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Khloe's POV:

I exhaled a heavy breath as Nico gently worked at the zipper on the back of this dress, keeping my eyes on him through the bathroom mirror.

His parents had requested that tonight's dinner be... special.

One that they humbly addressed as 'A meal to commence a new beginning, and a wider family'.

At least that's how Caroline worded it, Daniel, on the other hand, said it to be 'The start of a long and well-deserved apology.'

Either way, we were expected to look nice.

Everyone was.

From conversations earlier today, Doe seemed to be in a similar position that I was in with the topic of this dinner

I was the most surprised to finally hear word that she and Xander were in the same boat that Nico and I were in.

At least that's what I thought at first.

After having her give me all the details on how they came to be, she ended off with a bit of relief.

Relief of how she, like Xander, was happy that he wasn't the true heir so that they could stay out of the limelight.

My hands tightened and relaxed at my sides.

Surprisingly, the limelight wasn't what I was worried about, not right now at least.

With all that's happened, and everything that came before that, I think it was something that I came to terms with.

I met eyes with Nico through the mirror as he looked up, a soft smile easing my thoughts as I leaned back against him.

The thought of becoming this city's Lady by itself may seem daunting, but I knew that he would be right beside me every step of the way.

And the reality of it all was that all of that responsibility was still so far away.

We had a few years before having to truly worry about that.

As if he knew my thoughts, he met my smile with a prideful one, twirling one of the soft curls I had put in my hair around his fingers.

My nerves were definitely still there, from this dinner, that is.

That, I was fully aware of, but I could feel the excitement beneath them.

I knew that I didn't have anything to fear from this.

Everyone involved already knew everything that I'd been through, and at this point had seen me at my absolute worst.

I was already fairly close with Caroline, and even more so with Xander.

And I'm hoping that with time and a few interesting discussions with Nico and his father, I'll get close with Daniel.

I believe it was just the situation at hand that was momentarily throwing me off.

The formality of it all was still something that I had to get used to.

Nico brushed his hands across my bare shoulders, then down to where the actual sleeves of this dress began.

Then something caused him to stop and take a step back.

After turning to face him, and seeing a hand over his mouth, I almost began to worry that something was wrong.

But then a sigh of almost disbelief passed his lips, and he spoke.

"God, how are you so stunning," He breathed, lifting my left hand with his to admire our rings.

There was something in his voice that had been showing up more and more lately.

The almost boyish glee and excitement.

It was usually there whenever he spoke to me, but nowadays it was different.

Nowadays it was unbridled and unhidden in every way that it had to be prior.

Which in turn made all of these kind and complimentary words affect me that much more.

Now that I could physically hear how much he meant them.

Which was strange given how I hadn't yet learned how to handle the words he'd say prior without getting flustered in one way or another.

I hadn't put any sort of makeup on, so he knew the blush on my face was genuine as I turned away.

"Nico I-" I spoke with a slight laugh, trying to play it off until the hand that held mine soon softly found itself on my chin.

He turned my head back so I faced him again, bringing me a step closer.

"I'm serious," he began with that still lingering calm elation, "I still can't believe that this is real. That you're a vampire and that we're all about to feast in celebration of that with a family I know will love you almost as much as I do. That I get to stand here and see you like this and know without a doubt that you're my future and there's nothing left that can stop me from having that with you. That after everything we went through together, it worked out in the end, and even my brother got a happy ending. It's all just-"

He let out a quick exhale, shaking his head a bit as his hand moved to cup my cheek.

"It's all too good to be true, and I sometimes catch myself thinking that this is all going to disappear and I'm just gonna wake up in that freezing cell, left to only dream of an outcome like this." His voice softened and strained, causing an ache in my chest.

Yet that smile never left his face.

"Nico," my hands found the vest that he wore over his deep maroon dress shirt, trying to ground him to the reality that I was here.

I knew more than most the effect the consequences of having to go through something that he did.

I think we were both well aware of the fact that certain things would be haunting him for a while, and I wanted him to be able to rely on me whenever it did.

Still, I know the absolute last thing he wanted was pity.

Despite the weight of his words, his spirits were high.

He was happy and that's what mattered right now.

"We'll make your father pay for that in one way or another, you've just gotta help me figure out how and when," I said.

I rejoiced in hearing his laughter. That being the one thing that I was aiming for.

"One day, But that's a conversation for a later date. For now, though I just want to focus on you," He drew a step back and extended his hand for my own, "You ready? I'm sure everyone else is waiting for us."

I turned to look myself in the mirror one last time before intertwining our fingers with a nod.

With that, he took the liberty of leading us up to the dining room we had sat in so many times before.

This time with me by his side instead of a step behind, and with my head held high with every guard we passed.

I let go of his hand for just a second, opting to link our arms together instead.

He didn't dispute one bit, placing a kiss on my forehead as we approached the designated doors.

The two guards that stood outside of it bowed as we did, each of them grabbing a handle before the doors opened before us.

Four pairs of smiling eyes placed themselves upon us as we took our first steps in, The excitement in both Doe and Xander's eyes, and the pride in Caroline and Daniels.

Every haunting thought seemed to just diminish at the sight of this alone.

The sight of amazing people, friends, and future family alike, all finally being able to see us for what we are.

Nico gave my arm a squeeze, before the guard on my left spoke, formally announcing our arrival to commence this designated new beginning.

"Presenting, Prince Nicholas Vanderwood, and the newly appointed, Princess Khloe Cardinal."

~~~

End of book 2 lol

Wasn't THAT a wild ride.

Anyways more info on the future of this series and whatnot will be in the next chapter sometime in the near future...