[ Number Five's eyebrows lift, practically disappearing beneath his bangs. Six Hargreeves siblings having a joint birthday party? He can't really wrap his head around that. Why? For what? How many people could they possibly have invited over? Are they all that much better at making friends than he will ever be? The only friends Five has ever had are Numbers Six and Seven when they were children, and as an adult, a mannequin and a fourteen-year-old girl. Neither of his adult friendships have been or are terribly healthy or appropriate, but maybe some part of him will always be trapped in that first year of the apocalypse; will always be a scared, lonely thirteen-year-old boy. Maybe that's why he's grown this stupid attachment to the little girl that lives with him.

But this isn't about him. It's about them; it's about Vanya, so he forces his line of thoughts to shift away from all of that and focus on her again. He nods a little and offers her an apologetic sort of smile. ]

I remember. I never understood it as a kid, but then I found your book in the rubble and I understood.

[ And after he'd finished it, he'd spent his energy completely every day for weeks trying to get back to her so that he could fix it before it happened. He'd only given up when he realized that there was no going back if he was too tired and too emotional to focus enough on the when he wanted to return to. In the end, it had taken too long and the damage had been done by the time he'd made it back. He blames himself more than he will ever let on for everything that happened to Ben and Vanya in his absence. ]

That sounds like a fucking disaster waiting to happen; a party. How did it go?