Ok. I apologize for how long it took me to put this up. I've been up for almost 24 hours now. I had class all day and drove home for the weekend. Frankly, I don't understand how I'm even able to form coherent sentences right now. I'm sorry the chapter is a short one. But it was necessary. Good night friends. I am dead.

Music

June Eyes - Winterpills (waking up)

Easy - Justin Vernon

Embrace - Ben Sollee (Elijah's phone call)


The next morning was full of fog. The rain and change in temperature caused a thick haze to spread over the city. Hayley woke up to see only white outside the windows of Elijah's bedroom. She'd actually slept last night. It'd been so long. She tried to deny that she knew the reason why. At first, she didn't question waking up in his bed. But a slow awareness hit, knowing Elijah must have moved her here. The other side of the bed was untouched. She sighed, hating herself for wishing she'd woken up with him next to her. The longing wasn't acceptable.

Everything was so off about them now. He wanted it to go back to normal but Hayley didn't want to give in so easily. She loved him and she knew it. That would never change. But she couldn't completely forgive him yet. It would take time.

Finally finding the motivation to get out of bed, she decided to face Elijah. Hayley made her way to the kitchen, which was empty, to see if she could find any food. But all the cabinets were bare and the fridge had nothing inside. It wasn't surprising; she'd guessed Elijah hadn't been here in years, probably not since he'd compelled her. Compelled. Hayley was still trying to believe it happened. She turned away from the fridge to see Elijah standing a foot away from her.

"Oh fuck! Elijah! I hate it when you do that!" She yelled as her hand covered her eyes, trying to make sure she hadn't died of a heart attack.

"I'm sorry. I forgot how hard it is for you to sense my presence." He said.

Hayley's glare was interfered by her phone buzzing. But someone wasn't calling her; it was an alarm. Her face reddened. It was an alarm that went off to remind her to take the medication forced upon her. As she tried to silence it as soon as possible, her hand trembled. The last thing she wanted to tell Elijah was that she'd been diagnosed with severe depression.

Elijah gave her a suspicious look. "What was that?" He questioned. She only shrugged her shoulders as a response.

"Medication?" He guessed. Hayley's body restricted.

"How did you know?" She said, ashamed and angry at the same time. It was a ridiculous idea to think she could hide it from him. He would have found out somehow, he always did.

"I talked to Dr. Arch." Elijah said.

Hayley crossed her arms and looked at the ground. It was impossible to make eye contact; she couldn't. Elijah stood there, waiting. He didn't know what to say to her. It was apparent to Hayley now; everything that happened to her was because of the way he left her. But she was still embarrassed by her mental and physical reaction to it. Before meeting Elijah, she was independent. Her mind maintained its health by keeping the emotions and feelings locked tight. He changed all of that. And there was no going back after.

She was about to leave the room when he stopped her. "Hayley, we must discuss it eventually." He didn't want to push her, but it was necessary. She would avoid it forever if he didn't make her stop and talk about it.

"I don't want to talk about it, Elijah. I don't want to talk about how my body breaks down when you aren't with me. Or how I used to be this strong person, who could withstand anything, before I met you. I used to say that you're my weakness…but I was never prepared for anything like this. I'm ashamed. And I look at you, and you're fine. You survived it…I didn't." Hayley's bottom lip trembled and her eyes had a layer of tears as she spoke. But she refused to let herself cry again. It would only prove her point further. Feeling helpless was the last thing she wanted in life and crying would make it worse. She was envious of Elijah's ability to be stronger than her, she wasn't used to it.

Elijah stood patiently, now fully understanding why it was so hard for her to forgive him. She thought that leaving her was easy for him. She believed he moved on with life and had no feelings of remorse. He sometimes forgot how well he hid his emotions. Although vampires were said to have the ability to turn off emotions, Elijah refused to allow it after leaving Hayley. He made himself feel the longing, the guilt, the suffering.

He didn't care anymore. Elijah pulled her into his arms, expecting her to push him away. But Hayley held onto him closely. The feeling of her body relaxing against his was a bliss he would never be able to describe. He'd missed it dearly. She breathed him in. He smelled the same. He felt the same. But was he actually the same person like she thought?

"You're wrong." Elijah said softly to her as he still protectively held her in his arms. "I barely survived. It made me weaker than you'll ever understand. I became the monster that I was before you. Hayley, you aren't weak. You're just human." He could feel her nodding against his chest. She understood now. Elijah was able to hide everything because he was a vampire. And he never wanted her to feel like she didn't have the same strength and independence that he fell in love with.

Finally, Hayley let go of him, but didn't allow any space to come between them. Elijah looked down at her. "I missed you." She whispered to him. "Every moment of every day." He finished.

"I need to shower and get out of these clothes." Hayley said, slowly backing away from him. She felt like he would argue, but Elijah just nodded. Hayley was in the shower for a while when Elijah heard his phone that he'd left in his bedroom. The only people who had his number were his siblings. In a second, the phone was in his hands. Hayley came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, mistaking the ringing for her own phone. She immediately noticed Elijah's face and listened to the conversation with concern.

"Elijah." He heard his sister's voice on the other end. There was a moment's hesitation before Rebekah continued. "Finn is dead."

"How is that even possible?" Elijah questioned. Ester had linked them. If Finn was truly dead, than they should all be.

"Nik made that witch friend of Elena's break the link. We are separated now."

"But we burned the white oak tree. It does not exist and neither does a weapon capable of killing any of us." Elijah's tone couldn't help but sound aggravated. None of this made any sense.

"Another grew; it was used to rebuild Wickery Bridge. But I burnt it as soon as I found out. There was a sign that Damon knew about and I did not. They were able to make 11 stakes out of it. Stefan killed Finn just after we broke the curse."

"There's something else." Elijah could hear it in Rebekah's voice.

"Alaric…something is wrong with him. He has the last one."

Elijah understood. He couldn't find the words to say to his little sister.

"You're with her aren't you?" Rebekah asked almost sadly. He couldn't bring himself to reply to the question. He looked up at Hayley who hadn't broken her worried stare throughout the entire phone call.

"I thought I should tell you." Those were the last words Elijah's sister said before she hung up the phone. He stared out into space, not knowing what to think. There was one more stake there, capable of killing another one of his younger siblings. Yes, Finn had wanted a death wish ever since being awoken. But that didn't make it any less agonizing for the rest of his family.

"Is everything alright?" Hayley asked softly. Clearly from the way he looked, everything was not all right. She was still in her towel, leaning against the doorframe into the bathroom. Elijah finally stared at her, slowly walking towards her.

"They killed Finn." He said with no emotion. Her heart immediately started racing. She didn't need it to be explained to her; it quickly made sense. The original family was no longer linked, but someone had found a weapon to kill them.

Moving quickly toward him, Hayley grabbed Elijah. He welcomed the gesture, placing his hand behind her head. Her hair smelled like his shampoo. The scent combined with the feel of her skin messed with his senses.

"I'm so sorry, Elijah." She sighed to him. Hayley was truly apologetic about his loss. But as soon as she said it, her mind could only think of one thing. Elijah could die. Not just temporarily, but actually die. There was one weapon that could kill him. He could never come back to her again.

She could sense that he felt the responsibility to go back to his family. He'd made it clear that other than her, his family was the only other thing he truly cared about. But if he went back to Mystic Falls, Elijah would be in far greater danger. Hayley stepped away to look him in the eyes.

"I know you won't say it." She paused. "You need to go back."

He only nodded. Not that she needed any confirmation. He had a connection to his family that couldn't be broken, no matter what happened. Even after all the terrible things they caused him to do, he still felt responsible for their safety.

"I'm coming with you." Hayley declared. Elijah instantly started shaking his head and his mouth opened to protest, but she cut him off. "Do I need to explain it again? I'm going with you. I don't care what you have to say. Screw the danger. We stick together; remember? We're going to Mystic Falls."


Review so when I'm no longer a zombie...i will like you. I am being weird. good night.