𝙖𝙚𝙞𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙮 // 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙭 𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨

𝙉𝙊𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙇𝙂𝙄𝘼

/näˈstaljə/ or /nəˈstaljə/
a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations

- - -

Griddy's is quiet. It's something that Diego doesn't really associate with the diner; it had always been packed when he and the others came as kids. But that was twenty years ago, and the clientele is bound to have changed since then. Still, he can't help but glance over at their old booth in the corner. It's the only one that would fit them all, and if he squints, he can still see them all squished into it.

They flicker, the ghosts of them, but they're there. Five, Ben and Vanya on one side. Luther, Allison, him and Klaus on the other. Klaus telling some outlandish story and Five making smartass remarks about it to Vanya, just to get her to laugh. Ben betting Diego that he couldn't eat ten donuts in five minutes and Diego stupidly saying that he could. Luther jumping out of the way when Diego vomited all over the table and Ben's smug little smirk as Klaus and Vanya laughed. Allison and Five rolling their eyes and calling them idiots, but Diego had seen the tiny smiles on their faces.

Five went missing a week later. Ben died two weeks after that.

They'd come back, but it was never the same. He wonders what would happen if they came back now. If they all squeezed into that booth again, would that magic still be there? He doubts it. They've changed too much. All of them, in different ways, but the ties that truly bound them together frayed when Five left and then snapped when Ben died.

No, that midnight magic is dead. Like Ben. Like all the people they couldn't save.

He shakes himself, wipes at his eyes and clears his throat. There's no use dwelling on the past. He has a brother to tail, after all.

Allison had come to him after they'd all gone their separate ways, saying something about Five acting odd and would Diego mind tailing him, just to make sure he wasn't in trouble?

Diego, having nothing better to do, had agreed.

So now he's sitting in Griddy's diner, watching Five drink his coffee. He's pretty sure Five hasn't seen him yet, which is good. And nothing bad has happened. It's been boring, if Diego's being honest. Nothing that could even trip an alarm, except for Five ordering black coffee, because really, who orders black coffee? But there has been nothing, so he gets up to go.

The bell over the door jingles merrily. Diego stops, halfway out of his seat.

He doesn't think he's ever seen a more gorgeous woman in his life. And he knows Eudora Patch. But this woman is blonde and blue-eyed and wearing a blue dress that starts off light and gets gradually darker as it descends to the floor. It stops right above her feet, so Diego's able to see the dark red heels she's wearing. She's wearing some gold jewelry, too, and normally Diego hates gold but somehow this woman makes it look good.

He watches her out of the corner of his eye. She's looking for someone. He wonders, vaguely, if it's him. No, he'd know if he knew this woman. And he does not, sadly enough. She must find who she's looking for, though, because she moves away from the door and across the diner to—Five?

Diego stares. There is no way that Five knows this woman. None. She is entirely out of his league. But apparently he does, because he looks up when she approaches and says something. It's too quiet for Diego to hear, but the woman's face softens a bit.

Oh god. She's in love with him.

Diego nearly snorts into his coffee. Anyone who's spent longer than a year with Five Hargreeves knows that he's pretty much incapable of loving anyone. He debates moving closer to hear their conversation but it would be too suspicious, so he stays put. He catches vague snatches "...dangerous, you...," "...trust them...," "...family...book...idiots...," "...eight days, remember..."

Diego stays until the woman leaves. And then he waits for Five to finish his coffee so that he can follow him home.