Chapter 1 - A Chance Meeting

The third time Dante met her, he was dead set on satisfying his slowly growing need to find out more. The image of the running shadow of a miserable, drenched woman had burned itself into his mind.

Early in the morning, after Nero and had finished an insultingly easy job, Dante had more observed the younger hunter than actually taking action, they had decided to reward themselves with a delicious sweet treat for breakfast.

Both men were seated comfortably in a yet empty cafe, Nero had come across on of his many curious excursion after moving here, turning it into his favorite place to satisfy his nearly insatiable sweet tooth, which he shared with Dante.

It was a cosy, small waffle house and bakery, nothing more nothing less. To the older one's delight, the staff still went out of their way to make him a strawberry sundae, though it wasn't on the menu initially and certainly not a breakfast item either., but the ingredients to serve him am ice cream cup were nonetheless available. So he had shamelessly voiced his request to the busty middle-aged waitress and had succeeded in hilariously charming her into making an exception for him.

Nero had just rolled his eyes in annoyance, though he couldn't help the amused grin nonetheless. In addition, he was simply amazed at the fact of how easily Dante had wrapped her around his finger in no time.

Great. Nero just knew from now on, he would never hear the end of it. He gritted his teeth at the inevitable outcome. All the female personnel was excessively and openly fawning over the, in their opinion, handsome customer and this wasn't even exaggerated.

They surely wouldn't leave Nero alone anymore about the older devil hunter.

Fantastic.

Chances were slim to none to find a joint as good as this again, where he could eat his waffles and pancakes in peace and quiet. So, yeah. He would have to put up with that. And if it would be turn out to be much, he would simply tell them what a dirty manwhore Dante was. That ought to do the trick for sure. Nero was still absolutely clueless, how the female minds could work.

Dante on the other hand greedily gulped his ice cream down, mentally cheering at his success, without much chewing and Nero watched in slight disgust. He had his headphones on, so he could fully concentrate on his own task of eating these delicious waffles drenched in syrup and topped with enough whipped cream to upset the stomach. And without having to listen the petty chatter around him.

Dante, for once silent and content, still watched many a passer-by outside until one in particular gained his undivided attention. His face was a display between surprise and somehow relief, as he observed this particular woman, scuffling her tired feet along the pavement. Same brown unlaced boots. Grey dirty jeans. Jacket with frayed ends. Filthy, red backpack. Brown dull hair in a messy ponytail.

"What's wrong now?" Nero asked, pulling his headphones down in the process, intently watching Dante's tensed body.

"Oh, just thought I saw someone." Dante muttered absent-mindedly, eyes still following her movement carefully. He pursed his lips, considering his options. He shouldn't really feel bothered by it. So many people walked around like this. He couldn't help them, and their disillusioned haunting eyes, every time he saw one. And even trying would be exhausting and futile and a burden.

He gave Nero a brief, thoughtful once over from the corner of his eye. The younger devil hunter was staring outside as well to find the source of Dante's interest to no avail.

She must be close to Nero's age, Dante mused. And well, Nero got lucky, because he actually found someone to help and accompany him through his, to this day, darkest period of his still young life. Many people didn't have that luxury. Apparently she didn't have it at all. And the way it seemed, from their first meeting to now, things never turned out well for her in the end.

Another look at the pure soul that Nero was, who had to experience more darkness than most at his age, did it for Dante. No one this young should have suffer if he could help it.

Nero had been on the verge of spiralling into chaos, thrown out of his home and chased away from Fortuna, and no money to boot since his former employer, The Order of the Sword, lay in shambles. Nero could have ended up like this. No home, no family, nothing.

Nothing, but a red backpack and dirty clothes. Dante didn't want that, if he could help it.

"Someone for the night?" Nero asked with in a mocking tone. He had lost count of how many times he witnessed Dante ogling women. So this time it surely wasn't anything different. But after a few seconds, Dante's indignant hard stare for once changed his initial thought.

"Demon...?" Nero became nervous, aware of Dante's strained attention.

"No. Just someone I met. I'm curious is all." No, he was worried, but wouldn't admit it to Nero, let alone himself.

Dante swiftly rose to his feet and was off in a matter of seconds.

Nero let his silverware fall onto the half eaten pancakes, starting to seriously become befuddled at the odd behaving man. Words floated across the vicinity. Something along the line's of Nero having to pay the bill and go home alone. He slumped back into his seat, mouth still open in disbelief.

"What the fuck...?"

Well, the old man could do whatever he wanted, truth be told. Nero did not delude himself to be able to ever change that either. Dante was a grown man, though Nero couldn't help the small smile forming on his lips. Yeah, whatever.

The red devil could and would go chasing after skirts whatsoever. Nero knew, he didn't have to worry about him anyway, so he eventually didn't let it bother him longer than necessary and went back to silently finish his waffles.

"So, we meet again." The voice sounded highly pleased and amused and sure as hell, a Cheshire grin was prominent on his face. She eyed him suspiciously, but felt herself relax as she recognized it was only him. Again.

"So, you're a stalker." She tried to sound unimpressed and decided to get past the man, who had apparently been waiting for her on the corner of the street. But she was highly disappointed when he fell into step next to her.

"Three time's the charm. Or so I've been told." He reasoned unaffected, as she stoically walked on.

The young woman hardly resisted the urge to stare at him in all his already familiar, captivating appearance. What did she do do gain his attention in the first place? The thrilled feeling he incited within her betrayed her abundantly. He remembered her. And the woman could keep from smiling to herself.

"The offer still stands. My treat." Dante said with a gentlemanly wave of his hand, succeeding to sound profoundly harmless. But he saw that ghost of a small smile.

"No offence, but you're crazy." She had stopped dead to brusquely tell him this, intending to shoo him away. Not because she didn't want to, but to spare her any more embarrassed moments about her overall state. She prayed he would get the hint and leave.

He did not. "None taken. Truth be told, I've been called worse." Point completely missed, for he chuckled lowly. His smile didn't falter in the slightest, and somehow she knew he wasn't joking.

She proceeded to walk and sped up her pace in the process. This was getting more uncomfortable than she could bear. But of course he had no trouble keeping up with her. Compared to her he was a giant. Where it would take her two steps to cover the distance, he only needed one. How big was he exactly? 6 feet? More?

"I don't know you enough to trust you." She huffed, strained from keeping up the pace as it is.

"But we've met already." He reasoned quite factually, as if these short encounters where worth anything. "And, may I remind you, you were allowed to ride my bike. That's something most women would pay for." Oh damn.

He bit his lower lip, looking away, while cringing hard at his own stupidity. He didn't mean to say that. But he couldn't help it at all, the charming natural flirt he was. With her though, it wouldn't get him anywhere he believed.

"Yeah well, go on ahead. I've got no money. And I won't ride with you ever again." Why wouldn't he leave her alone? She made it more than clear, she had no interest in accompanying him.

"You keep telling yourself that." A lewd smile crept upon his face, to which she answered with an incredulous look. Was he for real?

Dante could have stuck his foot in his mouth. Damn, that sounded so wrong. He wasn't interested in her that way. Damn it. Frustration slowly bubbled up inside him.

He turned serious all of a sudden. "Hey, sorry kid. Wait." He wanted to reach out and stop her from the frantic pacing, but it seemed she had anticipated the action, and quickly hauled her arm out of his reach and shoot him a warning look as both stopped to stare at each other.

When he retracted his arm she turned to briskly carry on to get away, but sure as hell he was beside her again in a matter of seconds. "What is the matter with you?" She snapped.

"Would you just stop for a second?"

"Why won't you leave me alone?" The young woman was frustrated, but so was he.

"Would you stop answering my questions wit questions?"

The ridiculousness of the whole situation was grinding down on her, making her want to scream at him and his idiotic grin. But instead, she heaved a sigh, dead set on simply ignoring him. Causing a scene wouldn't her anything good, but just draw to much unwanted attention.

"Look..." he tried to give her his most serious face, much like Vergil would look, all solemn and dignified, minus the occasional death glare of course. "I just wondered if you would grab a bite to eat with me. I know this fantastic waffle house down the street." He jabbed his finger over his shoulder, looking smug over the idea, he blatantly stole from Nero just now.

She groaned in defeat, crossing her arms over her chest, after she finally halted mid step very much to his favor. "Why?" She demanded rigidly. "Why would you do that? What if I even don't like waffles?" Oh she did. But the luxury wasn't hers so she hadn't eaten anything close to waffles in years. Her mouth unwillingly began to water. A frustrated sigh escaped her lips.

"So, you implying it's down to the decision where to eat?" And here, she realized, how genuinely pleased over himself he seemed. "Pick whatever you want. I don't mind, as long as it's pizza or ice cream." Dante flashed her a thousand megawatt smile that started to melt away her icy demeanour. He was handsome, and he was well aware of that, so much she knew by now. On the other hand, his forwardness wasn't putting her off either. She felt her mouth twitch with a hint amusement.

"Ooh, is that a smile? It is, isn't it?" He asked, delighted at her attempt to fight it, but to no avail. He clapped his hand, feeling to finally having something accomplished. "I'm Dante, by the way." He dropped his name in a more low and gentle voice.

Dante, she mused. It suited him. No ordinary name for a not so ordinary man. It strangely fit him perfectly.

He motioned at her with his index finger. "Well, that's the part where you tell me yours."

"Devon.." She managed nothing but a mumble.

"Huh? Devil?" Dante asked a bit baffled. Would only one woman in this goddamn world just give him her real name for once?

"Devon." She repeated abashed, her voice a bit steadier.

"Oh, alright. Devon. Pizza or ice cream?"

"But you said waffles...?" She broke off with a sheepish look, knowing full well she fell for his trap ever so gracelessly.

"Right. Your pick, Dev." And with that they turned to walk back to the district that housed all kinds of restaurant and cafes and what not. He briefly wondered if they would catch up with Nero along the way or if the young man had already gone home to pout, because Dante had just upped and left him.

Devon scratched her head, but she really had no idea what she wanted to eat. All she knew, that she was hungry and the sheer mention of food had sent her stomach in an giddy uproar. She hadn't eaten for two days already.

But she was used to it. Used to cramps on the first day and she always tried to fill her belly with water off of the public bathrooms as much as she could. On the second day the hunger had always lessened to a stingy feeling and from the third day on, she didn't feel anything else. But if she kept that up for three more days she would feel unwell and eventually the retching and puking would start.

But she often managed somehow to steal food before that happened. Then came the other bad part, when she finally had snagged some food. The first bites would always be pure torture to her mouth and tongue and the nerves of her mouth in general. Most of the time she needed to remind herself to eat slow and not too much at once or else she would barf the hard acquired food straight back out.

So, when Dante asked her, what she wanted she couldn't tell him, because she simply didn't know anymore what she really had liked. But Pizza would be okay, she guessed. Silently thanking him for providing him with a choice in the first place, or else she would have had a hard time to come up with something.

"Pizza is fine I guess. You seem to like it. I wouldn't want anything, you are not going to eat yourself." Somehow, her appetite for something more savoury was more prominent than for sweet stuff.

He gave her the widest smile possible. "A woman after my own heart after all." Flatterer. Good thing he didn't know how overwhelmed she was with the task of actually having to choose a dinner of some sort. "Stop it." She warned him to cut down the flirty attitude.

"Alright...Whatever." Dante obliged and beckoned her with his right hand to follow him. "C'mon."

Devon took a deep breath, like you do before you take the figurative giant leap. Into ice cold water. She didn't know if this was incredibly brave or downright stupid. Never would she have imagined something like this possible. His bright blue eyes, vivid and almost otherworldly regarded her with a spark of hope. No disdain, no revulsion. She couldn't detect any remotely bad vibe off him. Truly, this seemed a remarkable rare gift.

Normally, people acted like she didn't even exist. And she always refrained from sitting in crowded places and begging for money. The little pride she had left wouldn't allow that. Never would she beg for anything, maybe not even her life, as poor as it was. Never.

Stealing wasn't okay, sometimes though her only option available and she wasn't proud of that either. Few shop owners always gave her something to come around when she visited, so she could keep stealing to a minimum. She occasionally stole expired food from the trash cans of the local supermarket. Since she made her rounds in the more wealthy area of the city it had become better in terms of searching for food but worse when it came to people's attitude towards her in general.

Some were more subtle, but most outright detested her, but Devon taught herself to care less. What did they know? All these people, that came here years after the incident of that strange tower and had no idea how awful it had been.

"Hey, did you hear what I said?" Dante waved his hands in front of her eyes to get her attention.

"Sorry. I..uh.."

"We're here." He stated as he approached a green double door with two tiny yellowed windows, holding it open so she could enter in front of him, before he followed and let it swing back into place.

The smell of fresh food hit her completely unprepared. This must be heaven. She couldn't believe she would actually eat something fresh, and warm and handmade in a long time. Dante greeted the man behind the counter with an amicable short handshake. "How are you doing, Cesare? Business good?"

The man behind the counter smiled broadly at both of his customers, informing Dante that all was well. "Quite early, are you?" He inquired furthermore, with a curious as to what Dante had in tow.

Dante shrugged. "Eh, you know me." That Cesare did indeed, so he wasn't all that surprised. Dante's craving for pizza exceeded anything possible and he had stopped wondering about it a long time ago.

"Well, suit yourself. Your table is free." The older, chubby man with the thinning grey hair replied and gestured to the far end of the cosy pizza place, which could be right out of a cliché movie. It was exactly how one would imagine it. Red and white squared tablecloth included.

"What do you wanna drink?" Dante asked her, as she still tried to take in the scene. He had lead her to a table far off, that was apparently Dante's table, and sat her down, while he kept standing to fetch something to drink first.

"Water, please."

Dante quirked one brow at her. "Seriously?"

Devon hesitantly nodded. She didn't know what else she should come up with, since Dante's question had caught her off guard, before she could even settle down properly without gawking. The smell made her dizzy. She was so damn hungry and it was hard to focus on anything else than her stomach, demanding for food in a painful manner.

First prize for the awkward girl of the day goes to Devon, she thought embarrassed. Well, to skip this quickly, she would have to be bolder and act like a damn normal person for once. "Just surprise me, okay?" She said, trying to smile, despite her tinted cheeks.

"Gotcha." He made some silly finger guns, getting a shy smile in return.

Devon was glad they were seated a bit more secluded so she had time to scan the restaurant with wide eyes. There were tables lined along the large windows of the shop and opposite more table separated by wooden dividers.

The only table off from that seating scheme was the one she and Dante occupied right now. Which made her think, that this actually was Dante's Dante table. Maybe he also didn't like attention. Especially when he was eating.

Dante came back with a bottle of beer in one hand and a huge Milkshake decorated perfectly with whipped cream and shaved chocolate and half a strawberry on top. A drinking straw stuck in it as well. She was taken aback by the huge glass and the neat decorations.

"Cesare said, for you it could only be a strawberry milkshake and nothing else." He winked at her baffled face. She looked past Dante, to the aforementioned Cesare who gave an apprehensive smile and a wave of his hand.

Devon chuckled as Dante put down a huge glass right in front of her nose. "How am I supposed to drink all of this by myself?"

"Wait until you see the pizza." He warned her amused as he settled down opposite of her, casually whipping out another straw from the pocket of his coat. He pouted at the kink it had received so quickly, and looked hilariously concentrated, putting it on the table attempting to straighten it back.

Devon sniggered at him. This guy really was something else.

"I can't resist strawberries anyway, so just go as far as you can, I'll gladly have the rest of it." He waved the straw before her eyes.

The whole situation had a very surreal feeling to her, as she tried to process that this was indeed happening. To her of all people. He was a decent guy after all. And attentive. Mindful. And handsome.

"Do you like olives?"

Devon pondered the question for a moment, before she tentatively nodded.

"Well, too bad. You won't get any. I hate those." He joked in fake disgusted voice, egging her out of her shell with every passing moment. She even let out a small laugh. The way he looked was simply adorable.

"Then why'd you ask?"

"Just making conversation, since you don't seem to be good at it. But luckily for you good ol' Dante is, or this would be pretty awkward." He took a large gulp from his beer and watched her over the rim of the glass. Her glance wavered, before she lowered her head in a somewhat saddened manner.

How could she be good at talking? This was the longest she ever talked to anyone in weeks or even month, she didn't really know very much to her dismay. He definitely had hit a nerve and it angered her. What did he know anyway? Cocky smart ass.

It seemed like Dante's tactic worked perfectly as her suddenly defying stare hit him. Okay, shy girl. Out with it. His stare demanded silently. But he was disappointed.

"I'm just not comfortable around strangers." Devon said in a small voice. She wouldn't snap at him, he was to nice a guy and did not deserve if she did so. Especially not, when he just invited her over pizza. Whatever she looked like, she still remembered to be polite. Even if it was along the lines of self preserving aspect for now. Don't bite the hand, that feeds.

"Here I thought, we were already past that." Dante crossed his arms, flaunting another thousand mega watt smile.

Devon didn't really know, what to reply. Instead she took a large sip of the strawberry milkshake, she still hadn't touched and her eyes went wide. She heard his throaty chuckle from across the table, as he saw her fighting with common sense to not gulp the whole damn thing down in one go.

Apparently, Heaven these days tasted like sweet strawberries.

"This is so good!" Unchecked, for the first time since their arrival, she beamed at him. Dante slouched back with a satisfied expression, arms behind his head. "Thought so."

After a few minutes of less uncomfortable silence as she simply tried to focus and savor the heavenly taste of the milkshake, the pizza arrived. One huge pizza on a hot stone plate, which made it look fairly classy. It already was sliced into easy to handle triangles, but plates were set next to it for good measure. Dante rubbed his hands welcoming his favorite food of all times past and present and probably future.

"Well, dig in." He said as he helped himself to a piece, which he simply folded once lengthwise and stuffed it into his mouth. Devon considered it for moment to eat it with knife and fork, but then changed her mind and grabbed a napkin before mimicking his action. She heartily bit into the pizza and the hot cheese instantly burned the roof of her mouth. She choked, but kept it inside puffing her cheeks until she managed to chew and swallow it.

Dante openly laughed at her antics. God, wasn't she the cutest thing he had ever seen. "Careful..." He said in between laughs. And Devon just wondered at how he was able to devour his hot pizza almost as a whole.

She quickly took another sip from the milkshake to cool her sore mouth. It was so hot, she didn't even taste anything. She frowned slightly at the food on her flat hand and decided to give it a few more minutes, before trying again.

After a few blows and reluctant baby bites she decided it was cool enough to actually take a good chunk out of it. It tasted like tomatoes, salt, squishy dough, mushrooms, salami, aromatic cheese and spices she didn't recognize. Had pizza always tasted this good?

Devon had to admit her memory was getting fuzzier and fuzzier. And right now she was just mind blown. "So good." She praised the food in between bites.

Dante proudly jabbed his thump at his own chest. "Of course. Trust me, I am the pizza expert in this town. I know every pizza joint and believe me when I say, that this is the best."

"Ha, okay." Devon sounded amused. "I believe you." She added more seriously and quickly grabbed another slice, as Dante had already finished his third and went without any sign of remorse for number four.

Damn, he was fast. But she had to remind herself to not upset her stomach. When she finished her second, she felt pretty full already. But nonetheless she went for another. She knew she would be sorry after that, but it was the best food in such a long time, she stoically pushed her worries aside.

"Easy there, Dev. How long haven't you eaten? Didn't want that stomach of yours to get upset." Dante remarked in a most casual matter, careful enough to not sound patronizing. Still, he had aimed for letting her know how he was well aware of her circumstances. There was no easy way to break it to her, and who knows how it made her feel. But he tried to be as impartial as possible.

She peered up at him from food. But other than that, she masked her discomfort pretty well, he thought. No reaction to the use of a nickname whatsoever, he noticed somewhat discouraged.

Devon was no idiot. And she knew, he wasn't either. Of course he had already drawn his own conclusions. The woman knew, that he knew. And instead of bringing up her walls around her to evade the shame she felt, as he inclined his head awaiting her rebuke, the female surprised him, when she simply nodded. "I know..."

She expected the inevitable questions from him. The whys and hows and what ifs.

But they never came. Devon eyed him suspiciously, but he was busy again with eating his fifth slice.

Dante wasn't a people's person in contradiction to public belief. He had resorted to stay within a well filtered circle of equals. But that certainly didn't mean he couldn't read his opposites like open books. Well, only Vergil was the odd one out. And it was even more of paradox, for they were supposed to be twins. All that aside though, if it was a gift attained by his demonic lineage or simply an enhanced human trait he couldn't say.

But he could say, the human in front of him in this moment was intriguing, but still easy to decipher. And he congratulated himself for making the right choices. She wasn't as broken as he had assumed at first sight. She had not given up entirely, she might have convinced herself she had, but the spark he had encountered in her told him otherwise.

He finished his last piece of pizza on that thought and Devon, who had stopped at her third, shoved the rest of her milkshake over. "I can't anymore." She grinned apologetically, taking him up on his previous offer. "I'm stuffed. But it was great. Thanks, Dante."

"Don't mention it." He waved at her dismissively, then plunged his own straw into the contents of the high glass, sucking the rest of the shake greedily into his mouth. He smirked at her around the straw as she watched him finish it, rather amazed by how much he was able to consume.

When Dante rose, she found herself in brief state of alarm, but eased back realising he simply took on the task of clearing the table, instead of leaving her. Watching him all the way to the counter, she found herself admiring that natural swagger of his, underlined by the lazy wave of his red coat.

Cesare gratefully accepted the dishes and the praise with a slight bow of his head, before he disappeared into what presumably was the kitchen, only to find Dante had waited for him as he came back. They exchanged a few words, Devon couldn't understand, but she definitely caught the look both gave her.

She turned her head away under the pitiful look from the owner, so she missed the smile and the nod he gave Dante, who fumbled around his trench and pants to produce a handful off dollar bills. Devon only looked back up to see how both man exchanged a manly hug, patting each other's back a few times.

Dante returned to her and sat down on his chair. He took a last sip off his beer, then bumped his chest with a mischievous grin and a burp escaped him, to which she answered with a chuckle.

"Well, Devon, I have to leave now. Important business and such. Don't even ask, it's boring anyway." He waved off the question on the tip of her tongue and Devon's mouth snapped shut. He sounded way to amused for her, to believe him one bit. The way he dressed and held himself, she simply knew his job or whatever he was talking about must be anything but boring.

Additionally, he had handled her with enough care to not scratch her almost non existing dignity in the least, so she wouldn't pry either.

"But, if you ever feel hungry again, make sure you come here. Cesare is a good friend of mine and we go way back. And my friends are his friends. So, just come here and he will make you something. Anything you want. The pasta is actually really good as well, at least that's what another friend of mine always says. So give those a try next time." He winked at her with that flirty addictive smile of his.

Nero loved all the pasta dishes to bits and the Kid surely knew his way when it came to food more than enough to be trusted without question.

Devon didn't know what to say, self-consciously wringing her hands in her lap. This was beyond anything, someone in this wretched city had ever done for her. She shook her head multiple times at him, refusing to even consider it. Once was enough. She didn't want this. She didn't want him to care. She would get used to it and then he would forget about her. And she'd become a ghost again.

"What's wrong?" Dante leaned over the table, sporting his trademark but a hint of concern in his voice.

"Why would you do this?" Her chest felt too tight to take a sufficient breath deep enough to not sound meek. Friend, he said. And a friend of his friends, of which he appeared to have a lot. And didn't he seem like quite the person to actually get along well with.

"Because someone has to." Dante replied with a shrug, as if it was most simple thing in the world. "Now, don't give me that look. Don't worry. Just promise me, you will stop by from time to time." And with Cesare, he had someone as back up to look out for her to some extent.

"Okay." She answered with a quivering voice, still fighting the tears that threatened to fall at his offer, too kind to believe. He really was a good person, if you got past his appearance and first impression. He was actually funny and easy to talk to. Exactly the contrary to what she had believed in at first. Weird yes, but a good weird that was endearing somehow.

"And if you're ever in trouble or whatsoever, don't hesitate to tell Cesare. He'll give me a call. Okay?"

"I will." And at her consensus, he rose from his chair stretching his back one time in the process. "Good."

Devon had followed him suit, as he made his way outside after saying good bye to the owner. Once in front of the pizza parlour, Dante turned and put both hands on her shoulders, rooting her in place, fearing she would run off again. "Need a ride?" He gave her reassuring squeeze once he had asked.

"No, I'm good." She lied deliberately to his serious inquiry, but unbeknownst to her he saw through the lie just perfectly. But he decided, that he wouldn't idly jeopardize, what he was trying to accomplish by pressuring her too much in one go. He felt her inward struggle and relented by letting her go with a last pat.

She didn't even know where her feet would take her. Her aim for finding something edible was

discarded for now. She would task herself with revisiting all the known spots she could use for staying the night and other than that she had no clue what to do from now, beside the most significant task at all times. Staying out of trouble.

"Hey, one thing though, since we're becoming friends and all." The mild and maybe not even intentionally suggestive tone let caution define her whole posture instantly, bracing herself for the inevitable outcome she so dreaded. Nothing came for free and it left a bitter taste in her mouth, thinking immediately how she might have been fooled by his initial kindness.

If it wouldn't have been so overly tragic how she was about to loose faith in him because of reasons too severe to be argued with, he would have found it amusing. But it wasn't. "Promise me to be careful out there."

And with these gentle words she felt ashamed of her misjudgement right away. Why couldn't she easily accept the fact he was a nice person. She was bitter, that's why. Because nothing good ever happened, so she found it hard to believe in miracles such as the one standing right in front of her with his thousand megawatt smile, that could melt the strongest resolve to a puddle of lingering disgrace.

But she put on a brave smile. Only for him. "I will. Thanks again...Dante." And before the tears threatened to spill again in this rollercoaster of feeling she was put through by him, she faced away, ready to walk away.

"See you around." He called after her retreating form, as he turned to make his way home in the opposite direction.

Stuffing her hands into her pockets, while walking, she was full aware he left for the districts she wouldn't venture alone anymore.

With her head held high to enjoy the sun for once on a cloudless day, it felt much like a slight turn of fate for her, for he managed to lift some weight off her. Devon experienced a more content feeling spreading throughout her body than in a long time.

She definitely liked the tall man, all clad in red and black, who went by the name of Dante. Very much, she figured. And she replayed his earlier statement over and over in her mind, when she had asked why he did care.

Because someone has to, he had said. And what an encouraging thought it was. And unsettling to the same amount. It was a dangerous business for the heart.

Also was it frightening her, how she discovered she liked Cesare from the first time she had laid eyes on the middle aged man, with a kind, warm and welcoming attitude. Devon did not feel like confiding in him at all or Dante for that matter just yet.

So if Cesare trusted Dante enough to simply accept a total stranger to randomly show up and get treated on his tap, maybe she could trust him as well. And if she was honest with herself, the moment Dante had picked her up, she had wished for it with all her heart.

She wished, to have at least something familiar and someone she could rely on. A constant in her life, that wasn't for once on the miserable side. She would hang on and see where it would lead, until that she had a lot to think about, her heart left in turmoil because of Dante.