I know it's been a while since I've updated this one. Been trying to mostly concentrate on Waiting For That Dance to get it finished. It's not, but this chapter decided it needed to be written right now. This picks up shortly after the last chapter ends. Starting with a scene of Klaus and Hayley talking in the cab, and then skipping to after their plane lands.

As always, thanks for the comments, favorites, follows, and for just reading.

~Holding On For Dear Life~

"So, you gonna tell me what that exchange between you and Freya was all about? What happened between you two, this morning?"

Klaus sighed. It figured that the first words Hayley would say to him after leaving the house would be to ask about that. "Well, to fully understand this, I need to go back to the day Mary died." Because it occurred to him that Freya being pissed at him had started then, with what he had said. His reason for why he needed to be in New Orleans.

"You and your sister have been fighting for two weeks? Over what?"

"We haven't been fighting. Technically, we aren't fighting now. We're just not speaking to each other. There's a difference."

"Klaus… What happened?"

"When Freya called me to tell me, I asked how you and Hope were doing. She told me about how you were taking this as hard as you had taken Jackson's death. I figured it was because Mary had been your last connection to him, so this was like losing him all over again."

"I guess that was a reasonable assumption. No way you could have known at the time that…"

"That it was really Elijah that you were finally letting yourself mourn."

"Yeah. But, this doesn't really explain why you and Freya aren't speaking."

"Anyway… Even without realizing what the real problem was, I did know that what you really needed was Elijah. But, that wasn't an option. Basically… I guess that Freya didn't take too well to me calling myself the next best thing to Elijah when it comes to comforting you."

"So, she was already misinterpreting your motives and pissed at you by the time you got there."

"Exactly. And then, when she seemed reluctant to fill a glass of blood for you, I… kind of threatened to let you drink from me."

Hayley rubbed her eyes at that. "And then she saw you carrying me into your bedroom…"

"Yeah. I haven't exactly been helping the situation, any. But she pissed me off. When I saw… when I saw your room… When I realized just how long you've actually been like this…" He shrugged. "I didn't handle things well."

"And this morning?"

He should have realized that she wouldn't let that go. "She… she asked me if I slept with you, last night. And I… didn't exactly deny it. I didn't lie to her. I just didn't tell her the whole truth. After all, you and I did share a bed, last night. I just left out the not so little detail of all of our clothes staying on."

She just stared at him for a minute, and then went back to giving him the silent treatment. At the moment, he preferred that, and so let her be. Though, he was sure that that was going to end up being one of the things they were going to have to talk about, later. Once he got her sanity mostly back.

~Holding On For Dear Life~

Caroline was waiting for them when the plane landed. She hugged Hayley, and then Klaus. "How is she?"

"She's right here, and doesn't appreciate the two of you talking about her like she's not standing right in front of you."

Klaus shrugged. "Apparently, she has decided that her current tactic to avoid dealing with her problems is going to be snark. Which is entirely unfair, since being a snarky asshole is my job and I really don't appreciate the competition." And then he sighed. "It might be easier to show you. If I may?"

Caroline nodded and then closed her eyes. "Go ahead."

Klaus had to wonder at the trust she was showing him. After all, he was an Original. Once he was in her head, he could do whatever he wanted. There was no way she was strong enough to keep him out. He smiled a bit, then gently touched her forehead and closed his eyes.

And showed her everything. From the moment he heard that Hayley might be in Elijah's room, to the moment he had slammed the door on their way out. He held nothing back, not even the things that were about him and his grief. He wasn't even quite sure what it was that made him do that. There was no real reason to show her his own pain. Except that the accusation from Freya was still ringing in his ears, along with the true implication of that accusation. And there was a part of him that was looking for some kind of validation.

When he finally pulled away, Caroline opened her eyes and just stared at him for a minute. "Klaus, I am so sorry. I'm so sorry that I didn't see this. I should have seen it."

"Not at all, love. When it comes to keeping my family sane and safe, your job is to look after Hope. Which, nobody can fault how well you have been doing that job. The child is remarkably well adjusted for everything she has been through, and I know that at least part of that is because of you. No. Looking after her," he nodded towards Hayley, "was my sister's job."

"Still right here."

He ignored her. "There was no way you could have known that she hadn't set foot in her own bedroom in months, if not years. You weren't there. Freya was. This is on her."

"Still... I still feel like as her friend, I should have realized something was wrong."

He shrugged. "It turns out she's a pretty good actress. She had me fooled when I came to visit, too. Though, in hindsight, maybe I should have questioned why she was always the last one to go to bed, and the first one to wake up. Now I know, it was because she didn't want me to see where she was sleeping. I guess I can admit that at least some of this is on me. But you have nothing to apologize for."

"If you two are through talking about me like I'm not here, I would really like to go see my daughter, now."

Klaus shook his head. "See what I mean about the snark?" He hugged Caroline, and kissed Hayley on the forehead. It wasn't until he felt her tense up that he realized his mistake. Elijah used to do that. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking. Run along you two. Kiss Hope for me, and tell her that I love her. And I'll meet you back here in a few hours."

Once they were out of sight, he pulled his phone out and turned it on. Only to be greeted by about three dozen text messages from Freya asking where he was and demanding that he call her. He rolled his eyes. He had told them that he was taking Hayley to L.A. Where did they think he was? He sighed and decided that he might as well get it over with. Taking a deep breath, he called his sister.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"On a plane. With my phone off. Because I was on a plane. Did you not catch the part about taking Hayley to L.A.? How exactly did you think we were getting there? Clicking our heels together and saying 'there's no place like home'?"

"Cut the sarcasm, Klaus. We need to talk."

"I do believe that I already told you that the two of us have said all there was to say to each other, this morning. You accused me of sleeping with Hayley, and I admitted that I did, but only because she asked me to. What else is there to say?"

"I'm just trying to look after Hayley."

"Right. Because you've been doing such a great job of that so far. Really exemplary."

"What is your fucking problem?"

"Let's see… What can my fucking problem possibly be? Being in the same city as any of my siblings but one, or my daughter, could pretty much cause the end of the world as we know it. Which means that my daughter is growing up without me, and I get to watch her grow up through pictures and phone calls. My older brother had such a hard time dealing with the thought of not being able to see the people he cares about that he had his memories of us erased, so that I don't even have that much with him. The mother of my child is having a nervous breakdown. And my own sister apparently thinks I'm incapable of being a decent person. I think that pretty much sums up my fucking problem."

"Nobody thinks you're incapable of being a decent person, Klaus."

"Really, Freya? Because just this morning you accused me of raping Hayley. So, don't even start with me."

"Klaus, I never…"

He cut her off. "Go to Mystic Falls, Freya. Go to Mystic Falls and have Caroline show you what I showed her. Then try to tell me that the woman I spent the night with last night was in any condition to consent to anything."

"Mystic Falls? What the hell are you doing in Mystic Falls?"

"Hayley wanted to say goodbye to Hope. I'm at the airport. Caroline met us here. Don't worry, I'm staying away from Hope. But, thanks so much for thinking that I'm willing to risk the end of the world, starting with my own daughter. Fits so well with everything else you've accused me of, lately. Nice to know what you really think of me."

"Will you just stop it, already! I don't think that you're incapable of being a decent person. Whatever you may think, I never accused you of raping Hayley. And I know that, as much as it hurts you to be away from Hope, you wouldn't risk it if you were thinking clearly. I love you, little brother. And right now, I'm almost as worried about you as I am about Hayley. You've been in a pissy mood ever since you walked in the door, yesterday."

"Maybe because even before I went home, you were already accusing me of having ulterior motives where Hayley is concerned. Maybe because I knew that I was going to have to do things you weren't going to like, and it was going to cause an argument. Or maybe because I was worried about Hayley and pissed at Marcel and Vincent for taking away the one person that has the best chance of helping her."

"You compared yourself to Elijah, Klaus. And you do have a child, together. Obviously, there was once something between you."

Klaus laughed. "Yes, there was once something between us. That something being a bit too much alcohol. I do love her, Freya. I admit that. But, not the way you think. Was there a time when I might have tried to compete with Elijah if I thought I had a chance in Hell of winning? Yes. I'm not going to lie. I did once have some sort of feelings for her. But, I honestly don't know how much of that was really her, and how much was because of Hope. But, her heart has belonged to Elijah from the first time she saw him. I accepted that a long time ago. And now? I love her. The exact same way I love you, Rebekah, and Kol."

"And Elijah."

"No. Not Elijah. Elijah wasn't just my brother, he was my best friend. Much as I love you, sister, he's different. Only Hope outranks Elijah." He took a deep breath. "And as far as me comparing myself to Elijah goes… I didn't mean what I said about me being the next best thing the way you obviously thought that I did. In fact, pretty much the opposite. I fully expected to be used as a punching bag. I expected her to take her rage and grief out on me, because she knows that I can take it. She knows that I wouldn't have gotten angry, or been hurt. If Elijah was here, he could have offered her sex. But, he's not here. Violence is the next best thing. And that? That I could give her."

"You didn't have sex with her?"

"Of course not! Like I said, I love her like a sister, now. I would no more have sex with Hayley than I would with you or Rebekah. Plus, regardless of his current condition, from her perspective, she's still Elijah's girl. And, the way she was last night… I say that Elijah could have offered her sex, but honestly… I don't know that even he would have. I don't know that he would have trusted her ability to consent to him. She was a mess, Freya. I brought her into my room because it was literally the only option. And then she asked me to hold her while she slept. So, I did. Nothing happened. I slept in the clothes I wore yesterday, for fuck's sake."

"I'm sorry. I haven't been thinking clearly. I was so worried about the two of you hurting each other, I never stopped to consider that I may have been hurting you, myself. I never stopped to consider how my accusations would sound to you. But, you have to admit that you didn't exactly do anything to help the situation. You threatened to let her drink from you, Klaus."

"And I would have, if that was the only way to get her fresh blood. I didn't want to give her a cold blood bag. She needed something warm, something fresh. I don't expect you to understand."

"I guess I do, now that you've explained it. It was just one thing after another. You compared yourself to Elijah, and then you threatened to let her drink from you, and then I catch you carrying her into your room. What I said this morning wasn't fair. But, I never meant it as an accusation of rape, Klaus. You have to know that."

"Yeah well, however you intended it… It doesn't change the fact that had I had sex with her last night, it would have been rape. And, I'm sorry, but it's going to be a while before I'm ready to forgive you for that."

"I uderstand. But, I have one more question for you. Why was your room the only option?"

He rolled his eyes at that. "I take it you still haven't been in her room? Have you even been in Elijah's room? Here's a question for you. Have you been in either of their rooms since he left us? At all?"

"No, I haven't done any of those things. And I suppose that your next response is going to be to repeat that we need to clean her room?"

"Hers and Elijah's. I want all three of you involved in this. But, Keelin, especially. She has the best chance of knowing when the worst of the problems have been taken care of."

"What are you talking about?"

"I meant what I said. Clean her room. And have Caroline show you what I showed her. You need to know what's been going on. All of it." And then he ended the call and blocked Freya's, Keelin's, and Vincent's numbers. He couldn't turn the phone off while Hayley was with Caroline. If one of them needed to get a hold of him, he needed them to be able to. But he was through dealing with his older sister for a few days, at least.

~Holding On For Dear Life~

Freya stared at the suddenly dead phone and sighed. Then she looked up at Vincent and Keelin. "They're in Mystic Falls. Caroline has taken Hayley to see Hope, Klaus is cooling his heels at the airport. He wants us to clean Hayley's and Elijah's bedrooms. Keelin, he says that he needs you, especially to deal with it. Something about being the best at telling when the worst of the problems has been dealt with?"

The looks on the others' faces mirrored her own confusion, but she just shrugged. "I don't pretend to understand it. But, right now, I think that maybe we should just go ahead and humor him." She led the way up the stairs and to Hayley's room. And then froze when she opened the door. Klaus was right. How did they not realize what was going on? The room was a mess. Picture frames shattered, pictures torn to shreds. She was willing to bet that they were of Elijah. Some of the furniture was broken, too.

The closet door was off the hinges, the frame pulled away from the wall. Freya walked in, trying to be careful to watch her step, trying not to break anything worse, or end up tripping. Most of Hayley's clothes were gone. And what was left was shredded. And in here, shredded was very much the correct word. These hadn't been ripped apart. This was the work of claws. Werewolf claws. At some point, Hayley had come in here, and threw a fit like only a hybrid could.

Freya picked up some of the scraps, and found herself able to figure out what outfits they had come from. The red dress she had worn to the Strix party was the biggest standout. But, there were others. And it didn't take long for the common thread to become obvious. Every single outfit that had an even remotely happy memory of Elijah connected to it was in shreds in Hayley's closet.

She put her hand to her mouth, sat down and cried. "We fucked up, guys. She did this right after Elijah left. Klaus is right. Hayley has been like this for years and we never even noticed." How had she not noticed? How had she not noticed that her best friend was falling apart at the seams? How had Hayley done this and none of them realized it was happening?

There was a hand on her shoulder, then. She reflexively reached up and squeezed it. And then Keelin was talking to her. "I know why he specifically wants me to clean. He wants us to get the smell of Elijah's cologne out. I don't know if even I can do good enough for Hayley to not pick it up, but I'll certainly be better at it than either of you."

Elijah's cologne. She hadn't even noticed that. Which meant that Klaus and Keelin were right. She had no hope of cleaning well enough for Hayley to be comfortable in here. She nodded. "Well, we can start with that by keeping the door and windows open. Air the room out while we do the rest. We've got our work cut out for us, though." And they hadn't even looked at Elijah's room, yet.

But, that could wait. There was something else that needed to be done, first. She stood up and opened the windows. Then she started walking out of the room. "Come on, guys. This has waited this long, it can wait another day. We're going on a road trip."

"And where are we going?"

"Mystic Falls. Klaus wants me to have Caroline show me what he showed her. I have a feeling that this is something we're all going to need to see."