Niles cringed at the stern lecture that his brother had just given him, but he supposed he deserved it. After all, he was merely looking out for Daphne's best interests.

But even the unspoken lie made his nose bleed worsen.

He held the handkerchief under his nose, certain that another lecture would follow.

Instead he heard;

"Daphne, could you come in here please?"

Suddenly Niles began to panic.

"Frasier, what are you doing?"

"Putting an end to this nonsense!" his older brother replied. "You are going to tell Daphne the truth!"

"But Frasier, I can't!" Niles cried. "If I tell Daphne that I lied to her, she'll never forgive me!"

"Only the truth shall make you clot!" Frasier said firmly.

With a deep sigh, Niles tilted his head backwards in hope that the bleeding would cease soon.

Within seconds his angel appeared, gracing the un-ordinary bathroom with her presence.

"You wanted to see me, Dr. Crane?"

"Yes, Daphne; Niles has something he wishes to discuss with you."

Daphne turned to Niles and smiled. "All right."

"I'll leave you two alone."

The stern look Frasier flashed Niles before leaving cut like a knife and he tried to force himself to ignore it.

"So what would you like to talk about?"

He swallowed hard, unable to bear the thought of losing her friendship.

"Daphne, I-."

"Oh look! You have a spot on your tie!"

She moved closer and began dabbing at his tie with a wet cloth. As the scent of her perfume reached his nose, he almost forgot what he was going to say.

No doubt the spot was caused by his ridiculous nosebleed.

"Thank you, Daphne." He managed to say.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked again.

"Um... Well... It's about Joe."

She sighed irritably, surprising him.

"Something wrong?"

"I'm so glad you warned me about Joe, Dr. Crane. I really liked him and all, but it would be just like a man like him to take advantage of me! Men can be so unkind and selfish when it comes to women like meself; women who are obviously unattached! It's almost like they know I don't have a man in me life and-."

Suddenly Niles felt lower than before.

"Daphne?" He interrupted.

"Yes, Dr. Crane?"

"About Joe-."

She gasped in horror. "Oh, I'm sorry, Dr. Crane! I didn't mean to imply that you were anything like him! You're far from it! You're kind, sweet, sensitive and the most selfless man I know!"

"That's very kind of you Daphne, but I'm afraid that I'm much less of a person than you think."

"Hush! That's complete nonsense! Now what were you going to tell me?"

"Well, when I said all of those things about Joe, I-."

"Yes?"

"They aren't true. He doesn't sleep around."

She blinked in surprise. "Well, that's good to know. But it doesn't matter anyway. I was rather harsh with him when he kept askin' me out, so there's no chance he'd want to go out with me now."

Just when Niles thought he couldn't feel more humiliated, he'd just been proven wrong.

"Daphne, Joe would be a fool not to want to go out with you."

The words hurt like crazy, but at least they were truthful.

To his relief Daphne smiled.

"That's sweet of you to say, but-."

"Daphne I lied to you."

She looked up sharply; her mouth open in surprise.

"What?"

"When I said all of those things about Joe. I-I lied. I said he slept around because... Well... I didn't want you to have him... or anyone."

She nodded woodenly. "I see."

A long, painful silence followed.

"I'm sorry Daphne. I-."

"You're supposed to be my friend, Dr. Crane!" She yelled, startling him with the outburst. "How could you say such a horrible thing like that about someone? You're a psychiatrist! I thought you cared about people's feelings! Or is your profession all just an attempt to make yourself look good?"

The shame Niles had felt when Frasier was chiding him had hurt, but it was nothing compared to this humiliation.

He'd hurt Daphne and lost her trust in him. There was nothing left to do now but tell her the truth; no matter what the outcome.

"I know it was selfish and inconsiderate but I told you those things about Joe because I-."

"It doesn't matter. At least you told me the truth. I suppose I should go talk to Joe and explain. I just hope he understands."

"I'll talk to him." Niles said quickly.

"You?"

"This is my fault. I should be the one to fix it."

Without waiting for a reply, Niles walked past her and returned to the living room. He might have ruined his chance of ever winning Daphne's heart, but he was determined to keep her friendship. For it meant more to him than anything in the world. Without it, he didn't know if he'd be able to go on.

(A half hour later)

The construction crew gone, Niles sighed as he poured himself another glass of sherry. The air outside was crisp and the wind was a bit too brisk to be standing on the balcony for too long, but Niles didn't care.

As he stared out at the city before him, he didn't dare return to the living room. Just knowing that Daphne was with Joe was painful enough. And the fact that he'd made their union possible hurt even more.

But he was also grateful that he'd made an attempt to save their friendship. Still, he couldn't hide on Frasier's balcony forever.

With a sigh he opened the door and returned to the living room and immediately stopped in his tracks.

"Daphne!"

Her presence startled him and for a moment he thought he was dreaming.
"I'm sorry if I scared you." She said as though reading his mind.

"No, you didn't. I just thought..."

"That I'd be out with Joe." Daphne finished.

He nodded wordlessly.

"Well I was planning to, but it... it didn't work out."

"Oh Daphne, I'm so sorry! And I'm so ashamed of my behavior. I was sure that once I talked to him, he'd change his mind."

"H-he did, actually."

Surprised by this, Niles eyes met hers.

"What?"

Daphne sighed. "He did change his mind. In fact, he was very anxious to take me to dinner."

"So why didn't you take him up on his offer?"

"Joe told me what you said."

"Daphne, I'm sorry. I-."

"Shhh..."

Her fingers trembled on his lips.

Too stunned to speak, he swallowed hard.

"Did you mean what you said to him? About me hair and that stuff about me bein' an angel and a goddess?"

Niles let out a nervous sigh. "Yes, of course, but-."

She hugged him warmly; a long hug that he melted into. "That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said about Me."

"Well, I-."

"Thank you, Dr. Crane. You're such a sweet, kind-hearted man, and I wish I had known how you felt about me before. I'm deeply flattered."

Before he could respond, she leaned over and kissed his cheek; her lips lingering for several seconds.

When she drew back, he stared into her beautiful brown eyes, reminding himself to breathe.

"Dr. Crane?"

"Yes, Daphne?"

"I'm a bit hungry, aren't you?"

"As a matter of fact I am."

"Would you like to have dinner with me?"

Niles was astonished. This beautiful, angelic goddess was asking him out?

"That sounds heavenly." He replied without a moment's hesitation.

"Really?" She asked, blushing as though she was surprised by his answer.

"I'd be honored to have dinner with you."

Daphne smiled. "All right, then. Where should we go?"

"Anywhere you like my angel."

He put his arm around her and led her out of the condo, blissfully aware of her head leaning against his shoulder.

Sometimes the truth hurts... but sometimes it can lead to wonderful things.

THE END