𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐓 | five hargreeves

Quality Time.

☂

  "You let me rot in there for three days. Three days!"

  Klaus sneered, stumbling through the front yard of the mansion and up to the door. "Was I not supposed to?" Katherine teased, lifting up the welcome mat and feeling around for the key.

  "Well I sure hope you had a dandy time, enjoying your freedom and not having to deal with the pigs."

  Katherine hummed in amusement, she didn't like cops but she enjoyed the fact that Klaus had been thrown from the cloud he had been on for the past few years.

  "Oh I did, I really did. They opened a new McDonald's, finally, and I thoroughly enjoyed a Big Mac. If we have to be stuck in this god awful decade at least the fast food restaurants are finally being created."

  She opened the door and let Klaus stomp his way inside, even in the dark she could tell he was pouting.

  Katherine greeted Ben who was standing by a portrait of Klaus with a nod and a smile. Klaus tore off a sheet covering an unidentifiable piece of furniture and wrapped it around himself before collapsing onto the sofa.

  She stared at the picture for a moment with squinted eyes, "This has to be offensive to some religion."

  Klaus groaned loudly, "Shut up!"

  Katherine's eyebrows peaked in interest. "I mean they really didn't do you any justice, your head is way bigger than it already is. Or maybe your body's just too small."

  Klaus shot up and gave her an annoyed look. "I mean it Katherine, I'll–"

  Katherine crossed her arms over her chest, she was in a teasing mood. "You'll what? Hm? Beat me with an Ouija board?"

  Ben snickered.

  Klaus didn't say anything more but flipped her off before laying back down on the sofa and making himself comfortable. Ben nudged Katherine's shoulder and nodded his head towards the staircase.

  She followed him up the creaky stairs and settled in one of the dusty bedrooms, sighing in content as she laid down.

  Ben made himself comfortable on a sheet covered recliner in the corner, coughing quietly at the dust cloud that emerged when he sat down.

  The two siblings sat in silence for a few minutes until Katherine finally spoke up. "You know I really missed you, Benny."

  Ben laughed softly, "Kat you tell me that every chance you get."

  Katherine's mouth dropped in offense, she reached back and launched a pillow at him that he caught with a smile.

  "You're an ass." They both chuckled.

  "Okay, okay," Ben held his hands up in surrender. "I missed you too, Kat. Truly."

  She hummed and rolled her eyes playfully. "And if it makes you feel any better, I was always watching. You know like a badass guardian angel."

  Katherine rolled over to look at him, "More like a creepy stalker."

  It was Ben's turn to roll his eyes now. "Oh whatever. I was there for all the major events though, it made me feel like I was still a part of your life."

  Katherine smiled softly at the thought. "I was there when you failed your drivers test, twice," Katherine let out a horrified noise at the memory. "I was there when you passed the medical boards... and when you and Klaus got blackout drunk to celebrate."

  Ben laughed, remembering how Klaus had thrown up on Katherine's rug and how confused they were the next day when neither of them remembered who had done it.

  "I feel like I should mention that I was also there for your whole takuache phase; Carlos, really?"

  Katherine whined in embarrassment, wiggling around on the bed as she covered her face with her hands. "Oh my God! We don't ever mention that, Ben!"

  That whole year was a dark, dark, time, not to mention incredibly embarrassing. She had for the most part put it behind her until Ben had brought it back up.

  The two were quiet again for a while. "Why did you stay?" Ben asked eventually.

  The smile on her face faded and she stared at the dust floating around in the beams of moonlight peaking through the blinds. She could hear, faintly, the rustling of Klaus moving around in his sleep downstairs and the creaking of the old house every once and a while.

  "I was waiting for him to come back," she spoke softly. "Hoping that he would come back."

  Ben listened to his sister intently. "I still love him, of course. I'll never stop loving him, but after so many years it's a little hard... you know?"

  She looked over at him to make sure he was still listening. "He just pops back in after being gone for so long and expects things to be the same between us as when he left. And in some ways I guess it is, but in a lot of other ways it isn't. It's awkward sometimes and it's hard to be alone with him– not that I've gotten a lot of opportunities– but he is still the one for me."

  It felt good to get it off her chest.

  "And it fucking sucks now that after we just got him back he's gone again to who knows where." Katherine whispered, sighing as she shifted on the bed.

  "He'll come back for us Kat," Ben finally spoke. "He always does."

  She smiled gently at his words, "He does, doesn't he?"

  Ben stood from his seat and placed the pillow back on her bed, ruffling her blonde hair and letting her settle on the bed before turning to leave the room.

  "Like an annoying boomerang."