[✓] 𝑀𝑂𝑂𝑁𝐿𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇 | 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒

𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑦'𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑠

Word count: 4046

𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒 later, Elizabeth found Diego in the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets. 

She winced as he knocked over a glass container that held a few cinnamon sticks, and then rolled her eyes when he ignored it and carried on with his search.

"What are you looking for?" she questioned as she picked up the container and gently placed it back in its original spot.

He glanced back at her with surprise for a moment before returning his attention to the cabinet and shoving aside a few spices. "Painkillers. Beef man's got one hell of a punch."

"I'd imagine," she chuckled as she crossed the room and hopped onto the counter. "I'm not so sure you'd find any painkillers here though."

"What? Why?" he asked as he shut the cabinet and turned to her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Well, twelve years ago, I was looking for them because my stomach was hurting, and Klaus said he used them all. Y'know, to get high," she answered as she shrugged lightly. "So I assume that if we had any painkillers here, they would most definitely be gone by now since Klaus got here a couple of hours ago."

"What, you're wussy enough to need painkillers for a stomachache?" he joked as he leaned back against the cabinets, his arms folded.

"It wasn't exactly a . . . stomachache, per se." She scrunched her nose, the tip of her fingers now grazing against the area where the wound had once been. "It was when you, you know . . ."

Diego's eyes widened as he realized what she was talking about, his eyes now trained on her hand that was pressed against the upper right of her stomach. "When I hurt you."

". . . Yeah," she reluctantly confirmed with a nod. "That."

"You know, Goldie, there hasn't been a day that's passed where I haven't thought about that time," he sighed, his eyes drifting towards the ground as he chewed on his lower lip. "It was bad enough just after, but once you had disappeared . . . I was so mad that that was one of my last memories with you."

"I mean, we made plenty more memories after. Like when we danced, that was fun, right?" Elizabeth pointed out with a smile. "Plus, I'm here now. We can make lots more memories."

Unless the world ended, that is. Though she decided against mentioning that. 

"Yeah." Diego nodded, rubbing the side of his head.

"By the way, thanks for keeping my room the same. Though, I kinda wish you let Mom clean up a little, I've been sneezing non-stop in there," she giggled, slightly swinging her legs.

"Your room was the only thing I had left of you. I didn't want it to change," he chuckled. He gazed at her for a moment, the corners of his lips slowly turning upwards. "I'm really happy you're back, Goldie."

"Me too. It sucked in there," she sighed. "Anyway . . . did you get a new knife? Well, I can see . . ." Her eyes narrowed at the multiple knives that were slung across his utility gear, examining the handle of each one. "Let me rephrase: Do you have a new favourite knife?"

Diego gave an awkward nod, glancing downward at his array before looking back up at her. "Yeah."

"Let me see," she demanded as she held her hand out expectantly, her eyebrows raised.

"Uh . . ."

Her eyes narrowed. "Hand it over."

Reluctantly, he pulled a shiny, silver knife from his pocket and hesitated before he gave it to her. Her eyebrows furrowed as she noticed the stain of blood on its edge, and she looked back up at him with suspicious eyes.