The Desolated Two

// ninety six //

Diana's POV

The past two days have been filled with agony of the thought of losing my mother as well as neighbours and relatives visiting to see her as the news of her sickness spreads through. Whenever someone came, I preferred to hide in the guest room with Aaron and Emily.

She met Nate's dad a day before yesterday and he was ecstatic to see her so he spoiled her with sweets and junk. We talked, and he apologised on behalf of his son to the point he had tears in his eyes out of shame. I always liked him, so I didn't persist much on the negative conversations.

Nate was being awfully nice to her and asked about my mother's health. We talked a little but again, I didn't talk to him much because I would never want to feed on Aaron's insecurities.

"What do you want to have for lunch?" Shelly asks, making me snap out of my thoughts when I realise that I had been staring at the kitchen island for five minutes now.

Each day, I'm afraid of falling asleep because of the unpredictability of what would the morning bring. I'm aware of the budding dark circles under my eyes, but I cannot help it. After Emily and Aaron fall asleep, I come downstairs to sit alone in the living room, trying to be as near to my parent's bedroom as possible.

"Soup would be fine. Whatever Mum is having is fine." I wave off and she gives me a look.

"You haven't been eating properly, we can't have you falling sick, Diana." Marcel says, giving me a worried look but I shrug.

"I'm not hungry." I tell him truthfully. "Where are Aaron and Emily?" I ask, realising that they've been gone for over an hour now.

"Went to run an errand. They'll be back soon." He tells me and I nod, going back to staring at the island.

After some time the door bell rings, bringing me out of my thoughts and Shelly moves to open the door. When I hear noises, I perk my head up and notice two faces that make me jump off the stool.

Without a word, I rush to the foyer and almost sob out right then and there as Ella waves at me, "Hey stranger."

"Hi!" I say, my eyes filling up with tears as she comes to stand in front of me and wraps her arms around me.

Taking a deep breath, I hug my best friend back who I've been missing so terribly but I didn't want to spoil her vacation time.

"How was Hawaii?" I ask, trying to keep my voice from breaking because seeing her made me realise that the extent to I missed her was so much more.

She lets go off me but before I know it, I'm wrapped in a pair of strong arms in a big bear hug, which makes me lose my cool as tears spill out of my eyes and a choked up sob leaves me.

"Wow, if I knew you would miss me this much, I would have booked an extra ticket for you as well to Hawaii." Connor jokes, making me smack his chest as I wipe my tears from the back of my hand.

"God, you're such an asshole." I say and he grins, as he kisses my forehead, his arms still around me which makes me realise that I missed fighting with him — the normalcy of my life. "How did you guys even know?"

Ella points towards Aaron who's standing by their luggage and I give him a small smile, trying to convey how much this means to me. He walks towards me and gives Connor a look which I know is nothing more than him messing around.

"Hands off of her." He tells him, making me smile like an idiot because I know Aaron doesn't get jealous where Connor is concerned. He's aware that he has that brotherly place in my life.

Connor chuckles lightly but lets go off me as Aaron pulls me by his side and I put my head on his shoulder, "Thank you." I whisper to him and he just squeezes my side in response.