All I Need (Vampire Diaries/Captain America Fanfic)

57. Someone As Good As You

"What?" he asked. "Of course you are. Don't let him come between us."

"It's not about him," I said. "It's about who we are. You're good. Through and through, you're such a good person. And I'm not. I kill people, I lie, I compel, and I keep that from you because I want you to think of me as a good person, someone as good as you."

"You don't need to be good," he assured me. "I love you Serena."

"Have you ever noticed that I've never said those words to you?" I asked him.

"You don't have to say them to feel them."

"Listen to what I'm saying," I told him. "You're Captain America. You shouldn't be with me. I'm homicidal, I can be mean, evil, ruthless. You should be with someone good."

"Are you sure this isn't about Klaus?" he asked.

I looked up at him. "Honestly, no I'm not sure. The thing is Steve, in addition to everything that I just said, and meant... I think I'm in love with him." As soon as I said the words, I realized how true they were. I'd been falling for Klaus without even realizing it.

He didn't say anything, nodding and digesting my words.

"I'm pretty sure that I loved you, or at least, I loved the idea of you. But Steve, every girl dreams of being with the good guy. But what I have with Klaus, even as friends, it's so real. Yeah, we're both pretty messed up, but I don't have to hide my true self from him. With him, I'll never be anything other than what I am. A messed up, selfish, homicidal, bitchy witch-vampire hybrid monster."

"You know when Katherine made me write that note?" he asked. I nodded, remembering how much it had hurt me. "It was her words, but some of what she said was true. I do feel different when I'm around you, you change me. I just don't know if that's a good thing or not."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I never would have involved you in any of this stuff if I knew that we wouldn't end up together. But we can't."

He nodded. "I know that. I hate it, but I understand."

"Believe me, if I told you about half of the things I did when I turned my humanity off, you'd be running for the hills. Think of this as a lucky escape."

We both laughed.

"Thank you for introducing me to this world," he said. "I'm glad that I know about it, that I can deal with it. You've changed me forever, even if you didn't know it."

I kissed his cheek. "You've changed me too. You showed me that there's a life outside of vampirism. That I can choose to be a good person, even if it's not completely who I am."

He smiled weakly. "I guess I should go back to New York," he said. "Beg for my job back before the team forget what I look like."

"That would be good," I said. "But can I give you some advice?"

He nodded for me to continue.

"You deserve someone good. Someone strong, powerful. Someone who accepts the Captain America side of you, because it's a huge part of who you are. If I were you, I'd ask Caroline out."

"Caroline?" he asked. "I don't think she's want to-"

"She's single, beautiful, amazing, and pretty much the best person for... anyone, let alone someone like you. I'm not saying you should marry her, but a date couldn't hurt, could it?"

"I don't know if you can tell, but I'm not good at this 'asking girls out' thing. Look how long it took for me to start dating you. And I failed at that."

"You didn't fail," I assured him. "You and me, we were nice together, sure. We probably could have made it work if we tried. But we both owe it to ourselves to be in relationships where things are natural, where nothing is forced."

He nodded. "You're right," he said. We hugged tightly. "Friends?"

"Always."

I watched him walk away, before turning in the opposite direction. Our love story had been almost perfect. Now I needed to find something a bit less perfect, and a bit more real.

...

I saw Klaus standing outside the Salvatore house.

"You saved my life... again," I said, catching his attention. "Isn't it boring yet?"

He smiled. "The amount of trouble you get yourself into, I'm thinking about making it my full-time job."

I crossed my arms.

"I'm sorry about leaving New Orleans without saying goodbye. Elijah thought-" he cut me off.

"My brother told me, eventually, what he said to you. Don't tell him this, but he was right. I needed to let you go. You chose Steve, and I didn't want to get in the way of that."

"I appreciate that," I told him. "Really Klaus, the things that you've done for me..." I trailed off. There was no way to thank him for everything that he'd done.

"The things that you've done for me," he said. "No normal person would do. I don't deserve them."

"You are... completely insane," I agreed, smiling. "But you deserve what everyone deserves Klaus. You deserve friends, family, love... and everything that comes with that." It was true. Klaus may not have been the best person in the world, but he did what he thought was right, he tried. And that was more than anyone could ask for.

"You should know... I broke up with Steve."

"Oh right," he said, looking down. "What happened?"

I sighed. "We weren't right for each other. Steve Rogers is... the ultimate good guy. And I'm... I'm damaged, and broken."

"No," he said quietly. "You've gone through more than your fair share of grief and torment, and you've come out the other side. You're powerful, strong. You're Serena Salvatore. Don't ever try to change that."

I smiled at him, grateful for his words. Because in a way, he was right. Maybe I'd never be as good as Steve, as sweet as Caroline, as innocent as Elena. Maybe I didn't need to be.

Klaus looked at me, sudden worry filling his eyes.

"I have to know... have I ruined our friendship forever?" he asked. "Because, I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I couldn't call you my best friend again."

I took his hands, moving closer to him.

"Yes, you've ruined our friendship," I told him honestly. "Klaus, when I was in danger, when I thought that I was going to die, you were the person whose voice I wanted to hear. My biggest worry was that I'd never get to see you again. And then I realized."

He smiled slightly, not saying anything.

"I'm in love with you, Klaus Mikaelson."

He took my face in his hands and kissed me, gently caressing my cheeks with his thumbs. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he held me tightly, as if he never wanted to let me go. And I understood, because I never wanted to let him go either. And if I got my way, I never would.

***************************************************

Thanks so much for reading! One more chapter to go!

So Serena made her choice, what do you think of it?

Please vote and comment!