DIANA'S ENTIRE WORLD CAME CRASHING DOWN THAT DAY, STARTING WITH THE MENTION OF HARRISON THOMPSON. The man that had made his family's life a living hell, who had finally been arrested by none other than Gwen's father, who was never supposed to get out and see his family again. Diana grew sick at the thought of him, his sickly smile and the smell of alcohol that filled the apartment she had grown to call home. She could only imagine how Flash was feeling.

"How long?" was the first thing she asked. She just stared at Flash, her body slack and numb whereas he seemed to be tense and full of nerves.

"About two months ago," he said, almost conversationally, "Just showed up with mom one day for dinner and he didn't have a single drink."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "So, he's sober? He's done with drinking?"

Flash barked out a laugh. "You sound like Jesse. She believed it. Mom's always taken his side on everything, so she just let him come crawling back. Me, I didn't count on it. And I was right."

She frowned and reached out towards his arm, stopping when he grabbed her wrist. She stared at him steadily. "Has he hit you?"

Flash shook his head. "Shoved me. Screamed at me. But we've only let him have a few drinks, not like he used to. I'm counting down the days until he sneaks them and everything goes to shit."

She pulled her hand away slowly. "Is he living with you now?" She inwardly winced; it was as if she didn't live in that apartment as well, as if she were still living at the house in London.

He shook his head. "No, but he's over a lot. Sometimes mom lets him crash on the couch, but he's staying over at a friend of his usually. I almost forgot he had friends." He glanced down, smiling widely despite everything.

Diana stared helplessly at the boy, barely registering as she moved forward and pulled him into a hug, holding him tightly. She dropped her head onto his shoulder, trying to apologize without words, trying to convey just how sorry she was.

Flash just sat there, stiffly, waiting until she pulled away.

She continued to cling onto him, waiting until he hugged her back, but he never did. He just sat there, stiff as a board, waiting until she was done because he had never felt more betrayed in his entire life. Not that she would know.

"Flash," she whispered, gripping the back of his jacket.

"Don't ruin the fabric," he mumbled hoarsely, "I know it's not Danny's suits, but I didn't think I'd have to wear one to pick you up. Come on, we need to get home."

"Not if he's going to be there," she said, still waiting for him to react, to do anything. If he pushed her away, at least he would have given her a reaction.

He continued to sit still. "If we're late, it'll be worse, so we have to go now." He didn't tell her to let go. That was implied.

She didn't. She just continued to cling on because he was her brother, her best friend, and three months away didn't change anything and she needed him to know that. But love is a two-way street and Diana had forgotten that she had blocked the other side.

"Jesse is home alone," is all he said. That was all he needed to say to get her to sigh and pull away, lingering, hoping that he would react in some way.

He only moved when she was back in her seat and buckled up, her heart broken and her eyes forming unshed tears. Wordlessly, he turned on the car and merged back into traffic, making their way home.

Diana couldn't lean back in her seat. All she could do was sit, turned to face Flash, watching him as he drove. She stared at his tense jaw, his mussed hair, the bags under his eyes. The teasing disposition he had had when he picked her up was gone; all that was left was the shell of a boy. A shell she had not seen since his father was arrested.

Flash drove as well as he had done before, though he was more tense, his grip on the wheel too tight, his shoulders up to his ears rather than down by his neck. He was hunched over the wheel, his back forward rather than resting against the nice seat.

"I've missed you, Flash," she said softly as familiar buildings came into view.

He made a noise in the back of his throat, letting her know he had heard. He didn't say anything for a few minutes, continuing to drive in silence, until he broke it.

"Do you like Danny more?"

She turned to look at him, frowning. "What?"

"Do you like Danny more?" he asked slowly, making sure each word was understood.

She licked her lips, thinking back to her cousin whom she had grown fairly close to during her trip. She shook her head. "No. I like you both differently, but you're equal. Honestly, Flash, you and Danny are more alike than you think, that I can guarantee."

Flash nodded, swallowing thickly. "Okay," he whispered, "Good to know you really like Danny, I guess. I mean, you like me and we're pretty much the same person. I hate him."

She scoffed. "Flash, I just said he's not that bad! I mean, I just said that he's like you, but you hate him, what does that say about you?"

His body didn't react. He just continued to drive. It was a few moments later that he had whispered, softly enough that she almost didn't hear, "Exactly."

º º º º º

Harrison was sitting in the living room when they arrived home. He was drinking a Coke and playing cards with his daughter who sat far enough away from him to let Diana know that she wasn't as comfortable with her father as Flash had claimed.

When the freshman girl caught sight of her, she shrieked, throwing her cards as she ran towards her, pulling her into a tight hug, jumping up and wrapping her legs around her waist.

"You're home!" Jesse cheered, falling back down to her feet.

"Hey, Diana," Harrison called from the living room, "How was your trip?"

"Um..." she said, glancing over at Flash who just walked into his room, leaving her luggages by the door, "It was good. Uh, how have you been, Uncle Harrison? You know, being back?" She wasn't so sure if asking was the best decision, but she wasn't about to just leave.

"It's been good, I'm glad to be back," he said, walking towards her, coming to a stop and placing his hands on his hips, "I have a job at a restaurant now, which is good. Nice accent by the way."

"Thank you. And that's nice," she said, smiling politely; she had almost forgotten about her accent which Flash had pointed out earlier. She motioned towards her luggages, searching for an excuse to leave. "I'm gonna just go put those away and maybe take a nap. Time zones, you know?"

"Yeah, of course," he said, making his way back to his seat, "Come on, Jesse, let's restart."

"Okay," the young girl chirped, smiling at Diana who grabbed her suitcases, racing into her room and locking the door behind her.

She groaned and flopped onto her bed, burying her face in her pillow. She rolled her eyes as she heard Flash playing music on his speakers in the other room; Danny at least had the decency to put in earbuds.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, turned to face the wall. She hadn't been back for more than two hours and she was already tired. Maybe Flash was right, maybe London had been what had helped.

º º º º º

She woke to the sound of someone opening her window.

She sat bolt upright, goosebumps prickling her arms, nerves tingling. She reached for the baseball bat by her bed, raising it defensively, legs shaking and feet tingling as she stood up, moving towards it, heart thumping in her ears.

She cast a quick glance towards the clock on her desk. She had missed dinner by four hours. She glanced towards her door, relieved to find it still locked. Flash's music was gone.

She jumped when she caught sight of a red and blue mask with wide white eyes on the other side of the window. A split second later, she relaxed, remembering the video she had been sent all those months ago.

"Bugs?" she whispered, moving to help the boy open the locked window, smiling.

"Hey, Diana," he greeted softly, climbing into the room, leaving the window partially open, something he never did.

"How've you been?" she asked, surprisingly shy. They hadn't talked in months and, despite not having changed much, it was still a little difficult to fall back into their easy rhythm.

"Good," he replied, still standing by the window, "How have you been, Diana?"

"Good," she said as well, "I mean...Harrison is out of jail, so that's pretty bad, but maybe he got better? I mean, he seems to be trying." Not that she really knew during their brief encounter hours before.

"That's nice," he mumbled, still standing. He was fidgeting, so much different than how he usually acted when he was in her room. It was like she was seeing Peter back when they weren't friends at school.

"What's wrong, Bugs?" she asked, stepping forward, searching for any rips or tears in his suit, hoping that her bandages hadn't been moved from their spot at the very back of her bed.

"Nothing," he said, tensing up as she touched his arms, "I'm fine, Diana, I didn't go out tonight, I went out earlier."

"Okay," she said, "You dropping by to say hi?"

He nodded, hands behinds his back. "Yeah. Um. Hi."

She smiled. "Hi."

He wasn't smiling. He wasn't even looking at her, his eyes were trained to the ground, his cheeks a light pink. He pulled his arms forward, fiddling with his hands. "Listen, Diana, I have to tell you something...I just don't want you to be—I mean, I'm trying to—I-I mean I just sort of—" he trailed off, sighing, his head not lifting.

Her heart dropped. She wasn't stupid. She wasn't, she knew what was coming, but she didn't want to believe it, didn't even want to think it. She had thought that maybe if she didn't acknowledge it, didn't think about it for too long, it would just go away. But that's not how it worked and she knew it.

"You wanna break up."

It wasn't a question,  it wasn't a suggestion, it wasn't anything other than a statement, because she knew. She knew, she could see it, but all she wanted was to shove him back out her window and pretend none of this happened and pretend that maybe he still loved her.

He nodded, lifting his head.

She took a deep breath. "I need you to say it."

"What?" he breathed, his entire face contorted into a look of guilt and pain.

"I need you to say it," her voice surprisingly calm, "I need to hear you say it. If it's really what you want, you'll say it yourself." She closed her eyes, waiting for his response, all the while begging for him not to say anything, to take it back, to just move forward and hold her because her entire life was falling apart and she hadn't even been home a full day yet.

"I want to break up."

Diana's entire world came crashing down.

She opened her eyes, head nodding on its own. "If that's what you want."

He sighed, stepping forward. "Diana, I'm sorry—"

"Don't," she whispered. He stopped, leaving a space between them that might as well have been a chasm. "Don't start with me."

He opened his mouth to explain, but closed it, knowing that nothing he said would make it okay. His shoulders slumped and he just stared at her with his messy hair and big doe eyes that used to make her stomach do flips, but now only made her feel sick and want to punch the nearest wall because once those eyes would brighten at the sight of her, but now they were just there.

"Are you still in love with me?" she asked, detached and cold. If he wanted to play the distance game, she would play along. "Yes or no, I don't want an explanation."

He just stared at her. He could have stared at her for hours. Then, finally, he gave her a small shake of his head. "Well, I mean—"

"I don't want an explanation," she snapped, hands balling into fists at her sides. She let go quickly, taking another deep breath.

"Diana," he whispered, pleading. She didn't look at him. "Please. Listen, I did love you, I-I think I still do, I just don't know right now, I mean, I just—" he groaned, "I told you I loved you, I meant it."

She looked him right in the eye. "You know...I think you said it too soon."

"Diana," he said, voice cracking, "Diana, please."

She shook her head. "I don't think you meant it. I really don't."

"Please," he begged, moving towards her. She took a step back, watching as he stopped in his tracks, staring with wide eyes.

She sighed and reached up to rub her neck, stopping when her fingers caught on something other than hair and skin. She swallowed thickly, licking her lips; she had almost forgot.

She reached up to her neck and unclasped the chain, reaching out and dangling it in front of him. Wordlessly, he held out his hand, not breaking eye contact as she let go, letting it fall into his open palm.

Reaching down, his brown eyes never leaving her own green ones, he picked up the ninth charm, tugging and breaking it off the chain. He rolled it in his fingers for a moment before reaching over and holding it out, waiting until she held out her own palm to let go.

He walked backwards towards the window before turning away, pushing it open. There was a reason he hadn't closed it. He turned back to her for the last time.

"Bye, Diana."

"Bye, Peter."

º º º º º

Diana cried for hours. She cried and cried until she was left to just sob because no more tears would come. She cried until she was shaking, her entire body covered in sweat, her pillow drenched in tears, her eyes raw.

Her heart hurt. It hurt so much. She had been doing so well, she had gotten so much better, but then everything was ripped away. Everything she had worked so hard to build up was burned to the ground.

She should never have come back from London. Maybe she shouldn't even have gone.

It was until four in the morning that she called Nicky. By then she had stopped crying and just sat in her room, her heart aching, forcing her to stay awake. The feeling so painful that it wouldn't lull her to sleep.

"Long time," the man greeted, "What's up?"

She let out a shaky breath. "Peter and I broke up."

She heard him gasp and sit up in his bed, if the sound of creaking was anything to go by. "What happened? Why?"

She bit her lip, choking back a sob. "He said he wasn't in love with me anymore."

"Diana, I am so sorry."

She raised her fist to her mouth, crying. "It hurts so much, Nicky. It hurts."

"I know. I know, Diana, I am so sorry, I know how much you—How much he—" he trailed off, unable to pull together the words that early in the morning.

"I thought I was getting better," she mumbled, "You know? He loved me, so everything was okay."

He sighed. "Love doesn't cure depression, Diana, you know that. You can't just love an illness away."

"Why not?" She laid back down, closing her eyes. "Why is everything going to shit so fast, it's not fair, what did I do?"

Nicky groaned softly. "I'm going to fit you into my schedule, we'll set up some sessions. In the morning, I'll text your aunt."

She frowned. "What? She's in London, you don't even have her number."

"...I meant your godmother. Rosie. She was your aunt."

It was as if she had been doused with ice water. She just sat there, numb, staring at the wall as she realized what she had just said.

Nicky's voice came in through the other end. "Diana, we will talk later today, but for now, you need to just sleep."

"Sleep," she mumbled, "Yeah, okay. Yeah. Sleep."

"Rest, Diana. Good night."

She hung up, barely registering as her phone fell from her slack hand and clattered onto the floor. She rested the side of her head on the pillow, staring towards the door. She was unsure of when she closed her eyes or when she fell asleep. All she knew was that she fell into a dreamless sleep.

It was the first moment of peace she had had the whole day. And one of the only she would have for a long time.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 07.17.17 )

I don't like the ending, it wasn't that strong, but oh well. Really, I wanted to write this chapter better, but it was hard to convey emotions, they both sighed a lot.

I needed to mention the whole "love doesn't cure depression" thing because I felt as though it wasn't as addressed in part one and I needed to clarify that because Diana needs to understand herself and such. Hard to explain, I just need to show that Peter loving her didn't automatically "cure" her.

There is a lot that will be explained later, so don't immediately take this at face value because there was a lot of miscommunication involved in INTERMISSION and such, there's just layers. Bear with me?

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed and stick around!