Erotomania
Chapter 12
When Klaus got home, he felt a shift in the household. With a smirk, and a muttered 'finally', he headed to his office to do some paperwork, only to see a missed call and message on the phone. Noting that the call was from his best friend, Klaus picked up the phone and called Marcel back.
"Marcellus, to what do I owe the pleasure of you having called me at home when you knew perfectly well that I was at work?" Klaus asked.
"Just giving you a heads up. I responded to a call about suspicious activity involving your car." Marcel explained and Klaus heard him stand up and close his office door.
"Ryan has been using my car as Seylah and Landon are not to know where he's been staying." Klaus commented with a smirk.
"I figured that out when I found him and Hope having sex in the front seat." Marcel retorted.
"Were they now? It's about damn time." Klaus said with a chuckle.
"Klaus, you are the only father that I know of who's happy that his only daughter was caught having sex in public. Hell, you're the only father that I know of who's happy that his only daughter is having sex, period." Marcel commented.
"You know perfectly well that Hope and Ryan have been dancing around each other for years, Marcellus. It was only a matter of time that they got together." Klaus replied.
"That's not the point here, Klaus. If anyone else on the force had been closer to where the call originated from, you would have been receiving a call to come bail your daughter and Ryan out of a holding cell for public indecency." Marcel said.
"Were they parked on the side of the road?" Klaus asked.
"No. They were parked on a mostly secluded side street." Marcel replied.
"From the street, could it easily be identified as to what they were doing?" Klaus inquired.
"No."
"Then they wouldn't have been arrested for public indecency. But thank you for the heads up, Marcellus."
"Uh huh."
Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies
Hope rolled onto her back and gave Ryan a small smile. As much as she wanted him, she didn't want their relationship to turn into one that was strictly sexually based and she moved his hand from her breast. Leaning up she pressed her lips to his before sitting up fully and pushing the covers off of them.
"Done with me already, Princess?" Ryan asked with a half smirk pulling at his lips.
"Never. But I want us to pace ourselves. I don't want sex to be the only thing that we do when we're alone together." Hope replied. "But, if I'm your Princess, does that make you my Prince?" She asked.
"Only if you want me to be." Ryan replied as he watched Hope pull some clothes on.
"I very much would like you to be my Prince." Hope said with a nod.
"Where are you going, Hope?"
"Time has gone by a lot faster than I thought it had, and my dad is probably home by now. So we should probably let him know that we're dating."
"Oh, crap."
"What's wrong?"
"I had been meaning to ask Klaus for permission to date you before I asked you to be my girlfriend. There was just never a good chance to ask him over the last week. And then with your drawing class today... I wasn't going let myself chicken out again."
"I'm sure he'd be okay with us just telling him that we're dating."
"Nope. I'm still gonna ask him."
With a playful roll of her eyes, Hope pulled her door open to find her father standing there, hand raised to knock. Locking eyes with Klaus, Hope tried to keep a straight face as Ryan scrambled behind her to get a shirt on. She could see the same restraint in her father's facial features, but when Ryan placed his hands on Hope's waist, both father and daughter lost it and Ryan buried his face in Hope's hair.
"Before either of you try and hide what you've been doing all afternoon, Marcel gave me a call, and gave me a heads up as to what he caught you two doing earlier." Klaus said and Hope's eyes went wide.
"That wasn't all that we were doing today." Ryan commented.
"I don't need specifics, Ryan." Klaus said.
"Oh, no, Dad... that's not what he meant." Hope said quickly. "Ryan was telling me about his first girlfriend." She added. "Do you, um, remember the friends that I made at the hospital 8 years ago? My friend Nicole and her boyfriend?" She asked.
"I do." Klaus replied with a nod.
"That was Ryan and his girlfriend." Hope explained.
"So you two have known each other for 8 years?" Klaus questioned and when he got matching nods, his smile faltered.
"Klaus, Sir, please before you start to rethink your willingness to let me be around Hope, I promise you, my feelings for her back then were strictly platonic, and strictly that of gratitude for being a friend to me and Nicole in Nicole's last months. What I feel for her now only started once we bumped into each other a couple years ago." Ryan explained quickly.
"For the sake of my daughter's happiness, you better pray that you are telling me the truth, Ryan." Klaus said slowly.
"DAD!" Hope exclaimed.
"It is, Sir. I promise you that. I was in no position back then to think of anyone, especially a girl who was 12 years old, in any way that was inappropriate. My heart, at the time, belonged solely to Nicole, and when she passed away, I was too overwhelmed with." Ryan said.
Klaus leveled the younger man with a hard stare which Ryan met easily, his hold on Hope's hips tightening marginally. Partly out of fear of losing her, and partly out of possession. The entire time that her father and boyfriend were staring each other down, Hope kept looking between them, trying to figure out who would break first. And then Klaus' gaze moved from Ryan down to Hope's and he let out a sigh.
"Okay. I believe you. I do sympathize with you Ryan. It is not easy to grieve a loved one. And I'm sorry for assuming the worst, as you've done nothing to warrant me thinking that about you." Klaus said. "Now, what was this I heard about you wanting to ask me something?" He added and Ryan swallowed.
"Given what Sheriff Gerard saw this afternoon, it's a bit belated, and I had meant to ask you before asking Hope, but with everything that's happened over the last week, there was never a good time to ask... but I was wondering, Sir, if you would be willing to give me your blessing to date Hope?" Ryan inquired.
"I take it sex wouldn't have happened between the two of you if you hadn't said 'yes'?" Klaus asked, glancing at Hope.
"Probably not. You always raised me to wait for sex until I was in a committed relationship. And with Ryan, I feel like this is definitely a committed relationship." Hope replied.
"Then yes, Ryan, you have my blessing. But keep in mind that if you hurt my daughter, I will not hesitate in hurting you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good. Now, both of you get dressed, properly. We are celebrating tonight by me taking you both out for dinner."
"Is that a good idea, Dad?"
"You don't think it's a good idea?"
"It's just that..."
Ryan wrapped his arms completely around Hope's waist and leaned down to press a kiss to her shoulder.
"Your father wants to treat us to dinner, Princess; why are you arguing?"
"Fine... where are we going?" Hope asked with a sigh.
"I've already made a reservation at Josh and Aiden's." Klaus replied. "Be ready in 10 minutes."
With that, Hope and Ryan were left alone again and Hope turned around and started hitting Ryan's arm.
"Ow! What the hell did I do?" Ryan asked.
"Why did you have to make my dad think you had romantic feelings for me 8 years ago?" Hope asked as she kept swatting at his arm.
"You were the one that told him that we met when you were 12. He just connected the wrong set of dots." Ryan replied as he grabbed Hope's wrists lightly before she could swat at him again. "Stop hitting me, Hope." He added.
Hope let out a huff and pouted up at Ryan. Moving to intertwine his fingers with Hope's, Ryan pulled her in for a kiss and smiled against her lips.
"Let's get changed before your dad changes his mind about taking us out for dinner."
"You really don't think this is a bad idea?"
"No, I don't. If you're father drives, then you two could have picked me up anywhere in town. And with your father's car parked in the garage, no one will see me get into the car here."
"Okay... if you're on board with this idea, then I'll go along with it."
Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies
By the time that the three of them got to the restaurant, it was packed for the night. But as soon as the host, Oliver, saw Klaus, he immediately led them to their reserved table that was for priority guests. It didn't take long once they were seated for their waiter to come over.
"Okay... catch me up. You two dating now?" Kaleb asked with a smirk.
"You're our waiter tonight, Kaleb?" Ryan replied with a groan.
"Yep. Boss's orders." Kaleb replied with a nod.
"Kaleb, why don't you just take our order. I'm sure you have other tables than just us to check on." Klaus said.
"Actually, Mr. Mikaelson, Josh took over my other tables, told me to solely focus on you guys." Kaleb said. "But I can get you started on something to drink."
"A bottle of champagne, please." Klaus said.
"Coming right up." Kaleb replied. "I want an answer when I get back." He added with another smirk at Hope and Ryan.
"Great. The twins and MG will know by the end of the night." Hope muttered as she buried her face in Ryan's neck.
"Did you think that we were going to be able to keep us a secret from our friends, Princess?" Ryan asked with a raised eyebrow as he draped his arm around her shoulders.
"No... but I thought we would at least get through the first day of us being a couple before we told them."
As Ryan placed a short kiss to the top of Hope's head, Klaus simply shook his head at his daughter. While she reminded him of her mother on a daily basis, the way she was acting in that particular moment was very much something that Hayley had done numerous times when they had started dating. A sad smile graced Klaus' face for a brief moment before Kaleb returned with the requested champagne. Once the drink was poured between the three of them, much to Hope's denial, given that she wasn't 21 yet, Kaleb gave his friends an expectant look.
"Well? You two dating now?" He asked.
"Please don't tell the others. They should hear it from us." Hope said quickly.
"I make no promises. You know how nosy my girl is."
As Kaleb walked away from the table, there was a commotion elsewhere in the restaurant that had Hope spinning around before her gaze slowly turned back towards her father. Klaus did a decent job of avoiding his daughter's glare by nonchalantly perusing the menu.
"Dad." Hope stated.
"Yes, Sweetheart?" Klaus asked, not looking up.
"How many people did you make a reservation for?"
"Just the 3 of us."
"Uh huh. So why are mine and Ryan's friends here?"
"That is not my doing."
With a sigh, Hope glanced up to the end of the table where Josie, Lizzie and MG all stood. They all looked like a mix between excited and anxious. Then they were pushing Ryan and Hope around the booth so that they could all sit down at the table, and Hope let out a groan. Of course Josh and Aiden would place them at one of the bigger private booths after Klaus made the reservation for 3. Especially with Kaleb working that night, Kaleb had given the others a heads up to come down. Everyone that was important part of her life was way more in on her love life than she would have liked them to be. Her friends were one thing. And her dad was another thing. But to know, or at least suspect, that Josh and Aiden were in the know about hers and Ryan's "will they, won't they" relationship, that was a bit too much for her.
"So... did one of you finally grow a pair and ask the other one to be official?" Lizzie asked with a smirk and Hope hid her face in Ryan's shoulder out of embarrassment as Ryan cleared his throat.
"I did ask her to be my girlfriend."
"Finally!" Lizzie exclaimed. "Now we can officially go on triple dates." She added excitedly.
"Liz... why don't you give them a chance to get settled into the new dynamic of their relationship before you pounce on the subject of triple dates." Josie said as her eyes slid from her sister to her friend. "Wait... that's not all that happened, is it?" She asked.
"Now is neither the time, nor the place to be discussing this matter. If you are so inclined to talk about Hope and Ryan's relationship, please do so in the privacy of either your house or mine. Not in public." Klaus chided. "With that being said, what has transpired between them today is not why we are out tonight, so if you three don't mind, I must request that you leave." He added.
"Of course, Mr. Mikaelson. Sorry for the intrusion." MG commented with a quick nod before taking Josie's hand in his and guiding her from the booth, with Lizzie in tow behind her.
"You treating us to dinner tonight isn't about us getting together?" Hope asked.
"No, it isn't. I do not blame you for today's date slipping from your mind, given everything that's happened over the last week and a half, but today would have been your mother's birthday, and we always go out for dinner."
"Are you sure it's okay that I'm here, Sir?" Ryan asked.
"Absolutely, Ryan. Given yours and Hope's relationship, Hayley would have wanted you to be here." Klaus said.
The rest of the dinner went by relatively smoothly. Hope still refused to drink the champagne, other than a sip when they toasted her mother. But there was no talk or fuss over hers and Ryan's relationship. But once they got home, and she and Ryan were getting ready for bed, Hope broke down. She had held it together for Ryan when he was telling her about Nicole; but now that she remembered that today would have been her mother's birthday, and that just overall, she had forgotten that it was her mother's birthday in the first place, had her wrapping her arms around herself as she cried. Hope couldn't pinpoint how long she had been crying for, or just how soon into her breakdown Ryan had moved her from the floor to the bed, but no matter how she had ended up there, Hope cried herself to sleep, using Ryan's chest as a pillow, with the covers surrounding her.