Stranger Things Than a Tribrid

Chapter 2: Costumes and Paintings

Hope's POV:

My first stop is Nancy's. When I get there, Steve's car is just pulling away from it so I know she's home. I knock on the door and Mrs. Wheeler answers it with a smile. "Hope, come on in. Nancy is in her room." "Thank you Mrs. Wheeler." I say, heading in the direction of Nancy's bedroom.

I knock on it and the door flies open. She looks annoyed, but when she sees me, her smile widens and she pulls me into the room. "So, what have you decided will be my fate tomorrow night?" I ask, flopping on her bed while she goes through her closet for my costume.

She wanted to match, but Steve insisted that they do a couples costume. "Tada!" She beams, holding the costume out in front of her. My eyes widen. "No." "Oh come on! You'll look amazing in this." She whines, setting it next to me. I groan. "Yeah, but-"

"No buts. Try this on and then I'm teaching you how to do your hair. Seriously, how do people do their hair in 2028? It has no grip. It's too slick." I roll my eyes. "Yeah, because messy buns and pony tails are normal hair styles for anyone." I tell her.

"So no one cares about their appearance anymore?" "Pretty much. I mean, I put in more effort than most people do." I tell her. "Seriously?" "Yep." "Ugh. Anyway, we're getting off topic. Go change, now." I sigh, but do as she says. Once I'm dressed I do a small twirl for her.

She grins. "Perfect. You look amazing! Now, sit." I groan, but do as I'm told. We spend the next hour going over how to do my hair tomorrow night before she sends me on my way. In the car I use magic to return my hair to my normal curls. Seriously, hair gel is gonna be the death of me.

When I get home I notice that Elijah's car is gone, but my dad's is here. When I walk inside I smell the scent of fresh pain and grin. Throwing my jacket on my bed with my backpack I head downstairs to my dad's art studio. He spends most of his time here.

Correction, it's where we spend most of our time. When I'm home and my dad's home, we're in the art studio. We talk. I tell him what I can about my life he tells me stories from the last thousand years. He told me that he has something special plans for Christmas.

Says it has to do with family. I'm excited, but nervous. If my dad doesn't break his curse when he does and he doesn't meet my mom when he does, then I don't exists. I've been telling myself that now that I'm here, I can't not be born or else I would have faded from existence already.

Not totally logical, but I can't allow myself to dwell on it too much. My mom won't even be born for another 7 years so I'm not too worried. I debated stoping my actual grandparent's deaths. The Labonairs.

But then that would mean that my mom would only ever be with Jackson and once again, I wouldn't exist. "What's on your mind sweetheart?" My dad asks. We had been painting in silence for fifteen minutes. Usually I start off with how my school day went.

I shake myself out of my thoughts. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." I feel his eyes on me. "You know I will always worry. Right?" I smile slightly and turn to him, putting my paint brush down. "I know." "Good, now, how was school today?" He asks as we both go back to our paintings.

"Normal. We have a new kid, but he's a total douche." "Do I need to reach down his throat and pull out his insides?" He asks, a threatening note to his voice. "If anyone gets the pleasure of doing that, it'll be me, but no. I can handle him. He's just an overconfident mortal." I explain.

"The offer still stands." I laugh at this. "I'll keep that in mind." "So, where did we leave off last week?" He asks. "You were just explaining why you daggered Finn for the first time." "Ah, yes." With that he continues to tell the story of his life to me. I love hearing about it.

I may be the newest addition to the family, but I had always wished to live those thousand years with them. I know my dad put a strain on his relationship with his siblings in those years. Well, more like destroyed the relationship, but I still always dreamed of being there in person.

Maybe now that I know time travel is real, I can set up a spell to control where I land and I can land when my family was still human. I just want to know my dad before everything. I hear the door open and close and a second later Elijah walks into the room.

"Niklaus, I would like a word with you." I look up, confused. "Is something wrong?" I ask him. He sends me a reassuring smile. "Nothing to worry about Hope. I just need a word with your father." My dad stands and follows his older brother out of the room.

I try to listen in, but werewolf hearing is only so good. Sighing, I shrug off the weird feeling I'm getting and go back to painting. After a few minutes my dad comes back and we continue painting, him continuing on with his story. After a few hours, I put a stop on mine and stand.

"I have some homework to do." He nods and I go to exit the room, but stop. "Hey, I'm planning on taking the boys trick or treating tomorrow and I might swing by a party after. Is that ok?" I ask. My dad looks at me with a grin.

"Hope I want you to live as normal of a life as you can. If going to a high school party and getting so drunk that you don't remember the night is what you want to do to feel normal then I will not stop you." I smile at this.

"Just make sure to carry paper and a pen so you can send Elijah or me a message to come and get you if we need to. You know how unreliable the phone lines around around here." I nod. "Thanks dad." I tell him.

With that I exit the art room, going by the kitchen first and making some popcorn before heading up to my room. I spend the rest of the night doing homework and spell developing. Once I'm done I shower and change into some pjs before climbing into bed.

As soon as my head hits the pillow, I'm out like a light.