Klaus liked the feeling of Charlotte as she slept in his arms.

Her face lay so peaceful, her body curled up so close and her hair pulled back so he could see her pink cheeks even as she burrowed in tighter.

Her skin which was once porcelain, thanks to a life preparing for marriage, was now spotted with freckles from their summer hunting wolves. They made her look younger, they covered her nose and her cheeks and her forehead. There was even one on her lips, just a little baby one near the corner. She had a permanent blush covering her nose and cheeks as a result of it too, a sunburn that never seemed to fade.

Klaus liked to look at the tiny freckle on her lips, it seemed the perfect place to kiss. He wanted to kiss each and every freckle covering her body.

When she was sleeping, her face was serene. Her eyebrows, often furrowed with disapproval of his actions or with concern for her brother, lay relaxed. Klaus felt a twinge of guilt each time her eyebrows knitted together, especially when it was him who was causing it.

Her mouth lay open as she slept, breathing softly through her lips rather than her nose, she would occasionally let out small snores that Klaus could listen to until the day he died. He liked listening to her as she slept, her heart slow and steady, each tiny breath or snore a reminder she was there in his arms.

Charlotte slept with her arms tucked to her chest, she liked her head tucked beneath his chin and his arms around her. He knew she liked hard touches more than soft, tight hugs made her feel safe. He would circle her so tightly that some mornings she couldn't move without him waking.

Klaus was pretty sure that any action that allowed her to feel tighter and smaller she would love. That was why she would curl into a ball anytime she sat, or why she wanted him to hold her so close that he worried he was hurting her. She liked the solidity of it, he presumed. Klaus didn't question her on why she needed it he just understood that she did.

She couldn't sleep with her hair out, she would get frustrated and bothered so she braided it every evening and each morning when she took it out it would sit in waves. He liked to run his fingers through it as the drifted off to sleep. At first he would often hit bumps, the braid would start high up on her head but after a while he noticed his fingers running smoothly, the braid beginning lower. Once or twice he had tugged her braid to get her attention in the mornings, he liked the grin and then frown that would follow it.

When Charlotte was nervous, her fingers would fidget, getting out all of her anxiety. First she'd begin to fiddle her fingers together, then as she began to feel worse they'd tap. She'd wrap her arms around her stomach, holding herself up and tight, and then her fingers would tap along her sides.

At first he thought it was just nervous energy she was getting out. He'd asked her about it one day, the blush covered her face from ear to nose to ear and she confessed she was playing a song. She played the piano back in her old life and so when she was anxious she'd play a song, using the music she could remember to distract her.

Klaus liked everything about her. He just didn't know quite how to tell her. He hadn't felt this way in centuries.

He wasn't sure when it started, when she stopped being a piece of the game he way playing and he started to care for her. Perhaps when they were in the bar and she heard him yell his name in terror. His whole body was gripped with fear as he rushed over, pulling the stranger off of her, he'd never wanted to kill someone so much as he did when he heard her whimper on the floor.

His heart would clench any time she walked into the room, every time she called him Nik and laughed he wanted to pull her closer to him. Every time he heard her heart begin to beat quicker he looked for what was there frightening her, hoping it wasn't him.

Klaus knew that he was the one who caused the most pain in her life. He was the one who kept her from Damon. He was the one who made Stefan follow his every order. He knew how it hurt her whenever Stefan was silent, her eyes swimming with horror each time Stefan killed someone. Although he wouldn't ever hurt her physically, he knew that his control over her and her family's life hurt her more than any cut or bruise.

Klaus knew with how much he cared that he should be selfless, let her make her own choice and leave. But with Charlotte, Klaus couldn't help being the most selfish man alive.

When he first took her it was without thought or care, he only brought her along on a whim, just to piss her brother off. But now it was more than that, he wanted her in his arms every night, he didn't think he could ever let her leave.

He needed her with him.

Nothing had happened more between them. Klaus wanted to kiss her every night as she slid into bed beside him, moving into his arms. He wanted to kiss her every day when she laughed at him and mocked his name. He wanted to kiss her forever and run his fingers over every inch of her body but he couldn't. He'd already taken her first choice away, the choice to be with him and Stefan and abandon Damon. He was too selfish to let the first choice be hers, so he let the rest be up to her.

He'd let her come to him, if she wanted more than this it would be her choice.

Klaus could feel Charlotte stirring in his arms at last and he pulled her in closer. They had to get up soon, they both knew it but neither wanted the moment to end.

"Klaus," Charlotte was trying to break free. She liked how tight his grip was, she didn't want him to let go though she knew they had to get up eventually.

"Nik," he corrected, pulling her closer, "hush now darling, time to sleep still."

"Nik, I have to shower I feel disgusting."

"You could never be disgusting," he replied, his thumb brushing her hair from her forehead as he looked down at her before finally loosening his arms with a playful groan.

Charlotte liked sleepy Nik, he was so soft and so sweet. He could be charming. He was more honest when they lay in bed, talking about his siblings and his childhood. Sleepy Nik complimented her and asked her about what made her happy, he wanted to know who she was.

Charlotte liked a lot of things about Klaus, no, Nik.

She liked how Nik made her feel. Nik watched her in a crowd, she could feel his eyes on her as she moved, even when he was distracted he still had an eye on her. His eyes on her let her know she'd be okay, that nothing would happen to her, that she wasn't alone.

Nik made her feel safe at night.

He didn't know about what it was like for her on the Other Side, but he knew she needed to feel safe most at night time when it was cold and dark. He knew she liked his arms so tight around her that she could barely breathe. She liked knowing she could always feel him there. Nik watched when her hands started to fiddle, although really sometimes he just listened for her heart, and would pull one away, taking the anxiety with him.

Nik made her feel free too, she'd never been allowed to do anything before. Never allowed to run, nor talk out of turn, nor have her own opinion. Nik didn't make her feel scared, with Nik she could say what she felt, she could argue and know he would argue back.

Sometimes Nik was Klaus though, like last night. Klaus got angry. She knew he was angry because he was scared, he was scared she wanted to leave.

Klaus frightened her sometimes.

He frightened her because she knew he would do whatever it took to get what he wanted.

He frightened her because she didn't know if push came to shove, what he'd hold higher, her will, or his.

When Charlotte left the bathroom, fully dressed and ready for the day Klaus' position had barely changed. He was still laying in bed, only now he lay on his back, head propped up by a second pillow as he watched her leave the bathroom, phone abandoned by his side.

Charlotte considered her next move, the motel room they were in was small and aside from an awkward wooden chair by the door, the bed they'd occupied seemed the best option for her to wait at. Klaus watched her deliberations with a smirk that grew into a grin as she sat beside him and then let him tug her by the waist back beside him.

"Are you going to be alright to come today?" Klaus asked when Charlotte had laid down with her head beside his on the pillow. The question surprised her, she didn't think it was exactly an option to not be with him or Stefan and she knew they would both be going to the woods today.

Charlotte nodded, "I guess so," he fingers were fidgeting now, fiddling where they lay against Klaus' chest, "I'm not exactly pleased with the plan, but I'll come."

Klaus caught her fingers, his hand cupped hers and she froze with the warmth that came from them. Each time Klaus' hands touched hers now she felt electrified. She remembered the disgust that seemed to override her body when they first met and his hands would land on her but now she wanted to lean into his touch each time.

"It means a lot to me that you're coming, darling."

It did.

Klaus knew that the idea of hybrids disgusted her and the fact that he'd more than likely have to force the pack into joining him would horrify her. They both knew that today would be an unpleasant day for her regardless of the outcome which was all the more reason he expected her to protest against it.

"If I asked, would you ever give your search for them up?"

"I don't need to search anymore," Klaus replied, side stepping around the question he knew she was really asking.

"Nik."

"Charlotte."

"Why do you need to make them?"

"If I'm their creator, they can never leave me. I'm cursed to being the first hybrid, I don't want to be the only one. They'll always be loyal to me."

Klaus admired loyalty above all.

The Salvatore siblings themselves were of such fascination to him because of their loyalty to one another, the way they'd lay down their lives for each other without a second thought. Whilst he valued his family above all others, he valued himself higher and had no doubt they felt the same. The Salvatores by comparison, sacrificed their own free will just for the cure for one, they did unpleasant tasks simply for the safety of another.

It was clear that Stefan would die before he let anybody hurt his siblings and Klaus had no doubt after only a little time with her that Charlotte would do the same. Perhaps that was why her coming meant so much to him, because despite everything that he'd she still stood beside him and didn't hate him.

His hand was still on hers, holding it against his chest with his thumb was rubbing gently across the back of her hand. Charlotte shouldn't feel this close to him but she did, she half wanted to turn her head and close the gap between their lips but she didn't feel brave enough. Instead she shut her eyes, smiling when Klaus pulled his ringing phone to his ear and dismissed Stefan for just a little longer.

If you'd asked her, Charlotte wouldn't know how to say how she felt about Klaus. She should hate him, she knew that, he was the one who made her leave Damon without a goodbye, he made Stefan do things he hated, he sat and watched with glee as Ray was tortured the night before. But here she was, laying in his arms, lips pulled into a tranquil smile while his fingers ran through her hair. She knew she should hate him, she should, but she couldn't.

Nik in bed and Nik with others were different people. Klaus' phone rang for a second time and she felt Klaus finally stir beside her. Whilst she agreed to come, the thought of their plans for the day made her stomach turn and Charlotte had no desire for their day to begin in earnest. Ray still lay in the trunk of the car, dead now with Klaus' blood in his system.

Today was the day they were to make Klaus' first hybrids.