The Hargreeves (A Umbrella Academy Fanfiction)

Chapter Five

Five was sat on the floor, with a textbook in his right hand and a pen in his left. On the mat beside him, lay a notepad, where he had clearly been scribbling down bullet points as and when required.

"Are you going to come in, or are you just going to continue watching me like a creep?" He looked up from his reading with a cheeky grin on his face, gesturing for Olivia to come in.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to be nosy, I was just checking to see if you were still awake,"

"It's fine, I could not sleep, hence the book," He chuckled.

"Oh, I can leave you to read if you want,"

"No it's okay," He shut the book in his hand, creating a muffled slam noise. "It's good to socialise every now and then, to avoid going insane,"

"Okay? You are so strange haha... Are you feeling all right?" Olivia asked, with mock concern.

"Perfectly well thank you, now less of the sarcasm please," he laughed. She sat on his bed and looked at the book he had in his hand, trying and failing to make out its title.

"What ya reading?"

"Doesn't matter," He said while putting it behind him, so that it was completely out of Olivia's view.

"Why couldn't you sleep?"

"Doesn't matter," Five looked at Olly, head tilted slightly, "So explain yourself, and the iPod obsession,"

"I am not obsessed with it,"

"The evidence would suggest otherwise," This comment made Olivia roll her eyes

"What's it to you?"

"I am curious,"

"Now look who is being nosy," She waited for Five to respond, probably with a witty remark, as usual, but he said nothing without moving his gaze. Olly, feeling a little awkward, had the urge to break the silence. "Listening to something just helps me, that's all"

"Helps you with what?"

"I don't know, stuff,"

"What stuff?... It can't be anything to do with fighting, because I have seen you kick even Diago's ass, without any music!"
Olivia was getting frustrated now, she clearly did not want to tell him, but he kept digging and digging anyway.

"It's stupid though,"

"I don't care, tell me,"

"Why are you bothered anyway?"

"Because...well because I care about you, and I wanna know what helps you, so go on, tell me!"

"Ahhhggg, fine! I don't know, it just helps me with you know like, killing and stuff. I hate killing people, even if they are bad,"

"We all do,"

"Exactly, and for me, as dumb as it sounds, if I am listening to music, it kind of takes my head out of the situation, so it does not feel quite like killing, well it does, but it makes it more bearable, and I don't know why. So don't bother asking, it just does!"

"Right, okay" He looked away for a moment, thinking and then turned back, "Why don't you tell the others that? That way they may be more sympathetic and not give you such a hard time."

"You heard me just trying to explain it then, and that was to just you, imagine me trying to explain it to all the others! Plus Diago would probably have something nasty to say like, 'We all have to deal with it, what makes you so special?', or worse, one of them could tell dad. And then he would try and train me out of it, by making me fight without it!"

"Why would he do that?"

"I don't know, because it's our dad for christ sake!" Olivia swung her arms in the air and pushed herself back on the bed so that she was now lying down. "See I told you it was stupid,"

"It's not stupid, we all have different ways of coping, Ben reads, Luther works out, Allison does her hair and make-up all pretty, then undoes it all straight away,"

"Really? I didn't know that..."

"Yeah, and Klaus likes to burn things, though recently I keep seeing him sneak out and then come back high as a kite,"

"What?!.... He is only 15!" Olivia gorped.

"Yep!"

"To be honest, I am surprised you know all this stuff, you are never around anymore,"

"Of course I know, you guys are my family and believe it or not, I pay attention." Olivia yawned, "Just like how I know you are tired now," Five said while covering her with a blanket, he had previously thrown over his chair.

Olly, now curled in a ball shape, asked "What is your coping method?"

"I can never sleep after a fight,"

"Oh.....So that's why you are still awake," Olivia's words were becoming more and more dreary, she could hardly finish her sentence before she fell asleep. Five lifted her head slightly and placed his pillow beneath it. And then brushed her curly hair out of her face and placed it behind her ear. "Goodnight," he whispered, before returning back to his book and notepad on the floor.