|Doppelgänger| Five Hargreeves

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖𝟏

 I was waiting for Five to win me a reindeer plushie in one of the games at the plaza while I watched the carousel spinning. Even if I had already accepted his apology, he decided he wanted to spoil me for the day. The plushie was cute anyway so I let him do it.

At some point, I noticed Lila approaching me. She had a drink in her hand, so from what I could see, her and Diego weren't putting much effort in the mission either. Were any of us putting effort? I think we all got caught a little too deep in the Christmas spirit.

_"Hey."-She greeted me, looking around everywhere except for actually at me. She seemed nervous.

_"Hi. What's wrong?"-It was easier for me to just, so I did.

_"I just wanted to say thank you."-With her answer, I furrowed my brows in confusion.

_"What for?"

_"For not outing me to Diego."-She finally looked at me. I hummed in response.

_"You were awake."

_"Yeah. Look, I know it sounded suspicious but I genuinely have no interest in that little shit. It was pure coincidence, we went to get coffee since-"

_"You work in the CIA too, don't you?"-I interrupted the woman. That part was solved already, I didn't need to hear her explanation.

_"...How'd you figure that out?"-It was her turn to look confused. She sipped her drink.

_"You looked like you knew what the Keepers were, also would explain why you met up with Five. And by the way, don't worry. I don't think he would cheat, and I don't think you're stupid enough to try that either."-I truly was not trying to be offensive, but my words might've come out like that. Lila, though, smiled instead of taking it seriously.

_"Y'know, I've always really liked you."

_"Aw. I like you too. But that's weird, don't say that out loud."-I smiled back at her, she let out one of her characteristic laughs.

Not long after we finished our little talk, Diego and Five came back, walking towards us. Diego had three little reindeer plushies, probably for his kids, while Five had one, which he gave to me as soon as he was close enough.

_"What are you two talking about?"-Diego asked, eyeing us both with suspicion. Five did too.

_"And why are you smiling?"

_"It's girl talk."-I answered, discreetly sipping my eggnog that seemed to be lasting forever.

_"Yeah, none of your business."-Lila joined in, and I nodded. Diego seemed more bothered about it than the boy.

_"I wonder what else you're keeping from me."-Oh, yeah. Diego still thought Lila was cheating. There was now awkward silence in the group, until Five, who was staring at something in the distance, spoke.

_"That elf. He's staring right at us."-We all turned to look in the same direction. One of the guys in costume was indeed staring. Even if we were looking back at him, he didn't take his eyes from us.

_"Who?"-Diego didn't seem to have found the guy yet.

_"That elf over there. He's been staring at us."

_"How much wine have you had? Stop being weird."-Five glared at his brother for that. I felt him slowly reaching out to grab my hand. His grip was firm. That told me he felt something bad was going on.

_"Trust me. There's something up with this guy."

_"Maybe he likes you."-Lila joked. I looked at her with a raised brow.