Can't Give You Up *KLAUS MIKAELSON*

Chapter Two

*Klaus' Point of View*

Klara and I had been together for exactly two years. Every moment I wasn't with her- I'd be thinking of her. Her smile. Her voice, her face- her personality. She was noting less than everything to me.

I invited Klara over for dinner at my home to celebrate two years together, and that was when I would tell her the secret. The secret that had been with me for almost as long as I could remember.
The time drew near to six o'clock in the evening; Klara would be arriving soon. Very soon. I couldn't sit still, I had never been so nervous in my entire life. A thousand different questions fired through my head: "what if she can't handle it? What if she's scared?... what if she runs away? what if I lose her?"

"maybe I shouldn't tell her tonight... Oh but this is the best time to tell her..."

"Niklaus, I can tell you're nervous, why?" Rebekah interrupted my train of thought.
"Nervous? Why on earth would I be nervous? I'm only about to tell the girl I love a huge life changing secret, that might make her stop loving me forever- which for me, Rebekah, is a long time!" I couldn't help but start to shout. I stood up from my seat and began pacing the room.
"Brother, it's going to be alright." Rebekah grabbed my chin and forced me to look at her, "If she really is the right girl, she will accept the truth- she will still love you," she was smiling at me now.
"But what if she doesn't accept who I am, Rebekah, what then? I love her." I felt a hot tear roll down my cheek. I couldn't bear the thought of losing Klara.
"Well that parts easy-If she doesn't accept you I'll just snap her neck!" Rebekah was laughing, though I was pretty sure she wasn't joking.
I smiled back at my sister as I rubbed my eyes. Then, Rebekah pulled me into an awkward hug.
"We will stick together, alright?"
"Always and forever..." I whispered over her shoulder.

* *

"Klaus! Miss Klarabelle has arrived!" My brother Elijah called to me as he opened our front door. I sighed and lifted myself up from the chair in the sitting room. Rebekah nodded and smiled at me, "I'll be in the kitchen. Good luck Niklaus..." she left the sitting room without another breath.

"Klarabelle... Good even-" I stopped dead in my tracks and gazed at Klara, who was standing in the doorway wearing a lilac dress, with her hair curled to perfection. Her pale skin was glistening, and her lips were red and glinting slightly.

"You look stunning, Klara." I was smiling, though I felt as though I was dying inside... "What if I lose her tonight?" the questions were back in my head again.
"Thank you Niklaus... You look wonderful too." Klara took a step into the house, and took her hand and pulled her into the dining room for dinner.
"Klara. You're just in time; tea is just ready!" Rebekah greeted Klara with a smile, but a sort of warning one.
"Great to see you Bekah, thank you for cooking for us." Klara's smile was the most beautiful thing imaginable. Her teeth were like white pearls, and her face could light up the room with happiness.
"Well, let's eat then." I pulled out Klara's chair and watched her sit down, before I sat in my seat.

* *

I had made it through dinner barely without my nerves getting the best of me.

All that was left was to tell Klara the truth.

"Klara- I must tell you something... Important." My voice was shaking as I spoke. My mouth felt suddenly as dry as a desert and my hands wouldn't stay still.
I thought for a moment, and glanced at Klara's concerned face.
"Klara- won't you dance with me?" I asked her, taking her small hand.
She nodded and followed behind me to the grand ballroom.
I made the music start up, and we began to slowly dance around the wooden floor. Klara had her head rested against my chest, and her hand was held tightly in mine. I didn't want it to end. I didn't want her to fear me, or think I was a freak of nature, but most of all- I didn't want her to think I would try to hurt her.

A single tear started to form in my eye again. I blinked it away before I spoke.
"Klara..." I closed my eyes, "I love you. I always will, and you need to know that. Without you, I'm nothing."

Klara didn't shift position.

"Klaus... You are my world. Before you came along. I felt alone. My father passed away two months before I met you. He was everything to me, and when he left. I didn't want to be alive anymore. You changed that for me. You gave me hope to stay... I knew you were special." I could tell she was crying. Her shoulders were shaking.
I let go of her hand and held her shoulders at an arm distance away.
"I... I don't know how to tell you this, And I don't want to tell you either... Maybe you'll laugh and tell me to wise up, thinking I'm joking. Maybe you'll understand and believe me; let's find out.
I promise you- I wouldn't lie to you about this. I am not human.
I am immortal. I am a vampire. And a werewolf... I'm called The Hybrid. You must've heard old stories about me- Thinking that the stories were only bedtime tales... But they are true. I am so sorry, Klara. I've been wanting to tell you for a year, but I couldn't. I couldn't bear to think what you'd say. Believe what you want. But just know, I am telling you the truth. The full truth. " I delivered the message with my eyes closed as I didn't want to see Klara's face. My hands had dropped off her shoulders. She was completely silent. Had she left? Did she think I was joking?

I opened up my eyes resistantly to see the girl I loved still standing in the same spot. Completely frozen. I felt myself wanting to just break down.
Klara wasn't speaking. She was just standing blankly, her eyes not meeting mine. I didn't know what else to say.

"Klara-I understand if-. "

"When I first met you- I fell in love..." Klara finally spoke in a tiny voice, and her body was still completely still.
"I knew you were going to be in my life for a reason. You were supposed to show up when you did... You were my excuse. My excuse to live." She started to cry again, a lot, but she was still calm.

"Now you've told me -what- you are..." She was talking gently. She shut her eyes slowly,
"I close my eyes, and then open them again, and you look no different. Exactly the same from the first moment I ever saw you. I don't see a monster, a freak, or an animal... I see Niklaus Mikaelson, the boy who saved my life. Just as I have for two years." I felt floods of tears pricking my eyes- it was only a matter of time until the flood gates opened.

"I suppose what I'm trying to say is... Klaus- I do not want to be afraid... I do not want to hate you, because you haven't changed in five minutes from saying the truth. It will take time for you and me to sort this out, and for me to wrap my head around it... But I will always love you Klaus... Always... I will accept you for what and who you are... You need to know that."

Then I was the one who couldn't speak. So I nodded at the crying girl, who put her hand on my heart.

"You have a heart. You are not a monster if your heart beats."

She held her hand there for a few moments before turning away.

"Thank you for dinner Niklaus. I would like to do this again..." Klara walked away from me out of the ballroom, leaving me there.

I waited a few minutes before laughing and crying in relief at the same time.

Rebekah came darting into the room and threw her arms around me, also crying.

"She's the one Klaus!" Rebekah started making me sway.

"It- It's all ok..." I was relieved, shocked, thankful, and emotional at the same time.

"I love that girl." I rubbed the tears off my face and left the ballroom with my sister.