Ok so there were some technical difficulties. I'm trying to reload this chapter. And now it's saying that chapter 27 isn't even up. I'm so confused. Hopefully this works. Thanks CharmedGirl92 for pointing out the problem to me.

Music

Still Alright - Adam Merrin (hayley waking up)

Unlike Me (A'cappella Version) - Kate Havnevik (talking)

Jen Says Good-Bye - Theodore Shapiro (hayley sleeping)


Hayley shot up in her bed. How did she get here? Was everything that just happened only a dream? Her palm moved to her forehead, she had the most excruciating migraine of her life. The soaking wet clothes were still on her body. Looking around, she saw a letter sitting on her nightstand with her name neatly written across it. She tore the paper open and her eyes raced across the writing.

Hayley,

I do not expect to receive forgiveness for what I did to you. I don't deserve it. My actions will never be truly justified. But I wish for you to know that everything I did was to protect you. I never stopped loving you after I left, and I never will. If you never desire to see my again, I will appreciate your wishes. But if her heart somehow finds a way to forgive me for the pain I caused, I will be waiting, for I will always wait for you.

Love, Elijah

She read the letter over and over again, trying to comprehend it. Everything was falling into place. Her confusion was gradually drifting away and her brain was putting together the pieces that were missing all this time. Her gaze wandered out the window. It was still pouring outside. How long had she been sleeping? Glancing at the clock, she read 5 o'clock in the afternoon. She rushed out of bed, which was a horrible decision, her migraine turned into a pounding pulse in her head. Hayley threw on her coat and shoes, rushing out of her bedroom.

"Where are you going?" Her roommate asked flustered at her bolting toward the front door.

"Uh…I'm going to my sister's place." She stammered.

Once outside, Hayley realized she'd completely forgot to bring an umbrella. But she didn't bother going back inside to grab one. She was already wet, what did it matter? Her walking pace immediately fell in.

Elijah stood by the wall of windows at his apartment, watching the rain continue to fall fast toward the city streets. He didn't know if what he was doing should be considered waiting or hoping. He'd given Hayley a choice. If she never wanted to see him again, he'd understand. But Elijah also understood if she came back to him, he couldn't expect everything to go back to normal. All was different.

He heard the elevator ding. The door was unlocked; he knew she would walk in on her own. Hayley walked in to the living the room and stopped, not wanting to walk any closer to him. Elijah finally turned to face her. She was drenched with rain once again. But all he noticed was her expression. There was hope covered in betrayal and disappointment. He would do anything to never see her look at him that way again. Her hands were lifelessly at her side and her wet bangs hid one side of her face. She just stood and stared at him, not knowing where to start.

"How long has it been?" She asked. Hayley's voice was sturdy; she couldn't break down, not yet. Her perception of time was still groggy and it was hard for to decipher when she last saw him.

"Over two years." Elijah said reluctantly.

"I…I don't even know what to say. How could you? Elijah, you ruined everything." Now her voice was shaking; her strength was deteriorating with every word she said. "I want to hate you, so badly. I want to yell and tell you that everything we had is damaged. But I can't…because I love you. And it's the reason that leaving destroyed me so much. You honestly believe that everything you did protected and saved me. But you need to finally realize that I will never be better than when you're with me. No matter what, I need you and you need me. We need each other. And it scares me the hell out of me, needing someone else so seriously."

Silent tears slid down her face. Elijah moved across the room at vampire speed. She stepped back, away from him. The movement broke his heart more than she'll ever understand. She wouldn't even let him touch her.

"You can't ever do that to again. From now on, no more secrets, no more lies. I don't care if you think you're saving my life. No matter what happens, we face it together. You can't keep fighting everything alone." She looked up at Elijah who only nodded his head. His face was so torn that she thought he might start crying.

"Say something, Elijah." Hayley almost yelled.

"I'm so sorry, Hayley." He whispered. He raised his hand to hold her hand, touch her face, but put it back down, knowing it would only make things worse.

The space between their bodies said more to Elijah than she ever possibly could. Turning away from him, she wiped her tears away with the back of her fist. It was always embarrassing to her when some saw her cry, since it was so uncommon. Finally looking back at Elijah. She cleared her throat. "You cut your hair." She stated.

He couldn't help but smile at her comment. "As did you." He countered. She looked up as if that would allow her to view her hair. Her lips automatically went into a smirk. "Yeah. Do you hate it?" She asked.

"Quite the opposite, actually." Elijah answered. He wanted to run his hands through it, but knew better.

Her eyes narrowed at him. "What happened to you?" She asked.

Elijah inhaled deeply and motioned toward the couch. Hayley moved unreasonably far to the side as she walked past him, making sure not to have any contact. She sat as far on the edge of the couch as humanly possible. His jaw clenched as he noticed what she was doing.

For the rest of the night, Elijah told Hayley absolutely everything that happened over their time apart. Before he compelled her, he would have left out the parts of being daggered multiple times. But he honored her wishes: no lies, no secrets. Her eyes never left his as he explained story after story. She nodded her head occasionally. As he went into detail about the Salvatore brothers and Elena, the new doppelgänger, he felt her breathing catch and her pulse speed up. But Hayley neither asked nor said anything about her. After a couple hours of telling her absolutely anything significant that happened, Hayley knew everything about Mystic Falls. She knew of all Elena and all her friends, that his family was actually alive, and now their mother wished to kill all of her children.

"After all this time, Klaus kept them at his side. How could your mother want to kill her own children?" Hayley thought aloud.

"Because we are monsters. My siblings are nothing like me, Hayley, they're worse. They view humans as worthless objects for their own entertainment. My brothers and sister place no value on human life."

She quickly shook her head. "That's not you, Elijah."

"Stop trying to rid me of my guilt, Hayley." He said firmly.

"You're allowed to feel guilty about things, but that's not one of them." She shot back. He wasn't allowed to use her anger toward him to ignite self-hatred.

They talked for, what seemed like hours, about Elijah's time in Mystic Falls. It was now late into the night and Hayley had slowly fallen asleep on the couch. He could tell she'd been fighting it for a while. Carefully, he picked her up in his arms and was about to put her in one of his many guest rooms but changed his mind, laying her in his own bed instead. After taking off her jacket and shoes, he walked back to the kitchen and living room. Elijah didn't feel like sleeping tonight.


Alright, so I know a lot of you wanted/expected Hayley to be pissed at Elijah. But I mean, what else can she do? Elijah already hates himself for what he did. I felt like the way she reacted was genuine to her character.

Review and tell me your thoughts :)