Author's Note: This and the next chapter are considerably lengthier, sorry. Although I feel it kind of takes away from the intended feel of the other chapters and would perhaps be much better suited as separate fics, my momentary musing of rewritting these two came quite short, so I sticked to the original drafts I'd got too carried away with.

Warning: Mentions of suicide and graphic enough overdose.

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8 years ago

Ben wished he could sleep. He couldn't blame Klaus for trying so hard to, because he knew how heavy and exhausting it was. He saw the effects lack of sleep had on Klaus, and how so much of it all was for the single purpose of being able to sleep at night. Ben had decided that looking out for Klaus when his brother did manage to sleep was the best replacement he himself could get.

They were in a shady motel room. Klaus was sprawled and soundlessly sleeping on the mattress, half-squashed, half-entangled with the guy that, considering Klaus' track history of relationships, was now effectively his boyfriend at a stunning full week-long record. He was a drug addict too, which meant most of their time together was spent getting high. Whether or not that was the biggest drive of that relationship was irrelevent.

A man had died in that motel room. His face was a brutal shade of purple and he still had the noose he had used to hang himself around his neck. The biggest problem with being dead was you don't change, so if you're a dick in life, you'll likely be a dick in death, and this guy was a big one. He had been exceedingly loud and obscene in his comments throughout the entire time they had been in his room, trying helplessly to drag Klaus and the guy out, trying to do anything to get noticed and of course yelling at Ben for his trouble.

Ben sighed tiredly. Even if he could sleep, he certainly wouldn't be able to with this guy yelling. Times like this made him admit how it was almost justifiable for Klaus to find any chemical help to shut all that shit down.

Later, after both of them had woken up, showered and smoked their first round of happiness of the day, they lazied out on the bed and talked about this and that, settling up for a party with some other folks later that day. Klaus seemed so carefree it almost made Ben happy.

Ben was glad to leave the angry ghost behind when they left the motel, and even more glad that Klaus hadn't had to put up with him. Chemically induced or not, Klaus had slept and was happy enough, so that was a plus.

He followed them as they went about, saw them go do a bit of window shopping while Klaus squashed his face against the window to goo over a coat, saw them tease each other and laugh, just genuinely having no real care in the world. Sure enough, they did, and after they had pawned something the guy had, they went to buy some drugs for the day and for the party. They took some of the pills to test them out and seemed to be quite pleased with the results. While the guy took the change they had been left with and bought some alcohol for his way, Klaus waited outside and then kissed him goodbye, settling up to meet at one of their friends' house later on.

Ben saw how Klaus soon felt particularly bored or restless, because he started twisting his hands as if in antecipation. Ben frowned, having learned that tended to not be a good sign, and true to his intuition, he saw Klaus rummage his pockets for more of the pills they had bought.

"You don't need more now, come on, Klaus." His words fell on deaf ears. Klaus shrugged, a very clear visual portrayal of a 'why not?' in his brain, and swolled down the pills. Ben sighed in resignation, but there was literally nothing he could do to dissuade him if Klaus had been sober enough to see Ben, let alone as high as he was already. That wasn't necessarily a problem, or a big one at least. The problem was when he saw Klaus' pace stagger drastically minutes later, and he stopped walking. "Klaus?"

"Shit. Ben..." The words were a mumble, confused, and he reached his hand blindly to the side as if he was looking for something to hold on to, possibly Ben, although he stood right in front of him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, but Klaus didn't react to his presence. His eyes rolled to the back of his skull and he fell right through Ben, who still tried to catch him regardless of knowing he couldn't before he hit the ground head first. "Shit! What's wrong, what's happening?"

Obviously, Klaus didn't answer, and instead his body started to thrash uncontrollably and Ben felt himself panic and fell to his knees beside him, seeing him start vomiting something, because it couldn't have been food, he hadn't had any, and starting to choke.

"Jesus Christ! Klaus! Someone! Please, he needs help!" Ben looked around in despair but no one heard him, the only one who reacted was a young man who had a bloody chunk of his head missing and that didn't help. He grit his teeth in frustration and tried to talk to Klaus, get him to answer, to hold him or turn him on his side so he wouldn't choke on his own sick but his hands just passed through him without anything happening, he couldn't touch or feel him, it was as if he wasn't there and he was just a ghost.

Suddenly, a pair of hands pierced through Ben's and turned Klaus over his shoulder, screaming similar words that made people turn their faces. A man, alive, was trying to keep Klaus breathing and still while he dialed 911.

"Thank you, he just- he just collapsed, I- he took something, he- shit, he-" Of course, the man didn't hear him. He was asking Klaus' name, for any information that Ben screamed at him before numbly realizing it was pointless.

The anonymous man stayed with Klaus until an ambulance arrived. From there on, the paramedics did, then the doctors and nurses. Ben stayed with them the whole time, until he was the only one left in the room Klaus had been laid on a bed, IVs and tubes swirling around him and a constant beeping that wouldn't let Ben sleep. Not that he needed, or wanted it.

It took a long while for any other sound to be heard in the room, and when it did, Ben jolted up.

"Hey, Ben."

"Klaus." Ben stood up and came by the bedframe.

"How've you been, Benny?"

"Don't even start. How are you feeling?" he cut short, Klaus' groan making him frown.

"Never been better." Klaus gave him a weak smile that angered him for a second, all those desperate attempts to show everyone he didn't care or didn't mind about anything when Ben knew better.

"They're kicking the drugs off your system. You-"

"Clearly, it's working," Klaus mumbled, moving his hand up to his head with another groan. It had been a miracle he had only got a concussion from falling head first to the ground and not bled himself out from a broken skull.

"You OD'd, Klaus."

"...guess I started the party too soon, huh."

"This is serious. You could have died," Ben rephrased, but Klaus scoffed hazily.

"Relax, bro," he dismissed Ben with a hand wave so weak it made it look like a spasm. "Look at you. You're dead and you're doing pretty great."

Klaus had dozed off before Ben found the words to say to no one.

"Not when I have to see you waste away, you idiot."

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