A One Shot Book of Unfortunate Events

The Orphan Welcoming Committee Part 4

*Duncan's POV*

I stepped out of my bedroom in the morning, yawning as the birds tweeted greetings. "Morning, Rose." I said, stroking my favorite bird under its beak. We only had two birds, which was fine by me. Isadora's bird was a light grayish blue. She named him Cloudy. I may or may not have named my bird after a flower because of a certain girl also named after a flower.
"That's a nice name for a bird," a heavenly voice said from behind me. I felt someone rest their chin on my shoulder.
"Good morning, Violet. This is Rose and Cloudy." I introduced.
"Hello, Rose. I'm Duncan's favorite girl in the dorm."

Rose chirped in disagreement.
"Sorry, Rose, but it's true. Here, have a piece of bread." I replied. I turned to Violet, "We're talking to a bird."
" I know. " she responded, kissing my cheek. The memories from last night flooded back. Violet and I had confessed that we love eachother and we shared our first kiss. I smiled warmly at her. She was so pretty. So smart. Creative. Witty. Charming. I could go on and on and on about her.

"Adorbs!" A tiny voice called. Sunny was in Isadora's arms in the doorway of the girls' room.
"I quite agree," Isadora said. "You two are so cute together. I just came to check on Cloudy."
"He's doing great! Klaus is going to be jealous that you thought of your bird before him."
" You... Shush. "

I smirked triumphantly and went to go finish getting ready for the day.

*Isadora's POV*

Damn my brother. Klaus wouldn't be jealous because he can care for himself. Cloudy, however, needs someone to feed him. I gave the birds some bird seed. I thought it was hilarious that Duncan basically named his bird after a girl who he'd just met at the time.

Cloudy. Cloud. Klaus. Damnit. I kind of named my bird after Klaus, I guess. "Tweet tweet," Sunny said to them. I smiled. She was like the little sister I never had. And I basically just said I thought of her as my sister. Why can't I get Klaus off my mind? Oh my god. I love Klaus Baudelaire.

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. What? We just started dating yesterday! Okay. Why am I panicking? I'm not. What? Isadora, you're in denial. No I'm not and I'm not panicking.
You're in love. Deal with it.
No chance. No way. I won't say it no! No! Get off my case! I won't say I'm in love!

And now I'm mentally quoting Hercules. I'm going to go talk to him.

I knocked on the door. It swung open and I was confronted by Quigley.
"Hey, Isadora! Morning!"
" Good morning, Quigley. Is Klaus up yet? " I asked, trying to peek around him.
"I'm afraid not."
" Okay... "

Three two one now! I launched myself under his arm. Klaus was on his bed, fully awake and reading a book.
"Why the fuck did you lie to me?" I asked Quigley.
"Because you don't need to be in his damn bedroom!"
"Oh please. Like either of us would try anything scandalous. You're the one who likes hoeing around!"
" What's going on?" Klaus asked.
"None of your business, Klaus!"
" He has plenty to do with this. " I defended. I turned to Klaus, " I asked if you were up yet and Quigley said no. I'm trying to figure out why."
"Because he isn't good enough for you." Quigley said.

How dare he think that! If anything, I wasn't good enough for Klaus.
"You really think that."
" Yes. "
"Well, maybe you're not good enough to be my brother! You ever consider that?"
" I'm not good enough to be anyone's anyone! Haven't you seen the way I treat girls? I'm trying to be the guy that none of the girls I've dated had! Someone who tried to stop me from breaking their hearts! But I get it. You'd rather get laid than have a brother. " He said bitterly before storming out of the room. What just happened?

"What just happened?" Klaus asked.
Duncan sighed.
"I had no idea he felt that way..." I whispered. He was trying to protect me. "I need to go find him." I said, running out of the dorm room. I ran through the hallway, throwing my jacket on over my uniform and putting my satchel's strap over my shoulder. There he is.

"Quigley! Wait!"
" Fuck off! "
"Quigley, I'm sorry!"
" That makes one of us. " he retorted, trying to budge from my grasp.
"Klaus is different from what you used to be and you can see it."
" Used to? "
"Obviously! You trying to protect me shows you're different now. Please, Quigley, give him a chance. You know I'm too smart to let him do anything even if he wanted to."
"I don't want you to get hurt, Isadora."
" And I won't. Y'know why? "
"Why?"
" Because I have my triplets. Both of them now. "
"I'm sorry for being such a jerk."
" Shush. I'm just glad you're alive. This time yesterday, I was thinking you were gone forever. "

~*~

*Klaus' POV*

Quigley and Isadora say their trays down in front of me. "Is everything better?" I asked. They nodded, grinning from ear to ear. It made me happy to see her smiling so much. I love her. I just hope she feels the same. "Where are Violet and Duncan?" I asked.

The two giggled slightly. "They're having something else for lunch, if you will." Quigley explained. I sighed. Gee, I wonder. Wait. No. I don't want to wonder about that. Nevermind.

"Isadora, did you want to talk to me this morning? Before the argument?"
" Can we talk in private? I'd feel much more comfortable if this was just a you and me conversation. " She seemed nervous. Was she going to break up with me? No no no! She couldn't do this to me! Why? Don't jump to conclusions, Klaus. Too late! My mind spiraled down a rabbit hole as I absent-mindedly followed Isadora to the next hallway.

"Okay. I didn't want to talk in front of Quigley or any other students." She said. Probably because she didn't want my humiliation to be public, I thought.

I nodded, too worried to speak. Why would she dump me? I love her and not being together would break my heart. "Um. Last night... At the violin recital, I was happy you got to sit next to me." She's too nervous. Quigley probably managed to convince her to break up with me.

A tear fell from my eye that I desperately wanted to keep back. "Klaus? Baby, what's wrong? Was it something I said?"
" No. " I sniffled, "You're gonna say it, though."
" What? I don't understand what you mean. "

I broke down in sobs, sinking to the ground against the lockers. I couldn't loose her! Not so soon! "Hey, hey, hey. I'm sure there's some sort of misunderstanding here!" She exclaimed, following me to the floor.

She thought there was a misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding would there be? That I thought this would last?
"I don't want to loose you, Isadora! Please please give me another chance!" I pleaded, " I can make Quigley like me! I know I can! Just don't break up with me!"

She seemed shocked at my sudden outburst. "What are you talking about? I-I wasn't going to... I would never... Why would you even think that I'd want to end what we have?" She wrapped her arms around me.
" You seemed too nervous for this to be a good conversation. Just... Please don't break up with me. "
"Not in my wildest nightmares," she whispered into my ear. "I love you too much to do that."
" You love me? "
"Um yeah. Do you? Love me, I mean?"
"I'd rather die than stop loving you, Isadora Quagmire. The day you're not my one and only is the day hell freezes over."

She pulled away from me and cupped my face in her hands, wiping a few tears away with a thumb. She slowly leaned in and kissed me. My wonderful poet girlfriend was kissing me and I kissed back, pulling her closer. Her lips were as soft as a cloud and she tasted like her cherry chapstick. My new favorite fruit... "I love you, Isadora Quagmire," I breathed into her mouth as she pulled away a bit.

"I love you too, Klaus Baudelaire." She whispered breathlessly. I smiled into the kiss and felt her smile as well.

Maybe she could help me bring my series of unfortunate events to a close... Just maybe...

*********
1436 words

A/N: You shook? You're welcome! I hope you all enjoyed the fourth and final installment of "The Orphan Welcoming Committee" !