Khloe's POV:
Today has honestly been amazing.
It started out exactly how Nico and I planned, with breakfast with all five of us.
Although it was a bit strange when Xander showed up with a wrapped gift and Nico snatched it before speeding off to our room.
Xander wasn't too happy about that, but Nico assured him that I'll be opening it a little later when the time is right.
Which raised a lot of questions for me.
Well, questions and excitement which was quickly followed by Lily serving up one of my favorite breakfast dishes and the games began.
We were there for nearly three hours, the brothers teasing each other whenever they or their pets won a game, and Doe accusing Marcus of cheating whenever he did.
All in all the fact that we were together was the thing that made me the happiest.
I think I finally came to my own solid conclusion that this was the family I had now.
Even though most of them might not feel the same, given the fact that they didn't exactly know the situation between Nico and me, we all still seemed to liven up whenever we were all together.
And I loved that more than I could express in words.
Even though It couldn't replace the memory of my family before, it's still more than I ever could have hoped for while stuck in that pet shop.
After that Nico took me into the town, mostly because I couldn't think of anything specific that I wanted to do.
I wasn't quite sure what I could do that would be different from what I do every day, so the city was a perfect option.
That fact became more evident the longer we were there.
Since it was also the Lord's birthday, there were tons of festivities going on. Many of which I happily became apart of.
The only downside to heading into town was the dark hood Nico decided to wear so he wouldn't get recognized. Which also made all of the public displays of affection very interesting.
And made for a somehow more perfect day
Although right now it was in a pretty awkward position.
By that I mean I was holding tight to Nico while he quite literally scaling up the outside walls of the castle.
When he told me that I needed to get on his back in order to take us wherever he had planned for dinner, I thought he was joking.
Yet here I was, hundreds of feet in the air.
In all honesty, the view from where we were so far was amazing.
The sun was just barely beginning to set, sending a variety of oranges and dark pinks to take over the sky.
Although when I looked straight down... That view gave me a different feeling.
I wasn't necessarily scared, oddly enough, but just a bit uneasy.
"Y'know, I never thought that this would be how I died," I commented, still staring at the ground far below.
The slight breeze caused my hair to gently whisp around my face as I looked away.
Nico didn't hesitate in the slightest, letting out a soft laugh before he responded.
"I find it hilarious that you think that I'd let you fall." He explained casually, "How are you holding up back there?"
I lightly shifted my hold with my arms around his shoulders and my legs hooked around his waist.
"Perfectly fine," I replied, "How about you? I can't imagine this is easy."
We hadn't been climbing for very long, but this had to have been exhausting.
"It actually is," He replied, "I used to do this a lot when I was younger."
Well, that explained how he made climbing up a vertical wall look easy.
It was like he already had the muscle memory of which darkened stones he needed to grab next.
Or maybe it was just the vampire in him.
I admired how fluidly he moved for a moment, then looking up to see if I could determine where the endpoint was.
Yet all I could see was one of the castle's spires.
"Am I allowed to know where we're going?" I asked curiously.
"I'm taking you to the place I used to go to when I didn't want anyone to bother me," he began, "There's a window in the side of the spire that connects to a room with no other entrance. The slaves that built this castle put it there by mistake, but no one ever really cared enough about it to fix it. Although I do wish it faced the back of the castle instead of towards it..."
"So you found it and made it into your own little sanctuary?"
I could tell he was amused by my choice of words.
"Exactly." He said.
About a minute longer and we were there. Nico was effortlessly pushing both of us up onto the large almost cave-like platform that lead to the actual window.
But it was what I saw in front of the neatly boarded window as soon as I was on my own feet that left me stunned.
Dozens of candles were sprawled across the surface of where we were standing, and a select few sat upon the dark blanket that sat close to the actual window. Those candles as well held domed serving dishes on top of them, keeping whatever was inside warm.
I took a slow step forward and out of the breeze, further admiring it.
Half a dozen pillows and a couple more blankets sat nicely piled in one corner against the window, I guess in case the breeze picked up enough to become uncomfortable.
Despite the fact that the inward walls of the spire we were currently standing in did a good job of blocking it already.
My eyes then planted on the short little table that sat in the middle of the blanket, already set with plates, silverware, and a pitcher of the tulip soda that both Nico and Lily know I love so much
I just stood there for a moment, staring wide-eyed as I took it all in.
Not to mention the stunning view of the city below.
"Nico...," Was all I could get to come out of my mouth.
This... this was amazing. The scene, the view,... him.
I heard him chuckle lightly as he stepped beside me, placing an arm around me and holding me tight.
"Happy Birthday, Khloe," He said softly.
I turned up to face him, spotting immediately the adoration in his eyes.
"How did you even do all of this?" I asked.
If he had to physically climb up here, how on earth did he get all of this here?!
Plus he only left my side for very short spurts today.
He laughed again at my visible confusion.
"Lost of planning with Lily, lots of accidents, and very many trips running up here." He stated casually.
My stare intensified.
"You don't mean like... actually running, right?"
His smirk got ever so wider.
"Of course I do, how else could I have carried all of this?"
My brown furrowed and confusion took over my face.
"You mean to tell me that vampires can run up WALLS?!"
Since when was that a thing?
He tried his best to keep in his laughter, failing only a little bit.
"When we're using our enhanced speed, yes. But just because we technically can, doesn't mean that we do," He explained, "One wrong kick in the wrong direction or at the wrong angle and you send yourself 20 feet away from the wall and then your falling. I mastered it when I was younger because of the amount of time I spent up here."
He slowly trailed his fingers up my shoulder until they were teasing my neck.
Once he noticed my unavoidable goosebumps, he leaned in. Then just barely brushing my ear with his lips, he spoke again.
"But enough about me, sweetheart, this night is about you, and I'm gonna make it the best night of your life."
Despite the fact that his deep-voiced words made me shudder, I surprisingly kept my cool.
"And if I have a few ideas on how to possibly make this night better later?" I inquired
I just barely spotted the suprise that quickly passed in his eyes.
"Then we better get started."
~~~
A/N: Aight yall I really thought that moving a couple states away from home to go to college would give me SO MUCH FREE TIME to write but it's literally the opposite and I want to perish. But uuuuh yeah updates are probably gonna be a bit delayed for a little bit until I get into the swing of things.
Sorry and thank you guys for understanding and to thoes who have been patient!