Smuts & imagines

Memories - Vanya Hargreeves

The music played loudly as Allison ranted about her husband. I kept trying to take the bottle of wine but apparently nobody was letting that happen. I looked over at Vanya, who was 'shooting' bottles of beer with finger guns. She looked up and into the mirror and caught me watching. I looked away flushed, and embarrassed.

"Is the world really gonna end in six days?" I nodded glumly as a reply to Vanya's question. Allison paused what she'd been doing and looked up from Klaus' hair. "Well it did last time and we did everything Five could think of to stop it." Klaus got up, joint in his mouth changing the topic. "Hey, wouldn't it be weird if five grew up all hot?" I snickered smirking slightly. "No way, I mean the rest of us did!" I replied as Vanya and Allison shouted out their 'Ews' Klaus and I shot glances at each other before he stood in the middle of the room, our gazes flickering between the girls. "Oh! Oh ew gross! Puh-lease! Miss 'Luther was my lover'" I nearly died of laughter, my stomach hurting from the laughter.

I spun in the chair I was in as Allison defended herself, "We have never even kissed!" Klaus made kissing sounds and I felt Vanya's eyes flicker to me. She was going to figure it out. Allison please do not say anything. "Vanya you can't even talk! what about Vanya and Y/N!" I pursed my lips and closed my eyes hoping Vanya was too drunk to have gotten that. "Do not change the subject! You and Luther made gooey eyes all through dinner and lunch and puberty and all that." I snickered remembering our dinners, Klaus and I would be mocking Allison and Luther until I finally caught myself watching Vanya practically drooling.

Allison sat down and threw her feet up, Klaus taking another swig from the flask. As Vanya adjusted her seat she asked "aren't we all brothers and sisters or?" I snorted and gagged at the idea of any of them being my actual siblings. "Technically-" Allison and I said at the same time before Klaus interjected. "Technically? if you need to use the word technically, you're already in trouble!" We all giggled and Allison spoke, another swig of the wine bottle. "Can we focus? Clearly we're not saving the world tonight but maybe, maybe we can save my marriage."

I hated the idea of marriage. Binding someone to you forever. As if. If you love someone, sure have their babies and tell them you love them. But tying someone to you so they can't escape? That's just cold hearted. I also hated being in love. Vanya made me different.

Klaus tried pouring the wine into his empty flask, getting it everywhere. "No! No! Because that's like asking a nun how to hump someone's leg! I mean who in this room knows shit about relationships?" I opened my mouth to talk but quickly shut it letting him finish. "This one? In secret love with some farm frau,-" "her name is Sissy." Vanya interjected. "Which is an improvement on her previous love interests. The serial killer, and not to mention her love for someone with a villain complex!" He teased me and I sank in my chair "oh and Y/N's in love with her sister who can't remember shit, oh and that time she had a crush on Five? Meanwhile I'm carrying a torch for a soldier I haven't technically met yet." I laughed again getting up and hugging Klaus's side. "Luther is in love with his sister-" Allison interrupted this time "again we are not biological!" But Klaus kept going. "Let's face it the healthiest long term relationship in this family was when Five was banging that mannequin!"

I gagged and let go of Klaus "he's not wrong." I muttered. Klaus flailed his arms around for exaggeration as he spoke. "The only thing the umbrella academy knows about love is how to screw it up!" I grabbed the flask from his hand, another swig but from me this time. I chugged as much as I could before handing it back to him. Our hands went up as we muttered the word 'Cheers' I went back to my seat and just flopped into it quietly.

"How do you guys deal with this? Time travel? The end of the world? Seeing the dead? Playing with the elements?" I thought about my ability to control the weather and mess with fire water earth and air. I looked at Klaus knowing he'd explain. "I get high, Allison lies to herself, Y/N gets into fights- pretty much anything she can do to get arrested and blame herself, you suppress all your emotions until you blow shit up." Vanya sunk further into her chair and I copied her motion taking the Chardonnay from Allison and taking yet another swig. "I'd really like to not do that anymore." Vanya said in a whiny tone. I scoffed and rolled my eyes at our last argument when she almost blew me up.

"You've got six days missy." Klaus fingered with his hair and Allison spoke up again. "What the hell are we supposed to do with six days?" I shrugged and Vanya sat up with realization. "I'm gonna tell Sissy I love her. I don't want any secrets!" The rest of us spit out 'Yeah's' mine more glum than the others. I did have a lover here, a closeted gay who worked in the back at Stadlers, but she wasn't Vanya. And seeing as I was a more open gay, I was usually called witch. "No no you're right! Because if it's all gonna go tits up the least I could do is be honest with my husband!" Klaus groaned and looked at me. "Does this mean I have to face my cult?" I nodded giving him a sad glare. "Then you should tell your pretty little girlfriend everything too!" I nodded and got up.

"This family's amazing." Vanya threw her arms up in the air and I sighed loudly. "Don't get too ahead of yourself." Klaus said. We all laughed breathy laughs and I hugged Allison and Klaus inviting Vanya in. She got up and hugged us and I smiled at the contact we'd made. "Oh my god guys I love this song!" Allison shouted turning the radio up. I gasped and we broke out in dance, I loved Vanya's awkward moves, Klaus just moving best as he knew how, Allison being the best of us all.

When we left I took Vanya's and and faced her finally speaking to her directly. "Vanya I need to tell you- I need you to remember me. And all of our dinners. And how you fell for my brother Harold. And I talked you out of loving him. I waited for you for so long and when I finally had you we ended up here. We were gonna get married and have little you's running around everywhere. Don't go back to Sissy. Stay with me. Please." She shook her head and I put my head on her shoulder as she took and held my hands. "Vanya please. Remember me. Remember us. I need you to remember V." I looked up at her and it was as if a detonator went off. "I don't remember, but I can feel it. I can feel you." Her hands held my shoulders and she gasped quietly.

"What? V? Is something wrong?" Vanya's eyes flashed white before going back to normal, her mouth hanging open. "It's not a sound but I can feel it. It's like it's radiating off you. You love me?" I nodded and pulled a Polaroid picture from 2005 out my back pocket. I was sitting on my bed and Klaus had gotten hold of my camera. For 20 years I held onto that photo. Vanya was sitting next to me. Our foreheads were pressed together and we were staring into each other's eyes. She'd spent six hours before hand thinking I was dead. And to be very clear I was so sure I was at first.

I handed her the picture and explained, "that day, I decided I loved you. And you? You insisted we waited. So I did. And then you spent all your time with Ben. But he died. Later, you fell for my biological brother. And I was waiting again. And when you came back to me we got here and I'm waiting all over again. So I'm sorry but I'm fucking done waiting. Waiting for someone who doesn't really want me." Vanya's heart broke at the words. Vanya was numbed. She was lost. "I fucking love you and you- you love everyone but me." I made my attempt to walk away and she grabbed my wrist tightly. "I don't remember. And believe me I wish I could remember. You seem amazing and perfect but that's precisely why I can't have you. Because you're perfect. And I'm a mess. I keep ending worlds." I was stunned at her words. She really didn't know why.

"Vanya you need to understand. Luther did that. He locked you up and it was our siblings. My brother. Our dad. They are playing with us. They pushed us to the edge. They abused us. They casted us out. If they treated us like humans we wouldn't be here today." Vanya kissed me. She tasted of alcohol and had a slight tart bitter lemon taste on her tongue. "Then let's go. Five can help us. You and I, we'll go and live on the countryside, wherever you want. Start new lives, we'll get married and it'll be just us forever. And if you want kids we can work it out for sure!" Vanya's voice was breaking. You could tell things were starting to come back.

"You and me." I said taking a pen out my back pocket and writing it on her arm, something we did as little kids. "You and me." She repeated copying me. She handed me the pen and I kissed her again. "We'll figure it out." I said confidently pressing my forehead to hers.