Erotomania

Chapter 3

Family dinner was not a fun time for Hope. While she never felt scrutinized by her father, she couldn't say the same about her aunts and uncles. They always seemed to pick apart everything she did; they judged everyone she hung out with. She loved them all dearly, but she hated family dinner. The first chance she had to escape back up to her room, Hope took it. She couldn't take her family's judgements anymore. She could handle when the judgements were about her, but her family had focused more on her friends tonight, and in particular, they focused on Ryan. More than once Hope had felt like bursting into tears. Klaus had done what he could to steer the conversation elsewhere, but each time he did, it always circled back to him. As soon as she reached her room, Hope slammed her door shut, locked it, and grabbed her phone. Pulling up her contacts list, Hope scrolled down to Ryan's name and as she blinked back tears, she hit the call button. She wasn't sure if he would be able to answer, but she still wanted to try.

"Hope? Is everything okay?" Ryan asked after picking up on the second ring.

"No…" Hope replied with a shaky voice.

"What happened?"

"Dinner with my family was hell. My dad tried to steer the conversation away from what they were talking about, but it didn't stick."

"Talk to me, Hope. What were they saying?"

"They were talking down about you."

Hope had whispered the words, but from the silence that followed, she figured Ryan had still heard her. As the silence stretched on, Hope started to worry that Ryan had hung up, so she checked and when she saw that the call was still connected, she moved the phone back to her ear.

"Ry?"

"What were they saying about me, Hope?"

"Ryan…"

"Please, Hope, tell me what they said."

"They were saying that people like you are bringing down the prestige of the University and the town, and that you shouldn't be allowed near me. I'm so sorry, Ryan. What I mentioned to you before you left to head to work… I had it completely wrong."

"Do you agree with them? Does your father agree with them?"

"No, of course we don't."

"Then that's all I care about. Your father is the Dean. He makes the final choice on who gets accepted and who doesn't. If he didn't think that I deserved to be attending the University, then I wouldn't have gotten in."

"I'm so sorry, Ryan."

Hope couldn't hold back the tears any longer and started to full on cry over the phone. It broke Ryan's heart that such a huge difference could have happened in just 12 hours. Hope had been smiling and laughing that morning when he had gotten to her house, and now she was crying because her family had tried to insult him.

"Listen to me, Hope. You have nothing to be sorry for. For as long as I've known you, you've always been carefully selective about who you let get close to you. And as far as I can tell, you have amazing judgement. If you didn't trust that I was good enough to be considered a friend, then I wouldn't be in your life. You, and you alone, decide who gets to be in your life, and to what extent."

Hope nearly told Ryan she loved him for that. But she didn't want to scare him away. Like he just said, he was her friend, so he was just being friendly and supportive, like any good friend should be. Nothing more. And she was foolish to think he would want anything more. Sure, they were friends, but she was more his younger brother's friend than his. She was 6 years younger than him for crying out loud.

"Hope? You still there?" Ryan asked.

"Right… sorry. Yes… I'm still here. Got lost in thought over what you said." Hope replied quickly.

"Do you want me to come over again after I'm off? We could watch a comedy. Or even a RomCom if you want." Ryan offered.

"You'll watch a Romantic Comedy with me?" Hope asked.

"If you tell anyone, Miss Mikaelson, I'll firmly deny it." Ryan said, and Hope couldn't fight the smile that lifted at the corners of her lips.

"I'd really like that, Ryan, thank you." Hope replied.

"Okay, get your comfiest pjs on, pick out your favorite RomCom, and I'll swing by the store to get some popcorn and the ingredients to make your favorite milkshake on my way over." Ryan said.

"Deal. Anything to get out of this dress and these heels." Hope said and Ryan had a coughing fit. "You okay, Clarke?"

"Yep, totally fine, Mikaelson."

"What time should I expect you here?"

"An hour. It's dead, and they're kicking me out for the night."

"You're their only bartender. Are they closing the whole restaurant early? Or just the bar?"

"Just the bar. It's just going to be bottle service for the rest of the night. But I'd rather be with you, making you feel better than here, anyway." Ryan said. "See you soon, Pretty Girl."

"That is a really cheesy nickname, Clarke. Are you sure you want to stick with it?" Hope asked.

"I'll think of something better by the time I get to your house." Ryan replied after a moment of silence.

"See you soon."

With that, the call ended and Hope moved off of her bed and grabbed her favorite pajamas. The short shorts and matching tank top had been worn so often that they were very thin, but Hope didn't care. Ryan had said to put her comfiest pjs on, and these were them. Pulling her hair into a messy bun, Hope stepped out of her heels, and quickly undid the zipper on her dress before slipping the shorts and tank top on. Just being in something more comfortable had Hope feeling better. And having more time alone with Ryan had her feeling relaxed. Moving over to her entertainment center, she glanced over her selection of Romantic Comedies and decided on The Ugly Truth. It was an older movie, but she didn't care. She loved it. And she knew the exact reason why she loved it. And if Ryan questioned her on her choice of movie, she would definitely tell him that reason.

Once she had the movie set up, she opened her door and headed to the top of the stairs. Leaning against the railing, Hope watched her aunts and uncles leaving before her father slammed the door shut. Klaus rested his hands on the door, and Hope could see he was breathing deeply, probably trying to calm himself down before he did something he would later regret. When he pushed off of the door and turned around, he locked eyes with his daughter and let out a sigh.

"I could apologize for their behavior, but you and I both know it won't make things better." Klaus said.

"It's okay Dad. You tried to get them to stop. It's all on them. But I called Ryan. Josh and Aiden are closing the bar down early, and they sent Ryan home. But he's going to come over and we're going to watch a movie." Hope said.

"And you're wearing the skimpiest pajamas that you own? You know what... you're old enough to make your own choices about what you wear when you have a boy in your room. So I'm not going to tell you to change before he gets here. My statement from this morning still stands. Behave." Klaus said.

"Thanks Dad. He's also stopping by the store to get some microwave popcorn and ingredients to make milkshakes. So we'll be utilizing the kitchen before we watch the movie." Hope said.

"After the shit that my siblings said after you headed upstairs, I'm going to head to bed early. And you knows the rules of the house, so if Ryan ends up staying the night, he's to do so in the guest room." Klaus said.

"Of course, Dad." Hope said with a nod.

With a nod of his own, Klaus headed off to bed, leaving Hope to her own devices until Ryan showed up. Heading back into her room, she picked her phone up from her bed and sent a text off to Ryan.

Dad went to bed since the family left. So we won't be disrupted during the movie. – H

How does he know that we won't get into any mischief? We'll be all alone in your room. – R

You are such a dork, Ryan. He trusts me... and you... and there's that little fact that we spent most of the day alone in my room without getting up to anything. – H

You need to make up your mind, Mikaelson. Inflate my ego last night, deflate it tonight. Which is it? – R

Case to case decision. – H

Fair enough. Just got to the store. Be there in 30. – R

I'll be waiting. – H

Crawling to the middle of her bed, Hope pulled up the picture she had of Ryan and smiled. She had been the only one still somewhat awake out of her group of friends when she had taken it, and Ryan had just gotten out of bed. He was shirtless, his hair was sticking out at odd angles, and when she asked him if she could take a picture for his contact info, he nodded and gave her lopsided grin. She had known in that moment that she would use it to get off at night. And with the fact that his pajama pants had been sitting low on his hips, Hope hadn't been able to get the curiosity over what his lower half looked like out of her head for days. Before she knew it, there was a knock on the front door and Hope was flying down the stairs, sliding across the foyer.

"Hi." She said with a wide smile when she opened the door for Ryan.

"Damn, Mikaelson. That guy that you like is definitely losing out if those are your comfiest pjs." Ryan replied as he looked her up and down.

"They're my favorite." Hope said with a pout.

"I'm not complaining. In fact, his loss is my gain tonight. You don't strike me as the kind of girl that would wear something like this normally with guys over. This looks more like an outfit you would wear to a sleepover with Lizzie and Josie." Ryan said. "But are you going to actually let me come in? It would be a shame if the ice cream melted before we could use it for making milkshakes." He added with a smirk.

"Oh, right. Come on in." Hope said as she opened the door a little bit wider and let Ryan in.

After closing the front door, Hope led Ryan to the kitchen. As he went about making their milkshakes, Hope jumped up to sit on the counter and watch him. When the milkshakes were done, Ryan handed Hope hers and she smiled.

"I think I've had one milkshake with you around before. I didn't realize that you had paid enough attention to know that it's my favorite. Peanut butter with whip cream on the bottom." Hope said.

"Maybe I just like knowing things that you like." Ryan said with a smirk as he turned to get the popcorn ready.

"Stalker." Hope replied with a grin as she took a sip of her shake and let out a soft moan.

"I prefer the term 'distantly observant', thank you very much." Ryan said, trying to ignore the moan.

Once the popcorn was done, Hope slid of the counter to grab a bowl from the cupboard. However it was on a shelf just out of her reach, and she felt Ryan move behind her, lightly pressing his front to her back and reaching over her head to grab the bowl. After setting it on the counter, Ryan didn't move away from Hope, so when she lowered herself, her ass brushed against Ryan's erection. When Hope turned around, she had to lean back against the edge of the counter to meet Ryan's eyes.

"We should head upstairs before I do something stupid." Ryan muttered and Hope simply nodded.

Grabbing their milkshakes, Hope led Ryan upstairs, acutely aware of the fact that he was staring at her ass the entire time, although she didn't call him out on it. She liked having his eyes on her ass, even if he had no idea that he was who she liked. Upon reaching her room, Hope placed the drinks on the nightstand before moving over to the TV to start the movie.

"Which movie did you pick?" Ryan asked.

"The Ugly Truth." Hope replied.

"That is a really old movie, Hope. Much older than you. Slightly older than me." Ryan commented with a smirk.

"It was my mom's favorite movie. And once I was allowed to watch it, it became mine as well." Hope said while sticking her tongue out at him over her shoulder.

"I won't say another thing about it." Ryan said, holding his hands up in surrender.

When Hope moved back to the bed, Ryan pulled her down so sit between his legs and encouraged her to lean back against him. He wanted to make her feel better after the night she had had, and the only way he could think to do that was to make sure she was happy, comfortable, and could feel his support of her decision to allow him to be in her life. Of course in his mind, that translated into having her in his lap, but he didn't dwell on that. Hope seemed okay with the idea of leaning back against him, and she wasn't breaking his wrists as he rested his hands on her thighs, so that was a good sign.

About half an hour into the movie, Ryan started to subconsciously run his fingers along Hope's thighs, similar to what he had done the night before at the pizza parlor. When he realized what he was doing, he lightly dug his fingers in a little bit more. Ryan's ministrations had Hope arching into his touch, and just moving against him in general. Whether she was moving purposefully, or subconsciously, Ryan didn't know, but he wasn't about to complain. But when Hope's hands came down on top of his, Ryan feared that he had gone too far. That fear was quickly erased when she moved his hands closer to the apex of her legs.

"Hope..." Ryan breathed out.

"Ryan." Hope whispered as her hands moved up to lock together behind Ryan's neck and pulled his head down. "Stop talking." She added and brushed her lips against his.