The Old Diane

Both parties ate in silence while the sound of classical music filled the air. At last, her plate was clean but he had barely touched anything.

Diane glanced at her phone screen. it was already some minutes past seven. The waitress returned with the parfait.

It looked so good she'd fought hard to remain unphased even after the waitress left. Josh chuckled. "You're literally drooling, I'll feed you".

Diane managed to stop him by grabbing the parfait first. "It's fine". She took out a single blueberry before barely nibbling on it. Her next move was directed at Josh. "Here".

With an accepting smile, he leaned forward to take the blueberry in his mouth, alongside the tip of her finger.

As she'd expected, his warm tongue brushing against the tip of her finger wasn't the least bit arousing.

"I should go now". She got up to leave.

"Where to? I'll drive you". His head tilted in questioning.

"I have plans for tonight, nothing special".

His face turned cold. "With another guy?".

"Josh-."

"Tell me where you're going then we'll go together".

"Josh-".

"Stop being such a bitch, Diane!". He slammed down his fist on the table, drawing the attention of some people. "Do you want more money? I'll give you whatever you want!".

Her annoyed eyes scanned the room and all the awkward gazes sent at her. He was making her sound like some whore!

Did he really think that if she wanted money from him, she'd break up? Was he even trying to understand her situation?

"Fuck you". She sent him a piercing gaze before leaving with her bag. There were a handful of things she hated, and one was being misread.

Josh called the attention of a waiter before paying for everything they'd ordered. He chased after Diane who was already a distance ahead.

The sun had already set about two hours ago so the road was illuminated with the help of the streetlights.

"Diane!". He finally caught up to her with a grip at the wrist. "I'm not letting you go".

"Don't you understand? I'm not in love with you! No matter what you do, things will never change because I'm not the same person from four years ago".

His heart almost shattered in his chest. Yes - she'd changed after the accident.

The Diane of before was very dependent on him and always made him spend on her. She was so innocent and that was why people picked on her so much. She cried a lot and often considered suicide.

That's why he tried so hard to make her happy.

Everything had begun to go downhill a few weeks before she'd graduated high school. Someone had professionally edited a nude picture and begun blackmailing her. She hadn't even mentioned it to him out of fear of being misread, instead, she'd become somewhat distant from him.

He'd only found out a few days before her graduation when she'd spent the weekend at his place. The message he'd seen was sickening.

***

>>Unknown: I told you not to wear underwear to school today. Don't you know it's hard to finger you with such obstruction? Or do you want the whole school to see this photo? [5:14]

>>Unknown: If you ever take more than five minutes to reply me, I'll fucking post the photo on the school platform. [5:16]

>>Diane: I'm sorry. Please stop this, that picture isn't me. Why are you doing this to me? I barely even know you! [5:18]

>>Unknown: What do you mean it's not your picture? Your face is obviously there. Okay, let's make a deal- We'll have sex on graduation day in the girl's bathroom then I'll delete it. [5:18]

>>Diane: I can't do that, plus I have a boyfriend. Just stop! I'll report to the police! [5:19]

>>Unknown: But I'm not doing anything illegal, am I? It's your fault for sending out your nudes. By the time you report, it'll be trending on the internet. You can only blame yourself for being too sexy. [5:21]

>>Unknown: On Monday, don't wear a bra. I want to suck it •_• [5:22]

>>Diane: ...

***

Josh felt his throat tighten in disgust. Diane wasn't someone who'd send her nudes to anyone - even him!

He scrolled through older chats with the unknown number to find the picture. The face was Diane's, but as someone who's seen every inch of her body - the boobs were not only smaller but more lagging. And the person in the photo had thicker thighs and a flatter tummy.

The background was dark, so it was hard to find more differences.

Anyone who hadn't seen Diane naked could mistake her for the person in the photo.

Josh gritted his teeth in suppressed rage. 'Did this animal just say he fingered her?!'.

Why hadn't Diane told him about this? Was she scared about him taking it the wrong way and thinking she'd actually sent her nudes to someone else? He'd never ask her for nudes anyway since he could see her at any time.

Plus he wasn't blind.

His head turned to Diane who was sleeping soundly with her back against him. No wonder her eyes had been swollen when she'd arrived.

She'd lied about staying up late watching movies on her phone, but he could tell something was off. Why didn't she ask him for help? It was so unlike her.

He was angry at himself, but not as much as the asshole who'd been blackmailing and touching his girl.

He copied the number to his phone determined to try his best to solve everything without her knowing.

The next morning was a Sunday and he'd taken her to see a movie before accompanying her to go shopping. At times he wasn't even sure why he loved her so much when they'd been together for barely a year.

And yet he felt so deeply attracted to her. The way she smiled, laughed, and even cried was so precious. He wanted to hurt anyone that would even harm a hair on her head.

It was on the eve of Sunday that he'd gotten a reply from a friend about the location of the number.

He'd left Diane in the middle of the night to go to the location. There, he'd beat the sick bastard to a pulp before forcing him to unlock the phone. There and then, he'd deleted the picture.

If only he'd known the asshole had backed his photos into his laptop - Diane might never have had that accident.