I don't say a word
But still, you take my breath and steal the things I know
There you go, saving me from out of the cold
Hayley took a deep breath as she looked around the room one more time, waiting for Klaus to return from wherever he was. When she had arrived, he had not been there. She had smelled the distinctive scent of blood inside of the old chalet the father of her daughter had been staying in, according to his sister. The brunette had debated with herself whether inviting herself in was a good idea, scared of what she'd find inside, and whether coming to find him had been a sound decision or not. But it had been three months since he had rushedly left New Orleans to protect their daughter, to keep Hope safe from the Hollow, and while he had kept in touch with their little girl in the beginning, it had been almost a month since any of them had received news from the hybrid.
A part of her had been angry with him, seeing Hope grow sadder and sadder from the lack of contact, and if she had to be honest with herself, that part of her had flown all the way to Sweden just to yell at him. But there was another part of her that had been worried. Klaus was a good father to Hope, and their little girl was literally the only thing in the world that had mattered to him in the longest of times, and Hayley knew that he would do anything for her. She was aware of that, and of how much it could affect him to be kept away from Hope, even if he had made the choice knowingly. She was also aware of the self destructive path Klaus chose to follow every time he was in pain. And the part of her that knew all of that had crossed the ocean to try to bring him some sort of comfort.
What she had found inside the house was not much of a shock to her, but it still caused her stomach to twist. The chalet smelled and looked like a slaughterhouse: bodies piled up in the living room, blood on the floor, on the walls, on the furniture. She knew to expect that kind of behavior coming from Klaus, that the violence that resulted in the scene before her eyes was his way of lashing out and purging the pain inside of him. She knew, and it actually pained her, because this amount of violence and bloodshed was the result of a pain she knew way too well.
Hayley heard when the hybrid arrived, his heavy steps producing a unique sound as they made their way to the chalet on the snow. She thought about walking to the door and meeting him at the entrance, but the loud sigh he had emitted when he stopped outside the door for a moment made it clear that he was already aware of her presence. She had closed her eyes, trying to prepare for the state he would be in when he entered the house, and during the long seconds in which she waited for him, she wondered if he would even come in at all. Knowing him, it was a very real possibility that he'd walk away to avoid her.
"What are you doing here, Hayley?" She snapped her eyes open at the sound of his voice, and found Klaus standing on the other end of the room, next to the pile of bodies she had put aside while she waited for him.
His expression was rigid. His hands, covered in blood, were closed in fists next to his body, he kept his head up, his jaw clenched and his dead eyes on her. It had been a long while since she had seen his blue eyes as lifeless as they were in that moment. No matter how cold and detached he'd like to seem, his gaze had always been filled with emotion in a way that managed to take her by surprise every time. Looking inside of his eyes, really looking, was like looking inside of his soul, and it was both mesmerizing and scary at the same time, because it was like letting yourself drown for a moment in the intensity of his being. And yet, looking at him in that moment, she couldn't see anything but a shell of a person, and that was more painful than she had expected.
"I came because of Hope," she fought with herself to get the words out of her mouth, standing up from the couch and walking slowly in his direction.
Hayley saw as his expression changed. The soulless one being replaced by a concerned face, his eyes opening widely, his lips parting and his head tilting as he took a short breath.
"What happened?" he muttered, his fists unclenching. She could hear his heartbeat begin to race and his breath begin to catch as he tried to swallow, his eyes trying to read her dumbfounded expression. "Is she alright? Is she safe? Hayley!"
"No, I-" she tried to speak after hearing the apprehension in his voice, but struggled to get her words straight while keeping his gaze. In the split second that followed, his frightened reaction to the beginning of her sentence made her snap out of the trance she had been in since he had walked inside of the room. "I mean, she's okay, she's fine" she completed, her hands in front of her body in an attempt to calm him down. He looked at her with a half confused, half alarmed expression, his eyes narrowing as he waited for her to continue. "She's safe, Klaus. That's not why I came."
"Then why did you...come?" he questioned, his tone going back to the unsympathetic one he had welcomed her with.
He walked past her, making his way to a tray in which he found a half empty glass of scotch he had poured himself the night before. She stood in the same place, but turned around to face his back as he filled his own glass. If it had been only a few years ago, she would have rolled her eyes at the scene and made some snarky comment about him being overly dramatic. But something about this quiet outburst of his felt different. She knew, after all these years of getting to know him, that there was no point in trying to get to him emotionally, at least not directly. Besides, she was too much like him to know that a heart-to-heart was not the way into his mind. Their dynamic had always been of a different sort, and in a twisted way that worked for both of them, she managed to get more from him with a stubborn attitude than anyone had managed in a thousand years. So she took a deep breath and crossed her arms on her chest, deciding to play along their usual script.
"Because," she started, her voice raising and her tone assuming the confident sound she wore around him most of the time, knowing you can only fight stubbornness with more stubbornness. "Whether we like it or not, we have a daughter together" the brunette continued and watched as he turned around to face her again, lifting his head in a daring expression, clearly irritated by her words. "And no one has seen or heard from you in a month, including Hope. And while your little murder orgy here seems to be taking up your time, if my daughter's well being is threatened by your lack of ability to find time to call her, it becomes my problem."
Klaus looked down and swallowed hard, avoiding Hayley's gaze and letting his eyes wander the room in the direction of the bodies. She recognized that expression all too well: he was ashamed, and he couldn't bring himself to answer her accusations because he knew she was right, and that if he tried to justify his actions he would end up saying things he didn't really mean, so he refused to fight back.
Hayley looked up, sighed heavily, looked back at him, and sat on the arm of the old couch next to her. "Look," she said more gently, causing him to look back at her in confusion. "I know it's hard, Klaus."
The hybrid closed his eyes and tightened his grip on the glass of scotch, nearly causing it to shatter. He took a deep breath before reopening his eyes and looking at Hayley again, and she could see a pinch of resentment in his eyes.
"Do you, now?" he interrogated, setting the glass on the tray and slowly walking in her direction. He stopped when they were only a few inches apart, his gaze once again assuming the coldness that she had seen earlier. She could smell the blood in his clothes and the alcohol in his breath. He was angry at her comment, she could see that clearly. She had pushed that button too soon, and instead of showing him that she understood, she had made it seem like she was belittling his suffering. "Because no matter how pure your intentions are, little wolf, I don't really think you understand."
Hayley held her breath and looked at him with sorrowful eyes, the memory of his face when he told Hope he loved her before rushing out of the compound coming back to her. Klaus had never been a saint, and he had done terrible things, including to her, but he did not deserve to be torn away from their daughter like that over and over.
Some time ago, I refused to trust you with our daughter. I took you from Hope. I was wrong. Take care of her.
The words he had uttered the second time he had had to leave Hope echoed in her head. He had trusted her to take care of their daughter back then, he had sacrificed himself so that Hope could grow up, so that Hayley could raise her. And while those five years had been anything but easy or peaceful for her, she had been with Hope, she had watched as she grew up, as she learned new words, as she learned to draw and write her own name, as she learned to sing and as she started painting. She had watched all those things that Klaus had been deprived of, and once again he was sacrificing the opportunity to watch their daughter grow up so that she could be with her, so that Hope would have her mother.
"Maybe not entirely" she finally confessed, resting her hand on his upper arm and receiving a sharp gasp at her touch. "But during the months that we had to stay away from her after she was born, and the period during which I was trapped in wolf form..." she continued carefully, trying to hold his gaze and squeezing his arm in a tender way. "It was torture. It was the worst pain I've ever felt. And no amount of violence or bloodshed could quiet it down, or make me feel better. I was suffering and I wanted the world to pay for it."
Hayley watched as his ocean blue eyes filled with the tears he had been fighting since he saw her, and as he tried to get away from her touch, look away from her understanding eyes, stop himself from breaking down in front of her. She knew how hard it was for him to let himself acknowledge his pain, to let himself feel it instead of lashing out, screaming and fighting. But she had come all the way here to find him, to try to bring him some kind of comfort, and she wasn't going to let him continue in this path of self destruction and denial that would only hurt him more. She had seen it before, when he thought she was going to take Hope away from him, when he thought Elijah was dead, when Cami had died... She recognized all of the signs, and for his and their daughter's sake, she couldn't let him deal with this on his own, in his way. So instead of letting him walk away from her, she moved her hands to his cheeks, held his face between her hands, and forced him to look at her as both of them let tears run down their faces.
Klaus gasped and tried to repress a sob, but ended up letting his forehead fall on Hayley's shoulder, her fingers caressing the nape of his neck reassuringly as he cried in silence. They stood like that for a while, his head resting in the space between her neck and her shoulder, his arms falling motionless next to his body, his tears damping her shirt, and she rested her own head on his messy curls and continued to draw circles on his neck in an attempt of consoling him.
"I know it pains you to be away from her," she whispered after some time, and felt his body tighten in her embrace. "And I know that there is nothing that I or anyone can do to make you feel better. And this," she said as she moved one of her hands to his bloody ones. "I can understand this, Klaus. But what I can't understand is why you're pushing her away. She adores you, and she misses you."
He stepped back and sat down on the couch next to her, his elbows resting on his knees and his eyes on the floor.
"You think I don't know that?" he muttered and took a deep breath. "But look at me, Hayley," Klaus continued, showing off his bloody hands as an argument. "I've lived a thousand very long years, and over the course of the centuries there were moments when immortality seemed more challenging than others." He closed his eyes and shook his head, a tear falling down his cheek. "But never before has the weight of time felt this heavy on my shoulders. The days are endless, there are not enough things in the world that could distract me from this hole in my chest."
Hayley looked at him compassionately as he motioned to his own chest, his eyes meeting hers again in an agonized expression.
"And the Hollow..." he proceeded, making her shiver at the sound of the name of the thing that had taken her family away from her again. "This darkness inside of me... I can't let her see it. I can't let her see this." he finished, pointing to the pile of bodies in the corner of the room. "She's just a child."
Hayley gave him an understanding nod and a sad smile. When she had met him, he not only reveled in violence and cruelty, but he made it his business to show the world just how vicious he could be. Being feared was his way of showing strength, and he was good at it. But he had never wanted that for Hope, and both of them had fought as hard as they could to protect her from the legacy of darkness that came with being a Mikaelson, that came with being Klaus Mikaelson's daughter. Once upon a time, she had hated him for that, and had thrown in his face that the reason their daughter was constantly in danger was him, the life he had led up until then, the legacy of his family. But the truth was that Hope was in danger because she was both their daughter, because she was unique, because she was different and powerful, and the world feared anything that didn't fit into the norm. The Hollow had targeted Hope because of her power, not because of Klaus. And no matter how twisted their family was, to Hope they weren't the villains, they were heroes, the knights in shining armor that would always fight for her.
"I know" Hayley said and proceeded to sit down next to him, a resigned sigh coming out of her mouth. "And I agree. We swore to protect her innocence for as long as we could." she continued as Klaus watched her attentively, his eyes piercing into her soul. "But Klaus, you are no longer a character in her fairytale story... You're real, she got to know you, and got to love you, and she needs you. I need you."
Klaus closed his eyes at the last confession and held his breath. She could see that it pained him to hear that his family needed him and he hadn't been there.
"And she has questions, Klaus… Questions that I can't answer alone, that I never thought I'd have to." Hayley confessed. "I guess I just always thought you'd help me answer them."
Hayley had always known that, one day, Hope would start asking questions about her family. When she was raising her alone, during the long years in which Klaus was held captive while she searched for a way to save the rest of their family, she used to tell Hope stories about them. In the beginning, it had started as a way to keep them alive in her baby's memory, and as a way for her to deal with the loss, the absence. Hope had been just a baby back then, and she had grown up hearing all about her dad, a wolf king who would do anything to protect the most precious thing in his kingdom: his little princess. Later on, she had started asking questions about where he was, when he'd come back, how he looked like, and Hayley had told her what she believed she needed to know: her dad was in New Orleans, working hard to keep bad guys away from them, to protect their family, he would come back as soon as he could, he was very old, and a hybrid - like her mom -, and he had eyes as blue and beautiful as hers. Hayley had always known she would have to explain their twisted family to Hope, and up until then, there was only one thing that mattered, one thing she needed to know: family was always and forever.
But Hope wasn't 5 anymore, and she was going to a school for supernatural kids, like herself, where they were taught about their world: about vampires, werewolves, witches and everything in between. And considering the fact that her family was at the genesis of pretty much everything involving the supernatural world, it hadn't taken long for questions to start popping up in conversations.
The first question she had asked had taken Hayley by surprise, and she had been at loss of words for a moment, thinking about a plausible answer that didn't involve all the hurtful details. She had learned about Esther Mikaelson in school, the original witch, and she had asked her mother if she was her grandmother, and if she was as nice as grandma Mary. It had been an innocent question, one any kid could have asked, but Hope wasn't just any kid, and she couldn't ask her teachers about her family - she knew very well no one was to know she was a Mikaelson. And Hayley didn't know how to explain to her that Esther was nothing like grandma Mary, that she was a terrible witch, and a terrible mother, who had tried to kill her when she was just a baby. Instead, Hayley had said her grandmother Esther had died many years before any of them had been born. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the entire truth, and she felt like she had failed her daughter for that.
However, it had been the last question that had driven Hayley to come all the way to Sweden to ask Klaus for help. Not only because she was afraid she couldn't answer it well, but because he had the right to tell his daughter his own version of the facts, and only he knew how things had actually happened. Hope had been suspended for getting into a fight with a classmate, which had come as a surprise to everyone, given the fact the little girl was always well behaved. However, when the little girl had gotten home and explained that the origin of the fight had been a classmate spreading the word that the Mikaelson family was evil, Hayley's heart had sunk, and the question that came out of the little girl's mouth had way too complex for an 8 year old : "Mommy, is our family evil?".
"You promised me, Klaus." Hayley said after a moment in a resigned tone. "You promised me I wouldn't be doing this alone. Hope should be raised by both of her parents, remember?"
The older hybrid closed his eyes and sighed, his mind wandering to a much simpler time when they both stood at Hope's nursery and dreamed of the day she would be born. Everything that had seemed so complicated back then seemed so futile now: getting New Orleans back, uniting the factions, getting those stupid rings to the werewolves, gaining the trust of the witches. Truth is, Klaus couldn't care less about any of those things anymore. New Orleans was a nostalgic memory, one he often painted and reminisced about, the factions were insignificant, the wolves were not his problem, the witches could all go to hell for all he cared. His desires were much simpler now: he just wanted to be able to be in the same room with his daughter, to be able to raise her, watch her grow…
"I apologize," he said in a whisper, his eyes staring at his bloody hands instead of looking at her, because the shame he felt would be much worse if he could see into her eyes, see the disappointment in her gaze. "I never meant to cause any of you pain."
Hayley's eyes softened, his defeated and resigned figure sitting in front of her giving her a sense of helplessness. It had taken him time to show this side of himself to her, and she knew it was a privilege only a very few selected people had. Klaus had been raised by a horrible man who valued only strength, and had been taught that showing weakness was unacceptable, and for over a thousand years he had ensured that everyone around him feared him, never allowing them to see past the bloodshed and power fight. Seeing behind that mask of wickedness and ruthlessness was a privilege that had been reserved to Elijah and Rebekah, the only ones who could see him as a whole, who could still see that the innocent little boy he had once been was still somewhere inside of him. For the longest of times, they had been the only ones who knew that beyond the thirst for power, Klaus wanted more of life than just to be feared, but that he was far too broken to see it himself.
After centuries, Hayley had been the first one to be allowed to see that side of him as well. It hadn't been intentional, he hadn't handed her that right willingly, but the bond they shared was far too complex and deep, and after a while, he simply couldn't hide it from her. He couldn't hide his love for Hope, he couldn't hide the pain that came with losing her, he couldn't hide the pure joy that only the little girl in his arms could provide him, he couldn't hide his fear of disappointing their daughter, his fear of anything happening to her. And because they shared the same joy, the same fears, the same mix of pain and happiness that came with being a parent, he had slowly started to allow Hayley to see it, he had slowly started to need her to see it. And the man sitting in front of her was not trying to hide it anymore. He knew there was no point to it, that she would see through it because she knew exactly how painful this was, because she understood him better than anyone, because they shared something they couldn't possibly share with anyone else.
Hayley breathed heavily, sitting on the floor in front of him and bending slightly, searching for his eyes while her hand touched his own. His blue irises screamed guilt, shame, pain, and that hadn't been her intention at all. He was suffering enough as it was, she had never meant to cause him more pain.
"It's not your fault, Klaus..." the brunette said softly, in a reassuring tone. "It's no one's fault." she continued, closing her eyes for a moment. "And you're not causing her pain. She just misses you… She misses her dad, because she has a really good one."
Klaus' eyes widened at her declaration, the tears that had been piling up falling down his cheeks. He knew he loved his daughter, that he loved her more than anything in the world, more than he ever thought was possible to love someone. He had loved her since he had found out about her, even if he had fought that feeling for a while, fought the possibility of showing the weakness he believed love to be. But the truth was that from the moment he had heard her heartbeat, he had loved her with a love so pure and stripped of rationality, a love he had never known he could feel.
And years later, this was the only thing he was sure of: his unconditional love for her. There was nothing he wouldn't do for her, to keep her safe. That was the whole reason they had found themselves in that predicament. And from the moment he had learned of and accepted her existence, there was nothing he wanted more than to be worthy of being her father, to be worthy of being loved by this innocent little girl who had not yet been touched and stained by the world. He had wanted to give her something better than what he had, he had wanted her to know and feel just how much he loved her, no matter what. But a part of him couldn't help but think that, maybe, his daughter was better off without him, that perhaps he was better as a myth, a character in a story, somewhere he couldn't damage her the way he was damaged by his own parents.
After everything he and Hayley had been through, everything they had said and done to each other, everything they had desired together for Hope, hearing her say he was a good father touched him in ways he couldn't explain. What she thought of him was the most important thing, because she was the only one in the world who wanted to give Hope the same thing he did.
"What an easier life she might have had had I not been her father..." Klaus wondered aloud, his eyes finally meeting Hayley's again.
"Maybe..." the younger hybrid responded. "But if she hadn't been your daughter, if she hadn't been a Mikaelson... She would also never experience the love and devotion of always and forever..." Hayley said with a smile on her face, receiving a confused look from Klaus. "This family is complicated, to say the least" she let out a short laugh, and he smiled with his eyes at her statement. "But if there is one thing she knows, it is that her family loves her more than anything, and that they'd do anything for her. That you would do anything for her. No matter what."
"Always and forever." Klaus whispered softly, more to himself than to the woman sitting in front of him, the hint of a smile on the corner of his lips as he remembered their little girl saying 'We protect family. Like you and mom are my protectors, right?'.
"And she has questions about her family... About you. She hears things, learns things..." Hayley started, carefully choosing her words in order to not provoke the inverse effect of what she wanted to accomplish. "Things which we have always known that we couldn't keep her away from forever. And she deserves to hear them from you, Klaus. Just like you deserve to tell her your side of the story."
Klaus frowned, the possibility of his daughter seeing him as the monster everyone thought he was, that even he thought he was, making his heart race in anxiety. He had always feared that moment, when she would finally be able to see him, truly see him, not only through her and her family's eyes, but through the eyes of the world. He had been scared that she would see him as a monster, as a beast, the abomination everyone considered him to be. He had been scared that seeing or knowing that side of him would change the way she felt about him. After all, she was just an innocent little girl, who saw him as the strongest creature in the world, the one who would keep her from bad guys. And he was scared that she would start to see him as a bad guy too, that she would be scared of him. But most of all he was scared because hers was the only opinion that mattered, and if she saw him as a monster too, then that was all he was.
On the other hand, he had also been scared of something far worse: of her falling into the same cycle of violence he had, of her learning to be a monster from him, of her becoming everything he hated about himself. And that fear was the thing that had kept him from reaching out to her these past few weeks, as he fell once again into a cycle of revenge and bloodshed he couldn't keep himself from.
"She got into a fight in school, you know." Hayley informed him, her voice bringing him back to reality and her words causing him to open his mouth in disbelief. "She got suspended." she continued, her expression an indecipherable mix of amusement and concern.
"What was done to her?" Klaus asked protectively, his tone and words making it clear that the possibility that Hope had been the one to do something wrong hadn't crossed his mind. "Who suspended her? Was it that joke of a man, Alaric Saltzman?"
"Hey, Alaric is just trying to help, Klaus." she defended him, receiving from Klaus an amusing expression of mockery and disbelief. "She got suspended because she picked a fight with a classmate who was saying the Mikaelson family is evil, that you were evil."
Klaus's amused expression quickly turned into a concerned one, as he realized the seriousness of the situation. He knew that Hope was not known as a Mikaelson at school, that they had decided to not reveal that information for they knew the stigma and, most of all, the enemies that came with being a Mikaelson. They hadn't wanted her to experience that, and they had wanted to keep her safe, to give her a place to call home when the world around their family just kept getting more and more chaotic. They had talked to her about pretending to be a Marshall in the Salvatore School, and while she had protested, not understanding entirely why she couldn't tell people that she was a Mikaelson witch and that her dad was the strongest creature in the world, she had agreed and understood that it was important. It had pained both Klaus and Hayley to have that conversation with her, and Klaus had suffered even more for not being able to actually be present for that, having to settle for a video call that did not allow him to hold his daughter while they explained things as well as they could to her.
"Hayley," he called her name in a more urgent tone as he sat straight, his eyes fearful. "They can't know she's a Mikaelson. It's too dangerous."
"I know." she answered quickly. "She knows that too. And they don't know. It's okay. But she doesn't understand why they think our family is evil... And she needs you to talk to her about this, Klaus. I need you to talk to her about this."
Klaus looked into her pleading eyes, his heart racing at the thought of having that conversation with Hope.
"Hayley..." He started, trying to deviate from her gaze, but was taken by surprise when she moved her hand to his cheek and held his head in place, his eyes staring directly into hers.
Klaus held his breath, the proximity of her and the intensity of her gaze on him making the air seem denser. She had always had a way of doing that to him, a way of making him lose his breath and chain of thought in her defiant and decided eyes. It was something they had always shared, since the first night they had spent together, something that had never changed through the years: an implicit way of communicating, an understanding that could only be expressed through their eyes, the way they found each other without looking away.
He sighed heavily, bringing his hand to hers and removing it from his cheek but keeping it in his grip.
"Alright.." Klaus said, nodding with his eyes closed. "I'll talk to her. I promise."
Hayley nodded and gave him a soft smile in gratitude, and let her eyes wander till they found their hands together. His big bloody palms and her soft skin contrasting, the way he held it as delicately as he could, and the way he held onto it even after he removed it from his face, as if just the touch itself could bring some sort of comfort, some sort of proximity to the life he had lost without ever properly starting. And if she had to be honest, the touch brought her some comfort too. She was immensely grateful for being able to be with Hope, for being able to watch her grow, to hold her when she needed her, to watch closely as she became everything she desired. But she was also tired. Tired of being alone, tired of being strong, tired of having their family being torn apart every single time, tired of having to deal with everything on her own. She was tired, and she was grieving for her daughter and Klaus, grieving the fact that they couldn't be together, that they couldn't paint and share a plate of beignets they both enjoyed, that they were once again separated. Hayley saw how much it affected both of them. She could see in that moment how much it affected Klaus. And, once again, she could relate.
She and Klaus had always had a conturbated relationship, and through the years, they had managed to build a partnership that both of them appreciated. They were similar, and they could both recognize that, and they could be stubborn, and domineering: two alphas put together, which usually led to a power struggle. But after much turbulence, they had managed to become family and, in a way, friends. He cared about her, and she knew that. And she cared about him, and he was quite aware of that too. An entirely platonic relationship built upon mutual trust and respect, a deep connection and an implicit understanding of each other.
If she had told the Hayley that had a one night stand with the hybrid eight years ago that one day they'd share this kind of relationship, she probably wouldn't have believed it. Back then, they were both wild and fierce, and none would ever bend. They knew there was something between them that attracted them to one another, not only carnal attraction but, somehow, it was like their damaged natures found and were curious about one another.
She looked back at him, more intensely this time, and met his equally piercing gaze, which slowly gave place to a confused frown as she slowly got up without saying a word, her hand not letting go of his. Hayley watched attentively as his gaze followed hers when she placed one leg at each side of his waist and put his hand down at her lower back, bringing her hands to his cheeks and approximating their faces until they were only inches apart, their foreheads almost touching. She heard as he held his breath, motionless, and watched as he questioned her with his blue irises, in a reminder of why they had never gone there again over the years.
It hadn't been lack of attraction, because both of them could recognize that, one way or another, they were attracted to each other. But she had married Jackson, and fallen in love with Elijah, he had fallen for Cami, and the relationship they had built was so far away from anything sexual that they instinctively avoided ever coming back to it in fear of losing what they had. They had had opportunities, and it wasn't like neither of them hadn't thought about it before, but they had never acted on it, neither one of them, and most of all never made it explicit.
But there they were, and for the first time in eight years, she was looking at him like that again, except this time it was different, they were different. They had been through too much, they knew each other too well, and the desire in her eyes wasn't just carnal.
"Little wolf," he whispered in a warning, his lips only centimeters away from hers. And whether she hadn't heard him or had chosen to ignore it didn't matter, because she closed the space between their lips and kissed him. It wasn't urgent, it wasn't passionate or filled with tension like last time their lips had come into contact. It was delicate, and nostalgic, and filled with a very pure kind of desire: the one to be close, to be understood, to be seen. And Klaus responded equally, his hand caressing her cheek as he kissed her back.
This time, they hadn't been rough, insatiable, harsh. They savored every gentle touch, slow and solicitous. He carried her to the bedroom, away from the bodies and the blood and the pain, and they gave each other pleasure and comfort the only way they could in the moment, physically. There were no words they could say to each other to make any of it better. No matter what she said, he would still be away from Hope, alone and shattered. And no matter what he said, she would still leave feeling the heaviness of loneliness. So they allowed their bodies to communicate in their own way, and together, hands entwined, they let themselves purge the pain and the loneliness through the act. In the morning, she would be gone, and he would go back to his own personal hell, but in that moment they could find comfort in each other's arms.