Le notes: This love triangle is seriously my current obsession. I don't know, it's weird. I think it's because I've been waiting since season 2 for Klaus and Elijah to be sort-of fighting over a girl. Anywho, this is more on the Klayley side because the hybrid king is lonely at the moment, and needs some love. Also, I'm just a JM stan, sorrynotsorry. This story's AU after 1x09, hope you enjoy.

Summary: Before, during, and after: they are bound to the stake and screaming in to the dark, together. ―-KlausHayley, minor ElijahHayley

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to those nights I spent, slaughtered

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"this is how the girl who couldn't speak
and the man who couldn't see fell in love."
―Margaret Atwood

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/ / /

(Before, she didn't hate him but she didn't love him either. And she didn't spend the night dreaming about his hands and knees. She didn't want him. She didn't crave him. Before, Hayley thinks that she was better off, but now―)

"Evening, little wolf."

Klaus ―King Niklaus― smiles towards her, like a hungry beast. His mouth ―wide open and grinning― like the gaping yap of a famished red maw. She shuffles back between her sheets before he makes his way over to her, unsatisfied. As always, Hayley feels as though there is something dangerous about him, devouring even. He only laughs when she flinches at his touch. He had run a hand down her neck in something like a caress, but not quite. She knows this because she isn't foolish. Confused, yes. But certainly not foolish. Klaus is wildly unpredictable, it's best if she remains quiet during this time. However―

"It seems that my brother has become quite taken with you."

She clenches her sheets, tighter. Her heart beats at an oddly fast pace, remembering a moment with Elijah which would set Klaus on fire. She's never been in such a situation before ―caught between two brothers, both somewhat wanting to have her at their side― she isn't certain that she prefers this sort of attention. It's nothing but trouble, really. Still, Elijah's sincerity touches her deeply. In contrast, Klaus's rare moments of kindness are eating at her. It appears that every time she thinks she hates him, she sees a little light in him. Which makes her hope that perhaps, he does possess a few redeemable qualities.

"How do you find him?" He questions, curiously.

Her pupils dilate, maddening yellowish-brown eyes burn in to him, as if they could see right through him.

She doesn't have to answer him. He is already aware of her feelings. He does this to merely torture her, like he does every night. More specifically, tormenting her has become his new hobby. Almost every evening, since the night she moved in with him, Klaus enters in to her chamber unannounced and uninvited. And then, he speaks to her with words so dark and twisted that their deep blackness could drown out the entire world.

"Hayley," His cold and calloused fingerpads rest against her chin, using his hand to take her and force her to look his way. His little wolf only glares at him, defiantly. "Answer me." He demands. Although she's heard it before, his tone seems much softer now. Gentle, even. Consequently, this is when Klaus is at his worst, because he is hiding underneath this façade of kindness.

She's aware of the fact that he won't leave unless she says something. He's stubborn like that, reminding her of the attitudes of misbehaved children. Only Klaus is not a child yet, he is not a man either. He is the villain of the piece; a monster in disguise. So, in spite of him, she tells him this: "You're a tyrant, you know that?" Hayley's clear voice always gets to him in ways that he could never admit. "At the beginning of this, you wanted me dead! And now," she almost laughs, "look at you." He is, perhaps, at her mercy.

She expects him to scold her for her unworthy behaviour. She expects his fingers to wrap around her throat. She expects fear and anger, her catching breath. What she doesn't expect is his silence.

She turns to him in order to witness the pain present in his dark blue eyes. She almost makes the mistake of pitying him.

He leaves her then, unable to comprehend why indeed he would want a girl who had nothing to offer him. If anything, he should extinguish her. The she-wolf has ruined everything, his present and future. She had taken away his sister and brother. She had a hold on his daughter, his heir. She constantly meddled, got under his skin, and somehow found a way to remain there, undetected. She was the girl with a taste for destruction and he was the boy who left a smoldering path of devastation wherever he stepped. She was the one who never could leave him be, unable to tear her eyes away from the flames. The one who pestered him with her delectably saccharine smile. The one who managed to set his heart aflame and in blazes.

She was of no use to him. She was worthless. She had nothing to offer him.

But now, it seems as if they are bound to the stake and screaming in to the dark, together.

He marvels at the memory of her bare thighs and her kisses, like knives into his heart. There's harsh breathing, legs tangled together, and her nails digging in to his back. And he wonders if she ever thinks about him. If she remembers. If she feels this way too. Since he remembers every single detail.

"Niklaus," Hayley's voice floats in the space between them. "Wait." She leans against the walls of his home with her body still restless.

Under the absence of day or light, he begins to see things differently. The darkness in her deep brown eyes and the desperation in her voice. Slowly but surely, he pieces together the story of the uncareful little girl and the bitten wolf. And maybe, if he touches her skin and licks her tears away from her face...

Yes. Maybe she will have enough to offer him, after all.

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/ / /

Klaus can't forget the moment where he played her lover. He kissed her from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. He let his hands take a walk up and down her legs. He had whispered profanities in to her skin as she gave herself to him. Grief and loneliness clouded her mind since the moment he spoke to her. And now, she was fooled in to thinking that he could belong to her when in reality, Niklaus never could belong to anyone.

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/ / /

Her lips haunt Elijah's thoughts; everywhere he goes, everywhere he looks, there is a shade of dark purple lipstick marking his wakeful dreams. She leaves violet colored prints on his sheets and pillows, and cheeks and forehead. But never his lips because his lips are cursed. They transfer poison on to everything they touch. They're lethal. She might die if she's not too careful. And careful she isn't.

"It seems that my brother has become quite taken with you."

It's difficult to want him when somewhere in her heart, Klaus is there, whispering bitter words and carving his name on to her skin.

"Hayley." Elijah calls out to her, like a lover in the night. She doesn't want to listen to him. She's tired of it all. Of all his words, his I cant's and I wont's. She can't stand the way he always seems to be able to run away, leaving her wounded and scared.

Elijah holds her hand before she has a chance to die in self-disgust.

He's taking her in with a single, slow glance. Catching his breath. Holding her gaze, he can't help but notice her scent. It slides up into his nostrils, clawing and ripping at his insides because she smells like cinnamon, like cookie dough, like Niklaus―

"It all comes down to the pretty little wolf, doesn't it brother?"

It's difficult, it's selfish, and it's stupid to want two people. And she really does try her best to scowl and keep these thoughts only to herself. As a result, she jerks her hand back and walks away. In the end, Elijah is only the other brother, the one he will always be. The one no one will want. The one who will forever be left behind.

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/ / /

Her body reeks of wolf's blood mixed with Elijah's musky odor as Klaus twirls a strand of her hair around his finger and whispers against her ear, "I want you to scream for me." She refuses, of course, but the way his hands climb over her skin are oh-so distracting. She might just do whatever he wanted, wherever. But not yet. Certainly not yet. Not when she can still smell and taste the warm human blood from his lips. Still, she hates thinking about his true nature. How cruel and pitiless he is, especially with humans. He's killed mercilessly; she's witnessed it with her own eyes. She doesn't bother him about it because she claims she doesn't care enough. He can do whatever he wants as long as he fucks her senseless, later on. And she ignores the stench of death as best she can, placing her focus on the pale ceiling above her.

Then, his blue eyes turn an animalistic golden yellow when he hooks her legs over his shoulder and inhales her scent.

His mouth sinks between her bare thighs and she whimpers his name.

She forgets everything except for the man in front of her.

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/ / /

"What's the matter?" Rebekah asks because Hayley's quiet. Too quiet. "You haven't said a word all day." She reminds her, taking a seat beside her. "You and Klaus must have had a bit of spat." The blonde vampire says, only to provoke Hayley. She smiles when she sees the frown on the wolf-girl's lips. "Or," Rebekah's tone is now softer, "is this about Elijah?"

At this moment, the brown haired she-wolf feels as if she's losing her mind. "Does everything I do revolve around the hearts of your brothers?" She questions, irritated by Rebekah's constant teasing.

The original shrugs, sipping her tea, nonchalantly. "Well, it's not the first time that they've been at odds for some girl with dark eyes and hair."

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/ / /

By day, Elijah wraps his arms around her and makes promises he can't keep. Still, she smiles because she sees the sadness in his deep eyes, and she wonders if this makes her naïve. By night, Klaus draws out her darkest desires by telling her stories of men and monsters. She's scared as hell to want him. But, here she is, wanting him anyway. He will always be the boy she shouldn't love, the one she wants to hate. The enigma with colour stained fingertips and a wicked laugh. He's reading her body like braille and awakening her from her opium-filled dreams. She touches his skin and thinks that she is at her lowest. Wanting him feels like spilled ashtrays and burning cigarette marks. Painful and incredibly lonely.

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/ / /

(After, she thinks that part of her is always missing because part of her is always with Niklaus. After, she hates this feeling because she knows that he doesn't feel the same. After, Elijah looks at her like she deserves better. But she knows that she's no angel. She's cruel, you know? She really is).

Klaus comes home to see her crying, knees huddled together and her face buried in her hands. Her tears stream down her cheeks, like raindrops, endlessly and restlessly. She doesn't even notice him as he attentively watches her. She probably thinks that he's unaware that she's crying over his noble brother. Elijah does this; he sweeps her off her feet and then, just as the going gets rough, he drops her to the floor. But it's not just that, no, it can't be. It must have something to do with Klaus threatening her family. Or Klaus shouting at her. Or Klaus doing anything because he will always hurt everyone around him.

"Go away." She surprisingly acknowledges his existence. When he doesn't listen to her, she repeats herself, as if it would make a difference. As if she could ever drive him away from her mind. "Do you have fucking hearing difficulties?" She questions, sarcastically, when Klaus does nothing but move closer towards her.

"I told you to go away." He ghosts a hand down her cheek, picking up a sparkling tear along the way. He pauses in order to meet her gaze. Then, quite unexpectedly, he leans forward and kisses the tears away from her face. For a moment, Hayley thinks she might cry even harder, for his lips are devastatingly soft in ways she hadn't expected and hadn't deserved.

Not soon afterwards, still not quick enough, her legs wrap around his waist and she's grabbing him by the collar. They're kissing and kissing and he rips her clothes off her body. She tells him "screw you" repeatedly, throughout the night and he laughs in to her ear and says "that's the idea, sweetheart." They kiss so hard that they draw blood from each other's mouths.

(After, she thinks she hates herself because nothing about them is simple, beautiful, and clean. It's complicated and cruel, and with him, she's just a jumbled mess of pain and emotion. Anytime they are together, it is chaos. Nothing about them is simple.

Nothing at all).

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/ / /

(Before, before it got so messy and the sex became everything. Before, he still visited her every night. Before they only shared spiteful words and their legs never mingled together. Before, just before, she just thought that maybe―)

With her heart slamming against her ribs, she thinks it happens like this. That one day, she meets someone and for some inexplicable reason, she is constantly consumed with endless thoughts about this particular stranger. And he's a stranger because she doesn't even know what his favorite color is, or how he likes his coffee (or if he even likes coffee, for that matter). Now, don't discount these factors, they happen to be quite important when one desires to define their so-called friendship. Since, most of the times, friends know all about each other's favorite colors and caffeine preferences. And if Elijah Mikaelson isn't 'just a friend' to her, then she's afraid that he might mean something more.

She's even more scared of Klaus, she thinks. For, if he were to act upon this upsetting relationship, then he would have her head.

In retrospect, it must be because she feels guilty. Since, from time to time, she finds herself thinking about both brothers, simultaneously. It's wrong, oh it's so god damn wrong. But she fantasizes about Elijah's lips; about the way they would tattoo her lips with permanent kisses. About the softness of his touch, and the romantic words he would whisper to her as he would undress her. However, she also remembers Niklaus, and the way he almost kissed her lips raw. She recalls the way his teeth ripped through her clothes, and how he would throw a maniacal laughter in the air whenever she happened to beg for him to―

This must have been how Katherine felt and how Elena feels. Torn. At the moment, she's quite above comparing herself with the Petrova doppelgangers. Though she can't help but think of Tatia and how perhaps, she might have co-existed with Elijah and Klaus. Now, Hayley can't do that because that makes her greedy and unethical and immoral. However, it also makes her human. Well, she's not exactly human in a literal sense but, she is in a metaphorical sense. Since humans make mistakes, and humans lie and cheat and manipulate and they feel horrible about it afterwards. But so do vampires, and so do werewolves. And suddenly, she starts to realize that there really isn't much of a difference between Klaus and herself.

Maybe that's why, no matter what Klaus does, she just can't hate him. She can get angry at him and she can yell at him. But, she just can't loathe him enough to want him dead.

She doesn't blame him for being like this; impulsive and insane, paranoid, and a total control-freak. After all, his father was a mess of a man and so, she can't really expect much from Klaus. He's never had any friends, not really. The first woman he loved was 'sacrificed'. His father's a douche and his mother's a whore ―okay, perhaps that is a bit much― still, she can't really anticipate the son of two monsters to end up somewhat normal. It's pitiful, she realizes. Not just the fact that his life is such a novel, but the fact that no matter what he does, she still manages to feel sorry for him. And it's not because she's compassionate, or anything like that. It's because she understands his intentions.

He cares for his child.

And under that notion, it means that he also cares for her.

"And just what are you thinking about, sitting in the dark all by your lonesome, little wolf?" He steps in to the room he lent to her, located inside yet another Mikaelson mansion. And, as always, he barges in without her permission. Hah, and she thought that the British were well-mannered. He reeks of alcohol as he takes a seat beside her while he had just walked around his lonely castle, completely and utterly drunk. She rolls her eyes but, since she had overheard his emotional breakdown with his brother and sister, Hayley Marshall figures that this is not the time offer the hybrid a lecture on good manners.

Just then, Klaus wraps his cold fingers around her chin in order to force her away from her wandering thoughts. She looks in to his eyes and she realizes that his irises are intensely blue with a bit of yellow in them. It takes a bit of getting used to. The way he looks at her catches her off-guard, at times. She swears she could mistake desire for love. "You haven't answered my question yet, Hayley."

It's been quite some time since she's last heard him call her by her name and not some profanity or corny pet name. His voice has a rather odd effect on her, she figures. It makes her feel…at ease. As if his tone is a symphony, because it can be this calm and alluring but at times, Niklaus's voice is ruthless. Like a storm.

"What are you thinking about?" He asks, again. She pushes his hand away from her face. She let him hold on to her for much too long and now, she was conflicted.

"I was thinking about what you said to your siblings," she nervously admits. He offers her a confused look in return. She supposes she should be more specific. "You were screaming at the top of your lungs, hardly subtle. I heard every word you said, Klaus. You can't expect me not to because," she feels like stopping when she notices how tightly he had clenched his jaw. And how his fingers were balled into fists.

"I think you wanted me to hear you." Hayley bravely releases and almost immediately, he breaks their little staring contest. His gaze shifts towards the tiled floors.

"Why would you think that?" He questions, wondering how in the world he was able to keep his composure.

She takes a breath, pondering on her words for nothing but a second. "I think you wanted to make a point, that Elijah wasn't the father of this baby and well, for the record," her tone slightly changes then. He notices the fire inside of her, similar to the Petrova fire he once knew as a young lad. He should have been warned, he thinks. Someone should have told him that Hayley Marshall's most dangerous weapons were not her mind or body, but a pair of haunting dark eyes which could see right through his disguise. "I don't 'adore' Elijah and," he's increasingly shocked when her fingers inch closer to his own. "I am well aware of who this baby's father is. I don't plan on taking that away from you."

Klaus's eyes grow wide.

He wonders then, if her eyes could really see right through him and saw this much already, what else could she have discovered about him? His weaknesses? His strengths? His greatest desires and worst nightmares?

He didn't want to think about it. It sort of…scared him, the way she could get under his skin and just stay there. Maybe, she just wanted him to feel better about himself. Perhaps, she wanted to help him understand his heart because she saw something in him, a lonely lost boy who reminded her of the lonely lost girl she once was. Still is, actually.

Before she can offer him anymore words, Niklaus disappears. He's swift and fast, leaving no traces of his light behind, just like a candle light vanishing with the wind.

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/ / /

End

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Le more notes: Omg what the hell is this? Why did I write this? Wah, I really hope this doesn't suck; I've been working on it and re-writing it for weeks. It's just hard you know, surviving until January 14 only to get an episode where it's Klaus vs Davina. I mean, I just want Mikaelson family bonding, no more fighting, please Plec? Don't forget to review and follow me on tumblr (munea-dances-with-wolves)!

―Xoxo Carter