First, I want to apologize to all of you for the many months long wait between chapter updates. I've been going through some personal stuff for a while now and add that to writers block as well and well you know the rest. From now until the end of the story I hope to update at least once a week, maybe every other week at times. But I promise to do my very best to update more often from here on out.

Secondly, thank you all for your reviews, favorites, and follows. They all mean so very much to me!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with The Originals...I just like to play around with the characters at times. I only own the plot...mostly.

Chapter 5 - Familiar Faces

"Keelin?!" Hayley called from the shower after hearing the room door open and close. "Keelin?!" she repeated when she received no response after a few seconds.

Still receiving no answer, Hayley turned the shower off as she reached out and grabbed her towels. As she stepped out and walked over to the bathroom door, she wrapped one towel around her body and her hair in the other one. Opening the door, she glanced around the corner to find Keelin gone.

"Where in the world did that girl go?" Hayley asked the empty room as she made her way over to the dresser.

When she leaned down to pull the top drawer open, she came across a piece of paper that hadn't been there earlier.

She reached forward to pick it up and read it out loud.

Hales,

I'm meeting Freya for breakfast. And then we're going to hang out for the day. Text me if you're in the mood to meet up around lunch time. Otherwise, I'll assume you are occupying yourself in other ways (wink, wink) and I'll stay with her for the evening as well.

Hugs and Kisses,

Keels

"Ugh! Keelin!" Hayley groaned as she threw the note down. "Who am I supposed to go to the gym with now?" she wondered just as his name came to mind.

Smiling to herself, Hayley proceeded to get dressed.

~AllAtSea~

Lifting her hand up, Hayley knocked twice on the door in front of her. As she waited for the door to be answered, she tried to push what had happened the day before to the back of her mind. The last thing she wanted was for the day to be awkward like the previous one had been.

The door opened and before he could say anything, Hayley smiled and said, "Tag, Elijah. You're it."

Elijah raised an eyebrow to convey his confusion.

"Keelin abandoned me for Freya again so you will be taking her place today."

"What place would that be?"

"We were supposed to go work out together for our weekly work out session, but she had better things to do." Hayley sighed. "So tag, you're it."

Without giving it any thought, Elijah nodded. "Alright then."

Hayley chuckled. "Really? It was that easy to convince you."

"What? Did you think I would say no?"

Shaking her head, Hayley answered, "No, it's not that. I just thought it'd take more than me just telling you that you're coming with me for you to actually come with me."

Elijah shrugged. "I go to the gym a few times a week," he informed her. "Usually alone, but I can make an exception for a great woman such as yourself."

Hayley could feel the blush creeping onto her face. "Aren't you a charmer?"

Elijah grinned. "I like to think that I am."

Laughing, Hayley shook her head. "Well then... chop, chop. There are other things to do today, too," she said as she pushed past him and walked into the room. "I'll wait for you." She smiled and sat down at the table as he closed the door.

~AllAtSea~

"No way!" Hayley exclaimed as she tried to keep control of her footing; Elijah lifting weights in front of her was not the safest thing to watch as she jogged on the treadmill. "You're from New Orleans?"

"I am," Elijah replied, shaking his head.

"So am I."

Elijah smiled and asked rhetorically, "What are the odds of that being the case?"

"As high as the odds of us living in the same city all our lives but only meeting now."

They both laughed.

"Where near in New Orleans do you live?" Hayley asked him curiously as she wiped a bread of sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand.

"The French Quarter."

"Me, too!"

"It is a small world after all."

"How have we not crossed paths by now?" Hayley wondered, biting her lip as she watched Elijah flex his muscles. "New Orleans is big, but not that big."

Elijah shrugged. "Different schedules maybe."

"I guess so. But you're a professor... don't you work during the day?"

Elijah shook his head. "No, I teach evening and night classes."

"Interesting. Any specific reason why?" she asked before she could think about her question first. "I mean, if you don't mind my asking."

"I do not mind," he assured her. "I babysit my nephew while my sister and her fiancé work during the day."

Hayley smiled. "You are just full of surprises, aren't you? That's very sweet of you to do."

"Family is important to me."

"I can tell."

Silence fell between them as they both focused their attentions of their respective exercises. A few minutes or so passed by before Elijah placed the weights down and broke the silence.

"Now that you know a bit about me, it's your turn to tell me what you do," Elijah said as he stood up and walked over to her as she continued jogging.

It took everything in her to not fall right then and there as he smiled at her. His smile did things to her, more now than ever. It must've been because she was getting worked up on the treadmill, right? Right.

"Keelin and I own a women's only gym together."

"That doesn't surprise me." He smiled as he leaned forward against the treadmill.

"But I thought you said I was full of surprises as well," Hayley teased, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead.

"You still are. But not in this case."

"Ah, got it."

"How about we go get some breakfast," Elijah offered.

"If we weren't on a cruise right now, I'd ask if you're paying," Hayley teased, slowing her pace down to a brisk walk.

Playing along, Elijah grinned. "And if we weren't on a cruise, I'd say yes I am."

Hayley grinned back. "Such a charming gentlemen."

"I'm nothing if not a gentlemen."

"I find that very attractive in a man," Hayley blurted out before she could stop herself.

Hayley didn't give Elijah the chance to respond. She abruptly stopped the machine and jumped off of it. "I'm going to go wash up in the showers and then we can go get some breakfast," she told Elijah before she proceeded to walk the fastest she ever had in her life towards the women's locker room.

As she made it half way to the locker room, out of the corner of her eye she saw something that made her stop mid-step. Turning her head, she squinted her eyes to get a better view. She could've sworn she'd seen her ex and the woman he'd cheated on her with.

Not seeing anything, she brushed it off as her mind playing tricks on her. There was no way she'd seen right. She couldn't be that unlucky, right? Shaking her head and laughing to herself she continued on her way towards the locker room.

~AllAtSea~

Later that evening, Hayley was taking a walk around the ship by herself. She and Elijah had spent the entire rest of the morning and afternoon together before going their separate ways for a while. Elijah wanted to go read more of his book and Hayley had wanted to go look around and enjoy the fresh air for a bit more time.

Half way through her walk, she ended up regretting that decision. She froze mid step upon hearing that all too familiar laugh. It couldn't be. Could it? She had just assumed she was seeing things earlier, but that laugh... had she actually seen him after all?

Hayley slowly turned around to look in the direction she'd heard the laugh come from. Her heart started thumping a mile a minute. Sweaty palms which she promptly balled up into fists soon followed.

"That son of a bitch!"

There standing across the way was none other than her ex. And to make matters worse, he was with the woman he'd cheated on her with. This had to be some sick joke. Was her lucky really that bad that this would really happen to her?

As if sensing her there, Jackson turned his head towards her. Hayley rushed behind a pillar to keep him from seeing her. Leaning back against it, she bit her tongue to keep from crying the tears that begged to be let out. He didn't deserve her tears. If anyone should be crying, it should be him. He's the one who lost a good thing. Not her.

Pushing off of the pillar, Hayley hurried down the deck to the nearest door. She needed to talk to Keelin. Now. She was like a wrecking ball running into walls and people on her way back to her hall. Rushed apologies were all that she could get out to the people she bumped into. She felt bad for accidentally pushing them into walls and such, but she was in a hurry. Not that that was really an excuse. But still.

Turning down her hall, Hayley pulled out her room key. All she had to do was open the door and see the room dark to realize Keelin wasn't there. She must have still been with Freya.

"Did I ever text her?" Hayley asked herself.

Right. Of course not. She'd been with Elijah all afternoon. Therefore, Keelin was in fact with Freya still. Hayley hoped that Elijah would know where they were. She really needed to talk to Keelin about what she had just witnessed.

Slamming the room door shut, Hayley made a beeline to Elijah's room. She knocked on the door, shifting from one foot to the other.

The second he opened the door, Hayley was talking. "Where's your sister?" she asked, tapping her foot on the floor. "I'm assuming wherever she is that Keelin is there, too."

Elijah shrugged. "I haven't seen her since this morning," he answered, squinting his eyes as he took in Hayley's actions and facial expression. "Are you okay?"

"I just... I need to talk to Keelin about something." Hayley sighed, running a hand roughly through her sweat soaked hair. "If you see her in the next hour or two, tell her to meet me up at the bar... Now!" She turned and headed down the hall to the elevator.

"Hey! Wait!"

Hayley stopped abruptly and turned back to face him. Her breath caught in her throat as she took in the sight of him casually leaning against the door frame. Maybe it was because she was in an emotional turmoil, but she had a small urge to run up to him and kiss him. She refrained from actually doing do, but the urge was most definitely there.

"Would you mind some company?" he asked, breaking her from her thoughts.

Shrugging her shoulders to keep her composure, she replied, "No, not at all."

~AllAtSea~

Three alcoholic drinks down and Hayley was being more open than ever. She barely knew Elijah yet and here she was venting to him about the past year of her romantic life.

"I can't believe he is actually here... and with her!" Hayley growled, slamming her glass down on the table. "You know what that means, right?"

Elijah didn't respond with words. Instead choosing to give her the signal to go on with what she wanted to say.

"It means that he's actually been cheating on me for an entire year," Hayley hissed. "This cruise fills up quickly so we had to book it in advance, which means that he had to of booked this cruise with her in advance, too. Which can only mean that he was planning on bouncing back and forth between us the whole time. It makes me physically sick thinking about it." Shaking her head, she turned to look at Elijah and asked, "What kind of an asshole does that?"

"Unfortunately, I do not have that answer," he answered, tracing the rim of his glass with his index finger. "I'm not that kind of guy myself."

Lifting her glass and shaking it for the bartender to see, she replied, "That makes one of you."

"I just can't believe that of all guys, he was the one to turn out to be this big of an ass." Hayley huffed. "He was always so sweet to me."

"I assume this is where the saying "don't judge a book by its cover," comes in?"

Hayley frowned.

"I did not mean to insult you."

Shaking her head, Hayley assured him, "It's not you. I'm frowning because you're right." She sighed. "I never realized it, but maybe I do trust too easily."

"Don't blame yourself. You trusting him wasn't a bad thing. He's the one who betrayed you. He's in the wrong."

Hayley smiled briefly. "You might want to think about changing professions."

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

She grinned, nodding her head. "You'd make a good motivational speaker," she told him. "You always know what to say to make someone feel better."

"I often times have to mediate for some of my students."

"In college?"

"You'd be surprised how many frat boys still act like they're in high school."

"Well now that you said frat boys, I can see it." Hayley laughed, taking a sip of her drink. "Thank you for being here for me, Elijah."

Elijah smiled. "Anytime."

Maybe it was her not being able to control her attraction to him anymore, or maybe it was the alcohol coursing through her veins, but Hayley suddenly felt the urge again to kiss him. She slowly moved in, and she could swear he did as well. Just as their lips were about to touch, Elijah pushed her away gently and pulled away from her.

Hayley frowned, failing to keep her disappointment to herself. "Wow. Way to make a girl feel special."

"I'm not turning you down per say," Elijah assured her. "It's just that I'm not the type of guy who sleeps with someone that I don't care about in every way possible."

Hayley could feel her stomach drop. "You don't care about me?" she asked, her voice sounding as hurt as she felt.

"You know what I meant." Elijah sighed. "If we ever sleep together, which is exactly where us kissing would lead to right now, it's going to be because we both want it," he said, his tone sincere. "Not because you're hurting."

"Yeah, alright." She nodded her head in agreement with him. "I guess that makes sense."

"Okay, now how about I walk you back to your room," Elijah suggest, standing up and offering her his hand.

Hayley glanced from her drink to his hand and then back to her drink. "Sure," she said before she downed the rest of the contents of her glass. "That sounds like a very good idea."

~AllAtSea~

About an hour later, Hayley was in bed looking up at the dimly lit ceiling. She was still drunk, but not nearly a much after having emptied her stomach half an hour before. She was feeling somewhat better. That is until she heard the door open. All of her emotions that she had hidden from Elijah had come back to the surface.

"Where were you?" Hayley asked, sitting up as Keelin walked in and closed the door behind her.

"I... I was with Freya," she answered, sounding shocked. She apparently hadn't expected to be jumped on as soon as she had entered the room. "I left you a note before I left. You didn't text so I just assumed that..."

Hayley interrupted her. "I needed you and you weren't there!"

Squinting her eyes and taking in her friends face, Keelin asked, "Are you drunk?"

Hayley ignored her question. "I needed my best friend and she wasn't there!"

Keelin sighed, shaking her head. "You're drunk."

"Jack is on the ship!" Hayley exclaimed, getting out of the bed.

Keelin's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Wait. What?"

"I saw him..." She paused, gulping down the bile that was raising in her throat. "... with her."

"Oh my god," Keelin gasped, rushing over to her friend. "Hayley... "

"I needed my friend and you were nowhere to be found." Hayley sniffled.

Keelin wrapped her arms tight around her. "I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely. "I'm here now."

"Thank god for Elijah being there for me," Hayley said quietly, resting her head on Keelin's shoulder as she yawned.

"That was sweet of him."

Hayley nodded. "It was."

"Come on. Let's get you into bed," Keelin spoke gently, leading her friend back over to her bed.

"Stay here with me please," Hayley whispered, pulling the covers up over her chest.

Keelin nodded her head. "Of course. Just let me go put on my pajamas."

"Alright." Hayley yawned again, rolling over and closing her eyes.

She was already well on her way to sleep by time Keelin came and got into the bed.

There's chapter 5! I hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought of it in a review!