When her vision returned, Amy was surprised to find herself lying on her couch in the living room with Dark digging through the freezer in the kitchen, mumbling incoherently under his breath.

There was a black dog that looked somewhat like Chica sitting patiently by his feet, its glowing neon red eyes watching Amy intently.

"Ah, good to see that I didn't kill you already." Dark glanced up at her with a smirk.

"I forgot you meat suits aren't always used to traveling so fast." Dark added, looking back at the freezer to continue his search.

"What-how did-"

"I'm a crossroads demon, more specifically, the king of them." Dark interrupted Amy, retrieving a frozen steak from the freezer. The dog gently took the steak from his hand and devoured it in a couple bites.

"Good Mayhem." Dark patted the dog's head.

"Why do you have a dog?" Amy frowned in confusion.

"Mayhem's my personal hellhound, I keep him with me always. Only those who sold their soul can see him, or you have to be a demon." Dark explained, feeding Mayhem another steak.

"Chica!" Amy called out, relieved to see her pad up to her from the bedroom with her tail wagging.

Mayhem growled menacingly at Chica, but she didn't seem to mind as she bounded towards Dark and licked his hand. Amy quickly stood up, ready to defend Chica in case Dark decided to hurt her.

She was surprised when he knelt down and ran his hand through her golden fur, his expression tinged with a gentleness she had never seen from him before.

"I'm a dog lover." Dark explained shamelessly with a shrug.

Mayhem barked at Chica, baring his razor sharp fangs.

"Behave." Dark tapped Mayhem's nose, earning an annoyed huff from the dog.

Chica didn't seem to notice him as she happily trotted back over to Amy and promptly fell asleep by her feet.

"You want to go out for ice cream?" Dark asked, walking forward a couple steps towards Amy.

Instinctively she stepped back, nearly tripping over the couch behind her.

"It is my birthday after all." Dark smiled, the gesture making him almost look like Mark.

Almost.

"Just go away, I HATE YOU!" Amy snapped furiously, hating how much Dark reminded her of how she failed to bring Mark back, and of the sketches she used to do with Mark where he was nothing but an imaginary character created by Mark's fans.

Now he was real, standing before her and wanting to take her out for ice cream like nothing was different.

For a brief moment, a hurt expression flashed across Dark's face. He quickly recovered, plastering his usual annoying smirk on his face.

"I've always been a fan of vanilla." Dark remarked casually like he hadn't heard Amy's outburst.

"No, I need you to go back to wherever the hell you came from, you and your hellhound." Amy shook her head.

"Would if I could sweetheart, but you signed the deal that you would be with me for seven years until I take your soul." Dark reminded her.

"It's either you ignore me for seven years, or you at least let me try to get to know you." Dark continued.

Amy hesitated, considering her options. She wasn't really a fan of either of them.

"Fine, I'll pick up vanilla ice cream." Amy huffed, starting to storm out the door.

"I was thinking more of going out together to an ice cream place." Dark spoke up, grabbing her by the arm to get her attention.

"Will you shut up if we do?" Amy snapped, her patience thin.

"Never." Dark shook his head with a grin as he walked out the door.

"Wait, your eyes..." Amy trailed off, gesturing to Dark's black eyes.

"Oh yeah." Dark closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, they were the same chocolate brown color that Mark's used to be.

Amy shuddered as she started walking to the car, only to feel Dark's hand touch her arm again, causing everything to turn black once more.

When her vision returned, she nearly screamed when she realized that they were suddenly standing on top of the Eiffel Tower.

"Be back in a sec." Dark abruptly disappeared before quickly returning with two bowls of vanilla ice cream in his hands.

"I heard the ice cream in Jamaica is pretty good." Dark commented as he handed her a bowl.

"I thought we were going to an ice cream place." Amy looked into Dark's eyes to avoid looking down. Everyone was gone, the crescent moon lighting his face like a spotlight. Paris was lit up with a collage of multiple colors that reminded Amy of a sunset.

"Yeah, but I wanted to do something romantic! That and the Tower's closed so we get the place to ourselves." Dark sat down in the edge, looking out at the city as Amy cautiously sat down beside him.

"Won't security catch us?" Amy asked warily.

I've disabled them." Dark assured her.

A cold breeze of air caressed her arms, causing her to shiver slightly. Dark seemed to notice since he disappeared again before returning with a blue jacket that was a lighter color than her tank top.

She nodded in appreciation as she slipped the jacket on, wishing more than ever that Mark was with her.

"I can give you anything you want." Dark told Amy as he ate a spoonful of his ice cream.

"Then give me Mark." Amy answered without hesitation.

"Except that." Dark sighed, sounding slightly impatient and sad.

"Why?" Amy demanded, her anger flaring up again.

"Mark's dead. I'm using his body as a vessel since I'm a demon, and demons don't have physical forms. If I leave him, you'll have nothing but a corpse lying beside you." Dark explained.

Amy felt nauseous at the thought, causing her to lose her appetite.

"Look, I'm certainly not thrilled about this either. I miss someone too." Dark admitted, avoiding Amy's gaze as he finished his ice cream, letting the styrofoam bowl float away in the breeze to the ground far below.

"Who?" Amy asked, genuinely curious. She didn't think demons could have emotions.

"A really good friend of mine...I think humans call him Anti." Dark replied, his usual playful attitude replaced with a solemn one that made Amy feel slightly guilty for asking.

"Danti away." Amy teased him to try and lighten up the mood.

"Is that what the ship name is called?" Dark chuckled.

"You humans..." Dark trailed off with a small smile.

"What about us humans?" Amy prompted.

"You're all so...different. I've never met anyone like you." Dark confessed.

"I've definitely never anyone like you either. Then again, I've never met a demon before." Amy snorted lightly in amusement.

"Most aren't as nice as me." Dark stated with a shrug.

"You're nice?" Am scoffed playfully.

"How am I not?" Dark countered innocently.

"Fair point." Amy admitted. Even though he was a demon, he surprisingly hadn't tried to sacrifice Amy to Satan.

At least not yet.

"Ready to go home?" Dark questioned, stretching as he stood up before offering Amy a hand.

Amy nodded, allowing Dark to help her up. As soon as she touched his hand, she found herself back home again. Chica was still asleep, Mayhem watching her as if wanting to protect her.

"I think Mayhem's finally gotten used to Chica." Dark mused.

"I'd go as far as to say that they like each other." Amy chimed in. Chica twitched in her sleep, meaning that she was having a dream. Mayhem laid down beside her and rubbed his head against hers until she calmed down.

"We should probably sleep too." Dark yawned.

"Definitely." Amy agreed, walking to her room with Dark in tow.

"You're staying in the living room." Amy stopped Dark from entering, gently pushing him in the direction of the couch.

Dark rolled his eyes, but listened to her nonetheless. Amy gave Dark a pillow and blanket before closing the door to change into pjs.

"Amy!" Dark called out from the living room.

"Yeah?" Amy shouted back.

"Can I have pjs too? Or do I have to beg?" Dark asked jokingly.

Amy found Dark a fitted black t-shirt, as well as a pair of pjorts from one of their old charity live streams, and tossed them to Dark.

"Goodnight Amy." Dark lightly kissed her hand before flopping down onto the couch.

"Goodnight Dark." Amy smiled as she went to bed. For the first time in a year, she easily fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.