At 4:49 in the morning, Klaus passed away. He just stopped breathing while I held him in my arms. I didn't know if what I'd done had worked, or if I'd made a mistake in drinking Woody's blood and forcing him to turn me. If Klaus wasn't going to live too, then I didn't want immortality. How could fate be so cruel as to give me exactly what I needed to save him only to be too late and have to watch him die?
I waited for an hour with Brad as he said his final goodbye to his son's body. When he finally left the room to make a call, I went outside to find Woody. He was still waiting around; somehow, I knew he would be. I told him I gave Klaus some of my blood before he died, but I didn't know if it was enough. Woody said it would work; as long as he swallowed the blood before his heart stopped beating, he'd come back. Woody promised.
Four hours after passing, at just about 9 o'clock, Klaus came back to us. His blue eyes shot open and he gasped for air as he sat straight up and blinked at Woody and I in confusion. We'd compelled the ambulance to leave Klaus's body with us instead of driving it to the morgue. The three of us were now sitting inside of Klaus's Chevy Camaro; Woody in the driver's seat and I in the passenger, while Klaus was in the backseat. Woody filled up the tank and started driving West. I asked him where we were going, and what we would tell our parents, but Woody said that life was over. We had a new life; with Woody. He extracted another daylight ring from the chain around his neck, and I put it on Klaus's finger before he woke. I asked Woody about the rings, why he had so many and whose they were, but he told me it was a story for another time. Now that Klaus is awake, Woody should be taking a pit-stop so he can find Klaus a 'snack' to finish his transformation...
After taking in the scene before him, Klaus's eyes locked on to mine and he questioned, "What happened? What's going on? Where are we?"
"Klaus!" I undid my seat belt and literally launched my body over the seat onto his lap. "I can't believe it. I can't believe you came back." I smiled happily even as tears dripped down my cheeks. I stroked his hair and his cheeks with my hands, running them down his neck and shoulders to his chest. I had to be sure he was real, that this was really happening.
"How?" Klaus whispered, eying Woody warily.
"Your girlfriend granted your last wish, mate," Woody grinned cheekily in the rear view mirror at Klaus as he said, "She turned you into a vampire."
"Well, not yet," I reminded, "We do have to get him something to eat…"
"That we do, love, that we do," Woody agreed. "I'll pull off the next exit and find someone for our friend to eat."
"You're a…" Klaus pointed at Woody, trailing off in disbelief.
"Vampire?" I filled in. "I thought you knew, Klaus; Rheymey Falls has a long history of vampires." I shot a trademark Klaus-smirk at him as I ran my fingers through his soft dark hair, watching his ice blue eyes flash over to mine. "You were right. I didn't believe you, but it was true. Now you have forever…if you want it."
"But you didn't," Klaus said, remembering what I told him the time he'd admitted he wanted to be a vampire. I didn't want immortality. I wanted to grow up and have a family and kids one day. I wanted life. But I chose death for him.
"I love you," I said, answering the question on the tip of his tongue. "I don't care if I can't have a family one day, as long as I have you. All I need is you."
Klaus kissed me then, crushing me with his new-found vampire strength, but I didn't mind. He could smother me all he wanted. He was alive! Well, not technically, I guess, but neither was I. "I'm sorry for what I said," He murmured into my hair, "I didn't mean it. You're not the worst thing that ever happened to me; you're the best. I was pissed at myself because you are so amazing and I was such an idiot. I knew I wouldn't have more time with you." He kissed me again. "Now I have forever. I love you, Rod. Thank you for saving me."
He may think that I saved him, but I see it differently. He saved me. Before him, I was living for all the wrong reasons. I thought getting into a good college and being popular were the most important things in life. I was stupid. Once I met Klaus, everything changed. I never felt more alive than when I was with him. It took a dying man to show me how to live, and I had to embrace death before I could really be alive. Nothing could come between us now.
After stopping for Klaus to complete his transformation, Woody headed straight on for California. I guess he has 'unfinished business' there. I don't know what that means, nor do I care. Woody is a vampire of many secrets; if I tried to figure him out now it would take an awful long time. Right at this moment, my thoughts are only on Klaus, and our future together. Everything that would have been snatched away from him by death are available again. A whole new world of opportunities have opened, for Klaus and for me. We can go to college if we want, anywhere we want. We can go to Europe, like both of us have always wanted. We can do anything we like. We've got all the time in the world.
Klaus must have been thinking the same thing as me, because he stroked my cheek to get my attention as he asked, "So what happens now?"
I cupped his face in my hands and replied, "Whatever we want, my love," before placing my lips on his.
We have forever to be together. Our love is immortal.
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THE END
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