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It takes Diego a while to notice.
Returning back to 2019, coping with losing Ben - for good, this time - and Lila’s betrayal, Diego has been dealing with his own shit. Not to mention, he hadn’t exactly expected Klaus to be acting like normal. If it’s hard for Diego, losing Ben again, then it goes doubly so for Klaus, who had never lost Ben in the first place. So the surlish, quiet way Klaus has been sulking around the mansion isn’t a surprise to anyone. Klaus and Diego have always been close, as close as any of them have managed to be, but they’ve been separated for a while, so of course things are different. Diego hasn’t exactly been talking to Klaus about losing Lila, about losing Ben, so of course Klaus has been keeping to himself too.
It doesn’t feel great, but christ, Diego’s well used to that. He isn’t going to cry about it.
But then, as time passes, Diego starts to notice things. He’s observant; of course he notices things.
What he notices is that this newfound distance isn’t universal.
He watches quietly as Klaus seeks out their siblings for comfort. He goes to Allison to have his hair curled, or Vanya to discuss music. He drinks with Five. Drinks too much with Five. Even Luther and Klaus have been hanging out, always a tentative sort of casualness, not talking about anything serious, just getting to know each other as people instead of as numbers. It’s not all the time; Klaus spends a lot of hours in solitude, curled up in bed, or chain smoking in the attic. He sits crossed legged at Ben’s statue. Talks to air, and for once, Diego feels certain that nobody is talking back. But inevitably, when the silence gets too much, Klaus ventures out to find a distraction.
He never seeks out Diego.
It isn’t obvious at first, since they do see each other often enough in passing, or eating together as a family, but every time Diego knocks his door, Klaus says he’s busy, and every time they bump into each other around the house, Klaus just gives him a tight smile and walks straight past. He even drives himself around, rather than asking Diego for a lift. When they’re eating dinner together, Klaus never initiates conversation, and if Diego asks him how things are, he brushes him off with an airy, bullshit answer.
It stings. Diego doesn’t know why, doesn’t know what he’s done wrong. Nothing’s changed. Why now?
And it’s more than just a disinterest. Klaus starts to act… weird. Whenever Diego brings Ben up, he goes all quiet and fidgety, avoiding people’s eyes, and sometimes his hands start to shake and he runs out of the room. It could be brushed off as grief, except that Klaus is happy to reminisce with the rest of them. Just not Diego.
He tries asking Allison, and she confirms she’s noticed it - she’s sharp when it comes to people, always has been - but apparently, Klaus has refused to discuss it with her. When asked if he had noticed anything, Luther had been completely oblivious. Vanya doesn't want to get involved, and Five curls his lip and tells him to grow up.
In the end, Diego accepts that he is going to have to ask Klaus directly.
This would be easier if Klaus would stay in one place long enough for Diego to spit it out.
Every time Diego enters a room, Klaus finds an excuse to dance out of it. Trying to convince him to stick around always ends up in a resurgence of Diego's stammer, which is just humiliating, and the one time he reaches out and catches Klaus' wrist, the guy flinches so hard that Diego lets go like it burned him. He doesn't understand it. Klaus has always been so touchy, all clinging hugs and easy gestures. What changed? What is it about Diego that makes him freeze up like that?
So Diego starts plotting. He needs a way to pin Klaus down without physically touching him, and it needs to look organic.
It takes about a week, but eventually, Diego manages to catch Klaus halfway through applying his eyeliner.
Klaus blinks at him, and then at his reflection in the mirror, one eye ringed, the other looking small and naked in comparison. He deflates. “Hi, Diego.”
“Klaus,” Diego says with a victorious smirk. “Carry on.”
With a huff, Klaus goes back to lining his eyes. “What can I do for you?”
“You can explain why you’re avoiding me,” he says flatly.
“What?” Klaus says, voice high and reedy. His hands have stopped lining. “I don’t know what you-”
“Cut the crap, Klaus,” Diego interrupts fiercely. “You’ve barely looked at me since I’ve been back. Everyone’s noticed.”
One eyebrow delicately raised, Klaus asks, “Even Luther?”
“Everyone except Luther,” amends Diego.
Klaus snorts. “Sounds about right.” He goes back to smoothing on the eyeliner, but his fingers tremble minutely around the pencil.
“Just-” Diego sighs. “Just talk to me, man. What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Klaus says, too quickly to be anything but a lie.
Unconvinced, Diego says, "You used to be a better liar than that."
"You didn't use to look as hard."
Diego recoils. As much as Klaus has always been cutting at times, he's rarely heard that acerbic tone directed at him, and never without provocation. "Look, if I've done something wr-wrong, then just tell me, alright?"
Klaus is stubbornly silent as he smudges out the line.
"So what, then, you're just gonna avoid me forever?" he demands. His tongue feels strange and twisted in his mouth, too big and clumsy, words clipped, and he takes a deep breath to stave off his stammer. "How am I supposed to make things right if you won't tell me what I did?"
Slamming the eyeliner down, Klaus bares his teeth; Diego's window of opportunity is rapidly narrowing. "Diego, you're being paranoid," Klaus lies. "Nothing's wrong. Now get the hell out of my room."
"Not until you tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing is wrong!" Klaus denies. His eyes flit to the doorway.
Diego figures, fuck it. "Then why do you freak out when I mention Ben?"
Klaus sucks in a breath. "Christ, I don't know," he says, "maybe I'm grieving, asshole."
"No, no, that's not it," says Diego. "You're always talking about him with the others. It's me. Just me. So why?"
Flinging his hands up, Klaus exclaims, "Well, maybe it doesn't feel great, knowing you'd rather it had been me!"
He flinches. That- no way. He must have heard that wrong. "What did you just say?" Diego asks, voice low.
"I…" Klaus shuts his eyes tightly, anger waning, shoulders tilting inward. "Look, it's whatever. I get it, y'know? They're no need to make a big deal-"
"No," Diego interrupts. "No. Just say what you said."
"Diego, I remember. Okay?" Klaus spits, hands balled up tight, eyes hot and angry and hurt. "I remember what you said when Ben was possessing me, I remember every goddamn second of it."
It takes a moment for Diego to realise what he means.
You stay in this body. We need someone responsible behind the wheel, okay?
He thinks he might be sick.
"Klaus," he starts, blinking against the hot burn of tears. "I- I didn't mean-"
"Save it," Klaus says. "Just leave it, okay? It is what it is."
"No," says Diego, "I didn't mean-"
Klaus grins, but it's empty of any humour. "Didn't mean what? Didn't mean that Ben should replace me?"
"No! Not like that, not permanently," Diego tries to explain. "I just meant until we could get to Five, there were time constraints-"
"Don't bullshit me!"
Diego reaches out, but Klaus swats the hand down. "I'm not lying. Just listen, okay? I only meant-"
"Meant that he should keep using my body? Keep me locked away in my own brain?" Klaus is shaking, now, muscles taut.
"No-"
Klaus doesn't give him time to explain. "You know what's funny? I was- relieved, when I saw you. I thought, oh, Diego's here, he'll stop Ben, he won't let Ben do this."
Something cold drops into Diego's stomach. "Klaus, I- You gave him permission, right? You let Ben-"
All of a sudden, Klaus falls silent. His eyes slide away.
"You don't mean…"
"I'm not trying to- to speak ill of the dead, alright? I'm not trying to ruin his memory or anything," says Klaus, running his hands over his cheeks.
Diego shakes his head. "No, I know. But… Did you? Let him, I mean?"
"I did, at first. But- But there were rules, right? It was supposed to be ten minutes, just enough for him to say goodbye, and he wasn't supposed to- And then they were making out, and she was in my lap, and he wouldn't listen-"
Horrified, Diego breathes, "Klaus. I didn't r-realise. I didn't-" It's inconceivable to Diego that Ben would do anything like that, and not just because he's too kind for that type of cruelty. Diego has, too many times, found Klaus with bruises on his thighs and eyes red from crying, and he knows what sort of world Klaus lives in, knows the sort of danger he faces. If Diego knows the sort of shit that Klaus has been through, then Ben, who's been there since the start, should know better than anyone. The Ben that he knows would never hurt Klaus like that. But then, how well did Diego know Ben by the end? "I'm so sorry."
Klaus waves a dismissive hand, clearly uncomfortable with how much he had given away. "It's whatever. I mean, I get it. He just wanted to feel alive again. And it's not like I've been nice to him, either, yknow?"
"That doesn't justify it," says Diego. "And it didn't justify what I said either." Klaus starts to pull away, so Diego implores him, "Bro, p-please, just listen."
He hesitates, eyes finally connecting with Diego’s, probably out of pity for Diego's stammer, but he'll take it. "I wasn't trying to make Ben possess you permanently, I swear. Five said that if we didn't get back to the alley within the hour, we would be stuck here, and Ben was always the more punctual one. That's it. That's all it was."
It's clear from the torn look in his eyes that Klaus isn't entirely convinced, but he's considering it, at least.
"Klaus," Diego says, "you're my best friend, man. I wouldn't ever want that, not even for Ben. Okay?"
At the tail end of a long breath, Klaus says, "Okay. Okay, I believe you."
Diego blurts, "You do?"
"Yeah," says Klaus. "You're a shit liar, anyway."
"I am not," Diego squawks. "I'm a skilled liar. You should have seen me in the psych ward, I had those psychiatrists eating out of the palm of my hand."
Klaus squints. "I'm sorry, when were you institutionalised?"
Huh. "Bro, we have some shit to catch you up on."
With a tentative smile, Klaus offers, "Want to go to Griddy's? You can tell me all about it."
"Yeah, let's go," Diego says with a grin bordering on goofy. Then, "I'm driving."
"Aw, come on," Klaus whines playfully. "Don't you wanna see my skills?"
Diego fishes his keys out of his pocket - damn, he had missed his piece of shit car - and tells him, "Not a chance in hell."
Klaus laughs, a proper laugh, the kind that's been rare since Ben died, and probably before that too, and Diego thinks that maybe, maybe, it might all work out.