"That wasn't the first time was it?" She asked nervously when she turned around.

"What do you mean?" He asked, slightly surprised by the question.

"I mean compelling me…you've done it before…"

Klaus looked away from her, a part of him was afraid that when he told her the truth she would really be upset with him, but he knew he still owed her the truth. "Yes I have, a few weeks ago…Hayley It was the only way, I did it to help you."

"I know." She whispered.

"Really?"

"You sound surprised, that I would think you did something like that to help me."

"Well quite honestly I am love. Most people hate the thought of having someone mess with his or her mind in that manner."

Hayley walked a few steps closer to him, pausing before there was no longer a reasonable distance between them.

"You know…. months ago I would have been so angry with you, I would have hated you."

"What changed?" Klaus asked confused.

"You have to care to do something that desperate knowing the person would probably hate you afterwards."

"There may be some truth in that." Was all he could manage to say. There was more she wanted to tell him but as she looked at his striking eyes she clamed up. She and Klaus didn't talk about such things; they preferred to instead leave them in the awkward space between them.

He looked to at her to continue, patiently waiting to see where exactly this conversation was going. She could sense him beckoning her to continue with his eyes. He didn't have to speak for her to understand, he was just as confused as she was. Tears began to form in her eyes as she stood across from him in silence. Hayley felt like the room was closing in on her rapidly and she was getting overwhelmed by the heaviness of it all.

"I'm glad you did it." She finally managed to whisper.

"Klaus I feel so dead inside without her." A single tear finally fell down her cheek. "I feel so empty sometimes and the only time I feel alive is when I feel this pain, you were right."

Klaus looked at her with sorrow filled eyes, sorrow for her and sorrow for him self. Her words were so familiar. "On thing I've learned during my considerable lifetime is that pain Hayley, has an ability to make you wish you were dead while being the only reminder that you're still alive."

"It's cruel you know, especially when you feel like you might get better. It comes back to remind you that you aren't, and like maybe you never will be. I can't even explain where at all came from last night. I was finally starting to feel alive, pain didn't rule me like it did a few weeks ago but then I woke up and there it was, that pull for her, that painful pull that I couldn't fight. She…. She… she just needed me I felt it." She cried.

"I know that's what you kept repeating last night." Klaus responded recalling how Hayley was an incoherent mess for much of the night. It was painful to see her that frazzled and undone.

"Elijah, he thinks I'm just being dramatic and loosing my mind. I heard him, I heard everything he said last night."

"Elijah tends to only be able to see what makes sense to him. I'm sure he'll come around to understanding eventually he usually does for those he cares about." Hayley sensed a bit of bitterness at the end of that statement but she quickly dismissed his curious tone

"You believe me don't you? You believe me when I say that I can feel her."

"You are the only person who knows what you feel Hayley, who am I to judge if that is real or solely in your head. Why does it matter?"

"I need someone to believe me, I need you to believe me because if you don't then maybe…." Her voice trailed off and she returned her eyes to his again.

"Maybe what Hayley?"

"Maybe I really have lost it. Maybe I've finally snapped. You saw me last night, I was a complete mess and I feel like I had no control over myself. I mean we've done everything, and nothing has worked on me. Maybe I've lost my mind. Maybe I've gone insane." She said emotionless. There was certain sureness behind her voice that troubled Klaus. She looked to him for reassurance; he could see her eyes begging him to tell her she wasn't crazy because she herself was truly starting to believe it.

The truth was he wasn't sure if Hayley had lost It or not. Her behavior was erratic and worrisome and sometimes briefly he did think she was insane, especially last night but there had to still be some hope for her, he wouldn't accept that she had lost her mind, he couldn't. So for that reason he needed to believe in her. So he walked closer to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I believe you Hayley. You said you felt her the day she was born. It was because of that feeling that we were able to find her and save her. I believe that you love our daughter so much you can feel her."

"Do you really mean that or are you just saying it because you think that's what I want to hear?"

"When have you known me to cater to what anyone wants to hear love."

"Never"

"Precisely."

Hayley lowered her head. She knew he would believe her, even if no one else would he would. If she'd learned anything from all of this it was that she could truly count on Klaus and it brought her some much needed relief because she barely even believed herself nor did she feel like she could count on herself like she was so used to doing.

Klaus saw her eyes shut and her face wrinkle up as she began to sob. He knew it must have meant a lot for her to hear that she wasn't crazy, she had probably convinced herself of that fact already, so to hear it contradicted by someone else probably made her feel so much better. He knew the feeling all too well. He studied her unsure of how he should comfort her. That's when she suddenly threw her arms about him. She wrapped them around his neck and pulled him into a close embrace. He could feel her chest move up and down against his and her whimpers echoed in his ears. Her hair brushed against the side of his face and he could feel her smooth skin flushed against his cheek. The sudden contact threw him off and he hesitated to return her hug but as her cries rang louder in his ears he felt his arms slowly come up to embrace her in return. He held her close against him as she laid her head on his shoulder and cried. He took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of her hair, as he ran his finger through the back of it. Tears fell from his eyes and wet her hair as he absorbed her pain and let his own out. Despite the fact that technically he was comforting her, he had never felt like he needed someone more than he felt he needed Hayley at that moment.

"Do you think we'll ever be okay without her?" Hayley whispered in his ear.

"No." He whispered softly, which only made her cry harder. "Then what are we supposed to do? How do we survive like this?"

"We don't, it's part of what motivates me to get her back…there's no point in going on without her, so If I don't have her what is there to live for. I have lived a hopeless life before Hope…and you, came storming into it. I can no longer do that."

She pulled herself away from his shoulder but didn't break their hug. She looked up at him with tears still falling from her eyes. "But what if…what if we—"

"Shhhhhh" He whispered cutting her off. "Don't ask me that Hayley, I can't…that question…we can't afford to think about it, not us, so don't ask me that."

She looked into his tear filled eyes and she slowly nodded her head. She understood why he couldn't talk about it even though she wanted to. She saw a person just as fragile as her behind his eyes and the answer to that question would shatter them both, especially him.

Klaus stared back at her, unsure of what to do next but never letting his arms break their embrace, he needed to keep holding her, she was like his support just as much as he was hers and they both needed that. It got eerily quiet as they just stood there. They could hear every insect chirping outside, every car passing along the road, every creak of the centuries old house, and the bustle of the nightlife in the quarter. The sounds were a haunting reminder of the city, the city that prevented them from seeing their child. A city that Klaus really wished he could escape right now so he finally broke the silence.

"Do you want to get out of here…I know a new place we could to go that's quiet and soothing with just enough people there."

"I don't know I'm not really up for leaving plus who knows when Elijah will come back he might-"

"I need to get out of this house, out of this city." He interrupted her. Hayley heard the pleading behind his voice, which was as close to begging as he was going to get. Hayley didn't really need to escape, in fact she preferred to just wallow in her misery in her home tonight, but that was the first time Klaus was the one who asked her to go out with him. It was normally her who needed the release so she knew that for him to ask her and practically beg her that he really needed it. After the way he had comforted her tonight and all those nights before she couldn't say no, she needed to help him as much as he'd helped her. She glanced at him and finally released him from their embrace, and using her now free hands she wiped the wetness from her cheeks. She then looked down and slowly took his hand into hers, which surprised Klaus. He looked at her in confusion but he didn't let her hand go, in fact he held it tighter than she held his. She simply looked at him and gave him as much of a smile as she could muster up. "Let's get out of here".

Elijah returned home to find that Klaus's car was gone. He figured his brother must have went out for a drive but it ticked him off that Klaus would leave Hayley at home alone, especially after what had happened to her last night. The least he could do was stay in and make sure she didn't try to pull another stunt like that. He brushed his anger at Klaus away and made his way to Hayley's room hoping to possibly talk to her. He knocked but didn't get an answer. He knocked two more times waiting to hear her voice but he only heard silence. He grew concerned so he slowly opened the door. To his surprise the room was empty. The nursery door was also wide open so he could see that she wasn't in there either. He walked out into the hallway and yelled out her name, hoping she had just wandered to another part of the compound. He still didn't get and answer, she was gone and he couldn't think of anywhere she would be since she never left the house. Worried he looked at his cellphone and found her number. As the phone rang he heard her ringtone coming from inside the house only it wasn't in her room, it was coming from farther down the hallway. He walked towards the noise until he finally tracked down where it was coming from. He was in front of Klaus's bedroom door and he could hear the phone ringing loudly on the other side. Klaus wasn't home, so he saw no reason why Hayley would be in there, still he opened the door expecting to find her, but he only found her phone on the floor. The room was completely empty. He called Klaus thinking he may have some answers about Hayley's whereabouts but Klaus didn't pick up. He hung up the phone and slowly bent down to pick up Hayley's phone, silently wondering why it was there in the first place and where she or they could have gone.

They hadn't been in the car long when Hayley suddenly felt is stop. It was dark and she had no idea where they were, there also didn't even appear to be any people around which defeated the whole purpose of leaving the compound.

"Klaus where are we?" she asked looking out the window trying to figure out her surroundings. "I thought you said that we were going out of the city."

"We are out of the city, come love, let's get going." He said opening the car door and getting out. Hayley got out of the car and took a few steps away from the car trying to get a better look around. Klaus walked over to her side of the car and leaned against the door observing her. She turned around with her arms folded. "Klaus start talking or I'm leaving."

"I doubt you would even know how to get back to our home from here love." He smirked.

"Klaus…"

"Fine, if you must know we are at a lake just outside of the city, here let me show you." He guided her away from the car farther into the darkness. After some steps they reached the eerie body of water. It wasn't a very large lake; it felt more like the swamp that Hayley spent some time in back in New Orleans. "This is Lake Maurepas, a small lake right on the other side of Lake Pontchartrain, it's often neglected in favor of the much larger neighboring lake, which is why I've always had a soft spot for it."

"If it's ignored then there are no people here, which defeats the purpose of us being here." Hayley barked back unimpressed by his choice and slightly annoyed that he dragged her out there in the middle of the night.

"If you had paid attention, I said it's often neglected, not completely abandoned. There are people out here, we just have to look carefully to find them, which is part of the trill in my opinion."

"So we're supposed to go on a hunt for a few scattered strangers like we're beasts, nice Klaus, such a great way to blow off steam."

Hayley's words sort of wounded Klaus, that's exactly what he wanted to do but her tone made it sound despicable, like he was despicable. "Yes Hayley, excuse me for reveling in my nature, or have you forgotten that quickly that I am quite literally a beast, as are you." He said walking away from her. He headed closer to the water and started walking along the shore. Hayley realized what she said and took off after him.

"Klaus wait, I didn't mean it like that. Could you just wait." She yelled tying to catch up to him.

Klaus never turned answered her, nor did he turn around or stop walking.

"Klaus!" Hayley shouted as she sped herself in front of him, which finally made him stop in his tracks. He stood in silence and just glared at her.

"You don't have to remind me you know, I've known since I triggered my curse at 13 that I was a beast, and now…now I'm even more of a beast, I can never forget, just like you can't. I just sometimes wish I wasn't. This isn't easy for me you know, I never wanted this, any of this."

"And you think that I did?" Klaus asked with a hint of anger. "Those beasts killed my youngest brother Hayley, I watched them slaughter him and It ruined my family." His eyes were beginning to water as he recalled the night Henrik died, Klaus had never really forgiven himself for that night, he also hadn't opened up about it to anyone. "Then I turn one night, without even knowing what was happening to me, I turn into one of the same beasts that killed my brother and lead to this miserable eternal existence I live now. I never asked for this either, in fact if I had a choice this is the last thing I would chose to be so don't lecture me on not having a choice Hayley."

Hayley looked at a clearly shaken Klaus with sympathetic eyes. She had never heard the whole story of how Klaus turned. She knew about his brother being killed but she had no idea Klaus had seen it happen. She found herself wanting to give him a hug or at least trying to comfort him but she didn't, unsure of how Klaus would respond to her and whether or not it was appropriate since their relationship wasn't exactly definable and their boundaries certainly weren't clearly drawn. They share moments where they comforted each other, like earlier when they hugged but it still all seemed so foreign to her and probably to him too so she held back choosing instead to just keep talking to him. She was really curious about this story and his feelings since for someone who didn't choose this he sure seemed to embrace it a lot, more that she would expect someone like him to embrace it.

"So how do you do it then?" She suddenly asked.

"How do I do what?"

"How do you embrace it all, I mean It took me a while to embrace being a werewolf, and now…being a hybrid…I use my abilities and I know that a part of me is fine with it but the other part I'm not too sure about, but you, after those horrible things you went through, despite you just saying that you would choose anything else but this, you still seem to embrace everything about it. Why?"

Klaus pondered her question carefully before answering.

Hayley watched him closely as his attitude changed from solemn to nonchalant.

"I think you overestimate how much I enjoy this nature and underestimate my ability to act as thought I do." He said before walking away from her.

Hayley looked on at him in confusion unsure of what that even meant and how it was supposed to help her. She wanted to ask another question but she could tell by the way he was throwing rocks into the lake angrily that he really had no desire to continue talking about such painful things. He just wanted to clear his head of everything, Hope, his brother, being a hybrid, everything and so did she. He wanted to hunt, to spill blood, to taste warm blood on his lips and life drained from another person he wanted to feel like a god instead of a powerless father and a worthless bastard. He needed some control, and so did she. She walked over to where he was along the lake and picked up one of the rocks on the ground. She threw it in the water just like he did, letting the noise of the water as the hard object made contact with it ring in her ears.

"So where do we start we're out here, we might as well do what we came here to do."

"You know you do not have to Hayley, I am perfectly okay with going on my own, you can even return home if you please."

"No, I want to. I could use a little control myself, besides I kinda owe you one after all you've done to help me with this insanity."

Klaus threw his last rock into the lake and smirked at Hayley. "Well then…let's begin shall we." He said before speeding away. Hayley sped off right behind him.

They quickly sped through the thick foggy woods surrounding the lake. Klaus always made sure he was a step ahead of Hayley, which infuriated her and motivated her all at the same time. She was hell bent on keeping up and he was hell bent on making sure she couldn't. They were like two children playing a game with each other. Occasionally when Klaus would suddenly make a move Hayley would smile or laugh at his childishness before following behind him. It felt good to actually laugh and smile and to just be free, roaming through nature carefree and relaxed. It was exhilarating for her and much needed after all she had been through prior.

Klaus would always give her a devilish smirk whenever she managed to catch up to him, he enjoyed the control he had over her, he liked keeping her guessing and on her toes and he enjoyed leading someone, even if it was just for a short while. She followed him, wherever he went and it felt good especially since she wasn't obligated to do so, truthfully she could quit whenever she felt like it but no matter where he took her or how quickly he moved or how frustrated with his childish game she grew she never quit, she followed him anywhere he went because she wanted to. He wasn't used to being indulged that way but it felt good and he would savor it for however long it lasted.

He spotted a dim light across the lake. Just has he suspected there was a camper out seeking refuge in a small cabin near the lake. Without saying a word he sped off in its direction. Hayley, who had just caught up to him sighed and sped off as well.

"You know, eventually I'm gonna get bored so you might want to—"

Before she could finish he gabbed her by the arm and pulled her close to him. "Shhhhh" he whispered in her ear. He was so close to her face she could feel his breath against her sweaty skin. The proximity made her feel nervous and almost flustered. She remained quiet but stared deep into his eyes waiting for him to tell her what was going on.

"Look…over there." He said pointing towards the small cabin. There was a man outside with a lantern; he appeared to be looking for something or some one.

"It's unfortunate he decided to be out here at this time of night." Hayley said turning her attention back to Klaus and smirking at him.

"Yes it is quite unfortunate that he happens to be out when two blood thirsty beasts are roaming these parts." He said faking concern and giving her a smirk of his own.

"I have an idea…but you're gonna have to follow my lead Mr. I like to be in control."

Klaus laughed, his first genuine laugh since the last time Hayley made him chuckle. These days she was the only person capable of making him feel anything other than his intense sadness and anger. "I am capable, as you well know, of giving up that control when it suits my needs."

Hayley rolled her eyes and nervously shifted her weight away from him. "Well, what's it gonna be?" She asked with her eyebrows raised awaiting his answer.

"After you sweetheart" He said motioning his arms towards the cabin before they both sped away.

AN: so first things first, sorry for promising a chapter soon after my last update and not giving it to you guys. I just got swamped, plus I had to rework a couple things with this story. I really am sorry about that and the wait and I appreciate every one of you sticking with this story that I'm really excited about writing. Good news is I've pretty much mapped out the next 20 chapters completely so the updates should be much more often than these last two, I'll try my hardest to get those out in a timely fashion.

Now about this story, I'm really excited about getting really into the thick of things, I think you guys will enjoy it. It's still really early so there are some things that need to be established and some moments that need to be shared before I get into some of the things I have planned. The klayley romance will be a really slow burn, there has been some development with their relationship but nothing too big...yet. I have them on a similar path I think they could take on the show, with a few detours planned of course :) Not too much happened this chapter but Elijah Knows that Klaus and Hayley are out together somewhere, doing who knows what, so I think it's safe to assume that their little late night shenanigans won't stay secret for much longer and once that cat is out of the bag some drama will ensue ;). Hope you guys liked this chapter. Leave a review, even if it's to tell me how i'm a horrible person for not updating my fanfics in a timely faction haha. Oh and don't forget you can always message me with questions or to chat on here or on tumblr, my blog is hopepeacelovejoymikaelson.