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❛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘ. ᴘᴀɴ ᴇғғᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐈𝐗 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ ( 𝟷𝟶 sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ )
ʀᴇᴛɪʀᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ ꒱


❝ OOH! COWS! ❞

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Five Hargreeves had never been more embarrassed in his life. I loke you. Who said that? Only idiots— that's who. He trailed behind Alexa as they made their way back to the car and kept his eyes on the gravel path. He'd always been prepared for everything. (Except getting stuck in the apocalypse but he didn't count that.) Every exam, every practice fight with his siblings, he'd always passed with flying colors. Of course on one of the only things that mattered he failed miserably.

The car ride was silent save for the radio that played quietly as Klaus drove the rest of the way to the address he'd been aiming for. Alexa sat in the front this time so that he could sulk in back until his bruised ego could recover. I loke you. The words echoed mockingly in his mind as they taunted his complete disaster of a confession. He really should've expected this, though: he hadn't been ready to say the words only two days ago so why should they come easily now?

In all honesty, he really didn't need to beat himself up for his blunder as much as he was; Alexa found the whole situation rather endearing. She'd been confused at first and had mumbled out a 'thanks' but as they got back on the road, the sentiment he'd been trying to convey began to make sense. She couldn't help the shy blush that rose to her face or the adoring smile the curled on her lips. To hide her expression from her brother, she turned to look out the window as the words repeated themselves in her mind— except, unlike Five, she treasured them rather than cringed at them.

Soon enough, the paved road gave way to a gravel one which turned into packed dirt. A wooden fence that edged around the grassy field followed them until it turned the corner at the adjacent road to continue around the enclosure. People along the sides; the women wore long dresses with aprons while the men wore suits and tall hats. Klaus pulled to a stop outside one of the main buildings and the teens climbed out of the car before the trio took a look around.

"Son of a bitch! Klaus is Amish," Five exclaimed.

"This explains everything."

Alexa's gaze caught on the animals in the pen. "Ooh! Cows!"

She left the men without another thought and ran over to where the large creatures lowed on the other side of the fence. She placed her hands on the wooden slats and leaned towards them with wide-eyed interest. After a moment, she reached down to pull up some grass before she held it out across the gap on a flat palm. The cow's bovine eyes followed the movement as it blinked at her dumbly.

The blonde held her breath until its neck stretched to take the offered food. Its lips were soft and ticklish as they brushed against her palm. Once it had taken the grass into its mouth, the cow's head retreated back to its side of the fence. The animal's jaw moved slowly as it ground up the grass and Alexa's attention stayed on the creature the whole time. She'd always liked animals and had wanted a pet when she'd gotten older, but her apartment had had a strict no-animal rule.

"Ready to go?"

She turned to see that Five had joined her. He'd slid his hands into his pockets and was watching her with a faintly amused expression. His posture was relaxed and even a little slouched as he waited for her answer. Alexa tilted her head slightly. "Go? What about Klaus?"

"This is something that he has to do on his own. We'll wait for him at the bottom of the hill," the boy explained. Appeased by his reasoning, she dropped the subject and abruptly leapt forward to grasp his wrist. While he didn't mind that initially, the sharp tug she gave him towards the fence made him wary. "What are you doing, Lexa?"

She gave him a bright smile that made him even more suspicious (though he would only admit to himself that it made his heart skip a beat in his chest despite what mischief lay behind it.) "Come pet the cows first," she insisted. "They're really nice! I've named this one Henry. That's a good cow name, don't you think?"

His expression became bemused. "Uh, sure. But. . . animals and I don't get along. Maybe we should—"

"Come on. It's fun! And unlike horses they don't startle that much so it's really easy to pet them. Here, I'll help." Before he could protest, she'd yanked him the rest of the way within reaching distance of the animal. He lost his balance and stumbled towards her, hard enough to crash into her back. The girl didn't seem to notice— or mind— and adjusted her grip so that her hand lay on top of his. With her free one, she guided their fingers to the cow's neck to rest against the spotted coat.

Five hardly noticed the softness of the animal's pelt or the warmth that came from it. Instead, all he could think about was the warmth that came from her— the girl who hadn't seemed to change since they'd been (actual) kids. He was so distracted by her closeness that he barely spared a glance in the animal's direction; his gaze caught on her face and he could only study the brightness of her eyes and how she exclaimed enthusiastically over the cow. His eyes flicked down to her lips.

Unable to fight the urge, his arm slid around her waist to pull her against him. Then, he blinked away from the enclosure to land in front of the car. The blonde huffed. "Five! I wanted to pet the cows!"

"Forget about the cows," he replied carelessly. He slid into the driver's seat. "Let's go."

Alexa frowned slightly at his sudden change of attitude but complied. Before she climbed in, she waved to the cattle. "'Bye Henry!"

It was a short ride back to the end of the road and Five parallel parked against the fence. She beamed at the sight of what greeted them. "Oh, good. Even more cows!"

The blonde headed for the fence to make these cows like her, too. Before she could attempt to lure one over with grass— despite it being the same on both sides— Five blinked over to her and took her hand. "Would you let the stupid cows be?"

She turned to face him and was ready to argue that they weren't stupid but decided that he was right (as usual.) She shrugged. "I'm only entertaining myself. What do you suggest we do instead?"

This time, it was the boy who pulled her forward until she was flush against him. Her eyes were captured by his green ones and she couldn't tear her gaze away from him. He leaned forward slightly until the brim of his hat bumped against her forehead. In a lower voice, he offered: "we could become Klaus' worst nightmare."

She didn't even really know what that meant but found herself agreeing anyway. Her voice was rather breathless as she replied, "o-okay."

He gave her a cocky smirk as they returned to the car. She could hear the radio still playing faintly but her attention was solely focused on the boy as he took a seat in the back; she couldn't have even said what song it was if someone had asked. All she could think about was how her heart was pounding in her chest as he gave her arm an impatient tug; she still wasn't used to the fact that they could do this whenever they wanted to. She turned slightly and took a seat on his lap.

Her legs remained outside of the car and her feet dangled above the gravel road as she twisted to face the man she loved. One of her hands lifted to cup his face while the other was placed on his shoulder for support. Five's expression was soft as he gazed down at her and without a thought, he leaned into her touch. Alexa wasted no more time and tilted her head up so that she could kiss him— except the brim of his hat got in the way.

With a quiet (and a little awkward laugh) he took it off his head and placed it on the seat next to them. As they resumed their activity, his arm returned to its position around her waist to hold her against him. His left hand came to rest on her leg just underneath the hem of her navy skirt.

Unlike their kiss in the barn in '63, the ones they'd had in this timeline were slower and (if possible) more passionate. They were almost reminiscent of their 'library time' from when they'd been younger and had been shy but curious about their feelings for each other. 

Eventually, Alexa's lips moved from his to press along his cheek and jaw. As the boy tilted his head to give her better access, she finally spoke between kisses: "we should. . . go to. . . the grocery. . . store."

Although Five's mind could barely form a coherent thought, the strangeness of her suggestion prompted him to echo: "grocery store?"

Finally (unfortunately), she pulled away to meet his eyes. "Yeah. I mean, I think it would be fun to do a 'normal person' thing. We could-we could be like a real couple without superpowers or anything." A faint smile quirked on her lips. "I bet even doing taxes would be fun. You could probably give the IRS a run for their money."

He gave her an amused smile as his (pleasantly) jumbled mind began to form some sort of rational order. "You'd really want to make a trip to the grocery store a date?"

She shrugged and focused her eyes on the zipper of his vest. Her fingers played with the metal pull as she tugged it lightly up and down. "Not a first date. For that I was thinking the aquarium. Or the zoo, but the aquarium is inside and has air conditioning. I was just thinking. . . you lost so much time to the apocalypse that you've never really done anything except superhero stuff. I've made a list."

Touched, he gave her thigh a gentle squeeze— which made her realize the placement of his hand. She'd been so caught up in their impromptu make-out session that she hadn't noticed anything else besides what his lips were doing. Her eyes flicked up to meet his soft green ones.

"You've made a list?" the boy repeated with interest.

"Uh. . . yeah. I— Well, I've always believed that you'd come back, you know, and you'd need to find things to do that weren't apocalypse-related. Obviously I don't have the list anymore— it's back in my apartment in the original 2019— but now that you're retired we could cross off some things."

Since he'd reunited with Alexa, Five had begun to realize that she'd never given up on him. When he'd been stuck in the apocalypse, he'd hoped that she hadn't, but wouldn't let himself fully believe it. Now, after she occasionally shared anecdotes about what had happened while he'd been gone, he was starting to understand how much faith— and love— she had for him. Clearly her confession in '63 had been more than just words (he'd never doubted for a second that they had been) but her feelings for him showed in her actions, too.

There was a pause, and then— "I L-word you."

Five looked endearingly frustrated with himself. The blonde couldn't hide her smile at his second failed attempt. "You mean love, right?"

"Yes."

She thought it was kind of cute that he couldn't actually say the word. He was good at so many things that it was inevitable he'd be bad at something. At least he was trying; he'd spent so many years denying the existence of his feelings that it was rather refreshing that he was admitting them on some level. Alexa gently brushed her thumb over his cheek. "Don't force it, Fi. It just has to come naturally, alright? I do know that you love me so just take your time. We've got nothing to do but make up for the years we've both lost."

One thing that he'd always admired about Alexa was her patience. It seemed like she had it in spades— with their siblings, with idiots in general, with kids, with him— whereas he had it in short supply. If their positions had been switched, he was certain he'd give up before they were even halfway through. She'd always played the long game; waiting to practice her powers, taking her time with exams and everything in between. They were a perfect balance: where she was slow and steady, he was quick and wired. Where she was kind and soft, he was terse and sharp-edged.

Instead of replying with words he didn't really have, he leaned down to press his lips against hers in another slow kiss, this one to show his appreciation for how much she understood him. Alexa slid her hand down to lay it against his chest, underneath his flannel button-down and against his white t-shirt. They resumed their make-out session and— too caught up with each other to pay attention to their surroundings— they didn't notice the wall of pale light that expanded past the car and out to the field of cows.

Even the distressed mooing that came from the animals as the wall contracted didn't phase them; it was only when it retreated past their car hard enough to force them apart that they looked around in confusion. Alexa was the first to notice the difference. "The cows!"

She climbed out of the car and ran to the fence as if being closer to the field would make them reappear. Five followed her and looked around at the empty pasture with dismay. "Oh, can't I get one fucking day off?"