Love & Loss

Chapter 60

Khloe's POV:

The long silence that followed did nothing in aiding my sudden rush of thoughts.

Even though his mother's words weren't for me, I felt like they were something that I needed to hear.

Lately, I've been so caught up in enjoying the present that I haven't been thinking about the future.

More importantly, his future.

A future that I had no right being a part of.

My hand covered my mouth as tears first began to form.

Even despite how I lived now, it still often slipped my mind the tasks that Nico has to complete in order to move on with his life.

He was a prince and the firstborn to a Lord.

The only one who could take his place by the means of taking a wife.

A vampire.

That was it. There was no other way for him to accomplish what he was born in to.

It couldn't be me.

The thought hadn't even crossed my mind until now that I've been holding him back.

It never occurred to me that I was the base reason for the troubles that he's been having ever since we showed up.

Constant arguments about marriage from his father, constant activities that include him interacting with potential wives, and now a plea from his mother.

She wanted to see him happy. Happy with somebody who could stand by his side and lead this city.

I wanted that for him too.

And the now crystal clear fact that that person couldn't be me was tearing me apart.

I didn't want to be holding him back from finding someone who could actually have a bright future with him.

Someone who could give him all of the things that I physically can't.

Someone who he didn't have to keep a secret from his family.

He deserved all of that.

I bit down on my quivering lip as my tears finally spilled over.

I loved him but we weren't compatible in the long run.

And the smallest part of me told me that he already knew this.

Is this what he's been acting strange about?

I hadn't even realized that he was approaching me until I felt the weight beside me shift.

He sat with a long exhale and I soon after felt his hand resting around my shoulder.

Which somehow managed to break me even more.

"What are we doing, Nico?" I asked in a hoarse whisper, dropping my hand into my lap.

I felt sick by the fact that I shouldn't even be near him right now.

I felt like I was the reason all of this was happening to him.

"This doesn't change anything," He responded, in that same comforting tone he had whenever I was upset.

Except for this time, it had the opposite effect.

My hands bunched into fists as I tried to not completely burst right there and then.

Maybe it didn't change anything, but it cleared up an important fact for me.