TOUCH | F. Hargreeves

10

She was half right. Well, she was completely right, Beau just didn't want to admit what she said was true. She was always right and she knew that too.

It was only a matter of time before Five came back to the house and went around searching for Beau to question him on why he had left so abruptly. It may have been rude but it was clear he wasn't needed anymore and neither was Klaus so he knew Five would end up leaving them anyway. That was just how Five treated people - at least that was how Beau saw it - once a person is no longer useful he just lets them go and doesn't see them again until he knows they're useful again. And maybe he has changed, or maybe he was just that way around Beau, but he felt as though he would always see Five that way.

It was late when the boy retired - around two in the morning - and he was definitely careless when stomping past Beau's room. He wondered if he wanted him to know he had arrived back and go talk to him. Beau didn't really want to, however.

But as soon as Rosie woke to the sound of his heavy footsteps she began kicking Beau out of the bed and seeing as it was a single bed it was quite easy for her to do so. Beau fell with a thud and let out a groan, "What the hell, Rosie?" He grumbled.

"Go. Talk. Don't sleep anyway." Rosie sleepily mumbled into the pillow, rolling over to lay in the middle of the bed.

Beau sighed loudly and stood from the cold floor, still dressed in his clothes from the day and not bothering to get dressed into more comfortable clothing because there was really no point. The door was slowly opened and closed behind him and he could see Five's door already wide open.

Beau sighed and stood almost awkwardly in the doorway only to see something that confused him, "Why the hell do you have a mannequin in your room?" He asked, surprising the boy and making him jump.

The bright lighting in the room was a stark difference from the darkness in the hall behind Beau, causing shadows to dance across his face. Five let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the familiar face in his doorway, "This is Dolores." He motioned to the top half of the mannequin sitting on his desk lifelessly, staring with dead eyes.

Beau frowned at the sudden realisation of who Five had been talking about ever since he got back from the future, "... Really?"

"Yes, Dolores this is Beau... " Five stared at the inanimate object for a moment, his expression changing slightly as the corner of his lips quirked, "Yes, the very same."

"You talk about me?" Beau suppressed an amused chuckle, knowing he shouldn't be judging the boy one bit, especially when he had lived completely alone for over forty years.

"Sometimes."

Beau leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms and letting a smirk take over his features, "What did you tell her?" It didn't hurt to play along.

"Not much." Five shrugged, shifting from one foot to the other, "I told her I was horrible to you and she yelled at me for that."

"Oh, well, thanks, Dolores... I guess." 

"She likes you, says your wise and intelligent, something which I am not apparently."

"I'd have to agree with the mannequin."

"What? That your smart or that I'm not?"

"Both." They both chuckle quietly.

It felt nice to converse freely, they could never really do that and although Beau still didn't feel completely comfortable with Five, Beau still knew he liked their short banter. They could never have such an easy conversation... ever in the past.

Five hummed in thought, hands in pockets as he moved to stand in front of 'Dolores', Beau glancing at the fake woman now and then with both amusement and wonder, "Why did you leave so soon?" Beau had been waiting for Five to bring that up, that was the whole point of him stepping into his room, of his wife forcing him out of his bed and possibly why Five and stomped past the room.

Beau shrugged nonchalantly, "I thought you didn't need me anymore. You obviously were going to drop Klaus and I was right." Seeing as the man was nowhere to be found and seemingly replaced by a mannequin, it told him all that he needed to know.

"That's different." Five quickly assured.

"Is it? Why?"

"Because-I uhh... "

Beau stared at him intently, just wanting him to finally say what he has been thinking since he arrived back, why he really wanted Beau to follow him around, "Spit it out, Five. Why am I different?"

"You should know why." Five scoffed, his gaze turning away from the burning glare that pierced into him with such intensity one would think lasers would surely be sent his way any minute.

"I don't think I should, otherwise I wouldn't be asking."

"I thought you were asking just so you could hear me say it."

"Well, that too," Beau admitted easily, his eyes still showing his expectancy for the truth.

Five's green eyes flickered from him to the floor a few times as if he were nervous to utter a single word, "It's different because you... "

"Yes?" 

"Because you mean more to me." Five finally looked up and straight into those dark inky eyes, how his own was filled with sincerity and pain, something which Beau knew all too well.

Beau frowned, almost accusatorily, "So, you're telling me Klaus, your brother, means less to you than me, someone that is not even your friend?"

Five huffed, visibly fed up with the one-sided conversation where it was clear he was the only one understanding what he was saying, "That's different too." 

"You're confusing me, Five." And he really was. Why could he just say it? Tell him how he really felt and be done with it. It didn't seem that hard in Beau's eyes but maybe there was a deeper meaning to this that he was not comprehending. Maybe this had to do with his past in the future or his true feelings behind his previous hatred for him and why he had done what he did. Surely Five almost tripping him down the large staircase didn't have another meaning though. "Just tell me what you're thinking."

Five shook his head, "I can't." He sighed heavily, "Not yet."

"Why not?" Beau desperately questioned, taking a step forward, "Is it because you're scared of saying it, of my reaction? Rejection? Change? What?"

Five could only sigh and peer up at Beau with a pleading gaze, telling him to just drop it before things go too far; before either of them say something they will regret forever. They were both sensitive and yet exhibited a hard exterior to protect themselves from the world, they were very similar in that aspect and they both knew it. "All of the above?"