-9-

The pool water smelled like summers with Benny when they were kids. Hope wished he were here right now to make her laugh and to remind her why murdering Uncle Kol was a bad thing. Kol shouldn't even be here. Palm leaves shuddered above her in the balmy breeze, as if in agreement. She closed her eyes. God, she wished she had patience. A wolf's temperament to balance out your gentle heart, Elijah would smile knowingly over a tea cup of blood. It was heavy on her, the realization that she was the one to ruin their first night here.

Hope let out all the air in her lungs and sank to the bottom, little bubbles floating off of her skin like she was in a champagne glass. Benny used to time how long she could hold her breath in the community pool. She had been training to be a professional mermaid like the one in the tank at that restaurant her father took her to yearly.

All those sweltering days Uncle Elijah would sit in the shade with a worn paperback copy of something he'd plucked off of the free street-library, glancing up every time there was a loud splash or squeal. She missed those summers... slathered in coconut scented sunscreen and riddled in freckles; forever barefoot. Her mother saw his care as a sacrifice. Hope never admitted it, but the wine sure as hell made her do so...she was hurt by that word -sacrifice. What was he giving up to be her best friend?Who knew him better than herself? He loved those summers just as much as she had. The suit was misleading because Hope knew him as he truly was; a part of her glowed about being the only one who did.

Sure, she'd known Uncle Elijah the least amount of their time, but she'd been attached to his side almost her whole life. Hope trusted him with anything and if he was willing to open his mind to her so that the missing ingredient to the cure could be found, why wasn't her mother?

Hopes' lungs started to burn. She'd never be a mermaid.

Roughly two minutes and twenty-two seconds later, she floated to the surface, finding her mom with feet dangling into the water. Oh right, the wolf boys. Again, visions of Uncle Kol's body turning gray and veiny tickled at her imagination.

The pool light cast a pale glow to her mother's face, only adding to the forlorn expression littering her pretty features. "Those guys were assholes and completely out of line." The believablity level really goes down when your mom slurs all her words.

Hope swiped at the water dripping from the tip of her nose. "I don't want to talk about it. It doesn't matter anymore."

There was an obvious edge to Hayley's voice. "If you say so, but answer me this...do you still believe them?"

Hope shrugged and turned away, disguising the need to hide her true reaction of pain with swimming towards her phone by the stairs. Yeah she believed it and it was hard to admit to anyone. How could she go to either of her perfectly sculpted aunts or her toned and thin mother and hear them each lie, fumbling compliments coated in sympathy. And there was absolutely no way she could go to Uncle Elijah or her father. Their version of female beauty included people like her mother and the flawless nude girls in her dad's poorly hidden sketchbooks.

Hayley's voice sharp, "then it matters. I know Kol can be a dick but I think he really is just trying to help."

Four texts from Benny, all pictures of different angles of his hairy nipple. He must be drinking with his school friends again. Hope hated them, they were so vapid and lifeless... -nothing to worry about but themselves. Hope grit her chattering teeth and muttered, "what's Kol doing, telling everybody in there what those boys said to me? I didn't want anybody to know."

"Your dad got it out of him. We are on your side here, nobody thinks what those boys thought. And I bet they are all kicking themselves in the ass now with how hot you are."

"Ugh, mom." Hope glanced towards the deck, wondering if her plate was getting cold. Now she wanted the pasta. And more wine.

"Well, it's true. And they know it," Hayley stated firmly. Hope shrugged, eyes struggling to focus on her phone screen. Too much wine, not enough food, she decided.

Hope sighed, looking up from the blurry text she was trying to compose back to Benny. "I don't care, I don't like any of them. The guys that came from dad's pack are even nicer and friendlier than the Crescent boys."

"Those North Eastern boys came in with the fear of complete extinction. If it weren't for Jonah..." Hayley stood unsteadily, toes gripping the edge of the cement, "I was in no position to stop your dad from taking out the entire pack."

"You're going to fall in, don't move," Hope sighed, swimming towards her. When would her mother realize Hope simply didn't care about the pack. It was wolves who caused this to begin with. They weren't to be trusted and some phony union of packs wouldn't change that. She'd heard Uncle Elijah say the same thing five years ago after a bottle of scotch and he's never been wrong about anything.

Elijah caught the last decorative pillow from Rebekah's lazy toss, stacking it among the others aside the bed. They folded down the covers, her bracelets clanking as she smoothed the beige sheets. Heavy thumps and thuds above their heads indicated Freya and Keelin were still tending to their own bedtime routines.

"Should we check on Hope and Kol once more?" Rebekah asked softly, stooping down to unclasp her vintage Louis Vuitton luggage.

Unbuttoning his shirt in swift plucks, he replied, "let us allow them some time to mend things."

"Shall we eavesdrop then?", her full lips settling into a mischievous grin.

He smiled and blinked slowly, breathing in the familiar fragrance his sister had been dabbing at her neck before bed for decades; sweet musk in a ruby bottle. Rebekah cocked her head, golden locks cascading over her ivory shoulders. Her hair had gotten so long, it reminded him of a far away time when she didn't just look like a young woman, but was one. How they'd all changed as their age climbed and climbed, yet so much remained the same. She still wore gauzy nightgowns like old Hollywood royalty, an elegance they all adopted long ago still woven into her movements and speech.

Rebekah reached over the mattress and delicately took Elijah's shed shirt from his outstretched arm, turning to hang it in the closet. The wire hangers scratched across the metal rod as she made room for her expansive collection of designer outfits. Elijah tugged on his loose cashmere bottoms that would provide a silken buffer between himself and the less than par bed linens.

"Those are nice," Rebekah commented, eyes flicking down the length of him.

He nodded in agreement, swallowing a yawn. "A gift from Keelin and Freya last Christmas."

Rebekah crept towards their door, raising a finger to her lips. He strained his hearing, catching the sounds of Hope's voice and heavy steps down the hall. It sounded as if she and Kol were rummaging around in the kitchen.

After Niklaus had taken Hayley upstairs for the night, Hope had spun an empty wine bottle to choose who would accompany her on the screened in portion of the wraparound porch. She had not hidden her disdain at the outcome but Kol took it in stride. Elijah's youngest brother knew what was at stake. Elijah had invited him on the trip, and not because of etiquette. No, there were far more pressing reasons than manners and feelings of inclusion. He very much required Kol's and Davina's assistance. In return, and with a little softening of relations between niece and uncle, Elijah would nudge Hope towards appealing to her father's softer side. If anyone could convince Niklaus that the city was safe with practicing witches within it, it was the youngest Mikaelson.

"I think the last time we shared a room on vacation was in the eighties. We ate that poor girl with the cocaine, do you remember that? We couldn't sleep until the morning."

"Do not even suggest a Drug Box rummage at this hour, sister."

She waved her hand absently, "Oh honestly brother, I've grown out of such behaviors -for now." He chuckled at this, watching her struggle with her necklace clasp. Elijah gathered her hair in a hand, using the other to expertly unclasp the delicate chain. He'd given her this necklace at least a century ago. Even now he grew happier when he saw her wearing it, glowing like the young boy he'd once been who gifted her things like plucked wildflowers and viking sea glass.

Her cool hand wrapped behind her to catch his in a gentle grasp. She squeezed and said, "if I have loved you a little bit more every single day of my life, imagine how much I love you now, dear brother."

"Oh my, you are quite nostalgic and dreamy-eyed tonight, madam." He wouldn't pretend he didn't love the admiration. None of them were immune to the love and dedication she professed since they were children. It may have started as a means of survival, the only girl among so many boys. But, Elijah never suspected it was an act with him. They had been through far too much to leave any sort of doubts there.

Rebekah turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I just do not possess the words to convey how very proud of you I am for doing what you have done for our brother. All of it. I cannot imagine how hard it has been for you."

"You're sweet," he tapped her chin with his thumb, cupping her jaw, "too sweet. You've already rummaged through Drug Box, haven't you, you rotten thing." The whiskey was still warm in his stomach and he was grateful this moment was not wasted, but enjoyed with the company of one of his closest companions.

She laughed so loud, a beautiful sound; he was sure she woke the house. Then, in a hushed voice she said, "you've done so wonderful with Hope. She's simply perfect."

His heart clenched. How well had he done, really? How could Hope believe she was anything less than beautiful? Did he not say it enough? Did he even say it in a way she could understand? The age gap between them was extremely large at times, his childhood memories fading more and more every year that passed. He simply did not have the experience nor the skills to understand a teenage girl at full capacity. Though, he surely gave it his best?

He didn't have to utter a word for her to pick up on the shift in the air. "Oh Elijah. You have offered me so many moments of comfort and safety. I'm certain Hope is the luckiest of girls under your care." She swiped his hair from his brow, "please don't get that look in your eyes, love."

Elijah nodded and blinked away. "I wish she would have told me."

"Kol should have told you, I think he wanted to play hero uncle for once." Rebekah squeezed out a pearl of lotion and lathered over her elbows. They were still such creatures of habit. His sister, forever young, still treated her skin as if it would crack with age at any moment.

Rebekah settled her hooded eyes on him and asked, "so are you going to fill me in on this top secret reason you invited Kol on the trip or will I have to booze you up and charm it out of you?"

Of course he told. "He's a scoundrel...", Elijah muttered.

Rebekah shook her head, teardrop earrings catching the lamplight."No, no. He didn't squeal. I'm just not nearly as dense as you have always believed me to be. Neither is Nik. You're lucky he's so wrapped up in Hayley."

"I shall tell you. But first, get into bed. I'm exhausted."

She obeyed, leaning against the headboard and tucking herself in neatly from the waist down. "Go on...", her tone and expression that of intrigue.

Elijah sucked in a breath of air, exhaling with his words, "Jonah paid me a private visit recently."

"Remind me again who he is?"

"Oh Rebekah, really? Benny's father and-"

She slapped a hand heavily atop his "-right, right. I remember now. He's the one who tracks supernatural news. Did you know there's an entire forum dedicated to me?"

He pursed his lips and clipped, "moving along. Jonah informed me of a very successful spell executed in Germany this past year. It seems Davina has learned how to execute a successful memory walk."

"What the bloody hell is a memory walk? Sounds like a silly funeral tradition."

"It allows the witch to essentially view and explore another's memories." Elijah slid down the headboard and settled into the pillow. Glancing up at her profile he explained, "so you see, dear sister. That torn out portion of mother's grimoire that has the cure for Hayley's curse is in my memories somewhere. I can't see it clearly but perhaps a memory walker could."

"So you've cut a deal with Davina for her services?"

"No, I cannot trust someone other than blood to access my memories. There are secrets that remain with us only, as you know."

Rebekah fluffed her pillow and sunk into it. "Freya then."

"No, she cannot bare the negative side to the spell. It causes the memory walker to first relive their own worst memories. I cannot expect her to relive the loss of her child or Aunt Dahlia's cruelty. I won't ask that of her."

She leaned over to click off the lamp, replying, "well then. I see where this is going. You are arming yourself with support and experience before presenting your plan of using Hope as a memory walker. Lovely."

He picked up his phone when it dinged, claiming, "not quite. I'm arming myself with a plan that will work and cure this curse. Permission is not something I wish to waste my time on any longer."

"Just...do be careful. You know how Nik can react when left out of such things."

"Yes. Hope is a Mikaelson though. If there is a way to save one of our own, she will stop at nothing."

"Then it seems the two of you make a good team."

The screen door creaked loudly as Kol pushed through it, his hands full with wine and her dinner plate. Hope avoided his eyes when he handed her the steaming pasta, not sure if she'd forgiven him yet.

"This is nice. Out here where we can be in the ocean breeze but without the sand and little creatures crawling inside of us." He sat in front of her on the wood floor, bending a knee to prop his wineglass-clutched hand over.

God he was awkward. Hope shoved a huge bite into her mouth, letting out a satisfied moan. The cheese stuck to the roof of her mouth so she swished a gulp of the merlot, swallowing noisily.

"Ladylike," he said with a short nod.

"Shut up," she snapped, narrowing her eyes in annoyance. It smelled so nice out here. So fresh unlike the city air.

"Oh come on now. I didn't heat up your dinner and agree to sleep outside just to be abused by the likes of you."

Hope flicked a noodle towards him. He peeled it off his arm and popped it into his mouth as she asked, "are you trying to be funny? It's not working."

"I guess I already knew that. I should just get straight to it, then."

"Straight to what?" She should have known he wasn't here for the celebration.

"Davina and I would like to help you fix up your mother."

Hope's wineglass halted just below her parted lips. "Proceed..." she allowed in a tone picked up from her dad. Uncle Kol's jaw twitched.

With obvious irritation tinging his words, he continued, "An ancient German vampire needed our help retrieving information on his missing lover. When he caught wind that a Mikaelson and his witch companion were in the vicinity, he offered an extremely handsome sum for our services. Nik cut me off years ago from the family treasury, you see."

"You can't just compel a bank to hand over money?"

He laid a palm over his heart, asking incredulously, "do I look like some sort of bandit to you? Jesse James on horseback? I'm trying to tell you something here."

Hope smiled and set her plate aside. Man she had hoovered that. Eyes roving over his face, she wondered what he really thought of her. One way to tell was to poke. Tucking her legs against her chest, she rested her chin on her knees. Her unicorn pajama pants were starting to wear thin in some spots, she was in them almost daily.

Peering at his eyes that reminded her of Elijah's, she murmured, " I must seem so small and insignificant to someone your age. But I do see things and understand them."

He said it lightly but she still caught a hint of an edge to his words. "Oh you know things, do ya? Well, do tell sweetheart, what have you gotten all figured out?"

Hope tried to hide the timidness of poking this hard with a nonchalant shrug. "I remind you of how easy it is for the others to love and protect someone in ways they failed to love and protect you in the past. I come along and I'm automatically a valued member of the family." She took another sip of her drink. "This wine is quite good, don't you agree?"

Kol folded his arms, cocking his head. "Your psychoanalysis is fascinating, truly. I'm sure in time you'll learn that old wounds heal the slowest and they'll always hurt any time you pick at them, no matter how thick and tough the scar."

"Your metaphors are equally gripping." Hope muttered an incantation and flicked her wrist, the porch lighting up with twinkling fairy lights. "I thought I saw a strand hanging earlier. Much nicer, don't you think?"

Kol glanced around, the dim golden orange glow catching the dark of his eyes. "You know, Finn would have really liked you. I sort of think if he were around you could have helped us even out this whole unstable family dynamic."

"Why do you say that?"

The waves seemed more distant now, the tide must be lowering. Hope stood to peer out of the screened barrier, but couldn't make much out with the moon hiding behind gray wispy clouds. He joined her, his hand still grasped around a drink. Hope wondered when they would all return with warm skin and an energy to their movements, pretending it wasn't because they fed on a person. The blood bags were low, she didn't know why. Blood talk was generally saved for when she wasn't around, but she still tried to stay aware of anything the family did with or without her.

"You remind me so much of mother, and there was nobody dead or alive who loved her more than Finn."

Hope thought about all the conversations surrounding Esther that she picked up on through the years. Hope didn't think she'd heard a single positive word spoken about her late grandmother. It was hard to tell if Uncle Kol was insulting her or not.

She asked, twisting a strand of pool-dampened hair, "so you think if he were around we'd join forces?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. But we just might make a good team. Aren't you at all curious about Davina and the cockalorum in Germany?"

"It seems as though you really want to tell me. So go ahead."

"Davina was very successful in three dream walks with this vampire. With our help, you could be successful too."

"Ah, Uncle Elijah brought you in on this? What makes you think I won't be successful on my own?"

"I'm quite sure you have the required skill lovey, it's more for when we inevitably have to face Nik."

Hope shifted on her feet, growing tired. "And in return?"

"Ah, maybe you do pay attention and know things... My wife wants the witches reinstated into New Orleans society, their rights to practice returned."

Hope drummed her fingers, twisting her lips in thought. "And if I can't convince my father?"

"You will think of a way."

She shook her head quickly, "I'm not stupid. What's your leverage?"

He replied plainly, "don't need any. We're family and it's what's right for the witches. It's what's right for your future."

"Bullshit," she shrugged lightly, "but, deal, and only if Uncle Elijah says this is okay."

"You know," he stated lightly, nudging into her side with his, "as far as children go, you haven't been so bad an addition to the family."

Hope rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. They fell silent as he helped fashion a mattress on the ground with blankets and pillows stolen from the linen closet. She was counting on him to hate the set up and awkwardness of bonding time so that she could just sleep alone tonight. It didn't seem she was so lucky though.

The waves were lulling her towards sleep already. Hope was just starting to drift when his voice hummed warmly from beside her, "It's past midnight. Happy birthday littlest Mikaelson."

"Thank you, Uncle Kol." So maybe he could be sweet sometimes. Granted, he wanted something. But, still.

He was quiet, but then cleared his throat. She glanced at him, tearing her eyes away from the furry moth exploring the fairy lights above their heads. "And for what it's worth, you are a beautiful girl. Not a single thing wrong with you. Well, with your appearance anyway."

She laughed and rolled to her side, facing away from him. Too little too late, she guessed. It was probably because she was seventeen now and still hadn't been kissed... let alone told she was beautiful by someone outside of the family. That was her fault in part. How could she get kissed or do the kissing if all she did was study, practice music, read, and plot the demise of their enemies between the moments of searching for a cure? Simple. She couldn't. But it was safer that way, and safety was something she craved far more than a tongue in her mouth or a compliment from a cute boy. Being prepared was the only thing she knew to work towards for now. She didn't know any other life.

Sometimes dreaming felt more grounded than waking life within this past decade. In dreams, Hayley could feel emotions with certainty, no matter how disorganized and morphed her surroundings. Real life was full of uncertain responses to an uncertain stream of complications. She wasn't herself anymore. When awake, it was pretty impossible to figure out which emotions were real and which were a part of the curse or a byproduct of the potion.

The warm hand on her back was her only constant. This man who regarded her as a liar when she showed up pregnant, choked her against a wall in anger just a day after she felt the first flutter of their baby stirring inside...he had murdered countless wolves in his past...some of which were her friends. An ex lover even. He didn't know that. What would he think of a girl who would sleep with a man who'd already taken so much from her? Yet, he was her thread back to sanity each and every night. He was her home.

His thick accent plucked her from that fuzzy place in between sleep. "I can tell you're awake."

Hayley lightly traced the feather from his chest tattoo with her middle finger. She replied hoarsely, "barely. Just thinking and listening to the ocean."

"What are you going to do about the boys from your pack?"

"Our pack you mean?" she asked lightly.

He patted her back heavily, "I'll take that to mean you wish I take the wheel in doling out their punishment?"

"Kol already messed them up years ago. There's been no other instances, the guys don't pay any more attention to her than she does them when she's visiting or training with Gwen and Janie."

He said nothing more and Hayley was sure this wasn't because he lacked things to add to the conversation. Truth was, it wasn't the curse that made the guilt tickle her gut. She knew better than to blame it all on that...

"Hey Klaus?"

"Hmm?"

"Go feed early with the others, before Hope wakes. She'll want us with her for her whole birthday and I can tell you need to."

"Oh you can tell, can you?" he teased.

She pinched his side playfully, "you tasted a little thin..."

A startled gasp echoed in the otherwise still room when he flipped atop in vampiric speed, cuffing her wrists above her head in a firm hold. Her skin burned, heightened by the lingering potion and his blood.

"You need a better taste then..." he challenged in a growling tone that went straight between her clenched thighs. Hayley couldn't suppress the big grin at this playful side of his. She really did love it.

A red flushed her cheeks when she blurted out, "I have something you can taste." It was shameless flirting that escaped so naturally it seemed to take him a moment to realize what she meant. The realization crept over his features, casting a thoughtful expression to his otherwise poised face. The damn potion stripped her of a decent filter, she swore it.

"Kiss me first," he prodded, and she wondered if he realized what a romantic he was even in the heat of things. Not her style but maybe it had been changing for a while now. They only took things so far in these moments, though lately Hayley wondered why they bothered. It felt good and feeling good was hard to come by.

She angled her face and grinned when he brushed his lips so lightly against her own, that she barely felt it. He deepened the kiss, all warmth and slick slips of their tongues. As soon as he released her bound hands she threaded her fingers into his thick curls, tugging and kneading as he showed the insides of her mouth what he could do elsewhere with that practiced tongue.

Everything burned at her core. Everything. The sounds of his bated breathing against her cheek, the lusty smell of their saliva drying at her swollen lips, his scruffed jaw scratching at her navel as he planted kisses at each of her hip bones, the cool air hitting her dampness when he peeled off the sodden panties...It wouldn't take much. It never did with him. Was it the potion, the blood bond, or something else; neither of them could be sure. Neither of them ever wanted to face that aspect of all the unknowns.

"Your scent does something to me," he admitted, hovering so close to her parted flesh that she could only see his sharp wolfish eyes over the plane of her body. Klaus didn't wait for a response, his mouth covering her sex in the exact way she liked; thick and firm.

He licked and lapped, fingers prying her thighs further apart. Fuck. Fucking hell. Her phone clattered to the floor when she yanked at the covers.

"Shhh," he hushed, pulling away to smirk. His lips were swollen and wet with her, curled into a sinful sneer of need.

"Yeah right," she breathed, throwing an arm behind her to grip the pillow.

The mattress creaked when she jolted and arched her back against the sensation of his middle finger slipping inside. As soon as his tongue flicked over the sensitive nerves, she felt herself clench around him, the climb of an orgasm dotting her skin with sweat and chills.

When she let go, it was enough to leave her shuddering long after. She lay against his chest, rosy and damp. She smelled herself all over him.

"Was I loud?" she asked sleepily.

"Was I good?"

She smiled.

AN: sorry for the delay! Been a bit busy lately.

Thank you all for your kind reviews, it makes me so happy to know it's being enjoyed!