CHAPTER TWELVE: TAKING CHARGE

Lotus didn't know how long they'd been at Allison's place of work, but they were all giggly and trying to talk over each other.

"The nerve of that man!" Allison exclaimed, "I mean, one thing goes wrong, and he's on a warpath! I mean, he doesn't know who I am! No, no, no, Ray. You know exactly who I am. You just can't handle it."

Lotus sat in a chair next to Klaus, wiggling back and fourth. "I'm having a great time."

Klaus glanced over at it, shooing Allison away. The woman moved on to her, slowly combing her hair.

"How many drinks did you have, Lotus?"

Lotus shrugged, she couldn't remember. Nor could she remember how they convinced her to try it, and then to see how much she could chug. "Who cares?" She hiccuped, a laugh escaped her lips. "I'm having fun."

"You should let me cut your hair." Allison said, "Just a little."

"Noooo!" Lotus protested, "I like my hair."

Klaus wandered over and leaned in front of her, "You would look good with bangs."

"Gross." Lotus muttered, "I don't wanna look like a librarian."

"Come on!" Allison laughed, "I'm really good."

She leaned back, extending her hands in front of her face. She tapped the air, "Oh, what the hell! You guys aren't allowed to tell me that I need to live a little anymore— alright!"

"Deal!" Vanya shouted, they all erupted in a sea of laughter.

Allison picked up her scissors and moved behind her, Lotus couldn't feel if she was cutting her hair or not.

"Is the world really gonna end in six days?" Vanya spun to face them, "Like really?"

"Well, it did last time and we did everything Five could think of to stop it." Allison said, holding her head still. Lotus hummed under her breath, her mind couldn't focus on anything.

Klaus groaned, "Wouldn't it be weird if Five grew up all hot?"

"What?"

"Wouldn't that be weird?"

Lotus smiled, "It would be a blessing!"

They all paused and stared at her, "Ew." Allison muttered, she could hear the scissors snipping now.

"What do you mean ew, little Miss "Luther was my lover.'" Klaus said, making kissing noises.

"We have never even kissed!" Allison protested, moving in front of Lotus. "Close your eyes." She mumbled

Lotus did, "Did the lights go out?"

"Oh my god." Klaus hacked, "Did she just ask if the power went out? No— you're eyes are closed, hun."

She peaked one open, "Oh! Woah, that's much better."

"You and Luther were a thing?" Vanya questioned.

"No!"

Klaus nodded, "Yeah, but you guys were making little sick moon dog eyes at each other all through puberty and breakfasts and all that."

"Aren't we all brothers and sisters?" Vanya raised a brow, "Or..."

"Well, technically—"

"Technically!" Klaus gasped, "If you have to word— if you have to use the word technically, you're already in trouble!"

Allison continued to snip away at her hair, Lotus knew she'd regret this tomorrow but in the moment she couldn't give a single shit. Is this why Klaus was always drunk— or why Five always had one when he was stressed?

"Can we focus?" Allison complained, "I mean, clearly we are not saving the world tonight but maybe— maybe we can try to save my marriage."

"No!" Klaus whined, "No, because that's like— like asking a nun how to hump someone's leg!"

Lotus giggled, "Ha!"

She could feel Allison step away, and she opened her eyes. "Woah!" She breathed, tapping the short curtain of hair that ended above her eyes. "Bangs."

"I mean, who in this room knows shit about relationships? This one—" Lotus spun in her chair, grabbing a bottle of vodka from Allison's hands. She cradled it to her chest as Klaus pointed at Vanya. "In secret love with some farm frau!"

"Her name is Sissy!"

"Which is an improvement on her previous relationship... the serial killer."

"What?"

He waved her off, "Meanwhile, I'm carrying a torch for a soldier who I haven't technically met yet, and Luther is in love with his sister."

Lotus raised the bottle in her hand, "And I'm in love with your stupid tiny brother."

They all paused and turned to her, "You're what now?"

Lotus took a swig, "I'm an idiot."

Klaus shook his head, "You're way to good for him."

She laughed, her head was starting to pound but she didn't mind. She felt so bubbly, and her legs felt all wobbly as she tried to stand up.

"The only thing the Umbrella Academy knows about love, is how to screw it up!"

The radio was on, Lotus fell back in her chair, poking at it. She smiled, twisting the dial up and down.

"I've never drank an alcoholic beverage before. And nowhere near... how many did I have?" She exclaimed, dropping her hands and looking to the other three. "F-five is gonna kill me."

"And why would he do that?"

"He's crazzzzyyyy." She mumbled, "Coo-coo!"

Vanya sat up in her chair, "I'm gonna tell Sissy that I love her."

"Whoop!" Lotus cheered, "You do it girl! Go get her!"

"I don't want any secrets." She nodded proudly.

Secrets. Lotus pursed her lips, maybe there was a reason Five was toying with her. Maybe he didn't actually like her, and she was just being used.

"No." She muttered, rubbing her eyes. "I'm great."

Allison stood up, "Yeah, you're right, because if all of this goes tits-up, the least I could do is be honest with my husband."

What if they couldn't save the world? What if they all died and Lotus never told Five how she felt— what if he left and she never had the chance to hug him again or even get to explore random cities with him again.

"Does that mean I have to face my cult?" Klaus sighed, "I just hate group breakups. It's why I stopped dating twins."

"This family's amazing!" Vanya laughed.

Lotus took a deep breath, "Will I ever get to experience a normal life?"

"What do you mean?"

She tried getting up again, leaning against the chair for support. "I mean— I am a thirty year old stuck in the body of a sixteen year old and I've never even kissed anyone! I've never even been in a relationship before and this dork in knee high socks with a shitty attitude comes along and all of a sudden... boom!"

"You've never—" Klaus began, but she cut him off.

"A-and he's fifty eight! How gross is that!" She laughed, "But he looks like he's my age, or the age that I look— and I forget but I... I want to see him like, all the time."

Allison chuckled, walking over and helping her up. Klaus bounced over and wrapped them in a hug. "Vanya! Come on!"

Lotus bounced up and down on her heels, it was impossible for her to stay still all of a sudden. A new song came on the radio, and Allison jumped pulling away from them all. "Oh! I love this song!"

Klaus took Lotus by the hands and swayed to the beat, a giant smile forming on her face. They all danced like wild people, jumping around, Allison even taught her a dance she learned when she first landed in this timeline.

A bell rang and they all stopped, staring at the front door as Five marched in.

"Five!" Lotus cheered, "How'd you find us!"

He walked over and switched the radio off, "Elliott said you'd gone for tacos. You had a lot more than that, didn't you?"

"She's just having fun." Klaus drawled, waving his flask around.

He moved towards her and she went out to reach for him, but stumbled forward. He rushed towards her and caught her, grimacing at her breath. "You are so drunk."

"Yes. Mhm, very much so."

His eyes widened, "You cut your hair? You're out of your mind drunk."

"We've just went over that." She laughed, poking at his face. "You have chubby cheeks."

He pulled her towards the door, "I'm taking her back to Elliott's."

A few complaints echoed but the door shut behind them before she could really process anything. He half carried her down the street, Lotus kept stopping to point out random things along the way.

"Look at that rock." She stopped, staring down at the sidewalk. "Do you think it has a tiny rock family?"

"Lotus, come on."

"Wait— what if it got lost and can't find its way home?"

"Lotus—"

"No!" She exclaimed, turning towards him. "You're always telling me what to do."

His brows furrowed, "What?"

She stumbled backwards, hitting her back against the wall. "Easy— hey," he grabbed ahold of her, "Be careful."

"There you are again." She hiccuped, "Telling me what to do."

"Lotus—"

"I want to take charge." She said. "I wanna be in charge."

He opened his mouth to say something but Lotus had grabbed onto his shirt collar and pulled him down, she crashed her lips to his in an instant. She felt him kiss back and smiled, pulling him as close as she could before pushing him away. Her hand moved to his cheek, his confused look blazing into her own eyes. She tapped his cheek with a finger, "Weren't expecting that, we're you?"

Lotus stepped away, a smug look on her face as she slowly turned and tried walking away. Her steps were wobbly but the world seemed to be in more focus than before. She got maybe four steps in before a hand wrapped around her arm and pulled her back. Five spun her around and gripped the nape of her neck as he leaned over and kissed her. When she did it, she thought she was gentle— but this wasn't gentle. This was hungry. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as her hands combed through his hair, trying to pull him even closer, a soft noise escaped his lips and she couldn't help but smile. They moved back but instead of hitting the wall of the building they stumbled over a chair. They parted and looked down, they were back in Elliott's apartment, having tripped over a kitchen chair.

"Well." Lotus took a deep breath, heart still pounding. "That was new."

"Mhm." He nodded.

They watched each other, a small smile formed on both their faces. "You're good at that." She said.

"I'm good at most things."

Lotus blinked, a yawn finding her lips. "I'm tired."

Five walked over and wrapped an arm around her, helping her walk to the spare room they had been in one of the previous nights. "Time for a nap. We have a dinner to go to tonight."

"A dinner?" She mumbled, laying down.

He nodded, "I'll wake you up in a bit."

Lotus reached out and grabbed his hand, "No, stay." She complained, "I like it when you're around."

He pursed his lips, giving a small nod. So he crawled to the other side and laid down, staring at the ceiling. His mind swirled with different thoughts, but for once it wasn't about the impending doomsday. All he could think about was Lotus.