i wish the world were ending tomorrow. i could arrive at your doorstep and say: come with me.

[poppycock]

( another week, another trip to mystic falls.

sometimes it feels as if he's at this boardinghouse more often now than he was years ago, plotting and scheming and crashing parties. perhaps he would not feel so bone-tired about these visits if they were planned and joyous occasions in which he visited his daughter. unfortunately that so rarely is the case lately.

it's moments like these in which he misses hayley. her steadfastness; her certainty; bloody hell, the firmness and tenderness of her empathy. she would know what to do, what to say. of course, if hayley were here, hope would not act up as much as she has this past year. angry and lost without a mother. angry and lost even with her father. because of him.

there is truly so much he has done wrong. there is too much he cannot possibly make up to her. he does not know where to start, how to start, and it feels sometimes as if it would make no difference to her.

the long talk with hope does little to comfort him, or her. the snide, judging remarks from alaric have him seeing red. he retreats to the abandoned library for some peace, some time to get his thoughts together. the wood of the balcony railing is worn around his palms where he stops; his knuckles whiten. a bit more pressure and it will splinter and break.

a part of him could use the bit of violence; another part recognizes the futility. )

Comments

[incontrovertible]

( her eyes said more than she ever could when klaus brought hope back after everything. she's worn many titles since the twins were born. mother. reporter. headmaster salvatore. he drops hope off with a glance between them as caroline finishes up a tour with a prospective student. but, the real world beckons. a flash of a smile and caroline fields a question from one of her werewolf students. and then klaus is gone again.

almost face to face now, months later, and she still feels his eyes on her - even if he isn't facing her. she felt his presence when he'd arrived. the campus is different. whispers of hope's true parentage, of alaric's disapproval of his involvement altogether...

gone are the days of hope marshall-kenner.

whiskey, she can provide. she'd return to her office, dig out the good stuff, but that would require her from leaving him alone. and he doesn't tell her to leave him alone.

caroline felt the same way about her girls. josie couldn't come up with a reason for hope's outburst, and lizzie couched it in her being unable to regulate her feelings. she would know. but there is something all three girls aren't fessing up to, whether they were all involved, or whether it wasn't hope at all.

she settles beside him in time to meet his gaze. )

She is covering. For Lizzie or for Josie. Maybe a phantom fourth party. Alyssa Chang, maybe. ( she doesn't know. her context is her own, her school's, her world. she whispers the last part to herself under her sigh. ) I don't know why they're all lying or where this sudden loyalty came from, but I can't say I hate the idea of them -- bonding enough to stick up for one another.

( she is sorry for calling him down now. things are more complicated, not solved, and definitely not soothed. )

I wish I could tell you why.

( she looks down and away. )

A year ago controlling my daughters meant hem-lines and sticking it to the patriarchy. And the parties I let them sneak out to. And now, they're arm-in-arm covering for -- petty arson.

( she smiles. the proximity, hearing his voice, being able to commiserate in this case, and even to see him at all. )

I'm sorry. Teenagers never make it easy.

[poppycock]

( this is caroline's world. it's his daughter's world. a world all but foreign to him, filled with characters he hardly knows; pitfalls and dangers and gossips he does not comprehend. if hayley were here, would she be able to grasp the intricacies any better? would she understand any better — know how to navigate any better — why their daughter would retreat and isolate here, where he cannot reach?

well: he considers that may be the entire point. he is grossly unprepared, unsuited, and disempowered by the distance, in the many definitions of the word.

a flicker of anger burns at the hopelessness. he hates and does not hate all at once that these bonds caroline speaks of have driven a wedge between he and his daughter. he lets the feeling roll over his shoulders. he is comforted too, in knowing hope is not alone. in knowing caroline understands that hope did not set that fire.

in that she understands. ) I've spent most of her life protecting Hope from myself. ( from his enemies too, yes; but he is well-past laying his excuses for neglect there.

he straightens. his exhale is shaky. ) I suppose it's hardly surprising she's started taking it to heart.

[incontrovertible]

( if klaus ever confided in her, every really confided in her, she'd point out that hope is only doing what all teenager's do. at a certain point, distance is inevitable. they need to learn who they are on their own. hope's power and her legacy made this school a foregone conclusion. it's easy to forget he helped found this school for her and for kids like her.

caroline knows hope didn't - and wouldn't.

hope is in control. her daughters -- well, josie is sometimes painfully in control and lizzie tries to grasp and keep it. always a bit off-kilter. lizzie is caroline. josie is josette. it's hard to believe it happened like that, or even could, but that's a magically transferred pregnancy for you.

hope is everything her dad is and everything she isn't. and her mom. and her family. she recognizes a little of every Mikaelson inside her on any given day. but for the most part? she's all klaus. )

Hope is standing up. Wrongly. But, she believes in something. I can admire that. I'm sorry it means I have to punish them all -- Hope included.

( Because Hope is still lying. )

And you're here now. Distance changes. And there's all kind of distance. You're far, but not far from her heart. That, I can promise you.