𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 - 𝑓. ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑠

035. THE LOOKING GLASS

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THE LOOKING GLASS ☂︎

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"YOUR NUMBERS are wrong."

"We have to take into account the probability that they disappeared into a vacuum."

Five grumbled, scribbling away off the side of the window. "I already took that into account but you can work out the probability of the degradation of atomic structure as a cause."

"It's on the bottom left." she pointed.

He blinked, staring for a second. The on-set to another potential world-ending disaster should not have been the moment something along the lines of "I love you" clicked in his head. Scribbling away with markers on a window in the warm Pennsylvania sun, calculating theoretical math was not when "I love you" should click.

But it did.

She had already worked out the math, numbers correct, hair pushed back into a fluffy low ponytail. Charlotte was frustrated, anxious — a plethora of other emotions. But to the boy beside her, she was perfect. And if they weren't on the verge of a groundbreaking, potentially hazardous discovery, the moment would've been much more opportune.

Maybe the words he wanted to say would actually slip out into the open air.

But they couldn't.

"Thanks." he muttered, turning to face a world of theoretical numbers which in his mind was much easier.

Luckily for him (although any other time he would've been annoyed by Klaus's antics), Klaus came sprinting through the fields, arms flailing wildly. "Five! Five! Start the car would ya?"

Charlotte turned quietly, eyes narrowing as she focused in on what Klaus could possibly be running from. Five set down his marker with a slight huff, pressing the car keys into her hand. Muttered curses of "shit" echoed from behind. She began tapping him on Five rapidly. "Five... turn around and tell me Klaus isn't being chased by the Amish."

His head jerked around, eyes widening with an exasperated sigh. "Klaus is being chased by the Amish."

She rushed into the driver seat, turning the key into the ignition quickly. "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" Klaus called a trail of Amish foot soldiers trailing behind him. Charlotte flipped over sloppily into the back seat of the car. "Why can't you just get along with people?" Five sneered.

"I tried!" he cried. "I tried! I really did. I tried."

"Bon dieu." Charlotte murmured with a groan.

She watched as Klaus ran up to the sole Amish woman who wasn't chasing him, Five furiously shouting at him to get in the car. He locked all the back doors, tucking her away into the safety of the car. Klaus returned with only seconds to spare before they could be immersed into a sea of the Amish. Five sped away as Klaus flipped rapidly through a book.

"All that for a book, Klaus?" she sighed. "You nearly had us subject to a nightmarish Amish life."

He didn't look up, pages continuing to flip. "This timeline's a whole chock-full of riddles." he lifted the book to her eye level. "Get this. My mom died here before I was even born!"