°you shouldn't have come along°

▪︎part twenty one▪︎

"I did once."

Luther felt like his chest had been ripped open and everything inside had been removed. His lungs, leaving him breathless. His spine, making him unable to stand tall. And his heart, leaving him numb to such emotions.

"Luther I loved you so much when we were kids. But we were just too different. You would've done anything for dad and I didn't even want to look at the man. It hurt to know I couldn't be with you because of this but I knew you would be better off, not constantly being conflicted between me and Dad. I found Five and you got Allison. I never stopped caring for you Luther but it would never work out between us. Even in death, that man has full control over you." She bit her lip hard as she broke the man before her.

She didn't want to do, god knows how much she wanted to just let him be angry at her and never know the truth. But she had to get it out. "I think you should leave." She said softly looking down shamefully at the floor. He nodded absentmindedly before walking to the door. "I'm sorry."

Behind the door, Luther pressed his back to it. It was very much like the last time he had lost her and he felt very much the same. He felt empty.

Y/n watched amazed as Five disappeared and reappeared with a cool smoothness that only he could possess. Y/n was allowed to rejoin training and for months her father had been training her in using her siblings' powers. She had remembered feeling nervous since their training wasn't at the house, instead at another building where their powers could be fully demonstrated. However Y/n quickly grew out of this, her excitement and curiosity overpowering her anxiety.

Five stopped and walked back to the group, taking a seat beside Y/n. She smiled at him taking hold of his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze before resting her hand back in her lap. Their father paid no mind to this and kept his stare toward his notes, not interacting with the children.

They watched as Ben completed his training, a saddened look on his face from his actions. They felt useless being unable to help him and Y/n began to grow anxious. She hated using his powers but she knew she'd have to use them again. She understood Ben's pain and guilt and wanted to help him. He sat back down with a sorrowful look and Y/n was going to try and cheer him up but their father, calling out her number, stopped her from doing so.

Y/n stood up nervously and walked to the center of the room. She had to demonstrate each of her siblings' powers, which meant she had to complete all of their tasks. She had felt really excited by being able to be in training again and use her siblings' skills but as she stood before them in the large cold room, she felt sick to her stomach.

"Number one." Their father called, now paying attention to the training. Reginald's sudden interest in Y/n's training made her even more unnerved and she had to fight back the urge to run from this. Luther hesitantly stood up, walking to Y/n before stopping beside her. "Make physical contact." Their father commanded, snapping Luther out of his daze. Luther and Y/n turned towards each other, staring at each other's troubled expressions. "Here." Luther said softly as he put his hand out. Y/n gently took it, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles.

He felt his face flush at the action and he looked down at her with pink cheeks. He wanted to pull his hand away and hide his face like he had so many times before. But he couldn't. He stared into her dazzling e/c eyes and felt entranced by them. She stared back suddenly seeing everything he felt for her. Luther hid it no longer. He was in love with her.

And everyone saw.

"Thank you, Number One. Return to your seat." Their father cut in making both teens turn towards his booming voice. Luther turned back to Y/n before reluctantly pulling away. Y/n watched as his hand slipped out of hers and she felt lost as he made his way back to his chair.

Suddenly all the things he had said or done seemed to click into place. How had she been so blind? Luther was in love with her and she didn't even know. How did she even feel about this? Now she was faced with a difficult decision.

Did she love Luther?

"Begin." Reginald announced as the simulation began. Y/n's mind was confused and disoriented as she scrambled to keep her head above water as the training became harder. Luther had finished it with no problem but he was also born with that certain skill and had developed it for years while she was given months to master all of them. She refused to let her father's disregard for her needs get the best of her and pushed through to the last part of the test. She remembered how concerned she had been for Luther when he was faced with this challenge and she didn't know if she could handle it. While lost in her doubt the last challenge raced towards her, putting her in danger. 

"Y/n, look out!" Luther screamed standing up from his chair, preparing to step in at a moments notice. Y/n looked up in horror as the large rock fell from the ceiling of the training room, the very same one Luther had caught without issue. Y/n's arms shoot up instinctively stopping the rock's threatening fall. Her arms and body shook as she almost collapsed beneath the large boulder.

As she fought for control she let herself think about the whole situation. Her father was putting them at risk during training and it would only get worse when they went on missions. What kind of father did this?

She cried out angrily as she threw the large mass to the side. She did it. She completed the first trial. She panted as she fell to her knees, already exhausted. "What....was the point...of that?!" She yelled to her father growing angry. She didn't realize how dangerous or hard Luther's trial had been since he handled it without showing struggle. All to please their father. And now she was furious that he had been put through that. "It's to calculate your strength. Number two." Their father answered shortly.

Diego stood up and made his way to Y/n worriedly reaching out a hand. "Are you ok?" He asked quietly and Y/n nodded smiling at him. He had spoken to her without studder and she felt proud of him even in the difficult situation they were in. "I'm fine." She replied taking hold of his hand as he helped her up. He then returned to his seat and Y/n took a deep breath, recovering slightly from the training.

Diego's trial was fairly simple, throwing various objects such as knives towards targets to measure her precision and accuracy. She completed it without hastle and Diego smiled at her, liking the fact that he would now have a throwing partner and a little competition.

Next was Allison who Y/n never really talked to much. Allison held a bitterness to her and though the source was unknown to Y/n they were still sisters and Allison knew she couldn't resent Y/n. Allison held out her fist and Y/n smiled a little, tapping her fist to Allison's. This trail was simple as well, testing it out on poor Pogo who had become the subject for both girls. Klaus's power couldn't really be tested in any way through training more through real world experience so he got to sit with Vanya during the trials.

"Number Five." Reginald called turning back to his notebook for a moment. Five stood walking to Y/n with a smile. She smiled back, unaware of Luther's pained stare. Five held up his hand, facing his open palm to her and she pressed her hand to his, letting him interlock his fingers with hers. This action made Luther's blood boil and it took everything he had not to stand up and throw Five away from her.

The tension was slowly rising between him and Five and Five knew exactly what he was doing. And sadly so did Y/n. She wanted them to just get along. She wanted things to just stay this way. She didn't want to choose. She didn't want to hurt either one.

But she had already made her choice. And everyone knew it.

"You'll be fine, love." Five whispered staring at her the way he always had. With pure adoration. She smiled softly in a bittersweet manner knowing her decision was final. "Ok, Five." She said softly.

That was the final push. The last push needed to make Luther fall into a spiral of depression, anger and betrayal. And everyone watched in dismay as the fight that had been building up for months finally broke out.

The fight for Y/n.