They didn't get very far. Not that Klaus expected to, with the state Dave was in. Within a few minutes, he was already breathing heavily. They wouldn't be making it to their usual side of town, that was for sure, but Klaus was familiar enough with the area that he was fairly confident they could find a place to hold up for the night. The first couple options he brought them to were already occupied, but the old dried up culvert that was mostly hidden by some bushes along the side of the road was empty. Some supplies provided by a nearby dumpster to cover the corrugated pipe and it actually was almost comfortable.
Dave had been unusually quiet this entire time, and Klaus was fairly sure it wasn't just because he was worn out from all the walking. Or the stab wound. It made him incredibly uneasy. He didn't want to have whatever serious conversation Dave was probably working himself up to considering his reaction back at the Academy. He didn't want to think about anything anymore, especially not his family. He wanted to get blackout drunk, but he knew he couldn't. Not yet, anyway, when someone needed to watch Dave's back. And he hated the tension that seemed to grow between them in the silence, so he did what he did best and rambled, trying to lighten the mood.
"—and that's how I got arrested for public indecency the first time."
Silence. Dave didn't even give a courtesy chuckle. He knew he was awake, he wasn't even feigning sleep. Instead, he was huddled beside him brooding. Usually, Klaus' rambling was more than enough to change the mood in a room. Either people would laugh, or they'd get annoyed. At least that was something he could work with. He didn't know what to do with this uncomfortable silence, he didn't know what was going on inside Dave's head. And worst of all, Ben was still hovering uncertainly nearby, also silent, playing on his nerves even more.
"Jeez, what's with the mood in here?" Klaus finally exclaimed, because he didn't know what else to do and silence didn't feel like an option, for some reason. "Is everyone in a bad mood, or something?"
"I—" Dave began, but paused to give him a confused look. Apparently he decided not to ask who, 'everyone,' was supposed to refer to, and continued. "I just— are you okay?"
"Yeah, great," Klaus said, because obviously, he was fine. What was the problem here?
"I know you said you and your family didn't really get along, but I didn't think they'd literally throw you out, like that."
"It's not that big of a deal," Klaus said, waving a hand dismissively. "It's not like it's really Luther's fault, anyway. Dad said it, so of course he had to follow orders."
"'Follow orders,'" Dave repeated, looking a little horrified.
"It doesn't help you keep putting him in this position," Ben said. "He doesn't want to, but you never give him much of a choice."
"Right, see?" Klaus said, gesturing towards Ben. "So it's my fault, really. I'm always pushing their buttons, seeing how far I can take it, it's no wonder they want me out. And, honestly, Luther put up with me way longer than any of the others."
"Hey," Ben said.
"You don't count."
Dave looked towards where he'd gestured, then back at Klaus in confusion, and he realized his mistake even before Dave spoke.
"Is there someone else here?"
"Don't worry, I'm not hallucinating, or anything," Klaus said. "It's just an incredibly nosy ghost."
"But— are you sober?"
"Of course not," Klaus burst out laughing, he couldn't help it. Usually it was the other way around, with people demanding to know if he was high, although Dave mostly just looked confused.
"I thought you could only see ghosts when you're sober?"
"Oh, yeah," he said as casually as he could. He'd known this conversation would come up eventually, but he was much too tired and on edge to have it right now. "It's my brother. I can see him even when I'm high, for some reason. It's the worst."
"You're the worst," Ben said back with a grin, and Klaus stuck his tongue out at him.
"Oh," Dave said. After another moment, he repeated, "oh," like he'd just realized a deeper truth behind his words, something Klaus definitely had not intended.
"What?"
"That would be, um," Dave began, schooling his expression like he was setting whatever revelation he'd just had aside to deal with another time. "He probably doesn't want to be called his superhero name or his number. What was his name again?"
"Ben."
"Hi, Ben," Dave said warmly, waving in Ben's general direction.
"He knows he can't hear me," Ben said. "What's the point?"
"He says he's happy to meet you," Klaus said, making Ben roll his eyes.
"Right," Dave said, his tone making it obvious that he knew Ben hadn't said that. Then, after a moment, he continued much more solemnly. "That's gotta be tough, for both of you."
"I'm already haunted by angry ghosts," Klaus pointed out. "He isn't much different."
"Is he angry, too?"
"Usually," Klaus shrugged. "He has to put up with me, after all. At least he has the decency to not scream when I'm trying to sleep. Well, except that one time he sang bad 90s music at me at the top of his lungs."
"You know what you did," Ben said.
"Yeah, I do. And it was hilarious. No regrets."
"I'd like to hear that story sometime," Dave chuckled, but it didn't seem like he'd been derailed from their original topic. "Still, I stand by what I said. You don't deserve to be treated that way and I'm sorry I left you in there alone."
"I told you to, remember?" Klaus said.
"Yeah, but you shouldn't have had to go through that alone. You were only there because of me."
"Maybe, next time, think twice before getting stabbed, then."
"Fair," Dave said, giving in to his attempt to lighten the mood. He grinned back. "Want me to fight them?"
Klaus burst out laughing at that. "Sure, just go pick a fight with someone who has superhuman strength! Seriously, though, it's really not a big deal. I'm over it."
"When I talked to my uncle, just over the phone, it left me kind of a wreck. If you want to talk—"
"We are talking. Right now. I liked it better when we were laughing, though," Klaus said pointedly. That sincere expression didn't leave his face, though, and there was no ignoring those damned blue eyes, dark with exhaustion. "Look, Dad is a monster, but throwing me out was probably the kindest thing he ever did because it meant I didn't have to deal with him anymore."
"It can still hurt, though," Dave said. "Being rejected like that."
Klaus paused. He didn't know why, but it felt— nice. Like something eased within his chest. What Dave had said was so simple, just acknowledging that it could have been painful, and it was stupid that that seemed to help. It shouldn't matter. Whether it did or didn't, he'd get high and either forget or be able to laugh about it. Everything in his life was just a big joke. He himself was a joke. He didn't like thinking this seriously about himself, he didn't want to admit any of it could hurt.
"Yeah, we'll," he said, searching for a way to deflect. "Believe me, the feeling's mutual. I don't want to see them either."
"Klaus," Ben said, voice somber. Disappointed.
"What?" Klaus demanded. "Don't tell me you'd honestly consider going back if you were alive."
Ben shook his head and turned away, vanishing into the darkness. Klaus scoffed and made a dismissive gesture. If he didn't want to talk anymore, that was fine with him.
"Everything okay?" Dave asked.
"I think I hurt his delicate little ghost feelings," he said.
"I'd imagine being dead is kind of a sore spot for him," Dave said with way too much understanding.
"Well, it's been years, he should probably get over it."
"He can't," Dave said, because apparently he was an expert now. "Like, literally, I don't know if that's possible. For him or you."
"Whatever," Klaus grumbled. He didn't like how heavy everything had gotten. "Just— go to sleep, already."
He turned away and pulled the collar of his coat up for what little warmth it would give him. He heard Dave shuffle a bit to get comfortable, but at least he didn't say anything more. He thought he'd wanted the silence, but now that he had it, he wished he'd kept talking. He couldn't stop thinking about how it'd felt to be so easily grabbed and roughly dragged out of the house. But it was fine, right? He'd wanted them to throw him out. That was why he'd pushed them so much, pissed Reginald off enough that he'd finally had enough. It was better this way. If they were inevitably going to decide that they'd had enough of him, he might as well get it over with immediately.
He closed his eyes tight, counting down the hours until morning, until he could figure out what to do with Dave so he wouldn't be his responsibility and he could go get high and make it all go away. The problem was, he was becoming less and less sure that that was how all of this was going to turn out. Too much of him was worried about his only friend. And that was a new feeling he was going to have to grapple with and he hated it. No, hate was the wrong word. It scared him.
He thought he'd long since numbed that part of himself. What was happening to him? And why couldn't he figure out if he wanted to stay or run?
