Love & Loss

Chapter 87

Nico's POV:

"Khloe!"

We both turned as Doe and Marcus raced through the doors of the common room we stood in.

I barely had the time to step back as they all met in a tight hug, Doe teary-eyed, and Marcus with such a game-changing look of relief that probably came the closest to mine.

After about 14 hours of sleep for both of us, and my blood to kick off the day, she was ready to see her friends again.

I knew that they all needed it.

The smile on Khloe's face as they held to her proved that even more so.

I turned back to look at the door as my brother walked in, a content smile on his face as he watched the scene in front of him before crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

I kept listening in the background as they all vocally expressed their relief and then promptly followed up with a variety of questions as I walked over to Xander.

They needed some time to themselves for a little bit.

Though I still didn't quite want her out of my sights, I could unglue myself from her side for a while.

I matched my brother's position, leaning against the wall with a sigh.

"So," he began, "How is it?"

I noticed him looking at the bite mark from Khloe I refused to let heal as he spoke.

I kept my eyes on her as I answered.

"Amazing," I responded honestly, "I never noticed that I felt like I was missing something until she became a vampire. I was content with what I had when she was a human but... I don't know. Now it just feels whole. It feals undeniably real."

I guess I had really underestimated what exactly the vampire bond did when another vampire was involved.

It was like we were connected on an entirely new level that I didn't even understand, but my brain and body wanted to keep learning.

So many new feelings and opportunities to discover now that she was one of us.

"You deserve it, dude. After all that shit you went through to get her here."

I just then noticed that I was explaining something that Xander didn't have yet.

"Is Doe going to want to... y'know?"

Then I also noticed that I truly knew almost nothing about his relationship with her.

I'll get it out of him later.

"Yeah," He breathed out, "We've talked about it before, and it's something that she wants, but she wants to wait a few years before doing it."

I nodded as we both glanced over to see Doe holding Khloe's upper arms as she excitedly asked her questions upon questions on how the whole thing worked.

Khloe matched her energy almost exactly, answering every one to the best of her ability.

Watching from the corner of my eye, I could definitely see a difference in the way he looked at her.

Although I guess now he wasn't exactly trying to hide it anymore.

"Depending on how all of this works out, you might be the one who gets to change her," He added.

He might be right.

Now that I had found someone who I wanted to marry, I had to take my future duties more seriously.