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It took them almost two years after they went back in time to address the tension between them. After Five brought them back to the day after he disappeared in their original timeline they needed some time to find their way back to being children. They tried everything to include Vanya without alerting their father to this big change, but Klaus would confidently say they somehow managed to. It was difficult, but they did it.
For Klaus it was especially difficult to adapt to all the changes. He was thankful that they came back to a time where the worst he did was smoke a joint or another. It was easier to just stop doing that and not getting drunk anymore, than it would have been with his original history with substance abuse. It also helped that Ben and Diego almost harassed him with their concern. A couple times he rolled his eyes so bad he thought they might stay stuck, but in general he was really thankful that they cared so much for him.
It was difficult for him to accept that people suddenly cared for him. Not only Ben, who had no other choice than to stay by his side while he had been a ghost, and not only Diego, who had been reluctant but still looked out for him, but also Five, Allison and Vanya. Even Luther.
It was difficult for him that Dave was gone forever now. He had died in Vietnam, but in difference to their original timeline Klaus never served right next to him. Dave didn’t know him. He could summon his ghost, but he wouldn’t recognize him. It hurt him a lot, thinking about this, and he cried a lot in Ben’s and Diego’s arms in those first few months. But at some point he stopped crying and just liked to think back to a time where he had been at least a bit happy.
It was difficult for him to learn and control his new powers, see them develop, without their father noticing. His sibling mostly tried to help Vanya with her training, and now that Ben was alive again and Dave didn’t even know who he was Klaus didn’t really have the urge to make any ghosts corporeal. He did it nonetheless. He trained and tried and discovered even more hidden powers.
It was difficult for him that Ben was human again. He was so used to his brother always being by his side, always talking to him, shouting at him. He felt alone, almost abandoned, for almost a year, until he got used to Ben not being directly next to him.
But most of all it was difficult for him to accept his growing feelings for Diego. He knew that his brother was hot – all of his brothers were – and that they didn’t really grow up like siblings. They were all adopted and their father rather had them compete against each other than raise them loving each other, but the first time he looked at Diego practicing with his knifes and he felt that same warm feeling in the pit of his stomach like he had only felt for Dave before he had bolted the room and hid himself in his closet (oh, irony). Klaus knew that his feelings didn’t come out of nowhere. They got close after their father died. They got even closer when Ben started to live his own life and Klaus started spending more time with Diego because he didn’t want to crowd Ben too much after he had only Klaus to talk to for so many years.
All in all Klaus needed two years to accept all those changes and to think of a battle plan.
“If you stare harder your eyes will fall out.”
Diego’s voice tore Klaus out of his musings where he had stared at Diego’s lips while he talked. He looked around the room and noticed that five wasn’t there anymore.
“Sorry. I was just thinking.”
“Be careful that you don’t hurt yourself doing that.”, the other boy grinned.
Boy, because they were only fifteen, almost sixteen, here. What a mindfuck.
Klaus pouted and threw himself dramatically to the side where he had been sitting on the couch.
“How cruel, brother mine! To mock me like that! Don’t you love me?”
“Of course I love you, dumbass.”
Klaus froze. Diego had never told him he loved him before. For a second he wanted to jump up in joy and Kiss him, but then remembered that they didn’t feel the same love for each other. Botherly love. That’s a thing. Not everyone was so disgusting like Klaus.
He didn’t say anything, just closed his eyes tightly, chewed on his bottom lip. Don’t say anything, don’t say anything.
“Klaus? You okay? Did I spook you with my confession? Should I have waited longer?”
The young boy sat up, his eyes still closed, and sighed:
“No, no. It’s okay…”
When he realized what exactly Diego had said he opened his eyes and stared at his brother who was standing in front of him, concern written all over his face.
“Confession?”, he chocked out.
Diego nodded and sat down next to Klaus, his finger playing with a knife.
“Yeah. I’m sorry if I read something wrong here. I waited, but I thought two years were enough. We can ignore this, though, if you prefer.”
“Diego, you-. I don’t-. I don’t understand.”
Diego pulled his brows together and pushed the knife into its shaft before he turned around a bit to look at Klaus.
“What’s there to not understand? I love you. And I thought you love me. But you never said anything and then I thought two years is enough time for you to be ready to date again. But if you aren’t we ca-“
Klaus’ lithe body impacted with Diego’s sturdier one as he threw himself into the boy’s arms and pressed their lips together.
“Oh, wow. I guess you are ready to date again.”, Diego laughed and pulled Klaus up again before he pushed him bag onto the couch, this time hovering over him.
“I like it better like this.”, he grinned, then cut anything off Klaus’ wanted to say by kissing him again.
They were kissing and giggling for some time before they heard a loud gasp and Luther’s voice echoing through the living room:
“What the hell are you two doing?”
Diego looked up to where Luther and all their siblings were standing in the doorway, all of them staring.
“What does it look like? I’m snogging my honeytumps!”, Klaus grinned.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Your what?”
Diego sighed and pulled his hands out of Klaus’ unruly hair, before he sat up. One of his hands found one of Klaus’ and intertwined their fingers.
“We were kissing. And you interrupted us.”
“You- You can’t do that!”, Luther gasped, shock evident in his face.
Klaus sat up as well and scooted forward until he sat on the couch chest to back of Diego, his legs on either side of him and had his chin comfortably resting on the slightly smaller one’s shoulder, their hand still intertwined.
“As you saw, Luthy, we can very well!”, he grinned, “Unless you suddenly are homophobic, considering you didn’t have a problem with me being gay until now. But that would be your problem, not ours.”
“Homo-? No! I didn’t even know you are gay!”, a few unbelieving snorts could be heard from behind him and Diego raised a judging brow, “But that’s not the problem! You can’t kiss each other! You are brothers!”
Everyone froze.
“We are brothers? Is he serious right now? Diego, you hear that as well, right? I don’t have any hallucinations? I can’t have hallucinations, I’ve been clean for two years now…”, Klaus mumbled, confusion evident in his tone.
Diego raised the hand that wasn’t occupied and patted Klaus’s back of the hand.
“I think Luther is a bit confused. Considering he and Allison have some kind of history.”
“But that’s different!”
He yelped surprised when someone hit him on the arm.
“And how is that different? Am I, or am I not your sister? Is it different because they are brothers? Which would be homophobic, after all. Or is it different because it’s not you?”
Allison didn’t even let him form a reply before she turned around the the two boys still sitting on the couch.
“Congrats, you two. It was time. Just a piece of advice: You might keep the kissing to your rooms. You don’t want father or Pogo stumble over such a display of affection. Or mom.”
Diego cringed at the thought of their mother witnessing them kiss. That would be awkward.
“Yeah, thanks.”, he mumbled.
Then he stood up and pulled Klaus after himself, on his way to his room. Klaus had only enough time to wink at a grinning Ben and Vanya, who was smiling while she stared after them. Allison was still reprimanding Luther.
They had two years of kissing to catch up to.