The Beating of Our Hearts Is the Only Sound

Chapter 12: You're Coming With Us

"Shopping?" Klaus asked, looking at his sister.

     "Yes, shopping." Allison seemed way too excited about this, but none of them decided to argue. She had gathered him, Dave, and Luther into the living room for this announcement. "Dave needs his own clothes and Luther hasn't left the house since..." she paused and shook her head. "Since, like, ever. And Klaus, you're coming with us."

     "I don't want to," he grumbled, stretching his legs out onto Dave's lap. Dave automatically lifted his hands up, then rested them on top of them.

     "Yeah, and you also told us to not let you be alone for long enough to do something stupid, and I firmly believe you are capable of doing something stupid within seconds. So," she said with determination, "you're coming with us."

     So they were at the store. They probably looked like the strangest combination of people; the famous actor who happened to be in nearly everyone's favorite movies, the confused man with too-big pants dragging on the floor a little, the exhausted-looking guy with too-tight pants and the brightest shirt possible, and a giant. A literal giant. They got more than a few strange looks as they followed Allison around like lost puppies.

     They were in the men's section, and Allison was walking with a purpose. "Dave, what kind of stuff would you normally wear?"

     "Oh," he said, apparently surprised to be consulted. "I guess just, um, button-down shirts. Pants that don't drag on the floor."

     Klaus snickered a little at that. "He looks good in blue."

     Blushing a little, Dave glanced at Klaus out of the corner of his eye, which Klaus promptly responded to by grabbing Dave's hand and pulling it over his own shoulders, and throwing his own arm around Dave's waist. Initially, he stiffened nervously, eyes darting around. But it was only instinct, and he quickly relaxed and rolled his eyes with a smile.

     Allison grinned and led them to an area with nice-looking shirts. She was in her zone, grabbing things off the racks after just a glance and handing them back to Dave, who had to separate himself from his boyfriend to hold everything. Once he started to look a little weighed down, she stopped.

     "Jeans," she said simply, and marched over to the denim-filled shelves. She took a couple of different styles and carried them herself. "And now to try them on."

     Allison, Klaus, and Luther were waiting outside the changing stalls, ignoring the stares from the worker at the desk. Luther had to stand awkwardly in the corner, because the chair arms came up too high for him to sit comfortably. Klaus was okay with this because, in his mind, it justified his sitting sideways and resting his feet in a second chair. He was already bored, picking at the old black nail polish on his fingernails and trying to not think about the other things he could be doing.

     Allison was making Dave try on every pair of jeans and every shirt, then model for them. Klaus enjoyed watching him awkwardly try to show off the clothes, but, at the same time, he was fidgety and tired.

     "You okay?"

     Klaus tilted his head back to look at Allison, who had nudged his back with her elbow, but the back of his head hit the arm of the chair, so he sat up and looked at her right-side up.

     "En effet, ma sœur!" He said sarcastically.

     She gave him a look, one that Klaus knew she had learned by being a mother, and he was vaguely insulted by this. But he appreciated her caring. None of them had cared before. And now they were, in each of their own ways.