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Five bolts up in bed, a scream ready to escape his lips andhesbackthereagaintheashandthefirefillhisnosehisarmshurthecantbreathehecant-
He blinks.
And it’s gone.
Five takes a shuddering breath, attempting to calm his breathing, shivers racking his body as he tries to fight the prickles behind his eyes, mind taking over his coordination as he wraps his arms around himself.
He lays there for a minute, eyes squeezed shut, nails digging into his arms, grounding him to the world he knew he was hanging onto with a thread.
Five figured he wouldn’t- no, couldn’t go back to sleep, so instead he ripped off the damp covers from his body and set towards the kitchen, hands wrapped around his elbows and pressed onto his stomach.
He reaches the kitchen, the lights on but no one in sight.
On the counter was a sandwich. Five didn’t have to think much to know it was a peanut-butter marshmallow sandwich.
It must have been Vanya , he thinks absentmindedly as he walks towards the counter and takes a bite out of the sandwich.
And he tastes the ashes in his mouth, a cold feeling of dread pooling in his stomach. The ashes are everywhere, coating the sky, and he’s not even in the kitchen anymore itsallrubbleanditsallgoneandtheresnoonearoundand-
He’s alone .
He’s alone and all he hears is the flames around him, the ashes filling his lungs , his stomach , his mind, and he can’t breathe and he can’t think and-
There’s a hand gripping his wrists and he scrambles back into a barely standing wall, knowing it’s just his mind playing tricks with him, muddling his sanity further, ruthless and calculated, but through the howling wind and the grainy dust drifting onto his skin he catches something he wishes he hadn’t becauseitsnotrealitsnotrealitsnot-
“ Five! ”
And he’s confused because theyrenotalivetheyreallgonewhy -, and he can’t find Dolores, so he shuts his eyes, hoping, praying , that it was just a figment of his imagination but the voice inhisheadonlyinhishead sounds like home , like the midnight hours spent at Griddy’s because Klaus couldn’t go to sleep, like the nights he spent holed up in Vanya’s room with Ben and listening to her practice the violin over and over trying to get that one note right , like safety , and warmth , and the firm hold of a brother -
Wait.
Five blinks through tears, some free falling down his cheeks before he gets a weak grip on reality again and stares straight into green irises.
He doesn’t take the time to figure out who it is because he knows he sees pity in them, and he can’t take it because he’s being weak again , and he doesn’t need it because he’s been taking care of himself for over 40 years, he doesn’t need pity from anyone.
So, he does the next best thing.
He teleports back to his room.
And he crawls back onto his bed, curling up into the tightest ball he can, arms wrapped around his knees and fingertips pressing onto his elbows, breathing in and out, trying to keep his desperate sobs quiet so no one else is bothered by him and his problems.
He’s fine . Perfectly, one hundred percent fine , a mantra he repeats over and over again, more on the side of attempting to convince himself he is rather than stating a fact.
Then he hears the knock on his door.
Five quickly wipes his tears away on his arm and takes a deep breath.
“Go away,” he says lowly, voice rough with disuse and fresh sobs threatening to escape his throat.
The door is creaked open anyway, a hand with a tattooed ‘Hello’ on it creeps its way in and gives Five small wave.
Five choked back a laugh, because it was idiotic to think that Klaus of all people would turn away and not look back.
Klaus slowly steps into the room, foot falls quiet and calculated, mouth shut, which was uncharacteristic of the man who couldn’t stop talking for more than 1 minute, even if it was to himself.
Five’s puffy eyes follow Klaus as he continues to venture into the room before promptly taking a seat on the bed beside Five, not one word exchanged.
The room is thick with silence, the only thing filling it is the occasional hitch Five so pathetically lets out, and he swears he still acts like a child, and now he finds it harder to hold back the sob that's crawling its way up his throat, which is just fan-fucking-tastic .
“It’s okay to cry, y’know.”
And he snapped .
“ NO ! It’s NOT ! How many years have I spent in a post apocalyptic world without anyone and I’m still weak! ” The tears are free falling now, cascading down his face and making small puddles on the floor. He lets out a strangled yell, running a shaky palm through ruffled curls. He’s standing now, pacing around the room, spewing equations thingsthatmakesense and muttering how he needs Dolores, where is she -
There are arms wrapped around him, not tight, but firm and warm and -
He breaks.
He clutches the back of Klaus’s sweater, burying his face as much as possible into the man’s chest (he can feel his heartbeat, he’s alive alivealive ), chest heaving and sobs racking his small form, sharp inhales and gasps for air fill the room as Five clings to Klaus like a lifeline ( and maybe he is ).
Klaus gently pulls Five back to the bed, carding his fingers through his unruly curls, murmuring soft assurances, trying to calm him down before he works himself into a panic again.
Klaus loosens his arms a bit, ready to shift in his seat, but Five only tightens his grip further, gasping out between sobs,“Don’t leave. Not again. Please .”
“Shshsh, s’okay. I’m not going anywhere,” Klaus replies solemnly, heart breaking a little with every choked whimper that escaped Five’s lips.
They stayed there for a while, Klaus holding the boy who went through so much and had almost nothing to show for it besides trauma and knowledge no child should know.
Five’s sobs eventually recede, reduced to soft hiccups and small sniffles.
His head rests on Klaus’s shoulder as he breathes shakily, mimicking Klaus’s steady breathing.
“Five?”
Five hummed, fiddling with the soft fabric under his fingertips.
“You with me?”
He hummed again and blinks a few times, eyes drooping a bit. He stifles a yawn as he shifts into a more comfortable position.
“Let’s get some food, yeah? Or maybe some coffee. Whatever you want. Hell, we could go to Griddy’s, but I can’t drive so maybe we can ask someone else-.” Klaus’s rambling is cut off by a warm breath hitting his ear.
Klaus looks down to find a sleeping Five, his face almost looking relaxed as his chest rises and falls steadily.
Klaus smiles to himself as he grabs a nearby blanket and draping it over the two of them. He presses a soft kiss to the top of Five’s head and settles in.
“Night, Five.”
Vanya steps into Five’s room, expecting to find him looking over an equation he scribbled on the wall.
What she wasn’t expecting to see was Five wrapped around Klaus like a koala, with Klaus chatting in a low voice to seemingly himself, probably Ben, with his arms draped lightly around Five.
Klaus pauses his conversation and glances over to where Vanya is standing in the doorway before flashing her a small smile, almost sheepish.
She chuckles lightly and shuts the door behind her.
These guys…