𝐶𝐿𝑂𝐴𝐾 𝐴𝑁𝐷 𝐷𝐴𝐺𝐺𝐸𝑅 | 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒 [DISCONTINUED]

𝟐𝟕 | 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄

"𝐻𝑒'𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝐼 𝑎𝑚. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓, ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒."
—𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝐵𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒, 𝑊𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠

𝒩.

𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐀 hand to cover her yawn while using the other to pour herself a cup of coffee. It was five in the morning, and, being far too used to waking up at half-past seven, she was exhausted.

A conference in Syracuse was the cause of her early awakening—it was about a four-hour drive, and she needed to be there in five.

She closed her eyes as she lifted the mug to her lips, hoping that maybe the smell of caffeine would help her wake up. It didn't, but the sweet scent of hazelnut made her mouth water.

As she took a sip, the bedroom door opened.

"Babe?" Diego called, rubbing his eyes as he shuffled towards her. "What're you doing up so early?"

"Work," she sighed before taking another long drink from her mug.

"Work?" he repeated with furrowed eyebrows. "You never get up this early for work."

"I have a conference in Syracuse," she replied as he came to her side. "It starts at ten, so I have to leave a little early."

"A conference?" he questioned, his baffled expression only becoming more confused. "You never told me you had a conference. And Syracuse? Isn't that a few hours from here?"

"I know, sorry, it came up last minute," she sighed. "I just found out last night because someone had dropped out, and you had already left for your street stuff. I'm lucky I even managed to book a hotel so late."

A crestfallen look came over his face. "You're staying overnight?"

"Mhm," she hummed as she took another sip. "The conference is split up into two days, so I'll be home late tomorrow night."

"Oh."

Her eyebrows knit together tightly as she watched him bite his lower lip. "Why?"

"No, I just . . . ," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Tonight . . ."

"What about tonight?" she questioned with slight worry. "Did I forget something?"

"No, you didn't," he reassured her. "I was just, uh, hoping to go on a date tonight."

"Sorry, honey." She frowned before taking a sip. "Maybe Thursday night?"

"Yeah."

She raised her eyebrows. "You'll be able to survive without me for two days?"

He gave her a humoured chuckle as he answered, "I'll try."

She laughed before finishing the rest of her coffee. She placed her mug in the sink before kissing his cheek. "I'm gonna go get ready."

"And I'm going back to bed," he mumbled.

She grabbed his hand and dragged him back to the bedroom, though she released it upon entry so that he could stumble his way back to the bed.

Hearing the sound of Diego adjusting himself to comfort in the bed, Natalia sifted through her closet before settling on a fitting navy dress, which had short sleeves and ended just below her knees.

"That one's nice," Diego mumbled as she changed into it. "It'd be nicer if you weren't leaving me for two days."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," she laughed as she walked over to him and kissed his forehead. She turned so that he could see the open zipper and sat on the edge of the bed. "Can you zip it up?"