Walking silently next to each other for minutes, Hayley and Declan arrived at their favourite barista in the French Quarter. Taking their usual place at the terrace, Declan looked at Hayley. Hayley noticed him staring at her and turned to him, "what?"
Declan shook his head, "where are you with your head, Hayley? You haven't said a word to me in the past 10 minutes,"
Hayley replied annoyed, "it's not like you have said anything to me either,"
"No, because you were somewhere else with your head!" Declan answered quickly. They were interrupted by the waiter. When they both ordered, and the waiter left again, Declan took her hand. "What's going on, Hales?"
Hayley shook her head, "Nothing, really Declan. It's just one of those days you know,"
"I know those days, but that's not what is going on here," Declan replied.
"Jesus, Declan just give it a rest okay." Hayley started to get annoyed again and pulled her hand away. The waiter approached to give them their coffee and left again.
Hayley took a sip from her coffee as Declan started again, "Is this about, Elijah?"
Hayley quickly put down her cup of coffee with a thud, "are we really going here again?"
"You know Hayley, I kind of sensed this whole vibe between you two.", Declan said.
"What vibe?" Hayley said defensively, "You know what Elijah and I used to be, so you have to understand that this entire ordeal is kind of weird for me,"
Declan shrugged "The guy has you quite worked up, for someone who you haven't seen in a decade"
Hayley's annoyance started to turn into anger, "Listen what he and I had was real, okay. That doesn't go away." She took another sip of her coffee, "Not really...," she added quietly.
Declan started playing with the handle of his cup, trying to ignore the fact that Hayley implied that their relationship wasn't real, not like that. "It wasn't just from your side, Hales. Elijah was jealous when I said I was your boyfriend. And at first, I thought I just interpreted the guy wrongly, but then he looked at you as if... I knew you guys used to be a thing, but you also told me that he has lost all of his memories, including those of you, so I'm honestly just struggling to put two and two together here Hales." Declan continued.
Hayley bit the nail of her thumb, sensing that she couldn't talk her way out of this and also secretly wishing to tell Declan the truth. Because after everything the truth was what he deserved. "Listen, Declan," she started quietly, "I'm going to tell you something right now, that you aren't going to like. But you have to understand that I was in a really bad place when it happened."
Declan gripped his cup of coffee, "okay," he nodded for her to continue.
Hayley gripped her temples, before continuing, "You remember 1,5 year ago, when Freya left with Keelin to Lebanon."
Declan nodded, "And you joined her for a month,"
Hayley continued, "I didn't go with Freya. In reality I was heartbroken, because if Freya left that meant she had given up. Given up on ever reuniting the family. After a decade I was still holding out Hope, but all of that Hope was shattered in a matter of seconds. I thought of never being able to see Elijah again, and that thought devastated me. So, I actually didn't go to Lebanon. I went to France…, to Elijah. To see him one last time."
Declan brought a fist to his mouth and nodded, but Hayley saw the sadness in his eyes.
"I really meant to just see him and see that he was doing well so I could say goodbye one last time, knowing that he was okay. But he came to me and I couldn't make myself leave. I then decided to make it one night and one night turned into a day, and one day turned into a week until I still found myself with him after a month."
Declan opened his mouth this time, "Well that's grand. While I was here taking care of your daughter in the weekends, thinking you were volunteering in Lebanon, you were actually in fucking France, making love to your 1000-year-old vampire ex."
"Declan, you and I weren't even a real couple back then. You can't really blame me for wanting to escape the entire situation for a moment." Hayley replied in defence.
"Actually, in my experience we were as much a couple then as we are now," he said, hurt flickering in his eyes.
"Yes, in your eyes we were always something we were not," Hayley responded without thinking.
"Okay wow," Declan pushed his chair from the table. "You know you were always difficult to reach Hales, but in the past 10 years I've always been here for you and he hasn't. I was there for holidays, I taught your daughter to drive, I was here scraping up the pieces of your heart that he left behind, I was there when no one else was. I really like you Hales, I more than like you, but even for me there is a point where I've had enough."
Hayley opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it again. Declan stood up and left without another word.
So, in my story Hayley at some point did tell Declan about the whole supernatural world and what happened to the family.
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