Endgame ? Sweet but Psycho

37. bones

Poppy watched as Hope walked up to her and took her hand. "Do you want me to go with you?" The older sister asked gently, and Hope nodded. Together, the two left the porch, walking down the stairs.

About ten minutes later, Poppy sat at a table in the back yard, across from Hope. In front of her was a paper, and in her hand was a watercolor paintbrush. The two were painting together, and enjoying the nature around them. 

Poppy looked up at her little sister, who hadn't said a word to her, and she smiled a bit. "Did you miss me?" She teased, and Hope looked up at her with a smirk. 

"Only this much." The little girl said, holding up her fingers to show her how much she missed the woman. 

Poppy rolled her eyes and smiled more. "Okay, I'll take it." She looked down at her painting, then at Hope's. "What're you painting?"

Hope looked down at her paper and dragged the brush across it, leaving a blue trail behind. "I'm painting something from my dreams. What about you?"

"I'm painting a butterfly, a big one with blue wings." The older sister replied, continuing to paint. "What was in your dreams?" She inquired for the sake of conversation, and out of curiosity. 

Her sister shrugged. "I'm not sure, just something...blue."

"Okay."

Up on the porch, Klaus stood with Hayley, watching the two as they painted. He looked over at the hybrid mom, who moved to sit on the banister. He felt anxious, like Hope feared him. "What terrible things did you tell her?" He inquired. 

Hayley looked at the girls. "I told her that you're a hybrid, like me." She looked at Klaus. "I also told her that you're very old. Other than that, she's seven. We can wait to share the gory details."

"Well, someone must have disparaged me." Klaus frowned. "Perhaps that crone, Mary-"

Hayley interrupted him. "Stop." She furrowed her eyebrows, only slightly bothered by Niklaus' display of insecurity and not surprised. "I've spent five years protecting her from everything, including all the horror stories floating around about you. She doesn't know your history. What she does know is that you protect your family, no matter what."

"And yet she fears me." 

Hope's mother gave him a nod. "She's a sensitive kid, and you're not exactly calm right now." Klaus nodded and looked back out at both of his daughters. Hayley continued, standing up off of the banister. "You were her fairy tale prince, Klaus. And now you're real. You have a lot to live up to." 

Klaus watched as Hayley began to walk away, but he turned, wanting to discuss a more important matter. He put on his stone expression to show that he was being serious. "What about Poppy?" Hayley turned around. "My first born, Hope's older sister. Are you protecting our daughter from her?" 

Hayley frowned, wondering where the question was coming from. She hadn't told anyone how she had introduced Poppy to her daughter.

"I don't want to know why you did it, and I don't care. What I do care about is how much Poppy is suffering right now." Klaus took a step forward, trying to keep calm. "She needs her sister. She needs her family."

Hayley folded her arms over her waist, scoffing. "She has plenty of family, Klaus. And she locked you all up and ran back to the Salvatores." 

"She was hurting, and she paid me a few visits to keep me company. Poppy is my daughter, she always will be." Klaus was growing more agitated.