A Heart Worth Loving

Setting up her stall with the help of Brandon, Layla was surprised at how quickly people gathered to try her baked goods and was finally able to sit down nearly an hour after arriving. Handing Brandon one of the last cookies, she turned to start packing things away and froze when she found herself face to face with someone from her past.

"Well, this most certainly is a surprise," the man said.

"Seth," Layla mumbled, stepping closer to Brandon and looking around to see Elena making her way over, "What are you doing here?"

"Is that really how you greet your friends?" Seth scorned, "I never imagined that after all this time, I'd find you in Mystic Falls of all places... life really does work in strange ways."

"You're not my friend," Layla said, falling silent as Elena joined them and sending her a small smile.

"Hey, everything okay?" Elena inquired, glancing over at Seth suspiciously and returning her attention to Layla.

"Yeah, could you do me a favor and take Brandon to get a caramel apple?" Layla added, grabbing some money from her pocket and handing it over, "I just need someone to watch him, while I finish up here..."

"Of course, I'll get Stefan to come help you," Elena told her with a knowing look, taking Brandon's hand and leading him towards the front of the fate.

"Looks like you have a nice little life here," Seth commented, "I bet you never thought that your past would creep back up on you."

"You're not a part of my past," Layla argued, packing away a few trays and flinching when Seth grabbed her arm tightly, "What do you want, Seth?"

"I want a lot of things, but I'll settle with information about a hunter that's been trying to kill me and the others," Seth stated, keeping his grip on her arm and using his free hand to make her look at him.

"Let her go," came Stefan's voice from somewhere nearby, causing Seth to release her and smile innocently as Layla backed away, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, Layla and I go back a long way," Seth explained, "We were just getting reacquainted, isn't that right?"

"Yeah," Layla agreed, knowing that Stefan would notice that she was lying and feeling relieved when he didn't push the matter.

"Elena mentioned that you needed some help."

"I just need to get these boxes to the car," Layla told Stefan with a smile, picking up the money box and leading the way over to the car without another word to Seth, "Thanks for your help."

"Anytime, who was that guy?"

"We can't talk about this here, can I meet you and Damon at the boarding house in about an hour?" Layla asked, deciding to tell him and Damon everything.

"What about the others?"

"I'm not ready for everyone to know yet."

"Okay, I'll meet you there."

Running a hand over her face, Layla headed back to the fare to find Elena and Brandon. Tracking them down, she smiled as her brother showed her the teddy that he'd won and thanked Elena for watching him.

Dropping Brandon off with her gran, she headed over to the Salvatore house and let herself in without knocking. Hearing voices coming from the large living room, Layla moved closer and paused in the doorway.

"Ah, Layla," Damon stated as he moved to stand with her, "This is Hadley Davis, he's a historian and is writing an article about Mystic Falls."

"Another one?" Layla inquired, earning a nod from Damon and turning her attention back to Hadley.

"Another one?" Hadley repeated, "What do you mean another one?"

"You don't really think that you're the first historian to come to Mystic Falls, I wouldn't be surprised if every brick and blade of grass had some sort of history connected to it," Layla replied with a shrug, "Unfortunately, historians these days aren't necessarily interested in the real history... what's your research topic?"

"I'm looking into the possible existence of vampires and other supernatural creatures, right here under the town's peoples noses," Hadley informed her, glaring at her slightly as Layla choked back a laugh and quickly covered her mouth, "Is something funny?"

"Mr. Davis was telling me that there have been several reports of suspicious animals in the woods at night," Damon added, "Apparently the number of attacks has gone up too."

"I wouldn't know about that; my gran says that nothing good comes from wandering the woods at night and I tend to do as she says. I would, however, be slightly suspicious of the people telling you these stories," Layla told Hadley with a frown, "I mean, what were they doing in the woods at night in the first place and what exactly deems an animal as suspicious?"

"I think I've taken up enough of your time already," Hadley announced as he shook Damon's hand, "Thank you for speaking with me."

"Good luck with your vampire hunting and I can't wait to read your article," Layla called as he left, grinning at Damon when he returned a few minutes later and giving her a nod to signal that the man was gone, "The hunter by any chance?"

"The hunter."