Author Note: I am so so so sorry I have not updated since January or something. This year has been busy with final year work and graduation and then I had to resubmit an essay so that took some of my summer vacation to do. But I have made this massively long, for me anyway to make up for it.

I hope that the several switches between Leigh and Alec POV doesn't make it confusing. Please review and let me know if it does or doesn't for my future reference.

Thanks for making my story a favourite story. It did make me aware that (one) people were reading it and (two) enjoying it.

Reading it back made me aware of how much I enjoyed writing it.

So I will try and update more often.

Please note that in my haste to put this up I wasn't as fanatical in checking for spelling or grammer mistakes. If there are any I apologise profusely.

Chapter Thirty Five

Leigh POV

Waking up I found myself in my bed. I saw Alice sitting in a chair. She smiled at me. "Have fun today?" I nodded, still in a sleepy, just-woke-up haze.

"Alec is taking you out for dinner tonight. I'll help you get ready." I was shocked. Alec? He did not like me.

Alice, seeing my expression smiled confidently at me. "Don't worry. He wants to do it. Everyone else is busy and cannot take you. So he volunteered. Now hurry up. It's almost time for you to leave."

At that I looked at the clock to see it was six pm. My sleep patterns were totally out of whack. I seemed to be constantly sleeping.

Alice looked through my wardrobe, quickly selecting a simple dark blue silky dress, with a pair of black stilettos and a black cardigan to be worn "only when you feel cold. It's a nice outfit and I don't want you spoiling it with the cardigan."

Alice had fashion rules. They didn't always correspond with what was in fashion at the time. But I knew never to break them. Alice was scary when she was angry and she believed her rules had to be followed. If they weren't, she would bitch and moan about it for days. I had already been warned by Jasper and Chelsea.

I felt a stab of relief when Alice said "I'm going to keep your makeup simple and light tonight." I hated having to sit in front of the mirror for what seemed like hours as Alice did my makeup and styled my hair.

As she finished there was a knock on the door. Opening it revealed Alec.

He was wearing a light blue silky shirt with a neat pair of black trousers. I felt my breath hitch slightly. He was looking gorgeous.

"Alice, are you ready to let her go?" His voice was laced heavily with annoyance but he smiled at me. It was a friendly, cheeky smile that made me smile back.

"Oh, alright Alec. Nobody around here seems to understand that perfection takes time." Alice was always annoyed when people did not take her beautifying seriously and her tone was heavy on the exasperation.

Alec whispered something in return, too low for me to hear. I was aware that Alice seemed to have heard him, as through the corner of my eye I managed to see her give him a conspiring as well as a happy look. Alec returned the same look, albeit with an added glare.

The look between them passed so suddenly that if I hadn't been looking at Alice I wouldn't have seen it.

But then I realised something. How had she heard him? She was standing right next to me. And then my brain went on overdrive. Questions flying through my head at speed. Had things like that been happening around me and I had been really unobservant? I suppose I had been living in a post-traumatic haze and sleeping a lot more than usual.

I was broken out of my thoughts with Alec asking me "Ready to go, Reynolds?" in an endearing tone. It threw me for a moment, by him calling me by my last name since everyone else here called me Leigh and the unusual tone of voice.

I shook myself out of my internal thoughts and focused on what was being said to me and my surroundings.

He was looking at me, looking concerned because of my small pause. I smiled at him. "I just need to get my handbag." I grabbed it from the sofa, where it was lying on one of the seats.

I needed to stay away from my thoughts so I wanted to keep things light and fun with Alec.

"So where are we going? Or am I not supposed to know until we get there?" I asked, with a bright smile as we walked through the castle corridors.

Alec looked at me, shocked. Then his expression morphed into a charming, playful smirk. "You surprise me, Reynolds. I thought you weren't the lively type. But even if you did know the place we're going to, I'm afraid it's a surprise." "Spoil sport. And I'm full of surprises." I retorted back, complete with a playful grin/pout.

I was surprised to find that we were walking to the restaurant instead of the car. This was obvious when we exited a door and I found we were in an alleyway. At my confused expression he explained that there were several different entrances to the castle.

I can still remember when I discovered that the volturi lived in the Volterra castle. I thought it was cool and it did explain the vast rooms and the many, long corridors. I had found out when we had existed a door on the way to dinner and found myself in the main square with the fountain. For a while I had also wondered why Demetri and Jasper had been called the Brandon's while here in Italy they had their family name of Volturi. Their explanation was Brandon was their mother's maiden name and they felt it would make them fit in better at school. I had to laugh since they hadn't fitted in at all.

We walked down the alley, turning and stepping onto a main street. At a fair pace we strolled along it, my heels click clacking against the pavement. We past a man holding hands with two women, one on each side of him who were wearing either a tight black or bright green dress and ridiculously high heeled shoes that would have made me sprain my ankle, all three laughing as they staggered down the street.

After quite a few turns and a number of roads Alec stopped outside a dingy looking building with a dark wood recessed door. It didn't look like a restaurant, since there wasn't a sign or anything.

"Here we are." He said, opening the door. "What is this place?" "Vesta. A restaurant. After the Roman Goddess of the hearth, home and family."

At my look of confusion Alec pointed to a small plaque that was embedded into the stone, next to the door not much bigger than a credit card. "Vesta." It said simply. "It's mostly for locals so you supposed to just know about it."

We entered a hallway with antique looking small chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Music wafted up from somewhere. Going down a twisting staircase we come into a small hallway with a circular arch. Through the arch was a dimly lit room, people sitting at tables and on sofas in the far corner. It wasn't crowded but I could bet that even during the tourist season it wouldn't be crowded either. On the tables were candles stuck in old, empty wine bottles, flickering gently and giving the room a warm glow. At an old looking piano a man sat playing, occasionally hitting the wrong note.

As I stood taking the room in, Alec took my arm and steered me to a booth in a dark corner. We sat opposite each other, meaning I could look at him as much as I wanted.

Alec POV

As Leigh slept we had a late lunch and then a meeting. We always discussed things better after we had fed.

I was standing next to my sister when I saw Marcus lean over to Aro and give him his hand. I tensed slightly, guessing the thoughts he was showing Aro. Jane shot me an inquiring look as she saw my body go rigid.

I ignored her as just then Aro commanded me "Alec, your hand please," his voice filling the room.

I stepped up to him and gave him my right hand. I showed him my thoughts on Leigh. My annoyance at her being here and everything else I had recently felt.

Aro smiled widely and letting go my hand he clapped his hands together. "I'm so happy for you, Alec. Such a bond. And you are not fighting it. Interesting. I would have thought you would be the one to be the most resistant, after Jane of course."

At the guards confusion as well as Caius's Aro went on to explain. "Alec has found his mate. He has fallen in love with Leigh."

At that I steeled myself for the guards reactions. Jane looked shocked and then angry, not even uttering a sound before taking her leave from the room.

Felix and Demetri tried to hide their sniggering of Jane's reaction but the smiles on their faces gave away their feelings about how they felt. I already knew how Jasper and Alice felt but the rest were wildcards, and could go any way.

To be honest it was about 50/50. Some looked happy but they could just be doing that to make Aro happy and others looked disgusted. In love with a human? A meal? I used to be like them but Leigh had changed me.

I asked Aro if I could take Leigh to dinner. I was not on duty and it would be nice to get to know her. Aro allowed me to, telling Felix that he was now free this evening.

I had decided to take her to Vesta. I liked the atmosphere there. It was more relaxed, free of tourists and was real Italy. I didn't go that often as the locals would start to get suspious of my never changing looks. I think the last time I had gone was sometime in the mid 1980s.

I went through my wardrobe, not knowing what I had since Alice bought everyone's clothes. Alice yelled at Vampire volume, so Leigh wouldn't hear that I should wear the light blue silky shirt at the left side of my wardrobe and black trousers and some black dress shoes.

I went and knocked on Reynolds door when I thought she would be ready. Poor Leigh. She had been manhandled by Alice and used as her breathing Barbie doll.

Leigh looked at me and I heard her breath catch for a moment. She was checking me out and obviously liked what she saw. I could say the same about her. She was stunning in a dark blue dress that showed off her curves.

"Alice, are you ready to let her go?" I asked, feeling a little annoyed, even though she had done an amazing job on my girl. I just wished she'd leave Leigh looking more like her natural beauty. That's what I liked best. I smiled at Leigh, the sensation feeling a little strange and she returned it.

"Oh, alright Alec. Nobody around here seems to understand that perfection takes time." Alice was annoyed with me. Playing dress-up-real-life-barbie was her favourite activity, after clothes shopping of course.

In a low vampire tone, low enough that Leigh would not hear or notice I retorted "She's always perfect. She doesn't need you to help her. Even though she does look stunning so thank you."

Alice gave me a conspiring, happy expression at me and I returned it, with an added glare. Just because she was my mate did not mean I needed everyone to smile about it.

I turned my attention to my girl. "Ready to go, Reynolds?" I shocked myself with the endearing tone I used. For a moment Leigh did not answer me, seemingly immersed in her thoughts. As I looked at her concerned she smiled at me and said "I just need to get my handbag."

After she grabbed it from the sofa we walked down the corridors on our way out.

She shocked me when she asked lively "So where are we going? Or am I not supposed to know until we get there?" a bright smile flashing my way. I knew my shock was showing and I quickly recovered, turning my expression into a playful, charming smirk. I was going to keep things fun and light.

"You surprise me, Reynolds. I thought you weren't the lively type. But even if you did know the place we're going to, I'm afraid it's a surprise." Nobody would have taken her to Vesta. I believed no Volturi besides me knew about it. I'd stumbled upon it by accident.

She retorted "Spoil sport. And I'm full of surprises," complete with a playful grin/pout. I wanted to hug her so much. She was so adorable.

As we exited the castle into one of the alleyway exits she was confused. I explained that there were several different entrances to the castle. We had tried to keep things simple for her by using the same exits. It was easy to get lost if you were human since there were something like 15 different exits, not all doors.

On the way to Vesta we past a trio of people. A man with two scantily clad women on both of his arms. They staggered down the road. I could smell the alcohol on their breath and in their blood. They were definitely drunk. So drunk that they probably would be passing out fairly soon. I hurried Leigh past them, unperceived by her as I moved her a distance away from them. I never trusted drunk humans, never knowing what they'd do next.

After a while and the meandering route I stopped outside the dingy looking building. It had been a warehouse before becoming a restaurant and it didn't look like much on the outside. If you did not it was a restaurant, you'd ignore it and walk past.

"Here we are." I said, opening the door. I was a gentleman.

"What is this place?" She asked. I knew she was confused. I decided to be kind and fill her in.

"Vesta. A restaurant. After the Roman Goddess of the hearth, home and family." I pointed to the small plaque that was embedded into the stone, next to the door not much bigger than a credit card, reading "Vesta." "It's mostly for locals so you supposed to just know about it."

Going down into the restaurant the atmosphere and tone went unnoticed by me. But Leigh took it in, seemingly seeing the laid back style. I wanted to kill the piano player every time he hit a wrong note but alas I knew i couldn't. The smell was comforting. The smell of candles burning, cigarette smoke and alcohol.

I took Leigh's arm and steered her to my usual booth in a corner. It was dark and I knew it hid my face, just in case someone did recognise me. We sat opposite each other. I could look at Leigh as much as I wanted and we could talk easily.

Leigh POV

Alec handed me the menu. I tried to look at the menu but found that I kept looking at Alec and the look of concentration on his face as he contemplated the menu. I was confused at his gesture and when he put aside the menu and cutlery I made a statement. "Let me guess, you're not eating?" He grinned. "Your guess is spot on. But then again you are familiar with the Volturi routine." I giggled. "I should be. I've been doing the same routine for a while now."

A waitress arrived at the table just then. She was young and pretty with rosy, glowing cheeks and light blonde hair, wearing a tight strappy pink vest and a short pair of denim shorts. She smiled at Alec and I recognised the look in her eyes as she looked at him. She was thinking of how hot he was. I could probably bet she would flirt later on. I felt annoyed, jealous and possessive. He was mine, at least I wanted him to be mine.

"Benvenuti a Vesta signore e signora. Sto Geena. Posso ottenere qualcosa da bere?" It did not pass my notice that she was only addressing Alec. I always let my dinner companion deal with the Italian as they all seemed to speak it fluently and I had no clue what any of it meant.

"What would you like to drink?" Alec asked me. "Oh, I'll have a lemonade if they have it." The waitress seemed to become aware of my presence in the booth and opposite Alec and her gaze seemed to look at me and make a judgement. As she turned her attention back to Alec, it seemed satisfied. As if I did not measure up and was obviously not in her league.

"Avrò un bicchiere di vino rosso si prega e si avrà una limonata." Alec sounded so sexy when he spoke Italian.

"Sarò di nuovo a destra con quelli. C'è qualcos'altro che posso ottenere per te?" The waitress asked him another question and he quickly answered. "No. Penso che siamo ok, per ora,grazie." After that she left, sashaying across the restaurant.

"I hope I get to learn some Italian soon. I hate not knowing what people are saying. For all I know you could be talking about me." Alec grinned. "I or someone else in the castle could teach you. But I'd be the most patient."

" Well thanks for the offer, cherub." He looked awestruck and confused. "Cherub?" "Yeah. It's my nickname for you. You call me Reynolds and I can't call you Volturi because everyone else has the same name. And you remind me of a cherub." He groaned. "I think we need to come up with a better one. Demetri and Felix would constantly make fun of me." I pouted playfully back at him.

The waitress was back again with our drinks and a basket of sliced garlic bread. "Siete pronti per ordinare?" "Are you ready to order? Alec translated for me even though I kinda thought she was asking that since we'd received our drinks.

Glancing at the menu one last time, even though I had barely looked at it I made a quick decision. The waitress seemed to have forgotten about me until just then. "I'll have the seafood penne. And lemon sorbet for dessert." The waitress look confused and turned back to Alec, for translation. "Lei avrà i frutti di mare penne e poi sorbetto al limoneper il dessert."

"E tu cosa vorresti?" She asked him something, a flirting tone in her voice. "Niente per me, grazie. Ho già mangiato."

"Che vergogna. Il cibo è spettacolare, ma poi io sono di parte perché mio zio è proprietario del luogo. Fatemisapere se si cambia idea. Il tuo italiano è impeccabiledal modo. Quando si cresce annoiato del turista inglesesi sa dove trovarmi." A sexy smirk on her face.

"Staremo a vedere." Alec answered her but he was not paying her any attention, instead looking at me, appearing amused. She left us, visibly annoyed.

" What was that about?" "She flirted with me and said that when I get bored with the English girl I knew where she was." "She's a desperate one. Trying to poach a guy when he's dining with a female friend. It didn't work, did it?" "oh no. You're definitely my type. She's too fake."

We talked about our likes and dislikes, favourite movies and music. We had things in common and a few times we got into a friendly dispute.

My food came and it was good. As I ate Alec told me about himself. It was interesting. I saw him. Not this mean, intimidating guy.

But a guy who had been hurt and stuck close to his twin sister.

I felt my whole world shift. My heart ached and there was this connection with him. As if we were joined together. I had to get my breath as I felt that I couldn't. As if I was drowning in this emotion. I felt complete. At peace.

I was so far immersed in my strange, new emotions that I was barely aware that we had walked back home and up to my bedroom door.

"Goodnight, Leigh. Sleep well." He cupped my chin in his hand and gently kissed my cheek.

I breathed out, breathless " Goodnight."

God, what was wrong with me?

Alec POV

Even though I was not eating I made an attempt to look at the menu. It was strange that humans had such a huge variety of food. I was so used to one choice. Even though the different blood types tasted different, blood was the same consistency and colour.

Putting my menu and cutlery aside she made a statement. "Let me guess, you're not eating?" I had to grin. She had eaten with several of the volturi guard. She must be used to our 'excuses'. I retorted, as if she was clever. Your guess is spot on. But then again you are familiar with the Volturi routine."

Her giggle was cute and so gorgeous. "I should be. I've been doing the same routine for a while now." I hoped that the routine would help her when we explained what we were.

A waitress appeared at the side of the table. I barely glanced at her but I took in the slutty dress. Her tight strappy top left nothing to the imagination and the denim shorts were almost as wide a belt, they were so short. She smiled at me and I recognised the desire in her eyes. I wanted to tell her she was so beneath my standards she would be ignored.

"Benvenuti a Vesta signore e signora. Sto Geena. Posso ottenere qualcosa da bere?" She asked me, totally ignoring Leigh. But then I knew that she could not speak or understand Italian. I translated for her.

"What would you like to drink?" Alec asked me. "Oh, I'll have a lemonade if they have it." I had been told that Leigh was a bit of health freak. So no soda for her.

The waitress became aware of Leigh sitting there and the gaze she gave her was one of judgement. When she turned her attention back to me she seemed satisfied. To her Leigh wasn't competition. If only she knew that no body could compare to Leigh. Not in my eyes, my heart or my mind. She was perfect.

"Avrò un bicchiere di vino rosso si prega e si avrà una limonata." I answered in Italian. My Italian was impeccable. We had to watch what words we did say sometimes as some of the words we used were old fashioned. But this was only when we were in public, surrounded by humans.

"Sarò di nuovo a destra con quelli. C'è qualcos'altro che posso ottenere per te?" The waitress asked me another question and I quickly answered. "No. Penso che siamo ok, per ora,grazie." After that she left, sashaying across the restaurant. Good riddance. I just wanted to be with Leigh, alone.

Leigh said "I hope I get to learn some Italian soon. I hate not knowing what people are saying. For all I know you could be talking about me." I felt joy. I could so teach her. It would give me a reason to be around her, close to her.

I grinned. "I or someone else in the castle could teach you. But I'd be the most patient."

"Well thanks for the offer, cherub." I was awestruck. She had called me something other than Alec and I was a little confused. Cherub? What the?

"Cherub?" I needed clarification.

"Yeah. It's my nickname for you. You call me Reynolds and I can't call you Volturi because everyone else has the same name. And you remind me of a cherub."

I groaned. It was such a girly nickname. "I think we need to come up with a better one. Demetri and Felix would constantly make fun of me." They would so make fun of me. It would be a living hell. The pout she gave me was definitely because she knew that and because I was spoiling her fun. I could just see her ganging up on members of the guard with Demetri and Felix.

The waitress was back again with our drinks and a basket of sliced garlic bread. "Siete pronti per ordinare?"

"Are you ready to order? I translated for her again. It was strange but it felt normal having to translate. Even though I was so used to speaking in Italian. Perhaps because we all spoke English around Leigh I was more used to English.

She glanced at the menu for the last. The waitress seemed to have forgotten about her until just then. "I'll have the seafood penne. And lemon sorbet for dessert." The waitress look confused and turned to me for translation. "Lei avrà i frutti di mare penne e poi sorbetto al limoneper il dessert."

"E tu cosa vorresti?" She asked me something, a flirting tone in her voice. "Niente per me, grazie. Ho già mangiato."

"Che vergogna. Il cibo è spettacolare, ma poi io sono di parte perché mio zio è proprietario del luogo. Fatemisapere se si cambia idea. Il tuo italiano è impeccabiledal modo. Quando si cresce annoiato del turista inglesesi sa dove trovarmi." A sexy smirk on her face.

"Staremo a vedere." I answered her but I was not paying her any attention, instead I was looking at Leigh, who was looking impressed at my language skills while I was giving her an amused expression. The waitress left us and must have been annoyed since her feet were slamming into the ground.

"What was that about?" Leigh asked, finding something funny. "She flirted with me and said that when I get bored with the English girl I knew where she was."

"She's a desperate one. Trying to poach a guy when he's dining with a female friend. It didn't work, did it?" I had to reassure her that it had not worked.

"Oh no. You're definitely my type. She's too fake."

We talked about things we liked or did not like. Such as our favourite movies, music, musicians, television shows.

We had things in common and a few times we got into a friendly dispute.

When her food came I told her about myself. About my family, the volturi, Jane. I left out anything with dates and being a vampire.

She seemed to be in a hazy trance on the way back to the castle. I talked to her but she barely replied. Her heart was doing these weird jumping jacks. It would be racing and then suddenly slow down into a regular heartbeat before reverting back to a fast heartbeat.

Outside her door I cupped her chin in my hand and kissed her cheek. I just wanted to do that. She seemed to like it.

"Goodnight, Leigh. Sleep well."

She breathed so gently that her answer was so delicate if I hadn't been a vampire I probably wouldn't have heard it.

" Goodnight."

I went to my room and watch Supernatural on the television. I loved the American show. It was amazing. The episodes involving vampires were hilarious. They had it so wrong.

Author Note:

Here's the Italian translation. I don't know how accurate it is since I don't know any Italian and I used a google translater. But it's the gist of what I wanted to say.

"Benvenuti a Vesta signore e signora. Sto Geena. Posso ottenere qualcosa da bere? = Welcome to Vesta sir and madam. I'm Geena. Can I get you something to drink?"

"Avrò un bicchiere di vino rosso si prega e si avrà una limonata."= I'll have a glass of red wine please and she'll have a lemonade."

"Sarò di nuovo a destra con quelli. C'è qualcos'altro che posso ottenere per te?" ="I will be right back with those. Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"No. Penso che siamo ok, per ora,grazie."= No. I think we are ok, for now, thanks."

"Siete pronti per ordinare?" = "Are you ready to order?"

"Lei avrà i frutti di mare penne e poi sorbetto al limoneper il dessert."= "She'll have the seafood penne and then lemon sorbet for dessert."

"E tu cosa vorresti?" = " And what about you? What would you like?"

"Niente per me, grazie. Ho già mangiato."= Nothing for me. I've already eaten.

"Che vergogna. Il cibo è spettacolare, ma poi io sono di parte perché mio zio è proprietario del luogo. Fatemisapere se si cambia idea. Il tuo italiano è impeccabiledal modo. Quando si cresce annoiato del turista inglesesi sa dove trovarmi." = What a shame. The food is spectacular but then I am biased since my uncle owns the place. Just let me know if you change your mind. Your italian is impeccable by the way. When you grow bored of the english tourist you know where to find me."

Staremo a vedere= we'll see

I hope to update soon but I'm hopefully getting a job in a preschool/nursery so not sure what my schedule will be like but I am now on a roll with ideas for this story so will attempt to get them down before I forget.