Because I've Lost Everything

Chapter Fourteen

Draculaura

"Caleb? Are you in pain?" I asked. He didn't speak, but he shook his head. I moved closer to him on the bed and placed a hand on his chest. His hand moved up to cover mine, his fingers intertwined with my own. "Positive?"

"I don't feel much pain. It just kind of... burns, I guess," he said quietly.

With my free hand, I pushed my fingers through his blonde hair. "I'm sorry I ran off like that, Caleb. I-I should have let you explain yourself," I said.

"I don't blame you, Lu. I would've ran, too. I would've ran and never looked back," he practically whispered. His gaze was focused on the ceiling with such a intensity that I wondered if he could see something that I couldn't. "I feel so--so at peace now that you're back here with me. I feel... complete." He squeezed my hand. "If that makes sense."

"I know what you're getting at," I admitted. I felt that same kind of peace when I was around Clawdeen or my father. I was even beginning to feel that peace around Caleb. It's strange to think that I could be with someone so different than myself, someone that was a killer, someone that was part of a twisted fallen angel version of the mafia. Yet, here I was.

I guess that's the thing about monsters. We're all different, especially in this century. We aren't like our ancestors or our elders. We're more accepting than they used to be. Caleb and I being together was a perfect example of that. We were so different, but we put our aside differences for something else, something that was much stronger. I pulled my hand from his and placed it on his cheek instead.

Slowly, he turned his head to look at me. "What?" he asked, his voice soft and quiet.

I smiled faintly as I stared into those blue eyes of his. God, he was so beautiful. "I love you, Caleb."

The grim look on his face was slowly replaced with a smile. "Jesus, Lulu, I love you, too," he whispered. He rolled onto his side so that our foreheads were touching. "Do you know how long I've been waiting to tell you that?" he asked.

"Centuries," I said.

He laughed. "Pretty close." He repositioned us both so that he was above me. He closed his eyes for a moment, recovering from whatever pain he was currently in. My head was trapped between his hands, which were pressed firmly against the mattress on either side of me.

He opened his eyes and smiled again. "You're perfect," he said.

I shook my head as my fingers found their way back into his hair. "I'm not, Caleb. I'm flawed."

Slowly, he shook his head from side to side. "Nah, Lu. You're perfect to me," he said softly. He lowered himself to kiss me. It was slow and filled with a form of love that I had never shared with another monster before. I guess that was the thing about monsters like Caleb and I. We could push aside our differences and just be, well, together. It seemed so simple, so easy.

And it was.

Being around Caleb wasn't hard. I loved him. He loved me. We were made for each other. I had found my soulmate, and he was a fallen angel, a fallen angel that had taken Lucifer's side after the fall.

And that was okay.

After all, we had a lifetime to learn about and accept each other's flaws and mistakes.

And I was more than willing to sit back and learn about every single one of his imperfections, no matter how few he had.