CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Adrian left seventh period earlier after finding that Hope hadn't been there. You see, no one had seen Hope Mikaelson during the last five days. She had ghosted everyone after the Valentine's Day dance and locked herself up in her room.
At first, the young male wolf didn't mind the disappearance of the girl. She had made it very clear that she wanted nothing to do with him and in turn, he wanted nothing to do with her— that was until he passed her room on his way to his own and his supernatural hearing allowed him to hear the soft sniffles and cries.
He silently cursed himself for he knew that he would never forgive himself if he didn't check up on her even after their argument and hurtful words. Carefully, he walked closer and knocked on the door, a part of him was hoping that she'd tell him to fuck off so that he wouldn't feel too bad about leaving her alone.
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YOU HAVE A
CHANCE, GO, GO, GO!
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A moment passed and the boy was about to leave when the door suddenly opened, a restless Hope standing in the doorway, tears trickling down her cheeks that she tried to dry with her shirt sleeve, "Dr. Saltzman, I'm fin—" She cut herself off once she finally faced the boy, "What are you doing here?"
"Can I come in?"
✶
Hope let out a sigh as she sat down on the ottoman in front of her bed. Adrian entered the room just a few seconds after, even if she had told him to wait because she was going to clean up. He looked around as he stepped into the mess she called her room, "Jesus... Who— what happened in here?"
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THE PLACE LOOKS LIKE
A NUCLEAR DISASTER
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Adrian scanned the dorm. There were pillows on the floor, Hope's paintings and easel had all been thrown to the floor, a few brushes had been thrown like darts and embedded themselves in the wall and a painting of what looked to be a family portrait had been ripped down the middle. There were other things wrong, misplaced or broken in the room but it wasn't anything he was going to point out and he didn't want to tell Hope that he caught a glimpse of the clothes she had lazily stacked and tried to hide in the corner.
A few minutes passed and neither of the two had breathed a word. Neither of them knew what to say or which one was going to apologize first. Adrian stood by the window, looking out with his back turned against Hope who was watching him. He turned around with a sigh and finally faced her but she forced herself to look away immediately.
Adrian leaned on the dresser beside him, "I'm not here to apologize to you"
Hope cocked a brow, letting out a scoff, "Then why are you here?"
"Why have you locked yourself up in here for the last five days?" The boy asked.
The auburn-haired girl's tears had dried but the reason she was upset was still deeply hurting her. To be fair, she hadn't locked herself up in her room the whole week, she had just been avoiding Adrian but decided to stay in her room for the last twenty-four hours— it was the anniversary. His anniversary. The two year anniversary of Klaus Mikaelson's death.
The tribrid glanced up at the boy for a moment before she looked away, sighing. She didn't mean to be dramatic but this wasn't a topic she'd bring up with just anybody but then again, Adrian wasn't just anybody to her and she knew it. That was part of the reason she stayed away.
The Aquilo boy sighed, taking a seat beside Hope on the ottoman, "I didn't mean to hurt you by taking her to the dance— Okay, I did. But not, like directly. I mean, yes, I took Lizzie to the dance but you turned me down before I had the chance to ask you. So, I went with someone who actually wanted to go with me"
"I thought it would only be awkward so yeah, I turned you down" The girl admitted, she paused for a moment, hesitating. Telling him would only boost his ego but she did it anyway, "It annoyed me"
The male looked up, "What?"
"That you took Lizzie to the dance" Hope repeated, speaking clearly this time, "It bothered me for a moment but I'm over it"
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BOTHERED HER, HUH? JEALOUS?
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Adrian nodded, a remark wanting to leave his mouth but it didn't. He sat in silence beside the girl. She let out a frustrated groan, "I don't get you, Adrian. I yell— No, scream at you and you're still here. I tell you to leave me the hell alone so you'll turn your back and let me live with my mistakes and— and you're still here. I even said some idiotic things about your parents—"
"I said some stuff too" The boy began but the tribrid wouldn't hear any of it.
Hope shook her head, "No, it doesn't excuse what I said" She reached for his hand and held it in hers, an unreadable expression on her face. The boy looked at their hands and the girl let go. She sighed, "I should've have said that. I know you didn't do it... Out of all people, I should know how much it hurts to hear people talk shit about one's parents and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I was angry and—"
Adrian gestured to the mess in the room, "Is this about your parents? I know that they're not here but—"
The Auburn haired girl nodded slowly, "It is" She sighed, "I— I guess something in me just snapped. I've been avoiding you for days and uh I recently started to hang out with Penelope who's basically—"
"Satan's reincarnation" The two finished in unison.
"Yeah..." Hope sighed, "She taught me some black magic spells and Dr. Saltzman caught me practicing. He said that this was my second strike. He said that if I continued, I— I was going to turn out like my dad... How my dad was when he didn't care..." The boy furrowed his brows at this. From what he had heard, Klaus Mikaelson was a great man but then again, everything Adrian knew about the hybrid had been told by Hope Mikaelson herself— except for some whispers about him snapping necks for days to keep his daughter safe.
"Before my parents had me, my father used to terrorize this town and its inhabitants. I— i don't wanna be like that. He wouldn't want me to. I've done enough already by being reckless but there's something in me— something that says give into the darkness if only just a little. Just try it out... But I can't. The moment I'm about to do something I think about my parents, would they want me to do it? Is it right?..." Hope let out a shaky breath, "I'm supposed to be worth the sacrifice. I mean, I'm the reason they're gone. So, to make it somewhat right I have to at least try to be the good daughter. I was their only child"
Adrian's eyes widened the moment he put two and two together, the moment he realized what she meant— Hope blamed herself for her parents' deaths. She had told him that they were dead a while ago but he never got the details and he was okay with that because she never asked about his parents, though she already knew what happened. But how could she blame herself?
He shook his head, moving closer to the female, "Don't blame yourself" The Aquilo boy took her hand in his, "Blame the world. Blame the supernatural. Blame fucking mother nature but not yourself. Hope, you didn't end their lives nor were you the reason—"
"But I was" The girl argued, tears leaving her eyes and trickling down her cheeks, "You don't understand, Adrian, my dad sacrificed himself for me because a stupid vindictive spirit wanted to disintegrate me from inside. And my mom... My mom died because of me and my stupid mistakes" She sniffled, "My parents died because I wasn't strong enough"
"But you are" Adrian tried to convince the female, "Okay, look, I might not have known you for years but I know that you're strong. I know that you're Hope Mikaelson, a fucking badass. I'm sure your parents are looking down on you with smiles on their faces, proud that you haven't given up..." His lips curled into a smile, "And that you managed to score someone as good looking like me"
Hope looked up at the boy that still towered over her even though they were sitting. She chuckled, lightly pushing Adrian. He fell to the floor and landed on his bottom, but his lips curved into a smirk when he saw the auburn-haired girl's lips stretch into a smile. He had let her push him, "Is that a smile? Is Hope Mikaelson smiling back? At me? Gosh, I'm gonna faint"
The girl rolled her eyes, a giggle escaping her lips, "Thank you for coming" Giggling wasn't a common thing in the life of Hope Mikaelson, especially not after all pain she had gone through. The auburn-haired girl rose from the ottoman, "I should, uhm, get ready for bed"
"And here I thought we were having a moment" Adrian sighed, finally rising from the floor, "I suppose nice Hope was and will remain a myth"
"I suppose you were mythtaken" Hope retorted, positioning herself in the middle of her bed with the duvet covering her lower half as she got accustomed to the coldness of her sheets against the warmth of her body.
The boy chuckled, looking back at her, "My humor is starting to rub off on you" The tribrid grimaced but let him continue. He sat down on the edge of her bed, "You like me, Hope, whether you wanna admit it or not. And one day, when we've graduated from school and started living, you'll wake up and realize that it's too late and that you should've shot your shot when you had the chance"
The girl chuckled at his choice of words. Adrian got up from the bed, about to leave when Hope reached out and grabbed him by his wrist, pulling him back to his previous position, "Is it true? That you think I'm not gonna be broken forever? Do you really think that I'm fixable?"
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WHAT DO I SAY?
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Adrian furrowed his brows, not at what she said but at the fact that she said it. It meant that she had seen what he had written in his notebook. But how? It didn't take long until it clicked that the notebook thief was right in front of him. He shook his head, "No" The boy answered, "You were never broken"
The girl looked away, shyly before she spoke again, a smile on her lips, "And w— what you said about my parents being proud over me for scoring you... I haven't gotten there yet" Hope's smile grew.
The male didn't say anything for a moment because he didn't know if she was making fun of his words or actually meant what she said, "Yet" Adrian added. He leaned in and kissed her cheek before he got up from the bed again, "Sleep tight"
Hope watched as the Aquilo boy crossed her room to leave but stopped him the moment he placed his hand on the door handle, "Do uh— do you think that you could maybe... Can you stay? Like, here?... You don't need to, it's just that I've had nightmares every single day this week except for the day we went to the carnival. Remember? We fell asleep in the car when Dr. Saltzman came and got us. And I didn't have any nightmares" The two locked eyes, "I haven't slept so good in months"
Adrian watched the girl, a pleading expression on her face begging him to do this for her. He let go of the door handle, "Are you using your mental health as an excuse to sleep with me?"
The auburn haired's expression turned hard, she scoffed, "If you're gonna be all dick-ish about it to boost your testosterone, you're welcome to leave. Just forget that I asked, okay?"
"And if not?" The boy cocked a brow, a dimple showing as a slight smirk worked its way to his lips, "Am I welcome to stay? If I promise to not say anything inappropriate?"
Hope only nodded, she moved from the middle of the bed to give him space to lay down comfortably, "Don't say anything at all and we have a deal"
Adrian made sure the door was locked before he crossed the room. He sat down on the bed, slowly getting in under the covers, "I'll shove you from the bed if that grin doesn't fade away... Also, cuddle me and I'll end you" The girl threatened.
"I— hmph. I'm gonna ignore that since you admitted that sleeping with me helps you relax" The boy spoke.
Hope chuckled, "You must really like me, huh? Doing everything you've done. Making sure I was okay when i had barely a scratch and you yourself were bleeding, coming to comfort me when i never asked you to, helping me sleep..."
Adrian nodded, "I must really like you"
The two hadn't realized it but as they spoke, they had moved closer to each other. They weren't cuddling or spooning but they were laying close enough to feel each other's breath on their faces.
"I read your journal. I— I stole it" Hope admitted and the boy only hummed in response, he had figured that one out already, "You have a crush on me?"
Due to the level of tiredness, it took Adrian a bit more than a moment to register her words. He laid in silence, not daring to speak a word. Instead of answering, he pretended to have fallen asleep. Hope sighed when she didn't receive a response, what did she want him to say? Yes? No? Did he still feel that way about her even if that last entry was before their fight? Did she feel the same?