Don't Trust Me

Chapter 23

"They're adorable, aren't they?" Elaine beamed as soon as I shut the door to my borrowed room.

"Who?"

"Harlequin and Diane!"

"Oh." I blinked, trying to figure out where exactly she was going with this. "Yeah, I suppose they are." I agreed without needing much thought on the subject. They were certainly the cutesy couple. More PDA than normal, but cute nonetheless.

"It made me really happy to hear that they finally started dating." The blonde walked towards my dresser, making herself at home as she dug around for a uniform. "Harlequin needs her a lot more than he thinks he does."

From what I could tell, the ginger seemed very aware of that fact. But her words and the exchanges I'd been witness to made it clear just how much of a rich history there was between everyone here. Meliodas was a slave driver when it came to King - it was clear he needed his skills, but he also played the role of big brother. To both siblings it seemed. The sin boss acted more like a loving uncle to Elaine than he did acquaintance.

Something in their shared history had brought them all together in this dysfunctional family sort of way. I just wish I knew what it was...

"You're a lot more open than your brother." The thought slipped past my lips. I mentally cringed, preparing myself for some kind of backlash.

Elaine paused for a moment in her digging. Then she laughed. "I would think so! We did grow up differently."

"You didn't grow up together?" My brows knitted together.

"Ah, I didn't mean it like that." She quickly shook her head. "We did grow up together. Just... Harlequin... he took care of me." Her expression became unreadable as she disregarded her search for a uniform, looking me up and down. Her honey eyes settled on mine, a small smile on her lips. "He raised me."

I nibbled at my lip, anxious, but curious all the same. "What about your parents?"

"Not a clue." She shrugged and turned back around. "Never knew them."

Never? The word echoed in my mind.

"It's alright though. It used to bother me when I was younger, seeing the other kids with their parents. But when I'd ask Harlequin about it he'd... he'd get this... look and... well I just stopped asking after awhile."

"That... that's so..."

"It's not." Elaine interrupted with a smile before I got any further. "He did everything he could for me and then some. Of course I'd change some things if I could but... he tired. I know that now and I just wish that I... that I could repay that somehow, you know?"

It was like a lightbulb sprang to life in my head. She'd just handed me the perfect opportunity to get two of the Sins out of the bar.

"Why not offer them the night off?"

"Huh?"

"King and Diane." I clarified as I tried to put my words out there correctly. "Diane had mentioned not having a date night in a long time. And I'm sure King would appreciate one too."

Elaine perked and nodded her head eagerly. "Yeah! That would be perfect! But..." she deflated slightly, "what about Meliodas?"

"I'm sure he won't mind." My thoughts raced trying to find a reason why. "He does owe King at least a night off for all the work he's done this week. And you're here to help cover the workload tonight."

The other woman hummed, thinking over my words and nodding to herself. "Yeah," Elaine mumbled, "yeah that could work."

We changed without much else said.