Chapter 31

Another day passed and no one approached me.

I had hoped that someone would take the initiative much like the way Diane did. No such luck. This meant confronting one of them on my own. It would be hard to catch Merlin. I didn't know what her schedule with the Sins was. So I would just have to wait for her to make an appearance. I had heard about Gowther and Escanor so I just had the in house Sins left. And given I'd already heard from Meliodas and Diane that left either King or Ban.

My first instinct had me going after King.

That proved impossible.

The ginger knew what I was after and avoided me like the plague. It was so unlike him and left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. But I didn't have time to dwell on it, so I moved onto my only other option.

"You wanna know what?" Ban stuck his pinkie in his ear as if bored with my attempt at gathering information.

I managed to corner him in the kitchen. By this point in my short career as a waitress, I had learned the slow times in his schedule. Knowing a lull would be my best shot, I took the opportunity and left the tables to King and Diane.

"You heard me." I glared at him, going on to repeat myself anyway. "I'd like to hear why you became a member of the sins."

Ban pulled a face. "Why would you want to know my story?"

"I think it's important." I told him truthfully. Ban always seemed to be brutally honest. The least I could do was return the same courtesy. "I think all of your stories are. They'll help me understand how you got here."

Ban quirked a brow in silent challenge. Like he was weighing my words and deciding what good would come of telling me.

"My story is boring." He finally told me flatly.

"I'm sure that isn't-"

"It's the same old sob story I'm sure you've heard a thousand times before from criminals," he cut me off swiftly.

I waited for him to continue.

He didn't.

Instead he fixed himself a drink. I wasn't even surprised anymore. More impressed that his liver seemed able to keep up with him.

"And that would be?" My foot tapped impatiently against the floor.

I should have expected some resistance from him, but would a little cooperation be too much to ask from the Sin of Greed? He'd been fighting me every step of the way since the beginning.

"Decent life until my Dad left me at… I dunna 5? Mom was what some may classify as abusive and I ran away." He shrugged easily, like he hadn't just told me his horrible past in less than five sentences.

"Ban… that's-"

"Lived on the streets for a long time." He drawled, as if I hadn't said a thing. "Took what I needed, made what could almost be called a friend along the way, and eventually met the Boss." He finally cracked his signature crooked grin. "Now that's where life started to get interesting."

I was almost afraid to ask. "How so?"

"Well, I stole from the bastard and when he caught up with me, we beat each other to a bloody pulp!" He cackled madly. "Guy was half my size and still picked a fight with me! Most folks just ran away at the sighta this scary mug. But the boss had the balls to actually fight me!"

My lips quirked against my will. How Ban could be so happy about what was probably a brutal brawl was beyond me. But the man seemed almost as happy as I've seen him with Elaine. And that was saying something.

"He brought me back here and the rest is history."

"I hope that's not you trying to end the story." I scowled at him.

"If you want a good story, go to King." Ban sneered.

"I've tried!" I tossed my hands up. "He's been avoiding me most of the week! He refuses to even be alone in a room with me!"

"Ah, that must make your morning dates tough." Ban snickered.

"Screw you!"

"Not interested." Ban waved me off. "Try the Boss. Oh… wait." He smirked devilishly at me.

I punched his shoulder. Hard. Heat flooded my cheeks.

Ban cackled again.

"There has to be more." I ignored the embarrassment, intent on turning the focus back on Ban. "You were the first two to join the Sins, right?"

"We weren't the Sins back then, Princess." He rolled his eyes. "Hell, nona us even thought much past getting our own personal goals accomplished. Not until we were all gathered together. And even then it didn't happen for a while."

"But it was just you two? Right away?"

He sighed and relented. "Yeah. Just me and the boss for a few months before we stumbled upon King. Then another handful of months with King until we found Diane. After that was when we really started getting into shit."

I had a feeling getting the information I needed would be easier once I talked with King. So I focused on time it was just the two of them. Meliodas and Ban. The unofficial beginning of what would later be the most notorious gang in the city.

"What happened in those first months?"

Ban messed with the mug in front of him. He mulled over his thoughts in uncharacteristic silence. "It… wasn't good. We were nothing like we are now. Things never went smooth with just the two of us. I've never been much for planning and Meliodas…" He took a long drawn out drink. "Meliodas was still angry."

Ban's use of Meliodas' actual name told me the seriousness of what he was trying to say.

"That time wasn't good, Princess. Most interesting thing that happened in my life up til that point, but not so good for him." His eyes stayed trained on his mug. "He mighta actually got himself killed if I wasn't around."

I inhaled sharply.

"Not something I spend too much time thinking about." He confessed, rolling his shoulders, trying to push it all away. "Anyways, don't ever tell him I said this, but things cleared up a lot when we found King."

"That's… kind of surprising." I admitted.

The thought of Meliodas being such a loose cannon when Ban found him terrified me. That Ban of all people thought they'd had some close calls said a lot. But he didn't want to talk about that time and I was afraid to admit that I didn't want to hear about it.

Ban snorted, drawing me out of my thoughts. "Like I said, if you ever tell him I said that, I'll deny it until I die." He chuckled with a shake of his head. "Kid was an annoying prick but he sure as hell knew what he was doing more than the both of us combined when it came to the shit we were trying to do."

"You're being awfully vague."

"King's past is his own. I ain't gunna be the one to spill it to you."

"That's fair." I relented.

Escanor had done almost the exact same thing in regards to the overlap of his and Gowther and Merlin's stories.

"He helped us sort out a few things. Get us back on the right track as far as shifting through the bullshit and what not." Ban continued without my prompting. "He found this group we were looking for and that's when we ran into Di."

A smug smirk crossed his lips.

I quirked a curious brow.

"Now that was an interesting night." He chuckled at the memory. "But I'm sure you heard it from Di already, so I'll move on." heBan waved his hands. "So we got the four of us, right? Suppose that's enough from me."

"You're going to stop there? Nothing else?"

He shrugged. "Someone else will fill in the blanks. Probably."

"You really do suck at this." I stared at him, completely disappointed.

Ban chuckled. "It's really not so interesting. My part in things." He clarified. Red eyes were as serious as I eyed me. "The only parts I have that the others don't would be me and the boss. And honestly, most of that is a bit of a drunken haze."

"And how is now any different?" I snarkily retorted, annoyed at the lack of information from him. He mainly clarified a few things that I had already known. Besides the time he had with Meliodas. That he apparently couldn't remember anyway.

Boisterous laughter fell from his lips. That smirk he always wore reappearing. "I'm practically tamed to how I used to be, Princess."

"I hope that's another joke."

"Sadly, it isn't." A giggle commented lightly. We turned to see Diane standing in the doorway. "I'm not interrupting am I?" She smiled anxiously.

"Not at all."

"Try not to sound so disappointed." Ban poked my shoulder with a crooked grin. "Nothing was going to happen between us, Princess. I'm a taken man and I have way too much respect for the boss to even think of that."

"You're the absolute worst!" My fist connected with his arm once again.

Diane laughed and shook her head in obvious amusement. "Good good. I have some orders for you to start filling here. People are getting antsy."

Ban pulled a face. "Fine." He sighed and began going about his work. "What would this place do without my food."

"Guess we'll never know," she shrugged with a smile. "You were here before me so I haven't got a clue."

I ignored the two and dipped out of the kitchen. Diane hadn't been kidding about people being antsy. In the twenty minutes I had been talking with Ban, the bar had filled up with a bigger group. Probably a group of tourists trying to explore the unknowns of the city.

They were obviously Diane's table so I let them be. The tables I normally took were empty. I sat down at the bar with a huff.

"Alright there, Princess?" Meliodas' cheery tone filled my ears.

"Two left." I mumbled as I dropped my face into my hands.

"Just talk to Ban then?"

I nodded. "He wasn't very forthcoming with anything useful."

Meliodas chuckled, eyes filled with amusement when I managed to peek up at him through my fingers. "Well, not a lot happened then. Once you can get a hold of the last two, things will probably make more sense." He tried to assure me as he gently pulled my hands away from my face.

His touch lingered for only a moment before he pulled away.

I tried not to react to the tingles left on my skin and instead groaned, "I have no idea when that will happen. King's been avoiding me and who knows when the next time Merlin will show up."

"I'm sure she'll be around soon." He answered, completely ignoring my comment about King.

My mouth readied a comment about it when Melidoas continued quickly.

"Oh look, we need more whiskey. Watch the bar for me?" He said, already disappearing to the back.

"Yeah, okay," I mumbled to no one. It wasn't like he was going to be gone for long anyways.

A flash of quick movement caught my eye.

Here was my chance.

"King!" I smiled, determined to get back to our easy relationship. And get the story from him. And for him to stop ignoring me like a five year old. "Can we-"

"Sorry, I'm busy." He flat out refused my request before I even said it.

My body slumped against the counter in defeat. At this rate I wasn't ever going to get his story out of him.

Diane appeared from the back. "He still won't talk to you, huh?" She tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips.

"No."

"That jerk. I told him to just walk up to you and say it but…" She sighed and shook her head, pigtails slapping her cheeks lightly. "He worries too much."

That seemed quite obvious. Though I had to wonder, "is his story any worse than anyone else's?"

Diane's whole demeanor changed. "He's the dirtiest one of us all, Elizabeth."

A chill went up my spine.

"And you'd know that if you woulda just taken me up on that threesome offer." Her ever present smile slipped right back into place.

"D-Diane!" I sputtered out in both surprise and embarrassment.

She hummed. "Though I suppose I lost that bet to the boss, huh?" She gave me a sly glance and wink.

My jaw dropped, my head spinning as I tried to recover. "That's not- no! Of course not! Why would you even think-"

Her flat stare stopped the words from leaving my lips.

"Please," she rolled her eyes. "If you woulda kept it between you and Meliodas, it maybe woulda gotten by us for a day or two before one of us figured it out." She chuckled lightly. "But Ban saw you leave Boss' room. Of course he couldn't keep that to himself!"

I groaned, dropping my head into my hands. "Never would have thought Ban would gossip." I mumbled under my breath.

Diane's giggles filled the room. "Normally, you'd be right." Her tone stayed light as she shifted around the room. "But the boss is his best friend. 'Course Ban couldn't keep that little bit of information to himself. Besides-" I glanced up as she paused. A smirk on her lips. "- he couldn't keep it from us. We had another bet going and withholding information goes against the rules."

"Another bet?" My voice wavered, unsure of how to feel about this sudden development. Embarrassed? Angry? Amused? Just how many bets did they have going on that involved me? "Please tell me you're joking."

"Nope." She popped the 'p'. Diane's lips pulled down. "Damn bastard won too. So thanks for that."

"What?! Ban bet on Meliodas and I -..." I swallowed thickly, heat creeping up my cheeks. "He bet on us? That doesn't make any sense!"

Diane shrugged. "Guy knows Boss better than the rest of us. Probably knew the night you showed up that it was only a matter of time." She sighed, resting her chin in her hand. "I shoulda saw it too, but I had other thoughts occupying my mind."

Her amethyst eyes moved meaningingfully across my figure.

"Diane," I groaned with a shake of my head, unable to fight the sudden heat in my face at her obvious ogling.

She laughed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry, we can still be friends even without the skinship." She winked.

"What a relief." I replied sarcastically.

"I think you've been spending too much time with King." She teased and squeezed me closer. "That's just what he'd say. Same tone and everything."

Which reminded me why I'd been sulking in the first place.

"I still have to get stories from him and Merlin." I confessed as I leaned into her hold. "And I have no idea how to approach either of them."

"Well," Diane rested her cheek on my head. "I can talk to King, easy peasy. Merlin though… Best to be upfront with her. She only likes beating around the bush when it's for her own amusement and telling her story is anything but."

"Noted."

We spend a few minutes like that. No more words exchanged, just enjoying each other's company and proximity. It felt like so long since I had someone comfort me like this. It was almost like speaking with Margaret - the soothing effect it had on me.

I'm suddenly unsure who that says more about - Diane or me.

Before I have much time to ponder that though, Diane pulled away with a sigh, "Suppose I better get back to work." Her tone speaking volumes of the clear lack of desire to get back to doing anything, she moved towards the door to the kitchen.

"Diane," I called, wanting to say something, but at a loss of what exactly I wanted to relay.

"Hmm?" She hummed, turning back to me expectantly.

A lump formed with the ever increasing flush on my face that I had to clear before words would come, "I… I just wanted to say… thank you." I smiled, hoping it didn't come off as nervous as I felt for saying these thoughts out loud. "You know," I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear out of an old nervous habit I thought I'd kicked years ago. "For being so…Anyways, thanks."

There was a moment I had to look away from her, because the sudden sincerity seemed to catch us both off guard, but couldn't help finding my gaze skipping back up to hers when she replied, "Of course, Elizabeth." Her eyes softened and her normally bright smile dropped to something more genuine. "That's what friends are for."

Then she disappeared into the kitchen.

Friends. The word bounced around in my head, sending happy little jolts through me and made my chest flutter. When had I stopped protesting the idea so much? When did… When did Diane being my friend become so-so natural?

Happy jolts turned to anxious butterflies as the voice of reason kicked in.

Maybe Howzer was right.

I was getting far too invested. Not only in Meliodas, but all of them.

Luv: *standing in front of a mirror wearing a vest randomly covered with red solo cups* This is it. I'm getting it this time.

Dom: *Walks in from the next room and freezes* Uhhhh… nice armor. Whatcha pillaging?

Luv: Booze. *pulls out a ping pong ball and bounces it against the mirror. It lands in one of the cups.* FINALLY! *takes a long drink from her wine glass*

Dom: *Claps daintily* Well done, Now, please esplain?

Luv: I saw it on the internet. Idk if it had a name, but I'm gunna call it "solo pong" *nods head and gears up to play again.* I'm gunna make all these cups my biscuits.

Dom: *Sage nod* Ah yes. I too know of the ancient art of soloing. Please continue with your solo acts. But only if I get to watch.

Luv: *pauses* I feel like there's a… something there… *shrugs and proceeds to line up the shot and miss… again* Ugh! How's a person supposed to get a buzz this way?! I feel like I've been at this for hours!

Dom: Try drinking before handling the balls. That always does it for me.

Luv: You think? *removes the vest and places it aside and refills her glass* Well alright. You've never lied to be before.

Dom: *4th-wall-breaking side wink at the readers* well while you get liquid courage for an intense round of soloing I'll give our dearest readers the preview! Next time on Don't Trust Me: two stories remain, and they may just be the hardest to hear. But some friendly intervention is going to make it so Elizabeth gets to do just that.

Luv: *finishes third glass of wine* Okay *hic* I think I'm, I'm, I'mmmm *perks up* I'm ready, I'm ready! *hic* Spongebob anyone? *laughs at her nonexistent joke*

Dom: I'm sure you are dear. *sits with a bag of popcorn* now please, solo away!

Luv: *tilts head* Solo… like Star Wars? *glances at the vest on the floor and points* What's that?

Dom: Yes. Like Star Wars. And that's your battle armor. Now get to it!

Luv: Yes, Sir! *rushes to throw the vest on and makes a gun gesture with right hand* pew pew!

Dom: *Shakes head at the Luv as she runs around like a space trooper* Welp, I think that'll do it for this chapter. Catch y'all later!