Subject 001

Man on the Moon

TRIGGER WARNING: Depiction of a panic attack.

Two and a half years earlier...

It was night, full moon and no clouds, Diego sat on a chair in their backyard patio his eyes fixed on the clear sky in contemplation.

"Beer?" Em asked, pulling him from his thoughts, two beer bottles in hand.

"Yeah, thanks," Diego answered, grabbing the bottle she was offering him and opening it with one of his knives. Once the bottle was open he pulled Em onto his lap and continued to stare at the sky.

"How long has it been?" Em asked quietly, sipping her beverage.

"18 months, give or take," Diego said, shrugging. "You know, he would do anything for dad... even today, I mean, he's millions of miles away from everyone, doing nothing, because the crazy old man told him to..." he shook his head.

"It sounds like it's all he has," Em said quietly. "Seems lonely."

"His choice," was all that Diego said, setting them into a pensive silence.

They sat in silence, drinking their beers until Em broke the silence, "Will I ever meet them? Your family."

"You won't like me when I'm around them," Diego admitted quietly.

"Diego, I know who you are, who you become when around your family changes nothing," Em said softly. "You took Patch to Allison's wedding..." she added once he said nothing.

"How do you know that?" Diego asked, furrowing his brows.

"She bragged about it," Em said with a dry chuckle.

"I wasn't scared of losing her like I'm scared of losing you," Diego said quietly, tightening his grip on her out of instinct.

"You'll never lose me," Em said reassuringly, it was a delicate subject, she had reassured him about it several times, when he woke up screaming because of nightmares, whenever she got severely hurt and every other moment he felt insecure. "Literally, Diego, you can't get rid of me easily."

"I- I love you," Diego admitted with a soft stutter. Their love for each other had always been implicit, none of them mustering the courage to say the words too afraid of it being one-sided.

Em smiled softly, her eyes tearing up, she'd felt loved by him since day one, but always convinced herself not to trust the foreign feeling. Feeling loved for the first time had already been strange, hearing it, confirming it, however, was a whole new sensation.

"I love you," Em exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Diego, kissing him. "I'm sorry," she said once he furrowed his eyes at her tear stricken face.

"Don't apologize," Diego said softly, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just never heard it before..." Em said with a trembling smile. "I was scared this feeling was all just in my head..." she added with a soft chuckle.

"I love you so much," Diego said, holding her face in his hands. "Get used to hearing it very often," he added, pulling her into a kiss.

Present-day...

Diego woke up before the sun came up, his mind no longer allowing him to sleep, carefully he got up from the bed without waking Em up. He got dressed and without as much as a note, he left to Patch's house.

Being late Patch was asleep, so Diego sat on her front porch to wait, when she finally walked outside he'd laid down and fallen asleep.

"What the hell?" Patch said, waking up Diego. "Got thrown out of the house?" she asked, stopping on the stairs beside him.