"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to come back home."
- in which five comes home just in time to get the girl. and save the world, there's that too.
(previously titled 'mimic')
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☂️
"Where did you sneak off to last night?"
Ben's voice startled Katherine out of her daze. She had been sitting on the edge of the pool, staring at the water for half an hour.
She glanced up at him, her heart skipping a beat nervously. "No where."
Ben sighed as he sat down next to her, dropping his legs into the cold water and swirling them around. "C'mon Kat," he sounded disappointed.
Katherine scrunched her nose up and shook her head, "I don't wanna hear it, Ben."
"Well you need to." His voice turned stern. "This isn't like you, Kat! You used to tell me everything, even before I..." he trailed off quietly. "You've changed."
She scoffed, "Of course I've fucking changed!" It felt like a switch inside of her flipped as her anger began to bubble up. "Dumbass Five put us into this hell hole and we don't even know where he is!"
Ben watched as she stood up suddenly, "Katherine please," he grabbed her wrist which made her flinch. "Just talk to me, what's going on with you?"
An angry tear dropped from her eye. "There's nothing wrong with me! I'm fine, okay? Jesus Christ why can't you mind your own business!" She snapped, gripping her necklace before storming inside.
Ben followed her quickly, "Don't be like that, Katherine, you know I'm just worried!"
"About what?" She turned around swiftly, nearly knocking heads with him. "Tell me Ben, about what?"
He seemed to hesitate, his mouth opened slightly in an internal debate. "I know you've been doing drugs."
Katherine scoffed. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Then give me your necklace."
"Fuck off, Ben." She shook her head as she retreated up the staircase.
"Katherine do you think I'm stupid? We've been through this with Klaus, why would you do that to yourself!" Katherine could hear the pain in his voice, but she couldn't bring herself to stop arguing.
"I'm not doing anything to myself, besides even if I was I think I fucking deserve it! We've been stuck in this godawful decade for three years and I would like, for once, to do anything remotely independent without being asked if I have permission from my husband!"
Ben sighed. "I'm sorry that we're here, okay? I'm sorry but it's not my fault and that doesn't mean that you can just go kill yourself because of it!"
Katherine rubbed her face with her hands, "I'm fine, Ben, I don't know how many times I have to tell you that."
"Until you get rid of that damn locket."
She stood still for a moment at the top of the staircase and watched Ben. His eyes were pleading and he looked genuinely concerned and something in her jerked, but then her fingers brushed the cold metal of her necklace, and everything seemed to fade away.
It didn't matter how upset Ben was, all that mattered was the powder inside of the necklace that seemed to grow heavier each second Katherine stood still.
When she turned to leave again Ben panicked, "Please Katherine! I understand, okay? I understand you're upset that we're here, and that we have no idea what happened to everyone else–"
Katherine let out a small laugh, "No Ben, you don't understand. You never got it, and you never will." She shook her head at him before leaving, finally, and making her way to her room.
"You're just like your mother."
Katherine's heart dropped and it suddenly got harder to breath, had he really just said that?
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
Ben was unapologetic, "No Katherine, I'm fucking serious! She got into drugs, just like you, and she ended up giving you away."
Katherine couldn't believe what she was hearing. "That's a low fucking blow. I don't even have a kid, Ben!"
"No, you don't; but you have a family! You have a family who cares and I'm worried!" His voice cracked. "You need help, Katherine. If Klaus can do it you can too."
She shook her head, unwilling to listen to what he was saying. "I don't need help, I'm fine! And I haven't fucking killed myself yet, have I? There's a reason!" Her fingers tapped her locket.
"If that's what's keeping you here you need more help than I thought." They both went silent. "That shit is killing you all the same, can't you see what it's doing to you?"
Katherine was so irritable and her moods changed like the seasons these days. "Fuck you." She retreated to her bedroom and slammed the door.
She entered the adjoining bathroom and locked the door behind her to stare at herself in the mirror. She had lost some weight, her cheeks and eyes were sunken in and she didn't quite fill her clothes out like she used to.
Katherine's fingers twirled around her blonde hair, thinner than she remembered, before she looked back down at her locket. You're fine, she told herself. Ben doesn't know what he's talking about.
The top to her locket squeaked as she untwisted it. I can stop whenever I want to. Katherine held the white powder up to her nose and sniffed gently.
