The next two weeks passed in an uneventful but stressful blur - All I seemed to be able to do was work, eat, and sleep. Gianna was a perfect bitch, as per usual, but she seemed to have toned down her attitude for the sake of her job, and Marcus always appeared too busy to visit. To start with, it crossed my mind that he may be ignoring me for a while, after out conversation earlier on, but he squashed that theory firmly when I called him out during a quick meeting in a corridor.

"Do not be ridiculous, my dear. It is a very busy time, that it all."

Even in my after hours, I couldn't amuse myself – choosing to spend my time blobbing in my room with my headphones in. I mourned the lack of a laptop more than once, cursing Aro Volutri and his insistence that I would use it to wreak havoc upon him and the vampire world. As if! Didn't he realise that the looming threat of death hanging over my head was more than enough to keep me quiet? Obviously not. I frequently considered checking up on my family back Riley but considering that they hadn't even bothered to drop me a call or even a text in over a month I decided against it.

Actually, my family's lack of communication really began to get to me, to the point that I would obsess over it when trying to sleep at night. I still had my phone with me, (Aro had at least let me keep that, for some reason) and Volterra actually had pretty good reception, to my surprise, so it wasn't as if they couldn't get hold of me. My mom had always made sure I had a roaming service, so I could always contact her in one of my random trips away from home, meaning I could receive messages and calls perfectly fine. So what was keeping them? Did my really care little enough about me to not even drop a line every once in a while. I was in Italy for God's sake, and they were all the way back in the US! Anything could have happened to me!

My only consolation was that they must have been in some form of contact with Aunt Gianna at least. No parents are too uncaring. They clearly believed that calling me personally was worth the effort. Thanks guys, I heart you too.

Working as Gianna's assistant seemed to get all the more challenging as the days went by. It was less proper work and more;

"Fetch me a coffee, Avery!"

"Put these papers away, Avery!"

Or,

"Why are you so useless, the mouse pad goes here."

Whatever. I would do it all if it stopped Gianna making my life just that little more difficult. The weirdest was that I kept catching her giving me these really worried looks. Not like she was worried for me, but rather for someone else, because of me. And she'd taken to biting her nails – something I never imagined a glamour puss like her sinking to. Not with her expensive manicures – what kind of salary did she get? I had yet to receive mine, despite working here over a month. It wasn't as if I was going to waltz up to Aro and demand it from him or anything.

All in all, the pressure from work, Gianna, and my hurt from the lack of family contact made me miss Marcus's presence more than I thought possible. It was only when he wasn't available for conversation when I realised how much I actually enjoyed his conversation. I came to realise that he was quite possibly my only escape in this madhouse, and my only friend. (Well, I considered him mine, anyway.) Gianna hated me. Aro hated me. Cauis… didn't seem to hate me so much anymore, but was hardly my BFF. Athenodora still offered a smile whenever I saw her, but it wasn't as if we could strike up conversation. Sulpicia just pretended I didn't exist.

I hadn't talked so much to Jane recently either. She seemed to busy offering her arse to Aro whenever he asked for it. (Metaphorically, of course.) I never really saw anyone else - I guessed that there may be other human workers in the castle, but I never saw hide nor hair of them.

Marcus was the only person who I could really talk to, as well. He was good to vent with, and even when he said nothing in return, I knew he was listening by the sharpness of his eyes and the occasional motion of understanding. I couldn't believe how easy it was just to be beside him. It was like he was just an ordinary mortal, like me.

That was another obsession; my relationship with him. Marcus always made me feel… older. More mature. Like I meant something. I had never felt these things before, and it felt good. I was also becoming a lot more aware of his presence and his touch when he embraced me, and that worried me. I didn't want to fall for him, I couldn't. Because he was obviously enamoured with Didyme, even after her death. If I fell for him, it wasn't as if he would fall for me in return. He was still raw and bleeding for his loss, and there were always heavy loads of pain submerged in his eyes. Didyme was, and still is, his every reason for being.

But knowing this didn't stop the joy that I felt in his presence. It didn't stop the sharp jolts of something I would feel when he would meet my eyes across a room and offer me a small, passive smile. It didn't stop my creeping blush, and my desire to be near to him. It didn't stop my accelerating heart and my longing to run a hand through his thick, dark hair.

It didn't stop me worrying, almost constantly, if he had yet seen the changes in my bond to him. I knew that if he did, he would stay away from me for good – sickened, worried, embarrassed? It didn't know which.

I only knew that it would hurt me more than anything else.

Two chapters in quick succession! Go me! Even if this one was focused only on Avery's personal feelings, and not her actions.

Gasp! It's all coming out now, Avery! You know that feeling you get just before you begin to love somebody, but you kind of know it's going to happen? Yeah, that's what she's got.

Aww, I think they'd make a good couple!

To bad it could never work.

Read and Review for more! I was disappointed by my lack of feedback last night. Boo hoo!

(Cookies for those who did review, though! I love you guys )

RVL