You guys are all so awesome!

A/N: Here's the next chapter for you guys. I kept editing it but I wasn't satisfied with how it came out. I wanted to throw in more fluff, but at the same time I needed to put this latest conflict to rest completely and then jump into the next one. So it might be a little fast and abrupt, but I couldn't get it to come out better than this. Hope you all don't mind!

And thanks everyone for their input on Nero's stance last chapter, haha, you guys made me laugh and really had some good, solid theories as to the why of it!

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and it's characters belong to Capcom

Warnings: Language, drabbly, massive fluff (at least to me), probably more OoCness than usual and, er, yeah, that's it.

Dedications: To my reviewers, old and new alike. Whether you're lurking out there or giving signs of your presence, you still make my day and keep my confidence in my writing up!

Chapter engage!


Chapter 9: Losing What Matters Most

He'd never felt so warm, inside and out, in his life. It wasn't an uncomfortable heat like he'd had the misfortune of feeling, but a soothing, cozy warmth that made him feel that, for once, maybe everything could be alright.

Nero knew it couldn't last, and opened his eyes. Lingering here as long as he had was a bad idea. He'd intended to sleep in his own room last night and not let what happened change anything between him and Dante. Instead, he'd lain on his bed for all of maybe ten minutes, thinking about it. And thinking about it. Eventually, his own resolve broke down and he'd snuck into Dante's room, just needing to be near the idiot. The elder had been asleep, so he'd figured he would just take a tiny corner of the bed and be gone before the old man woke.

Except he remembered being pulled closer to a warm chest and that heavy arm was still around his waist. Nero tried to fight back the heat rising in his face as he recalled a kiss, too. Dante probably liked him at least a little. Or maybe he'd just gotten cold in the middle of the night and he was getting his hopes up for nothing.

He'd stayed long enough, too caught up in enjoying the intimacy of sharing a bed with someone else. It was nicer than he'd thought it would be to have the reassuring presence of another body close to your own. Nero scoffed at his own thoughts and sat up slowly, scooting to the edge of the bed and intending to just slip out from under Dante's arm and sneak back to his own room.

He got partway there, just about to slip off the bed, when the arm draped over him suddenly tightened and he was forcefully yanked back onto the bed. Nero shamed himself with a rather loud yelp of surprise, eyes wide as he found himself on his back, staring up at Dante…who didn't even really look awake, sky blue eyes barely open and a little unfocused.

"Where do you think you're going?" okay, maybe he was more awake than he looked to be making coherent demands.

"W-what the hell are you talking about?"

Dante tried to force himself to stay conscious, but he'd stayed up nearly all night just watching Nero sleep. He'd dozed off a couple times, but never let himself completely fall into oblivion. And for a man who was used to getting at least ten hours of sleep, more if he could help it, dozing through a cumulative hour wasn't good enough. But damn it, he couldn't just let Nero go and let himself sleep. Not yet anyway. They still had things they needed to talk about. Dante had the gut feeling that Nero felt the same way about him, but he still didn't trust it to not just be desperation of an unrequited love. He knew he'd have to say something first, and that was going to be hard, but he'd do it if it meant keeping Nero forever.

"I think you know. You're the one who crawled into my bed last night. Got something you want to say to me, kid?" Alright, so he couldn't resist forcing Nero to confess first to save his own pride.

Nero's face flushed as he looked away, making Dante frown, but he wasn't going to let the younger man get away that easily. "I don't know what you're talking about…I just got cold…" he muttered, voice barely audible.

"Uh huh," Dante grunted doubtfully, still peering down at the kid.

Shifting uncomfortably for a few minutes, Nero kept glancing back at the older slayer, half hoping he'd pass out and he could get away without having to say anything. When Dante only seemed to become more and more awake as the tension between them rose, he let out a frustrated breath. "Fine, what do you want from me?"

"The truth," he replied simply.

Nero rubbed the back of his left hand over his mouth, eyes constantly looking to the side as if judging if he could escape or not. Dante must've noticed his flight reflex kicking in, because the older man shifted to lean further over him, both arms caging the teen in. And he was staring at him again. Those piercing eyes were peering down at him, reminding Nero of all the other times in the past few weeks Dante had stared at him in a similar way. Except…something about this look was different. It was a bit guarded. A mixed look of expectation and longing. "The truth is…" hell he couldn't make himself say it, it sounded so stupid. He carefully avoided making eye contact as he mumbled. "I think I love you," he paused before cursing. "Do you have any idea how stupid I sound? This whole thing is stupid, get the hell off me!" he shoved at Dante's chest, but the other man didn't move, instead pulling Nero closer. "H-hey! I said get away!"

His eyes widened when he found himself being squeezed a bit too hard in a brutal hug, face crushed against Dante's chest. Nero grunted and managed to shift his head to the side so he could get some air, about to punch the old man for trying to suffocate him, only to forget the violent thought when he heard Dante's heart. He stopped struggling instantly, focusing on the elevated, uneven rhythm. In all the time Nero had known him, never had Dante given away that he was anything but calm and cool; laid back about everything.

But five awkward, nervously spoken words had completely broken down that visage as he realized Dante might be just as scared of all this as he was. Who would've thought the Son of Sparda was afraid of anything?

Dante didn't know what else to do or say after hearing that confession, and when Nero stopped trying to get away, he only held on tighter. He'd thought the worst part was realizing he loved the kid. As it turned out, the scariest thing he'd ever encountered in his life wasn't any demon, but instead knowing that Nero loved him back. His heart felt like it was going to break apart, but not because of the reason he'd thought it would.

Caught up in his thoughts again, he almost didn't notice when Nero started slapping at his arm. "What, kid?"

"Air." Nero wheezed and Dante blinked in confusion before instantly easing his hold, watching the younger man cough a bit and start sucking in air he'd been deprived of.

"Oops. My bad." That aching heart disappeared the instant Nero turned that familiar glare on him and called him a 'stupid old man'. Dante chuckled at the expected reply and impulsively leaned in to kiss Nero's forehead. Only to grin when the kid turned his head away slightly and scratched at his nose to hide the instant blush that action garnered. "But I'm pretty sure I more than think I love you, Nero."

That blush deepened and the glare returned. "I more than think I love you too, jerk." The stupid old man was trying to make it sound like Nero was the indecisive one here.

"Are you trying to say that you love me more?" Dante taunted, scooting closer and was delighted when Nero didn't pull away.

"Who was it that only stared constantly instead of just coming up and saying something?" Nero countered, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Cocky punk. If I'd gone up to you before and said I loved you, you would've run away."

"I wouldn't have!"

"Would too."

"Now who's immature?"

Dante laughed at that and tackled Nero back down to the bed in another bone-crushing hug. He didn't think he could ever be so happy about something so simple.

"What the hell, old man, get off!" Nero growled, trying to push him away. The kid wasn't trying all that hard, Dante noticed, and was more than happy to ignore the demand. "You're heavy."

"Too much for a delicate boy like you, am I?" Dante teased, rewarded with a light punch to the jaw that got him to pull away enough for Nero to sit up at least.

Silence followed the playful little interlude while both absorbed the impact of the fact that they'd just shared their feelings. It was a little unmanly of them, sure, but neither was going to take it back just because of that. Nero broke the thoughtful moment by resting his head on Dante's shoulder, mostly to hide his face as he shared another very personal thought.

"So what happens now? I don't really know how relationships work exactly…"

Dante shrugged lightly, careful not to dislodge the young hunter. "Got me. I don't really get how they work either. We'll figure it out." And there was the same old Dante, just letting problems roll off his back and not worrying about it.

Nero lifted his head to frown at that. "Glad you're taking this so seriously." He said flatly.

"I could make it more serious and just molest you." Dante pointed out and pushed the teen onto his back again with a wicked grin. Nero's face immediately went bright red and he scrambled to get away while Dante kept dragging him back, the two ending up rolling off the bed and crashing to the floor heavily as a result.

Dante never did manage to molest Nero as seriously as he'd wanted to, but he was content with the massive cuddling interrupted periodically with playful fights. Eventually they'd fallen asleep again, curled up on the mess of blankets they'd dragged with them to the floor and when he finally woke up, Dante had his dream come true when Nero turned to him with a shy little smile and open arms.

-o-o-o-

The next couple of days were spent rather lazily, both hunters not seeing a reason to even get out of bed beyond getting food when there were no jobs waiting for them.

Nero would admit to being a bit embarrassed when he thought about all the things they'd done during those lazy hours, but he wasn't ashamed of them. And looking Dante in the eye afterward wasn't hard at all. This loving someone business wasn't as scary as he'd initially thought it would be. They really were just the same as always, and looking back on his previous worries, Nero wondered why he thought anything would change.

At that moment, both were downstairs, Dante leaning back in his chair and Nero perched on the edge of his desk, a fresh pizza sitting in the open box between them. To the younger's utter shock, when the pizza arrived, Dante had insisted that the first piece was Nero's and even now was still contently watching his mate eat. It was a little weird, but at the same time sweet enough that Nero didn't say anything that might've been taken as a rejection. A lot of the things Dante did were, in some odd way, done to please him. Like he's afraid I'm going to just walk out, so he has to keep me as happy as possible.

Nero wasn't going to complain, but it made him feel like he should be doing something for Dante in return.

As he considered the things the older might appreciate, a discordant note broke into their peaceful moment. The first sign something was off to Nero was the fact that the deep purr that was constantly rumbling from Dante stopped, instead coming out as a feral growl that was enough to make the younger jump a bit.

"What's up?" Nero asked quietly as he looked back to see Dante sitting stiffly instead of relaxed like he'd been a moment before.

"Some demon's been trying to call me out for a fight and I think it just decided to pay another visit." Dante said distractedly. He could feel that same sensation of eyes on him as before and it was coming from right outside the office. He stood up slowly and grabbed Rebellion off the wall, walking straight for the doors and kicking them open, ready to fight.

Nero was curious as was his curse, and hopped off the desk to retrieve his own sword and follow the older hunter outside. Once he got to the bottom of the steps, Dante was already partway down the street, peeking down narrow alleys, trying to find…whatever the demon was.

The younger man frowned slightly as he looked around, unable to feel anything that might have tipped off the presence of a demon. He even looked down at his right arm, but it wasn't reacting to any nearby demonic energy either. He dropped his arm and looked up to shout at Dante that he must be going senile, only to find that everything in front of him was black.

"What the hell? Did I just go blind?" Nero wondered aloud, turning in a quick circle, seeing nothing but black. He reached out, wondering if he fell into something, but it was just air around him. "Dante?" he called out, wondering if the other was experiencing the same thing. "Dante!" he started to feel a little nervous when he got no reply, tightening his grip on Red Queen. At least he wasn't unarmed.

I don't like this… he almost snorted at his demon's quiet observation. He didn't like it either. But if his demonic side was just as ill at ease as he was, then whatever was going on definitely couldn't be good.

Nero fell face first to the ground when his legs were suddenly yanked out from under him. The force of his fall knocked his sword out of his hand and he tried to reach for it, only to feel something yank at his ankles, jerking him away from it. Heart going cold, Nero peeked over his shoulder to try and see what it was, but there was nothing. Another tug and he reached out for his sword again only to get jerked away further. His eyes widened as he clawed desperately at the ground he couldn't even see, nails on his human hand breaking while the talons on his devil bringer scraped across something solid, but there was no purchase, and whatever had a hold of him started to drag him away so fast he lost sight of his abandoned sword within seconds.

"Dante!"