love being right.”

“But.” Now Daniel is very smug. “He said it probably doesn’t make a difference if I date other women or not.”

“He did?” Betty asks.

“He said there are a lot of people who don’t casually date after losing a spouse, and it isn’t any better or worse if you do or don’t. He also said obviously my mind is made up and we’ve known each other for a long time and you sound like a good influence on me.” He looks over at her. “You are a good influence on me.”

“Well, I do try,” Betty says modestly.

Daniel snorts. “So can I please be done with going on dates with other women?”

“Oh, well, you know, I guess,” Betty says, shrugging like this isn’t the best news she’s gotten all day. She’d been so certain it was a good idea, right up until the moment Daniel was heading off to his lunch date.

Daniel looks at her and laughs. “You’re so glad I’m not going to go on any more dates.”

“So glad,” Betty agrees.

Daniel leans in and kisses her. Betty kind of sighs. He’s a very good kisser. “Did you like the part about my mind being made up?”

“I like that a lot,” Betty murmurs.

“Do I get a reward now?”

That makes Betty laugh. “Yes, good boy.”

He sucks in a breath, eyes going wide. “Oh.”

“Wow, really?” Betty asks. She snorts. “Okay.”

“Don’t make fun of me!” He’s blushing now. “I seek out praise and validation because I was emotionally neglected in my important developmental years and felt perpetually unloved.”

Betty raises her eyebrows. “You paid money for someone to tell you that? I would’ve done it for free.” He gives her a look and she laughs a little, but she puts her hands on his face. “I’m sorry, this isn’t funny. It makes me really sad if I think about it too much. It always has.”

“Well, I’m getting over it,” he says. He tips his head. “I’m working on getting over it.”

“That’s all anyone can ask,” Betty says. “So yes. Good boy.”

They end up making out in the back of a town car for the second night in a row. Betty’s positive it won’t be the last. She’s pretty sure Daniel wanted a little more than that as his reward, but he doesn’t make so much as a peep about wanting to go further than a backseat make out.

He does slip his hands up her shirt, but Betty’s not exactly stopping him. She ends up in his lap at one point, until she hits her head on the ceiling, and then they both laugh too hard to keep kissing. Only for a minute, and then they dive back in. All in all, a great way to end a Monday.

Betty runs into Daniel’s mom in the bathroom at work the next day. It’s always a little awkward to see her in the bathroom, but it feels even more so now that Betty’s spent the last three nights in a row with her tongue down Daniel’s throat.

“Hello, Betty,” Mrs. Meade says with a big smile.

“Hi, Mrs. Meade,” Betty says. Mrs. Meade just keeps smiling at her without saying anything. Betty nods. “Daniel talked to you,” she guesses.

“He did,” Mrs. Meade says. “Oh, Betty, I’m so glad. I’ve been waiting for this for years.”

“You really think we’ve had feelings for each other this whole time?” Betty asks.

“Well, maybe not quite like this,” Mrs. Meade allows. “But I always knew that seed was there. Just needed a little sunlight and water.”

“Maybe it’s tropical,” Betty jokes. “You know. The Bahamas.”

Mrs. Meade gives her what’s very obviously a courtesy laugh. “And I think we both know you don’t have to worry about him being like his father.”

“Oh, no, I’m not worried about that at all,” Betty promises.

For all of Daniel’s bed-hopping, he’s never cheated on any girlfriends the whole time she’s known him. As long as they were clearly defined girlfriends, anyway. Which…she isn’t. But he’s very different than he was even a year ago. She really hasn’t even given it a second thought. If he was pouting about going on a lunch date with a lingerie model, Betty’s not exactly worried.

“You know, you’re part of why you don’t have to worry about that,” Mrs. Meade says. “You really helped him grow up, Betty.”

Betty can feel her cheeks heating up a little. She ducks her head, smiling. “Well, he helped me grow up, too.”

Mrs. Meade steps forward and gives Betty a hug. “Just as it should be,” she says. “I’m so happy about this.”

Betty laughs a little. “Thanks, Mrs. Meade.”

“Betty, please,” she says. “Claire.”

“Oh, wow,” Betty says. “I don’t know if we’re there yet. I mean—we’re taking things slow.”

“Betty, we’ve known each other for four years now,” Mrs. Meade points out. “Regardless of your relationship with Daniel, I think you and I can be on a first-name basis.”

“Okay,” Betty says. She laughs a little. “Claire.”

Claire’s still smiling at her. “But what’s this about going slow?” she asks. “Hasn’t the last four years been slow enough?”

“Well, you know, he just started dating again after Molly,” Betty points out. “I don’t want him to…” She sighs. “Stick with what’s comfortable.”

Claire gives her a shrewd look. “Is this about Daniel and Molly?” she asks. “Or is this about you?”

Betty cringes. “I know Daniel would never intentionally do anything to hurt me,” she says quickly. “It’s just—” She breaks off. “What if he wakes up six months from now and realizes—”

“Betty,” Claire cuts her off gently. “Like I said, I knew this was a long time coming. Trust me. I know my son. I knew you were going to be in his life for a long time from the first time we met.”

“Really?” Betty asks. “I did not get that impression.”

Claire laughs. “Well, maybe the second or third.”

That makes Betty laugh, too. “His therapist said going slow was a good idea.”

Claire looks at her. “Oh,” she says.

“What?” Betty asks. “Oh, did he not tell you he was seeing a therapist?” The Meade family has a precarious relationship with mental health.

“No, he did.” Claire pats her arm. “If going slow is what you’re comfortable with, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

She leaves Betty blinking confusedly after her. She’s also starting to get the idea that Daniel told Claire something different than he told Betty.

She doesn’t have time to spring a trap in his office. They have an editorial meeting to get to know Wilhelmina’s replacement. She’s not surprised to see Daniel in the conference room when she gets in. He meets her eyes and ducks his head to hide his smile. Betty has to look away to keep her own smile under wraps. And then, of course, she runs into a chair.

“Ow,” she mutters.

“You okay?” Daniel asks.

“Why, you want to kiss it better?” Megan whispers.

Daniel looks at her and she sinks down in her seat a little. “I expect a little more professionalism from someone who’s been a junior features editor as long as you have,” Daniel says.

There’s a chorus of quiet oohs at his dig. Betty glances subtly at Matt, but he doesn’t seem to have picked up on anything. This is, Betty reflects, very normal behavior for them. She shoots Daniel a little smile and then focuses on not staring at him for the whole meeting.

This Denise woman Cal Hartley brought in to replace Wilhelmina is certainly no Wilhelmina. Betty can’t quite tell if that’s a positive or a negative yet. She does know it’s a lot harder to focus on the meeting when she and Daniel keep catching each other’s eye and having to look away.

She meets Marc’s eye at one point and he rolls his. Subtle, he mouths. Betty sighs. She completely stands by keeping this quiet at work, for a whole bunch of reasons. But it’s going about as well as her attempts to pretend to be Marc’s girlfriend in front of his mom.

When the meeting finally ends, Betty takes her time gathering up her things while Daniel has a mostly polite but still tense conversation with Cal Hartley. Daniel’s back and shoulders are tight with annoyance. Betty makes herself stop looking.

And she makes herself quit dawdling and leave. This conversation is obviously going to take a while, and there’s only so many times she can drop her pen before someone notices.

She’d normally go home now, but she’s at a bit of a loss. It’s the first time since Christmas she and Daniel didn’t already make plans. She wants to go out again tonight. But she doesn’t know if she should wait for him.

She doesn’t want to be that girl who hangs around hopefully for a scrap of affection. She’s been that girl, way too many times, and it always makes her feel awful. So no, even though she wants to get Daniel alone somewhere and rub his shoulders and kiss him, she’s not going—

“Betty?” Daniel’s in her doorway.

Betty jumps. “Jeez, you scared me!”

“Sorry,” he says. “Do you want to get dinner?”

Betty glances over at Megan’s desk and is surprised to find she’s gone. Betty hadn’t even noticed her leave. She smiles at Daniel. “Yes, I do.”

She waits until they’re in the car to pounce on him. Figuratively, although she really wants to literally, too. “Did you lie to me about what your therapist said?”

Daniel freezes. “Who told you that?” he asks. That’s a Daniel sidestep for yes.

“Daniel, what?”

Daniel sighs. “It had to have been my mom,” he mutters. “She’s the only one who knows. Look, I just—bent the truth a little.”

“About which part?” Betty asks worriedly. “You need more time before you start dating?”

“No,” Daniel says. “He said the opposite, actually. He said—” Daniel sighs again. “He said taking things slow was fine, but he didn’t think it would make a difference. That’s when he said all that stuff about us knowing each other and you sounding like a good influence and my mind being made up.”

“Why did you say he was on board with us going slow?” Betty asks.

Daniel looks away. “Because you obviously want to go slow,” he says. He turns back to face her. “And that’s fine, Betty! I don’t have a problem with it. I know I’ve given you a million reasons not to trust me, so if you—”

“Daniel, this is not about not trusting you,” Betty interrupts. “Of course I trust you!”

Daniel kind of shrugs at her. “Well, okay.”

“It’s just…” Betty blows out a breath. She remembers what Claire said about it not really being about Daniel and Molly. She pushes up her glasses. “Look, Daniel, yes, we’ve known each other for a long time. And we—this—” She laughs a little, feeling on the verge of tears. “This feels big, Daniel. You and me.”

“Yeah, it does,” he agrees softly. He takes her hand.

“And I’m scared.”

“God, Betty, I’m terrified,” Daniel admits. “You know how bad I am at this stuff.”

“You’re not anymore,” Betty reminds him. “You haven’t been for a long time. Even before Molly. But we’re changing everything. It’s just—I kind of wanted to go slow so I could get used to it first.”

Daniel’s smiling at her now. He dips in and kisses her. “It’s fine, Betty,” he promises.

“Are you sure?”

“I can wait,” he says simply. It makes her stomach swoop, like the feelings from before they kissed but multiplied by about a million. “As long as you need. If I can keep seeing you, and kissing you, and holding your hand.” He shrugs. “That’s enough.”

“Daniel,” Betty breathes. “God. That was really romantic.”

Daniel laughs a little. “Maybe making you change your mind?”

She gives him a look. “Don’t push your luck.”

“This is going to sound like I am pushing my luck, but do you want to just order in at my place?” he asks. “I’m not angling for anything! I just—”

“Yes,” Betty interrupts him.

“Yeah?” he checks.

“Yes. Because I’m tired of being careful at dinner. If I want to…” Betty casts around for an idea. “I don’t know. Feed you chocolate covered strawberries. I don’t want to have to worry about someone taking a picture and selling it to some tabloid!”

“Do you?” Daniel asks, sounding kind of dazed.

“What?”

“Want to feed me chocolate covered strawberries?”

“That wasn’t really the point,” Betty points out.

“Oh. Right.”

Betty rolls her eyes. “Fine, Daniel, order some and I’ll feed them to you.”

“Well, don’t make it sound like a chore,” he protests.

Betty puts her head on his shoulder and laughs helplessly. “How is this my life now?”

Betty tiptoes into the house. She would’ve just stayed at Daniel’s, except they had only very narrowly stayed on her going slow and not having sex track as it was. According to some religions, they didn’t.

Also, she refuses to do a walk of shame at work. She will not give Megan the satisfaction. And then she’d had to remind Daniel that leaving clothes at his apartment four days into all this is not going slow.

“Betty,” Hilda says, turning on the lamp and making Betty scream. Hilda screams, too, and then shushes Betty. “What are you screaming for?”

“Why are you lurking in the living room with the lights off?” Betty shoots back.

“I fell asleep here,” Hilda says defensively. She raises her eyebrows at Betty. “How was your night?”

“It was fine,” Betty says innocently.

“I bet it was,” Hilda says. “Your shirt’s buttoned wrong.”

“What?” Betty glances down quickly. Her shirt doesn’t even have buttons.

Hilda cackles at her. “You’re so easy.”

Betty’s mouth drops open in offense. “For your information, I am very much not easy. Daniel wishes I was way easier.”

“Oh, my God, I meant to tease!” Hilda says. “Are you still making him wait?”

“It’s only been four days,” Betty says.

“He’s hot and rich and he’s super into you,” Hilda says. “I wouldn’t make him wait.”

Betty could say a few things about Hilda not making any man wait, but she bites her tongue. “We talked about it,” she says. “We both agreed that since this feels like it could potentially end up being pretty serious, we’re going to take things slow to get used to it. Besides, it’s kind of fun to have a secret at work.”

“Ooh, okay,” Hilda says with a smirk. Then she looks sympathetic. “Oh, are you worried about his little problem?”

“What little problem?” Betty asks. Daniel has a lot of problems, in all honesty, but he’s working on most of them.

“You know,” Hilda says, leaning closer conspiratorially. “Saluting the flag?”

“Ugh, gross,” Betty complains. “He already slept with someone else before we started this, anyway.” Then, without thinking, she says, “I mean, it’s felt like it’s working fine so far. And it’s not that little.” Hilda shrieks and it’s Betty’s turn to shush her, cursing her own stupid mouth. “Hilda! Shut up!” Betty whisper-yells. “And don’t you dare talk about that at his next haircut, either.”

“Oh, my God, Betty, how do you think I’d just casually bring that up?” Hilda asks. Then she snorts. “Bring it up.”

“Okay, I’m going to bed,” Betty says, even though the bring it up part was pretty funny.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know I decided to tell Bobby,” Hilda says.

Betty whirls back around. “Oh, God. How’d he take it?”

“I haven’t done it yet,” Hilda says. “I said I decided.”

Betty scoffs. “Talk to me when you actually do.”

“Man, I am tired of you taking things slow,” Hilda mutters, going up the stairs behind her. “You are cranky.”

Betty chooses not to dignify that with a response. When she gets to work in the morning, she feels like everyone’s staring at her. She’s not unused to that feeling, but it’s still unnerving. She barely gets into her office before Marc appears.

“Well, you’ve done it now!” he says, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “Seriously, no idea how to be discreet!”

“What did I do?” Betty asks, taking off her coat. “I just got here.”

“Last night,” Marc says. "You really couldn't even make it four more steps to get inside?" He throws down Page Six and there’s a picture of Betty and Daniel on Daniel’s front steps. Betty’s kissing his neck, unbuckling his belt, and Daniel’s hands are up her shirt. Betty gasps.

“Oh, my God,” she says, horrified. “Don’t cameras flash or something?”

“One, not anymore, Grandma, which is good because the glare off your braces would blind us all, two, doesn’t look like you two would’ve noticed,” Marc says. “Bah! All my hard work! Do you know how hard it was to leak rumors about Daniel and that lingerie model to get people off your trail?”

Betty gives him a look. “Probably not that hard.” Daniel can breathe in the direction of a woman and most people would believe he slept with her.

“Okay, no,” Marc admits. “But still. I went to a lot of trouble because you wanted to keep it quiet! I’ve been tricking him into wearing better clothes and walking around to get more exposure, even with that hideous beard on his face, but this was the wrong kind of exposure!”

Betty tips her head. “Wow. You were really making sure this stayed quiet for me?”

“Wha—no, of course not,” Marc sputters. “I did it—it’s my job. I’m a fantastic assistant, I’ll have you know, and if my boss wanted—”

Betty cuts him off by giving him a hug. “Thank you, Marc. Sorry we ruined it.”

Marc pulls away and pretends to wipe off his shoulders. “Did this?” he asks, would-be casual. “Ruin it, I mean.”

“I don’t think so,” Betty says. “I hope not.”

“It won’t for Daniel,” Marc says. “He’s worried about you. He’s been on the phone all morning trying to figure out which pap it was.”

“What’s the point?” Betty asks tiredly. “It’s out there now.”

“He said he doesn’t want this to pressure you.”

Betty sighs. “Oh, wow.”

“This could really be something special, Betty,” Marc says quietly. “You two have been weirdly intense for years.”

“Yeah,” Betty says. “I know.”

“I thought you were all daring now,” Marc says. “I had to hear about your bangs forever. Why are you playing it safe with Daniel, of all people?”

“Because,” Betty says. “This could really be something special.”

Marc nods. “Well. Not that I give two Dolces about you or your love life. But like I said, I’m a fantastic assistant. And part of that is making sure my boss gets what he wants. So I’ll just say this…don’t let being afraid ruin a good thing.”

Betty remembers Cliff. She wants to give Marc another hug, but she knows he won’t let her. “Thanks,” she says instead. “And for the record, you don’t have to trick Daniel into all that stuff. Just tell him why and he’ll be glad you’re looking out for him. But hey.” Betty raises her eyebrows. “Don’t touch his beard.” She’s grown very attached.

Marc huffs. “So you can match,” he mutters. He flounces out of Betty’s office, but he looks back and shoots her a smile as he goes.

Then Amanda’s scurrying in, hip checking Marc out of her way to get inside. “Oh. My. God, Betty!” Amanda says. “I had no idea you were into doing it in public, you slut.” She says this admiringly.

“I’m not,” Betty says. “We didn’t—” She stops. There’s really no point in explaining this, especially not to Amanda.

“Ditching Matt for Daniel is totally the right choice,” Amanda says. “Ignore the little fish and get the big shark.” She leans closer. “And yes, he is bigger.”

“Amanda,” Betty groans. “I don’t need to know that.” She had an idea already. Not that it matters. Not that she cares. Not that—whatever.

Amanda laughs. “People want to interview you, you know. They always want to interview Daniel’s girls and hope someone will spill some juicy deets.”

“Okay, thank you for that,” Betty mutters. It’s not like she doesn’t know Daniel’s been around the block a time or a hundred, but it’s not her favorite thing to hear about.

Amanda rolls her eyes at Betty. “Please, Betty. Everyone knows you’re not just another one of his hookups.” She gives Betty a little smile. “He’s always thought you were special.”

“Thank you,” Betty says, actually touched.

“So you should totally start making a list of who you want out,” Amanda says.

“Out of what?”

“Mode,” Amanda says, like it’s obvious. “You can ask Daniel to fire anyone you want.” She grabs Betty’s hand. “You know I’m on your side.”

Betty rolls her eyes. “I’m not asking Daniel to fire anyone.”

Megan walks in just as Betty says that. The look on her face alone is putting that sentiment to the test. “So it is true,” Megan says. “You and Daniel all along.”

“Not all along,” Betty says. “Not that it’s your business.”

Megan huffs. “I guess I should start packing my stuff before you have me sent off to a basement somewhere.”

“I am not doing anything,” Betty says.

“Except Daniel,” Amanda supplies helpfully.

Betty doesn’t fill them both in that she’s technically not doing him either. Megan rolls her eyes. “Yeah, we get it, you’re sleeping with the boss and he’s giving you special privileges.”

Betty can’t take it anymore. This has already been a ridiculous morning, and she’s been here for ten minutes. She does not need Megan’s attitude. “You know what, Megan? I don’t need this from you. You don’t need to be bitter just because you wanted to sleep with Daniel and never got to.”

She’s guessing. It’s kind of a risky bet, with Daniel’s history. The odds are probably about 70/30 that he did sleep with Megan and doesn’t even remember.

But from the look on Megan’s face, Betty can tell she’s right. Amanda squeals and claps her hands. “I love when Bitch Betty comes out.”

“So now, I’m going to go deal with this,” Betty goes on. “And when I get back, I want you to keep your snide little comments to yourself.” She heads for the door.

“That’s right, bitches,” Amanda announces to the whole office. “Don’t cross Betty.”

“Okay, Amanda, I already told you I’m not going for some kind of power thing, so you don’t need to suck up,” Betty points out.

“Oh, thank God,” Amanda breathes. “Because your skirt is tucked into your granny panties.” She pulls it out for Betty and pats her butt and then gives her a kiss on the cheek. “Love you, bye.”

Betty blinks after her and sighs. Well, at least something’s normal. She goes into Daniel’s office just as he’s hanging up the phone. “Betty, I’m so sorry,” he starts.

Betty holds up her hands. “This is not your fault.”

“I should’ve known we weren’t safe anywhere outside,” Daniel says. “I just forgot to care, since, you know, it never mattered to me before. I’m totally on the trail of whoever sold that picture, and we are going to destroy them.”

“No, we’re not,” Betty says. “It doesn’t matter. What we are going to do is move your morning meeting to lunchtime and go to your place right now.”

Daniel stands up immediately. “Okay, yeah, sure, I don’t know where Marc is but he’ll figure it out.” He stops before he comes around his desk. “Wait a second. What?”

“Daniel, there’s no point in going slow anymore,” Betty says. Her stomach is in knots. “Everyone already knows. And they all think we’re already sleeping together. So why bother?”

Daniel crosses his arms over his chest. “Okay. No.”

“No?” Betty asks. She’s having some weird, competing emotions right now. Her stomach is sinking. Did she lose her chance? But she’s also kind of relieved. She just doesn’t know if she’s ready. Emotionally, anyway. Physically, she is beyond ready.

“Not yet,” Daniel corrects. “We’re going slow.”

“Why?” Betty asks. “You don’t want to, we both know this is headed somewhere serious—”

“Because you just said you don’t want to instead of we,” Daniel interrupts.

Betty huffs. “Sometimes you’re a really good editor who catches little things,” Betty mutters. She’s starting to feel better, though.

“Thank you,” Daniel says, preening over it. Then he shakes his head. “Betty. I don’t know how many times I can tell you this. I am happy to go slow with you. We can take our time. You just said it—we both know this is headed somewhere serious. So there’s no rush.” He does come around the desk now, but just to take her hands in his. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks or says. I only care about you.”

“But I’m a risk taker now,” Betty says weakly, thinking about what Marc said.

Daniel laughs a little. “You are,” he agrees. “You’re in Page Six.”

Betty groans. “I can’t believe this.”

“I know.” Daniel rubs her shoulders. “Look, Betty, you’re definitely more daring than you used to be. But I actually like that we’re taking our time. I never thought I’d say that. It’s good, though. I like that it feels…” He thinks for a second. “Deliberate. I want us both to know that every single step we take is completely on purpose. And on our terms. No one else’s.”

Betty can’t help the little sigh that escapes her. “God, no wonder so many women have slept with you.”

That makes him smirk, all puffed up with pride. Then he laughs. “Betty, I don’t say things like that to women I’m just trying to get into bed.”

“I know,” Betty says, and she really does. “Because this is special.”

His smile grows. “Very special,” he agrees.

Betty goes onto her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Okay,” she says. “I’m going back to work now. Don’t worry about the pictures. See you later?”

Daniel catches her hand and gives it a squeeze. “Dinner, if you’re free.”

Betty nods, grinning at him. “I’d love that. Oh, and Marc’s not trying to sabotage you. He’s taking care of you. He’s a really good assistant.”

“He’s probably second best,” Daniel agrees. “But he’ll never be number one.”

She heads back to her office, smiling to herself. She has a feeling her dinners are going to be booked for quite some time. People are looking her way and whispering, but Betty doesn’t even care this time. People who don’t know what’s going on think she’s sleeping with Daniel, and people who do know what’s going on think she should be.

But it doesn’t matter. She and Daniel are on the same page. They’re doing things their way. It doesn’t matter if everybody else thinks they’re doing it wrong. They’ve been unconventional from the start.

Betty doesn’t have to change herself or do more than she’s ready for. Daniel’s right beside her for as long as she needs. Just like he has been for years. They’re a team. They always have been. Things might get awkward with Matt, and it’s not all that fun having everyone at work talking about them. But it’s worth it.

Betty looks up and looks at Daniel in his office. He’s got his tie thrown over his shoulder, face serious as he flips between two mock-ups and makes notes. He’s grown so much. Betty’s been there every step of the way to see it. And she wants to be there for every step in the future, too.

She’s not doodling his name in hearts on a notepad and she’s not planning any kind of Mode takeover. But she might be starting to form some little plans. Things like hanging out with her family. Talking to his mom. Valentine’s Day, even if it is two months away.

Things are going to change between them. In a good way, she feels confident. But there’s one thing that won’t change—they’ll take on all these changes together. Daniel looks up and meets her eyes. They both smile. And then they both get back to work.

When their work is done, they’ll take time to be together, decompressing from their days and talking and laughing. Just like always. As different as things get, there are some things that are never going to change, and that makes Betty sure that this is going to work out just perfectly after all.