She punched and screamed at him, aggression and hatred written all over her face. Her soaked cheeks and screeching voice was all he could see - yet he couldn't see the mother of his child, no. He couldn't see the nurtering woman she once was, the one he dismissed the very first day he commanded the witches to kill her and her unborn baby. He saw a filthy wolf who tried to run amuck with his child to the depths of a dank swamp with the unbathed, slovenly vermin of a pack she calls a family. His contempt for her kind grew worse as the day grew old and as time went on.

Hayley's pounding on his chest brought him back to reality. Klaus stared down at her inferior wretched self along with the group of hicks known as her pack. She stole his child for the betterment of her health? She kidnapped Klaus' child because those animals think they could take care of her better than he? All Klaus could do, from not ripping Hayley's heart out of her chest out of respect for Hope, was watch her in all her grime and blood picking her little wolf-like fingers into his chest.

"Your family ruined her life!"

Something snapped. He stared at her with the coldest eyes and the thinnest, unmoving lips he could ever produce, Klaus could stay silent no longer. All he wanted was Hope's happiness, all his family wanted - all his family sacrificed was for that child he loved more than anything. He and his family would put their lives on the line for the only innocent thing the Mikaelson's had ever produced, he was not a caring person, he tried to cancel out any love from his heart, but Klaus only just realized his love for two people who were not Elijah and Rebekah and one of them were already out of his grasp, she hated him, he knew it. But he'd be dammed if he lost his daughter, his hope too.

It took all of his will power not to kill her then and there, not out of anger but of jealousy.

"There is a very short list of people who tried to take Hope away from me, and you're the only one breathing." Klaus meanicingly said to the mother of his child, and he meant it. Time went slow for the both of them as he held her throat in his hand in a matter of seconds. His emotions for her were not understandable, for he knew he couldn't kill her, but he wouldn't let her take his child. Hayley was left defenseless and struggled under his grip.

With a dry throat and a fast beating heart, he looked upon her with an aching to end the fighting and get his daughter and leave - as to end the pain that both were suffering.

No. He needed to hurt her, she will not take his daughter away from him again. Through his gritted teeth, he looked up at her hands trying to break free from his death grip on her jugular.

"My family took care of her when your family played hide and seek in the forrest!" he screamed, while letting go of her and clenching his hands on his head. She fell to the ground crying, while trying to restabalize her breathing. Fear is the only thing that striked into her heart, she was frightened of the father of her child right now, and he knew it. The man that gave her everything and yet took away so much from her life in the short amount of time she knew him.

Hayley got to her feet, still gasping for air and glared at him through her glossy eyes and stained cheeks. He knows no compassion, no love. He never cared for her, ever since the day he told the witches to kill her and Hope. The few seconds she looked at him felt like an eternity, forget trying to talk sense into him - this was a battle, and not between father and mother. This was life and death now, it was either taking Hope and killing him or taking Hope and severely incapatictating the all mighty hybrid, Niklaus Mikaelson.

In the blink of an eye she tore away a twig and aimed for his head, he dodged and she tried again. He was too fast for her, she tried again, and again. And each time he dodged her, opting to no longer hit her but to avoid her hits like she were nothing, like she was the weak little wolf everyone thought she was, she got hotter and more annoyed, she couldn't even touch him! She yelled with her pained throat and the nearly collapsed trachea he gave her. And then, with every ounce in her being, she threw down the twig and slapped him straight across the face.

He stood there.

Klaus slowly turned his head towards her, his expression unreadable, almost like he was shocked at just how human her action was. It was as if she wasn't fighting one of the oldest vampires in the world, but the father of her child.

Hayley stood still for a moment, looking at him with stone eyes. She slowly retrieved her hand from the apparent light bruise, that quickly healed, from the side of his face. She backed up cautiously, but decided to ultimately take advantage of his vulnerability and jumped to the second floor of the balcony to frantically look for her daughter.

She ran through the house as fast as she could, looking through every door and every room. Her movements weren't fast enough, as the older, more experienced vampire caught up to her in a matter of seconds in his bedroom. He stood at the doorway with a seething look on his features, not many have gotten away with slapping him on the face and living to tell the tale. There were so many emotions in the room that time couldn't keep up. Hayley wanted so much to break down and stop fighting, she wanted to handle this like civilized people. But with a Mikaelson, there was no such thing as being civil.

Klaus stood there with a plethora of emotion on his face. If someone were there, they wouldn't believe the amount of expression shown on his features, a mixture of angriness, regret and sorrow.

Time ticked slowly, as Hayley barely clenched the spot where her human heart used to be. "My parents left me." She whispered in an uneven tone with an aching voice. "Your parents abandoned you..." she stared at his hardwood floors as blood dripped from the cuts on her face, with the mixture of sweat and tears accompanying it. "She deserves something better than we have.." Hayley continued, raising her voice and walking towards Klaus. "She deserves better than this!" Hayley yelled once again punching and pushing him back into the hallway. He just stood there once again and took the beatings, no longer avoiding them.

"Fight back!" She screamed into him, "All you do is fight! You're a monster and you don't give a damn about anyone but yourself!"

Monster.

Was all she thought of him. He was a monster, he was born as an illegitimate bastard child to a father who deemed him a monster, he killed his youngest brother and his mother, enslaved his sister and brothers in a never ending sleep, and for that they called him a monster. He never knew love, the closest thing to a son he ever had, ended up wanting to kill him and his family. Even to Marcel he was a monster.

"You condemned me to hell the very first day you found out I was pregnant!" She yelled with a hint of betrayal in her voice.

His expression was clearer once he heard that. His eyes stared into hers with a hint of remorse, as if his way of apologizing. It took a considerable toll on her, for her to bring it up right here and now. But obviously his expression went unnoticed as her pounding fists moved his body closer to the edge of the balcony. Klaus' stern lips turned into a frown.

"Fight back!" she yelled in tear soaked screeches.

He could smell the tears and blood mixed with the sweat and fast heart beat on her. He could see the pain in her eyes with every pound she made to his chest; time was never an enemy to the immortal vampire, but it was as if it went slower and slower and then stopped.

Her painful tears were enough for him to almost grab her fists and hold them, to tell her to take Hope with her, to go live anywhere she wanted with her pack and to live and love anyone she wanted to and to fall in love with another man. He wanted to end her pain and tell her to run away with Elijah, because Klaus didn't care about her. He didn't want her around, he wanted her out of his life forever. Telling her he could live with out her and Hope and that he could live without ever remembering their existences in his life.

But he couldn't lie to her.

Time resumed and Klaus looked down at her pounding fists on his chest. He just stood there, letting her take out all her anger on him. As the hits got weaker and weaker, Hayley heard a familiar sound and seized her attack on the immortal vampire.

Hope Mikaelson stood there, in all her innocence with a chunk of her hand in her mouth, watching as both of her parents fought a supernatural fight to protect her from the other.

Klaus looked on as Hayley slowly turned around and walked towards their older daughter, who was able to stand and walk now, and looking especially like her mother. As she embraced Hope, Klaus looked away with a heavy heart and left the balcony in the blink of an eye.

Later that night

Hayley soothed Hope asleep, singing lullabies as she rocked her in her arms in the old room she stayed in before leaving the psychotic family known as the Mikaelsons. Clean and grime free from earlier's altercation, she couldn't help but wonder where Klaus went after their fight. As if she cared about his whereabouts, him storming off after an argument isn't very like him, so Hayley hadn't understood what was going through his mind when he looked at her the way he did.

She noticed the warmth in the look he gave her before she reunited with their daughter.

But still, trying to understand Klaus' demeanor would be like trying to figure out how fish think or why dogs bark; It's not something anyone can just decipher, and him seemingly showing her mercy by not hitting her back or, better yet, killing her right then and there, straight up confuses her. If he really wanted to get rid of her, why didn't he just exterminate her and her entire pack when he had the chance?

Perhaps she was thinking too much about it, the thought probably never crossed his mind, that's why he's been so merciful with her. Hayley scoffed with a tremble in her voice as she held her baby, her emotions so out of whack ever since she was banished from seeing her child. She looked down upon Hope's sleeping form with tears coiling in the cresses of her eyes as she thinks about how much Klaus has given and taken from her. The one night that she felt special, someone loving her and holding her, resulted in the unexpected joy that overwhelmed her existence.

She gained her baby, but lost him.

Needless to say, Hayley figured he didn't care for her once he ordered the witches to kill her. The amount of hurt she felt was expected, but she didn't actually believe that Klaus would care for her after a one-night stand, did she?

Hayley's shaky laugh mixed with a single tear spilling on Hope's onesie might have answered that question, what would she expect from a heartless bastard like that?

Wiping her tears, Hayley put Hope down in her crib.

"That laugh could strike fear into your worse enemies,"

Hayley remained unmoved and tucked her daughter into the man made crib Elijah made for her, out of wood, ironically.

"Little wolf,"

Hayley cleared her throat and turned on her heel. The anger and disappointment in her features coming back almost instantly when she landed her eyes on his. As expected, his remorseful attitude had been replaced with the same old Klaus she knew and loathed, the one that came up with witty comments at inappropriate times, and oh, also the one that broke her.

"I know I'm not welcome Klaus. I'm leaving as soon as I pack up some of my stuff I left here," I was hoping you'd be gone before I came back, she thought idly as she turned her back for the last time on Klaus. She was determined to never see him again, not only because he would probably kill her sooner than later, but because she couldn't handle the heart ache, yes, she foolishly got attracted to the wrong person.

"I've already talked to Elijah," Hayley paused as she caressed her daughters cheeks before packing up her clothes she left in the drawers. "he said that he would be more than happy to arrange meetings where Hope and I could meet halfway before the swamp." She said while retrieving her suitcase from beneath her bed.

Klaus' lips thinned, the smirk he had gone.

"It's the best decision for Hope, I care about her wellbeing and she needs to grow up in a healthy family," She continued while shoving clothes in her bag rather roughly, clearing her throat again. "and I know I can trust Elijah and Rebekah with her for the time being," Sighing, she didn't really have much of a choice; seeing as taking her daughter wasn't an option.

Hayley didn't have to look at Klaus to know that his demeanor changed again, he disagreed with her on everything. Rolling her eyes, she swiftly zipped up her bag.

"That's unessecsary, it's not happening." He said with a stern voice, not his usual, mocking tone.

Hayley couldn't control the blood that boiled underneath her skin. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists so tight that her palms turned completely white. She couldn't control herself as her eyes started to lighten and her nails sharpen. "Dammit Klaus," Hayley said in a threatening tone ready to break again, "don't you dare think you will keep me away from my-"

"I love you."

Her voice fell flat, and time suddenly stopped for Hayley.

Silence.

It seemed like an uncomfortable amount of time passed, when only a few seconds elapsed. The air in the room felt considerably more polluted, with the raw thickness of those words seeming unreal. His stare never left her back as Hayley slowly processed what he just said to her.

She opened her eyes slowly and released her fists from the death grip on her palms one finger at a time. Still processing the information, Hayley swollowed a thick lump in her throat, she turned around to Klaus standing at the entrance of her room. His demeanor changed all right; back into the one he had earlier when he let her smash his chest in with her fists. He looked so vulnerable, yet so fierce while his eyes pierced a hole into her broken ones.

"What did you say Klaus?"

He repositioned his feet, never failing to reassert his dominance. "You will not set up meetings with my brother to see our daughter," Klaus said softly, very uncharacteristic of his usual tone. "You're staying here." He confirmed while staring at her unmoving figure.

She couldn't stop herself from not being able to tell time. Her eyes once again sang the same tune of hot tears streaming down her face. She brought her hands up in an effort to hide her emotions; but she knew she couldn't hide them from Klaus. Hayley weakly walked over to him, not knowing if what he meant was true. If it weren't, she would have been ready to die right there and then. She stood in front of him for a few moments before Klaus tilted her head up and wiped away her tears.

She latched, as if clinging for her life, onto Klaus. It felt so foreign yet so familiar to her, his warmth was something even Elijah couldn't duplicate. Nobody could have replaced the feelings she felt towards Klaus for some reason. Hayley wrapped her arms around him and he held her as tightly as he ever could.

Hayley pulled her face away from his shoulder and looked into his thousand-year old eyes, she kissed him for the first time since they had their one night stand and it felt like they didn't miss a beat. Klaus held her tighter and deepened it as much as he could while wiping away the rest of the tears that fell down her cheeks.

They both stood at the threshold of Hayley's old room and held each other with the love that both had thought was long gone. She rested her head back into his neck and whispered something to him.

Klaus kissed her forehead and quietly asked her what she said.

Both of their feelings finally came back to light through the fighting they had over their child.

She repeated it.

Hope is what brought them back together.

"I love you too." Hayley said.