A/N: Hi, thank you for the wonderful reviews. I am so glad you are liking the pace I am taking. I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

When she entered the house, she ran upstairs excitedly, not caring about the propriety or that the abigail had looked at her with raised eyebrows and disapproving manner. She opened the bedroom door and went in and tried to catch her breath not noticing him.

Kaleb laughed at seeing her face and asked "what is that?"

She asked in confusion, her excited expression wavered for a second "what?"

He strolled to her and pointed at her lip.

"Well I didnt want him to see anything that will raise suspicion. Uncle Kol recognized me."

He gently removed the black small patch from the corner of her mouth saying "it suits you but I like you better without it" at the same time his mind registered to what she was saying.

She looked into his eyes and said excitedly "Kaleb, I met him" grabbed his hand and impulsively took them to her chest.

His heart jumped a beat at the contact but he said sounding casual "and?"

When she was done telling him, she was all smiles and the excitement was bubbling out of her she continued "he is everything I imagined Kaleb. His eyes, the same blue, the blond hair! thought I am happy to have mama's hair" laughed and then continued "Everything but…." paused for a moment, a frown appeared on her forehead and she continued "he looked sad. I think at one point he did smile but he was very serious, when mama said that he was not."

Kaleb said "people change Hope."

"that must be it!" she said thoughtfully.

After a moment of silence during which he continued to look at her face rather searchingly, she said thoughtful "I want him and mamma to meet, Kaleb."

"I am not sure if she will want to meet him right now but you should continue to do so. I just suggest that you dont tell her about you meeting him. She is going through a lot right now."

Hope hugged him excitedly making him chuckle saying "I am so happy. I am happy that I listened to you and went to see him."

And then she let go of his hand saying "I am going to see how is mama doing."

"She was asking about you. I told her that you were on a walk" he said grabbing her arm.

She nodded, understanding what he was saying and left the room.

In the evening, the footman came to the saloon, while they were having tea while Hayley was resting after Kaleb gave her some soothing herbs with her tea, and said "lady Kenner, this came for you."

Hope looked at Kaleb in confusion and took the letter from him and opened it and then after a moment said "uncle Kol has invited us to diner tomorrow at aunt Freya's house" with a question, a request, confusion in her eyes but before Kaleb could say anything, Ansel said "you and Kaleb should go. Don't tell your mother right now."

Hope was very nervous when she got out of the carriage that evening. She had decided to wear her best dress, tea pink and accessorized herself discretely with pearl jewelry and made a bun at the nape of her neck. She wanted them to like her; it was after all her first meeting with her family. She startled when someone took her hand in his warm hands. She smiled nervously at the encouraging smile Kaleb gave her as they climbed the stairs of the big house. The footman opened the door for them upon being informed who they were and led them in to the withdrawing room. The moment they entered the big room, Hope stopped at the amount of people standing there looking at her expectantly. Her gaze went to Kol in an instinct, the only face she recognized and relaxed as she saw an encouraging smile on his face, his hand on the shoulders of a young woman with startling blue eyes, brunette hair falling on her shoulder and smile on her lips. It then moved to two more women who looked very much alike with same color blue eyes, which were blurry at the moment. Their blond hair tied in bun. One of them pregnant and three young girls about her age standing next to the women whom she suspected to be her father's sisters and a young boy standing near them. She felt really overwhelmed at seeing such a big crowd and before she could formulate a thought, a voice came from the door "oh you are here" causing her to spin towards it and saw a tall man with dirty blond hair reaching up to his shoulder, with blue eyes making her wonder "does no one in her family have other color eyes"

He said with a charming smile, looking towards her "good evening. You must be Hope. I am Alexander, your uncle. Your aunt Rebekah's husband and that is Freya, your older aunt, older to your father and her two daughters Annabel and Charlotte. You know Kol and this nice young lady is your aunt Davina, his wife. Ann, Michael and Joe our kids and one you can see is not here yet" ending with a charming smile and earning a scowl from the pregnant lady.

She felt too overwhelmed to say anything. She had known about the adults albeit not by faces but the kids. they were too many and instinctively moved near Kaleb. Kol smiled as he noticed the tiny movement and said "Kaleb, Hope come sit."

Freya came out of trance and wiping her eyes said "oh pardon me Hope. Come. Ann ask Maya to bring some refreshments."

Hesitantly she moved to her aunts and cousins while Kaleb went with Kol looking more relaxed.

Within thirty minutes she was at home n the company. She found out about how old were everyone. When Rebekah asked about Hayley she was quiet for a moment and then said "mama was not feeling well but I think she is dealing with everything better than I would have."

Rebekah asked, with a worry "what happened to her?"

Hope turned to look towards Kaleb and saw him smiling at something and wondering what it was? How is he so relaxed? How does he do it every time? she turned back to Rebekah and caught her exchanging looks with Freya and said "just fever and flu. Kaleb… Kaleb, I and grandpa decided not to tell her and uncle Jackson where we were going?"

"Oh Jackson, Kaleb's father?" Rebekah commented.

"Yes" Hope smiled. "I call him uncle since we lived together from since I was born" and then asked after a short pause she abruptly ask "does papa know about me? I mean me visiting you."

"No, he does not. George, my husband, is keeping him away for tonight" Freya explained. "We just thought you would feel comfortable meeting us first."

"I have actually met him once…" she said and then hastily started to explain at seeing the confused looks on their faces "Un.. Uncle Kol told me that he goes to the lake every Saturday and I went to meet him yesterday but he does not know who I am. I mean.. my rela…tionship to him, except for my name and that I just moved here from America."

"Oh that is wonderful Hope" Rebekah said excitedly. "He will be so happy to know about you."

Hope said "but…" and then her eyes went to the young girls, not knowing how much they know or not wanting them to know how much she know, she said "until mama meets him and tells him about me, I dont want him to know."

Freya exchanged looks with Rebekah and said "alright, that is understandable. When can we meet uncle Ansel and Hayley?"

"She … I dont think she would like to meet any one right now but soon. I am sure she will" Hope said, her tone losing her enthusiasm and Rebekah got quiet and then said angrily "we must make them meet" standing up and then sat down said "please apologize for my behavior. It is just so long that … I cannot see him like that anymore."

Hope looked for a moment in confusion and then it hit her whom she was talking about and felt her breathing hitch as she remembered their meeting yesterday and how sad his eyes were. Unable to stay in the company any longer when out of blue, the feeling of disappointment at finding out about the betrayal by her father to her mother hit her so hard that she too abruptly stood up and and said "I think we should leave" walked to Kaleb and said "excuse me….. Kaleb" ignoring Freya's "but Hope dinner."

Kaleb turned to him and seeing her on the verge of tear, he stood up and walked to her without another word when she said "I want to go…." He looked back at Kol who looked confused but nodded. The moment they reached the door, it opened and two men came in. Hope felt her heart had just stopped beating.

Freya broke the silence by saying in a cheery voice "oh, George, I thought you two will not be coming. We were just having some company. Niklaus, this is Hope…"

"I know" his eyes narrowed as he looked towards the girl he had met at the lake yesterday and the first thing he noticed was the lack of patch on her face and that just made a huge difference. He felt weird and then he looked towards the young handsome six footer standing next to her when Charlotte at once said "oh uncle Nik, meet Hope and her husband Kaleb. I recently met her. She has come from America and does not know anyone. I thought I should invite her. Isn't she lovely?" not even stopping to take a breather.

Klaus nodded and said apologetically "I am sorry I interrupted your company. I can come again."

"No, come Nik" Rebekah at once said.

Hope too at once said "no, please you dont have to leave. We were just leaving" and looked towards Kaleb feeling too overwhelmed to say anything else.

Kaleb too was staring at the man whose daughter was his wife who had spend last ten years making an image of that man in her mind. At that instant he saw the resemblance between the man standing before him and the portrayed his wife had made of him before leaving for England; she had really captured him this time.

He suddenly felt her hand in his hand followed by a squeeze. Getting the hint, he said "we should be going. Thank you..ummm Mr. Mikaelson."

And led Hope out while Charlotte said "we should meet again Hope."

Hope turned to look towards her making a conscious effort not to look towards the man staring at her with those blue eyes and then consciously trying said "yes, we should. Thank you for inviting us. And ummm… sorry about not staying for dinner. It is… it is just that mama has not been feeling well."

Charlotte smiled "no matters, next time. I wish au… your mother feels better soon. I would love to meet her."

Hope's eyes went to Klaus, still staring at her and then nodded saying "good night."

Charlotte said "good night."

The moment they sat in the carriage, he held her hand and she realized that they were shaking. "Did you see him?" she asked and then blushed as she realized what she had asked.

He smiled and said gently "yes I did and you have a wonderful family Hope. They love you so much. You can see it in their eyes."

"Oh Kaleb, cant we do something for them to meet. Even if he cheated on her…No…he cheated on her!" her face fell.

He squeezed her hand gently and said in a soft voice of his "Hope, I told you day before yesterday, we dont know what really happened. They need to talk about it. I think even if he did it, he regretted it and that is why he is still unmarried."

Hope sighed and said "mama will never forgive him. It is trust that matters to her. That is broken and we both know how important trust is for her" as she started to stare outside the window, not knowing her husband's worried eyes on her.

A few hours later, after dinner during which the Mikaelson family was having really hard time keeping this secret from Klaus, and some tea afterwards, after he left and the children were asked to leave the adults alone before making sure once again that they will not tell Niklaus anything, Kol looked at Freya and said "if Hayley does not tell Klaus this week, I will tell him. We cannot keep this secret from him. For the love of God, she is here and they have a child together who is married. He is going to explode. How old is she again? Sixteen! Younger than our Charlotte. How could Hayley get her married to him? The good thing is that, I really like the boy" his voice calming down towards the end of the sentence.

Freya smiled "me too and yes, give her a week to reach out to him and if she does not do it, then we will do something. This time, she cannot go away without us knowing, so we don't have to worry about that."

Kol said "yes, that is a relief. Kaleb has a job here and Hayley will never leave Hope and her new family. I hope so. I never thought she would leave Nik but…." he trailed off, sadness in his eyes as he recalled how he had felt when he had found out what had happened. He sighed and then continued "To think Freya, uncle Ansel was with them all these years. I don't know how to feel about it? Angry or happy? His own son was deprived of him but his granddaughter and daughter-in-law got the privilege of spending their life with him. I want to know everything that happened wit them. Encourage Charlotte to cultivate friendship with her. Will you Freya?"

Freya smiled and said "I will. Do you want another cup of tea?"

Davina smiled and said "I will have it. I feel so happy. I know he will be happy after the initial anger and shock. She is beautiful."

"She is! Isn't she?" Freya asked, excitedly.

"who? Rebekah asked as she entered the drawing room.

"Hope" Davina said "and what a pretty name."

"That is all good but the hinderance I am foreseeing is that, Hayley does not believe anything I told her so Nik will have some trouble making her believe him and I am afraid that she will keep on postponing telling him. I just wish I can tell him. What worse can happen?" Kol asked as he sipped the tea.

"he will do it and as for telling Nik, lets give her a few days. She asked for that. This is the least we can do after what this family did to her. In her mind, Klaus is guilty. Not to mention that she is sick right now. If Nik finds out about her and Hope, he would want to meet her just like right now I want to. They have a lot to talk about, a lot of misunderstandings to clear up and for that she needs to get better" Rebekah said confidently as sat down slowly. "He will not let her out of his sight this time."

"just one more week and then I will do something." Kol said as he leaned back and continued to sip his tea.

In the meantime Hope was confused about what she was feeling. One minute, she was happy and the next she was upset at what her father did to her mother and then confused at what aunt Rebekah had said about him being sad and her, herself noticing that sadness in his eyes.

Hayley was observing different shades of emotions on her daughter's face, ever since she had come from meeting her friend, she had been like that so she asked her "how was dinner at your friend's?"

"It was wonderful." She said suddenly getting excited and then afraid that she might slip something she asked "how are you feeling?"

"Better now."

"I will arrange for dinner then." She said and got up.

Hayley asked "didnt you have it there?"

Hope said, feeling flustered "yes but… I was so nervous that I ate very less. So I am hungry now."

Hayley smiled and settled back in the bed.

Ansel was having trouble sleeping not able to stop thinking about what Kaleb had told him about their evening with Mikaelson. He couldn't help but reply what Kol had told them a couple of days ago. Even though his mind was still not ready to believe what Kol had told him but the more he thought abut it, the more he wanted to believe it. He kept on thinking "if he cheated on her then why is he still unmarried? Why does Mikaelson family want to meet Hayley so badly if his son had betrayed his wife so badly." The possibility that his son might be innocent, made his heart sink and he prayed that was not the case because he realized at that moment while lying on that bed staring at the ceiling that if he didnt cheat on her then the consequences were much worse than if he had cheated on her. For both of them. He closed his eyes in anguish hoping that he did cheat on her and finally drifted off to sleep.

Next morning he had to join his hospital so Kaleb decided to retreat early but he couldn't sleep for a long time and then turned towards her slowly and looked at her sleeping peacefully. While looking at her, he didnt know when he fell asleep. When he woke up next, she was not next to him and the breakfast tray was on the side table with the teapot on it. He smiled as he realized that their life is going to fall into a routine now and it did soon. He would go early in the morning and come late in the evening and then they would have dinner together and then retreat to the sitting room for an hour before going to beds.

While he was in the hospital and Hayley was recuperating from her fever and flu, Hope had, unknown to Hayley and Jackson, almost everyday, started to go meet Freya and her family, making an excuse about going to a walk, getting to know them, unknown to Hayley or Jackson. Her only confidant were Kaleb and Ansel and before they knew it weekend was upon them.

Friday night, while she was trying to sleep, she at once sat up and shook Klaeb and said "I want them to meet"

He asked, rubbing his eyes as he was startled out of his sleep "who?"

"mama and papa Kaleb."

"Oh Hope, it is two in the morning" He said sleepily after looking at his pocket watch, from the side table.

She said slightly crestfallen "I am sorry. Go back to sleep."

He looked at her fallen face for a moment as he fell back on the bed and then rubbing his eyes, he sat up and asked "how do you propose?"

"I have been thinking for the past two days…stop it" as s smile crept on his lips.

He said "well, it is hard to image you thinking. Okay okay tell me. I was just jesting. What did you expect? You woke me up at two in the morning."

She looked at him for a moment and then continued "uncle Kol told me that mama does not believe him so she will not go meet him anytime soon, I think. He and everyone thinks that they should meet soon. I agree with them and I have an idea about how to do that."

"How?" Kaleb asked now fully alert.

She said in the same excited tone that was reflecting on her face in that dim light from the lamp "we can have a party. I can ask aunt Rebekah and aunt Freya to help, considering we don't know a lot of people here. We can invite some of your colleagues. You must have them by now."

Kaleb looked at her excited face and nodded and then said "can I sleep now?"

Hope laughed "yes you can but will you talk to uncle Kol or should I talk to aunt Rebekah?"

When he said "I will talk to him tomorrow", she leaned in and hugged him and then separated from him and laid down not knowing what just went through his body.

All the sleep was gone from his eyes, as he continued to look towards her back, with this spark of desire to make her his starting at the pit of his stomach and then with a sigh he laid down and turned away from her.

Hayley was pacing in her room, thinking about Klaus as she had been thinking for the past one week. Her mind was still not ready to accept that he would lie to everyone and say that he didnt kiss her. Does he want to prove himself innocent and for that he even was willing to live unmarried? Or is it possible that he didnt marry Camille because of the betrayal he felt by her when she cheated on him with Elijah. "But then why would he kiss her", she asked herself. Can it be because of the guilt he felt at the letter she had left for him; why she left him- for breaking her trust? She saw him. She saw him. He cannot get away with it. Why has he not married Camille yet. She kept on asking herself the same question again and again.

With a groan she realized that she will have to meet him once she gets better because of divorce and because of Hope. He would want to know why she didnt tell him. With everything that happened between them, she should be the one to tell him about Hope. Suddenly she felt very nervous and felt happy for the distraction when the door opened and Hope came in. She smiled looking at her daughter's face and said "good morning Hope."

"Oh mama, good morning, you look so much better." she walked to her and hugged her and then said "you are still warm but you look so much better, which is perfect because Kaleb and I were thinking of having a party. He has made some new colleagues and it will be fun."

Hayley smiled at her daughter and then said after a moment "Hope, you have not talked to me about your father since I have told you what happened between us."

Hope said, rather stiffly "mama, I dont want to talk about him….. How could he do that? He married you, did he? He vowed to remain faithful to you."

Hayley heart sank at her daughter's thinking, the hate and distrust for her father was so clear in her eyes that she regretted telling Hope about Klaus and Camille; this is not what she wanted. This is not for what she had worked for seventeen years."

She said "Hope, he is still you father. He made a mistake…"

"If Kaleb…"

"no, stop." Hayley at once said, her heart racing so fast and a pit formed in her stomach at the possibility and she went pale which didnt go unnoticed by Hope. She at once held her arm and led her to the bed saying "you are pale mama. I will ask for some tea. Please rest."

She rang for the bell.

Kol was pacing in the study thinking about how to resolve this situation he was in. He recalled how Klaus had stood by him when he wanted to get married to Davina or how Hayley had been there for him when he need any advice regarding her. "How could he not do anything in his power to help his brother and his wife get their relationship back, a relationship that he once admired, in fact still had hoped for", he asked himself. He suddenly turned to George and said "I cannot keep this secret any longer George. We have been sitting on it for the past one week. He should meet her."

George said "I agree. But Hayley is still sick."

"Does not matter" Kol said in frustration. "He should know. He is dying inside every day."

George said "Kol, we have to handle this maturely. We cannot be …." when the footman knocked at the door and said "excuse me Mr. Frankin. A Mr. Kenner is here to see you."

Kol at once said "send him in", looked towards George and said "good, he is here. We can ask him how Hayley's condition is and then continue from there."

They were interrupted by the young man, married to his niece. After initial greetings, Kol asked "how is Hayley?"

"Oh, she is getting better. Her fever is down but the flu is just lingering on."

Kol groaned, looked toward George in frustration who just raised his hand to calm him down.

Kaleb noticed the exchange, wondering what it is about he said "I wish to discuss a matter with you."

Kol said "yes.." gesturing him to continue.

Kaleb started telling them what he and Hope had talked about last night. George stood up and said "that is not a problem. In fact we were actually talking about that before you came. We can either tell Klaus about Hayley and he can go meet her or we can arrange for the party."

"If you dont mind, let her tell him. She came to England especially for this purpose. I think she feels guilty for hiding it from him and it would help her guilt somewhat if she tells him. But for them to talk, they need to be together in one room which I dont see happening in near future" ending with helpless laugh and then got sober and said "Also aunt Hayley will never come to a party arranged by Mikaelson family considering she is angry at Mr. Mikaelson right now, more than usual. I think she will not" feeling doubtful in the end.

After some quiet in the room when everyone was thinking of a solution, he said thoughtfully "I have a solution for that."

Kol leaned forward and asked "what?"

He said "the invitations will be send by Hope and me and that way aunt Hayley will not suspect anything."

George and Kaleb exchanged a look when Kaleb said "the only hinderance is that I do not know a lot of people in London."

"Well that can be easily resolved" another voice interrupted the moment of quiet in the room.

"what are you thinking, Alexander?" George asked.

"We can co-host" Alexander said. "I have friends. I can invite some guest and Kaleb can invite his friends. As for Hayley, she only needs to know that your colleague is inviting some friends of his. I will invite Klaus and Mikaelson. We can have the party here. Hayley has never been to this house so she will not recognize it and until Hayley and Klaus meet each other no one from her past meets her lest she tries to run again" ending with a laughter.

Kaleb felt confused, whether to do this charade or not without telling aunt Hayley but then decided to go along with it. They had to meet and until forced towards each other, they might not in the near future.

Thirty minutes later, after discussing the details about how to go about it, he left the Franklin residence.

After he left, Kol turned to George and asked "what do you think of the boy?"

"Very intelligent and family oriented. why?"

"I am thinking if Nik will kill him when he will find out his sixteen years old daughter is married to a boy much older than her? It is a pity because I am starting to like this boy."

George laughed and said "maybe but hopefully we will be there to protect him."

Hope said "mama, I am going out for a walk."

She said "alright. Come back soon" as she coughed and pulled her shawl around her a bit tighter.

"I will. You should rest" and left for the lake.

The moment she reached there she saw him from the distance. It had been a week since she had seen him and her heart jumped seeing him. She lifted the skirt of her peach dress slightly to prevent it from getting dirty from the rain water and walked to him.

Klaus was lost in his painting when he heard someone say "I didnt know you knew Charlotte."

He turned towards her and smiled, for some reason and commented as he wiped his hand on the towel "I can say the same thing for you"

She smiled and relaxed for some reason, said "good morning" and then walked to his painting and said "do you do sketches too?"

He replied "good morning. Are you here to satisfy your curiosity about me?"

"No" she laughed and his heart sank. That laugh just brought back some good memories. He looked away from her and said "how are you liking London?"

She looked at his back for a moment itching to link her arm in his arm like Patience did with uncle Kol and felt lost at the distance between them. She startled from her thoughts when he asked again "what happened?" looking towards her.

She asked blushing "sorry, did you ask me something?"

Klaus asked after a moment of observing her "I asked, how are you liking London?"

"It is still new. Weather is very different but I have my family with me so that is good news, I guess."

He smiled and said "I suppose."

And then got quiet and continued his painting.

Hope felt very conscious and uncomfortable with this quiet, so after some time she asked "do you have a family? Any children, a wife?"

He looked towards her curiously, very few people asked him that. He slightly shook his head saying "I have siblings and nieces, nephew. You met them."

"Oh, yes! How could I forget that!" she laughed. "You have a big family here."

"Are you not married?"

Klaus at once said "you should go now" his tone becoming unintentionally harsh.

Hope suddenly felt like crying at his abrupt dismissal and nodded and started back towards the carriage.

Klaus cursed and turned toward her in time to see her running towards a carriage. He put his brush down angrily and took a deep breath to calm his angry. She was just like Charlotte, how could he be so harsh to her. She was just curious.

Hope was really disappointed at what had happened with Klaus so when she entered the house, she headed upstairs when she heard Kaleb say "Hope…"

She paused and cleaned her eyes before turning towards him.

Kaleb's experienced eyes noticed the wetness and he walked to her and asked softly "what happened?"

She at once started to cry and said "I asked him if he was married and he got angry and … and to..ld me to leave."

"Oh my dear, you must understand that it is a hurtful subject for him." Kaleb said as he held her hand.

"Kaleb!" Jackson's voice startled them and he at once let go of her hands, feeling flustered for some reason.

Jackson could see Hope was crying. His eyes went to Kaleb looking flustered and felt a surge of anger in him.

"Hayley was asking for you Hope." Jackson said in a firm voice.

"Oh, I will go to her" as she started up.

"Kaleb come to the saloon" Jackson said.

Five minutes later, Jackson was asking him "why was she crying Kaleb? Did you do something to her?"

"father! You think I will hurt her?"

"Then why was she crying?" He asked

Kaleb thought for a moment for an excuse, for his father was still in dark about father daughter meetings and then said "she is still hurting about what aunt Hayley had told her about her father and I am having hard time convincing her to forgive him."

"Oh." Jackson said sympathetically this time. "yes, she should forgive him. Whatever mishap happened was between her parents and that shouldnt ruin her relationship with her father. He is her father. She shouldn't hate him for what was between her mother and him."

He said "father, my colleague and I are going to have a party next week. I thought it would be a good idea to have some distraction and get to know some people."

"Oh that is a wonderful idea."

"Will aunt Hayley not meet Hope's father?" He asked after slight hesitation.

"Right now she is dealing with some personal issue. I am sure she will. She has to meet him to tell him about Hope. I am talking to her. Let her get better first. Kaleb…"

"yes father?" he asked thinking about what they are planning.

"Are you happy with Hope?"

He looked at him and smiled "yes, I am."

"and she?"

"why don't you ask her that?" he asked.

"I want to know what you think. Of course she will not tell me."

"I think she is distracted right now with everything going on. Once things settled down, we will know but she seems happy" he replied. "I hope so" laughing self-consciously in the end.

After Kaleb left the room, Jackson sat down on the chair thinking about Hayley and Klaus and how should he persuade her to talk to him.

flashback Jackson

Four days ago

"Jackson I dont want to meet him." She said

"why?"

"I just dont. Please give me some time. I just…."

"alright Hayley, whenever you are ready." he said "But you cannot postpone it for long. He deserves to know about Hope and living so close to him, she should meet him. You worked so hard these past sixteen years so that she does not hate her father. And now if you dont meet him, she will not meet him too."

end flashback

Monday morning before leaving for the court, Klaus opened the envelop and stared at the invitation Alexander and Rebekah had send and felt flustered as he realized that Rebekah has arranged another fix-him-up-with-some-single-woman party this coming Saturday. After staring at it for a long time, he decided to make an appearance and then leave realizing that he and to indulge Rebekah these days in her delicate state with the fear of her exploding any day.

Saturday evening 15th August, 1819

Rebekah's house

He was looking down at the crowd and for some reason thinking about Hope Kenner and wondering if she didnt come to the lake in the morning because of how he talked to her last Saturday. The disappointing feeling, he had been feeling since morning was just making him angry for some reason. As he sipped the wine, a waiter had offered him, he turned to one direction as he felt a prickling feeling at the back of his neck and then he stared. And then with a sigh looked away cursing his imagination. Suddenly a voice, from behind him, said "go meet her."

He looked towards Kol and asked "who?"

"the woman you were staring at" Kol replied looking in that direction.

"she is not real!"

Kol said "looks pretty real to me Nik."

Klaus looked back towards the woman who had caught his attention and saw her laughing at something, the man standing next to her said. "it cannot be!" he said still not wanting to believe even though his heart was starting to raise and a ray of hope was starting in him.

When Kol said "it is" he spun towards him and asked "but how? How do you know? Did you know?" his tone became incredulous towards the end, disbelief and shock reflecting in it.

"yes I did. Go meet her, Nik. You two should talk!"

"It seems that this is not your first time seeing her! How long have you known that she is in London, Kol?" He asked angrily, the initial shock wearing off.

"two weeks…."

"Two darn weeks? Does she know about me? Does she know that I am at this party? Is this party supposed to…" angry rising at each word. Everything was confused in his mind. Lots of thoughts were running through his mind.

"yes and no, she does not know that you are here" Kol said.

"I will deal with all of you later" he snapped as he headed towards the stars saying "two damn weeks."

Klaus started down the stairs. He could feel his legs shaking. Everyone seemed to have faded away; it was just him and her in this room just like when he would come home from the court and she would be waiting for him. It seemed last seventeen years never happened.

Hope smiled from behind the pillar she had been hiding behind and startled when Kaleb whispered against her ear "we should be ready for her wrath!"

"I will protect you" as she said smiling without looking towards her and unconsciously holding his hand saying "Look Kaleb, he still loves her. Uncle Kol was right. Look at his face. Oh…. "

Jackson smiled and asked "do you wish to dance?"

She said "you know I don't dance" as she looked around and then said "I dont know anyone here. Where are Kaleb and Hope?"

"Yes that is curious. They just vanished ever since we came here" Jackson looked around as the couple's danced.

She said "Jackson, I am thinking, now that I am feeling better, I should contact him. You are right, I should get this over with. I just wish father would talk to him. He didnt even come to the party."

He smiled, looked into her nervous face and said "yes, I think you should. And yes Ansel should see him too. Dont worry, he will. Just like you know that you had to. He knows that too. Now lets dance."

Klaus heart was beating out of his chest, he was so close to her, he couldn't believe it. All the questions he wanted to ask, the desire to clarify their situation, express his resentment for leaving him were jumbled up in his mind but right now he wanted to just hold her in his arms and then later, he would make her answer for each day of their time apart.

He said, as she raised her hand to hold the hand of he man standing opposite her "excuse me. I am afraid that I am to be the bearer of bad news for you. This dance, my lady, has promised me."

The word, my lady, flowed so easily from his tongue as if he has been using it for ages.

Jackson opened his mouth to say something when he noticed Hayley's expression change from relax to shock, smile slipped from her lips even though she had not once turned to look at the man addressing him. His eyes darted to the man standing next to her, his blue eyes, blond hair, a stubble and it took him less than ten seconds to know who he was. He curtseyed and ignoring the pleading in her eyes, he stepped back with a polite smile on lips and a small pit in his stomach for some reason.

Klaus took a deep breath lest it was a dream, took a step forward and then slowly turned towards her hoping it was not a dream but when she didnt disappear he felt his breathing stopping.

Hayley felt her heart racing so fast. He was looking so graceful that her knees were getting weak just standing so close to him. Her eyes went to his black dress coat parted at the breast exposing the frilly neckline of his white shirt and snug trousers and she couldn't help but remember the taunt body under him, the body that she was so familiar with and the nights they had spend together flashed right before her eyes and her cheeks started to burn and her heart picked up pace which she knew was not because of seeing him after so long but then she reminded himself of what he had done seventeen years ago and what he did to cover up his role in it but not wanting to make a scene and said "Klaus."

A/N: so what do you think? What do you think will happen? Will Hayley tell Klaus about Hope now? If she does, how will Klaus react about Hope? Will Klaus find out about Ansel? Jackson still does not Klaus Klaus's side of story. Will Hayley tell him that? Will Hayley be upset about how she was roped into all this? Klaus is. How will he react to be kept in dark for the past two weeks.