𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬

𝗟𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗮𝗿𝘀

cw: slight mention of ab*se, dr*gs, and de*th
ship: vanya and diego

There was something so painful about the way she smiled, how she laughed. And something so happy about the way the tears fell down her face in despair. She was all backwards and he had written her upside down.

Her eyes seemed to glow in the dim light and for just a moment he felt like a kid again, staring deep into her big brown eyes, leaning forward until his lips lightly brushed against hers, breaking away so they didn't get caught.

But now all he did was glare, silently cursing her for all the pain she caused. But there was nothing silent about the way his every move, touch, glance condemned her to hell.

His actions were loud and clear. They spoke I hate you in every language to date and pleaded with her to leave. But she stayed.

Vanya always stayed, trapped under his gaze like butterfly under a microscope. And though she gave off the impression that she was elegant and delicate, she was anything but.

Diego knew that best of all, of course. He knew everything there was to know about her. And in return she got nothing for it. She would like to think she knew the man that stood before her in the library, but she knew nothing of the way he existed.

A million questions bubbled up to her throat and then died on her lips as they parted slightly, the air coming through her nose not enough anymore. She needed more, but she was met with resistance.

They told themselves they came here to pay their nonexistent respects for the man that abused them but really they came just for the chance to see the other. The hope was there, but as soon as their eyes met, it died. Hope was a mass murderer, defeated by the hatred brewing behind their hearts.

She knew he had asked her a question, demanded, really, but she couldn't hear. She was lost in the way his scar wrapped around his face, and the way his cuts and bruises put up a façade on his knuckles. Her heart ached for the person that went out there every night, but it also drummed loudly, announcing its presence for the one who pretended not to know what she was thinking.

Diego glanced down at his hands and then back up at her. "You got a staring problem?" he asked, indignantly. He was staring, too.

"Just the opposite. I can hardly stand the sight of you," she spat, but her eyes met his again and they both knew it was a lie.

They did that. The lying. It was the only way they could tell the truth. Maybe they were both backwards, writing the other upside down.

Diego stepped forward, on instinct. She usually yelled at him and then he kissed her and it all melted away. Not this time. There were too many reasons not to, but that wasn't why he couldn't, why he wouldn't.

Vanya held her ground, ignoring that every cell in her body told her to run, and ignoring how her brain told her to take him with her.

"One day you're going to regret what you've done, and I'll be long gone," Diego said, his voice dangerously low as he gauged her reaction. Vanya kept her face passive but she couldn't hide the way her eyes flashed with hurt and anger, with a mix of disbelief.

"And you? How will you feel about what you've done?" she asked, her voice border-lining boredom, but she still couldn't hide the way her eyes gave away all of her dirty little secrets. And he couldn't hide how he could still read her like book, turning every page, desperate for more. She was more telling than her published work ever was.

"Let's just say I've already dealt with it," he said ominously.

"Really? I'd love to find out how," she said, feigning innocence. The truth was she couldn't handle the guilt, the possibility that he got that scar because of her. That Claire will one day hate Allison for the stuff Vanya said in that book. That someone will kill Klaus, who was all alone and vulnerable on the streets. She needed a way to get rid of the weight that pushed down on her chest, threatening to knock her over.

"A magician never tells their secrets," Diego said, reminding her of the time he was able to sneak them out and get them back into the house without ever getting caught. They seemed to have a lot more luck than Allison and Luther.

"Last I checked you were The Kracken," Vanya said as she took a step forward. "And you were never that good at card magic, anyway."

"Don't turn this into a joke," he said, turning away. It took every ounce of his strength to break eye contact, knowing that cutting that connection was like cutting himself off of a good high. She was completely intoxicating. He needed to get away but every part of him wanted to stay with her. Wanted her.

"Why not? I hear humor is a pretty good coping mechanism," she shrugged, as if it didn't really matter.

"Coping mechanism?" he asked, turning to her to see if she was actually serious.

"Diego, I don't know if you noticed but we're pretty messed up." Under the layers and the walls and the dry humor and the mask she put up, he knew that she was.

Diego tried to ignore the way he felt his whole body ignite when she said his name. He tried to ignore her eyes, which were still glowing. He tried to ignore her soft lips, which were trapped under her sharp teeth. He has tried to ignore everything about her for years and he never quite got it right.

Vanya looked up at him through her lashes and saw something familiar flash on his face before it morphed back into his stone-cold mask.

"Yes, we are."

Authors Note:

this is exactly 1,000 words i'm—

anyway, i really love this piece because it's kinda AU-ish. like just imagine that vanya and diego were in the library at the same time before regulators funeral (R.I.P. THAT 🐈 AYEEE)

follow me on instagram @/priorskru :))