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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 8 - To Hook Up Or To Not Hook Up

The next morning, Hayley woke up feeling better than she had in a long time. And much warmer than she had in a long time. Why was she so warm? She and Keelin always made sure the room was really cold at night because they both loved curling up under numerous blankets. And also, why did it feel like she wasn't alone?

That's when it hit her. Elijah had stayed the night. In her bed. With her. Which meant that she was feeling warmer because of him. That she wasn't alone... because of him.

Opening her eyes, Hayley looked around the room and then pulled the covers down. Her eyes widened when she realized that somehow during the night she and Elijah had ended up tangled up together. They definitely weren't on their separate sides of the bed anymore.

Elijah was still asleep. But Hayley wasn't sure she wanted to wake him. How would he react to their current situation? Would he be okay with it? Would he not be okay with it? Would he even react or would he pretend he didn't notice?

Laying there completely still, Hayley contemplated answers to her questions. That is until she felt him move against her. She slowly turned her head to look at him just in time for his eyes to flutter open.

She did the only thing she could think of in that moment, she smiled nervously.

"Good morning," Elijah said, smiling back at her.

"Morning to you, too."

Hayley bit the inside of her mouth to keep herself calm as Elijah finally glanced down at their intertwined limbs.

"One or both of us are apparently moving sleepers," Hayley said, breaking the silence.

Elijah nodded. "So it would appear."

"Well, if for any reason we ever have to share this bed again, how about we make a pillow barrier?" Hayley suggested, glancing around the room to see if they'd have enough pillows to do that.

Hayley noticed Elijah hesitate a moment.

"If it ever happens again, that's a good idea," Elijah agreed, nodding his head slightly.

"This way our unconscious minds don't get handsy in our sleep."

"Pretty sure that was your mind."

Hayley dropped her jaw, faking shock. "How dare you accuse my unconscious mind of such a thing?" she asked, putting her hand over her chest to pretend she was offended. "If anything it was you. Men are more likely to be handsy than women."

Elijah laughed. "And where did you get that fact from?"

Hayley shrugged her shoulders. "The internet."

"Of course you did."

"Let's just agree that we both got handsy in our sleep."

Elijah offered her his hand. "Deal."

Accepting his hand and shaking it, Hayley smiled. "Yes, deal."

~AllAtSea~

Not too much later, Elijah left to go back to his room. And Hayley spread out on the bed wanting to sleep some more. And alright... maybe smell the pillow and lay on the sheets Elijah laid on. But that would make her sound crazy. So she'd never admit it.

Barely even two minutes had passed before there was a knock at the door. Hayley forced herself to get up and open it. When she opened the door, she found Elijah standing there looking a bit pale.

Eyeing him for a moment, she asked, "Is everything okay?"

Elijah shook his head and cleared his throat. "It would appear that they have christened every part of that room."

Hayley reached up to cover her mouth, stifling a laugh. "Pillow barrier it is," she said, stepping out of the way to let him in.

~AllAtSea~

About an hour later, Keelin returned to the room and Elijah returned to his own. Keelin had requested that she and Hayley go to breakfast together. They had quite a bit to talk about. Neither she nor Hayley liked being on bad terms for long. Over night was usually the longest they ever fought for. And this time would be no different.

"I want to apologize again for my actions the other night," Hayley said looking up from her plate of food.

"It's fine, Hayley," Keelin said sincerely, smiling at her. "It wasn't the right thing to do, but your heart was in the right place."

Hayley sighed, raking her fork back and forth over her eggs. "I could have gone about it so much better. Sat you down and forced you to listen to me."

"You mean tied me down," Keelin corrected with a laugh. "You know I wouldn't have wanted to talk about that."

Laughing as well, Hayley replied, "Oh, yes, right. Or handcuff."

Keelin shook her head. "Way too kinky for best friends who aren't getting it on."

"Ah. Good point," Hayley agreed.

After a short silence fell between them, Hayley broke it.

"So you and Freya, huh?" Hayley said in a teasing tone, wiggling her eyebrows.

"What did you say?" Keelin asked, looking up from her breakfast plate.

Hayley smirked. "You heard me."

"How do you know?"

"Elijah and I were in the hallway when you two were heading into the room."

"How much did you see?"

"And hear."

"Wait, what? Hear?"

Hayley laughed. "Our rooms are actually right next door to each other, despite not looking like it from the outside."

"But there's a door between ours..."

Shrugging her shoulders, Hayley said, "We heard you through the wall. So either you two were loud enough to be heard through two rooms, or that door is a part of ones of our rooms somehow."

"We should do some detective work and figure that out," Keelin suggested, taking a bite of her food. "A random door that neither of us have seen from in either room... weird."

Hayley nodded her head in agreement. "It is now that you mention it."

"We have time."

"We do," Hayley agreed. "So you and Freya. Give me the details."

Keelin raised an eyebrow. "Give you the details? As in... all of the details."

Hayley immediately shook her head and hand no. "Oh, no, no, no, no!" she exclaimed, laughing. "Not the sexy details. Just the details of what all lead up to it."

"I have you to thank for that," Keelin admitted with a small smile.

"What? Um... me? Why? How?"

"If I hadn't been mad at you and run off the find her, we probably wouldn't have hooked up."

"So, wait... that's all it was, you angry at me and having sex with her to forget you being mad at me?" Hayley asked, slightly confused.

There was no way she was thinking about this correctly. Keelin wasn't that type of woman. It must've just been a misunderstanding. Keelin's wording could definitely be better. Less negative suggesting.

"Of course not!" Keelin instantly assured her. "It was just a catalyst to making us go for it. As mad as I was at you, Freya agreed with what you said and helped me see that I do deserve better. Now, of course, none of us think the way you went about it was right..."

Hayley nodded, taking a sip of her drink. "Definitely not. Drunk me should not be able to take pics or send texts anymore. Ever."

"I very much agree with that." Keelin laughed.

"So you were saying."

"I was saying that I realize I deserve better and then it dawned on me... Random flirting and make outs with Freya at first seemed like just a CVF thing, but honestly... I truly do like her," Keelin admitted. "I mean, not in a Hallmark kind of way. It's not love after less than a week already. But I definitely think one day in the future... it could be."

"Sounds sweet." Hayley smiled. "But what happens when..."

Keelin cut her off. "I don't want to think about what happens later. We still have a little over a week on the cruise. Let's just enjoy our times with over cruise ship love interests."

Hayley smiled, nodding her head and lifting her glass up. "I can drink to that."

"To cruise ship love interests!" Keelin exclaimed, lifting her glass up to meet Hayley's.

"Hear! Hear!"

~AllAtSea~

"I was thinking, you won the bet last night and I think today is a good day for me to pay up my end of the deal."

"In that case, I like the way you think."

"However, first, you should probably fill me in on what your wager was."

Hayley grinned. "Well, not unlike your own... dinner definitely. Except, also, dancing as well."

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Dancing?"

Laughing, Hayley responded, "Don't look so surprised. I like to dance every now and then."

Elijah nodded his head. "It would appear you do.

"And there is a salsa club down on deck four that I've wanted to check out, but never got the chance to ask Keelin to go with. Her being with Freya most of the time and all."

"You never do cease to surprise me," Elijah said with a smile.

"I hope that is a good thing," Hayley mused, smiling back at him.

"Oh, yes. It most certainly is," Elijah assured her.

"We are on for tonight in that case?"

"Why would we not be?"

Shrugging, Hayley admitted, "Truthfully, you just don't seem like the salsa dancing kind of guy."

Elijah grinned. "You are not the only one full of surprises."

Grinning back, Hayley responded, "I look forward to you showing me what you've got tonight."

"If I get my way, you will be shown a lot you would never expect from me tonight."

"I am holding you to that."

~AllAtSea~

Later that evening, Hayley couldn't get rid of the feeling of butterflies in her stomach as she got ready for her dinner and dancing non-date with Elijah. This was just a platonic settling of a bet dinner and dance. There was no reason for her to feel so antsy and butterflyfish. Right? She really did like him. But did she like him like that? Her mind may not know for sure but her stomach and body apparently did.

"I'll stay out with Freya tonight," Keelin said with a smile, breaking Hayley out of her thoughts.

"What's that smile for?" Hayley asked, looking at her through the mirror.

Keelin shrugged. "Nothing."

Hayley narrowed her eyes. "Bullshit. You never smile like that for nothing."

"I am now."

"Again. Bullshit," Hayley reiterated, turning towards Keelin and putting her hands on her hips. "You think something is going to happen between Elijah and I tonight, don't you."

Keelin smirked. "Maybe."

"We're just friends, Keelin."

"Yeah, sure. Okay. Whatever you say."

Hayley huffed, rolling her eyes. "Shut up."

The sound of Keelin's laugh followed Hayley the entire way to the bathroom.

~AllAtSea~

Hayley was putting on the finishing touches of her very minimal makeup when Elijah knocked on the door. Giving herself a once over in the mirror, Hayley smiled. She looked good enough to be going to dinner and dancing, but not too good that she looked like she was going to a cocktail party.

"You look good," Elijah mused with a smile. Being the gentleman he was, he kept his eyes on hers instead of roaming her body like Hayley was used to guys doing.

The feeling of butterflies returned in Hayley's stomach with a vengeance. Not that she minded. He really was the type of guy she'd expect to be the butterfly causing type. And so far her assumptions about him were right. All good ones, of course.

"So do you," Hayley said, trying her best to cover up her nerves.

She had to keep reminding herself that this was not a date. It was simply a bet ante being paid off. Just two new friends going to dinner and dancing. No big deal. Not romantic at all. At least that's what she kept telling herself.

"Shall we?" Elijah asking, turning slightly to offer her his arm.

Hayley nodded and smiled, stepping forward to loop her arm with his. "Yes, we shall."

~AllAtSea~

Hayley was honestly having one of the best nights, if not the actual, best night of her life. She'd never had this much fun. Not with Jack. Not with any of her boyfriends before him. Not with her friend with benefits from college. Not anyone. No one that was not Elijah. There was something about him that just made everything that much better.

A laugh escaped Hayley as Elijah twirled her around and dipped her. He was an insanely good dancer. She never would've expected him as one to dance more energetically. He had such a pristine and choreographed sense to him. But as he'd said earlier, he was going to surprise her throughout the night. So far he was keeping his word.

Hayley opened her eyes and her happiness was suddenly put to an end. She should've known something like this would happen. The night had been going way too well so far. And now just like that it was over with.

Right before Elijah pulled her up, she caught sight of the women Jackson had cheated on her with. Genevieve. Seeing her there only meant one thing. Jackson was there, too. Somewhere. The last thing Hayley wanted was to put up with him at all that night.

Elijah pulled her up and his own smile fell the second he saw her face. "Is everything okay?"

Hayley tilted her head in the direction of Genevieve.

Elijah turned to look where she was directing him and frowned. "Is that them?"

"Them?" Hayley questioned, looking over to find Jackson now with Genevieve. "Yes, that's them."

Suddenly Jackson was looking their way. Hayley was frozen in her place. She wasn't sure what to do. She wanted to turn and storm off, but she wasn't going to give him that satisfaction. Plus, Elijah was holding onto her tightly and she really didn't want to move away from his comforting embrace.

Before Hayley could manage to blink or do anything, her jaw was being cupped and her face was being turned towards Elijah. She wasn't able to get a word out because his lips were on her right then. Holy fuck!

Hayley was momentarily stunned when Elijah's lips met hers. She was frozen in place and in mind. Not in a million years had she expected Elijah to kiss her. Not that she was complaining or anything, but it was definitely a surprise. One she actually didn't mind once she got over the initial shock.

When she came back to reality and got over the surprise, Hayley didn't hesitate to kiss him back. It may seem too cliché like or fake, but Elijah really was one of the best, if not the actual best, kisser she'd ever kissed. Damn, he was good. Hayley felt like she was floating on a cloud because of how much she was figuratively melting into him.

Hayley reluctantly pulled away, her eyes wide with shock. "What... what was that for?"

"You looked like you were about to panic," Elijah answered, looking guilty. "I figured if it looked like you had moved on as well then your ex would take the hint and leave you alone."

Hayley thought about it for a moment before nodding her head. "Oh, that makes sense."

"I hope I didn't make your uncomfortable by doing that."

"No, definitely not. I promise, I was not uncomfortable by it. Just surprised." Then it suddenly hit her. "You do know though that by doing that you've now put us in the position where we have to pretend to be together for the rest of the cruise, right?"

"Well... alright, I did not think that far ahead."

Hayley laughed. "Are you sure that this was not just a ploy to kiss me because you really wanted to?"

Elijah shrugged his shoulders, grinning at her. "We may never know."

"Maybe it is a mixture of both helping me and wanting to kiss me?"

Bringing his glass up to his lips, he nonchalantly said, "Could be."

Hayley laughed, tracing the rim of her drink glass with her finger. "So you are not going to tell me?"

"Tell you what exactly?" Elijah asked almost completely seriously. "There is nothing to tell."

"Is he still looking?"

Elijah looked behind her and nodded his head. "Yes, he is."

With a smirk on her lips, Hayley said, "Good. Kiss me again."

Before Elijah could say or do anything, Hayley grabbed onto the lapels of his jacket and pulled him to her.

~AllAtSea~

The way back to the room was full of stumbling and bumping into walls, refusing to break away from each other. Elijah's suit jacket was halfway off of his shoulders. Hayley's lipstick was now on Elijah's lips, barely noticeable on her own anymore. Her hair was a mess and honestly she could not care less.

All she cared about right then was how good of a kisser Elijah was. This was probably their third kiss overall, if she had to guess, but it was by far the most passionate and hottest one yet. If Elijah were to pull away from her, Hayley was sure she'd lose it.

Reaching her room door, Hayley fumbled to get her keycard out and put it into the door lock. Neither she nor Elijah wanted to part from each other. It was hard work, but she managed to open the door and pull Elijah into the room.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Hayley gasped as Elijah pushed her up against the back of the door. She almost protested when Elijah pulled away but any words of protest were quickly silenced when his lips found her neck. Her almost protest instead came out as a loud involuntary moan.

Hayley dropped the keycard not caring where it landed, digging her fingers into Elijah's hair. Gripping it tightly she pulled him back, staring at him, taking in the sight of his already puffy lips. His eyes were on her as well, moving from her lips to her eyes and then dropping back down to her lips.

Hayley wasn't sure who moved first, but they were suddenly kissing again. They melded into each other as if their lives depended on it. Elijah grabbed unto the back of her thighs and hoisted her up, walking backwards. She instantly wrapped her legs around his waist, gasping when her clothed pussy came into contact with his growing erection.

Elijah walked them backwards blindly somehow not tripping over anything. They didn't make it to the bed though. Hayley unfed when her back hit the wall. But it didn't bother her. If against the wall was where it had to happen for her to get Elijah inside her, then so fucking be it. Against the wall would do. It would do very well.

The next few minutes or however long were a blur. By time Hayley came back to reality, Elijah's shirt was off and Hayley was only in her bra and panties. He was laying on the bed with her straddling him, grinding against him. She reached behind her to unclasp her bra, but suddenly Elijah's hands were on her hips stopping her grinding movements.

"Why'd you stop me?" she asked, out of breath, dropping her arms by her sides.

Picking her up and moving her off of him, Elijah sat up and ran a hand through his hair. "As much as I want this just as much as you, its too soon."

Hayley frowned. "Too soon?"

"I want to get to know you better," Elijah said, turning his head to look at her. "I'm not the hook up kind of guy."

Relaxing some, Hayley sighed. "I get that." She smiled briefly. "And if that's how you feel, then we can wait. Even if we do only have about a week left with each other."

Elijah smiled back at her. "When the time is right we will both know," he assured her. "But maybe the night we first kiss to ward off your ex isn't the right time."

Hayley nodded. "Makes a lot of sense."

"You can have the bathroom first."

Hayley was not about to argue with that. She had something she really needed to take care of. Without a word, she made her way to the bathroom and turned the shower on. As soon as it was warm enough, she got in and proceeded to take care of the throbbing in between her legs.