#I’d like to believe we’re at the point where the Hargreeves siblings are a united front now

[shima-draws]

I just spent the last few days rewatching The Umbrella Academy since season 3 is dropping next month and ughhfhfhfhf. My brain is melting

[vigilantesanonymous]

family gatherings - klaus hargreeves

You meet the family, and make a good impression. Diego is a little too overprotective over his brother. Hilarity and awkwardness ensue. 

Word Count: 2382

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You had been dating Klaus for 6 months before he brought up his family. Another month after that, he ventured the idea of possibly meeting them. 

After the awful childhood that he had shared with his siblings, he wasn’t keen on seeing them again. Well, the childhood, and then the stopping the apocalypse debacle. He was sober now, and had (relatively) gotten his life together. His siblings knew how to push his buttons, and even though he loved them, it was easy to fall into old habits. Habits that were particularly numbing.

As part of his sobriety, Klaus had tried to keep busy by becoming closer with Vanya. She was easy to talk to, seeing as he was allowed to do most of the talking and she wouldn’t become annoyed with him for being a chatterbox. He had proudly boasted to her that he met you in a normal way, at a book shop where you were flipping through volumes of Steinbeck, and Klaus happened to be there hoping to find some solace in a woowoo self-help book. After all of the secrets, the damage, the baggage, and the drama that he had relayed to you, you hadn’t run away. So he was sure now that meeting his family would really, truly not be that bad. At least he knew you could handle some of the more… Interesting members. 

“What if they don’t like me?” You ask, nervously trying to smooth down your hair. You had changed three times,  Klaus following behind to pick up your discarded garments and contemplate borrowing them for his outfit of the day.

“They’ll like you,” Klaus assures as he takes your fidgeting hand. “Besides, I know for a fact Vanya already likes you. She asks me about you whenever I talk about you to her, so that’s a good sign.” He presses a kiss to each fingertip before sliding his hand into yours. “Now any more fussing, and we’ll be late. And we wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

You can tell Klaus is just as nervous as you are, though. He pretends like he doesn’t care about his family and how they’ll act, but deep down it’s obvious that he does. Revisiting the shit show of the household he grew up in always brings back painful memories for him, and he would rather have this ordeal over sooner rather than later. 

The walk over to the Hargreeves household is incredibly long and strangely short at the same time. To say the mansion is huge is an understatement. It’s dark and imposing, certainly making you even more nervous than you were before. Klaus saunters in ahead of you, preparing to intercept any siblings before they can pounce on you. 

Allison is the first to greet you both, all smiles and smelling of expensive perfume. “Hi guys!” She pulls her brother into a hug, eliciting a confused glance your way. She’s definitely putting on a normal family act, he thinks to you. 

The one that you assume to be Diego emerges from the shadow behind a pillar, eyeing you warily while Klaus is occupied. “So you’re the girl my brother’s dating then, are you?”

“That’s me,” you agree, hoping you sound cool and collected. Klaus told you that Diego would be a bit much, standoffish and intimidating. “Which number are you; 1, 2, or 5?”

“2,” he says curtly. 

“Ah, so you’re the one with the knives. When someone has a problem, do you say you’ll take a stab at it? Or are you not that into puns?”

Diego’s hard exterior cracks as he grins. He shakes his head, laughing softly. 

At this point Vanya shuffles by, offering you a small wave and a timid smile. 

“Well come on in guys! I know Mom made lemonade.” Allison leads you into the sitting room, which is as large and regal as the rest of the house. The atmosphere changes, however, as you notice a giant man sitting on the corner of the couch. Another person, a small boy around the age of 13, has his back to you as he stares at the painting in front of him.

“Luther, Five. Our guests are here.” Allison motions towards you and Klaus. 

Five stays silent, pretending to not hear her. 

Luther also sits mute, glancing between you, Klaus, and Allison.

Vanya pipes up, attempting to cut some of the tension. “Mom made-”

“-Lemonade, yeah!” Allison perks up at the next possible solution to make the situation less awkward. “Diego, do you remember when we were younger, and Mom made-”

���Let’s cut the awkward small talk, alright Allison?” Diego sinks into a chair opposite you, inspecting one of the many knives on his person.

“Okay,” Allison says, exasperated. 

Luther is a bit gruff and awkward, obviously not used to socializing in really any capacity. He just keeps looking between you and Klaus, eyeing your intertwined hands. You wonder if he’s looking for a ring or something. 

“Chummy bunch, aren’t we?” Five smirks, finally turning around. “Welcome to the family, dear,” he says with a mock bow to you. He saunters over to the bar, rummaging around with various bottles of what must be incredibly expensive alcohol.  

“Five, don’t be rude,” Allison sighs. Her perfect posture wilts a bit under the awkward air in the room. 

“Drinks, anyone? At the risk of coming across as crass, I would have to admit I prefer a good martini to a lemonade.” Five smirks, twirling around martini glasses. “Just me? That’s fine. Really, you wouldn’t have noticed I was gone with all that tantalizing banter going on.”

“Five-” Allison starts again, looking apologetically at you. 

“Amazing family gathering guys! You can’t even pretend to be normal for five minutes,” Klaus chides bitterly. His hands twitch, gaze flickering back and forth to the bar in the corner. You squeeze his hand in yours, rubbing soothing circles. 

“Sorry, it’s just the last time one of our siblings brought their significant other over, they started the end of the world,” Diego deadpans. 

“Do you really need to bring that up?” Vanya huffs, eyes shooting daggers at him. 

“Fine,” Diego shrugs, turning to Luther. “What about you, big guy? Got anything to say?”

“I- I um…” Luther stutters, unsure. “I’m not the greatest at making conversation anymore. You know, being on the moon for so long and not talking to anyone…” he trails. 

“Oh, here we go with the moon again,” Diego huffs, earning an annoyed glance from Luther.

“No, start the fight! The sooner you two go at each other, the sooner we get to leave,” Klaus adds sarcastically. 

“Would you like to get a cup of coffee with me in the kitchen?” Allison asks, looking directly at you. You nod, getting up to follow her and leave the boys to their bickering. 

“I am so sorry,” Allison says as she hands a mug to you. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t usually like this. But, it’s just… It’s not appropriate.”

“It’s okay,” you say, understanding. “Klaus clued me into the dynamic between everyone. It’s just families. I don’t think I’ve ever met one that is actually 100% perfect and functioning before,” you chuckle, earning a giggle from Allison. “I wanted to meet you all though, because you’re important to Klaus. Even though he might not always express it. He really will do anything for you guys, and I really admire that about him.”

“Yeah, Klaus has always had a big heart, ever since he was a kid,” Allison agrees. “Sometimes I feel bad, and I wonder how he would have turned out-- how all of us would have turned out-- if we were able to just grow up together as normal kids instead of as a super unit.”

You shrug. “Powers or not, I love Klaus all the same. I’ll always be there for him, no matter what.”

As if on cue, Klaus saunters in. “Hey, you couple of chatty Kathy’s.” He snakes his arms around your waist, planting a small kiss on your cheek. “Five is starting to get sloshed, so I think that’s our cue to leave.” His exterior is relaxed and nonchalant, but you know him, and he seems stressed. It’s getting hard to resist temptation with all the booze here, he projects into your mind. 

“Okay,” you agree. “Wanna get some stuff for dinner on the way home? I can make that pasta that you like.” You give his hand a small squeeze, your way of letting him know you understand. God, is he so glad that you understand.

The two of you slip out with a goodbye from Allison and Vanya, and a watchful glare from Diego. 

After the large door has been shut, Allison turns to Diego. He watches the both of you walk away down the street with a small “Hm.”

“What, you don’t like her?” Allison asks.

Diego sighs, his shoulders falling. “No, I do like her. A lot, actually. She seems really good for Klaus. I mean, she managed our shit show pretty well.”

“So what’s the problem then?”

“That’s exactly the problem,” Diego emphasizes. “When has our brother ever dated someone who is sane? Who has their life together? Never! I care about our brother, and I want to see if there’s something up with this girl.”

Allison rolls her eyes. “Klaus is getting better. He’s sober now, for real, and is actually trying hard to move on. Maybe she’s part of that, of him getting better. Not everything about change is bad, Deegs.” She gives her brother’s arm a supportive squeeze. 

“Well, I don’t want it to be like another Harold Jenkins scenario.” Diego crosses his arms in front of his chest, his face set. It was clear that dropping the subject wasn’t an option. 

Allison sighs, knowing that she should come along to act as damage control when Diego inevitably does something stupid rather than let him go out on a limb himself. “Fine, I’ll help you. But it’ll just be me and you. We’re not getting Five or Luther involved in this. Got it?”

“Luther would just get in the way,” Diego huffs confidently. “Come on, I’ve got a plan.”

*

Diego’s master plan ended up being to break into your apartment to rummage around. 

“I can’t believe we’re doing this again,” Allison complains as she looks through your closet. “She’s got good taste though,” she notes as she passes by a particularly cute skirt. 

“There has to be something here,” Diego sighs, flipping through some papers on your desk. 

Sighing, Allison crosses her arms and emerges from the closet. “Diego, we’ve been here for an hour, and we haven’t found anything. When we went to Harold’s, we didn’t have to look far to find some incriminating stuff, but here there’s nothing. Do you think that maybe now you believe that she’s a normal person?”

Diego gets cut off by the sound of keys jingling and the door opening. Allison and Diego lock eyes, panicked. Quickly, Diego grabs his sister’s wrist and pulls her into the cramped closet with him. 

“Ohmygod, ohmygod,” Allison whispers. 

“Shut up,” Diego barks in a hushed tone. “Hopefully we can just ride this out.”

The pair sit in rigid anticipation, trying to make out the muffled conversation between you and Klaus. 

“I’m still sorry,” Klaus says, kicking the door shut behind him. 

“Klaus, really. It’s okay. I don’t love you any less because of your family. Besides, it really wasn’t that bad,” you chuckle. 

Klaus starts to protest, but you cut him off with a kiss. 

“Let’s put the debate to rest and start on dinner, yeah?”

Klaus grins at you mischievously, eyeing you. “Well, what if I want dessert before dinner?”

“Oh?” You question, playing along. “We didn’t get dessert Klaus.”

“I’m looking at it,” he says, his voice lowering with lust. He pushes you back against the counter, trapping you in a heated kiss. Not that you minded of course. 

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Ben tries to wave down his brother. 

“Not now,” Klaus mumbles through gritted teeth, preparing to strip you of your shirt. 

“Klaus, I think someone’s in the apartment,” Ben states, trying to look anywhere but the pair of you. 

“Fuck,” Klaus sighs, his hands slowing to a still at your waist. 

“What’s wrong?” You ask, catching your breath. 

“Ben seems to think there’s someone else here,” he says a bit loudly, looking into the slightly ajar bedroom door. It isn’t until now that you remember you shut it before you left for the Hargreeves mansion. “Stay here, I’ll go check it out.” He gives your hand a reassuring squeeze, beelining straight for the closet door. 

Opening the door with typical Klaus grandeur, the three Hargreeves stare at each other with wide eyes. 

“What the actual fuck, you two?!” Klaus laughs in disbelief, looking between his guilty sister and defiant brother. “Why are you in my girlfriend’s closet? Some kind of secret love affair you’re trying to hide from Luther, or is it that you think you can’t trust her?”

Allison opens her mouth to try to diffuse the situation, but Klaus just shakes his head. 

“She checks out, if you were curious,” Diego adds as he walks out. “No Harold Jenkins from what I could find.”

“Do I want to know why your siblings were hiding in my closet, or…?” You trail, looking at all three of them. 

“They thought you were shady, that’s all. They couldn’t believe that I could have a normal person in my life that isn’t trying to bring about the end of the world.”

You look between Allison and Diego and shake your head. “Why don’t you guys get out of here and we’ll just forget this all happened. Sound good?”

“Sounds amazing,” Klaus answers for them. “Now I don’t know about you two, but I’m excited to go back to getting my girlfriend in the mood to bang.” He shoos the both of them out the front door without any other comments, finally closing the door and turning back to you. “So, now that we’re alone… Want to pick up where we left off?”