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thatprofessionalfangirl · 5 years

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Sunshine

A/N: I’m back baby! And I’m here to break your hearts!

Request: No, but I would like to thank my darling angel Alex for giving me this idea and supporting me throughout writing this fic!

Pairing: Young!Diego Hargreeves x Young!Hargreeves!Reader (purely platonic ladies)

Description: I don’t have one, but it’s based off ‘Ribs’ by Lorde! Specifically, the lines “You’re the only friend I need / Sharing beds like little kids / Laughing ‘til our ribs get tired / But that will never be enough”

Warning: This is 5k+ words of pure angst, so buckle your seatbelts ladies. Also, mentions of abuse and animal abuse, violence, blood and death.

Tags: @falseosterhollandfantasies @edgyhargreeves @hargreeveben @mamasboyhargreeves

You’re the only friend I need

“Number two! Watch where you’re throwing those!” Reginald says, glaring at Diego over the rim of his coffee cup. There was a knife next to him on the table, only two inches away from his arm.

“Sorry!” Diego shouts back. He turns to you and giggles. “I totally meant to do that.”

You snort. “Yeah, clearly.”

“Number eight! Number two! Why aren’t you two practicing like I told you to!” Reginald stands up, slamming his newspaper down on the table and walking over to you. He looks angry, a frown resting on his lips and his eyebrows furrowed.

You and Diego roll your eyes. “Sorry,” you say in unison.

Diego pulls out a knife, throwing it in your direction. It barely misses you, grazing your shoulder ever so slightly and cutting the sleeve of your shirt. You groan.

“That was my favorite shirt!”

Diego laughs. “I’ll buy you a new one sunshine.”

“Yeah.” You conjure a ball of fire in your palm, shooting it his way. He dodges it, ducking and rolling. “You better, mama’s boy.”

Behind the two of you, Reginald and Grace are watching. Reginald has a satisfied look on his face and Grace looks slightly concerned, although she doesn’t question it. It was a normal thing for Reginald to do, make his kids practice their powers on each other. He thought it would make sure everyone could handle pain along with potentially hurting others.

Of course, he didn’t think of the consequences it would have on his kids.

Diego throws another knife at you, one you gracefully avoid, and you throw another fireball at him. This time, though, he doesn’t dodge it, and it hits his arm.

“Fuck!” He whisper-shouts so only you can hear. A hand flies up to your mouth and before you know it you’re running up to him.

“Oh my god, Diego, I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t mean to-”

Reginald notices the two of you have stopped fighting, and he frowns, annoyed. “Number eight, number two, what is this about?”

Neither of you answer him.

“I’m so, so sorry, ohmygod. Are you okay? Oh god, Diego, I’m s-so sorry, I-” There’s tears pooling in your eyes and you wipe them away with the back of your sleeve but they keep coming.

“Y/N, it’s okay.” Diego’s cradling his left arm with his right one, trying his best not to focus on the pain or the fact that he’s bleeding. Instead, he’s trying to convince you he’s okay, that it wasn’t your fault, but you don’t want to believe him.

“No, this is my fa-fault. You’re hurt-hurt-” you hiccup. “And it’s all my fault-”

“No, no, sunshine-” He wipes a fallen tear with the pad of his thumb. “It wasn’t your fault. It was an accident.”

“Tha-that I caused!” You cry. “I’m so, so sorry Diego-”

Reginald is standing in front of the two of you now, Grace right behind him. “What is the meaning of this?” He looks from you to Diego, noticing that you’re crying and the way Diego is holding his arm. “What happened?” He looks at you. “Number eight, did you do this?”

You nod. “I’m so sorry. It-it was an accident-”

He sighs. “Grace, can you please take care of number two?” She nods, softly resting her hand on the small of Diego’s back. The two of them leave the room.

“I-I’m really sorry-”

“Silence, number eight,” he sighs, annoyed, and pinches the bridge of his nose. “You are aware this isn’t the first time this has happened, correct?”

You nod.

“I’m starting to think you don’t have control of your powers anymore, number eight.”

“I-I know, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again-”

“You’re right, it won’t.” The look on his face is sinister, and you know it doesn’t mean anything good. “We’re going to make sure it never happens again, yeah?”

You can only nod.

“Diego! Diego!” You’re frantically knocking on his door. Reginald just told you you were being forced to go away to try and control your powers. To say the least, you were scared. Terrified. “Diego, open the door!” You cry. “Please, Diego-”

Diego opens the door, an annoyed expression on his face. It instantly disappears and is replaced with worry when he sees you crying, eyes red and puffy as tears continue to stream down your face.

“Y/N, what’s-”

“He-he’s sending me away!” You cry, wiping at your eyes with the back of your hand. “H-he says I need to get control of my powers and I can’t do that around you, because you’re ‘a distraction’, an-and he won’t let us see each other until I come back, and I-I don’t know how long I’m gonna be gone and-”

“Woah, woah, hey.” Diego puts his free hand on your arm, rubbing it with his thumb. “Come on, let’s go sit down, yeah?”

You nod, your breath hitching. Diego follows you into his room, softly shutting the door behind himself and sitting on his bed next to you. “What’s going on sunshine?”

“D-dad, he-” Diego flinches. He hates that you call Reginald dad, because in no way has he ever acted like a father to any of you. “He’s sending me somewhere, with-with Pogo, to try and get me to be more stable with my powers. I-I don’t know where I’m going or when I’ll be back-” You hiccup. “And he says I-I can’t see you until it’s over and-” You break down into tears, falling forward and into Diego. “I’m so s-scared, Diego.”

Diego wraps his uninjured arm around you, pulling you into him. “Oh, sunshine.” He rests his head on top of yours, rubbing your back soothingly as you sob into his chest. “I’m so sorry.”

The two of you sit in silence for a while, the only sound being your quiet sobbing. Diego’s close to tears too, because he can’t stand the thought of you being away, and the fact that you’re so heartbroken right now doesn’t help.

“It’s gonna be okay Y/N. You’re gonna be okay.” He doesn’t know what to say, what to do. He’s never seen you so upset, and he can’t help but feel his own heart break, too. “I promise you’re gonna be okay.”

“I-I leave tomorrow morning, D-diego,” you stutter.

“Wait, w-what?”

You’re sobbing again, frantically trying to wipe away your tears. “Dad sa-says it’s better if I start training right away, that it-it would be better for you because I’m-I’m distracting you-”

Diego’s arm around you tightens out of anger. He’s never, in his life, hated Reginald more than he does now. Of course, he can’t let you know that he’s mad. He doesn’t want it to think it’s your fault.

“How-how’s your a-arm?” You pull away, wiping your eyes and motioning to the bandage on his left arm.

“It’s...fine,” he says, which is mostly true. “Just stings a little.”

“I-I’m sorry, it’s my fault-”

He frowns and rests his hand on your knee. “It’s not your fault, sunshine.”

The room goes silent. You play with your fingers in you lap and Diego’s looking at you, trying to process everything you just told him. You’re being sent away, tomorrow, without any clue where or when you’ll be back. Against your will, too.

“I-I should go to bed,” you mumble, standing up. “Sorry to bother you-”

“Sunshine.” Diego stands up too. “You’re never, ever gonna bother me, okay?”

You nod, too tired to say anything.

“It’s gonna be okay, Y/N.” Diego pulls you into a hug, kissing your forehead. “I promise, you’re gonna be okay sunshine.”

Sharing beds like little kids

Diego waited everyday for you to come back. You waited everyday to go back. Eventually, though, as the days passed, the two of you stopped waiting. One month turned to two, two to four, and eventually it felt like you would never go home.

Never see Diego again.

“Number eight?” Pogo knocked on your door.

“Yes?” You had been away for two years. Two years had passed since you’d seen your family. Since you’d seen Diego.

“I’m happy to say you’re ready to go home.”

“I’m-I’m going home?” Two years. You never thought the day would come.

“You are.”

Not much had changed over the past two years. At least, that’s what you thought.

You were fifteen now. You weren’t a little kid, not anymore, although you were sure you were going to bed treated like one when you got home.

The Umbrella Academy hadn’t changed much since you’d been gone. Same paint, same squeaky fence, same street. It felt good to be home.

When you first stepped inside, everything was quiet. You didn’t think anyone was home. Every room was empty, and you didn’t hear anything. No yelling, no footsteps, nothing. You stood in the foyer, looking around. Really, nothing had changed. It had been the same as when you left.

“Klaus I swear to god if you steal another one of my knives I’m going to fucking kill you!” Suddenly, you heard running from upstairs, and instantly spotted two boys.

Klaus and Diego.

Klaus ran down the stairs and back up them, basically going in a circle. He didn’t even notice you, he was too busy trying not to get punched by Diego.

When Diego first ran down the stairs, you hadn’t expected him to notice you either. He was probably too busy trying to punch Klaus. After he went to run up the next set of stairs, though, he noticed a figure out of the corner of his eye.

He froze upon realizing it was you.

“Y/N?”

You nodded.

“Hey Diego.”

“Holy fucking shit!” He practically jumps over the railing trying to get to you, sprinting down the stairs and tripping in the process. He catches himself, though, and continues to run to you.

Next thing you know, he’s crashing into you, sending the two of you stumbling back.

His arms fly around your waist, pulling you as close to himself as he possibly can. He buries his face in your neck, taking in your scent, the one that felt so much like home, the one he never wanted to forget.

“Holy shit,” he mumbles, and his breath tickles your neck. “You’re back.”

“Yeah, I guess I am,” you laugh, wrapping your arms around his neck, one hand going in his hair.

“God, I’ve fucking missed you,” he mumbles. “I didn’t th-think you were coming back.”

“You think I’d just leave you here alone, mama’s boy?”

“Oh God,” he pulls aways, putting his hands on your upper arms. “I haven’t missed that nickname, though.”

You giggle.

Looking at Diego, you notice the two of you are not the same height anymore. He’s a couple inches taller, maybe five or six, and he’s not as skinny as he used to be.

“God, I’ve missed you so much sunshine.” He pulls you into another hug, kissing your forehead and burying his face in your hair.

“Diego, do you want your knife back or-” Klaus comes down the stairs, twirling one of Diego’s knives in his hand. As he walks, he slows down when he sees you, freezing and dropping Diego’s knife, letting it hit the floor roughly. “Y/N?”

You pull away from Diego and smile at Klaus. “Hi Klaus.”

“Wait, wait.” Klaus rubs his eyes, blinking a few times. “Are you- are you real?”

“I mean, I would hope so,” you laugh, opening your arms. “But yeah, I’m real.”

Klaus comes crashing into you, laughing hysterically when he reaches you. “You’re alive!”

“Um, yeah?”

“Klaus, what the hell did you break this time?”

You look behind Klaus, noticing the rest of your siblings. Well, Vanya, Luther and Allison. Five and Ben are nowhere to be seen.

“Is that- Y/N?” Allison asks, walking down the stairs.

“Did you all seriously forget what your sister looked like?” You ask, pulling away from Klaus and going up to Allison. “Honestly, two years isn’t that long.”

“You’d be surprised,” she laughs, pulling you into a hug. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

The rest of the day you spent catching up with your family. Of course, Reginald was nowhere to be found, much like Ben and Five. You weren’t very surprised, though. Why would you be?

Eventually everyone had gone to bed, and you and Diego were the only two awake.

You were both in his room, sitting on his bed, just like the night before you left. Being in his room felt like home. Being with him felt like home.

“God, I can’t believe you’re finally back,” he says, and you look up at him. “I thought Reginald sent you away forever.”

“He can’t get rid of me that easily,” you say sarcastically. “He can try, though.”

The room goes quiet again. You play with fire in your hand, twirling it around your fingers, making it a ball, watching it disappear and come back. You hated to admit it, but being away made you stronger.

“Hey, uh, where are Ben and Five?” You ask, suddenly remember neither of them had been around all day.

Diego’s face falls, and you know that can’t mean anything good.

“Five went- he went missing a month after you left,” Diego whispers. “We don’t know where he is, if he’s dead or alive, anything.”

“Oh,” is all you manage to say. Your brother went missing? And no one told you? “What about- what about Ben?”

“He’s dead.”

Your head snaps up and you look at Diego, noticing the tears welling in his eyes. “He-he’s dead?”

“He’s dead, Y/N.”

Before you can even process it, you’re crying, hot tears streaming down your face. You break into a sob, not even caring that you basically can’t breathe. Ben was dead, and not one of your family members decided to tell you.

Diego pulls you into a hug, arms going tightly around you. One hand goes into your hair, the other rubbing you back. “I’m sorry no one told you.”

That’s not why you’re crying though. It’s part of the reason, yeah, and the fact that Five’s missing too. But no, it’s more about the pain you went through for two years. About being abused and hurt, and about hurting others. About being away from home, being away from Diego.

You don’t know how long you cried, but eventually you felt yourself start to drift off. Suddenly, you were tired. So, so tired, and the next thing you knew, you were asleep.

“I-I can’t do it!” You cried, tears streaming down your face. “It’s not fair!”

“This is the only way you’ll be able to control your powers number eight!” Pogo yelled. “You have to!”

“But I can’t just take away its life!”

In front of you was a rabbit, sleeping innocently in the grass. It looked so peaceful, so vulnerable, and you didn’t want to hurt it.

“You have to number eight!”

More tears streamed down your face as you raised your hand, a small ball of flames dancing between your fingertips.

“That’s it! You’re doing it!”

The flame grew larger until it was the size of your palm. “I’m so sorry,” you whispered, closing your eyes and shooting out the flame. You heard it hit, and then a squeak, and when you opened your eyes, there was nothing in front of you.

“You did good, number eight.” Pogo gave you a pat on your shoulder before walking away, leaving you standing alone.

That night, you cried yourself to sleep. It was the first time you had actually killed something. You never thought you would have to, yet here you were.

“Y/N?” Someone called your name, although you couldn’t identify the voice. It sounded muffled, like it was underwater.

“Hey, Y/N?” There it was again. This time, though, it was clearer. You could tell it was Diego’s. “Y/N, wake up.” He was shaking you softly, calling your name over and over until suddenly you wake up in a cold sweat, hyperventilating.

“Woah, sunshine,” Diego puts a hand on your shoulder. “Take a deep breath, okay? In and out. You’re okay.”

There’s tears streaming down your face that you don’t even realize are there until Diego wipes them away with his sleeve. “You’re okay sunshine.”

When you finally calm down, Diego pulls you into a hug. “What happened?”

“Ni-nightmare,” you whisper into his shoulder.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

You can only shake your head. You’re still shaken up, hands trembling and eyes brimmed with tears.

“Hey, hey.” Diego pulls away, wiping your tears again. “You’re okay sunshine. Just breathe, okay?”

You nod, taking a deep breath. When you’re calm, you lean into Diego, resting your head on his chest. He puts his arms around you, his chin resting on top of your head.

“Do you wanna go back to sleep?”

You shake your head again.

“Okay.” Diego runs a hand through your hair. “We’ll at least lay down, yeah?”

You lay your head on the pillow, turning on your side and facing Diego. Under the blanket, he reaches for your hand, intertwining your fingers and rubbing your knuckles with his thumb. You move closer to him, resting your cheek against his chest. He kisses the top of your head, bringing his other hand up to run through your hair. He starts singing quietly, and you instantly know he’s singing you are my sunshine. It’s something he would sing to you when you were kids, whenever you were upset. Ever since then, he’s sung it to you. It’s why he calls you ‘sunshine’, too, and the fact that you’re ‘the light of his life’.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,” he sings, and you can feel yourself drifting off again. “You make me happy when skies are gray.”

He kisses the top of your head again. “You’ll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

Laughing ‘til our ribs get tired

It’s been one year since you’ve been home. One year of being with your family, of being with Diego.

“Do you think we’ll ever leave?”

You sit up, turning to face Diego who’s across the room, throwing knives at the wall.

“Like, leave here?” You ask. “The Umbrella Academy?”

“No, I mean leave Disney World,” he says sarcastically. “Yes here, you dumbass.”

You don’t respond, thinking. You play with fire in your hand, watching it twirl around your fingers swiftly before extinguishing and coming back. “I mean,” you watch the fire go out before looking back up at Diego. “Do you think Dad’ll ever let us?”

Diego snorts. “Of course he’ll never let us,” he mumbles, throwing another knife at the wall. “But what if-what if we run away? Y’know, me and you?”

“Diego, we’re just kids.”

“We’re sixteen.” He throw another knife.

“Exactly.”

“Sunshine, we can’t just-we can’t just let him keep us here!” Diego throws another knife before turning to you. “Do you really want to live here for the rest of your life?”

“Well, no…” you bite your bottom lip.

“Then why don’t we run away?” Diego stands up and sits on the bed next to you. “We can start over, be our own people. He won’t-he won’t be able to hurt us anymore.”

“We’re too young, Diego,” you whisper. “We can’t. Not yet.”

Diego frowns. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I’m not gonna leave without you, sunshine,” he says, grabbing your hand. “I’m not gonna let him hurt you anymore, and if that means staying here until you’re ready to leave, then I’d stay here for the rest of my life.”

You smile, and Diego leans forward to kiss your forehead. “Thanks, mama’s boy.”

“Yeah yeah.” He stands up, holding out his hand to you. “Why don’t we ditch this place, yeah?”

“You want to go out-” you look at the clock. “At one in the morning?”

“It’s not like we have anything better to do.”

You laugh. “Fine, fine.” Taking his hand, you smile, following him as quietly as possible around the house. Once the front door is closed, you pull him along, running down the sidewalk and into the world.

The first place you end is Griddy’s. The two of you sit in a booth in the very back, although no one’s there for you to even bother except for the woman behind the counter. You’re both giggling, covering your mouth with your hand and holding an arm around your stomach. “Diego-” You burst into another fit of giggles.

Diego has tears in his eyes from laughing too hard.

“It’s not even that funny,” you snort, finally able to catch your breath.

“I don’t know. Luther making fun of Vanya and then getting punched in the face is pretty funny.”

“God, I can’t believe I missed that.”

“Yeah,” Diego sighs, scooting out of the booth and standing up. “C’mon, I wanna show you something.”

“Diego, it’s practically three in the morning-”

“And? C’mon, you’ll like it.”

“I swear to god Diego-”

Diego pouts, crossing his arms and giving you puppy-dog eyes. He knows you can’t resist them.

“Fine,” you groan, and Diego smiles.

“You’re gonna love this, sunshine.”

Next thing you know, you’re in the middle of the woods. No, not in a bad way, but you really have no idea where you are. You trust Diego, though, so you let him lead you to wherever he’s leading you.

He stops in the middle of a clearing, one with a large oak tree right in the middle.

“So, what are we doing here?” You ask, turning to him and raising an eyebrow.

“Just follow me.” Diego drops your hand, walking up to the tree and grabbing a branch. He starts climbing up, and you know there’s no way you’re getting out of this. You sigh, grabbing the same branch Diego did and pushing yourself up.

Diego finally stops near the very top, reaching out his hand and pulling you up next to him. You swing your legs over the branch, leaning against the trunk to keep yourself stable.

“It’s...amazing up here,” you whisper, finally being able to take everything in. There’s a clear view of the night sky, which is painted shades of purple and blue and splattered with stars.

“Yeah.” Diego swings his legs, looking down at his lap and twirling a knife in his fingers. “I used to come up here when I really missed you.”

“How’d you find it?”

“The day you left, I-I ran out, and I just kept going. I didn’t really want to stop or go back, so I just kept walking, and eventually I just...found this tree,” he says quietly. “And I climbed it, and when I reached the top I saw the stars. And something about being under them like this made me think of you, because no matter where we were, we’d always be under the same sky.”

“Is Diego being...soft?” You gasp dramatically.

“Oh, shut up.” He smacks your arm and you laugh. “But yeah, so what if I am?”

“I just never thought I’d live to see the day Diego Hargreeves said something soft.”

“Yeah well, you better remember it.” He pushes himself over to you. “Because it’s never gonna happen again.”

“Might as well call you Diego ‘softie’ Hargreeves now,” you giggle, poking his cheek. “Just to let everyone know.”

“If you ever call me that, I will cry.”

You snort. “Sure you will, softie.”

Diego rolls his eyes. “Only for you sunshine.”

But that will never be enough

“Number eight, I expected better from you,” Reginald says, waiting for your siblings to go upstairs of you so he can pull you aside. Of course, Diego instantly notices you’re not next to him, and he waits at the bottom of the stairs, watching you and Reginald closely.

“I’m sorry,” you whisper, playing with your fingers. A little flame shoots out of one and hits Reginalds arm.

“I thought you could control your powers,” he says, and his voice is laced with disappointment. He pats out the fire on his sleeve.

“I can, I swear.”

“You're eighteen now, number eight. You're basically an adult,” he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You, of all your siblings, should've done better. Especially after being away for two years.”

The mention of you being sent away makes you flinch, and it's something Diego instantly notices. He can tell this conversation is about to go south.

“I'm s-sorry, Dad, I didn't mean-”

“It doesn't matter if you meant it or not, number eight! You hurt number one! Maybe if you were more in control-”

“God, can you just shut up!” You cried. “It's always about fucking Luther! Why can't you think about the rest of us for once in your fucking-”

A sharp pain shoots through your cheek, and you hand instantly flies up to grab it.

He smacked you.

Tears well in your eyes, both from pain and anger, and your breath hitches in your throat. Without another word, you run out of the room, sprinting up the stairs and straight past Diego.

Diego watches you run up the stairs, waiting until he hears your door slam closed to stand up. “What the fuck, Reginald!” Diego shouts, stomping straight up to him. He takes one of his knives and throws it without thinking, and it barely misses Reginald’s face. There's a cut on his cheek, which is now dripping blood, but neither of them are fazed by it.

Diego doesn't think twice about running out of the room and straight upstairs to you.

He knocks on your door softly, waiting for a response. When you don’t answer, he knocks again. “Y/N?” He can hear you through door, and he knows you’re crying. “Can I come in?” He asks softly, scared you might reject him.

When you don’t answer (again), Diego slowly pushes the door open. He finds you sitting on your bedroom floor, a half-packed suitcase in front of you. You’re crying- sobbing- and he doesn’t know what to do.

“Oh, sunshine,” he whispers, pushing the door closed with his foot before walking up to you. He sits in front of you, pushing away most of the clothes lying on the floor. “Talk to me.”

“I-I shou-should’ve listened to-to you when we w-were sixt-teen,” you stutter, your breath hitching in your throat every time you try to say something. “You were righ-ght. We sho-should’ve run-n away when we h-had the chance.”

Diego takes your hands in his, squeezing them and rubbing his thumbs on along your knuckles.

“I-I’m sor-ry if I ever disa-appointed you,” you sob.

Diego’s heart shatters. Never in his life would he have expected you to say those words, especially to him.

“Y/N, listen to me.” Diego rests your hands in his lap. “Never, ever, in a million years, would you disappoint me. It doesn’t matter what Reginald says, it doesn’t matter what anyone says. You’re not a disappointment. You never have been.”

“But-but Dad-”

“Sunshine, it doesn’t matter what he says, okay? It never has.” He leans forward and kisses your forehead.

“Y-yeah, okay,” you sniffle, wiping your eyes with the back of your hand. “Thanks Diego.”

“Anytime sunshine,” he smiles, pulling you into a hug. “Now let me see your cheek. I swear to god, I’m gonna fucking kill him if he touches you again-”

An alarm suddenly blares through the house and the two of you instantly shoot up.

“Motherfucker,” Diego mumbles. “Okay, we have to go save the city, but when we get back, we’re leaving. Forever. Just me and you.”

You nod.

“I’ll see you in a few sunshine.”

You hadn’t expected a simple bank robbery to go downhill so fast. One second, the Umbrella Academy had everyone cornered, ready to attack. The next, a bullet rang out, and when you turned around, a dozen more guys had appeared.

The three guys you had cornered ran, one going after Klaus and two after Luther.

“Klaus, watch your back!” You shout, sending a fireball straight towards the guy attacking Klaus. He fell over, hitting his head against the tile floor. You winced.

“Thanks Y/N!”

“Yeah, no problem!” You shoot a string of flames from your fingertips, sending the man coming towards you flying backwards. His shirt catches on fire and he’s too concerned to notice Luther come up behind him, throwing him into a wall.

You’re running to Allison next when you’re suddenly tackled to the ground. You flinch when your wrist cracks against the tile, and you feel a surge of pain shoot through your arm.

A knife comes flying past you and hits whoever’s on top of you. They roll off and hit the floor, and when you get up, they’re on the floor, cradling their knee to their chest.

“You good sunshine?” Diego calls, voice laced with worry.

“I’m fine mama’s boy!” You call back.

After what felt like hours of fighting, you got the last guy down. The Umbrella Academy waited inside the bank while the police were coming, making sure none of the robbers managed to escape.

“You did good sunshine,” Diego says, coming up to you and pulling you into a side hug.

“You too softie,” you smile, giggling when he rolls his eyes.

“Yeah yeah, okay. I’m a softie. Are you happy?”

You nod. “Yes, very.”

The police finally arrive and the Umbrella Academy is getting ready to leave. Luther and Allison are already outside, Klaus is probably smoking in the bathroom, leaving you and Diego to clean up the mess by yourselves.

Diego goes to grab one of his knives, but there’s a man next to it, and he’s still conscious. Diego doesn’t notice this however. He also doesn’t notice that there’s a gun, and the man is reaching for it. You, however, notice right when he grabs.

“Diego!” You shout, sprinting over to him.

Everything happens in slow motion.

The man points the gun at Diego.

Diego hears you shout his name.

You reach him just as the man pulls the trigger, a gunshot echoing throughout the building.

Suddenly, you’re falling, and a blood curdling scream can be heard. You’re not sure whose it is, though, but you’re guessing it’s yours.

Your head hits the ground with a thud, making you wince and close your eyes.

“Y/N? Y/N?” Diego’s shouting your name- you know it’s him by his voice- and suddenly a body falls next to yours and even though you’re sure it’s him, you can’t see through your blurry vision.

“D-diego?” you stutter, a lot quieter than you had expected.

You suddenly feel the blood pooling out of your stomach, the way it’s hot against your cold skin. The way Diego takes off his academy jacket, pushing on the wound with as much pressure as he can.

“Ye-yeah, it’s me.” His eyes are pooled with tears that are spilling over fast, most of them hitting your shirt. “Oh god, sunshine-”

“Diego-” you whisper. “I’m not gonna ma-ake it.”

“No, no, don’t say that,” he sobs, bringing up one of his hands to cup your now-bruised cheek. “Pl-please don’t say that.”

You feel your eyes start to close, and you’re trying your hardest to stay awake. Even if it’s just for another minute, another second, you need to stay awake.

“W-we were finally gon-na run away, Y/N,” Diego’s holding your hand, squeezing it as tight as he possibly can. He knows you’re dying, he knows you won’t be awake for much longer, but he doesn’t care. “We were fina-finally gonna be fr-free.”

“Diego.” Your voice is quiet, weak, and Diego’s surprised he ever hears it. “It-it’s okay.”

“No, Y/N, it-its not ok-okay,” he cries, wiping away your tears with the pad of his thumb. “You're dy-ying, and it's all my fa-ult-”

“No, Diego.” You shakily raise your hand, resting it on Diego's cheek. He puts his on top of yours, holding it. “It's not yo-your fault.”

“Y/N-”

“Diego, it's okay.”

He's sobbing now, so hard he can barely breathe, barely see you through his tears.

“You are my sunshine, my o-only sunshine,” Diego sings. “You-you make me happy, when sky's are grey.”

You close your eyes, too tired to keep them open, and let the tears fall.

“You'll never know dear, how much I l-love yo-ou.”

Diego sobs harder as he realizes your breathing isn't hitched but that it's slow and deep and shallow.

“Please don't ta-take my sun-nshine away.”

Your mouth parts open and you let out one last shuddered breath, your chest falling one last time before your body stops moving entirely.

Diego grabs your wrist, checking somewhere- anywhere- for a pulse. He doesn't find anything. He breaks down, cradling you in his arms. Your head is resting on his lap as he repeatedly runs his hand through your hair, thinking somehow you might come back.

You don't.

The rest of the Umbrella Academy comes in, and upon noticing your body, Allison breaks down into tears, holding onto Luther for dear life.

Luther stands there, shocked, not knowing how to react.

Klaus just stares at you. How come he couldn't see you?

Vanya covers her mouth with her hands, sobbing to herself quietly as she falls to the ground.

Diego puts his hand on your cheek again, brushing a strand of hair out of your face to look at you. You look so calm, so peaceful, like how you did when you were sleeping.

But this time you won't wake up, and Diego can't bear to think about that.

He leans down, kissing your forehead for the final time, his lips hot against your freezing skin. He stays there for a moment, knowing that when he moves away, he'll never get to see you again.

“I love you, sunshine.”

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