CHAPTER 11 – HEART OF GLASS

I own nothing, I just love Twilight – no copyright infringement intended.

Thanks to my awesome betas and pre-readers for all their support—as always I'm very grateful.

I have had a hell of a week this week, but I've started and caught up on some mind-blowing fics that I think readers of this story might also like. I've added them at the bottom after the translations so you don't have to read if you don't want to, but seriously—I can't stress how much pleasure these stories have given me this week. I feel humbled.

Angst and lime.

~X~

Once I had a love and it was a gas,
Soon turned out had a heart of glass.
Seemed like the real thing, only to find,
Much of mistrust, love's gone behind.

Heart of Glass, Blondie

~X~

I was thoroughly screwed—and not in the good way. It wasn't the first time I'd wanted someone I couldn't have, but with Demetri it was different.

The first rejection had been swift, brutal and complete; one minute we loved each other, and the next he belonged to her. Sam had been quick in letting me know that it was over, and not to try and win him back. It was final. The plaster had been ripped clean off, but my wound had gotten infected and festered for years after. I'd become a bitter and twisted version of the girl I had once been, and angry at the world for the constant cruel jokes it had played on me.

This time it was as if the plaster was being peeled away slowly, and I felt every tug intensely. I couldn't be angry at anyone but myself; Demetri had never promised me anything, yet I'd dived in on my own volition and gotten burned.

We still spent time together; we still had sex, and I continued to enjoy his company. He hadn't openly rejected me—he just hadn't responded in kind. I did not repeat the words, and he never once brought the matter up in conversation.

I accepted that his reassessment of the length of time we were to spend together would be shorter after my cringe-worthy admission. There had been a definite shift in atmosphere since that night, and I was getting the signal from Demetri loud and clear. "I like you, but that's not what I want."

In a way, I was grateful for the emotional distance he was giving me; if he edged away gently, maybe I wouldn't even notice when he physically left. I consoled myself that nothing lasted forever, anyway: love, hope, people and even vampires—I'd dispatched a few of them myself.

Once our "relationship" was dead and buried, then I would be free to go back to my life in Forks and see what options presented themselves. Until that time, I was going to make a few memories worth fretting about once it was all over. I threw myself into making the most of every moment in New York. We shopped, danced, explored, and did the tourist thing. I loved the city, although not as much as I loved him. I was a goddamn lovesick puppy.

I'd never looked for perfection in a man, and as such I never expected it, but I had decided that Demetri was perfect for me. After all, I wasn't about to win any happy, normal and well-adjusted personality of the year awards. For all he had his flaws, he was also generous and took my moods in his stride with good nature.

I was going to miss the way his face creased when he smiled and his flamboyant wit. I stored memories of each and every facial expression away, like photos to look at some day in the future when I wanted to remember happy times past. His face—and his body—were beautiful, of course, and he knew it, but it wasn't just the wrapping that had sucked me in. I loved the substance too.

And then there was his sex drive.

The man was insatiable, and I wondered how on earth I was ever going to readjust to being single and frustrated again. I'd had more sex in the last month than I'd had in my entire lifetime. I remembered that it had taken a year to decide I didn't miss the physical side of love last time; with Demetri, it was going to take so much longer.

Demetri was the perfect companion, which only amplified my heartache. He showed me the sights of the city—it was every girl's dream: hot guy, all expenses paid trip to New York, copious amounts of sex, shop till you drop, wined and dined. With my luck, however, it had turned into a painful experience. Someone up there really didn't like me.

I laughed when I should, threw him a cutting remark when required, and gave my all in the bedroom. All the while, I tried my hardest to hide the turmoil inside me. If Demetri ever noticed that my smile didn't quite reach my eyes, he never said.

Tonight, we'd found a quiet spot in Central Park, and we were having a three a.m. picnic. The Park was abandoned, and the darkness was ideal for a werewolf and vampire date. If it wasn't for the knowledge that I was already in deeper than he was, then I would have found it highly romantic. I lay on the blanket eating an apple, while I looked up at the bare trees. Demetri broke the silence first.

"Do you think you should phase? It has been a few weeks, and I don't want to risk you losing your ability to turn wolf—"

"Or start aging," I butted in. My eyes flashed, daring him to say more. "Don't worry it takes longer than a few weeks to stop shifting. You're going to have to be a bit more imaginative to try and get me out of my clothes tonight."

Demetri smiled. "You're beginning to know me too well, Leah."

I turned and looked at him. "Really? I don't think I know that much at all."

"You know what is important. Just because you don't know what I've done every single minute of every single day of the last nineteen centuries, it doesn't mean that you don't know me."

"Hmmm," I replied, and took another bite of my apple. I was having an off night and I couldn't think of a cutting response; it was probably the hopelessly romantic setting softening my edges.

Demetri lay a little closer to me and started fiddling with the bottom button of my white shirt. I looked at his hand and then directly into his eyes to show that I knew his game. He just smiled back and continued to play with the button.

"There's a function I believe we could crash tomorrow evening. We don't get many opportunities to really get dressed up. We could buy you a nice evening dress...?"

"Yeah, sure. Why not?" He was being really nice to me, as always, but I was hurting too much to be sweet in return. I didn't want well-meant pleasantries right now. I wanted raw emotion and heat.

"If you don't mind, I got you a little something. I thought you could wear it tomorrow night." He reached inside his coat and pulled something out. He kept it hidden inside his fist and moved behind me. I sat up and wondered what he was doing, until he fastened a silver chain with a crystal heart-shaped pendant around my neck.

I looked down at the jewellery and felt a little dumbfounded. "Wow, it's beautiful." Yet another flashy, extravagant bauble. I looked him in the eye, searching for any hidden signals.

"Like you, Leah." Demetri smiled, and then he moved closer and began to kiss my collarbone. Well, maybe his agenda wasn't hidden too deep..

Demetri had bought me many gifts: jewellery, clothes, and chocolate bars. I tried not to show that the beautiful crystal heart dangling from the chain caused my own to twist and stutter, so I hid behind my smart mouth. "Well, I have to give it to you, that's one imaginative way to get my clothes off in Central Park. I hope you didn't spend too much, but thanks."

"Not too much, and it's nothing. Mi piaci di brutto."

It's nothing, I convinced myself. Just a crystal shape on a silver chain. "You know I hate it when I don't know what you're saying," I complained, while I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sensation.

"I know," Demetri said, as his kisses moved up my neck to my jaw. His hand moved around to my chest and began opening buttons. "Hai da fare per I prossimi cent'anni?" His hand dipped inside my blouse and inside my bra. A bit of ice on a chain, a well placed cold hand, and he had me burning, as always.

I groaned and turned to seek out his mouth with my own. I wanted to stop the flow of his Italian sweet nothings before they did any more damage. I knew he hadn't said the one word I always listened for; the one I made sure I learned—amore.

I leaned back into him and allowed his hands to wander. He deepened the kiss, and I melted. We were caught up in the heat of the moment, which was why we didn't realise that we weren't alone.

"Hey, Joe!" I heard a coarse voice. "Look, there are a couple of lovebirds in the trees." I heard laughter.

I immediately broke the kiss and began to fasten my shirt. Demetri hissed.

"Hey, kids, don't stop for us. If you're gonna put on a show, we don't mind watching." There were three men laughing in the dark, only yards away from where we sat. Weak light flashed in my direction, and I noticed it centred on my chest.

Demetri got to his feet and stared bloody daggers. He did not need torchlight to see; my own eyes were pretty sharp, too.

"Demetri, leave them; they're not worth it. Let's go back to the room." He looked down at me. For a second, even I found his glare intimidating, but then he softened as he focused on me rather than the men. He offered me his hand and helped me up.

Unfortunately, these men had no survival instinct or sense to quit while they were ahead.

"Hey, lady!" The largest of the three shouted. "That's a pretty necklace you're wearing."

The initial embarrassment had worn off, and now I was just pissed off that they had interrupted us. "Get lost, and go bother someone else. Assholes."

One of the guys pulled something out of his coat and pointed it towards us. It was a gun.

"Asshole, huh? I don't like being called an asshole. Now hand it over, and no-one will get hurt." His two companions pulled out knives and took on a defensive stance.

Demetri responded, "I suggest you leave now. If you so much as approach my girlfriend, I won't be responsible for my actions." He was livid, and I could feel him tense as I put my hand on his chest in a symbolic attempt to hold him back and calm him down.

"Demetri, we have a deal, remember? No-one gets hurt or I go."

The man with the gun roared with laughter. "Hey, guys, do you think this English dude is threatening us? I don't think I like his tone." The gun clicked as he armed it. "Now—I need that necklace."

I started to tremble with anger. I knew a bullet wouldn't harm Demetri, but just to have the gun trained on him was more than I could handle.

"Leah, no," Demetri warned me. "You cannot reveal—"

He was too late. My torn clothes flew into the air, and I suddenly exploded into wolf form. My fur stood on end; my snarl echoed throughout the entire park and reverberated off the surrounding skyscrapers. The muggers' jaws dropped open as they looked on in disbelief.

"What the fuck—"

The men panicked, turned and ran. Only once they were out of my sight did I finally calm down and see the funny side of the situation. Who's afraid of the big bad wolf now, boys?

I became human again. Demetri removed his coat and offered it to me; for once he didn't use the opportunity to ogle me before I got decent.

"You shouldn't have done that," he began. "I really don't know where the law stands on what to do when a shapeshifter reveals themselves to humans, but I know what I should do if you were a vampire."

"I won't tell if you don't. Besides, I'm sure they were drunk; no-one will believe them."

"Sometimes my thoughts aren't my own, and I can't help but show what I'd rather not tell. My boss can read my mind." Demetri looked conflicted, and for a moment he was silent and still. To diffuse the situation I tried to give him my brightest, most sweet and innocent smile. I wasn't sure how genuine that came across.

He stared at me. "You've lost your necklace."

My hand flew to my throat. "Oh no! When I phased..." I began to look on the ground around me, but I knew from experience that clothing could be flung quite some distance when I changed. Demetri's keen eyes found it first, and held it up in his hand.

I was dismayed when I saw that it had snapped. "Demetri, I'm sorry—I broke it."

He stared transfixed at the chain, obviously doing more than assessing the damage.

Eventually he gave me a polite smile, coiled up the chain and put it back in his pocket. "Don't worry; I'm sure it's fixable. We should leave—immediately—as I'm sure you were heard at least four blocks away. We have unfinished business to attend to."

I wondered what he meant, until he turned and gave me a knowing grin. Always about the goddamn sex.

~X~

TRANSLATIONS:

Mi piaci di brutto. — I like you way too much.

Hai da fare per I prossimi cent'anni? – What are you doing for the next hundred years?

The necklace Demetri bought Leah is a Tiffany HeartsTM Pendant, $1525.00. Which conveniently enough I can't find on their website any more to link. Demetri must have bought the last one.

~X~

Awesome Fics:

Right, as I mentioned above, these fics have totally gotten me through this week. (Warning, both have lemons, but I guess you don't mind if you are reading my story!) They are:

FALLEN PRINCESS / ABSOLUTION BY BFORQUEEN – For Volturi lovers, Caius is father to a hybrid daughter and her upbringing is very different to Renesmee's. She crushes on a womanizing Demetri, and hurts a loveable Felix. Fallen Princess is OC POV and Absolution is Felix POV. Oh, and for those who can't bear to be without Cullens, they do appear in Fallen Princess 2nd half.

And oh my God, I loved this from the start but the recent updates are awesome! ( failed to email me about them, but at least I had a bunch to read at once.) You must read THE CLIFFS OF ICARUS BY GREEEN GOLDFISH. I don't doubt that most of you will have heard of Midnight Son of a Biotch, but this is way better in my opinion. If you love painfully bittersweet, tortured Leah in love, then you will adore this. A rather excellent and wonderfully written Leah/Sam history. It rocks my world, and I fall asleep thinking about it. I have read the 10 chapters currently posted 3 times in 24 hours, it's that good! I actually fancy Sam for the first time EVER.