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Diego was utterly exhausted. Recently he’d been working long hours, fought in a boxing match, been moonlighting as a vigilante, and to top it all off - he’d had a bad argument with Eudora. He didn’t even want to think of what today was the anniversary of. He knew he shouldn’t really be driving when he’s this tired, but he had to find Klaus. The idiot was too predictable, yet too erratic at the same time. He was either in one of five places, or somewhere unthinkably random. Most of the time, he was pretty easy to find. Sometimes, not so much. This was one of those times.
Pulling over to go through his list, Diego was frustrated to find he’d gone through all the usual haunts. Where the fuck was he? Diego slammed his head into his steering wheel, forgetting about the horn. The beep scared the shit out of him, he felt his heart practically jump out of his chest. That was one way to wake himself up... whilst Diego steadied his breathing back down, he had a sudden realisation.
—
Pulling up to Griddy’s made a pit open up in his stomach. It hurt to think they had memories in these very four walls. Memories with Ben. Diego sighed as he pulled the keys from his ignition, he decided at least if Klaus wasn’t there, he could still get a good cup of coffee. He was sick of the instant shit. The air stung his face as he climbed out of his car and made his way to the entrance, it must be around freezing. Diego really hoped Klaus was here, it was too cold for him to be passed out in an alley somewhere. He checked his wristwatch, it was not long after midnight, he should be okay still... he hadn’t had long enough to get into trouble.
The too bright artificial lighting made Diego squint as he sauntered into the diner. He had to stand for a moment by the door whilst he let his vision restore itself. After blinking his eyes a few times, he made his way to the counter. He couldn’t see Klaus, maybe he was in the bathroom though. “Is there anyone in the restroom?” he wearily mumbled to the waitress, the one he remembered from when they were kids. Ouch, those memories hurt. Agnes gave him a maternal smile “We have more than one stall, sweetheart.” Diego sighed, he should’ve been more clear.
“No, uh...” he scanned his gaze over the menu “Black coffee, please.” he flashed a minute grin. Agnes nodded her head and reached for the pot. “I’m looking for someone, scrawny guy, dressed weird?” Agnes made a noise of understanding, and flicked her sights across the diner. Huh, that was easier than Diego had been realistically expecting. “Thank you.” he smiled again, though this time more genuine. He grabbed his coffee from her and paid.
It became obvious to Diego why at first he hadn’t spotted Klaus, as he was so slumped into the vinyl booth that he was pretty well obscured. Diego placed his mug down, and made his way back to Agnes to buy a donut. “Find your friend?” she perkily inquired, putting a chocolate donut onto a dish. Diego nodded and passed her the cash. “Can I have a straw too, please?” Diego politely asked, causing Agnes to look quite confused. She nodded though, and handed one over. He ambled over to Klaus’ booth, and threw the straw at his head. He didn’t stir. Diego considered throwing the donut, but decided it would be wasteful. Instead he just slapped him across the head before sinking into the seat opposite.
Klaus groaned sleepily, flinching slightly when he noticed Diego across from him. He absentmindedly rubbed at his head, not putting two and two together. Diego slid the donut over to him. Klaus grabbed it and began munching away groggily. “Fancy seeing you here.” Diego deadpanned with a quirked eyebrow. Klaus hummed, seeming to miss the sarcasm. Diego scrunched up the napkin and threw it at his forehead. “What?” he groaned dramatically, mouth full of donut. Diego grimaced, that was disgusting even for Klaus. Diego began cracking his knuckles, trying to release his tension. He didn’t want to be sat here, he’d rather grieve alone. “I’m giving you a ride once you’ve eaten that.” Diego explained, before realising he’d already eaten it in it’s entirety.
“To where?” Klaus mumbled, brow furrowed with confusion. Diego was tempted to say rehab purely to see his over the top reaction, but he decided that would be cruel. He reached for his wallet from his jeans, and got out the change for a tip. “My place.” Diego grunted as he pulled himself up from his seat. Klaus just narrowed his eyes at him, as if he was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to come out and tell him he’d been Punk’d. Diego rolled his tired eyes, causing his head to slightly ache. “Get up.” he demanded as he turned to place the tip in the jar on the counter. Klaus was still slumped down when he turned to look, so he marched over to him. Diego grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him upwards like a rag doll, the man was deceptively heavy. Diego let out a groan as he heaved him up. He was probably just turning himself into a dead weight on purpose, the asshole.
—
His brother had barely spoken so far in their car journey. Neither had Diego, but that’s not unusual. Klaus on the other hand never shuts the fuck up. “Cat got your tongue?” Diego teased as he looked at his brother through the rear view mirror. He received a petty eye roll in return. “Why are you doing this?” Klaus murmured, chewing on his nails. Diego looked away from the mirror, not wanting to have eye contact for his response.
“You always end up in the hospital or arrested today...” he grumbled, feeling embarrassed to admit he was actually acting out of concern. That wasn’t really his style. “Your point?” Klaus quipped apathetically. Jesus Christ. “My point? The fuck do you mean my point?” Diego looked down to double check the child lock was on. He looked back into the mirror to see Klaus shrugging in response. “You think he would want you to do this shit?” Diego grunted, losing his patience. He was already too tired, he didn’t need Klaus starting an argument, too.
That seemed to be exactly what Klaus was doing though, as he harshly snorted. Diego almost suddenly hit the brakes so he could scare him as revenge for that. “You think this is funny?” he snarled, kind of regretting this whole thankless task. “Kinda...” Klaus giggled wearily. How the fuck was this funny? Diego was gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were bright white. He counted to ten in his head, trying to stop himself from losing his shit.
—
As soon as they got to Diego’s, Klaus stumbled over to his couch and flipped back onto it. He looked ready to fall back asleep again. “On your side.” Diego commanded, not wanting his brother to choke to death under his watch. “Why, wanna spoon?” Klaus taunted with an obnoxious wink, clearly just wanting to rile Diego up. He obliged though, and moved to lay on his side. “I think our family has more than enough incest.” Diego drawled as he removed his holster and took off his shoes. Klaus wheezed so hard he made himself cough. Ew, even thinking of Allison and Luther made him nearly vomit.
“Do you think they d-“ Diego threw his shoe at Klaus’ head before he could finish whatever disgusting joke he was about to make. His brother barely reacted, just grunted lazily. At least they agreed that Allison and Luther were gross. “Do you not have a filter or do you just ignore it?” Diego grumbled, making his way to his bedroom so he could grab a blanket for his brother. He wasn’t getting one of the nice ones. He could have the one that had a cigarette burn on it from the last time Klaus stayed.
“Potato tomato...” Klaus mumbled as Diego made his way back into the lounge. He wasn’t gonna bother telling Klaus that wasn’t how the saying goes. Diego sure as shit wasn’t going to tuck his brother in, he wasn’t his mommy. He instead hung the blanket over the back of the couch. “No drugs.” he demanded with a stern point of his finger. Klaus nodded unconvincingly. “I mean it, asshole.” Diego spat, already regretting getting him to stay over. If he stuck to tradition and overdosed, Diego would never let him in to his place again.
“Fine.” Klaus groaned like a stroppy teenager. Really, Diego thought, Klaus had never grown out of that stage. It was like his brain had been frozen in time. He didn’t care to threaten Klaus about how he better not try to escape, it was too cold for him to prefer to be on the streets. He seemed to have already fallen asleep, which was a relief. Maybe Diego could actually get some rest, or silence at the very least. He needed time alone with his thoughts, time to remember Ben. “Goodnight.” he mumbled, just incase his brother was still awake.
“Goodnight.” Ben replied, even though he knew he would never be heard. Diego skulked into his room, leaving Ben with nothing to do but twiddle his thumbs. Until he heard Diego muttering to himself. Maybe it was nosey, but Ben has a lot of time on his hands, he wanted a distraction... today was very hard for him, too. He went into Diego’s room and found him sat on the edge of his bed.
”I don’t even know why I’m doing this...” Diego mumbled “I don’t know why you would be able to hear me.” He looked down at his hands, clenching his jaw. “I miss you...” his voice was barely more than a whisper. Diego turned his head to face the direction of his lounge. “I don’t want him to join you...” he croaked, his voice sounding crackly with emotion. Ben sat down next to him on the bed. It hurt that Diego would never know he was there, but it was better than nothing. He missed Diego, too. He wished Klaus would spend more time with him.
“It doesn’t feel r-right how long ago it was,” Diego murmured, his eyes growing glossy “you deserved better than that.” Ben wanted to reach out and touch his brother, but he knew that seeing himself phase through would just be too distressing. If he didn’t try to touch him, it was almost like he could pretend he was still alive. “I love you.” Diego announced, so quiet Ben could hardly make out what he’d said. “I love you, too” Ben replied, his heart shattering into pieces. They’d never said it before, when he was alive. He couldn’t even get Klaus to pass it on as a message, no one would believe him. Ben hated the survivors guilt his siblings held, he didn’t want them to feel terrible because of him. He didn’t want Klaus to die because of him.