Fireproof

"Wallet, check. Backpack, check. Rot? Oh God where is he this time?" Klaus twisted around the girls’ room hopelessly, “Kenzie, where’s your blood fiend?”

The house was filled with chaotic movement that morning that they were supposed to leave, the front door was open and Dave was bringing bags through and stuffing them into the vehicle. Ben was sweeping the cabin trying to make sure that they didn’t leave anything behind and Klaus was desperately attempting to keep the kids somewhat corralled while getting their belongings packed up.

“Kenzie!” Klaus circled out of the room and looked around.

“Yeah!?” She ran in from outside, she seemed to have a bunch of leaves and twigs tangled into her hair. Klaus didn’t ask.

“Where’s Rot-rot? He’s not in the doll.”

She shrugged unhelpfully. She was distracted by all the activities she wanted to fit into Texas before they left.

Klaus audibly groaned, “Well, if he doesn’t want to be left behind he better show himself!” He said, head tilted, listening. He wasn’t sure if the blood fiend actually understood what he was saying - it was probably more like when you threaten your cat even though your words fall on deaf ears sleeping on top of the fridge.

“Did you check Kenz’ backpack?” Ben offered as he passed by.

“Yes, I checked the backpack.”

“He doesn’t want to go home…” Kenzie offered impatiently, when he didn’t immediately answer while his eyes scanned over the environment trying to catch a glimpse of the fiend Kenzie ran back outside.

Before he went back into the kids’ bedroom he walked past Sally who was standing two inches from the TV screen, watching a “Wipeout” rerun at full volume.

“Sweetheart, I get that this is taking longer than we anticipated but I swear we are about to leave--” He clicked the TV off and patted her on the back, “Two minutes tops.”

She didn’t respond, just watched him as he moved away through the back door. When she couldn't see him anymore she grabbed the remote and clicked it back on. She giggled as a man bounced off of one of the big red balls and tumbled into the slime.

“Is that everything!? Klaus?” Dave came back inside and glanced around.

“No, the girls’ stuff still needs to be put in the car - but we can’t find Rot-rot, Klaus is looking for him now.” Ben offered from where he was packing up a few water bottles and snacks in the kitchen.

Dave thought about it for a moment then checked the clock on his phone, “Alright, I’m going to go ahead and put the rest of it in the car. I’ll leave the doll out.”

“Sounds good.”

“Tv time’s almost up, Kiddo.” Dave reminded Sally as he walked by. She held the remote like a flower and waited to see if he was going to actually make her turn the TV off. When he didn’t she shrugged and went back to laughing at the contestant’s spills.

Dave didn’t make it to the back bedroom before he was intercepted by Kenzie, “Dad!” She whined.

“Hey, what’s up?”

She was holding her head strangely to the side and grimacing. Dave knelt down and looked her over, “What have you been doing?”

“I can’t get it out!” She tugged at a lump in her hair and yelled, “It hurts!”

He stopped her, “Don’t pull at it - That’ll just make it worse.” He squinted, attempting to separate her hair from the maelstrom of items that were tangled and stuck in her locks. “Looks like you’ve got a briar patch in your hair - were you just dragging your head through the woods?”

“Maybe.” She whined, wincing as he separated a piece of hair and pulled out a twig from the mess. “I was doing stuff.”

“Alright…” Dave picked her up and retreated back into the kitchen, sitting her down at a table chair. He looked through her hair, finding pieces of the burr that had gotten stuck and twisted with the twigs and leaves she had apparently been crawling through.

“Don’t touch it - I’ll be right back.” He left and came back with a brush and some hair ties. He began the delicate process of extracting all the foliage from her curls and untangling the kinks and rats’ nests.

Ben finished packing the small to-go bag, he glanced over to where Dave was strategically attempting to save Kenzie’s hair while the child squirmed in the chair, face screwed up in what Ben hoped was some sort of lesson learned about climbing through the woods head first. He sat down and watched; The Tv was still on, Klaus was cursing up a storm from the next room and Dave was giving him a ‘oh god, I think I might need scissors’ look. It looked like they were going to miss their originally planned leaving time so he might as well relax.

******************************************************************************

Brian Katz stepped out of his truck and quietly closed the door, he felt like he was on some sort of stealth mission. He was hurt, but he didn’t register it like that and instead converted that feeling to frustration and anger. He walked forward with the attitude that he was going to have to catch a lying child in the act of drinking or some other crime.

He walked up the path to the cabin, thankful that no one had apparently heard him pull up and although there was a car out front, the trunk was open and not fully packed. The door was wide open and he could hear voices from inside and the sounds of a TV.

“--That round, creepy little bastard and I are about to throw hands--” A voice he didn’t recognize.

“We’re not going to leave him, right?” A loud child’s voice responded. “Rot likes it here and he doesn’t want to go home.” The voice explained.

“--Sally, turn that down, please. No, we won’t leave him, but maybe we need to keep him better contained so this doesn’t keep happening.--” Another strange voice said in a calmer, more amused tone.

“Christ!” Said the first voice, “Did you get into a fight with a bush?!”

“--We haven’t ruled that out - hold still, sweetie--” Brian’s chest constricted at the familiar sound.

“Ouch!”

“Sorry.” Dave’s voice came through again.

Brian prepared himself then walked inside, opting not to knock since who knew what would happen if the other man answered the door. If he could just speak with Dave then maybe he could fix this.

He moved inside quietly, it wasn’t very hard since the environment was so loud and he turned the corner to see a small gathering of people in the kitchen. He first noticed that one man was completely blue, sitting at the table watching everyone else.

Dave was in the middle, he looked a lot different since the last time Brian had seen him, he was sporting a full beard now and seemed noticeably filled out. He was brushing the hair of a child whom Brian didn’t recognize. There was something wrong with her head - like a birth defect or something; he had never seen anything like it. Although, they looked like horns.

Next to them was a strange man who resembled the child, Brian noted with some distaste that he was wearing a woman’s blouse and eyeliner.

The child noticed him first, “Who are you!? Momma, is that a spook?”

All the adults seemed to jump when they saw him standing there and the man in the woman’s blouse yelped slightly and grabbed a butter knife from the counter. Dave’s arm flew over the head of the child, covering up the horns then his shoulders fell when he saw who was in the doorway.

He locked eyes briefly with Dave and it hurt when he recognized him then frowned and looked away.

“I- uh - The door was open, I hope it’s okay I just walked in.”

Brian smiled sheepishly, “Hi, Dave.”

*******************************************************************************************************

Klaus’ eyes switched from Brian’s face to his Fiance’s - waiting for a reaction from either of them. His stomach twisted protectively and he moved to stand closer to Dave and Kenzie.

Dave, however, only swallowed hard and then looked down, continuing to meticulously brush out Kenzie’s tangled locks. He was using a brush and a comb to make removing the burr and twigs as painless as possible. Brian was standing there for several tense, awkward moments before Dave finally spoke up - still not taking his eyes off of his task.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, tensely conversational.

“I mean, what was I supposed to do, David? You didn’t visit. You didn’t call.”

Dave raised his eyebrows skeptically, glancing quickly at Klaus who was standing close with his arms crossed. “I told you we were coming to Texas and you made it very clear that we were not welcome in your home.”

“I didn’t mean you - and you know that.”

“If my family isn’t welcome, then neither am I - It’s as simple as that.”

Brian pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, “For God’s sake David - Can I just speak with you?” He gestured to everyone else in the room of which only Klaus and Kenzie were currently visible, “Privately?”

“Dave, you don’t have to deal with this.” Klaus moved closer and said urgently.

“I wasn’t talking to you!” Brian snapped.

“Believe me, you don’t seem like the kind that would and that’s just fine for me but you don’t get to just waltz in here and interrogate him” Klaus snapped right back beginning to walk towards the surprise guest.

Dave stopped him, lightly tugging him back by the sleeve, “Hey, It’s okay --” He glanced at his uncle, “First of all, don’t ever talk to him like that again and secondly, you’ll have to wait until I finish doing my daughter’s hair.”

Brian’s mouth tightened but he nodded curtly and turned to go out the door without any more protest.

“I can put on a dress if it makes you more comfortable.” Klaus stuck his tongue out, glaring at the other man as he walked away.

Brian didn’t respond.

*****************************************************************************************************

It was a full twenty minutes later when Dave finally came out of the cabin; he was alone even though Klaus had adamantly offered to come with him, he couldn’t lie - he found the protective side of his fiance to be very attractive but maybe not so helpful in this situation. He almost regretted it when he found his uncle Brian leaned up against his truck staring off into the distance.

Dave was a full grown man with a family of his own, he was a war veteran and routinely fought fires - he had nothing to be ashamed of and yet something dropped in his stomach, something akin to shame when Brian looked up at him, face sullen and serious.

“What’s this about?”

“David, you gotta stop this.” He gestured to the cabin, “This isn’t right, this isn’t you.”

Dave’s eyes followed where his uncle’s finger pointed before he turned back to face him again, “Is that it? You came all the way down here to try to get me to leave my family?” He asked skeptically, “What makes you possibly think that would work?”

“This isn’t a family! This is -” His uncle Brian stumbled over his words, he looked positively distraught, “You’re sick, you need to just come back home. You can work in the shop, you can -”

Dave took a step forward, “Stop. Listen, this is my family, okay? I love Klaus in the same way that you loved Aunt Sara. I’m currently looking after two girls right now, and I love them both more than anything - there’s nothing wrong with our family, there’s nothing wrong with me.”

Brain stared at him for several moments, his expression half concern and half dismayed, “Where did this even come from? The Dave I knew -”

“The Dave you knew was a lying teenager.” He interrupted him, “Look, I’m sorry. I should have told you, this isn’t new. I was born like this and I’ve been this way forever even if I’m just now starting to feel good about it.”

“And you just declined to mention this? David, I’ve known you since you were born, you can’t hide something like this. You were a good kid and I know you’re a good man, there’s something wrong with this. I need you to take a step back - before you throw your life away on these unnatural feelings.”

Dave paused, his face falling as he quickly started to give up, “I ‘declined’ to mention it because I was so desperate for your approval that I literally signed up for war before I risked losing your respect.” He swallowed, “And because I was scared, goddamn I saw the shit you put Nora through and I--”

Brian put a hand up, “Look Nora, Nora’s always been troubled, okay? You don’t need to follow in her footsteps.”

“Nora’s a Neonatal nurse, she graduated top of her class. She owns her own home and she’s on the city council. In highschool she was a straight A student and the captain of the debate club.”

Dave got close to Brian’s face like he was desperate for his words to sink in, “You weren’t there when she graduated, you refused to be there when she won trophies or when she got job promotions. She was in a car accident and you didn’t even tell me for a week - and she deserved that treatment, what? Because she’s gay? Or because she’s a woman? I could never tell but I fucking knew I wouldn’t be able to take that kind of rejection.”

Dave could feel his temper rising, “If someone were to ever pull that shit with Kenzie I would -” He took a deep breath before continuing. “So, no - I didn’t tell you I was gay. I was trying to survive - but here I am now, and I’ve got nothing to hide”

“If you felt that way, why did you even bother calling me before you left?” Brian asked coldly.

“Because there are things that should happen!” Dave snapped, his temper flaring suddenly in a way he didn’t anticipate, “Okay?! I should have told you when I started dating Klaus, I should have been able to call you and tell you how happy I was to be with him. I should have been able to call you when we moved in and you should have been happy that I was happy.” Dave’s voice broke and he was so angry with himself for it, “I SHOULD have called you the first time Kenzie ever called me dad and you should have counted her as a blessing addition to the family.”

Brian was looking pointedly at the ground.

“When we got to Texas we SHOULD have gone to visit you so you could make us your famous barbeque and told the girls the stories you used to tell me. You should have been there when I proposed to the man that I love.”

“And I know I’m so stupid for continuing to believe that all the things that should happen could happen, you know? Because I should have stood up to you, I should have stood up for Nora instead of cowering in your shadow for fear that you’d do to me what you did to her. I should have never kept quiet while you shunned her and ignored her and ridiculed her -”

Dave took a deep breath, “But I’m getting off track - what I mean to say is... There is so much love, and happiness, and joy that you should have been a part of but you’re choosing to lose it because of your hate, and your fear of something so innocent that you don’t understand…”

He rubbed his neck, “So, just take it from me - that long list of ‘should haves’ will turn into regrets that you will never be able to get back.”

They fell silent for several moments before his uncle Brian spoke up, “Dave, it’s not--”

“Just go.” Dave didn’t look at him as he spoke, “You’re right, I shouldn’t have called you.”

Brian swallowed and without another word turned away and got into his truck. Dave didn’t move from his spot, he didn’t allow his expression to change as his uncle drove away and disappeared down the dirt road. When he could no longer see the dust trail he fell back against the car and rubbed his face with his hands.

He felt like punching something or crying or punching something while crying but instead he stared off into space, his mind thrumming with a mixture of anger and a grief that was creeping back in. It was the same grief that he felt when he first realized that he was gay and he knew he shouldn’t feel guilty about feeling it but he did.

“Are you sad?” A soft voice came out of nowhere.

He jumped and glanced around, Sally was standing a few feet away, staring at him with big, unblinking eyes. He sighed, “Sally - how long have you been standing there?” When he spoke he sounded out of breath and trembly.

“For a while.”

He cringed, “I thought you were inside watching TV.”

She shook her head.

“I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have had to hear that.”

“It’s okay, I’m 70 years old.” She said, matter of factly.

He huffed, slightly caught off guard, “Fair enough. Is everything okay?” It was so hard to tell with their little ghost child - she didn’t convey many emotions.

Sally nodded, “Klaus is stuck in a vent.”

He smiled, “Klaus is stuck in a vent? Let me guess, Rot was hiding in a vent and he tried to climb in there and get him?

She nodded.

He chuckled, “We better go get him then, huh?”

Another nod.

“Are you sad?” She repeated, staring a hole into his skull.

He thought about it for a few moments, “Yeah…” He admitted, “I’m a little sad.”

She did the thing where she opens her arms up stiffly and tilts her head. Dave smiled and leaned down to hug her, squeezing her gently against his chest and lifting her up on his hip. He ruffled her hair, “Thank you, sweetie.”

She hugged his neck and he started walking back into the cabin, “We better go help them…”

Ben glanced up from his seat at the kitchen table, apparently whatever was going on was not enough for him to get up from his book. For a moment Dave thought he was about to ask him how it went with Brian but he apparently decided against it and instead he smirked and gestured his head towards the bedroom, “Are you really sure you want to marry him? Like, for forever?”

Dave snorted and put Sally down, he patted her on the back, “You can watch some TV if you want, I think we’re going to be late outta here.”

The ghost child clapped and skipped over to the Tv.

In the bedroom, true to what he had been told, Klaus was hanging ass and legs out of the large air vent in the corner. His shirt had ridden up and his bare hips were painfully lodged in the metal frame that was not made for a grown man.

Kenzie was giggling hysterically from the whole situation, holding onto one of his legs and trying to tug him out in a painful diagonal stretch. It said a lot about Dave’s new lifestyle that this didn’t really phase him in any way, it was almost tame.

When Kenzie saw him she dropped the leg causing a pop and an audible “Ow!” from inside the vent, “Dad!” She ran up to him, looked back at her father then stated pragmatically, “Momma’s stuck in the vent and I don’t think we can get him out. He won’t budge!”

“Ah, we’ll be able to get him out, go to the trunk and get me all the butter we’ve got in the kitchen bag, please.”

“Are we going to cook him?” She whispered like she didn’t want Klaus to hear.

Dave laughed, “I promise we won’t cook him, we’re just going to butter him up a little. Like we did that time you got your head stuck in the baluster.”

“Oh, okay!”

“Don’t sound so disappointed!” Klaus’ muffled voice came from inside the wall.

She ran off and Dave moved to sit next to his fiance’s Winnie the Pooh situation, “Nice ass.” He stated and smacked Klaus’ ass playfully.

“Enjoying the view, are we?”

“It’s not bad - so, question. Why wasn’t your first thought when you saw this Sally sized vent to just ask Sally, the ghost 7 year old who could just walk through the wall if something happened, to go in there and get him?”

He could hear Rot-rot’s defeated grumbling from inside the vent.

“I wasn’t thinking! This little bastard has actively been trying to ruin my life so now it’s personal.”

“I don’t think it’s personal, he just wants desert - he’s a sugar addict and he acts out when he doesn’t get it.”

“He ate my engagement ring!”

“He probably thought it was a Lucky Charms marshmallow.”

Klaus grumbled but after a moment said in a more serious tone, which was counteracted by the fact that Dave was staring at his ass and hearing his voice muffled through the wall. “Are you okay? I could have beat him up if you needed me to - just pop me outta here and I’ll - I’ll get him for you.”

Dave smiled, a gesture lost on Klaus’ ass, “I tried - I lost my temper a little but I think he’s gone for good.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s his loss.”

“I know but- It just sucks, you don’t deserve to be treated that way. You’re a good man and you take good care of your family. Anybody would be lucky to have you as their son.”

“Thanks, K.” He said, solemnly, resting his hand on Klaus’ ass and squeezing gently.

“Enjoying yourself back there, Katz?”

“Well, I’d hold your hand but this is all I’ve got at the moment.”

“We’ll continue this conversation later, in the meantime, are you gonna get me out or are you just going to keep playing bongos on my cheeks?”

Dave chuckled, “I’m waiting for the butter.”

“Ugh, gross, I’m going to smell like a raw turkey all the way home. Can’t you just pull me out.”

He sighed in response and grabbed Klaus’ hips, “Okay, I’ll try. Here we go!”

He tugged as hard as he could and was met not only with very little success but also a yelp of pain as Klaus’ skin pinched the edges of the metal frame, “Shit! Nope - butter. Butter’s good. Wait for butter.”

Dave fell back against the wall next to what was visible of his fiancé, he slapped his ass one more time just for fun and sighed

“I can’t wait to get home.”