thisismybar | Hayley

Hayley

Ric was... happy. Being able to sleep with Hayley -and really just sleep, god knew the sex wasn't lacking- even with Damon acting as a guard dog, had been good for him. No new bodies turning up, not missing chunks of time, those were pretty good, too. They weren't quite enough for him to let his guard completely down, but he didn't think there was going to be a whole lot of sleeping going on tonight, anyway.

And if there was, well, tonight Hayley would be even more equipped to play guard dog and take care of him. Elijah's reassurance helped keep that one metaphorical and mildly amusing.

He dumped the last load of camping gear onto the ground, and looked up at the sky to check the weather. "I don't think we're going to have to worry about being rained on tonight, but we should probably set up the tent." Who knew what tomorrow would bring,and it would be easier to relax somewhere enclosed. And limit bugs.

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"Maybe so," Hayley agreed with a soft smile, gaze slipping from Ric to Damon, smile holding. The vampire had been so kind to her, kinder than she had expected at first, given their species were mortal enemies and all. Ty's being able to blend with them gave her hope, but she still hadn't been certain.

But he'd given her a home, helped her be able to stay here with Ric and for that she'd always be grateful.

She watched his expression change now, the hope growing and wondered for a moment at it, but then pushed it aside.

For his part, Damon looked like Christmas had come early. "You can." Like he'd ever hurt Ric feeding on him--or hurt him at all again.

Y'know...badly. He'd probably do something stupid to hurt him again, because he was an idiot, but never something like ripping his throat out.

There was a level of pain that was the price of friendship with Damon. Ric was apparently an emotional masochist, because he'd take that for all the benefit that came from it. It outweighed the hell out of the stupid moments, anyway. "I know. Come on. Let's get everyone home and then we can collapse into a big pile of happy, sappy, trust." Since, honest to god, that was about what this was amounting to.

And while he was feeling relieved at having Hayley be okay with him having offered, and Damon not thinking he'd lost his mind and taking it in the spirit it had been given, and was more than okay with the warm glow of happiness around them all, he could only take so much sap before he had to start reasserting a little practicality and gruffness.

Just a little.

Hayley wasn't normally so sappy, either. Honestly, Damon probably had that going more than either of them, but it still made her so very happy to just...be here. Have someone who cared about her. Have a place. It was stunningly like how she'd always thought a home might be--or a family, though her mind skittered away from that.

She hadn't had the best luck with family.

"Sounds good. I'm still kinda starving." Which she'd said, yes, but she felt the need to stress it. If only to pull back from the sap.

"Oh, you want to hurry?" Damon arched an eyebrow at her, after giving Ric a little smile. "I'd say I'd race you to the car, but that doesn't seem fair to Ric."

"Race to the car," he said, encouraging them. "If she loses, I get shot-gun. If she wins, we both get the backseat."

Because he had no ulterior motives for that at all. He was thinking about making sure she got properly fed when they got back, though. Focus on feeding Damon or not, sap or not, there were practicalities here and hell, he may as well love everybody with food.

Hayley glanced between them, then smirked. "Okay," she said after a moment--and immediately took off.

Damon blinked. "She's cheating!" he complained to Ric--before taking off after her in a blur.

Ric laughed after them, loud and rich and uninhibitedly happy and strolled along toward the car at a much, much more leisurely pace. He had no idea who was going to win that one, but seeing them both playing like that? Yeah. Perfect.

By the time Ric got to the car, Hayley and Damon had the equipment put away and were bickering good-naturedly.

"I won," Hayley called out to him, smiling triumphantly.

"You cheated," Damon argued.

"If the big, bad vampire couldn't catch me with a two second head start, you weren't going to catch me if we took off at the same time."

Damon rolled his eyes and grumbled, but opened the back seat. "Fine. Your carriage, m'lady."

Them bickering as he approached had him grinning like a fool, and Damon's remark suddenly envisioning them dressed in period costume, with an actual carriage and horse. It was fanciful, silly, and the result of being tired and happy but it was a clear and very, very pretty image so he enjoyed it.

"Big bad wolf wins every time," he said, easily, but squeezed the back of Damon's arm before he circled the car to get in on the other side, so he could meet Hayley in the middle.

Damon rolled his eyes, but he smiled which kind of made that not as clear of a gesture. After Hayley was situated, he slipped into the driver's seat, shaking his head. "I feel like I just betrayed my entire species."

Hayley laughed and scooted close to Ric. "Well, wasn't there something about vampires being created just to be able to be a match for us?"

"I think it was to be able to be faster and stronger and more than a match," Damon grumbled, starting the car.

Ric gave a soft, amused little snort that said he wasn't taking any of this seriously, then pivoted around to nibble his way up Haley's throat to her jaw and mouth where he kissed her solidly and warmly. What? There was supposed to be a nice, distracting, make-out session before they got to breakfast.

And this was so much better than necking with Damon. Not that he wouldn't be 'necking' with Damon later, but-

Hayley in the backseat of a car driven by Damon? Yes please.

Hayley's giddiness wasn't going away any time soon, and Ric kissing her just made it ricochet higher. She sighed, winding her arms around his neck, fingers teasing at the ends of his hair while she kissed him back. If Damon's presence didn't bother Ric, it didn't bother her.

Damon sighed, long-sufferingly, while he watched them in the rearview mirror now and again. Shaking his head, he complained, "You two are becoming way less fun to hang out with..."

Okay, not really. In fact, watching them was...not really a hardhsip, in all honesty.

Ric glanced up briefly. "Keep your eyes on the road, all right? Some of us aren't gonna walk away if you drive us into a tree." It was teasing, and followed with a quick grin. Then he just settled in to make out with Hayley - playfully.

Damon snorted, but did as he was told (for a miracle), and Hayley laughed. Shifting a little, she settled on Ric's lap comfortably, kissing him back just as playfully. She nibbled at his lips, then along his jaw, then back to his lips.

Damon sighed and let them do as they wanted until he pulled up to Ric's building. "Okay, lovebirds. This is your stop."

His, too, if Ric meant it about letting him feed, but he didn't want to be in the way...Oh, who was he kidding? He shut off the car and got out before they could untangle themselves. No way he was leaving.

Ric would have been really, really aggravated if Damon hadn't gotten out of the damn car and come in with them. He'd made an offer, and he intended it to be taken. He also intended it to be appreciated, dammit, and running away wasn't appreciating him appreciating Damon.

Not that most of what he hadn't been appreciating wasn't Hayley's mouth and her in his lap. "Hold your horses." He kisses her again, then starts to work with her to get untangled so they can get out and meet Damon to head inside. "You'd think a hundred years would've taught you some patience."

Hayley laughed a little, managing to wriggle her way off of Ric and out of the car, giving Damon a smirk. "Yeah, you're supposed to be the long-lived, able to wait, patient species, aren't you?"

She was teasing, looking innocent, even as Damon looked over at her. "Have you met many vampires?"

She laughed, moving toward the building. "Clearly not the right ones."

Damon shook his head looking after her, then glanced back at Ric giving him a smirk. "I've been patient for over a year."

In not sinking his teeth into Ric before now. It wasn't like he hadn't bitten other people he cared about--namely Elena--though, to be fair, not actually for dinner or breakfast or whatever.

Clearly not Elijah, Ric thought.

He could live with that continuing, though he owed Elijah some kind of debt for his help here.

He frowned at Damon and his steps slowed. "You could've asked."

If Damon had asked, Ric would have freaked and left. Well, maybe not in the last couple of weeks but over most of that year? Yeah.

Elijah was pretty much who she'd been thinking of with that, though she didn't know him well or anything--he just came in to the Grill now and then and she kept a wary distance, worried he'd say something to Klaus about her existence. Klaus showed? She got busy in the storeroom.

Damon arched an eyebrow in Ric's direction. "Yeah...I don't see that having gone well, buddy."

"Probably not," he admitted, "But you could have." It was just talk for the sake of talk and argument, while they got inside and he got rid of his coat. He was... slightly nervous, but not afraid, curious, and prepared to see what happened and this was about. And, hell, he owed Damon.

Hayley followed them in silently, glancing between them. Ric trusted Damon. She...mostly did. She couldn't live in his house, be able to sleep there, if she didn't. But trusting him not to kill her in her sleep and trusting him not to get greedy and take too much of Ric's blood were two different things.

But she wasn't second guessing what Ric wanted to do, either. She settled on the sofa, pulling her knees up to her chest, gaze solemn.

Damon gave her a look. "I'm not gonna hurt him." His voice was gentle, for Damon.

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Hayley

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