SHE PROMISED ( the originals )

0019. GETTING BUDDY-BUDDY WITH PREGGERS THE WOLF

SHE PROMISED
( part one, chapter nineteen )

ELLE HAD BARELY SPOKEN A WORD since she and Genevieve had saved Hayley. She had distanced herself greatly from everyone and she was thankful that Klaus and Elijah had allowed her to sit in the courtyard until she had gathered her thoughts and was able to head back home.

Sitting in one of the many chairs, she leaned down to pick up a wooden shard of the chair Elijah had supposedly broken earlier. She twirled it in her hand and muttered a quick word, and its tip erupted in flames. The fire was shaking and was growing larger and larger, causing Elle to drop it. The fire died instantly and she took in a sharp breathe. Her magic was shaky, a reflection of her current emotions.

Seeing Joseph nearly sent her into a panic. The man who had ruined her was there, somewhat alive and breathing but still dead. He taunted her and mocked her, and she'd never felt such fear like that in a long time.

She let out a long sigh and looked down at her feet, holding her head in her hands. Elle tightly gripped her hair so tight she was almost pulling it. Her hat had been lazily thrown beside her, resting next to her heels.

"Hey, you okay?" She looked up to see Hayley, hand against her bulging stomach and changed into her usual clothes. "You looked a bit more shaken up than me, and I fought Mikael the Destroyer." The end of her sentence had a somewhat playful tone to it.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Elle tried, giving the werewolf a weak smile.

"Can I ask you something?" Hayley moved to sit in the chair opposite Elle.

Elle nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Who was that guy you were fighting with?" Hayley asked, her voice turning sincere.

The witch tensed and bit her lip. Elle shook her head. "Just... a guy from my past," Elle responded. "His name was Joseph." She shut her eyes and squeezed them tight, and held her breath for a few seconds. Somehow Hayley didn't seem to notice that the fountain now had a small crack in the stone, only noticeable if you really looked for it. "He, um, he was my adoptive dad."

Hayley's eyes grew a bit wide. "Oh," was all she said and leaned back in her seat. She paused, trying hard to find the right words. She'd seen the way Elle had look at him; her hazel eyes were alight with pure fear and terror, something she'd never seen in anyone's eyes before. Joseph had done something to the poor girl, and although Elle wasn't physically saying it, Hayley could see it in the way she talked, the way she had been acting these last few hours, and the way her eyes looked. Her eyes looked the same as they did in the fight.

"I heard him say... " Hayley paused, searching for the right words. "Can I ask you what happened?"

Elle rolled her neck, squeezing her eyes shut. "It was an accident," she said softly, looking at her hands. "I was just so upset... and I 一 it just got too out of hand and..."

Hayley watched the witch. Even now the girl was still shaking. She didn't want to ask exactly what Joseph had done to her, but she could only assume the worse. It didn't feel right to ask her about it. "Are you... okay?" she asked slowly.

"I've been better," Elle said softly and looked up at Hayley, "but I'll be okay. I always am."

The pregnant werewolf wanted to reach out and hold Elle's hand. Despite them rarely ever talking, she had grown to care for the little witch and greatly considered her a friend. "You know you don't have to fight this alone," Hayley said and smiled at the girl across from her.

"I know." Elle looked down at the floor and smiled fondly. She thought back to her conversation with Klaus, and how they connected once before. She knew that she wasn't alone. She reached over and gave Hayley's hand a squeeze, a silent action telling her that she was thankful and she was happy the werewolf was by her side.

Hayley squeezed back in return.