Holidays Are for Family

Chapter 13: Christmas Bonfire

After getting her dress on, Hope waited impatiently before she could head back downstairs. Something was telling her that Ryan needed her, but Rebekah was insisting that all the girls get their hair done for the party. Hope didn't understand why that was even necessary, as the only people that were going to be at the party was family. But she kept her mouth shut. She would just grin and bare it until she was released, and then she would be back at Ryan's side. After the night that they had had, she was worried about him. She was worried about what Malivore had planned now that he knew that Ryan had someone in his life that loved him. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to continue to keep Ryan from slipping back into his own mind. Before she knew it, however, her aunts had finished her hair and makeup, and Hope was allowed to leave. Making her way to the top of the stairs, the chatter amongst the men in her family fell silent. Hope searched among the guys for Ryan, but when she didn't see him, she sought out her father who met her halfway on the stairs and whispered in her ear that Ryan was in the parlor, waiting for her.

"Ryan?" Hope called out as she knocked on the closed door. "It's me. Can I come in?" She asked.

"Hope..."

The pain that laced Ryan's voice had Hope rushing into the room and dropping to her knees next to him so that she could take his face in her hands. When he lifted his gaze to meet hers, Ryan's eyes were filled with tears and he had a pained look on his face.

"Hey, talk to me. What's wrong?" Hope asked desperately as she helped him to the small couch.

"He's trying to pull me back to him, Hope. I'm trying to resist, but each time I do, he doubles down on his efforts." Ryan replied as he clutched his head. "Please, Hope, make it stop."

Hope was at a loss at what to do. There was a chance that her blood might help him, but at the same time, since he wasn't a vampire, a witch or a werewolf, she wasn't sure if her blood would help or just make things worse. But she didn't see any other choice in the matter. Moving her bracelet down her arm, Hope bit into her wrist and held it up to Ryan's lips, urging him to drink. Once his expression started to return to normal, and it lost the look of pain, Hope pulled her wrist away and simply held Ryan's hand with hers while running the fingers of her other hand through his hair. It was a few minutes of them sitting like that while Ryan focused on breathing as the pain subsided before he turned to look at her.

"Thank you, Hope." Ryan whispered.

"We need to find a more permanent solution for this happens again. I don't know if my blood is good for you long term." Hope replied as she brought the hand that she was holding to her lips and kissed his knuckles.

"And we will. But tomorrow. I want to spend Christmas Day putting a smile on your face." Ryan said as he pulled her onto his lap.

"I won't have a smile on my face if he comes after you like that again." Hope replied as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry if I scared you." Ryan said softly.

"I had a feeling that something was wrong when I was upstairs. I should have come down sooner. So if anyone should be sorry, and should be apologizing, it should be me." Hope said as she tilted Ryan's face down to look into his eyes.

"It's not your responsibility to take care of everyone, Hope."

"I know, but it is my responsibility to take care of you. And it's yours to take care of me, right?"

Ryan nods slowly but doesn't get a chance to respond because they are interrupted by a knock on the door accompanied by Klaus' voice asking if everything was alright. When neither Hope nor Ryan answer, Klaus slips into the room with them, followed by Hayley. For some reason, having her parents there has tears filling in Hope's eyes and she quickly buries her face in Ryan's neck.

"What happened Ryan?" Hayley asked.

"In the simplest terms, I had a panic attack. After what I did yesterday, leaving Seylah and Landon to fend for themselves, my father is angry. He's trying to pull me back in. It started last night, and while Hope was able to help make it stop then, the second we were separated when we got here, it started to come back. Klaus, I know we made a deal of no sleeping in Hope's room, but her presence is the only thing that is keeping my father at bay." Ryan explained.

"Okay. Then until we figure things out, you and Hope can sleep in the same room. But still no sex. She's too young." Klaus said after a moment.

"I can still hear you; you know." Hope muttered. "So please don't talk about me like I'm not here."

"Starting tomorrow we'll get to work on figure out something that can sever your connection to your father." Hayley said.

"Thank you, both. I know that none of this is easy to take in, especially when worrying about your daughter's safety and happiness, so I appreciate everything that you're all doing for me." Ryan said with grateful smile.

Hope was the only one that noticed the smile didn't reach Ryan's eyes.

TVD/TO/Legacies – HAFF – TVD/TO/Legacies

The rest of the day went by in a blur of Christmas. Hope didn't leave Ryan's side and if she did, she always stayed within an arm's reach of him. She wasn't sure if anyone else in the family noticed, but if they did, no one commented on it. Gifts were exchanged after a late lunch, everyone seemed to have a gift to give to Ryan. Both he and Hope were surprised, simply due to the fact that the only family members that had known him longer than a day had been Elijah and Elena, but Hope was happy that her family had accepted him into the fold. Things took a turn, in a good way, when Caroline mentioned that she had a karaoke machine at her house. Kol, always the mischievous one, suggested Christmas Karaoke, and everyone started discussing who would be singing what once Caroline got back the machine. Kol immediately regretted his suggestion when Davina told him that he would be singing the 12 Days of Christmas, without complaint.

"What song are you going to sing, Sweetheart?" Ryan asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"I'm not really one for singing. Not even in front of my family. But if you sing with me, and didn't judge me if it doesn't go well, then I wouldn't mind singing." Hope replied as she leaned back into his embrace.

"I have a very specific song in mind." Ryan agreed.

"What song?" Hope asked.

"All I Want for Christmas."
"I love that song. And I think it's appropriate for us."
"Your parents might not agree. And speaking of which... I should probably get on your step-father's good side. I've got my foot in the door of being on your father's good side."

"Funny, I didn't realize my father actually had a good side."

With a small laugh, Ryan took Hope's hand in his and turned to seek out Jackson. When they had circled the entire party and hadn't found Jackson, or even Hayley, Ryan suggested the check upstairs, but Hope quickly shook her head no. She recounted the conversation that she had had with her mom about her and Jackson trying for a baby, and Hope was sure that if they weren't at the party, that chances were they were upstairs having sex. And that was something she definitely did not want to see. So instead, they went looking for Klaus to let him know that they were going to step outside for some air.

"We never did get a judging on who's snowman was the best." Hope commented as she linked her arm with Ryan's and leaned into his side.

"I know who's snowman I would have picked." Ryan commented with a smile.

"Let me guess... yours? Wait... no... it was Lizzie's right? Or was it Josie's?" Hope joked.

"Hey, just as I only have eyes for you, my snowman only had eyes for yours. It was beautiful, Hope." Ryan replied. "And I know I haven't gotten a chance to tell you this yet, but you look amazing today." He added as he turned to Hope and cupped her face in his hands before giving her a kiss.

"We also haven't talked to the family about the Christmas Bonfire." Hope muttered against Ryan's lips.

"We will, Sweetheart. I promise you that." Ryan said with a smile.

"I love you, Ryan Clarke."

"I love you too, Hope Mikaelson."

With another quick kiss, the couple walked about the grounds looking for wood that could be used for the bonfire. By the time they had a decent pile gathered in the driveway, Caroline had returned with the karaoke machine, and the three of them headed back inside. And while Klaus and Elijah got it hooked up to the TV and the surround sound, Ryan cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"I know that I am the odd one out here. I've known Elijah and Elena for a few months, I've only known Hope for a few days, and the rest of you I just met yesterday. But in that short period of time, whether I've talked to you individually or not, each of you has made me feel like I'm as much a part of the family as anyone else. So because of that, and because I want Hope to have the best Christmas possible, I would like to ask all of you to please follow Hope and I outside." Ryan said.

No one knew what to do for a moment. So everyone just stood around, looking at each other before Hope started to get upset. She could feel her magic responding to her emotions and she reached out for Ryan's hand to steady herself. Her emotions leveled out, and her magic settled down as soon as their hands touched. Blinking back tears, Hope slowly looked at everyone in her family.

"We have not had a full family Christmas my entire life. I don't think there has ever been a full family Christmas for this family, ever. So I want to have a Christmas Bonfire. Ryan and I already piled the wood for it and it's outside in the driveway. This is something that is very important for me, so I would greatly appreciate it if you would all stop standing around looking at each other and do what Ryan asked." Hope said.

Not waiting to see if anyone listened to her, Hope turned around and headed outside, taking Ryan's hand in hers as she went. By the time the rest of the family got outside, Hope had conjured up slips of paper and a bowl and was in the process of writing everyone's name on each slip of paper. Once everyone had formed a circle around what would soon be the bonfire, Hope looked at her family.

"For those of you who don't know what this is, or what this tradition is supposed to accomplish, it's simple. Each of us will draw a single person's name from the bowl. The name that you draw is the person that you write a wish for. Once you've written your wish, you toss it into the bonfire for luck. You can't tell anyone who you got, or what your wish for them is." Hope explained as the bowl was passed around.

When the bowl got back to her and Ryan, Ryan let Hope take a slip of paper first before grabbing the last one. Hope's breath hitched slightly when she unfolded the paper and saw Ryan's name on it. She looked up at him and saw that he was staring back at her intently. Clearing her throat, Hope looked around at her family and saw that everyone seemed to be trying to look at the person they got without being overtly obvious about it, and she knew that she hadn't just gotten Ryan's name. He had gotten hers as well. Silently telling Ryan to turn around, Hope used his back to write her wish for him. Once she was done, Hope turned around so that Ryan could write his wish as well. As soon as he was done himself, Ryan turned Hope around and pressed his lips to hers, not caring that her entire family was watching.

"I love you, Hope." Ryan whispered against her lips.

"I love you too, Ryan." Hope replied.

Glancing around Hope saw her father looking at them intently with a slight frown on his face. Hope guessed he had heard their whispered words. But he wasn't making his way over to them, so she figured that he was going to let it slide for now, and that he would address it later on. Shifting her gaze from her father to the rest of her family, Hope realized that everyone seemed to have finished writing their wishes. With a smile, Hope took Ryan's hand in hers and stepped towards the pile of wood.

"Incendia." Hope said waving her hand at the wood, setting it aflame.

Squeezing Ryan's hand, they both tossed their wishes into the fire. As the rest of the family tossed their wishes in as well, Hope felt a tingling around her wrist. Glancing down, she saw Ryan's wish for her appear in what she could only assume was his handwriting. As she slowly lifted her eyes up to Ryan's, Hope realized that Ryan's eyes were on his own wrist. Taking Ryan's wrist into her hands, Hope saw her own handwriting appearing on his skin in the form of her wish for him.

"This is a new development." Klaus commented and Hope looked at her father. "Usually one doesn't see what has been wished for them by another."

"How is this possible? I thought we weren't supposed to know what was wished for us?" Hope asked.

"We're not. But there's nothing that we can do about it now." Klaus replied with shrug.

Hope frowned before turning around and storming back inside the mansion. Ryan glanced over at Klaus for a brief moment who nodded before taking off after Hope. He was surprised that for a girl in heels and a dress, that Hope was already at the top of the stairs. Taking the stairs 2 at a time, Ryan hurried after her, quickly finding her outside one of the smaller rooms. When she heard him coming, Hope turned her head away to hide the tears that were falling but didn't move away when Ryan pulled her in to his embrace.

"Talk to me Sweetheart." Ryan whispered.

"We weren't supposed to know what the wishes were. That's the whole point of burning them for luck. So that we don't actually know what was wished for. They weren't supposed to appear on our wrists." Hope replied as she wiped her tears away.

"For what it's worth, I appreciate what you wished for." Ryan commented.

"I do too." Hope admitted. "But we still weren't supposed to know." She repeated.

"What can I do to make you feel better? I don't like seeing you upset." Ryan asked before lightly pushing Hope against the wall next to the door and leaning down to press his lips to her neck.

"Speed time up to when I'm 18 and you can take me to bed like we both want you to." Hope replied with a soft hum.

"I doubt that even then your father would approve. I have a feeling that while he might accept me into the family and approve of me being the man you spend the rest of you life with, he'll never fully be okay with knowing his baby girl has become sexually active." Ryan commented. "But in the meantime..." he added as he wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her body flush against his and captured her lips with his in a deep kiss. "I will kiss you anytime you want me to. I will touch you whenever you want me to. I will hold you whenever you need me to. I will be by your side every waking moment of the day. I will keep you safe every sleeping moment of the day. You told me the other day that I'm stuck with you, Hope. Well this is me telling you that you're stuck with me too." He vowed and Hope's breath caught in her throat.

"How long did it take you to memorize that speech?" Hope asked with a small smile.

"I didn't memorize it. It's how I truly feel, Hope. I want to be the one you turn to when you're upset so that I'm the one that makes you feel better."

Hope's smile widened as her face lit up. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Hope pulled Ryan in for another kiss. Keeping a firm hold on Ryan during the kiss, Hope searched out behind her for the doorknob and pulled them into the room, using magic to close and lock the door behind them. Breaking the kiss for a brief moment, Hope pushed Ryan's tux jacket from his shoulders and onto the floor before making quick work of the buttons on his shirt.

"Hope..." Ryan said warningly.

"I want to see you shirtless." Hope said, her eyes darkening.

"You did... yesterday. Remember? When you gave me the massage?" Ryan reminded her as he lightly grasped her wrists.

"Just once I would like you to not stop us." Hope said with a frown.

"Hope, I want to have sex with you more than anything, but I also want to make you happy for the rest of your life. If we do the former, I won't be able to do the latter. I love you, but until you're at least 18, we can't have sex."

Hope pulled away from Ryan and moved to sit on the bed. Pulling her knees to her chest, Hope rested her cheek on top of them and faced away from Ryan. The tears had come back and Ryan felt like a jerk for being the cause of these. Running a hand over his face, Ryan moved to sit next to Hope on the bed and pulled her into his chest.

"Please don't cry, Sweetheart." He muttered as he pressed his lips to her temple.

"How can you really, truly love me when I keep making the same mistake over and over again?" Hope muttered.

"Because my love for you is in spite of any mistakes. But wanting to have sex... that's not a mistake, Hope. You're a teenage girl living in a time where you're made to believe that the only way to show a guy you love them is to have sex with them." Ryan said as he repositioned them against the pillows. "But that's not what I need from you, Hope."

"I'm not talking about wanting to have sex in general being the mistake, Ryan. I'm talking about specifically wanting to have sex with you, knowing that you'll stop it." Hope replied as tears still fell down her cheeks.

"That's not a mistake, either, Hope. You want to have sex with me, so you keep trying, wishing that I'll give in. And maybe one day in the near future I will, but for right now, I'm going to continue to stop us from going there. I don't want you to stop trying, though. I honestly can't express how happy it makes me that you know what I am, and you are still wanting to have sex with me."

"You thought I wouldn't want to be with you like that because you're a golem?"

"It's not exactly outside the realm of possibility, Hope. I don't have a lot, or any, long term relationships to reference, simply because I am a golem."

"That changes now, Ryan Clarke."

Ryan gave Hope a half smile and pressed a kiss to her forehead. After laying on the bed with Hope wrapped tightly in his arms for a few more minutes, Ryan let out a sigh. They had been gone long enough, and if they didn't get back downstairs soon, they were surely bound to be found, and there was no good way to explain why his shirt was open and Hope was laying on top of him in bed without him getting into trouble with Klaus and Hayley. Rolling over so that hovering above Hope, Ryan pressed his lips to hers before moving off of the bed to rebutton his shirt and to grab his jacket from the floor.

"Are you going to be okay to head back downstairs, Sweetheart? Or do you want me to go tell your family that you're going to be skipping Christmas Karaoke?" Ryan asked as he stepped in between Hope's legs as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

"That depends... will I get a special Christmas present if I go back downstairs?" Hope asked while tilting her head and biting her lower lip.

"You are a little minx, Hope Mikaelson. A minx that will eventually get me into a lot of trouble with your family." Ryan said and smiled when Hope let out a small giggle.

"I do take after my dad and uncle in that regard." Hope commented.

"And here I thought I was dating you, not your father and uncle."

Hope stared up at Ryan with wide eyes. Ryan had been the one between the two of them over the past few days that was taking those steps to make sure they stayed planted in the here and now, and that they weren't getting ahead of themselves in their relationship. And they had only been on one date in those few days, so hearing him say that they were dating, it surprised Hope in the best way possible. She tried to get her mouth to form the question she wanted to ask for what his words were implying, but no sound came out. Ryan seemed to understand what Hope was trying to say and nodded.

"Yes Hope, we are dating. And, if you'll have me as such, I would very much like to be your boyfriend."