Klaus + Hayley (+ Jackson): Just The Ring (AU Post 2x12)
The big day had arrived and Hayley was standing in front of the mirror, looking over herself, as she thought of what she was about to do. After her break up with Elijah and the constant times she has been postponing the wedding, she believed that she should just stop wasting time, putting Hope in danger in the process. Still, she couldn't bring herself up to do it. Some werewolf maidens had arrived in her room in the cabin and had done her hair arranged her bouquet and her dress.
Jackson had promised that he would make her the happiest woman today. She smiled at the thought of that. She knew that he meant well and she would never think about hurting his feelings, but…was her heart really in the right place? Was it with Jackson now that she and Elijah were through? She bit her lip as she thought about a third man that she had hurt a few months ago. She had been thinking about his since. The face he had shown to her that day was the face of a frightened young man. "Don't you get it? You are the threat, Klaus!" Hayley had yelled at him in the face. She closed her eyes to try to get him out of her head at once but she just couldn't.
There was a brush on her shoulder and Hayley immediately opened her eyes as she felt his fingers on her soothingly…but there was nothing there. She put her hand on her shoulder, to feel something. Had she just imagined that? That he was here and he was comforting her thoughts? It has been months since they had talked and he had made his point clear that he didn't want her to do this truth serum and reveal to her whole pack and Jackson that Hope was alive and well. "Damn you, Klaus." She suddenly whispered. She couldn't believe he was making her feel this guilty.
"Don't you get it? You are the threat, Klaus!" Hayley yelled in his face, tears already forming in her eyes as she realized what she had just said. But going back now would prove her weakness…and she couldn't be weak in front of him. She had let herself once and he had pitied her. She didn't need his pity. She wanted him and his family to leave her the hell alone! She has had enough of their family drama. Klaus' eyes widened in shock at what she had said, taking a step back and pursing his lips as he continued to watch her. "Is that really what you think of me after all, little wolf?" he asked her in a whisper. Hen Hayley didn't respond, Klaus continued, and she could see tears forming in his eyes too. "I have done everything for you and Hope! EVERYTHING!" he yelled it in her face to make himself clear.
"And I appreciate that, but it's still not enough. Every time that you have a problem with your relatives, your enemies which are so many, you put our daughter in danger. Can't you see that? Can't you see that is why I want to marry Jackson?" "What are you saying, little wolf?" "I want Hope to come live with me and Jackson here in the bayou when we get married eventually. She will no longer be staying in the French Quarter, Klaus. With Finn on the loose and your parents…" "I am the only one who can protect her, just as I am trying to protect you!" Klaus insisted to her. The moment of deep silence followed.
"You are not taking my child away from me, Hayley." He growled at her at once and she shook her head. "That is not what I am trying to do. Goodness, no, Klaus! I know how much you love and protect her. I would never do that, just please let me find a better solution to protect her. She will be okay here with the pack. She will be hidden and Finn doesn't even know she exists. If she remains in the French Quarter, he will find out." "I can send her back to the safe house with Elijah and Cami." Klaus suggested. "No. I don't want Cami to play a mother figure for her as Rebekah had. Hope needs to spend as much time with her true mother as possible. I have spent just a couple of days with her ever since she was born. Rebekah had months and Cami now weeks. I am her mother, Klaus!" "And I am her father and she has seen more of Elijah than of me, yet you don't hear me complaining!"
"Not on the outside but you are hurting on the inside. I can see it." "Don't assume anything you have no idea about, Hayley. Hope is not staying with Jackson and you won't even tell him about her." "How much of a hypocrite can you be? You killed your own father so that the secret that Hope is alive can remain hidden and you bring Cami to see her, of all people! She is human, even compelled, she can easily be decompelled, but that doesn't really matter to you is it? If you can take risks than so can I because I am her mother and just like you, I know what is best for my daughter!" "Go ahead and do what is best for her but when things go wrong for you, don't you come crying to me, little wolf!" he exclaimed.
Hayley broke out of that memory as the werewolf maidens were still adding things to her white dress. The pink as her blush was making her look more radiant as her hair was put up and white pearl earrings were dangling from her ears. She took a deep breath and started rubbing her hands together until she heard a voice which made her blood stop. "May I have a word with the bride-to-be?" There came that British accent and the maidens had departed from the room, not looking to question someone like Niklaus Mikaelson of his intentions here in the bayou. Hayley used the mirror to look into his eyes. He was no longer angry, like he had been months ago. He was peaceful and he was looking at something on her with a smirk on his too gorgeous face.
"Interested in something?" Hayley finally found her voice and then cleared her throat as he stepped over to her, until he was right behind her, breathing down her neck. "Just that ring." He responded and he took her hand in his, examining the engagement ring that Jackson had offered her. "It had been in his family for years." Hayley explained and pulled away her hand, turning around to face him at last. "Still, in my personal opinion, your daylight ring has way more extravagance." "Jackson is not looking for anything extravagant where I am concerned. He knows that I like things to come from the heart, no matter how cheap or expensive they may be and I like this ring very much." Klaus nodded for a moment before looking down at it once more and asking, "But if you were to choose between this ring and your daylight ring, which would you choose?" he asked her.
Confusion ran in her. She knew that he was not at all interested in the rings she was wearing. He was more interested in something else behind these questions. Sighing, Hayley crossed her hands over her chest. "I wanted to apologize to you." She finally told him, but couldn't look at him in the eyes as she heard him sigh too. "What for, love?" "For what happened between us in the bayou the last time we spoke a couple of months before. I was irrational and I was being selfish, thinking more about my needs than Hope's and I hurt your feelings through it." "You cannot hurt my feelings. Your apology is or nothing." "This is me you are talking to here, Klaus." Hayley informed him. "And the point is…" "The point is that I want you accept my apology." "What are you willing to do in order for me to forgive you?" he asked her with a smirk. "Oh, don't be so cocky! Not now. I am miserable, can't you see?" Hayley finally admitted it to him.
"I can see that better than you can. You don't love Jackson do you, even though you tried to get close to him after you ended your relationship with my brother." Klaus emphasized. Hayley shook her head. "Elijah and I were never going to work out. What was between us was more of a growing need of attachment to something stable in our lives. He felt better around me, knowing me as the one carrying the Mikaelson heiress and I felt better around him because he was the only one who cared at that moment. He was there for me when I needed him most and I will forever be grateful for that. But we have been clinging on to something which really isn't worth it. It was time to put an end to it once and for all." Hayley told him truthfully and even Klaus was stunned by her confession.
"And Jackson?" he asked her. "I don't know. I guess you know me better than anyone. I am about to marry a man whom I don't love and…I am okay with sacrificing that for my daughter and for my pack." "Your pack won't be strong enough to go against other factions even with your marriage to Jackson, love." Klaus informed her. "It's the best I can do." "Not exactly the best, little wolf. I had a little chat with Davina and asked her to explain more to me about how these werewolf rituals work and during this time…I have come to realize that I myself am an alpha to one of the strongest packs that have ever existed." Hayley looked intrigued for that one moment and asked him to keep going. "Davina suggested that you can marry me and we can unite our packs, making New Orleans werewolves invincible."
"I beg your pardon?" Hayley asked, confused by what she had heard. She felt his brush his fingers on her cheek gently and whisper, "If you wish to make it up to me, then marry me, little wolf. You won't gain anything from marrying Jackson, I can assure you. With our packs united, we can do many great things and we can finally put them out of their misery in thinking that they are the lowest faction of the city. And I do wish to marry you." He moved his hands down her own and grabbed them, pressing a kiss on her palm which shocked Hayley greatly. "Klaus…I can't…I…" There were voices of concern that could be heard from outside the room and the door opened to reveal Jackson and his grandmother standing there, confused by the image of Klaus holding Hayley's hands.
"What the hell are you doing here? Why don't you leave Hayley alone?" Jackson asked him and went up to him, asking Hayley, "Are you alright?" "You think he would hurt me? I am a hybrid, Jackson. Don't forget that." Klaus sighed and turned to Hayley, looking at her in the eyes and whispering, "My offer still stands, but there isn't enough time for thinking, little wolf. I shall be waiting at home…with her." Hayley at once understood what the "her" meant. He was talking about their daughter. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart as she saw him walking out. Jackson cupped her cheeks and made her look at him. "Are you alright?" She knew that she wasn't and she knew why not. Gently pulling down his hands from her face, she whispered to him, "Jackson, I thought I could do this…but I can't." She took off the ring he game her and placed it in his hands. "I am very sorry. I can't marry you."
Feeling it deep in her heart that she was doing the right thing, Hayley made her way to the compound. It was in complete silence and she didn't want to make any noises. Walking past Hope's nursery, she could see him there, and smiling as the child burped in his hands from the milk he was feeding her. Hayley stood at the door with a smile on her face as she saw Klaus tucking her in. She had careful steps as she entered the room and Klaus turned to look at her as she gazed at him with a smile. Looking down at Hope, she whispered, "Yes." Making a smile appear on Klaus' face as well, once he realized that this was the answer to his marriage proposal.
A/N: Some people were asking for me to write a drabble with Klaus stopping the wedding between Hayley and Jackson. I hope this covered it nicely.
Thank you for reading guys and don't hesitate to ask me what other drabbles you might want me to write and please review to let me know how you liked this particular drabble!