Work Text:
It was mid Saturday afternoon when Daniel heard Betty let herself into his London flat with her key. They had been dating for a few weeks, ever since he had shown up in London full of remorse for how he had treated her before she left New York. Thankfully she had forgiven him. Now they were dating, and Daniel felt deliriously happy to be with her.
"Hey," Betty greeted Daniel as she came into the living room. He had been sitting on the couch watching tv. He was still getting used to the British accents and different shows. Either way, he wasn't entirely fussed to turn it off.
"Hey, how was your day?" He smiled gently at her. She looked tired to him. He knew she was working herself too hard.
Betty put her handbag and laptop on the coffee table, sat down next to Daniel, and kicked off her shoes as she spoke.
"It was so busy! And things kept going wrong, we had IT issues, and a couple of the editors had gotten themselves into a spot of trouble asking questions that they shouldn't have been - they were legitimate questions, but it ruffled feathers, so I had to deal with the fallout. I also had to smooth things over with an advertiser on a different issue. And Mr Dunne wanted to know if we're on track for the launch in a couple of weeks, I hope we are, but there's still so much to do! Plus I had to run over to the printers to check they were able to do something, because no one was answering their phones. And all on a Saturday! It's the weekend, I just wanted to spend it with you."
And at that, Betty laid down on the couch, and placed her head in Daniel's lap.
He couldn't help but take a moment to look at the beautiful woman curled up against him and smile. He couldn't believe that this was his Betty, and that they were together like this.
"Oh Betty, I'm sure it will all come together. You're amazing. And smart. And talented. And you've done this before. Not launch a magazine from scratch, but you've definitely done all the other work before, and you've pulled together a magazine issue at the last minute when we had nothing to go on."
She nodded slightly. "That's true. After your father died we did pull it together in a night... but we did that together. You're not helping this time."
He sighed. He wished he was able to help her more. But he knew she needed to do this on her own, so she knew that she could. This was her dream, after all.
"I believe in your abilities, Betty. I always have. I know you can do this. It's your dream. Look at how much you've achieved already."
He heard a sniff, and looked down and saw her wipe a tear off her cheek.
His heart went out to her.
"What if I can't do it, Daniel? What if this all falls in a heap? What if I let everyone down? Mr Dunne, my family, you? What if I made the biggest mistake of my life coming here to London and leaving everybody and everything behind?"
"Betty. Sweetie. Take a deep breath. It will all be okay, I promise."
He heard her take a deep breath. "I'm just so tired," she said quietly.
And there it was.
He knew she was utterly exhausted. He knew that things would settle down once the magazine launch was out of the way, but he also knew that when she arrived in London she had hit the ground running, and hadn't really had a moment to just stop. To really rest.
She had told him that she hadn't been sleeping very well either.
They had made plans to spend that afternoon together, and go out and be tourists just for fun. But Betty had stayed later than she had planned at the office, and now Daniel didn't have it in him to ask her to go out.
"Hey. Why don't you just rest for a bit. Close your eyes, have a nap, and ignore the outside world for the next couple of hours?" He suggested.
"But Daniel, we had plans, we were gonna go out, do fun things—" She lifted her head out of his lap and sat up somewhat as she protested.
He reached out and tenderly put his hand on her cheek, stilling her.
"Shhh, it's okay. If you're up for it, we'll go out later, maybe go to the London Eye, the city is beautiful at night. And if we don't, we can just stay here, order in food and watch a movie. I honestly don't care what we do, I just wanna spend time with you."
"Awwww. I like spending time with you." She smiled sweetly.
"Me too, Betty. I always have." He smiled back at her. "Here, lay back down again, and just rest, okay?"
She nodded and acquiesced to his suggestion, placing her head back in his lap. He heard her take another deep breath, as he felt her relax against him.
He lifted his hand and started running his fingers gently through her hair. He knew that she liked when he did that.
"It's going to be okay, Betty. You'll get it all done. And you'll have an amazing magazine launch, and all of your dreams will come true. I promise." He soothed gently. "I'm so proud of you."
He saw her smile when he said that.
As he sat there with her curled up against him, he continued to stroke Betty's hair, and listened to her breathing, which gradually slowed and got deeper.
Betty had fallen asleep.
He looked over her, and her 'B' necklace caught his eyes. The golden B charm was slightly tucked into her cleavage, the pearl string laying against her neck and throat. He couldn't help but think her necklace was just as much a part of her as her smile was. He had rarely seen her without it over the years he had known her, and on the rare occasion when she wasn't wearing the necklace he had always felt like something was missing.
He loved spoiling Betty, and he had occasionally given her jewellery as a gift for her birthday or Christmas, but he had never given her a necklace. Bracelets and earrings yes, but he couldn't bring himself to give her a necklace because he felt like nothing else would ever replace her pearl necklace.
He remembered when she had told him what the significance of it was. He actually couldn't believe he had never asked, he knew almost everything else about her. The necklace was one of the very first things he had noticed about her; once he got past the giant red poncho, glasses and braces, he had noted that she wore the necklace every single day.
He just accepted it as something she did. And over time he began to become fond of it. Truthfully he adored it, as much as he adored the woman who wore it. It was part of her, part of his Betty. And he never wanted to change that.
They had been sorting and cleaning out Molly's apartment after the complete mess of Daniel's involvement in the Phoenix cult. Once again, as always, Betty had saved the day and pulled him from the deep hole of despair he had fallen into. He didn't ever want to think what might have happened if she hadn't shown up that night with his mother. A couple of days later he and Betty had spent the day going through all of Molly's things and deciding what to get rid of and what to keep. He remembered she had asked about a shirt of Molly's, and he had rambled on about the fact that she used to wear it on Sunday mornings to read the New York Times, do the crossword and eat croissants. Betty had wisely picked up on the fact that it was a sentimental item and encouraged him not to toss it. That it was what it meant to him that mattered, not it's inherent value or cost.
She had picked up the B charm on her necklace, and told him that although the pearls weren't real and the necklace didn't match everything she wore, the reason it was special to her was that her mother had given it to her. And that's why she wouldn't ever part with it.
That day, in her telling him that story, she had both comforted him, and taught him that sometimes the simple things were the most valuable in reality.
A lesson she had been teaching him for years.
He was a man who had grown up with access to everything that money could buy, he had been around people who assigned value to life with a dollar sign - the more money it cost, the better. He had seen how money and power and influence could both be good or could corrupt. He had eaten in some of the finest restaurants in the world, and visited some of the most beautiful places. He had his pick of women. He had everything at his fingertips.
But the one thing he didn't have, the one thing he desperately ached for, was unconditional love and acceptance. Those were things money had no hold over.
Betty stirred and mumbled a little in her sleep.
Daniel looked down at her again, and his heart swelled with love for her. His life had changed the day she came crashing into it, and even though he wasn't initially happy about it, he very quickly realised that this young woman from Queens could teach the spoilt rich-boy a thing or two about life and what was truly worth holding on to.
And that's what he planned to do. Hold on to her for as long as she would let him. And even after that; for him, she was a definite keeper.
One day, he hoped he would buy her another item of jewellery. Still not a necklace, but a ring. That's where he saw his future leading.
For now, he was happy to be her safe space, to give her the rest she needed.
He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Betty's hair.
"Thank you for showing me what's truly valuable in life. I love you Betty," he whispered.
She murmured something in reply, still fast asleep in his lap.
The late afternoon sun was coming in the windows through the curtains, and Daniel was feeling tired himself. And yet so content to be so close to Betty. He shifted a little in his seat, careful not to disturb the sleeping beauty laying on him, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep, a small smile on his face.
His last thoughts were that he was so happy he had made the choice to come here to London to be with Betty. He knew everything else would fall into place, so long as he was with her. She was the most valuable and precious person in his life, and that would never change.