[✔️] 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑁𝐾 𝐹𝐴𝑆𝑇 | 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍

𝐇𝐈𝐌, 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐌𝐘
"𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑦."
—𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑏𝑦 𝑀𝑎ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛, 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑡 & 𝐷𝑜𝑣𝑒

𝐈
— 𝐷𝑖𝑒𝑔𝑜 —

𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐍 the stone porch of Eudomus's home, his gloved hands clasping each other as he stared ahead of him and waited for the man to come out.

It was late morning, so the sunlight was strong as it streamed onto the grass of the small park that was placed in front of the home and brightened the day for the kids who played outside and the parents who watched from a distance.

A cool breeze washed over Diego, relieving him of the heat that was building up from his gloves and a tight-fitting, long-sleeved shirt. He shut his eyes for a moment, pleasuring in the wind as it blew over him once more, and let out a long sigh.

He took off his gloves, keeping them clutched tightly in his hands as he laid down, feeling the cold stone against his back through his shirt. He closed his eyes again, thinking over everything that had happened the night before.

Who were those masked intruders? Certainly, the same people who had attacked Griddy's, along with the department store. But what did they want? Well, judging by what Cha-Cha had said, they wanted Five. But for what reason? And where was he, anyway?

He had to find him before those attackers did. And from Five, find out who they were, what they wanted, and then Diego could track them down. He set a plan in his mind to find Five as soon as he was done here and gave a small nod to himself in confirmation.

Then, Grace. Was what he had done really the best option? He loved her. Truly. Even though she a robot; even if she didn't really have emotions; even if Vanya was right, and it was all Reginald all along. Grace was always there for him when he needed her, and helped in every way she could. And now she was dead. Because of him.

He shook his head. He shouldn't think about that. Not now.

Then what?

Well, there was always one thing his mind drifted easily towards.

Mara.

He had been so close. So goddamn close. They had been milliseconds away from kissing when Allison had interrupted and ruined the moment. If only Diego had made a move faster or had locked the door behind him when they had gone inside . . .

It didn't matter, he thought to himself with a fixed determination. He was going to get her someday soon. He was already a step closer; she no longer hated him and had said that she forgave him. They were basically one step away from marriage.

He hadn't seen her at all today. Well, other than when he had gone into her room to check on her right before he left the Academy to come here, but she had still been asleep at the time (and, might he add, looked adorable).

He could only imagine how awkward it was going to be once he saw her again today. He knew her, and that she was going to be nothing but confused about how she felt. He only hoped that she could sort her feelings out quickly, and the result would be in his favour.

Diego's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind him, but he remained motionless in his spot as Eudomus exclaimed, "What the hell? Who'd you piss off this time?"

"I gave it as good as I got," Diego said lazily as the other man stepped next to him on the staircase, not bothering to glance over towards him as he stared up at the sky.