Thank you for beta'ing, MsSchneeheide!

pareja-couple

About a week after the severe snowstorm with howling, whistling winds, thunder, and lightning, the power goes out in the middle of Blanca turning a page in her romance novel and Diablo taking a swig of his beer. Maritza screams from upstairs. "Ugh, now I can't do my makeup!"

Blanca sighs sharply and sets her book down as she drinks the last of her rum and coke. "Dios mío." The roaring of the rain seems impossibly louder now.

"I can't see my dolly!" Raiza cries. "Mami, Mister Diablo, where are you?!"

"We're right here, niña," Diablo tells her gently, scooping her up from the floor beside the couch and settling her in between them. Blanca snuggles her little girl close and pecks her cheek. She covers herself and Raiza with a few blankets. The draft floating through the place makes her shiver.

"Espera, mi amor, I'll be right back," Diablo murmurs and Blanca smiles when she feels him kiss the top of her head. He rests his bottle on a coaster. Moments later, he returns with a flashlight in one hand and a box of matches in the other. Then, he lights the candles on the living room table.

"Yay!" Raiza shouts excitedly, clapping her hands.

"Gracias," Blanca tells him.

"De nada."

She's enjoying the extra heat they're bringing and at least it's not pitch black anymore. Still, though, the flickering flames remind her of a moment from not too long ago. They were both buying candles at Target in November shortly after running into each other again.

"Do you believe in true love?" Diablo asks after they'd purchased the lavender and vanilla scented ones. His warm gaze flickers from her to a sign advertising buying the perfect engagement ring for a holiday proposal. Then he turns back to her again. She smiles affectionately at him.

"Random question, but okay," she breathes. "If you had asked me that when I was much younger, I would have answered yes. Pero ahora…" Blanca trails off with a shrug.

"Ya no crees en eso," he says as they amble out of the store.

You don't believe in it anymore

"Sí. Exactly." Their hands bump, but don't join. Blanca yanks hers away before he can pull his further to his side.

Diablo's grin drops slightly. "I'm assuming you don't believe in love at first sight either."

Blanca shakes her head. "No, you can't just...fall head over heels for someone you've seen for literally a split second. No les conoces. They could be the most handsome guy in the world and say everything you want them to say, pero no sé. Life is just so confusing sometimes."

You don't know them.

"Tell me about it," he mutters.

"You don't know who anybody is beneath the surface until it's too late," she says darkly.

His eyes grow concerned. "Blanca…are you okay?"

"Mm-hm." She groans internally because she'd accidentally revealed some of her past in the heat of the moment. "I'm fine, no te preocupes."

"Can I give you a ride home?" he asks as they approach the curb in front of the parking lot.

"No gracias…Karla's meeting me here, she's taking me for a girls' night out." Blanca scans the area and then waves happily when she sees her best friend. Karla returns the gesture while grinning, and then runs over. The ladies exchange hugs and then bump fists with Diablo before they part ways.

Blanca's Nokia flip phone suddenly rings, and she holds it up to her ear. "¿Hola?"

"Oye chica, did all your lights go out?" Gloria wonders aloud. "Ours did over here!"

"Sí," Blanca murmurs.

"Can we come over?" Aleida asks. "We can play Dominoes like we did in high school! The kids are busy with our boyfriends, telling spooky stories con linternas."

with flashlights

"Sure! Hasta luego."

"¡Adiós!"

"¿Quien era ese?" Diablo asks from beside her.

"Oh, lo siento, Gloria and Aleida querian venir aquí…so I said it was okay. I should've checked with you first…"

wanted to come here

"I'm fine with it, don't worry, baby," he assures her, relaxing her instantly, and she beams.

"That seems cool, but what are we gonna do?" Maritza asks as she enters the room, using the light from her phone as a guide. "I'm bored…and nervous, 'cause I can't see well, and you know what happens next, I can't eat good. It's probably almost dinner time."

Diablo checks his watch. "It is…I'll make us cold salami and cheese sandwiches if that's okay with everyone? After I call Con Edison, of course."

"Sí, gracias," Blanca says with a smile, and her daughters nod along with her.

"I'll help!" Laronne tells Diablo excitedly.

"¡Gracias, mijo!"

"Actually, let's all just make our own so you don't have much work…it'll give us something to do," Blanca murmurs.

"Okay!" Diablo agrees. "That'd be great, actually!"

A while later after they've eaten, Blanca, Diablo, Gloria, Aleida, Maritza, Laronne, and even little Raiza are having fun playing Dominos and then Go Fish by candlelight as they wait for the power to come back on. They're all sipping on warm tea and it heats them up nicely.

"Whoohoo, I won!"

"For the fifth time, nena," Gloria mutters, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, don't brag!" Raiza pipes up.

"Can't help it that I'm awesome at this," Maritza says, fanning her face with four cards displaying the aces of spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds. "I feel like I should challenge myself more, like learn chess or somethin'."

"That would be neat!" Blanca tells her.

"Mm-hm…anyway, random question time! Would you make out with your best friend for a million dollars?" Maritza wonders out loud. She wears a crafty grin.

"If I wasn't with Diablo, sure," Blanca answers.

"Yas, get it, Blanquita!" Aleida cheers.

"I would too, if Blanca and I weren't together, why not?" Diablo says.

"Yeah, maybe!" Laronne adds. "What about the rest of y'all?"

Maritza wears a shit-eating grin. "I didn't need cash to plant one on Flaca!"

Aleida smirks at Gloria. "I already did lock lips with mi mejor amiga, gimme the money!"

Maritza appears to be shocked. "Whoa, really? When?"

"At a girls' night out before I was happily taken…Red dared us to," Gloria lets her know as Blanca chuckles softly to herself.

"Whoa!" Laronne appears surprised.

"How was it?" Diablo wonders aloud.

"A little strange, actually," Aleida responds. "We were super trashed, though, so I barely remember it!"

"Yo, same here," Gloria says, pursing her lips.

"You were fully making out!" Blanca reminds them.

"Luckily we can't get pregnant from each other," Aleida says. The women and Maritza giggle amongst themselves.

"Not in front of la bebé," Blanca hisses as she covers Raiza's ears.

"That's what I was gonna say," Gloria chimes in.

Diablo frowns slightly. "Same here."

"Speaking of babies, Lucy's tryin' to talk, but the bigger thing is, she's standin' up on her own holding the edge of a couch or low table!" Aleida states proudly.

"Oh, good!" Maritza comments, and the others verbally agree. Raiza claps her hands, beaming.

When the lights come back on at almost midnight, Blanca and Diablo blow out the flickering candles gently. The ladies leave after hugging them, Maritza, and a sleepy Raiza goodbye. After the couple wishes Maritza good night while embracing her, Blanca pecks her cheek. They all then head off to the kids' bedroom and put Raiza and Laronne to bed, snuggling them into their comforters and extra sheets so they're warm and cozy. Then, their respective parents kiss them on both cheeks and afterwards, pad into their own bedroom.

Later, Blanca lies half naked in bed, only wearing her blue negligee. Diablo is shirtless; he slides up next to her under the covers and kisses her cheek. Her upper row of teeth sink into her lower lip and she gazes at him lovingly.

"No puedo dejar de pensar en esos labios," he whispers, ghosting his hand down the side of her face and then combing his fingers through her hair. His slightly-open mouth presses against hers and she closes her eyes while sighing with bliss. Her heart flutters as the amazing feeling continues.

Can't stop thinking about those lips

"It's magical being with you, my burly man," Blanca mumbles after their makeout session. "Eres el amor de mi vida."

"You're the love of my life, too!"

"Also, you're my hero."

"Te amo mucho, corazón."

"Oh, baby…" Blanca giggles as she melts inside. "¡Yo también te amo!"

They just smile at each other as their legs tangle and he snuggles her into his arms.

"So, I never asked…but how was your Valentines' Day?" Maritza asks as she comes up to Gloria at lunch on Monday after the second Winter Break. She, Flaca, Maria, and Daya begin helping the cafeteria ladies prepare the cheese enchiladas.

"More fun than any of the ones I had before. I always thought it was created so that people without a special someone, or those in relationships where they'd rather be single, would feel upset." Gloria shares a knowing, sad look with Blanca, but then both of their expressions turn lighter. "Pero Fahri hizo que me encantara."

But Fahri made me love it.

"Diablo también lo hizo, por mí," Blanca chimes in. She's next to Gloria, chopping bell peppers to put into the Spanish rice that's cooking on the stove. She then holds up her knife. "Mi Diablo said no pareja is perfect, but each one is wonderful in its own way." Gloria, Flaca, Maritza, and Maria smile at this.

Diablo did too, for me.

"He's really your boyfriend now?" Maria asks.

"Sí, él es mi novio," Blanca confirms. "He took me out for a good meal, breakfast, not too long ago. I never did that with my exes in the past. Diablo and I are also pretty close in height…I'm five feet four and he's seven inches taller than me! Kinda makes me feel more protected, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, hell yeah, I feel that with Leon!" Aleida faces them, her hands on her hips. "When you can't stop smiling like an idiot and your stomach feels like there's butterflies in it, that's how you know it's love. Plus, deep dick, fucking so much you got trouble walkin'. Sophia said something similar, pain that you can't stop wanting."

Red smacks her with a towel. "There's kids here! Can't you just describe true romance as light, like a fiery heat between you and accepting each other, as Sister Ingalls did? Lorna mentioned that love is so much more than-"

Aleida shrugs. "Eh, they've taken Sex Ed."

The head chef shakes her head while rolling her eyes. Gloria, Blanca, and the girls giggle to themselves.

"See, Aleida, I told you not all guys can't stand Valentines' Day, some enjoy it!" Maritza exclaims. "Anyway, I used to want some Wall Street dude to fly me in a helicopter to D.C., but now I'm just vibing with my girl, I've found so much happiness with her!"

Flaca pulls Maritza in for a side hug and pecks the top of her head. The others beam.

"Adarsh got me the comic books I love…he inspires me to do new things all the time…like, now, I wanna dye my hair different colors, such as purple or blue…or even pink!" Daya pipes up on the other side of Gloria. "He had plans to go to Denali for college, but I wanna stay in America with my family…but on the other hand, I can't let that break us up…and me going to college so far from home would be an awesome experience for me!"

"You should apply there, then!" Gloria advises her.

"I'm probably going to."

"We'll miss you," Aleida murmurs. "Your heart-to-heart talks with Gloria and me are amazing."

Daya smiles. "I'll visit when I can, Ma! I'll even borrow one of your nail polish kits with twelve colors if you don't mind. Besides doing people's nails there, I'm gonna paint pictures and decorate vases or ruined bags with the polish."

"Sure! Maybe that can be a job?"

"Maybe," Daya echoes her mother, then turns to the girls. "Oh, hey…Lucy started crawling last month, she's gotten the hang of it and she moved onto standing up assisted, using the couch cushion as support. On Saturday, she tried to run, but then she fell on the carpet and screamed in shock…it was so cute!"

"Aww!" they exclaim in unison as Gloria nods with confirmation.

"I hate to change the subject, but could we have Chinese food next time? I grew up eating that, my stepdad's name was Chen Dong. He was much better than my dad, that's for sure. He treated my mom real nice, especially after she got cousin Frankie with a brick for molesting my niece!" Maria rolls up her sleeves, revealing a tattoo of a maze or tribal design of some kind.

"Sure!" Red beams. "Sounds like your mother's got some balls!"

"Oh, sí, awesome, good for tu mamá!" Blanca exclaims and the others happily nod along with her.

"My father Jorge, or El León, as he called himself, is a different story," Maria continues. "He was against Mexicans, who include Yadriel and Flaca. He called my man a cholo and I was kicked out of my house for being in love with him. I hate the rivalry between the Dominican Pride and Mexicans and I don't wanna be Dominican if he's so against Mexicans! He taught me homeland forever but it means nothing to me when he hates mi novio. He's so weird, too, asking Sirena where she's from…she moved from San Cristobal to Inwood at age two, she told him, even though she didn't need to!"

"Oh, how annoying! He sounds fuckin' racist," Flaca mutters.

"He was." Maria turns to Gloria. "I wish my father ran a bodega like you, Gloria…or was a bus driver. Anything but a drug selling loser who's in actual wars with certain nationalities!"

"I get it," Gloria murmurs sympathetically.

"With my chin held high, I pushed open the black gate in front of my old house and left with a purple suitcase," Maria goes on. "I eyed his house before I continued walking. Yadri spotted me from across the street when I stopped. Before we fell in love, he was like a pimp daddy that used to hang around the school. He almost got busted for possession of heroin but I came to his rescue when I ran out as he took off. I threw his stash up to my opened bedroom window so Sirena could catch it."

Maritza presses her hand to her heart. "Super romantic!"

"The pigs grabbed my butt when they frisked me for drugs…even though I was in an ugly Catholic school uniform."

"Ugh, gross!" Blanca exclaims.

"Yeah!" Maritza scoffs and rolls her eyes. "I bet those cops were Asian with a schoolgirl outfit fetish."

"Nah, white, but that ain't the point!" Maria snaps.

"Sí, either way, they were creeps," Blanca puts in.

"What did those uniforms look like, by the way?" Maritza wonders aloud. "They can be so cute, even sexy!"

"Ours weren't. We had to wear these long sleeved white shirts and purplish pink and white plaid dresses with white knee socks and black Mary Jane shoes," Flaca answers before Maria can, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "I pulled it off real good, though!"

Maritza looks at her affectionately. "I bet you did, baby." They share a short but sweet kiss. Maria is only being nice because adults are here, Maritza supposes. She'd pretend to gag if they weren't around.

Blanca slides decorated heart-shaped cookies into the oven after preheating it. The students are going to have those for dessert with their meal. "Lo siento, Maria, I thought you were Venezuelan for a couple months."

Maria shrugs. "It's cool."

"So, what'd you do over the past ten days?" Daya asks conversationally as they make eggs with frozen chopped nopales. Maria is ignoring her, Flaca, and Maritza, as per usual. "Besides chilling with me and the other girls, of course."

"As a family, Mami, Diablo, Raiza, Laronne, y yo had a movie marathon on Saturday. The Babysitter's Club and It Takes Two were Raiza's picks, and then Mami's favorite, Home Alone. We also chose the second Zorro film, which has a character with her name in it," Maritza answers.

"Cool!"

"The rest of the time, we hung out together." Flaca grins as she gestures between herself and Maritza.

"Yep!" Maritza beams back at her girlfriend.

"I ran into my birth father Rod the Clod a while ago and saw that he has a new family," Daya mutters. "Caputo's ex who's named Lisa and their daughter. He made plans to take me to White Castle on Sunday, but surprise, he never showed. I felt so betrayed…but when I called Adarsh to pick me up from there, he came right away! He's so sweet!"

"Aw, your dad really sucks, but I'm glad Adarsh was able to make you feel better!" Flaca comments.

"Sí," Maritza agrees.

"At the end of the night, I hugged Leon and thanked him for never letting me down. He's more like a dad to me than any other idiot Ma's gone out with!"

Maria chooses this moment to jump in. "That's sweet! You're lucky."

Daya nods, smiling to herself.

"Me, too!" Flaca and Maritza say in unison, and then hook their pinkies together. "Jinx!" They giggle and high-five.

"Like always, Yadriel and me had our ham and cheese sandwiches at the Riverside Mall in Utica where Donaldson works as a security guard. He also has three sisters and I can't be seen by any of them because I sell fake designer jeans." Maria's voice lowers as she confesses this.

"Just be careful so you don't get caught," Daya whispers.

"I am."

"Remember the last time we were here together?" Maritza asks suddenly. "Red taught us, Maria, Daya, and Mami how to make Ratatouille…she told us she was doing it as she brought over a small pan."

"Oh yeah!" Flaca exclaims.

"She watched as we dug in and we loved it!" Maria adds.

"The yellow one I had was delicious!" Daya chimes in. "Hey…I'm so glad I don't gotta vent about my mom being a bitch anymore, she's so much better! You see, Jazmina, our selfish cousin, she hasn't answered Ma's phone calls in weeks, even though she once brought champagne soda to celebrate Ma being out of prison. Jazmina has a friend named KK she had to bail out, he had a DUI and other charges, he had to go to Rikers…and she's got asthma, like Katie, so she basically sold all of Ma's stuff and told her to get a job with Domingo, the little person from Gloria's bodega. He's training to be a scuba diver, but he also sells H. My mom flat-out refused to continue working with drug dealers!" Daya wears a broad smile. "I'm so proud of her!"

"Yay!" Maritza claps.

"There's so many better ways to make money!" Flaca says.

Except prostitution, Maritza thinks bitterly.

"Gracias por la cerveza otra vez este pasado viernes," Blanca is telling Red as she follows the Russian woman into the backroom. They wave at the girls, who return the gesture.

Thanks for the beer this past Friday.

Red nods at her with a pleasant smile. "Pozhaluysta."

You're welcome.

Blanca bends down to check her reflection in Red's five-year-old makeup mirror and then touches her unibrow. "I gotta wax again…"

"You can at home…let's play Gin while the others serve lunch!"

"Okay, then!"

That's when Maritza, Flaca, Daya, and Maria go into the cafeteria. They meet up with their other friends and Maria taps Yadriel, who was speaking to her cousin. Elena's just staring at Sergio with heart eyes as he finishes talking about their date. "Come on, babe, I want some alone time with you!" Maria tells her boyfriend.

"Sure!" Yadriel gives Sergio and the girls a two-fingered wave as he gets up and walks away with Maria.

"So…hot night?" Maritza asks.

"She literally just told us! How come you girls were in the backroom with Mami and the others?" Ceci asks as Elena opens her mouth with a delighted expression on her features.

Katie frowns. "Yeah, y'all missed it."

"It's okay," Elena says through a giggle as Sergio kisses her hand. "I don't mind tellin' 'em again."

"We wanted to help your moms," Flaca murmurs, gesturing between Maritza, Elena, Ceci, and Daya. "So, go on, what happened Saturday night?" Smiling, she and Maritza sit down, squeezing between Elena and Taystee. Daya takes a seat next to Adarsh on the other side of the table. "We haven't really seen much of y'all lately."

"We've been going out on so many dates; they've actually been pretty nice with no one bothering us!" Elena rests her cheek in her palm as she beams at Sergio. "You first."

"No, you, sweetheart," he says gently, holding her gaze. "You're the lady here, after all."

"Sí, but you deserve it, because you treat me well." She bats her eyes at him.

Maritza and Flaca exchange wide grins; they're just too adorable. "Ay dios mío, basta, you guys." Flaca pokes Elena's side and she laughs. "¿Es esto lo que haces en todas tus citas?"

Is this what you do on all of your dates?

Maritza chuckles. "Five bucks says it is."

"Jesus, someone talk already!" Daya complains. She throws a balled up napkin at Ceci and Katie, who were just nuzzling noses and giggling together. "Honeymoon stage people are the worst."

"Hey!" Ceci flips her off. "Elena and Sergio are just as bad. Look at 'em!" She tilts her head at the couple.

Daya smirks. "Yo, I'm getting you back for last year when me and Adarsh first got together."

"Y'all…" Taystee knocks on the section of the table in front of Elena and Sergio, and they glance up at her. "Just let 'em in on the scoop! Kinda feelin' like a fifteenth wheel here."

"Then you should've invited Clarence to sit with us, T!" Poussey tells her as she swings her arm over Franziska's shoulders.

"Look, shorty-"

"Yeah, everyone says he's got a thing for ya," Franziska puts in.

"Really? I thought RJ's friend Trance did, and then he started feelin' Ouija more…"

"Nah, Clarence wants to ask you out, I told him not to be a pansy ass and just do it," Darius mutters.

"He's just worried you might say no since he used to date Angie and we all think she's a crackhead ho," Daisy says.

Willy guffaws. "Probably because she is, literally…she actually thought she got high off Flaca's LSD and asked for more…"

"Yeah, but Taystee, whoever he went out with in the past seriously doesn't determine who he'll have a thing for now. If he's into you, maybe go for him right back," Cat suggests. "It could turn into a real fairytale…"

"Listen to you, cryin' white lady movie channel! You for serious think my love life could turn into a Lifetime movie?"

"Mm-hm!" Elena states brightly. "It should include a lot more diversity, but mine is… like, a blissful one where the couple is together and totally in love at the end. Anyway, on Saturday night, Mami let Sergio in just when I was holding baby Vanessa and singing to the little girl. We were asked to watch her for a while."

"Ellie looked so sweet rocking the kid…and her voice is heaven, like she sounds like an angel," Sergio chimes in, tucking a lock of hair behind Elena's ear and then pressing a soft peck to her temple. She blushes and then kisses his cheek while rubbing her finger against his stubble.

"Serge wouldn't stop gushing about that," Elena adds. "I later told him about what happened with Cesar storming into Karla and Ramón's place when me, Ceci, Flaca, and Maritza were babysitting and how our main job was protecting the children."

"I held my girl like this." Sergio wraps his arms around Elena and she looks so peaceful and jovial in his embrace. "I check in on her while she's alone, making sure she's okay." He looks down at her sadly. "I can't believe I used to buy drugs from that scumbag loser! You're so brave, but I want you to be safe, mi princesa." He rolls up his sleeves, revealing the inked stars lining his arms. "We had to walk from the parking lot to the restaurant and I ran into some of the less violent members of the rival gang. Armando asked me who the hottie was on my arm and I just glared at him, saying her name's nunya biznaz. Fool didn't even look scared of me!"

"Well, of course not, babe, you didn't have your knife or gun with you."

"I had my fists. I don't need no weapon to threaten him with. For real, he touches you, I'll kick his ass."

Elena grins. "I know. I've got some moves, too." She mimes a punch. "Cesar's cousin Louis was there too, he was real creepy, sayin' like, 'you gonna rape her or somethin'?' It was hella nasty!" She shivers. "I had my Sergio with me, though, so I felt safe."

"I just stared at him menacingly and growled 'we're not like that, man' in a rough tone."

"It was so hot, my dude protecting me," Elena goes on. "It was enough to make Louis and Armando leave…besides that, his wife was yelling at him from the car about his mixed media sculptures or whatever. Then, we ate, talked the evening away; it was so fun!" She and Sergio look into each other's eyes again while glowing with adoration. "You're perfect, mi hombre guapo."

"No, you are, mi hermosa."

"Sounds like a lovely time, even when those weirdos came up to y'all! You're hella cute together, it's even giving me butterflies," Maritza gushes, and the rest of the group agrees verbally. "He's takin' real awesome care of you, Elenita." So far, so good, the nagging voice in the back of her head pipes up. Blanca has said before that abusive relationships can start out very sweet before they turn sour overnight; she's had experience. Maritza can only hope Sergio is more like Diablo than Dean, otherwise he'll be murdered by Gloria's homeboys in Washington Heights.

"That's all we want for our girl, so…" Flaca grins and gives him a thumbs-up and then switches her attention to Elena. "You tell your mami and abuela?"

"Every detail…except the gang and blunt objects parts." Elena smiles proudly. "I picked a good one; they said that, too!"

Sergio kisses her lips while also beaming, flashing his grills. "Yo también."

Once Diablo gets home from work, Blanca greets him with a hug and he presses his lips to hers. She notices almost right away that he has white flowers, and he presents them to her. "You got me flores blancas again…what'd I do to deserve these?" she asks softly as she fills a red vase with water, and then the beautiful bouquet.

"Well, white flowers are muy bonitas. So are you!" he compliments her. "They make me think of you, my love."

Very pretty

She blushes again, like she did the first time he gave her these. "Gracias, querido."

"De nada." He smiles and rests his chin atop her head and strokes her black tresses. They hold each other's waists as they sway a few times.

"Mami and Diablo sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage!" Raiza sings. She giggles as Blanca and Diablo pull away from each other and look at her in surprise.

"Lo siento, nena, I didn't see you there!" Blanca ruffles her youngest daughter's hair.

"It's okay! Can you make chili again, Mr. Diablo, ¿por favor?" Raiza hops up and down on one foot and then switches to jumping with both feet.

"Of course, Raizita," he says, patting her cheek fondly.

"Yay!" she cheers and runs off. "Laronne, your daddy is making chili again!"

"Yes!" Laronne shouts happily from the other room.

"Maritza's out with the girls tonight again, in case you were wondering," Blanca informs Diablo. "She's finally doing teenager things again."

"Oh, that's awesome!" His heart swells at the fact that Blanca and her daughters are back to their fun lives, but he really hopes Dean is gone forever. They haven't heard from that bastard in a while, and Diablo isn't going to bring him up. He won't make Blanca have a panic attack by even speaking Dean's name, let alone talking about him.

"Mm-hm…"

Diablo remembers a time when Blanca wouldn't open up to him about anything and he's so glad she does now, but only on her own terms. Even if he was trying to coax her past out of her in the gentlest way possible, he feels guilty that he was probably invading her privacy. He's apologized about it before, but she told him not to worry, that she should've been comfortable telling him everything. They'd left it at that, but it sometimes gnaws on him. He wants to be perfect to her, because she's an angel and one of the best women he's ever known and loves.

"You know, you're smiling, but they say that the prettiest smiles mask the saddest stories and the most beautiful eyes hold a lot of pain," Diablo points out.

Blanca's smile drops and her eyes glisten. "Well then, I must be ugly, because I don't have any dark secrets to hide…"

"I don't buy that!"

"¿Y por qué no?" She sniffles and quickly wipes her nose with the back of her hand.

"Because a friend of mine was raped, and she kept it from us until she broke down...and during the time she was quiet about it, she pretended everything was okay and put on a smile so big her eyes lit up...she ended up dying just after we married and she had her baby."

Blanca is close to crying now. "Well, lo siento about her, but that doesn't have anything to do with me...excuse me, I have to go…" Her eyes are unfocused, but still, it seems like his words have sunken deep into her heart.

"What happened?" Maritza asks, looking between Blanca and Diablo, glaring at the latter.

"Nada, vamos." Blanca leads her away from Friendly's. His heart shatters when he sees that she's now in tears and they both break into a sprint. He wants to follow them, make his crush feel better, but he doesn't. He just sighs as he stares after Blanca until she disappears.

He's jolted out of the memory when Blanca shrieks in pain. Her eyes shine with tears as she cradles her hand to her chest.

"Baby, ¿qué pasó?" he asks.

She shows him the injury she'd gotten, a harsh red mark. "Accidentalmente vertí demasiado aceite en la sartén y la puse alta, haciendo que salpicara hasta que la apagué." Her voice breaks. "I-I didn't mean to…no fue mi intención."

I accidentally poured too much oil into the pan and set it on high, making it splatter until I turned it off.

"Oh, lo siento, mi Blanca." He examines her hand, kisses the burn, and applies burn cream, then a Band-Aid. Blanca gives him a touched smile, clearly moved by the gesture, but it only lasts a second before she starts hyperventilating between whispered, broken apologies. "Está bien, I'm not mad at you…breathe with me, sweetie. Inhala, exhala…" He holds her tenderly and her breaths become even and less shaky after a while. "Want me to give you a bath?"

"Sí, por favor…"

So he does; he sits with her in the tub and they're both naked, but not at all in a sexual way. He's sad to see all of her scars out in the open like this and he's careful not to scrub hard against her bare skin. He washes her hair and body tenderly as she leans back against him and hums appreciatively with her eyes closed. After rinsing her, he gathers her in his arms and kisses her everywhere he can reach, mentally vowing to cherish her like this, always.

"Blanca, I promise to love and protect you until my last breath," he murmurs into her ear.

"So do I, mi Diablo. Te amo mucho. The way you treat me is so lavish…"

"You deserve it, reina."

It's like they're married already; he's just waiting for the right moment to propose.

Thank you for reading and reviewing, MsSchneeheide and Juliette45!