After All This Time

Chapter Twenty-Three

I quickly unlocked the door from the inside and ran up the staircase as fast as I could. 

"Diego?! Are you here?"

No response, but there was no way in hell that I was going to give up that easily. I went down the hallway and found two doors, one had the window of the alley way and the other didn't. I couldn't tell which was which on the inside though.

"Diego!" I called out once more.

A man with brown scruffy hair opened the door to the left and poked his head through.

"What do you want with Diego? And who are y-... His words trailed off.

I tilted my head in confusion about how he new about my brother, and also preparing to fight jut in case he was dangerous.

"E-Eleanor?" The man said with shock in his eyes.

"Umm, no?" My eyes widened slightly.

Just after I heard Diego call out to the man. "Who's at the door Elliot?"

I peeked through the door to see Diego shirtless with some pants on, struggling to stand up with a bandage on his stomach.

"Diego..."

"Y/N."

I pushed the man out of the way and ran through the door to my brother. In a sprint that seemed like forever, I finally jumped into his arms, but also making sure not to harm his wound on his stomach.

"It's been so long..." I said as I buried my head into his chest, I didn't care that he was shirtless. I was just happy to see my brother again.

"How long has it been for you?" He asked as he held me tighter.

I took a breath before answering, "157 days... or 5 months and 1 week."

I finally pulled away from the hug so we could get a good look at each other.

"How did you find me?"

"Well, it was just a coincidence that I was walking across the street a few minutes ago and happened to hear a full grown man scream like a child." I joked

Then he started to look at my changed features.

"Your hair... and eyes. What happened to you? You're starting to look like more of a cat than human." Diego joked.

But it was no joke.

"You are right... Ever since I was put back into my 13 year old body... the panther side of my body started to change this one. But on another note, your hair, it looks good long." I said with a smile.

"Yeah, didn't know my hair could grow this much in 76 days." 

"Only 76 days? Psh! Lucky." 

Me and Diego looked at each other for a moment longer until some woman on the couch starting to speak.

"And who are you?"