For Christina (to be loved is to be destroyed) on her 20th Birthday.

"Morning without you is a dwindled dawn." - Emily Dickinson

Mornings were his favorite time with Caroline. Not to say, that he was not happy or grateful every other second of the day but there was something about the way the early morning sunlight hit her skin, that made her glow all that more. There was something about the way her yellow hair contrasted against his bleached white sheets or the way her hand searched for him when he awoke and moved out of her embrace. Perhaps it was the peaceful look that adorned her perfect face as all of the nightmares of life ceased to exist in the world of her dreams.

Klaus was a megalomaniac, he constantly wanted to take over and possess, and his bed was no different. He was not one to pick sides, the entire piece of furniture was his and he made sure he conquered it. But after the first night that she spent in his bed, she chose her place, and every night after that she refused to budge. He had his side, she had hers. And that was when he learnt that just like his bed, life was so much more fulfilling when he had her by his side.

The first time she told him that she loved him; it was the morning after her mother had passed on. A heart attack was what the doctor said; misery was what she called it. She had spent the night sobbing into his shirt. He didn't ask her if she was okay, he didn't expect her to talk about it, he just let her cry until she eventually fell asleep against him. The next morning, he woke up with her soft fingers caressing his face, his eyes remaining closed he heard her whisper, 'I love you' to what she thought was his sleeping form.

The morning of the first anniversary of her arrival on his doorstep, she awoke to his lips trailing down her stomach. That morning all he thought of was how much he wanted to show her how happy and grateful he was that she chose to be with him. He would not be able to say it, but was willing to show in every way possible. The look of pure bliss on her face as his tongue dipped between her folds: licking, sucking, worshipping. After a year of experiencing his exceptional talents in the bedroom, she never ceased to gasp, to lose her breath and boredom was not even an option. Their bodies were made for each other, and would never stop responding to each other. Forever was an easy promise when one was with the one that they are meant to be with. And as his tongue swept over her clit, pressing down on it firmly and causing her to see stars, she was sure that forever was not enough.

On the day of his 1186th birthday, she woke him up by straddling his waist. Her naked body perched above him, and her lips kissing his neck. He moaned loudly, daring the world to create anything more perfect than the feeling he felt when he was inside her, knowing that his birthday had already been made and it barely begun. He had told her that night so long ago in her bedroom that he loved birthdays but he had not truly experienced a good birthday until she fell into his life (and his lap for that matter).

"Klaus," she sighed as she moved her hips faster, balancing herself on him, "I propose a rule that every birthday for the rest of eternity begins in sex."

"Well I was going for every morning in general should begin in sex, but I'm willing to take a look at your motion."

Her laughs soon turned to moans as he switched positions so that he could penetrate her deeper, feel her nails dig into his back and her legs intertwined with his.

"Happy Birthday Klaus," she grunted just before he leaned down to kiss her.

After they had been together about twenty years when on Valentine's Day he woke up to see instead of his blonde beauty on the pillow next to him, he found a sheet of paper. Immediately he began to panic, what if after all this time she finally realized that he did not deserve her, what if she had changed her mind, found someone else, and he was none the wiser. He picked the page up slowly, fearing what that small handwriting would tell him.

Klaus,

Stop panicking! I'm downstairs! I know that you are the one who does all the fancy speeches and romantic gestures but I wanted to get a word in before you seduced me with your bedroom eyes.

I had dreams, I had plans, I had my future mapped out to the T, no matter how undecided eternity might be, I was going to find a way to plan it all out before the time. And then you came into my life, and I tried so very hard not to fall for you, but you gripped me: hook, line and center. And what began as mutual attraction and intrigue has grown these past twenty years as I've learned to get to know all sides of you: the charming suitor, the obsessive, the power-hungry king, the brother, the hunter and the lover. And I've learnt to love them all (although some more than others).

I know that every morning when you wake up you have a look of alarm on your face that I would have run off while you were sleeping. Firstly if I was ever to leave, I would make an exit, I would not sneak off in the middle of the night like a thief. Secondly, I am so retrievably in love with you, someone would need to ply me away from you with a crowbar to get me to leave you.

Happy Valentine's Day, I know you think this holiday is silly, but it's my favorite so suck it up. I look forward to eternity of waking up together, of loving you, and of getting to every one of your crazy personalities.

I love you.

Your Caroline.

P.S. Come down and get your gift. Don't bother getting dressed ;)

Nighttime however is what brought him hell. Nighttime was when all the monsters came to play. Usually he would relish in the time that his kind reigned supreme. But fifty years after he regained control over New Orleans, his people began to revolt, some say they had whispers in their ears from witches, others said it was Marcel and his old gang, even others said it was Rebekah or Elijah. But nighttime was when they stormed his mansion with powerful witches to take down all his defenses and an army of vampires, day and night walkers banded together. He killed his way easily through all of them but the whispers were smarter than he gave them credit for and when he had stormed up to his bedroom, he found Caroline's body ashened, tears still wet on her face, and he drawing he had drawn of the two of them clutched in his hand.

That night he killed every one of the vampires in the city.

That night he didn't sleep.

That night he grabbed her body and left New Orleans forever.

Morning came too quickly after she was gone, because every time he woke up and she was not beside him, he lost his mind a little bit more. Mornings signified a fresh start, new beginnings, but how could he move on when his reason for living was gone? Everyday he cursed his immortality, and envied the Other Side, which must've grown so much more beautiful since she joined them. Even in her absence he could only stay on one side of the bed, unable to return to the man he was before she stream rolled into his life, and each morning he caressed the pillow next to him, almost expecting it to lean into his touch, to giggle, to grunt out a greeting. His dreams were filled of her: memories, what could have been, and he constantly wished he could live in that alternate universe where there wasn't a gaping hole in his chest, Caroline was alive, and they were together again.

Mornings were his favorite time with Caroline.

And without her it only meant pain.

A/N: Please let me know what you think, I've been having a lot of problems writing lately hence my absence from this site but I'm trying to get into the groove again, so your thoughts would help me.

or

alternatively catch me on Tumblr at queenblairstiara