Fighter. |Diego Hargreeves|

Six.

Since when did Belle strip? Diego went back to the gym, cleaned up as fast as he could, and high tailed it back to Ocean. He would give anything in the world not to see his girlfriend on stage. He sat at the end of the bar and tried not to look at the girls too hard, just to check if they were Belle. He wasn't sure what he would do if he did see her, now that he was sitting down. He couldn't really be mad at her, it was a job. It wasn't like they had talked about this.

"What can I get you to drink?" an unamused voice asked and Diego spun around guiltily. Belle was standing behind the bar, her arms crossed.

"Hi Belle."

"Hi Diego. Is there a reason you're here?" she asked.

"I- um-"

"You followed me?" Her hip popped out to the side.

"Yes," Diego muttered.

"And why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to make sure you were safe," Diego confessed.

"You are aware I'm a boxer too, right? I can take care of myself? You saw me make it here safely, why did you have to come in?" She asked, getting a bit louder.

Diego just hung his head in shame. It was like being scolded by his mom. "I dunno," he shrugged.

"You're lucky I wasn't on stage, or else I would have jumped off and kicked you with my heels," Belle said and turned to walk down the bar.

"Is that what was in the bag, clothes to strip in?" Diego asked, suddenly irrationally angry as he got off of his stool and followed her.

"Yes, that is what is in my bag, Diego Hargreeves, what does it matter to you?" she asked, slamming bottles of liquor around.

Diego's heart pounded in his chest. "I-I-I d-do-don't-" he stopped himself and just stared. The last time he had stuttered was when he and Patch broke up. His mouth opened and closed like a fish. Belle's look changed.

"Claire, you got this?" she yelled down the bar. The other bartender gave her a thumbs up and she grabbed Diego and pulled him into a room.

She rubbed her forehead and leaned against the wall. "Let me get this straight, you followed me to make sure I was safe, I got here safely and you came in becauseeeeee?" she drew out the last word and waved for him to continue.

Diego took a deep breath to steady himself. "I don't k-know," he sighed at himself in anger. He needed to get his shit together. "I d-don't want you to strip, b-but I can't stop y-you," Diego got even more angry at himself. He had mostly dropped his stuttered, and now it wanted to come back.

Belle placed a hand on his shoulder and started to rub it. "I didn't want to strip tonight either, it's been a while since I've done that. I owe the owner a favor, so I figured I would come help. I was lucky a bartender wanted to move on to stripping, so I took her spot behind the bar. I didn't know that until I got here, that's why I have the bag of clothes. Are you stuttering, by the way?"

"Yeah, I do that when I get emotional," Diego mumbled. "It used to be really bad."

"I didn't know that."

"That's besides the point. I'm sorry I followed you and came here when I knew that you seeing me in the crowd would probably be uncomfortable. I know I don't own you and can't force you not to strip, so I really don't know why I came in. Can you forgive me?" Diego asked.

"Of course babe," Belle sighed and pulled him in for a hug. "I do have to get back to bartending though, feel free to stay if you want."

"Do you want me to stay?"

"Well, having you there to scare creeps away is kinda sexy," Belle shrugged and gave him a sly smile.

"I'll stay then," Diego decided. 

Fortunately (or unfortunately), Diego didn't have to scare anyone away from Belle. She just radiated this 'don't fuck with me' attitude. When everyone left at the end of the night though, he did have to scare a creep away from one of the dancers. 

Belle silently pointed him in the direction of a guy making advances on an uninterested dancer. "Go save her," she whispered. 

Diego unzipped his jacket and pulled out a knife. He threw it, making it embed the man's jacket into a wooden plank, stopping him from grabbing the dancer's breast. 

"What the hell?" the guy asked as Diego walked over.

"Oh, you found my knife, thank you," Diego faked sincerely. "You know, I keep losing these things, you never know where they'll pop up," he said, tapping the knife against the guys cheek. "We don't have a problem here, do we?"

The guy just stared before turning tail and running away. "Thanks," the girl said as she unlocked her car. "That guy asked for like seven lap dances from me."

"No problem," Diego shrugged. "Do you want me and my girlfriend to make sure you leave the parking lot okay?" he asked, pointing over his shoulder to Belle, who waved.

"I would love that, thank you so much," the dancer said and got into her car, locking it behind her. She waved to Diego and Belle as she drove away.

"That was sexy, Mr. Protector," Belle called and walked over to him.

"I try," Diego joked, wiping fake dust off of his shoulder.

"You don't have to try to be sexy," Belle joked and rolled her eyes.

"Neither do you, baby, neither do you."