Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunchback of Notre Dame or anything to do with it. However, I do own Diamanta Devereux, her father, Oliver, Cecile Devereux, Madame Doreen,and Judge Thomas Gautier.

Note: No, the story isn't finished. I, too, am a Clopin fan and refuse to finish the story with such a terrible ending as I have in this piece of it. I don't know how many chapters there will be, but there'll be enough for the story to make all Clopin fans fulfilled.

Yep…this is my pathetic attempt at an outrageously dramatic chapter…no wonder it's so embarrassingly short. Oh well. I hope ya like! Plz review!

Chapter #18

Diamanta awoke the next morning in such pain that she nearly cried out in agony. She tried to remember what happened the night before, but her head felt as if it had been severely beaten with a heavy metal object. "First, Clopin told me that he loved me," Diamanta said to herself. "And I just couldn't take it…I just don't want to get to close to anyone…I can't be close to anyone…I'm afraid to," she said slowly. She thought of what happened next. "Then I had to get away, and I drank." Everything that proceeded was just a blur of memories.

She leaned back onto the mattress and closed her eyes. Something cool fell across her forehead. She smiled with the pleasure of not being in pain to such a horrid degree and touched her face. To her surprise, what she touched was not her skin, but a cloth dipped in water. She turned to the side to see Clopin greeting her with a warm smile. Diamanta reddened.

"I didn't know I wasn't—"

"Alone?" Clopin finished. "No, I stayed with you through the whole night." Diamanta was surprised.

"You didn't watch me sleep, did you?" was the first thing that spilled out of her mouth.

Yes. Though I didn't think it was possible, but you're even more beautiful asleep.

"No, I rested for a while," Clopin lied. In fact, he stayed up watching her, studying her, nearly gawking at the beauty that in fact was not skin deep; a beauty Oliver never bothered to notice.

"Clopin," Diamanta began, "what happened last night?" Clopin took the cloth off her head and dipped it in the water-filled bowl that lay at her side. He wringed it out before placing it back on her head.

"I said something personal to you, you ran away, got drunk, came back, and kissed me," he said in a bitter voice, despite the kind act he was doing. Diamanta's eyes widened.

"I what?"

"You said you loved me and then kissed me," Clopin said, his voice still not changed. "Something you could only bring yourself to do in the midst of you drunkenness." Clopin ignored the hurt on Diamanta's face and tended to her head. "But somehow…I still love you," he said in a quieter tone, more to himself than to her.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I was just so scared…"

"Yes, I know. You didn't want to get close to anyone. Even so, you didn't realize that you weren't the only one with emotions," he hissed. Diamanta was taken aback by his cruel tone.

"Well, Clopin, here's an emotion for you," she sneered. "I love you. I always have and I always will." Clopin paused.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" he asked, his voice growing slightly louder.

"Weren't you listening? Because I was scared!"

"What is there to be scared about?"

"How about competition?" Clopin raised an eyebrow.

"What competition? I haven't been with anyone in years!"

"That's because you could never open your eyes! Look around you! Can't you see how many women are desperately trying to get at you? Look at Esmeralda!" Her voice neared a screech.

"Esmeralda is like a sister to me," Clopin said. "Besides, she's married!"

"What about the other gypsy women? Ever noticed how no matter what you do, they have never been angry with you? You are their king and you let Frollo attack our people, and you haven't been stoned like any of our past kings would have! It's the women here who kept you alive. They do this purely because they want you! But you don't even see any of that!"

"Then what is there to be afraid of?"

"You opening your eyes and seeing how many women would kill to be with you! I didn't want you to see that there was no chance of you being with the scrawny yellow-eyed girl I was! That's what I didn't want you to see! The only thing I wanted you to see was…" her voice trailed off. Silence fell between them before she finished her sentence. "Me."

"Then why did you go with Oliver?" Clopin shouted. "Why did you torture me with this man who 'loved you'?"

"I needed a distraction," Diamanta explained. "I knew I couldn't have you, so I tried being with someone else." She stroked his face. "But I couldn't. Every time you saw me with him, this flash of hatred came into your eyes. Every time I saw that flash, a piece of my soul died."

"And every time I saw you two together, a part of me died as well."

She put his face in her hands and moved them around to his neck. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. To Clopin's surprise, Diamanta slightly pulled away. She looked directly into his eyes.

"Now that I am not in a drunken daze," she said softly, "I can do this properly." With that, she leaned forward and kissed him.

"How romantic," came a bitter, cold voice from the door of the wagon. They looked up, and to their horror, Gautier stood at the opening of the wagon, a twisted smile spread across his face.