𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐓 | five hargreeves

Apologize

☂

  After Katherine had cried herself out, she found herself back at the mansion.

  She'd collapsed on Klaus' bed, as she usually did after she had her little breakdowns, her brother smiling softly as she dug her head into his pillow. He was used to this by now, her little routine of bottling everything up until it exploded and she broke down; crying herself to the point of complete exhaustion then coming and crashing with him.

There wasn't anything he could do really because his sister wouldn't talk to anyone about her feelings and shut down those who tried to get her to. So Klaus walked around his room slowly rubbing his temples while keeping an eye on Katherine. He was midway through putting on a new shirt when a knock sounded at his bedroom door.

Five's eyes immediately flew to Katherine's sleeping figure, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed the lump in his throat. If Klaus wasn't so damned worn out he would've went on a rant to Five for what he'd done, but all he could do was nod in his direction as he slowly put in his shirt.

"You okay?" Five asked quietly as Klaus scoffed lightly. "Shouldn't you be asking her that?" The younger rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly while he leaned against the doorway. Both of their heads shot towards Katherine as she rolled over under the covers then settled.

"But yeah, it was just a- a long night." He replied, more quietly this time so they wouldn't wake up Katherine.

Five chuckled softly, "More than one by the looks of it." Klaus rolled his eyes and shook his head. He bent down slowly and placed Katherine's shoes that she'd thrown off before she fell asleep neatly in front of his dresser.

He then picked up her coat (which she also threw off) and folded it before putting it on top of his dresser. After a moment of silence Five spoke up again, "Don't remember the dog tags." Klaus touched his dog tags before he inhaled deeply. "Yeah, they belonged to a friend."

"How about that new tattoo?" Klaus sighed as Five kept asking questions.

"You know I don't totally remember getting this, Katherine probably talked me into it." Klaus smiled fondly at his sleeping sister. "Yeah I saw that one she's got in her shoulder, that kiss mark thing?"

They both smiled at that, Five's smile morphing into a smirk as he watched Klaus' behavior intently. "You did it, didn't you?" Klaus's eyebrows furrowed. "What are you talking about?" Five sighed.

"You know I can recognize the symptoms, Klaus. And I bet if I woke up Kat she would agree with me." Klaus just shook his head and moved to sit at the foot of his bed.

"Whatever you think I did, I didn't. Even if I did, Katherine wouldn't know." He gave Five a pointed look, but the latter didn't stop. "The jet lag, full body itch," Klaus sighed heavily. "Headache that feels like someone shoved a box of cotton up your nose and through your brain, or Katherine giving you one of her famous migraines."

Five walked closer with every symptom he listed until he was right in front of his brother. "So you gonna tell me about it?" He nodded his head towards Katherine. "You gonna tell her about it?" Klaus rubbed his hands over his face as he delved into his explanation of what happened the night Katherine got shot, and before long the two boys were arguing.

And then Klaus walked out, leaving Five alone with Katherine. "Just leave, and leave Katherine alone too." Klaus called over his shoulder as he walked away. Five but his lip as he looked back at Katherine, deciding to ignore his brother completely with a small huff of annoyance.

He gently laid himself on the bed next to the sleeping girl and admired her. He brushed the strands of brown hair out of her face and let a small smile of content appear. Five's eyebrows furrowed when a small drop of water landed on Katherine's cheek and he was embarrassed to find that he was crying. He swiped it off with his finger as he leaned against the headboard and dried his eyes.

"God Katherine, I'm so sorry." He whispered, knowing he wouldn't have the courage to say it to her face when she was awake. "I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you because you don't deserve this. I should've never left you, I should've stayed and none of this would've happened." His voice cracked and he took a moment to regain his composure before continuing. It felt good to get all of this off of his chest.

"I'm sorry that you got shot because of me and I'm sorry for everything I said, it was awful and I can't tell you how much it hurt to see you cry because of me. I can't tell you how much it hurt knowing you almost died because of me... everything is always my fault and I'm so unbelievably sorry." Five paused for a second as he exhaled shakily.

"But just know that I still love you. I've loved you since we were little and I loved you when I was gone, and you know what? I'm never going to stop loving you, Kat. You're the only one for me, even if I'm not the only one for you. I can't explain why I treated you the way I did because I - uh, I don't really know myself but it'll never happen again... mí amor. Never."

Five ended his long speech feeling like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders even though she hadn't heard a single thing. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her cheek before he got up and left Klaus' room to let her sleep in peace.

And thank God he'd left when he did, because Katherine couldn't pretend to be asleep for very much longer.