"𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛'𝑠 𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑."
—𝐶.𝑆. 𝐿𝑒𝑤𝑖𝑠

𝒟.

𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐔𝐍𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 door and stepped inside the apartment.

It had been a month since he moved in, and it was still a little difficult to remember that he was supposed to call this apartment home now. Of course, he still did have his boiler room, but he was only there twice a week, at most.

He missed his boiler room, sure. But living with Natalia was worth it.

A smile drew upon Diego's face as Natalia peeked her head out of their bedroom and grinned.

"Hey, gorgeous," he greeted as she came out and shut the door behind her.

She walked up to him, tugging down the hem of her shirt. After planting a kiss on his lips, she smiled. "How was training, honey? Did Nigel kick your ass again?"

"Training was good," he answered. "And, no, he didn't."

"I don't believe you," she laughed, causing him to roll his eyes in amusement.

He placed his hands on her hips and examined the red top she was wearing. The sleeves were short and puffy, though the rest of it flattered her figure. Diego had to admit that his favourite part was the sweetheart neckline, however, and, more importantly, what it revealed.

"I like your shirt."

"Yeah?" she chuckled as she glanced down at it. "Because it's red, right? No other reason?"

"No," he murmured, kissing the edge of her jaw. "No other reason, obviously."

She giggled as his kisses began to lower, and she soon pushed him off of her, causing him to groan.

"Aw, come on, baby," he whined softly, beginning to nip at her neck. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too, but it's barely noon," she laughed, shoving him away once again.

He scrunched his nose as he pulled away, though he dove in to attack once more with a kiss to her lips. When she had laughed and pushed him away, he grinned and grabbed her hand.

"Anyway," he began as he headed towards their bedroom, Natalia trailing close behind, "what're you up to?"

"I was just reading," she replied with a small wave of the hand. "But I was actually about to leave to get some groceries. Wanna come with?"

Diego nodded as he opened the closet and pulled out a sweater and jeans. "Yeah. Just let me change first."

Natalia gave a small hum, and as he changed from his gym clothes into his usual ones, he heard her shuffling around the bookshelf.

He turned to face her once he was done. "All right. Let's go."

Natalia smiled and grabbed a folded piece of paper from the desk that was pushed against the corner of the room.

"Grocery list?" Diego questioned as she tucked it into her purse and gestured for him to follow her.

She nodded in confirmation as she grabbed a light jacket. Seeing that Diego was content with his sweater to go against the September weather, she interlaced her fingers with his, and the two headed out.

Once they got into Diego's car, with Diego going in the driver's seat and Natalia in the front passenger's, Diego started the engine.

"So," Natalia began as Diego drove out of the parking lot and merged onto the street, "uh . . ."

Diego's eyebrows furrowed as he glanced over at her. She was playing with the zipper of her black jacket, and her lips were formed into a deep frown.

"You okay, princess?" he asked softly, his grip on the wheel tightening.

"Yeah, it's not me," she mumbled, a sigh quickly following. "Alli called me this morning while you were gone. . . ."

"And?"

"She's . . ." Another sigh. "She's getting a divorce with Patrick."

"And" —Diego glanced at her once more with furrowed eyebrows— "why should I care?"

He returned his gaze to the road as Natalia swatted his arm and exclaimed, "She's your sister, Diego!"

He shrugged. "That doesn't make me any more convinced."

"She's going through a tough time," she insisted as she folded her arms and leaned back in her seat.

Diego tilted his head. "Is it really that tough?"

Natalia let out a small scoff before querying, "So you're saying that if you and I got married, and later got divorced, you wouldn't be upset?"

Diego imagined the scenario as he checked the side-view mirror and changed to the left lane. If he had taken the break-up from their teens that hard, he couldn't even imagine the pain he'd go through if they ever divorced (although, that was assuming that they got married—which he was hoping they would).

But it was different with Allison. She was probably just with that guy because he was rich and famous. Diego wouldn't be surprised; Allison always went for the guy who was number one.

He pursed his lips for a moment before shaking his head. "That's different."

Natalia scoffed again. "How is that different?"

"Because" —he shrugged— "you're you, and her husband is her husband."

She turned to fully face him, though he couldn't do the same as he turned onto the street on the left. "Do you even know his name?"

"Clark?"

"Mhm, and what's her daughter's name?"

". . . Clark."

"Patrick and Claire."

"Clark and Clark. Got it." Diego nodded, a grin coming onto his face as she swatted his arm once more. "So why're you telling me all this?"

"Well, while everything is getting settled . . ." Natalia sighed, beginning to fidget with her zipper again. "There's definitely gonna be a lot of media coverage on it and Alli's really uncomfortable, and I really think—"

Diego glanced at her, his eyebrows raised. "Cut to the chase."

"She's going to stay with us for the next week."

A groan quickly passed Diego's lips. He could hardly stand seeing her face on a poster, and now he had to see her in real life? For an entire week? "Seriously?"

"It's a good thing!"

"It is not a good thing."

"Oh, come on," Natalia egged as he turned left. "Some bonding time with your sister would do you good. You guys used to get along fine when we were teens."

Diego quirked an eyebrow.

"Okay," she admitted, "well, better than you and Luther."

"That, I can agree with," he chuckled before his expression became serious once more. "But for a week? Nat—"

"Oh, come on." She sighed. "You'll probably hardly even see her."

Diego thought to himself for a few moments, drumming his fingers on the wheel as they came to a red light. "I have a boxing match Thursday night, so we're staying at my place. Then what?"

Natalia rolled her eyes. "Alli is more than capable of spending one night by herself in our apartment."

He gave her raised eyebrows of doubt as the light turned green, and he pressed the gas pedal. "Is she?"

"If you don't think she is, I can just stay at—"

"No, never mind, fine, she is," he interrupted with a sigh.

"What's so wrong with her staying for a week?" Natalia queried as they pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store. "You don't have to talk to her."

"Yeah," Diego said, craning his neck to find a good parking spot, "but if she's here, you and I can't do anything fun."

She scoffed. "What, is it gonna kill you if we don't have—"

"A little bit, yeah!"

"Well, we have Thursday night, don't we?" she pointed out as he parked. The two of them quickly got out of the car, and she continued as she came to his side, "Anyway, Alli's gonna be here tomorrow night."

"Fine," Diego sighed, "whatever."

"Are you really that mad about it?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing. "If you want, I can just call Vanya—"

"Are you kidding?" He scoffed. "Allison hates Vanya as much as I do, and judging by that shit book she put out, Vanya hates her, too."

"I wouldn't say as much," Natalia muttered as she grabbed a cart. She placed her purse on the baby seat and began to push the cart as they headed inside the bustling store.

Diego sighed as he gazed at her frown. "It's fine, I'm not mad, sweetheart. I know you like her, for some reason."

"Because she's a wonderful and talented woman, that's why."

"Yeah." He scoffed. "Talented in using her rumouring to get her roles."

"Stop it," she chided, though the corners of her lips were turned upwards.

Diego watched as she pushed the cart with one hand and grabbed the shopping list out of her purse with the other. "So, what's first on the list?"

"Well," she sighed, "the produce section is the closest, so the stuff there."

Diego followed as she went to the produce section and stood in front of the packages of strawberries. Her eyes narrowed as she slightly bent her knees to examine them.

"Just choose one," Diego chuckled after a minute of contemplation. "They're just strawberries."

She straightened up and playfully glared at him. "Yeah, but if I pick a bad package, then they'll just go to waste."

Diego only rolled his eyes in amusement as she carefully took a package from the back and placed it in the cart.

After Natalia had added blueberries, raspberries, cucumbers, broccoli, and tomatoes to the shopping cart (each of them having taken her about two minutes to choose the right one), they continued their journey through the aisles.

They reached the candy aisle, and Natalia's eyes lit up. "Alli loves chocolate-covered almonds, I should get some for her."

Diego raised his eyebrows as Natalia searched the shelves. "Do you even know what my favourite candy is?"

"Trick question," she replied, turning towards him to wink before looking back to the shelves; "you don't eat candy because your body is a church."

"Temple."

She giggled as she grabbed two packages of chocolate almonds and placed them inside the cart. She began to push the cart down the aisle as she asked, "Do you know my favourite candy?"

"Easy. Gummy bears," he answered. "Which are horrible for you, by the way."

"Oh, I know," she sighed as she glanced at the candies and chocolates around them. "But they're so cute."

"So am I," he pointed out with a small grin.

"And that's why I can't resist either of you," she replied before kissing his cheek.

"You got me there," he murmured. "Anything else Alli needs?"

Natalia stopped in place and put her hands on her hips as she swivelled her head from shelf to shelf. "Well, I think we're gonna have a girls' night when she comes, so—"

"So you're ditching me for the night?"

She scoffed. "You're acting as if you're gonna be home all night and not out on the streets or whatever."

Diego rolled his eyes, though he knew she was right. "Whatever."

"So, girls' night," she continued after sending him a playful glare. "We need the classic break-up stuff: ice cream, chocolate, pizza, wine . . . the works."

Diego only chuckled in response, and he folded his arms as he watched her grab various sweets and put them in the cart. He made little remarks on them now and then and only received a light slap on the arm and a quip about his body being a church.

"Now," Natalia sighed, digging the grocery list out of her pocket and looking down at the foods she had written. "Oh, shit."

His eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

"I forgot we needed cereal, and it's in the aisle we were just in," she answered with a small pout as she put her list back into her coat pocket. "Could you grab it?"

Diego nodded. "Which cereal?"

"Oh, just Cheerios," she replied with a wave of the hand. She suddenly paused, and the corners of her lips turned upwards. "But . . ."

He narrowed his eyes. "But what?"

She gave him a sheepish smile that caused him to chuckle. "Alli really likes the honey kind, so can you grab one of that?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Thanks, babe." She grinned. "I love you."

"Yeah, you better," he scoffed, receiving a giggle from her before he turned to head toward the aisle they had just left.

His eyes roamed over the many options of cereals (why were there so many? And why did half of them include marshmallows and chocolate? For breakfast?). He quickly spotted the bright yellow packaging amongst the other brightly packaged cereals and grabbed a box. The Honey Nut Cheerios boxes were next to the originals, and, despite the fact that Natalia wasn't there to see it, Diego gave a dramatic sigh before grabbing one.

Diego walked back to the aisle to see that Natalia was already at the far end, her hand gently placed on top of a stack of bagged rice. However, he stopped in place as he noticed that she was talking to a man that Diego didn't recognize.

The man was a little taller than Natalia, and he used a hand to sweep through his brown hair as he gave her a small grin. His eyes seemed to focus on her eyes every now on then, but they mostly continued to flick down toward her chest, causing Diego to grit his teeth and narrow his eyes.

He had been gone for two minutes, and now, there was a guy hitting on her.

The tops of the two boxes were a little smushed by the time Diego reached Natalia and the man, and he quickly wrapped a tight arm around her waist.

Natalia flinched from the sudden touch before she turned to him and grinned. "Oh, hi, sweetheart!"

Diego felt satisfaction creep up inside of him as the man's smile faltered. He kissed Natalia's cheek as he put the cereal boxes in the cart. "Hi, gorgeous. Got your cereals."

"Thanks." She smiled before turning back to the man. "Dr. Parkinson, this is my, um, boyfriend. Diego."

"Diego." Dr. Parkinson's smile had turned rather tight, though it was clear he was attempting to hold a friendly air as he extended a hand, which Diego reluctantly shook. "I've heard a lot about you. I'm Dr. Parkinson, but you can call me Jon."

"You guys are colleagues?" Diego guessed, to which the two of them nodded.

Diego connected the dots; this was the guy who had asked Natalia out back at the beginning of the year.

Looking at the man, with his white teeth and boyish grin, and knowing that he held a job worth a high salary and reputation, Diego couldn't help but briefly wonder for a moment why Natalia had chosen him over this professor.

But then Diego remembered why: he was awesome, and this dude probably sucked.

"Yep," Dr. Parkinson answered, his grin becoming far more relaxed as he turned back to Natalia. "We've known each other for, what, two, three years now?"

"That's great," Diego said loudly before Natalia could confirm. "Nat and I've actually known each other for almost seventeen years."

Dr. Parkinson's face temporarily changed into a grimace, though he hid it with another bright smile. "That's nice."

"Anyway," Diego sighed as he looked toward Natalia, whose smile had become a little confused. "We should get going, baby. Lots to buy."

Natalia nodded and gave the other man a small smile. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. See you." Dr. Parkinson cast a short glare to Diego, though no one but he caught it, before continuing on in the opposite direction.

Once they had turned into the next aisle, Natalia glanced over her shoulder and questioned, "What was that?"

"What was what?" Diego asked innocently.

"You know what," she chided as she grabbed a couple of boxes of spaghetti and placed them in the cart. "He's just a colleague, y'know."

"Yeah?" Diego scoffed. "A colleague who asked you out on a date?"

Natalia paused for a moment, and her eyes slowly shifted to him. "How'd you know it was him?"

"Because, baby, he was practically drooling."

"Yeah, okay," she scoffed as they continued down the aisle. "Has Klaus been giving you drugs?"

"I'm serious, Nat," he insisted. "He was staring at your tits the whole time. Only I can do that."

"He was not. He had a small crush on me back at the start of the year, that's all," she said dismissively as they turned into the next aisle. "He's probably already forgotten about it by now."

"Oh, God, Nat. You're blind," he remarked, causing her to send him a glare. "Were you this oblivious with me back at the Academy?"

"It did take Alli, Ben, and Klaus, like, three years to convince me that you liked me, so . . . yes." She sighed before raising a finger at him and shaking her head. "But I'm not oblivious in this situation, because there's nothing to be oblivious about."

"You are blind," he repeated as they went towards the frozen food section. "He's not over you. Clearly."

"Why do you even care?" she sighed as they reached the ice creams. She grabbed a couple of different ice cream cartons and placed them in the cart before turning to him. "You know I love you."

"Because you're mine," he muttered. "And I need everyone, including—especially him, to know."

She gave him an amused smile as they headed toward the checkout. "Trust me, handsome. He knows."

𝒩.

Natalia was pouring the chocolate-covered almonds into a bowl when she noticed Diego leaving their bedroom. A sigh escaped her lips when she realized he was strapping his gear on; he was about to head out to patrol.

"When's Allison coming?" he questioned as he strapped the last buckle and came to Natalia's side.

"She's supposed to be here any minute now," Natalia answered as she threw away the now-empty package. She gazed at all the gear he was wearing before turning her eyes up to his face and frowning. "You can't wait for ten minutes? Just to say hi?"

"Absolutely not." He scoffed. "I'll sneak into bed when I get back."

"What time?"

He shrugged. "Two, maybe three."

Her frown deepened. "You can't just come home at midnight or something?"

Diego raised his eyebrows as he grabbed a chocolate-covered almond from the bowl and popped it into his mouth. "Does crime go home at midnight?"

"Does crime have a loving girlfriend who wants to go to bed with her boyfriend every once in a while?" she rebutted, causing him to chuckle.

"Maybe it does."

She sighed as she wrapped her arms around his waist, though she had to be careful not to touch any of his sheathed knives. She kissed his neck before murmuring, "Come on, darling. One night. Stay."

"I'll see you in the morning," he said firmly, prompting her to pout. "Tell Allison I don't care about—"

"Diego."

"Kidding. I say hi." Diego pecked her lips before heading towards the door. "Love you."

"I love you too," she called, and he sent her a wink in response before shutting the door behind him.

She sighed as she pushed the bowl onto the middle of her counter and then opened a cabinet to grab two wine glasses.

As she was uncorking the wine, a knock came at the door, causing her eyebrows to furrow. She hadn't buzzed anyone up, and she saw no reason fit for Diego knocking; he had a key, after all.

Natalia quickly dropped the corkscrew and headed towards the door before opening it.

Allison, who was tightly clutching onto the handle of her suitcase, gave Natalia a tired smile. "Hey."

"Hi." Natalia's eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at the buzzer on the wall before turning back to Allison. "How'd you . . ."

She shrugged. "Bumped into Diego just as he was leaving, so he let me in."

"Hm." Natalia pursed her lips for a moment before she questioned, "Did he say hi?"

"I think I might've heard him mutter it as he passed," Allison answered humorously as she came inside. She placed her suitcase beside the counter before wrinkling her nose and turning to the other woman. "What's he doing, anyway? His outfit is a little . . . ridiculous."

Natalia sighed as she leaned forward against the kitchen island. "He does this thing every night where he goes out and fights crime or whatever."

"Huh." Allison thought for a moment before snorting. "Sounds like him."

"Mhm." Natalia chuckled before examining her face. The dark circles under her eyes were deeper than usual, and her skin had lost its usual radiant glow. "Anyway, how are you feeling?"

"Honestly?" Allison sighed as she sat down on one of the stools in front of the island. "Like shit."

"I bet." She sighed before raising a finger and quirking an eyebrow. "However, I'm here to make you feel great."

Allison gave her a half-hearted smile. "It'll be difficult."

Natalia grinned as she grabbed the bowl and placed it in the middle of the island. "Nothing chocolate-covered almonds can't solve."

Allison's eyes lit up. "That's a great point."

As Allison began to eat the chocolates, Natalia grabbed the wine bottle she had uncorked and started pouring it into the two glasses. "How was the plane ride here?"

"Long. Tiring. Boring."

Natalia gave an amused smile as she handed Allison her glass. "It's only five hours, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "but it felt like twenty."

Natalia took a sip of her wine before asking, "How's Claire holding up?"

"I think she's still processing." Allison chewed on a chocolate-covered almond for a few moments as the wrinkles on her forehead became more prominent. "She's staying with Patrick's parents right now . . . He's not letting me near her."

"What?" Natalia's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"The whole reason we're divorcing."

Natalia quickly sat down on one of the stools as Allison took a long drink of her wine. Her eyebrows furrowed even deeper as she tried to think of the reason; she had simply thought that, perhaps, they had fallen out of love, or, maybe even, Patrick had cheated on her.

Allison's glass was half-empty by the time she put it back on the counter. "My power . . . I mean, you know that I use it—used it a lot."

"Mhm."

"Well . . ." Allison rubbed her forehead. "There were a couple nights where Claire would have an absolute meltdown, and I thought it might be easy to . . ."

"Rumour her?" Natalia guessed, receiving a slow nod in return.

"Yeah. I figured, if any other mother had this ability, they'd use it too. But I was stupid." Allison sighed as she wrapped her hands around her glass. "I told myself I'd just do it once, but then it happened again and again and again . . . until Patrick caught me."

Natalia's eyes widened. This was far different from what she had thought. "Oh . . ."

"She was refusing to go to bed, so I rumoured her into being tired and falling asleep," Allison continued with a frown that was swiftly deepening. "Patrick was right outside the door. He was done with me there and then."

Natalia let out a deep sigh as she placed a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Alli."

"It's my fault," she muttered before taking a shallow sip of wine. "I'm a bad mother."

"You're not," she insisted. "I'm sure there are plenty of mothers who would've done the same thing if they had your power. And you only did it out of love."

"Lia, what if . . ." Allison looked up at her, her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes a little moist. "What if I can't get custody? What if Patrick keeps her away from me?"

Natalia pressed her lips together for a moment before shrugging. "I mean, I know it got you in this, but you could always rumour the judge."

"No." Allison quickly shook her head and waved her hands. "No. I'm done with rumouring."

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise; Allison had always rumoured everyone and everything to get what she wants. "Really?"

"Yeah." Allison nodded firmly as she grabbed another almond. "I'm done controlling every aspect of my life."

"Good for you." Natalia smiled as she patted the other woman's shoulder. "But anyway, Alli, I'm sure Patrick will be understanding. I mean, she's your daughter after all."

Allison sighed. "I hope you're right."

𝒟.

"Okay," Diego said as he stepped out of the bedroom, sheathing the knife he had been examining. "I'm heading out."

Natalia, who was in the midst of writing papers at the dining table—it was now October, so she had started fretting about preparing her students for mid-terms—looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Now?"

"Mhm," he confirmed as he stepped over towards her and peered at the papers (though nothing on it made any sense to him).

She glanced at the clock before looking back at him, still as baffled as before. "It's only ten-thirty."

He shrugged. "Only thirty minutes earlier than usual."

She sighed as she put her pen down and leaned forward on her elbows. "You can't think of anything else you could do with that thirty minutes?"

"No," he answered with another shrug. His eyebrows knit together tightly as she rolled her eyes. "What, is there something?"

"Oh, I don't know," she scoffed as she folded her arms, "maybe spend time with me?"

"But you're busy," he pointed out as he gestured towards her piles of papers that she was surely busied with.

She waved a dismissive hand through the air. "I could put this aside for thirty minutes."

Diego considered for a moment before frowning. He gestured down towards the gear he had already strapped on and mumbled, "I mean, I've already put all this on . . ."

"Fine, whatever," she sighed as she turned back to the paper she was marking and picked her pen up. "Go."

"Wha—" Diego's eyebrows furrowed, and he sat on the edge of the table as he leaned down toward her. "Are you mad?"

Natalia shook her head, though she kept her gaze on the paper as she muttered, "No."

He frowned. "You sound mad."

"I'm not," she sighed before gently pushing his leg. "Just go."

"Okay," he sighed, rubbing his eyes with his gloved hand, "you're mad."

"I am not," she insisted. "Just go, you're distracting me."

Diego examined her face for a moment and decided that, hopefully, she was just tired and stressed from work.

"Okay." He slid to his feet and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before beginning to head toward the door. "Love you, princess."

"Mhm."

Diego paused in his step and slowly turned around to face her. "I said I love you."

"I heard."

"Good." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Now say it back."

She sighed as she glanced up at him and murmured, "I love you too."

He folded his arms. "Say it like you mean it."

"I do mean it."

He shook his head. "It doesn't sound like it."

Natalia sighed once more as she looked up at him. "Don't you have to go?"

"You know, if I die out there tonight," he began as he put his hands on his hips, "you're going to regret—"

"That's not funny."

"It's a little funny."

Diego stared at her glare for a moment before waving a hand and turning back towards the door.

"Okay, I'm leaving," he told her as he opened the door. "Have fun with your papers, sweetheart."

𝒩.

Natalia pushed her safety glasses on and readjusted her lab coat as she stepped into her lab.

Rosalyn, while adjusting her lab coat, muttered something to Aaliyah before walking over to Natalia and nodding. "Hey, Miss Boss Lady. What's up?"

Natalia gave her an amused smile. "Don't you ever have a class?"

A look of mock offence crossed her face as she scoffed. "What, you don't like me being here?"

Natalia chuckled. "You know I love you, Rosy." She shrugged and gestured around the not-so-busy room as she continued, "But you're in this lab every time I come here."

"What can I say, this place is a second home to me." She shrugged and gave a grin in return. "Whatcha doing here?"

Natalia sighed. "Just checking on everything before I leave for the day."

"Well, since two hours ago, Henry almost started a fire." She rolled her eyes. "Again."

Natalia's eyebrows furrowed, and a groan quickly escaped her lips. "I thought I had him take candles—"

"No, not from candles." Rosalyn interrupted as she waved her hands and shook her head. "From an actual experiment."

"Oh. That's okay," Natalia sighed. Those kinds of fires were bound to happen now and then and were much more acceptable than candle-caused fires. "Everyone was all right, though?"

"Yeah, it was only Henry, Aaliyah, and me in here."

"Good." Natalia nodded. "Anything else to report?"

"Other than the fact that I'm awesome?" She grinned, eliciting an amused roll of the eyes in return. "Nope. You can head home, doc."

"Thanks, Rosy." Natalia patted her shoulder with one hand while using the other to take her safety glasses off. "Have a good night."

"You, too!"

Natalia quickly put her lab coat and safety glasses away in their usual spot before heading back up to her office. It was nearing four o'clock, and she had to hurry if she wanted to meet Vanya on time.

It was more than a week into October, and the chill was already quite familiar around the city. Natalia grabbed her coat from her office, along with her purse, and did a double-check to make sure she had everything she needed before leaving.

Though it was only a few minutes' worth of a walk, Natalia drove over to the coffee shop.

Vanya was already there by the time Natalia stepped inside, and she gave a small wave as Natalia walked over.

"Hey," Vanya greeted as Natalia took the spot across from her.

Natalia grinned as she took the steaming mug that Vanya pushed towards her. "Hi."

"How was work?"

"It was pretty okay," she answered with a small shrug before sipping her coffee. "Nothing different than the other days. How was your day?"

"Good," Vanya replied, her lips drawing up into a smile. "I taught a couple of younger kids today, around six years old, they were pretty cute."

"Aw." Natalia put her hands together and gave a dreamy sigh. "Were their violins tiny?"

"Mhm," she confirmed, causing Natalia to grin. "Half the size of mine."

"That's adorable," Natalia giggled before straightening up. "Oh! By the way, happy belated birthday!"

"You, too." Vanya smiled. "How'd you spend your birthday?"

"Oh, Diego and I just went out for dinner for the first time in forever," Natalia answered with a sigh and wave of the hand. "What about you?"

"Spent it like any other day."

Natalia found her lips forming into a frown before she raised a finger and promised, "Next year, Vanny, we'll have a whole party together."

"That sounds nice," Vanya murmured, though her smile was modest. She took a sip of her coffee before asking, "So you're still with Diego?"

Natalia sighed. "Yeah."

Vanya's head tilted at the sigh, and her eyebrows quickly furrowed. "You don't sound that happy about it."

"It's just . . ." Natalia chewed on her lower lip, her frown deepening as she thought about the night before. "You know how I told you that he does that thing every night?"

"The patrolling thing?"

"Mhm. I mean, when we first started dating, he would take nights off so that we could go on dates and everything, but now . . . he just goes every night. And it kinda sucks because I barely see him all day, 'cause I'm at work and he's usually at the gym or out with friends, and I'm busy with lessons and marking when I come home . . ."

Vanya pursed her lips for a moment before suggesting, "Have you asked him to take a night off?"

Natalia shut her eyes and nodded. "Many times."

"And he doesn't . . . ?"

"Nope."

"Wow," Vanya scoffed. "Are you going to do anything?"

Natalia's eyebrows furrowed as she wrapped her hands around her warm mug. "What do you mean?"

"Like, if you actually just bring up that fact, maybe he'll understand. I mean" —she shrugged— "Diego was never one to understand things that were only implied."

"That's true," Natalia chuckled, though her tone was less than humorous. "Yeah, I might do that."

Vanya swallowed her sip of coffee before nervously asking, "How do you think he'll take it?"

"Either two ways." Natalia put two fingers up. "Extremely well, or extremely not well."

"Not like . . . neutral?"

"No way. It's Diego," Natalia pointed out with a sigh. She shook her head, waving a dismissive hand as she changed the topic, "Anyway, let's talk about something more interesting. How's your love life going?"

"Well . . ." Vanya gave a modest shrug, and the shy grin that spread on her face caused Natalia to lean closer and raise her eyebrows. "I went on a date a couple days ago."

Natalia gasped. "What? With who? When'd they ask you out? Tell me everything."

"It was a guy named Christopher," Vanya replied, causing the other woman to giggle. "He's a year younger than us. Um . . . he's one of my student's older brother, and he picked her up last week. He's been picking her up for a few weeks now, and we always made small talk, but last week, he asked me for coffee."

"And did it go well? Please tell me it went fabulous."

"It was pretty good," Vanya answered, her grin only exposing itself more. "We're going for dinner on Friday."

Natalia gave another small gasp. "You have to call me as soon as you get home and tell me all about it."

Vanya chuckled as she nodded. "I will."

𝒟.

Diego stepped into the apartment, and as he tossed his keys onto the kitchen counter, his eyes grasped onto Natalia, who was working at the dining table.

It was a little after eleven at night, and it was more than obvious that she was tired, with her slumped shoulders and the hand that was supporting her head from falling. Although, it seemed that a lot of the exhaustion had melted away as she looked at him and smiled.

"Hi, baby," he greeted as he walked over to her.

"Hi." Natalia looked up at him, and a smile appeared on her face as he kissed the top of her head. "Where were you?"

"Ah, just out with Nigel and Mateo," he replied with a dismissive wave. He peered down at the papers she was scribbling on, and he quirked an eyebrow. "You've been busy?"

"Yeah, just doing work," she sighed as she gestured toward the papers.

"Okay. I'm gonna, uh, change and head out for the night." He planted another kiss on her head. "I'll see you in the morning."

Diego then began to head toward their bedroom.

"Wait."

He paused at the call and furrowed his eyebrows as he turned to face her. "Yeah?"

Natalia seemed nervous as she fidgeted with the pen in her hand. She bit her lower lip, immediately putting Diego on edge, and sighed. "Can we talk?"

Diego tilted his head. "About?"

"This," she answered as she gestured around her. "Your whole . . . going out every night?"

His eyebrow quirked. "Is this about the other night?"

"A little." She shrugged.

"Okay." Diego walked back over to her and took the seat next to hers. "Let's talk."

"Diego . . ." Natalia licked her lips and gazed at him for a moment, causing him to grow uneasy. "you know I love the fact that you go out every night and save people, but I just . . . The reason I wanted to move in together was so that we can spend more time together, but I feel like I barely see you anymore. I'm at work all day, and when I come home, it's either that you're at the gym or with your friends, or that I have way too much work to finish, and then you have your boxing matches and then go out at night."

"Oh, come on, Nat," Diego tried to reason as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "It's not that bad."

She scoffed. "When's the last time we've gone on an actual date?"

"Last . . . Wed . . . Thurs . . . Two . . ." Diego narrowed his eyes for a moment as he tried to remember, and he bit back a curse when he realized that she was right. "That's not important."

"When we first started dating, you skipped going out," she pointed out as she folded her arms. "And now you can't even stay for an extra half hour."

Diego shook his head. "It's not that simple, Nat."

"Isn't it?" she rebutted with raised eyebrows. "Why can't you just skip one or two nights a week and stay home?"

"Because if I'm not out there, people will die!"

"The police still exist!"

"They're not fast enough!" Diego exclaimed, and though he didn't mean it, his voice was growing angry. "By the time they get to the crime scene, people are robbed, kidnapped, or dead. But me—I get there before that happens."

"So how long are you gonna do this for, Diego?" she questioned incredulously. "The rest of your life? Because I'm not sure how much longer I can deal with this."

"So what?" Diego leaned forward in his seat, his breathing becoming a little unsteady. "You're breaking up with me?"

"No," she instantly replied, causing his heart rate to normalize. "And I don't want to. But I don't want to spend the rest of my life with someone who I hardly even see—especially if we have kids. And it's not only that. Do you know how hard it is to go to bed worrying whether or not you'll be back in the morning every single fucking night?"

Diego let out a sigh as he rubbed his eyes. "Nat . . ."

"Or how scared I get when you rush back in at two in the morning with a bullet in you?"

He gave a slow shrug. "It's just a risk you and I both have to take."

She shook her head. "I don't want to take that risk at all."

"Well, this isn't about you," he retaliated. "This is about the families whose lives are in my hands."

"Other people can take care of them."

"I can't just sit here, knowing that people out there are dying—because of me," he insisted with a firm shake of the head. "I can't."

"Oh, but you're perfectly fine knowing that I'm alone every goddamn night?" she retorted, causing him to scoff. "Scared to death that I won't have a boyfriend to see the next morning?"

"Well, the world doesn't revolve around you!" Diego exclaimed in a tone that was harsher than he expected. "Don't be fucking selfish. I'm not gonna stop doing this just for you. You're not that special."

Diego's jaw clenched when a look of hurt flashed across her face as she breathed out, "Diego", though he didn't do anything about it.

His voice lowered, though the tone was just as bitter. "If I take one night off, and find out there was a person that died because I wasn't there, I won't be able to forgive myself. I'm not stopping."

"Fine," she mumbled. Her head lowered, in an obvious and unsuccessful attempt to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes. "Go."

Diego stared at her for a moment. He considered embracing her, kissing her, and murmuring a soft apology, but found himself instead getting to his feet and muttering, "Fine."

He tried his best to ignore her as he grabbed his gear and slipped it on. He moved as fast as he could as he slipped his gloves and mask on.

He could feel an oncoming headache, and the pain that was growing in his chest was something he was sure was related. The sound of Natalia sniffling mixed with the hurried scribbles of her pen caused him to hesitate in front of the door, but he still turned the handle and left.

𝒩.

Natalia's eyes shot open at the sound of the door bursting open, and any grogginess she usually felt when waking up immediately disappeared as she sat up. She glanced over to the clock, which showed that it was a little past two in the morning, and her eyebrows furrowed.

"Diego?" she called out as she slipped off the bed and rubbed her eyes, though all she received was a loud groan that came from the kitchen.

Worry instantly rushed through her entire body as her movement quickened, and she swiftly left her room and went into the kitchen, where Diego was leaning against the counter. His eyes were shut as he clutched the right of his stomach.

Natalia flicked the lights on, causing him to turn to her, and she rushed over to him. "What happened?"

"Oh, you know" —he groaned— "got stabbed."

She sighed as she grabbed his arm, trying her best to ignore the amount of blood he was losing, and she led him to the couch. "Diego, this is exactly why—"

"This is not the time!"

She sighed once more as she guided him to lie down on the couch that's seen this many times before, and pulled out the first aid kit that she kept in the side table drawer next to the couch.

As Diego took his shirt off and tossed it to the side, Natalia opened the kit and grabbed everything she needed before getting to her feet and heading to the kitchen. She grabbed a clean rag and wettened it under the sink before going back and kneeling next to him.

"You're such an idiot," she muttered as she began to gently clean the blood that had deeply stained his skin.

"Yeah, yeah."

After cleaning the wound, she grabbed her suturing kit and began to work. At this point, she had done it so many times that she could probably do it in her sleep.

Once the skin had been stitched up, she placed a square of gauze on top of it and secured it with a few strips of medical tape.

She then went to the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle and a bottle of Advil, from which she shook out two tablets before putting the bottle back. She handed the water and medicine to him, which he gratefully took as he adjusted himself on the couch.

"You know how much I love you?" he asked after swallowing the water and tablets, placing the bottle on the coffee table.

"Don't," she muttered as she shut the first aid kit and shoved it back into the drawer. She headed over to the closet and pulled it open before grabbing the blanket that Klaus usually used whenever he slept over.

"What is this?" Diego questioned as she tossed the blanket to him.

"A blanket."

"No shit," he scoffed. "Why are you givin' it to me?"

"Because you're sleeping on the couch," she answered as she shut the closet.

"I can make it to the bed, baby," he reassured her as he slowly sat up, wincing. "Don't need to worry about the wound, I've had worse."

"Not because of that." She sighed as she turned the kitchen light off. "Because I don't want you in my bed."

Diego's eyebrows furrowed. "Natalia."

"Goodnight, Diego."

𝒟.

"Eugene—"

"No."

Diego frowned, but he sat down in the chair next to Patch's desk anyway. He ignored the deep sigh the other man gave as he leaned an elbow on the desk, and Diego offered his most charming smile.

"Detective Patch."

"What do you want?" Patch groaned, gripping his pen tightly as he looked up from his paperwork. "You come here to finally beg for my forgiveness?"

"Never." Diego grinned before rubbing his forehead. "I need your help."

"I'm really busy with—"

"Seriously, Patch."

Patch stared at him for a moment with hardened eyes, though they soon softened as Diego gave a pleading expression. "With what?"

"Listen, you know my girlfriend—"

"You interrupted me for girl troubles?" Patch scoffed, rolling his eyes as he turned back to his work. "Why don't you go to a friend?"

"First of all, you are a friend," Diego corrected with a raised finger. "Second, my other friends give shit advice. You give great advice."

"Fine," he conceded, dropping his pen and folding his arms. "What happened?"

"You know how I go out every night, be awesome and—"

"Shut up. Yes."

"Well," Diego sighed as he leaned back in the chair, "my girlfriend is complainin' because we don't really spend time with each other anymore, and she wants me to not go out every night. And then I called her selfish—"

"You're an idiot."

"—and said she wasn't special—"

"Wow, idiot."

"—and then I left—"

"Even bigger idiot than I thought."

"—but I was distracted by that stuff when I was out, and I got stabbed—"

"Biggest idiot."

"—and I had to go home, and she was even madder at me, and . . . now she's ignoring me."

"Isn't she a professor or something?" Patch pointed out with furrowed eyebrows. "How do you know she's ignoring you if she's at work?"

"I tried stopping by her lab to talk to her, but she told me to stick it up my ass."

"Hm." Patch gave a deep chuckle, causing Diego to roll his eyes. "I like her."

"Yeah, yeah," Diego muttered. "What do I do?"

He raised his eyebrows. "How about this crazy idea: Listen to your girlfriend, and don't go out every night."

"But the people—"

"That's what we're here for, Diego. No one's asking you to be some sort of vigilante," Patch sighed, though Diego knew his words were more sincere than irritated. "What you do, how you care for people, it's a great thing, Diego—but you'll never hear me say that again," he added when Diego grinned. "But you're not the only person who cares about people. I can't imagine that she's asking you to stay just for her own pleasure. She's worried. Anyone would be, with what you do."

Diego frowned. As much as he loved being totally and completely right, he had a strong feeling that that wasn't the case in this situation.

Because while, yes, what Diego was doing was great—amazing, if he said so himself—he couldn't do it forever. And he wasn't the only one doing it, either.

He wasn't used to having someone around who cared so much for him. Nigel, Al, all those people, yeah, they cared about him (or, at least, he hoped they did), but none of them loved him. Not the way that Natalia did.

If the roles had been reversed, if Natalia was the one going out every night, Diego knew that he would be driven to insanity by the third night, just from worry. He couldn't imagine how it had been for her for the past year. Not to mention the fact that he'd come home with a life-threatening injury at least once a week.

And then he called her selfish for caring about him. Told her that she wasn't special, when she meant the world to him. He really was an idiot.

"Do you think she'll forgive me?"

"I don't know." Patch shrugged as he picked his pen back up. "I don't know her."

That wasn't helping Diego's sullen feelings in the least. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," he quickly corrected with a smile that told Diego he just wanted this to be over with. "I'm sure she will."

Diego shook his head. "You don't sound like you're convinced."

"I don't know her!"

𝒩.

Natalia locked the door behind her with one hand as she stepped inside the apartment, setting her hair free from its bun with the other.

She had been holed up in her office for the past few hours, and it was now nearing ten. She told herself that she had piles of work to finish, and that was why she had to stay in her office and work, but she knew that was far from the reason why.

She set her purse on the kitchen counter and dropped her keys beside it while she stepped out of her pumps.

Suddenly distracted by a smell that wasn't all too pleasant, she tilted her head up and sniffed once more. Beer.

Before she could process any more, she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her and squeeze her tightly.

"Diego?" she managed to choke out.

"Hm?"

"What are you—" Natalia succeeded in turning around in the tight embrace to face him, and she immediately wrinkled her nose at the strong scent that came from his face, which was awfully flushed. "Have you been drinking?"

He scoffed, only making the smell stronger. "Wha—me? No."

"God, you reek of beer." She sighed, waving a hand in front of her nose to get rid of the scent. She turned her head to the dining table, and she frowned when she noticed the five empty bottles. "Did you drink all of that by yourself?"

"Hm?" He looked over to where she was looking and gave a large shrug. "Maybe."

"Why?"

He let out a loud sigh before resting his head on her shoulder. "Because the love of my life is 'boutta break up with me."

"What?" Her eyebrows furrowed, and she wrapped her arms around him. "What are you talking about?"

"You're mad at me," he mumbled as he shifted his face to bury it into her neck. "'m sorry, Nat. I'm so sorry."

"Diego," she said softly.

"I'll stop—hic!—I'll stop going. I promise. I'll never go again." He kissed her neck before lifting his face, his hands lowering to her hips as he set his eyes on hers. "Just stay with me."

"I'm not leaving you, Diego," she reassured him gently.

He shook his head, his lower lip quivering. "I'm sorry."

"No," she chided, "don't be."

"It's my fault," he muttered. "Don't break up with me. Please."

"I'm not going to." She took a step back from him, causing his hands to fall to his sides, and she took one. She began to guide him towards their room, softly saying, "C'mon, honey, let's get you to bed."

She gently pushed him towards the bed before slipping her coat off and laying it on the dresser.

Diego clambered onto the bed, and Natalia sat down beside him, pulling the blanket over him and kissing his forehead.

"I love you," he mumbled, grabbing her hand. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she murmured as she squeezed his hand.

He pressed his lips together as he gazed at their clasped hands before looking up at her. "I don't wanna lose you. I can't. Not again."

She only smiled in response before leaning down and kissing his lips, ignoring the taste of beer that then lingered. "Get some sleep, my love."

𝒩.

The sun was blinding as it streamed into the bedroom, and the translucent curtains were certainly not of any help.

Natalia yawned as she slowly sat herself up, glancing over to the clock to see that it was a little past ten. Thank goodness, it was Saturday, otherwise, she would've been late for work.

She pulled her knees into her chest as she fully gained consciousness, and she rested her head on her knees as she recollected the memory of the night before.

Diego had been asleep by the time she had gotten to bed—which wasn't surprising, seeing that he was never one for alcohol—though he had still managed to unconsciously wrap his arms around her once she settled in.

She sighed as she looked over at him, and a small smile unintentionally came to her face as she watched him breathe steadily.

After a minute, she realized how hungry she was—she had only had her stash of granola bars for dinner the night before—and quickly slipped off the bed.

After starting the coffee, she grabbed a box of Cheerios and poured it into a bowl before adding the milk, and put everything back. She took a spoon from the drawer and set her bowl on the kitchen island.

A few bites into her cereal, the door swung open, and her eyes moved up to see that Diego was coming out, rubbing the top of his head.

"Hey," he mumbled as he walked up to her.

"Hi," she greeted after swallowing her bite. "Need some Advil?"

"Nah, I have a good remedy."

She rolled her eyes as he opened the fridge and grabbed an egg. "So disgusting."

"It works." He shrugged, tapping the egg on the side of the counter before cracking it over his mouth and swallowing the yolk that had dropped inside. He sighed as he threw the shell away. "God, I don't even remember anything from last night."

"No?"

"Why? Did I say something?" His eyebrows furrowed as he walked up to the other side of the island and leaned forward. "Was it something good? Is that why you're not cursing at me anymore?"

"I said one curse word," she scoffed, stirring her cereal. "And it was 'ass.'"

Diego bit his lower lip as his hands gripped the edge of the island. He peered at her eyes as she looked up from her bowl, and he nervously asked, "Are we good?"

"No," she replied, causing him to sigh. "I'm good with drunk-you. Not sober-you."

"Damn."

"We need to talk." She sighed as she dragged her spoon around the bowl. "You want breakfast first?"

"No, I wanna talk."

"Okay." She picked her bowl up and turned around, finishing the last of it before placing it in the sink. 

"I'm sorry I called you selfish," he began as soon as she turned back towards him. "You're not. You're the least selfish person I know. And you're special. So goddamn special to me. Listen, you wanna talk selfish and not special, let's talk about Luther."

"It's okay, Diego," she said softly. "You're right. I am being selfish."

"Nat, you've been taking care of me ever since we started dating again—before that, even," he pointed out with furrowed eyebrows. "You've dealt with me waking you up at three in the goddamn morning because I got myself shot or stabbed or something every single week. And you haven't said anything once. Until now, obviously."

"Because I love you," she murmured. "And I know how much you care about doing this. And I love that you do it—it's incredible how much you care for people. But . . ."

"I know," he interjected with a small smile. "You can't deal with it forever."

"I'm sorry," she sighed, clasping his hands and squeezing them. "I know you love it. And as much as I don't wanna pull you away from the justice and adrenaline, I want to see my amazing boyfriend every once in a while, y'know?"

Diego smiled, and he squeezed her hands back. "I'll take a few nights off a week."

"You don't have to," she quickly reassured him with a shake of the head. "All I'm asking for is one night."

"I want to spend more time with you, too, sweetheart," he sighed. "A few nights is fine."

"Really? You seemed really worked up over one night yesterday."

"Really," he insisted with a half-hearted smile. "I just . . . I had time to think it over, I talked to—"

Her eyebrows raised. "You talked to someone about it?"

"Yeah. I needed help."

"Who?"

"Eugene."

"Patch?"

"Mhm." He hummed, now a little sheepish. "He told me I'm an idiot."

Natalia giggled. "I like him."

"Funny, he said the same about you," Diego remarked. His small grin dropped, and he gave a heavy sigh as he looked down at their clasped hands. "I'm sorry, princess."

"Don't apologize," she murmured, leaning over the island and kissing the tip of his nose. "You just want to do some good in the world. We need more people like that."