Title: Dream a Little Dream of Me
Rating: PG-13
Summary: While I'm alone and blue as can be, Dream a little dream of me. Post 3x21, Before Sunset.
Notes: One more chapter, it's my intention to post the last chapter tomorrow. Hopefully before the episode airs. Maybe I should save it until after in case their is a fall out lol. I won't think like that! Positive thoughts! Thanks you to Anastasia Dreams for helping me with this chapter!
Also, if you'd like to see the dress I had in mind for this story you can go to this link. Just replace the word '(dot)' with the actual dot. :) http:/i88(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/k189/calie15/20sdresscopy(dot)jpg
-Dream a Little Dream of Me
Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"
Birds singin' in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me
Say nighty-night and kiss me
Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me
While I'm alone and blue as can be
Dream a little dream of me
Stars fading but I linger on dear
Still craving your kiss
I'm longing to linger till dawn dear
Just saying this
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me
INSTRUMENTAL
Stars fading but I linger on dear
Still craving your kiss
I'm longing to linger till dawn dear
Just saying this
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries far behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me
The door opened for her and music seemed to filter in through the dark walls surrounding her. Slowly, she made her way down the darkened hallway, aware of the heals on her feet, the short length of her dress, her bare arms. It was to dark for her to see the dress, but she ran her hand over her stomach and down her thighs. It wasn't material, it was smooth and bumpy...beading. It wasn't until she she came to a door, and turned the knob did she realize that the music coming from behind the door seemed liked it belonged to an entirely different decade. When she opened the door, revealing what lay behind it, she knew she was right.
It only took her a moment to realize she had just stepped right into the 1920's. "Klaus."
"You called?"
At his voice she turned and fixed him with a look of annoyance. "This has got to stop."
"Don't be so dramatic love," he began and held out his arm to her, "it's just a dream."
Considering him carefully for a moment she finally winded her arm through his own, her curiosity once again getting the best of her. He smiled, pleased with her decision, and led her out onto the dance floor. In the mean time, she took her time studying the couples around her. It was an impressive dream, she had to admit. The scene around her was nothing like she could have ever imagined, nothing like a 20's dance in a gymnasium. "This is your memory," Caroline said as a statement and looked up at him as he wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Yes. It's something I'd never be able to really show you, I figured this would be my only opportunity." Klaus glanced down her body and back up to her with that boyish smile that was oh so deceiving. "You're beautiful."
At his words she glanced down at the dress she had touched blindly only moments ago and noted the elaborate, decorative beading. There were beautiful designs in gold, white and black, strings of beads brushing her bare thighs. Despite herself Caroline admired the dress, reluctantly admitting Klaus had good taste. It was a shame that the dress only existed as a dream. "Kind of elaborate for you to make up," Caroline said as she looked up at him again. "Did one of your victims get the joy of wearing it once?" Instead of getting offended he only smiled. Point for him.
"Not at all. I'd admired it in a window once. Suggested it to Bekah, but she was taken with another. I'm glad she didn't purchase it, I'd much rather admire it on you."
Klaus had an insufferable ability to pay her compliments, and it appeared as if he knew her feelings on the subject, because his grin was nothing but cocky. "I told you once before you couldn't seduce me," she responded haughtily.
Klaus lowered his head slightly as he spoke. "It doesn't mean I won't enjoy trying."
She sighed. "What do you want?"
"We discussed this. I enjoy your company."
That wasn't sufficient for her. "I don't know why. I continue to tell you no, I have a boyfriend, the same one that broke your sire bond might I remind you. You're probably the most evil person I have ever met, ever. There is no chance, ever, that I'd consider you anything but an enemy." Once again she waited for that anger he was known for, the unmasked fury in his eyes that he had revealed to her on a few occasions. Yet it didn't come, he did sober though, seeming to have been affected somehow by her words.
"Can you really comprehend an eternity Caroline?" He asked softly, realizing again how young she was compared to him. "You walk through life, confident, thinking you have the answers, that everything is absolute. Nothing is absolute when you have eternity."
Caroline wanted to argue with him. She didn't believe a word he said about her one day changing her mind. There was no convincing Klaus of that though. If she did argue then it would make her feel young, like a petulant child stomping their feet. The adult thing would just be to realize that they would continue to disagree on that topic and drop it. So she did.
They danced for a while in silence, and she found, surprisingly, it was bearable. Especially considering the effort Klaus had put into their surroundings. Short of inventing a time machine it probably would have been Caroline's only opportunity to experience a decade that she wasn't even alive for. It was a shame that it was Klaus granting her this gift. Klaus was right that night of the decade dance, about the 20's, Caroline knew she would have loved them. She could understand his fondness of that decade now. It was evident in the detail he used. That was another point that bothered her, the trouble he went through to recreate the night of the ball, to recreate a moment from the 20's that he remembered, a dress that he spotted in a window. Or even gifting her a bracelet that he had taken from a princess who knows how long ago.
"How many other woman have there been?" She asked curiously and looked up at him. He cocked an eyebrow in amusement and Caroline was relieved she couldn't blush. The questioned sounded to much like an insecure girl wanting to know about her boyfriends previous partners. "A thousand years. How many other woman have you laid the same charms on? I get the impression you want me to feel special, but I doubt I'm the first girl you've went out of your way to impress. Maybe one every half a century or so? Between all the revenge and mayhem of course." The music changed, and she would have sworn it slowed.
"You never want to see the truth," he observed. "After all you've learned about me you have to realize that the last thing I would have sought over the past thousand years was a romantic relationship."
"Right," she said with a roll of her eyes. "So you mean to tell me that this, what you're doing now with me, is the first time? I doubt that."
"Not at all, but you're the only woman I've ever met that wasn't a means to some end for me." Klaus studied her face carefully, trying to understand her reactions to everything he said. "I'm selfish and vengeful Caroline, I'm aware of the person I am. Is it so hard to believe that you're the only person I've ever met that was an exception to any deceitful plan I've ever had? Or that you're the only person I find that I want show kindness to without any expectations?"
It was a weight that she didn't want. Caroline didn't want that responsibility, she didn't want to be that person for him. "I don't want that," she whispered, for some reason pained by his words. "I don't want to be that person for you." Caroline could see the way her words affected him in that moment, she could see the hurt in his eyes. Then just as quickly as it came it was gone and he smiled gently down at her.
"Regardless of how young you are," Klaus said softly and lowered his head just slightly, "you know the heart has no regard for such things. Original's get no switch love."
The last words were said with a measure of pain she didn't want to consider. So she looked away again. The club had darkened slightly, the music itself was definitely slower then when she had first entered, and Caroline would swear that there was almost a saddened tone to it. It was almost as if the dream itself was reacting to Klaus' mood. All things considered, it might have been possible. "I'm not referring to a switch. Sometimes you just have to learn to let go and move on."
"A thousand years Caroline," he began and stopped moving, tilting his head to the side so that he could look into her eyes. "It took me a thousand years to feel this, do you think I'm just going to let go and move on?"
She turned her face up to look at his, swallowing in nervousness as his eyes peered into her own. She would have sworn that stare was begging her for something. "What else can you do?" And he offered her a small smile.
"Wait," he said simply. "I'll wait for as long as it takes."
It was to much, it was all to much. Caroline didn't want that, she didn't want him waiting for her. That fact would never leave her mind. Forever Caroline would know that Klaus was out there, thinking of her, wanting her, waiting decades, centuries even, just for her to just turn up at his door. "Why?" She asked with much more emotion then she would have liked. It was almost heartbreaking to realize the depth of his emotion, even if he was the bad guy. Instead of responding to her desperate question, he only smiled and she got the hint that it was something that even he didn't want to share. Instead of dwelling on it, Caroline forced herself to push it from her mind.
They danced again, the tempo picking up slightly, but still slow. Caroline knew the music wouldn't change to something with a faster tempo, Klaus wouldn't change anything so that he wasn't standing there with his arms around her. It was startling for her to realize that she knew that, that she accepted it as truth.
After moments of silence Klaus broke it. "I trust everything is okay back in Mystic Falls?" She looked up at him warily. "It's an honest inquiry love."
"Right," Caroline said with a roll of her eyes, grateful to be back to normal conversations that didn't involve feelings. "I'm sure you are very concerned about everyone's well being. Speaking of which, instead of haunting my dreams, why aren't you in theirs? I mean, isn't this the perfect opportunity to give them nightmares that could be straight from hell?"
Klaus smirked. "And here I thought you were sweet. Even you have a conniving mind." Ignoring her glare he continued. "The thought did cross my mind, but I can just as easily make their lives hell when I'm awake, which will happen I assure you." Once again she rolled her eyes at him, but as usual it never bothered him. "Will I get to do this with you when I wake?"
"Not very likely," Caroline responded, but he seemed more pleased then anything.
"But that isn't a no," Klaus replied, his grin widening. "I'll keep that in mind."
Caroline released an exasperated sigh, and then they danced in silence.
"You would have loved it back then," Klaus said eventually as he glanced around. When he looked down her face was turned up and her eyes met his own. There was none of her earlier annoyance or disgust that he had seen before. Just a wide eyed innocence that had drawn him in from the day he saved her life. "You would have been the most beautiful person there, every eye would have been on you Caroline."
"Stop," she whispered, pleaded, because she was all to aware the affect his words had on her and she feared he might be aware of it also. Even so, he only smiled.
"This dress was made for you love. One day I'll make sure you really get to where it."
They slowed to a stop, the music seeming to quiet with them. The people lingered in the background, but Caroline didn't hear any of the soft chatter that she had earlier. Klaus' head lowered, and she inhaled sharply, tightening her hold on him, wanting to push away, but he held her close. Yet what she feared he might do never came. Instead, his head dropped to the side of her own. Facial hair brushed her cheek and she bit her lip to resist the urge to shudder at the proximity, the physical sensation of it. It was an intimate touch, and her reaction wouldn't have been the disgust it should have been.
"Be careful out there Caroline," he whispered into her ear. "I'm not there to save your life."
"Haven't you done it enough?" She asked, her voice so low she wondered if even Klaus could hear it. He pulled back slightly, a knowing smile on his face. Yet it wasn't the smile that bothered her, it was the proximity of his face to her own.
"Not nearly. Sweet dreams Caroline."
Caroline once again woke with a gasp to find herself staring up at her darkened ceiling. There was no alarm blaring this time and the sun wasn't even up. She clutched her chest, because if she had been alive her heart would have been pounding. Without even realizing it she lifted her other hand to touch her face, swearing she could still feel the brush of his beard against her own cheek.