(𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎.) 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐎𝐍𝐄
❝ I WAS NOT TRAINED FOR THIS. ❞

☂

"What did you do? Why are we in 1963?"

"I can't really control my powers," Five answered as he drank his cup of coffee, Paris sitting next to him while Poet sat in front of the two. "So, I can't really go back in time in seconds. I go further back, decades."

"I was not trained for this," Poet sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. She looked at Five again. "Are the others...?"

"Dead?" Five guessed and Poet shamelessly nodded. He shook his head. "Hopefully not. But knowing how they're all idiots, well, I'm betting that they're somewhere doing something stupid that will probably get them killed." He felt a nudge on his side and turned to look at Paris, whose blue eyes glanced at his aunt who now had her gaze on the floor. He cleared his throat. "I'm sure Diego's fine, Poet."

"I can read your mind, Five," the brunette sighed before smiling a bit. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, there was a knock on the front door. She stood up. "Be right back."

Walking towards the door, Five turned to look at Paris. "She's really pained by this, huh?"

"She's been dreaming of Diego," Paris mumbled. "I think this is affecting her because it's the first relationship she's been in. She actually admitted to me before we met all of you, she had a crush on Diego since they almost killed each other."

"I'm not surprised," Five sipped his coffee. "I heard Diego tell Mom about Poet. He was angry at first since he got stabbed by her with one of his knives, but then he just talked about her—"

"Hi, Paris."

Five turned to look at the person who cut him off and saw a girl with two or three books in her hand. She was smiling widely at Paris and Five glanced at the boy.

"Hi, Eli," Paris smiled, clearing his throat when he remembered Five was next to him. "Um, this is... Five. He's a family friend visiting."

"Sorry for interrupting you," Elizabeth winced, taking her hand out for Five to shake. Five smiled sarcastically and shook her hand a little too tightly before standing up and looking for Poet. "But I came here to give you your books."

"Oh, thanks!" Paris smiled, standing up and grabbing his books. "I was going to ask you for them but I didn't want to be rude just in case you didn't finish reading them."

"Well, that's okay."

Poet appeared by Five's side and nudged him. "How's the coffee?"

"Good," Five nodded, glancing down at the drink. "The best, of course. But, who is that?"

"Elizabeth," Poet smiled. "She's one of my students and also Paris's friend."

"Just friends?" Five mumbled, bringing the cup up to his lips to not glance at the amused woman next to him. He looked at her when she didn't respond and watched as she snickered quietly.

"Don't be jealous, Five," she said. "It's not a good look."

"They're just friends then?"

"Yes," Poet answered before she looked down at him. "Look, I'm trying to be supportive of you two, okay? But, you're a 58-year-old man basically trapped into a 14–"

"13."

"—13-year-old's body. I can hear your thoughts and God do they give me a headache, but it's weird. I love you both—"

"Love you, too."

"Woah," Poet stopped, "did you say you loved me?"

"Well, yeah," Five nodded, glancing at Paris and seeing him and the girl talking. "Look, the reason I admire you is because you saved him. You-you shielded him until your very last breath and you gave me someone that was there for me when I should've been alone. I always admired you and your brother since I heard about you, but this made me admire you even more. Of course I love you, you idiot."

"I didn't know that," Poet breathed out. She patted his shoulder and sighed. "Don't mention your age because I find it weird to hear "I'm a 58-year-old man trapped inside this teenagers body" because it's not really something... I like to hear."

"Okay, Poet."

"Well, okay then."

☂️

"I don't trust you."

"Why not?"

"Because someone related to me wouldn't go for a guy like you."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Diego was now having a hard time explaining to James Capulet that he was dating one of his future family members. The man simply didn't believe Diego at all, giving him a stare-over and then looking away.

"What's her name again?"

"Poet," Diego answered. "But she has a brother named Julian who passed away, and she also has a nephew named Paris."

"Look, how do I know you're not lying about being from the future?" James asked, raising an eyebrow at the man. "You're in an asylum, peaches, if you didn't notice."

"Peaches?" Diego repeated under his breath. His bottom lip quivered and he held onto the ring still clutched in his hand tightly.

"Hey, don't cry," James awkwardly said, looking around the room he and Diego were at to make sure no one was witnessing this. Diego let out tears and dry, quiet sobs, leaning down to do so. "Look, just give me a reason I should believe you."

Diego sniffed and wiped his tears with the back of his hand. "You have a family member named Donald Capulet who married a woman named Susan Capulet."

"I do," James nodded before he sighed. "Hate Susan. She's a bitch."

"How?" Diego questioned, furrowing his eyebrows.

"She's rude," the Capulet explained. "No one likes her in the family. My brother wants kids and when he told her, she just laughed in his face, called him names, and walked off. Later on, she made him apologize for bringing that up."

"He wants kids?"

"Of course!" James exclaimed. "Always wanted kids. Claimed he will love them until his very last breath."

"Really?"

"Yep. Alright, give me another piece of evidence."

"Two of your family members stole cells from a black woman named Henrietta Lacks."

"You aren't supposed to know that," James glared at him before sighing. "Fine, I believe you. But still, I don't like my niece dating you. I don't approve of it."

"I wouldn't have cared. But, I'm not even sure if she's alive or not."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Diego sniffed, raising up one of Poet's rings. "This is the last thing I have of her."

"Wait," James sat up, grabbing the piece of jewelry. "I recognize this ring. My mom has it, supposedly it helps us feel calm and safe or some stupid shit like that. She made my sisters wear it when they were going to an unsafe place."

"Really?"

"Yeah," James nodded. He looked up at Diego and his eyes widened when he saw three or four people looking for him. "Shit."

"What?" Diego questioned, looking over his shoulder to look at what he was looking.

"They're going to kill me," he mumbled, passing Diego the ring. "I know it. I heard them talking about it since they don't know what to do to me."

"They can't do that."

"They can if they can cover it up," James sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Look, thank you for talking to me and for telling me about niece and my nephew. Really. It brings me peace. If she's alive and my great-nephew, take care of them, or I will come back and kick your ass as a spirit."

"I will."

"Now, leave," James ushered him out, "or they will kill you, too."

"Okay..."

☂️

AUTHOR'S NOTE

guys, i can see your comments
and your concern for five and
París's relationship. im debating
whether to even let them be
together because i don't want anyone
to feel uncomfortable or get in an argument
in the comments because i dislike
it when people argue.