"Okay, don't try to make me feel guilty," he said in a cool tone, feeling a little guilty. Only a little bit though, as it was both of their times being wasted in here. "I didn't purposely throw myself in front of the bottle so it would land on me, just so you would have a terrible time. I'm sure the both of us would rather someone else be in here, right now." Not that he personally had anybody in mind, if he was being honest. Diego wasn't exactly in a Valentines Party mood. He probably shouldn't have even come.

He scoffed and rolled his eyes at her question. Maybe he felt a little bad that they were both in here when they didn't want to be, but he didn't believe for a moment she was interested in kissing him at all. "I'd call bullshit," Diego said, "give me a break. What part about any of this," he motioned between the two of them, "is appealing at all?"

Sassa looked at Diego with a hint of disbelief on her face - she had known he didn’t like her, known he didn’t look at her as someone on the same level as he was, or whatever bullshit Diego Fuentes would deny caused him to be such a dick, but the fact that he thought she’d be okay with such blatant rejection was still baffling to her. Then again, he probably wasn’t thinking about her at all. Rather than he didn’t want to do this, to hell with what she thought or wanted, or how it would look. “Sure,” Sassa answered, the word drawn out into multiple syllables, her irritation emphasizing each and every one of them. “All of this is exactly what I want on Valentine’s Day. You shouldn’t have,” she said, her hand landing on her chest as if simpering over Diego, unable to help putting on a performance even in the near dark of the closet.

It wasn’t that Diego had never bought her acts - it was that he had always seemingly looked right through them, never even seeing her. And if there was one thing Sassa hated, it was feeling invisible. She let out a quiet laugh, devoid of amusement as she gave her curls a toss. “What if I did intend to kiss you?” she said after a beat, not that she moved towards him, letting the question hover in the air between them, before Sassa lifted a hand to motion towards the door. “Do whatever you want, Diego.” 

"I didn't even know it was a real thing that people actually did," Diego said, shrugging his shoulders, "it sounds like it was just made up for movies." Maybe it was, but college had a way of taking things that had been made up for entertainment purposes and making it real. He nodded his head slowly, he was never one to make snap judgements about people. It usually took him a while to decide if he liked someone or not, but a lot of the time that felt like a flaw, not a good thing. "Would you rather questions?" He repeated, looking thoughtful. "Something like ... Would You Rather … Danny Devito or Danny Trejo play you in a movie?"

“Nope, never,” Nat replied with a shake of her head, swiping a stray piece of hair behind her ear in like a nervous habit. “Have you?” Had she been paired with Diego like this before New Year’s, she would have had an entirely different mindset about it, but as it was, he’d been kind and nothing at all like she imagined, so she was staying open. And wow, this was actually kind of nerve-wracking now that she was sitting here in the middle of it, wasn’t it? “Well, I don’t know about wanting to date someone, but I feel like I can tell pretty quickly whether or not I’m, like, into someone. But now that I’m put on the spot, I feel like I can only think of ridiculous would you rather questions. Like that’s going to tell you whether or not you want to date someone.”

"It feels like it's been a while since I've done it," Diego said, a small chuckle coming from him, "so let me know if there's anything I should be doing." It wasn't actually true that it had been a while since Ollie had started stopping by again recently, but that was being kept to themselves for now. He didn't want Ollie to start thinking it was something it wasn't … again … So, he would pretend. He smiled against Alethea's mouth as they leaned forward again, pulling them closer. "We should hang out more," Diego said, between breaks where breaths were taken, "I don't mean to kiss…" He added, realizing what that sounded like. Not that he would probably turn her down, this was pretty fun. "I just mean … I feel like we've never hung out." Were they actually friends where they would have ever done that? Not really, but that didn't mean they couldn't become friends.

this was part of the normal college experience right? sneaking (or voluntary being told via a game) into closets with someone hot and making out with them. no other thoughts in their mind, which was easier said than done. different thoughts tumbled in and out of alethea's mind, but where drawn away when diego wrapped his arms around her, moving them toward the back wall. one hand slipped from behind his back to his jaw, clutching it gently to keep herself anchored to him.

their back brushed a box and she pulled back, giving diego a soft smile. "it's alright." her cheeks were hot and she was glad that he couldn't see just how deeply she was blushing. "uh, you're a really good kisser." she laughed softly, fingers softly curling against his jaw. and from what she knew he seemed like a good person, it still puzzled her how little she actually spoke to him, knew him. like most people. hesitantly she leaned back in, pausing before pressing her lips against his again softly.

"But we did become friends," he stated flatly. "I doubt Greer was out here going out of her way to convince you to fuck her," she had more than enough people who would, "It kinda feels like it was you, even after we became friends." Diego didn't know if Milo was being purposely obtuse, or purposely an asshole here, but it was giving him a headache. He reached up, absently rubbing his forehead as if it would help with the dull thudding pain he was starting to feel, and subconciously mimicking Milo's movements until he realized what he was doing, and dropped his hand. "Maybe I should have expected my friend to sleep with my girlfriend?" He repeated. He pressed his lips together tightly, eyes narrowing at Milo. "You know what? Just don't come back to the house. It's also probably best that you don't come back to this locker room anymore either." He said, finally as he shook his head and turned his back to head away from Milo. "I'm so fucking over this shit, dude. I don't want to see you again."

"Oh, yeah that's my mistake to even compare the two," he said, laughing, "might as well be a different country." Diego could probably give an entire Ted Talk about the privatization of NASA and how it would stunt the growth of anything the US had to contribute to the conversation, but he didn't think they had a long enough time during their speed date, even if he was sure Jacqui would likely be one of the more receptive audience members he could have found himself with. "No," he said, shaking his head, "we weren't home a lot, so I think my parents decided it would be best to put a pet through that. Maybe once I move out on my own." He leaned back a little bit considering Jacqui's question, and giving a small laugh. "I've only ever actually dated one person in my entire life. If that counts as something I wouldn't tell someone on a first date." He'd been with more people than just Greer, but he'd never dated any of them. "What about you? What's something you wouldn't tell someone on the first date?"

"Caltech wouldn't be too far. Stanford though...Northern California. Basically a different planet," Jacqui quipped, the a frown appeared on their face anyways, Diego's joke - or not-so-joke - causing her lower lip to pout out ever so slightly. "What a tragedy, though I suppose you can't expect anything else from capitalism," they murmured, a soft sigh leaving their lips. Jacqui leaned forward, elbows propped up on the table, propping up their chin in their hand as they refocused on their date, listening to Diego as their head angled slightly towards one side. "You never had any pets? Not even growing up?" they asked, a hint of surprise in their tone. They knew families like that, of course, but it couldn't help but take them by surprise every time. "Okay, let's see - since we're on a time limit here - tell me something you wouldn't normally tell a first date," they proposed, eyes scanning over Diego's face as they spoke, trying to gauge his reaction.

He laughed a little bit, and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think that's true, I'm pretty sure there would be a lot of people who would think I was still pretty out of line if I kicked his ass," he pointed out. Even if Milo wasn't the most well liked person on campus. "Besides, I'm trying to consider more what it says about me, if I were to do something like that. If that makes sense." He shook his head, "do I even have a right to be mad? Is there a limitation on this sort of thing? Greer and I have been broken up for a long time." Even if people liked to think of him as 'Greer's ex' especially now, considering everything going on. "Just…" Diego trailed off a moment, as if trying to think of what Charlie might be able to do to help, "I don't know. Give him the stink eye when you see him. Insult him a little bit. Nothing out of the ordinary for you two."

"shit, too late," she teased, jingling her overloaded key ring in her hand. "no, it's not unreasonable. actually, you're being way too reasonable here. you have a real opportunity in front of you to beat him up without anyone judging you, so, like, weigh that option carefully." she can think of at least a couple people she'd like that opportunity with herself. frankly, charlie enjoyed casting herself as the victim; it was beyond her why diego wouldn't want to capitalize on his public sympathy as much as possible. "we can vent as long as you need," she arranged her face in what she hoped was a sympathetic expression. god, she was such a good friend. "diego, i am so sorry the whole school knows your missing ex-girlfriend was cheating on you with your friend. massive douche behavior from both of them. if you're sure you don't want me to key milo's car, what can i do to help?" she gave her best therapist impersonation.

Under normal circumstances, if they were normal people at a normal school, Alethea would be right and this would probably be a little weird. Even if it had been over a year since him and Greer broke up, she was missing, and now they were makingout. But they weren't normal people at a normal school, and everything about this entire year had been 'a little weird'. If there was some scale out there judging what things were fucked up, he didn't even think this would make an honorable mention. And didn't they both need to have a little bit more fun recently?

Diego wrapped his arms around Alethea's waist as the kiss deepend. One of his hands held steady on the small of their back as the other moved up to the side of their face, running along their cheek bone. He parted his lips, and lifted her chin, as he eased Alethea closer and nudged them closer to the wall of the closet. Only to jostle some boxes containing whatever it was sorority girls kept in their closets. "Sorry," he apologized, pulling away briefly with a small laugh.

he was right. why not was just as good a reason as any. and it's not like greer was there to know, or anyone else for the matter. even in her absence greer defined alethea's relationship with everyone else, with the world, and she couldn't figure out if that was normal or not. diego's hands settled on their waist, and they pushed those thoughts and concerns away. alethea could have fun, could make impulsive and bad decisions, ones that no one would know about. it happened once before, it could happen again.

her arms wrapped around his neck, hands clasping together. she gave a small reassuring smile after the first peck, something soft and borderline innocent. it took no more convincing as he pulled her back in, lips meeting for a deeper kiss. without thinking her fingers played with the hairs on the back of his neck, keeping him close as she lost a bit of herself in the kiss. the closet faded away, greer faded away, and it was nice to just fucking kiss someone.

"Oh. Thank you," Diego said, looking back up at Sassa, looking fairly surprised at the compliment. Unsure of what to do next with that, he slowly just turned his eyes back down to his phone. Though he hardly lasted even thirty seconds before he gave a heavy sigh. "This is so stupid," he muttered. He shouldn't have even come to this stupid party anyway. "Do you want to just--" He waved his hand in a 'shooing' motion to indicate the idea of them leaving, "it's pointless to just stand around silently in the dark for seven minutes." Not that he really had anything better to do at the moment, honestly. "I really have no intention of kissing you, and I'm sure you feel the same way." At least as far as he could tell. "What are they going to do if we leave before seven minutes? Assume we didn't makeout?" Imagine that.

The wolf whistles caused Sassa to let out a huff of air, the breath leaving her nose, as the door clicked shut, giving Diego a disdainful look as he spoke. She doubted he meant it - other than in the sense that, yes, she objectively looked nice. That couldn't be denied, even by someone with standards she apparently couldn't live up to, like Diego. But there was no true feeling or admiration behind his words, she was sure - he was simply saying it because he felt like he had to. Which irritated Sassa even more than if he hadn't said anything at all.

But the passion that translated into anger with Diego wasn't exactly what she had been hoping for in playing this stupid game. Especially not after the last seven minutes. So rather than retorting, Sassa exhaled, head tipping back. "Thank you," she said after a few beats too long, her chin staying raised, shaking curls out over her shoulders as her eyes flickered over Diego. "You do too," Sassa murmured, the distaste in the words belying the fact that she actually meant them, as annoying as that was.

He got the feeling that Alethea cared a bit more about his relationship status with Greer (former relationship status with Greer) than Greer had actually cared. But that made sense for Alethea, they always seemed a bit more anxious than the others. A little bolder in more recent months, and he wasn't sure if that was Greer's influence, or the absence of Greer's influence that did it. Perhaps a mix of both – he could relate to the feeling. They were moving closer, though, and Diego reached down, placing his hands on their waist and pulling them towards him. Leaving behind the uncertainty. Nobody could see what they were doing in this closet, so, for seven minutes it didn't matter. "'But why not' seems like as good of a reason as any," he laughed.

Diego leaned down, pressing his lips to Alethea's in first what was nearly a peck before pulling away and looking over her face just to see if he caught any signs of wanting to back out. When he didn't, he reached up to hold their chin and pulled them back in. Prolonging and deepening the kiss.

alethea tilted her head, black hair cascading over her shoulder as she pondered diego's answer. not having a bad time wasn't the same as having a good time, "not the same thing but." she shrugged, it certainly wasn't her business, and she didn't need to push it. why would diego want to tell her anyway?

"well it was just girl code to think of you that way." they tried to explain, though greer had never asked that of alethea, she just assumed it. she doubted that greer would have happy if they had gone after one of her exes, that was if she cared to notice. but diego was right, they were insular. everyone's worlds orbiting greer that it all exploded when she disappeared, leaving them all gasping and grasping to make sense of it all, forcing them to look at anyone besides her now.

at his comment, she stepped forward toward him, letting out a soft sigh. what was her new years resolution? something about taking risks or something? fuck it. "you know i'm not a very decisive person." they laughed, shaking their head - they never had to be. "but why not?" at this she closed the gap just a little more, meeting diego's eyes, not wanting to cross any boundaries, but caring little about the repercussions that almost were entirely in her head.

He laughed at Jacqui's responses, nodding his head. He saw all that for them, really. Nothing came as too much of a surprise, but nothing really came as too much of a red flag either. "I was actually considering moving to California for grad school. Either at Stanford or Caltech. So, not too far away from you," he said. "Maybe do some interning with NASA before space becomes completely privatized." He was joking, but also … not joking sadly. But he wasn't going to let that bring the mood down at the current moment. "I do want to get married, eventually. I think, but I'm definitely not considering it any time soon. I also like all animals, but I've never had any pets, so I don't know if I would really do well with a cat or a dog. I'm terrible at taking care of plants, so I might also be terrible with pets."

“Diego!” Jacqui cooed in greeting, a bright smile appearing on their face as he joined them. They were positively thrilled with the match, though it was highly likely that would’ve been Jacqui’s reaction no matter who had been sat down beside them for this little activity the sorority had put on. A laugh slipped from their lips as Diego rapidly fired off questions, lifting one finger up to tap at their bottom lip as they pretended to seriously think it through. “Let’s see - never speed dated before tonight. But I do think three minutes is enough to figure out if you’re compatible with someone. I probably want to move back to southern California but not before I travel and live a lot of other places first, try them all out. Maybe settle in Mexico City instead. I’m not particularly set on getting married, no, but, hey...if that was you proposing,” Jacqui paused, winking at Diego, before continuing to answer. “And I like all animals so I refuse to choose. I think that was all of them, so now all the same right back at you.” 

Diego smiled a little bit, toying with the drink in front of him. Pushing it from one hand to the other without doing much actual drinking of it. "We don't need to key his car. Though I appreciate the idea," he said, trying to be reasonable here, even though he likely didn't need to be. He wasn't the sort to lose his temper, maybe not ever, even now. "I'm not really looking for a way to retaliate," Diego said, shaking his head, "It's not even like I don't get it. I do. But if I were sleeping with someone, and then became friends with that persons boyfriend I"d stop sleeping with them. That's not unreasonable." He took another drink from the beer before giving a sigh. "I don't mean to vent to you," he said, looking over at Charlie, "You really don't have to sit and listen to me whine about this if you don't want to. We can talk about literally anything else at all."

charlie was growing increasingly uncomfortable in her seat, and she sloshed the straw around in her drink to avoid eye contact. she was more used to being the one being discussed during this kind of conversation. "it is especially shitty that you guys were actually friends." although charlie and diego were friends too, and she hadn't felt the need to tell him about greer's infidelity. that was different though; that was greer. "but if it helps, i really don't think it was personal. i mean, not to defend milo or anything. fuck him. let's key his car." continuing on her ethical pondering, she decided she did not owe milo a warning even though they were friends- if he didn't see this coming, that was his own idiocy, and there was nothing charlie could do to help him now. who knew friendship came with all these disclosure obligations?

He was not actually sure how to answer Ollie's question. Was it surprising? Part of Diego thought so, but then there was a part of him that wasn't surprised at all. "I'm surprised because I thought… I don't know there would be some line," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "even for Greer and Milo. I thought there would be a line, but I guess there wasn't." That was the closest he could come to being able to explain the feeling. He knew Greer. And he knew Milo. He knew the kinds of people they were, but did they really just not give a shit about anybody else? Maybe not. "I'll be fine," he muttered, he was being very sullen, but he'd eventually get over it, wouldn't he? Ollie's offer made Diego pause again, really having to think about it. He liked Ollie. He enjoyed Ollie's company. He knew how Ollie felt about him, and he knew how fucked up things could get with him. So, he knew he shouldn't and yet… "It might be better if you came to my room," he made the counter offer, "no roommate..."

closed starter for @nataliavega location: tri delt valentine's party time: during speed dating

Maybe Speed Dating was a good option, he seemed to have better luck than spin the bottle which had been 50/50. He didn't know Nat that well, in fact they really had only spoken one time quite recently. But as far as he knew it had gone alright, and she seemed like a nice girl. "You ever do any speed dating before?" He asked, pretty sure he could guess her answer would be the same as his. "What are the odds of finding out if you want to date someone within three minutes, do you think?"

He was not actually sure how to answer Ollie's question. Was it surprising? Part of Diego thought so, but then there was a part of him that wasn't surprised at all. "I'm surprised because I thought… I don't know there would be some line," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "even for Greer and Milo. I thought there would be a line, but I guess there wasn't." That was the closest he could come to being able to explain the feeling. He knew Greer. And he knew Milo. He knew the kinds of people they were, but did they really just not give a shit about anybody else? Maybe not. "I'll be fine," he muttered, he was being very sullen, but he'd eventually get over it, wouldn't he? Ollie's offer made Diego pause again, really having to think about it. He liked Ollie. He enjoyed Ollie's company. He knew how Ollie felt about him, and he knew how fucked up things could get with him. So, he knew he shouldn't and yet… "It might be better if you came to my room," he made the counter offer, "no roommate..."

Ollie raised his eyebrows a little bit at the statement that there was nothing to vent about. He stayed silent after that, and as expected Diego continued on to indeed vent about something. He glanced up at him with a small frown. "Yeah, it sounds like it sucks," he said, shaking his head. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to have his best friend sleep with someone he was dating, but then there wasn't a world where he could imagine that situation happening for multiple reasons. But it would be painful if it happened. "Was it surprising to hear?" He didn't mean it in a rude way, like it shouldn't have been surprising. Even though hearing the Milo and Greer had been fucking was very unsurprising. He was genuinely curious how Diego had felt when he heard the news. He couldn't really say anything else, how was he supposed to comfort someone. Like 'I'm sure Milo didn't mean it' or 'I'm sure it was an accident'? No! "Are you gonna be okay? You can come to my room if you want … Since yours is empty." Just a casual offer...

"But we did become friends," he stated flatly. "I doubt Greer was out here going out of her way to convince you to fuck her," she had more than enough people who would, "It kinda feels like it was you, even after we became friends." Diego didn't know if Milo was being purposely obtuse, or purposely an asshole here, but it was giving him a headache. He reached up, absently rubbing his forehead as if it would help with the dull thudding pain he was starting to feel, and subconciously mimicking Milo's movements until he realized what he was doing, and dropped his hand. "Maybe I should have expected my friend to sleep with my girlfriend?" He repeated. He pressed his lips together tightly, eyes narrowing at Milo. "You know what? Just don't come back to the house. It's also probably best that you don't come back to this locker room anymore either." He said, finally as he shook his head and turned his back to head away from Milo. "I'm so fucking over this shit, dude. I don't want to see you again."

That was fair. He should have seen this coming, to be honest. Where privately was he going to be able to talk to Diego if he wasn't allowing himself to privately speak with Diego. Milo knew this, in the logical and reasonable part of his brain, he knew this. Unfortunately, when he did something wrong he rarely acted logical or reasonable about it. He didn't like the feeling of getting cornered, and he didn't like the deeply guilty feeling he had in the pit of his stomach when it came to the whole situation. He hadn't felt guilty before now! He hated that he was starting to. He couldn't show that though, so he didn't. Instead he rolled his eyes at Diego's questions, giving a scoff. "We didn't stop after you broke up," Milo said, ignoring the previous question about if he cared at all. "You were broken up, why would it suddenly matter if I were sleeping with her?" He reached up, running his hand through his hair, the frustration seeping through his movements. "Be honest, Dee, it's more surprising that we became friends than it is that I was sleeping with her. Maybe you should have expected it."

Diego was tempted to not follow. He really debated not going at all, but people were looking at him like he was supposed to. Like it was expected. And he had always been one to cave to expectations, wasn't he? So, by the time Sassa had made it to the closet and in, he finally started to follow, pulling his phone out and getting ready for a very quiet seven minutes. Because if there was one person at this party he did not want to talk to … Well, it was Milo, so he was at least grateful fate didn't hate him that much. But Sassa was not high on his list either, and he doubted she wanted to talk to him much either.

He slid the closet door shut, rolling his eyes at the wolf whistles that came their way. "You look nice," he said, politely. Something automatic in the way he said it, like he was only saying it because it was something he was taught he was supposed to say. Which was mostly true, but it was also true that Sassa looked nice. He doubted her looks had ever been a problem for her. Her personality though? Well, they likely had the same feelings about each other. Diego leaned against the wall opposite Sassa in the small space, making sure to give them both enough room as he started absently scrolling his instagram feed.

who: @bigmandiego where: tri delt valentine's party when: during spin the bottle

She thought it couldn't get worse than Charlie. She had genuinely thought it couldn't get worse - and to be fair, Diego may not have been worse than Charlie when comparing them directly, but Sassa had more thought the night couldn't get worse. And then she took her turn for spin the bottle, only for it to land on Diego Fuentes.

Someone or something had a sick sense of humor - because surely Sassa hadn't done anything so bad to deserve this.

Flashing a smile at Diego as she passed by, almost crossing into the territory of being more of a baring of her teeth as her jaw clenched down from irritation, she flounced by him into the closet, not waiting to see if he was following. Maybe he wouldn't and then she could use the seven minutes to get herself off since god only knew it wouldn't be happening now.

"I'm not having a bad time," he said. Not exactly a very decisive answer, but he could be having a worse time. Diego had been having a pretty tough past couple of weeks and thought maybe the party would be a good way to forget all about it. It was still early, so maybe it was… He laughed a little bit, "I'd hope after a year of being broken up, I'd be more than Greer's ex." One could hope, but one would be deluding themselves. "Ogden is really small." Was that an excuse? Was it even that small. "Maybe we're all just really insular? Maybe we just need to start branching out and making new friends…" It would make things a lot less awkward sometimes. Like would he be having his current problem of his best friend fucking his ex while he was still dating her, if he had met people not through Greer? Probably not.

"But," Diego said, smiling a little bit across the small space at Alethea, "I guess the only way to tell if it'll be weird is if we kiss. I leave it up to you."

usually she was a spectator, looking over other's shoulders with a raised eyebrow, but tonight they were seated in the circle, feet tapping against each other as they ignored the desire to pull their knees to their chest and disappear. she watched as diego spun the bottle, not thinking much about his turn - a lot of interesting pairings had already occurred - when suddenly everyone was looking at her. glancing down they noticed the bottle facing them and diego's smiling face. this felt unexpected. but they returned the smile, found their way to their feet and across the way to the closet. "i am," they beamed looking up at him, "are you?"

without complaint they took the cup from him and took a hearty drink before facing him. "so is it...weird for me to kiss my missing best friend's ex-boyfriend?" alethea mused, with another sip. not meaning it maliciously, just curiously. the two didn't know each other well at all. "though like, you seem really nice to kiss." they added, not wanting him to think that she wouldn't kiss him, cause they absolutely would.