Niles tried his best to ignore the happiness and excited chatter of Frasier, Martin and Daphne but it was completely unmanageable. How could he possibly be expected to share in Daphne's impending happiness when, at any moment, the man who had set him free from Maris was going to steal away the woman he loved?
He poured yet another glass of sherry and gulped it down. He'd long since lost count of how many he had consumed. Three? Four? He no longer cared. Dejected, he sank onto the Cocoa Channel sofa with a sigh. But when the doorbell rang, quite unexpectedly, the sound cut through him like a knife.
This was it; the moment that was about to shatter his entire world. He didn't look back, but stared straight ahead, looking at absolutely nothing. He could hear Frasier opening the door and then Donny's much too cheerful voice and it was almost too much to bear.
Almost.
He turned around at the worst possible moment, just in time to see Donny pull Daphne into an embrace which was followed by a lingering kiss on her lips. He tried to look away, but he wasn't fast enough and found himself looking into Donny's eyes instead.
Donny walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey Niles, how's it going?"
Niles feigned a smile, but said nothing. For anything he might have said would have triggered a nosebleed. Fortunately Donny seemed to have lost interest and turned his attention to Frasier and Martin instead.
"So Donny…" Frasier said. "What brings you here tonight?"
Niles rolled his eyes at Frasier's feigned innocence. His brother knew perfectly well what Donny was doing there. And so did Martin and Daphne. Martin, in fact, was the one who had told Frasier about seeing Donny buying a ring in the jewelry store just that afternoon.
"I'm here to ask Daphne a question." Donny replied.
Niles couldn't help noticing the way Daphne's eyes lit up like diamonds. The fact that it made her chocolate brown eyes even more beautiful was yet another blow to his heart. Oh how he wanted to be in Donny's place at that very moment-and for eternity.
Daphne smiled, her eyes still sparkling. "A question? What sort of question?"
Donny took her hand and led her to the armchair that sat directly across from the sofa. "Please, sit down, honey."
Dutifully she sat and placed her hands in her lap. "All right."
Frasier and Martin stood to leave the room and Niles was only too happy to follow suit. But the three men were caught off guard by Donny's voice.
"Wait, don't leave."
They turned around awkwardly. "Something wrong?" Martin asked.
"No, not at all. I just… I want you here for this as well."
Frasier glanced at Niles. "A-are you sure, Donny?"
Donny laughed. "Am I sure? Of course I'm sure! You guys are like family!"
Moments later, they were situated on the sofa; Niles sandwiched in between his father and brother. It was the worst moment of his life and he knew that it was only the beginning.
