In the previous chapter, Klaus and Elijah had an important conversation after which Klaus got to see his daughter back from her trip. Rebekah, worried about Hayley went off into the bayou to search for her only to discover the werewolves maltreated and some vampires dead, because of her half-brother. Hayley was forced to confront Lizzie, before killing her, right before showing strength and emotion in her fight with Klaus. In order to maintain peace for Hope's sake, Hayley agreed to move into the apartment next to the compound for the time being. Finally, knowing Eleanor's tragic past, Elijah and Cami agreed to do something to help her, after which the blonde received a peculiar message from her dead brother.

PLOT: Rebekah and Freya talk about the family status and add finishing touches to the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Convinced by Marcel, Hayley shows up at the compound, demanding to talk to Klaus about all that has happened between them and the death of Jackson, turning into a fight after Freya works her magic. Meanwhile, Cami keeps her dream a secret from Elijah, as they work together to help Eleanor, and everything ends with a tragic night. Finally, Elijah makes an important decision for the sake of his family.

"It was tough but I am thoughtfully pleased that we managed to get on Hayley's good graces and convince her to stay." Rebekah whispered with a sigh as she handed Freya some decorations to add the finishing touches on their Christmas tree in the living room. No smile could be seen on her face and Rebekah could understand why. This was not how the two of them were planning on spending the holidays with their family. It was a mess…destruction. "I thought that if you would bring her here, she would see how wrong it truly is to ignore the family…" "Freya, just stop it! Her husband was murdered and at the hands of Niklaus! Then he went ahead and ordered the death of her pack!" "He did not order their deaths." "No, but he sure as hell made sure that they were tortured to death. If I were in Hayley's shoes, frankly, I would have taken Hope and I would have run as far away from that bastard as possible." Freya looked at her in surprise. "All of a sudden, you're against your brother? What happened to sticking by him till the end?"

"You know as well as I do that I support my brother, but I have my own restraints. I know what Hayley feels. I have been through the same kind of nightmare as her. I loved men for centuries and whenever I got close to someone, Nik would just swoop in and rip their hearts out of their chest, sometimes right in front of me. He claims that he was protecting me, or that they were not good enough for me. After many years, Marcel was finally the only man he allowed to be with me. And that was only because he raised him himself." "Hayley loves him. I know she does." Was all Freya could say. "Not enough to forgive my brother for what he's done." "And what if he hasn't done it?" Freya asked and Rebekah looked at her skeptically. "What are you talking about? Do you know something I don't?" "He avoids the subject. He doesn't deny that he didn't do it but he doesn't give a clear answer either." Freya didn't want to bring up the truth. The last thing she would want was to do the talking for Elijah.

"I don't know what to believe." Rebekah whispered, but still watched Freya as the final decorations were already on the tree. "We have the star, that's left." Freya said and picked up the latter so she could climb all the way to the top and place it there. Before she could start climbing however, Rebekah stopped her. "What is it?" Freya asked, confused. "I think it would be a good idea if Hope was the one to put up the star, don't you?" "But she is too little." "Well, maybe Niklaus will help her. And in doing so it might raise his spirits a little and Hayley's too. It's Christmas." Rebekah explained. Freya laughed. "Hayley is not coming. Don't you get it? She moved next door so that she would be close to Hope. It is Hope who will spend Christmas with us. She won't." "Well that is absurd! She can't punish all of us because of Niklaus' bad actions!" "Bad actions? What he did can't be undone."

"Well, guess what! I refuse to just sit around and do nothing while my family's Christmas spirit is going down the alley. For the sake of this holiday and for the sake of a little girl in our family, Niklaus and Hayley are going to sit down and talk, even if I have to force them in a room and lock them inside myself!" Freya raised her eyebrows at that statement. "What? What did I say?" Rebekah put her hands on her hips. "You make a good point. They have to sit down and talk about this." "What? I thought you said that…oh never mind! I have an idea, but you are going to have to do some of that witchy stuff of yours to make it work." Rebekah told her. "What witchy stuff are you talking about?" "We have to force my brother and Hayley in a room so they can…" "…kill each other. No thank you. Just because we remained orphans, that doesn't mean that Hope should have the same fate." "They will talk it through, alright, love? Just trust me. I know what I'm doing. No matter how much they hate each other right now, they can't ignore Hope and her needs."

"They each think that what they do for Hope is for the best. How are you going to manage to get them to face each other after what happened yesterday?" "MARCEL!" Rebekah called out. "What does he have to do with this?" Freya asked. "If anyone can talk some sense into Hayley, he can." Rebekah replied and then called his name again, out loud so he could hear. Marcel immediately raced downstairs with a grin on his face. "You should see what Hope is doing to Klaus up there. She has him playing dress-up." Freya pulled out her camera. "I just figured out how to blackmail my brother into doing what he's told. I'll be right back. You two deal with Hayley." "Whoa, deal with Hayley? What's going on?" Marcel asked as he watched Freya race upstairs and into Klaus' bedroom. Rebekah instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her so that their lips were touching. "I need you to do me a little favor, okay?"

"Oh no. If this has something to do with Hayley making up with Klaus, I ain't budging. You're going to find someone else." "Come on, Marcellus! Don't be such a bore! Please! I could really use your help." "So what's your plan? What do you think you're going to solve if Hayley shows up here, through some miracle, to talk to Klaus? He killed her husband, man…I…I wouldn't come here either. She is doing something big for Hope and we should be thankful that she agreed to come back for Christmas, at the very least." "You saw them when they confronted each other yesterday, Marcellus. You saw the look on Niklaus' face. He was torn. You know that he was. He felt the pain that she herself was going through. He felt it all…and he took it all. He took it all…all of her kicks and punches because he felt guilty deep down." "That's not good enough and it's not what's going to pull Hayley out of that apartment."

"Freya and I already talked it over. They will be locked in a room. They will have no choice but to talk to each other. It's that simple!" Rebekah tried to be as convincing and as persuasive as possible. "That simple? After he killed Jackson...you think that it's that simple? Klaus himself is going to have my head if he finds out that I had anything to do with this." "So you're going to tell me that Nik has no interest and no desire whatsoever to see and talk to Hayley?" Marcel contemplated on his answer before he said, "Hey, that's not what I meant, but it just can't happen. And just look at it from Hayley's point of view. What do you think she is going to say to him? What can she say to the man who ruined her life?" "Maybe there is a perfectly good explanation for what Niklaus has done. My brother is smart, and he does things with reason. Maybe this will help us figure out why he killed Jackson. For all we know, it could have been an accident…or even the possibility that it wasn't Niklaus who murdered him."

Marcel sighed and whispered, "Look, I really don't know…" But Rebekah didn't give him a chance to answer. She pulled him to her and creased his lips with hers in a soft and warming kiss. "I really want to make this work, so can you do that for me, please? We really want to make this Christmas special for Hope, and she can already sense that her parents are having a fight." "Alright, alright, alright." Marcel gave her a final peck on her cheek and left. He was able to reach the apartment in a couple of seconds and he rang the doorbell. Hayley answered the door and smiled slightly when she saw him. "Hey…anything you want?" "Just to check up on you. How do you feel around here?" "It's fine. For the holidays…I guess it's okay." "I didn't choose the apartment where you and Jackson used to live…" "I know and I appreciate that. I don't want to see that apartment again. There are too many memories." Marcel bit his lip and fidgeted. She could sense that something was wrong. Leaning her head against the door, Hayley forced herself to smile and asked, "That's not the only reason you came here, huh?"

"What are you talking about?" "You know what I'm talking about. You have that face." "What face?" "That face which says, Rebekah told me to do this." Hayley responded. "Look…Rebekah really wants you to come to the compound…like now." "What for?" "She wants you and Klaus to have a discussion." Hayley's face darkened at the mention of his name but she tried to keep herself in control. "Rebekah is out of her mind, isn't she?" "Both her and Freya want the two of you to sit down and talk it through for the sake of Hope." "There is nothing that you can say that is going to convince me to walk out of here and talk to Klaus! He doesn't mean anything to me anymore, okay?!" "You loved him once, and you love him still. You two have been through hell and back together! You know that. This can't just end." "It did when he decided to murder my husband and go after my family." "There must be more to this story. More than we already know, and you can help us figure it all out. Just trust me." Marcel insisted.

…

Hayley stepped her foot inside the compound but kept her head to the ground. She didn't know how she was going to react, but tried to keep it simple, and do just as Marcel told her. She had to give it a shot, because she herself didn't know the whole story and she was about to force Klaus Mikaelson to tell her everything. Rebekah smiled when she saw her enter and whispered, "Thank you, Hayley." "You better be right about this, okay? A couple of minutes in there and he better tell me what I need to know, or I'm leaving." Rebekah simply nodded and led Hayley to the Art Room, where Klaus was standing in front of his window, looking out. Almost as soon as Hayley entered, the door was locked behind her "What the hell?!" she exclaimed and banged at the door immediately. As it turned out, she couldn't even touch it. The door was protected by a shield and so was the window, to Klaus' dismay who tried touching it but he failed. "FREYA!" he raged and moved himself to the door, trying to reach the knob but the shield would not let him. "I can't believe this." Hayley whispered and ran a hand through her hair. She was sure that Rebekah and Freya would pull off something like this, but she didn't trust her instincts before.

"They trapped us in here." Klaus whispered and closed his eyes for a moment. Hayley said nothing and crossed her hands over her chest, looking at the floor in front of her. She couldn't speak and even if she opened her mouth, what would she say to him? "I could use a glass of my favorite drink. Would you…little wolf?" he asked and he picked up a glass, only to have her grab it from him and threw it against the wall. Klaus sighed and whispered, "I really do not appreciate the hostility in one of my most precious rooms in this compound, love. Choose your next move more carefully." "And what are you going to do? You're going to beat the hell out of me?" "As I recall, I had no intention to lay a hand on you yesterday. I let you throw all the punches you desired." "But you had the intention to kill Jackson and then go after my family…when they have done nothing wrong to you or anyone else!" Hayley told him bitterly. "I did not…I…" Klaus muttered under his breath. "What? Speak up! I can't hear you!" Hayley nearly exclaimed. "ENOUGH!" he yelled out and let go of his restrain. In a moment, Hayley was pinned to the wall with his hand around her neck.

"Do not push me, Hayley. Please!" he warned her. He let go of her neck but he would not let her move from the spot. Their eyes connected and he could see the tears threatening to fall from hers. "Push you? Push you? I knew you were always cruel to me. You…from the moment I became pregnant with Hope, I have always been in last place for you…in your eyes I meant nothing because I disturbed you, right? Because I brought this little miracle in the world and you were not the one to control that aspect in your life! You hate not being in control and I know that. You hate it! And I became this curse that wouldn't leave you alone. And so you made it your goal to ruin my life. You made it that way. You killed Jackson, you wanted to take my daughter and then you ordered the vampires to kill my family. Let me go already. Haven't you done enough to me? What more do you want?" She caught him off guard with her words, and Klaus had to keep his hands on the wall to keep himself from losing his balance.

Her orbits were too much to bear. "Hayley…" he finally murmured. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" she yelled out, louder than she could ever muster in different situations. When he didn't say anything, Hayley pushed him out of the way and went to the door. "Freya, open this door right now or I swear to God, when I get out of here, you are going to pay for this!" When they didn't answer, Hayley yelled out and rushed to the window, to try and figure out a way she could break free of that room, but it was pointless. "Let go! Let me go." She whimpered and pushed against the walls. Klaus' arms were the ones which wrapped around her in a matter of seconds and he held her against him. "No! No! Let me go! Let me go! NO!" Hayley yelled out again and tried to break free of his grip, but she couldn't. His lips found their way to her ear and he kept them there for a moment. "There was a time when I could think of many reasons why you would want to be with me…and I have ruined that chance but to have you think so low of me…I could never imagine."

Hayley turned around and faced him in his arms. "What do you want from me?" she asked him again. "You assumed the worst, so why should I do my best to try and convince you otherwise?" Klaus hissed. "What the hell are you talking about?" "I have done things I am not proud of, love. I have. And it is the truth that I have sent the vampires in the bayou to torture your family. I did it, and I admit to it! It was all me!" "And you look at me in the eyes and…" "Yes, little wolf, and I have reason to. I understand you may find it hard to believe, but I never laid a hand on your precious husband. He did not die by my hand." Hayley's mouth parted and searched his eyes. She wanted to see if he was lying…but of course he was. "His heart was lying on the ground in front of his corpse in the cemetery. You have to do better than that." Hayley whispered and Klaus' eyes suddenly glowed amber as he gripped her hands tighter.

"You listen to me, Hayley! I am not in any position to answer to you, do you understand? I can see it all very clearly that the moment you told me you would trust me…it was all a façade…never true. So why should I deny what you believe, so that you can make a fool out of me? I don't think so, sweetheart." He pulled away from her and turned to the door. "Freya, love, I would suggest that you would spare us the torture and let us out of here! If a conversation between us is all you ever wanted, then I can say congratulations! You have your wish!" Freya, Rebekah and Marcel were outside, listening in to what he was saying. "Come on. Just let them go. They said all that they needed to say to each other." Marcel was the one who was begging this time. Rebekah shook her head. "He didn't do it. I am certain now…more than ever. My brother was not responsible for Jackson's death. He is innocent in this matter." Freya couldn't help the smile creeping over her face as she nodded slowly.

"Yes, it would appear so." She then turned to the door and muttered something in Latin, which made the door reachable for them and it was immediately opened by Hayley, who looked at them coldly. "I never thought you would do this to me. Have a great Christmas!" She stormed outside and Rebekah was calling after her. "Hayley, no! Please don't go!" But the hybrid girl could not be stopped. Freya stepped inside the Art Room, where Klaus was expecting her, with his arms crossed over his chest. "Quite pleased with yourself, sister?" "As a matter of fact, I am. I received a confirmation." "Of what exactly?" "That you are not the one who killed Jackson…as I was already expecting." Klaus chuckled and shook his head. "Yes, I am certain that you never thought of me to be the monster in this matter." He turned his back on her and headed to his own chamber. "That was a major setback." Marcel said and Rebekah shook her head. "We got them to confess their complicated feelings on the matter…and we need to find out what happened to Jackson and who killed him." Freya pursed her lips, unsure of what she should do.

…

The day dragged on with chores and responsibilities, and before they knew it, night dragged on and Christmas Eve had arrived. "Do you think that this is a good idea?" the young woman asked, trembling. "Sofia…yes, it is. She is your mother. You don't have to be afraid." Cami encouraged her. Elijah was knocking on her door and then opened it when he heard a soft whimper, which sounded like "Come on in." Eleanor was sitting on her bed, with her hand over her heart and her vision blurry. It broke Cami's heart, seeing her in that position. But they were here to do something good for her…because of what the doctors were saying, that this Christmas Eve, Eleanor would leave this world. Elijah went over to the woman Sydney and asked her, "What's going to happen to her? Is the treatment working?" "I'm afraid not. I know you have both done your best and I appreciate you both for that, but there is nothing more you can do here. We need to keep her under surveillance, because there is only a matter of time before we will have to say our final goodbyes."

"That is not true. We have not done the best we could. We can do more for her right now, right in her last minutes of life. We brought her daughter, Sofia. She was dragged to Mexico, when she was younger, where she was adopted and taken away from her mother. Please. Eleanor thinks that her brother murdered her entire family line. She must know that she still has someone left in this world, to look out for her even when she passes away. Let them have their moment." Cami argued. Sydney looked over at the young girl and finally nodded, letting her pass. "The shock alone could cause…" Sydney tried to explain but Elijah shook his head. "Seeing her daughter, especially now on the holidays will be good for her. Even if she does not make it through the night…she will need to know her daughter is alive and that she is well." The reunion between Eleanor and her daughter, Sofia was too much to bear. Cami didn't want to be in the room and disturb them, so she took her place outside, with her hand covering her mouth.

Elijah followed her and soon enough, he put his hand on her back, whispering, "Everything is going to be alright. She will be happy now. All she has ever wanted was to have her daughter…or someone from her family with her." Cami nodded and wiped away her tears. Elijah watched her carefully and then cupped her cheek with one hand, making her look at him. "You seem troubled by something. Would you please tell me what it is?" "There's no point in telling you, Elijah." She thought about Sean and what he had told her. She understood that the message was about Elijah. "Camille…" "Elijah, do you feel proud of yourself?" she asked him. "No. I cannot say that." "I can't say that either, because even with all the good deeds you have done for Eleanor back there, it can't make up for the bind you got your brother in. And what makes it even worse is that you are planning on keeping it that way. Please…can't you just tell the truth?" Elijah sighed and looked at Cami's face. "I would…but it would bring nothing but heartache to the people I care most about."

"You bring your sister heartache, because she has to cover for you. Spare her of this misery and just tell Hayley the truth about what happened to Jackson and maybe, maybe, something can be salvaged this Christmas. This holiday is all about forgiveness, Elijah. If you would just tell the truth, it will all be forgiven and you will feel at peace. Trust me." Elijah and Cami were both pulled out of their trance, when they heard loud sobs coming from Sofia in the room. It was indicating that Eleanor had finally passed away. "She was a good woman." Cami whispered and went inside to pay her respects, as Elijah pondered outside, listening closely to the young woman's loud sobs, and the words of Cami ringing loud and clear into his ears. He knew what he had to do. It was his chance to make things right. This family…he had always been the one to look out for it. He wanted his brother's happiness and Hayley's too. If his confession would make things right…he was prepared.

Rushing out of the homeless shelter, Elijah found himself directly in front of the apartment he knew Hayley had rented when she had moved back here. He knocked on the door gently. For the sake of their past, and for his brother, he had to do this. Hayley opened the door. There was a tired look on her face. "Elijah. What are you doing here?" Hayley asked him. Elijah took a deep breath and whispered, "I'm afraid that I could no longer keep it inside myself any longer, Hayley. I am here to let you know the truth about Jackson's murder."

A/N: Cliffhanger. What do you think Hayley's reaction will be in the next chapter when she finally learns the truth about who murdered Jackson? How will Elijah explain it to her? Does he have a good explanation? What about Klaus? How will he react? (A special Klayley moment in the next chapter you will all love)

Thank you for reading and please leave me reviews!