☂ 𝑳𝑶𝑺𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 || 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 || 𝑩𝑲. 𝟑 ☂

19. DESCENDING

"Fancy seeing you here early," called out Klaus as he sauntered his way into the bar.

Five dully lifted his head up from the bar counter with the liquor bottle from earlier nestled firmly between his fingers. He's been sitting here for nearly an hour now with a mind-numbing migraine that refused to go away. Truthfully, he didn't want it to go away, he instead wanted to simply wallow in his headache. 

He deserved it... after what he just did a brain aneurysm would be too kind.

"Early or not, being here is required," Five grunted, taking a sip from the bottle and standing up. 

Klaus shrugged with a cavalier smile, plucking one of the bar's cocktail menus. "True, but Laney mentioned wanting to spend some time with you, so I figured that you two would be late to the meeting if you know what I mean," he snickered, nudging his elbow into his brother's side as Five's eyes shut at the mention of Elaina's desires while capping the bottle and placing it on the counter. "Obviously that wasn't the case, so where is she?" asked Klaus, looking around after noticing the girl's absence.

"I'm not sure if she'll be joining us," the boy stated lowly, walking toward the vacant tables nearby. "Don't be surprised if she doesn't show,"

Klaus's playful aurora stammered a bit, his grin faltering as he leaned against the counter. "Well, why not? That doesn't seem like her,"

The boy glimpsed at the lanky man, watching him jump up on the counter. "Something came up," Five professed vaguely, knowing Klaus's strong connection with Elaina and not yet ready to convey anything.

Especially when each word about the girl made the repressed item in his breast pocket weigh ten times heavier.  

Klaus hummed, leaning down and reaching for his shoes and untying them. "Must've been something huge," he responded idly, slipping the first one off his foot.

Five stared at Klaus for a bit, admittedly astonished by his mindless accuracy. Luckily, the raven-haired teen was spared from saying anything more when Luther came rushing in. He looked frazzled, his eyes repeatedly darting toward the second floor as he joined his brothers.

"Hey," he greeted with a far-off look in his eye.

The other two nodded in greeting.

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "You okay there, Luther?" he questioned, noticing his brother was visibly shaken up.

Luther shook his head, taking a deep breath in. "Yeah, I'm good," he stated, trying to look more composed.

Klaus pursed his lips, looking between both Five and Luther with hushed curiosity at their odd behaviors. "Whatever you say," he commented, bringing his bare feet up and gingerly folding them on top of the counter. 

Five sighed, pacing with restlessness as a haunting image continued to play inside his mind like a cursed tape. He ran his fingers through his hair, immediately regretting it when flashes of Elaina's touches replaced his own touch. He swiftly pried his hand from his hair, slamming it down as he gripped the metal backing of one of the empty chairs with white knuckles, willing himself to stop thinking about what just occurred. However, he was finding it to be a difficult task as the heartbroken wails of the brunette girl still rang in his ears.

He never thought she could look so broken. Five could still taste her tear-stained lips on his. 

Why did he kiss her? He shouldn't have done that.

Klaus blinked as he watched Five with his lips pursed out. His gaze then shifted over to Luther, seeing his brother still looking a little flustered, yet doing his best to keep it under wraps. The lanky man hummed, holding his feet together while slowly rocking his body side to side as he witnessed his siblings essentially suffer in silence at whatever it was they were obviously withholding.