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Klaus was a stubborn piece of shit.Then again, everyone in the Hargreeves family was. Yeah, some more than others, but they were all stubborn to a goddamn fault. For example, Vanya refused to let her frustration out for three whole decades before she snapped. And Diego was as stubborn as a mule, he refused to let go of grudges for years. Luther stayed in denial of the truth of their piss poor excuse of a father for longer than any of them, he stubbornly refused to believe that their dad was a conniving prick. Up until very recently, that is. Allison flat out refused to realize that her whole life was a lie because of the abilities she abused. Well, she did realize but it was far too late by then.Five was adamant in distancing himself from all of them, adamant for more than fifty years to stop the apocalypse and keep all of them safe. Alone in a hellscape of a world with no one to love him but a mannequin.By far, Ben had to be the least stubborn out of all of them. He was too sweet to hold a grudge for very long, too kind and good to be trapped in their shitty family, in his own personal opinion.But even then, Ben was a little shit. He once refused to leave Klaus' side after a bad training session that ended in disaster for Number Four. Ben helped him drown out the screams, helped him clean up and collect himself even if Klaus didn't want it. And even then, he fell asleep at his side after the dust settled.But Klaus was stubborn too. Just as stubborn as good old dad. He was a ballsy fuck when he was a kid, just behind Five in that sense, and moved straight to the number one ranking when said brother promptly vanished from all existence. Klaus rolled blunts under the table, did drugs even despite the repercussions, tried to support his fucked up family the best he could for as long his mental health could hold. He never did things halfway. And that was the same in pestering Five until he opened the fuck up.He watched the paper burn, watched the flame engulf it as it charred the parchment into nothing but dust. Just like the light in Dave's eyes in those last, gut wrenching moments of his sweethearts life. He didn't deserve to die like that. He deserved to die old. Old and happy and satisfied with his admittedly long life. Maybe with Klaus next to him in his deathbed, maybe...He watched the fire curl over Dave's name, watched it burn out like a star flickered out into oblivion with one last show of power as it broke into a supernova that left him gasping for breath. Just like Dave did. Because Dave was a star. He was a star so bright and so perfect and so holy that it left him on his knees, left him pleading for mercy with tears on his cheeks and prayers of God on his lips.Dave was fire and warmth and light and brightness. He blinded him with intense waves of affection that left him shaking and heat that branded his skin with his finger prints that screamed, 'I love you,' at the top of his wonderful lungs.He closed his eyes. Even in the dark of his eyes he could see Dave there, glued behind the back of his eyelids with his sun kissed skin and angel blessed eyes. His tears hit the counter with an echo that made him shudder, his tear slicked eyelashes fluttering open.He gripped his dog tags. Gripped them tight in his fist and brang them to his lips like a reverent plea of mercy. He breathed in, shaky and sounding near animalistic as he swiped at his eyes. He swallowed and steeled his love in his chest and resolved to do better. Do better than Reginald, do better than who he used to be.If not for himself, then for Dave. And if not for Dave, then for Five.He walked off, leaving the pile of ashes behind him, his beloved's dog tags still gripped tight in his palm as he ran after the brother he had grown to love just as much.