Once everyone was inside, you all gathered on the sidelines of the dance floor to watch Sloane and Luther dance. Diego and Lila were holding hands, and Klaus and Allison had linked arms. Five had a champagne glass in one hand and your heels in the other, since your feet had started to ache. He was being such a gentleman tonight, and you definitely weren't complaining.
A smoke machine poured white fog onto the stage, tinted pink by the colored lights, and surrounded the swaying husband and wife.
That's so weird to think.
"This is officially worse than the apocalypse," Five observed dully, and you thought about hitting him before realizing your hands were full with a wine glass and a cluster of flowers you'd spontaneously plucked outside. You settled for head-butting him in the shoulder, to which he immediately let out a surprised scoff. Then he turned, his eyes landing on the bottles of wine and champagne. "Ah, there we are." He started to walk over to them, and you watched him go, trying to ward off the sad feeling that was slowly building up in your chest.
You didn't want to be drunk. Not on your last night with your family. You wanted to see every one of them, tell them you loved them.
But you couldn't tell them what you were going to do, or they would stop you.
You watched with a sad smile as Lila spun Diego, and then they led each other onto the dance floor. Oliver switched with Luther, taking his sister's hand and both of them smiling at each other as they began doing a dance the two of them seemed to know very well. You glanced to the side, spotting Klaus, who was doing the tie dance move to pull you over. You giggled, running over to him, your bare feet smacking the floor as you launched yourself into his arms. He laughed, grabbing both of your hands and spinning the two of you in a circle until you almost fell, shrieking with laughter.
"(Y/N)," he finally said, his voice high-pitched. "I might miss you the most when the world ends."
You fought off the ache. "You too, Klaus. You're my favorite brother. Like always."
"You sure you won't miss someone else more?" He waggled his shapely eyebrows at you exaggeratedly, and you snorted as he began doing an odd interpretive dance.
"And that might be my cue to go. But..." You faltered, considering saying 'I love you', then forced a brighter smile. "Don't get too drunk."
"Do you know who you're talking to?" he called after you, and you laughed as you walked off. You pointed at Luther with a grin as he slow-danced with Sloane, and he chuckled bashfully. You observed Viktor and Allison on the sidelines, jogging over to Viktor and tugging on his arm.
"You used to love to dance," you said, pouting at him. He shook his head but smiled, allowing you to pull him onto the dance floor after a moment.
"You remember our dance parties, huh?"
"How could I forget?" you replied, placing your hands on his shoulders and doing a weird fast slow-dance. "You were a brilliant dancer."
His face lit up, and you realized he probably wasn't used to just normal conversation about the old days.
A few minutes passed, and he went back to his seat, leaving you to drag Five away from the drinks and over to a table. Everyone else followed, going to their own respective tables. You took a moment to observe who sat where - oddly enough, Ben sat with Allison, both of them silent. Obviously, Luther and Sloane sat together, and Lila and Diego. Viktor was sitting with Klaus and Oliver. You refocused your attention, watching with mild disgust as Five tipped back a few of the snacks spread in front of you.
"You're gonna choke," you observed in a dry tone as he crunched on the peanuts. He didn't have time to reply before Klaus sashayed over, pointing at you with a bright smile. "Cinco y Ocho! Mis hermanos!"
"Oh God," Five said in a husky tone, which you had come to understand was his wasted voice. You hadn't heard it often. "Listen to me." He dragged a chair in between you and Five, quickly growing as serious as Klaus could be. "Dad is upstairs right now with a plan to save everything. So what say you guys and I pop up to the suite for a little chitchat?"
Despite yourself, you feel a shock of hope smack you in the face. It was your father. How could you expect anything from him? An actual solution? Yeah, right.
And yet. Maybe, just maybe, he actually did have a plan. He had a sense of self-preservation, at least - he wouldn't risk anything if he thought it wouldn't work.
And maybe you would get to live.
"Are you like Frick and Frack with the old man now?" Five was asking, his brow furrowed and his head leaned forward to listen to Klaus. He was talking a bit louder than usual, likely due to the alcohol. Adorable.
"This Dad's different. He's a turtle! Hard on the outside, but all cute and wrinkly and occasionally delicious on the inside." Five gulped from his champagne glass, setting it back down with a thump and lowering his head before looking back up at him.
"Klaus?" Uh-oh. That tone wasn't good.
"Yeah?"
"Old dogs like me and him never change. He has never had our best interests at heart." He dropped one of his shot glasses into another half-full one, causing a splash on the white tablecloth.
"Don't call yourself an old dog," you said, wrinkling your nose and hesitantly sipping the bubbly champagne. "It's not attractive."
"Good thing being attractive isn't my goal," he replied, raising his wine glass this time. "My only plan for tonight is to get fucked up beyond all recognition."
"Sure," Klaus deadpanned in a disappointed tone, clinking his glass with Five's and standing up with a frown. "Have at it."
"I shall!"
"Wait, Klaus!" you called after him as he stood, chasing him. He turned to look at you, raising an eyebrow.
"Do a sense a desperate undertone in the air?"
You tried for an annoyed eye-roll, but the worst part was that he was right. You were desperate. "Look, Five is right. Dad doesn't have our best interests at heart. But he does have his own. And his only interest right now could be surviving. So... if he has a plan to save the world, I... I want in," you decided after a moment.
Klaus looked shocked. "Really? Oh, my God, I knew you were my favorite!" He threw his arms around you, and you smiled.
"Okay, okay, big guy." You peeled him off of you after a moment, and he appraised you one final time as he began backing away.
"I love you, lil sis. Too much."
You rolled your eyes and walked back toward Five, thinking hard. If your father's so-called plan hadn't been set in motion by mid-day tomorrow... your time would have come. You would have to die.
You were drawn out of your dark thoughts by a bright light flashing, Chet taking a picture of Klaus and Lila together. Five squeezed his eyes shut and grunted as though the light pained him, clutching his fruit kabob.
"Let's get a picture together!" you shrieked excitedly, grabbing his arm and leading him over to Chet on his wobbly legs.
"This will cost you," Chet warned as he put his eye to the large, odd-shaped camera. You slung your arm around Five's shoulder as he looked at you with a bewildered expression. You reached up, squishing his cheeks in your free hand as Chet snapped the picture, causing another bright flash.
"Fuck," Five breathed, rubbing his eyes.
"It wouldn't hurt so bad if you weren't blasted," you chastised, dodging his face as he went in for a sloppy, champagne-flavored kiss. "Whoa there. You need to sit down for a sec."
"I just want a kiss," he whined, the alcohol clearly settling in quite well. You pecked him on his lips, smiling and dragging him to your table again.
"Have some more peanuts, old dog," you mocked, and he huffed but did as you said. A moment later, Viktor walked over and sat beside you. You realized that Klaus had gone to sit with Diego and Lila, and Oliver had moved to sit next to Ben and Allison.
"Oh, God," Viktor said, sitting down on the other side of Five and peering at his face. "Are you drunk?"
"As a skunk," you replied, rolling your eyes. You realized after a moment that the room had gone silent, and you turned to follow everyone's eyes, your heart stopping for a moment when you saw Reginald slowly walking out of the elevator, a calculating glint in his eyes.
The fucking audacity.