WEDNESDAY. 8:15 am
When the three got home, Noah changed into a a pair of black jeans, a white button up, and pulled Five's blazer on over it. He lay down on Five's bed and pulled the sheets over his head, hugging his stomach.
Someone knocked on the door 20 minutes later but Noah didn't answer, after a few moments the person opened the door.
"Noah, get out bed. We need to have a family meeting." Luther ordered.
"I don't feel good, just do it without me." He mumbled.
"I don't care. You're apart of this family, therefore, you have to attend family meetings. You have 5 minutes to get downstairs or I'm dragging you."
Noah sighed to let Luther know he agreed and the man shut the door. God, he hated his family sometimes. He felt sick to stomach from all the stress, what if Five's hurt or won't come back, what if the world ends? He doesn't want Five to die or any of his family for that matter.
He felt like throwing up. He felt like sobbing his eyes out. He wanted to hold Five in his arms. He wanted to feel Five's lips on his again, have the familiar taste of coffee grace his lips. He wanted his Five back.
"Noah!" Luther's voice belted angrily from downstairs.
Has it already been 5 minutes? Noah slowly got out of Five's warm bed, he was glad the blazer smelt like Five, he didn't know what he would do without it.
He walked down the stairs and into the living room where everyone was, except Vanya, who he noticed was missing. Everyone stopped talking when they spotted him walk in and begun staring, watching his every move. He kept his head down as he walked past everyone and sat down on the couch that Klaus was sitting in front of. He knew why they were staring. Firstly, they had been told about Five leaving, secondly, he was wearing Five's blazer, thirdly, he looked like shit from crying a bit earlier.
He looked up at everyone and put on the most convincing smile that he could muster at the moment, "Let's get this started already, shall we?"
Allison cleared her throat and spoke first, continueing from were they left off, "Three days?" She handed Luther a cup of coffee. Noah didn't like coffee, but he would honestly die to have something more to remind him of Five.
"That's what Five said." Luther agreed.
Allison handed around the coffee's to everyone and Noah looked at her, "Where's mine?"
She tilted her head in confusion, "You hate coffee." She pointed out.
"Well- I mean... not really. I- It's just..." He struggled.
"Reminds you of your 'dear Five?'" Diego teased jokingly from his spot on the opposite couch. He handed Noah his coffee, "Here you go, lover boy, you can have mine."
Noah took the coffee with a shy smile, "Thanks, Diego."
Klaus ressumed the original topic, "The old bastard did mention the apocalypse, come to think of it. He just left out the part about how soon."
"But can we trust him? I don't know if you've noticed, but Five's a little..." She twirled her finger in a circle around her head and whistled.
Noah immediately got defensive, "Five's not crazy, you dumb bitch."
"Whoa." Everyone said in sync, surprised by the sudden outburst.
"Sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that." Noah apologized quickly, setting his coffee down on the wide wooden arm of the couch.
"It's fine." Allison accepted.
Klaus chuckled, "Our little psyco's."
"He was pretty convincing." Luther reassured. "If he wasn't trying to stop an apocalypse, those lunatics wouldn't be chasing him."
"That's why they were chasing him?" Diego questioned.
"Yeah."
"What did Five even see?" Allsion asked.
Noah pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head on them, "I'm not fucking stable enough to discuss this shit."
Luther went blank as he tried to this of what to say, "Uh... Apparently, we all fought together against whoever was responsible." He nodded. Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to continue, but he never did. He clicked his tongue and stood up, "Okay. So, here's the plan. Uh, we ho through dad's research-"
"Wait, what?" Allison questioned.
"Hold on, hold on." Diego demanded.
Klaus furrowed his eyebrows, "Wait a tick, wait a tick, wait a tick." Noah kept his head down, this wasn't his problem. "What actually happened the first time around?"
"Yeah. What are you not tellin' us?" Diego questioned. "Come on, big boy, spit it out."
Everything was silent and Noah looked up, Luther was staring directly at him, silently pleading for him to tell everyone. Everyone else looked at Noah, knowing that he must know as well. He was Five's... best friend, of cource.
"Don't look at me." He scolded.
Luther gave up and took a sip of his coffee, "We died." He muttered.
"What was that?" Allison quizzed.
Noah announced without any hesitance, "We dead as fuck."
It was dead silent. That is, until an umbrella fell off a coat hanger. Klaus and Noah shrieked in surprise.
"JESUS CHRIST!" Noah shouted, putting hand of his heart. "I nearly had a fucking heart attack, bro." He panted.
Everyone ignored him and they all began arguing.
Klaus and Diego stood up and stood at the bar to join in, Noah just sat there and listened.
"No, we need to figure this out." Diego ordered.
"Is it just us?" Allison asked.
"It's everybody." Luther informed.
"In the house?" Diego asked.
"The whole planet." Allison assumed.
"No, outside the house. Everyone died." Luther told them.
Vanya walked in the room and Noah looked at her over his shoulder, "Hey, sis."
Vanya's face softened, that was the first time Noah called her 'sis' since her book. "Hey, Noah."
Noah noticed a dude with her and raised an eyebrow in confusion. Damn, he and Klaus made a bet with Ben that Vanya would end up being fruity. He just lost 10 bucks to Ben... to bad he's dead.
Everyone turned around at her voice. "What's going on?" She asked.
"It's a family matter." Allison informed, referring to that fact that there's a complete fucking stranger in their living room.
"A family matter. So, of cource, you couldn't bother to include me." She scoffed. Noah furrowed his eyebrows, she was taking this the wrong way.
"No, it's not like that. We were-" Luther attempted.
"Don't let me interrupt." She told them and began walking towards the door.
Allison walked after her, "Vanya, wait. I'll fill you in when we're alone."
Vanya turned around, "Please, please, don't bother. And I won't either."
"Vanya, that's not fair."
"Fair? There's nothing fair about being your sister. I have been left out of everything for as long as I can remember. And I used to think it was dad's fault, but he's dead. So it turns out you're the assholes." Without another word, she walked away, the creepy dude following.
"Ouch." Klaus muttered.
Noah's eyes watered as he stood up, torn between whether to leave her alone or go hug her and apologize. He brought a hand up to his mouth and began chewing on his thumb nail as he paced back and forth.
"I'm gonna go find Vanya and explain." Allison announced.
"No, wait, there isn't time." Luther told her. "We need to figure out what causes the apocalypse. Now, thwere are loads of possibilities. Nuclear wat, asteroids. But I'm thinking this is about the moon. Right?" Noah probably would have said something snarky in that moment if he wasn't trapped in his own thoughts of how much his sister must hate him. "Dad must have sent me up there for a reason. And I was giving him daily updates on the conditions, I sent field samples. The first thing we need to do is find his research."
"Hold on. Hold the phone." Klaus interrupted. "We all died fighting this thing the first time around. Remember?"
"Klaus, shockingly, has a point. What gives us a win this time?" Diego asked.
"Five. Last time we didn't have him. We weren't all together." Luther informed.
Noah snapped out of his thoughts at that name, "Five's back?" He asked excitedly, looking up. Klaus got off the stool, gagging, and sat on the couch.
"Not yet, Noah." Diego shook his head.
"Oh, sorry." Noah muttered, biting his nail again and resuming his pacing.
"This time, we'll have the full force of the Umbrella Academy. That's what we need." Luther told them.
"So, where's Five now?" Allison quizzed.
"Well, he had a plan to change the time line. He'll be back soon."
"I'm going after Hazel and Cha-Cha." Diego claimed.
"What, right now?"
"Hell, yeah. Three days. I'm losing light by the minute." He told them, walking towards the door.
"Diego, wait. Look, I know you want to avenge your friend, but we got a bigger problem here."
"She wasn't just some friend." He defended. Noah stopped pacing and looked up at Diego. "If I'm gonna die, I need to know I killed those bastards first."
Noah looked at Klaus and stopped listening to the others conversation. Klaus held his stomach and leaned over, looking like he was gonna throw up. Eight, with a worried look on his face, walked over to Klaus who seemed to be talking to Ben.
Noah stood in front of his brother and scanned him, "A-Are you okay? Can I help? Is it something I did? Is it from the others fighting? I can get mum if you want." He spoke quickly, the anxiety from Klaus being sick made him feel ill as well.
Klaus looked up at Noah's panic stricken face, "I'm fine, Noah. Just leave me alone, please."
"Are you sure I can't help?"
Klaus didn't answer, instead he just got to his feet and went to follow Diego who had just left the room. Noah sat down on the couch, unbeknownst to him, beside Ben, and his knee was rapidly bouncing, making his foot hit the wood floor with a dull thud.
Luther looked at his brother, "Klaus? Klaus? Klaus!"
Klaus spun around, "Yeah! Sorry."
"So, what? You're giving up on the world, too?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. Mm-hmm."
"So that's it. You're cool with us all dying in three days?" Klaus didn't answer again and just walked out of the room. "I can't believe it." Luther muttered. He turned to face Allison who was at the bar, ignoring Noah's presence, "It's just us." She looked at him apologetically. "Oh, please, not you, too."
"I have to book a flight back to LA." She informed. "If this happens I have to be with my daughter, custody be damned. And you said it yourself... we need the full force of the Academy to even stand a chance. I'm sorry, Luther." She sadly walked out of the room.
Luther didn't even spare a glance at Noah before leaving the room as well.
Ben watched as Noah hugged his knees to his chest again and began quietly sobbing. He was shaking, everything hurt. His heart, his body, his head, his eyes, his throat. Ben wanted to reach out and comfort his brother, but he knew that wasn't possible, all he could do is watch.
After a few more minutes of crying, he headed up to his room, tears still flowing down his face, and Ben following closely behind him. Noah went straight to Five's room and looked around the empty room. It was just a dreaded reminder that Five may never come back.
He left the room and went to Klaus' instead, he didn't want to feel the pain anymore, he's already been through 17 years of it. Ben watched confused as Noah went through all Klaus' drawers, looked under the bed, checked every little crevice. He took a painting off the wall and opened the back of it, bingo.
Noah took the little bag out and Ben's efyes widened.
"Oh no, Noah. Dammit, Klaus, you should have better hiding spots." Ben swore.
Noah opened the little bag and poured 4 pills into his hand, he set down the bag and stared at the small items in his hand. Did he know what kind of pills they were? Fuck, no. Did he honestly care anymore? Nope.
"Adios." He chuckled to himself. He was just about to throw the pills in his mouth when he felt access to a mind he hadn't felt in years. He froze and his eyes fearfully scanned the room, "The fuck? Am I trippin'?" He decided to enter the mind he just got access to.
"Don't do it, Noah." Ben told him.
Eight tensed and ran a hand through his hair, "That's it, I'm fucking losing my mind. I'm hearing voices just like Five was in the apocalypse with that fucking mannequin. Oh, my God, is there a mannequin in here? I don't want to fuck a mannequin..." He rambled, spinning around in the spot to try and spot a mannequin. "Am I already high?"
"Noah. It's Ben."
"Nuh-uh. No, it's not. Ben's dead as fuck, I watched him die." He muttered the last part, his voice breaking, still looking around the room.
"Yes, I am dead. But I'm a ghost. Klaus talks to me all the time, you know that."
"Yes, I do know that. But I shouldn't be able to do that. So, you're obviously a demon tryin' to drag my ass to Hell early. Well, guess what! That's cheating, I'm not dead yet, be patient. Didn't your parents ever teach you manners?" He scolded.
"Five wouldn't want you to do drugs because you're upset he's gone." Ben continued.
"Don't bring Five into this, asswipe." He whimpered pathetically.
"What was the last things Five asked you to do?"
"Not die...?"
"And?"
"...Not to do anything stupid..."
"What are you doing right now?"
"Something stupid." Noah muttered, staring at the pills in his hand.
"Put down the drugs, Noah. Five wouldn't want you to relapse again because he left. He'll be home soon." Ben told him sadly.
Noah bit his lip and let out a choked sob, "What the fuck is wrong with me?"
"There's nothing wrong with you, Noah. You're just always going through to much to handle." Ben reassured.
Noah set down the pills on the dresser and unsuccessfully tried to wipe his flowing tears, "That's no excuse. I'm s-so pathetic."
"No. You're not. Just breath and go lay down, it'll get better, I promise."
Noah rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand and sniffled, "Yeah, okay." He sludgged out of the room and into Five's. He lay down in the bed and pulled the covers up to his ear, "Why haven't we talked yet? Why have you waited so long?"
"I didn't think it would work..." Ben sighed. He was upset as well that he didn't think to try earlier.
"Well... I'm glad you're here now. I really missed you, Ben."
"I missed you more."
"Can you stay with me for a bit? Please?" Noah pleaded.
Ben nodded then remembered Noah couldn't see him, "I wasn't planning on leaving anyways."
"Good." Noah smiled sadly.
Eight fell asleep that morning knowing that he could talk to his brother for the first time in 14 years.
~
WEDNESDAY. 8:15 am
(...again)
Noah stopped pacing and biting his nail and looked around, "I'm getting crazy deja-vu, right now..." He whispered to himself. He felt like he needed to do something but he couldn't figure it out.
"Hold on. Hold the phone. We all died fighting this thing the first time around. Remember?" Klaus asked.
Diego spoke up from his spot behind the bar, "Klaus, shockingly, has a point. What gives us a win this time?"
A portal appeared above the bar and a second later Five dropped from it, landing on a briefcase. Noah stared at him in shook, he noticed that Five had a new Academy blazer on, he didn't know where he had gotten it from but did it matter? Five was back, that's all he cared about.
Everyone backed up, "Je-Jesus!" Allsion exclaimed.
Five just laid there groaning and panting. "You guys, am I still high, or do you see him, too?" Klaus questioned.
"Five, where have you been?" Luther asked.
Five rolled off the counter and before anyone else could help him stand up straight, Noah sprinted towards him, shoved Allison and Luther out of the way, and tightly hugged Five. Five winced quietly at the sudden impact but hugged Noah back nonetheless.
Everyone watched the twos interaction with different emotions, Klaus: pride, Diego: amusment, Luther: awkwardness, Allison: adoration.
Five, like usual, rested his chin on Noah's head, "You alright, love?"
Noah turned a deep red and took a moment to answer after the shock from the petname, "Mhm." He hummed, not trusting his voice at the moment.
"See, it wasn't that bad. You're fine." Five reassured him.
"It was terrible." Noah spoke into his chest, his voice coming out slightly muffled.
"You did good, though."
"How do you know?"
"Cause I know you." It was silent for a second and then Five broke the lovey dovey moment. "Okay, I need coffee."
Noah parted from Five, rushed over to the couch, picked up the coffee Diego gave him, and handed it to his boyf-... Five. "Here."
Five took a sip, "Thanks, love." He pecked Noah on the lips as he limped past everyone and continued to chug the coffee.
Five called him 'love' twice in under a minute and kissed him in front of their siblings?! If his beet red face didn't give it away then you should know that Noah was fucking swooning over the damn boy.
Klaus whispered in Noah's ear, "Since when did this start?"
Noah lightly hit his brothers arm, "Shut up." Everyone stared at Five who had his back turned to them and put most of his weight on one leg as he chugged the caffenated beverage. "I don't think I've ever seen someone drink a coffee that fast." Noah muttered to himself.
Five sighed, wiped his mouth, and faced his siblings, "So, the apocalypse is in three days. The only chance we have to save out world is, well, us."
"The Umbrella Academy." Luther stated.
"No, the fucking Rain Academy." Noah said sarcastically.
"Yeah, but with me, obviously." Five told them. "So if yall don't get your sideshow acts together and get over yourselves, we're screwed. Who cares if dad messed us up?" Noah put his hand up high and realized that it was a theoretical question and lowered his hand embaressedly. "Are we gonna let that define us? No. And to give us a fighting chance to see next week, I've come back with a lead." He pulled a paper out of his back pocket. "I know who's responsible for the apocalypse." Allison stuck out her hand for the paper but Five completely ignored it and handed it to Noah. "This is who we have to stop."
Noah opened the folded piece of paper and scanned it over, "Harold Jenkins? That's sounds like what somebody would name a muppet or some shit."
"Who the hell is Harold Jenkins?" Diego asked and everyone looked up at Five for answers.
(Words: 3271)
AN: Hello, beautiful people! Still no laptop T-T
I haven't updated my other book in over 2 weeks now and I update this one like almost everyday even though it gets no reads comparred to my other book💀 Anyways, love you all <3
-ash :)