Truce?

• Elena or not-Elena, that is the question. Friends? — Oh, of course. •

".."

"Anything new on the outside?"

Hayley had her head on Finn's chest as they lied completely down on the lawn of his clearing.

"Oh, nothing new," Hayley replied. "I'm still kicking ass as cheer captain, Sheila finally lent me one of the Bennett's grimoires and uh ... A five hundred year-old vampire is out to get me."

There was a stunned second of silence before Finn gently pushed her head up so he could look into her eyes. He liked to do that a lot. The eyes were the windows of the soul and he wanted to see if the person he was coming to care for greatly was telling him the truth.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked, a small frown marring his forehead. "Who wants to kill you? And why?"

"Don't worry about it," Hayley assured. "I can take care of myself." She tried to change the subject. "Hey, remember that life story of yours? I would actually like to hear more of that."

Finn, however, wasn't budging on this one. "Who?" His voice lined with a hint of authority.

"Ugh," Hayley groaned, knowing she wouldn't shake the vampire when he got like this. "Katherine Pierce. That's her name now but she used to be called Katerina Petrova."

Finn arched a finely shaped brow. "Petrova?"

The hybrid nodded. "Something happened five hundred and some years ago and she was turned into a vampire," she explained. "I would've never crossed paths with her if she did not awfully resemble one of my acquaintances in Mystic Falls."

She didn't want to give the mantle of friend to Elena. Call her petty but the doppelgänger and her still couldn't see eye to eye, even when they had agreed to remain civil.

Finn leaned forward, fully invested in her words. Exactly the reaction Hayley was looking for. She wanted to tell him of his siblings' whereabouts or even of meeting Rebekah but she could not do that unless he talked about them first. Otherwise he'd become very suspicious of her and she didn't want that. She was starting to get attached to this dream warrior of hers.

"That resemblance," he mused. "Could it make them look like twins?"

Hayley nodded. "Identical," she affirmed. "How did you know?"

"I knew of a girl like that," Finn didn't hesitate in telling Hayley of his past anymore. "Tatia was her name. She charmed two of my brothers, Elijah and Niklaus, a long, long time ago. So much so that they were fascinated when they met her exact replica five hundred years later," he explained. "That's when they learned of the notion of doppelgängers and how they could be beneficial to Niklaus."

Inside, Hayley was jumping in joy. Finally! He had mentioned his brothers' names.

"How could she be beneficial to him?" Hayley asked, tilting her head.

"My brother navigates life with a curse that suppresses his nature," Finn stated. "We've worked hard to break it but the only missing component seems to always escape our grasp."

We? Our? Hayley was fascinated. How did Finn even know all these things when he'd spent nine hundred years in a coffin? Why does he remain daggered in the first place if the siblings' relationship is so good?

"The missing component is the doppelgänger?" Hayley asked an obvious question.

Finn nodded. "Katherine was the last one we came across and she betrayed my brothers. She didn't have to die but she chose to turn herself into a vampire before Nik could get what he wanted."

"I can help." This was a long time coming. Hayley finally had the opportunity she wanted.

Finn narrowed his eyes on her. "Why would you? The doppelgänger is your friend."

"I said 'acquaintance', warrior," Hayley corrected. "We belong to the same group of friends but we don't seem to like each other." She leaned forward. "I can keep an eye on her and make sure she agrees to help your brother."

Finn sighed. "Even if you succeed in your endeavor, how are you going to convince the rest of your friends?"

Hayley chuckled. "I'm crafty like that," she shrugged. "They will fall in line once she decides to help."

"The ritual involves her dying. Are you fine with that?"

"I'm no saint, warrior," Hayley arched a brow. "And have you forgotten that I am a witch? She won't die if I don't let her." An idea which Hayley was attracted to but couldn't bring to fruition. She needed the other girl's blood for Klaus. A lot of it.

Having come to an understanding, Finn and Hayley huddled close together while he explained a ritual she already knew. He also spoke of his two brothers but remained mum on the rest of the family so she had no choice but to put her meeting with Rebekah to the back of her mind.

Hopefully she would see the blonde Original again. Maybe she was a bit more loose-lipped than her stoic brother.

".."

"What's up with you and Elena?"

Hayley was sprawled across Caroline's bed while the blonde was getting ready for their dinner at the Grill.

"What do you mean?" Hayley played dumb while looking around Caroline's room. It was actually well-decorated in neutral tones considering the color vomit on most of the blonde's clothes.

"Don't play dumb!" Caroline called her on the lie. "You two never speak to each other, at least not directly. You never sir together, you avoid walking with the other or being in the same room if it's only the two of you. So, what's up?"

Hayley released a long, suffering sigh. "It's not my fault she's so annoying," she complained. "I'm not obliged to like her, Care."

"Hayls, you're my best friend but so is she and the weird thing you two have going on is worrying Bonnie and I."

Hayley lifted her hands in the air and sighed for the nth time. "I do not like her, Caroline. I'm not going to force myself just because the five of us are always together."

Caroline stood up after having checked her cellphone and gave Hayley a secret smile.

"Too bad," the blonde went to the door and opened it, pulling a confused brunette inside. "Because neither one of you is walking out of this room without a smile!"

Elena, who had just been pushed inside by the combined efforts of Bonnie and Caroline, turned around and knocked furiously on the now closed door. "Bonnie! Caroline! This is not funny!!"

Not funny at all, Hayley thought as she watched Elena with disdain. It actually physically pained her to admit but she had to make friends with the doppelgänger. Only when she had Elena's friendship and trust would the rest of the gang follow when she proposed something. You know, like, sacrificing their precious Elena for a big bad hybrid.

"You might as well give up," Hayley rolled her eyes at the other girl. "You know them. They won't let us out of here for awhile."

Elena ignores Hayley and went to sit at Caroline's vanity, facing the window. Hayley stayed in the bed and pulled out one of Caroline's shitty books to mock-read. There was no way in hell she was approaching the other girl first.

Half an hour went by in this uncomfortable silence before Elena finally released a small sigh, turning around to look at Hayley.

"Look, Hayley, I don't hate you, all right?" Elena began. "I just feel like you don't like me, for some reason."

Yeah, because every soul was bound to like Elena Gilbert.

Hayley swallowed her sarcasm and put on a confused front. "That was exactly how I felt," she explained. "I just thought you didn't like me so I didn't bother to make friends with you."

The two girls looked at each other for a short period of time before they laughed, the air immediately being relieved of the suffocating tension.

Hayley had to applaud her superb acting skills. Maybe she should apply for drama school after high school.

"Friends?" Elena stood up and extended her hand towards Hayley.

With a genuine, she hoped, smile. Hayley stood up and clasped Elena's hand with hers. "Friends."

For Elena, it was another good friend added to the mix but for Hayley, it was mainly a truce. When the other girl lost her utility, she would drop this absurd farce.