A/N Continuation of Klaus and Hayley journey on run with their daughter. It is continuation of "save the last dace for me". Will they discover and admit feelings for each other.
He looked at her after a while of driving and saw that she had gone to sleep. He smiled and put on some soft music. After a couple of hours, his eyes started to shut down so he took an exit and shook her gently and said "Hayley, I cannot drive any more. Can you take over?"
Hayley rubbed her eyes and said "yes sure".
She put on her shoes and got out of car to switch positions with him. Once behind the wheel she saw him recline the seat and close his eyes. He said "we need to drive a couple of more hours to create some distance between that hunter and us and then we can rent a hotel and see how things go from there. Hopefully we have ditched him".
She nodded and started the car. She drove while listening to the music while Klaus went to sleep.
After a couple of hours Klaus opened his eyes and said "take the next exit to any … place to stay the night."
She could hear fatigue in his voice and nodded. Thirty minutes later they were entering in their room. Klaus wanted to just fall down on the bed. So after putting their bags down, he fell on the big bed and closed his eyes. Hayley was so tired but Hope had started to cry and she needed to be fed so she took her out and decided to feed her without using the nursing cloth. As she was nursing her she looked up and saw him looking at her. She said "why don't you go to sleep?"
He didn't answer but smiled and closed his eyes. When the next time he opened his eyes, it was still pitch dark and Hayley was pacing the room with Hope in her arms. Klaus asked her in surprised tone "since when have you been up?"
Hayley looked at him with exasperation "I have not slept throughout the night."
Klaus got out of the bed and said "why?"
Hayley said in a tired voice "because she is not letting me put her on the bed, she starts crying as soon as I put her on the bed"
Klaus said with surprise "why didn't you wake me up?"
She said with irritation "there was a moment when I wanted to kick you but then I got some sense and decided against it and now I think I should have"
Klaus laughed and look sleeping hope from her arms and said "is she fed?"
When Hayley nodded rubbing the back of her neck, he said "go and lie down. I will keep her with me"
Hayley looked at him for a moment and then went to sleep. She fell on the bed and was gone before she knew it.
Klaus shifted Hope in his lap and went to sit on the bed. After a couple of minutes he laid down with Hope on his chest. Hope stirred a bit and held his shirt with her tiny fist making him feel as if his heart just stopped for a minute. He put one hand on her back and stayed there to see if she is disturbed or not but when she didn't move so he closed his eyes listening to her breathing and the heartbeat.
When Hayley woke up, she turned around and saw Klaus sleeping next to her with Hope on her chest. She smiled and on impulse took out her cell and took their picture. She dragged the duvet over them and went to take a shower. Standing under the shower she suddenly realized how much she had started to trust him, with her and with Hope. She wondered when she started trusting him so much. She changed her clothes in distraction and came out with towel wrapped around her head absentmindedly.
Klaus was holding Hope in his lap in a sitting position. They were both looking at each other when he heard the door open and Hayley came out of bathroom. She stopped when she looked at them and following his gaze she took of the towel feeling flustered.
She asked him "when did you guys wake up?"
Klaus smiled and said "a couple of minutes ago."
She picked up her brush and started to brush her hair. Klaus looked at her and for the first time ever since they had been on road, he felt relaxed, truly relaxed and something else too. A thought came out of nowhere 'he could get used to this'. But then he shook his head making her stare at him. He realized that she had noticed the movement too and felt flustered when she asked him "what are you shaking your head for?"
Klaus said "nothing."
She walked to them and took Hope from him and said "I will feed her then I have to go to market to get some things for her, diaper and other things. Do you want to go?" as she settled down on the sofa chair to nurse Hope who was getting agitated with the minute with obvious hunger.
Klaus watched her as she unbuttoned her shirt and saw a small swell of her breast as she put Hope against it and nursing cloth over her.
Hayley looked at him starting at her but then realized that he was lost in some other thoughts. She asked him "what happened?"
Klaus recovered and said "nothing, no I can stay here with Hope. Why don't you go?"
He then smiled as he saw Hope's hand pushing the cover away and thought he needs to do something else so he picked up the remote and switched on the TV. He could feel her eyes on him but refused to look at her because of what he was feeling right now. The need to make her his was so strong right now that he could actually feel the muscles of his stomach tightening.
Hayley looked at him for a while and then got up with Hope in her lap wondering 'when and how is she becoming so expert' and went to sit next to him on the bed. She looked at him as she saw him shift a bit as she sat down next to him and then she thought that she might have been imagining it. After she was done she absentmindedly took off the cover before covering herself up and then buttoned herself and put Hope against her shoulder to burp her. After she was done, she changed her and said to Klaus "so here she is, she is done, changed and will go to sleep in a minute or two if you hold her against you. I will be back in half an hour or so."
As she was handing over Hope to Klaus, he asked her "where will you be going?"
Hayley said with a smile "I will find some place, don't worry"
When she was at the door putting keys of the car in the bag he said "be careful."
She looked at his concern with surprise and left after closing the door behind her.
Klaus looked at Hope whose eyes were drooping. He put her against his shoulder. Hope for the first time, snuggled her head against his neck making his heart jump. He was surprised to realize that he didn't even realize when he had agreed to keep Hope without feeling nervous whereas a couple of weeks ago he wouldn't even have thought about it. He could feel her warm breath on his neck and suddenly he remembered how coldly he had told the witches to kill her and Hayley and his heart felt heavy. He pulled her closer to him and scooted a bit down on the bed in a near lying position and said in a whisper in her ear "I will always protect you. You are mine and will always be mine." He knew she was fast asleep from her breathing. A part of his mind was telling him to put her down but he didn't feel like so he kept her there. He flipped through the channels again and then randomly stopped at one channel and started to watch it.
He lost track of time and then Hope's body jerked in her sleep and he put his hand on her body to calm her down. He had noticed her startling during her sleep so many times now that he was getting used to it now and then he looked at his wrist watch and sat up when he realized that Hayley had been gone for two hours now. He took out his cell and called her. The call didn't get through. His sixth sense told him something was wrong so he stood up and put Hope on the bed and quickly washed his face and changed his clothes with vamp speed and as he was picking Hope up again his cell rang. He picked it up with sinking heart and said "hello"
After listening to the other side he said "I will be right over there."
Hayley looked up at him as he rushed into the small room with sleeping Hope in his arms. He grabbed her by her arms and asked her "What happened?"
She took Hope from his arms and said "Some drunken driver crossed the red light and hit the car from the driver's side. I am fine, I have compelled everyone that was at the accident as I started to heal but this one guy who incidentally was a doctor in this hospital wanted me to come to the hospital to check if I have any internal bleeding which of course I don't have but the car Klaus, it is totaled"
"It is okay" Klaus said casually "as long as you are okay"
She smiled and looked down at Hope who was sleeping in her arms and said "I am so glad I decided to leave her with you"
She looked up and saw him looking at her and then he cupped her face and then for the first time ever since that night when they had conceived their daughter he was kissing her on her lips with the passion that he had shown her that night. She didn't know how and why but she suddenly realized that she was kissing him too. He broke their kiss and stayed there for a minute and said "I was so scared when I got the call even though I know you will be okay but …" he then kissed her again.
They both broke apart as the door opened.
"Oh I am sorry" the nurse said
"It is okay" Hayley smiled and said.
The nurse said "You are so lucky you didn't get hurt". She then turned to Klaus and said "It is a miracle you know that you wife is fine"
"I am ..." Hayley started but Klaus cut her off by saying "yes thank you"
As she left the room, he turned towards her as smiled as he saw her flustered face. He held her hand and said "I am glad you are okay".
There was a knock on the door and the doctor came in. She smiled as she saw Hope on the bed. She walked to her and said "she is so adorable but you should wrap her. She is too young"
Hayley looked at her questioningly so the doctor said to the nurse who had entered the room "Can I get a wrapper for her?"
She walked to Hayley and as Klaus stepped back she said "you are lucky you are not hurt and not even bruised". She turned around as the nurse handed her the baby wrapper. The doctor wrapped Hope in that showing Hayley how to do it and said "she will stay warm and feel safe in the blanket"
She then said "so there is no injury but I still want you to take it easy and if you start to feel any dizziness or anything come, see me"
She then handed Hayley Hope, who had woken up and was demanding to be fed. Hayley took her daughter from her and said "can we go now?"
The doctor smiled and said "yes you can go. Nurse her here and then you can go"
And then she left. As she left the door she said to Klaus "why do you let everyone believe that we are husband and wife?"
Klaus said with an amused smile "you want to explain to them what we are?! Go ahead do it"
She felt flustered and then looked at Hope who was up. She sighed and said to him "let me feed her and then we can go. What are we going to do about the car?"
Klaus said trying to look anywhere else but her opening her shirt to nurse her "don't worry, I will get a car".
And then he couldn't stand there as he saw Hope latching on to Hayley and got up and said "I will be back with a the car in an hour"
She looked at his expressions with surprise and said "don't forget the car seat". He gave her a smile and left.
When she sat in the car, she looked at him with amused look. He laughed and said "if there was any time to use compulsion it was this time" making her laugh too.
Klaus picked up Hope on reaching the hotel when Hayley said "oh no, I have to go do that shopping"
Klaus smiled and said "really!" and then put Hope back and drove towards the departmental store.
The drive to the store was quiet one with both of them thinking about the kiss they had shared. He stopped the car startling her out of her thoughts. He held her while she picked up some stuff for Hope and few things for her too. She looked at Klaus and asked him "do you want anything?"
Klaus wanted to say "you" but he shook his head and said "no".
She was looking at diapers with frustration. There were so many and she didn't know what to do. The brand she had picked last time they didn't have in this store so she picked up a random brand when someone said "that one is better". She looked around and saw a young woman with a child a little older than Hope in the cart. The woman turned towards Klaus who was holding Hope against his shoulder and said "she is adorable" and then she turned to Hayley and said to Klaus's amusement "you are lucky your husband is with you, my husband never come to do baby shopping with me when this one was as young as yours"
Hayley looked at Klaus who said "well she has found a gem, haven't you love?" making Hayley look at him with an annoyed look and the woman laugh. She said "best of luck you two. You still have many sleepless nights ahead of you."
When she walked away Hayley stepped closer to him and hissed "stop acknowledging that we are husband and wife"
Klaus shifted Hope on the other shoulder and said "then what should I say? Lover, friends, enemies, complicated, friends with benefits" he gestured to Hope.
Hayley stared at him angrily and ignoring his laughter put the diapers that the woman had suggested in the cart. Where she was angry, Klaus was sure of one thing and that was that he had fallen in love with the mother of his child and he was not going to let her leave him.
They paid for their items and got into their car. Klaus went through the drive-through of a fast food to get food for them as they had skipped breakfast and lunch with everything going on and drove to hotel afterwards.
Klaus had also started to see the there was something going on between them. He knew what he was feeling for her but he wanted to know she was feeling for him but she had not let anything on except for casual care which even though was a big deal for him but not what he was looking for so he decided to find out how she really feels about him.
They were eating their dinner in the dining hall of the hotel they were staying and Hayley had to go to bathroom. When she came back she looked at Klaus in shock when she saw him leaning so close to the girl telling her something. She walked to the table and sat down opposite him startling the girl who looked at Hayley in confusion and said "oh, but I thought you were alone with the baby"
Klaus smiled and said "you assumed that I was alone and I was alone at that time. This is my child's mother."
Where Hayley felt a warmth at those words she felt a tug at her heart too for him calling her just Hope's mother. She tried very hard not to show him how she really was feeling and said "I am done, if you are done then we can go."
Klaus turned to the girl and said "I am staying in this hotel for a few days. May be we can get together and have dinner or something."
He knew that Hayley was seething with anger and that somehow made him feel happy. He was sure that in a couple of days he will get to the bottom of her feelings.
He picked up Hope's car seat and started towards the elevator with Hayley quietly walking with him. He knew that she wanted to confront him but he was not going to make the first move, isn't that what he was doing all this for. He wanted to know how she is feeling and when they reached their room, and he was going to the bathroom, she asked him in an angry tone "what do you think you are doing?"
He smiled before turning towards her with a serious face and asked in an innocent voice "what do you mean?"
Hayley snapped and said "you know really well what I am saying. You were flirting with her."
Klaus said "I was not first of all and what if I was, you and I are not together love."
Hayley stared at him angrily and then pushed him aside and went to take Hope out of the car seat but he pulled her towards him by holding her arm and said looking into her eyes "jealous Hayley!"
Hayley couldn't understand what he is doing so she snapped and said "go to hell, why should I be jealous?" and pried her arm free of her and turned away without seeing a satisfied smile on his face.
When he came out of the bathroom, he saw her feeding Hope and to his shock she was crying, Klaus stood there for a minute and then walked to her and sat down opposite her startling her. He asked her "what is it Hayley?"
Hayley wiped her eyes and said "I am getting tired of this running around. Don't get me wrong, I love Hope but sometimes it gets really hard."
Klaus said absentmindedly stroking Hope's foot "yes, I know. We will find some place to settle down soon."
Hayley looked at him caressing Hope's foot and that melted her heart and all anger at him went away. She thought 'even if she and Klaus are not together, he loves their daughter and that should be enough for her' but that didn't make him feel any better. She was getting confused more and more about her feelings towards him. She had been thinking about that kiss for a while now and today she felt like killing that girl fawning all over him. She wondered in shock 'is she falling for him?' and then she looked at him as she realized that he was still looking at her. She nodded and said after recovering from the initial shock at that discovery "I will be fine. It is just fatigue and uncertainty".
Klaus wanted to comfort her but he had a plan in his mind so he stuck to it and got up from there. Hayley sighed and realized that Hope had gone to sleep. She separated herself from her and put her in the middle of the bed and went to change her clothes too. When she came back she saw Klaus sleeping with her arm on Hope's back. She smiled and went to sleep too.
The next couple of days Klaus and Hayley were at odds with each other. They tried to act normal but there was awkwardness between them. Hayley had started to feel same kind of awkwardness that she used to feel when she was pregnant with Hope and was living in the plantation house with him with the only difference that this time she didn't have another room to hide herself in. They were both attached to each other 24/7.
Klaus was really good with Hope who was growing up right before their eyes. Often in the middle of night she would get up and see him holding her in his arms and talking to her gently, telling her some story from the book or just looking at her. Once or twice she caught him telling her some story which to her shock she realized was about him and his siblings before they were turned. During those eavesdropping moments she never interrupted him or let him know that she know what she is witnessing.
Klaus on the other hand was well aware of her lying down silently in the bed listening to them. He knew she was listening but he didn't care anymore. He had found his peace with the fact that he can be open in front of Hayley at least even though he was still trying to discover how she feels about him but he knew that he loved her and that was enough for him.
They had been staying three days at one place and then Klaus would want to move to a new location. They had just moved from their third place in two weeks and Hayley was really tired. She looked at Klaus who was lost in his thoughts while driving. She had started to notice that he had stopped making small conversations so she cleared her throat and said "I am hungry".
Klaus looked at her and nodded and then he said "hmm we are near the city. Let's check in and then there is this restaurant that I like. It is pretty old one. I come to that place whenever I come to Chicago."
Hayley looked at him and said "you have been here before!"
Klaus looked at her with amusement and said "you keep on forgetting love, I have been on run for as long as I remember and to your question, yes I have been to Chicago before and I remember that place because it was where Rebekah and I decided to stop running for a while and settle down in Chicago"
Hayley asked him "when were you here last time?"
Klaus said with a smile "last time when Stefan and I visited Chicago three years ago but first time in 1920"
Hayley ignored that and said "don't you think it is risky someone might recognize you"
Klaus looked at her and said with a smirk "like who? 130 year old bartender!"
At that Hayley laughed. Klaus smiled at hearing her laughter. He got lost in his thoughts again about how difficult time he has been giving her emotionally by not being there for her but for his plan to work, he had to do something and now he was thinking of taking a drastic step to accomplish that goal because he was sure that Hayley was at a breaking point now.
They checked in a hotel and for the first time since they have been running, Hayley wanted Klaus to get a two queen bed but she couldn't tell him without making the situation between them really weird so she kept quiet.
After putting the stuff down they went to the restaurant Klaus was talking about and to her surprise it was really good.
Hope was sleeping. She had been taking really long naps now and was starting to stay awake a little longer too in between the naps. Hayley looked around and to her annoyance she saw some girls dressed in really fancy clothes looking at them. She looked at her own dull clothes and then Klaus who was sitting relaxed back and seemed to be enjoying the environment. She then caught his gaze looking at the girl and the smile appeared on his lips that really annoyed her. She said "I will be back".
When she came back for the bathroom after freshening herself up she saw he was alone and was looking at Hope who was up. Hope had started to smile at him and interact a little bit with him, like trying to hold his fingers and wiggle when she wanted to be picked up by him. Klaus smiled and picked her up.
When their food came, he kept her in his lap even though Hayley told him to give it to her but he seemed content with Hope in his lap. Dinner was quiet affair. Hayley was wondering what should she do break this coldness between them and Klaus was thinking how should he break Hayley and then he thought of something.
After dinner they went to the hotel and went to bed.
Next day Hayley said to him around noon "I have to do some shopping. Do you want to come?"
Klaus looked at her and said "No, why don't you go. You can leave Hope if you want to."
Hayley stared at him for a while and then said "it is okay, I will take her with me"
During the shopping she kept on wondering why Klaus was behaving that way all of a sudden. Is it because he has gotten relaxed and does not think that there is any more danger to Hope. She wondered why he didn't come with them. Was he on some date with the girls he met last night? The thought of him being someone else really pinched her and she tried to focus on the shopping and then she tried to convince herself by saying 'as long as he loves Hope, I am fine' but that didn't help her again.
When she got back he was not in the room. She was putting stuff at the right place when he called her "Hayley!"
Hayley looked around and saw him standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom with the door open. He was doing shave to her surprise. For the past two months they had been together this never happened before. She looked at him questioningly but he didn't say anything so she walked to him with Hope in her arms and said "what is it?"
Klaus continued doing what he was doing and said "I have been thinking to stay here for at least a week and see how things go."
Hayley looked at him in surprise through the mirror wondering 'was it something so important to call her in the bathroom?'.
She stood there looking at him when his eyes met hers. Hope was looking at him too with curious innocent expressions. He turned towards her and put a dot of his shaving cream on Hope's face making her smile. He then cleaned it with the towel. She didn't know how but that simple act of seeing him do something so simple as shaving brought about a strange feeling in her stomach. As soon as their eyes met again she left the bathroom. Klaus saw her leaving the bathroom with a smile on his face. He knew that he was peeling the layers off of her.
She was looking down at Hope lying on the bed when he came out and sat on the bed and switched on TV. Hope started to wiggle and started crying tell Hayley that she was hungry so she picked her up and started to nurse her. Klaus looked at her and held Hope's leg which he had started to do recently whenever she was feeding her. That gesture was so sweet and apparently Hope liked it. She looked up and saw that he was watching a movie. After couple of minutes Klaus looked at her and then changed the channel as he realized the expression on her face after watching the young character doing sexual favors to her clients.
He looked down at his hand holding Hope's leg and smiled and switched off the TV.
Hayley put Hope in the middle and after changing her clothes she went to sleep.
She started noticing that even though to her dismay Klaus was encouraging woman around him but he was starting to loosen up in front of her too. He would leave the bathroom door open while brushing his teeth or shaving or washing his face which he didn't use to do couple of weeks back. He had started sharing her food from her plate. Doing meaningless gestures that she had always associated with married couples or people in love making her confused further and further.
Klaus was seeing that all of these things were starting to bother her but it was also proving his theory that she feels something from him too right. And he wanted her to say or admit those feelings for him.
He was taking shower when he heard her come in. He stood there listening to her moving around and then with a thought he dried himself and came out in just his jeans.
Hayley entered the room and shifted sleeping Hope from one shoulder to another. She put the shopping bag down and went straight to the portable crib they had started to use for her at the foot of the bed and gently laid her down. She turned around at the sound of the bathroom door.
She looked at him and realized that this was the first time she was seeing him without a shirt even though they have been on the road for two months. She couldn't look away from the bird tattoo on his arm and the muscles that normally hid under his shirt. She caught him looking at her and then she blushed and looked away.
She was looking down at Hope when he said with a smirk "don't be shy it is not like you have not seen me shirtless".
Hayley didn't look back. She didn't even smile. She was feeling really weird. She had tried to control feelings for him that had awaken before they had started that journey to see Hope. She had been successful in doing that for the last two months and then he had kissed her on that accident a month ago and then nothing for a month to her disappointment. She thought in frustration 'If he is going to roam around shirtless, it is going to get really difficult for her'. She took a deep breath and was about to turn when he turned her towards her.
She couldn't look into his eyes because she was sure that if she did he would see the passion in them and then he lifted her chin and then he leaned in and kissed her gently on her lips. She stood there surprised and when Klaus leaned back and looked into his eyes, he smiled and leaned in again and kissed her more passionately this time. She couldn't help but kiss him. Her hands found his firm chest and then he whooshed her to the bed and was kissing her neck, her face, her body making her moan and want him more. She tugged at his jean's buttons whereas he snapped all the buttons of her shirt and pulled it apart and then he said and his eyes looked at her heaving breast "I want you to remember this time"
Hayley looked into his eyes and said "I remember the last time too" and she gasped as his hands touched her bra and moved down the navel.
That made his face broke into a grin and he said "I thought you said that it was one drunken night…"
Hayley said with a moan as he gently bit her on her neck "I did but that does not m… ean that I don't remember that"
She flipped them over making him laugh. Her gaze locked on to his lips which always fascinated her. The softness of them always made her wonder 'how can a man like him have such soft and inviting lips' and she leaned in until her met his.
He was returning her kiss and his tongue was moving inside her mouth, his legs were wrapped against hers and then he flipped her over and pulled her jeans down. He pulled his jean down too with eyes still locked with hers. There was so much passion in them that Hayley never believed him to have. She couldn't take it anymore. She lifted herself up and pulled him down to her.
To her surprise, his lips found all her weak spots, on her neck, on her breast, on her belly. Hayley was stunned to realize that he knew how to torture her and go weak in her knees. She ran her hands on his firm back as he was kissing her neck and moved them a bit on his ribs and then she smiled as she discovered that she had found his weak spot.
Klaus looked up and then looking into her eyes, he entered her. She held on to him and let him move in her and then before long she was matching his movement. His lips were roaming on her face, on her neck, on her lips and then he looked up into her eyes for a second and whispered "you are mine now" before kissing her lips and let himself go as she smiled back.
Later when she laid in his arms he said "Hayley I think I am falling for you" while brushing his fingers on her arm.
"Me too" she said fingering his chest.
Later she laid next to him as he ran his fingers on her bare shoulder and smiled when he said "this running away adventure has suddenly gotten more interesting and inviting"
Hayley asked him after a couple of minutes trying to keep her voice casual "Klaus if you are falling for me then what about your girlfriends that have been fawning on you and you encouraging them?!"
She was surprised to see him laughing. He sat up laughing and looked at her and said with a twinkle in his eyes "that was all to get you to admit how you actually feel for me".
Hayley looked at him in shock and said "what?!"
Klaus said with a mischievous smile "I played on my hunch and I was right"
Hayley said "you…." But couldn't finish her sentence. He laughed and leaned in and kissed her and said "I what love?!"
Hayley shook her head now laughing and said "nothing. You are just you".
She asked him "since when?"
Klaus said casually" I don't know since when I started feeling that way but I knew for sure after that accident"
Hayley smiled and said "that long!"
Klaus now pulled her towards him and said "yes love, that long. You don't know yet but I am a master of secrets".
She smiled at the used of "love" which he had been calling her from the first day they had met but now it carries a different meaning and snuggled against him and said "I am beginning too. Some day you will tell me all about those hidden feelings but right now I just want us to sit like this until our daughter decides to break his moment".
Klaus smiled at her referring to Hope as "our daughter" and pulled her against his chest with his arms around her body covering her naked breast and kissed her ears and the folds of her necks making her moan and smile with pleasure and then she turned towards him and was kissing him too and they ended up making love to each other again.