Limelight

Diaz: Promise

(I started writing the next part of the Zaz arc then I decided it was going forward a bit too fast, plus I wanted to introduce Diaz's sister properly, so I quickly came up with this~ Time to meet Zophia Muertos!)

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There were only three people who absolutely could not know about Zach and Diaz; Zeke, and Diaz's parents. That did mean, however, that it would be best if several other people also didn't know, seeing as it could find its way back to them.

Fritz wasn't one of those people. If Diaz couldn't talk to one of his best friends about his new relationship, then he had to be able to talk to his other best friend. He'd been pretty supportive of it so far; he'd encouraged him to talk to Zach, told Zeke to let him go at the party, and he'd even listened to him ramble about their first date. He was happy for his friend. And he swore he wouldn't tell Zeke, which was all Diaz needed from him. It was already understood that his mom and dad could never hear of it. But...

"He's gonna find out sooner or later," Fritz's voice crackled through his Z-band speaker, "You can hide it from your parents, but Zeke knows you. He can tell if something's up."

"Yeah, but I can handle Zeke. I just wanna figure out how to break it to him first. I'm way more worried about my parents finding out."

He suddenly jumped at the sound of a voice coming from his bedroom door; "Find out what?"

Oh. Right. He knew neither of his parents were home, but he had forgotten about Zophia. His little sister was peeking around the door curiously. Diaz sighed and flopped back on his bed.

"Zophi, get out."

"I'm not technically in-"

"Go away!" Diaz sat up, fixing her with a glare.

Zophia just scowled, "Why? I won't tell or anything."

It was obvious she wasn't going to leave on her own. Diaz held up his Z-band, "Fritz, I'll call you back," and he promptly hung up, then stood.

Zophia had pushed the door fully open now and stepped inside, giving her brother an almost challenging look, "Since when did you not tell Zeke stuff? If you can't tell Mom and Dad, you always tell Zeke. He already knows you're gay so it's not that."

"Yeah, so if I'm not telling Mom and Dad, or Zeke, what makes you think I'd tell you?"

"Well, Fritz knows."

"So what? That doesn't mean you need to know."

"But-"

There was a beeping sound from his Z-band before she could continue and Diaz growled in frustration, "Not now, Fritz...!" but when he, and Zophia, looked down at the screen, it didn't say Fritz's name. It said-

"Zach?" Zophia read, "As in Zach Fairmourn?"

Ignoring her, Diaz moved to push her towards the door, "Out. Now."

"But why's Zach calling you?" she tried digging her heels in but it was no use, Diaz was stronger than her.

"That's none of your business."

He shut the door behind her and leaned against it for a brief moment. There was no sign of her attempting to open it again so he took a breath and answered the call.

"Hi, Zach."

"Hey, are you OK? You usually don't take that long to pick up."

"Yeah, sorry. My sister was just bugging me," he sighed and returned to his bed. As he sat back, he thought about what Zach just said, "'Usually' compared to what? The past week?" he joked.

"Week and three days," Zach corrected with an audible smile and Diaz couldn't help smiling back, "That's long enough to figure out a pattern. What was she doing?"

"I was talking to Fritz and she heard me say I didn't want my parents or Zeke finding out."

"About us?"

"Yeah, and now she just has to know what the big secret is."

"You are out to her, right?"

"Yeah," Diaz sighed again, "But I don't want to risk her letting anything slip around them. I don't even know if she understands how serious it is."

Zach's voice turned soothing, "She'll understand if you explain it to her. If she does find out. She's like, what, twelve? She'll get it."

Diaz could only hum in response, "... Maybe."

"Just if, y'know."

"Right."

"Hey, we don't have to talk about that," Zach suddenly brightened, "We could... talk about our next date instead...?"

Diaz had to laugh at that, it definitely lightened the mood, "Yeah, that sounds a lot better."

When the call was over and Diaz had hung up, he lay back on the bed for a moment only to be disturbed by a light, sort of shy, knock on his door. Zophia peeked inside with a cautious expression on her face; her eyes were wide, her brows raised in curiosity and she looked at her brother in silent question. When he didn't turn her away, and in fact sat up and motioned for her to come in, she stepped back into the room. For a few seconds, she just lingered at the door, her hands tucked into her sleeves as she swayed back and forth a couple of times. Diaz waited.

"... Are you and Zach... boyfriends...?"

Zophia was a smart kid, of course she'd figure it out from Diaz's side of the conversation alone.

"... Yeah," he nodded.

Zophia came closer, leaning against the bedframe, "I won't tell. I know Mom and Dad wouldn't be OK with it."

Diaz relaxed, at least a little bit, "And you know it's more than just not being OK with it, right?"

She shrugged, "I know sometimes people get kicked out their homes and stuff for being gay or bi or whatever."

"Well, that's one way it could go..."

"I'll keep it secret. Promise."

Diaz smiled at her, grateful, "Thanks."

"But why don't you want to tell Zeke?"

He tensed again, "Because he doesn't like Zach."

Zophia frowned and folded her arms, "Why not?"

"He thinks he can't take a relationship seriously."

"How would he know?"

Diaz laughed at how offended she looked, "Exactly!"

"... So what did Zach call you for?"

His laughter died at the sight of the grin on Zophia's face. He should have known. Now that the serious part was over, it was time for his little sister to bombard him with questions about his new relationship.