CHAPTER SIX: GOOD TO KNOW

They searched for Diego everywhere, went in every room and around the building, but he wasn't there. Five finally told her they should get back to Elliott's, maybe he had gone back.

When they appeared in Elliott's living room, she wasn't expecting to see him sprawled out on the couch half unconscious. Lila knelt overtop of him, patching up an area on his stomach.

Five sighed, eyes landing on his brother. "Oh. He isn't dead."

"Disappointed?"

He walked over to the coffee table and picked up a tissue, "Oh, to see you? Always."

Lotus rolled her eyes, rushing over to Diego. "Is he okay?"

"He's gonna be fine." The woman said, adverting her attention to Five. "So much hostility in such a tiny package. Did you cut yourself shaving? I could teach you to shave like a big boy."

He sighed again, bringing the tissue down from his neck, a coat of red soaked it. "No, I just ran into an old family friend."

"And by that he means he was attacked by a baby chimpanzee in little blue pyjama pants." Lotus smiled as snoring sounded in the room. She raised a brow looking to Diego, but he wasn't snoring. She stood up and wandered back to Five, seeing Elliott in the place they last left him, still tied up to a chair.

"You didn't untie him?" Five questioned.

Lila looked between them, "Was I supposed too?"

Five didn't reply, he only walked over to Elliott and slowly untied the man. Finally, in his own fashion, kicked him awake.

Elliott gasped as he sat up, eyes wide. "You guys tied me up!"

"And now he untied you." Lotus shrugged, "You're fine, right? No harm, no—"

"No harm?" Elliott pulled himself up.

Five rolled his eyes, "Be lucky that's all we did."

That seemed to shut him up, Elliott nodded slowly before wandering down the room to turn a corner, vanishing from their line of sight. "I'm gonna hit the hay." Lila added, crawling off of Diego. "Dibs on the spare room."

As soon as she left Lotus headed for the kitchen, slowly creaking open the fridge. She was starving, and she needed to shower. There was leftovers stacked to the side, she grabbed the takeout containers and opened them up. Half a pizza was divided up, she frowned at the way he organized it.

"What are you doing?"

She glanced to see Five, he walked over and leaned against the cabinets, watching her.

"Getting some food." She said, preheating the oven, "How are you not hungry?"

"I am."

Lotus shrugged, "Good, so when the oven goes off put the pizza on a tray. I'm going to clean up."

"Clean up?"

"So many questions." She shook her head, making her way to the bathroom. "I smell gross and my hair hasn't been washed in what feels like forever. I'm going to shower, perv."

He snickered, "Fine."

Lotus turned down the hall, she could see Lila laying on a bed at the end of it, door still open. She sighed, finding the bright coloured bathroom and locking the door. It was small, with a tiny linen closet adding to the cramped space. She opened up the door and searched for a towel, finding a yellow one and pulling it out.

The bathtub was blue, and so was the shower curtain as she pulled them back. Lotus reached in and turned on the water, waiting until it was at her preferred temperature, scorching hot.

Lotus carefully discarded her clothes, folding them neatly and placing them on the counter. She sighed, stepping into the stream of running water and yanked the curtains closed.

It had been so long since she felt clean, and her hair was so tangled and oily she was surprised she hadn't cut it off. She shook her head at the thought, she would never cut her hair.

Lotus was out rather quickly, cleaning up as fast as she could. Her stomach grumbled as she stepped out of the shower and dried off. She slipped her clothes back on and bunched her hair up with the towel, getting most of the water out. She dumped the towel in a basket just behind the door as she spotted a hair brush peaking out of a bin. It took ten minutes for her to get all the tangles out of her hair, and her head throbbed as she made it back to the kitchen.

"Do girls usually take that long?" Five was in the same place she left him, "The timers about to go off."

Lotus shrugged, "At least I smell good now."

"I never noticed a smell."

"Well I do." She nodded, "And speaking of smells, you should go shower too."

He rolled his eyes, a small smile playing at his mouth. "Sometimes I wonder why you stayed."

Lotus' brows furrowed as she wandered over, leaning on the counter beside him. "What do you mean?"

"When we met. You followed me blindly into a situation with people who were just as crazy as me and no matter how many times you got shot, you stayed."

"I would have preferred it without all those incidents, I will be honest."

He sighed, "I wish we were back home too. Where everyone hated me for a different reason."

"They don't hate you." She told him, "I think they think you had it the easiest. I mean, you disappeared for all those years and when you came back you acted like nothing really happened."

"I told them about the apocalypse—"

"But not everything else. They probably think you were living your best life, not your worst. You were gone while they suffered without you. I mean, if my brother vanished all I would be able to do is try to think the best of them. Not that they were alone in a world with no one but themselves."

Five was quiet for a moment as he glanced around the room, he took a deep breath. "You're right, you do smell good."

She snorted, "Never one for meaningful, difficult conversations, are you Five?"

"Nope. I like to bury all my problems and pray they never come out."

"Amen." She flashed him a smile.

A murmur sounded from the living room, apparently Diego was waking up. Five matched her smile, pushing off the counter and walking towards the living room.

Lotus pursed her lips, she didn't want him to go. "Did you mean it?"

He turned, a brow raised. "Huh?"

"That night, when you asked if you could—"

"I don't recall a thing."

Lotus shifted on her feet, "Well, I do. And, you can. I mean... yes, if you still want."

He slowly made his way back over, the corner of his mouth twitched up. "Really?"

Five moved closer to her, her body froze as his face inched closer and closer to hers. She nodded, feeling his breath on her face. They were so close now, her heart beat loud in her chest as he pushed her up against the counter. His eyes watched hers, a mix of wonder and contemplation. His hand touched her cheek and she took a deep breath—

"Good to know." Barely a whisper. He gave a sly smile, stepping away. Lotus watched as he made his way out of the kitchen, he paused in the door way.

She was still frozen, staring at him with wide eyes. He met her gaze, his smile still there. She blinked, wanting to suddenly march over there and toss him down the stairs.

"You're not getting any pizza now." Was all she could say, he shrugged and gave a salut before disappearing.

Lotus shook her head, looking around the empty kitchen. Her heart still raced in her chest.

"What an asshat." She muttered.

"Heard that." Five's voice called from the living room

Her brows furrowed, jumping as the timer he had set up went off. Lotus took another breath, rubbing her tired eyes. Now she needed to find an oven mitt, and maybe attack him with it later.