Hey everyone!
I can't begin to describe how ecstatic I am about the support I got for the first chapter. It means a lot to me knowing that what I'm writing is being perceived well. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and/or put the story on their alert list!
Before I forget, after thinking about it...I realized that this story fits well with my previous one-shots, Always Come Back and Always Have A Choice. So for any one who wanted to read a continuance of those one-shots you can consider this the continuance. On my AO3 account these three stories are all a part of a series titled, The Course of True Love Never Runs Smooth.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with The Originals...I just like to play around with the characters sometimes. I only own the plot.
Chapter 2 - Selfish or Selfless is the Big Question
Hayley wasn't being selfish, well, alright, maybe she was but not in the long run. She would still go through with the ritual as planned, so her doing this now was only selfish for the time being. If it was, in fact, even selfish at all...selfish acts don't normally leave you hurt in the end, and what she was doing would definitely leave her hurt once it was all said and done. So, no her actions weren't selfish...not necessarily. Oh, screw it, if needing to see Elijah and going to see Elijah was selfish, then so-freaking-be it. Hayley had made up her mind as to what she was doing and she wasn't going to change it, she had gotten too far to just turn around now. She needed to see Elijah and she would see him, damn it.
The ritual was only days away now, but she still had time to see him once more before it would without a doubt be impossible to see him anymore. Even before now, she could barely keep herself from breaking and going to see him, and now she was proving to herself and everyone else who paid any mind that she had no long term control when it came to Elijah what-so-ever. The second she felt the need as opposed to only wanting to go see him, she didn't think twice about getting into her car and driving the few hour drive to see him. After the ritual took place, things would surely be even more difficult than they are now...and to say the least, if this was how she handled needing to see Elijah...oh boy was she screwed? How would this ritual ever work when Hayley had very little self control when it came to Elijah and she was suddenly beginning to feel the need to see him and not just wanting to see him anymore?
After a stop for gas and a couple of stops along the way to figure out what exactly she was going to say and/or do when she got there, Hayley arrived at the safe house at a quarter after 11. She parked in the driveway and shut off her car, taking her keys out of the ignition and putting them into the cup holder, making no immediate move to get out. She sat there in the silent darkness, laying her head on the steering wheel and only then started to think of what would happen once she had to leave again. She may not have been selfish, so to speak, by deciding to go see Elijah but she sure was being stupid now that she thought of it. The need to see him had clouded her judgment and she hadn't thought, she had just done. By seeing him and then having to leave him again...and probably for good until Hope's at least old enough to handle herself...it would make it so much harder on both of them.
In hindsight, Hayley was being selfish...she was being selfish with Elijah. It was hard on both of them enough as it was and now she was just going to make it that much harder now by showing up here. Her need to see Elijah and the fact that she went along with the need was indeed very selfish of her. She couldn't bare to hurt him anymore than she already had. If it meant keeping him from hurting more, then she'd deal with the pain of needing to see him but not being able to. She'd rather bare the brunt of the pain and heartache herself than have to see or hear of him going through it as well. That was the selfless thing to do, and now Hayley had somehow managed to convince herself that the selfless thing to do was the right thing to do right now as well. But, damn it once again...why did the right thing have to feel so very wrong?
Hayley lifted her head and sat up straight, reaching over to grab her keys from the cup holder before she could change her mind again. She was about to place the key into the ignition when she heard a knock on her passenger side window. She turned her head and looked out through the glass only to find Elijah standing there. Hayley fought an inward battle with herself for a few seconds...should she let him in or not...before giving into her need to not only see him but to actually be near him and pressing the unlock button to let him in.
"Change of plans," she thought to herself.
Hayley turned back to look out in front of her and gripped the steering wheel tightly in her hands. She listened as the passenger side door opened and then closed moments later. A wave of calm suddenly overcame her once she felt his presence next to her and she easily loosened her tight grip on the steering wheel, her hands dropping down and settling into her lap. Her need to see and to be near him were being satisfied and in turn it had quite the calming effect.
She kept her visible attention on the dark night through her windshield out of fear that if she looked at him, need would take control of her once again and she'd lose herself to being selfish, not that she would mind in that moment if she did. She would probably come to regret it in the future, though. The last time she had let need control her, she and Elijah had both thought that they would never have another chance to be together again...but now here they were. Her need was proving to be undefeatable so she didn't want to provoke it any further. She didn't want to be selfish, and she wouldn't be. Not if she could help it. But, it's as if fate had other plans now. Elijah had appeared at the passenger side window just as she was about to leave. Coincidence? It probably wasn't, but the needy part of Hayley wanted it to be. She wanted it to be fate so she'd have a reason to be selfish again and an excuse just in case she got caught.
"Just stay calm, Hayley," she coached herself.
The two of them sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before Elijah finally spoke, breaking it.
"Why are you here, Hayley?" he asked in a quiet tone, as if he was afraid he'd reveal something through his tone that he didn't want to if he spoke any louder.
Hayley didn't hesitate to answer honestly, "I needed to see you."
She wanted to continue and say, "And I need you," but that would have meant that she had given herself over to being selfish, and for the love of God she couldn't...it would hurt too much, even though it hurt not to be selfish as well. Either way, it seemed like she was screwed. In which case, why not be selfish? It would hurt no matter what she said or did, so why not be honest?
"I just...I needed to see you and I need..." Hayley trailed off, fighting silently with herself.
No, she couldn't. Her need and selfishness were trying to take control and win her over by any means necessary. She was in the midst of an inward battle with herself that need was winning and reason was losing. Why had she even come here in the first place? This was just as bad if not worse than when she was back in New Orleans trying to keep herself from losing whatever was left of her sanity.
"What do you need, Hayley?" Elijah asked, momentarily breaking her free from her mind shackles.
"Don't do it Hayley," she told herself. "You have to stay strong, be selfless."
"Hayley? What do you need?" he asked again when she didn't answer him right away.
His question threw Hayley back into the midst of her battle between need and reason.
"You need him!" Her voice of need for him was screaming in one ear.
"Don't tell him! It'll only make it worse on both of you!" Her voice of reason was screaming in the other ear.
With every fiber of her being, she fought against her need and chose to side with reason. It wasn't easy, but she managed to do it.
"I just needed to make sure you were okay," Hayley blurted out before she could falter and side with need instead.
"Okay?" he asked, sounding confused. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Klaus mentioned telling you about how I was, you know..." Hayley deliberately said nothing else, not wanting to have to say the words.
Lucky for her, Elijah knew what she was talking about. "Yes, I do know," he told her. "What does that have to do with the real reason you're here?"
"The real reason?" Hayley reiterated. "I have no idea what you mean." She knew very well what he meant.
"You could have called me to talk about that," Elijah spoke matter-of-factly. "There's something else, a much deeper reasoning for you driving hours out of your way to come see me."
Hayley should have know that he'd see right through her lies. She knew that he knew her way too well not to. It was as if she was an open book to him. It was another one of the many reasons why she loved him. She didn't always have to be strong around him, and sometimes that was refreshing. She could be herself with him and most times didn't have to worry about feeling weak in his eyes.
"I told you before that I needed to see you," Hayley said, still looking straight ahead out the windshield.
Elijah waited a moment before replying, "That I believe, but the other one sounds like an excuse to avoid telling me the deeper reasoning for your surprise visit."
Hayley knew that there was no way around it. He wasn't going to let it go, and she couldn't really blame him. Why? Why did he have to know her so well?
"This isn't good," Hayley thought to herself. "He's making it harder for me to fight it."
Unbeknownst to Elijah, he was teaming up with her need for him and she was close to her breaking point. She was oh so close to giving into her need, her temptation and throwing caution to the wind. The extra pain and heartbreak that was sure to follow, be damned.
"I shouldn't have come," Hayley whispered, knowing that with his vampire hearing Elijah heard her clearly.
"Maybe not, but you did. You're here now," Elijah replied, reaching over to place his left hand on hers in her lap.
Hayley's eyes widened as she couldn't fight the need to look down at their hands joined together in her lap. "Oh, yeah, I'm screwed. I am so majorly screwed," she told herself before turning her head and immediately meeting his gaze.
She stared at Elijah intently, her eyes glancing down at his lips on their own accord. His lips were parted, tempting her...practically inviting her to give in completely to her need for him. She continued to try to fight with whatever control she managed to still have but she was failing miserably at it. She was fighting a losing battle and she knew it, it was just a matter of time...she was fighting the inevitable.
Hayley took her attention off of his lips then and let her eyes flicker back up to meet his, she could just barely contain the gasp that so badly wanted to tear through her closed lips at that moment. Elijah was staring back at her intensely, once her eyes met his heavy-lidded gaze she couldn't tear them away from his even if she wanted to, which to be completely honest she didn't. There was something about the look in his eyes that was pulling her towards him, keeping her eyes glued to his all of a sudden.
A few moments passed by and Hayley wasn't exactly sure what was going on between her and Elijah. Did he feel the pull, too? She wasn't sure, but he wasn't making any move to stop whatever this was. All she knew was that they were staring at each other intensely and her eyes weren't going to look anywhere else until he was ready to break whatever hold he had on her and them.
It was only seconds later that his eyes repaid hers for their previous action, his attention was suddenly on her own lips. Hayley's breath hitched and she immediately swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Elijah," Hayley whispered before she could stop herself, it was almost as if she didn't have control over her own voice at that time which was actually a very likely possibility.
Elijah's eyes flickered back up to hers.
"Hayley," he whispered back as he darted his tongue out to wet his lips, a move not gone unnoticed by Hayley...a move that had her immediately calling the fight that she had been having with need and reason.
Reason, 0.
Need, all the points.
"Son of a...well, there goes any control that I had left," she thought to herself before turning and launching herself over the center console, situating herself in his lap so that she was straddling him.
Hayley leaned forward but Elijah stopped her. She leaned back up and frowned at him. Was he really stopping her? Had she misread his part of the situation? Did he not want this again as much as she did? Hayley narrowed her eyes at him and opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't get a word out.
Elijah reached a hand up and put a finger to her lips, effectively keeping her from saying anything.
"Tell me the real reason why you came here," Elijah said, the tone of his voice revealing just how much he wanted...no, needed to know.
At this point, Hayley was sure that she'd tell him anything that he wanted to hear. "I need you," she admitted to him without any hesitation at all.
Those words awoke a fire in both of them.
In the next moment, they were meeting in the middle. Hayley wouldn't be able to ever tell which one of them made the actual first move to close the much too big gap between them, not that it mattered. All that mattered was that they were both here, together. They both poured every little bit of leftover built up tension from the last time they were together into the kiss that they could. It was no secret to them, or to anyone else for that matter, that despite having already been together once before...well, more like three days and more than once...but even after that they still had a lot of it to go around.
The last time they were together, they thought they'd never be able to be together again like this. This time, however, they both knew that this was the last time they'd be able to be together like this for a very long time. Not only that, but last time they had three days and two nights together. This time, they only had one last night together, which made what was happening now that much more bittersweet.
This...right now...was truly the last time they'd be able to be alone together, like this and alone together period. There was no way that they could be alone together once Hayley was married. They were alone together now and look what was happening. When something or someone is forbidden, it just makes you want it or them so much more. For both of them, that was the case more now than ever. After the ritual, they would be as forbidden as ever before and in a screwed up way, noble or not noble...selfless or selfish...they wouldn't be able to keep from wanting each other.
Elijah apparently came to his senses because he suddenly pulled away from her after a few minutes.
"We should not be doing this, Hayley," he said, being the voice of reason as he leaned back in the seat and rested his head against the headrest. "Letting this go any further will only succeed in make things harder for us than they already are."
Hayley had already let her need squash her own voice of reason minutes before and right now she was going to do whatever she had to do to convice Elijah to do the same.
"Please, don't start with this now, Elijah," Hayley panted. "This time around, this is truly our last night together," she reminded him, the sadness she felt revealed in her tone.
"I know it is," Elijah told her, reaching up to cup her face in his hands.
She looked down at him, meeting his gaze.
"It's for that exact reason that I am putting a stop to this now."
Hayley shook her head in a deviant manner. "I disagree," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "That exact reason is why we should just give in to our need for each other."
"Hayley, I need you to listen to me very carefully," Elijah spoke in a stern tone.
Hayley narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't say anything.
"Believe me when I tell you that I want nothing more than to be with you for one more night." There was not an ounce of insincerity in his voice, he meant every word that he was saying. "But we can't be selfish again, especially not now."
"I hear what you're saying, Elijah. I truly do," she replied in understanding. "But, I don't care."
"Hayley, that's not..." Elijah started to argue.
Hayley put her hand up to silence him. "No, Elijah!" she exclaimed. "This is the last time either of us can actually make the decision to be selfish without having to suffer true consequences for doing so."
It was weird how quickly things could change. Hayley was only minutes before fighting against being selfish and now she was trying to convince Elijah to be selfish with her one last time. She was beginning to think that maybe fate really did have a part in all of this. While she had been fighting with her need and reason, fate was fighting with destiny...and it seemed like fate was winning that battle and not only that, fate seemed to be on her side.
"Please, just be selfish with me right now, Elijah," Hayley pleaded, putting on an expression that she hadn't used in a very long time...the puppy dog pout. Who could ever say no to the pout? "Just one last night, Elijah."
There it is, chapter 2! Let me know what you thought of it. Review, please?!
Do you think Elijah should give in to Hayley's pleas and be selfish with her one last time or should he stay noble and tell her no? Think about it before answering...this might be their true last night together. Let me know your take on the situation! ;)
Until next time!