Elijah had Hayley in his arms gently swaying side to side at the party. Hayley gently laid her head on his shoulder letting the music and Elijah guide her movements. Elijah loved having her in his arms, especially tonight. He needed this to feel close to her again, something he has been struggling to feel a lot lately. He was whispering to Hayley how beautiful she looked tonight when Klaus interrupted their brief moment.

It was Klaus and Hayley's idea to have a celebration honoring a long held Werewolf tradition. As a sign of solidarity the other factions attended the celebration as well. He had waited a while to finally get her on the dance floor. She had been too preoccupied greeting their guests with Klaus to make her way to him right away so he took that time to get himself and drink and talk with Marcel and some of the other vampires in attendance. While there he would occasionally see Klaus and Hayley floating around the room together. His brother had always had a charisma that could win people over even if he didn't have the greatest leadership skills but he saw an extra spark in Klaus when he had Hayley at his side. She gave him a confidence as a leader that he had never been able to give Klaus himself. Hayley also seemed to stand so much taller when she was with Klaus. They were each good on their own, but even Elijah knew that together they could conquer the world if they wanted to. There was nothing that they couldn't handle together, and Elijah had recently come to realize that there was probably nothing they didn't want to face without each other.

When she had finally managed to tear herself away from Klaus he felt relieved, now maybe he could have the woman he loved all to himself, he was getting restless waiting for her. However he could never be so fortunate to ever have Hayley all to himself not even briefly. That's why when Klaus approached them and asked to borrow Hayley briefly without saying a word let he simply let her go and retreated from the area.

He grabbed another drink and stood off to the side of the room observing their guests, making sure no one looked like they were going to start trouble. As he scanned the room his eyes found them, hand in hand on the dance floor mid dance. He stared emotionless at Hayley smiling from ear to ear as she relaxed in Klaus's arms and interlocked her fingers with his. He didn't want to see their obvious affection for each other on full display but he also couldn't look away either, it wouldn't be the first time he tortured himself with something like this and he knew it wouldn't be the last either. He was so focused on them that he didn't even notice Camille approach him and stand at his side right away. He managed to tear his eyes away from Klaus and Hayley and looked at her from the side of his eyes. He could tell by her dejected demeanor that she was probably watching them thinking the same thing he was thinking. Still he didn't speak he just raised his drink glass up to his lips and took another much needed sip of his scotch.


This was inevitable. That's what he thought the first time he felt extremely out of place in their presence. This was always bound to happen is what he told himself, though that didn't make it easier for him to deal with it.

When he first fell for Hayley things were of course awkward since she was carrying his brother's child but it was easier to keep their connection off his mind (despite the obvious reminder of what they share staring him in the face every time he saw her) when she and Klaus barely spoke to each other. They barely spent more than 5 minutes alone with each other during her pregnancy; they didn't talk about their daughter, or share beautiful moments that expectant parents usually shared with each other. They could sit in a room together and barely acknowledge each other's presence. Hayley barely even spoke of Klaus during that time and when she did it was usually with a not so pleasant undertone. Even on the rare occasions that she referred to him in relation to him being the father of her child she usually acted like she wanted nothing to do with him, like she didn't want him in her life at all.

Klaus spoke of her more fondly at times than she did but he also never gave the impression that he cared for her a whole lot, at least not outside of her carrying the most precious thing in the world to him. For him their relationship was out of sight out of mind. It made it easier to deal with his feelings for her and for him to kid himself into thinking that she could really be his, just his.

Even during those times deep down he knew that Hayley and Klaus deciding to stop ignoring their bond and actually forming a real and close relationship with each other was inevitable. Eventually they would get over their mutual aversion to each other and act like they wanted to be in each other's lives, eventually they would from something so strong with each other it would be almost impossible for him to transcend it. That still didn't make it less hurtful for him when that very thing eventually happened.

He supposes it was always in the works for them even before they even knew it and it would always leave him in an uncomfortable place where he's torn between wanting his brother and his niece and her mother to have the family he and his siblings never got to have and wanting to have this woman that he so dearly loved to be his and only his.

The first time it really hit him just how much they could one day mean to each other was very early on in his feelings for her. Some overzealous witches had made an attempt on Hayley and the baby's life. A cursed object meant to cause a miscarriage had afflicted Hayley. She lay on her bed burning hot with a fever trying not to panic and he sat at her side taking care of her. He would wipe her forehead with a cold towel to keep her temperature down and to remove her sweat. He even held her hand and tried as best as he could to let her know that she and the baby were going to be okay. Nothing he said or did seemed to help her of course, it's hard to calm down a woman in fear of her child's life, still he was happy he could be there for her. He cared so much about her well-being and what she and the child she carried meant to his family that he couldn't help but to be dedicated to her.

Even if he didn't have feelings for her at that time he probably still would have wanted to be at her side. Hayley on the other hand wanted something completely different. When she found herself really panicking the person she wanted at her side wasn't him, it was Klaus despite barely talking to him leading up to that moment. She lay in her bed on the verge of tears questioning him about where he was and why he wasn't there with her. She said that he should be there, he should be at her side trying to keep her calm and trying to make her feel better. He could see by the look in her eyes and the way her voice got so fragile that it was almost cracking that she really wanted him there that if she had to endure this she didn't want to endure it with anyone else besides the person who she had created this miracle with.

The hurt he could tell she was feeling made him suddenly too aware that she was right, where he was sitting wasn't where he belonged, it was where Klaus belonged; it was where he would always belong. He loved his brother and knew that Klaus was out trying to help Hayley in his own way so he pushed his unease out of his mind and tried to offer her words that would calm her and encourage her about Klaus. He told her that Klaus cares in his own way, and that he was doing everything he could to help her and make sure that the child would be fine. Hayley looked at him with skepticism, she didn't believe him even though he could tell she wanted to badly. He reassured her by telling her that she has given Klaus a gift that no woman in 1000 years has ever been able to give him, a gift no one else could have and ever will give him.

At the time he said that he never expected to see those words manifest themselves the way they eventually did but truth be told he knew he should have been prepared for it. Hayley had given Klaus something incredibly precious; they had given each other a gift that would bond them forever and it's a bond he would never understand, a bond that went past just the child they shared. They would grow to care for each other deeply and it would leave him on the outside looking in.

He supposes the first time it hit him, really hit him, that it was happening was when Hayley spiraled out of control after turning into a hybrid and being forced to give up her daughter. He wanted so badly to help her, to hold her in his arms and assure her that everything would be okay, that this mess could be fixed but she rejected him. When he looked at her in her daughter's nursery tearing it apart she was a mirror image of Klaus, it was almost as if he was looking right at him and that's when he knew that there was nothing he could do for her, that she needed someone but that someone wasn't him, it was Klaus. The realization that Klaus was the only one who could understand her on that sort of level, who could understand where her pain comes from and what was ahead of her made him harden his heart towards her. He pushed her away fearing that he would only inhibit her progress and her relationship with Klaus. He knew he would eventually do that the moment she walked into that cemetery as a hybrid, it would change everything and it did.

Eventually she found her way back to him and he thought that maybe they did have a chance with each other, maybe he could fit into her life and share something special with her that nothing else could compare to but his hopes were dashed every time he was left feeling like a spectator to their separate life together. Every time he had to dismiss himself so that they could talk, every time she had to make important decisions without him but with Klaus instead, every time they spent time together as a family while he sat back and watched, every time Hayley didn't need him to help her or didn't want him to help her with something because she had already taken care of it with Klaus.

The most painful moments for him were witnessing first hand their dedication to each other. Once Esther took him and Klaus was in danger with Mikael and Hayley had a choice to make. She chose to go after Klaus of course. He understood it and didn't resent her for it at all, after all Klaus was the father of her child and she loved her daughter too much to ever leave her fatherless when it was within her power to prevent it. Still he knew deep down that Klaus being Hope's father wasn't the only reason that she put Klaus before him, that even if on the off chance that was the reason this time, eventually her reasons for wanting to protect Klaus wouldn't be just out of obligation but out of a genuine and deep care for him and his well being.

That was proven when Klaus went missing and was taken captive by some witches. The person leading the charge to get him back wasn't him or Camille it was Hayley. She was adamant about finding him and vowed to go to any lengths to get him had tried to find him on her own to no avail and eventually he had tracked Klaus down and returned him to their home. When he arrived with Klaus partially draped across his shoulders and injured he saw Hayley pacing up and down the room with Hope attached to her hip. When she finally saw them enter the relief that washed over her could only be compared to the relief she felt when she got her daughter back. Klaus had let him go and went straight to Hayley and Hope, showering them both with affection, they were the only two people he really wanted to see even though Camille was standing right there. Klaus never even saw her really, just like to Hayley it was if he wasn't even in the room. It made him uncomfortable to see Hayley get angry with Klaus for being so stupid and putting his life in danger, she even told him that he was a jerk for doing this to her knowing how much they needed him. He just stiffened at her words and that was probably the first time he knew that she had feelings for Klaus, feelings that went beyond their daughter. Hayley needed Klaus more than she needed anyone expect Hope and it was so obvious that Klaus needed Hayley even more than he needed him and the realization made him so uncomfortable he had to leave the room to maintain his composure.

That would be the first of many moments like that he witnessed. Hayley would constantly put Klaus before everyone in her life expect for her daughter. If Klaus needed her she went running, if Klaus was upset she was the one who comforted him, if Klaus wanted to let off some steam she was there to participate, she was Klaus's best friend. Eventually because of their close friendship, leading the wolves together, and parenting Hope together they spent almost all of their time with each other. Elijah would often look for her, wishing to see her after a long day only to find her with Klaus. She wasn't always with Klaus because she had to be, most of the time it was because she just wanted to be.

He noticed how much more relaxed she always seemed with Klaus. She always seemed to be a little more carefree, less fragile and needy, than she was with him. Even when Klaus upset her she never truly got angry with him or cut him off like she did with him and most of the time she would be right back to spending all of her time with him shortly after their arguments. He would try to not let her close relationship with Klaus bother him so that he didn't impulsively confront her about it but one day when she was angry at him and outright refused to speak to him for two days he had a rare moment where he let his emotions get the best of him. He told her that he didn't understand how she could easily cut him off whereas she can't even cut Klaus off for more than a few hours. She looked at him as if she had no idea what he as talking about but he didn't elaborate any further he just walked away from her. She stopped him and kissed him passionately and told him that she loved him but he could tell that she was trying to convince herself of that truth more than she was trying to convince him. She kissed him, not like she wanted him to feel the love she had for him, but like she desperately needed to feel it herself, as if she knew it was fleeting but didn't want to admit It to herself. He kissed her back and they moved past the argument, but he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that Hayley wasn't just falling out of love with him, but she was falling in love with someone else, she was falling in love with Klaus.

Shortly after that he got the biggest blow to his already heavy heart.

Hayley had been upset that Klaus had pissed off the witches again. He could hear her yelling at Klaus from the other room, something about how his stupidity was putting them all at risk again. He could hear her bring up how she was a worried sick the last time he upset a witch and how she thought after the other night where they apparently promised to get through anything together and after they also promised that they wouldn't do things without consulting the other that he would stick to his word. She wasn't angry, she was hurt, and he could hear it in her voice. She tried to mask it with the anger but she couldn't fool him. She was hurt that Klaus was being careless again and it brought him back to that day he brought Klaus home and Hayley got angry at him for worrying her the way he did and mentioned how much they needed him. It was in that moment he realized how terrified of loosing Klaus Hayley was. Her hurt over something so simple made him realize just how dedicated to this life with him she was, how important Klaus being with her every step of the way was to her. The emotions he could hear her expressing to Klaus during their heated argument weren't emotions that came from a person who felt obligated to the father of her child, they were the emotions of someone who was in love with the father of their child, who was attached to their family and couldn't bear to loose him or it. After he heard Klaus get defensive and question Hayley about why she cares so much anyway he decided to leave the house. He had some vampire business to take care of anyway and he had no desire to hear Klaus and Hayley argue for another hour.

He stayed gone for hours giving them some time to work things out with each other and came back anxious to see Hayley. He had gone to their bedroom and couldn't find her so his next stop had been Hope's room only she wasn't there either. He went to Klaus's room prepared to ask his brother if he had seen her only to find the two of them entangled with each other on top of Klaus's bed. Hope was asleep in the middle of them and they were on top of the covers, indicating to Elijah that it was probably perfectly innocent but he knew deep down that it wasn't. Hayley had her back to Hope and Klaus but Klaus's arm was draped over her waist. Hayley looked so peaceful laying in bed with Klaus, she looked like she slept like this all the time, like this was where she belonged and when she shifted and instinctively interlocked her fingers with Klaus's he knew that it was where she belonged, it's where she really wanted to be. He knew at that moment that what they were doing was simply passing time, setting fire to their insides for fun while trying to hold on to something that could never be and he could no longer be in denial about it anymore even if Hayley was.


AN: so hey you guys! sorry it took me so long to upload this, I had planned on doing it 2 week ago but after the fandom drama because of the haylijah sex I decided against it since this was gonna be the haylijah chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed what I did with it. I'm not one of those authors who are really hard up after reviews but I would REALLY love to hear what you guys think about this story and this chapter. I was really unsure about this idea and I hope I'm executing it in an interesting and entertaining way so even if it's just one quick sentence about it I would REALLY LOVE it if you guys left a review. Also I was originally gonna only make this three or four chapters and the final two chapters were gonna be from a general POV but I'm thinking about changing it up a little. I might make it five chapters, with the next two being from Klaus and Hayley's POV and then one final chapter. Let me know in the comments if that would be something you guys are interested in reading or if I should just stick to my original plan for this short story. Hope to hear from you guys :)