Bloom || HOPE MIKAELSON x RYAN CLARKE

7] FLARES IN THE SKY

With morning comes peace.

With morning comes healing.

A Franciscan monk had once told him that if he believed in himself as much as he believed that the wind blew and the sun set, then he would always succeed.

Anything.
Everything.

But he had failed.

Failure was something he'd always known. Or rather, something his father had always seen in him.

He'd never pegged himself a loser after all his years with Triad, but the bitter aftertaste of Malivore's crude words was still heavy on his tongue. Nothing he did was ever enough to please his father.

Instead of learning from his mistakes, he'd persevered and tried and tried again to meet his only parent's expectations. He had failed, time after time again.

Every one of his failures had led to this specific moment.

The night had been long, and yet he knew that it was far from over.
The ride back had been eerily silent too but he considered himself as lucky as he could be to have steered clear from Klaus in his grieving process.

The original hybrid had fled the scene with Caroline Forbes and Hayley's fresh corpse, while Ryan had stock to taking care of an unconscious Hope, promising to call Klaus the second they got to safety.

He'd been strong behind the wheel, but the second he'd met up with Freya, he'd questioned everything.

Now pacing in Hope's room at the Salvatore school, he couldn't help but relieve Hayley's final moments.

That look in her eyes... such devotion for a bundle of cells that had grown within her womb, such love...

How could someone love anything so much?

''I shouldn't be here,'' he whispered to himself, finally coming to terms with that fact.

Klaus was gone.

Hayley was dead.

Hope was lost.

He looked at her, pale-faced and stiff on her bed, sleeping soundly.
She hadn't woken up yet.
She hadn't been told.
She didn't know.
She would.

Too soon. Too young. Just too much.

He should have never left Malivore in the first place.

If he hadn't begged his father for freedom, for solace, for a second chance, he would have never witnessed... everything else.

Everything that came with life.

The cost of living.

And he would still hate Hope with everything that he had.

''She needs you here,'' Freya said, as if she thought he was talking to her, ''I-I want you here too. If it's not for— I'm not sure I'll be able to stop her from doing—'' She choked on a sob and he put a hand on her shoulder as she rocked back and forth on the couch, cradling her knees in her arms.
He'd never seen them together, Mother and Aunt, and never endured loss himself, but he couldn't even begin to imagine what she was going through.

Maybe Hope would be happier if she never woke up.

When he thought things couldn't get any worse, Destiny chose to laugh at him one more time.
He hardly even twitched when that familiar gasp broke his train of thoughts and Hope sat up with a start.

''Mom?'' Her first instinct broke his heart.

''Hope!''

''Mom?'' she called again as Freya jumped into action and sat down beside her on the bed.