EUNOIA ━ diego hargreeves

34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
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"I'M SO confused," Diego admitted, prompting Five to throw his head back in annoyance, interrupting his and Viktor's game of pool. Freya was perched on a chair next to a tall plant, painting her nails absentmindedly, and ignoring Diego's pleading stare every thirty seconds.

"Shocking," Allison muttered sarcastically, leaning against a wall.

Viktor had more patience than all of them, apparently, because he easily explained it to Diego. Again. "Well, someone killed our mothers, so we shouldn't exist. But clearly we do exist, and the universe can't handle it, which is a problem."

"Big problem," Five echoed, taking a sip from his coffee mug.

Freya went to switch hands, but reeled back when a foot came flying close to her face. She dropped the polish onto the carpet, and turned her gaze to see Stan, practicing karate, and oblivious to what he'd just done.

"Stanley!" Diego scolded, and the authority in his tone made Freya's eyes snap up. He was pointing a finger at the younger boy. "Now is not the time to be doing karate, okay? Apologize to Freya for almost kicking her in her fat head."

Usually, Freya would've answered with her own smart-ass response in return to Diego's insult. That was just what they did. But Freya couldn't even think about speaking to him without wanting to fireball his head, so she kept quiet.

The anger felt more forced than anything. She'd never admit it, but the glaring and everything in between was just a façade. She felt hurt. She was betrayed. Maybe she didn't fully pour her heart out to Diego, but she thought she'd made her feelings for him pretty clear. Diego wasn't hers to claim. Stan was enough proof of that. But that didn't mean that the hollowness she felt in her chest would go away.

Diego meant more to her than anything. It took her a long time to realize that the way her nerves would flare up at his presence was not a reaction to hatred. It was the opposite.

And he'd ruined everything.

When Freya said nothing, Klaus shuddered from the floor. "Weird."

"Okay, Five. You said we created a paradox. What does that mean?"

"It's hard to say," Five answered. "It's all been theoretical until now, but things have started to disappear."

"What things?"

"Right now? Uh, lobsters."

"And a shit ton of cows!" Klaus pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Right, Freya? Shit ton."

"Shit ton," she agreed.

"I have a feeling this is just the beginning."

"A feeling?" Allison repeated. "Aren't you retired?"

"I want nothing more."

"You know, you can't just drag us through hell because you have an itch only an apocalypse can scratch, and then expect us to deal with the fallout. You're not the boss!"

"Sorry, how is it Five's fault there's an apocalypse again?" Freya asked, raising a brow. "Weren't you literally the one who was demanding he figured out what was going on? And now you're upset that he is? You're not the only one going through shit, Allison. You don't get to take out your feelings on everyone else."

"Screw you," Allison sneered. "I don't even understand why you're here. You don't do anything useful. You hold everyone else back."

Freya snorted. Allison seemed even more offended that she was laughing. Stan broke the uncomfortable silence by knocking over a rack of pool sticks.