Erotomania
Chapter 15
The following morning had Hope and Ryan waking up, both feeling better than either of them had in the last couple of weeks. They had told the other how they truly felt and had spent the night making love to each other. But their good mood was quickly tainted by someone walking into the room without having knocked or been invited. It was all they could do to just barely pull the sheets over their naked bodies before the intruder turned the corner from around the bathroom. Hope locked eyes with her uncle for a few brief, tense moments before Elijah's hard gaze shifted to Ryan.
"Get out of bed, this instant, Hope Andrea." Elijah said sternly.
"No." Hope replied with a glare.
"That was not a request, young lady. It was an order." Elijah said taking a step towards the bed.
"You are not her father, Elijah. You have no right to make demands or orders of her after barging into hers and Ryan's hotel room, uninvited." Klaus commented coldly from the door.
"Niklaus..." Elijah started slowly.
"No, Elijah. Hope is my daughter. Not yours. You do not have any say in how she lives her life, and you do not get to dictate it. Nor do you have the right to barge in here without having first knocked and been invited in." Klaus said, his voice dangerously low.
"Why are you allowing your daughter to associate with someone who is beneath her?" Elijah asked.
"Technically I was beneath him most of the night." Hope muttered and Ryan let out a burst of laughter.
Elijah's sharp glare had Ryan shutting up immediately and pulling Hope into his chest. The movement didn't escape Elijah's gaze and he narrowed his eyes at the young couple. Hope met her uncle's gaze with a leveled one, daring him to try something with her father standing in the doorway.
"Dad, you can come in long enough to get Uncle Elijah out. And then Ryan and I will meet both of you in your room once we've showered and gotten dressed." Hope commented, her eyes never leaving Elijah's, even as Ryan moved his lips over her shoulder and neck.
Elijah looked between his niece and his brother, but with Hope staring him down, almost daring him to take another step towards the bed, and Klaus glaring daggers at him, Elijah knew he wasn't going to win this battle. With one more look of disgust in Ryan's direction, he left the room. Hope let out a sigh of relief and leaned back into Ryan's embrace.
"Both of you get dressed and meet us in my room." Klaus commented from his place at the door before pulling it closed.
"How long do you think we have before your father comes back?" Ryan asked as he moved his hands under the sheets and cupped Hope's breasts.
"Not very long. He'll probably give us 10 minutes at the most." Hope replied with a pout over her shoulder.
"You do only have 1 class today, and that's tonight. We could spend the day in bed today until we have to go to class." Ryan offered, lightly sucking on Hope's neck.
"He'll be in class tonight, won't he?" Hope asked bitterly.
"Since he's doing everything he can to see you, yes, he probably will be. But we can try and get to class early and talk to Vardemus. See if he'll let you sit somewhere else until we get everything with the restraining order sorted out." Ryan replied with a sigh. "Somewhere that I can easily get to your side if he tries something." He added.
"Do you think Vardemus will go for that? Or would we have to explain the whole situation to him?" Hope questioned as she pushed the covers back and climbed out of bed.
"We should be good with just explaining the basics to him. Let him know that you're having issues with Landon and would like to sit as far away from him as you can and be closer to me."
Hope hummed at the suggestion as she got dressed. It wasn't until she sat down on the edge of the bed to slip her boots on and Ryan pulled her towards him and pressed a hard kiss to her lips that Hope realized the outfit she was wearing was the same one she had been wearing two weeks prior when everything between her and Ryan had shifted. The first night he truly teased her with his touch. The first time she truly got her hopes up that there might possibly be something more between her and Ryan. Before she could do much to react, Ryan had Hope on her back and was running a hand up her thigh, under her skirt and to the apex of her legs.
"Would you consider not wearing any panties today, Princess?" Ryan asked against Hope's lips as he started to pull the material down her legs.
"That depends... would you be okay with the TA of my class tonight seeing my bare pussy if I were to just happen to part my legs during class while sitting across from him?" Hope asked as she bit Ryan's lower lip.
"See now, that depends as well. What would this TA you speak of look like?" Ryan inquired, continuing to remove Hope's panties.
"Tall, boyish good looks, gorgeous brown eyes, a pair of sinfully pouty lips, adorable curly hair. Lean build, but strong in his own way." Hope replied as she shifted beneath him. "He's a little bit older, but rarely acts like it."
"He sounds dreamy. If I didn't already have the most beautifully gorgeous woman in front of me at this very moment." Ryan commented before leaning down and giving Hope a quick kiss before finally removing her panties.
"Then that would mean that I'm dating a narcissist." Hope replied as she watched with hooded eyes as Ryan stuffed her panties into his pocket. "A very sexy narcissist. Because goddamn, Ryan, knowing that you have my panties in your pocket is going to make it very difficult to concentrate today."
"That's the point, Princess. I want you to be thinking of me." Ryan replied with a smirk before he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Hope's lips while settling between her legs.
"We don't have time, Ry. But I promise, as soon as we are done talking to my dad and uncle, we can come right back here and have some fun." Hope said. "Just make sure those are completely hidden. Elijah is already pissed that he barged in here to find us in bed together, but I really don't want him to try and maim you for having my panties in your pocket."
"Are you sure you want them hidden? Because I was thinking of showing them off." Ryan replied, his face completely neutral.
"Do that, and you won't get anything from me until further notice." Hope warned.
"Hope, Ryan, time's up." Klaus said through the door before Ryan could respond.
With a sigh, Ryan pushed Hope's panties deeper into his pocket so that they would be hidden from view and pressed a kiss to Hope's neck. They quickly finished getting ready and headed to Klaus' room next door. The door was slightly propped open, and they could hear a heat conversation taking place from within. From the sounds of it, Hope was going to have to do a lot of convincing to get Elijah to agree to getting the restraining orders in place.
Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies
"Have you lost your damn mind, Niklaus? A restraining order? Not even one restraining order, but five of them! And all of them against one kid!" Elijah exclaimed as he paced back and forth in front of his younger brother.
"He assaulted Hope last week, Elijah. And he's shown up at the house twice now and gotten aggressive when I told him that he doesn't have my permission to date Hope." Klaus explained, completely unfazed by his brother's rising anger. It was a switch to the usual dynamic between them. "And as far as the number of restraining orders, Hope wants to make sure he can't hurt her friends. She still has to talk to them about it, and she understands that they might not go for it, since he hasn't tried anything against any of them. But she is adamant about the restraining order that protects herself and the entire family. Which, despite your arguments to the contrary, does include Keelin, Marcel and Ryan."
"I can bend on including Keelin and Marcel, but that boy that Hope had in her bed... he is not a part of this family." Elijah snapped.
"He's my family, Uncle Elijah. And if you continue to try and deny me the happiness that Ryan brings me, then you lose me. Because I will no longer consider you to be family." Hope said with a low voice as she folded her arms across her chest and Ryan lightly rubbed her back.
"He's not worth your devotion, Hope." Elijah argued.
"That's not your decision to make. And for the record, he's more than worthy of my love." Hope snapped.
"Hope..." Ryan said slowly.
"I'm not going to hide how I feel about you, Ryan. We told each other how we felt about each other last night. And if my Uncle knows what's best for him, he won't continue to belittle that." Hope said, her voice dripping with a hint of venom as she turned from Ryan to Elijah, giving her uncle a hard and leveled stare.
"You listen to me, Hope Andrea..." Elijah started.
"Just stop it Elijah!" Hope snapped. "You are supposed to love me unconditionally. You're my uncle. You're the one who named me for fuck's sake. You were always the noble one of the family. Yet here you are, judging the man that I love and saying that he isn't worth anything. That he's beneath me. And I'm sick and tired of it. I love Ryan with my entire being. And he loves me. Dad has accepted Ryan into the family without question and has allowed us to begin dating. And instead of turning your ire on the guy who assaulted me, and is harassing me, you're focusing on the man that I love. You are the best lawyer that we know, and we are asking you, as your family, to do this one thing for us. We never turn to you for anything that is a small grievance, so you should be smart enough to realize that we wouldn't be asking you to file for a restraining order against Landon if there wasn't a reason behind it."
"Breathe, Princess." Ryan murmured into Hope's ear as he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.
"Hope makes a very good point, Brother. We don't abuse our family's connections. So why are you acting like this favor it just a big inconvenience for you to do for your family?" Klaus asked.
"Dad had him arrested for 2 counts of trespassing yesterday morning and by yesterday afternoon, Landon had been released on bail. Uncle Marcel was so sure that Landon would immediately go to our house, that he sent a unit there, and suggested we stay elsewhere." Hope commented.
"And I heard from Marcellus this morning. Landon went to the house and camped out in front of it in his mother's car." Klaus added.
"Mr. Mikaelson, I get that you don't think much of me, and frankly, I don't care. But I want you to know that Hope's safety and happiness is my number one concern. And while it isn't my place to say this, I'm going to anyway. Your reluctance to give Hope and Klaus what they are asking for by filing a restraining order against my half-brother just shows me that I care more about Hope's safety than you do." Ryan said. "When Landon assaulted Hope last week, Klaus and I pulled Landon away from Hope. Since then, I have spent every moment that I can by Hope's side so that he can't get to her again. But that won't stop him. He is disillusioned enough to believe that Hope loves him. Despite her blatantly telling him that she's not interested, he's misconstrued every instance of her being friendly as her showing him that she loves him. My half-brother will not stop until he either gets what he wants, or he gets stopped by something more permanent. So why are you willing to sacrifice your only niece's safety? I might not have the best family experiences, but even I know that's not how you keep your family safe."
Elijah glared at Ryan the entire time that the younger male was speaking. When he was sure that Ryan was done, Elijah turned to Klaus.
"And this is who you allow to date your daughter?" Elijah asked.
"Yes. And let me tell you why, Brother. In the entire time that Ryan has been in Hope's life, he has done nothing but look out for her. Even when their friends were around, Ryan continued to make sure that Hope was okay; that she was happy. He has always gone out of his way to ensure she gets home safely when they are out with their friends. And I have never seen my daughter's face light up nearly as much with anyone else as it does when she's with Ryan. And- I'm sorry if this is something you haven't had a chance to discuss properly with Hope, Ryan- he is doing everything that he can so that he has a chance of giving Hope a good life later on. He puts her safety and happiness ahead of her own. Something that, as her family, you should be doing as well. Which, as Ryan has just explained, you aren't doing." Klaus said. "And as Hope pointed out, that makes Ryan more of her family than you at the moment." He added. "Now... are you going to help us, or are you going to force our hand, and have us go with another lawyer?" He asked.
"Let me talk to Marcellus and see what we can do. The family one will be covered, as for the other ones, I make no promises." Elijah said with a sigh.
"The entire family, Uncle Elijah. Aunt Keelin, Uncle Marcel, and Ryan included. And I want to see it once it's written up, as well as be there from the time it's printed, to the time it is handed to the judge for signing." Hope insisted.
"Of course." Elijah agreed with a stiff nod. "I will call once I've talked to Marcellus." He added before he headed towards the door. "Let me know once you've talked to your friends so that I know if I need to work up a pitch for getting them restraining orders as well." He added as he passed Hope and Ryan, and with that, he was gone.
"I'd like the two of you to stay here at the hotel until you have to go to class tonight." Klaus commented.
"That's what we were planning on doing, anyway." Hope said with a nod.
"And before I head to the University, we all need to get something to eat for breakfast." Klaus added.
"Why don't we just order room service?" Hope asked.
"There's a private dining room upstairs for the..." Klaus trailed off.
"It's okay Klaus. Just say it. There's a private dining room upstairs for the wealthier guests." Ryan said with a smile. "I know that I'm not as well off as your family, but I'm not ashamed of that. I have a plan in place to get there." He adds.
"After breakfast, we need to talk about this plan of yours more in depth." Hope commented.
"Of course, Princess." Ryan said with a nod and a kiss to her forehead.
"Ryan, I know that you keep saying we've done more than enough for you, but if you ever need anything, financially, please don't hesitate to ask." Klaus said.
"While I hope it never comes to that, Klaus, I will keep that in mind." Ryan said.
With a nod of understanding between the two men, Klaus grabbed his wallet and led the other two out of the room and towards the elevator. Once they were seated in the dining room, Hope took Ryan's hand in hers and laced their fingers together. She was curious about the plan that her boyfriend had to give them a good life, but she held her tongue. It was a conversation that needed to be had in private, between just the two of them. But her father didn't seem to agree with Hope's internal thoughts and brought it up after they had placed their order.
"Ryan, I know that you mentioned wanting to save money and work as much as possible while going to school so that you can give Hope a good life, but I'm curious if there is more to your plan?" Klaus said.
"Specifically, no. You know that I'm majoring in History, but I have no idea what I want to do with my degree. Which isn't the best place to be in when I'm as close to graduating as I am. I'm open to suggestions, though. I know this might be odd to say, but you are the closest thing I have to a father figure, and I appreciate any guidance you can offer." Ryan replied, moving the hand that was linked with Hope's to around her shoulder and placing his other hand on Hope's thigh.
"There are a couple of obvious options. Although I'm not sure if they appeal to you at all." Klaus commented.
"I've toyed with the idea of teaching History, but Alaric seems miserable with teaching, so I'm not sure if that's because he's been doing it for so long, or because it seemed like the easiest path to take." Ryan said.
"It might not mean much, but I think you'd make an amazing teacher, babe." Hope commented softly.
"Hey, don't underestimate the weight of which your thoughts and suggestions mean to me, Princess. They mean more to me than I can put into words." Ryan said before pressing a kiss to Hope's temple.
"If you are unsure about teaching, there's always other options that you can look into." Klaus said.
"To be perfectly honest, at this moment, I care more about the present and the future than I do about the past." Ryan admitted as he lightly squeezed Hope's thigh. "So I will look into other options over the weekend."
"Before we completely drop the conversation, I've been meaning to look into having someone research our family's history, and the history of the town, and to write it all down. Would that be something of interest to you?" Klaus asked.
"Dad, are you sure you want to do that?" Hope questioned.
"If it's something that interests him, then I think that Ryan should know exactly what he's getting into by being a part of the family. And your uncle abandoned his ambition to look into our family's history in favor of creating an empire of night clubs and bars." Klaus explained.
"Would this be a paid thing?" Ryan asked slowly.
"If you would like it to be, we can work something out." Klaus replied with a nod.
"But it doesn't have to be?"
"I will not insist on paying you if it makes you uncomfortable, Ryan. But I do believe that you should get to know the family's history. At this point in life, I don't see any of my siblings having kids of their own, so as much as I hate to admit it, because I don't want to put such a burden on either of you, the two of you are very much the family's future."
"Seriously Dad? 2 days into dating, and you're basically telling Ryan and I to get pregnant!?" Hope asked in a tense whisper.
"I'm not saying immediately, Hope. Just, eventually." Klaus replied, Hope's motion of placing a hand on her stomach not going unnoticed.
"I don't think I'm not ready for kids." Hope whispered.
"It's okay, Princess. We don't have to think about that right now." Ryan replied while tilting Hope's head up and pressing a soft kiss to her lips.
Once their food arrived, the three ate in silence, but Hope's head was spinning. She knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Ryan, and she agreed with her father on not seeing any of her aunts or uncles having kids of their own, but that put a lot of pressure on her to eventually have kids to continue the family line. And she had barely given any thought to whether she wanted kids. She just hoped that if she ended up not wanting kids, that neither her father nor Ryan would be upset.