—chapter thirty-five.

  ❛ the end of the world... ❜

THE TASK OF GETTING ALLISON BACK to the Academy was a struggle. Somehow the woman was still alive with barely a pulse pressing against Five's fingers, but Luther was adamant they took it and run. None of the other siblings seemed to have any issues against that.

Five had had the brilliance to use Elodie and she was tasked with cauterizing the wound. It had not been particularly difficult, just pressing and hoping that the boy-genius was right. But it brought back memories -- the smell of searing flesh, dark red blood soaking into her skin, getting under her nails and over her clothes. The only comfort she had was that it was for good that time around...but the memories still clawed their way in.

They were silent the entire way home, aside from Luther's quiet cries and a few sniffles from the others. Elodie's heart ached for the man and the obvious pain he was going through just then. Her mind was on Diego, though, selfishly hoping that he was okay, even though she knew that was impossible at the moment. His face was composed in his usual blank frown, but she knew that he was still grieving, and terrified with just a minuscule fragment of hope that his sister would survive. She knew he was probably also angry and frustrated with himself, blaming his own faults for the loss of his mom, Patch, and nearly Allison. Nothing she could say or do would probably change that.

Still, Elodie's hand snaked out and reached for his, holding it up until it was necessary to let go for Allison.

Immediately then did Diego spring into action, barking orders and racing inside to scream out for their mother (which confused Elodie), and then their butler Pogo, or just anyone to come and help. The rag-tag team of five, six including Allison, stood waiting for help in the foyer of the mansion, frozen until a willowy female silhouette came sweeping down the stairs.

Elodie had only ever heard about Grace from Diego. But every description he had fed her, declaring her one of the most beautiful women he'd ever known fit her perfectly. The woman, who looked no older than her children was tall, fair, and with one of the kindest smiles Elodie had ever seen. She was the very epitome of elegance and good nature and even when presented with the situation, she remained cool and collected, giving each one of them calmly spoken orders. 

Elodie, unspoken to, hung back and watched awkwardly.

"She's suffered a severe laceration to her larynx." Grace informed them, hands already stained a dark red. Her eyes moved up to glance around, "One of you will need to give blood."

Almost immediately, everyone moved to give an offer, all four boys crying out a unanimous 'I will!'.

Luther had been the loudest voice, naturally and moved to offer his arm. Only he was stopped short by a new voice. Elodie turned to watch as a smartly-dressed monkey, of all unexpected beings, stepped out of the shadows towards the group.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, dear boy," the being said, fixing him with a perhaps sympathetic look. "Your blood is more compatible with mine."

Her head began to spin as her eyes darted from Luther to then...whatever they were, unsure just what was being alluded to here. But before she could even dare to ask, a new voice was piping up. Dear old Klaus.

"Hey, don't sweat it," he said. She took note of how just ever so slightly, his voice shook, reaching much higher than it normally was. "I-I got this, big boy. I love needles."

Just as he began to get himself ready, though, once more the monkey-like being shook their head. "Master Klaus. Your blood is...how shall I say this?" They paused. "Too polluted."

Once more, everyone's face fell and that time, Elodie too felt the despair. And for a third time, another voice rose through, that time Diego himself stepping forward with a harsh 'move' spat out, followed by Luther's eager murmurs of agreement.

That time there were no objections that time and he got into ready position. Worry tickled Elodie's spinning mind, just barely remembering that one time she had to stitch up a thigh wound. He seemed steady as he waited, but as Grace prepared the needle, Diego's eyes centered and then promptly rolled back into his skull. With the softest of whimpers the man fell back a crumpled heap, too fast for any of them to catch him in time -- though Klaus did try.

Elodie fell to her knees and moved to cradle the man's head in her lap. It was the first time she had moved into the room and into view. She immediately felt all eyes on her, especially the unknown monkey-like being. She imagined if they had eyebrows, they most certainly would be raising them high and lofty then. 

They blinked once, an odd look on their face before looking back to Grace. He offered two simple words: 'stick him', and stepped back again. But Elodie still felt their eyes on her, throughout it all, and she wondered just what the world was going to throw at her next.

Her bet on aliens still stood strong.

"HEY, SLEEPING BEAUTY'S UP."

Diego groaned and propped himself up, with help from her, lifting himself from her side to a sitting position. He glanced down to his arm and she swore his face immediately paled, but he managed to shake it off. "How lo...?"

"You weren't out long," she supplied helpfully. "Maybe ten minutes at most? Luther brought you in here, and I figured I'd stay with you. Was gonna leave you with Klaus, but--"

"--thanks," he huffed, smiling a little. "Would rather wake up with you then 'im."

It was an off-handed thing and probably just a passé remark (probably saying more about Klaus than his feelings for her), but Elodie still felt herself flush. She shifted her hands on her lap, willing them back to normal temperatures. "Sure. Yeah."

"Okay."

Elodie blanched as he stood up. She reached out to tug his wrist. "Where are you going?"

"To get ready."

"You just fainted and got a bunch'a blood stolen from you. Isn't that cause to take at least a moment to sit?"

Diego just shook his head, already looking eager to move. "There's no time for that."

"I hope you can spare at least a moment, Master Diego, before you rush off to save the world."

The two of them moved apart and looked at the monkey-being standing in the doorway. They clasped their hands and moved into the room, glancing from him to Elodie before fixating on her features. "I don't believe we've met."

"Uh, nope," she said plainly. For a moment, manners were replaced with confusion more than anything, whether or not such things applied with a being like that, but finally she rose and stuck her hand out to shake. "Uh -- Elodie. Verbeck."

"Pogo," was all they said back. She nodded in recognition, pulling away after the brief handshake. If only Diego had thought to mention their groundskeeper was an ape. "And, Miss Elodie -- to what do we owe this honour of you gracing the Hargreeves home? In these trying times?"

Diego stepped forward. "She's with me, Pogo."

"Oh...?"

"Not like that," Elodie rushed, "I just saved him from his prison cell, and then got into this mess and sort of just...here I am, sort of deal." Pogo frowned, and she moved to add, "I just -- I'm -- I'm a friend of Diego's from way back. And I've been brought into this and that's why I'm here. I, uh, helped to cauterize the wound? And I'm...also sorry to be here on such bad circumstances."

Pogo bowed his head in a slow nod. "I see...Verbeck, you said your name was?"

"Yeah."

He seemed to know more about her than he spoke on; he dismissed her with a nod, but the curious expression hiding behind his spectacles reminded her of the way people used to look at her. Wonder, a little concern -- and just the smallest lick of greed.

"Right..." Pogo finally looked away from her and towards Diego. "Well, Master Diego, you might want to have some nutrition before you decide to move around. There was quite a lot of blood taken from you, and it would not be ideal, for--"

"--I'm good," he interrupted, much to Elodie's immediate protest. "Where's Five right now?"

"The last time I saw him was with Master Luther and Miss Allison--"

"--great. Thanks. Come on, let's go."

Elodie quickly moved to follow, grateful for a chance to leave the study and Pogo's odd stare. Maybe it was just her actively overwhelmed mind, building conspiracies out of weird old packages randomly delivered to her, but if Reginald knew of her existence...who was to say, his second hand would not? Did he know her real name? Recognise her face?

Quickly, though, the monkey butler was dropped from her thoughts. She found herself on a couch in a new room beside Klaus, who looked rather distracted -- though that wasn't much of a surprise -- as Diego and Five paced before them. They had gathered everyone who was available, which ended up just being their rag-tag gang, and was looking for an attack plan towards the elusive Leonard Peabody...aka Harold Jenkins.

Honestly, Elodie didn't really know who Leonard was or how he'd ended up tangled up in the Hargreeves' mess. But if he did that to Allison...she'd be down to burn his face off. No backstory necessary.

"The bastard that nearly killed our sister's still out there," Diego started, turning on his heel to face the group. "With Vanya."

"Do we need to go after her, too?"

Five interrupted Elodie with a shake of his head. "Vanya's not important."

"Hey, that's your sister," Diego barked back. "A little heartless. Even for you, Five."

"I'm not saying I don't care about her, but if the apocalypse happens today, she dies along with the other seven billion of us. Harold Jenkins is our first priority."

Diego began to respond, but Elodie did not hear his words. She did not hear any of that, stuck only on the apathetic way Five had spoken, like he was not announcing anything new or world-changing. She could care less about Harold fucking Jenkins then or absolutely anything else, stuck on a loop with 'apocalypse' and the odd thing Klaus had said earlier --

"Jail. Elodie. Long story. Where's Luther?"

"Haven't seen him since breakfast."

"Yeah," Klaus had piped in. "Two days until the world ends, he picks a great time to drop off the grid."

Shit. 

Elodie's gaze unfocused, staring past the pacing men in front of her in a daze. Someone tapped anxiously at her arm, but she couldn't make out their mumble over the repeating call of doom playing in her brain, Klaus' voice taunting her recklessness and reminding her that yet again...she'd fucked it all up.

A bubble of bitter, vile tasting laughter burst in her throat; it slipped from her lips before she could catch it. Not that Elodie even cared, glaring at the scoundrel who had done her in. Her body burned with anger. "Oh, you low handed fuckball."

Five paused his rant and blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"You really wouldn't tell me that the apocalypse is an active, now sort of threat?!" she hissed, ignoring Five to glare down Diego. She rose from her seat, hands flashing red as they flew wildly. "That I had to worry about today, for the end of the fucking world?!"

Klaus gave a low whistle, and Five huffed behind the pair. "You didn't tell her?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't think--"

"--you didn't think that was important? In all the moments you could tell me, of all the times we've spent together this past week, you hold back the one fact that I should probably know, for my family's sake?! Huh?!"

Before she could spit more venom and Diego could shrink even smaller, Five stepped between them. "Look, before you rip Diego to pieces, think. We deal with this threat now, there's no apocalypse at all."

"Yeah," Diego echoed, shriveling back again under her harsh stare. "Please. We can take out the threat now."

All Elodie could do then was nod and turn away. She heard them call, and then Klaus speak softer to her, but there was nothing that could make her care just then. All she could feel was the rising panic bubbling in her stomach and the impending fear of what was to come.

The end of the world was just a funny joke, before. Something Diego said that could happen 'sometime' in the future. And that was fine because of course the world was a screwed up place - the apocalypse could happen whenever, sure. But he made it seem like she should not even give it a second thought and she went with that eagerly. She just let it go, and she let Ellis go, and everyone else go without even a goodbye as she went off gallivanting.

What if she never saw Ellis again?

A dry sob rattled her throat and she struggled to choke it back, leaning against the wall alone. There were no tears, but her throat and eyes ached like there were.

"Hey, Elodie."

She didn't look at him. "I can't believe you. I cannot believe you wouldn't tell me this, Diego."

"L-l-look-"

"No," she snapped, "no. I can't -- do you -- I can't put into words, how upset I am right now. But Diego...you can't -- I can't believe you would keep this from me, too."

His face fell at that, and he hung his head low, staring at the ground like he wanted it to suck him under. "I'm s-s-s-sorry."

"Whatever. I'm not doing this with you. I -- I have to get home," was all she could say to that. Her heart ached, but her mind was set and too angry at the secret kept to turn back. She stepped away from his hands. "Good luck. Sorry. I just - I can't."

And with that, she turned away, stomping back towards where Allison lay as though she had a set destination. Though that could not be further from the case. She was lost, drowning in her thoughts and panic and about two seconds away from a total breakdown right then and there on the tiled floors. The only thing keeping her together was that there was a reason to remain strong and something to do, and at least she would do that.

Elodie grabbed the bowl of bloody water and then the rags, murmuring to Luther that she would go get some fresh supplies. He didn't offer any response.

She did not get far into the cleaning, however, until a gentle hand found her shoulder. Elodie whirled around to see Pogo standing behind her, a frown resting on his strange features.

"I believe that it's time we have a chat," he said softly. The way it was phrased was not as a request or question but as a statement. He wasn't looking for a 'no'. "Would you come with me?"

Elodie dried her hands on the available rag but did not move. To hell with monkey butlers and all of it; she wasn't going to give in that fast. "You gonna what, inspect me? Try me for another one of your science projects? 'Cause I know about you and what you and Reginald did."

"No, trust me--"

"--don't tell me to trust you," she snarled, and without even thinking, her hands erupted in light; soft, barely lit flames danced across her hands and up her arms. Elodie stared down at them, awestruck and shocked that she could even muster that strength. But slowly she raised her fists and held them up to her chest, daring Pogo to try her. "I don't do that easily."

But despite the fact that she was holding literal fire in her fists, Pogo just shook his head and gestured out of the room. "I have no interest in doing anything to you, Miss Elodie. I simply am curious about a matter, and I would like the chance to clear it up."

"But--"

"--and if you want, afterwards, you can incinerate me too," the monkey being said, almost smiling at her. "But I would rather you waited until the end of our talk. If that's alright with you?"

Elodie nodded. Her fists did not extinguish, still held close to her chest as though she was afraid to let go of the power. Delicate, warm lights passed over both of their faces. "Alright. But let's keep this quick. Yeah?"

"Of course."

She followed him down the hall into the room Diego had been brought into before. She cringed a little at the thought but took a seat anyways.

"I'm sure, by now, that you know some of what this Academy has been known for."

Elodie lifted a shoulder to shrug. Her hands fell to her lap, still balled but with significantly less power clutched between them. The flames had dissipated as the fight inside her died, leaving the skin only somewhat glowing. "Sure. You could say that."

"And I see you're aware of your own abilities."

"Sure," she once again threw back. "But look, I do have to be places, I got -- if this is my last day ever, I'm not spending it talking to you. No offense, I'd rather not die here."

Pogo dipped his head a little. "I understand your worries. But believe me, you will want to hear what I have to say."

She snorted and stood up. "Right. So, I'm going to go--"

"--it's about your mother."

"Excuse me?"

"Your biological one, at least." Pogo cocked his head a little, sending his spectacles further down his ape nose. "Your adoptive mother is a different conversation altogether, though I would be delighted to discuss her after as well."

Elodie stared down at the butler. "What do you know about my mother? What the hell do you want?!"

He didn't seem perturbed by her harsh language. He did not seem bothered about much at all; she wondered if that was just his programming, if somehow Pogo was a robot too and thus designed to always be calm around erratic young adults with eccentric abilities.

"Your biological mother was an object of great interest, for Sir Reginald when they were alive." He stepped around her to head to a shelf, pulling a book down and holding it out to her. "Take this."

She didn't move. "What do you mean, when 'they' were alive?"

"Jimena passed several years ago," he said, quite matter-of-fact about it. The hand holding the book fell down to his side. "But before that, her and Sir Reginald had lengthy conversation about you. You see, you were of great interest, and someone he struggled greatly to find."

Elodie's mouth flattened into a tight line. "I know she covered for me. And I know about Reggie's fantasy sports team dreams. He wanted to collect all the kids, he missed me, yada yada."

"That...is not entirely true, Miss Elodie."

"What do you mean?" 

Pogo once again lifted the book, offering it to her. It was plain, a cold black with small gold font reading a title she couldn't make out; from age or from misuse, the letters had chipped, leaving only fragments of whatever answer she was being offered.

"What is this?" She asked quietly. Her hands still did not move. "Was this his?"

"Of sorts. It's an anthology, of thoughts. Sir Reginald thought it best to keep most detailed entries about the most bizarre of anomalies -- and one of his most favoured interests was you."

Elodie swallowed hard. One hand rose to take the book; it trembled in the hold. "I...I don't get what you're trying to tell me."

"Then I will be plain, Miss Elodie." Pogo took off his glasses and rubbed at the glass with a small cloth he procured from his waistcoat. "Simply spoken, you are not one of the forty-three children Sir Reginald was after."

"YOU'RE STILL HERE?"

Elodie had been expecting his voice any minute, yet still it threw her off guard. She felt every muscle stiffen and immediately, she stuffed the small book down into her coat pocket, keeping her hand over it for safe keeping.

"Thought you'd be gone by now. Pogo said--"

"--I was going to go."

Diego took a cautious step into the room. She listened to the floorboards creak under every movement. "I see - um - I-I-"

"--Grace showed me here," Elodie said. She turned around, staring at his hands, watching them wring and curl in front of him. They were easier to look at than his face. "Said that this used to be your room."

She didn't mention how weird it was, to see his dead mother alive and well, and how confused (and a little pissed) she was when the woman just walked around like everything was normal. That could come later, if there was a later.

Diego nodded uncertainly, He had a strange look on his face, weariness with a mixture of an emotion she could not yet begin to read. Funny, she mused to herself, how even after all this time, there were still faces she could not understand.

"I was going to go, you know," she said, filling the aching silence. Elodie shifted her weight from foot to foot before finally resigning herself to leaning against the wall. "And I was only going to wait a minute more. A part of me didn't want to at all, with the apocalypse--" he winced at her words, "but then before I left, Pogo wanted to talk. And then we...conversation took longer than expected."

"You two talked?"

"For a while." 

"About?"

"It's complicated."

He raised his unscarred brow with a hint of a smile pushing at his full lips. "I know complicated."

Elodie chose to ignore that, for only the sake of time. "I didn't stay for that. I wanted to, uh, talk to you."

Diego's lips sank back down into a grimace. "Okay."

"I was pissed. I'm still pissed," she clarified, lifting a finger to jab his way. "But I didn't want to leave things off like we did. Because if that was the last time I saw you? I...I mean, I didn't want to die hating you. Or you thinking I hated you, or you hated me without reason, or -- y'know, end of the world or not, I'm still trying to fix my mistakes. I'm trying that, uh, being a good person thing."

"Wait. Elodie--"

She cut him off quickly, rolling down into a ramble she could not stop fast. "I was thinking about it when I was in here, and while I really want to hate you for keeping this thing from me, I can't entirely because I-I might have done the same thing." Her lips pursed, hesitant before, "I don't know, telling Ellis would break me. I don't know if I could. Can...whatever. I know that there were a lot of circumstances that stood between us having one good conversation where you could explain all this shit and I honestly just couldn't allow myself to push you away when the world was fucking ending because of this fight. I--"

It was Diego's turn to interrupt, moving across the tiny bedroom to take her frantically gesturing hands in his. She flinched but he held tight, worn leather gloves rubbing against heated fingers. "The apocalypse isn't going to happen today."

Elodie blanched, staring at him like he had grown two heads. A thousand emotions wreaked havoc across her face, anger and confusion and worry and something that wasn't really legible. Something unsure and a little sad. But slowly, her brows unfurled and her lips lost their angry pout, just enough so she could gape at him, completely lost.

"I--say that again?"

"It's all gonna be okay," he assured her with a shy smile. "It's over. The apocalypse is stopped."

"I-what-how-when-who-I-whattheactualhellDiego?!"

His hands squeezed a little tighter. She didn't know if he felt the rush of heat that she had running through her body, but if his fingers burned, he didn't let it show. "Harold Jenkins is dead. We found him dead. Stabbed to shreds."

"And that's--?"

"He was the problem, and it's fixed," Diego grinned back. He looked happier than she had seen him in a long time; like a kid in a candy store. "We just gotta find Vanya and things are going to be okay, really okay. I'm going to make things right again."

"I can't, I-I can't--"

"--and I'm sorry for what I did before, if I could go back and redo it I would, but--"

"--are you sure?"

He frowned down at her, cocking his head. "What?"

"You're not pulling my leg here, or lying to me? This is over, you're not just trying to trick me?"

To her surprise, his face completely fell. It was as though the giddy man from before had never existed. His eyes hung deep with regret, shame flooding his cheeks as he gaped down at her. For some reason, he never wavered his stare, even as he shuffled and waned. 

"I'm so sorry," Diego finally said, low and husky. "I'm sorry for holding it all from you. There's probably so much, I should have told you. I was scared, and," he hesitated before shaking his head. "No. No excuses. I'm sorry."

She hadn't expected that. At all. Neither did she know how to take his aching heart, offered so easily to her by sad, pretty eyes that deserved to be painted. She could finally see the man she had loved without all his walls and boundaries. Plain and hurting and full of regret just as she was. And she could just barely see the man she had fallen in love with, the one who had laughed with her and cried with her and held her with the pain was too much -- and who had let her hold him when his suffering bubbled over.

"It's all over," Diego told her. "And...you don't have to worry. About the apocalypse or me. Us."

Her mind traced back to years and years before. To the first time they had left each other's lives. It had been so different then, with very different stakes.

"I'm so sorry, 'Lodie."

"Diego--"

"--I don't know how to be a good person," he had said. His hands had squeezed a little tighter around her own. "And I don't deserve you, I think that we -- I'm sorry."

"Don't say that."

"That day, I--"

That day, she had resigned herself to the idea that she was a terrible, completely screwed up human being who was in one form or another, a monster. A monster of her father's creation that deserved no love, but was for some reason presented love, from a man also flawed but still good. And that younger version had torn at herself for agreeing so readily -- for, shouldn't she have fought a little more? Shouldn't she have spat more venom, or forced him back like a feral dog?

But she hadn't.

"We're both screwing each other up with this."

"It's not-"

"-I don't want to hold onto that past anymore," Elodie had interrupted and moved her other hand to envelope his much larger one. "Please, Diego, I don't want to hold onto that shit right now. At all. Of all the bad that is in my life, I don't want you to be a bad thing."

Elodie cocked her head, considering the memory for what it was. She imagined her younger self. So hurt, so fragile, so broken and yet eager to feel what she had never felt -- love. Acceptance. Trust in another human that they wouldn't tear her to pieces as so many had done. There were a thousand things she could say about that time in her life, about the agreement she made, about how things went between them and what went wrong.

And then with a smile and a swallow, she let it all go and made up her mind. Fuck it, she mused to herself. 

Elodie pulled away from his grip. She ignored Diego's fallen expression simply lifted her pinky, holding it up at chest height, staring him down unflinchingly. "I want you to pinky promise me something, before anything else happens."

"I..." He stared at her hand, confused. "What?"

"I want you to promise that from now on we are going to be on the same page. That you won't hide something like from me again. Even if it's hard or scary or even if -- I don't know, the worst of the worst happens." She sighed a little, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "I will not be dragged around or kept in the dark because you're worried about me or believe I should be. If we are going to...I want us equals, Diego."

With that final word, she held up her pinky, wagging it slightly as though to say 'go on, do it'.

"Can I add to the promise?"

She contemplated it for a second before nodding. 

"You'll do the same," he asked. "We won't keep shit. You'll tell me what you're hiding, and what's in that book in your pocket--" when she moved to speak, Diego broke into a soft grin, patting her jacket. "I saw it before I came in. And I know something happened between you and Pogo and, you know whatever happene--"

"--I will. I'll tell you everything."

"Everything?"

"We'll tell each other everything," she promised, waggling her pinky again. "I'm talking all three Lord of the Rings films, extended editions."

And even with the apprehension forming bile in her throat, she did mean it. Even if she couldn't tell him it all yet...Elodie would try her best.

Diego made a sound that almost sounded like a laugh, a little huff of air as he gazed down at her. "Hopefully it's not that boring."

"Boring? You're telling me...no, we can talk about that after. This is probably more important."

He made the same sound again, that time with a sly twinkle in his eye. Still, after a moment of dramatic consideration -- and Elodie imploring him to 'hurry the hell up, already' -- Diego brought his hand up and took off its leather surrounding it. He tossed the glove to the ground and brought his smallest finger to hers.

They linked, finally.

"I promise you," Diego said, low and raspier than he had sounded before. He swallowed hard. "I promise you, I will do everything in my power to do you right, so long as you remain in my life, Elodie Verbeck. No matter how you are in my life, I will trust and respect you with everything I have. Because losing you, was one of my greatest mistakes, and I'd stop a thousand apocalypses to fix it."

It took every bit of strength for her to not immediately flee, to leave the tension and building feelings and pretend like she never even knew his face. But she stood strong, staring up at him and waiting for the joke to land. "Y-you mean that?"

But it never did. "Yeah," he whispered, low and breathy as he watched her back.

Her breath hitched in her throat. Slowly, she shuffled nearer to him, hands still linked between their bodies. Her eyes refused to leave his face, trailing over every inch of skin, tracing invisible ribbons over the soft bridge of his nose, around the scars she used to kiss each night, falling quickly to his barely puckered lips then back to meet his gaze. Elodie's heart pounded, realising he was watching her just as intensely, eyes dark and caught entirely on her barely moving figure.

Their chests were pressing tighter, then, held back only by their hands in the middle.

She wasn't thinking. Surely, she had lost in her mind, inbetweenst all the random shocks and surprises of that day. Something was making her act a fool. But Elodie couldn't even try to care, not for a second.

Diego's breathing stilled as she drew in. His eyes, heavily lidded, stared back at her own and she wondered if he was thinking the same she was. For a second, she glanced down to his lips, mere breaths away, before looking up again. Her free hand, tingling and just barely glowing, lifted to rest on his harness strap. It curled into her palm; she used it as an anchor as her toes pushed her up and towards his face.

Their noses brushed and with one last soft exhale, she pressed her lips to his.

When she was met with nothing but still, Elodie pulled back. Her hands wrenched away from him, falling back to her sides cold and disappointed. "I--I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Diego said nothing. He just stared at her, all parted lips and wide eyes. And maybe that was all the answer she needed.

"Sorry," she mumbled, pulling away and towards the door.

Sudden footsteps came behind her. "Hold on, no--"

"--I shouldn't have done overstepped, I don't kno--"

"--Elodie, for one second just stop."

And she did. Her shoulder slumped and she let him grab her shoulders to pull her back around, even when every single part of her begged to run. She wasn't doing that anymore, her conscious reminded, planting her feet back firmly on the ground. 

"I just wasn't...w...wasn't expecting it."

Elodie's teeth grated against one another. She glared at the floor. "Yeah. Sorry. I just thought -- doesn't matter. Sorry, Diego."

A hand found her chin and lifted it up, leading her to look his way. Elodie stared at his smile, confused why it was there when two seconds ago he had been stuck in shock. Yet he grinned down at her like the sun after a rainpour. It was beautiful, truly beautiful. 

His hands found her waist and he pulled her closer, so they were once again just centimetres apart. That time, though, he was warm and she was even more hesitant with her hands just barely hovering away from her hips. Uncertain of what was coming next.

"Don't apologise," he mumbled, voice low and raspy. "Don't."

And then Diego finally kissed her back, and Elodie finally allowed herself to melt.

This fookin chapter -- writing that tension almost did me in. And for what? Is it good? I don't even know anymore. Whatever, it was fun. Angsty, tension-filled, but there was a kiss (a real one, this time!) so win wins all around. Haha.

Two chapters left. I'm buzzed as hell. I forgot how chaotic this books get.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought!