Nothing Without You

It had been 2 years since my big move from Virginia to New Orleans, and in those two years, one thing I learned is that my new home always had something to celebrate. The constant fairs, parades, and festivals really made it a lively place, and it was something I still wasn't bored of.

But this particular parade was in honor of gay pride; Southern Decadence. It's an annual gathering of the LGBT+ community, people come from all over to celebrate, what has been called, "Gay Mardi Gras." Not only has it been an important celebration for a commonly discriminated against community, it was also the place where things started to change for me.

I was walking around with Emma and Jared, having a few drinks and generally just being supportive of the festivities. We'd gotten on the subject of me dating. It was a common subject, Emma hated to see me alone but it wasn't really something I minded. I'd spent a large part of my teens up until I was 20 with the same guy who, for some reason, left me and never really explained why. For a long time it was just nice to be on my own and make my own decisions, but Emma didn't see it that way. "Maybe you could go to a bar again and pick up another hot, foreign guy." She laughed, making Jared wince. He was quiet and easily embarrassed, and I could often see his embarrassment for others as well.

"I didn't 'pick him up' and it was a one time deal." I laughed, though I had often thought about him since then. It'd been about a month since the fair and I still hadn't quite shaken him. "Plus, today isn't a great day for picking up guys at a bar. This is Southern Decadence. Good luck finding a straight guy sitting alone at a bar."

Emma laughed and snorted, it was one of those dorky things about her everyone thought was cute. I didn't think I had any quirks like that and even though it was literally the smallest thing and so stupid, it reminded me of how not special I could be. "Hey, straight supporters come to these things too."

"I think you're missing the point Em." Jared spoke up, thankfully he was often on my side and was the one to bring her back to having level head. She was just so imaginative and boisterous all the time, it took a person like Jared to keep her head from flying off into the clouds.

As we walked, we laughed and joked around, but when night came, we started bar hopping. I had a great buzz on, almost to the point of considering myself to be drunk. Emma was wasted, like she often was when we all went out, and Jared was the responsible one. Things were good and we were having a great time, until Emma snapped her head to the other end of the bar and almost shouted at me. "Holy shit, Cat! Is that the guy?"

"What?" I was slightly annoyed with myself that I already knew who she was talking about. I looked in the direction of her gaze and sure enough, he was there, sitting at a bar stool being handed what looked like bourbon. "Oh my god." I immediately got nervous and anted to run.

"Go talk to him." She urged, trying to push me out of my chair. I was glad the music was loud, I would have been horribly embarrassed had he been able to hear this.

"No way! I've been drinking, I'm going to embarrass myself." I glanced over at him just in time to catch his gaze. "Shit." I said between my teeth. I smiled and he waved me over, making my stomach turn to knots. "Stay here." I said to Emma, but looked at Jared. He nodded, knowingly, and I walked to what seemed like my doom.

"Hello stranger." Klaus greeted me as I took a seat next to him. I almost slipped off but easily caught myself, I only hoped he hadn't noticed.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked, sipping on my drink. At this point I wasn't even sure what I was drinking anymore.

"Alright, how about yourself? A bit drunk?" He smiled, seemingly amused.

"Uh, yeah. I was going to try to pretend to be sober. I see that didn't work." I was embarrassed but I figured if I made a joke of it then it wouldn't be so bad.

"I can always tell. I'm sure to others you seem perfectly fine." He reassured, and oddly, it helped.

"Thanks, I hope you're right." I shrugged, starting to loosen up. It was a lot easier this time, shaking my nerves, than it was last time. Liquid courage was a great help.

"So are you here with anyone?" He asked, and I slightly felt like he might have been hitting on me.

"Just Emma and Jared. No date-gone-wrong this time." I giggled, loosely making fun of myself.

He chuckled and nodded as he sipped his drink. "Good to hear." Just then I heard a glass break. I looked over to Emma who, of course, dropped her glass while trying to get up on the bar. Jared was trying to pull her down and the bar tender was just encouraging her. "Looks like your friend is about ready to end the night."

"She should have gone home hours ago." I laughed as Jared pulled her down and drug her from the bar. She was crying by the time they got to the door and I knew they had just abandoned me.

"Well, there goes your ride home, I'm sure." It was funny how he talked like he actually knew me, but he was right.

"Yep. Looks like I'm just in for a little walk then." I didn't think it was too big of a deal, but I wasn't all that excited to walk 7 miles half drunk.

"Don't be ridiculous, whenever you're ready I'll take you home. You never know what kind of creatures lurk in the dark." He looked like he was kidding, but it made me wonder what he knew about the supernatural. It was becoming a bit clear that he could have been one of them, but asking that was like asking to die in my mind. I liked him enough to not want to know.

"Tell me about it." I said, looking him dead in the eyes. Sober me never would have given that kind of hint, but I guess my filter had been a bit damaged.

he raised an eyebrow and finished his drink. "Walk with me." It wasn't a question, and I was starting to wonder what I'd gotten myself into. As we walked, we skipped over a few streets without speaking, until the background noise of the city had somewhat faded. "Tell me what it is you know, if you don't mind." He was still being polite and all, but he seemed a bit.. Dangerous? Now that I knew we were on the same page, I felt more cautious.

"Vampires, werewolves, witches, it's not really much of a secret anymore. Not to locals anyway." He nodded, like he agreed. "Are you one of them?"

"Bold question." He laughed and turned to me, stopping me from walking. "What do you think?"

"I think I wouldn't be asking if I weren't at least suspicious. But I'm quite sure you're a vampire." It sounded so stupid coming out of my mouth, just as stupid as I sounded when I first discovered vampires were even real.

"Well you're kind of right. I'll give you that." I felt my stomach turn into a pit, how could I be kind of right?

"So what? You're going to make me go Bella Swan on you and ask what you are?" I hadn't meant to make light of this, because honestly I was still slightly mortified.

"What are you talking about?" He turned his head, looking confused in an adorable way. I mentally smacked myself for thinking that.

"Nevermind. Just please explain." I almost begged, hating this feeling I had.

"First and foremost, I am a hybrid of vampire and werewolf. Second, I am an Original, meaning any vampire you see, any at all, came from my family's blood. We are the first immortal beings to exist." I felt entirely shocked by this. Sure, I was expecting vampire by this point, but not one of such.. Royalty? It was like speaking to the first human to walk the earth, I had so many questions but I couldn't bring myself to ask any of them.

I fell silent for a moment until I blurted out "How fucking old are you?"

Klaus stared lauhing, to my surprise. That must not have what he expected to hear. "No, no. I answered you, now you answer me. What are you?"

"What?" I couldn't imagine why he'd ask this, there was nothing remarkable about me, nothing out of the ordinary or special. "Nothing, I'm just.. Human."

"No, you can't be." His denial of this was mind boggling. How could he suspect me of being anything but what I was? "I noticed it the moment I met you, there's something different about you. You're.. I don't know."

"I can assure you, I'm not lying." He didn't look convinced, but he did look a bit concerned.

"No, I don't think you are." He crossed his arms and looked my in the eyes, like he was trying to figure me out. "But I do think something's.. Off."

"Why are you so convinced that I'm not just a person?" I was getting a little frustrated, what is it that made him so sure?

"It's hard to explain, but I can just feel it. How would you feel about meeting my sister? She's a witch, a highly trained one at that. She may be able to help." He was so pushy about this, and I started to put some thought into it. What if he was right? what if there was something about me that I didn't know? But how could I not know? My mind was back and forth but I had to figure out what to do.

"Are you sure? Because I think you're totally full of shit." I noticed my buzz quickly slipping away and sighed. What a night.

"Just let me take you to her. And if she finds nothing then so be it." He looked almost as if he were pleading.

"Why do you care so much?" I asked before making a decision. No way a total stranger, and an Original for that matter, cared so much about my mortality.

"Honestly? I've never been stumped by someone before. You're a challenge, love." He took a step closer and touched my arm, making me feel nervous. "Tomorrow, let me take you to meet Freya."

"Fine. But if you're wrong, and she says I'm totally normal, then you have to..." I thought for a minute, playfully turning this into a bet. I wasn't sure if I was doing this to make it seem like less of a big deal or if it was to keep him around. "Buy me lunch."

"Alright, but if I'm right, you have to.. Let's just say you'll owe me one." Simple enough.

"Within reason." I noted, getting a nod from him. "Fine. Take me home, and you can pick me up there tomorrow at noon. " I couldn't believe I was doing this. What in the hell made me think this was a good idea?

"Perfect."