[✔️] 𝑇𝐻𝐼𝑁𝐾 𝑂𝐹 𝑀𝐸 | 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

𝐄𝐗𝐂𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒
"𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛."
—𝐴𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑒 𝑆𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡-𝐸𝑥𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑦, 𝐴𝑖𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛'𝑠 𝑂𝑑𝑦𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑦

𝐈
— 𝐷𝑖𝑒𝑔𝑜 —

𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐔𝐏.

What had he been thinking? Why had he tried to kiss Lila? And, better yet, why did he let Lila tag along after Five had come for him?

He should've known she would've pulled something like this. And he should've known that Mara would've reacted like this. If he thought that she wasn't going to forgive him for ditching her for twelve years, she most definitely was not going to forgive him now.

Diego laid on the couch, only hearing the sound of chirping crickets that floated through the slightly open window, and the clattering sounds that came from the kitchen as Elliott prepared something.

It was a little past eight in the morning, and Diego couldn't be more tired. He had slept for maybe two hours, and, even then, it was filled with tossing and turning (which was not comfortable with this stab wound).

Five had already left for something else, according to what Elliott had told him. Something to do with soundwaves—and Diego was sure that it was related to Vanya.

His eyes moved towards the door on the far left as he heard it creak open, and felt relieved to see Mara walk out. He felt even happier as she walked in his direction, and hoped that she had forgiven him after a good night's sleep.

"Good morning, sunshine," he murmured, watching as she gently peeled off the gauze and placed a new square of gauze onto his healing wound. His gaze drifted over the pale green dress that she had changed into, and he smiled. "You look pretty."

Mara ignored him as she grabbed the medical tape from the coffee table and carefully ripped off a new piece before pressing it down onto his skin.

So no, she had not forgiven him.

"Come on," he groaned as she put another piece of tape. "You can't ignore me forever, baby."

She didn't respond as she placed the last two strips of tape onto the gauze, securing it down. She gently pressed two fingers against the middle of the gauze and seemed to feel a small sense of relief as no blood soaked onto the white.

"Mara, please," Diego said softly as he slowly sat up, grimacing slightly as he did so. He cupped her cheek, a small frown coming onto her face as she flinched slightly, though he still turned her head to face him.

He shifted closer, feeling more confident as she didn't move away, and leaned his face closer to hers. "Just . . . trust me. There's no one I want in my life more than you, Mara."

"Then why did you try to kiss her, Diego?" She spoke his name sharply, no longer keeping the tender and loving tone that she usually uttered it with. "If you loved me, you wouldn't even think about it."

"I do love you, Mara," Diego insisted gently, drawing his face closer to hers.

His heart sank as she pressed two fingers against his lips and pushed him back. "I'm having a hard time believing that."