Numb little bug

Her words were like knives in his ears, his vision going blurry as he laid his head back onto the pillow beneath him. As much as he didn't want to believe it, or rather, as much as he'd wanted his dream to be real again, he did know better. Deep down. It had been a memory, just like when a dream feels all to real. Even when it's improbable. That's what their daughter was now. Just a dream. He had to live with that every day since she died. Tears began to stream down his face, one hand moving to wipe them quickly, lingering there over his face for a moment.

A small relief came through Nadia when Diego remembered but it didn't make it any better about the pain they both felt of their loss. "Its okay." she said softly. It pained her to see Diego like this, tears falling from his eyes. The dream must of felt too real for him. Everyday she wished that the bullet never took their daughter and that she was alive and here with them.

closed starter: @nadiahernandez

So much happened last night, that she was still processing it all. She was able to live with some cuts and bruises but Diego had been out after getting hit. When Nadia witnessed that, she feared for his life. The same fear that filled her as the night she had with their daughter. She worried she was going to lose him like she did Nova.

open starter

Nadia looked over at the other and shrugs, shaken up herself. "I-I don't even know where to start to help." she looked around, tears welling up in her eyes."Um maybe we can..um start by seeing if anyone is injured and get them to the hospital." she suggested. "But first, are you okay? Are you hurt or anything?"

Her question caused him to pause for another moment, not to make a decision but to gather his thoughts. It seemed she rendered him speechless, the majority of the time they'd been spending together. He didn't consider it to be a bad thing. "I forgive you," he says aloud, and with a relieved sigh afterward. It was as though saying the words, may set him free after all. He'd been through hell but he now knew that she had as well. And if he did want to have a future with her, he couldn't hold grudges against her. "Can you forgive me?" He turns toward her, brushing her cheek with his thumb.

The moment she heard those words, it felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. That she could breathe. There was hope that their marriage was going to continue on a good path. "Of course i forgive you." she leaned into his touch, turning her head slightly to press a kiss to his palm. her hand resting on his before wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you for giving me another chance at this. i promise that i will be by your side until my very last moment. i promise to spend all the time we missed making you happy. i love you Diego Gonzalez, don't you forget it."

He nods a few times, processing what she's saying. Taking it seriously. It's not like they never lived together before. They had spent their entire relationship living together, previously. And raising their daughter. But that's just how he remembered it, raising their daughter together. He knew he had to focus on the future, probably for the first time since Nadia left, because he had been living in survival mode. It was a surreal type of feeling. And he could tell that his silence was troublesome as he thought, but he needed just those few seconds to piece it all together.

Nadia smiled when he agreed to the idea of living together. She hated nothing more but to be alone but now she had Diego back. though their daughter wasn't there to be with them, she had the last of her family with her again. Having them two live together without their daughter was going to be an adjustment but she was willing to make it work day by day with Diego. She finally wasn't alone. She had her partner by her side. Her family though there will always be a piece missing, they had each other to get through it. "Does this also mean you forgive me?"

Alex couldn't help but to smile at Nadia's question. She didn't realize until that moment that she does not typically get asked about herself often. "I'd say the entire time I've been here at Jackson, actually. So about five years. I didn't give myself time to dwell over the reason I'm here in the first place, instead I immediately immersed myself into the first place that would hire me." she started, grabbing her drink and taking another long swig. "Which by no means am I implying that's what one should do to get through an obstacle in their life, but that's what I had to do otherwise those feelings I was experiencing would've consumed me." She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, not used to revealing such vulnerable details about her life.

Nadia listened intently at the others words, taking in every one and processing them in her head. It seemed like it was just easy. Seemed like the perfect job to distract oneself from their thoughts because they'd have to socialize with other people all day. "And that's understandable. I mean if hard to find anything to keep any of us sane honestly." she said with a shrug and sips her drink.

His shoulders finally relax as he leans into her kiss, smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He makes his way over to the couch as she continues, grabbing the bottle from the table, finally. He looks over at her, raising his brows. "Living together," he repeats with a light chuckle. It'd been a long time since home felt like a home. It's not as if she knew he kept a bag packed, the entire year he's lived here, stuffed into a closet. Just in case, he decided to move on from Jackson. "Are you sure about that? I mean, how long has it been since you lived with a man?" He half-teases as he takes a swig.

"Well i'm very sure about it, i just want to know if that's something you'd like as well." she responded as she watched him drink. "Living with you would be very natural for me." She added. Nadia would love to live under the same roof as her husband but she wouldn't push on it if he wasn't on board with the idea. "Diego, is that something you would want too?" she asked. "I'm not saying right away so you can think about it but I don't know. I mean we've reunited but i dont know how you still feel about everything. And i don't want you saying yes or agreeing for my sake please."

"I didn't," he tells her at her words, and it was true. He wraps his arms around her carefully, hating that she felt this way about it. Not when in the grand scheme of things, it was a mere blip in his timeline. Something he'd already taken care of, or so he thought. Again, he wondered how she could have known, if not by Gemma herself. Who had encouraged him to speak to Nadia himself, at that. "As if you could resist," he chuckles against her, pressing their bodies even closer together.

It was a relief for Nadia to hear that he didn't stop loving her. That would break her all over again when she would love him until her very last breath. She was lucky. Very lucky that she got to be married to a man like Diego. He was a good man with a big heart and that was hard to come by. "I wouldn't underestimate me if i were you. Im pretty tough." she chuckled, pecking his cheek. "But there is more i wanted to talk to you about. Its about us and where we stand and well....living together."

He couldn't begin to know what to say, or how to say it, without it being offensive or triggering in some way. He wasn't even sure he wanted to defend his actions as much as he didn't want to upset her. He shakes his head slowly at her words, turning away from her to catch up with his thoughts. He turns back when she misunderstands, throwing his hands in the air to fall back at his sides. "That's not what I meant," he sighs, exasperated. He wondered how long this push and pull between them could go on for, before she'd tire of him - possibly. He'd like to convince himself that he was prepared for it, should it ever happen. "I only meant that you left, it's not like I knew you planned on coming back," he takes a deep breath. "Now you are back and I'd like that to be all that matters."

Nadia saw the tired look on his face and she was in fact tired too. They had reunited and they're already fighting. She brought that on but it was because she was angry and hurt a little. A deep, heavy sigh slips from her lips as she nodded a bit. It was going to take some time for her to move on from the fact he slept with someone else but if they wanted to be happy together again, enjoy all the moments they missed out over the years, she knew she had to let it go. She ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry, i just cant get the image out of my head of you two...you know. And for that split moment it felt like you stopped loving me to do that." she took a few steps towards him and snaked her arms around him in a hug. "I'll let it go but as a punishment, no sex for a week."