#lyubka x diego

[benscursedkid]

synopsis: bori wants to take merula to the ball. only problem? she’s a chicken.

pairing: borislava andreeva x merula snyde (and a touch of lyubka x diego because they’re cute too)

genre: just fluff and other teenage things :))

words: 3.113

a/n: my second and final gift to the lovely @blubxtch! I hope you like it! i also wanted to say thank you to my other winners for being so patient with me. there’s a lot going on with school right now so thank you for all of your continued support. 💙

*lyubka and bori belong to @blubxtch**

“All this cheer is making me want to barf.”

Bori arches a well manicured brow at her companion. She casts a look around.

It’s true, the student body has seen few better days. Even in the dim light of the dungeons, the air radiates with a sort of warm feeling. The kind that makes the greens look more green and the purples more vibrant than they were before. It’s as though a flip was switched and suddenly her chest is just that much lighter.

She thinks she might choke.

“Always a peach, aren’t you?” Bori jibes, electing to ignore the fact that she’s much the same way.

Merula throws her a snarl and goes back to stirring her potion that’s beginning to get a little thicker than the recipe implies from lack of proper attention. “I’m just saying… not everyone wants to listen to their squeals and shrieks whenever they get asked to the ball.”

Her eyes meet Rowan’s. A wicked smile catches her lips.

She clears her throat, adding the last ingredient to her own potion. “You know, if I didn’t know any better,” She drawls, trying her hardest to keep the amusement from reaching her tone. “I’d say you were jealous, Merula.”

The other girl splutters, nearly dropping her ladle into her potion. Her pink violet eyes glare daggers into the back of her head.

Her smile widens.

“Well, clearly, you don’t know better.” She snaps with a huff, turning up her nose in a display of utter disgust.

“It’s okay to be upset you don’t have a date, Merula.” Rowan tries, sparing just one moment to check over their potion before deciding that it looks finished. “Lots of people don’t! For example, Bori and I—hey!”

Rowan frowns over at her, confused over the sudden interruption, but Bori shakes her head vehemently. The witch tilts her head in thought, not understanding. Unfortunately, it takes a moment too long for her message to be received.

“Oh, really,” Merula sing-songs, her throat scratchy and a little unused to the sound. “You mean, neither of you two have dates either? I thought someone would’ve wanted to take Hogwarts’ resident curse breaker to the ball.” The Slytherin grins, sickly sweet like the cat who ate the canary. “Guess people just don’t like you as much as you thought they did.”

Bori opens her mouth to retort, but a scaly voice cuts her off.

“Andreeva! Khanna!” Snape gripes, walking towards them only to leer over their potion with a knowing grimace. “If this is the best you can come up with then I don’t know how either of you expect to pass this class.”

With another snicker from Merula, he stalks off to go berate another student and Bori and Rowan each peer back into their cauldron. To their shock—and absolute horror—their potion has turned from a soft baby blue to a striking pumpkin orange.

Their jaws drop and Rowan immediately looks to the book for answers while Bori takes to glowering at Merula who, for her part, can't seem to stop sniggering.

“Did you do something to our potion?” Bori demands as her poor friend trips over herself to grab more materials.

Merula crosses her arms, unimpressed. “We were talking the whole time. You were watching me.”

Bori bites her tongue, knowing that she has a point. Still, she has no idea how this happened. Their potion was perfect. How did it just all of a sudden sour?

At her blank look, Merula rolls her eyes and points to a spot on the open page. Bori skims it and freezes. It all comes together.

Merula smirks, turning her focus back to her own cauldron. “Maybe if you bothered to read the rest, you’d know that you need to bottle it the moment you finish. It sours quickly so leaving it any longer will ruin the entire batch.”

“Yes, Merula, thank you for that wonderful observation.”

“No problem.”

Anyone else would have withered under the pressure of her glare, but Merula just grins to herself, happy to have gotten the last word. And while Bori knows she should be infuriated—though believe her, there’s plenty of that too—she can’t help but feel something else as well. It’s like a series of little pinpricks riding up her arms and heating her cheeks.

Excitement.

Much to Bori’s immense relief, springtime appears to be rearing its head over the castle, casting a warm glow onto its inhabitants. More flowers are starting to bloom and less and less layers are being needed to enjoy the outdoors.

Currently, Bori sits on the lip of the fountain in the clock tower courtyard. She relishes in the sunshine that spills into the area, her head facing up toward the sun in reverence. Lyubka sits directly to her right, trying her hardest to finish up an assignment due tomorrow.

It only takes a few more minutes for her sister to finish and pack her things away neatly into her bag. She turns to Bori with a smile. “Enjoying yourself, there?”

Bori nods, taking in a deep breath of fresh air. She picks up on the lingering scent of daisies.

“Well, I suppose you did always like…” Lyubka trails off, leaving her sentence incomplete. Bori frowns and cracks one eye open just to find her sister intently staring at something behind her.

She switches directions and looks between Lyubka and a group of boys gathered by the courtyard entrance. Flashes of an assortment of colored robes catch her eye and Bori has to blink back her surprise. Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs all pile together, seemingly oblivious to all the noise they’re making. They’re all in her year, if her memory serves her right, making them all vaguely familiar though none of them really stand out.

Squinting her eyes, Bori realizes that all of the boys seem to be crowded around one in particular. She thinks she remembers Penny talking about him once. Casanova Caplan, she had called him. From his yellow lined robes, she deduces that he must be a Hufflepuff, though his smile that seems to be made entirely of sunshine doesn’t exactly argue this theory. Paired with his dark eyes and wavy hair, Bori can’t say she’s surprised he’s so popular, even if he’s not quite her type.

But if the look on Lyubka’s face is of any indication, he appears to be exactly her type.

“So,” Bori purrs, wagging her eyebrows at her sister. “You got a date to the ball yet?”

Lyubka blinks for a moment, snapping out of her reverie. “No, but I don’t need one. I’m going with Rowan.”

“I thought Rowan didn’t like balls?”

“No, she doesn’t like dancing,” Lyubka corrects, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “But after Andre helped us both with dancing lessons and picked out our dresses—which he’s still waiting on you, by the way—I finally convinced her to come.”

Bori nods, glad to hear it. “Okay, if you’re sure.”

Her twin blanks, lost. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Her shoulders pull into a shrug and she looks away in faux innocence. “Oh, no reason really. It’s just that you left a little drool on your chin while you were gazing at Casanova Caplan—ow! Rude!”

The Hufflepuff pouts while Bori tries her best not to smirk at the obvious irritation on her sister’s face. She presses a hand to her arm where Lyubka had whacked her with a textbook and attempts to appear wounded.

“Don’t say that,” Lyubka groans, looking around for prying ears as though her deepest secret had just been spilled. “He has a name, you know.”

“I would hope so,” Bori chuckles. “Casanova Caplan seems rather long.”

Lyubka pins her with a disbelieving look. “His name is Diego Caplan and he’s actually very nice.”

“Oh, so you’ve actually gathered your wits long enough to talk to him—”

“—Bori!—”

“—Lyubka!”

Lyubka closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before beginning. “I haven’t talked to him all that much, but the few times we have crossed paths he was very pleasant.”

“I’m sure…”

“Bori, please,” Lyubka whines and Bori decides to take pity on her.

“Why don’t you ask him to be your date?” Bori grins, looking back over to the group of boys. “If he’s as nice as you say, you both should have lots of fun!”

“No,” Lyubka shakes her head, albeit not without throwing a wistful look Diego’s way. “I’m already going with Rowan and on the off chance he doesn’t already have a date and says yes, it would be rude to ditch her after all the effort I put into convincing her to go in the first place.”

Bori pouts but knows Lyubka is right. With a resigned sigh, she grabs for her water bottle and takes a sip.

“But what about you?” Lyubka inquires.

“What about me?”

She can practically hear the smirk in Lyubka’s voice as she speaks. “When are you finally gonna woman up and ask Merula to be your date?”

Bori nearly chokes on her water. “What?”

“Oh, look! There she is!” Lyubka points across the courtyard where Merula and Ismelda appear to have just arrived. “Maybe we should call her over here. Meru—”

Her hand claps over Lyubka’s mouth before she can continue to embarrass her further. Lyubka arches a brow at her and shoves her hand away. “I swear to Merlin, Lyu, you don’t want to do that.”

Her brown eyes roll, unconvinced and all too used to her empty threats. An uncharacteristic light shines in her eyes, now full of mischief. “Maybe you should’ve thought about that before teasing your dear sister about her crush.”

“Lyu, come on, that’s not the same—”

“—Hey, Merula!” Lyubka shouts loud enough for all to hear, waving her hand wildly in the air. The Slytherin in question glares at them, but not without interest. “Yeah, come here! Come here!”

Her sister gestures for Merula to come over to where they are and, much to Bori’s dismay, the girl only considers it for a moment before stomping her way over.

Instincts tell her to turn away, cupping her hand over her eyes. She really hopes that if she can’t see Merula, Merula might not be able to see her utter mortification.

Merula Snyde finally comes to stand in front of her, arms folded and frown firmly in place. For a moment all is quiet and no one says anything. Lyubka can’t stop grinning from ear to ear, which only seems to rile Merula up more.

“What are you smiling at?” She accuses, patience already wearing thin.

And, without a word, Lyubka picks up her bag and walks off—in the other direction of Diego Caplan, mind you. The two of them watch her, incredulous, until she disappears behind the cobblestone walls and ivy.

“What was that about?”

“Hm? Oh, pfft, that?” Bori waves off the topic like batting away a fly. “She’s just mad at me because I was teasing her about her date for the ball.”

Merula’s eyes threaten to widen. “She has a date, too?”

Bori pauses. “Well, yeah sort of.”

The other girl throws her hands up in the air, an annoyed and perplexed expression on her face. “Well, that’s just great. I think that might just leave you and I as the only two in our year without dates.”

Merula looks around as if she could sniff out a single person from a mile away, hands on her hips. Sensing her distress, Bori bites her lip, a surge of fragile confidence bubbling up in her chest.

“About that…” Bori ventures, her voice far too unsteady for her liking. Merula’s gaze snaps back to hers, revealing nothing. She clears her throat. “I was thinking… maybe you and I could go together..?”

This, it seems, is the wrong thing to say.

Merula scoffs, the curve of her lips turning bitter. “Oh, yeah, because you couldn’t get anyone else, right? I’m just some scapegoat, hm?”

Bori flinches, realizing that there were probably much better ways to phrase her question. “No, that’s not it!” She denies, pushing a hand through her brown hair.

“Really?” Merula quips. “Then why?”

Her mouth goes dry and suddenly the words get caught in her throat. Merula shifts her weight from foot to foot and Bori decides just to go for it. “Think about it? The best witch at Hogwarts and the resident curse breaker? Can you honestly tell me that we wouldn’t be the best couple there?”

She quiets at this as though mulling it over. Around them people continue on, but Bori takes no notice of them. The only thing she can focus on now is the dip of her eyebrows knitted together in thought and the scrutinizing way Merula’s gaze drifts over her. She can hear the pounding of her heart in her ears.

After what feels like a millennia, Merula gives a small nod. “I suppose you have a point, we would show everyone else up by a long shot.” The thought tugs a smile onto her face and Bori makes a point not to release a breath of relief.

“I guess it’s settled then?”

“I guess it is.” A handful of awkward nods later and Merula turns around to head back over to Ismelda. She’s only a few feet away before she spins back around to point a threatening finger at Bori. “Oh, and no corsages! They’re tacky.”

Bori offers her a thumbs up in response and Merula finally returns to her place across the courtyard. Her outcome achieved, she gathers her things and tries not to smile too brightly on her way out.

“Would you stop messing with that!” Andre bristles, slapping half-heartedly at her hands that hold fistfuls of her dress. “You look stunning, of course. She’ll be here soon.”

Bori huffs indignantly but turns back to one of the mirrors the staff had conveniently put up for the Celestial Ball.

She has to say, Andre and Rowan did a great job helping her get ready. While the former had “slaved” over the final touches of her dress, Rowan insisted on doing her hair, claiming she’d been practicing to do her own. A few stray strands fall in tight ringlets around her face while the rest of it is pinned back, draping behind her shoulders. She opted to go light on jewelry, keeping in her earrings and adding a silver bracelet to match the color of her floor length dress.

“Bori! Bori!” Her sister’s voice echoes, only for the girl to barrel into her a second later. Her lips are stretched wide in a grin, her body practically buzzing in excitement. “Merula’s here!”

Lyubka doesn’t wait for the words to process, grabbing at her shoulders and spinning her around to face the entrance of the Great Hall. And there she spots Merula, speaking calmly to Ismelda at her left.

Suddenly all the lights and conversations around them fall away, fading into simply background noise. She doesn’t register all the starry decorations that hang from the ceiling or bloom below her feet on the enchanted dance floor.

The only thing she sees now is Merula Snyde.

Magenta eyes lock on hers and instantly Bori knows that the beating of her heart hastens to match hers.

Merula marches toward her with purpose. If it weren’t for the ever so faint blush dusting her cheeks, Bori would be completely convinced of the cool and confident façade she presents. The other students seem to part for her and Bori’s unsure if it’s out of fear or reverence.

Likely a bit of both.

“Gotta say, Andreeva,” Merula remarks once within hearing distance, her eyes taking over her appearance with intrigue. “You look good. I’m impressed.”

“Well, I couldn’t be caught with the best witch at Hogwarts wearing just anything.” Bori coos, batting her eyes in a miraculous stroke of flirtation.

“Merlin knows she tried…” Andre calls from over Bori’s shoulder, earning himself a glare.

But to her surprise, Merula chuckles at the jab, the sound softer than Bori would have thought. “I mean, you’re no me but I suppose it’ll do.”

Bori releases a sound somewhere between a scoff and a genuine laugh. “Oh please, we’re the best looking ones here and you know it.”

Her eyes shine with mirth and she points over her shoulder to the dance floor. “And clearly we’ll be the best dancers too if this is our competition.”

Bori cranes her neck around Merula to see a group of Gryffindor boys trying to bust some moves that look as though they came directly from the highlights of their grandparents. Their eyes meet for a brief moment before they’re both overtaken by bouts of obnoxious laughter. Merula clutches at her side while Bori steadies herself on her date.

“Totally,” Bori agrees once their giggles begin to subside, gasping just a little for breath. “I’m sure it won’t be too difficult to beat that.”

Merula’s freshly manicured eyebrow arches in subtle protest, a smirk painting her glossy lips. “Is that a challenge, Andreeva?”

Her expression grows to match. “Absolutely.”

Grabbing at each other’s hands in such a natural way that neither of them want to question, they push their way into the middle of the dance floor, right under the potentially fake disco ball. They share a grin before allowing themselves to get lost in the melody of the songs. The closeness comes easy to them and Bori finds that being here with Merula just makes an invariable amount of sense.

It’s only after a handful of other songs open and die out that one of them speaks up again and Bori is shocked to find that it’s Merula.

“You know, Andreeva,” She yells to be heard over the music, her body still following the upbeat rhythm. “I’m really glad you’re my date tonight.”

For a moment Bori’s certain she heard her wrong. Are her ears deceiving her? “Really?”

Merula nods, the most sincere and unapologetic smile she’s ever seen before pulling at her mouth. “Yeah. If you hadn’t asked me… I don’t think I would’ve been able to ask you.”

Bori grins and reaches out to drape her arms around Merula’s shoulders, meeting at the nape of her neck. “Well then I’m glad I asked.”

“Me, too.”

She knows that by this time tomorrow, the two of them are likely to go back to pretending this date never happened. Merula will fall back into the act that she’s never enjoyed a moment of her company and Bori will feign hostility at the mere mention of her name.

But for now they dance. They sway.

And let their worries fade away.

[benscursedkid]

synopsis: being a twin is hard, but maybe diego can help with that.

pairing: lyubomira andreeva x diego caplan

genre: just lots of fluff :))

a/n: the first finished product from my followers special! to my other winners, there really isn’t an order in which I’m doing these, just whichever I feel like in the moment until one of them is ready. also, I’m sorry for the delay, I was much busier this week than I planned. 💙

tag: 1/2 of @blubxtch request!! lyubka belongs to her!

It was rather cold.

With the fall beginning to bleed into winter, the air seems to be thinning and the world appears to be losing its color. Preparing for the chill the passing of the seasons will bring, Lyubka is starting to regret not bringing an extra layer to practice.

“Andreeva!” The Captain shouts, successfully gaining the Hufflepuff’s attention. “You remember the plunge play?”

Lyubka nods.

“Good,” He says and her grip on her broom tightens. “Then do it.”

Their newest recruit, a third year chaser, readies himself for the onslaught. He shivers involuntarily, pressing his lips firmly together to stop his teeth from chattering. She offers him a reassuring smile before launching off.

He holds himself well, executioning the dive almost flawlessly. Cadmus, she remembers his name was. After having watched them going through their entire playbook on multiple occasions, it seems as though he’s finally ready to prove himself.

Their captain gives him a curt nod of acknowledgement, the slight attention brings a smile to his face, dimples poking into his numb cheeks. As for herself, Lyubka offers him a stiff thumbs up. His smile widens.

They continue on, going over each of their plays for the next match, Lyubka’s focus sharp and concentrated. It’s only when a certain flash of gold meets her eyes that she takes pause.

Diego. He sits in his usual spot, in the middle of the temporarily empty stands, nose buried into his characteristic striped scarf. When she catches his eye, he waves, his fingers wiggling effortlessly in a flirty hello.

She tries to scoff, but the corners of her mouth betray her, unable to restrain from smirking back in kind. Well, she assumes he’s smirking, not that she can actually tell with that scarf.

It’s another half hour before the captain calls it a day and a chorus of relieved groans erupt from the players. Landing their brooms, they disappear into the lockers, more than ready to be out of their sweaty practice gear.

Lyubka steps out, feeling the sharp chill that permeates the air nip at her uncovered cheeks. Her hands begin to shake and she pulls them up to her mouth to blow hot air across them. Rubbing them together, she starts on her usual trek up to the stands to join Diego.

“You know,” She calls upon reaching her destination, having pulled her practice gloves back on for some form of warmth. She sits down to his left. “I’m the one who expels all my energy in practice. The least you could do is meet me down there.”

Diego grins, all soft angles and bright eyes. “But the view up here is so much better.”

She arches a bemused eyebrow. “It’s just the Quidditch pitch.”

The boy sighs, dragging out an unopened water bottle from his bag, passing it to her instinctually. “Come on, I know you’re a Quidditch star,” He jests, and she pauses with the water halfway to her mouth, smiling. “But surely even you can see past the stands.”

Her head tilts in thought. Truthfully, she’s not sure she ever has. It’s not as though she physically can’t see beyond the pitch, she’s just never given herself reason too. A right shame, if she’s honest.

So, taking a quick gulp from her water, she closes it and finally casts a look around the place.

With the castle being off in the direction behind her, she finds the pitch surrounded on all sides by thick forest. Large trees and vast green grass spreads out for miles, brought even more to life by the setting sun, getting closer and closer to the horizon. The sky pales, a calm before the storm so to speak, before the vibrant colors tear through it.

“See?” Diego winks, pulling out a bag of snacks, offering her a cookie that no doubt came from Penny. “Told you it’s worth it.”

Lyubka returns the expression. “I suppose you’re right.”

“But you do have a point,” At her questioning look, he sighs and sets his food aside. “You work hard and I should be more considerate.”

The brunette shakes her head, her hand reaching out to lay across his arm of its own accord. “Diego, you come out here every practice to keep me company and hydrated,” She proves this by shaking the water bottle he’d given her. “No matter the weather, no matter the time, no matter whatever else is going on. You come and that’s more than enough.”

“But I could do more,” Before she can protest, he holds up a hand, silently asking for permission to continue. She gives it. “I just wish you wouldn’t work yourself so hard, Lyubka. You’re already exceptional, you could stand a rest every now and again. Between Quidditch, the vaults, and everyone else’s problems, you’re wearing yourself thin.”

Lyubka shrinks, knowing he’s right. It’s always been a habit of hers, second nature, to take on everything that she can. Sometimes she forgets that she has a limit.

Diego hesitates beside her, but eventually unwraps his scarf from around his neck. Instead, he drapes it across her shoulders. Her instincts tell her to fight it, insist he should keep it, but with the soft way his eyes shine with the kind of satisfaction only selfless kindness can give, she decides against it.

It’s soft against her skin, warm, and smells starkly like mint and honey.

“I don’t know if it’s any of my business,” Diego murmurs, voice slightly more clear without the scarf. “But is there a reason behind that?”

“Behind what?”

He shrugs as if unable to find the words. “Your, uh.. competitive streak?” He asks slowly, testing the sentence on his tongue.

“Competitive streak?” She gasps dramatically, though it’s a half effort.

A low chuckle sounds from his throat. “What else can you call it?” She ponders this for a moment but, as expected, comes up short. “See?”

A lull drifts in the conversation, the two of them falling quiet. But thankfully, much to Lyubka’s relief, it is not uncomfortable. She feels like she doesn’t need words. It would be impossible for them to compare to the ache in the apples of her cheeks whenever she seeks his company. Or the constricting of her chest whenever he looks at her with those eyes, full of passion and mirth and genuine interest. It’s nice, she thinks, to feel this way.

After all she’s gone through at Hogwarts, all the chaos and adventure, it’s refreshing to have someone who puts her at peace whom she can come back to. Truth be told, she wasn’t certain she’d even have the opportunity for something as trivial and exciting as a crush. Makes her almost feel her own age. For once, she has the chance to be normal.

But she will never be normal.

“It’s a bad habit, my competitiveness,” She explains and Diego nods from beside her, passing her a pretzel. She smiles. “I think it’s a twin thing.” She wrinkles her nose.

“Why do you say that?” He asks, a sincere curiosity lacing his tone.

“Well, when people are always pitting you against someone, it becomes second nature to try and prove yourself.”

She turns to him now, and her breath catches in her throat.

It seems that she had not taken into account the bleeding sun. The rich hues and vibrant shades of yellow and orange and gold strung out across the skyline. Currently, the sun is barely peeking out behind distant hills, bidding the beautiful land a dutiful farewell.

Yet all her focus is on Diego. The halo of golden light surrounds him as if the strands couldn’t help but to touch him, bask gratefully in his presence. Whisks of amber cast a warm glow across his expectant expression, his face a radiant canvas for their natural works of art. For who could ever find a muse better than him?

The image before her is a stark contrast to the chill around her and she’s suddenly unsure exactly how it happened.

His brown eyes crinkle with a knowing smirk and she looks away to hide the flush in her cheeks that is in no way related to the cold.

“That doesn’t seem very fair,” He remarks and a small chuckle escapes her.

“It’s not,” she sighs, a frown tugging at her lips. “It’s hard to be my own person sometimes. I can never just be Lyubka, or even Lyubomira Andreeva. It’s always Lyubka and Bori or Bori and Lyubka. People are always comparing us. If Bori can do something, I’m expected to be able to do it too and at the same level of expertise.”

“And if not?”

“Then it makes me weak,” The very thought, and all her pent up frustration, almost pulls pinpricks to her eyes. She blinks them back. “Or thick and dull and just altogether… less. And my family does not settle for less.”

He doesn’t speak, sensing that she isn’t finished. He doesn’t have to wait long. “It’s not usually the kind of thing that would bother me,” She admits, voice wavering. “But when you spend all your time with someone, only to never measure up..?”

“It’s enough to drive anyone mad.” Diego finishes and her eyes snap to him.

Atanas.

Will he become the measure by which all Andreevi are judged? She worries about this on nights where her brain is tired yet sleep does not grace her. Will people look at her and see Bori? Or will they catch her eye and think of Atanas?

Will she ever be Lyubka?

Is she destined to be just another branch on her family tree?

“Well, if it makes you feel any better,” Diego whistles, giving her a sideways glance. “I know tons of things she can do that you can’t.”

She blinks. Once. Twice.

Come again?

“For example,” He starts, seemingly oblivious to her entire reaction. “Liz tells me that she can sleep for hours into the day if left undisturbed! And that she can never remember where she leaves her wand. Also, did you know she never laughs at my jokes?”

For a moment he appears so absolutely offended, Lyubka can’t help but laugh. It bubbles from her throat unbidden and soon Diego is joining her. The sound twinkles pleasantly in her ears like wind chimes.

“What was that about?” She questions after the laughter has died down, unable to help herself.

For a moment, he stutters, and Lyubka swears the red of his cheeks match hers.

He shrugs, trying his best to appear nonchalant. “I don’t know. I guess I just wanted you to know that what you can and can’t do makes you you,” His shoulders raise as he takes a deep breath and laces their fingers together, an all too earnest look in his eyes. “And just so you know, there’s so much that you can do that she can’t.”

“Like what?” She hears herself ask before she even registers she’s speaking.

“She doesn’t practice dueling with me, or sneak down into the kitchens to swipe some midnight snacks,” The words leave his mouth in a flurry of jumbled thoughts, but really, when have genuine emotions ever made sense? “Bori can’t challenge me like you can, or see me the way you do. She can’t make me smile or make me lost in thought like you do…”

Diego reaches out a hand to tuck a stray strand of hair she hadn’t even realized was there behind her ear. He allows it to linger there. She doesn’t push him away. “She can never be you, Lyubka.”

Neither of them are quite sure who leaned in first, but suddenly his lips miss hers. They land centimeters away, on her cheek. Her eyes flutter shut as her heart skips uncontrollably. His lips, soft and chilled on her hot face, move slightly closer, catching just the corner of her mouth. Hers twitch as if they want to pull into a smile but are too preoccupied with other thoughts to do so.

Suddenly, he stops. His eyes wander up her face until they find hers and without any pretense, Lyubka leans forward.

He kisses her softly, gently, but in earnest and with the vigor of someone who has ached to do something for a very long time. The entire world around them falls away until Diego Caplan is the only thing in her mind. She smiles into his mouth.

They pull apart and Diego grins in disbelief. “Yeah,” He drawls, his cheeks a pretty pink. “I don’t think Bori could do that either.”

She laughs and pulls him in, her arms wrapping around his neck as the sun finally sets beyond them.