It should have just been another normal evening. Nothing good on TV, dinner in the freezer just waiting to come alive, Daniel's thoughts all traveling their own paths that all let to the same destination. They all ended up with her.
No one ever knocked to say hello. No one ever came for a visit or to deliver a message. Not ever. There was no reason to.
So who could it be?
Daniel wasn't a patient man; he was curious. He put his very busy schedule of doing nothing on hold to answer the door.
"Everything's falling apart."
She was a mess. She looked like she'd been through hell all day and she'd give anything for 5 minutes of rest. "Nora, hey. Come on in." She entered into the room, and Daniel closed the door behind her. "What's wrong?"
"I can't do this anymore."
"Do what?"
"I am so behind on this case! I've been putting it off, and now I need to go into court tomorrow, and I'm completely unprepared!" She flopped down on the couch and hid her face in her hands. Daniel sat down next to her, extremely careful about how much space he put between them.
"Have you tried talking to Bo about this?"
"Ugh, he's no help. He's just teasing me, joking around saying that I should have gotten it done earlier. But it isn't something joke about right now! I'm really stressed out over this!"
"OK, calm down," he said, lifting his hand as though to comfort her, but he quickly thought better of it. "Don't worry, I'm going to help you."
"I knew you would," she said looking up and smiling at him.
"Of course," he said as he reached out before realizing what he was doing and rested his hand on her leg. She didn't seem bothered, but Daniel didn't give her a chance to change her mind; he quickly withdrew his hand as though maybe she didn't notice.
"Is that the only thing that's got you on edge?" he asked hastily.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, how are things with Bo?"
"Oh, they're great. Yeah, everything's OK with Bo."
"That's good," he said with a smile that agonized him. "I'm really glad you guys are happy together."
"Thanks," she said smiling just as painfully, but not as noticeably. "He's just not helping right now. I mean, I know that I should have done it before, but what good does that do me now? And I know that he's just kidding around, but I need help, not jokes."
"I can understand that."
Nora couldn't help but grin. "Thanks for being here for me tonight."
"It's no problem. I just hope I can help you get somewhere tonight."
"Well, so far just talking to me and listening to me has been all the help I need." She was the first one to make a move; she reached out and took his hand in hers. His heart jumped into his throat as she slipped her fingers around his. He tried to pull them away, but she refused to let him. It surprised him that she was acting this way when she was seeing Bo; but it didn't stop there. She slid her hand up his arm, to his shoulder, and then to the back of his neck. It sent him chills that ran all over his body; and it left him utterly confused.
"Nora?" He questioned her with his words, but she answered with her eyes; eyes that spoke the words that she did not. And he knew; she wanted him. He wasn't going to bother denying how severely he felt the same way. She wasted no time grabbing him by the collar and moving in for a fierce kiss. Daniel felt like he was taking advantage of her somehow by kissing her back. But the more she kissed him, the less he cared. She pawed at his shirt until he lifted it off completely, and in turn she did the same.
"Make love to me," Nora pleaded, feeling overwhelmingly breathless. But Daniel was feeling overwhelmingly guilty. How could he do this to his best friend?
"Nora, I –"
"Don't be rational," she interrupted. "Just kiss me," she said giving him a sample. "Hold me," she said, and she kissed him again. "Make love to me." Daniel searched her face to be sure that this was what she really wanted. Her breathing was heavy along with his, and her lips seemed to quiver, waiting for him.
His mouth meet hers again before he even knew what was happening.

"What am I going to do?"
Nora paced around the room in a blanket, searching for her clothes. Daniel stared blankly at the wall. "What am I going to do?" she repeated. "Oh, my god, this is such a mess! I shouldn't have come here at all tonight."
"I knew this would happen," he said, still carefully concentrating on a spot on the wall.
"What?"
"You didn't really want to be with me."
"No, it's not that. It's just – what am I going to do? What am I going to say to Bo?"
Daniel sat up and watched her. "Do you regret this?"
"I don't know! Oh, everything is falling apart! I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. One minute, I'm with Bo. The next minute, I'm here with you –"
Daniel didn't know if she was trying to make him feel better or worse, but she was far more successful with the latter. "What are we supposed to do?" she asked for what nearly must have been the seventeenth time. "Are we supposed to pretend this never happened?"
She must not have been able to see his heart breaking in the palm of her hands. "I can't, can you?"
She sat down at the foot of the bed and shook her head. "We don't have to tell him," she finally decided. "He never has to know."
Daniel nodded slowly. "So are you going home now?"
"I have to."
"What are you gonna say when he asks where you were?"
"I'll tell him the truth. I'll tell him that I was feeling awful about the case, and I came to talk to you about it."
"And then what? I helped you, you went home, end of story?"
"What other choice do I have?"
He wanted so badly to say that he was her other choice. But he had no right to tell her what to do or who to see. She leaned over and kissed him one last time. "I have to go." She finished getting dressed and headed out the door without looking back.