The pitter-patter of the rain hitting the window, coupled with the leak in the ceiling dripping into a pot he had set on the floor, was almost hypnotic for Klaus as he lay silently on his bed. He and Diego moved into this run-down apartment building after returning from their time in the '60s. Mr. Hargreeves had adopted different children, and the house they once called home was no longer theirs and was full of unfamiliar faces, well except for the face of his previously deceased sibling, Ben. Klaus let Dave's military tags that still hung around his neck, gently glide through his fingers as he stared at the ceiling. The tags had almost become completely smoothed down by his fingers, but Dave's name remained. It had been two months since the Umbrella Academy had returned to 2019 after preventing an apocalypse that which, ironically, they were once again the cause of. Klaus hated this new reality that was now his. He had lost Dave again, even after trying so desperately to save him. He also lost Ben again.. well, at least the Ben he grew up with and knew; his best friend. This new Sparrow Academy's version of Ben, who no longer even went by that name despite Klaus's efforts, was just a shitty reminder that he had just lost two significant people to him, and no matter how hard he tried, he could never get them back. Klaus sat up in his bed and traced his finger along the outline of the umbrella tattoo on his forearm. His least favorite of all of his tattoo's. He hated it even more than the random tattoos he got when he was too drugged up even to remember getting till weeks later; at least they had a story. Now, The Umbrella Academy didn't even technically exist, just the damn Sparrow Academy. Klaus lifted his hand to wipe away a tear he didn't even realize had escaped his eye. "Fuck" he muttered silently before leaning down and reaching down to his floor. After a few seconds of feeling around, Klaus pulled out a bottle of rum from beneath his bed; only a small mouthful remained at the bottom. He opened the bottle and got ready to take the final drink when the sudden brightness of lightning and the roar of thunder echoed through his room. The shock caused Klaus to drop his bottle, spilling the remaining contents onto his clothes. Klaus let out a pitiful groan and rose to his feet. He sauntered over to his window and looked out. The lighting had hit a tree right outside his window. A giant crack down the center of the tree with chunks of bark scattered around the base. The left side of Klaus's lip twitched upwards as he couldn't help but feel a bit of comfort knowing that he wasn't the only thing falling apart in that moment.

"That was a close one… wasn't it, Dave" he whispered sadly, clutching hard to Dave's tags once more before pulling off his rum-stained shirt, tossing it to the ground, and crawling back into bed. He shoved his head into his pillow and let out one painful cry into the fabric before allowing the sound of the rain to lull him into a deep sleep. He dreamt of nothing. He hadn't dreamt since their return. All he saw was darkness, all he felt was numbness, and all he heard was dead silence. That was until a familiar voice woke him up the next morning.
"Klaus, get the fuck up," Diego said while pulling the blankets off of Klaus's half-naked body and threw a towel at him. The midday's sun reflected off the sleeping boy's pale, thin body as he let out a tired groan. Klaus then slowly positioned himself in the fetal position, using the small towel as a blanket to cover the top part of his body. "You stink, and it's laundry day." Diego had pulled the short straw and was stuck rooming with Klaus after Reginald Hargreeves had kicked them out of their home. Diego didn't mind at all though, the two literally just pulled the two shortest straws of the bunch and were paired together. Yes, his brother was a handful, but he would honestly rather put up with Klaus's shenanigans than Luther or Five immensely aggravating ego. "Klaus, I'm not kidding. The rest of the family is coming over today. They'll kill me if they see you like this. Do you really want to go stay with Allison?"

"Fine, fine, fine," Klaus muttered as he sat up in his bed. He stretched his body out while he yawned. "I'll get ready while you make breakfast. I'm thinking… Eggs Benedict and some Petit Pains au Chocolat. Deal?" Klaus stuck out his hand with a smile as if to confirm the deal with Diego. Diego immediately slapped it away. "Do I look like Mom to you?" Klaus leaned back and played with the ends of his greasy, matted hair. "Who is this 'Mom' you are referring to? Oh.. did you forget she doesn't exist in this timeline thanks to you, Vanya, and Dear Old Dad... my apologies, I mean, Mr. Hargreeves." Diego clenched his fists. He knew Klaus was right. If he hadn't warned the original Grace of his father's secret plan to assassinate JFK, she wouldn't have left him. If he and his siblings had not made idiots of themselves in front of their father that night, maybe he still would have adopted them. In this timeline, they weren't adopted, Vanya's picky eating didn't require someone that could survive being hurled out a window by an unnatural force. Mom wasn't needed and, therefore, didn't exist. He hated these pieces of reality that Klaus consistently reminded him of. It made him angry. But after two months of living with Klaus, he realized that he couldn't respond to his antics with anger. Klaus was extremely vulnerable and would act irrationally to any form of aggression. Diego took a deep breath and unclenched his fist. "Are waffles alright?" Klaus looked up at him and gave a soft smile. "Waffles would be perfect." Diego nodded and started to leave the room, but not before turning around to sweeten the deal. "Hey, if you get your laundry ready to go now, I'll make a quick trip to the store for strawberries and whipped cream." Klaus let out an odd sound, a sound that only through years of being his brother you would know was actually a positive reaction and not him passing a kidney stone. "Oh... my... God… "Klaus said, getting up and walking to his brother, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. "You are the best brother and roommate ever" Diego lightly swatted at his brother's arms to try and get him to loosen his grip. "Klaus, I wasn't kidding about the smell. Get off me, you stink!"
"I'm also extremely hungover." Klaus sighed and released his brother before looking around his room, dirty clothes covering the floor. "Can't we just burn everything and go shopping?" he called to his brother, who had already left the room. "No," Diego yelled back. Klaus stumbled to the door of his room and leaned against the frame, looking at his brother, who had put on his favorite leather jacket and pulled out his keys. "Alright, alright… it was just a thought. Give me twenty minutes." Deigo shot his brother a playful smile before exiting the apartment. "I'll give you ten,"

"The shit I do for some strawberries and cream."

Klaus quickly grabbed his laundry and threw it into a bag. A lot of the clothes smelled of liquor, and it made him feel a bit queazy. Luckily this shitty apartment had one of his favorite things in the world, a tub. Klaus lightly tossed his bag next to the door by Diego's much larger bag of clothes before heading to the bathroom and turning on the hot water. He stared at himself in the mirror for a minute. He touched the poorly maintained hair on his face. He knew he'd have to freshen up a little bit before his family came. If he didn't, it would just be a nonstop whirlwind of questions and concern. He didn't mind that he and his siblings were acting more like a family; it only took 30 years and a few apocalypses for it to happen. But right now, what he was dealing with, he just needed to do it on his own. He opened the medicine cabinet and took out his brother's favorite shaving cream and his own barely-used razor and began to shave away all the signs of desperation and depression that he could in such a short amount of time.

"Klaus! Look who I ran into at the store!" Diego called while entering the apartment, his four other siblings following behind. Klaus quickly popped out his head out of the bathroom. "Oh! You guys are early. I just got into my bath. You guys get started without me, and I'll get a summarization at the end. And Diego! My love, I'll take my waffles in the tub, por favor."
Before anyone could even respond to him, Klaus shut the door and returned to his soak. Luther walked in and sat down on the oversized armchair that Klaus and Diego had secretly chosen for Luther's giant body. "He hasn't changed much, has he?"

.
"It's different when it's just us here… Guys, I honestly am at a loss as to what to do with Klaus. He is getting worse." Diego said as he and Vanya headed towards the kitchen, setting down the bags of groceries that no one else had offered to help bring up.
"At this point, the simplest solution would be just to get Allison to rumor him into forgetting Dave's existence." suggested Five as he teleported himself to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Absolutely not, Five." Allison said, shaking her head, "After what happened with Vanya, I refuse to use my powers on you guys."

"What about that time you rumored me to punch myself in the face?" called Diego from the kitchen as he began to prep Klaus's waffles. Vanya had moved to sit on the floor by Luther's feet, opening up her laptop, hoping that maybe they'd find some helpful tips that could help their brother.

"You had that coming, and I'm honestly surprised it hasn't happened again since." Five scoffed as he teleported himself to sit on the rocking chair by the window. "Big talk from a guy drinking my coffee," Diego said as he poked his head out of the kitchen, sticking out his tongue. "You call this coffee? I've had muddy water that tasted better than this."

Luther stood up from his seat, accidentally knocking into Vanya as he did. "Sorry, Vanya," to which she responded with a forgiving smile. He then walked between Five and Diego, breaking their focus on each other. "Guys, focus, we need to think of something. The last little bit has taken a toll on us, but we are moving forward. Klaus is not. We need to think of a plan."
"Why don't we have a service for Dave? Maybe give Klaus some closure," suggested Allison.
"Umm.. guys" Vanya tried to get the attention of her siblings but failed.
"That might work… There is also that memorial in Washington. We could go there." suggested Luther.
"Gu-"
"Or we could go to Dallas, see his hometown…" pipped in Diego.
Fed up with her siblings ignoring her, Vanya uses her powers to cause the small bowl of fruit on the table to explode.
"Vanya, what the fuck!" shouted Diego.
"Well, now that I have your attention. I'm on the National Archives Database… Dave isn't listed as a fallen soldier."
"There has to be a mistake. Are you sure?" Allison said, walking over and peering over her sister's shoulder to look at her computer screen.
"Yeah, I checked. David Joseph Katz; his name isn't there."
Five looked around at his brothers before landing his gaze on his two sisters. "Allison… I know you'd never rumor one of your siblings, but do the Sparrow Academy really count?"
Allison gave Five a knowing smile before walking over to him and reaching out to grab his hand. In a flash, the two disappeared.
"Do you think Five will ever let us in on a plan before executing the said plan?" Luther asked the remaining two siblings in the room.
"Given our track record of following them when he does… I'm going to say no," Vanya answered before shutting her laptop.
"Good point," Luther said as he sat back down.
"I'm going to finish making Klaus his waffles," Diego muttered quietly as he returned to the kitchen.
"I'll prepare strawberries!" offered Vanya as she followed Diego.
"I'll… be here," Luther muttered quietly to himself before staring at the blank walls, waiting for whatever was about to happen, to happen,

An hour had passed, and there was no sign of Allison or Five. Luther looked at Vanya and Diego, who were finishing up their own waffles. "How long do you think it is going to take them?"
"Take who?" questioned Klaus as he walked into the room, drying his damp hair with a towel.
Before anyone could answer, a flash of light filled the small living room, and Allison and Five appear back into the room, startling Klaus in the process. "For fuck's sake. You nearly made me shit out my heart."
Allison didn't respond with words, but simply gave Klaus a soft smile and slowly pulled him into a hug. "Umm… you're forgiven?"
"Was I right?" Vanya asked, looking at Allison, who gave her a small nod.
"Right about what? Oh my god, am I dying? Or did you all die…. And this is all-"
"No, Klaus, we are all very much alive," Diego said, reaching out and giving his brother's shoulder a small squeeze.
"Then what in the fucked up timeline is going on?"
Five spoke up. "Klaus, you may want to sit down for this. We have something to tell you." Klaus stared at his brother, skeptically. Klaus was very used to Five incessant need for everything to be taken a bit too seriously; living 40 years in an apocalyptic wasteland and time jumping to prevent another two still hadn't chilled out this young 50-something year old. However, it was the look on his other siblings' faces' that told him Five's intenseness was not misplaced. Klaus took a seat next to his brother, Luther, who gave him a friendly pat on the knee, which was very odd and out of character for his brother to do. Klaus looked at him, confused, and Luther just smiled back.
"If this is one of those interventions, I'll be needing a drink." Klaus started to get up, but Luther pulled him back down, a smile still on his face.
"Vanya, since you were the one that discovered it, would you like to tell Klaus," Five said, gesturing to Klaus. "Tell me what?"
"It's Dave," Vanya said suddenly. Klaus felt his heart sink into his stomach. He reached up and touched the tags softly between his fingertips. "I know.. It's been bad, and I haven't been myself, I just…" before Klaus could finish, Vanya interrupted him. "No, no. Klaus, that's not it. Dave didn't die in Vietnam."
"Wait...what?" Klaus could feel his body starting to tremor. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. "He's alive?"
"Well, not exactly…" Five said, looking at Allison. "He passed away last year. Heart failure. He's buried at the Lincoln Cemetery."
"How…" The words were caught in Klaus's throat; he gave himself a second more trying to ask again. "How do you guys know all this?"
"I may have rumored a certain Sparrow Academy member into using her powers to manipulate technology to do some digging into otherwise classified information."
"But you gave up rumoring people... "Klaus was shocked at his sister's use of her powers.
"She did it for you, Klaus; she did it because she loves you," Diego replied.
Klaus couldn't help but tear up. "I don't know what to say," he quietly whispered, afraid any more volume would cause his voice to crack. His two sisters got up and pulled their brother into a tight hug. "Screw it, let me get in there, too!" said Diego as he wiped away a small tear from his cheek before wrapping his arms around his siblings. Klaus let out a short laugh. Yes, Dave was gone, but for once, he felt a glimmer of hope. "Guys, I have to go…"
Allison pulled away from her brother and gave his hair a soft ruffle. "We also took care of that. Your flight leaves in three hours. Now go pack. Five will take you to the airport" Without another word, Klaus rushed into his room, pulling Vanya and Allison along with him. Five swirled the remainder of his now cold coffee and muttered to himself, "From superhero to super uber, oh how the mighty have fallen." Diego walked over and rested his hand on the child-sized body of his brother and, "Come on Five, look at what happened today. Can't you be a bit more positive" Five looked at the hand now resting on his shoulder before taking his own and brushing it off. "Positive, huh? Well, I'm positive you're incapable of making a decent cup of coffee. Tell Klaus I'll be back in an hour, I'm going to get the good stuff" And with a flash, Five disappeared.

Diego stood in shock before turning to his ape-bodied brother. "Why that little shit."

.

.

Klaus walked along the airplane's thin aisle until he stood in front of his seat; A3, First Class. This was the first time that Klaus found himself envious of the Sparrow Academy's tech-savvy superhero. Sure, they had Allison that could have just as easily 'persuaded' the airline to bump them up, but he knew if she did, they wouldn't hear the end of it from her. Klaus tossed his bag up into the overhead compartment and then sunk into his spacious airplane chair. He let out a soft sigh as he reclined his chair back. The luxurious chair was a nice change for Klaus. He pressed his face against the fabric and inhaled deeply. It smelled fresh, unlike his bed at home that simply smelled of sweat and stale liquor. He looked up to see that his actions had caused him to receive a few judgemental stares, but Klaus brushed it off. The overly critical judgment of his frivolous actions wasn't new to him. He grew up with these stares from strangers, and he sure as hell got them from the man he considered his father. Klaus then put his chair up in the upright position and situated himself comfortably, fiddling with his fingers as he waited for the aircraft to take off. He did his best to follow along with the flight attendants' safety presentation, but he couldn't help but to occasionally zone out from time to time. As the plane took off, he gave Dave's tag a small kiss as if to say a little prayer that the flight would make it safely to Dallas so they could be reunited.

Once the plane was safely in the air and the captain turned the seatbelt signs off, Klaus stood up and pulled out his bag from the compartment above. He opened the bag and got out an envelope Allison had given him before he had left. Inside was a poorly drawn map of where Dave's grave was located in the cemetery. He traced the small heart that Allison had drawn to mark where his lover lay and smiled softly to himself. "I'm coming, Dave." Klaus then turned his attention towards a flight attendant that stood nearby. He waved to her with his best smile plastered across his face; just because the people around him thought he looked like he didn't belong here didn't mean he couldn't be a gentleman. The flight attendant returned his smile with one of her own and made her way over. "Yes sir, may I help you?" Klaus took note of her kind smile and sort of melody to her voice. She was either a kind soul or very good at her job. "Sir?" she repeated. "Oh, yes! Sorry! May I get a glass of whiskey, neat and an ice water, please" The flight attendant gave him a nod. "Of course, sir. I will be back in a moment with your drinks" she then darted off down the aisle, greeting the rest of the passengers on her way. Klaus leaned toward the window and peered out over the clouds. The view was beautiful, and the brightness of the sun didn't make him want to rip his eyes out and stab them with one of his brother's many knives. How the plane moved through the clouds was almost therapeutic for him. It wasn't until he heard the soft voice of the woman who had taken his order earlier fill his ears that he had noticed he had once again let his mind wander from reality. "Here you are, sir. Your whiskey neat and ice water" Klaus quickly put down his tray table, and the woman placed his drinks upon it, offering him a few napkins at the same time. Klaus thanked the woman and looked down at the two glasses in front of him. "Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?" she asked, giving her head a small tilt to the side. Klaus turned to the woman and glanced down at her name tag before smiling up at her. "No, this is perfect. Thank you, Jamie." She gave Klaus a final nod before heading off to aid another passenger that had gestured for her attention.

Klaus picked up the glass of whiskey in his hand and gave the liquid a small swirl. To be honest, he never really got all the hype around this particular drink. He just knew that all the wealthy debutante's husbands always ordered this at special events and affairs, and it was always neat, whatever that meant. Klaus always preferred his liquor straight from the bottle and never cared for the fancy tassels and twists. He held the glass up to his nose and let the oaky smell of the alcohol rise to meet him. "Not bad," he whispered to himself. It felt fitting to order such a drink for his journey back to where he had last seen Dave; five years before they had technically met. He then took the cool glass and held it up against his lips, but for some reason could not bring himself to tip the glass any further. Klaus placed the glass down back on the table with a soft sigh and picked up the glass of ice water, sipping on his slowly. While the drink did seem fitting for the location and all of its memories, once it came down to it, Klaus realized he wanted to be completely sober for the occasion. He wanted to see Dave again with a mind unclouded by booze and self-hatred. Klaus reclined his chair back once more and curled up into a comfortable position, drifting off into another one of his dreamless sleeps.

It wasn't long before Klaus was suddenly awoken by the sound of the seatbelt sign dinging to life and the captain's voice making its way through the plane, instructing everyone to place their seats in the upright position for landing. Klaus sat up, and a small, thin blanket that was not there before he had fallen asleep, slid off of his body and onto his lap. He assumed that the flight attendant from earlier must have placed it on him while he was sleeping, bringing Klaus to the conclusion that she was both a genuine human who was genuinely good at her job. He folded the small blanket and placed it next to him. He then buckled his seatbelt and looked out the window. The sky had cleared of all it's clouds, and he could see Dallas down below him. He felt his heart skip a beat as the plane began its descent to the runway. Klaus didn't understand what he was so nervous about. It wasn't that long ago that he had stood there, helpless and unable to prevent the man he loved more than anything in the world from walking away from him, knowing that Dave's life would come to an end in a cold, wet trench. What hurt, even more, was knowing that in this timeline, he knew he wouldn't be able to hold Dave as the light that had captivated and cared for Klaus faded from Dave's eyes. But now he knew that Dave didn't die, he was wrong, and he was ecstatic. Even though they could not share more time together, Dave was able to live a long and hopefully happy and fulfilling life. That's all Klaus ever wanted for him. So why was his heart racing?
Klaus had decided to spend his first night in Dallas at the hotel his siblings had booked for him. As much as he desperately wanted to drive straight from the airport to the cemetery, he knew he would fall victim to his heavy eyelids and would have fallen asleep in the graveyard. Even he knew better than to rest in a cemetery at night. Klaus curled up into his king-sized bed and turned on the television. He could barely pay attention to the show playing on the television as his eyes fluttered until they finally closed for the rest of the night.

Klaus woke up to the blinding sun shining into the window. As he sat up, he quietly cursed himself for not shutting the curtains before falling asleep. Accepting that he was awake for the day, Klaus rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom and started running the water for his morning bath. As he waited for the water to fill the tub, he called for room service to bring him their most extravagant breakfast meals. Since the Sparrow Academy had secretly sponsored the trip, Klaus had decided that he would make the most of the moment. After his luxurious soak and breakfast, Klaus made his way down to the lobby and had the front desk call him a taxi.

When the taxi pulled up to the cemetery entrance, Klaus could feel his heart sink a bit. He thanked the taxi driver for his services and exited the vehicle. Klaus was never the biggest fan of cemeteries. Being able to see the dead never made it a particularly alluring place for him growing up. Klaus pulled out the envelope from Allison once more and glanced at it for a moment before beginning his trek to Dave's resting place. One look was all he needed. It was like a magical force of nature had guided Klaus to where he needed to be. Within a few minutes, he was stood in front of a grave that read 'David Joseph Katz 1940 - 2019' Klaus knelt in front of the headstone and lightly ran his finger over the name, taking in comfort from 2019 written as his death year.

"Much better than 1968. You were able to have forty-one more years this time around."

Klaus's eyes then traveled down to what was written underneath "A Loving Husband and Father," he read aloud. "You even had yourself a little family of your own" He glanced over to the stone to the right of Dave's that read 'Suzanne Jane Katz 1950 - 2003.' He was a bit taken aback that Dave ended up marrying. During their time together, Klaus definitely had a strong feeling that Dave was not all that interested in the opposite gender. But then again, he had been wrong about many things in his life, so who was he to say. The sixties were also a very different time. Hell, Vanya's previous romance with that little country farm girl had the CIA on her ass, accusing her of being a Russian spy.

Klaus rose from his kneeling position and stood in front of Dave's wife's grave, resting his hand on it gently. "I know we never had the pleasure of meeting, but if you made Dave as happy as he made me, well... thank you." Klaus closed his eyes and gave a moment of respect to the woman he wished he could have been.

Hours passed. Klaus sat in front of Dave's grave and spoke to it as if it was Dave himself. He told him all the things he wished he would have been able to say to him before. He told him about his siblings and the sticky situations they always seemed to be in: from their childhood adventures to now. He told him how much of a prick his dad was in the previous timeline, not that he wasn't still very much a prick in this timeline as well, but it was different. To be honest, as much as he had resented the man and avoided him for many years, he found himself missing the sadistic bastard, not that he'd tell anyone. He let everything spill, all of his hopes, dreams, regrets, whatever was on his heart, he poured it out in no particular order to this cold chunk of cement that marked where Dave's body lay decaying under the soft, slightly damp ground. And for the first time in a long time, Klaus felt truly happy, like everything could actually turn around for him. He was about to begin telling him about the Sparrow Academy and his troubles adjusting to the new version of his brother, Ben when his stomach interrupted him. "Damn it. I guess that is one of the limitations of the living; we must eat"

Klaus stood up and brushed the dirt off his jeans before hugging Dave's grave, whispering softly, "I'll come back tomorrow, and we can continue our little chat."

As Klaus turned around, a petite woman with long blond hair stood in front of him. She was wearing dark sunglasses that hid her eyes, but Klaus could feel her eyes scanning his body. It felt different than the passengers on the plane, though. There was no aura of judgment radiating from her. It was almost like she was looking for an answer that she was almost sure of but needed that one final piece of the puzzle. After a moment of awkward silence, she finally spoke, the words that so effortlessly left her lips sent shivers down his spine.

"Prophet?"

Fuck.

While Klaus had become more comfortable with communication with the dead, he wasn't in the mood to deal with this particular ghost from his past. "Sorry, I think you got the wrong guy." Klaus sputtered out as he quickly rushed past the woman. He could hear her call out to him, but couldn't make out her words from a distance and picked up his pace just a little until he was entirely out of the cemetery.

"That was delicious," Klaus said to himself as he wiped away the stray bits of food from the corners of his mouth. He knew he hadn't been away from Dallas for very long, but he never realized that during his days of depression and despair, he really missed the food here. He picked up his cup of tea and sipped on it slowly as he looked out and observed the people around him. He wondered if any of the old wrinkled faces had belonged to anyone he had known. For a moment, he thought of his brother-in-law. He still considered Ray a member of his family even though he was probably old enough to be Allison's father. Allison had mentioned that he was still around, but had decided not to make contact with his new life and family. Out of respect for his new life. He respected her self-control. Considering how quickly he left after to find Dave's grave, he probably would have run all the way to Dallas if he knew Dave was alive. Just then, someone outside the diner caught his eye. Fuck. It was her again. Klaus quickly ducked underneath the table without a moment to waste, hoping that the woman didn't see him. He carefully peered out; she was gone. Klaus breathed a sigh of relief before getting up and going to pay for his meal. As the waitress handed him his car, he heard the same voice from earlier utter the same word he hated hearing "Prophet, please."
"I'm sorry, you have the wrong person, please leave me alone" without looking at the woman again, he quickly brushed past her and made it for the door. "Please, just a moment of you ti-" before she could finish, Klaus had exited the restaurant and got into a cab, giving it the address of the only place he remembered, the small little paint shop that Dave once worked.

During the drive, Klaus couldn't shake that woman from his mind. He was confused as to how he could still have such loyal followers after all this time. Allison had bought him a book written about Destiny's Children, and he knew that some people had still followed his teachings up until April 1st, 2019, the day he had told them would be the end of the world. But now, most people just considered it an overly elaborate April Fool's Day joke. So why would someone, especially of that age, call him that. Unless... maybe in one of his spiritual sex rituals, he accidentally fathered a child. Ben had always warned him it would happen. Klaus sincerely wished that Ben was here to rub it in his face with a smug little grin. Klaus wasn't ready to be a father anyways, especially to a child that was technically born before he was. Klaus brushed the thought off as he looked out the window at the passing buildings.

When he arrived at the address, he was surprised to see the shop was still there. The only different thing was the color of the building. Its original color had been painted over by what Klaus guessed was some sort of off-white, like an eggshell white. It reminded Klaus of his interaction with Dave at the store. The memory caused a warm sensation to flow through Klaus's body, and the corners of his lips uncontrollably pulled up into a small smile. He stepped forward and made his way into the store. As Klaus strolled throughout the small shop, he couldn't help but wonder if Dave's child would be working.

"Hello sir, can I help you find anything?"

Klaus looked around to see a tall, handsome, and very dark-skinned boy. His heart sank a bit. While he was very impressed by the physical appearance of the man standing in front of him, he had really hoped that the voice belonged to someone who could have potentially been Dave's son. Klaus knew that Dave's very white genes would have never allowed for such a complexion.

"No, thank you. I'm just browsing."

"Of course, sir. Let me know if you need anything." the man said before heading behind the store's counter. Klaus ran his fingers across the different cans of paint, reading each one's name off quietly. Lost in his own world, he barely heard that someone else had entered the shop.

"Hey, Tom, glad to see you didn't burn the place down while I was out," the woman snickered as she handed the man behind the counter a bottle of sprite. "Here's your reward for keeping everything in one piece."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. It's been three years since that tiny little mishap. Are you ever going to let it go?" Tom asked while opening his cold beverage.

"Well, that tiny fire did give me an excuse to give the walls a fresh coat of paint. So I guess you're forgiven."

"Thank you."

"So, how has business been so far?"

"Well, we have one customer now," Tom said, gesturing to the man in the corner, who was now running the bristles of one of the paintbrushes they sell against the skin of his arm "bit of an odd one." It didn't take the woman long to recognize the man standing in her shop. She slowly walked up to the man and lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

Klaus turned around, ready to tell the man once again that he was only browsing, but instead, he came face to face with the woman he had been avoiding all day. Klaus didn't say anything this time but simply took off out the door. He had noticed that this time the woman decided to follow behind him and began to feel a bit panicked. He started to run his way down the street when all of a sudden, he heard the woman shout out a single word that made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Dave!"

Klaus couldn't believe what he had heard. How did she know that name? Did she simply take note of the headstone she saw him at? But she said Dave, not David. Was it a lucky guess? He turned around slowly and looked at the woman who was softly panting as she caught up to him, "Christ, you run fast." Klaus did not comment on the woman standing in front of him caught her breath.

He watched her as she fixed her composure. "You knew him, didn't you?" she stated as she lowered her sunglasses to reveal a pair of eyes that Klaus had looked into not even one year ago.

"You know that name, don't you? You knew him. You knew my father."