To see what Leah's wearing check out Julia Jones' outfit for the Twilight Saga Premiere at Summit Entertainment for Breaking Dawn: Part 1. Hair/make-up aren't the same though...

Elena left me alone some thirty minutes ago; she too needs to finish dressing and getting ready for the dance after all.

I stand in front of the mirror, in awe at the magic she worked. Although I'd been mighty sceptical of the dress, hair and make-up at first, now my sentiments were entirely different. I feel as if I've walked straight out of a fairy tale, Elena as my designated Fairy Godmother and I the selected princess. And while I know my night won't have the Happily Ever After end, I can still enjoy feeling like royalty: beautiful and desirable.

"Clearwater, we're going to be late!" Klaus calls from downstairs and I feel my toes tingle in anticipation, my stomach contrary to my budding excitement gives a nauseous lurch.

"It's fine," I whisper quietly and I pat the dress down one last time, staring at the me in the mirror, willing her to have confidence. "It's no different than any time you face him, you're…just a bit dressed up now. There's nothing to worry about." Refraining from licking my lips and ruining Elena's lip-gloss artistry, I release a heavy breath and nod.

Sucking up my insecurities, I shove them to the back of my mind and push through the door. My ankles unsteady as I head to the stairs – internally I'm praying that I won't fall over my own feet in these ridiculous shoes. I grip the banister and take a breath for confidence before I can descend. At the foot of the stairs Klaus is waiting, facing the door, his back to me. Even so he looks lovely in the dark burgundy suit; it makes the faintest hints of red shine in his curly hair.

I can't help thinking that we would make quite a sight. Klaus, in deep burgundy tails against his pallid skin; neat and formal, but his hair as unruly as the short curls can manage to be. While I'm barely wearing a drapery of white chiffon with a slit running horizontally toward my hip, contrasting with my naturally tan skin and the stiff, neat up-do Elena managed to wrestle my hair into.

Despite my protests, I liked the dress – the shoes I could do without – it was soft and light, easy for moving. It enhanced the sensation of fairy tale-ness and made me feel like I was wearing more cloud and candyfloss than actual material. I wouldn't completely disregard Elena and Alice's opinions in the future.

I'm on the second step leading down when Klaus turns around.

"We're going to be late, Clearwater, stop taking-" He breaks midsentence, blinking up at me while his wrist, with watch, drops to his side.

I pause for only a mili-second, furrowing my brow in concern. Now that he's actually looking at me, I feel ridiculous. Whom I kidding? I'm not princess material, if anything I'm only cut out to be the ugly step sister or the bloody talking teapot. Possibly the beast, but even he is loved in the end.

Sucking up my shame, I hurry down the stairs, gripping the railing for support – more for my shaky knees than the shoes this time. I just need to get through an hour or two of being a completely hideous fake before I can escape to the woods or back to my room. If all else fails I'll rip the clothing right off in the middle of the shenanigan and take the fast route through the trees.

When my feet reach the last step, Klaus extends his arm to me. I spend a good several seconds staring at the limb, too afraid to grasp it – because what if that isn't what the gesture actually means? Maybe he's just silently trying to indicate that I look like a hopeless fraud. I wouldn't be too surprised, although it would hurt.

Suddenly, Klaus snorts and steps even closer, his hand reaching out to grip mine and bring me down the last step. He places my fingers securely in the crook of his arm, pats them gently. "You look petrified,"

I consider giving a snarky retort, but none come to mind, "I am,"

"You shouldn't be," Klaus says quietly, I glance up at him quickly, taking in his steady gaze, the soft smile curling his lips, "You look lovely, Leah."

I nearly bite my tongue off.

Finally, I choke out a whimper and turn my face away. Lovely. No one's called me lovely before. My face is flaming. I hope he isn't teasing me; God, if he's teasing me I think I'll actually die.

"Hey," his fingers squeeze mine quickly, "You needn't be embarrassed; you look magnificent, there's no shame in that."

Quickly, I shake my head before turning back to him in order to press my forehead against his shoulder. This man… "You-you don't look too bad yourself," I finally manage to force out. It's a lie of course. Klaus is handsome all the time; tonight though, he looks dashing, like that prince the princess would fall in love with at first sight. And yes, the irony of that doesn't escape me in our current situation.

"Thank you," he says lightly, a hint of laughter in his accented voice, "It's a fine day indeed if I don't look 'too bad',"

If he only knew…

My lips twitch into a smile and I nearly press a soft kiss to the lapels of his suit – he'll never know anyway – but refrain myself when I remember Elena's struggles to get the layers of gloss on my lips 'just perfect'. "Uh huh," I answer.

Klaus might never fully understand my feelings for him, but right now, in this very moment, with my arm on his and our heads bowed close, amusement thick in the air… I feel loved, if only a little. I feel as if I could stand forever just to soak in this sensation, the weightlessness and nearly happy warmth in my chest.

If I think back on our time together, it's always been shrouded by a layer of weariness, possibly fear. We're simply two souls, too broken to accept an unconditional mending. And somewhere along the line, we've started to accept the Band-Aids and stiches; I willingly, Klaus probably unintentionally, but acceptance nonetheless. He might not even notice it, but I noticed, Hayley did too before she left us. It's real. However, as real as it is, it means nothing for my future if Klaus continues to be unaware.

Is this teasing and complimenting the beginning of his realisation? He would never have said or done anything like this back when we met. Or is this just how Klaus used to be before all the pain? Am I stepping into the role of his lost sister? For now, I don't mind…but soon, hopefully soon if ever, I won't have to watch him pine for Caroline.

"Come now, we'll be late."

I lift my head and shake it, "With your speed? I doubt that's possible,"

"We're taking the car," My brows hike up in amazement; I'd started to believe he didn't have one, with all the walking everyone did. "I can hardly make a lady walk to a party in those contraptions,"

"I can take them off, you know," I tell him matter-of-fact as he leads me down a corridor and to one of those 'forbidden' doors.

"Yes," he flashes me a daring grin and winks, "but they look absolutely stunning on you."

I fight to stave off a blush, failing miserably. "Har-har," I grumble, following him inside what seems to be a pretty modern garage.

Klaus leads me to a…car that's all sleek and black; I'm not even going to pretend I know what it is. I might be good with engines, shoved my hands into a few too many vehicles' guts back in Forks, but none of them come even close to this thing. This is a piece of art, not a vehicle.

I cringe when Klaus opens a door and ushers me in, taking my hand and holding it gently in his as I totter in my shoes. Once in, he closes the door and uses that vampy speed of his to get to the driver's side.

"I wasn't kidding,"

I'm about to ask him about what, but his eyes wander down to my legs for a moment before he starts the car.

Okay…so maybe I'll forgive the high heels too.

Couldn't resist writing a chapter like this, a bit of harmless flirting for our tortured souls.

In case anyone was wondering, I'm updating on multiples of 10...so like on the 10th, 20th and 30th of each month... So see you again in 10 days~