Chapter 19

Talking in the hallway pulled me out of my near slumber. I had started to drift while pondering everything Diane had told me, but now, I was awake.

I strained my hearing but couldn't quite make out who was speaking. My eyes shifted to Diane, making sure she was still sleeping before slipping soundlessly out of the bed, creeping toward the door and pressing my ear against it. The voices were easy to make out now.

Meliodas and King.

"So, that's it, huh?" Meliodas stated.

"Yeah," King responded. A yawn quickly followed his reply. "If this isn't exactly what you need, then it was never there to begin with. I had to do quite a bit of piecemealing to get this much. Honestly, I hadn't thought the code would be so extensive given who was initiating it."

Code? My lips pursed together at the word. Meliodas lead me to believe that Gowther was their hacker. If that was true, why would he have King work on something involving code? I shook my head of the thought. That couldn't be right. The leader of the Sins had just berated King this morning over not getting through the recordings fast enough. He couldn't have possibly had anytime to look over code. Perhaps he meant something else.

I could hear Meliodas hum, obviously thinking over King's words. "Unsettling, but not all that surprising. Thanks."

King grunted in response. "I'm going to bed now." The shuffling of feet followed his words.

"Probably wanna sleep in your own room tonight," Meliodas advised.

"Why?"

"Diane was lonely, so she invited Elizabeth for a sleepover."

My eyes widened as I realized just where King had been heading.

"You're kidding?" The ginger responded, not believing him.

I already knew where this was going. As fast as I could without making a sound, I slipped back in beside Diane. My body faced the door and I squeezed my eyes tightly shut.

"Go on and take a look." Meliodas prompted. His voice was closer know. The two of them must be right outside the door.

Light spilled in from the hallway. I rolled away from it and right into Diane. The girl hummed, her arm wrapping around my waist and sighing. It took all I had in me not to push her away in shock. If the door wasn't opened, I would have.

"Damnit," I heard King hiss from the doorway. "You weren't lying."

"Why would I lie about two beautiful women sleeping together?"

"... point taken."

Diane began to kick the covers off and I wanted to cry. I knew I shouldn't have let her talk me into sleeping in this damn nightie. There's a low whistle by the door. My face felt as if it were on fire. There was no way that the both of them weren't getting a view of Diane and I's legs.

"Are you… kidding me right now?" King took a shaky breath. "Why in the hell are they wearing that?"

"I dunno," Meliodas responded in a cheery tone. "I did make the comment about them wearing nighties and having pillow fights and coming to get us. But I really didn't think they'd take it to heart."

"Wait, what?" King's voice seemed a pitch higher than normal. "They had a pillow fight and you guys didn't tell me?!" I heard the rustling of fabric and imagined King shaking Meliodas.

"If they did, they didn't tell us either." The sound stopped and then the blonde spoke again. "Ban did make the comment we'd have to tell you and then you'd have to stop working soooo… I may have told them to hold off." Meliodas gave him an awkward chuckle. "But hey, at least they did the nightie part!"

"... I hate you."

"No you don't."

"No, I think I really mean it this time."

"Ah, come on! Look at the great view we're getting! How can you be mad at me?"

"Hey!" Feet slid across the floor. "You stop looking."

"What? You can look, but I can't?" Meliodas argued and I could hear the mirth in his tone. "That hardly seems fair King."

"One of them is my girlfriend." King promptly reminded him. "I get to look. You don't."

"That's fine. I was only looking at Elizabeth anyways."

"You shouldn't be looking at her either!"

"Again, but you can?"

"I-I'm not!"

"Please," Meliodas scoffed, "they're wrapped around each other, you can't look at one without looking at the other."

"Meliodas, I'm telling you-"

"Shut up!" Diane sprung up, glaring daggers at the men frozen in the doorway. "Some of us are trying to sleep here!"

"Sorry." They both apologized and I took the time to chance a glance at them. King appeared to be in the middle of trying to push Meliodas down the hall. The blonde remained unmoveable, hands casually in his pockets as he tilted his head watching us.

Green eyes meet mine and I quickly shut them tight. I felt Diane get off the bed and couldn't help but look to see what she was doing. She strutted up to the door, King's eyes on Diane and Meliodas… still looking at me. There's a spark in his eyes that was far too close to something I've seen before. I groaned, pulling the blanket all the way up to my eyes in an attempt to hide enough and still see what's going on.

"Uh, D-Diane…?" King sounded like he was choking.

"Goodnight, boys."

She slammed the door in their faces.

"Wait!" King knocked loudly. "What did I do?!"

"Guilt by association," Meliodas answered and I could just imagine him shrugging his shoulders. Not at all bothered that his friend got lumped together with him. "She's been pissy all night."

"Go away Meliodas, before I open this door and kick your ass outside and lock you out!" Diane warned.

"Nice try. We don't lock the doors."

"Do we even have locks?" King pondered out loud. "I honestly can't recall."

"I think so," Meliodas responded with a contemplative hum. "Can't remember the last time I actually had to use them, though. Message got around pretty fast not to even bother stepping into this place after two." There's a snap of fingers. "Ah, remember that guy with the stupid skimask who tried stealing the register?"

"Yeah… wait, didn't you and Ban chase him down and kick his ass?" King said slowly, as if trying to think back on the event. "Oh god… that's the guy who-"

"Yep!" Meliodas cut him off with a snort.

"And when Ban caught up to him, he got-," I could hear King start snickering on the other side of the door.

Meliodas was laughing too now. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that!"

I sat up in bed and gave Diane a curious stare. She rolled her eyes and slammed her fist against the door. "Go have your boring recollections somewhere else guys."

"Yes, mom," the blonde responded. I could just imagine him rolling his eyes and the smirk on his lips.

"Ah, but Diane… I, uh…" King's voice trailed off.

Affection overtook the burnette's features as she opened the door. Only King stood there now, Meliodas must have went back to his room. Diane placed a hand on her boyfriend's cheek and gave him a quick kiss. "Goodnight, King," she said before kissing him again.

"G'night, Diane," he mumbled and disappeared down the hall.

Diane shut the door slowly, letting out a heavy sigh. She had a soft smile on her face as she made her way back to bed. Once she crawled back under the blankets, I laid down as well.

"Well that was… eventful," I couldn't help but comment.

Her soft smile was replaced by devious smirk. "Totally worth it."

"Wait…" I glared accusingly at Diane. She couldn't possibly be insinuating what I thought she was. "You were awake?!"

She shrugged, a playful smile pulling at her lips. "Maybe."

"How long?"

"Oh, just since you slipped out of bed to go try and eavesdrop."

My mouth dropped open as my cheeks flushed. We just stared at each other for a few seconds as I replayed the past ten minutes. "So, you heard them… the whole time? When they were standing in the doorway even?" A horrified thought struck me. "You kicked off the blankets on purpose!"

She hummed, obviously fighting back laughter. "Would you believe me if I said no?"

"No!"

Diane laughed and I scowled at her. I felt oddly torn between breaking down and laughing right along with her. Or strangling her for willingly putting us on display. Instead of doing either, I just shook my head at her.

"What?" She beamed brightly. "It's fun messing with them every once in awhile."

I had to roll away from her so she couldn't see my smile at her admission. Now that the moment had passed. She was right. It was kind of fun. I actually had a lot of fun with Diane tonight.

And that worried me. More than I was willing to admit.

When I awoke the next morning, I slipped out of bed, hoping I wouldn't wake Diane again. I went to my room to get ready for the day. By the time I made it downstairs, I noticed one lone occupant. King. Again. I frowned, glancing around the room as I went to join him at the bar.

"Just us again?"

King's gaze flickered to mine for only a second before looking away anxiously. "Uh, no. Boss should be down here soon. Not sure what's taking him." Per the normal routine, he slid me a cup. "Coffee?"

"Yes, thank you," I smiled at him as I took the open seat beside him. "Diane kept me up later then I thought we would be." My lips formed a tight line as I thought back to last night. "You were up late."

He groaned, scrunching up his features in disgust. "A lot later than I wanted to be. Trust me."

"The recordings?" I broached, even though I knew that had to be the answer. He nodded. "Why did they take so long?"

King studied me for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. "The code was far more elaborate than I gave them credit for being able to create."

"Code?" There was that damn phrase again. He'd used it last night too.

"Ya, you know," he gestured around with his hands. "An encrypted message. Like a riddle, or a puzzle. Ugh," he dug his hands into his hair with another frustrated groan. "Took me forever to figure out what the hell cipher they were using but I finally cracked it and, of course, felt like an idiot once I did."

"You... figured out a cipher without any indication of what the actual key was?"

He shrugged. "Done it before. It's easier when you know the person who created it. This one, I didn't." He pulled a face again, obviously disappointed with his work on it. While I just stared at him.

I always hated riddles and hidden meanings. I didn't have time for people who wanted to hide things and believed that if someone had to talk in code, they were probably guilty of something. Decoding was something I had little patience for. The fact that King spent hours to figure out recordings, not even having the physical aid of it being written out, just blew me away.

"S-stop looking at me like that," King shifted anxiously in his chair, his ears red. "It's really not that impressive."

"Are you kidding? Do you think anyone else would have been able to do that?" He couldn't have even been working at his full capacity given how little sleep he'd been getting these past few nights. How could he be so dismissive of something he worked so long on?

"Maybe," he shrugged, still refusing to meet my gaze. He almost seemed to be trying to get away from me now. "Gowther, probably could have."

"But you said you knowing the person made it easier," I pointed out his own words. "Gowther can't do motives." Meliodas' words from our first meeting between the three of us in the basement comes to mind.

"Did you and Diane have fun last night?" He threw me by completely changed the topic, staring intently at the liquid in his cup.

I frowned but answered him anyway. "I think so."

"Glad to hear it," he gave me a soft smile. "I'm sure Diane really appreciated it, so… thanks... For doing that… I know it isn't in your job description and that you probably had your own reasons for accepting but..." he shook his head, stopping himself from continuing. "Anyway, thanks. She's usually stuck with us three guys so having you here is a good change of pace for her."

Again, he's throwing me for a loop. I should find offense in his words. That he's implying that I didn't enjoy my time with Diane. That I wouldn't have hung out with her without some ulterior motive. And yet I can't find the normal bite I should have. Is it because, despite the lack of tack in his words, he's at least being sincere?

"It really wasn't a big deal. It was fun," I mumbled. Now it was me who couldn't meet his gaze. "Sorry I took your spot last night," I felt the weird need to apologize.

"It's fine," King waved off my concern. "Honestly if Meliodas hadn't been there, I may have just crawled in. But… uh," a blush threatened to overtake his face. "I didn't want to give her any ideas."

"Ideas?" He gave me a dubious glance, as if trying to figure out if I was messing with him or not. And then it hit me. "OH! Oh gosh, no, that would have been bad."

He shook his head. "Plus, at first, the only room was between the two of you. That would have been weird and possibly have gotten me murdered."

Despite the heat on my cheeks, I couldn't help but laugh. "Diane would not murder you for sleeping in between us, King." He'd know that if he would have seen the tender expression on her face after they said goodnight.

"You heard what she said the other day," he quirked a brow at me but I can see he's fighting back a smile. Obviously he's relieved that I'm taking his comments so well. "Body parts would be lost."

"Wasn't that only if she wasn't there?"

"Good memory, Elizabeth." A new voice joined us. Diane.

We turned around and found, to our horror, Meliodas standing next to her. The man wearing a large grin. I glanced at King and found him mouthing out, shit. I had to agree.

"Whatever could they be talking about, Di?" Meliodas quirked a curious brow at her.

"Oh, just that the only way King and Elizabeth are allowed to do anything is if I'm there. Otherwise, ya know," she shrugged nonchalantly, "body parts will be lost."

"King and Elizabeth? Don't think so."

The two made their way to the bar. King and I watching in silent horror. "Are you kidding? They get along so well! Look at them," she smiled sweetly at us. "Chatting about our threesome over coffee."

"Diane, that's not what-" King attempted to clarify the discussion. That we had actually been talking about last night's sleepover.

"You have King," Meliodas argued with Diane, cutting off the ginger's explanation. "What do you need Elizabeth for? Switching teams?"

"Oh no, I'm keeping both." Diane beamed brightly. King sunk in his seat next to me and I fought the urge to do the same.

"Well that's a bit selfish, don't you think?"

"Not at all. King and I are the ones she's closest to here. Of course we'd be her first choice." The brunette shrugged.

Meliodas snorted. "You, maybe. But I doubt King's made her list." He sent me a sly smirk that had me sinking in my chair just like King. I didn't even want to give a thought to where exactly the ginger was or wasn't on my list. Not that I had one.

Diane leaned over the counter with a challenging smile. "You shouldn't count him out so easily. King's got a nerdy charm about him that draws a girl in. He's good looking, easy to talk to and don't even get me started on -"

"D-Diane!" King sounded like he was being strangled.

"What?" She turned to him with innocent eyes. Even I could tell it was an act. "I'm giving you compliments!"

The ginger dropped his face into his hands, hiding his extremely red face. "Why?" He exasperated.

A smirk danced across her lips as her eyes flickered between King and I. "Well, I can't speak of the Boss's expertise in this field, but I can speak to yours. Figured Elizabeth should know before she makes her decision." She winked at me and I felt myself flushing.

"Hmm," Meliodas hummed thoughtfully and I snuck a peek at him. His green eyes were lit with amusement. The small uptick to his lips far more distracting than it should have been.

"Plus, picking King comes with me," Diane gestured down her body. "We could have lots of fun together." She purred leaning in close to me.

"I -uh, I don't…" Words were failing me.

"Why is this even a conversation right now?" King dropped his hands and intervened in an attempt to help me gather my thoughts.

"You brought it up." They both respond without missing a beat. The Sin of Sloth slumped against the counter, mumbling curses under his breath.

"Well, if it was you and Elizabeth, I don't think I'd say no to that." Meliodas grinned crookedly.

"Too bad the offer isn't on the table for you Boss," Diane stuck her tongue out at him.

King began to move next to me, reaching for the pot of coffee. He grabbed it and his mug. Catching my curious gaze, he tilted his head towards the basement door. I gave him a subtle nod. Slowly we slid out of our seats.

"Why isn't it?" The blonde crossed his arms in front of his chest like a petulant child.

"Because I'm not dating you. King is the only guy this would work with." Diane's comment had both King and I flushing as we continued to silently walk backwards to our destination.

"That's stupid. You used to like me." Meliodas pointed out. The statement had me pausing, glancing at King to get his reaction. A light scowl set across his still pink features.

Diane snorted out a chuckle. "The only one who thinks that's true is probably King. You and Ban both know I only did it to make him jealous." I caught her rolling her eyes.

Now it was King's turn to pause. He looked ready to say something so I nudged him in the ribs. His amber eyes locked with mine as I silently pleaded with him to continue our track to the basement. A contemplative expression passed his features for a second before he nodded. We were just opening the door when the leader of the Sins responded.

"Man, he was so pissed at me when you started doing that," Meliodas chuckled at the reminder. "Guy wouldn't believe that I had absolutely no interest in you."

"Really?" Diane took a seat. "What'd he say?"

"Something about me being a mental bastard and how could I not like you." The blonde's laughter echoed off the walls of the bar.

Diane's giggle joined him. "Aww, he's so sweet."

"He was crazy about you back then already." Meliodas shook his head. "Anyway, you have him so I get Elizabeth when she turns to the darkside." He said spookily with a large grin.

"No way! When the time inevitably comes, she's totally going to be with King and me!"

"You're way too jealous for that to work."

"I think I could share with Elizabeth."

King shut the door, face looking ready to explode. I couldn't say mine was far off. We walked the rest of the way to the room without another word. He collapsed in his normal chair and I followed suit.

"How…" I started after a few minutes of silence. "How does this always happen?" I grumbled over the lip of my mug.

"I'm sorry. Today was my fault," King huffed out a heavy sigh. "Shouldn't have even brought it up."

"Ah, I really didn't help," I shook my head, unwilling to let him fully take the blame. He always seemed to do that. "I kept it going by reminding you that body parts would only be lost if she wasn't involved."

"Ya know, it wouldn't be so bad if it had just been Diane. I can manage her." The ginger admitted as he began gathering papers. "The boss though… how should I put this…"

"Just come right out and say it," I smirked as I folded my hands on the table, "Meliodas can be an ass."

He snapped his fingers with a wide grin. "That's it!"

We shared a laugh for a few minutes before getting to work.

"Hey you two!" Meliodas greeted cheerily as he stepped into the room. "Better stop sneaking off together or you're gunna give me and Diane the wrong idea!"

"I don't care if I give you the wrong idea," I immediately rebutted. To my ire, his grin only grew. "Besides, we were just going over a few more things."

"Which you said we should do," King swiftly pointed out after my statement.

"Did I?" Meliodas tilted his head in false innocence. "I think we'll put a hold on the information exchange today."

"Not much of an exchange when I'm the one doing all the talking," the ginger grumbled resting his chin in his open palm, elbow propped up on the table.

I pursed my lips at him, readying a response.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way," King quickly rectified in that weird detached tone he seemed to have whenever we were down here discussing the case. "Just that, well, so far you haven't had anything to add."

My brows furrowed. He was right. This whole thing had been them telling me information. I only felt guilty about my lack of knowledge for a few seconds. I was the cop. They were the criminals. They were supposed to be the ones giving me information. I didn't owe them anything.

"Anyway, why don't you head upstairs, Elizabeth? I gotta talk to King about something."

I stared at him, weighing out just what he would have to say. An annoying feeling swirled in the pit of my stomach. Something of the sensation must have showed through on my features as Meliodas added;

"I'm not going to hurt him for hitting on you or anything, Princess. No worries," Meliodas teased with a crooked grin.

"I do not hit on her," King defended himself. "Can I remind you again? The reason we spend so much time together is because of you."

"Well if you weren't the only one besides myself that knew the ins and outs of this whole operation, I wouldn't have to."

"Is that suppose to be an argument?" King scowled at him as he stood. "It's not my fault."

"You did throw yourself into all this stuff."

"You needed me too. You and Ban were completely lost without my insight."

"Maybe."

"Ugh," King collapsed back into his chair. "Whatever. I don't care. What do you want?"

"Elizabeth, head upstairs."

"Why?" I find myself extremely curious to what the blonde had to say. He didn't respond, just staring at King. The ginger scowled at him, as if he already knew what this was going to be about. Realizing neither was going to make a move until I left, I huffed. "Fine."

I opened the door and shut it loudly behind me. My feet made for the stairs and I walked a few of them before turning around and quietly going back to the door.

Meliodas was crazy if he thought he could keep me out of the loop that easy.

Luv: *Groans staring at the screen of her computer* Dom! Give me something funny to write about. I can't think! *sips more wine and eats her ice cream as if that will solve all the problems*

Dom: *Lowers her bowl of pho with a raised brow* Woah, woah - that's not in my contract. You're the funny one, remember? I'm here to make awkward sexual jokes and torture the readers.

Luv: What? Are you sure? *pulls out the contract from almost a year ago* There's no way that I'm the funny one- oh…. Okay… apparently I'm supposed to be the funny and… cute innocent one? *frowns and looks at Dom* What does that even mean?

Dom: HA! Cute and Innocent… Who the hell wrote these contracts? *Scans over a clause in her own contract that states that she must be classy - Whatever the hell that means*

Luv: Yeah! Who the- *pauses* Wait, what's that supposed to mean? I'm totally adorable! *begins to pout*

Dom: And I'm obviously the sadistic one, so I guess they're not far off. *Shrugs, pulling out her obligatory "classy" boa and throwing it over her shoulder* This is what they meant by classy, right?

Luv: Um… think so? Being classy seems so much easier… Wait I got another one here… *makes a face at the contract* Apparently since my name is Luv I'm… obligated to love? Uh… okay… Okay moving past the possible creep factor there… Next Time on Don't Trust Me: Elizabeth listens in on a conversation that leads her into a major choice - wig or dye. What possible clues did King discover in breaking the code, and why does it require a waiter's suit?

Dom: *Continues scrolling through her own contract then stops with a grin* Yeah… you don't want to know what they say about my name.

Luv:... nope. *shakes head slowly* Nope I don't. Huh, what do ya know, being the innocent one isn't so tough!

Dom: See everyone in the next chapter!