Like it stated in the summary, this is a continuation of "Forbidden to Remember" & "Silence Changes". The timeline is kind of confusing, it is after Silence Changes but before its final chapter and before Silas and the cure was introduced on The Vampire Diaries.

It is VERY, VERY, VERY important that you realize Hayley is my OC not the Hayley that Julie Plec created and stole from me. (Still waiting for the credit, Plec) lol. Once Hayley MARSHALL is introduced, I will do my best to clarify which Hayley I am speaking of, especially since TVD spells it the same way as I do.

ONCE AGAIN, THIS HAYLEY IS NOT TVD's HAYLEY MARSHALL, IT IS MY OC.

Music

The Tide by The Irrepresibles [Hayley's Nightmare]

Mexico by The Staves [Klaus/Elijah Phone]

New York by The Boxcar Rebellion [Elijah/Hayley]

"Hayley! Hayley! Wake up!" All the screaming comes to an end as if it stopped mid-note. Hayley shoots up right to see that she is covered in sweat. Her hands are clutching the white sheets. Then she feels a comforting hand on her shoulder and she's hunched over. Their skin feels cold in comparison to her body.

"I'm fine." She assures him before the question can even be asked. It's like she can hear him thinking it.

"That would be the fourth time this week." He sighed, trying to hide his concern for her benefit, not his own.

She finally turns to meet his worried look. "Elijah, I'm serious. They're just stupid nightmares." Hayley tries to give a soft laugh, but it gets stuck somewhere in her throat. Instead, she quickly kisses him on the lips. "Look, I used to get night terrors all the time when I was a kid." She forces a smile on her face now and is more successful with it than the laugh. "Whatever we have as humans is magnified as vampires, right?" But they both know that has nothing to do with it.

Elijah watches her with a look he used to give her when he was about to lecture her about something. Before he can start, Hayley whips the sheets off of her and scurries out of bed. "I'm gonna get some fresh air." She mutters as she grabs a robe and leaves the bedroom. Her feet don't make a sound as they go down the stairs of the lake house they currently reside in.

They were somewhere in Scandinavia. Hayley had lost track of their location at this point. Once her nightmares had started on their constant touring of the world, Elijah seemed to be picking up the pace of their traveling. She couldn't help but feel like he was hoping one of these places would finally stop her hauntings. The strangest part was that she never could even remember what she had been dreaming about once she awoke. It seemed to bother Elijah even more.

Hayley sighed as she opened the French doors to the back deck. It was already overlooked the water of the lake that seemed big enough to be considered an ocean with her Midwestern raising. Stairs at the end of the deck went down to a dock that had candles lighting every post as it went further and further into the water. Hayley didn't stop walking until she got to the very edge. She sat with her crossed at the very edge of the wood. She was tempted to stick her feet in the water, but she never seem to be able to get over the sensation of feeling no temperature change since being a vampire.

Elijah at least gave her a few minutes before she felt his presence behind her. He knew she preferred to be left alone at times like these, but he didn't really care. It was obvious he was worried, no matter how much he tried to hide his concern. It took a lot to unease an original vampire, especially the humble and honorable Elijah.

He stood just a foot behind her sitting form, lingering and making Hayley feel anxious. "You know, none of this concerned me at all until I saw that you were starting to worry about it." She sighed, still staring straight out to the water.

"Has it ever occurred that I am simply being overprotective?" He slyly replied. Hayley could hear the smile in his words.

"Taking away my memory of you for two years was overprotective…but that first night you gave an actual reaction, it was concern." She recalled. "And since you've lived for over a millennium, you being alarmed has made me alarmed." She finally turned around to look at him. "Do you understand where I'm coming from?"

Elijah's playful smirk disappeared as he looked down at the docks. "I am sorry."

Without realizing what she was even doing, Hayley quickly stood up and wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face into his shoulder as she felt him embrace the closeness. His natural scent filled her senses, instantly relaxing her. "Elijah," Her voice whispered. "I have this terrible feeling. And I know that's cliché…but I don't know how else to explain it."

Elijah pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Hayley, nothing is going to happen to you. I will protect you with my life."

Hayley noted that he didn't make any promise. She had warned him not to ever make promises he couldn't keep. "If this is truly what you want, I will never let anyone harm you. No one will touch you. I promise." He had pledged when she begged him not to take away her memory of him after she met him and discovered what he truly was. And she had been right: he couldn't keep the promise. Even the man of his word couldn't keep his promises as hard as he wanted.

"It's not me I'm worried about." Hayley finally admitted. Despite the title of immortal, the originals weren't as invulnerable as anyone had once thought. However, it was unfortunate that such truth had to be shown by example.

Elijah nodded. There were no words that would assure his safety enough for her to be comforted. So he simply wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "Come. You should go back to bed." He offered lightly. Her only response was to lean into him. She knew the likeliness of going back to sleep was slim, but laying beside Elijah was the best comfort for her right now.

When they made it back up to the bedroom, Hayley's eyes stopped on the nightstand. A satellite phone sat outside of the drawer, its usual resting place. It was the only form of communication they had out in the woods and lake. Hayley slowly walked toward it while Elijah had noticed her shift of attention.

She picked it up and turned to face him. "Who'd you call?" Her voice was accusing and he caught the tone immediately. However, he refused to look guilty.

The room was quiet.

"Clearly he's alive…otherwise you wouldn't be so calm." She snapped.

"I didn't call Kol." Elijah finally spoke. Hayley just gave him a look to continue. "It was Niklaus." He corrected.

Hayley's teeth gritted. She knew how much Elijah hated that her and Kol were connected by blood. The line of the originals was a new discovery to all of them. The death of an original was also the death of every vampire that descended from them. Hayley never had to ask Elijah to know that he wished she were connected to him instead of his little brother whose whereabouts were always impulsive and unknown to the rest of the original family.

"He said he has been in contact with the Kol recently." Then Elijah opened his mouth to continue but stopped himself.

"What?" Hayley urged, catching his hesitation.

"Niklaus was keeping something from me. I could sense it."

"He's always keeping something from everyone, Elijah. He doesn't trust anyone. Nik is diabolical, constantly suspicious, and secretive." Hayley warranted.

"He asked about you." He quickly stated, hoping it would change the subject.

Hayley just stared into his eyes, not taking the bait. She didn't want to know that Klaus had something good in him that he tried to hide. He cared about her. However, Hayley did not understand to what extent. Neither did Elijah, but he knew that Klaus did not care for another being that was not blood except for Hayley or Caroline. After being at Niklaus' side for centuries, Elijah knew Hayley could not grasp that she had overcome a feat for becoming his half-brother's one true friend.

"Well, well, well…the long lost brother graces me with a mere phone call."

"Have you spoken to Kol?" Elijah didn't bother with the pleasantries.

"I haven't heard from you in months and the first thing you ask about is our pestering little brother. How rude of you. Here I thought you were the polite brother." Klaus' bleakness was meant to overshadow his sense of humor.

"Please, Niklaus, I do not have time for your witticisms."

Finally, Elijah's concern could be heard even over the telephone. Klaus' lips went from a grim smirk to a taught line. "It is Hayley?" But he was not truly asking, for Klaus had only heard Elijah's precise tone in situations of her endangerment.

"She has been consuming constant nightmares…waking up screaming in utter terror. Her eyes are morphed into predator mode and sometimes it may take her minutes to return to their human form. Her constant worrying that something abysmal is shall occur at any moment has crushed her appetite. She neither eats nor drinks blood." Elijah now stood up and looked out the window. His eyes followed Hayley as she slowly walked to the edge of the docks.

The other line was silent for a few moments. "I only spoke to Kol a few hours ago. He is in no danger, just a nuisance to me. And from what you have said, it seems that these hauntings have been occurring to her for quite some time." Klaus then sighed. "Why did you not tell me of this sooner?"

Elijah smirked condescendingly, even though he knew his brother could only hear him. "I did not realize it was any of your business." He retorted with a certain snarl.

"Anything or anyone that harms Hayley is business to our entire family." Klaus' statement even caught off Elijah. It was dark and monotone, showing how little Klaus had thought about what he was saying before it came out. "How can we be so sure that this is not some unexpected outcome of the fire?"

Elijah squeezed the bridge of his nose, stopping the memories of Hayley coughing up blood for hours. He had almost lost her then. The witch, Aradia, almost killed all of them with her dark magic that none of them had witnessed before.

"It cannot be." Elijah denied the idea.

"Where are you?" Klaus asked impatiently.

There was a moment of hesitation. Elijah didn't understand why he felt the need to keep his and Hayley's location such a secret to his whole family. They would not harm them. It was what came along with them that he felt he was protecting Hayley from.

"Scandinavia."

"Bring her back." Klaus commanded.

"What good would you do her? She had only received harm from being in your presence." Elijah countered. "Have you finally seen the problems your ways cause? Your true immortality only brings the pain enemies wish to cause you onto her."

"You overestimate my regards for her." Klaus finally lied.

"I only wished to know of Kol's condition. I trust you will believe me when I say I would never call you unless I believed it were absolutely essential."

Hayley took a long sigh. "Did he have any ideas about something being wrong with me having a few nightmares?" She finally gave in to asking about Klaus, but she had to do it with a disdainful tone.

"He commanded me to bring you back." His jaw was clenched tight as he saw her reacting to what he said.

"And what did you tell him when, I assume, he did not demand such a request nicely?" She surprised him by asking.

"It is not important." He brushed away.

"It's important to me."

"I said it would do no good…that anyone close to him will suffer the pain that is impossible to place onto him."

Hayley looked at him with disgust as the words rushed off his lips. "Why would you say that to him?" She yelled. "He already blames himself for so much of what happens to his family! Why would you push more blame on him?"

"It needed to be said." He replied calmly, despite her harsh yelling.

Her fingers ran through her hair as she paced back and forth across the wood flooring. Then she stopped and peered at Elijah. "Do you know how hard it is to be friends with Klaus?" She didn't allow him enough time to answer his question. "He doesn't trust anyone. But for some crazy reason, he trusts me. Except he's tried pushing me away, multiple times, when he sees me as one of the few weaknesses his enemies can touch when they can't hurt him."

Elijah watched her as she waited for him to plea his defense or argue his point further. "We are thousands of miles away. There is an ocean between him and us. Yet, somehow Niklaus still manages to get in between us."

"Because you let him!" Exhaustion filled her voice as she whispered. "You always make it seem like it's him or me. Why is it so hard to accept that I am your brother's friend and I'm in love with you? There's no maybe or ifs! That is simply how it is." Before he could even apologize, Hayley quickly walked over to him, grasped his face, and kissed him passionately. It lasted only a few seconds before she pulled away, but still held his face between her hands. She looked him deeply in the eyes as if to say, what other proof can I give you?

"I'm going to sleep. You can only join me if you will stop obsessing over my nightmares and my feelings toward either of your brothers." She said softly but with vigor only she could push onto him.

Please Review! I already have the second chapter written along with a lot of bits and pieces for the future. So I most definitely have a plan for this story. I just want to see if this gets a good reception (unlike my period piece AU that royally failed) before I waste my time writing a new fic that no one will read.