AN: I hope I can keep this momentum up. Fingers crossed! Let me know what you think and please enjoy!
Chapter Thirteen
Andy chewed on her thumbnail as she thought over what Klaus had told her she'd done. She didn't remember any of it, not a single second.
She swirled her feet in the pond near the house, the one she'd inadvertently performed a "Jesus Walk" on earlier that day. It was the most natural source of water and helped flush the chlorine from her system. If she'd thought Klaus would drop her in a treated pool, she'd have warned him against it. Chemicals and her ability didn't mesh well. She could somewhat manage the chemicals added to average tap water, but even then it made her queasy. Bottle or natural water was so much better.
"I can't believe I actually tried to kill Sir Reginald."
"Yeah," Klaus said with a surprised chuckle. He sat beside her, feet in the same pool. He leaned his shoulder against hers. "Remind me not to piss you off like that."
She smiled while he lifted the flask to his lips once again only to jiggle it and scowled. It was empty, something he seemed to only just realize.
"Then again, the glowing eyes were kinda hot."
"Oh," she scoffed, shoving against him. Klaus laughed. "Don't get me wrong, I'd thought about it a hundred times, but I never thought I'd have the courage."
"Yeah, well, who doesn't fantasize about killing their father just a little bit, hm?"
She smirked a little, but didn't reply.
"Come on." Klaus stood and offered his hand. "Let's go to bed."
"Yeah," she mumbled.
Andy took his hand and held it as they walked inside past the sleeping Children and to his room. They broke away from one another once beyond the threshold, Klaus to lock the door and Andy to search for something to sleep in. She wouldn't be naked this time, nor sleeping in a skin-tight garment offered by Klaus.
In her open case, she dug out her sleepwear, a little laced top of shapeless black fabric and lacey shorts to match. When she'd purchased them, she had a flashback to Grease and the outfit that Frenchie had worn during the sleepover scene. That might have been why she purchased it, but as she looked over the garments and everything within her case, Andy was forced to realize most of her wardrobe had taken a much darker tone than they used to. She couldn't remember a time where she owned so much black.
Outfit in hand, Andy turned and spotted Klaus sitting on the bed, pillows stacked behind his back to keep him sitting upright. He was in the process of pulling a cigarette out of a gilded metal case. He glanced up, noted her night clothes and paused.
"Do I have to turn around again?" he asked. "Because… I've seen you naked. Like, a lot." Heat rushed her cheeks. "I mean, I'm pretty sure I left a bite mark on your ass."
"Oh, good Lord," she muttered in shock, while Klaus seemed rather pleased with his statement. It wasn't as though he'd lied. In fact, it was the truth of it that made her blush intensify.
But as she stood there wondering if her head would burst from embarrassment, she knew he was right. He'd seen her naked and if his current attitude was any indication, he couldn't care less about the previous night. The thought that he'd already dismissed it might have bothered her a bit, Andy hoping she'd have left more of an impression, but if he didn't care about it, why should she?
Whether out of a petty desire to show him that she shouldn't be so easily cast aside, or out of sheer exhaustion of the night, Andy didn't have the strength to fret as much as she usually would have.
Yeah, all right she thought to herself.
She turned herself at an angle, still unwilling to give him a complete peepshow if he chose to watch, and reached for her zipper. It fell easily under her guidance and while she undressed, Andy slipped into her thoughts. So much had happened over the last twenty-four hours that she had to take a moment to process it.
Klaus sat back, lazily watching the cigarette smoke flutter into the air when Andy began to change her clothes. He'd done his best to ignore her. There was no reason for him to gawk like a complete pervert regardless of his initial instincts, but when he noticed a flash of fair skin out of the corner of his eye, he didn't keep them from wandering.
Andy stood in ¾ profile away from him, which meant he didn't see all of her front, just a hint and that hint seemed to be plenty. For whatever reason, it didn't appear Andy had bothered with her underwear again.
She shoved the dress to her waist, freeing everything above it. Klaus couldn't help but think of the night before. He doubted he'd ever forget it, really.
Klaus tilted his head to the side, ogling the curve of her chest as she leaned forward to grab her nightshirt. The Greed stirred again, rearing its ugly head as though it hadn't been satisfied. But isn't that just the way? Is greed ever satisfied? If it were, it wouldn't be greed, would it?
He chewed on his bottom lip as she tugged on the lacey top and let it fall into place before stepping out of her dress. She'd shielded herself for the most part, but it wouldn't have mattered in the end. The Greed liked how innocent she appeared in her nightgown.
After she'd dressed, Andy sat down and unfurled her stockings, yet another thing Klaus rather enjoyed. Whether on a beautiful woman or fishnets on Frank-N-Furter, there was something about a nice pair of legs clad in stockings that made Klaus's little anemic heart go pitter-pat.
Klaus chuckled to himself as he thought back to the first time he'd seen Rocky Horror. That'd been a bit of an awakening. The muscle-bound Rocky did nothing for him, but something about Tim Curry in drag worked on the fifteen-year-old and it hadn't left him since.
If only he'd been older in the nineties. Klaus had no doubt he would've made an amazing Club Kid.
But for that moment, the stockings weren't attached to a man. They adorned the slender legs of Andorra Croix-Hargreeves and he was okay with it. More than okay, really.
He grinned as she folded her dress as best she could and laid it gently within her trunk before retrieving a brush from her overnight bag. Returning to her seat, she brushed her hair, nothing more. Why did he find it interesting? Why'd he care enough to keep watching? And she couldn't have been more ignorant to him, brushing out the curls the pool hadn't destroyed and tying her hair into a tiny ponytail so it was off her neck.
Resting his bent arm under his head, Klaus continued to smoke his cigarette while she put her things away. When she turned to face him, she paused, bright eyes wide and innocent.
"What?" she asked, peering around her briefly. "Is something wrong?"
He smiled to himself and shook his head. "No," he said. "Just thinking."
She eyed him for a moment, clearly uncertain of whether or not to ask about his thoughts. She didn't and joined him in bed. Klaus hardly had to move to accommodate her, but did surrender a pillow, which forced him to lie flat.
Silence stretched between them for a good minute or two before Andy spoke up.
"Why does this keep happening to us?"
Klaus furrowed his brow. He shifted enough to look over at her, but Andy continued to stare at the ceiling.
"What keeps happening?"
She rolled her head to look at him. "Chaos," she said. "Years pass and nothing, but the second all of us are together again, it's utter chaos. How many times can one family destroy the planet?"
He scoffed, a small grin tugging at the corner of his lips. "I don't know," he replied. "We're good at it though, aren't we?"
Klaus finished off his cigarette and dropped it into a glass not far from his bed.
"I suppose we should be good at something after all of that training."
He laughed while Andy giggled at his side.
Bet Dad's ghost didn't see this coming. His kids never stopped the apocalypse, we just made another one.
The silence came once again and as they had the previous night, they joined hands. Klaus held it tight, not afraid she might disappear, but glad that she was there. Andy was a constant of his, an anchor. He could make the same claim of Ben, but Andy was less judging than their ghostly brother.
Ready to fall asleep, willing to let himself slip into slumber, Klaus was brought back to the world when Andy spoke again.
"How are you?"
Eyes closed, he hadn't bothered opening them to speak. "Hmm?"
She shifted beside him. "How are you?"
Klaus turned to look at her, nothing but sincere concern reflected back. It confused him.
"What do you mean?"
Andy hesitated. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, seemingly thinking over whatever she wanted to say before saying it.
"After seeing your father today," she said, her voice much softer when she added, "After seeing Dave."
An icy shard struck Klaus in the chest, one so powerful that he had to fight the shudder.
"I'm fine," he mumbled. The memory of Dave, his Dave, yelling at him, dismissing him and storming off was too fresh in his mind.
"Klaus." Her soft voice drew his eye whether he wanted it to or not. Andy peered back at him with that caring, sweet face that made him want to admit the truth. "Honestly, how are you? You didn't say much after this afternoon."
He hadn't said anything because he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to talk about how this version of Dave ripped out his heart. He didn't want to talk about how he knew another version of himself would have to cradle Dave's dead body, have to feel the heat of Dave's blood seeping through his uniform and experience that level of loss. He didn't want to talk about how he ran away to the future still covered in that blood, or how he hadn't been able to tell anyone about it because his family wouldn't have cared.
He didn't want to talk about it then and he didn't want to talk about it now.
Klaus smiled at her, a slow and steady action that he hoped hid his ache. Leaning over, he cupped her cheek in his hand and pressed his lips to hers. The warmth of them, the softness, was enough to quell any internal struggle. He deepened it quickly, shifting himself on top of her while the previous night's passion returned.
Klaus needed the distraction, needed to ignore that third of his heart that would die in Vietnam. He'd only ever loved three people in his life, loved them in a way that he'd given a part of himself to them and two were dead. For the moment, Klaus needed to connect, fully and completely, with the only piece still alive.
Andy sighed into him, her fingernails biting into his back once again. Klaus dipped into the crook of her neck, placing kissing along her skin and delighting in the way her pulse raced beneath his lips. His hand glided down her side, pushing her nightshirt out of the way and hooking into the hem of her shorts when she tensed beneath him.
"Wait, wait, wait," she whispered in a breathy voice.
Klaus groaned, removing his hand, but refusing to part from her neck.
"What?" he grumbled, nipping at her skin. She gasped again and shuddered. It brought out a vindictive smile. He loved how receptive she was.
"We shouldn't."
"Why not?" He placed more kisses along her jaw before reaching her lips. In spite of her protest, she received him gladly. Klaus tenderly bit her bottom lip, something he'd learned she rather enjoyed. "We did last night."
"I know, but—"
Andy sighed as he proceeded down her body, tugging one of the straps of her shirt out of the way as he continued to kiss her skin. She threaded her fingers through his hair, clenching her fists and sending a thrill rushing down his spine.
"But that was last night," she said. Without warning, her grip tightened to a surprising degree. Holding firm, she jerked his head up and away from her chest before he reached anything fun. Klaus might've been angrier if he hadn't liked his hair pulled.
A deep groan echoed in his throat. When the delightful ache of it faded, he forced his eyes open and peered down at her. Flushed cheeks, bee-stung lips and beautiful, and her eyes heavy, she refused to loosen her hold on him, sure to keep their distance.
Andy hadn't relaxed until he had, her hands slipping from his hair to his neck. She cradled him there.
"I asked how you were feeling," she said, doing her best to sound less affected than he knew she was. "And I want to know."
In spite of the ache her initial question had caused, Klaus plastered a smile across his lips once again.
"I'm fine," he said. "Now, then." Klaus wagged his brows at her. Sliding his hand beneath her shirt, he cupped her waist and leaned forward. His lips brushed hers when he said, "Where were we?"
She'd barely given him the chance to steal another kiss before she planted her hands on his chest and pushed him up.
"Klaus, enough," she said, forcing him back until he sat on his knees. Regardless of how flushed she'd become and the desire he clearly saw in her face, Andy sat up as well and added inches between them. "I'm not some random person you can have sex with just to make yourself feel better."
"Why not? You were last night."
Andy flinched as though he slapped her across the face.
He regretted the words the moment they left his lips. They came out wrong, much worse than he'd meant them to.
But as heartbreaking as the hurt had been to see, it paled in comparison to the anger that swept across her face seconds later. She stared at Klaus with what could only be called pure rage.
"Fuck you," she hissed venomously.
Klaus flew back, tumbling off the bed and hitting the floor hard. He didn't know what hit him until he spotted Andy throw open the double doors in his room and leave. She'd used her ability to get him away from her.
Lying on his back, maybe he should have been grateful she'd only hurt his head and not exploded him or sent him through the wall.
"Shit," he sighed, burying the heels of his palms in his eyes and rubbing hard.
He didn't mean it. He didn't mean to make it sound like she'd been just a lay, no different than the dozens and dozens of people he'd slept with in his life. The statement had been half-realized when he said it.
Why not? We've have sex before was the proper response. Or maybe this isn't that. Better yet, maybe he should have kept his mouth shut. Anything would've been better than what he'd actually said.
A slow, sarcastic clap filled his ears. Scowling, Klaus dropped his hands and rolled his head to the side. Ben was sitting on one of the plush stools, staring at him with a deadpan expression, clapping.
"Go to Hell," he growled.
"Watching you, I might be there now."
Klaus stuck his hand out, middle finger prominently displayed. Ben scoffed and shook his head. It rankled Klaus's nerves. He hated the judgmental attitude of his brother.
"She asks how you're feeling, how you're coping with seeing Dave again, and you decide it's a good time to jump her." Ben hadn't bothered to hide his derision. In fact, he laid it on pretty thick. "Then, when she tells you she doesn't want you to treat her like a common booty call,"
Klaus eyed Ben for the outdated reference.
"What do you do? You call her a booty call."
"Thanks for the commentary. Now go away."
"Why do you do it?" Ben asked, ignoring Klaus's command to leave.
"Do what?" Klaus whined like a child.
"Alienate the people who actually care about you."
Klaus scowled as he stared at the specter. "Go away!"
Grabbing the nearest object, Klaus lobbed it at Ben. It sailed right through him and landed somewhere in the distance. Ben was unfazed by the outburst.
"Real mature," he said. "What are you going to do about Andy?"
"What can I do?" he snapped. "She's not going to want to talk to me until she cools down. And after what she did to the old man…" Klaus shook his head, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm not going near her."
"I could talk to her."
Klaus's head snapped in Ben's direction, his brows creased tightly. "What?"
In an innocent voice, Ben repeated, "I could talk to her."
Klaus scoffed. "How? There a Ouija board around here I don't know about?" He sniggered. "Gonna write on a steamy mirror?"
A slow, eerie smile spread across Ben's lips, one that genuinely chilled Klaus's blood and caused his smirk to fade.
"Why are you smiling like that?" He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.
The smile grew. "No reason," he said, adding in a sing-song voice, "You should get some rest. You look tired."
Klaus's confusion and unease deepened until, without warning, clarity struck him like bus. He clamored to his feet, spinning to keep Ben in his line of sight.
"You stay the hell away from me," he said, pointing a stern finger at the ghost. "We're not doing that again."
"Doing what?" Ben asked in the same unsettling tone. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Klaus scoffed. "Yeah, well, y'know what?" Crossing his arms, he fell gracefully to the floor, sitting across from his brother. "I just won't go to sleep."
"We'll see about that," Ben replied.