Warning: Sex, booze, adult situations, cussing. Lots of fluff and some OOC.

Time skip! Whoohoo~ Dante and Trixie are now 20 years old, so this is 3 years before the game begins. I imagined them to be living in a Bonnie and Clyde manner, life on the road, that sort of thing. I didn't skip to the game immediately because the opening will have Dante basically...well, cheating on Trixie with those angel ladies. I guess this fic will show what he used to be before he 'becomes the disenfranchised youth' he is in the game.

Enjoy! :)

DANTE AND BEATRICE

4 YEARS LATER...

It was morning and Trixie was lying on the bed, clutching onto the angel statue for support as Dante moved on top of her vigorously. "You're going too fast." She pointed out.

He was grunting as their hips rocked together in unison, sweat glistening over his biceps. "I'm going to see Sullivan in ten minutes, 'course I gotta be fast."

Her moaning intensified when he quickened his pace and her fingers gripped the wings behind her tightly. The bed squeaked louder with each frantic movement and Trixie closed her eyes as Dante thrust inside her with his cock, his hands underneath her ass, lifting her hips to meet him every time. He was about to come when there was suddenly a loud knock on the door, causing both to turn their heads to the direction of the noise. However, Dante ignored it, proceeding to bury his head into her neck as he continued to thrust.

The knocking continued and she turned to him. "Dante...babe, get the door please."

"Not yet." He grunted, with his eyes closed as he focused on losing himself inside her. He grabbed at one of her breasts, squeezing hard.

She let go of the statue with one hand to nudge him on the shoulder gently. "Come on. Get off. If you don't get it, I'll get it."

"Two secs." He gave a few more thrusts before he finally came, panting heavily when he was spent. He withdrew, rolled off her body, pulled the flimsy condom off himself, flung it on the floor and lay unmoving for a brief second. Then he climbed off the bed and sauntered to the door (which was only a foot away).

"Dante, wait - "

Too late.

He opened it, stark naked, and the mailman stood before him with widened eyes. "What do you want?" Dante barked, oblivious to the man's complete unease.

"Er...I've got your mail..." The mailman shakily handed him some letters without meeting his gaze. He gulped and Dante snatched the letters off him then slammed the door in front of his face.

Dante grunted under his breath, plopping the envelopes onto the bedside table, having no intention to go through them. He turned round only to see Trixie standing before him with her arms crossed over her chest. He merely gave her a blank look in response, "What?"

"You should really put some clothes on before you get the door. What if it was a little old lady? You'll give her a heart attack or something." She said and he grunted. "And you used those cheapass condoms again too, didn't you? I felt you come inside me. There was probably a hole in it or something. What's wrong with the ones we already have?"

He shut himself off immediately to her...nagging; he really hated this kind of conversation and his expression scrunched up. "They ran out."

"Then what's that box over there?"

"What box?"

"That box over there."

"Where?"

"There!"

When she pointed to the box on top of the pinball machine, he rubbed at the back of his head, "...Yeah, well...I don't like using 'em. They smell funny. Relax, you're on the pill, aren't you?"

"No, I stopped taking it. What if I get pregnant?"

"...Is that such a bad thing?"

"I'm not raising a kid in a trailer."

"Okay, okay, you made your point," He sidled over and wrapped his arms around her before he began pressing sensual kisses all over the side of her face, "Look, calm down, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry...It won't happen again, alright?" She made a disgruntled noise from the back of her throat as he continued petting her, but otherwise she said nothing to that. No matter what, she just couldn't seem to get angry at him. When he pulled away, he kept close, lips lingering by her ear, "All good?"

Trixie nodded; Dante smirked and pulled away, patting her ass before giving it a firm squeeze. He returned to the bed to fetch his worn-out jeans and boots which were dumped in one corner and hastily put them on, zipping up his fly and sliding each foot into the respective boot before he grabbed his tank top and put that on too. Next, he reached for his fingerless gloves and jacket and donned those. Trixie followed his actions and sat down beside him, picking up her own garments; she grabbed her stockings and pulled each over her long legs. They got dressed quietly, although he was watching her the entire time with a wide grin on his face; there was something satisfying in watching her get dressed before him every morning. She didn't even put her bra on, leaving herself dressed in nothing but an unbuttoned white shirt and panties. He continued to watch as she let her hair loose over one shoulder and grabbed her brush off the small table before she began raking it through her hair only to realize he was staring at her.

"What is it?" She asked, tilting her head to one side so she could comb through the tangles more thoroughly.

"C'mere." He reached for her hand and drew her into his lap before wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace so she was straddling him.

"I thought you said you'll be late for work." She murmured as he reached over and began nibbling at her neck eagerly. There were a few reddish marks on her nape, a clear indicator of hickeys he bestowed her with a few nights ago.

"Fuck it. I want to stay here all day." He breathed out, with his lips pressed against her throat.

She let out a chuckle as she put the brush down, slipped her arms around his neck, weaving her fingers through his hair; he continued kissing the column of her neck before he moved to her chest, burying his face between her breasts "Ow..." She muttered when she felt him nip at her chest, and she smacked his shoulder, "No biting..."

He merely grinned in response.

They'd been together for four years and counting. They lived in the trailer, and at first it took a while to get used to because there were no upstairs, there was no other room aside from the tiny bathroom and at least everything was in walking distance of each other. Their bed sat in one end of the trailer with a large window behind it, taking up most of the space along with two tiny bedside tables crammed on either side. Dante's pinball machine stood on the left. There was a small kitchen and a small lounge, with space for a loveseat and their tiny dining table.

It could get very cold in the winter but they'd bought an electric blanket which they shared to deal with the frigid temperature and it could get very warm during the summer but then they would just spend most of those hot days lounging behind the trailer in the shade or on the roof to sunbathe. During the evenings they would often go and sit at the Pier and watch the sunset, or the sunrise. Sometimes they would go out to Funland and go on some rides but the novelty wore off after a few weeks or so and Funland was not so fun anymore. Mr Sullivan used to visit them once every often, but those visits grew sparse and sparse due to business being his main point of concern.

Dante didn't care much about work but he did care very much about the girl living with him. Trixie had grown into a fine woman. A very fine woman. He didn't quite remember or see it happen but one day he suddenly noticed she was tall, slender and pretty. As noted, she grew her hair out and it traveled down her back in loose waves. Her face used to be rather rounded, but now she had matured and her features were much sharper, more refined. She had bow-shaped, pouty lips and long lashes. Too bad her culinary prowess was something that was still to be desired. They still ate TV dinners or microwaveable meals at least two or three times a week. Dante had changed too. Whether he had matured...well, that was something Trixie still often thought to herself about. However, he had physically changed - growing taller and bulkier to match. Now his shoulders were even wider than before, his muscles bulging from all the years of fighting demons in Limbo. He still kept that red pendant around his neck, which she had never seen him take off, even when in the shower. Along the way, he'd even picked up a few good habits (and some not so good).

For example, Dante quit smoking and hadn't touched a cigarette in three years.

"Right, let's have a look at these letters." She said; whilst Dante continued sucking at her neck, she reached over and took the pile off the bedside table where he left them. "Electricity bill, gas bill, water bill...bill...bill, bill, hey, my paycheck." She quickly opened it and scanned the contents briefly before nodding to herself and tucking the letter back into the envelope. Once she'd gone through the rest of the letters, she placed them on the table and he lifted himself off the bed, still with Trixie in his grasp with her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs snaked around his waist. He carried her all the way to the kitchen unit where he finally let her down. He went to the fridge and opened the door, pulling out a beer.

"Want some?" He asked, gesturing to her with the cold bottle in hand.

"No thanks." She replied, as he flipped off the bottle cap with one fluid movement of his thumb before downing a few gulps. Meanwhile Trixie grabbed a clean frying pan from one of the cupboards and placed it over one of the hobs on the stove, before reaching for a pack of bacon from the fridge along with a batch of free-range eggs. "You want any breakfast, babe?"

"Usual's good."

"Okay."

Dante sauntered to the counter and stood beside her with his beer bottle in hand, where Trixie had laid out a neatly-folded napkin and a cutlery set. He waited for her to finish cooking, watching as she carefully slid some fried eggs and bacon onto a plate off the greasy pan. "Mm, looks tasty." He commented as she dumped the pan and spatula into the sink, ready to be washed at a later time; when she turned to him, he merely stood before her, waiting.

She gave him a blank look, then frowned again. "...I'm not feeding you."

He merely smirked, eyebrow raised as though to challenge her.

She sighed when he refused to budge. "Fine." Stabbing the fork into one egg, she scooped it up as neatly as she could and raised the egg to his awaiting mouth. He grinned at her as he chewed and she did the same for the bacon, too.

"Breakfast for a champion." He muttered, grabbing the napkin by the plate and wiping his mouth whilst she adjusted the lapels of his jacket, smoothing them down neatly. He pulled her into his chest once she was done and kissed her passionately. Those four years didn't amount to nothing. She started grinding against him, her hands running down the side of his neck and all over his chest and arms, before they cupped his chiseled jaw, pressing his face closer to hers. A growl of approval escaped his throat as she aggressively bit at his lower lip before she began to use her tongue to explore the rest of his face, dragging it over his chin, the side of his face and ear. "Babe..." He groaned, as she began licking the shell of his ear, "Babe, you know when you do that, I get – " He stopped when she abruptly pulled away. "What is it?"

"I think I just saw a white hair."

"You're kidding me."

She pouted teasingly as he ran his hand through his hair in disbelief "You're growing old..."

He cursed under his breath. "Hey, can you get me some of that hairdye again?"

"It's fine, it's just one strand." She reached behind him and pulled at the aforementioned strand. He couldn't see it, but he knew it was there since she was pulling at his head gently.

"Damn it."

"It's okay, white will be a good color on you."

"I don't want white hair."

She pouted again, this time, in condolence. "Well, nearer the time, I'll dye my hair. We'll both have white hair so we match." She said, and he chuckled, before he snaked his arms around her waist again and drew her in for another kiss. After a few moments, she untangled herself from his arms and stepped away, "Go to work. You're gonna be late."

"I'm gonna take my sweet, sweet time now 'cos you said that." He was now making his way towards the door and opened it as slowly as he could. She bunched up a wash towel and threw it towards his direction; he ducked and it went flying out the doorway and to the ground. "Ha! You missed!" He exclaimed, grinning.

"Go to work, Dante."

"Yeah, yeah. Love you."

"Love you too."

"See ya."

"Be careful."

The door slammed shut and he was gone. Trixie was left alone. The trailer fell silent.

Hm, I've got the day off work today. What should I do? She thought to herself, before she glanced around the rest of their trailer home trying to locate her missing skirt. It was on the floor, half-buried under a mountain of magazines, an old pizza box, a few empty beer bottles and some moldy-looking socks. She sighed; she did her best to clean up the trailer on her days off and during the weekend but his messes kept accumulating. Dante wasn't exactly helpful either; he was a slob, perhaps the world's biggest slob. He made so many messes and didn't bother tidying up after himself. He could go through ten beers a night and completely forget to throw them away the next day. She picked her skirt off the floor and hesitated, wondering if she should don it or not. After a few moments of mental debate and she went to a drawer by the bed and found a clean skirt inside; she pulled it over her hips before locating her abandoned bra which was lying by Dante's boxers on the bed. The bed sheets, not surprisingly, were soiled from this morning's routine and needed washing (as usual).

She picked Dante's boxers up with an eyebrow raised and sighed inwardly. "He really needs to stop going commando..."

LATER

Dante opened the door and stepped into the trailer. "Trix, I'm home."

"I'm in the bathroom." came Trixie's muffled voice.

He slammed the door shut behind him and the blinds went rattling. There was a nice smell and he noticed there was something being cooked in the kitchen. "What's for dinner? I'm starving."

"You'll see."

Glancing around, he saw that she'd also cleaned and tidied the trailer which made him grin. Their semi-dry laundry was hanging up on a makeshift laundry line inside. Without even thinking twice, he kicked off his boots and dumped his jacket over the couch, leaving himself in his tank top. He sauntered to the bathroom to see her snipping out coupons from a newspaper. "What're you doin'?" He asked as he leaned against the small doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

"Look, buy one pizza get one free every Tuesday." Trixie said gleefully, showing him the coupon she had cut out carefully. "How was work?"

He chuckled and went over to her before he pulled her into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "Yeah, it was okay. Did ya miss me?" And she nodded, causing him to grin before he leaned down and pecked her briefly on the lips "Yeah, I missed you too. What did you do today?"

"...Nothing much." She admitted.

Dante chuckled again and then caught sight of their reflections in the tiny, cracked mirror. Remembering the white strand from this morning, he let out a grunt and pulled at his hair. "Hey...think you can check for me?"

She sighed. "You can barely even see it."

"Just wanna doublecheck."

"Okay, okay."

He lifted her up onto the bathroom sink (hopefully it was dry) and then placed his hands on the rims of the basin, lowering his head for her. "Do you see it?"

"Yeah. Hold still..." She plucked the single silvery, gray strand using two fingers and lifted it high, separating it from the rest of Dante's black hair. With the pair of small scissors in her other hand, she readied the blades between the white hair and snipped it off. "Done." She put down the scissors and then let him see the hair.

Dante's expression scrunched up as soon as he saw the silvery strand. "Can't believe this..." He muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"It's okay, babe, it's only one hair."

"...It's not normal."

"Maybe you're just stressed?" Trixie put her hands on his shoulders, massaging him gently, "Cheer up, hm?" Her hands moved up to his face where she rubbed little circles over his cheeks before she kissed him lightly, over and over again. "Come on, cheer up..."

He watched her stoically for a brief second before his lips flattened into an impish grin and just as she went to kiss his cheek again, he deliberately turned his head so their lips met, taking her by surprise. This time, however, she didn't retreat and when he wrapped his arms around her, there was no retaliation either. She allowed him to kiss her hungrily and when they finally pulled away, he scooped her off with her legs around wrapped his waist and his hands under her butt. He always enjoyed carrying her this way.

Their days were often like this. Dante would go see Sullivan in the morning and Trixie would either go to work, or if she had the day off, she would spend time cleaning the trailer, cooking, doing the laundry, other various chores etc...and sometimes she would go to the library, looking up information about demons. When Dante returned home, it would be late in the evening and she would be in the trailer, cooking something. Either it was a microwave or oven meal plus some homecooked healthy side dish, like vegetables or chicken or some kind of red meat, usually beef. Sometimes they ordered a pizza or a takeaway, or sometimes they went out.

"Something smells good." He muttered as he carried her out of the bathroom and dropped her off at the kitchen where two stewpots were bubbling, hot steam billowing from the lids.

"Heehee. You think?" Trixie said cheerfully, rubbing her hands together as she made a beeline towards the stove. She picked up her pink oven gloves along the way, using them to pull off the hot lid from one pot. Steam poured out and she flapped her hand before trying to get a good look at the contents of the pot.

"What are you making?" Dante asked, as he went over to the side and leaned against the counter with his arms crossed. He glanced over and spotted some new groceries she had bought from the store today – a basket full of fruit – and grabbed a shiny red apple out from the bundle before replacing it.

"I'm making chicken curry. It's almost ready." Trixie was always trying new recipes. She was always trying all sorts of new food and desserts, ranging from omelettes, pies, steaks, puff-pastries and cakes. Her most disastrous one was beef wellington where she almost set the rest of the trailer on fire by accident. Since then she stayed away from that one. She grabbed a ladle and dunked it in, swirling it around and around before lifting it to her lips for a taste. Trixie pondered for a few seconds before turning to him with the ladle in hand. "Here, try this for me."

"Yeah, okay." His unofficial title was Trixie's Food Taster and whilst she'd made some downright rotten stuff, he seemed to have a stomach for it and never remotely fell ill from her ventures and escapades. The Stomach of Steel, she called it, the Best Kind of Stomach There Is. He leaned off the counter and went to her side where she raised the ladle to his lips and immediately, when the curry slipped into his mouth, an extremely hot and spicy taste assaulted his tongue. When Dante choked slightly, she pouted.

"...Is it bad?"

"No, no...it's...it's good, Trix." As usual, he lied.

She smiled in response. "Really?"

"Yeah." He tried to give her a thumbs up, having to use his other hand to cover his mouth which felt like it was on fire.

"Great! I'll get the plates now." Trixie exclaimed, grinning to herself as she waddled over to the cupboard underneath one countertop to grab two clean plates and cutlery. Meanwhile, Dante went to the fridge and pulled out a can of beer, ripping off the lid and downing it quickly to stop the burning sensation at the tip of his tongue.

It only served to escalate the spiciness and he cursed loudly. "Fuck!"

Trixie whipped round immediately. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You're acting weird." She muttered as she handed him a plate and a spoon and emptied a dollop of her super-spicy curry into his plate along with some potatoes and chunks of chicken breast that she been boiling separately. "More for you." She muttered when he noticed his portion size was larger than hers by a great deal. Whilst she emptied at least half the pot's content into his plate, she only had a quarter for herself. "You need to eat more because you're always fighting...I need to make sure you're healthy and strong and make sure you get enough protein."

He couldn't help but chuckle and as she took her own plate, he reached over and kissed her cheek as he walked her to their sofa, draping his arm around her shoulder whilst the other held his plate. They sat down at the couch close together and began to eat, with Trixie still feeding him more portions than he really needed from her own plate. "Have these..." She was muttering, "These too."

"There's barely any for yourself."

"I'm fine."

"Here, take this one back."

"No way, that one's massive."

"Are you on a diet again?"

"No."

"Then take it."

She huffed. "Oh, fine."

They ate together, watching a random games show on TV with five contestants, all about spelling out famous movies, taking turns and choosing vowels or consonants.

"It's T! The letter T!" She was screaming, waving her fork in the air angrily, "How the hell can he not see that the missing letter is a T?! Look, it says 'he Equalizer'. What else could it be? How could anyone be so retarded?! God!" Turning to him, she exclaimed, "If I was on that show I would've won a thousand dollars by now!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah!"

"And what would you do with a thousand dollars?"

She paused to think for a while. "Hm...I dunno. Maybe go on a shopping spree?" She said, and Dante chuckled, "What about you?"

He shrugged.

"Come on...There must be something you want."

Dante rubbed at the back of his neck. "...There was this...uh, this coat that I saw in the shops the other day. Leather. Real nice, black and smooth... had this er... red lining and..." He gestured to his collarbone, hands on his chest. "These...things. You know, the things on a jacket where the buttons and zip are. The collar."

"You mean the lapels?" She suggested for him.

He grinned, pointed at her direction, snapping his fingers in process, "That's the word. You read my mind, you took the word right outta my mouth. Where would I be without you, Trix?"

She tried not to laugh. "And how much was it?"

"Seven hundred."

"That's enough to pay for two month's worth of gas bills!"

"Yeah, I know."

"...You still want it, don't you?"

"Yeah."

She sighed.

They continued watching TV and had their dinner until the show was finished, then she collected his dish and cutlery and went to wash them although she did so very quietly, leaving him sitting comfortably on the couch to drink beer and flick through channels lazily with remote control in hand. However, as he lifted the rim of his beer to his mouth for another sip, his thoughts strayed as he stared at her back. She'd been with him for four years; she had been by his side when times were rough. Now that he thought about it more, Trixie was more than a girlfriend or a partner or a companion to him. She was family.

Dante subsequently lowered his can of beer and then pushed himself off the sofa, scrubbing at his face with his large palm. "...Hey, Trix?"

She did not turn to him but she acknowledged his comment. "What?"

He wandered over to her with his hands in his pockets and stopped behind her before wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her back to his chest. He rest his chin on her shoulder and said, "We've been together for a long time."

"Yeah." She muttered, cleaning a plate with a bubbly sponge in hands. When he said nothing in response, she turned to him expectantly. "...Is something wrong?"

"Nope." He muttered; however, his grip on her increased and he buried his face into her hair, "It's nothing. Just glad you're here, that's all."

"Hehe." She beamed at him in response and when she finished washing the rest of the dishes, she carefully lay them on the stand to dry before wiping her hands with a towel. "Well, that's all the dishes done. I'm gonna take a shower now." When she wiggled out of his embrace and strolled towards the bathroom, he stood by himself in the kitchen. A few seconds later and she returned and put her hands on her hips. "Are you gonna just stand there or are you gonna join me?"

Dante glanced up and flashed her a grin, and before she knew it, he had reached her in seconds and threw her over his shoulder with one arm. As she shrieked with laughter and flailed her legs helplessly, he eagerly carried her all the way to the direction of the bathroom.

ON WRITING CHAPTER 14...

Jeralee: *typing* "...one day he suddenly noticed she was tall, slender and pretty." *suddenly thinks about Slenderman* "...That was weird" O_O

PS I have writer's block so there won't be an update anytime soon.

Review?