ZERO! the umbrella academy

deux

WERE YOU WATCHING ME?

NUMBER FIVE LIKED BEING alone. I mean, we all did, in a sense. We all spent so much time together training and never got any downtime that when we could steal a second to ourselves, we spent it alone.

But Number Five liked being alone more so than the rest of us, I think. He was always either in the kitchen eating at a table by himself or in the library reading. I had never really thought anything of him. I was more intrigued by him than anything. He had this air of mystery about him, even from a young age.

My earliest memory of Number Five was when I was six years old. We were in the library together, on opposite sides of the room, the furthest away from each other as possible. I was sitting in a chair with my feet up on the side table, clutching a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in my hands. I loved reading. It was pretty much the only thing I did to pass the time during the boring days in the house, so I had developed a high reading level for my age.

I finished the book and closed it shut with a finality, hugging it to my chest. I sat there in silence for a little while, gazing up at the high ceiling above me and soaking in what I had just read. I liked doing that after I had just finished reading something. I hesitantly unfurled myself out of the comfortable reading position I had been in, staring at the floor to ceiling bookcases that lined the walls. Who knew how long it would take me to find the sequel amongst the shelves upon shelves of books in the massive library?

Then, Five appeared in front of me, and I let out a gasp. I had almost forgotten that he was also here entirely.

"Sorry," he shyly apologized when he registered the shock on my face. "I thought you might need this." He held out a book to me, and I peered at the cover. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

I felt a blush rise to my cheeks. "Thanks," I murmured. I reached forward and took the book from him, my fingers brushing against his as I did so. Tingles shot down my spine, and if my face wasn't red before, it sure was now.

"No problem." He looked down at his shoes and dug his toe into the ground. "I can put the other book back for you, if you want."

"Do you mind?"

"No, not at all."

I handed The Sorcerer's Stone to him, and he flashed me a smile before disappearing through a portal, the only proof that he had been there a burst of sparks.

After that, my intrigue for Five only grew tenfold. Sometimes, I would freeze time and go up to his room where he was reading a book. I would sit on the edge of his bed and just stare at him. I would study each and every freckle on his face and strand of chocolate brown hair on his head. I would memorize the way his brows furrowed and his tongue stuck out in concentration as his piercing, green eyes scanned over a word, as his mind processed it. I was lonely, and living in that house surrounded by the same ten people day in and day out gave me zero social skills, but sitting there with Five, even if he was unaware of my presence, made me feel a little less lonely.