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Diego was awake, the light of his lamp dimmed to the point that he had to really focus to be able to see, and the sound of whimpers from the room next to his own seemed too loud in the otherwise quiet house.
Diego frowned and pulled back the covers, rolling out of his bed and onto his feet. He shuffled over to the door and opened it as quietly as he could, hoping that the door wouldn’t creak and alert anyone that there was a child out of bed.
Diego cast a quick look down the hall, making sure that Dad was nowhere to be seen before he darted down the Hall, careful to avoid the creaky floorboards. He gently rapped on Klaus’ door with his knuckles before softly pushing the door open, slipping into the room before anyone could be alerted to the open door.
“K-Klaus?” Diego whispered, approaching the curly-haired teen with cautious steps.
Klaus was sitting bolt upright, back against the wall behind him, with his knees pulled close to his chest. His head was tilted backwards, the column of his throat exposed, the skin pulling taut around his adam’s apple. His eyes were tightly shut and eyebrows furrowed in fear, his mouth parted slightly as his breath came out in short, heavy pants.
Diego took another step forward, lowering himself onto the bed beside Klaus, and placed a gentle hand on his knee, “K-Klaus? Are y-y-you okay?” Klaus shook his head, “The g-g-ghosts?” A miniscule nod.
“They’re so loud .” He whimpered, “They won’t leave .” He chuckled darkly, “I don’t even have any weed left, so I can’t smoke a joint.”
Diego frowned and squeezed Klau’s knee, “You don’t n-need weed.”
Klaus snorted, “Of course I do.” He drew in a heavy, shaky breath, gulping audibly as he tugged a hand through his hair, still refusing to open his eyes, “It’s the only thing that makes them leave.”
Diego made a noise of disapproval, “You told m-m-me a f-few weeks ago, whilst you were high, that I made them leave. Something about m-m-my no-f-fucks-to-be-given persona sent them running for the hills .”
Klaus chuckled and shook his head, “I can’t be held accountable for what I say when I’m high.”
“I’ll rem-m-mind you of that next time you ask me to sneak out with you to get w-waffles.” Diego replied, arching an eyebrow at the other teen.
Klaus moaned pitifully, “Waffles, man, I could murder a waffle.” He paused for a moment, a soft giggle falling from his lips, “That’s a ghost that I wouldn’t mind. At least Ben could eat something.”
Diego made a soft noise in the back of his throat, his grip on Klaus’ knee tightening briefly in comfort, “W-Will you please open your eyes?”
Klaus shook his head, “What if they’re still here? I can’t hear them, but they could be waiting until I open my eyes to assault me.”
Diego snorted, “Do you trust m-m-me?” Klaus let out a heavy breath and nodded, “Then g-g-give m-m-me your hands and open your eyes.”
Klaus drew in a deep breath and extracted his hands from the covers to hold them out to Diego. The knife-slinger smiled and gripped Klaus’ hands in his own, rubbing his thumb across his knuckles. He squeezed them softly in encouragement and brought them up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss against his knuckles.
“W-Will you open your eyes?” Diego whispered, breath fanning out against the skin on the backs of his hands.
Klaus shook his head, swallowing harshly around the lump in his throat, “I can’t.” He drew in a sharp breath, “I’m scared.”
“You don’t have to be scared.” Diego mumbled, “I’m right here.”
“You won’t leave?” Klaus’ voice was small, betraying the insecurity that he felt, and he briefly squeezed Diego’s hands.
“W-W-Where w-would I g-go?” Diego teased, but pressed a reassuring kiss to Klaus’ knuckles, “I’m n-not g-going anywhere.”
Klaus nodded and drew in a deep, stabilising breath, pulling on every ounce of strength that he possessed before he cracked open his left eye, steadfastly avoiding looking at any of the places where the ghosts would be.
“That’s good.” Diego whispered, a proud glint in his eyes, “I’m proud of you. Can you open the other eye now?”
Klaus gave a weak grin and nodded, taking another deep breath before opening his right eye, the entirety of his room coming into focus. Klaus drew in a sharp breath at its emptiness, a relieved sigh falling from his lips.
Diego caught his gaze, “Anything there?” Klaus shook his head, “Good. See, looks like high Klaus knew what he was talking about.”
Klaus snorted and rolled his eyes, “You’re insufferable when you’re right, you know that?”
Diego grinned and nodded, “Yep.”
“Thank you, Di.” Klaus whispered, averting his gaze and growing suddenly serious, “For being here. For making the ghosts leave.”
Diego shook his head, squeezing Klaus’ hands again, and brought the green-eyed teen’s gaze back to him, “Don’t thank me. Are you okay now?”
Klaus nodded, “Will you lay with me? Just until I fall asleep?”
Diego grinned, “Of course.” He patted at Klaus’ thigh, “B-B-B-Budge over then.”
Klaus shuffled over and flipped onto his side, motioning for Diego to lay down as he got comfortable. Diego grinned wider and laid down on his back, holding his arms open for Klaus, grinning when the taller teen wiggled closer, pressing his front against Diego’s side and resting his head against his chest. Diego wrapped his arms around Klaus’ shoulders, intertwining their legs, and pulled him impossibly closer, his grip tight and warm around Klaus.
Klaus hummed in approval and nuzzled into Diego’s chest, “G’night, Di.” He whispered, already falling asleep.
Diego pressed a soft kiss into his hair, smiling gently, “G-Goodnight, Klaus.”
Just as Klaus was falling asleep, he heard Diego mutter three fateful words into his hair that made his heart soar and inside warm with affection.
“I love you.”