Nico's POV:

Oh dear God.

Whatever this drug was apparently just threw all of her nervousness and insecurities out the window.

And that alone caught me so off guard that I was speechless.

Her new found confidence became even more evident when at my lack of response, she began lifting off her shirt, struggling a bit in her current state.

"Come on Nico, What are you waiting for?" She asked with a teasing smirk, biting her bottom lip as she tossed her shirt to the side.

Which alone sent my heart thundering but this was the wrong time.

This wasn't my Khloe.

Well, it was, but just very very, messed up.

If it were my Khloe, however, this may just be the hottest thing I've ever seen.

But she isn't.

Everything about this was wrong.

And somehow I needed to get that through her hazed mind.

She held her arms out, inviting me to apparently do the rest with an expectant raise of her eyebrows.

I didn't know what to say or do, unsure how any of my actions or words would affect her at this point.

I was just staring at her wide-eyed.

Never did I ever imagine that I would have to tell Khloe no regarding this.

Part of me ached at that thought, because given her current state, she'd probably take it to heart and I really didn't want to see that saddened look on her face.

Her emotions were probably far more sensitive right now...

But I didn't really have a choice.

Chances are she's not going to remember this come morning anyways.

Her brows drew together at my lack of any response whatsoever, a sudden determination showing on her face.

Apparently, she decided to do it herself, reaching her arms back to unclasp her bra.

My body acted on its own and stopped her before she could accomplish her task, taking hold of her upper arms.

I'm sure a decent amount of panic was showing on my face.

Her eyes went wide with an odd mix of joy and surprise.

I spoke before she could.

"I'm sorry, Khloe, but we're not doing this." I managed to say calmly yet stern.

Her lips parted as worry flashed across her face for barely a second.

"Why not?" she asked, that sadness beginning to show.

Oh God.

"Because I don't want to," Not now. Not like this.

She jolted back and out of my grip in surprise at my words.

"You don't... want to?" She asked, her voice trembling towards the end.

I swallowed hard, repeatedly telling myself that she wasn't going to remember this.

But that didn't exactly make seeing her upset any easier.

I just shook my head.

"B-But you said that once I was ready we would-" she cut herself off with a sniffle.

I cupped her face in my hands, her hands coming up to take hold of my wrists as I wiped her newly fallen tears with my thumb.

"I did say that," I began, "but both of us know deep down that you're not, despite whatever this drug is telling you."

She just stared at me for a moment an emotion I couldn't quite place taking over her features.

Her grip tightened on me.

"I am ready! I swear I am!" She spoke, an odd tone of desperation coating her voice.

Then I finally recognized the look on her face.

Fear.

What the Hell?

I figured it might be best to give her a little space, so I took a step back. As I drew my hands from her face, her grip on my wrists tightened substantially, the fear intensifying in her eyes.

I tried to think of what she was so afraid of at this moment but nothing was making sense.

"Khloe," I began as softly as I could, "I'm more than happy to satisfy your wish, but the one thing that I insist before that is your sobriety."

"I'm sober," She defended, "I s-swear I am just-" she squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head a bit.

It took everything in my power not to wrap her in my arms.

Once she accepted my answer then in my arms is exactly where she'll be, but for now...

Her hold on me loosened just enough for me to free myself.

I got one of my hands free and almost fully pulled back the other one before both of her hands shot out to desperately grasp it, pulling me towards her.

Her glazed eyes held a look of anguish through the pool of tears.

"Please Nico," She begged, clinging on to my wrist like I would just completely disappear if she let go, "please... just once. Just once before you-" Her voice cracked at the end, causing my eyes to widen.

I placed my free hand over hers, taking a step forward.

Ok, I think we're getting somewhere now.

"Before I what?" I asked.

Her breaths trembled as her eyes squeezed shut, like the very thought of whatever this was pained her to think about.

"Before... before you find someone else. Someone m-more deserving of you," She sniffled, "Someone who can give you... everything that I cant."

My shoulders fell as my own anguish overcame me at her words.

"Khloe..."

"I know," She began, " I know you told me that I don't have to worry about. I trust you, Nico, I really do, but," She paused for a moment, releasing my hands to wipe away the flood of tears running down her face, "But I can't stand these thoughts from appearing when every logical thing is telling me that we shouldn't be together!"

I stayed silent as she spoke.

Part of me knew that I probably wasn't supposed to be hearing this, that this was something that she kept in the darkest parts of her mind.

"Our relationship.. e-everything about it is so wrong, but nothing has ever felt so right to me." She finally looked up at me again, "I don't want to lose this, but every one of these thoughts in my head are telling me that I'm going to!"

She stiffened as I gently wrapped my arms around her, kissing the top of her head before she buried her head in the crook of my neck.

The unnatural heat from her body warmed me a little too much.

"You're not going to," I assured her, regardless if she was going to remember this conversation or not.

"You don't know that," She croaked weakly, "Your perfect girl could be in one of you're next dates and you just don't know it yet,"

Little did she know that I did know that. I knew that because in my over four centuries of existing I've never felt like this towards someone before.

Maybe I needed to explain that to her once she was sober.

Plus, I highly doubted that my perfect girl was gonna be one of these dates seeing as how I've had an indifference to all vampire women since I was twelve.

And the only girl I've ever loved was the human in my arms.

I rubbed her back as she continued to cry.

I think I needed to finally tell her how deeply in love with her I am.

Tell her how much she really does mean to me.

Maybe that will help her with these thoughts.

I was going to tell her earlier today, but decided that telling her that right before I went on a date with someone else wouldn't have been the best idea.

"I do know that," I responded, "In fact, I've never been so sure of anything as much as I'm sure of this."

"But what if-"

I stopped her from finishing, holding her tighter against me.

"Nothing is going to get in the way of this. If nothing else, trust me on that."

I guess that was enough to keep her hazed mind content because she didn't say anything else, just kept her body close to mine before she eventually drifted to sleep.