Work Text:
ALVAREZ RESIDENCE - MIDDAY…
God, why do I have a lot of stuff…
Diego grumbles to himself as he looks around his room. Today is moving day. In 4 days, school starts again, which means he has to move into the dorms to be ready for school. He has been at this all morning, packing his clothes, electronics, books, and a bunch of other things he’s gotten throughout the year. He made sure to put all his Batman stuff away, in a place Elena wouldn’t even be able to find even if she were actively looking for it.
“You know.” Diego begins, his eye twitching in annoyance. “You could be helping.”
Right in front of him, Elena is currently sitting on his bed, eating ice cream. She looks at him dead in the eye as she shrugs.
“Nah,” she says, licking her ice cream.
His eye twitches again. “Then why are you here?”
“Watching,” she says while taking another lick of her ice cream as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Instead of helping me?”
“Hey! This takes energy, you know.”
Diego’s eye twitches again.
I’m gonna kill her…
Diego scowls lightly, “At least help me put all this stuff in the car.”
Elena rolls her eyes. “Alright, alright, don’t be such a baby about it.”
Diego flips her off.
She flips him off in return.
OUTSIDE
After what seemed like hours, both Diego and Elena were finally able to carry the last box down to the car. As they put the last box down, Alvarez arrives, taking a small break from work in order to see the boy off.
“You got everything,” Alvarez asks, looking at the packed car.
Diego nods, “Yeah, Elena helped me put everything inside.”
Alvarez looks around, “Where is she?”
“She went inside to change, wanted to dress up before dropping me off.”
“Good,” Alvarez nods, his focus shifting to Diego, “Still, are you sure I can’t convince you to stay?”
“Nah,” Diego shakes his head, “You’ve done enough for me by letting me stay. Even if I wanted to, there is a risk that Elena could find out about…you know what. We were lucky that she didn’t suspect anything all summer long.”
“I guess you're right.” Alvarez says, he extends his hand, “I’m glad to have had you here, kid. Remember this will always be home, if you ever need it.”
Diego smiles, shaking the older man's hand. “Thank you, detective.”
“I’ll be back before you know it,” Diego smirks before walking towards the car.
Alvarez couldn’t help but chuckle as he saw his daughter stepping out.
“I’ll be back, Dad!” Elena says, stepping into the driver's seat and speeding out.
Watching the car disappear into the corner, he couldn’t help but breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
“Thank god I’m not her passenger,” Alvarez says, already pitying the kid.
CSULA DORMS
They arrive at the dorms without a single scratch to the car. Elena parks in the dorm's parking lot. As soon as she kills the engine, Diego steps out of the car. His legs tremble in fear as he takes a few steps before dropping to his knees.
“Thank you, God.” He mumbles to himself, placing his hand on his chest, grateful to be alive after surviving Elena’s driving.
Elena steps out of the car and looks down at Diego’s kneeling form.
“What are you doing?”
“Praying.”
“Why?”
“That my first day back wouldn’t be my last.”
Elena, unamused by his jab at her driving, kicks him in the butt, making him fall on all fours.
“What the hell was that for?” He asks, looking back to glare at Elena.
“For being an ass.”
“No shit, Sherlock. I’m always an ass.” He points at her, “Especially when it comes to your driving skills!”
Before Elena could kick him again, a familiar voice comes from behind.
“Diego! Elena!”
Both turn to see Kai walking towards them, carrying a backpack over one shoulder and two suitcases in both hands. Diego's face lights up as he sees his friend and immediately scrambles to his feet.
“Bro!”
“Bro!”
Both men dap each other up.
“How was the drive here?”
Diego shudders. “Guess.”
Kai, seeing Diego’s traumatized expression, looks at Elena before looking back at Diego. “Truly, that is a fate worse than death.”
“What are you two idiots talking about now?” Elena asks, her eye twitching slightly.
“Nothing.” Both men say at the same time, not wanting to get their asses kicked by her.
“Dude, that's a lot of stuff,” Kai says, wanting to change the subject to not die.
Diego looks back at the amount of stuff he has in the car.
“It’s not too bad.”
“Yeah yeah, he has a lot of crap.” Elena says, “Come on you two, let's drag all of this in.”
“At least let me put my stuff inside!” Kai shouts.
The trio spends an entire hour carrying everything towards the dorm building. Talking about their plans once the school year begins: how many classes they are taking, where they’re gonna go to hang out, lunch plans, and a bunch of other stuff.
“And done,” Diego says, placing the last box in the room.
“Jesus Diego, you have a lot of stuff,” Kai says, surprised to see the amount of boxes filling the room.
“Well, I’m pooped.” Elena says before her face lightens up, “Let's get food!”
Kai nods, “Let's go to that Ramen shop; I’ve been dying to eat their noodles after so long.”
“It has been some time for me as well,” Diego says, nodding alongside Kai.
Elena grins. “Then it's settled!”
“Just let me use the bathroom real quick,” Diego says, walking into the bathroom.
Kai and Elena leave the room to wait for Diego in the car. Seeing he’s finally alone, he steps back into his room and opens one of the boxes. Inside lay his Batman equipment. He pulls out the cowl, observing it for a while. The familiar black fabric running through his fingers, this symbol, this mask, it has changed him a lot this past year. He has a feeling this year is gonna be important. He’s not sure why, but he has a feeling. But he won’t think about it for now; whatever happens, he’ll deal with it when the time comes. He won’t think about Batman today. For now, he will enjoy this time with his friends.
He places the mask back in its place and closes the box. He stands up and walks to the door, closing the door behind him.
Ready for whatever comes next.