Eternal || Elijah Mikaelson

CLVI - Allure Of Indoor Plumbing

Chapter One Hundred & Fifty-Six

I texted Davina before we left. I wanted to let her know that I would be gone for a while. I may have always put my family first, but I did care deeply for Davina. She was young, but she was powerful. She had a strong heart. I admired that. She told me that she would be able to handle being on her own for a while, and that I shouldn't worry.

We kept driving until Klaus was too tired, then Hayley took over, then I. When we were all too tired to drive, we stopped at a motel and stayed there for the night in a town that Hayley had apparently been very connected to in the past. In other words, she had lived there when she was younger and right after she had gotten kicked out.

I took a shower before taking one of the two beds, since Klaus had insisted that Hayley should have a bed and I should as well. He was quite a gentleman when he wanted to be.

The next morning, we stopped at a gas station, where Hayley was rather eager to mess with Klaus.

"What do you think?" she asked, an excited grin on her face when she showed me what she had gotten.

I looked over and saw a hat, which was embroidered with the words "Mother Trucker". I burst out laughing, shaking my head.

"I love it. Though I'm sure that Klaus will have an entirely different opinion," I informed her, though she already knew.

"Who cares," she snickered, going up to the counter to buy it. "He's wearing it whether he likes it or not."

When we left the gas station and met Klaus outside, his immediate reaction was, "Absolutely not."

"You need to blend in, Nik," I told him. Then I grabbed the hat and dropped it on his head.

He frowned, narrowing his eyes at me, but never removed it. I wouldn't have been surprised if he actually liked it, but wasn't willing to say so.

"And if you really wanna blend in, you could always start by losing the thousand dollar jacket," Hayley added with a raised brow.

Klaus most certainly didn't like that idea.

He sighed, and from the way he was pouting, he reminded me of a little child. "Tell me again why we're on a scenic tour of Methamphetamine Country, and not compelling a jet to some far off - preferably tropical and sunny - destination?"

"Sorry, I burn easily," I said sarcastically, waving my darling right adorned hand at him. "Pretty sure you to do too, smartass."

"Look, we're not the ones with an army of pissed-off vampires coming after me. Can I have the keys?" Hayley asked, though it sounded more like a demand.

Klaus sighed yet again, only more dramatically, and pulled the keys out of her pocket and handed them to her.

"On a scale of one to ten, exactly how much am I going to despise this little plan of yours?" Klaus asked.

"I would say..." she hummed with a mocking smile, flicking his hat. "A solid eighty-five."

"Oh, good..." he muttered, reluctantly getting into the car.

*

Klaus was not pleased as we walked into the homey-looking bar with country music playing.

This place was everyone opposite of Klaus. It was absolutely beautiful!

"Well, I can see why you wanted to come here," he said sarcastically. "I feel safer already!"

The bartender came over to us as we came up to the counter, and he gave us a look that told me he knew exactly who Klaus was.

"We're closed."

Klaus smiled. "You don't look closed."

"We are for you."

"Well, perhaps you failed to notice the hat?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the hat, flinging it down onto the counter. "Remind me why I wanted to spend any amount of time with you?"

He just smiled, while Hayley sighed at Klaus' childish antics.

"I'll take a bourbon. Unless Hollis is still serving that moonshine of his?" Hayley asked.

Just then, a man came out of the back room. He was middle-aged and had dark skin, with a bright smile that only widened when he saw Hayley.

"Well, I'll be damned!" he exclaimed, then patted the bartender on the shoulder. "I got this."

The bartender narrowed his eyes at us, then left.

"It's been a long time since you danced on my bar, Hayley Marshall."

I couldn't help but laugh, and Hayley smiled at my reaction.

"It's been a long time since I danced on any bar," she replied. "I get in a different kind of trouble these days. Hollis, meet Hope," she gestured to Hope, who was sitting in her stroller and staring up at Hollis with big eyes.

"Oh, look at her!" he said happily, admiring the child before looking down at Hayley's hand. "Ah. City boy, huh? Wouldn't have guessed that."

Hayley pulled her hand away, and my smile faded. She was still wearing her wedding ring. Hollis thought she was married to Klaus.

"Never underestimate the allure of indoor plumbing," Klaus joked, clearly trying to help lighten the quickly darkening mood.

"Hollis, this is Rose, and next to her is Klaus. He's my..." She struggled to find the right words. "Daughter's father. It's a long story."

Hollis glanced over at Klaus warily, who just smiled and showed his yellow eyes.

"We just... Need a place to lay low."

Hollis sighed, but then smiled at her anyway. "You picked a pretty rough time for us around here. A lot of folks are giving up on the pack altogether," he said, then rubbed his face nervously before continuing. "Well, for the reigning dart-throwing, tequila-shooting champ of Willoughby Lake? I just wish there were a few more people to give you a proper homecoming."

He pulled out three mason jars and filled them with moonshine, making Klaus rather uncomfortable. He sure hated the country atmosphere, that was for sure.

"Hey, you guys settle in. Baby drinks free," he said with a laugh.

I rather liked Hollis. And the fact that Klaus did not just made me like him even more.