EMBERS : the umbrella academy [2] [COMPLETE]

II

     FIVE WAS STARING at her in disbelief, frozen in spot just behind Carla with wide eyes.

     "I'm sorry..." Horace spoke up, voice nasally, "Do I know you?"

     Carla was thrown back to the time she had said those exact words to Five years ago when they first met.

     "Horace, this is my old friend," she explained, not taking her eyes off Five, "May I have a dance with him so we can catch up?"

     Looking slightly put out, Horace nodded, before sulking off to the buffet table.

     "Dance with me," she said breathlessly, holding one of his hands and pulling him close.

     Five held the hand she offered him tightly, placing the other one on the small of her waist.

     She felt her eyelids flutter as she inhaled deeply, trying to fight off tears, "I wasn't sure you were even alive."

     "How long has it been for you?" Five asked softly.

     "Seven hundred and fifty days."

     He averted his gaze, "Listen, Carla... I'm sorry, for- for everything-"

     "I'm over it," she said simply, knowing he was referring to the fact they had parted on bitter terms due to him killing her in his apocalypse timeline.

     "What?"

     "I'm over it. I forgive you," she ran a hand over the red trimming on the lapel of his blazer, "It's been a long two years, Five. I moved on."

     He nodded, relieved, and a silence grew between them.

     "It's... good to see you, Five," she mumbled.

     Five tightened his grip on her hand, "It's good to see you too, Carla. Why- How are you here?"

     "I was adopted by the Wilsons."

     "Funny. I once knew a Wilson couple," he frowned slightly, "Their names were-"

     "Quentin and Marie?" Carla asked, before nodding to their left, "They're just over there."

     Five looked over to see the couple standing by the seafood, staring at him with matching unimpressed expressions.

     Quentin was holding his cane, his fingers drumming out a rhythm on the top as he glared at Five. Next to him, Marie blew a strand of curled hair out of her face, raising a fishnet-clad hand in a sarcastic wave.

     Five looked back at Carla with wide eyes, slightly intimidated by their mildly hateful gazes, "What-"

     "Don't ask," she commented, "But why are you here?"

     "We saw that Dad was invited," he said, "We think he might be one of the Majestic Twelve."

     "I just spoke to him," Carla said, "He didn't give anything away but there's a meeting happening upstairs."

      He glanced at the stairs, "Also... I feel like I need to tell you that the end of the world is coming in a week."

      "Again?"

     She couldn't find the energy to be surprised.

     "Apparently we bring it with us," he said, "So we need to try and work out the cause. Diego's convinced Dad has something to do with it."

     "Diego's here?"

     Carla frowned, slowly realising that if Diego was in Texas, maybe Klaus was too. She felt sick.

     "He just broke out of a mental institute," he said before twirling Carla under his arm and catching sight of Horace watching them moodily.

     "Who is he?" Five asked bitterly, as they resumed their dancing, changing the subject so fast Carla almost got whiplash, "Your boyfriend?"

     Carla wrinkled her nose in distaste, "I'd rather rip my fingernails out. He's the son of Mr Brown, some rich business owner."

     "He keeps glaring at me," he said, almost readying himself for a fight.

     "Probably jealous that you're managing to dance without stepping on my toes," she joked, "He's the worst."

     Five just hummed, still glaring at Horace for a few more seconds, before he directed his gaze to the staircase.

     "I'm going to go and try to listen in on the meeting," he said lowly, "You stay down here and I'll pick you up as we leave."

     "No way," she scoffed, "I'm coming with you."

     "Unless you can teleport, no you're not."

     "I can be lookout-"

     "Horace," Five called the boy over, "Sorry for taking your dance partner - you can have her back now."

     As Horace started approaching them, Carla whirled to Five accusingly.

     "You little shit-"

     "By the way, blue looks good on you," he pulled away, just as Horace arrived.

     "Hello again," he said.

     Carla just sighed as he began dancing with her again, wincing when he stood on her toes, but otherwise feeling mentally preoccupied.

     Her gaze kept drifting to the staircase, watching a white-haired waiter go up.

     "Ouch," she hissed as Horace somehow kicked her shin, "How do you do that?"

     She then realised that waiter had been the only one she had seen go upstairs, and a suspisciously short time after Five, as well.

     "Do what?" Horace asked.

     "Constantly lower the bar for yourself," she spat.

     Horace's mouth opened in shock, clearly offended, and he started to draw back.

     This time she saw another man tush up the stairs, his dark hair long and rather unkempt. Diego.

     "Excuse me?" he spluttered, "I-"

     She rolled her eyes, "Do you ever stop talking?"

     Before he could reply she was pulling away and pushing through the crowds on the dance floor to the stairs. As she neared them, a woman started walking next to her.

     "Hi," she said, as they started climbing the stairs, "I'm Lila."

     "I'm Carla," the teen replied, before frowning at the sounds coming from upstairs. She exchanged a concerned look with Lila, the woman beginning to race up the stairs.

     "Lila," a voice Carla recognised as Diego's choked, "Help me!"

     On one side was Five struggling against the waiter Carla saw earlier, and on the other a man she recognised as Diego was being choked by two waiters with similarly white hair.

     For some reason, Lila was racing to help Five.

     "Okay then," Carla muttered, before turning to Diego.

     The man frowned upon seeing her, incredulous, "Carla?"

      "Hey, Diego," she grinned, before raising her hands to her mouth and using her teeth to yank her gloves off, hands instantly burning bright.

     This was going to be fun.

a/n: hey whores so five and carla are back together again 😌💅 hope this lived up to your reunion expectations!

also as im writing this a/n im bleaching my hair 😎 quite swag if im honest

n e wayz i hope u guys had a great day! muchos love to you all 🙈