Luther, of course, was the first to wake that morning. He gathered his things, shoving them back into his oversized and overstuffed suitcase. He checked through the whole room once again, making sure he remembered everything he brought with him. Once he was satisfied, he made his way downstairs to make coffee and watch the sun rise over the ocean waves one last time before they left later that morning.

Luther's shuffling upstairs woke Diego, who also packed his things, although there wasn't much he brought in the first place, and brewed a pot of coffee. He got two mugs for himself and Luther down from the cabinet, pouring the coffee fresh from the pot, and adding milk and sugar to Luther's liking. Diego took his coffee black, like real men do, he said.

Luther shuffled downstairs, surprised to see Diego up, first of all, but also to see that Diego made him a cup of coffee without being asked. Luther made his way over to the breakfast bar where Diego and the coffee mugs were sitting. "Morning." Diego said quietly, as not to wake the others yet.

"Morning." Luther curtly replied. "What's with the coffee?"

Diego mulled over the question for a moment, trying to think of an answer. "I've been thinking a lot lately. And I'm trying to 'rebuild relationships', like Vanya said we should." He took a sip of his coffee. It was still too hot, burning his mouth, but he didn't so much as cringe to make himself appear tough after talking about feelings and stuff with Luther.

"It is a good idea, now that, you know, mom and dad are both gone. All we have now is each other. Do you wanna sit out there with me?"

"I'm good in here. Too much too soon."

Luther nodded. Things would take time, especially with Diego, who was the most hesitant at having any form of relationship with Luther.

Five was the next up. He went straight to the coffee pot, still complaining about the quality of it, even though he was the one who picked out the coffee in the first place. "Maybe it's you who doesn't know how to properly make a pot of coffee." Five spat at Diego. Diego just rolled his eyes at his "little" brother.

After coffee, Five gathered his things as well, dragging his backpack and Dolores down the stairs, setting them by the door. Diego noticed that Five dressed Dolores in different outfits every day but learned not to say anything about it. He would just get an earful about shit he didn't care about anymore.

Around nine, Vanya woke up, waking up Klaus, who was still dead asleep, and would be for many hours more if she didn't. Vanya neatly arranged her clothes in her suitcase, packing her violin back into its case, and making sure Klaus was getting up and ready as well. Klaus liked to think that he was more of an adult now, that he didn't need to be babysat, but he would never get moving in the morning if no one came to get him up. Baby steps.

Now that everyone was downstairs, and the house had been cleaned of their belongings, Luther began packing their bags into the trunk of the van. Klaus didn't get dressed, still in his pajamas, wanting to be comfortable for the car ride home, which he would probably sleep most of the way anyway.

Vanya made sure to pack the food they bought at the grocery store earlier in the week and clean out the fridge. Luther also brought this to the van. They still had plenty of food left, seeing that Klaus was allowed to get whatever he wanted, according to Allison. Apparently, that meant that Klaus would buy whatever he saw going down the aisles of the grocery store. There were snacks that none of them even opened yet.

Once they were all ready to leave, and the house had been returned to its original state, they packed into the van and set on the journey home. They had to stop at the first rest stop along the highway about thirty minutes into their trip because Klaus had to pee. Everyone told him to make sure he went before they left, but he said he didn't have to go then. And he thought he was as adult as the rest of them. Back on the road again, Luther popped his CD into the CD player, turning up the volume as loud as he wanted. Diego secretly liked Luther's music, having similar taste, but never would admit it. Klaus slept through most of it, only rousing when Queen came on. Five complained about the volume, again, but settled eventually when one of his favorite songs crept its way onto the playlist. Ben tapped his foot and mouthed the lyrics to all of the songs most of the ride home, not wanting to disturb his sleeping brother, but still as into the music as Luther was. He used to listen to Luther's record player through the walls when they were kids. It was one of the few things they had in common. Vanya didn't complain, not wanting to rock the boat too much, still wary about her relationship with Luther. She'd like to keep things civil. Vanya thought that he was trying as well, and that he wouldn't get mad if asked him to turn it down or to change the song, but she'd rather not test that theory, just in case.

The ride home felt longer than the ride there. Klaus woke up with about a half hour to go, asking every so often how much longer until they got home. This drove everyone crazy. "Klaus, if you ask one more time, I'm going to kill you and make it look like an accident." Five hissed.

They finally reached the mansion, Klaus throwing open the car door before they were fully parked. He had to pee again. When he came back, Luther was unloading the van and the others were taking their bags back inside the house. Diego said he would take the van back to the rental place. Klaus said he would drive the van there and Diego could follow him so that he had a ride home. No one was for this plan except Klaus, but Diego let him anyway. Klaus had been getting better at driving ever since getting back from Vietnam, where he drove army Jeeps all the time. No one really knew this about him since he didn't tell anyone except Diego about what he did while on duty.

"You be careful. If I see you swerve or go above the speed limit, I swear to god." Diego pointed his finger into his brother's chest, getting his full attention.

Klaus put his hands up in protest. "I promise with all my heart, I'll be careful."

Diego was nervous the whole ten-minute drive to the rental place, watching from behind the van with eagle vision. Klaus made it there in one piece, thankfully. He dropped off the keys in the office and met Diego back at his car, sliding into the passenger seat. "See? I told you I'd be careful."

"You did. Can't be too sure with you, though. You have your moments."

"I'm doing much better lately. Aren't you proud of me?" Klaus looked lovingly, but also jokingly, at his brother.

"I am." Diego said after a moment. Klaus placed his hand over Diego's, which was resting on the center console. He gave it a friendly pat and pulled away. Diego wasn't one for intimacy, familial or otherwise. Diego noticed Klaus's slight frown as he pulled his hand away, slightly upset at the lack of human contact he so desperately craved. He took Klaus's hand back in his, not really knowing what he was doing. It made Klaus happy again, and that was all that really mattered to him.

Everyone went their separate ways again once they were settled in the house and had unpacked all their stuff. Luther went to the gym to work out since he gave himself a break all week. Diego put his new knives in his case under his bed with all the other ones, and fixed the ones he made a note of when he first tested them out. Klaus hung out with Ben in his room. Five hung out with Dolores in his. Vanya practiced a new violin piece that she would have to perform in her orchestra tomorrow.

Allison called Vanya later that afternoon to make sure everyone got home okay. Vanya kept her up to date on what they got up to after she left. It wasn't very eventful, as Allison was the lively one of the family, so it was a short conversation. Allison then mentioned that she wanted everyone to come with her when she visited Claire sometime soon so she could meet all of them. It would be easier if Allison were to take Claire home with her, but she wasn't sure is Patrick or the court would allow that. She said she'd work on it. Vanya was willing to meet Claire either way. They all were.

That evening, Diego began making dinner for them all. He made burgers and fries, something easy. None of them had a particularly hard day but being in the car as long as they were was exhausting. He called them all down, having to wait for Five to finish up his thought as he was still working on his new equations.

They all sat around the dining room table like they did when they all lived in the same house. Now that Allison, Diego, and Vanya all had places of their own, it was harder to get together as often as they probably should. Five didn't leave the mansion much, except to go to the library for more books. Klaus went between the mansion and Diego's place when the memories of his childhood in the mansion became too much for him, or the ghosts there were too noisy. Ben, of course, followed him wherever he went, not that many of them noticed that. Luther lived there full-time, still.

Diego remembered to leave a place setting out for Ben. Everyone was getting used to doing that now, since Klaus had been doing it ever since Ben died and also since the others believed that he was really talking to Ben and not thin air, as demonstrated earlier in the week.

Sometime in the middle of dinner, Ben spoke up. "Klaus, can you make me, you know..." Ben vaguely gestured his hands at himself.

"Yeah, sure, why?" Klaus whispered, not sure where Ben was going with this. "Hey, guys, Ben has something he wants to share with the group."

He concentrated, clenched his fists, hands glowing blue, and Ben appeared seconds later, glowing just like Klaus's hands. "This, actually, is really more of a surprise for just you. I thought maybe everyone would still like to see it, though." Klaus looked confused. "So, you know how I left you alone sometimes and went off somewhere when we were on vacation? I was working on this surprise for you, and it's finally time for you to see it."

Ben walked out of the room. No one saw where he went, even though Klaus was still making him corporeal. He came back seconds later, standing in the doorway between the dining and living rooms, whispering to someone or something behind the wall separating the two rooms. "Okay. Are you ready?" He asked Klaus.

"Yes, dear brother. What have you got for me?" Klaus asked suspiciously. He half expected Reginald to walk out into the open and criticize them all for their life choices, although he wasn't sure why Ben would do that to them, if that was even his surprise.

Klaus was half paying attention, more focusing on keeping Ben there than anything else. He heard his siblings gasp and whisper at the surprise. He turned towards the doorway to see what all the fuss was about. There was another figure standing next to Ben. Klaus first saw the figure's feet, eyeing his way upwards. He stopped concentrating on Ben when he got to the figure's face.

The figure was the first to speak, "Hi, Klaus."

"Dave."