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“What if they don’t like me?” Diego murmured, fretting over his tie. His black suit looked nice, he thought. Hopefully, it would be nice enough for Eudora’s parents.
“Babe, they’ll love you.” Eudora assured him, fixing her makeup beside him.
“You don’t know that! I don’t-I don’t have a good job, a-and I have these scars on my face and-“
“What about your scars?” she asked, cutting him off.
He swallowed hard. “They make me look mean, and I don’t want to look mean. Do you have anything I could use to c-cover them up?”
She put her makeup down, cupped his face in her hands. “Baby, my family won’t judge you for any of that. Hell, they’ll just be happy I’m bringing someone home. Don’t stress about it. And don’t cover up your scars. They add character.”
He smiled a little at that. “You think so?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
He kissed her forehead, then froze. “Shit, was that-“
“It’s always okay.” He was always so nervous about overstepping bounds. She wasn’t sure he’d ever stop being so cautious with her.
“And what do you mean, you don’t have a good job?” she prodded, stroking his face with her thumbs.
“I’m a janitor. They might not respect that.” he murmured, savoring the contact. God, he loved it when she touched him.
“Babe, they will. They will. It’s okay. They’ll only care that you treat me right, and you do. And you’re always-you work really hard. Okay? You do. Don’t feel bad about that, ever.”
He nodded, looked down. “Thanks, babe.”
“Anytime.” she murmured, sliding her hands down and fixing his tie for him. “This isn’t like you. Why are you so nervous?”
He swallowed hard. “I’ve never really met anyone’s parents before.”
Oh. Sometimes she forgot that he’s never actually done any of this before. “Well they’ll love you. Don’t worry.”
“I just want them to like me.”
“They will, don’t worry.” She didn’t mention that she wouldn’t care if they didn’t. She understood how important family was to Diego, that her family approving of him would mean a lot.
She just hoped dad wouldn’t ask about his scars.
“So, Diego, how’d you get your scars?” asked Don Patch, eyeing the awkward man sitting across from him. Yeah, he’d pulled Eudora’s chair out for her, addressed him as “sir”, and Judy as “ma’am”, but those scars...he couldn’t take his eyes off them.
Diego coughed, forced himself to swallow his food. He took a sip of water, swallowing hard. His hands were starting to shake. “W-well, s-sir, um-“
“You don’t have to answer that.” Eudora snapped, glaring at her dad. She’d told him ahead of time that Diego had facial scars. He shouldn’t be asking about them.
“Don, don’t be so rude.” Judy chided, looking at Diego sympathetically. The poor boy looked so terrified. She liked him, he seemed like he’d treat Eudora right. He had a decent job, did his part.
“No, um, it’s okay, Dor. It’s okay.” he assured her, swallowing hard. He forced himself to meet Mr. Patch’s eyes. “Well, sir, if you must know, this one” he ran his finger over his eyebrow “is from a disagreement with my brother. He slammed my head into a desk when we were 15.” He swallowed hard, made himself numb. His voice sounded like a robot. “T-this one,” he ran his finger over the side of his head “is from my father. Punishment.” Oh god he’s going to throw up. “Excuse me.” he said, pushing his chair out and walking fast towards the bathroom.
Eudora glared at her dad. She’d hoped meeting at a restaurant would make him not ask that question. “Dad, why would you ask him that?!? His scars are none of your goddamn business.”
“I just wanted to make sure he’s not bad news! I was trying to look out for you.” Don shot back. Yeah, he wished he hadn’t done it now that he knew why Diego had those scars, but his intentions had been good.
“I’m an adult, I don’t need you looking out for me.”
“She’s right, Don. What were you thinking?!? He seems like a good man. Who cares what he looks like?” Judy said.
“Thanks, mom.”
Diego came back to the table a few minutes later, looking paler than usual. He sat down, took a sip of water. He could feel everyone looking at him. “I’m okay, just, um, the food didn’t sit right with me.” Shit, that was the wrong thing to say.
“Diego-“ Don started, feeling guilty. The poor boy had clearly been throwing up.
“Yes, Mr. Patch?” Diego forced himself to meet Mr. Patch’s eyes, despite how uncomfortable it was making him.
Don sighed. “Diego, I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have asked you about your scars.” He could feel Judy and Eudora glaring at him. “And it doesn’t matter where you got them.” he added, hoping that was what they needed to hear to stop glaring holes into his head.
“It’s okay. I understand, I know they look-well I know people see them and think I’m bad news. I’m not. I’m not-not mean. I would never hurt anyone.” ’Unless they deserve it’ he privately added.
“That’s not right.” Judy said. “And pardon my French, but your father sounds like a bastard.”
Diego cracked a smile at that. “Yeah, that about sums it up. But I try not to think about it too much. No use in crying over the past, you know? You gotta-you gotta just, stand firmly in the present and not dwell on it. It happened, I’m a better man for it.”
Eudora’s eyes widened. She’d never known he saw his abuse that way.
“Anyway, um, Mrs. Patch, tell me more about your job as a lawyer. It sounds really interesting.” Diego said, hoping to get the topic off of his abuse. He was always more comfortable talking to women anyway.
“Do you really see your abuse that way? That it made you a better person?” Eudora asked, wiping off her makeup in front of their bathroom mirror.
“Yeah.” Diego said from his place on the bed. “I saw how my dad treated my mom, how he treated my siblings. I know how to not treat women and kids now. How to treat people better. I have a template on how not to act. I just do the opposite of what Dad would do and I’m okay.”
“What about how he treated you?” she prodded, throwing her wipes away and stripping out of her dress. She hung it up in the closet and took her bra off, grabbing one of Diego’s shirts to sleep in from his drawer. He wasn’t looking at her. God, she loves and hates that he respects her this much.
“What about how he treated me?”
“He abused you.”
“I know, but he treated the others way worse. Besides, I protected them. Would have protected mom if I’d been big enough.”
Her breath caught in her throat. She went over to the bed, laid her head on his chest. “He cut into your face because you wore makeup. He didn’t cut into Klaus cause Klaus wore makeup. He never carved into anyone else.” she murmured.
“He turned Luther into a monster. That’s worse. That’s way worse. I don’t care what he did to me. I don’t care. I care what he did to my family.” he breathed, running his hands over her back. “He locked Klaus in a fucking crypt when he was just a kid. He made Allison do horrible things with her powers. He ignored Vanya. Made her feel worthless. He’s the reason Ben is d-dead. I’ve forgiven him for what he did to me. Not what he did to my family. He’s dead now. He’s dead. I’m trying not to let him control me anymore.”
She raised her head, met his eyes. “You’re so-god. I don’t know if I could ever do that.”
“Do what?”
“Forgive, like that. You-that’s-god. That’s a beautiful outlook.” she murmured.
“Yeah, well it’s what big brothers do.” he said, waving off the compliment.
“No, it’s not. It’s what good people do. You’re a good person.”
He blushed. “If you say so.”
“I do. Say it. Say “I’m a good person.”
He swallowed hard. “I’m a good person.” He didn’t like this. All this attention made him uncomfortable. “But if I’m a good person, some of that goodness is cause of you. I never-“ he stopped, swallowed hard. ’Say what you mean. Be honest. Tell her’. “God, I don’t want to put any burden on you. I don’t. I don’t want you to feel in-indebted to me in any way. But I-I need to tell you, that before you, I never-I never knew I could love someone so much. I’d only ever loved my family before you. Was afraid I was broken or something. And I-I love life and I love being alive and I love you and I love my family and I just-god. I don’t know. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable so I never tell you how much I love you even though I want to, all the time.”
Fuck. She swallowed hard. “I love you too. I think you’re pretty amazing. I think we’re both pretty amazing.”
He smiled. “Yeah.”