'Beautiful' was the last thing Hayley felt; for all she'd played it cool on the network her stomach had been tying itself in knots since Elijah had proposed they meet (which was ridiculous, she knew; they lived in the same house, for crissakes. That they'd gone this long since his arrival without crossing paths was almost unbelievable). She'd tried on outfit after outfit, searching for something not-too-mumsy, not-too-sexy, not-too-put-together, definitely-not-the-dress-she'd-worn-during-the-incident-with-Lagertha, and just ended up frustrated at her own twitterpation. It was just a meeting. It wasn't like this was a 'date' or anything. He was probably coming to tell her that nothing had changed between them, that Klaus would still get in the way. And she'd prepared herself for that (by which she meant she'd keep it together just long enough for him to leave, and then probably cry, or scream, or punch something. Or all three).
... and then he'd opened with that, and floored her completely.
So for a long moment she just stared at him, as if waiting for the punchline to a joke - the moment when he laughed and said he'd just been kidding. And when that didn't come (and why would it? This was Elijah) she smiled an awkward half-smile, rubbing the back of her neck self-consciously.
"Thanks. You too. Handsome, I mean, not beautiful. I... uh. Yeah. Humanity's a good look on you."