The Afterlife

•|Chapter IV: When a Vow Breaks|•

Dear Diary,

Vows are sacred. We make them for a reason. For family, for friends, for foes. I have made several vows over the years, no matter how sacred, there have been times where I have fallen short of a kept word. Love changes the course of many things, especially morals. It either creates more of them or destroys them all. Hayley is the wire that reconnects me to my morals. She is my hope, whether she knows it or not. She is the momentum that I have spent nearly my entire life searching for. Everything that I do is for her and our daughter. I want to be better for them. I am better because of them. No words can express how grateful I am that fate have decided for us to be joined together, but every action will. And I vow to do right by them both. Always and forever.

Klaus

Drying canvas' all over the room, Klaus stood in front of an easel with a palette of colors and a paint brush that softly stroked at the canvas in front of him. Love and patience went into each stroke, a way to clear his mind while he waited for Caroline to get back to him about Bonnie. He knew it was a long shot, speaking with an old foe, but he always knew that if anyone knew anything it would be Bonnie. She was smart and determined, he admired it about her even when he didn't, and he wished he understood sooner that it was better to have her at his side.

Hope had been out that morning, planning out ways to approach Declan on accident to see what it was he knew. Elijah had still been awol. It's been days since he'd had a proper sleep and dinner. He felt strange coming home when his family was in danger, but this time seemed different. He seemed more determined and unhinged this time around. As if there were more at stake even though he had no idea of what he'd been up against. He shot texts with Klaus, but Klaus hated texting, so he ignored most of them until he grew bored enough to check.

Klaus kept his eyes on the canvas as he listened to the knock on the ajarred door. It pushed open softly and still he kept stroking the brush with ease and a rare calamity that he wished he could experience more often.

"Hey." Hayley entered the room with a steaming cup of tea. "Have you talked to Elijah?"

"Vaguely. He's as focused on the faction as Freya. Maybe even more." Klaus mumbled as he dipped the brush again. "I did, however, speak with Hope about Declan."

Hayley nodded slowly with a subtle surprise in her eyes while she sipped her tea and looked around the room at the canvas's. "Really? What'd you tell her?"

Klaus focused on the canvas before him. "I asked for her help." He said, a small smile of joy creeping onto his face. "We're partners."

Hayley smiled at that, it was soft and wide of joy and appreciation of Klaus's participation in actually giving Hope a chance to show that she can be a good team player.

"She was happy to help, I hadn't seen her face light up so much." He continued and Hayley listened carefully. "I still have my concerns. You know it's hard accepting that there will be times where she's the only option."

"We knew these times would come the moment we found out I was pregnant." Hayley sipped her tea again. "She's the original tribrid, the strongest supernatural being alive."

"She's also my little girl." Klaus dipped the brush into the paint again and started more strokes.

Hayley nodded again, easily understanding that. "I know."

"She doesn't." He finally turned to face Hayley. "Parenthood isn't something you understand until you become a parent." Then he turned back to the canvas as Hayley picked up on how concerned he actually was. "How are you?"