He led her to the porch and sat down beside her on the handcrafted wooden porch swing. He had lost count of all the times that he'd sat on this very swing, alone or with Mel and wished that Daphne was beside him. Finally, after all this time, his wish had come true.

She scooted close to him and rested her head against his shoulder. His arm went around her and he moved his feet to allow the swing to sway back and forth.

"When I met Mel…" he began. "I'm not sure why I was so attracted to her." He laced his fingers through Daphne's and brought her hand to his lips. "Perhaps it was her immediate kindness and her willingness to help me when I discovered that the hospital was still billing me for Maris' Botox treatments.

Daphne nodded in understanding. But he wasn't finished. His gaze held hers.

"Or perhaps it was the fact that someone else had stolen your heart."

She snuggled against him and kissed him. "Never again, Darling. Never again."

His heart sang at the way she called him darling. And then he felt her lips against his cheek. "I'm sorry, Niles. Go ahead with what you were saying."

"As you can imagine, I was quite distraught, realizing that I had lost you. And so I decided to pursue Mel in the hopes that our relationship would flourish. Although it pained me with jealously to see you with Donny, it also made me happy because I could see how happy he made you. Your happiness meant the world to me. And it always will."

"Thank you." Her whispered words were muted by her lips on his cheek.

"But as I delved deeper and deeper into the relationship with Mel, it brought a rather harsh reality. I had gone through so much heartache with Maris that I was convinced that I finally had another chance at a long and lasting bond. I vowed to spend as much time with possible with Mel. It was difficult, what with her demanding schedule, but we did our best to make it work. I was so proud of myself and so happy that I became blind to the fact that Mel had slowly begun to change. Frasier and Dad were right. Mel was exactly like Maris, only much worse. She became harsh, disrespectful and oftentimes downright cruel. And now I wonder if she ever really loved me at all. God knows I tried. I wanted so much to-."

When he felt her hand moving in circles against his chest, he realized that his voice was breaking. Damn that Mel. Even now that she was out of his life forever, she still managed to wound him.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to do this." Daphne reassured him. "It's all right."

He nodded. "I know. But I have to, Daphne. You deserve to know the truth, and knowing the truth means knowing all of the truth."

She gave him her undivided attention; something that Mel and Maris had never done.

"I wanted so much for this relationship with Mel to work out. After Maris, I felt like such a failure. So that weekend I whisked Mel away to a place where were could be completely alone."

"The cabin." Daphne finished with a deep sigh.

"Yes. I thought that she and I would be happy here. I thought that we could have fun in the way that you and I-."

She waited patiently, as though knowing what was going to say.

"I tried, Daphne. I really did. I wanted…. I wanted so much for my relationship with Mel to work out that I was oblivious to the fact that our relationship was unraveling.

Gone was the sweet, thoughtful, fascinating, and encouraging woman with whom I had fallen in love, replaced with someone who was becoming a stranger. But since I was determined to make it work, I chose to ignore the arguments, the accusations and her insults and just continued to try and make her happy."

Daphne stroked his hand with her thumb. "I know. You're very good at making people happy."

He leaned to kiss her and he knew that the rest of the story didn't matter. He'd already said too much anyway, but now that he'd started, he found that he couldn't stop.

"The words just came out, Daphne. I swear. I just… I thought that if I made a commitment; that if I showed her that I was capable of being faithful only to her that she would change; O-or I would. And even though I knew that Frasier and Dad would disapprove of my decision-."

"You proposed and she accepted." Daphne finished.

"Yes, but a bit too hastily from what I remember. Once she agreed to marry me, Mel began rattling off ideas for our wedding, but suddenly she turned and told me to forget it."

Daphne's mouth fell open. "Forget the wedding? But you had just proposed!"

"Eloping was easier, according to Mel. There was no planning involved, no caterers to call, no dress to buy, and no guest list to make. The list went on and on. Mel was busy planning for her conference and would be leaving soon. She said that while she was in Atlanta, she would take care of things."

"The prenuptial agreement."

Even hearing those words from Daphne's sweet lips, they stung just the same. "Yes. Damn, why didn't I realize-."

"You couldn't have known, Niles. Not from what you've just told me. And I feel horrible about it, like it's my fault. I'm so sorry for blurting it out like that. I should have never assumed-."

Silence filled the small space between them and then she continued.

"What about the ring?"

He reached into his pocket and removed the band of gold. He stared at it, just as he had done the night that he sat alone in the living room of the cabin.

"Mel insisted that we get rings right away." He explained. "So immediately after I dropped her off at the airport, I bought the ring, but-."

She took his hand and kissed it. "What happened?"

"The answer was simple. I wanted to be happy. I was engaged but I wasn't happy at all. My heart wasn't in it. I couldn't-."

"I don't understand. When you came over to your brother's, you were wearing it. You were holding your hand behind your back as though you didn't want me to know."

A rush of guilt came over him. Of course it wasn't the first time that he'd experienced this feeling, but it was the strongest.

"Mel wanted me to pick out my own wedding band, so I went ahead and bought one. Even had it engraved."

"L-O-V-E."

"Yes that's right. I guess I needed a reminder or something. But I slipped the ring onto my finger and kept it there. Ironically it felt safer on my hand than in my pocket. When I arrived at Frasier's I didn't expect anyone to be at home. I was embarrassed to be wearing it when Mel and I weren't yet married. But instead of taking it off like I should have, I did my best to keep it out of sight."

"But why did you allow me to continue to believe that you were married all of this time?" Daphne's voice had an edge to it now; an edge that cut into the softness.

"I was looking for the right words; waiting for the right moment. When you referred to Mel as my wife, I was completely taken aback. I don't even know how to explain my emotions that occurred during that moment."

"I-I don't-."

"I'm so sorry, Daphne. The truth is that-."

"Yes, you told me."

"Mel and I are not married. We never exchanged vows. Quite honestly being here with you at the cabin has been exactly what I needed to realize that marrying Mel would have been a terrible mistake."

"I had no idea. When you were at your brother's and I saw that you were wearing that bloody ring, I-."
To Niles' utter horror, Daphne turned away and began to cry. When she looked at him again, he brushed a fallen lock of hair from her face.

Slowly the pieces-like the pieces of the puzzle they had been working on in the cabin-began to fit together.

"Dear God… That's why you were so upset."

She nodded. "Yes. I'm so sorry. I never meant to lie to you. But you were being so sweet to me, so concerned the way you always are."

"Daphne, my love I'm so deeply sorry. If I had known-."

"I couldn't tell you, Niles. I just couldn't."

"Why not?"

"It wasn't right. I knew that you'd fine me completely daft, sitting alone at your brother's looking like death warmed over."

"You looked beautiful."

His comment, although he meant it in the most sincere of ways, made her laugh. "Niles-."

"You always look beautiful, Daphne. And I was so worried about you. At that moment, nothing else mattered but bringing you out of your sadness. If only I hadn't been wearing this damn ring-."

"May I ask you another question?"

"Of course, Daphne. You can ask me anything; anything at all."

"When you excused yourself every night to go to your office-."

"I'm sorry, Daphne. I know that this was supposed to be a vacation of sorts, just for the two of us, but I really needed to-."

"Talk to Mel." She finished.

He looked up sharply. For someone who had been harboring a secret about his intended fiancé, he had done a terrible job at harboring a few other secrets. Their eyes met and he saw a look of understanding.

"Yes." He replied after a silence that was much too long. "I was calling Mel in Atlanta. She insisted that I call her every night. But the last time I talked to her, I made it clear in no uncertain terms-."

Daphne's eyes sparkled. "You mean-."

"It's over, Daphne. Mel and I are through."

"I'm sorry."

His eyebrows rose at the unexpected words. Selfishly he'd expected her to throw her arms around him and kiss him passionately, but here she was, showing empathy.

"I'm not." He said, making it clear that he meant what he'd said. "I'll never be sorry for ending my relationship with Mel."

"Niles-."

"I will never regret that phone call that I made to Mel to tell her that it was over between us. I should have done it a long time ago. I explained to her that I had been doing quite a bit of thinking and then explained how I felt about our relationship. "She wasn't happy about it, of course; especially when I told her that was-that I am-in love with someone else, but so be it. I know what she's capable of. I know how angry she's gotten in the past. And when we met in person she was very, very angry. In fact, she was furious."

"Niles, I-."

"Don't worry, Daphne. I've contacted my lawyer; my new lawyer-and got a restraining order against Mel. She can't come into contact with you, myself, Dad or Frasier. I don't want her hurting anyone I love anymore, including myself. Mel has done enough damage. And as for myself, I've hurt you more than I thought possible. For that I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for-."

Her lips pressed against his, keeping him from saying anything more. The kisses went from soft and satiny to something more. Her arms slid around his neck and then moved slowly down his shoulders to his waist. He in turn, gave into the kiss with everything he had, his fingers splayed through her hair.

Never again would he take Daphne's love for granted. Never again would he take anything for granted; ever.