A/N: Don't own these characters so don't sue me.

Many many thanks to the talented, tireless and terrific DaisyJane for the beta. (quote from Wayne's World "I'm not worthy" *on knees bowing*) And many thanks to the intelligent, intriguing and irresistible Lady Isis for making sure everything looked and sounded right.

This was my first attempt at first person POV, wrote it about four to five months ago and it was sitting on my computer ever since.

It's has elements from the Comic's and Cartoon series.

Hope everyone enjoys this tale!

Dark Voice.

STOP THINKING ABOUT HER!the voice screams form inside my head. Focus, your city needs you to protect it and not to think about her. I hate the flower shop below me, for I can smell those exotic flowery scents in the air that remind me of her. She always smells so good that it is almost intoxicating and even the exotic flowers pale in comparison. Now get your act together and move.STOP IT NOW!the voice once again berates me. I listen to the voice and move.

I swing to another building across the way, where I can smell the rotting garbage of the alley. It strangely clears my mind so that I can focus on what needs to be done tonight. It is the only way to stop the tormenting voice. I feel it in my bones someone is following me and continue to move along the roof tops, as the figure continues to trail me. Crouching against a wall, I watch as the figure in black stealthily passes me.

He looks to be a male and with a swift movement I pull from the shadows. I drag my foot to make my presence known. The black figure stops and angrily turns around. Cold blue eyes stare at me before and equally cold male voice growls at me, "Stay away from her!"

I know who he is, Thomas Andrew Tresser also known as Nemesis. We used to be friends. I helped him a while back to clear his brother's name and we'd been allies ever since. I had even sponsored him when he joined the League, but that was before he started flirting with HER and before he started dating HER and making HER happy in a way Bruce had never allowed himself. The HER in question of course is Diana, the beautiful princess of the Amazons and Tom's current girlfriend. He radiates anger as he continues to stare at me, the fearsome Dark Knight of Gotham.

"Or?" I ask him stoically not sure if I want a fight or not.

Tresser opens him mouth and snarls, "Or? I will make you! You cold son of a bitch."

"A threat?" I say without emotion.

He takes a step towards me and points his finger, "NO! It's a promise. I will not see a strong woman like Diana cry over a cold bastard like you." he hisses while the corners of his mouth turn up into a slightly menacing smile.

"Better men have tried," I reply back in an equally menacing voice.

"I mean it Batman stay away from Diana or you will wish you had never been born!" With that statement, Tresser turns and walks away.

I stand there for a moment and watch him leave. If I was in his shoes I would be just as angry. I know I shouldn't have stopped at her place last night to talk. You didn't want to talk Bruce, another softer voice chastises me, you wanted to see her again; see love in her beautiful blue eyes. A love that she only had for you. Just forget her,the dark voice says once again. NO! The other voice yells at the dark part of my brain. She is happy he needs to leave her alone,the dark menacing voice of the Bat tells the small eight year old boy in my mind.

Thinking about last night is causing the darkness in me to shrink back. I knew about Diana's new romance with Tresser and had heard they were starting to date. This turn of events caused me to confront the idea that Diana would not wait for me. You stupid idiot, you sure are self-centered to expect an amazing woman like Diana to deny herself happiness and wait around for an emotional cripple like yourself, the dark voice continues to berate me. Then it says, Face it, you're empty! No one wants a dark bleak future with you especially someone like her, she grew up in paradise for Christ's sake.

It's true; I'm not worthy of anyone's affections. I'm not quite human anymore; it's as if my soul is leaving me. Why even Clark, Mr. Sunshine and happy thoughts, has stated I'm not myself anymore. Has the darkness taken my humanity away? You know you haven't been human since you were eight! The voice continues to hiss at me pulling me closer to the darkness. NO! WE ARE HUMAN! the little boy in me pleads. The little eight year old child in me who knows nothing is wrong with the world and that good always wins over evil. That is until that fateful day when my world was turned upside down and inside out.

I went to see Diana because... because I wanted to feel her light one more time. I am selfish, why can't I just let her go? No I can't, because I have to feel I'm in control of everything and every body. Surrender to me, I can make all this pain go away, the dark voice is whispering once again. I should, life would be so easy. No concerns, no feelings to hurt me, no memories to dwell on.

DON'T! the small voice yells, I will not let you because life is beautiful if you look in the right places. Will you just shut up. You're not helping, you're just causing him unnecessary pain, the dark voice growls.

"ENOUGH!" I scream at the both of them. I pull myself back to reality and move on but both voices continue to whisper to me during the quiet times of my patrol.

I pull the Batmobile into the cave and get out and slowly walk to my chair. Once there I sit and start to type into the computer. I write reports about tonight's patrol and also look at some research I've been doing. See how with no distractions work is easier, the dark voice starts to convince me. What kind of life is this? Dread, loneliness, darkness? Our parents wouldn't want this for us, you know that, the boy in me counters.

Why must you always remind him of his parents? It only confuses and hurts him, the dark voice snarls. Because our parents saw the good in life and the world where as all you see are evil plots everywhere you look. You are completely paranoid and we don't need to be this way, says the cheerful voice of the boy. The happiness of the boy's voice forces the darkness at bay.

Do you think he could've survived without me, I protected him, the darkness states as fact. I am the one that held him together during the worst of times, he cannot live without me.

At first you did, but now your trying to consume him with your hate and darkness, the boy reasons.

I pull myself back to reality once again trying my best to ignore the two battling voices in my head and to finish my work. Another fun time in my head, maybe I should talk with J'onn, I think I may be on the verge of a psychotic break. Normal people do not have voices constantly arguing in their heads. NO, he will see our secrets. He can't see our secrets and you can't trust him. You can't trust anybody, the dark voice speaks in panic. You're scared, the child laughs, your darkness can't hide you forever. Be quiet, I fear nothing because I feel nothing, the dark voice hisses. Do you really believe that. You're pathetic, you lie and hide from the truth because you do feel fear and pain, the boy sings out causing the dark voice to be quiet.

I need to focus and shut out these voices... time for bed. I need to get up early for a meeting. It is time to drag myself out of the chair and head up to the manor. Sleep isn't my favorite time as there are always nightmares except when I'm near her. I sometimes think I could get a good night's sleep if she is lying next to me and sometimes I imagine that she is. It never works and I dream of death, some punk with a gun taking all the light away until I am drowning in fear and loneliness. With heavy feet, I enter my bedroom. The bed is ready for me to sleep. Sleep.. what a joke. I haven't had a restful sleep in years. It's just one of the pains I force myself to endure each and every day. I lay there and look at the ceiling, replaying different events in my mind. One continues to repeat itself.

I went to see Diana. Why did I have to do that? Couldn't I just leave her be? No, because I'm a selfish bastard! She was as lovely as always that was until I started to press her about her feelings for Tresser. She just glared and told me it was none my business as we didn't have a relationship. Then when I couldn't have been more of a prick to her I just had to kiss her. That kiss that had made the dark voice in me angrier then he has ever been. Why? I ask myself. Because we don't need comfort or passion in our lives, it will only weaken us, the dark voice rasps.

Then why did it feel right? the child whispers. Yes it did feel good to have her in my arms and feel her tender lips against mine. When I close my eyes, I can still taste her on my lips. It had been so wonderful until I tasted her salty tears. I could see the confusion and pain in her eyes. It hurt worse than if she had slapped me through the wall like I deserved.

"Why Bruce? Why can't you let me go? Why do you have to continue to hurt me?" she said in a sad voice.

I couldn't answer her. I wanted to tell her that I loved her but I couldn't. The darkness fed off of my hurt and wouldn't allow the words to come. The darkness only allows me brief moments of joy and hope before it rips it away to feed itself and to grow stronger and to make me never want to feel again. I left without answering a crying Diana, I could never tell her the truth of why I couldn't let her go.

Sleep finally comes to me, but the mind never sleeps. I dream of Diana, but it is twisted. At first she brought light to my soul and made me feel love on a deep level that I hadn't felt since my parents died. The darkness in me changed it and I started to cause her pain because I couldn't give her what she wanted. The pain I've caused her throughout the years started to feed the damn darkness in me. The darkness weaves vivid dreams to break me down more, I can feel myself turning slowly to nothingness.

The alarm clock wakes me from my tormented dreams. Another day of misery. Maybe I should buy a gun and end it all, no the darkness and the child won't allow that.

The day is cloudy and dark which is just how my soul feels at the moment. I force myself to put on that stupid goofy smile and pretend life is so great. Everyone thinks Bruce Wayne has it so great! Money, women, power. I'd trade it all to have my parents back for five minutes and Diana as my loving wife, but that cannot be.

Another day of fooling the world, of putting on the act so that the Bat can exist. Alfred isn't home which is strange as he always brings me coffee and the paper in the morning. The house is quiet, too quiet causing a shiver of fear to run down my spine. I stealthily move around the house and find nothing and no one. Not even a note saying he went to the grocery store.

Maybe Alfred is in the Cave, though he rarely goes there when I'm not there. I slowly descended down the stairs to the Cave. It's quiet here also, something didn't feel right. I move towards my suit and continue to keep an eye out as I decide to put it on. I won't be going to Wayne Enterprises until I figure out what was going on and where Alfred is. Feeling more secure with my cowl over my face, I investigate the cave. Nothing! I sit and turn on the computer, looking around making sure I'm safe as the computer screen slowly fades in. I turn my attention to the screen and notice it.

The screen's background normally is gray but a black shadow is on the screen and it is looking back at me. It's white eyes blink and I know this isn't right. It's mouth opens and I hear a dark and forbidding voice come from it. "WELCOME BATMAN!" it crackles at me.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"HAHAHAHAHA... I'm the Shadow of Soul.. your time is up.. it's your time to die!!" The face's blank eyes grow larger and its lips curl into a sadistic smile. The Shadow of Soul slowly comes out of the screen. I jump back knocking my chair into flying behind me. The Shadow of Soul is facing me. I smell death on its breath, it's stale and rotting. I reach for a batarang and throw it at the dark creature. He deflects it with a swift movement of his ghost like hand.

I slowly back up and try to see any opening on in my opponent, the figure of the Shadow of Soul is phasing into reality and back out like a strobe light. He stalks me, trying to corner me. I throw a smoke bomb at his feet and use my grappling hook to get me to the batmobile so that I can get away. I need time to figure out how to beat this new enemy. As I'm flying towards the car I press a remote to open the canopy. Landing inside I close the roof. The Shadow of Soul is already at the window. He is smiling his deathly smile at me. He is laughing and I can hear him say, "YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME! YOUR DEATH WILL BE MINE!"

I start the engine and back the hell out of the cave as fast as this vehicle will go and with a quick turn of the wheel and a foot on brake I turn the car around and punch it into first. My first thought is 'Dick can help me,' and I have the vehicle going at its top speed to Blüdhaven. Fifteen minutes later I slam on the breaks in front of Dick's apartment building. I hop out of the car and make my way up the stairs. I knock on the door and hear nothing. Picking the lock, I let myself in. Looking around suddenly I hear a slight noise. I turn and there is the Shadow of Soul holding Dick by the neck. His head is hanging at such an angle that I know he is dead.

"You can't run Bruce.. I know everything about you! I will destroy everything you love." the Shadow of Soul laughs at me. The sound sends a cold shiver down my spine. I launch myself at him. Just as I'm about to get my hands on him he bats me away like a bad memory. I land against the wall as he drops the dead Richard Grayson from his grasp. I watch as if in slow motion as Dick's dead body hits the floor.

"RAAAWWWWW!" I scream as I jump to my feet and with insane speed and strength start to hit the Shadow of Soul. The look in its eyes never falters. It's still smiling at me as it takes the blows.

I pull out a batarang and start to stab him with the sharp pointy end. It inflicts no damage to this creature from hell. Finally bored with my behavior the creature slaps me off of him. I roll with the blow and land on my feet. Seeing that I have no way of hurting this Shadow of Soul, I jump out the window. Glass flies down with me. I'm a little off from the batmobile so I fire my grapple hook and swing towards the car.

As I'm landing in the car I can see the Shadow of Soul follow my trail down from the building. He seems to be able to fly or glide down to the ground. I'm already passing him in the car as his feet touch the ground. Metropolis, have to get there and get Superman to help me. Once I hit the highway I flick a switch and the Batmobile is kicked into a higher gear. Flames spit out from the rear end of the vehicle.

I've never driven it this fast. My speedometer is reading nearly 330 mph. I pass by the lone vehicles on the highway like they were standing still. Thank goodness that morning rush hour is over. The center line that is normally broken along the highway has turned into a solid line.

I enter Metropolis and slow my speed to a more reasonable 160 mph and weave in and out of traffic. Pulling up to the building that houses Clark Kent's apartment, I fire a grappling hook skywards. Counting the floors until I reach my destination, I land feet first on Clark's balcony. Knowing Clark didn't lock the sliding glass door on the balcony, I slide the door open.

"Clark its Batman!" I yell into the apartment. I hear no response. Is he off on a mission?

As I am looking around the living room there's the sound of footsteps in the hallway so I slide over to a wall and peer around the corner. Clark is gasping for air and the Shadow of Soul has him in one of his black hands. Clark was mouthing something to me, but I'm to surprised to read he lips. Clark is dangling like a toy in the hands of the Shadow of Soul.

"Your mightiest friend is no match for me... Watch as I break him.. like I'm going to do to you." he tells me with a satanic growl. I watch in horror as Clark's neck twists at a weird angle just like Dick's. The life in Clark's eyes leaves him. The Shadow of Soul throws Clark against the wall and slides he down into a heap on the floor. Then The Shadow of Soul turns his attention to me. "Stop fighting it Bruce... Just give up and I will take away your pain forever!! HAHAHAHA!" he says as he laughs at me.

Nodding my head I tell him. "Sure... if you can catch me." I run and jump from the balcony. The wind feels good on my face, it forces me to focus on getting the hell away from it and figure out a plan of attack. I fire my grapple hook and swing down to the car. Opening up my cape to slow my descent. Landing in the cockpit I roar off without bothering to see if he was following me.

Once back on the highway I start to think. He knew everything about me. Or does he? There is one place even Alfred doesn't know about. I turn off all tracking equipment on the vehicle and disable the computer systems. Once that is done I reverse my direction and head to the one place no one would ever thing of Batman being.

I pull into a old abandoned farm house that I owned and park the batmobile in the barn. I enter the sedan that is in the barn. leaving my batsuit in the batmobile. I head south in the sedan. After twenty hours of driving without any stops except for gas and to go to the bathroom, I arrive in Jacksonville Florida. I own a small warehouse on the outskirts of the city. It is fitted with enough supplies to hold me over if I truly had to go underground.

The drive down was nerve racking, I swear I saw shadows all over the place. My mind is in constant overdrive and I am the most afraid that I have ever been since my parents were killed. As I continue to look out for the Shadow of Soul, I arrive at the warehouse and park the car inside and finally feel safe for the moment.

I have a chance to finally sleep, it's been almost two days of adrenalin filled fear since I have slept. But I dream only of Dick and Clark's deaths at the hands of Shadow of Soul. I wake and it takes me a second or two to remember where I am and why. I have something to eat then I take a shower and shave all the while thinking about what to do next.

An alarm system goes off which means someone is on the property of the warehouse. I turn and look at an old black and white TV monitor that had just captured a shadow. Damn it, he found me. As I'm grabbing some things I might need, the door to the warehouse opens. I swiftly plan how I am going to get to the car and peek over a crate to see the Shadow of Souls location only to be surprised. It isn't The Shadow of Souls but her! What in the hell is Diana doing here?

I rise from my hiding spot. "What are you doing here Princess?"

Diana jumps as I startle her but then looks at me with concerned eyes. "Bruce.. thank Hera I found you," she says softly.

"How did you find me? This location isn't known by anyone except me!" I yell at her.

Diana starts to walk towards me but I can't shake the feeling this isn't right. I start to back away from her. "You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't have known how to find me." I can feel my mind start to freak out. If she found me then the Shadow of Souls couldn't be far behind. I couldn't let him hurt Diana. "You need to leave!" I scream.

"No! Bruce listen to me this isn't real." Diana yells at me from across the warehouse floor.

"Sure feels DAMN real to me.. I watched that monster kill Dick and Clark... I can't let it kill you. I need for you to get out of here before it comes." I plead to her.

Diana has a look of panic on her face as she tells me. "Listen to me.. You're trapped in your own mind.. J'onn, Clark, Dick, Tim, Alfred and the rest are in your bedroom watching you lay in your bed. Alfred tried to wake you yesterday morning and he couldn't so he contacted the League. You seem to be in a self-induced coma. J'onn has speculated that your suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder. Your mind seems to be split into three distinct personalities and your dark personality is trying to take over your whole personalty." Diana explains to me.

Something clicks in my mind as I realize something, the voices have not spoken to me in days. "How? Why am I in a coma?"

Diana shakes her head. "We don't know but J'onn thinks its some kind of safety valve you created in your mind when you felt that the dark personality was getting too strong."

"Why are you here inside my mind? Why didn't J'onn contact me?" I ask her.

"He tried as well as Alfred and Dick but they couldn't seem to contact you. I volunteered to go next and a little boy came to me and brought me here where I found you." Diana continues to explain. As she says this information a young boy with dark hair and wearing a tailored suit comes out from behind her. I fall to my knees, the little boy is me as an eight year old.

"I've brought her here.. She is the light that will help heal us.. we need her love.. stop pushing her away." my little self tells me.

I look at both of them and nod my head and get to my feet. He is right and Diana can help me to wake from this nightmare. As I make my way to them I see something out of the corner of my eye. IT'S HIM! My little self and I turn to the black figure. He comes out of the shadows and walks towards us. The shadow isn't like before, it's more solid and looks like Batman but a Batman that never saw the light of day. The exposed skin of his jaw was ghostly white and its pale red lips are twisted into a menacing smile.

"You don't need her she will weaken you and hurt the mission. I protected us when we need the protection. Stop this fight and let me take control!" it said harshly like I do when I'm in the Batsuit.

The little boy walked up to him and stood his ground before he said. "NO! You did protect us, but we do not want your darkness all the time. You fit a purpose in our life, but not all the time!" my eight year old self yells at him.

"He would have been in an institution by now if it wasn't for me. Even with people like Alfred and Leslie to love him he would have probably become a drug addict to deal with the pain if I hadn't given him a purpose and a mission! He doesn't need more than the mission." The Batman growls.

The boy turns to Diana. I watch him as he starts to talk. "We need your help." The little boy says as he grabs Diana's hand.

I see the look of puzzlement on her face. "How can I help?" Diana asks the little boy.

"We love you.. have since the first day we saw you.. we will love you until our last dying breath.. even the Batman part of us loves you.. but he will not allow it.. says it will interfere with the mission and he always gets us to push you away.. but I know you will only help the mission.. help us!" my little self pleads with Diana.

"ENOUGH!!" my Batman persona yells. "We don't need any help.. she will only get in the WAY!!!"

My little self shakes his head no. "He lies.. he senses the truth, but doesn't want to hear it.. he is scared of your light Diana..He is scared of love."

"I fear nothing because I feel nothing!" my Batman persona hollers. "I don't trust meta humans.. she is one of them..we can't trust her...we can't love her..."

"Yes she is.. but she isn't going to hurt us, only bring love and light to our life and make us whole..we can be one person who can love her and protect Gotham. Diana we love you, do you love us?" little Bruce asks. She stares at him shocked at what is going on in my head.

"HAHAHA!" my Batman half laughs. "She can't love the emotionally crippled person we are.. keep on dreaming kid."

Diana glares at the Batman persona and says, "At one time I did love you with all my heart.. But you kept on pushing me away. I can't lie and say I love you with all my heart like I did at one time.. I do love you but I can't deal with you always pushing me away. I just hurts too much."

The Batman part of me glares at her. "Then let me make it plain and clear Princess." he pulled out a Batarang threateningly. "I will just kill you and then it will be over and we can get on with the mission without you."

I try to step in front of him and block him from hurting Diana, but the Batman just walks through me. "Stay out of this, playboy!" he growls at me as he continues to walk towards her.

Little Bruce continues to stand in front of Diana protectively. "You can't! I will not allow it."

My Batman self smiles evilly. "Just like the others, I will not allow love in when the mission hasn't been completed! Even if I feel it myself. I will cut her out of our lives it is the only way."

The little boy stands his ground and smiles. "I'm not alone." Suddenly my parents appear. My Batman persona drops the batarang and falls to his knees. "Mom...Dad?" he chokes out. Looking at my our parents I can feel something change.

Looking at each of them my Batman half finally looks at Diana and says. "Save us?" as tears roll down his face from under the cowl.

Diana links hands with my little eight year old self my parents watch. She walks toward my Batman persona and takes his hand and helps him up. Then they walk toward me.

"Bruce give me your hands," she says and she joins my left hand to my little self and my right hand to my Batman persona. I feel them blend into me as everything then went black.

I open my eyes to see J'onn looking down at me. He smiles and says. "Good you're back."

He steps away from me as I lift my head and slowly look around. I could see Clark, John, Wally, Shayera, Tim, Alfred, Dick, Cassandra, Barbara, Dr. Leslie Tompkins and finally Diana who is standing next to J'onn.

Everyone is smiling at me, I actually felt happy for once and smile back much to my friends and family's shock. I realize that the voices are gone that no one is talking inside my head. I feels peaceful. "How long was I out?" I ask them.

"Almost two days Master Bruce" Alfred tells me.

I look at J'onn and ask. "Am I better? Will this happen again?".

J'onn looks at me and says. "It's hard to tell Bruce, but we've managed to piece the different personalties into one. Even so there is still a chance it could happen again. You are going to need some therapy so that we can make sure it doesn't happen again. You can't be cured overnight, I'm afraid." the Martian smiled.

I am not pleased at the prospect of psychotherapy with J'onn but for now I put it out of my mind. For the next hour everyone questions me to see if I am truly back to normal and slowly they make excuses to leave one by one. Alfred and Diana are the last two to remain in the room. Alfred straightens the bed covers around me and asks, "Would you care for anything to eat of drink, Master Bruce."

"Yes, I'm actually kind of hungry Alfred.. so something light please." I respond to Alfred who then looks at Diana.

"A light salad would be nice" Diana says. I watch as Alfred leaves the room and then I look at Diana.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this weird episode Diana.. Tresser must be waiting for you." I say while trying to hide the pain of thinking about them being together.

"We need to talk first, Bruce." Diana says as she sits down on the edge of my bed. I look at Diana and a light smile comes to my face.

"Your right we do need to talk, but I need to say something first." I say.

I knew I had to say it before anything else. "Thank you. You saved my life in there."

Diana looks at me oddly then smiles and says, "You're welcome. We are friends first and always will be. I'll always watch your back and help you anyway I can."

I frown and say, "I haven't been a very good friend lately, I'm sorry for that as well."

Diana gives me one of her patented smiles and tells me. "You're forgiven, Bruce."

I smile at her, "So what is it you want to talk about.. my dark and twisted persona or the happy little boy?" I try to make a joke but Diana doesn't smile or laugh.

"Bruce I've seen into your mind.. and I felt all your pain and confusion...I love you and probably always will but...I care about Thomas and I know Thomas is more stable for me. He loves me and he won't try to hurt me. I will lose something of myself if I allow you to keep hurting me." Diana tells me, it feels like a knife in the heart. The truth always hurts and Diana is speaking nothing but the truth.

I look up at Diana, "I wish I were more stable, maybe I am now. I love you Diana, this episode showed me that I need your light and love. But can't force you to love me."

A single tear fell from Diana's eye, "Love isn't everything and I can't be everything for you. What happens if I disappoint you in some way. I am not perfect, Bruce and I will mess up. Will you shut me out then."

I know that she has every right to feel that way but it will be different this time because I am ready to change. "I will be different now..I know you can't be everything for me but I love you and I know you love me. Tell me, do you feel the same passion for Tresser that you do me."

Diana blinks her eyes and I grab her before she can speak and pull her into a kiss. I take advantage of her open mouth as my tongue tangles with hers. This is a battle I am going to win and Diana's paltry resistance melts away as she returns my kiss. I pour everything I have into this kiss. Years of loneliness, the years of passion I've held in check for this woman, all the trust I could muster and every single bit of happiness I can give back to her.

Diana moans into my mouth as I slowly pull away. Her face is flushed and her eyes look dazed. Slowly her vision clears and she searches my eyes for something I'm hoping will make her stay with me. She finally rests her head against mine and sighs. I pull her against me and we lay quietly together.

"You have to do therapy with J'onn," she states in her princess voice.

I grimace but say, "Of course, Princess."

"And you have to work on your relationships with Dick and Tim. They are your sons and they need to know that you love them. Cassandra as well. She needs a father who loves her more than anything," she continues to command.

"Whatever you wish, Princess."

She smiles at me, "And you have to tell me when there is a problem. I will not be shut out."

"I agree, Princess."

"Okay then we will have dinner together tomorrow night," she states and giggles at my dumbfounded expression.

"Yes, tomorrow night and every night possible, by why not tonight?" I have denied myself her for so long that I want to be with her right away.

Diana takes a breath and says, "Because I'm going to busy breaking up with Tom tonight. I can't date him when I love you."

The End.