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This was it.
This was exactly the declaration she'd wanted, the promises she'd dreamed of since their relationship had originally been torn to shreds.
In all of the time they'd been apart, all of the time she'd watched him with Bethany, she'd longed that one day he'd tell her how much he loved her; how much he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
Now, he had all the perfect words. Daniel wasn't trying to stop her, he was simply desperate to go with her. Despite everything, he wanted to build a life with her.
It was perfect, it was everything she'd needed from him...and it was all just that little bit too late.
Daisy knew that if she hesitated, if she looked back, her plan would crumble.
She had the money, her mother was still in a cell, and nobody knew where she was really going.
Brighton was a million miles from Bali in every sense, and though she wished things didn't have to end like this, there was simply no choice.
After months of stalking, after the acid attack, after losing her baby...she needed a fresh start. She needed to get out.
Daniel had loose ends he'd need to tie up; he'd need to contact the STC, Bertie's school, explain it all to Ken. He couldn't just up and leave at the drop of a hat.
Then, of course, there was the small matter of the truth.
If Daniel hated the lying, manipulative side of her, there was no way he was going to agree to this. He wasn't going to disappear off into the sunset with £60k that didn't belong to either of them, letting all of the blame fall on her mum.
As she headed to the front door of his flat, Daisy took a deep breath. This was it, this was the last she'd ever see of him.
Even when they'd been apart, when they'd been with other people, she'd had this perfect vision of what their future would look like.
The pair of them, Bertie, another baby someday. They'd eventually get the perfect wedding, and all of the trauma would be long behind them.
Real life didn't always come with happy endings, though. She loved him, and he loved her, but that simply wasn't enough.
It was only as she reached for the handle that her heart start to ache even more. She'd done her fair share of crying with him already, but the idea of moving halfway across the world, while he thought she was still in the same country...
"Daniel..." she uttered, eyes closed as she tried to pluck up the courage to be honest.
The likelihood was it would reignite his anger, remind him why he'd ended things with her, and cause him to change his mind...but she needed to be honest for once. He needed to know the truth, even if nobody else did.
Daisy's breath hitched in her throat as she turned to look at him, riddled with guilt as she saw the hope in his eyes.
That light would soon flicker, and she was almost certain there was no going back.
"Look, I need to be honest with you, okay? And you're not going to like it," she murmured, stepping deeper into the flat once more.
There was an expression on his face that she couldn't quite read, but perhaps he didn't even know himself what he was feeling in that moment.
"Could anything really be worse than you leaving?" Daniel asked, his voice cracking as he spoke of their new reality.
Tim was waiting in the taxi outside, there was no changing her mind now. This was it.
Daisy took a deep breath, eyes closing for a second once again, as she plucked up the courage to tell him everything.
"There is no school friend, Daniel—" Something he likely should have realised, given her feeble side of the guest list for their wedding. "— And there is no Brighton either. Not for me."
For a man as intelligent as he was, he could certainly be slow on the uptake sometimes. Daniel was booksmart, but not necessarily the first to pick up what she was putting down.
"I don't..." he began, but she cut him off before he could even finish.
"I asked Dom to send me the money for safe keeping," she admitted, watching the understanding dawn on him. "And then I bought a one way ticket. To Bali."
Daniel let out a long exhale, and she was waiting for fireworks.
Even at their healthiest, they'd always been prone to fights. They were both stubborn, passionate people; they both cared enough about each other to really push. Neither of them ever wanted to give up and walk away — but sometimes, like now, there was no choice.
And yet...the fireworks never came.
"Why?" Daniel asked simply. "Why didn't you tell me that earlier today? Why lie to me, Daisy?"
There was a calmness about him she hadn't expected, but he seemed almost...defeated, like she'd let him down one too many times now.
"Because I knew you'd be angry. I knew you'd hate me even more than you already did," she admitted.
The space between them seemed huge, but Daniel took a step closer, shaking his head. "I could never hate you. Even those parts of you I said that I hate...I might not like that side of you, but I could never really hate you."
Tears shone in her eyes again, and not for the first time, she found herself wondering what she'd done to deserve someone who could understand her in the ways that he did.
Daniel saw the ugliest parts of her soul, and still maintained that she was the love of his life. He'd straightened out some of her rough edges, allowed her to finally have the family she'd always silently craved, and gave her the moral compass she'd never quite had herself.
"Well, maybe you should. Maybe that's exactly what I deserve..." she let out a breath, reaching into the pocket of her coat for the envelope addressed to him and Bertie.
She'd given the rest to Ryan to hand out once she was gone, but this one...she needed to give it to him herself.
"Read this. It's for you and Bertie. I got you-"
Daniel stepped even closer, the gap between them closing entirely.
"I don't want it," he breathed, his hands finding her hips. "I want you, okay? I want you. I don't care — I don't care about the money, I don't care if you lied. None of it matters..."
Fear held her back. She was terrified of him changing his mind, deciding she'd pushed too far this time.
"It does, Daniel. It matters. I'm not a good person. I don't deserve—"
This time, he cut her off. Daniel shook his head, his gaze intense. "You are a good person, Dais. Someone who's done bad things, yeah, but who hasn't? Especially around here..."
Despite herself, she laughed. If she compared herself to half the residents of Weatherfield, she really did look like a saint.
"But you were so insistent you couldn't come with me if I didn't do the right thing...and I haven't, Daniel. I haven't done the right thing. This money..." she trailed off. Didn't it all speak for itself?
The catfishing, the theft, leaving Jenny high and dry, not to mention her mother sitting in a jail cell...
Despite it all, despite that frustratingly inconsistent moral compass, Daniel didn't look like he wanted to walk away from her.
He'd told her once — years ago now —that he never would. Despite every up and down, every rebound and every time they'd tried to hurt each other...they always found each other again.
They'd been through so much, put each other through so much, but he had maintained that she was the love of his life...and she felt exactly the same.
Ryan had been a messy trauma-fueled mistake, and Kit had been nothing more than a bit of fun. Nobody was ever going to compete with him.
"It's not about the money, Daisy. I wanted you to see what you were doing was wrong, yeah, but..." he hesitated. Perhaps it made him a hypocrite to be letting it all slide, but he couldn't help himself.
They'd both been hypocrites time and time again throughout their relationship, in every fight, and he didn't care anymore. He wasn't going to let her walk away from him, move to another continent, solely because he wanted the moral superiority.
If it was Brighton, he'd have let her go. He'd have watched her walk away, knowing she was only a matter of hours away, knowing he and Bertie could visit anytime, once the dust had settled a little. But this? This was so different.
"But what?" Daisy whispered meekly, not wanting to let herself hope for even a second that he could still want to be with her after this.
"But I love you," he replied.
It was never going to be that simple, but he wanted it to be. He needed it to be.
"Okay, but Daniel...I still need to go today. I need to get out of here before mum realises what I've done. Before Jen realises what I've done," she insisted, glancing over her shoulder, as if she expected Tim to be standing there, telling her to hurry up.
Unlike her, he couldn't up and leave without taking care of a few things first, not when his life revolved around a six year old child.
"I know it's not exactly as easy as Brighton...but I meant what I said. You go, and we'll follow."
Despite the insanity of it all, despite more than 7000 miles between Weatherfield and Bali, she knew he meant it this time.
Maybe, after everything, this was the fresh start they'd always needed.
Instead of fighting it, instead of insisting that he couldn't leave his life, his job and his dad behind, she kissed him again. There were less tears this time, for it wasn't a goodbye — it was a promise.
"I should go," she whispered, her hand coming to rest on his cheek. "The meter'll be costin' me a fortune. But I'll text you everything, okay? My flight details, where I'm staying...and you come when you're ready, yeah?"
Their eyes met, and his grin matched hers.
Despite everything she'd done, despite all the mistakes, maybe she was allowed her happy ending after all.
12 months later
The creak of the door caused Daisy to look up, a soft smile on her lips as she saw a familiar pair of eyes peeking into the room.
"And just what are you up to, Bertie boy?" She whispered fondly, shifting a little in the rocking chair, as the little boy wandered in.
"I wanted to see if she was awake," he whispered, peering curiously at the bundle in her arms.
After the miscarriage, Daisy hadn't had any intention of rushing into getting pregnant again. They'd only been in Bali for a couple of weeks when 'food poisoning' had lasted a few days too long, and their 'fresh start' had involved a few more changes than planned.
Poppy Midgeley-Osbourne had been born just a few days before her due date, and had immediately wrapped the three of them around her little finger — especially Bertie, who'd taken to being an older brother like a duck to water.
"She's sleeping right now, but you can come and sit with us for a bit, if ya like," she offered softly, smiling as he took her up on the offer without a second thought.
From the doorway of the nursery, Daniel watched his little family settle in, a fond look in his eye.
Despite the mess Daisy had left back in Weatherfield, despite the lying and the deceit...they'd made it in the end.
All the pain, all the heartache, and all the trauma had led them here.
It had never been perfect, and maybe it never would be, but it was theirs.