@bentacled sent: "I believe in you. You can do this. And I'll be right behind you." xoxo avril <3
He doesn't even know why he's nervous. He's done this a thousand times before. Hell, the whole process had been demystified before he even turned eighteen. The paperwork is all signed, the first week is paid for (courtesy of the great philanthropic bank of the one and only Allison Hargreeves), everything he owns is now tucked neatly in a little plastic bag, in a little plastic tub, with his name written in little black letters by the very nice intake nurse. In a month's time they'll spit him back out, all shiny and drug-free, and send him on his merry way, right back into the alley from whence he came.
"Right this way, Mr. Hargreeves," the nurse says, and even then Klaus finds himself flinching at the formality.
Mr. Hargreeves is my father, he wants to snap. My name is Klaus. Not Number Four. Not the Seance. Not Hargreeves. Just Klaus.
He can't bring himself to budge from his spot in the lobby. Already, he can feel the itch beginning to creep up under his skin like a million pins and needles. Already, the bright white lights hurt his eyes, and he feels naked without his favorite lighter in his pocket, and ugh, god, he can't go back to eating pudding cups and boring white people food every day!
Really, he should just turn around and march back out the door. It would be easier for everyone that way. Surely the staff here are tired of seeing his face, surely everyone is tired of his shit, except—
Except Ben.
Ben, who somehow always seems to knows exactly the right thing to say— who calls Klaus on his shit just as often as he reminds Klaus to be a little kinder to himself.
Klaus takes a breath as he glances over to his brother, and suddenly it all feels a little less daunting. I'll be right behind you, he says, and even though Klaus so badly wants to snap something snarky, the God honest truth is that he doesn't know if he can do this without his brother.
"Yeah, I...yeah. I can do this."
He scratches at the scrawny hair that's growing too damn long on the back of his neck, repeats the mantra as if he might actually start to believe it.
Just take a step forward. They're waiting for you, Klaus. Just go inside. Ben will be here the whole time. It's okay. You've got him.
Digging his nails into the palm of his hand, he looks over to his brother once more, flashes a lopsided grin, and takes his first step forward.
