A Twist Through Time (A TVDU fic)

Chapter 24

When Klaus finally returned, he headed to Hope's bedroom and knocked softly on the door. His mind was racing, still unsure of what to say to her, no matter how much he had been thinking about it the whole way here. He had been a father for a short time and had potentially already made her cry twice. And he could tell she was usually someone that felt things strongly but didn't cry often. 

"Come in" called the voice inside. His daughter. 

Klaus walked inside the bedroom. Hope was standing near her bed, looking at dresses from Rebekah's old collection that had grown over the centuries. Dresses she packed away and didn't wear again. Her expression was composed as though she hadn't had an outburst. 

"I was just trying to pick out a dress for the ball" Hope told him, briefly glancing over at him before returning her gaze to the dress. She had told her aunt she wasn't in the mood for real shopping so her aunt supplied her with a pile of dresses to look through. Though Hope was sure some of them wouldn't fit her. So they immediately went into the pile for her to not wear.

"Hope, we need to talk. About what happened earlier" Klaus said, looking at his daughter.

"What part of me not wanting to talk wasn't clear?" Hope questioned, knowing he knew the kind of talk she was referring to. She made a face at one of her aunt's dresses and moved it to the chair in her room.

"It's not that kind of talk. Hope, please, look at me"

Hope hesitated before looking over at her father, giving him her full attention.

"I'm sorry" Klaus said, looking at her. "I know I've been asking a lot of questions, and I know you aren't comfortable answering them. The why shouldn't be important. All that matters is you don't want to talk about it"

"I understand why you want answers. And if all of this went to hell, and it wouldn't hurt to tell you, I would. But while things are different, it still has the possibility of getting on the right track" Hope explained. "But in order for that to happen, I may need to leave sooner than I thought."

'Leave?"

"Yes. I'm leaving the morning after the ball. I should have done it the second I showed up in this time. But I was too selfish. I wanted to spend time with you. From this time" she added quickly. "None of you really like talking about your past"

Klaus slowly approached her and gently placed a hand on her arm. "I would prefer if you stayed. I only just found out you were my daughter" he said but paused. "But as much as I want to demand you stay... It is your choice. You are clearly going through a lot, and I don't want to make things more difficult for you, little wolf."

Hope couldn't help the faint smile that formed on her face. "Littlest wolf" she corrected.

"What?"

"You call me littlest wolf throughout my life"

"Then Littlest Wolf, you shall be" Klaus said, drawing his daughter into a hug.

He wasn't much of a hugger. But ever since he met Hope, he couldn't help feeling drawn to her. He supposed this was why. She was his daughter. It's why he cared about her pretty quickly. Why she draws out his soft side more than anyone else does. He was going to miss her. But one day he would have her as a baby and be able to raise her properly. And he would have all of the time in the world to spend time with her.

Hope clung to her father, hugging him back. Her eyes closed as she took in the moment, unsure of if they would hug again before she left. "You can ask questions. Just don't push me for answers. Please" she said as she pulled   away and looked at him.

"Agreed. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. Physically or emotionally." Klaus said honestly. He seemed to be doing a poor job with the emotional part, but that was going to change. "There was something you said earlier that I wanted to ask about but was distracted from by other questions I had. You mentioned Dr Saltzman?"