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Dinner was going awkwardly.
Grace had finished serving the meal and was sitting next Eudora, they were talking, sounded like stories from his childhood. It warmed Diego’s heart, but he couldn’t focus cause he was currently in a death stare with his father. And it’s hard to have a death stare when you’re sitting next to your mother.
He would have been playing with his knives had mom not had her “No knives at the dinner table” policy. He still had about 7 on his person though.
Reginald spoke up when Grace mentioned Diego’s natural ability with knives. “I wouldn’t call it natural. Two is proficient at best. He’s too much of a coward, scared of needles. Did you know he almost fainted when I gave him his tattoo?” Reginald said, looking at Eudora and Diego swallowed hard, fought back his emotions. He can’t cry in front of the old man. He closed his eyes and counted backwards from ten, taking deep breaths.
Eudora bit back a retort. Diego had warned her that Grace was wired to protect Reginald by any means necessary if he was threatened, and he didn’t want to be put in the position of having to kill his mother to save her.
Reginald kept talking. Kept going over every single one of his faults. Diego couldn’t take it anymore, he knew it’d make things worse but he was going to have a meltdown if he didn’t. He covered his ears, kept his eyes shut tight, and started slowly rocking back and forth in an attempt to self-sooth. He felt Mom’s hand on his back, rubbing, but he couldn’t focus on it.
Eudora immediately noticed what he was doing. “Fuck this.” she muttered. “I’m sorry Mrs. Hargreeves, me and Diego have to go now.” she said, getting up from the table and walking over to Diego. She gently touched his neck.
Diego opened his eyes, took his hands off his ears, and grabbed onto Eudora’s hand for dear life. Said goodbye to mom. Let Dor drag him out of that house and into the car.
“D-drive.” he got out, needing to get the fuck away from his dad.
She drove them back to their apartment, and helped him upstairs. He was still in a daze when he sat on the couch so she took his shoes and socks off for him, slipping out of her shoes. Then she sat on the couch behind him, and leaned him back into her, stroking his hair.
Eventually, he came back to her. “I love you for doing that. Getting me out of there.” he murmured.
“Anytime.” She kissed the side of his head.
“Did he make fun of my autistic meltdown? My rocking?” he asked, knowing the answer.
She sighed. “Yeah, but he’s an abusive bastard. It’s what they do.”
“I know.” he said softly, relaxing in her embrace. “Still hurts. Wish I could stop caring about what he thinks.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. If I’d been raised in that environment, I’d be so fucked up. You did what you had to to survive.” she reminded him, as she always had to when he got like this.
He’d probably start apologizing for “putting her through that”, but not in a fake way. In an honest way.
“He didn’t say anything racist or rude to you, did he? Told him I’d kill him if he did.” Diego asked, cause he couldn’t remember anything pre-meltdown right now.
Eudora’s eyes widened. ’Oh my god I think he might be in love with me!’ she thought, realizing the significance of him threatening his dad. He did that for her. “Um, no, he didn’t. Don’t worry about it.” she murmured, kissing his cheek.
“Good.” he said, yawning. “I’m tired. Meltdowns make me tired. Is it ok if I sleep on the couch?”
“No, but you can sleep in my bed. Here, how bout you take a shower, and we both take a nap.”
“Or we could both take a shower. I’m kinda. Kinda too tired to like. Do it myself. I’m sorry, I know it’s embarrassing, I’m embarrassed by myself.”
“No, it’s ok. It’s ok.” she reassured him, and helped him up, leading him to the bathroom. She undressed him, he still looked so numb. Then she quickly undressed herself (he kept his eyes on her face, never strayed downwards).
She put a shower cap on while she waited for the water to warm up, then led him into the shower. Their similar heights were a godsend; it was so easy to wash his hair.
“I’m sorry you have to do this.” he apologized again, hating that he couldn’t just be normal.
She met his eyes, voice firm. “Diego, I don’t mind. It’s no trouble. I want you to stop apologizing for how you are. Look, I’ve read up on Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD. I know you can’t help it, okay?” She pulled him out of the spray, leaned her forehead against his. “I love you, so much. I love all of you. I don’t mind having to take care of you sometimes.”
He didn’t know what to say. No one, no one had ever-except mom, but she was programmed that way. And Allison, sometimes. But they were his family; they had to put up with him. Eudora didn’t. “C-can I kiss you?” he asked, always better with actions than words.
She nodded, and he kissed her, trying to put all his love for her into it (he knew it was impossible, but he tried anyway).
He broke it after a moment, leaning his forehead against hers. “You are the love of my life. You don’t need to say anything, I just needed you to know.” he murmured.
She pulled away at that, overwhelmed. “That’s, um, don’t get me wrong, I love it, it’s just a lot.”
“Crap, yeah. Sorry. Wasn’t thinking.” he said on instinct.
She grabbed his hand. “No, don’t apologize. I love it when you say stuff like that. I’m just not used to someone being that honest with me.”
He nodded.
She went back to washing his hair, he felt more like himself again. Resisted the urge to touch her; she hadn’t said he could, and he’d never be like his dad.
They got out of the shower, dried off. He put on some of the boxers he kept there and some sleeping pants. He crawled into bed, kept his eyes on the ceiling as she got dressed, no matter how much he wanted to look at her.
She joined him a few moments later, wrapping her arms around him and pulling the blanket over them. “That feel better?”
“Yeah. You’re so smart, the shower was a good idea.”
“Yeah. I know sometimes when I get upset I can’t think straight either.” she murmured, placing a kiss behind his ear.
He sighed happily, closing his eyes. “You’re so fucking beautiful. You know I think your soul is gorgeous, but your body is also gorgeous and when I’m feeling up to it, I would love to sketch your face.”
“I didn’t know you were an artist.” she said, smiling.
“There’s lots of things you don’t know about me, Dor. I’m an enigma.” he joked.
“Mmm...I like to sketch too. We could sketch each other.”
“Oh, I would love that.”
“Me too.”