The Baudelaires (Unedited)

4: "But, not better than nouns"

"You could stay here for a bit...I can't adopt you....you'll just have to be an "add-on"; like a...a friend that comes over to stay." Justice Strauss suggested.
"For a bit.." I smiled.

Klaus smiled a bit, as if he has succeeded in something.
I smiled at him. He seemed very pleased with his reasoning on Prufrock Prep.
I could go anywhere I guess, I just didn't think about it.
Klaus lead me up to his room. The walls were just bookcases full of so many strange and (probably) interesting books.
"This is so cool..." I gazed around the room.
His bed was directly opposite the door, encased by the bookshelves. He smiled and climbed up one of the ladders, grabbing a large book and
throwing it on to his bed.
I looked at the cover and noticed it was the Complete Encyclopedia of Nouns.
"We have the same book." I smiled more.
"Yeah, we do. Just shows how similar we are." He laughed, "you're more similar than Violet and Sunny combined, honestly."
"Really? I never noticed." I smiled.
"Neither do I, but somehow, now I do."
He gave me back my spyglass, I handed him the note, "just in case it gets stolen."
"Thanks, I'll keep it safe.." he smiled and jumped down from the ladder.
"Be careful.." I mumbled.
"Don't worry about me, Charlotte, I'm fine." Klaus reassured.
I then heard the sound of a loud baby crying.
"There goes Beatrice...jumped too loud." Klaus sighed.
"She's loud, isn't she..?" I giggled.
"Yeah, she is."
"How old is she?"
"A year and a half."
"And she's that loud?"
"Yep. We're used to it." He joked.
"Probably. I don't think I could ever be used to continuous crying."
"I didn't think I could, yet look at where we are now."
"True."
He read my expression, I didn't know what I was feeling, "you okay?"
"I guess I'm an incomprehensible mess right now, I don't know."
"Judging by your expression, you do know what you're feeling you just don't know how to explain it. Got that off a really good book...The Guide On How to Read Expressions."
"I've read that book once, it wasn't as interesting as the sign language one, to be honest."
"Fair enough, that one will always be better."
"But, not better than nouns."
"But, not better than nouns." He repeated in agreement.

I went up the ladder and started browsing. There were so many familiar titles, it was almost as if I was looking in my own bookshelves.
"Firetrucks, ducks....ice cream flavors...chickens....verbs.." I muttered, "we have the exact same books, Klaus."
"I know we do." He smiled softly.
"And we didn't even realise it."
"For such a long time."
I smiled at him and got down from the ladder.

I looked over beside the bed and found the Prufrock Prep uniform.
"You still have it.." I put my hand in the pocket of the blazer and pulled out the note I gave to him after lunch, "and that."
"I don't keep many things, but I decided to keep that. No matter how idiotic that school was." Klaus explained.
I read out the note again,"I found a book you might need, I left it at your area -Charlotte"
"I like how you put that down next to me when we were having lunch with the Quagmire's, even though we didn't really know each other." Klaus laughed.
"Larry told me to."
"Good excuse."
"I know."
"Carmelita didn't get it at least, you dropped it seconds before she started tap dancing."
"I saw. I felt bad for you then, I also felt stupid. I didn't do anything."
"I still have the book."
"It was just a book on codes. I saw the spyglass you and Isidora put together."
"Is that why we suddenly started talking?"
"I trusted you from that point on, I assumed you were with VFD; or at least, knew what it was."
"We didn't until we left the Village of Foul Devotees, honestly."
"What happened to Jacques...I never knew.." I sighed.
"Apparently he got hit continuously on the head with a crowbar by Count Olaf."
"Now I'm even more glad he's dead!" I shouted to myself.
"At least the Snicket siblings are together."
"Y-yeah, I guess so..I guess that's how the story goes.."
"That's not how the story goes.." he repeated, in a tune.
I smiled, "you have a good singing voice."
"It's just a song me and Violet made up...it's just a lyric. We got bored waiting for Vice Principal Nero, seriously.."
"He's shaking at how good you guys sing." I joked and sang, "that's not how the story goes..."
He smiled, looking at the ground for a bit, reminiscing, "it's strange to think back to then. It felt like such a dark time."
"I agree, it may of not been from your point of view, but it looked as if you were going through a tough time. Especially because you were changing guardians and places every minute. Shack to shack."
"I guess that was why, an easy way to lose track of things. A lot of death would easily make you depressed."
"Book on psychology?"
"Book on psychology." He clarified.
"Good book, bit boring."
"There's no point in there being psychology anyway, it's not the best subject."
"It would probably make me self-conscious. Everyone I get adopted by would just die... I'd honestly think it would've been my fault."
"Violet said that a lot."
"I don't blame her or any of you, death is such a big burden."
"I agree."
"You've been through a lot."
"I think that lot is nearing an end."
"Maybe it is." I smiled slightly.
He sighed, smiling a little more, "hopefully."
"Hopefully." I laughed a little.