After they'd both showered and dressed, they walked down the stairs to find Lizzie pacing in the foyer.

"I'll see you later, Hope." Ryan pressed a kiss to the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her, emphasizing their height difference as he brushed a loose curl out of her face.

"Tonight?" Hope asked.

"I'll be here." He released her and walked towards the door.

"Spill!" Lizzie whispered, grabbing Hope's arm, dragging her towards a nearby sitting room.

Right as Ryan opened the door, he slipped the ring on, becoming Vardemus once more, and he smirked at Hope as he closed the door behind him.

As they sat on a sofa, Lizzie turned to Hope and demanded, "Two things, what are you thinking, sleeping with a Triad agent, admittedly a gorgeous one, and why would MG think you're screwing the headmaster?"

"Former Triad agent and Ryan's not human, so don't worry about that."

"What is he?"

"He's um, he's."

"I'm gonna trust you that you know what you're doing with him and not going to ask so I can claim innocence if people try to get things out of me."

"Thanks." Hope smiled at her friend.

"So you and he are…. What?"

"Um, we are, um, I don't know. It's confusing and not something I ever planned on happening."

"So, how did it start?"

"I kissed him because he made me mad," Hope admitted. "Turns out, he can be sweet with he's not being a know it all ass. And he gets me in a way no guy has ever gotten me before, even when he's driving me crazy."

"Hope's got a crush!" Lizzie said in a sing song voice.

"Shut up."

"I have to say, your taste in men has improved, because that guy, Ryan, he's all man."

"He most definitely is." Hope grinned, memories of his bare body playing through her thoughts.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Hope Mikaelson."

"Considering who I just spent the night with, that's kinda difficult."

"So why would MG think you were screwing Vardemus?"

"I told you, Vardemus has been talking to me about helping me keep from falling behind since I don't want to go to the Salvatore School. Anyways, today, he tried catching me by surprise to prove I need to continue my magical education and very nearly succeeded."

"Considering you've got someone who'd make Adonis jealous in your bed, MG must have a very active imagination to see what he says he saw." Lizzie raised an eyebrow at Hope as though she wondered if there was more to the story than her friend was telling.

"Trust me, Vardemus holds no appeal for me, so whatever MG saw, wasn't what he thought."

Lizzie's stomach growled and both girls giggled.

"Have you eaten?" Lizzie asked.

"No."

"I missed breakfast too, so, come by the school and we'll see if the kitchen staff has anything left over, because I'm not through with you.."

"Sounds good."

"Are you going to regale me with stories about what Ryan's like in bed?" Lizzie grinned.

"I'm not sure you'll be able to look at him after this if I did, considering some of the things he likes." Hope pulled a light jacket on and the two girls left the house.

"What does he like?" Lizzie lifted her hand to her face to shield her eyes from the sun.

"Nothing too weird, just not exactly vanilla."

When they walked into the kitchen, they found 'Vardemus' putting together a plate of food.

"Good morning Miss Saltzman, Miss Marshall."

"Good morning, Professor." Hope fought a grin as she grabbed a plate. She could feel his gaze on her and she fought the urge to look over at him. Not only would it be the wrong face staring back at her, but it would make Lizzie even more suspicious.

"Looks like we're not the only ones who missed breakfast," Lizzie commented, her eyes narrowing.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid I had a rather late night." He poured some hot water into a mug and added a tea bag. "It's a pity there isn't proper tea around here."

If Hope didn't know any better, she'd think he was putting on the accent even more.

"You've been headmaster long enough that you can't blame Dr. Saltzman for the lack of 'proper tea', now can you?" Hope attempted to keep up the snippy tone she'd had with him yesterday. But knowing who was behind that face and what they'd shared the night before made it difficult.

"Would you like to join us, Headmaster?" Lizzie smiled too brightly as she and Hope took a seat at the table.

Please don't. Please don't. Hope begged silently. His scent filling her lungs made it difficult to think about anything other than the pleasure he brought her and she knew she wouldn't be able to keep it together much longer.

"Not today, Miss Saltzman. Perhaps some other time." With one last smirk in Hope's direction, he took his food and tea, and left the room.

"Okay, what was that about?" Lizzie hissed.

"Can we not talk about the rumors MG started and the professor is likely going to give me a hard time about later?"

"Fine. I don't want to talk about the headmaster anyway. Tell me more about things with Ryan."

"We're just seeing where this goes."

"I'm guessing he's good in bed, otherwise you would have come right down stairs, instead of letting him have his way with you again."

"He exceeded all my expectations."

Lizzie giggled and they continued with their meal.

After rinsing off their plates, Lizzie and Hope headed out to the main part of the school. As they walked, the stares and whispers were even worse than the day before.

"I'm gonna kill MG," Hope growled.

"Get in line."

"Hello, Hope." Landon shifted from one foot to the other as he stopped in their path.

"Landon, what's up?"

"Just- nothing." He turned on his heel and headed back the way he came.

Raf caught Landon's arm and they started whispering softly. Raf stared at Hope for a long moment, his eyes sad.

"I wonder just how much you smell like Ryan," Lizzie whispered. "Because every person with a sharp nose keeps looking at you."

"We didn't shower together, so I shouldn't smell too much like him."

"But you do probably have that lingering scent of sex so they're putting two and two together and coming up with eight?"

"I'm gonna head out. Maybe I'll get lucky and there will be a Malivore monster to take down."

"And I'm gonna talk to Mom, make sure this doesn't get too far out of control and the wrong person tells her what they think is going on. She'll believe me when I tell her what I saw this morning," Lizzie said in a low voice. "See you at the Grill later?"

"Say about five?"

"Give you time to see if any new monsters are around and me time to talk to my mom."

"See ya." Hope waved and headed towards the door.

"So you're not screwing the headmaster?" Kaleb asked, falling into step beside her.

"The guy I'm sleeping with looks nothing like the headmaster, trust me."

4:53 PM found Hope sitting at a booth, waiting for Lizzie to arrive.

"Naughty girl." A firm hand on her shoulder had her looking up to find 'Ardemus' looking down at her.

"How am I breaking the rules, Professor?" Hope looked up with what she hoped was an innocent expression on her face.

"It's all over the school that you smelled like sex and that I spent the night out, and the only thing keeping Ms. Forbes from investigating is Miss Saltzman's word that nothing untoward is happening between her headmaster and a town girl."

"And how is this my fault?" Hope fought a smile.

"You started this. Perhaps a moment of your time to remind you of that?" He indicated the bathroom with a tilt of his head.

Glancing around to make sure no one she knew was around, Hope headed towards the bathroom. Just as she rounded the corner, she found herself dragged into the men's bathroom and Ryan staring down at her, smirk fully in place.

"Are you trying to get caught?" Hope gasped as he pinned her against the wall, his mouth firmly attached to her neck.

"Mmm, but it's so much fun."

"Who's the tease now?"

Hope slid one leg up his thigh and scraped her nails against his scalp, then tugged on his hair as hard as she could without tearing it out, to bring him the pain he seemed to enjoy during sex. In response, Ryan kissed her lips, sliding his tongue between her lips as he moved his hand under her shirt to cup her breast through her bra. Just as she started working at the buttons on his collar, the door swung open and Alaric Saltzman stared at the pair, eyes wide.

"Dr. Saltzman." Hope made no move to separate herself from Ryan.

"I'll um, I'll give you a moment to get straightened up." Alaric glanced at them, confusion all over his face.

Once the door closed behind Alaric, Hope started giggling.

"How are we going to get out of this one?" Ryan asked. "I can't exactly leave this room without alerting him to the fact that I am not exactly honest about my appearance."

"I can distract him enough, get him to scold me, and then you can leave without anyone noticing that it's not 'you' leaving the bathroom."

Ryan released his hold on her, setting her feet on the ground, then he kissed her gently. Cupping her cheek, he rested his forehead against hers.

"Will I still be able to see you tonight?" Hope asked, searching his face.

"I'll be there after curfew."

Hope pressed a soft kiss to his lips and headed towards the door.

"Tonight, I wonder if you'd like to be introduced to some new things."

"Like what?"

Ryan chewed on his cheek, then said, "I was thinking about showing you how I like to be hurt, what really gets me off."

"What really gets you off?" Hope felt a part of her start to shrivel up and shrink away. Was she not enough for him?

Ryan grabbed her arm, his voice desperate as he said, "No, it's not like that. Sex with you is incredible, Hope, but there are things I need and I'd like to teach them to you, if you're willing."

"So teach me." Hope stood on tiptoe and bit his lower lip, then exited the bathroom only to come face to face with Alaric, turning him so his back was facing the door.

"Hope." Alaric folded his arms across his chest.

"Dr. Saltzman."

"Care to explain what you were doing in the men's bathroom?"

As he spoke, 'Vardemus' exited, though Alaric was too busy scolding Hope to notice.

"I think it was pretty obvious. I was kissing a very hot guy that I slept with last night. And since you've seen him, you can confirm that he is not in fact, Vardemus." Hope rolled her eyes. This was not a conversation she wanted to have with him.

"Who is he?"

"He's a guy who's a lot older than he looks and don't worry, I know him well enough to know he's dangerous, but I think I can trust him, eventually."

"Hope."

"Don't, Dr. Saltzman." Hope held up her hand, cutting him off. "I know what I'm doing with him."

"Hope! Is everything alright?" Lizzie joined them then.

"Your dad caught me with Ryan in the men's bathroom."

"Oh, do tell." Lizzie caught Hope's arm and led her to a table.

When they got to the main room, Hope glanced around to find Vardemus seated at the bar, a glass of bourbon in front of him and he lifted his glass in salute.

"Can I get you guys anything? Do you need a menu?" a waitress asked.

"Coke and fries," Lizzie replied.

"Peanut butter blast, whipped cream on the bottom, and fries."

"You got it." The waitress scribbled on her note pad as she walked away.

"So my dad actually caught you?" Lizzie giggled.

"Up against a wall with Ryan's tongue down my throat." Hope started laughing. "I think it's my curse to have people walk in on me at the worst times."

"Maybe we should have a 'if the door is closed, knock' lesson at school."

"Make sure to include your dad since he barged in this time."

"Well, you were getting it on in the men's room."

The waitress arrived with their orders and set it down.

"Hi." Josie walked up to them and shuffled awkwardly for a moment.

"You wanna join us?" Hope asked.

"Sure." Josie slid into the seat beside Lizzie. "So, what are we talking about?"

Hope and Lizzie exchanged glances, then Lizzie grinned and launched into the tale.