Where Nothing Stays Buried

She stood at the doorway watching him for a while. She thought for sure he would sense her presence, but all he could do was stare into the flames of the blazing fire while he nursed a glass of whiskey in his hand. His gaze pierced the fire angrily, guiltily, and sadly. She could only imagine the grief that was tearing at his heart right now. He was never one to make selfish decisions, and she knew that the death of Davina seemed like one to him. But he had a choice to make. Davina or the family. There was no way around it and no time to try to figure out another plan. He acted and there were consequences to deal with. She just hoped he wouldn't try to deal with them alone.

Hayley lightly tapped her knuckles on the doorframe and watched as Elijah slowly turned toward her. She saw no change of expression on his face, but there was that soft increased heartbeat that she could hear coming from his chest. Or maybe it was coming from her. Regardless, she slowly walked towards him and took a seat on the old leather couch without breaking eye contact. Hayley placed her hand on his own and felt the electricity of their touch radiate throughout her body. It had been far too long since she had that jolt of life and she longed to be close to him. She gently peeled the glass from his hand and placed it on the table before returning her fingers to his open palm.

Elijah's dark eyes still bore into her own steadily. She could not read his expression, but the warmth in his eyes gave her hope that she wasn't about to make a complete fool of herself. She was reassured further when he lifted her hand and pressed his lips to it. Hayley felt her skin prickle with delight and she couldn't help but subtly lean toward him. Before she knew it her forehead leaned against his own and her breathing ceased. Elijah did not look at her for a moment, but eventually turned toward her and stared into her eyes. His searched hers for an answer to his unasked question, but Hayley couldn't bring herself to look at him for more than a second.

She was scared. Hell, she was terrified of the way he made her feel. She felt guilty for breaking her promise to herself. She was supposed to let him go. She was supposed to honor Jack. But she remembered that she was being a hypocrite. Hayley had told Elijah that he could not choose the dead over the living, so why should she? Jack wouldn't want her to live a life without love. And she loved Jack, of course she did, but not the same way she loved Elijah. She may have given Jack her hand, but she had given her heart away long ago.

Hayley leaned towards Elijah and sighed when she felt his lips press to her forehead. A significant weight lifted off of her chest and she felt the ability to breathe return to her body. She immediately curled into his side and pressed her face to his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her to him. Their free hands intertwined and rested on his lap. A blanket of heat and electricity radiated between the two and pulled them even closer. She felt one with Elijah and couldn't help but nuzzle into him. She heard the beat of his heart pulsing through his chest and she couldn't help but smile at the effect she realized she had on him.

The two sat in silence for a good amount of time. The fire still blazed and the house was quiet with the sorrow of the past two days, but not even the deaths of their two dear friends could penetrate the bubble they were in. Elijah stroked Hayley's hair absentmindedly while she traced small circles on his the top of his hand. She watched the flames reflect off the still auburn liquid at the bottom of Elijah's forgotten glass and shut her eyes.

"I love you," Hayley said with her eyes still shut. Elijah's hand froze and she felt him look down at her, but she didn't open her eyes. "I'm sorry I pushed you away from me."

"I understand why you did," Elijah replied. "It is not easy to let go of guilt, even when we aren't responsible for carrying that burden." Hayley nodded into his shoulder and pressed a kiss to it before wrapping her hand around his bicep. She stroked his arm with her thumb and eventually looked up.

"Elijah, you had to make a choice today. Don't blame yourself for choosing the people you love. Sometimes you can't save everyone," she said. Elijah bowed his head for a moment and looked at his lap before moving his eyes to hers.

"I could have tried harder to find another solution or stalled just a few hours more-"

"Hey, if you had stalled I wouldn't be here right now," Hayley breathed. "Neither would Klaus."

"I just fear we have lost Kol and Marcel forever. That is something I cannot live with," Elijah whispered. He turned to look towards the fire again, but Hayley cupped his cheek and turned him back toward her.

"Then, for once, it's a good thing we're immortal, because forever is a very long time. They'll forgive you, Elijah. They just need time."

Elijah's eyelids shut and he nodded before pressing his forehead to hers. Her thumb stroked his cheek gently and he kissed her palm before pulling Hayley's figure back to his side.

"Thank you."

Hayley nodded into his shoulder and felt his hand find hers again. She felt so complete and happy in this moment, and despite the danger and sadness that surrounded them, she felt safe. There was nothing that could come between the two anymore and she sure as hell wasn't going to let him slip away from her again.

"Hayley?"

"Hmm?" Elijah did not reply for a moment, so Hayley picked her head up and looked at him. What she saw was a pair of deep brown eyes staring lovingly into her own and a slight smirk that she knew all too well.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

A small smile etched itself on Hayley's face and she couldn't help but wrap her arms around his neck and pull herself into his lap. She buried her head into his shoulder and felt his large hand cup her neck and the back of her head. He pressed her close to him and they both relished in the fact that they finally had each other. And nothing was going to get in the way of that.