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Take 23 - Diana - Part 4

A/N: Please comment as you read. It means the world to me. 

I could have kissed her. That was exactly what I needed. A fun day with a friend. Away from Harry and his need to talk. I hadn’t decided yet what would happen, and I wasn’t ready to face him just yet. With a smile, I walked over and took a seat next to her. She was still running through channels, and I stared at the screen in silence. I hadn’t noticed that the screen was turned off until I heard Diana’s voice.

“Cami?” she said.

“Yeah?” I took another sip of my iced tea.

“What happened last night exactly?”

I widened my eyes and looked at her. Was this what she’d wanted to ask all day? “Don’t you remember?”

“Some of it, yes.” She looked to the floor, a worried expression on her face. “I’ve been trying to piece things together all day, but I can’t remember what I said.”

In a way, I could understand how she felt. If I hadn’t been able to remember last night, I would have been panicking now. Especially after that game.

“Do you remember the game?” I asked.

She nodded. “Some of it. I’m just worried what I might have told.”

“Well…” I scratched my arm. “You talked a bit about your family, and how you achieved your dreams.”

“I didn’t start crying, did I?” She looked away. I heard the faintest of sniffles and reached a hand out to her.

“No,” I said and rubbed her back. “We would have stopped immediately if that happened.”

She jerked back, wiping away tears from under her eyes. “This always happens. I can’t believe I shared that.”

“Easy there,” I placed a hand on her lap. “Nothing happened. Besides, we don’t judge you.”

Diana looked so frail and small.  It reminded me of the last time I saw Ludmilla. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight. Diana tensed for a moment, but then gave in and hugged me back.

“I just don’t want it to change people’s perception of me,” she said through sobs.

“It won’t,” I whispered. “You’re human, that’s allowed.”

She sat up and dried her cheeks. “I’ve been so horrible to you. Why are you comforting me?”

I shrugged. “I believe in second chances. God knows I need them too.”

“You’re too sweet for me,” she muttered. “I’m really sorry.”

Shaking my head, I took her hand. “Nonsense. It’s already forgiven.” She smiled at me, and I smiled back. I squeezed her hand lightly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Diana nodded. “I just feel so selfish. Like, here I am—on top of the world basically—but my mom is still back at the trailer, with her dead-beat lover and her alcoholic tendencies.” She snorted. “I guess I inherited some of that, huh?”

“Some of what?” I frowned.

“The alcoholic tendencies…” She gestured to herself. “I can’t hold my liquor.”

“I can’t judge that.” I shrugged. “I don’t really drink, usually. Last night was… special. I needed it because of… you know.”

“I can imagine.” Diana faked a shiver. “Nobody really know me unless they’re in the business. I’m lucky that way, I guess.”

Part of me wanted to confess that nobody really knew me either, but not because of the same reasons. However, I knew I couldn’t tell anyone. This secret was just burning to get out.

“Have you talked to your mom about how you’re feeling?” I asked. If my parents were still around, that’s what I would have done. Although, considering how little I’d talked to Ludmilla, maybe I wasn’t the best to give advice.

“I’ve tried.” Diana leaned back in the couch. “Problem is that mom thinks I’ve abandoned her. She can’t look at me and be proud. What she sees is someone who turned their back on her.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.” I wasn’t equipped to handle this.

“No, really,” she said. “The last time I went home, she had dodged my calls for a month. When I arrived, I found her in bed with some random guy I didn’t know. We got into this huge fight, and I tried to convince her to come with me—that I’d give her a better life.” She snorted. “You know what she said to me?”

I shook my head.

“She said that she didn’t need me or my money.” Diana covered her face with her hands. “She said that I’d been a mistake and that I wasn’t a person worth loving.”

My hand flew to my mouth to cover the gasp. How could anyone say that to another person? Let alone their own daughter. “I am so sorry, Diana.”

She shrugged. “It is what it is. My mom has clearly made her choice, and it’s abundantly clear that she’s exactly where she wants to be.” She nodded at the TV. “Do you want to watch a movie? I think I need a break from all of this right now.”

“Okay.” I grabbed the remote control. “What do you want to watch?”

“Something sappy, romantic.”

I scrolled through the selections, realizing that there was a lot of movies I hadn’t watched. I recognized a few of the movies with Ludmilla, but I passed them quickly. I didn’t want to open up any possibility to talk about my sister’s acting career. Chances were that Diana knew more about it than me anyway.

We settled on a Nicholas Sparks movie. It was sweet, romantic and I couldn’t help myself from crying. When the end credits rolled, I looked over to see Diana with tears in her eyes, as well. Our eyes met and we began laughing.

“We’re hopeless, aren’t we?” she said.

“Yup.”

“Want to watch one more?”

I looked at the clock, realizing that we’d passed lunch. “I’m kind of hungry,” I admitted.

“Want to go downstairs? Or order room service?” Diana sat up.

To be honest, I didn’t really want to go out. It would seriously increase the risk of running into Harry, and I wasn’t quite ready for it yet. I didn’t know why, I just knew that I couldn’t. “Room service sounds good.”

I watched as Diana fetched the hotel’s menu. We looked over the different items, my mouth watering with every suggestion.

“Pasta is sort of an obvious choice, isn’t it?” Diana asked.

“I’m kinda in the mood for a pizza, actually.” I looked at the menu. “Or a burger… something quick and delicious.”

“We can share a pizza?” she smiled.

“Sure.”

It took us additionally five minutes to agree on what topping we should choose. But, at last, we came to the conclusion to make half of the pizza with my choice and the rest with hers.

Diana called it in, while I looked through the movie selection once more. When she returned, she looked at me. “I’m in the mood for something funny now.”

“What about this one?” I stopped at a new Adam Sandler movie, and she nodded.

Our food came shortly after, and after settling in, we had some cozy movie time.

 A/N: Give it a vote maybe? Your support determines the future for this story. (Also, this is a double update, so PLEASE, vote on the part before this too. I'm going to see if I can get the rest of the chapter out tonight too.)