𝐶𝐿𝑂𝐴𝐾 𝐴𝑁𝐷 𝐷𝐴𝐺𝐺𝐸𝑅 | 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐆𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒 [DISCONTINUED]

𝟑𝟑 | 𝐀 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐄

"𝐼𝑓 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘, 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑒. 𝐼𝑓 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘, 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 '𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ.'"
—𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝑇𝑧𝑢

𝒟.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐇 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 of coffee and the sound of sizzling bacon were the first two things Diego noticed as his eyes fluttered open and his mind cleared.

His sleepy eyes turned to the left to only see wrinkled sheets, though he had figured as much. His eyes drifted toward the alarm clock, which told him that it was a little past seven.

He used a hand to rub his eyes as he sat himself up. He sat for a moment as he fully came to consciousness before pulling the blanket off his lap and getting to his feet.

He quickly dressed into his usual jeans and sweater, brushed his teeth, and swept a hand through his hair before heading into the kitchen.

A small grin appeared on his face as walked up to Natalia, who was only wearing one of his shirts—Metallica—and was flipping the bacon. He took a moment to savour her figure—though all he could really see were her bare legs—before coming up behind her.

"Mornin', gorgeous," he greeted as he slipped his hands under her shirt and wrapped his arms around her stomach, chuckling as she flinched in surprise. "Couldn't wait for me to wake up?"

"Sorry, honey, I woke up a little early," she sighed, giving him a small smile as he pressed a kiss to her neck. "I didn't want to wake you, you don't usually get too much sleep."

His eyebrows furrowed. "How early we talkin'?"

She gave a small shrug. "Like . . . four o'clock."

"Four?" he repeated in surprise, now concerned. "Why?"

"I don't know. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep," she mumbled as she turned back to the bacon. "I just have a really weird feeling."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know," she repeated. "Don't you ever get one of those feelings that something's gonna happen?"

"Good or bad?"

"Well, with how things are going lately," she sighed, "I can't imagine good."

"You've just been too stressed out lately, princess," Diego murmured as she began to transfer the bacon onto a plate. He kissed her jaw before playfully chiding, "You need to relax."

"Believe me," she scoffed, "I'm trying."

His hands began to inch towards the top of her underwear, a smirk growing on his face. "I know a good way for you to relax."

She rolled her eyes in amusement as she smacked his hands away with her free hand. "It's barely even nine in the morning."

"And?" He raised his hands in defence as she threw him a playful glare. "So what's your idea of relaxing?"

She nodded her head to a pile of papers that sat on the kitchen island. "Grading."

Diego's eyebrows raised as he looked back at her. "I can't imagine that helped your stress."

"It's kind of relaxing in a way," she told him with a slight shrug as she turned the gas off. "Takes my mind off the craziness."

He chuckled. "You do you, I guess."

She picked up the plate and offered it to him as she picked up her own piece of bacon from it. "Hungry?"

"Not right now." He shook her head, and she shrugged before sitting on one of the stools at the island. "What do you wanna do today?"