"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑦 𝑘𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒."
—𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑦𝑛 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑟𝑜𝑒

𝒩.

"𝐎𝐇, 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐍, Nutella!" Klaus pleaded, clasping his hands together. "Just twenty dollars."

Natalia sighed as she sat down on the couch, and she tilted her head back on it. She closed her eyes, shaking her head as she mumbled, "No, Klaus."

"But you're rich!" he rebutted as he sat down next to her.  "Twenty dollars is nothing to you."

"I'm not rich," she scoffed, swatting his arm. "And it's not the amount that I care about, it's what you'll do with it. So, the answer is no, Klaus."

"Oh, please," he begged. "It's just for . . . books?"

A scoff escaped her lips as she turned her head to look at him. "You can't focus on a book for more than five minutes."

"It's for" —he squinted his eyes— "water?"

"Water doesn't cost twenty dollars," she pointed out with an amused smile. She then gestured towards the kitchen. "Also, you can get water here."

Klaus's eyes lit up as he offered, "I want to buy a ring for my girlfriend that definitely exists."

"Nice try," she laughed lightly. She then scrunched her nose as she queried, "Also, what ring costs twenty dollars?"

"I could just buy ten ring pops; one for each finger," he answered with a shrug. "Those are technically rings."

She pursed her lips together before shrugging. "I guess."

Their attention was turned away from the conversation as a buzzing noise sounded; someone was at the door.

Klaus's eyebrows furrowed as he looked back at Natalia and questioned, "Who's that?"

"I'm not sure," she answered slowly as she got to her feet. She racked her brain, wondering whether she was supposed to be expecting company, but she could find no recollection of inviting anyone. "You're usually the only one who shows up unexpectedly."

She gave a small shrug and walked to her door. She pressed the talk button and greeted, "Hello?"

"Hey, gorgeous."

A smile grew on her face, and she pressed the button to let him in.

There was a knock on the door a minute later, and when she opened it, she felt her stomach fill with butterflies as she saw that Diego was standing in front of her, a bouquet of purple carnations in hand.

A smile appeared on his face as their eyes met, and he greeted, "Hey."

"Hi," she returned, the corners of her lips tugging up even more.

"These are for you." He held the bouquet out towards her, and a look of slight relief came onto his face as she smiled and took it.

"Carnations," she noted as her hands gripped the plastic that wrapped the flowers. She didn't even have to lean in to smell the sweet scent that radiated off the purple petals, and she relished in it. "You remembered?"

"Of course," he replied with a small grin. The grin broadened as he gave a dramatic shrug and teased, "Still don't know what was so wrong with daisies, but . . ."

She laughed lightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," he began, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he clasped his hands behind his back, "I was hoping we could go on another date."

She glanced back at the clock that showed her that it was almost eight, and she turned back to him as she asked, "Now?"

"Mhm."

"Sure." Natalia nodded, and a grin grew on his face. "Where?"

"Anywhere."

"Okay," she sighed. "Let me change into something nicer."

She turned around so that she could head to her room, but was promptly stopped as Diego grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

Her eyebrows furrowed, but he was quick to reassure her, "You look beautiful enough as is."

"Oh, yeah?" she scoffed as she looked down at her sweater and leggings. She looked back up at him with raised eyebrows of amusement. "Like this?"

"Mhm," he hummed, his eyes roaming over her body, causing her to grow a little nervous.

"Well, then let me grab a jacket," she corrected, and she was met by a grin. Diego was about to step in, and, not wanting Klaus to find out that Diego was here and only cause embarrassment, she pressed a hand on Diego's chest and shook her head. "No, just, uh, wait in the hall."

Diego's eyebrows furrowed, though he still took a step back. "Why?"

Natalia licked her lips as she tried to come up with an excuse. "Uh . . ."

"You got another man in there?" he joked, an amused smile growing on his face.

She squinted her eyes; technically, Klaus was a man, and he was in there. "I mean . . ."

"Wait, really?" Diego questioned, his eyebrows furrowing as his gaze flicked past her and into the room. His eyes returned to hers, much more hurt than before. "Nat, I thought—"

"Diego! You're here!"

Diego's eyes widened as Klaus came bounding towards them, and he slowly nodded. "Oh. I see."

"Here to visit me?" Klaus grinned as he came to Natalia's side, causing her to sigh.

Diego rolled his eyes. "Definitely."

Klaus gasped as he took notice of the flowers in her hands, and took them from her. "Are these for me?" He turned to Diego, simpering as he playfully whined, "Aw, Diego!"

Natalia leaned towards Diego as Klaus sniffed the flowers. "This is why I wanted you to stay in the hall."

"Yeah," he muttered back, watching with a wrinkled nose as Klaus tentatively picked off one of the petals and put it into his mouth. "That was a good idea."

"Hey, why don't we all watch a movie together?" Klaus suggested with a grin after chewing and swallowing the petal. He nudged Natalia's side. "Nutella? Diego? A little bonding time?"

Diego glanced at Natalia with a frown. "Klaus, I wanted to—"

"Great!" Klaus cheered. He gave the flowers back to Natalia and turned around, not bothering to see their pained expressions as he headed towards the living room, calling over his shoulder, "Love Guru, anyone?"

"It's okay. We can do something tomorrow," Natalia sighed, gesturing for Diego to come in. She closed the door behind him, placed the flowers on the counter, and then followed Klaus into the living room as she asked, "How are you not tired of this movie? I swear, we've watched this about thirty times this week."

Klaus shrugged. "It's a classic."

Natalia grabbed the remote, turned the TV on (the DVD was already in the player, thanks to Klaus already having watched it that morning), and started the movie while Klaus and a reluctant Diego sat on the couch.

As the movie began, Natalia put the remote on the coffee table and took a seat next to Diego, who was now sitting in the middle of them.

"Wait!" Klaus cried out only a moment later. "Pause the movie!"

"Okay, jeez," Natalia muttered, leaning forward and grabbing the remote before pressing pause. She turned to the man and raised her eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

Klaus grinned. "We need popcorn. Wait here."

Natalia rolled her eyes in amusement as he jumped to his feet and dashed to the kitchen. Only Klaus.

"While he's there . . ." Diego turned to Natalia with a small smile, and he used his index finger to tilt her head up before planting a kiss on her lips.

Natalia let out a soft giggle before cupping his cheeks and pulling him in for a deeper kiss. His hands quickly made their way to her waist and gripped tightly as her thumbs slowly caressed his cheeks.

He pulled away after a few moments, and, reassured by the fact that Klaus wouldn't come back judging by the sound of popping, he rested his forehead against hers.

Their gazes swiftly met, and he smirked. "So you had fun the other night, huh?"

"I did," she answered with a smile. "Did you?"

"Best night of my life," he murmured back, causing her cheeks to warm. "The first of many, I'm willing to bet."

Her smile quickly turned into a frown as she noticed a dark bruise that was on his jaw, and her eyebrows furrowed as she gently grazed her finger over it. "What happened?"

Diego gave her a small grin as he gently moved her hand away from the bruise and shrugged. "Had a boxing match last night."

"Yeah?" She turned her gaze back to his eyes as she raised her eyebrows. "And? How'd it go?"

His grin quickly disappeared. ". . . I won."

She gave a scoff of amusement, glancing towards the kitchen as the sound of beeping filled the air. "You lost, huh? That bad?"

"It was close," he mumbled, then receiving raised eyebrows in return. "Okay, yeah," he admitted sheepishly as he raised his hands in surrender. "I got my ass handed to me."

She laughed, "Can't win every time."

Klaus returned a minute later, a bowl of popcorn in hand, and squeezed himself beside Diego, who sighed and shifted closer to Natalia.

Natalia peered over at Klaus, watching in amusement as he stuffed a handful of buttery popcorn into his mouth. "You good now?"

Klaus nodded.

Rolling her eyes, she grabbed the remote and continued the movie. The movie resumed, and she graciously took the one piece of popcorn that Klaus offered her. 

A soft smile appeared on her face as Diego wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Keeping her eyes on the film that was now burned into her brain, she nestled into his side, resting her head on his shoulder and laying a hand on his chest.

Diego kissed the top of her head before muttering, "I've never watched this before."

"Really?" she whispered, a soft chuckle escaping her lips. She glanced over to Klaus, who was still paying full attention to the movie and his popcorn before continuing, "Don't tell Klaus, he'll go berserk on you."

"Noted."

𝒟.

Diego's eyes fluttered open, and they squinted as the rush of daylight met them. He must've fallen asleep during the movie (though he wasn't sure how with all of Klaus's rambling from beside him). 

A small smile appeared on his face as he realized that someone's head was resting on his shoulder.

That smile soon turned into a grimace as he realized that it wasn't Natalia's—it was Klaus's.

"You two look nice and cozy."

Diego looked up to see that Natalia was sitting on the sofa chair perpendicular to the couch, a mug of coffee in hand. She had changed into a different loose-fitting shirt and a pair of pyjama shorts which Diego's eyes lingered on for a moment, and her hair was now tied in a low bun. 

She took a sip of her coffee as Diego rolled his eyes, and she only gave him a teasing smile in return.

"Get off me," Diego mumbled as he pushed the still-sleeping Klaus off of him.

Klaus gave a small groan and flopped off the couch. His groan only loudened as he hit the floor, but Diego paid no attention to that as Natalia placed her mug on the coffee table and sat down next to him.

"Good morning, handsome," she murmured before kissing his cheek. "Sleep well?"

With a wrinkled nose, Diego glanced down at Klaus, who was clutching his stomach and moaning, and he shrugged. "Yeah. You?"

"Oh, I slept great," she replied with a grin. She nudged his side as she remarked, "Nothing better to wake up to than you and Klaus cuddling."

"Shut up," he muttered, though the corners of his lips turned upwards.

"Come on." She stood up, grabbing her coffee mug with one hand as she grabbed his hand with the other. "Let's make breakfast. And don't give me your church shit."

"Temple, Nat," Diego corrected with a scoff as he followed her to the kitchen. "My body is a temple."

"And now you've said it," she sighed as she placed her coffee mug next to the vase that she had placed the flowers on the counter. She leaned a hand on the counter and rested the other one on her hip as she turned to him and crinkled her nose. "You know, every time you say that I think I hate you a little more."

"Well, thank God you're in love with me, huh?" he teased, feeling satisfaction as her cheeks grew pink.

She cleared her throat and turned to her pantry as she opened it. "Pancakes?"

Diego shrugged as he leaned back against the counter. "I can work with that."

"Me too!" called Klaus's voice from the living room.

Natalia pulled out an already opened package of pancake mix and handed it to Diego, who placed it down on the counter. She then opened the fridge and grabbed two eggs in one hand and a milk carton in the other.

She carefully placed the two items on the counter. She closed the fridge and then grabbed a container of vegetable oil before plucking out a metal bowl from her cabinet.

Diego watched as she carefully measured out a cup and three-quarters of pancake mix, a soft smile on his face as she narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in concentration.

"You think you could crack the eggs or will you be too tempted to eat it?" she teased, causing him to roll his eyes in amusement.

"Oh, I think I'll be just fine," he answered with a small grin.

He grabbed an egg in each hand and simultaneously cracked them over the bowl before throwing the shells away.

He looked to see that Natalia's eyes were wide as she stared at him, and his eyebrows furrowed. "You okay, Nat?"

"How did you do that?" she murmured, her eyes drifting from his hand and to the eggs in the bowl.

"What?" Diego questioned as he raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Crack an egg?"

"With one hand," she added as she pointed toward his hands. "That was amazing."

"You've never seen it before?" he chuckled. "What, didn't you have any boyfriends that knew how to crack an egg with one hand?"

"No," she mumbled as she measured out the oil and tipped the tablespoon to pour it into the mix. "Grab the whisk, please. Same drawer as the utensils."

As she poured in the milk, Diego walked over to the counter that was next to the fridge and pulled the drawer open, quickly spotting the whisk. He grabbed it and closed the drawer before walking back toward her and handing it to her.

"Well, anyway," he continued as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed into her from behind, "you have one now."

A teasing smile appeared on her face as she began to mix the ingredients. "Oh, so you're my boyfriend now?"

"I better be," he muttered into her ear, causing her to giggle. "All this hard work better count for somethin'."

She stopped mixing the batter and left the whisk in the bowl as she turned around and enveloped her arms around his neck. "Getting a bit ahead of yourself, aren't you? We've only been on two dates if you count last night."

"Am I?" He scoffed, his eyebrows raising. "We love each other. We've slept together. I mean, I got you flowers, for God's sake. I've never done that for any girl."

"And I appreciate it," she chuckled, kissing the tip of his nose before turning back and grabbing the whisk. "They're beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you," Diego mumbled as he wrapped his arms around her waist once more and rested his chin on her shoulder.

She only gave a light giggle in response as she began to mix the batter again.

Diego watched for a few moments as the ingredients blended in together, a small smile on his face, before he muttered, "So you my girlfriend, or what?"

She glanced at him as she put the whisk to rest against the side of the bowl, her lips curving upwards into a smile. "Do you want me to be?"

He gave a slight shrug. "Considering the fact I just called myself your boyfriend, yes."

"Well, then," she murmured as she turned back towards him, "I guess I have no choice except to be your girlfriend."

"I'm happy with that arrangement," he replied with an amused smile, then leaning forward and gently kissing her lips, tasting the bitter coffee she had sipped moments before.

"Stop being all cute and shit and make the pancakes!"

Diego scowled as Klaus stepped to the kitchen, and rolled his eyes as Natalia laughed and pushed his grip off of her.

"I'm making them, Klaus, don't worry," Natalia reassured him as she reached into her cabinet and grabbed a frying pan. She waved it to prove it to him, and he gave a relieved sigh before she placed it on her stove.

"I'm starving," Klaus whined as she grabbed the cooking spray and sprayed it onto the pan. "I haven't eaten in, like, ten years."

"Yeah?" she scoffed as she raised her eyebrows and turned the heat on. "Then why do I have practically no food in my fridge?"

Klaus shrugged, watching as she grabbed the measuring cup and began scooping the batter into the pan. "Wasn't me."

"Mhm," she hummed as she turned towards the pair and raised her eyebrows. "Then who was it?"

Klaus pursed his lips in thought for a moment before pointing toward Diego. "Him."

Diego scoffed as he looked toward Klaus, and lightly slapped his arm.

As she waited for the pancakes to cook, Natalia turned towards Diego, a teasing smile on her face as she scoldingly wagged her finger at him. "How dare you. I trusted you."

Diego rolled his eyes in amusement before shrugging. "Your eggs are all still there, aren't they?"