Again, I apologize but the truth is I honestly didn't want to spend my entire 2 week break sitting inside writing my story. Especially since I've only got so much time to myself. As for why I didn't get the 2 chapters out this past week was something else came up personally with family. I really do apologize thought for not delivering like I said I would.

Unfortunately classes have started up again for the next 11 weeks. However I will work in small portions to update over the next few months.

Also TVD is leaving Netflix and going to HBO Max which sucks but it is what it is.

After a few more days in town Hayden found out a few wonderful little details that both were amazing, fucking irritating, and yet so damn frightening.

For instance what's amazing is that Abby, Bonnie's mother decided to go through with the tradition and become a vampire, damn sure didn't expect her to take it so well. Well, at least Bonnie still gets her mom back even though her canines are a little longer and sharper than they were before.

What's irritating is that Alaric got booked for…murder apparently, his girlfriend Meredith Fell claims that he tried to kill her or something and took out all these other guys in the past that weren't supernatural. Honestly, as much as Hayden wants to help, he isn't really a good detective though unless he has to try that is, and on top of that he hasn't been around much being on the run from the egomaniacal rabid hybrid and . But sheriff Forbes insists on staying out of it and leave the job to the professionals. The standard cop response, they really need to come up with something better cause that's really getting old fast.

Anyways, so that's what he's up to now just trailing along trying to not be dead weight or useless and all that shit.

That's why he's been following Damon and Stefan, who looks like he's losing it…big time! Must be some kind of vampire withdrawal or something. Hey, what do you expect after finally kicking the humanity switch back on and recalling a nice long line of gore and body parts trailing from Helsinki all the way to Mystic Falls…almost literally!

Hayden can't help but feel his heart bleed a bit especially after all the fucking bullshit Klaus put him through, he may not have been sired or had his switch forced off, or worst yet compelled to attack the Elena the bitch he loves.

The three of them are currently sitting in the mystic grill listening to these two knuckleheads talk about civil war era, family history drama, and serial killers in 1912. That's when Rebekah strolls in and makes things more interesting for Hayden.

"So your family used to own the logging mills back then?" She currently asks out of the blue.

"You're full of a lot of questions." Damon says suspiciously.

Rebekah shrugs it off, "I'm just researching the town history, I grew up here after all." She defends.

"She does like history." Hayden points out.

"You know you don't have to disguise your true motives blondie Bex."

"I mean, if you want sex, just ask for it…I'm game!" Damon smugly offers with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

Hayden mentally groans, and slightly out loud too.

Rebekah tilts her head before snatching the bottle of scotch. "Not enough liquor in the world." She fires off carelessly, pouring herself another glass.

Damon puts a hand to his chest, "Oh, come on I know my reputation hasn't preceded me like it should, but I've got some good moves." He argues.

Hayden rolls his eyes. God, does he say this kinda shit to himself in the mirror every morning?

"You know Damon if you're this much of a sex addict you might as well take up a career as a hooker." Hayden offers.

Stefan also who appears to have had enough swipes the bottle and moves to the other side of Damon leaving Hayden stuck in the middle between his first lover and wannabe-Casanova.

Rebekah's expression remains unfazed, "Sorry, I'm not that desperate to compromise my honor…him however," Rebekah says suggestively pointing to Hayden who pauses for a moment as she looks him over with a pleasurable smirk. "Well, I wouldn't mind going another few times, besides unlike some people he actually cares about his partner's feelings, plus another thing that he has that you don't is length, which is something your poorly lacking Damon."

Hayden fights the urge to burst out in laughter at that last third degree burn from Rebekah, sometimes it's nice to have friends on the other side of things.

Although he can't fight the small blush from publicly mentioning that he and Rebekah got wild in the sheets together. But he does feel kinda proud at how she thinks he was good. He sure as hell will take that complement any day of the week if it means getting under Damon's skin.

"Okay, now your just being modest. I'll have you know for a fact that I've hit double digits when it comes to-" Damon starts but doesn't get to finish.

"And…this is me changing the subject of this conversation before I become the first hybrid to blow chunks, so why don't we talk about something more interesting…like how it's Stefan's time of the month after his ripper rampage or something?" Hayden suggests, pointing to Stefan who gives him a small sarcastically amused glare.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot by the way Rebekah do forgive my brother he's currently jonesing for some o-positive." Damon adds.

Stefan gives a humorless chuckle glaring at his brother, "I'm not jonesing." He whispers lowly.

"So did they ever catch the killer?" Rebekah asks scooting closer to Hayden looking past him to Damon.

He paused for a moment before answering, "Nope, wrote it all off on vampires."

"Maybe it was a vampire?" Rebekah guesses.

Stefan chuckles bending down to his brother, "Yeah, maybe it was a vampire…Damon."

Damon just gives a passive expression, "Don't think for a second that you didn't cross my mind too, brother. But these murders weren't your style, were they?" He remarks.

"Plus, there were no other vampires circulating back then." Damon adds.

"Well, there was one other vampire…remember Sage?" Stefan asks.

A dirty smile comes to Damon's face, Hayden knows that the memory lane the older Salvatore is going down in his head ain't one that he wants to visualize. Does this guy think of anything besides Elena, sex, and booze?

"Oh right…Sage, speaking of great sex, oof." Damon smirks at the memory.

Rebekah tilts her head, "I knew a Sage once, trashy little thing."

Hayden looks her way, "Sounds like you two didn't have any 'girls night' out?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Do you really think it was Sage who was killing all those founders back then?" Damon asks his brother in a serious tone.

"The town questioned every grown man in Mystic Falls. Probably, never occurred to them that a woman could have done it." Stefan answers with his best opinion.

Even Hayden who is hanging onto every detail of this little story admits that he's got a point there given the time period and beliefs back then it isn't that hard to rule out girls as being the bad guy…a little less emphasis on the 'guy' part though.

"Well I'd put my money on a woman being the psycho, since sexism was kinda big back then no doubt that the idiots who ran the show back then were stupid enough to believe that a girl wasn't capable of being tough enough to go bad." Hayden interjects.

"So uh, tell me more about your old relatives. I heard they tore down half the woods to make this town?" Rebekah suddenly puts out there.

Damon swipes the liquor bottle from Rebekah getting up from his bar stool. "Easy there, lushy pants. But it's boys night, and you weren't invited."

Hayden who hasn't gotten up, turns his stool slightly so he's facing Damon, "You didn't invite my ass to boys night so, that's kinda hypocritical dude?"

Damon merely scoffs, "Well you're impossible to get rid of at times Kerbex so I just figured to let you tag along, and pretend you don't exist simple as that." With that, Damon heads off with the bottle and Stefan grabbing two glasses following behind him.

Leaving Hayden and Rebekah alone at the bar.

Hayden swings his stool back around resting is elbows on the counter and Rebekah does the same.

"Well, once again here we are together. You know Hayden I don't know if you've heard this already but you do know how to choose the right company in the end."

"Maybe three or four times, you know I'd choose hanging out with you over them any time Rebekah." Hayden says.

"Seriously though why waste your time with them?"

Hayden just shrugs, "Boredom, and I won't pass up the chance to put Damon's in place when he gets smug and cocky."

"Seriously though Rebekah, why are you trying to pump those two for info?" Hayden asks genuinely curious, he could tell that something was up.

Rebekah sighs, looking over her shoulder to make sure that Stefan and Damon were out of vampire hearing distance. Before turning back to the hybrid.

She leans in close, "Remember when I told about the origin of me, my brothers, and our overall family history? How the white oak tree that was partially used to create us is also the one thing that can kill us?"

Hayden nods. "Yeah, you told me you guys torched it."

Rebekah pauses for a moment looking on edge. "Well apparently…there is another tree that was planted and grown from the remnants of the old one, and is still out there somewhere that can kill us."

Hayden's face pales as the dots are automatically connected in his head "So that means-"

"Yes, that my mother can still kill us, or anyone for that matter who possesses the white oak." She elaborates.

While Hayden knew that the originals were a little desperate to get rid of their choke collars and break the link Esther placed on them, still they had been kept at bay and now that this factors into the equation things might get a little complicated and taken to the extreme.

"Let me guess, you decided to do a little Scooby-Doo work and tracked down clues that'll lead you to the tree so you can do some logging of your own, am I close?" Hayden asks.

Rebekah let's out a chuckle, "Honestly, you don't need to be so modest when regarding your intelligence Hayden, then again this is a simple deduction of the mind so perhaps I'm just giving you more credit than you need."

Hayden give a chuckle of his own, "Is that a joke or are you just toying with me Rebekah?" He asks.

The blonde original's give a playful smile, yeah she's just teasing. "Maybe…maybe not, who knows but I don't think I'll make it easy for you, as always." She says with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Yep, that's Rebekah Mikaelson alright, just the way Hayden likes her.

"And I guess this is the part where I ask you if one of those clues is with grumpy and boozy over there?" Pointing to Damon and Stefan who are now playing darts across the grill. Well just Damon actually, Stefan is still looking like he's trying not to have a meltdown and go berserk.

Rebekah nods, "Unfortunately yes, as much as I'd rather be together with you somewhere more alone and private, that isn't what's important right now, what is…is me finding that bloody tree and send it to hell with expedience, before anyone else gets wind of its existence."

"Alright I'm in, what do you need?" Hayden simply asks not a second too soon.

Rebekah slams her current shot down her throat and smiles. "If you can find out everything about the Salvatores logging mills that would be very helpful, since your one of the few supernatural people who isn't from mystic falls so naturally they'd find you to be the least suspicious

"Don't count out that I can be pretty suspicious when I want to I'm the wild card in the fucked up deck of supernaturals, remember?" He reminds the blonde.

Operation 'Screw over the Salvatore's' commence.

Back at the other end of the grill Damon was currently throwing darts, and Stefan was reading a journal of some kind a few feet away.

"So, let's just say that Sage was killing everyone in 1912. Then, who the hell's doing it now, it's not that psycho Dr. Fell, she's a woman there's no way she could stab 3 grown men." Damon comments, releasing his current dart only for it to be caught by Rebekah mere inches away from the dart board.

"That's a bit sexist, a woman could easily kill a man with the right motivation." Rebekah argues, sounding rather offended.

"Yeah, I gotta agreed with her there I mean, seriously Damon you think that women are good enough to be made into your personal bitches, but not good enough to throw down and beat your arrogant ass to a pulp in a fight…tsk, tsk, tsk. Yeah that's really damn rude and sexist if you ask me." Hayden voice suddenly adds on, Damon turning to see the dark haired boy leaning back against one of the empty counter tops of the nearby tables.

Stefan sighs, "You just don't give up do you?" He asks raising a glass of whisky.

Hayden who hears this laughs under his breath. "Oh Stefan, you've got no idea how relentless Rebekah can be when she really wants something, or maybe you do know since you did a fling back in the 20s, but I don't know if she gave you the full experience like she gave me?"

Stefan's only response is rolling his eyes.

"Why are you so grumpy?" Rebekah asks, with a slight blush from Hayden's complement.

"He's on a master cleanse, trying to be a better man and all.

"Yeah you know what Hayden, you're right he was a lot more fun in the 20s." Rebekah admits.

Damon walks past her nudging her arm, "You'll rile him up." He warns.

"I thought that was your job?" Hayden remarks.

"Sometimes it is, when it suits me. Otherwise he's pretty testy when he's being self-righteous." Damon replies.

"I'm not being self-righteous, Damon. I'm just not interested in slaughtering innocent human beings anymore." Stefan denies.

Hayden, rests against Stefan's table "Hmm, you want to know something interesting Stefan?" He asks.

"Not really!" Stefan answers.

"Okay good, so an interesting fact about the human body is that there are two brains, see the primary one is up here," pointing to Stefan's head, "And the secondary one is right there." Pointing to his stomach.

"The key factor to deciding which brain wins is all about the situation in the moment, and right now the one between your shoulders is barely winning, but give it a few hours and in the moment of that intense hunger and the one that controls your stomach might have a different agenda that will involve 'killing innocent people' whether you like it or not, so really all your doing is just delaying the inevitable, it's quite sad really." Hayden explains.

"Actually, part of that is my mistake, he 'used' to be self-righteous." Damon corrects pulling another journal out of his backpack opening it.

"'Dear Diary, Damon has lost his way, though I have pulled my own life together, he continues to waste his.'" Damon reads off word for word.

Rebekah snatches the diary out of Damon's grasp and continues to read off herself, "'His bitterness consumes him, he is nothing but blackness and bile.'"

"Damn!" Hayden says. "Looks like someone had brother issues."

"Judgey!" Rebekah criticizes. "You know if I'm being honest, you don't seem like much fun either, Damon." Turning to the older Salvatore handing him the diary.

"I wasn't, the woman I was in love with was stuck in a tomb. She wasn't getting out for 100 years. I wasn't having any fun at all." Damon comes off frustrated.

He then proceeds to tell the story of this Sage and how she helped him a bit through his problems or whatever.

"That sounded like Sage, all right." Rebekah confirms.

"How did you know her?" Damon asks curiously.

Rebekah huffs at that question. "She was obsessed with my brother Finn over 900 years ago."

"What? Creepy suicidal guy?" Damon repeats in disbelief.

"Wow guess some women have weird taste." Damon says skeptically.

"Seriously though your ancestors were lumberjacks, did Paul Bunion happen to be on your payroll back then?" Hayden asks, his natural sarcasm evident.

"Paul Bunion, good one that's a real cliche coming from you Kerbex." Damon halfheartedly laughs before throwing another dart at the board.

"Thanks Damon. But how much of the forest did they cut down though?"

Damon pauses, eyeing the rogue hybrid cautiously. "Why, is everybody so keen on becoming loggers all of a sudden? If you want a job I'm afraid that we haven't been hiring for the past century or so but thanks for sending in your application."

Hayden doesn't get a chance to answer as Stefan's tapping his fingers rather annoyingly…again for him to be able to come up with some kind of good bullshit response. Stefan gets up and roughly slams his fist down on the table. Grabbing his jacket on the chair

"All right you know what, I need to get out of here." He mutters out.

"Sure, first admit your jonesing?" Damon requests

Stefan groans, "Damon I'm not gonna-"

Stefan doesn't get a chance to finish his current lame ass denial as Damon gets in his brother's face lifting him his brother by his collar.

"Admit it!" Damon demands.

"Ok, fine. I'm freaking out. I'm ready to eat the entire wait staff. Why do you need to hear me say it?" Stefan grits through his teeth.

About fucking time! Hayden mentally notes.

"Because I'm feeling a little self-righteous, too." Damon answers.

With that Stefan grunts and shoves Damon away before proceeding to exit the grill.

Hayden who has been watching the situation play out turns back to Damon and Rebekah.

"Does anyone else feel that if we don't follow him that he's gonna bust a few skulls out of starvation?" Hayden calmly asks his eyes focused on the salt shaker he's currently fiddling around with.

Even though Hayden doesn't look both Rebekah and Damon share a look that says they both agree. The three gather their things and pay the check or at least Damon does through compulsion, typical!

The three of them see Stefan not too far ahead.

"So he doesn't want to drink human blood?" Rebekah asks.

Damon shrugs, "He has an eternally guilty conscience."

"If you ask me his vampire side doesn't, whatever's left of his human side does, then again since vampires are predators it's kinda hard to fight those basic predatory instincts and carnivorous appetite, ain't really no room for a conscience when your a newbie or a ripper." Hayden says purely in his own opinion.

"Funny, when I knew him in the twenties, he didn't have any conscience at all. It's one of the things I liked most about him." Rebekah states.

"Then why'd you go to sex-town with hybrid jr. back here then, because it seems like he's got quite the big ass conscience?" Damon asks insultingly jerking his thumb towards Hayden who scowls at him.

"He has a very…unique way of maintaining a conscience when it's called for, otherwise he manages to be rather ruthless at times with a humane catch to it, quite thrilling actually." Rebekah answers amused.

Hayden shoots her a sweet smirk.

Rebekah turns her focus back to Stefan who's still ahead of them. "He can't possibly think he can survive without feeding." She claims.

"On the contrary, he's determined to live his life to the extreme or the other, he's a stubborn one my brother." Damon sighs frustratedly, "Think I'm gonna need some help with this one."

"Why do you think I'm here then?" Hayden asks rhetorically.

"What can I do?" Rebekah asks.

"Beats me." Damon says.

Hayden eye catches a woman currently exiting your

"I think I have a way of whipping Stefan's taste buds into shape, where he takes the first step to quitting his little fasting method, nobody ends up dead which I'll make sure of, and plus Rebekah you get to have some fun" Hayden claims with a devious smirk.

Rebekah feels her arousal make its way between her legs. Good thing Damon is present, otherwise she'd take Hayden right here and now. Nothing turns her on more than the rogue hybrid living up to his name.

"Watch and learn, Damon!"

Hayden suddenly uses his hybrid speed and blurs in front of that lady.

"Hello ma'am, how are you doing tonight?" Hayden asks her politely.

"Fine, thank you." She responds.

"Hey sorry if this sounds weird but I kinda have a bit of a problem that I need your help with please?"

"What is it?"

Hayden narrows his eyes gazing into hers "My friend is having a supernatural eating disorder issue at the moment and I need your help by promising not to scream and know that you won't feel any pain and I'll make sure that nothing happens to you as long as you do as I say sweetheart, can you do that?" Hayden compels.

The women now hypnotized nods in a zombie like way.

Hayden smiles, "Good now close your eyes and relax and this'll be over before you know it."

His eyes turn black and yellow with those red veins surrounding his eyes as he extends his fangs and with a low growl he bites into the woman's neck and opens a wound having a snack.

Stefan stops dead in his tracks at the scent of fresh human blood and turns to see Hayden currently biting at the throat of some lady. Immediately he speeds over and rips the hybrid away from the woman.

"Stop. Stop it!"

Hayden laughs his hybrid eyes and fangs still out as he licks the blood around his mouth. "Damn, you got blue balls or something what's the deal Stefan I'm just having a bite to eat, literally?" He asks sarcastically.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asks eyeing the blood leaking out of the woman's freshly exposed wound.

"Making progress, that's what I'm doing Stef. You should try it sometime."

"Or as I prefer to call it tough love, Stefan." Damon adds, suddenly appearing to the right of the woman with Rebekah on the left.

"You're not gonna survive this cold-turkey thing you never do."

"So, we've all decided it's time to finally tame the ripper." Hayden chimes.

"No!" Stefan pants out backing away from the woman.

"Okay then, might as well let Rebekah have the rest of her then." Hayden carelessly says speeding next to the woman again.

"Hayden, don't do this…I thought you were better than this?" Stefan groans out still failing to restrain himself.

"I am Stefan, I was only a werewolf for a few months and a hybrid for about the same amount of time now. And Rebekah here taught me how to take control of my bloodlust and channel my hunger and thirst without becoming a blood binger like you."

"Here's an interesting fact I used to have this night eating disorder as a kid, getting up every night stealing candy, crackers, chips, just junk food in general because I loved the taste more importantly how it made me feel, and became a shitty habit but eventually when I realized that it was controlling me I tried to stop it using the same method that you are right now by cutting myself off completely so I didn't have access to it and break the cycle, however I learned that I wasn't really solving shit, I was only giving myself the idea I can only stop when people are around, but what happens when I'm on my own with no supervision and there are people around?" Hayden asks.

"The answer is the same one for you when asking what happens when Damon or Elena isn't there to help you cut yourself off, and the mere fact that a newbie hybrid that's twice as emotionally volatile and aggressive has more self-control when drinking straight from the veins than a century and a half old average vampire really is saying something." He deadpans.

Stefan is panting and looks like he's about to go full blown ripper all over again and going to lose it.

Okay, plan b. "Alright here's a little game we're going to play it's called 'don't fuck up' where the objective is for your to get your ass over here and suck for a bit without killing her what do ya say?" Hayden offers.

Stefan breathes out a barely audible "No!"

Hayden gives a regretful sigh looking up to the sky shaking his head. "Alright let's make things more fun then shall we, new rule if you don't do it then I'll let Rebekah have a little girl time with her, which we both know will end up with her killing this poor girl, but unlike you she'll make it quick and painless which is better than getting ripped to pieces by a unstable fanged maniac."

Stefan continues to refuse to go along with it. "You won't let her do it Hayden, I know you won't!"

Hayden arches eyebrow, "Wanna bet on that?" He warns challengingly.

"Oh come on Stefan, you know I will kill her." Rebekah warns carelessly almost as if she's waiting for Hayden to give the order.

"Time's up…Rebekah it's dinner time."

The blonde smirks joyfully and yet kind of sadistically. Not a second too soon she bares her fangs as the veins around her eyes appears and let's out a low hiss.

A sudden whoosh of air goes by as Stefan speeds next to the woman and pushes Rebekah out of the way and sinks his own fangs into the woman neck and slurps up her warm blood.

Victory! Hayden smirks to himself.

Shortly afterwords Damon told Rebekah to get going and she did not before calling him an ass.

Sadly Stefan stays latched on more than he need to be at which point Hayden cuts in shoving Stefan off of her and giving the lady to Damon who bites into his wrist feeding her his blood healing her.

Unfortunately for Stefan what neither him, Hayden, or Damon sees is Elena and Matt a few yards away watching the event play out.

"What are you three doing?" Elena asks worriedly.

"I could say none of your damn business, seeing as you don't need to control every single fucking aspect of your ex-ex-boyfriend's life or I could tell you the truth that Damon and I are currently re-educating Stefan giving him the refresher course of 'Vamp Feeding 101' and seeing as I don't want to be a part of this fucked up supernatural/drama love octagon you've all got goin' on her I think I'm just gonna jet hope it was good for you Stefan?" With that Hayden speeds off.

Both of them have fright and horror in their eyes.

Stefan who has fresh blood around the corners of his mouth notices and is struggling to find the words but none come out.

Hayden went back home and is currently sitting in bed looking at some of the towns papers and announcements. There is one in particular that brings a smile to his face seeing as it can prove useful in his current tree hunt.

Just then his phone goes off and sees that it's Rebekah.

"Calling to say goodnight?" And there's the late night sarcasm.

"Yes, and wondering if you were able to pry more information about a certain tree out of the Salvatore's?"

"Sadly no, their little mistress came in and got Stefan all emo and knew it wasn't the time to ask any more questions, but I did happen to find an opportunity to ask more of them in the right setting, though."

"How are we going to do that?" Rebekah asks through the other end of the line.

Hayden smiles and arches an eyebrow seeing the flyer, "You like bridges? Specifically, Wickery Bridge?"

I feel like I'm losing my groove with this story if I stay away to long or at least the OC character. But if I constantly try and work on it I should be able to stay in the groove. So that's why I'm going to devote a steady 30 minutes to 1 hour a day minimum to writing on this story for the foreseeable future. My goal is to get at least 2 chapters posted a month. And since I only have two classes this quarter I should have a bit more time but don't get your expectations to high.

Remember I already know how I'm going to end the story it's just a matter of figuring out how to get there.

That's why I'd like to announce that after I finish this story but the end of the year or beginning of the new one that I am going to stop posting multi-chapter stories and go back to one-shots. For two reasons one being that in beginning of 2023 I have a field experience internship thing that goes on for about 2 and a half months, and second being is that I like shorter stories so I can complete them on time and move onto the next one.

Once again, for those who are willing please don't hesitate to comment about the story itself or the characters and their interactions.

My current dilemma with the story is trying to figure out how to put Katherine in the story to start building more of that connection between Hayden and Katherine that'll go into season 4 without having to wait for her return. If anyone has any ideas or a particular point in an episode to put her in don't be afraid to share.