To the afterlife and back

Painting and flirting

Hope's POV 

I'm currently sat in my room, thinking about the dilemma I'm in. Landon and I are going great, but his friend Rafael likes me too. I don't want to hurt his feelings, but I can't string him along either. When I was forgotten by everyone, Landon was with Josie, and they were happy. But when they got their memories back, they broke up, and he got back together with me. I was happy; elated even, but what if I should have let them be together and I should have moved on. And the truth is, Rafael is really nice. He has is issues, like me, and don't get me wrong, Landon does too, but there is just something else with Rafael. Landon can't relate to me as Rafael can sometimes. For example, Rafael is a wolf, like me, and he understands what is going through my mind if I have something going on with that part of me. Landon doesn't. 

There is a knock on my door, bringing me out of my thoughts. I walk over to it and pull it open. My Mum and Dad are stood on the other side, smiling. I let them come in before they pull me in for a hug. They hold on to me a little longer than they would normally, but I don't mind. I've gone without these hugs for so long that I now never want to let go. Especially hugs from my Dad. He was gone for so long because of my brother Marcel, and then again because of the Hollow, and then he died. But now, there is nothing to stop us from being here. I start laughing and my Mum raises an eyebrow at me. I tell her how it's funny I call Marcel my brother because he was basically my Dad's son, but now he is technically my Uncle because he married my Dad's sister. It doesn't matter though, Marcel will always be my brother. 

"So, what's been happening here?" My mother asks me as she sits down on my bed. 

I shrug my shoulders, going to sit next to her. "Oh, nothing really. Just teen drama. As usual." 

"What's wrong?" She asks me, sitting up, looking worried. 

"Nothing, Mum." She gives me a look and I sigh. "Just boy drama. But whatever." My father stands up straight, as he was looking through the bag he had carried in with him. 

"Where's Landon? What has he done? I'll kill him. I told him I would kill him if he ever hurt you." 

"Dad, he hasn't done anything. We're fine." My Mum just laughs as she looks at him. I watch how she looks at him, and I can sense something different in how she looks at him. He relaxes and grabs the bag, sitting further down the bed from us, taking off his shoes so he can put his feet on my bed. I'm like him in that way. I hate having people's shoes on my bed, unlike my Mum, who doesn't care at all. 

"So, what's happening with Uncle Elijah?" I ask her. My Mum's face changes as she looks down at her hands. My father tenses at the mention of his brother's name. "Whenever he gets brought up you guys act weird. Did something happen? I thought we forgave him for what happened." I refer to the fact that my Uncle had wiped his memories and couldn't remember anyone, and so he helped his girlfriend's mother kill my Mum. 

"It's not that sweetie. Just something happened in the afterlife, and anyway, it's fine. Don't worry. Aunt Freya is working with Aunt Davina and Vincent to bring him back, which should be soon." She smiles at me, putting a piece of my hair behind my ear. 

I move onto another topic of conversation, knowing that whatever did happen had hurt my Mum and angered my Dad. My Dad puts the items from inside the bag on my bed and gives them to me. There was some new paints, sketchpads and other art supplies. He then gives me a punnet of strawberries and some chocolate in a tub, which I quickly melt using my magic. My ultimate favourite thing, after beignets, of course, is chocolate coated strawberries. Beignets were always going to be my favourite thing because when the hollow was inside me, my Dad had promised that when I got better, he would get me a beignet to try. That one beignet turned into a whole table full, but come on, my Dad is Klaus Mikaelson and he is a bit extreme sometimes. But I love him for it. Chocolate strawberries, however, is because when I first met the Mikaelson's after my Mum found all the cures for them, my Auntie Bex gave me chocolate strawberries for the first time, and ever since then, I love them. It reminds me of when I got to first know them again. It gives me the feeling of being loved. 

My Mum finds a movie to put on, while me and my Dad look at each other, with identical smiles on our faces. He stands up and gets some paper from one of the draws in the corner while I get some paint. The only drawing I had that me and my Dad did together was burnt in a fire that happened in my room a few years ago. That got destroyed, along with half of my belongs, and when my Dad found out when he came back two months ago, the first thing we did was paint. Half of the ones we made, he has in his room, and the other half are in my room at the compound, not wanting them to get destroyed again being here. I kept two of them to have in my room at school though, I still wanted to have a few so I could see them every day. 

We sit back down and start painting. He does the outline of the whole page while I sit next to my Mum, watching the movie she put on, which is Footloose. The original with Kevin Bacon in, we don't really like the new version. Originals are always better. When my Dad is done outlining, he gives it to me so I can paint some of it in. He sits next to my Mum so he can watch it too, and I wait for them both to be fully absorbed in the movie, before grabbing my phone and taking a picture of them. They look so happy. I'll draw that later when they are gone. I focus on the painting again, making sure I get nothing wrong. Just like my Dad, it has to be perfect, every stroke of the paintbrush has to be just right, nothing out of place. I finish my painting and give it back to him so he can finish it. Half an hour passes and the movie finishes just as my Dad does the last stroke of the paintbrush. He walks over to my art table and places it on there to dry. I walk over to it and see the finished result. It's a painting of my Auntie Bex and Marcel at their wedding. When it is dry, I'll send it to them. At the weekend, I'm going back home to New Orleans, so me and my Dad have a plan to paint a picture of all of us at their wedding. I smile at the thought of us doing it. I know I'll be counting down the hours till I am there. This time, however, it's not just me coming home, Landon is coming with me. 

My Mum turns off the laptop and checks the time. The rule is that they can come whenever they want, obviously, I can't be in a lesson, but other than that they can see me anytime they want, but have to leave just before curfew, which is ten for me. My Dad puts his shoes back on, then grabs his coat and puts that on too. My Mum walks over to him, putting her hand in his pocket and getting the car keys. He grabs her hand and looks at her. 

"And what do you think you're doing Little Wolf?" 

"I'm driving." She plainly states. 

"You most certainly are not." He tries to take the keys out of her hand, but she manages to keep them. 

"Erm, after what you did earlier, I certainly am." She responds. 

He rolls his eyes. "For god's sake." He says back, annoyed. 

"What did he do earlier?" I ask. 

"Nothing." He quickly says, trying again to get the keys. I look at my Mum, knowing he did something. 

"Oh, he just tried to run over a bench." She says, looking at him with a smirk. 

"Look," he moves closer to her, pointing a finger at her chest "that bench was in the middle of the road, and if you hadn't been screeching, I wouldn't have had to swerve." 

"It wasn't in the middle of the road, it was on the pavement, which you decided to drive on." She moves away from him, keys still in her hand, and gives me a hug. My father giving me one after. As she walks out the door she adds, "And I don't screech, I sing." before walking out of sight. 

"Oh really, so this," he makes a horrible high noise, "isn't screeching?" He follows, going out of sight too, and I can hear them bickering all the way down the hall.  

I shout after them, "Your acting like an old married couple!"

I shut my door and rest against it. Shaking my head, chuckling to myself, I think back to how they were acting with each other. Something has changed between them. It must just be me, but it seems like they are, flirting with each other. I must be imagining things. But I know for sure that something is going on between them. I walk over to my bed and grab my phone, and send a quick message. I wonder if they think something is going on between them too?