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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN a twisted timeline
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY gathered in the living room, settling into various sofas and couches as they prepared to hear what Five had to say. Elliott and Molly were in the other room—while Nadine had wanted Molly to be included, Molly had waved her off with the claim that she didn't want to intrude. She would still help in any way she could, though, even if it meant sitting out on meetings and preparing coffee instead. Well, at least she had Elliott for company. Elliott and his abominable Jell-O concoction.
Unlike Molly, however, it appeared that Nadine had meddled enough into the Umbrella Academy's affairs to be welcome at every meeting, now. When she'd attempted to find a place to sit on the couch, both Vanya and Allison had scooted to the side, making room for her. Nadine would never admit she'd been conscientious when she'd butt in at Reginald Hargreeves's funeral back in 2019, but she supposed there had been some good that had come out of it. Some good like being an automatic member of any so-called "family meetings" the Hargreeves children were having.
Once they were all comfortable, Five looked to all of them, eyes flickering over every face. Then he began, somewhat sheepishly. "All right. First off, I wanna say I'm sorry. I know I really screwed the pooch on this whole going-back-in-time-and-getting-stuck thing. But the real kick in the pants here is that we brought the end of the world back here with us."
Klaus, who'd been focusing more on preparing drinks than engaging in the conversation, whirled around, suddenly paying attention. "Oh, my God, again?"
Nadine blinked at him. Hadn't he known?
Around the room, the other members of the Umbrella Academy were giving him the same expression—the expression that implied that it was obvious. Klaus's expression turned wounded. "All of you knew? Why am I always the last one to find out about the end of the—" He cut himself off as a new thought came to him. "Oh, my God. My cult is gonna be so pissed. Five! I told them we had until 2019."
"We have until Monday," Five corrected. "We have six days."
Nadine had caught onto another part of Klaus's statement. "Your cult?" she repeated. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Klaus faced her, an abashed grin coming to his face. He adopted the chiding tone of a stern schoolteacher as he said, "Now, now, Nadine. We all have different ways of coping. Don't judge the way I survived these past three years."
"For God's sake," Nadine groaned, putting her head in her hands. "Of course, you'd start a cult. Of course, you would."
"Let's get back on track," said Five. "We can all catch up later."
