Hope's grip on Ryan's hand tightened as they approached the rooms that Klaus and Caroline called their apartment at the school.
"Breathe, sweetheart." Ryan kissed her temple. "It'll be fine."
The door opened before they could knock to reveal Lizzie. She stepped out of the way allowing Hope and Ryan to enter the room.
"So, step-sisters," Lizzie said as she closed the door behind them.
"Yeah." Hope shrank against Ryan a little.
"Come on, dinner's ready." Lizzie led the way to a table set out with different foods that Hope couldn't even register what they were. She supposed it smelled good, but her inability to focus on anything other than being in the room with her new to her step-family, left her unable to name a single thing on the table.
"Hello, Hope," Caroline said when saw them. "Ryan."
Hope gave a small wave, but refused to relinquish her hold on Ryan's hand. She knew it was ridiculous to be afraid, after all, she was the strongest person in the room. But after the emotional turmoil she was enduring, she felt as though a small gust of wind could knock her over.
"Hope." Klaus walked over to her and gave her a hug, made awkward because she refused to let go of Ryan.
"Come on. Sit down." Caroline gestured to the table.
Josie came around the corner then and her lips curled in an attempt at a smile, though it fell flat, making Hope wince internally. She'd hurt the girl in a fit of jealousy fueled pique, even though at the time she hadn't realized she was jealous at the time, and in doing so, made her chances for a possible relationship go down considerably.
Hope hesitated before sitting down and everyone else took their seats around the table.
"Breathe, Hope. You're not with Triad now. Mistakes happen and young vampires who've been through hell can flip the switch, then come back to themselves and we forgive them." Caroline smiled softly at her.
"I hurt your daughter's feelings."
"You were hurting," Josie said. "Yeah, it sucked that you said and did what you did. But I think if some girl I didn't know was treating one of my dads the way I was treating your dad, I'd be pretty pissed too and say things."
"Thank you for that, because I do feel bad. I hurt you and I am sorry."
"It will take time to actually get over it, but I do understand why."
Hope nodded once and Ryan rubbed his thumb against her thigh, wanting to offer her strength without being blatantly disrespectful to her father.
"I flipped the switch once," Caroline said, "did things I regret. So you're not alone in what you're feeling in that regard right now."
It had been so long since anyone had cared about how she felt, what she wanted, that she wasn't sure how to process it. She wished someone could tell her if she was making a misstep and if they were just being polite and tolerating her, or if things were actually going okay.
After Klaus cut into the roast and the each had food on their plates, an awkward silence descended.
"So, why did you kill Landon this last time?" Lizzie asked suddenly.
"He talked to me with his shirt halfway unbuttoned and I didn't like it."
"Kaleb warned him that this approach wouldn't work," Lizzie sighed.
"What approach?" Hope kept her focus on cutting the slice of meat on her plate.
"He became convinced that sex would be the way to reach you since you didn't have any obvious connections," Josie supplied.
"Just because I couldn't acknowledge what I was feeling doesn't mean that I'd sleep with anyone other than Ryan."
"He was reading some books and one of them mentioned sex being a way to reach a vampire with no emotions."
"Ryan piqued my interest from the first time I saw him, so I don't know what he thought, thinking that I would go from the guy who caught my attention and I was actually with, to a boy who thought that unbuttoning his shirt and being his idea of sexy would make me suddenly want to feel again." Hope rolled her eyes. "Sorry, Dad. I know hearing anything about your little girl's sex life is awkward at best, so please ignore the last few minutes."
"I was wondering about you killing Landon, so now I know." Klaus rolled his eyes and twirled the glass of wine before taking a sip.
"Landon started crushing on Hope and he became convinced that since Ryan couldn't make you feel again, you needed someone else to try," Josie added.
"What is he to make him think I might be even intrigued by him?" Hope scoffed.
"He's a phoenix," Ryan said as if that explained everything.
"And?" Hope raised an eyebrow as she cut into her serving of the roast.
"He's the only one at the school."
"Again, and?"
"He's rare."
"I'm the tribrid." Hope rolled her eyes. "No other tribrid like me has ever existed, but there are legends about phoenixes, so he's not the only one in the world. So why would I be intrigued by something I can easily read about in books?"
"I like you," Caroline said.
Lizzie smiled and continued, "So he thinks that because no one at the school is like him that you might react at getting the attention of the only known phoenix in the school and that being with him would make you flip the switch."
"So the amazing phoenix gets the only tribrid to ever exist to feel again?" Hope snickered.
"He's used to being treated like a celebrity. Ever since he was killed and came back, that's all anyone ever treats him as," Josie said, her face twisting into something akin to pain.
With that, Hope knew that the other girl's pain wasn't just because of Hope's comments. It was because of Landon. Something about the boy made Josie hurt and it intertwined with Hope in a way that the tribrid didn't want to think about.
"Why would I care about celebrity when I couldn't feel? All that mattered was blood and what piqued my interest. And Ryan caught my attention because he knows a bit of what I went through with Triad. Not because because he's treated like he's special."
"Landon's so used to being treated like he's special around here, I don't think it crossed his mind that a hunter of supernatural people might not think of a phoenix as anything special." Lizzie snickered with some internal mirth.
"So he's Harry Potter without the scar," Hope snorted causing the twins choked in an effort to keep from laughing.
"I'm just glad you killed him," Josie murmured.
"You were afraid I'd fancy him," Hope siad softly.
"You're practically perfect, beautiful, mysterious, unique, dangerous. What's not to like?" Josie seemed to wilt.
"He was your ex," Hope observed.
Josie nodded, her shoulders sinking even more.
"I'm sorry. I never wanted his attention and I never encouraged it," Hope said softly.
"I know," Josie whispered.
"Any guy who breaks up with a girl like you are for someone like I was is a crap guy."
Josie smiled at her and some of the tension left her shoulders.
"Freya contacted me. She thinks she might have the spells necessary to bring back our memories," Klaus said. "Keelin's volunteered to be the test subject since she didn't know you very well, so if it doesn't work, she won't have a lot to lose."
"How soon will we know?"
"Tonight sometime. She said she'd call me as soon as she knew for certain."
"Magic like that is very dark and it can have negative affects on the baby, if she does it herself."
"Vincent will do the spell and if it's successful, he'll come here and perform it on the rest of us. Kol is packed up and ready to go."
"He thinks it'll work?" She wanted to fight the fledgling desire to hope, but if Kol truly believed that the spell could work, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"He does. Vincent is a powerful witch and with plenty of experience in dark magic, so he should be able to pull it off without so much as a hitch."
When they returned to Hope's room, she tossed Ryan onto the bed and straddled him, kissing and nipping at his throat.
"Damn, sweetheart, I've missed this," Ryan sighed as he tilted his head back.
Instead of speaking, Hope tore his shirt from him and raked her nails down his chest. Ryan flipped them and then they started removing their clothing in desperation while trading kisses that were more teeth and tongue than lips.
"Take me, Ryan." Hope arched beneath him and caught his ear between her lips, tugging on it lightly. "I need you. Please."
"It's been too long, sweetheart."
With a snap of his hips, he thrust into her body and they both moaned.
"Just like that, Ryan. Yes, just like that." Hope rocked beneath him as she slid her legs higher up his waist, taking him more deeply.
"You feel so damn good, sweetheart."
"Love the way you feel inside me."
"Hope. I love you. I love you." Ryan kissed her deeply, linking one of his hands with one of hers, bracing himself on that hand so he could look down into her eyes..
Hearing him say that while buried deep inside her, Hope clung to him, pressing her face against his neck as she whimpered, "I love you too. I love you, Ryan."
Ryan rested his forehead against hers, their breaths mingling as they moved together.
"I love you." Hope dug her fingers into his back, clinging to him, the feeling of his muscles moving beneath her hands heightening her own pleasure.
As they neared climax, the fire racing through her veins, Hope wailed something that may have been his name and Ryan groaned in response. Pleasure raced through her body and Ryan spilled inside her as her internal muscles clenched around him.
When they caught their breath, Hope dug her fingers into his hair, holding his head against her breasts.
"I love you," Ryan whispered then his tongue darted out to caress the nipple nearest his mouth lightly.
"I love you too." Hope pressed her face into his curls and kissed him. "I love you, Ryan Clarke."
Ryan kissed her clavicle and cupped her breast.
"Are you sure you want to be bound into the Mikaelsons? We're crazy and people who love us have the tendency to get hurt."
"I'm one of Malivore's creations. Do you want to be bound to him? He is the reason you endured ten years of hell."
"But you're the one who saved me and you've given me back my life and my family." Hope rolled onto her side and cupped his cheek.
"So the angel fell in love with the devil." Ryan kissed her wrist.
"Which of us is the angel and which is the devil?"
Someone rapped on the door.
"I won't ask you to answer the door," Elijah said, "but I thought you'd like to know that the spell was successful and Vincent and Kol are on their way here. By this time tomorrow, everyone you love will remember you, Hope."
"Thank you, Uncle Elijah." Hope's heart started to pound.
"Goodnight Hope, Ryan." Elijah walked away then.
Once he was gone, Ryan tugged Hope so that her head was beneath his chin and ran his fingers through her hair.
"You're getting your family back, sweetheart."
"You'd better not leave me."
"No, sweetheart. I love you and I'm not leaving unless you tell me to go. You're the first person to actually see me and want me for me, instead of what they can get from me and what I can offer because of what I am and what I know. Even at your worst, you saw me."
"I love you, Ryan." Hope kissed his neck and used magic to pull the blankets over their bodies.
