EUNOIA ━ diego hargreeves

21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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FREYA STARED after the retreating car in silence, watching as the vehicle progressively got farther into the distance. She suppressed a sigh as Five let out an annoyed huff. Diego abruptly dropped her hand, and her lips tugged into a frown before she quickly composed herself, and pretended not to notice.

"You know, I'm starting to get the feeling that Dad is avoiding us," Five mused, and Lila scratched the back of her head in thought.

"I don't understand," Freya confessed. "How does he even know who you are?"

Five didn't have the chance to answer, because the other girl cleared her throat. "I hate to be the boring one, but I think we should get the hell out of here," Lila announced, gesturing to the chaotic scene in front of them.

People panicked from around them, rushing into their cars. Shouting echoed off the stone walls, and Freya realized that she was right.

"When you say 'we,' who exactly are you referring to?" Five demanded, his eyes narrowing to slits, and the air around them grew tense.

Lila's posture faltered. "Not a lot of ambiguity in that sentence."

"Listen, I don't know who you are, or where you came from, but whatever it is, I advise you return posthaste."

"No, she's right, Five," Diego argued, coming to stand next to him as Freya scoffed, the sound escaping before she could stop it, and she wanted to hit herself for allowing her annoyance to show. Because that's what it was—it was annoyance. Not jealousy. She was annoyed Diego had found somebody else to banter with like they had been doing for years.

That was her rightful spot. She had put up with Diego's teenage mood-swings for years. Not Lila. And she was annoyed. Jealous wasn't a strong enough feeling to describe the pang in her chest.

"I just saved your life, you kinder-shit!" Lila bursted out. "If I hadn't stepped in, all that would be left of you is a blazer and some bloody socks."

"And that's the problem," Five sneered. "You're too good. You ask too many questions. You know too much. And you fight like you know what you're doing."

"He's got a point," Diego muttered, and a weird sense of relief flooded through Freya's stomach.

"So I know how to handle myself," Lila defended. "And that makes me the bad guy?"

"Whoever you are, you're in my way," Five lowered his voice threateningly, taking slow steps towards her. "If I see you again, I will kill you."

And that was all he said before he stormed past the her, and Lila glanced back at him, looking bewildered. She made a move to follow him, but turned around once more when she discovered that Diego hadn't moved.

Freya started after Five, but a strong hand lightly smacked her stomach, and she gazed up at him, brows pinching in confusion. "What the hell, Diego?"

"For real," Lila said. "We need to go."

"I was getting my ass handed to me back there," he stated. "You helped Five, not me. Why? Why is it that Freya—who I'm literally in the middle of an argument with at the moment is the one that helped me, and not you?"

"Because he's a kid! And you're a man. Bloody act like one."

Diego's jaw clenched as he stared down Lila, before he glanced over to Freya. "Let's go," he ordered, and brushed past the other girl. Freya didn't even look at Lila as she followed after him.