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Five and Vanya had always had a special relationship. She was Five’s, everyone knew that. His best friend, his confidante, his. This has been the case for years.
Every morning without fail, at breakfast he would take her oatmeal while his father wasn’t watching. They read in the library together during English, her a gothic thriller, him a physics textbook. He had their timetables set so equation hour coincided with Violin practice so he could hear her play. They spent their half hour of free time in their special spot, telling secrets, sharing smiles and every night he would teleport into her room to protect her from the nightmares, holding her close.
He protected her from their siblings and father, listened to her opinion and in return she gave him her soul. Everything. Her time, her smiles, her sassy side remarks, her comfort, her care after missions. She was his. Only his. And he liked it that way.
Five had been busy lately. He had never really given up on time travel and he felt as though he was coming close to a breakthrough. This had left little time for Vanya. He had missed two of their Saturday free times and he worked without sleep, skipping their nightly ritual.
He could tell Vanya was losing patience but it would just be for a while. He would learn time travel and take them away. He just needed time. Vanya would understand.
It was a week into his time travel obsession that Five was pulled from it by the abrupt realisation that Vanya was talking to someone. Someone that evidently was not him.
He followed her voice to the library where she was sitting cross legged on the couch speaking with quiet animation about a book. That was normal, Vanya loved to read. What horrified Five was who she was talking to. Not Pogo, not Grace, Ben.
He sat there with a different copy of the book in hand, letting her speak with brief comments or questions. It was clear that he had never heard her speak so much. It was also clear that he was enjoying it. Now that wouldn’t do.
“Hey Vanya, I need your help with something.”
He didn’t.
“Oh, Five! What are you doing here? I thought you were busy with your equations.” She tried to make it as nonchalant as possible but Five heard the excitement at his entrance, mixed with slight resentment at the mention of his work.
“Yeah I am but I need you to help with it.”
And with that he grabbed her by the arm and promptly dragged her off from the library to play Tchaikovsky for him. She seemed happy to do so, waving a short goodbye to Number Six. And that was it he thought. He thought wrong.
It began slowly. Because Five was too busy to read with her during their daily library hour Vanya started a book club with Ben. They would read, exchange books and a few opinions and thoughts.
Five decided that one or two sentences to each other a day wasn’t that bad in the scheme of things.
Then they started baking together. Helping Grace with the desserts and treats on Fridays. She said Six found it therapeutic to create and not destroy for a change. Her concern for Ben bristled Five but, he reasoned with himself, as long as she ate the cupcakes with him it wasn’t that bad.
Where Five started to crack was post missions. After their return he saw Vanya waiting anxiously at the door, per usual. He had a few cuts and she got to them right away, her feather-light touches on his arm sending surges of warmth through him as she bandaged some deeper wounds.
This was all regular, her being there for him first and foremost as always. Seven stood and smiled warmly, he returned the favour immediately.
“You ok now?”
“Yeah”
“Ok, I’ll be back in a minute.”
She stood up, brushing her hand over his before grabbing a towel on her way to Ben. Ben. It was hard to be jealous of a shaking boy covered in blood but Five managed it well enough. She was whispering softly to him, trying to stop the shaking and after a few soothing words and soft washing of the blood he smiled at her and said something only she could hear. She laughed.
That night, as they went to sleep Vanya’s hand shot out to Fives. They usually slept like this, facing each other with their hands outstretched. But Five was still reeling at her laugh that wasn’t for him but someone else. He pulled her closer, tugging so her head rested under his chin and on his chest. She didn’t say anything about it, just snuggled in closer with a soft smile as she drifted off.
The nights continue like this, he pulls Vanya closer, grasping to one of the only things that is still just for them. But when morning comes she continues to slip away.
Klaus has started losing patience too. Five sees him one day, peeping in through the library door. He knows exactly how he’s feeling, he’s done the same several times. Wondering why his partner in crime is smiling at someone else’s jokes.
Five starts taking whatever time he can get. Listening to her music during equations, sitting with her at every lesson, insisting on helping her with her homework. He waits patiently for Saturdays when he whisks her off to the roof, talking and smiling and trying to find any and all ways to make her laugh.
He knows she still cares, he knows that. It’s his cuts she attends to first, his call that she always answers to. But he’s not used to having to call. Five knows that it’s unfair to want Vanya to only be his friend when he spends time with the others regularly. He knows that it’s good she had another friend. But maybe, he doesn’t want to just be her friend. He wants to be her everything.
This new situation is making him desperate. It’s making him realise that he wants her in every way. For them to belong to only each other. And he really doesn’t know what to do with this new information.
It’s something small that makes him snap. After two months of this progressing it’s only natural for Five to lose patience. It’s the sight that meets him on the way to Vanya’s room before bed. He teleports in a little earlier than usual and sees Vanya and Ben giggling madly. On her bed. They look up abruptly, Vanya is positively terrified (something that in the moment hurts him deeply) and Ben takes one look at her and starts laughing even harder.
This is too much for Five to take. He grabs Vanya’s hand teleporting her to his bedroom. Her Yelp of shock and indignation sends him. She starts to give out to him but he abruptly silences her questions with a bruising kiss. He crashes down on her like a wave, all of his jealousy turning into a driving force as he tangles his hand in her hair, the other around her waist as he pulls her flush against him.
Her reaction is immediate. She grabs him by the collar and tugs him deeper, angling her face as she meets him in a desperate flurry. They stay like this until she can’t breathe, pulling away gasping but delighted with herself.
“Was that all you wanted to talk to me about?” Five is aghast at her even tone after what just happened. It makes him want to kiss her more.
“Yeah pretty much”
“Well if that’s it, you interrupted a conversation I was having. If you would excuse me I need to say goodnight to my second favourite brother.”
Five grins at her emphasis of second. He supposes he can wait five minutes to continue this conversation. She pulls away and he lets go, reluctant as he may be. She flounces out the door, pride apparent on her face.
**********************
Vanya swings open the door of her room proudly, Ben is still sitting there with anticipation.
“Well?”
“We kissed, it was awesome”
Ben whoops triumphantly enticing a giggle from Vanya. She flops down in the bed breathless.
“I told you I could do it. Five is a jealous, petulant child everyone knows that. He would’ve taken years to man up without my help so you are welcome my dear sister.”
“Yeah yeah, tell it to your diary. We have more important things to discuss. Five made a move, so it’s only a matter of time before Klaus does the same. He’s close to snapping, I think if we do makeovers it’ll send him over the edge.”
“Oh you are an evil genius Seven.”
“That I am brother, that I am”