"𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟: 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝐼 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑚?"
—𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑛 𝐿. 𝐴𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟

𝒩.

𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 the lab she often found herself working in, exchanging her light jacket for a lab coat. 

She slid off a hair tie from her wrist and settled her hair into a low bun before slipping on a pair of safety goggles.

She had just finished an hour-long lecture about resonance, acidity and basicity for a large group of undergraduate students, and if there was a time she needed water, it was now. Her throat was raw and, hopefully, the water would kill a little of the headache that had started. 

As she grabbed a water bottle from a nearby counter and took a drink, her eyes roamed around the room to see who was there.

The lab only had a few people at the moment: Aaliyah and Maggie, who were drawing organic chemical structures on the chalkboard in the back of the room as they did their homework; Henry, who also seemed to be studying at one of the free desks in the write-up space; Andrew, Zenya, and Santiago, who were huddled around one of the lab benches; and, finally, Rosalyn, with a man that seemed to be around twenty, whom Natalia didn't recognize.

"Dr. Kim," Rosalyn called, then beckoning for the man to follow her as she came up to Natalia. "This is the new student joining our lab."

"Right!" Natalia nodded, then offering the man—she was pretty sure his name was Oliver—a smile and extending a hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Kim."

"Or Miss Boss Lady as I like to call her," Rosalyn added with a small wink, brushing her brown curls behind her shoulder.

"Hi," Oliver greeted with a small smile as he shook her hand, his nervous brown eyes flickering between the two women. "Oliver Irvine."

"Has Rosalyn shown you around the lab yet?" Natalia asked, raising her eyebrows as she turned to the other woman.

Rosalyn grinned. "No, I figured I'd leave that up to you."

Natalia laughed. "So generous of you."

She sent her a finger gun. "Any time."

Natalia fixed her lab coat as she looked around once more and asked, "You still working on the polymer synthesis, Rosy?"

"Mhm. Just waiting for Henry," Rosalyn told her as she gestured over to the man, who was still deeply concentrated on his work.

"Got it." Natalia nodded. "Well, Oliver and I will be around here, so if you need me, just call."

"Got it, Miss Boss Lady." Rosalyn gave her two more finger guns and a wink before sauntering over to where Henry was working.

"All right, Oliver," Natalia sighed as she turned to the man. She squinted up at the ceiling for a moment as she tried to remember his credentials, and she asked, "You're a Master's student, right?"

He nodded. "Yep."

"So," she began as she slowly walked, Oliver keeping his pace beside her, "I'm sure you've gone in plenty of labs before."

"Yeah," he confirmed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"So, this is the instrument room, whatever you need, just get it from here," Natalia informed him as she gestured towards a room on the right. She then gestured towards the middle of the room, where there were a couple of students working on a solution. "Dispensing stations."

Zenya turned and gave a small wave before nudging the other two, prompting them to look up and wave.

Natalia smiled before pointing toward a room that was filled with desks and computers. "Write-up spaces; here you can just take off your safety goggles, write up your lab reports, and, obviously, study or do whatever you need to." She gestured towards the room next to it, which was a little smaller in size, and had one long desk with chairs surrounding it, and a whiteboard at the front. "That's the conference room. We don't usually have many conferences, honestly, that's just where we go to celebrate someone's birthday."

"Got it." Oliver nodded, his eyes wandering from place to place. "It's a pretty big space, hope I don't get lost."

"I'm sure you'll be just fine," she reassured him with a small chuckle. She checked her watch, and she sighed when she saw that it was a couple of minutes until noon. "Listen, it's my lunch break, but why don't you come out with me and I can explain how everything works? There's a nice diner just a minute's walk from here."

He shrugged. "Sure."

Natalia nodded, and she quickly slipped off her lab coat and put her normal jacket back on. She grabbed her purse and slid it over her arm before gesturing for Oliver to follow her. 

"So . . . ," he began as they started to head out, "you seem kind of young to be a professor."

"Yeah, I, uh, kinda fast-tracked my bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. a bit," she admitted, "though I did do my postdoctoral fellowship here for a couple of years before getting this job."

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed as they left the building, and their hair swept back slightly as a gentle breeze blew past them. "How'd you fast-track?"

"I . . . ," Natalia trailed off for a moment as she tried to think of a good answer before slowly continuing, "went to a private institution, where the education was more . . . adjustable."

"Really?" he asked curiously. "Where?"

"Well . . ." Natalia sighed. No avoiding it now. Besides, he would probably figure it out eventually, after talking to the others, and if he saw the tattoo on her wrist. "You know the Umbrella Academy?"

"Umbrella Academy . . . Wasn't that the—wait." Oliver paused for a moment, almost tripping over his feet as he whipped his head to face her. "You're one of those kids?"

She shrugged. "Mhm."

"Wow," he remarked as they entered the diner, where only a few people occupied the seats.  "Should I be scared?" 

"No, no, don't worry," she laughed as she waved a dismissive hand.

"That's pretty cool," he remarked as they got in line. 

She only shrugged in response. That was pretty much the reaction of every colleague and student after they saw her tattoo or somehow recognized her, but she didn't feel as though she was deserving of their awe-stricken response. 

After getting their food, they sat down at one of the tables, and Oliver squinted his eyes at her as he took a bite of his sandwich. After swallowing, he asked, "What happened to you guys? The Umbrella Academy, I mean."

"Well . . . one of us—Ben—he, um, got killed during one of our missions, and we all kind of . . . ," she sighed, "fell apart from there."

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed. "That's unfortunate."

"It really is." Natalia frowned, letting out a small sigh as her gaze lowered down to her plate. After a moment, she cleared her throat, and started, "Back to the main topic though: lab rules."

"Right." Oliver nodded. 

"I'm sure you're more than familiar with safety procedures," she began, "though I do want you to have a look at the safety manual—it's on the table right next to the entrance—just to make sure you're following the guidelines."

He nodded once more. "Yeah, I'll take a look when we get back."

 "Great. Then, obviously, don't bring any food or drink into the lab unless it's water; we don't want any messes. If you . . . have . . ." Natalia suddenly trailed off, her eyebrows furrowing as she saw a familiar face enter the diner. 

She swallowed. What was Diego doing here?

Oliver's eyebrows knit together tightly as he noticed her sudden pause, and, concernedly, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I . . . Um . . ." Natalia shook her head, mustering up a smile, though she couldn't keep her eyes off the man who had then spotted her. "Sorry, let's just . . ."

Oliver followed her gaze and turned around to see Diego, who was beginning to walk over. "You know that guy?"

"Uh . . . Ex-boyfriend." She let out a quiet groan as she shut her eyes. "Oh, no."

"Hey, Nat," Diego greeted as he approached. 

She gave him a small smile. "Hey."

He glanced at Oliver for a second before gesturing towards the outside of the diner and asking, "Can I, um, talk to you for a second?"

Seeming to notice the weird tension between them, Oliver shifted in his spot and quickly offered, "Dr. Kim, we can go back to the lab, if you want."

"No, it's all right, Oliver," she reassured him with a smile. "You stay here for a moment, I'll be right back."

She got up from her spot, brushing off her skirt before following Diego outside of the diner and to the bench that was placed right in front of it. 

"'Dr. Kim,'" Diego commented with raised eyebrows as they sat down. "Fancy."

"Well . . ." She shrugged. "I do have a doctorate."

Diego glanced back at Oliver through the window before looking back at her and questioning, "That your boyfriend?"

"No, he's a new student in my lab," Natalia corrected. "What do you want, Diego?"

An amused smile appeared on his face as he remarked, "Harsh."

"No, you . . . You know what I mean. What's up?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she noticed his nervous expression and tapping foot, and she worriedly asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just . . . Nat, listen, I . . ." 

Her head tilted. "Hm?"

He gave a great sigh as he pursed his lips together. He gazed at her for a few moments before beginning, "Ever since I saw you the other day, I haven't been able to get you off my mind."

Natalia's eyes widened a little; that was not what she had been expecting.

"Honestly," he paused for a moment as he licked his lips, and then admitted, "I haven't been able to get you off my mind for the past ten years."

Natalia's heart rate had tripled by this point, and she could barely hear her own voice as she murmured, "Diego . . ."

"I know you feel the same way I do, Nat."

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You do?"

Diego gave her a quick grin before reaching into the pocket of his jacket and pulling something out. He handed it to her, and she groaned when she saw what it was. 

She gazed at the ten-year-old slip of paper that had reunited them for a moment before looking up at him and pointing out, "You said I didn't tell you anything."

"I didn't want you to be embarrassed—not that it's something to be embarrassed about," he quickly corrected. "Nat, I . . ." He sighed, "Can we try again? This time, without all the—the supervision, hiding from everyone, not being able to do anything, whatever."

Natalia thought to herself for a moment as she folded the note in half and tucked it into her pocket.

On one hand, she wanted more than anything to say yes, to jump at the chance of what she'd been waiting for for years. This was the man she had been in love with for the past decade, after all, and was one that she desired to be loved by once more. 

On the other hand, this was a man she hadn't really talked to in a decade. For all she knew, he could be a completely different person now. So much could change in ten years, especially during the transition into adulthood; for all she knew, everything about him—everything she loved about him—could've changed. 

"I don't know, Diego."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Why not?"

"It's been ten years," she pointed out with a hopeless shrug. "We're completely different people than we were when we were seventeen. I don't want to get my hopes up only for something to happen because we're not compatible anymore."

Diego's expression became pleading as he softly said, "Can't we try?"

Natalia gave him a small smile as she thought it over. "How about we start by being friends? I don't know anything about you anymore."

He scoffed, "I'm sure you know plenty about me."

"I know plenty about seventeen-year-old you," she corrected with an amused smile. "Not twenty-eight-year-old you. I don't know your favourite things, what you do for fun, your likes and your dislikes . . . and I'm sure same goes for you."

He gazed at her for a few moments, the skin between his eyebrows creased. He licked his lips before conceding, "Fine. We start as friends." He shifted closer to her, his eyebrows raising as he neared his face towards hers. "But the chance of us—"

"I'm not ruling it out, Diego," she reassured him, trying to ignore the fact that his face was only inches away from hers. "Trust me, I want to try again as much as you do. Maybe more."

He shook his head, his eyes intent on hers. "I don't think that's possible."

She gave a small smile and lowered her gaze to her lap for a moment. She looked back up and suggested, "How about we go on a little walk tomorrow? A friend-date?"

Diego seemed a little reluctant, but still, he agreed, "Sounds good."

"Meet you here," she told him. "Same time, same place."

𝒟.

Diego sighed as he entered the boxing gym, only able to give a half-hearted wave to Al, the owner, and a mumbled hello to someone that called his name. 

He rubbed the back of his head as he headed toward his room. Why couldn't Natalia just see that things were fine? That things would work out? The only thing that had separated them in the first place was the fact that they'd never be able to see each other, anyway. 

Whatever. It was going to work out, he reassured himself as he rolled his shoulders back and let out a short breath. He was able to win her over once, so he'd be able to do it again, right?

Diego gave himself a small nod as he opened the door to his room, but his mind was quickly drawn away from the topic as he saw who was rifling through his fridge. 

"You're here?" Diego groaned as he shut the door behind him. "Great."

"Diego!" Klaus exclaimed happily as he closed the fridge. "My favourite brother!"

Diego pointed a finger toward him as he headed down the couple of steps. "I'm not givin' you money."

Klaus's eyes widened, and he began to shake his head profusely. "Oh, no, no, I would never ask my favourite brother for money—"

"You asked me for forty dollars two weeks ago."

"—no, rather, just" —Klaus put his hands together, a hopeful smile drawing onto his face— "a place to stay for a few days?"

"Klaus, I have one bed," Diego pointed out with a groan as he gestured to said one bed. 

He grinned. "And plenty of floor space."

Diego considered it for a moment before letting out a sigh; the man had such a pitiful face. "As long as you're the one sleeping on the floor."

Klaus leaned forward and kissed Diego's cheek before he could fend him off. "I love you."

"Fuck off," Diego muttered as he swatted him away. 

"Hm. Someone's in a bad mood," Klaus remarked, his tone more playful than ever. "Let me guess: someone stole all your knives."

"No."

"Eggs have been discontinued."

"That's not gonna happen anytime soon."

"Oh, God. Luther's back."

"Thank fucking God the answer's no."

"Hm . . . You struck out with a girl."

Diego hesitated for a moment, licking his lips, before admitting, "Yeah. No. I'm not sure."

"Who?" Klaus asked curiously, his eyebrows raising. 

"None of your business, that's who."

"Oh, come on!" Klaus pleaded as Diego brushed past him and grabbed a water bottle. He turned to face him as he clasped his hands together and offered, "I'll pay you a whole negative one hundred dollars to tell me her name."

Diego turned to him in bafflement as he twisted the cap off. "Negative?"

"Yeah." Klaus nodded. "That means you pay me a hundred."

"You're this close" —Diego used his thumb and index finger to signify— "to losing the floor."

"Okay, fine," Klaus gave in with a sigh. "Just tell me."

Diego took a swig of water, swallowing it before rolling his eyes as he closed the cap. "Why do you care?"

"Because you're my brother. And I love you. And I'm sick and tired of my own love life, which, actually, has been quite nice, to be honest." He pressed his lips together and placed a hand on his hip before beginning, "A couple nights ago, I got really into it with this dude, yeah, we tried—"

"Natalia," Diego interrupted with a sigh before Klaus could unleash any more horror. "It was Natalia."

"Natalia?" Klaus repeated with widened eyes. "Natalia, Natalia? Natalia, Natalia, Natalia? Nat—"

"Yes, Natalia, Natalia," Diego cut in with a roll of the eyes. 

"Like . . . Natalia Kim," Klaus clarified with a dubious expression. "Our supposed-to-be-but-not-actually sister? The one you're in love with? Nutella?"

Diego was growing more irritated, but he tried his best to remain calm as he nodded. "Yes. Her."

"She said no?" Klaus asked in confusion. "But . . . doesn't she—"

"Still love me?" Diego finished for him with raised eyebrows before scoffing, "Yeah."

"Then why—"

"She thinks we're strangers," Diego sighed as he put the water bottle on the table behind him. 

Klaus seemed as though he were about to say something, but then he paused. A puzzled expression came over his face as he raised a finger and questioned, "Wait, how did you know she loved you in the first place? Did someone tell you?"

"Oh, right, you . . ." Realization dawned upon Diego, and he gave a snort of amusement. "We dated back when we were seventeen."

"You what?!" Klaus questioned incredulously, his jaw dropping. 

"For a year."

"For a year?!" A mixture of horror and offence was more than evident on Klaus's face as he exclaimed, "And you didn't tell me?!"

"Mhm," Diego hummed in confirmation.

Klaus rubbed his eyes. "At least tell me I'm not the only one who didn't know."

"You're not," Diego reassured him. 

"Thank God," he sighed in relief, placing a hand over his heart. 

"Luther didn't either."

"So, what?" Klaus questioned, the look of offence returning. "Allison and Ben and Vanya knew?"

Diego shrugged. "Mhm."

"Them?!" Klaus exclaimed as he glanced to the side. He sighed as he looked back at Diego and complained, "After all I've done for you two, you told them?"

Diego's nose wrinkled as he incredulously asked, "What have you done?"

"Tons of stuff," he insisted. 

Diego's eyebrows raised as he pressed, "Like?"

"Stuff."

Diego let out a sigh, rolling his eyes as he gave a dismissive wave. "Whatever. She just wants to be friends for now."

"For now?" Klaus repeated in amusement. The grin that was growing on his face made Diego feel unsettled, and the shorter man shook his head. "No, man, no one ever wants to just be friends 'for now.'"

Diego's eyebrows furrowed, and he shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he folded his arms. "What are you sayin'?"

"I'm saying" —Klaus raised his eyebrows, waving his hands— "you're in the friendzone. Forever."

Diego stared at him for a moment. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Just sayin'," he giggled. "You're in the friendzone. No way out."

"Klaus, shut up. We're going for a walk tomorrow." Diego was about to add more before hesitating, and he then shut his mouth. 

Klaus, unfortunately, had caught the moment and raised his eyebrows. "But?"

"But nothing."

"No, there's a but coming on, and it ain't this juicy one," he quipped as he pointed towards his own butt, causing Diego to roll his eyes and scrunch his face in disgust. 

Diego then sighed, "She called it a 'friend-date.' I'd rather it be a date, but . . . I'll just wait."

"Wait forever," Klaus corrected. 

"You wanna sleep outside?"

"Wait not too long, wait not too long," he corrected hastily. 

Diego scoffed, "That's what I thought."

𝒟.

Diego stared at his reflection nervously. He was wearing his usual fitted, black, long-sleeved shirt and black jeans. But was it good enough? Did he look stupid? 

He turned back to his dresser and frowned. Most of his closet looked pretty much the same, so he didn't have many options. 

He was going to wear a jacket anyway; it was October, after all. He'd be fine. 

Diego turned back to his reflection and ran a hand through his hair. Did he look all right? He needed to look his best. 

"You look fine," Klaus, who was sitting on the ground and leaning back on Diego's bed, reassured him. "Stop being a chicken and just go. You'll be late if you stare at yourself any longer."

"Shut up," Diego mumbled, though his brother was right; he needed to be there by noon, and it was forty-five minutes past eleven. 

He looked fine enough, Diego decided with a sigh. He grabbed one of his knives from the chest gear that was still hung up and tucked it into his pocket (he could never be too sure) before grabbing his car keys. 

"Good luck!" Klaus called as Diego headed towards the door. "Get out of that friendzone!"

Diego took a moment to glare at Klaus before leaving the room and headed toward his car, which was parked on the side of the building. 

He got into the car, trying his best to ignore all the nerves that were building up inside of him as he started the engine.

As he drove, he constantly found himself having to force himself to breathe, which wasn't too good for him. He could only hope that he would be less visibly nervous when he was actually with her. 

Almost fifteen minutes later, Diego arrived outside of the diner that he had been at the day before, and a small smile came onto his face as he saw Natalia leaning against the wall. 

Diego parked the car and turned the engine off before getting out, and he quickly made his way over to her. 

He tried his best to keep a straight face, but it was quite difficult; she looked gorgeous (as usual). His eyes swiftly roamed over the deep purple button-up that was tucked into a pencil skirt (which fit her extremely well, if Diego said so himself). 

"Hey," she greeted as she straightened up. 

"Hi." He smiled. 

"There's a nice park that way." She gestured towards the left with her head, where there was, indeed, quite a spacious park that was greatly filled with tall-standing trees and vivid flowers.

Diego could sense the bit of awkwardness that existed between them as they began to walk, and he cleared his throat. "So . . . how's work?"

"It's pretty good," she answered with a small shrug. "I taught a class this morning, I have another one later in the afternoon, my lab is doing fine . . . That's pretty much it. How's your" —she paused for a moment, squinting her eyes as if she were trying to think of a word— "crime-stopping going?"

Diego shrugged. "Saved a family from getting murdered last night, so there's that."

"Look at you," she chided playfully with a grin. "Still get a kick out of being a hero, huh?"

"I get a kick out of serving justice," he corrected with raised eyebrows. 

"Mhm," she hummed, though the look on her face was enough to tell him that she was doubtful. "So, what do you do during the day? When you're Clark Kent and not Superman?"

"Train at the gym, do some boxing, hang out with friends, mop floors . . ." He trailed off as he squinted his eyes. "That's pretty much it."

"You box?" she questioned as they entered the park, turning to him and raising her eyebrows. 

"Hell yeah." He grinned as they began to walk down one of the gravel paths. He glanced upwards at the trees that they were passing as the shrill tweet of a bird rang through the air before looking back at Natalia. "You should come watch one of my matches."

"Yeah, I'd love to watch you get beat up," she quipped with a small wink that made his heart skip a beat. 

"Unfortunately for you," he replied, "I usually win."

Her eyes narrowed as she dubiously questioned, "Are you sure?"

"Mhm." He nodded, giving her a grin as she laughed. "Anyway, uh, has Klaus visited you lately?"

"Mm, no," she answered as she shook her head. "Last time I saw him was about a month ago. Why?"

Diego sighed, "He showed up at my place last night, lookin' for a place to sleep."

"That's not really out of the ordinary for him," she pointed out with a small chuckle. "He loves to sleep on my couch."

"Yeah," he agreed with a roll of the eyes. A smirk quickly appeared on his face as he added, "And loves to tell you all about me, apparently."

She raised her hands in defence. "Hey, it's not because I pry."

He quirked an eyebrow as he questioned, "Then why?"

"You know why."

"Mm, but I wanna hear you say it," he insisted with a small grin, and he nudged her arm. "Why?"

Natalia sighed, folding her arms as her eyes wandered over the greenery in front of them. "Because . . ."

Hearing nothing but the rustle of leaves and the crunch of their shoes against gravel, Diego nudged her once more after a moment. "Because?"

Her nose wrinkled. "You suck."

"Pretty sure that's not it," he chided, causing her to roll her eyes and drop her arms to her sides. 

"Because he thinks we belong together, whatever."

"You know, I think I agree with him," Diego said lightly, turning his gaze to the front as he gave a nonchalant shrug. "Don't you?"

"Diego," she warned. 

"I'm just sayin'," he muttered as he shrugged once more. 

Diego was practically bursting at the seams at this point; he was not a big fan of this whole 'let's be friends for now' situation. How did she expect him to just comply with hanging out platonically with her when all he wanted to do was kiss her? 

Maybe he could convince her. 

Diego chewed on his lower lip for a moment before looking back at her and asking, "So, what do you need to know about me?"

Natalia's eyebrows furrowed as she turned to face him. "Hm?"

"You said the reason was that you didn't know my twenty-eight-year-old self," he pointed out. "So find out. Speed up the process."

"You know, the fact that you can barely wait for a day worries me," she remarked as she folded her arms. "This isn't how friendship works, Diego."

"I just . . ." Diego sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "It's been ten years, Nat. I don't want friendship. I don't know how much longer I can wait."

"Exactly. You've already waited this long, you can wait some more," she pointed out with raised eyebrows. "Besides, you're not the only one."

"If you hadn't decided to stay at that stupid place, there wouldn't have been any waiting," he mumbled. 

"Oh," she scoffed as she came to a stop and turned to face him, "I'm sorry that I wanted a good education."

Diego halted so that he matched her position, and he shrugged as he folded his arms. "You could've gotten a good education somewhere else."

"Yeah, and if I had, not only would I still be in school right now, but I'd have a fortune of debt," she pointed out as she lifted her eyebrows. "But I don't, because I made the logical decision to stay."

"What about my decision to leave? You think that was logical?" he questioned before shaking his head. "No. It was for survival."

Natalia squinted her eyes. "That would . . . technically make it pretty logical, Diego."

"Shut up," he grumbled. "You know what I mean."

"And was it really for survival?" she questioned dubiously as she moved her hands to her hips. She shook her head. "No, you just don't like being told what to do, and that's all that was happening at the Academy."

"Yeah, and if I had stayed there for one more day, I would've killed everyone and then myself," he pointed out. "So, survival."

She groaned, "You are insufferable, you know that?"

He shrugged. "I know."

Diego bit his lip as he watched Natalia sigh and shake her head. Maybe he wasn't doing the best job at convincing her. 

He was about to say something else but stopped himself as Natalia sat down on a wooden bench and patted the empty space next to her. 

"I have a question," she began as he sat down. "It's a little unrelated. But also related."

Diego's eyes narrowed. "Uh-huh."

"When you broke up with me all those years ago . . ." Natalia sucked her cheeks in for a moment as her nervous gaze met his. She let out a small breath before continuing, "Was it really because you—"

"I already know where you're going with this," Diego interrupted, "and you're an idiot."

She looked taken aback as she questioned, "Excuse me?"

He gave her an amused smile. "You were gonna ask if I didn't love you anymore, right?"

"Well, yeah," she mumbled, "but you don't have to call me an idiot."

He gave a low chuckle as he shook his head. "If you think that I didn't love you, then you are the world's biggest idiot, Nat."

Diego felt a small sense of satisfaction as he watched Natalia's cheeks grow pink, though it seemed that she ignored this as she scoffed, "I'm sure you could've said it nicer than that."

"Just bein' honest," he pointed out with a modest shrug. He sighed, leaning back on the bench as he shook his head once more. He let his gaze stick to a passing bird for a few moments before he turned to Natalia, and he softly began, "Do you know how much I thought about you ever since then? How much I wanted to just go back to the Academy and risk getting scolded by Dad just so I could see you again?" 

Natalia's eyes met his, and they softened as she bit her lower lip in thought. 

"You didn't leave my mind, Nat," Diego murmured. "You never did."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Then why didn't you want to—"

"Because I was an idiot, too," he cut in with an amused smile. 

"Was?"

Diego ignored the insult as he looked ahead of him. "Y'know, I still have that photo."

Natalia's baffled expression only became more prominent as she asked, "What photo?"

"The one you took with Allison's camera when I was visiting you in the middle of the night. Where you were kissing my cheek," he clarified as he looked back at her. "You remember?"

She squinted her eyes for a few moments before a look of realization dawned on her face, and she gave a slow nod. "Yeah. I don't think I ever gave that camera back to Alli."

"Eh, she's a big movie star now, she can buy a million of them," Diego said dismissively as he waved a hand through the air. 

She shrugged. "That's true."

Diego gave her a small smile before tentatively asking, "Did you ever happen to think of me in the past decade?"

"Of course," she answered softly, causing his heart rate to pick up. "You remember how I used to have trouble sleeping after . . . ?"

He frowned. "Mhm."

"It only got worse after you left," she sighed, causing his frown to deepen. "Sometimes, I'd sneak over to your room and sleep in your bed. It helped. But, still, it only made me miss you more."

Diego shifted a little closer to her, his heart rate growing so fast that he was a little afraid that he'd go into cardiac arrest. He swallowed, shutting his eyes for a moment before meeting her eyes once more. 

"You know," he sighed, "I always thought that, maybe, if I got with enough girls, I'd be able to forget you."

Diego gazed at her rosy face for a moment, his eyes flickering over and pleasuring in the features that he had so dearly missed. 

"God," he scoffed lightly, then tentatively cupping her cheek, "I was so wrong."

His thumb caressed the soft skin of her cheek for a moment, and, his heart rate going faster than ever, he began to lean in. 

He let out a silent groan as he felt her hand press against his chest, and he slowly straightened up. 

As frustrated as he was, he mustered up an amused smile. "Not yet?"

Natalia gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Not yet."

"That's fine." He shrugged as he leaned back on the bench and folded his arms. "I'm cool with that. I can handle it."

She gave him an entertained look. "Clearly."

"But if it's worth anything," he murmured, "my favourite colour's black."

She tilted her head, her eyes squinting for a moment before she slowly said, "That's the same as when we were seventeen."

"Mhm," he hummed in confirmation. He shifted a little closer to her, keeping his voice light as he suggested, "Maybe we're not so different from our seventeen-year-old selves."

"I know what you're doing," she chided as she lightly smacked his arm. "Stop it."

"I'm not doing anything." Diego grinned as he shook his head. "I'm just pointing out the obvious. Your favourite colour's still purple, right?"

Her frustrated expression softened. "You remember?"

"Nat, every time I look at something purple, I think of you. Of course, I remember," he chuckled. He tilted his head back as he continued, "Bet your favourite subject is chemistry, hm?"

"I think that's kind of a given," she scoffed in amusement. "I'm a chemistry professor."

"I'm still right. Two for two." Diego's grin widened. "Your favourite food is blueberry muffins?"

A smile was beginning to grow on her face as she admitted, "Yeah."

"I'm telling you," he insisted, "we aren't so different from before."

"Diego," she sighed. 

Diego ignored her chiding as he shrugged. "Your favourite kind of flower is a daisy."

"Ooh" —she grinned, causing him to straighten up with worry— "that's where you're wrong."

His eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"Mhm." She shrugged. "My favourite kind of flower is a carnation now."

"What?" he questioned incredulously. "What kind of weirdo changes their favourite flower?"

She raised her eyebrows as she answered, "Me."

"Okay. Little speed bump, whatever." Diego waved a dismissive hand before folding his arms. "Your favourite drink is green tea."

She gave him a smile as she shrugged. "I'm more of a chamomile kind of girl now."

"Oh, come on," he groaned. "I still got the tea part right."

"You're still wrong," she pointed out with a small chuckle. 

"Your favourite book is The Phantom of the Opera."

"I've really taken a liking to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina lately."

"Your favourite animal is a koala."

"Pandas are really cute."

"You hate peppers."

"I've grown to like them."

Diego's was much louder this time around as he let his body slacken, and he let his head fall back over the bench. "Seriously?"

"Maybe we are different," Natalia pointed out with a small smile. "And those are just the little things, Diego."

He slowly turned to look at her. "You really have to do this?"

"Listen, we have our whole lives ahead of us. Don't rush things," she murmured. "Pretend we've never met, and we're slowly becoming friends."

"Fine." He straightened up and extended a hand toward her as he plastered an award-winning smile on his face. "Hi, my name is Diego Hargreeves, you're gorgeous, would you like to go on a date with me?"

"Hi, Diego," she greeted with a grin as she shook his hand, "I'm Natalia, you're very handsome, but I would not like to go on a date—not right now, at least. I look forward to our friendship."

Diego rolled his eyes as he folded his arms. "You're impossible, you know that?"

She winked. "Oh, I know."

He heaved a small sigh. "You're making it worse."

"I know."

Diego stared at her smile for a moment before telling her, "You realize I'm never gonna stop."

"I'm not asking you to."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Aren't you?"

"Just asking you to slow down, that's all," she corrected. She gazed at him for a moment before raising her eyebrows and amusedly asking, "Are you this upfront with other girls?"

"Well, the thing is," he rebutted with a raised finger, "I'm not in love with those other girls."

Natalia sighed, a small smile playing on her lips as she shook her head. "Diego, how do you know you're in love with me if you barely even know me anymore?"

"Then who am I in love with?" he scoffed. "Because it's someone who looks a damn lot like you."

Natalia rolled her eyes in amusement before checking her watch, and she sighed. She stood up, brushing off her skirt as she told him, "I have to go."

"Oh, come on," he groaned, "five more minutes."

She raised her eyebrows as she shifted in her spot. "And what would you do in that five minutes?"

"Convince you to—"

"I gotta go."

"Fine," he muttered as he stood up.

The two of them quickly walked back to the parking lot of the diner and stopped in front of where he had parked his car. 

Natalia gave him a smile that did not help him see her as a friend, and suggested, "Let's do this again sometime soon, okay?"

"Mhm," Diego hummed, though he wasn't totally on board. Whatever it took to see her again, he silently groaned. 

She kept her eyes paired with his for a few moments before she softly asked, "You don't hate me, do you?"

"Nat," he scoffed, "I've confessed my love for you, like, five times in this conversation."

She gave him a quick grin. "Just making sure."

Diego gave her a small smile and tucked his hands into his pockets before muttering a goodbye and beginning to head toward the driver's side of his car. 

"Diego," Natalia suddenly called from behind, "wait."

He turned around, though he could hardly register anything as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck, and a body press tightly into his. 

A soft smile appeared on Diego's face as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, and his smile only broadened as she nestled her face into the crook of his neck. 

"I know drunk-me probably already told you this," she murmured, "but, as sober-me . . . I really missed you."

"I missed you, too," he replied softly before a grin came onto his face. "And drunk-you did tell me that. In fact," he continued as she lifted her head and playfully glared at him, "drunk-you told me a lot of stuff."

"Oh, shut up," she laughed. 

Diego drew away slightly from the hug, though he kept his grip around her waist as he murmured, "Bye, Nat."

She gave him a small smile as her arms around his neck loosened. "Bye, Diego."