ZERO! the umbrella academy

cinquante-sept

WANTED

I HAD A SECRET.

I had a secret that nobody knew, not even Five, and it was eating away at me from the inside out.

I was practically vibrating walking down the sidewalk next to Diego, about to burst with the new knowledge I had. It was like something had been locked deep down inside of me, and now it was set free. All this emotion I had buried deep and suppressed for so long came spilling out like a dam that broke.

I was in love with Diego, and it made me sick to my stomach.

I guess I should've been more happy about it. I was in love with Diego and Five, and they were both in love with me. But all I could think about was how I was going to have to choose, and both of them cared about me so much that they would never force me to.

"Lee?"

Diego's voice snapped me out of my train of thought, and I looked up to find him staring down at me. "What?"

"I asked you if you were okay." I could see the concern in the depths of his warm brown eyes.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," I answered a little too quickly.

He didn't look convinced one bit. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were the junkie in the family, not Klaus."

He looked me up and down as I continued to fidget. It felt like spiders were crawling all over me. I tried to still my trembling hands, but to no avail.

"What's going on?" His eyes bored into mine. "You know you can tell me anything."

My heart squeezed in my chest. I knew that I could, I just didn't know what to say. I tore my gaze away from him and stared down at my boots, moving one foot in front of the other on the sidewalk. I could feel his eyes burning holes in the side of my face.

When I continued to remain silent for a while, he spoke again. "You did say if we made it out of there, you'd tell me about the briefcase."

My eyes went wide. Shit, I totally forgot about the briefcase. "I was supposed to give it to Five."

"And he's gonna be pissed when you show up without it?" He arched a brow at me.

I merely shrugged my shoulders. We were close to Morty's now. I could see the big neon sign as we approached it, just a few feet within reach. I figured I could just keep biding my time until we got there and were reunited with the others.

Diego had other plans. He stepped into my path, and I just barely caught myself before I bumped right into him. I looked up at him, bewildered. "What are you doing?"

"If that's not what's bothering you, then I want to know what is." He crossed his arms over his chest, a mischievous twinkle in his eye and a smirk on his face. "I want to know what you're not telling me before I can get distracted by everyone else's problems."