I sat at Nico's desk, pencil in hand as I sketched... nothing in particular...

Nico was gone. Today was his last busy day before he got a long break from work, and today was an especially busy one for him apparently.

He had left soon after breakfast and he had said that he wasn't sure when he'd be back.

Well, it was long after lunch and he still wasn't back.

I sighed, plopping my head down onto the desk as my pencil fell against the paper.

I didn't even bother to move the hair that fell in front of my face as I did.

It felt like it was too quiet in this room. Too quiet and too empty.

Which was weird because I've been alone in this room many times but this time it was just... different.

Another sigh passed my lips.

"Khloe."

I shot up straight, slamming my sketchbook shut with a loud thud.

"W-when did you get back?" I asked him wide-eyed.

He glanced back at the door.

"Five seconds ago?" he replied, taking a step closer to me.

I just watched as he did, my body still tense from the scare he gave me.

I can't believe that I didn't hear him come in.

"But I'm not going here for long, I have another meeting in about 10 minutes but I wanted to drop this off for you."

He set an item that looked similar to a magazine down onto the desk by my sketchbook.

The cover had an assortment of dresses and accessories in all shapes and sizes.

"What is it for?" I questioned.

"For the ball," He began, "Pick one that you like and I'll get it for you."

My brows rose, for many different reasons.

"Really? Xander actually convinced Layla to let the pets go?"

"Probably. He hasn't told me anything but I can only assume."

I wasn't quite sure how to feel about that, so I let it be for now and opened it to a random page.

My mouth almost dropped wide open when I saw the prices.

"Nico... These are way too expensive." I said quietly.

Any dress over 100 dollars was immediately too expensive in my taste, but these... these prices were insane.

Not to mention that he planned on spending this money on a pet. Which was even more insane.

"Its fine, Khloe, just disregard the prices," he spoke as he leaned slightly against the desk chair.

Yea, I couldn't do that.

"Isn't there a cheaper set that I could look at?" I asked hopefully.

I don't know why, but I really didn't want him to spend this much money on me.

"Yea probably, But I want you to look beyond amazing at this ball."

I went still as my face filled with color.

I... didn't know how to respond to that.

"A-are you s-sure that you want to spend this much on something ill only wear once?" I asked in a last ditch effort to get him to change his mind.

It was silent for a moment.

"Who said that you'll only be wearing it once?" he asked.

I rose a brow as I looked up at him.

"When else would I wear it?"

He shrugged.

"Whenever you want. The next ball, a party, a random night. Whenever. Remember that I said that I plan on having you for a long time, so you'll have a while to decide when you'll wear it again."

I stared at him for a moment before slowly looking back down at the magazine, flipping through a few more pages.

"Okay."

I didn't know what else to say.

How else was I suppose to respond to that?

Plus I was certain that there wasn't any other way to convince him to change his mind.

"I'll leave you too it then." He said, turning back towards the door, "I've already instructed the slaves to send your dinner up here."

I turned to face him.

"Okay, when will you be back?" I asked.

He paused once he reached the door.

"I don't know. Late."

"How late?" I asked, knowing that I wasn't going to like the answer no matter what it was.

He turned to face me as his hand grabbed the door handle.

"Later than usual, unfortunately." He didn't really sound like he liked his answer either.

I felt myself sink a little bit in the chair.

"Okay," I muttered.

He didn't move for a long second, just kind of looked at me.

"Are you sure you don't need anything before I go?"

I just shook my head.

Need was a strong word, I didn't need anything from her per say, but want was a totally different story.

He didn't say anything else before he quietly shut the door behind him.

Yet another sigh passed my lips as I sank even deeper into the chair, rethinking many of the things that he had said during that conversation.

Admittedly a lot of the things he said caught me a little off guard, but one in particular I couldn't get out of my head.

One that I vividly remembered hearing in the past, but I wasn't sure if I had dreamed hearing it.

I guess I hadn't.

I sat back up, looking at the magazine.

Flipping it to the front, I grabbed a pen and began looking through and marking the ones I liked. All while his words played on repeat through my head.

I plan on having you for a long time.