They entered the hotel where they had decided to stay the night. Klaus asked "we need two rooms" making Hayley disappointed for a bit but then she recovered from her disappointment thinking 'what was she expecting after spending one day with him in the car'
The manager said "we don't have two rooms side by side. They are on different floors. Will that work for you?"
Klaus looked at Hayley who nodded.
They parted their ways in the elevator.
He was taking off his shirt to lie down when there was a knock on his door. He wondered 'who could it be?' It never crossed his mind that it could be Hayley so when he opened the door he was surprised to see her there.
She entered his room in her pajamas and the bag and said "I changed my mind. I cannot sleep that far from you"
When he stared at her she flushed and said "shut up. You know what I mean" and then went to lie down on his bed.
Klaus sighed and picked up his shirt to put it on again. She chanced a glance at him and by his expressions she realized that he was not too upset so she heaved a sigh of relief and said "thank you"
"For what little wolf?" Klaus asked while putting on his shirt
"For being so nice to me" she said with a smile and trying to steer her eyes away from his bare chest.
"Well I told you I don't torture my child's mother" he said sarcastically and then glared at her when she burst out laughing.
He picked up his pillow and went to lie on the sofa. Hayley looked at him and said after a couple of minutes of silence "Klaus…"
He said "hmmm" with his eyes closed
She said hesitantly "you can sleep on the bed" and then she added when he looked at her "I promise I will not do anything inappropriate". Klaus stared at her and saw that she was trying to control her laughter.
To her surprise he picked up his pillow again and brought it to the bed and fell on the bed on his stomach and closed his eyes.
Hayley took a deep breath and lied down next to him too.
Next morning when she opened her eyes she felt someone holding her from her back. She knew it was him. She gently touched her hand making him stir. She hastily closed her eyes and didn't even open then when he retreated his arm from her and whispered in her ear "I am sorry, I didn't mean to"
They dressed up quietly and then after picking up some coffee for herself and him from the lobby Hayley followed him to the car.
The drive started quietly. She asked him after half an hour "why don't you approve of Rebekah's boyfriends?"
Klaus looked at her in surprise and said "are we doing that again?"
Hayley smiled and said "yes. We hardly know anything about each other and this is the time for us to talk without interruptions"
Klaus said "hmm. Well I suppose I don't find anyone good enough for her".
Hayley looked at him in surprise and said "really! That is a bit over possessiveness"
Klaus said keeping an eye on the road "You can call it that. But we were raised in that time and age when men were over protective of women. Doesn't matter how many years, centuries have passed since, our bringing up values will remain the same"
"So Hope cannot date…." Hayley said
Klaus interrupted her "… until she is 30" making her laugh.
Hayley said with a laugh "How is that possible? I was 22 when I had her so how can she…."
Klaus gave her a look and said "well you found a gem. If she can find one, she can have a child at 22 too". When she burst into laughter he asked her with a smile "what is so funny?"
"A gem! Klaus Mikaelsons, you are really full of yourself" Hayley said with a smile.
Klaus said smiling too "That I am"
After a couple of minute of silence Klaus said "four more hours and we will be there"
Hayley started to get nervous. She asked him "do you think she will like us?"
Klaus laughed at her question and said "of course she will like you. You are her mother. Why would you think that she wouldn't?"
"I gave her up" Hayley said softly making his heart sink.
He said "Hayley we both did what was best for her"
She smiled at him and said nothing.
They drove in silence for a while and then Klaus leaned over to take out some cd from the cd case on her side and put on a CD. She looked at him in surprise when jazz started to play.
She smiled and rested her head against the head rest. She asked him after a couple of moments "who was Tatia?"
Klaus smiled and said "Tatia was a girl in our village. Every boy in our village loved her. She was the first in the petrova family; Elena Gilbert's ancestor. Elijah and I both loved her so our mother decided to solve the problem by killing her. It was her blood that she served us when he made us vampires"
Hayley asked him "did you love her?"
Klaus didn't answer for a moment and then said "I don't know. Was it love or lust? I am not sure".
Hayley looked at him and asked him "who was your first love?"
Klaus just looked at her and said nothing.
Hayley looked at him in surprise and then Elijah's words rang in her mind 'I have but loved twice in my life'.
"You have not love anyone in your life? Really how is it possible? Elijah has two loves in his life how come you don't have any?"
"Well Elijah could never resist a pretty face. I on the other hand…" he smirked and said.
She cut him off and said "are a master of resistance". She blushed when he glared at her.
She asked him now looking down at her nails "What about Caroline?"
Klaus looked at her and then laughed and said "if I didn't know any better, I would have suspected that you are jealous of her"
Hayley said with some frustration "I am not. Why should I be? And you are obviously sleeping with her so what is the point of hiding your feelings for her. I am just wondering do you love her or just…"
Klaus looked at her and didn't say anything.
She shifted her gaze out the window feeling a bit disappointed and wondered 'why was she feeling that way?' sometime went by without both of them saying anything and then he said in a serious tone "Hayley I had sex with her once when I went to Mystic Falls and that was it"
Hayley looked at him in surprise and asked in a confused tone "But I saw her coming out of your room when she was visiting and then when I confronted you about it you didn't say anything"
Klaus just looked at her and said nothing.
Hayley said as realization dawned on her "Ohh… but why would you do that?"
"Why would you assume that if she came out of my room, she must have slept with me?" Klaus asked her keeping his eyes on the road.
Hayley said still in a confused tone "Because well you are…"
"I am what Hayley?" Klaus asked her in frustration.
"Nothing" she said when she saw a frustration on his face and started to stare out of window. She didn't know that she was smiling.
Couple of minutes later he looked at her and realized that she had gone to sleep. He switched off the music so that she is not disturbed. He smiled and thought about their conversation together. It was a memorable road trip. He had not that that much fun for a long time now and it was surprised to realize that he was relaxed too. He was lost in his thoughts when his cell rang on the Bluetooth. It was Elijah and his heart sank when he heard his voice. Elijah asked him "Niklaus where are you guys?" and then before he could answer Elijah said "No don't tell me. Finn has disappeared".
Klaus looked towards Hayley and saw that she was awake and was looking concerned now. He asked in a raised voice "what do you mean Elijah? Where can he disappear to?"
"We have been trying to locate him and Kaleb thinks that he had gone to Lenore. He has discovered that mother had a connection with her and has joined forces with her. That is how she knew about Hope being alive" Elijah said. Klaus could hear the frustration in his brother voice.
He picked up the speed of the car and said "Keep me in the loop. We are almost there. Two more hours. I will contact Rebekah and let her know and you hold the fort over there"
After disconnecting him he looked at Hayley who was looking worried now. He said to her without realizing that he had held her hand "She will be okay. I am sure Finn has not found her. If he had he would have gone straight to them and Rebekah would have called us"
"But Klaus, Rebkeah does not even know what Finn looks like" Hayley said anxiously.
Klaus was quiet just for a second and then he said "Stefan is there, he would know"
And then he got quiet which told Hayley that he was worried too. He was speeding now thinking that the thing they were most worried about happened. The thing to avoid which they took this long road trip had happened.
He picked up his cell and dialed her number. As soon as the call connected he heard her voice saying "Stefan can you hold her just for a second Nik is on the cell". There was some commotion and then he heard her laughing voice "Hello Nik, nice surprise. Elijah said you will not make contact until…"
Klaus looked at Hayley and deliberately said slowly trying to keep it calm "Rebekah listen to me carefully. Finn is on the way to you guys but so are we. We will be there in two hours. Hold the fort if something happens before we reach there. I don't think he knows where you are but just keep your eyes open"
There was silence on the phone and then she said "Finn? How does he know?"
"Ask Stefan he will fill you in. Ask him about Lenore and tell him she and mother are working together" he stopped just for a second and then said "Rebekah, Hope is your responsibility"
"Don't worry Nik, nothing will happen to her. Where are you guys?" She asked
Klaus said "we just crossed Riverbend and as per GPS it is one and a half hour drive to your place"
"Alright see you when you reach here" Rebekah said and then disconnected the phone.
Rebekah put the phone down and looked at Stefan who was listening to their conversation. Rebekah said "Fill me in" as she took Hope from his arms.
Stefan took a deep breath and started telling her everything that happened since he came to New Orleans. When he was done she asked him "so there is still one ring left that can affect Nik and mother, father and Finn are back. There is crazy witch Lenore besides Davina trying to get Hope and Nik killed but there is a good witch Kaleb who brought back Kol in your friend Enzo's body. Caroline and Elena want to kill Hope so that Lenore will help them bring back Damon and Bonnie. Have I missed anything?"
Stefan said and peeking out of the curtains "No, you got all of it except I don't think Caroline wants to kill Hope"
"And what about Elena?" Rebekah asked him taking the sleeping Hope in her nursery
Stefan said walking towards her "She is just grieving but I don't think that she will go through with it"
Rebekah put Hope in her crib, put the knight with her and turned the mobile on and left the room.
"We don't have any stake or anything to fight them if they attack" Rebekah said looking around and then she kicked the chair breaking the leg. She took out a knife from the kitchen drawer and started shaving the end of the leg.
Stefan picked up the other leg and started doing the same. She said "Cloaking spell should not reveal our location but I don't trust the magic fighting with magic"
Caroline and Elena show up with Lenore to fight against Klaus and Hayley to get Hope.
Stefan picked up another leg and started to shave it too when his cell rang. He picked it up and to his surprise it was Caroline. He looked at Rebekah and picked up the cell. He said "Caroline what a pleasant surprise? Where are you…"
Caroline cut him off and said hastily and in a low volume "she is not listening to me Stefan. Tell Klaus that his daughter is not safe. Lenore knows about her location and she is going there right now with Elena and his brother Finn. He showed up last night"
"Where are you Caroline?" He asked her walking towards the window and gesturing Rebekah to come there.
"I am with them. That is the only way I can keep an eye on things. Tell Klaus, he needs to come to Tampa, California right now" Carline said anxiously.
"Caroline take care, I will tell him and please get yourself and Elena out of this mess. Klaus will kill everyone who tries to hurt his daughter and…. " he stopped for a minute and then said "I will help him"
He looked at Rebekah who was staring at him listening to their conversation.
"I have to go Stefan. Elena is coming over" she said and cut him off before he could say anything.
Rebekah picked up the stakes and jumped when they heard a bang on the door. She darted to the door and then took a sigh of relief when she saw him standing there.
Klaus entered the small house as she opened the door and darted inside with Hayley in his wake. Hayley hugged Rebekah and asked her "where is she?"
"She is in the nursery over there" Rebekah said. Hayley went straight to nursery whereas Klaus looked around and as he saw the stakes on the ground he looked at Rebekah who said "Lenore and Finn are on their way here" and then she dipped the stakes in a liquid.
At his questioning glare she said "vervain and poppy seeds mixture"
She passed some empty syringes to Stefan and him and said "fill them up with this mixture. Vervain will make him weak and poppy seeds will make them sleepy so as long as the mixture is in their bodies it will benefit us".
There was a loud bang and they turned towards the door. Klaus stared at Finn and then without warning he threw the stake in the air which went soaring through the air and if Finn had not ducked it would have landed in his heart.
"Niklaus you cannot kill me remember but I can …" Finn sneered at him and raised his hand making him rise in the air too. Rebekah and Stefan looked at each other and both of them threw their stakes at the same time but in targeting different areas of Finn's body. One of the stake hit Finn in his leg making him hiss.
"Vervain Rebekah?" he said.
Stefan looked at the young girl who he assume was the witch Lenore. Everything had happened so quickly since they barged into Rebekah's house that she didn't have time to react. Right now she was slightly distracted by Finn's comment and Stefan took advantage of that and whooshed to her and jabbed the syringe filled with the liquid into her neck.
He pulled Elena to one side and broke her neck. As her body slumbered down, he said to Caroline "Inject her with some of that mixture over there" he pointed towards the mixture of vervain and poppy seed on the kitchen counter.
He turned towards the witch Lenore and he saw the witch Lenore getting up and she raised her hands. Suddenly wind started blowing, the earth start shaking and things started flying across the room. Klaus felt himself fall on the ground as Finn got distracted by the vervain entering in his system from the stake. He whooshed to him and jabbed the needle of the injection he was filling up before they entered Rebekah's house into his heart. Finn yelled in pain and slumbered on the ground. Klaus looked at Rebekah who threw another injection at him which Klaus jabbed into his heart again. Finn was totally out now.
He stepped back as he saw the witch Lenore getting up. Caroline was bending over Elena whose neck Stefan had broken. Suddenly the room was filled with dust and wind was blowing so fast that they couldn't see each other. They looked at the source and realized that it was Lenore. She was doing some magic and chanting aloud. Klaus tried to take a step towards her but the force of the wind was too hard.
Hayley picked up Hope and held her to her chest and then all hell broke loose. She darted to the door and her eyes widened as she saw stakes flying in the air, Stefan breaking Elena's neck, Klaus injecting Finn. Everything happened within a couple of minutes and then the wind started blowing and the ground started shaking. She held Hope tighter to her.
"Klaus, Hayley I think you should go. We will stop them" Stefan said suddenly
"What?" Klaus shouted over the noise.
"You and Hayley should run with Hope. Protect her. Me and Rebekah will fight them" Stefan said again.
Klaus looked at Rebekah who was staring at Stefan and then very slowly she turned to him and said "Nik go"
"Rebekah I will never leave you behind" Klaus said firmly.
"I know Nik, I know. And you are not leaving me behind or alone. Stefan is with me. Right now Hope needs both of you. Run" Rebekah said, her eyes swimming with tears now.
Klaus didn't know what to say. He stared at her wordlessly.
"Nik, go. You need to run right now. I know that you don't want this kind of life for Hope but right now run. We will stop them" Rebekah said to him
It was like a whirlpool. Wind was blowing sucking everything in it. Klaus looked at Hayley who was holding Hope to her chest gazing at him. Hope was crying because of all the chaos, noise and thrashing of things and then suddenly Klaus whooshed to her and held her hand.
Hayley looked at Klaus through the wind and the dust flying everywhere and after a couple of seconds nodded. They both turned towards Rebekah who smiled sadly at them as she ducked to dodge a lamp fly in the air and hit the wall across the room.
"Take my car. It has her car seat in it too" Rebekah yelled through all the noise and banging "the keys are on that counter over there"
"I will call you when we get somewhere safe" He yelled back at her and then whooshed out of that spot with Hayley's hand in his hand.
Ten minutes later Hayley climbed to the back seat of the running car with Hope who had gone to sleep in her arms and strapped her in her car seat.
She looked at him in the rearview mirror and said "where are we going?"
Klaus said through clenched teeth "I don't know. Just keep driving for a while and we will see"
"If we keep driving then I need to get things for her before she gets up again" Hayley said running her fingers through her hair starting to panic now.
Klaus noticed the tremble in her voice and said "everything will be okay Hayley. She will be safe"
His voice was calm but she could see brooding on his face. She leaned forward and said "I know it must have been difficult for you to leave them but I think it is for the best right now"
"I know" Klaus said trying to smile.
Hayley looked at Hope's innocent face who was fast asleep in her car seat ignorant of what was happening and then looked at him in the rearview mirror and caught him staring at her.
Klaus looked into her eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled and said "we will be okay together"
His cell rang. He picked it up and Elijah's voice came in the Bluetooth. He said "Rebekah told me what happened. That is the right decision Niklaus. Run, run as far as you can and protect your family. We will take care of everything and will see each other soon. Remember always and forever"
Klaus looked at Hayley in the rearview mirror and said "Always and forever brother. Take care of Rebekah"
Elijah said "good bye brother until we meet again" and he cut him off.
Klaus said "good bye" even though the tone coming from the Bluetooth was telling him that Elijah was no longer on the line.
A/N
This is the final chapter of this fanfiction. I will write an Epilogue about their lives on the run. From my POV Klaus's and Hayley's love for their daughter trumps everything and they made the decision to leave everything they loved and were fighting for behind with heavy hearts. Klaus's left his dream to take New Orleans back and rule it and Hayley left the family that she has been looking all her life behind. They both will make their own life on the run with their daughter.
Some of you might not like the ending lolz but i think love for a child should trump everything.
Thanks for reading this fanfiction and for wonderful reviews. i know it went really long. YOu all know by now that i like slow burns and not instant romance. They are together now and with nothing in between them there is no way that they will not fall in love with each other, as they are already half way there.
Prologue will be uploaded in a short time.
there will be sequel about what happens when they eventually contact Elijah and Rebekah after settling down somewhere but i am going to take a break from this story line for a a couple of months and then come back to it again :)