Fic: Ugly Betty - Daniel/Betty - Soulmates
This fic was meant to be written in conjunction with a fancomic by sunny_lynn, but the project got abandoned. The plot of the story was her idea, I was just filling in the details:
Chapter 1
He felt numb. The sunlight was streaming through the windows, the warmth of it mocking him. Molly was dead. A few short hours ago she had died as he had sat by her side and held her hand through it all, and now he was at Mode staring at his closed laptop. He knew that if he opened it he’d be met with the picture of himself and Molly in front of the deli where they had had their first official date. It had been the morning after they had first made love. Well, make that the afternoon. They hadn’t quite made it out of bed in time for breakfast. So she took him to the little delicatessen down the street from her apartment and had insisted on buying him a corned beef sandwich that had been bigger than his head. She had laughed at him the entire time as he fought with the damn thing to take a bite out of it without losing half of it along the way to his mouth. It had been the greatest date of his life. He had been the one who had insisted on taking a picture to commemorate the event. She had thought it was cute. He just… he couldn’t look at that picture. Not now. Not when he was so numb that he couldn’t even cry.
He didn’t understand it. He should have been weeping. When Molly died, he should have collapsed in tears on the bed beside her. But he had just looked at her. He had looked at her hand in his, and he had felt nothing. It was like he was the one who had died. He didn’t even remember leaving the hospital and coming to Mode, he had just looked up and there he was in his office. Bathed in sunlight.
“Daniel?” came the familiar voice. It sounded so far away he wasn’t even sure it was real. “Daniel?” she said again. He finally looked up and acknowledged Betty. She gave him an uncertain smile and said softly, “I… I thought you could use some coffee.”
A part of him was aware that a comforting warmth washed through him when he saw her standing there gnawing nervously on her lower lip as she held out a Starbucks cup to him. For some unfathomable reason, it made him feel guilty. So he looked back down at his closed computer and said with as little feeling as possible, “Thanks.”
There was a long silence as she stood there awkwardly holding out the cup to him, expecting him to take it, but he was too tired to care. He heard her mumble an “Okay…” and she placed it on the desk next to his iphone. He stared at the insignia on the cup, thinking about absolutely nothing and letting the silence wrap around him like a blanket.
“I don’t know what to say, Daniel. I don’t know how to make this okay. I can’t make this okay, but…” When she didn’t continue, his curiosity forced him to look up at her. He was struck by the sorrow in her eyes, the honesty as she said, “But I miss her, too.”
He swallowed hard as he felt his chest tighten and suddenly he became painfully aware of his existence as the numbness inside of him melted away. He wasn’t alone. He didn’t have to go through this alone. “Thanks, Betty,” he whispered, the semblance of a smile forming on his lips.
She nodded her head and gave him a sad smile, like she wasn’t convinced that her words had had any affect on him at all. “I should go. You probably want to be alone.”
He felt an irrational surge of panic sweep through him as she turned around to leave and he blurted out, “Betty, wait!” She turned back to him, her hand on the door, and for a second he found it hard to breathe. “Please stay.”
She gave him a slow smile, one that let him know she’d be there for as long as he needed her, and when she came around the desk to give his arm a reassuring squeeze, his tears inexplicably chose that moment to show themselves. He felt Betty hesitantly reach a hand to stroke his hair, and somehow, at some point that he wasn’t quite aware of, he ended up in her arms, his own arms clutching her waist as he finally mourned the loss of a future that was never really his, the past that he could never get back, the kisses that he would never feel again, the love that made him realize what life was supposed to be about. He cried for the shame he felt over being relieved that it was all finally over. He no longer had to watch Molly suffer, he no longer had the torture of wondering if today would be the day that he’d lose her forever... She was gone. But Betty wasn’t. He didn’t have to be alone.
Chapter 1
He felt numb. The sunlight was streaming through the windows, the warmth of it mocking him. Molly was dead. A few short hours ago she had died as he had sat by her side and held her hand through it all, and now he was at Mode staring at his closed laptop. He knew that if he opened it he’d be met with the picture of himself and Molly in front of the deli where they had had their first official date. It had been the morning after they had first made love. Well, make that the afternoon. They hadn’t quite made it out of bed in time for breakfast. So she took him to the little delicatessen down the street from her apartment and had insisted on buying him a corned beef sandwich that had been bigger than his head. She had laughed at him the entire time as he fought with the damn thing to take a bite out of it without losing half of it along the way to his mouth. It had been the greatest date of his life. He had been the one who had insisted on taking a picture to commemorate the event. She had thought it was cute. He just… he couldn’t look at that picture. Not now. Not when he was so numb that he couldn’t even cry.
He didn’t understand it. He should have been weeping. When Molly died, he should have collapsed in tears on the bed beside her. But he had just looked at her. He had looked at her hand in his, and he had felt nothing. It was like he was the one who had died. He didn’t even remember leaving the hospital and coming to Mode, he had just looked up and there he was in his office. Bathed in sunlight.
“Daniel?” came the familiar voice. It sounded so far away he wasn’t even sure it was real. “Daniel?” she said again. He finally looked up and acknowledged Betty. She gave him an uncertain smile and said softly, “I… I thought you could use some coffee.”
A part of him was aware that a comforting warmth washed through him when he saw her standing there gnawing nervously on her lower lip as she held out a Starbucks cup to him. For some unfathomable reason, it made him feel guilty. So he looked back down at his closed computer and said with as little feeling as possible, “Thanks.”
There was a long silence as she stood there awkwardly holding out the cup to him, expecting him to take it, but he was too tired to care. He heard her mumble an “Okay…” and she placed it on the desk next to his iphone. He stared at the insignia on the cup, thinking about absolutely nothing and letting the silence wrap around him like a blanket.
“I don’t know what to say, Daniel. I don’t know how to make this okay. I can’t make this okay, but…” When she didn’t continue, his curiosity forced him to look up at her. He was struck by the sorrow in her eyes, the honesty as she said, “But I miss her, too.”
He swallowed hard as he felt his chest tighten and suddenly he became painfully aware of his existence as the numbness inside of him melted away. He wasn’t alone. He didn’t have to go through this alone. “Thanks, Betty,” he whispered, the semblance of a smile forming on his lips.
She nodded her head and gave him a sad smile, like she wasn’t convinced that her words had had any affect on him at all. “I should go. You probably want to be alone.”
He felt an irrational surge of panic sweep through him as she turned around to leave and he blurted out, “Betty, wait!” She turned back to him, her hand on the door, and for a second he found it hard to breathe. “Please stay.”
She gave him a slow smile, one that let him know she’d be there for as long as he needed her, and when she came around the desk to give his arm a reassuring squeeze, his tears inexplicably chose that moment to show themselves. He felt Betty hesitantly reach a hand to stroke his hair, and somehow, at some point that he wasn’t quite aware of, he ended up in her arms, his own arms clutching her waist as he finally mourned the loss of a future that was never really his, the past that he could never get back, the kisses that he would never feel again, the love that made him realize what life was supposed to be about. He cried for the shame he felt over being relieved that it was all finally over. He no longer had to watch Molly suffer, he no longer had the torture of wondering if today would be the day that he’d lose her forever... She was gone. But Betty wasn’t. He didn’t have to be alone.