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[She smiles at the message, relieved that he's still willing to talk to her. Of course, there is a lot more that's happened, more that she didn't know would happen and she stayed longer than she'd anticipated.]

If you want company, I'd be happy to provide it.

[ He didn't imagine that his opinion of her would change because of what she went home to do. She laid everything out for him and explained it. ]

I was hoping you'd want to eat with me since you're like--wolf royalty.

Right, I forgot about that. You're going to have to call me Queen Hayley from now on.

Even in the bedroom? That's a mouthful. Are you sure?

Oh, I'm positive.

But seriously, are you coming over here or should I come over there?

Yes, Your Highness.

Does Her Highness want me to cook her dinner? Cause if so you can come over here.

I'll come over there.

I'll be waiting at the door.

[At the door? Either way, Hayley heads from her apartment to Derek's trying to figure out how she's going to just dive right into another huge chapter of her life not just a week after she dropped the one that was supposed to happen. The one she only knew about through Elijah and Klaus.

She arrives in frayed jean shorts and an oversized crop top. One shoulder exposed from the wide cut of the neckline. Flat sandals with thin white straps on her feet and her nail polish chipped a bit at the edges, but still a dark purple color. She knocks, even though she's certain he heard her approach.]

[ He was not at the door because he's not a complete weirdo. In fact Derek found something else to busy him. Dinner. He promised her dinner and he's going to deliver. He might not be a gourmet cook, but living with Laura he learned how. The two of them sort of alternated and when she was gone it was just up to Derek to cook for himself. The others would have liked to believe Derek went out and caught his dinner with his teeth, but that wasn't him. Maybe Peter.

Derek is wearing an apron he got from his neighbor. It's frilly and not even remotely manly, but it's keeping splattering food off his clothes. He did hear her approach, but he waited to go to the door. He opens it wide enough for her to breeze in. ] I like your shorts. [ Nice visual of her legs. ]

[She eyes the apron and smirks.] Nice frills.

[She still feels weird being back here. She knows that it's only been a few days, but she's certain that he can tell how long it's been. That her hair is longer and she looks a bit older - a bit more worn down.]

I think I pull it off well.

[ He smiles. He could tell her it was his neighbors, but he doesn't. Instead he closes the door once she's inside his place. He leads her in the direction of his kitchen.

Derek does notice the changes. The weary look. The longer hair. It's rough to live the life she had to and then just return here. ]

How do you feel? [ He goes to stir the sauce. He looks at her over his shoulder. ] How's Hope?

Hope is good. She's - she's two now. [Which gives him a bit of insight into how long she's been back home.]

Walking - just, she's amazing. She's safe. [She exhales and moves toward a counter to lean against.] The rest of it is just... [Her fingers drag through her hair, pulling it back and away from her face.]

It's a lot. A lot more than I had expected a lot more than I had thought could happen. I want to tell you, but it's also -- I'm adjusting to being here again. It's been over a year.

Wow. She's getting big huh?

[ She must've been there for quite some time. He doesn't go looking for details. He knows when she wants she'll share. ]

Walking too. I bet she's getting into everything.

[ Talking about Hope might just be the easier transition for her. ]

It's okay. Tell me when you're ready. We can just talk about Hope for now if you want

Thank you. [She nods, taking another moment. She glances to him.]

It's okay, though. I'd rather talk it out than just let it sit with me.

[She rubs her thumb against her ring finger. She'd taken it off when she arrived, but she still feels a bit odd without it. She'd held onto it, kept the symbol, but arriving here she didn't want the reminder.]

Jack... Jack and I did get married. It was good for the pack. Good for Hope. Good for me. [The last part she admits a bit quieter than the rest.]

He was a good man. A decent man. He died protecting me. Protecting my family. [It's a broad statement, one that even she can't really settle on because she still feels the guilt over Jack being there in the first place. She had gained closure, she had ended the lives of those that took her from him, but she still feels unease about it. Unease about being here and betraying his memory.]

[ He can understand that too. Needing to get it off your chest. Sometimes with intense emotions it can often be a flip flop. Hit and miss. You never know what you want to do with them until you're there in the moment.

Derek's quiet as he listens to her talk about Jack. How he was good for her and hope at the time. How he was a good pack leader. That's not easy. Derek knows. He failed. He frowns when she says that Jack died protecting her and his family. ]

Sounds like he was an even better man than you could have hoped.

He was. [She nods, letting her hands clasp together, because she doesn't know what else to do with them.]

Things aren't better, though. Jack isn't the only one that we've lost and I'm here so we don't lose anyone else. So that maybe something can stop the horrible things from continuing to happen.

I'm -- [She's tired of losing people. Tired of watching all their efforts, their plans going astray. Tired of people thinking that they know better.] I'm just tired.

[She frowns.]

[ That's not good though. If things haven't gotten better. If they've just gotten worse. He knows about losing people. Derek Hale knows more than a thing or two about losing people. He watches her though. Because clearly she lost someone else. Someone who wasn't Jack. Someone who had a bigger impact. ]

Who'd you lose, Hayley? [ He tilts his head. ]

[She frowns, because it's not so much someone she lost -- but someone that she could lose. Someone that came close more than a few times to being taken out of the equation.]

Klaus has three brothers and a sister. Kol and Finn have already died. Finn was the most recent. He died before I returned. The thing is that they're meant to be extremely hard to kill and beyond that, their death would mean the death of any vampire that's on their lineage. It would mean countless deaths.

Klaus has been unlinked from that. They tried with his other brother, with Elijah. [She's quiet.] Elijah has always been there for me. From the moment I was taken against my will into New Orleans and found out I was pregnant.

Over time... [She takes another breath, pausing.] I care a lot for him. It's just always been complicated. With his life, his family. With Jack.

When he was here, we were together. He returned home, though. He said he needed to know if what Klaus had told him was true. He hasn't come back. That was months ago.

Back home, I walked away. I did it because Jack loved me and he knew how I felt about Elijah. He stood by my side. He died in front of me.

[She is quiet for a moment.] What we're facing right now. It took Finn and it could take any of them. I could lose them all.

I understand. Watching someone die in front of you.

[ He knows what it's like to lose people. To be in a fight that feels like you're going backwards. That's taking casualties by the second. He knows what it's like though to see the person you love just fade away in your arms. ]

When I was a kid--a stupid kid there was a girl. She died in my arms. Nothing I could do. Someone that trusts you and believes in you though. It does something. [ He nods. ] When I was young I thought my family was just indestructible. We were peaceful. Why come after us? Then they're wiped out and you realize that the people you love are capable of being killed.

[Hayley nods. She thought for sure that he'd ask more questions, that he'd want to know if she still feels that way about Elijah. She wonders if it matters anymore. He's always going to be someone she cares for, but their circumstances seem to always put them into a place where it just isn't going to happen. They'll remain in a state of complicated. Here they had a chance, but she doesn't want to go through that feeling again of having him leave. Of having to go back and him not remember, having him not know all that they had.]

It's hard to let go of that hope that once you're together nothing will break that bond. [She smirks a bit to herself.] They have this saying: Always and forever.

They're immortal, so it seemed fitting that they could make a promise like that. It goes beyond that, though. Beyond the always part of it. I'm learning that, but it just really sucks to see those that don't make it through to that always part of it.

[ He's not one to ask about personal feelings like that. It's a lot. He knows there's something there. Something she's not telling him. If she wants to tell him how she feels about Elijah than that's something she can do. He won't push her on it though. ]

They sound more like a wolf family than vampires. [ Not that he has much vampire experience beyond knowing her. But the connection that's so strong that you don't think anything can break it is familiar. ] I'm really sorry, Hayley.

[She smirks a little at that, because loyalty is loyalty and that's how a family should work. Except, most of the time it's not something they decide together and the forever part could mean small time-outs in a coffin. They're complicated.]

It's what I chose. Which, not many people get to pick their family, but after losing mine and searching for one for so long... I'm okay with what I have.

[ Well, to be fair Peter had tried to kill him and succeeded in killing his sister. So even wolf families aren't even completely normal. There's always one that just doesn't know how to behave himself. ]

I get it. I'm glad you have them.

I am too. [She takes a breath and moves over toward where he's cooking.]

Can I taste? [She's looking to ease off the topic. Having put all of it out there she feels better. She knows there's still pieces of it stuck. That they're not all out there, but it's enough for her now.]

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girn - 2016-07-06 05:19 (UTC) - Expand