I'll be There for You

Chapter 18: Where Is She?

One Month Later:

If Hayley learned anything about the Mikaelsons' in the last month it was that they were resilient. After Caroline left, Klaus had taken to drinking, but found solace in bonding with their daughter. Rebekah and Marcel stayed to support Klaus. Kol gave up his grudge toward Klaus and had even been working on forming a relationship with Hayley; that did not include threatening her. Esther and Mikael continued to seek release for their children from Mikael's mistakes. And Elijah, Elijah had been showing Hayley how much in love with her he is.

"Good morning," Elijah whispered into her ear. Hayley rolled onto her side to find him; standing over the bed. He wore a suit and a tie. In his hands, he held a tray with an assortment of breakfast items on it. "I have to go into town with Father today but I wanted to see you first," he said, smoothing a wavy lock behind her ear.

"Thanks," Hayley said with a wide smile as she sat up. He placed the tray in front of her. She grabbed his tie, pulling him closer and smiled at him before she kissed him. Hayley thought that she could die happy as Elijah pressed closer to her; moving the tray aside.

Elijah pulled her onto his lap, his eyes piercing into hers, "I do hope that you and Niklaus will be able to play nice together in my absence," he whispered against her lips.

"Maybe," Hayley offered him a teasing smile. She straightened his tie and wiped her lip balm from his mouth. "Have a good day," she told him softly.

Grinning, Elijah kissed her on the forehead. "I will be home soon."

"You'd better be," Hayley said as he made his way to the door. He turned, pivoting on one heel and gave her one of those heart-stopping smiles that left her wishing for more of everything with him.

Elijah patted the doorframe and then disappeared. Hayley smiled at her breakfast. She'd become such a sap and she loved every single minute of it. "Hayley?" Rebekah called from the hallway. "Are you dressed yet?" The blonde popped her head inside the room.

"No. I was just about to eat," Hayley replied, cutting a pancake and taking a bite. "Oh, my God! This is so good. Thank your mom for me."

"That's Elijah's doing," Rebekah retorted with a smirk. She came into the room in a new dress.

"Going somewhere?" Hayley quipped.

Rebekah looked at her dress. "Yes. If you must ask. Marcel is taking me somewhere. Heaven knows he couldn't just tell me where; so I'd know what to wear. No, it has to be an entire ordeal." Sighing, Rebekah sat down on the edge of the bed; playing with a corner of the comforter. She looked distracted.

"Are you okay?" Hayley asked before taking a sip of her orange juice.

Rolling her eyes, Rebekah looked at Hayley. "It's been years now. Years. And what feels like centuries... And after the madness of Nik's epic fail of a wedding, I..." She looked back down at the comforter. "I don't know. Somehow, I thought that after Caroline, it would be my turn. Now, I just don't see Marcel proposing to me."

"Rebekah..." Hayley had no idea what to say. She wanted to tell Rebekah that unless Marcel was hiding something pretty massive; they'd probably get their happy ending. Hayley had no idea what would happen to Rebekah and Marcel. However, she did not want to give her friend false hope for a future that might never come to pass.

"Thanks for listening to me," Rebekah said with a faint smile.

Hayley nodded. "I'll see you later."

"Yes," Rebekah nodded, getting to her feet and smiling widely. "Perhaps Marcel's planning something lovely for us. One can be optimistic."

"Yeah," Hayley chuckled and watched Rebekah leave.