Author's Note:

So I decided to do a story about Dante's feelings and time away from Nero. It starts the day that Nero left and ends right where "Closing Time, Take Me Home" begins. The song that I chose for this story is "Boys of Summer" by the Atari's. I felt like kind of fit and that the Atari's version was more angst and told a better story of heartbreak from a man's point of view. Anyway, I hope you like this and it will be Dante/Nero. However once again it won't get graphic simply because I'm not good at writing those scenes. Also I do not own Devil May Cry, Dante, Nero, the song "Boys of Summer", or the band "The Atari's".

The Boys of Summer –

*I'm drivin' by your house, though I know you're not home…*

The first thing Dante noticed as he began to slowly re-enter the land wakefulness was that it was already hot out despite the early morning hour. The second thing he noticed was that he was completely alone. Sitting up suddenly and now fully awake he looked around his messy room for any sign of a certain blue eyed punk. Finding none he flipped the red silk sheet from his naked form, wincing as it clung thickly to his already sweating body. Standing, he surveyed the room again. There was no sign of the kid…even his clothes from the night before where gone. Scowling Dante grabbed a pair of pants off the floor and after pulling them on, threw his bedroom door open and stepped out into the hall…nothing…not even a peep that the kid was even in the shop.

"Yo kid did you die or something?" Dante called out into the silence. No reply.

"Come on Kid you pissed about last night? Look I can explain about the whole biting thing…" Dante began as he started down the stairs.

Nothing but silence greeted him. Dante stopped at the base of the stairs and looked around, there was no sign of a struggle, well…except for the phone that was still lying off the hook on the floor from the night before. Well there was no way the kid had gone on a mission then, and even if had, he would have told Dante no matter how pissed off he was. Suddenly something on the wall caught Dante's attention or rather, a lack of something on the wall. Nero's sword and gun were gone from their places on the wall amongst the other devil arms.

"Well if the kid didn't go on a mission then why are"…suddenly Dante's heart seemed to stop cold. No…he wouldn't…he wouldn't have just up and…not after last night… he wouldn't.

However a sick and dark feeling began twisting its way into Dante's gut. Turning Dante raced up the stairs two at a time until he came to a skidding stop in front of Nero's room. The door was slightly ajar…which was all sorts of wrong. Nero never left his door open for anything, the place might as have been Fort Knox. The feeling in Dante's gut grew to an almost intolerable level as he slowly pushed the door open and looked inside. What he saw made his heart freeze and his body lock up and shut down. The drawers of Nero's dresser where haphazardly pulled open…and completely empty. The open closet door was enough to reveal that it too had been completely cleaned out. Everything…all of Nero's things where gone…all that remained was his lingering yet fading scent. Somehow, Dante managed to make it over to collapse onto Nero's bare bed. There he sat in a state of what most would have called shock.

And that's where Trish and Lady found him three days later.

~*One Month Later*~

"Come on Dante it's been over a month and you haven't left your bed to do more than take a piss! At least eat something and take a god damn shower for Christ sake before we have to burn everything in here to get rid of the smell!" Lady ranted at the motionless devil hunter whom she was seriously beginning to get very worried about.

"I mean it Dante! Look Trish has fresh pizza and cold beer down stairs, and I promise no olives we made extra sure," Lady tried again throwing a tiny bit of niceness into her voice, still she got no response…not even a grunt or sigh.

Okay…this was serious, if the bribe of fresh pizza, with no olives, and ice cold beer couldn't even get a response from the normally overly zealous pizza loving hunter, then things where bad…really bad. Lady frowned, if she hadn't of been able to see the rise and fall of said hunter's back she probably would have thought he was dead.

'Not that he doesn't want to be…' Lady thought with a sigh.

Dante was indeed a sorry mess to behold. He lay on his stomach with his face buried in his pillow that was so stain with what Lady assumed where tears that she was sure that silk was defiantly ruined. He was wearing the same pants that she and Trish had found him in over a month ago, but even from this distance Lady could see that the normally skin tight leather was actually sagging a bit on the elder hunters hips. Shaking her head Lady sighed heavily before she gave up and spinning on her heel left the room making sure to slam the door hard behind her.

"Would it kill you to be just a little nice for once?" Trish asked as Lady came to a stop at the base of the stairs.

"Right now yes, he's acting like a damn child! For god's sake so he lost his fuck buddy, it's not like he can't get a dozen more!" Lady ranted throwing her hands up in frustration. God only knew she had defiantly had her fill of caring for the wallowing hunter. Hell she was pissed off at him for making her worry too!

"Fuck buddy? I'll be the first to admit Dante is defiantly a flirt and a bit of a man whore, but do you really think he'd get this upset over a fuck buddy?" Trish asked in a hard voice.

"Well…I guess not…" Lady replied suddenly feeling guilty, another thing to be pissed at Dante for.

"Nero wasn't just Dante's fuck buddy…I…I think he marked the kid," Trish stated in a sorrowful tone.

"Wait…marked, as in I want to be with you forever and have you as my mate, marked?" Lady's asked disbelievingly.

"Yes. He mumbled something about it when we found him in Nero's room. I didn't really put it all together until recently when he refused to snap out of this, "the blonde stated as she cracked open a beer and grabbed a slice of pizza, no sense in it all going to waste.

"What do we do?" Lady asked as she grabbed a beer for herself as well.

"We wait…he'll either find the will to get up and somewhat live, or he'll lose the will to live altogether," Trish answered taking a long sip from her beer.

"You mean he might actually die over this?" the brunette was shocked…Dante die…of a broken heart? That didn't seem possible…let alone logical.

"Demons mate for life Lady…it's not something we take lightly for this very reason. I have seen many demons lose the will to live after their mates have either died themselves…or worse, rejected them." The blonde was quite for a moment as he took a bite of pizza and chewed slowly.

"Do you really think Nero rejected Dante," Lady asked the now quiet blonde.

"It would appear so wouldn't it?" was the only answer she received.

Unbeknownst to the two women downstairs a certain devil hunter lay in his bed shaking uncontrollably as silent but desperate sobs wracked his thinning pale frame. Yes, he had been rejected by the only other person besides his mother and brother that he had dared to love. In that revelation Dante Sparda…son of the great Dark Knight Sparda…was truly and utterly broken.

*I never will forget those nights, I wonder if it was a dream. Remember how you made me crazy; remember how I made you scream? Now I don't understand what happened to our love…*

~*Five Months Later*~

"Last call!" the beefy bartender called out above the juke box and restless chatter.

Dante sighed heavily swirling the ice in his nearly empty glass. Spinning around on his bar stool, and somehow managing to not fall off in the process, he surveyed his fellow drinkers and misery wallowers. Or at least tried too…his vision didn't want to seem to stop spinning long enough for him to focus on any one face for longer than a few seconds. Maybe he shouldn't have had those last ten…fifteen…or was it twenty drinks.

"Shit…" he mumbled leaning his head back to stare at the dirty cigarette smoke stained ceiling. What did it matter…even if he found some drunk bimbo or loser to drag him home. It wouldn't be Ne…

"Nope not going there," the older hunter slurred to himself. Turning back around to face the bar, and once again miraculously managing to stay seated upright, Dante waved the bartender over…

*A little voice inside my head said, "Don't look back, you can never look back". I thought I knew what love was what did I know? Those days are gone forever. I should just let them go but, I can see you, your pale skin shinin' in the sun…*

Author's End Note:

Well there it is. Sorry it's so short but I just wanted to kind of do something quick, and I felt like if I dwelled on it too long I would make Dante seem to girly and weak. I think I already did that enough anyway. So please review if you liked, or even if you didn't, just please don't flame about the pairing. If you don't like then don't read these types of stories. Thank you all!