Tainted • Lil Xan

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Arms were wrapped around her tightly and as much as Penelope wanted to keep sleeping, she knew it was time to wake up. Slowly unwrapping the arms that were holding onto her, Penelope stood up from her bed, she watched as Grace snuggled close to the pillow Penelope had put to take her place. The knock that had woken her up in the first place could be heard again. Rubbing her eyes, Penelope tried to wake herself up a little more.

Grace and Justine decided it was a good idea to drink away their problems, leaving Penelope with no choice but to join in on the fun. Making her way out of the bedroom and to the front door, Penelope couldn't help but wonder what time it was. Her head was pounding and the small tank top and shorts she was wearing didn't bring her much comfort. Opening the front door, Penelope was surprised to see Diego, who held some flowers in his hand along with his backpack.

"Diego." Penelope whispered, shock was probably evident on her face. Opening the door wider so he could walk in, Penelope tried to remember if they had made any plans. "You're here." She said closing the front door.

"Yeah, caught an early flight." Diego replied as he lifted his hand to scratch the back of his neck. There was a silence that neither of them wanted to break. They both had no idea where they had stood, through text everything seemed to go back to normal but they both knew there was things they needed to talk about. "I'm sorry for just showing up, I just really wanted to see you." His confession had caused a small blush to appear on Penelope's face.

The way he looked at her made the butterflies in her stomach go crazy, like they had just been woken up after a long nap. "These are obviously for you." Diego said, handing her the beautiful bouquet of flowers. A small smile made its way onto both their faces.

"Thank you D." Penelope whispered, grabbing ahold of them, she made her way into the kitchen. Placing them down on the counter, Diego followed closely, watching every step she took. There was an awkward silence that needed to be broken. "Why didn't you tell her?" She had cut right to the chase, it was a serious question that she wanted, no she needed the answer of. "Do you not realize you could've saved her from all of this pain?!" Penelope didn't mean to raise her voice. "He didn't have the balls to tell her," Diego stood with his arms crossed. "I guess you didn't either." It was a bitchy thing to say, she knew it but honesty was one of the many things Penelope took seriously.

"It wasn't my place to say anything Penelope!" He had replied as he stood up straight. The way he had said her name took her a bit by surprise. Diego had said Penelope not Lupe. "I know Marcus told y'all that I know Michelle, you want to know how I know her?" It wasn't an actual question. "She's a childhood friend, her Dad was best friends with mine back in high school. She's family Penelope. I couldn't just go behind her back and tell Grace. Michelle didn't want to tell her, at all." Diego stepped a bit closer to Penelope, who hadn't opened her mouth to say anything. It wasn't her turn, she needed to just stand and listen to what he was saying. Nothing good would come out of them fighting.

"Not until Marcus made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her or Ezekiel." Penelope noticed the smile that made its way onto his face. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that I knew about this. I was going to tell you as soon as I was back. I felt so fucking guilty Lupe, keeping this from you." Diego took another step forward, almost like he needed to be close to her. Make sure she didn't slip away.

The words that left Diego's mouth were spinning around in her head. The few times that she had asked him about his family, he'd light up talking about his time with them. Grace had basically given Penelope her approval. So why did she feel somewhat guilty that all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around Diego and forget about everything? Taking a deep breath, Penelope pushed herself off the counter.

"I'm not happy that you kept this from everyone but I get it, I understand where you're coming from." Penelope said as she finally uncrossed her arms, she took a step closer. "Grace still hates you but she gets it too. I would've done the same thing if it was one of them. Grace, Justine or Monica. They're my family." Penelope's words had caused Diego's face light up as they both took one last step towards each other. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Penelope gave him a soft kiss. Maybe things were slowly starting to go back to normal.

At least that's what Penelope thought.

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8/21/18

I feel like I say this all the time but please don't forget to vote and comment. I appreciate the votes but I have NO idea how you guys are liking the story, I'd love the feedback.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter

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