Chapter Text
Klaus heard the front door shut and a voice yell out, “Honey, I’m home!”. He smiled and skipped to the door. His husband Dave was shimmying his shoes off when Klaus leapt into his arms.
“Hey babe,” Klaus beamed before planting a kiss onto Dave’s lips, “missed you.”
Dave grinned, “Missed you more.”
Another kiss, “That’s not even possible.”
Dave laughed and carried Klaus bridal style into the kitchen, coating Klaus’ neck in kisses. Klaus squealed in laughter.
“Dave!!! You know I’m ticklish!”
Dave responded by placing his mouth against Klaus’ neck and blowing, making a ridiculous noise in the process. Klaus yelped, laughing in delight, and jumped out of Dave’s arms.
Dave hummed, “Alright, alright, no more tickling. I promise. Now, tell me all about your day. I want to hear all about it!”
“Well,” he began, moving to the stove to stir whatever was cooking, “I finished my painting! It only took me forever! I’ll show you after dinner, but I sent a picture of it to Laura and she said that she would put it in the auction if I wanted! Think of all the wealthy bastards that could bid on it. We could get rich!”
Dave picked Klaus up and spun him around in excitement before gently setting him on his feet again, “Oh my gosh, Klaus, that’s so incredible! I’m so proud of you.”
Klaus blushed and looked down bashfully, “Okay, okay, it's not that big of a deal…”
“Of course it is! I’m so happy for you, babe. Even without ‘rich bastards’ wanting it, I’m just happy you’re doing something you love.”
Klaus felt his heart warm, “Well, okay, I’ve had a good day. What about you, sweetums, how was school?”
“Well, today I had to teach the kids what fractions were and you’d think I was trying to teach them quantum physics or something.” He laughed, “It was a good day, though. You know my class always cracks me up.”
Klaus hummed, “You hungry? I’m making fettuccine alfredo.”
“Sounds delicious.”
Klaus turned to continue stirring the pasta and Dave planted a kiss into his curly hair. He then turned and set the table. Within minutes Klaus yelled out in a sing-song voice, “Done!” and they began to eat. They talked and talked about everything and nothing at all. They continued to talk about their days, about how Klaus was excited by the potential of his career as an artist, about something silly one of Dave’s students had said, about what they think will happen on tonight’s episode of The Bachelorette. Their hearts glowed as they finished eating and settled onto the couch to watch the episode. Dave had rested his head on Klaus’ lap and Klaus was running his fingers through Dave’s hair.
He smiled. He thanked the stars everyday for bringing Dave into his life. He sometimes wonders where he would be right now if he hadn’t met him. Probably dead. Or shooting up in some crack-house. Most likely dead, though.
It really was a miracle that the two had met in the first place. They had met at a dance bar, one that Dave’s friends had to physically drag him to (he is not a big fan of crowded, trashy bars), and one that Klaus had to sneak past the bouncers to get in to (apparently he had ‘caused a scene’ and ‘puked on the D.J.’ and ‘got caught having sex in the bathroom’ the night before, causing him to be banned from the establishment. Whatever.)
Dave was hiding out in the bathroom when they met. All of his friends were wasted and he just wanted to go home. It was too crowded, too sweaty, and there wasn’t even good music playing. Just EDM, which he was not a big fan of. He was about to call a taxi home when Klaus stumbled in. Dave looked up in surprise and took in the man before him. He was wearing a pink boa, no shirt, and a checkered print skirt. His hair was all over the place and his pupils were completely blown. Dave was yanked out of his shock when the man slurred out something incoherent and promptly fell into him.
“Woah!” Dave yelped as he caught the man, “Oh my God! Are you alright?”
“Mmm?” The man grunted and looked at Dave with unseeing eyes.
“Oh, God, I think you need to go to the hospital or something.” Dave was full blown panicking at this point, but Klaus slumped off of him and staggered towards the wall, slurring out a response.
“No, no. I’m jus’ ffffine. I don’ need to go. No, no, noooooo.” He ended with a snort and let the wall keep him standing. Dave had no clue what to do. Should he tell someone who worked here? What if they just dumped him outside and didn’t get him somewhere safe? He should call the guy a taxi.
“Hey,” He tried to get Klaus’ dazed out attention, “What’s your address? I can call you a taxi and make sure you get home okay.”
Klaus snorted again, “Pffffft! I dunno what you’re eeeeeeven talkin’ ‘bout. I live….here!” He began laughing uncontrollably at that. “Don’ live there….I live here! Hahahahaha! I live here!”
Dave sighed, “Look, if you’re so out of it that you can’t even think of your own address, I really feel like I should call an ambulance or something.”
Klaus closed his eyes and pressed his face into Dave’s shoulder and he groaned, “Nooooooooo.” He then lifted his eyes with a dopey grin, “You jus’ don’ understaaaaand, man! I’m livin’ here, I’m livin’ there. Bop bop bop!” He giggled and booped Dave’s nose with each ‘bop’, “But I don’t got a address, c’mon! I’m just rollin’ around!”
Dave tried to make sense of what the man was slurring out, “You mean you’re...homeless?”
Klaus rolled his eyes, “Pffffft. It’s not like thaaaaat. I just don’t got one of my own. Get it?”
Dave blinked, “You’re not homeless...you just don’t have a home…?”
Klaus threw his hands in the air, stumbling in the process, “Finally! Yeaaaaaah, you get it! See! It’s all good!”
“Oh.” was all Dave managed to say in response. He had no idea what to do now. He was worried about this man, but didn’t know how to help.
“Where are you going to go after this?”
Klaus swayed, “Hmmmmmm, I dunno. Jus’ gonna find someone and see if they wanna...,” he winked, “Ohhhh you know, haha! That’s usually what I do right about now. People at this bar always wanna!”
Dave did not want him to go home with some random horny stranger. They could take advantage of him! Actually, anyone who would possibly sleep with this man tonight would absolutely be taking advantage of him. Fuck!
“Hey, you don’t need to do that. I’m about to head home now, you can stay at my place tonight.”
Klaus’ face lit up with a hazy grin and he fell into Dave again. He purred, “Ohhhh, really.” He laughed, “You were asking me questions like you were a cop or sum'n’! I didn’ think you wanted to hook up! Hahaha, I woulda been bein’ a lil’ more flirty-flirty with ya’!”
Dave wrapped an arm around the man to steady him as he started leading him towards the door, “Not to hook up. Just to sleep.”
Klaus laughed again, with Dave practically dragging him out of the bar, “Sureeeee. Okay, whatever you say!”
Klaus ended up sleeping at Dave’s that night and woke up with no recollection of the previous night. Dave had awkwardly explained what had happened and had to convince Klaus that they had definitely not hooked up. Klaus was very apologetic, but Dave told him not to worry about it. He told Klaus that if he ever needed a place to crash, he could stay at his place, no strings attached. Klaus was shocked by how completely kind and patient Dave was and did end up coming back. He would always apologize in the morning, but Dave would always assure him that he had no reason to be sorry. They started hanging out more and more, not just when Klaus needed a place to crash, but because they really enjoyed being around each other. Klaus would show up at Dave’s with little gifts, like flowers he picked, or a nice watch he ‘found’, or a sweater he had somehow managed to knit. Dave would bake cookies for whenever he knew Klaus would be stopping by, or get him a new outfit that he thought he would love, or rent a movie because Klaus had offhandedly mentioned that he liked it. They were quickly falling deeper and deeper in love with one another, despite neither saying it out loud.
Then Klaus overdosed.
Dave got a call at four in the morning from the hospital. He was Klaus’ emergency contact. He was told that Klaus had overdosed in an alley and was in critical condition. He had to be resuscitated in the ambulance. Dave rushed to the E.R. in a panic. Klaus was unconscious when he arrived. He sobbed and sobbed and never left Klaus’ side. Klaus woke up two days later and Dave had never been more relieved in his entire life. He hugged him tight, crying and pleading,
“Please, please don’t ever do that again. Please don’t leave me. I love you so much. Oh, God, I love you so much, please don’t, please don’t, please don’t.”
That day, Klaus vowed to get sober. He checked himself into rehab the moment he was allowed to leave the hospital. He lasted the whole thirty days. Dave picked him up and took him back to his apartment. Their apartment. He helped Klaus through it all. He would stay up all night with Klaus, stroking his fingers through his hair, coaxing him when it was all too much. He would be patient with him when the cravings were overwhelming. He would be kind even when Klaus was cranky and jittery and loud. It was hard, but they got through it together.
They got married six months later. It was the happiest day of both of their lives. After Dave proposed, he was stressed and wanted to make their wedding day extravagant, flashy, and exciting. He wanted to give Klaus the perfect day and wanted the wedding to be as extravagant as the man himself. He didn’t want Klaus to have to worry about a thing and was determined to pay for the wedding himself. However, planning an extravagant wedding on a teacher’s salary is not an easy task. He had a rocky relationship with his parents, so he couldn’t ask them for help, and although he knew Klaus’ father was a billionaire, he also knew that he was an abusive piece of shit, so he was out of the question. Klaus discovered Dave’s distress when he glanced over his shoulder to see Dave researching how to sell plasma from your blood. Klaus asked if they were having money problems and whether or not he should ask for more hours at work-he had recently gotten a job as a barista-and Dave had responded in tears, explaining how he wanted to give Klaus the world and wanted their wedding day to be magical, but that he couldn’t afford for it to be everything Klaus deserved. Klaus teared up as he wrapped Dave in a hug, covered his forehead in kisses, and said, “As long as I’m marrying you, it will be the most magical wedding this world has ever seen. We could get married in a fucking port-o-potty and I would cry tears of joy, Dave.”
The next day, they went to a pawn shop and Klaus bought the cheapest dress in the store. It was a wedding dress that must have been made in the 80’s, complete with puffy sleeves and oversized skirts. Dave was about to buy a normal black suit for himself, but changed his mind when he heard Klaus laughing hysterically over a leopard print suit with matching pants.
They strolled into the courthouse looking absolutely absurd, but neither of them cared. Klaus kept his promise in shedding tears of joy, with Dave following suit. They read each other vows, despite the judge telling them that wasn’t normally how a courthouse wedding operates, they kissed, and Klaus Hargreeves was officially Klaus Katz.
Five years later and Klaus is still with the man of his dreams, laughing together as some ‘major drama’ goes down on their favorite show. They had bought a house just outside of the city nearly three years ago. It was small, sure, but it was theirs. Klaus had quit his job as a barista about a year ago to focus on his art career after some of his pieces started selling and Dave had completely supported him. He had never felt so loved in his life.
Dave shot up and gasped as their favorite contestant was told to leave the show, yanking Klaus from his thoughts.
“She’s seriously going to send home Mike!? He’s the best guy there! He better be the next Bachelor or I’ll lose it.”
Klaus smiled warmly as Dave paced around the room until the episode ended.
“Hey, just think we’ll get a whole season of Mike if he is the next Bachelor! That would be so amazing.”
Dave sighed and slumped down next to Klaus, “I guess so.”
Klaus snorted and pressed a kiss into Dave’s shoulder before standing up to get some nailpolish. Dave flipped the channel to the news. Before bed every night, Dave would always watch the news while Klaus distracted himself with a book or nailpolish, or simply snuggled against Dave. He would always tease Dave and call him an old man for doing things like watch the news or read the newspaper, but secretly he found it really cute. He plucked a shade of purple polish off their bathroom counter before settling on the ground between Dave’s legs and painting his toes. He loved having his nails painted, especially his toes. It just added a little extra flavor to an otherwise boring area.
He was adding a second coat to his right foot when he heard Dave gasp behind him. He turned around and raised his eyebrows when he saw Dave’s horrified expression. Dave looked at him, opened his mouth to speak, looked back to the T.V., shut his mouth, then looked back to him. Klaus slowly turned his head towards the T.V.. He felt his entire body go cold and his stomach drop to the floor as he read the headline.
Billionaire Reginald Hargreeves Adopts Six Infants From Around The World.