"Rhode?" Allen asked as he opened the door, his stomach turning at the intuition of knowing she was up to no good. She was never up to any good. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" She repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Allen, honey, is that any way to greet an old friend?"

"Ex," he reminded her with a sullen face.

"About that," the batted her mascara-overloaded eyelashes, "I've been thinking, lately, Allen. About…you know…us."

"There is no "us" anymore, Rhode," Allen snapped, now annoyed. "There hasn't been an "us" in three years."

Her foot caught the door before he could close it. "Such a shame, you know? I mean, we were so good together. It'd be a shame to let a good thing like that go to waste. After all the fun times we had…"

"You practically raping me in your parents' closet is not what I'd consider "fun"." Allen said blatantly, trying to hold back a shiver from running down his spine, and pull the door shut.

"But you liked it," Rhode smiled mischievously.

"No, I didn't-"

"You're in denial and you know it, Allen Walker," she said, grabbing his shirt collar and forcing him down to her level, so that her lips were to his ear. "We could always try that again, you know. And maybe not stop so soon, either-"

"Rhode. Leave," Allen forced himself back, away from her. "There are three million people in San Francisco. Find someone else to be your boy-toy. I'm done, Rhode. I've moved on and you should, too."

"But Allen-"

"Don't "but Allen" me, Rhode," Allen snarled. "We're done. We've been done. Now, you need to leave."

She only laughed. "Allen, I know you still want me," she gestured to her body clad in daisy dukes are a bikini top and nothing else. "And I'm not leaving until you're on your knees and begging for me to stay."

Allen took a step back, and while in mid-step, Rhode lurched forward, knocking him over and straddling him into the ground. While trying to squirm out from under her, Allen's face mashed up into an expression of disgust. "Rhode, I have a-!"

Before he could get the word "girlfriend" out of his mouth, Rhode had attacked his mouth with her own, almost as if trying to swallow him in one gasp. The delicate nerves in Allen's bruised and swelling lips cried out in the constant pain Rhode was causing with her own. This was wrong. This was sexual assault. He was letting this girl assault him in his girlfriend's apartment.

This was wrong on so many levels.

But Allen didn't have to take it. He was bigger than Rhode, stronger than her. He could fight her off. In the confusion, Allen was too shocked and busy processing what was going on to think of fighting. But now he had to. Now he was going to show Rhode how much he wanted her to leave. All because he loved-

"Allen…" her soft, melodic voice cut like a white-hot knife through his ears, though her tone was that of a sad piano sonata.

Rhode, also hearing her voice, released Allen's mouth and turned to see what was going on.

Damn you! Damn you people who overuse "I can explain" and "It's not what it looks like"! Allen cursed people in his head. He wanted to explain. He wanted explain everything. The sparkle in her soft, hazel eyes had vanished, replaced by the emotions of sadness and undeniable hurt.

"Daniella…" his voice cracked. It was over. He could see right now that it was over. And it was because of Rhode.

Within a blink, she was gone, running out the door. Rhode only shrugged, readying herself to continue forcing Allen into wanting her back. But he, now overcome with rage that she showed up, forcefully pushed her off of him and took to sprinting toward the door.

"That's assault!" she complained from the floor. Allen, in the doorway, would have smirked at that, if he hadn't already been so angry,

"No, that's self-defense, bitch," he countered, then took to running in the direction Daniella had taken off in. He thought for a moment, reaching the elevators: where would she have gone? Her mom's probably would have been her first choice, but her family lived back in Chicago… Emily's, then, maybe. Her and Kanda's apartment was on the other side of the city, but it was closer than Chicago. And with Lavi and Lenalee still upstate, it was the first place that came to mind.

Skidding to a stop, Allen made the snap decision to take the stairs instead – Daniella's place was only on the third floor, so it wasn't that far. And it would be faster than waiting for an elevator. Skipping down the stairs, two and three at a time, he almost fell, had the handrails not been there.

"No, I'm afraid she's not here," Emily said, shrugging. "She and I went shopping today, but I haven't seen her since we parted ways."

Allen's shoulders fell, wondering where in the hell she could have possibly gone. The thought that maybe she was hiding out in Emily's place and just told her friend not to say that she was hiding out, but it seemed unlikely. The deadness in Emily's eyes told him that she was having problems of her own; maybe her and Kanda's relationship was on the rocks at the moment, as well. As much as Allen cared about his high school friend, he needed to find Daniella right now, vowing to come back later and ask Emily what was going on. "Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"Allen, what's going on?" Emily inquired. "It's not like her to just run off somewhere."

"It's…I promise, Emily, that I will come back and explain everything, but right now it's just kind of important that I find her, first," Allen gushed. "Please, if she's not here, do you have any idea where she might be?"

The redhead thought about this for a moment. "The overlook; she tells me all the time about how she loves the view and how you took her there on your first date. That's where I'd look. If she's not there, then I don't know."

"Thank you, Emily," Allen tried to smile before springing into action. The overlook – how could he have missed that? It seemed obvious now, that that's where she would have gone.

He was just thankful it wasn't far from where he was.

"Hey, Allen!" Emily called.

He looked back. "Yes?"

"Do you remember that threat I gave you back in Colorado, about how I was going to beat your ass if you ever hurt her?"

He gulped. "…yes."

"That still stands."

"I'm so stupid," the brunette sobbed to herself. "I'm so fucking stupid."

The view over the western edge of the city, the Pacific Ocean and the Golden Gate Bridge was breathtaking, as it always was. This was not the first time she'd revisited the overlook after Allen took her here for their first "official" date after arriving in San Francisco with Emily, Kanda and Lavi. But as of right now, she wasn't sure why she had.

Allen. That lying, cheating, motherfucking son of a bitch.

Had the past year they'd been together been an entire lie? The flowers, the romantic comedies, the kisses, the snuggles... ever since Emily had first introduced her to Allen, moments before they and the others hit the road to San Francisco, he had been such an intimate part of her life. She had a hard time believing the sincerity in his silver eyes when he told her he loved her had just been…an act.

Or was he just sick of her now? If he had broken up with her traditionally, it still would have hurt like hell, but she would have found a way to move on. But going behind her back, especially with the one ex-girlfriend he claimed he still hated after all this time… What. The. Hell.

The image burned behind her eyelids, as much as she tried to shut it out and one question hit her harder than anything else: how long had this been going on? How long had he been lying to her face? Who else knew? Did Emily know? Lenalee? Lavi? Kanda? Had they been keeping it a secret? How long had they known? How long had she looked like a stupid fool too love-struck to see what was in front of her face?

"I'm so stupid…."

Allen paused, when he eventually reached the overlook, wondering what the hell he was going to say. He had to say something, and something convincing, something that wouldn't give him a black eye.

But what? How could he even begin to explain what she saw back there? Would she even listen? It didn't take a rocket scientist to guess that she was hurt and angry beyond words, and rightfully so.

Just tell her the truth, he told himself. Explain exactly what went on. Don't be like those douche bags in movies that will swear up and down that they're sorry and shit avoid proper explanations at all costs. Just tell her the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and pray she comes around. There's nothing else you can do.

Taking a deep breath, he walked closer and sat on his knees next to the Greek beauty.

"Daniella…" he said softly. She remained silent, face buried in her arms. He gulped, wondering whether or not to continue. "I know you hate me right now, a-and I don't blame you. I hate me, too."

Silence. Only her shuddering breathing, a dead giveaway that she had been crying.

"But I-I wanted to explain what you saw back there. With God as my witness, I swear I've had no contact with Rhode since we broke up…before today," he started. At this, Daniella graced him with the cold glare of her pretty hazel eyes, but continued her silence.

Allen took this as a hint to continue. "She just…showed up. I didn't call her, talk to her, ask her to meet me, or anything; I'm not even sure how she found me. She was just…there."

"Why didn't you tell her to leave?" Daniella's voice cracked hoarsely.

"I did!" Allen pleaded. "I told her several times to leave. She just…wouldn't. I wanted her to leave, I-"

"And you still let her manage to shove her tongue down your throat?" she snapped, and Allen's heart was torn to pieces. He was losing her. He could see it in the deadness in her eyes. "Allen, how do I know I can believe a word you say?"

Extra tears began to sting his eyes, as he looked at her beautiful face; hazel, doe eyes rimmed in red, cheeks tear-stained, lips turned slightly upward in a sneer.

"Daniella…" he trailed, looking for the right words to say. "When have I ever lied to you?"

She paused, looking down; Allen gained a small victory. She's actually listening, he thought. Slowly, he took her face in his hands and pressed his forehead to hers. "Daniella Maria Tripodis, I swear on Mana's grave, I have never loved any woman more than I love you."

"Not even Rhode?" she asked weakly.

Allen exhaled. "Especially not Rhode."

Daniella looked up at Allen, tears threatening to flow from her eyes, though a small smile played at the ends of her lip. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he did not hesitate to return her hug. Relief hit him like a tidal wave; he had not lost the woman he loved so dearly.

"S' agapó, Allen," she whispered. He smiled – the line was one of the very few Greek phrases he knew.

"I love you, too, Daniella," he whispered back to her. "I always will."