Request (from Wattpad): OFC meets Vergil at the orphanage and they become fast friends. She's actually his first crush, but before anything can come of it, she's adopted. They lose touch after that (and Vergil meets Kat, falls in love with her, and subsequently wipes their memories). Years later, OFC crosses paths with Dante and not realizing that Dante is Vergil's twin, she falls for him and he for her. Dante wants to make things official between them (claim her as his), but he's held back by the thoughts that she's too pure for him. This is where Kat and Vergil enter the picture, and eventually, OFC finds Dante kissing Kat. The rest is up to you.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

As a rule of thumb, Audrey avoided the Administrative office. Though she couldn't think of anything that would have landed her in trouble – not that she'd been caught doing, anyway – she found herself in front of the office anyway.

"Enter." The director beckoned her inside before she could decide whether or not to knock.

Within the sunlit room, sat opposite Mrs. Blum, was a boy. So, the rumors were true. A new resident.

"Audrey, this is Vergil."

Instead of answering, Audrey gaped in the way that children do when faced with the unexpected or wonderous, her fingers absentmindedly curling into the overstretched sleeves of her hand-me-down jacket.

Unperturbed by Audrey's lack of tact and the boy's continued silence, the director continued, turning her kind face back to Vergil. "It says here in your file that you like to read." The boy gave an almost imperceptible nod. "Well, Audrey here is our resident bookworm, aren't you Audrey?" More silence, and then: "I think the two of you will get along fine."

Audrey hummed her agreement as the boy – Vergil – turned to acknowledge her for the first time since she entered the office.

"We've just finished breakfast, Vergil. Would you like something to eat?"

He shook his head. "No, ma'am."

Mrs. Blum pursed her lips and folded her hands over the top of Vergil's file, closing it before addressing Audrey once more. "Why don't you show our new resident around the house? Help him get settled." With one last soft smile in Vergil's direction, the director ushered them out of the office so that she could carry out the rest of her morning administrative duties.

"Well, that's the office…" Truthfully, there wasn't much to the orphanage, so the tour was brief. At its end, the two children stood awkwardly at the back of the house before the two doors that separated the last portion of the home into the dormitories.

"Mrs. Blum says 'left for ladies and right for boys.' I can't go up there, but you can take a look if you want."

Vergil looked at the stairs that led to the boys' dormitories for a long moment before turning his eyes down to look at his shoes instead. "She said that you like reading."

Audrey nodded. "Yeah. You want me to show you the library?"

"Library?"

Nodding enthusiastically, Audrey led Vergil back the way they'd come. Other children tore through the halls, paying little attention to Audrey and her shadow as they made their way to the far corner of the living room where all of the books were kept.

"Voila," Audrey said, gesturing to the bookshelf with a wide smile.

"This isn't a library."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not."

The smile fell from Audrey's lips. "How would you know?"

"My parents had a library… At least, I think they did." Vergil scrunched his brow and scratched at his head of short silver hair, mentally reaching for memories just beyond his grasp.

"Well, this is what we've got." Instead of asking him what he meant by that – children came to the home under all sorts of circumstances; few pleasant – Audrey moved forward to retrieve a well-loved and worn paperback and hugged it to her chest. "A lot of the books are old, so you have to be careful with them."

Vergil nodded in agreement, turning his eyes once again to the small collection.

"What kinds of books do you like?"

"I don't know. After the accident, I…"

Ah. An accident.

Stretching up on her tiptoes, Audrey removed another book from the shelf and handed it to Vergil. "How about this one? Mrs. Blum says I should read it once Artie's done with it, but he won't finish it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Artie doesn't like to read much." She doubted Artie even remembered picking up the book in the first place. "You can read it first, if you want."

Vergil flipped the book over to read the back cover before clasping it gingerly in both hands and nodding. Before he could settle into one of the chairs beside the bookshelf, a herd of other children ran through the halls and disrupted the stillness of the mid-morning. His eyes followed them to the opposite end of the living room where they began to fight over the TV remote. "How do you read with people running around like that?"

Unfortunately, living in an orphanage meant that there was always something going on. Noises. Distractions. Setting up the reading area opposite the only TV in the house didn't make settling down with a book any easier.

Audrey looked around the room with wide eyes before turning back to Vergil. "Can you keep a secret?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Curiosity peaked; Vergil's eyes met her own for the first time that day. They reminded her of the sunlight shining off freshly dusted slate; a warm, cloudy blue-grey; brilliant and bright like his hair. A blue so similar yet different from her own.

She smiled, beckoning him to follow her as she headed back toward the administrative office. When they reached the corner nearest the office, Audrey lifted a finger to her lips.

"The floor squeaks. Follow me."

Vergil made sure to follow each of Audrey's measured steps exactly, always one careful step behind her until they'd tiptoed past the office and halted before the front door. Audrey held completely still, hand resting a hairsbreadth above the knob until –

"Artie! Give it back! It's my turn!"

At the outburst from the living room, she gave a quick twist and inched the door open. She motioned Vergil outside first –

"No way! I got here fi—"

– and shut the door silently behind them.

"We're not supposed to be outside unless an adult is with us," Audrey explained as she led Vergil toward the lone oak near the edge of the property, "but I like to read here best. It's the only place that's quiet."

She knelt in the dirt before turning onto her bum – her limp blonde hair catching and tangling against the rough bark of the tree as she got comfortable.

Vergil eyed the dirt that clung to her knees with distaste, but with a look back toward the orphanage he turned his back to the oak and got comfortable as well. No words were exchanged as they delved into their books.

Roughly a year later, Audrey and Vergil had become inseparable; regularly leaving behind the sad little library for the tranquility of their oak tree. With time, Vergil grew tired of sitting in the dirt, so they learned to climb into the tree's branches, finding comfort in each other and in dangling their legs amongst the leaves as they read and talked and imagined what life must be like beyond the confines of the orphanage.

Until, one day, Audrey was whisked away on an adventure that let her explore the greater world. It wasn't until she'd settled into her new life that Audrey thought to call back to the orphanage and talk to her best friend. Except, Vergil was no longer a resident at the Mary Austin House.

Two days too late.

Vergil had been adopted as well.

"C'mon Audrey. Just one more shot."

"No, Sav. That's enough for tonight."

At the ripe age of twenty-one, Audrey was just learning how to cut her friends off from the juice. Over the booming bass of the club, she yelled for the bartender to close out her tab while steadying Ashley against a stool. Closing time was just an hour away, but that didn't stop Savannah from whining that the party was just starting.

Being the designated fun-stopper was a thankless job –

"Yeah, yeah. You'll thank me in the morning."

– but someone had to do it. And they had a rotation going, so it wasn't so bad. Next week it would be Ashley's turn to carry her drunk ass home.

With a hand on Sav's back, Audrey herded her drunk friends through the crowd and towards the exit as all around them the party raged on. Yells and screams and laughs blended together in exactly the cacophony of joyous debauchery one expected from one of Limbo City's most popular nightclubs. Instead of staying and dancing as drunk-Audrey would insist on doing, she ignored the siren song of the bass drop in favor of getting everyone home in one piece.

"Hey! Excuse me!" Just as they were approaching the exit, a voice broke through the crowd; the brush of fingers against the inside of her arm startled her. "I think you dropped something."

Her hands flew to her purse and Audrey surveyed the ground, checking whether or not she had indeed dropped anything. As she turned, the club's strobe illuminated the stranger's face.

A cocky, lopsided grin stretched the stranger's lips. "Your standards. I'm –"

"I'm gonna be sick."

"Oh shit! Audrey, Ash's gonna—"

Ashley lunged past the bouncer and out the door, more than likely retching into the shadows of the alley next door.

"Sorry, I—"

"Looks like you're busy," the stranger conceded with the hint of a chuckle, hands raised as he stepped back and let the crowd swallow him once more.

Of course, that wasn't the last that Audrey would see of the stranger.

Preoccupied by the grocery bags cutting off the blood flow to her fingers, Audrey bumped into someone on her walk home. Her surprised jump caused a bag to rip, the contents within spilling across the sidewalk. She stooped to pick up the fallen produce, hoping that none of it was too bruised to eat.

"I am so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going.

"Hey, I know you."

A lopsided grin and eyes as grey-blue as a midwinter sky. Black hair. Where…?

"Looks like you actually dropped something this time."

Your standards. I'm—

"Oh, yeah." An amused breath rushed past Audrey's lips, her cheeks a flattered pink as she recalled their first meeting.

"I'm Dante, by the way," he said, reaching a hand out to help her up from the ground which she took gratefully.

"What? No pickup line?"

"Do you need one?" he asked, amused as Audrey let go of his hand. "You're already throwing yourself at me."

"It's these damn bags," Audrey complained as she flexed her sore fingers. "They're not that heavy, but I can't feel my fingers."

Dante considered the bags that she'd yet to pick back up from the sidewalk. "Need help?"

Before Audrey could wave him off, Dante had grabbed three of her bags and situated them in his arms.

"You really don't have to do that."

"I know."

"Oh. Well, thank you." Audrey didn't know what else to say. At first glance, Dante certainly didn't seem the type to just help someone carry their groceries home.

"Lead the way."

They fell in step as they walked the blocks to Audrey's off-campus housing. Was it a smart idea to let this stranger know where she lived? Probably not. At least she didn't live alone. Sav and Ash would be there – it would be 3-on-1, and Ash had bear mace in her purse if he tried anything funny.

"I didn't catch your name." His voice shook her from her thoughts.

"Audrey."

That grin was back on his roguishly handsome face.

"How come I've never seen you around before?"

"I–"

"Audrey, where have you been? I thought you'd died!" Ash called, leaning dramatically out the second story window. "Oooh! Sav, she brought a man with her!"

Audrey groaned as her friends' high-pitched 'oooh's reached her in the street.

"Hey, it's the puker!"

Ash guffawed and grasped her metaphorical pearls at Dante's comment – "Well, I never!" – and with a flourish, she disappeared from the window.

"This is me," Audrey said, stopping in front of her apartment and reaching for the bags still in Dante's arms. "Thanks for your help."

"What? Not going to invite me in?"

Tempting, but no. "Not a chance."

She shuffled to the door with her arms full of groceries.

"I'll see you around!" Dante called from the curb as she shut the door.

She sincerely doubted it, but Dante remained true to his word and she began to see a lot of him. Out and about, around the pier, at the club, and eventually, even in her apartment – which, though crowded, had an A/C unit; something Dante's trailer desperately lacked.

Somewhere along the way, they became an item – a shock to them both since Dante had never been the type for monogamy – and eventually, Audrey gave up her coveted A/C unit to move into the smaller but less crowded trailer that Dante kept on the fringe of the Bellview Pier.

For all their carefree enjoyment of, and love for, each other the move into the trailer brought with it a wave of responsibility that the rest of their relationship lacked. A feeling they each had expected, even welcomed, until it was upon them. Otherwise, their relationship continued on as normal. They indulged in their carnal desires – Dante wasn't a saint and Audrey didn't want him to be one – but the shift toward the serious made them aware of things neither had paid attention to before, like the implications of their cohabitation given how long they had been together.

The whole thing reeked of finality. Of domesticity. Of chains and locks and keys.

Dante had mixed feelings about it, regularly flirting with the idea of saying 'fuck it,' as he usually did, and taking the plunge; but each time he was presented with the opportunity, he shied away. Audrey was beautiful and smart and talented, and he was, well… him.

They were playing with fire, and they were afraid they'd get burned.

Their lives were forever changed when the hunter demon followed Dante back to their trailer.

Thankfully, Audrey had been out when the demonic piece of shit whipped their home into the ocean and for the ensuing chaos.

Following the fight, Dante was picked up by the medium who alerted him to the demon's presence and brough to meet the masked freak that was her boss, and after agreeing to give them a chance to prove themselves, he insisted on going back for Audrey. If he was in trouble, then so was she… probably. He wasn't going to leave it to chance.

Darkness had fallen by the time the medium, Kat, pulled up to the destroyed pier.

"Audrey!"

"Dante!"

The blonde jumped into his arms. "What happened? I'm gone for an hour and you destroy the whole pier?"

"About that…"

"No…" Her eyes grew wide. She'd been joking. Had Dante really destroyed the pier?

"It's not like that. I'll explain in the car, but we've got to go."

Her attention shifted to the coupe as if noticing it for the first time. "What's going on?"

The driver's window rolled down and a hooded woman stuck her head out into the cool night air. "Dante, we've got to go. Come on."

"Who's she?"

"A new friend. She helped me out earlier."

Audrey remained rooted to the spot, unwilling to get into the car. Scared of what she didn't know.

"Look," Dante sighed. "You know how sometimes shit happens that I can't explain."

She nodded. It had been happening more and more as of late.

"Kat and her boss are helping me figure it all out, and they've got a place for us to stay while we get to the bottom of this."

"But what's going on?"

"I don't really know," Dante said, pulling her into his arms to offer her a little comfort, "but I can't just leave you here. Come on, we've gotta go."

That night, Dante and Audrey lay awake in a spare room in The Order's HQ. Each grappling with their own feelings and questions – why was Dante being targeted? What would the next day hold? What was going on?

In their wildest dreams, neither of them could have seen it coming.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"It's Kat. We're going to get going in a little bit. Coffee's in the kitchen."

"Thanks, Kat," Audrey answered, scrubbing a hand down her face. What little sleep she'd gotten hadn't been enough.

"I left some toothbrushes in the bathroom for you."

They each rose and filed into the bathroom to freshen up as much as they could while still wearing the other day's clothes – well, Audrey did; Dante couldn't really be bothered – then wandered the halls until they found the kitchen.

Kat fetched each of them a mug and poured them some coffee.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah, it was—"

"Awful. We didn't sleep."

"Dante!"

"What, there's no reason to lie," he shot back at Audrey before adding in Kat's direction. "Nothing personal, just the whole 'not know or trusting you' thing."

The room fell silent after Dante's comment while Audrey pondered the best way to apologize to the girl who had been nothing but nice since they'd met her. Sorry my boyfriend's an asshole? She'd probably be doing a lot of that – apologizing on Dante's behalf. Before she could say something, another joined them in the kitchen.

"Ah, you're awake."

Audrey turned to greet who she assumed must be Kat's boss.

A shock of silver hair.

Sunlight on slate and the palest blue glass.

"…Vergil?"

The man in question gave her a sideways glance, trying to place her.

They had both changed so much in the ten-plus years since they had lost contact. Though his hair and eyes remained distinctly, pleasantly Vergil, his face had lost its cherubic roundness, revealing high cheekbones and a strong jaw, and he'd grown tall and broad.

And he wasn't the only one who had undergone a transformation. As a child, Audrey's hair had been limp and frayed, her limbs gangly and long, and her features too big for her face, but the years had been kind to her; though her hair remained untamable on the best of days.

When he remained silent, Audrey bit the inside of her cheek and tangled her fingers in the end of her jacket in a years-long nervous habit.

"Audrey?"

A smile split Audrey's face as she leapt forward and embraced the friend she had lost to circumstance. "I can't believe it's really you." She had so many questions. So much to tell him. There was so much time to make up for.

"Wait, wait, wait. You two know each other?"

Vergil and Audrey held each other at arm's distance, more aware of their audience after Dante's inquiry.

"Vergil and I grew up in the same orphanage," Audrey answered, pushing her hair behind her ear. "We lost contact when we were adopted."

When Dante continued to stare, Vergil dropped his hands from Audrey's shoulders. "It would seem that we have some catching up to do, but first thing's first." His attention turned to Dante: "Time to show you who you really are."

"Where are you going?"

"They won't say."

"It's a surprise," Vergil said, gathering his cane in his hand and resting it in front of him. "You should make yourself comfortable, Audrey, we won't be gone long. There's a real library that way," he gestured down a hallway, "you're welcome to anything that piques your interest. I only ask that you don't disturb any of my bookmarks."

He turned then, Kat and Dante following him and leaving Audrey to find the library.

Appearances could be deceiving.

On the surface, things appeared to be going well for everyone – Audrey, Dante, Vergil, and Kat – but internally everyone was screaming.

Reconnecting with her best friend after so many years already had Audrey in a kind of way, then to learn that he was Dante's long-lost twin and that neither of them were human, but instead Nephilim, was a lot to digest. Among everything else that was going on between Vergil's jobs, Dante's training, and the routine scouting to keep the area immediately surrounding The Order's HQ demon-free, Audrey couldn't help but feel that her relationship was circling the drain. It wasn't anything that either of them had done, just a feeling.

Audrey wasn't the only one feeling the rising tensions within The Order's walls. Dante, for all the affections he harbored for Audrey, found himself ever tempted by the shy, baggage-laden Kat – another troubled soul who understood him on a level that he didn't think Audrey, try as she might, ever could.

And cool, calm, collected Vergil couldn't for the life of him help by feel that his brother had stolen something precious from him. When he had established The Order to take down Mundus and his co-conspirators, and then to find his twin, he hadn't thought that he would reconnect with his long-lost friend.

Audrey.

From the moment his name had left her lips and her fingers tied knots within her sleeves, he had known without a shred of a doubt. Known it was her as he knew the weight of the Yamato in his hand.

Unable to stop himself, he sought her out once he returned from Paradise only to find her curled into his leather armchair with her nose deep in a book. They had been apart for so many years, there was much to talk about and catch up on, and despite the long years, talking with her in that moment felt just as natural as talking to her among the branches of their oak.

With so many swirling emotions, it was only a matter of time until things reached a boiling point.

"Oh my god!"

"Fuck. Audrey, wait!"

It all came to a head when Audrey found Dante kissing Kat.

"I can explain."

The rush of emotions left Audrey's head spinning. It was all she could do to stand her ground without reaching for the support of a wall. "Go ahead."

Not expecting her to give him the time, space, or permission to plead his case, Dante remained uncharacteristically silent. He knew there was nothing to say. He hadn't meant to, hadn't been able to stop himself, but the deed had been done. And Audrey had caught him red-handed.

Poor Kat was beside herself, seemingly moments away from bursting into tears or flames or both. "I-I should go."

Audrey stepped aside to let her flee the scene. Out of habit, Dante reached out to Audrey once Kat was gone, but she stepped back and out of his reach. "Don't touch me."

"Audrey, I'm so sorry. I—"

She held her hand up to stop him. "Look. I get it. I… I just can't right now, Dante." They stood feet apart but worlds away. He couldn't even meet her eyes. "You should go check on Kat."

Instead, Dante summoned Rebellion and went out to clear his head.

Sat at the kitchen table, Audrey's mind wandered everywhere and nowhere at all. She stared into her coffee until the steam ran out and the mug grew cold in her hands, the liquid undisturbed. Eventually, the silence was broken when Kat dared step into the kitchen, her eyes rimmed red and nose rubbed raw.

"Audrey, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over us – what came over me. He's your… – I just want to make this ri—"

"It's okay," Audrey stopped her with a smile that didn't reach her eyes – more a brief twitching of her lips than anything that inspired comfort.

"No, it's not! I—"

"No. Really. It's okay," she tried again to reassure the medium. "I'm not mad." Audrey took a sip of her room temperature coffee, the taste sour on her tongue. Taking a deep breath and counting to ten, she tried again. "I don't think that Dante and I have been happy for a while, and…"

There had been a time when Audrey had been convinced that what they had was an unending, unbreakable love – the kind that people wrote songs and sang about – but recently, she had come to realize that their feelings toward each other were born of comfort, not the genuine pining of true lovers.

"…it wasn't going to work out, anyway. I'm happy for you; I just need some time."

Face turned down to study her shoes, Kat nodded. She left Audrey to her thoughts with one last, muffled 'sorry.'

That night, Audrey dared not return to the room she shared with Dante, though she doubted that he'd be there. Instead, she slipped into the library and found peace among the walls of old tomes. She wrapped herself in the warm embrace of Vergil's armchair, breathed in the lingering scent of his cologne. Before long, she fell into a restless sleep.

Audrey woke the next morning sore from the odd angles she had fallen into during her sleep. She stretched and settled more comfortably into the leather with every intent of spending her day in solitude. With any luck, Kat and Dante would be out for the day on some mission or another – she never knew what they were up to, it made her less of a liability if something were to happen.

It was difficult to drown out her thoughts. Her mind insisted on wandering back to the events of the other day and then further still to overanalyze every one of her interactions with Dante. When had their love plateaued and turned into something else? Why had they continued on for so long? Was it really because they couldn't stand the thought of being alone? Were they that lonely? That desperate? Had it been worth it to prolong their suffering? Had they even been in love to begin with, or had they just been a way for the other to pass the time?

"Are you alright, Audrey?"

Numb to the world around her, Audrey didn't even flinch at Vergil's surprise appearance. Had he been there long?

"Peachy."

She tried to continue where she'd left off before her mind had last wandered but ended up rereading the same paragraph over and over without grasping any of it. She flipped to the next page anyway. Fake it 'till you make it.

"I heard about what happened the other day," Vergil ventured to break the silence once again.

She stared up at him like a deer in the headlights. How had he—

"Kat has never been able to keep anything from me," he elaborated as if reading her mind. "That besides, she and Dante were acting weird in the brief."

Kat. Of course. That made sense.

"When did they leave?"

"About an hour ago."

Audrey hummed. Knowing that they were gone did little to lighten her mood.

"I don't mean to pry, I know you're hurting, but are you sure that you're okay?"

"No. Yes?" Was she okay? How could she be? "I don't know anymore."

Vergil nodded in solemn understanding. "It must be hard," he ventured. "I know that you and my brother were—"

"I should be pissed the fuck off, right?" she interrupted him, snapping her book shut. "Or devastated, or something. Instead, I feel…" The silence stretched as Audrey petered off. "When I found Dante with his fucking tongue down Kat's throat, I felt relieved." She deflated as suddenly as her temper had spiked, her book falling to the floor so that she could instead cradle her head in her hands. "And it's stupid and it's fucked up, but every time I think about it that fucking relief comes back. What kind of maniac feels relieved when they find their boyfriend cheating on them?"

Frustrated tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. She needed a hug.

Even after all those years, Vergil still cared enough to seek her out and ask if she was okay. Butterflies erupted in her stomach, her hands shook, and from the depths of the confusing relief sprang hope.

She rose from the armchair and stepped forward to embrace her friend, but instead, Vergil planted his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back. Her face fell. If she couldn't find comfort in Vergil, then where?

"I'm sorry, Audrey. I can't." Vergil looked off to the side. Anywhere but her face.

"Can't what? Hug me?"

For once, Vergil struggled to find the right words - worried that no matter what he said, it would come out wrong. When a look of hurt took over Audrey's face, the words tumbled out unbidden.

"I've been trying to keep you at a respectable distance because you were spoken for, but now…" Now that you're not. Now that Dante has fucked up. He shook his head. "It isn't appropriate. You're vulnerable. Your emotions are still raw. You need comfort, not for me to make things more complicated."

But things didn't need to be complicated. Why were they making things complicated?

Audrey stepped forward again; more slowly this time, as if approaching a frightened animal.

I've been trying to keep you at a respectable distance…

She cupped Vergil's cheek gently. Whisper soft.

…you were spoken for…

Vergil's fingers circled her wrist, holding it in place as he leaned into her touch.

You need comfort, not for me to make things more complicated.

"There hasn't been a day since you left the orphanage that my thoughts haven't drifted to you," he admitted with a shaky breath, spurred on by her touch. "Being around you again and knowing that you belonged to my brother was torture."

Audrey let Vergil's words wash over her. She felt light. Giddy. Like she was about to throw up butterflies all over his sweater.

"I don't belong to anyone, Vergil," she said as their eyes met; grey-blue to blue-green. "But if I could choose to give myself to someone, it would be you."

It had always been him. Ever since that day in the dirt beneath their oak.

When Vergil hesitated, Audrey rocked onto her tiptoes and connected their lips in a soft kiss. His lips had barely pressed back against her own before he gripped her arms and forced himself back.

"Are you sure this isn't the shock talking?" Vergil asked, looking for any sign of hesitation or doubt. "We can walk away from this right now; no questions asked."

"Shut up and kiss me."