Never before had silence been so deafening.

The ring lay at his feet, haunting him yet again. He stood frozen, staring at her, unable to will himself to speak. He watched in horror as she bent down and picked up the ring. Her fingers trembled as their eyes met once more and she moved toward him.

"I-I believe this is yours." Her voice was quivering.

His body began to tremble and breathing became difficult. He was barely aware of the way she took his hand in hers and turned his palm upward. She placed the ring in the center, closing his fingers around it. He swallowed hard, doing his best to remain calm. But he knew that he was doing a terrible job of it. Inside he was completely shattered. However, he had to say something; anything.

"D-Daphne…" He managed to choke out. "I-I'm so sorry, I-."

"It's all right. I should have told you before; so many times before, but it's none of my business and when you didn't mention it, I realized that you didn't want anyone to know about it. Not even me."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Y-you knew?"

She nodded, but a look came over her that told him that something wasn't right. There was something that she wasn't telling him. And that something had him very worried. But he couldn't fault her for being upset and in fact, his heart went out to her. Trying to make amends, even in the slightest, he reached for her hand.

"Daphne…"

"I'm sorry. I know that I should have said something, but-."

"H-how could you have known?"

"It was your-Mel called."

He felt as though he was having an out of body experience. Because surely she hadn't said-. "Wait a minute, what do you mean, Mel called? Because I never-."

"I know. I… She didn't call your brother's place directly. She called Donny's cell phone. I heard it ringing and, thinking it was Frasier's phone, I answered it."

He let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. "Wh-what did she say?"

Daphne wasted no time in responding. "She was horrible. Absolutely horrible."

Damn, he should have known. "Daphne-."

"Sh-she thought that I was his secretary. Apparently she didn't recognize my voice. I-I had no idea that Donny had left his cell phone at your brother's. I-I thought-."

Only half listening, he held up his hand to silence her. "Daphne, what did she say to you?"

This time there was a moment's hesitation and he knew that it couldn't be good. "Sh-she was looking for Donny. I guess that much was obvious or she wouldn't have been calling his cell phone. She-." Daphne paused, blinking back tears.

Niles knew that he shouldn't encourage her to continue. The revelation was obviously upsetting her a great deal. But he needed to know more.

"… She wanted me to have Donny send her attorney the prenuptial agreement that she-."

Niles snapped to attention. "Prenuptial agreement?"

"Yes, I-."

He was livid, even more so than when he'd come back from Frasier's after discovering that Donny and Daphne were no longer engaged. He should have known that Mel was capable of doing something like this and the fact that he had broken off their relationship didn't make him feel any better. All of those months… so many months of being with a woman who was absolutely horrible and didn't trust him at all….

"How dare she…" He muttered. A string of curse words followed; words that he rarely if ever said, even when angry. But now he found that he couldn't stop. He wanted to throw something; anything. He didn't know what he would have done if Mel had been there, but at that moment he was truly afraid of what he was capable of. Never before had he been so angry. Even Maris, who had done some despicable things during their marriage, had never done anything that came close to what Mel had done. If Mel's intention was to wound him, she certainly worked hard at it and very nearly succeeded.

It was only when he looked at Daphne again that he noticed the fear in her eyes. Immediately he began to cool off, realizing what she must have been thinking. Dear God, was it possible that she thought that he was angry at her? Surely not. He'd never forgive himself if she was trying to take the blame for Mel's inexcusable actions.

Daphne came closer and put her arm around him. "Are you all right?"

He opened his mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come. He began to wheeze in and out. He had to get out of there. He wanted to run, far, far away. Slowly he started to move. As he walked he could feel her hands trying to steady him. He came to a complete stop and began to stare at the lake, his mind completely numb.

"Dr. Crane, please!" Daphne cried, the tears flowing down her cheeks. "Say something, anything!"

He turned toward her. "I-I…"

"Talk to me, please!" She cried, gripping his hands in a desperate motion.

"I-I had no idea that Mel had… If I had, I would have-."

She shook her head. "No. I should never have brought it up! I- thought that you knew! I mean, I just assumed. When Mel said that you were eloping, I found it odd that there was a prenuptial agreement to begin with but then again, I know so little about the logistics of getting married that… Well, it's kind of ironic, given the fact that Donny is a divorce lawyer."

She was trying so hard to sound upbeat but her voice was anything but. "But don't worry, Dr. Crane." She continued. "It won't change things between you and Mel, I'm sure of it. I know that you two love each other and you'll have a wonderful life together. I'm happy for you. I really am." Her voice broke on the last words.

He reached into his pocket and gave her his handkerchief. "I'm so sorry, Daphne. I should have been honest with you. After all that you've been through, you of all people deserve to know the truth."

Daphne gazed out toward the mountains, but he knew that the tears were streaming down her cheeks.

Heartbroken at the sight, he reached for her but she pulled away.

"Daphne-."

She whirled around to face him. "You don't owe me anything, Dr. Crane. I don't deserve anything! Nothing at all. You're so wonderful. You're always wonderful and you've always been wonderful. But me, I'm a horrible person!"

"Don't say that!" Niles ordered. "Don't ever say that, Daphne. You're not horrible! You're wonderful."

"Stop being so nice to me!" she yelled. "I can't take it anymore!"

Taken aback by her words he froze. "Daphne, I-."

"I'm not wonderful! I'm horrible!"

"Daphne, no-."

"I lied to you, Dr. Crane! I haven't been honest with you at all! I haven't told you the truth, even when you asked me to tell you, so many times!" She pushed her hands through her hair, doing her best to hold back sobs.

"I-I don't-."

"Of course you don't understand! Friends aren't supposed to lie to each other and I'm so sorry! I want to tell you the truth-all of it… so badly, but I'm so afraid!"

His eyebrows rose. "Afraid? Afraid of what?"

"Of you!"

The words stunned him. "What?"

"Just… Never mind, Dr. Crane. Forget I ever said anything, all right?"

"No. I can't forget about it. And I don't think that you can forget about it either. How can you possibly be afraid of me?"

He was hurt beyond measure by this new information, but he tried his best not to let it show. "You're really afraid of me, Daphne?"

"Yes." She said flatly.

"But I-."

"Oh, don't you get it?"

"No, I don't. Daphne, please, tell me why you're afraid of me. I have to know."

"I'm afraid of what you'll think of me! You're bound to hate me. I've lied to you so many times and I can't lose you, Dr. Crane! You're my best friend in the whole world."

He froze, letting her words sink in. The feeling is mutual, he wanted to say. But the words wouldn't come. Her words, however, meant more to him than if she had told him that she loved him.

"Daphne, listen to me, please!" He said after a long silence. "There is nothing that you could say that will change the way I feel about you. Nothing will ever make me hate you or think less of you. It will never happen, ever. And if it upsets me, I will never take my anger out on you. I will always be your friend, Daphne. Always. I swear, I will always be there for you, no matter what."

"But you have no idea what I'm going to say!"

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter, Daphne. You're what matters. And your friendship means the world to me. It means so much to hear you call me your best friend. I know that I've always said that Frasier is my best friend but there are so many things that I can't talk to him about that I can share with you. He's too much like me, so judgmental, and worried about what other people think. But not you, Daphne."

She brought her trembling hand to her mouth and it was becoming more and more difficult for her to control her emotional state.

He came closer and brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. "You're my best friend, Daphne. And as your best friend, I'm begging you from the depths of my soul to please tell me what's wrong."

She took a deep breath and he wanted to coax her into telling him, but he couldn't do it. It was best to let her speak when she was ready. And he would wait for her.

He would wait forever.

"It's about Donny." She finally said.

He let out a sigh. "I thought as much. Daphne, what is it?"

"When you came back from Seattle, after hearing about our broken engagement from your brother, you assumed-and I led you to believe that Donny-."

"Daphne, I'm so sorry for getting so angry about that. I had no right-."

"Dr. Crane, please! I don't know if I can get through this!"

Their hands still joined, he stepped back to give her space. "Go on…" he said quietly.

"When you told me that you knew about our broken engagement, you assumed that it was Donny who had broken it. That he was the one who had ended our relationship. But it's not true."

He leaned in, wanting more. "What are you saying?"

"It was me, Dr. Crane! I'm the horrible one! I broke up with Donny! I'm the one who broke his heart!"