Chapter Text
The distant sound of his alarm clock woke Four up with a start. He opened his eyes a small crack, squinting them to look at the clock that read 6:01, his head already pounding with a headache from the previous night’s drinking.
Today was not going to be a good day. He could sense it, if not from the tears daring to escape from his eyes but from the quietness in the house. Four couldn’t hear any voices; none of his siblings was laughing or fighting over who would use the bathroom down the hall first, no sound of hurried footsteps came from under his bedroom door.
It was strangely quiet, even the shadow of the first ghost tearing through Four sobriety was silent for the first time.
Four slowly got out of the bed, trying not to think how this was his first birthday without his wayward brother, Five, whom he hadn’t seen since that fateful day almost a year earlier, when Five ran away, not looking over his shoulder.
Four had gone over the events of that day countless times since then, but he couldn’t stop the line of thought that maybe if he’d been worried about his brother instead of rolling his joints then maybe he could’ve done something, could’ve stopped Five. He didn’t know what he could’ve done, but still, he should’ve tried to help.
What worried him the most though, Four thought as he opened his wardrobe to look for a clean pair of shorts and a shirt, was the fact that he hadn’t seen any version of his brother in months. The last time Five had displaced to him was before he ran away, and even though he insisted to his siblings and father that Five wasn’t dead and he couldn’t conjure him, the fact that Five’s displacements stopped when he disappeared that day couldn’t be a coincidence.
What if Five was really dead? What if the last time Four saw his brother was while rolling a joint under the table, not even bothering to look up at the discussion more than once?
Four shook his head, buttoning his shirt and reaching out for his blazer and boots. No, he couldn’t think of that, Five was not dead, there had to be another reason for why his displacements stopped, he probably was stuck somewhere in the past or future and for the first time his displacements decided to cooperate with him.
Five was fine, his brother was okay and alive, soon he would displace to Four and they would laugh it over like nothing happened. Or, rather, Four would laugh and Five would roll his eyes affectionately because that’s how he was, always trying to hide the fact that he actually cared about Four and the rest of their siblings but never quite managing it.
Four sighed, grabbing the tin that contained his weed supply and holding it close, remembering the first time he taught Five how to roll a joint and they smoke together, a smile pursing his lips at the memory. Promising to come back for it later and celebrate his birthday with his stash, Four dropped the tin at the desk next to his Latin homework he’d been going over the past week and got out of the room, closing the door behind him with a click.
Only One and Three were at the kitchen when he arrived for breakfast, somber expressions on their faces. For the first time, they weren’t whispering at each other and laughing like nothing in the world mattered; instead, they were silent. One was seating at the head of the lap, looking at his plate while Three sat at his right, picking at her colored nails.
They didn’t even look up when Four dropped in the seat furthest from them, put his chin on his hand and stared at the tablecloth.
Grace arrived shortly after, a soft smile on her face. Her hand reached Four’s hair and she caressed it through his curls.
“Happy birthday, kids!” She went around the table, kissing their heads and smiling at their whispered ‘thank you’. Four couldn’t even bring himself to smile when Grace told them about a very special surprise for their birthday, curious about what it could be but at the same time thinking how Five wouldn’t see it with the rest of them.
The rest of Four’s siblings arrived when Grace started setting the table up. The food in their plates arranged in smiley faces, fruits carefully placed to write ‘Happy 14th Birthday!’.
Four forced a smile and thanked Grace, grabbing two slices of bread and a spoonful of eggs. Breakfast went by fast, Four managing to make his siblings smile and laugh with his humor while they all pretended to not see Five’s unoccupied seat.
Later, after all of them were done eating, Pogo appeared and Grace placed a cake decorated with blue buttercream and seven candles on the top in the center of the table. This time, no one failed to hear Seven’s hiccup as they all sang the happy birthday song.
Four ate his slice of cake, cracking a joke with Two and Six as he thought ‘Happy Birthday Five, wherever you are’.
Later, Grace and Pogo lined them on the entrance hall and surprisingly, their father made an appearance, his eyes not even glancing at the spot between Four and Six as he gave them a curt nod and, with an impassive voice, congratulated them for reaching fourteen-years-old.
Four didn’t know if he should cry of laugh, so he just thanked Reginald along with his siblings, containing the urge to scream at their father about his lack of acknowledgment of Five.
He turned to Grace as she stood before them and gasped in shock as she told them they would be given names. Four stared at the empty spot at his left, no longer hearing Grace’s voice as she explained the research she made about their names.
A mix of happiness and sadness consumed Four. On one hand, he would finally get a name, something he’d been craving for since he was a little kid, to no longer be treated like an object but as a human. On the other hand, his mind went to the fact that Five wasn’t present to also receive a one, he would forever be remembered as the reckless and arrogant Number Five, as Reginald loved to remember them.
Four looked up as Grace’s voice picked up a notch. She was now in front of One, her hands gripping his shoulders tenderly. Four briefly looked at Reginald, who didn’t seem happy while he checked his pocket clock, and wondered whether their father would call them by their names instead of their numbers. Knowing him, he probably wouldn’t.
“For you, I chose Luther, which means ‘army of the people’. You’ve always protected your siblings and as their leader, you represent their strength.” She said to One, now Luther. Four almost laughed, they were actually getting names!
Four tried to pay attention as Grace went over the line, smiling at his siblings as Two became Diego and Three became Allison. Four squeezed Th–Allison hand and she looked at him, smiling as well.
Soon, Grace was standing in front of Four, a gentle smile on her face.
“You will be named Klaus” He silently mouthed the name and smiled at Grace, letting a delighted laugh scape his lips as she went on. “Your name means ‘victory of the people’ and I chose it for you because you’ve always been the one to cheer your siblings up, Klaus, they’re lucky to have you.” Fo–Klaus wasn’t so sure about that, his siblings loved to tell him how annoying he was every day, but he ignored that thought and thanked Grace, who moved on to Six as though Five never existed.
Klaus looked down, his eyes burning with unshed tears. He curled his hands into fists and shoved them on his shorts pockets. Would he ever see his brother again?
How was it fair that Klaus and his siblings got names but Five would never get one? Why did he have to run away? How come almost a year had passed but his brother was not yet back? Why hadn’t he displaced to Four since that fateful day? He bit his lip. Could his theories be true? Could Five really be dead? Could that be the reason as to why his brother hadn’t displaced to him since disappearing?
As soon as Grace finally finished naming his siblings, Six receiving the name of Ben and Seven becoming Vanya, Klaus ran up the stairs to his room. He needed to get high, he needed to forget everything. He couldn’t bear another thought about Five’s whereabouts, it was too much.
He sprinted through the hallways, ignoring Six trying to call him, his heart racing in his chest, tears daring to fall. Fou–Klaus reached his door, storming it open, freezing in his tracks with his hand still on the door handle when his eyes finally caught sight of his room, of who was standing in the middle of it, completely naked in all his little kid glory.
When Five’s big eyes looked up to meet Klaus’ own, his thoughts came to a stop. His missing brother was in his room, looking just as startled as Klaus.