"𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝐼 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒."
—𝐷𝑜𝑢𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑠 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑

𝒩.

𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑 eyes and immediately sneezed, and that was followed by a series of coughs and sniffles.

Great, she thought as she closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. She was sick.

It was her fault though. They had gone to Griddy's the night before, and, with nothing to protect them from the harsh December weather, they had trudged the whole ten minutes there and back in only light pyjamas. She could only hope that the rest of her siblings were okay.

Rubbing her nose and somehow feeling both hot and cold, Natalia sat up and used her other hand to pull her blanket off of her. And then, feeling the wave of nausea wash over her, she pulled the blanket back over her lap and laid back down.

She shut her eyes, wondering how she could get someone to come in. She knew that Diego was going to come in sooner or later, but that would be right before breakfast, and there were still ten minutes until then—far too long.

So what could she do?

Her eyes caught sight of a textbook that was on her nightstand—she had been studying the night before for the history test that they had in a couple of days—and an idea came to her head.

Praying that the pages wouldn't get ruined and a hole wouldn't be made in the wall, Natalia used her telekinesis to lift the book up, and chucked it against the wall, feeling a sense of satisfaction as a large thump sounded; that was bound to get someone's attention.

And it sure did—Diego, followed by Ben, burst inside, their eyes wide.

"What was that?" Diego asked frantically, his head swinging around to look for the source of noise. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she quickly reassured both of them before giving a small cough. "Actually, I'm dying—but the noise, that's 'cause I threw a book at the wall."

Diego and Ben responded simultaneously:

"What do you mean you're dying?"

"Why did you throw a book at the wall?!"

"Because I needed someone's attention," she sighed, clutching her stomach as another wave of nausea washed over her. "And I'm dying because I think I'm sick." Another cough and sneeze. "No, I know I am."

Ben nodded. "Kinda despicable that you threw a book, though."

"It was a textbook," she reassured him as she rubbed her nose. "History."

"In that case, it's fine." Ben grinned before ruffling his hair. "I'm gonna go get Mom."

"Thanks," she muttered as he dashed out, leaving the door open behind him.

Diego, whose eyebrows were furrowed in concern, quickly came over to her and sat on the edge of the bed. He placed a hand on her shoulder, lightly caressing it with his thumb as he murmured, "What kind of sick?"

"The kind of sick where I'm maybe-probably-definitely gonna throw up," she groaned.

"Aw, man." Diego sighed, the corners of his lips tugging down into a frown.

He leaned down, but before his lips could meet hers, Natalia pushed him away.

"What?" he questioned, his frown only enlarging. "You don't wanna kiss me?"

"One: I'm sick, so you'll get sick. Two: the door's open, so anyone can see."

"Don't care." Diego grinned before quickly pecking her lips, and she rolled her eyes before turning and sneezing.

"Great." She sighed. "Now you'll die, too."

Diego planted another kiss on her lips. "As long as it's with you, I'm fine with that."

Natalia glared at him. "Don't make me kill—oh, hi, Mom."

"Hi, dear," Grace greeted, a worried smile on her face as she approached, Ben only a step behind. In her hands were a few things: a thermometer, a glass of water, and a small pill bottle, all of which she clutched tightly. "Ben told me you're sick?"

"Yeah," Natalia confirmed with another cough. "I, uh, I'm not sure why, though."

Grace gently shooed Diego away before sitting in the spot he had been, and she placed the bottle and glass on the nightstand before offering the thermometer to Natalia. "I'd like to check your temperature."

Natalia nodded as she took the temperature and placed it in her mouth. A few moments passed, and Grace took the thermometer from her and checked it.

"A hundred and two . . . You have a fever," Grace read out, her lips tugging into a frown. "What other symptoms do you have, Natalia, darling?"

Natalia wrinkled her nose. "Coughing, sneezing . . . my head kinda hurts . . . and I think I'm gonna throw up."

"Well, then, I'm afraid you've caught the flu." Grace sighed, placing a gentle hand on Natalia's cheek. "You'll have to take some bedrest for the day."

Natalia shrugged. "Okay."

"I'm going to bring up some soup and tea for you." Grace kissed her forehead before getting up and brushing her skirt. "Meanwhile, you take one pill from that bottle, and swallow it with the water, all right?"

"All right." Natalia nodded as she reached over and grabbed the medicine bottle. "Thanks, Mom."

"Boys," Grace said as she turned to them, "breakfast will be ready in a couple of minutes, so make sure you're ready."

"Okay." Ben nodded.

Diego, who had been standing off to the side with Ben, sat back down on the edge of the bed while Grace left the room, watching as Natalia twisted the cap off and shook out a pill.

"Do you think it's from last night?" he asked as she put the pill in her mouth and took a gulp of water.

Natalia wiped her lips before nodding. "Probably."

Ben wrinkled his nose, folding his arms as he leaned back against the wall. "I hope no one else is sick."

Diego shrugged. "I'd be more than okay with Luther getting sick." He turned to Natalia with wide eyes, a small grin on his face as he joked, "Could you throw up on him or something?"

"No." Natalia swatted his arm, only causing his grin to broaden. "Can you tell Vanya or Allison to write extra neat so I can copy their notes?"

"What, you don't wanna copy my notes?" Diego asked in offence, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Your notes are illegible," Ben interjected with a small scoff. "What about mine?"

"Klaus always draws on your page," Natalia complained before coughing. "It's hard to pay attention to the" —sneeze— "information when there's a seven-legged dog with spikes for teeth right next to it."

"But Vanya writes in cursive, like an idiot," Diego whined with a wrinkled nose. "That's illegible."

"Only because you don't know cursive," Natalia pointed out with a small roll of the eyes.

"You don't?" Ben questioned incredulously as he looked at Diego. "We learned that when we were, like, nine!"

"Do you think I was paying attention in class when we were nine?" Diego scoffed. "I don't even pay attention now!"

"He's got a point there," Natalia agreed.

Their attention drew to the door as the chime of a bell rang throughout the home, and Diego sighed as he glanced at Ben.

"Guess we gotta go now," Diego muttered. "I'll visit whenever I can."

"Mhm," she hummed. "Pay attention in class, cutie."

"Never." Diego grinned before leaning forward and kissing her forehead while Ben made a retching noise in the background. "Feel better soon, princess. I love you."

Natalia felt her cheeks grow warm, and that wasn't due to the fever. "I love you too."

After a couple of more wishes to get well and promises to visit, Diego and Ben waved goodbye and dashed out of the room to satisfy their growling stomachs.

Natalia sighed, adjusting her head on the pillow so that she was comfortable. Keeping a hand on her nauseous stomach, she silently swore to herself that she'd never go out to Griddy's in the cold again. Although, she knew she was probably going to break that promise in a few days' time.

Grace came in about ten minutes later, holding a tray that carried a bowl of warm soup, a small plate that had toast with blueberry jam spread on top, and a cup of tea.

She had a small frown played on her face as she sat down on the edge of Natalia's bed and gently placed the tray on the girl's lap.

"The others are finishing up their breakfast now," Grace told her as Natalia sat up and tentatively took a spoonful of her soup. "They'll be heading to English class soon, but I want you to stay in bed for the day."

"I'm not complaining," murmured Natalia as she carefully took a sip of her tea, then wincing as the scalding brew hit her tongue.

Grace gave a light laugh before pressing a kiss to Natalia's head. "I have to go clean up the dining table, but if you need me, just call, all right?"

"Mhm," she hummed as she chewed on her toast.

Natalia sighed as she heard the door shut behind Grace, staring at her wall as she slowly continued to eat everything. She was sure that she was going to end up throwing this all up within the hour but tried to keep her mind away from that as she swallowed her food.

Once she had finished, she carefully set the tray with the empty dishes onto her nightstand and tucked herself back into bed, pulling the covers higher up.

With the hopes that she wouldn't be jerked awake from the urge to vomit, Natalia closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

𝒩.

Natalia opened her eyes just as she heard the sound of the door creaking open, and she looked over to see Diego, who had a tray in his hands.

She wrapped her arms around her queasy stomach as she watched him close the door with his foot, and, as he approached, she noticed that his hair was wet, though, with its short length, it wasn't all too differently styled.

"Hey, princess," he greeted with a smile as he came up to her. "How you feelin'?"

"Like shit," she mumbled, giving him a small smile as he planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Mm, good," he quipped before raising the tray so that she could see the bowl of soup and dinner roll that sat on it. "Mom wanted me to bring you lunch."

"I don't know if I can eat . . ." Natalia sighed, tightening her arms around her stomach, "I've already thrown up three times."

"I'll just leave it here then," he told her as he gently placed the tray on the nightstand. "You can eat it later if you want."

"Thanks." Natalia smiled, though that smile quickly drew away as she turned and sneezed twice in a row.

Diego grinned, giving her a "Bless you" as he sat on the edge of her bed. "I beat Luther up in sparring if that makes you feel any better."

The corners of her lips tugged upwards. "You know what . . . it kinda does."

"He gave me a nasty bruise though." Diego sighed, his nose then scrunching up. "Punched me."

Natalia frowned. "Let me see."

Diego nodded, sweeping aside his blazer before untucking his shirt from his pants and lifting it up so that she could see the bruise that covered his side. It was quite large, no bigger than the size of her entire hand, and the purple was more than prominent against his tan skin.

Natalia gently grazed her fingers over it before looking up at Diego and worriedly asking, "You okay?"

"It's nothing," he reassured her as he tucked his shirt back in and gave her a grin.

She gave a small nod, coughing a couple of times. "What did you guys do in English?"

"Just a couple worksheets for that book we're reading," Diego answered with a shrug. "I can give you mine to look over if you want."

She instantly wrinkled her nose. "Diego, I don't think I can read your writing."

"I tried to write neat!" he protested.

"It's not much better."

"Yeah, it still sucks," he agreed, a grin coming onto his face before he waved a dismissive hand through the air. "I'm sure Alli or Vanya will let you read theirs. But Vanya's is probably filled with nothing but stupid cursive."

"That's enough of that," she muttered. "Did you eat lunch yet?"

"No, I just got out of the shower and Mom called me to give you food." He shook his head. "Lunch should be any—"

The ring of a bell interrupted him, causing both of them to turn their heads toward the door.

"—minute."

Natalia narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't cut into the—"

"What's that?" Diego said loudly, quickly pressing a kiss to her cheek before getting up and hurrying towards the door. "If you're saying something, like telling me to not cut my chair or something, I can't hear you!"

Natalia rolled her eyes in amusement as he sent a quick wink and grin, and gave a small wave of goodbye before he left.

She glanced over to the food that sat on her tray, and, as much as she appreciated her mother for making it for her, she decided against eating it at the moment; she was not in the mood to throw up.

And, with a long sigh that was interrupted by a cough, Natalia sank back down onto her mattress and fell asleep once again.

𝒩.

"Be quiet, you'll wake her up!"

"Shut up, Alli, she's sound asleep, look at her!"

"Are you dumb, Diego? What kind of boyfriend are you?"

"Oh, yeah, say it louder so the rest of the house can hear."

"I know you're joking, but I will do it if you don't shut up."

"Guys, you're gonna wake her up."

"Shut up, Ben."

"Yeah, shut up, Ben."

"I'm just sayin'."

Natalia let out a small groan as she woke up, squinting her eyes to see Diego, Allison, and Ben standing at the foot of her bed, their eyes a little wide as they turned to her.

"Oh, hey," Allison greeted with a grin. "Feelin' any better, Lia?"

Natalia wrinkled her nose as she slowly sat herself up. "Considering that I've woken up six times to throw up and that, right now, I want to die . . . no, not feeling better."

"Do you want any medicine or food or something?" Diego asked as he sat on the edge of her bed, his eyebrows furrowed as he placed a hand on her cheek.

Natalia sent him a small smile as she reassured him, "No, it's fine."

"I wrote my notes extra neat for you," Allison promised, causing Natalia to let out a small sigh of relief. "Although I will say, Klaus stole my notebook so he could draw you some . . . nice stuff."

Natalia crinkled her nose. "Great."

"Vanya also said you could use her notes if you want," Ben chimed in.

"Oh, thank God," Natalia sighed. "Klaus' drawings are just so . . . bad."

"At least he didn't draw on you with permanent marker," Ben grumbled, glancing down at his arm, which was covered by the sleeve of his blazer.

Allison turned to him with furrowed eyebrows. "What'd he draw?"

Ben raised his eyebrows. "Take a guess."

"Ew."

"Yep."

Natalia wrinkled her nose before sneezing. "Did you guys learn anything important?"

"Well, for history, we just reviewed for the test, but . . ." Diego licked his lips, exchanging a nervous glance with Allison before shrugging and continuing, "we did learn a new topic in chem—molar mass."

"What? Seriously?" Natalia exclaimed, straightening up before clutching her queasy stomach. "Oh, God."

"You'll be fine!" Allison reassured her quickly with a grin. "Chem is your best subject, isn't it?"

"Not anymore, apparently," she mumbled.

"It's not that hard . . . for you, I'm sure," Ben said as he folded his arms, his face scrunched up. "For me, it's pretty hard."

"Yeah," Diego agreed, " it sucks."

Ben nodded. "There's converting stuff, and a formula, and—"

"I'm gonna die," Natalia interjected as she shut her eyes and leaned back against her pillow. "If I don't die from this flu, that is."

"It's not the Spanish flu," Allison laughed, "you'll survive."

"Also . . ." Diego spoke up, the look of apprehension on his face once more, "we, um, may or may not have a quiz on molar mass tomorrow."

Natalia let out a gasp, which then turned into a cough, and, after she recovered, she exclaimed, "What?!"

Diego shrugged. "You know how fast Mom likes to quiz us on this stuff!"

"But you probably won't have to do it," Ben cut in quickly, sending her a reassuring smile as he shook his head. "You'll probably still be sick anyway."

"Don't worry, Lia," Allison added on, "they'll just make you write it on a different day."

"What time is it?" Natalia asked, her attention swinging over to the clock on her wall. "Maybe I'll have time to ask Mom."

"Six," Ben answered as he glanced at the clock. "We just finished group training, and dinner's 'bout to start, so she'll be busy."

Instead of the ring of a bell, however, an alarm blared through the house, accompanied by flashes of red.

"Aw, seriously?" Diego groaned. "Now? I'm hungry!"

"Good luck," murmured Natalia as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Be safe."

Diego grinned, sending her a quick wink before following the other two out the door.

Natalia could hear the others scrambling around to get in their suits.

Figuring that they would come back soon and that she would be paid another visit by at least Diego when they came back, Natalia lifted a hand towards her bookshelf and used her telekinesis to pull a book and come to her.

After she finished every page, she glanced up to check the clock.

First page: two minutes past six.

Second page: four minutes past six.

Third page: five minutes past six.

Tenth page: fourteen minutes past six.

Twentieth page: twenty-seven minutes past six.

Fortieth page: fifty-two minutes past six.

Eightieth page: twenty-one minutes past seven.

The last page of the book: fifty-eight minutes past seven.

Natalia closed the book and set it on her nightstand, her eyebrows furrowing with worry. Were they okay? What was taking so long? Usually, their longer missions only lasted an hour and some, tops.

Ignoring the sudden urge to throw up, Natalia pulled her blanket off of her lap and slipped off her bed.

Just before she could make it to the door, however, she heard the bang of the front door open, though only silence followed.

She crept towards her door and pressed her ear against it, straining to hear anything. Suddenly, she straightened up as she heard footsteps approach.

Wrapping her arms around her waist, she climbed back into bed and waited.

A couple of voices could be faintly heard outside her door a few moments later, thick with tears:

"Who's gonna t-tell her?"

"How are we supposed to tell her?"

"Do we say . . . everything that happened?"

"I-I'll tell her. Alone."

The door was gently opened, and Diego peered inside.

"Nat?" he asked softly. "Can I—can I come in?"

"Yeah," she muttered, gesturing for him to enter as she nodded. Her eyebrows were now furrowed with worry, and she bit her lip as she waited for the bad news. "What's wrong?"

Diego sighed, and as he neared, Natalia noticed the couple of tears that were streaking down his cheeks.

"Diego?" Natalia suddenly forgot about all her nausea and the headache that pounded her head as she leaned towards him, using her thumb to wipe away his tears as he sat down on the edge of her bed. "What happened?"

Diego swallowed, closing his eyes for a moment before sighing.

"Ben's dead."

𝒟.

"You sure you'll be all right?"

"I'll be fine."

Diego sighed, his lips pulling into a frown as he gently caressed Natalia's cheek.

After a week and a half of sorrow, Ben's funeral was about to take place in a few minutes, and Diego and Natalia were standing just above the staircase.

The other siblings were already waiting in front of the door, waiting to head to the courtyard. There were a few hushed whispers that could be heard now and then, though most of the sound that could be heard was sniffling and soft sobs.

Diego shook his head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Natalia reassured him, though her still expression told him that she wasn't telling the truth.

His frown only grew as he noticed her paling skin and pursed lips. "You already look like a little off."

She shook her head as she insisted, "It's okay."

"Nat," he sighed, "I don't—"

"I'll be okay, Diego," she interrupted, mustering up a small smile that only reassured him slightly. "Really. Don't worry."

Diego glanced down to the bottom of the staircase before looking back at her, tenderly grazing her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "This whole week, you've been—"

"We should go with the others."

Though he grumbled under his breath that she was not going to be okay, he still allowed her to drag him down the stairs, and it wasn't long until they joined the group of students.

Once Reginald, Grace, and Pogo had arrived, they all grabbed umbrellas and zipped up their jackets as they stepped outside, immediately being greeted by the harsh winds that blew by and the swiftly-falling snow.

The nine of them halted in the middle of the courtyard, surrounding a black coffin that rested on top of the snow-ridden grass.

Diego stared at the coffin, failing to resist the tears that had gathered in his eyes as his gaze roamed over the picture of Ben, which was enclosed by tentacles that were engraved onto the coffin.

He bit his lip, swallowing hard as he heard the soft sniffles from his siblings around him. Worriedly, he glanced at Natalia, who was standing next to him, and his mood only worsened as he noticed her clenched jaw and tightened expression.

Pogo had a solemn expression on his face as he shifted his gaze from teen to teen, and, after a few moments, he declared, "Your father is ready to give the eulogy, children."

Reginald stood between Grace and Pogo, and all watery eyes were on him as he began, "The world is full of injustice. Good people die along with the bad. This cosmic equation will never change unless evil itself is wiped from existence." 

He gazed at them for a moment, and his voice loudened:

"Thankfully, there are powerful forces pushing back against the wicked and iniquitous, individuals who have the strength to pull together against insurmountable odds to face adversity with unblinking courage and not to hesitate to sacrifice themselves for another. Unfortunately," he paused for a few seconds before proceeding, "none of you are such people."

Diego looked at his father with confusion; how could he say that? Especially now?

Reginald overlooked all the baffled and outraged expressions he received as he continued, "Despite years and weeks of preparation, you allowed Number Six to die on this mission."

Allison gasped, stepping forward as she tearfully exclaimed, "It wasn't our fault!"

Luther put a reassuring hand on her back as Reginald turned to her and scoffed, "Excuses? I will not hear them! The Umbrella Academy has failed one of their own, the consequences of which are dire. Hold onto this feeling, children. Let it fester in your hearts . . . so that there is never a next time. Training and classes will be cancelled today, out of respect for your brother. We will resume tomorrow at six AM."

And, without giving them the chance to put in another word, Reginald turned on his heel and departed, Grace and Pogo quickly following as they glanced over at the teens with worry.

It was silent for a few moments, with only the sound of sniffling and quiet sobs filling the air as the six of them gazed down at the coffin that had more and more snow piling on top of it.

Suddenly, Vanya spoke, her voice thick with tears, "It wasn't anybody's fault."

Diego immediately felt anger come over him as he looked up at her, and he scoffed. "How would you know, Vanya? You weren't even on the mission!"

Diego felt no regret as Vanya gave a small gasp, and he swallowed as she instantly headed for the doors, her sobs only becoming more fast-paced and her face reddening.

Luther's tearful face contorted into a scowl as he shot, "Nice going, asshole!"

"What?" Diego defended incredulously, his fiery gaze turning to him. "We were all thinking it!"

"Oh, so you're thinking now, Diego?" Allison jeered. "That's a first!"

"Screw you!" Diego exclaimed angrily as he jabbed a finger at her.

Sending a glare to Luther, Diego stormed past him and headed back inside.

"Hey! Dad was right," Luther chided as he, Allison, and Natalia began to follow him. "We should've done more. This didn't have to happen."

Diego ignored him as he went back inside, and, furiously, he closed his umbrella and tossed it to the side.

He began to head down the hallway, brushing the snow off of his blazer as he went towards the door that connected the training complex and the house.

"Diego!"

Diego slowed his pace as Natalia came to his side, and he silently groaned as he caught the glare that was on her face and the tears that glimmered in her eyes.

"Seriously?" she questioned incredulously as she folded her arms. "You had to do that? Now?"

"It was true," he rebutted, though his tone was far weaker than he would've liked it to be.

"It was not true," Natalia scoffed. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, sniffling as she shook her head. "You're so full of shit."

Diego shut his eyes as she brushed past him, and he groaned.

"Nat, don't—ugh."

He quickened his pace to follow her, and, eventually, slipped inside her room just before she could close the door.

Natalia glanced back at him before letting out a sigh as she sat on the edge of her bed. "Leave me alone, Diego."

"No."

She shook her head as he sat next to her. "You're just making it worse."

"Nat," Diego sighed, "please."

"It's already bad enough with what Dad said, and you had to pick a fight?" she questioned, a pained expression on her face. "Vanya was just trying to be nice!"

"But why?" he scoffed. "She doesn't get it!"

"Because she's a kind person!" Natalia rebutted as she shoved his shoulder. "Unlike you!"

Diego shook his head. "You're wrong."

She groaned, putting her head in her hands before muttering, "Just leave me alone, Diego. I'm not in the mood to talk."

"Hey, you're not the only one dealing with Ben's death, okay?" Diego pointed out bitterly as he shifted in his spot. "It's affecting all of us!"

Natalia looked back up, her eyes moistened and her voice quivering as she countered, "Well, at least it's not your fault!"

"What?" Diego uttered softly, his eyebrows furrowed. He paused for a moment, processing her words as he licked his lips. He leaned towards her, his eyes intent on her sorrowed expression as he tentatively murmured, "Nat, do . . . do you think that it's your fault Ben died?"

She swallowed. "If I had gone on that mission . . ."

Diego shut his eyes for a moment in disbelief as he shook his head. "You can't blame yourself."

She turned to face him, and her voice threatened to break as she whispered, "Can't I?"

"It's not your fault."

She sighed. "It kinda is, Diego."

"It's not!" he insisted once more, his voice loudening.

Natalia shook her head as she straightened up and gestured toward the door. "Just go."

"I'm not leaving you alone," Diego immediately denied. "Not when you're thinking this stupidly."

She shifted in her spot so that she was facing him, and, after wiping a few tears away with the back of her hand, she folded her arms. "So you're telling me that if I had gone on that mission, Ben still would've, for sure, died?"

"I mean . . ." Diego licked his lips, his breathing becoming a little unsteady as he gave a modest shrug. "I can't say for sure—"

"Exactly."

He groaned, tilting his head back for a moment before rebutting, "Well, there's nothing you can do about it now!"

"Yeah, well, that's the problem!"

Diego sighed, his shoulders sagging as he gazed at her tearful expression. "Nat . . ."

"Please, Diego," she whispered, sniffling. "Just leave me alone."

He gazed at her for another moment before slowly nodding. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead before getting up and walking to the door.

He paused at the door before he could step out, glancing back to watch as she shoved her face into her hands once more.

And, with a sigh, he left.