Demetri's POV

I was anxious to get back to Sophia as soon as possible but Aro had asked me to track a vampire that had gotten too close to Volterra and I of course obliged, I had Alec with me for the power aspect for when I found this vampire and easily enough I found him without fail and we questioned him but he stated he was a nomad just passing through Italy, he showed the right amount of fear especially Alec who he continued calling him a 'which twin' so he knew who we were and we reminded him that hunting at all in Italy was of limits which he agreed to partake in before we left him to continue on his way which meant I could return to Sophia earlier than I'd thought.

"Aro has asked to see us" Alec stated once we returned to the castle and I sighed under my breath nodding my head as we went towards the throne room finding the ancients waiting for our report which Aro got out of both of us by reading our minds.

"Fantastic" he beamed pleased that it had been a peaceful interaction. "I however require your assistance again I fear, there is rumor of a coven of vampires causing panic in Bulgaria that I'd like you two to investigate and take care of as you see fit" I looked up a little shocked. "Jane will be joining you" I knew I could not argue but I wasn't comfortable leaving Sophia for that long. "Demetri, are you okay?"

"Yes master" I nodded my head agreeing holding out my hand for him to read and he took it hearing my concern about Sophia.

"Your mate will be perfectly safe in your absence, I assure you" he vowed and I nodded satisfied with that, at least Felix will be here like I promised her. "I request that you leave quickly" we both nodded our heads before leaving the throne room to gather some things before we left for the jet.

"When did you become so whipped man?" Alec suddenly asked me.

"What?"

"Who cares if that human is safe, she is only human after all" I restrained myself from growling at him.

"Just get Jane and meet me at the jet" I told him before I headed to my room, frowning a little when I found I still couldn't feel Sophia's mind tenor, she was such a mystery to me and why I couldn't track her, Aro was interested in her and the intrigue of whether her hiding abilities was a power for if she became a vampire.

I knew he hoped she possessed a potential shield like the Cullen's human but I knew that the mind reader had been able to read her thoughts in that clearing so I knew she wasn't the same as their human but like all gifts there was none alike which is why she was such a fascination to Aro and I knew he was looking forward to the likely outcome of her becoming one of us even though I didn't know if that's what I wanted from her yet although it was becoming more clear to me that I enjoyed her company, just didn't know if that was for all eternity.

"Hey heard you're going on a mission" Felix stated coming up beside me.

"Unfortunately" I sighed just as I made it to my room listening through the door to a steady set of breaths which told me Sophia was already asleep. "I hate the thought of leaving her here alone" I stated feeling I could be honest with him even though I sounded pathetic.

"Has the human gotten under your skin?" he laughed but when I didn't answer him he became a bit more serious. "Your falling for her?"

"I don't know man but I know that she's enchanting and that I haven't felt this way about anything or anyone in my entire life" I opened the door trusting him around her, I looked towards the bed frowning when I didn't see her but turned to the couch finding her there and shook my head with a small smile.

"She's definitely enchanting" he agreed and I could hear him holding his breath, her scent appealed to other vampires just like she did with me, only my throat burned and my mouth flooded with venom. "She is quite beautiful" I nodded my head, a small smile playing on my lips as I quickly went into the closet throwing together a bag with a change of clothes pausing when I noticed she'd unpacked the bags of clothes taking up half of the other side of my closet making me laugh and shake my head, she just moved right in...in more ways than one.

"Take care of her for me" I told him and he seemed surprised but nodded watching me as I walked over to her placing a note that I'd wrote her quickly on the table in front of her before I noticed her shivering and frowned quickly lighting a small fire in the fireplace and tucking the blankets closer to her chin watching as she subconsciously pulled them closer as well. "Be safe, mi amore" I whispered to her before I left with Felix following me out.

"I won't let anything happen to her, I swear to you" he clapped me on the shoulder. "I also look forward to properly meeting the girl that finally stole your heart" I frowned wondering if what he said was true, had she truly stolen my un-beating heart already, I knew I was beginning to care for her especially after hearing her play the piano today.

The serene look on her face as her fingers graced over the keys was truly breathtaking to watch since I'd never seen a human show so much passion and care into an art like she does and maybe I had actually fallen for her but only time would tell if she could actually love me back after all I was the monster who kidnapped her.

Sophia's POV

I awoke feeling the air much warmer than it had been when I fell asleep, my eyes blinked open taking in the light of the flames in the fireplace which I hadn't lit meaning someone had been here, I noticed that my dinner tray had been removed so I assumed it had been Valentina until I saw the note on the table in front of me with my name scrawled neatly on the front with expert handwriting, I reached over grabbing it and flipped it open.

Sophia,

I'm afraid I will be gone much longer than I originally anticipated but do not fret, you are perfectly safe and I have asked Felix to take care of you in my absence, he will take you on walks through the castle and it's gardens and you're welcome to go to the library and do as you wish as Aro has allowed you access whenever you want so long as you have Felix with you for protection.

I wish I had been able to tell you this in person but you were asleep when I had to leave and I did not wish to wake you as you looked peaceful, I do hope you don't have any nightmares in my absence but Felix will be there if you need him and you'll find him entertaining I assure you. Valentina will bring you meals or you can eat in the kitchens if you desire.

Please be safe and take care of yourself for me.

– Demetri

I frowned re-reading over the note at least twice since he hadn't said where he was going or why he was going to be gone longer and really wished he'd woken me up so I could've asked him these things since I had no way of contacting him, I was a little anxious and nervous to officially meet Felix given he was practically in charge of me until Demetri returned.

"Knock, knock little human" I jumped when the door opened and I watched as Felix walked in shutting the door behind him. "I'd heard you wake up" he stated justifying his presence but I remained silent, not sure what I was supposed to or allowed to say to him. "You don't speak much do you?"

"I'm sorry" I frowned watching as he just smiled.

"Demetri said I had to feed you when you woke up, are you hungry?" I frowned since he made it sound like I was Demetri's pet and that he was looking after me. "Let's go, I'll take you to the kitchen"

"I'm okay" I replied not wanting to be a bother since I'd gathered he had better things to do then look after me.

"Demetri will kill me if I let you starve, I don't bite honest" I frowned not appreciating his joke but my stomach growled as if reminding me that I did in fact need to eat so I found myself standing and headed to the closet to change with him following me.

"Uh...I'm just...changing" I told him.

"Oh right" he nodded stepping back allowing me to close the door and I quickly changed into a pair of jeans, a simple black t-shirt and pulled on my old converse before I walked back out seeing him waiting for me. "Let's go" he seemed more eager than I was as we left the room walking side by side in silence all the way to the kitchen where Valentina was, she looked up fearfully when she saw Felix with me instead of Demetri and was seemingly more afraid of Felix who smiled at her.

" Buongiorno signorina, vi va di fare colazione?" she asked but I frowned not understanding as usual.
{Translation: Good morning miss, would you like to have breakfast?}

"She asked if you'd like breakfast?" Felix translated for me making me smile a little since Demetri never did that, he would just reply for me so I turned to Valentina and nodded my head before she got to work making what looked like an omelet. "Don't you know any Italian?" Felix asked me as we moved over to the long table off to the side of the kitchen, for vampires who didn't eat I don't know why they needed a dining room but I guessed it was for the human staff.

"No, I asked Demetri to teach me but he said maybe" I replied and he laughed, it was deep and hearty.

"I'll teach you don't worry" he said and I smiled actually pleased that he was willing to teach me.

"How do you say thank you?" I asked him.

"That one's easy" he replied. "Grazie"

"Gra..zie" I drawled it out testing the word and he nodded his head signaling I'd gotten it right and when Valentina came over with my plate I decided to test it. "Grazie" I thanked her and she smiled at me.

"Prego" she replied before walking away and I frowned, did she just call pregnant.

"That's your welcome" Felix translated for me having seen my confused frown.

"Oh...thanks" I muttered embarrassed before I started eating with him watching me, was this a vampire thing did they like watching people eat. "How do you say hi?"

"Ciao" he replied.

"Goodbye?" I asked.

"Arrivederci" I nodded taking this in and while I ate he taught me how to say 'good morning-buongiorno'...'good afternoon-buon pomeriggio' and 'goodnight-buona notte'.

When I was done with breakfast he took me to the library where I decided to just pick a book and sit on the couches and read while he watched me again, taking Demetri's words to take care of me perhaps a little too literal and he was making me nervous by the constant stares, at least Demetri had some restraint from continuously watching me.

"Can you read or...look somewhere else?" I asked him trying to be polite.

"Do you like Demetri?" he suddenly asked making me frown in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Like do you like him, as a person?" he asked and I furrowed by brows thinking about that for a second.

"Yes, I mean he's a little stand-offish at times but I guess so, I don't have really anything against him other than he treats me like a child sometimes" I replied and he laughed at that.

"To be fair, to us your like a child" he countered making me frown. "You have to eat and sleep, we haven't had to do any of that or worry about it in many years" he added once again justifying his previous statement. "But like do you hold resentment for the way he brought you here?" he asked and I had to frown again.

"A little, I mean I was practically knocked out and kidnapped before I then found out about what you guys are and pretty much forbidden to ever leave but it's not so bad that I wish he'd killed me instead, I don't want to die" I wondered if this was him asking or if Demetri wanted to know these things.

We fell into silence as I went back to reading my book, it was an old classic tale that I decided to have a read off and he was finally not staring at me so I was able to read in peace until he stood up telling me he had to get me lunch so we went back to the kitchen where Valentina made me a large turkey sandwich and he continued to teach me a little bit of Italian before we went on a small stroll through the garden when the sun was low enough that it didn't make him sparkle and then it was back to Demetri's room where dinner was brought to me and where I continued to read my book before I climbed under the covers on the couch and he waited for me to fall asleep before I assumed he left.

I assumed this because when I woke up he was always a couple minutes behind before arriving and we completed the same cycle as yesterday...it going on for a total of four days and I was anxious thinking about Demetri and what he could be doing that was taking so long, I didn't want to ask Felix afraid that really it wasn't any of my business but I was worried about him.

"Felix, Demetri's okay right?" I asked him as we were in the kitchen where I was eating lunch.

"Of course" he replied but it didn't ease my worry.

"I mean like he's doing something important and he's not just avoiding me?" I asked and he laughed as if amused by my question.

"No Soph, he's not avoiding you" he replied but didn't exactly answer my question, he'd began calling me 'Soph' during the last couple of days.

"Can you tell me what he's doing?" I asked and his face fell which told me that was a no.

"It's just Volturi business, nothing a human should worry about" he replied being cryptic just like Demetri was whenever it involved the Volturi and its business.

"He'll be back soon, right?"

"It depends" he shrugged and I frowned feeling put off my food since I was worried by all these vague answers.

"Can we go back to the room, I'm feeling a little tired?" I asked him and he frowned.

"You're not sick are you, he'd kill me if I let you get sick" I shook my head.

"I just have a bit of a headache, nothing a vampire should worry about" I replied standing up thanking Valentina in Italian getting quite good at simple one word replies before he walked me back to Demetri's room and I laid down on the couch.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked and I nodded my head. "Well okay, I'll leave you to get some rest" he added before leaving the room, I sighed turning to face the back of the couch closing my eyes wishing that he could just tell me what Demetri was doing, I didn't understand the need to keep me in the dark since I was practically going to be living here for the rest of my life and possibly even become a vampire so shouldn't I know what kind of things they do.

I had actually felt a headache come on and knew it was from the stress of Demetri's absence, I didn't even know why I cared so much I mean what I'd said to Felix was true that Demetri had in fact kidnapped me but lately it was as if that didn't really matter to me, Demetri was becoming an almost friend to me but it was more than that and I had no idea what that was, all these thoughts running through my head was exhausting and I found myself drifting off.

When I woke up, the room was once again dark except for the fire blazing in the fireplace which I knew I hadn't lit, my spirits lifted thinking it might've meant Demetri was back but I was alone in the room, I got up to stretch and flip the lights on before I headed towards the bathroom heading to the sink cupping my hands under the tap to wash my face before I took a quick drink then straightened up to dry my face but saw a shadow in the mirror behind me and jumped with a scream turning around only to find Felix laughing.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack, you don't do that to someone!"

"Sorry, I brought you dinner" I nodded my head going back into the bedroom seeing the tray on the coffee table where it always was but my eyes widened at the second figure sitting on the couch.

"Demetri!" I exclaimed hearing him laugh.

"Aw did you miss me?" he jibed back making me roll my eyes but I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

"Not really" I shot back but his face told me that he didn't believe me and to be honest I didn't care, I was just glad that he was back.

"You should eat your dinner before it gets cold, I'm gonna step out with Felix for a second" I nodded my head since even I could hear my stomach growling and I dug into the usual meal of roast beef tonight, I've never had such a range of great meals until I came here.

Demetri's POV

"Any problems?" I asked Felix the moment we stepped outside.

"No, she said she had a headache earlier today but other than that all was well, I took her out as much as I could to distract her but I'll tell you she's too curious for her own good"

"I know" I sighed wishing I could tell her more but until she was a vampire there was things about our world that I just didn't want her knowing about.

"So how'd it go?" he asked.

"The usual" I shrugged listening back into the room hearing the knife and fork on the plate which told me she was eating.

"You should know she really did miss you" I turned back to him.

"Really?" I asked hopeful and a huge grin spread out across his face.

"Probably just as much you missed her" I rolled my eyes but didn't deny it because I couldn't, I had been so worried about her while I was gone. "I reckon you should tell her how you feel"

"Why, I'm the monster who kidnapped her"

"You might just be surprised" he clapped me on the shoulder before he walked away, I took a deep breath since I needed to hunt very soon but had to wait for Heidi to bring the tourists in the next couple of days which meant I was going to have to be very careful around Sophia until then, after I took in enough air I held my breath and walked back into the room seeing her just putting the tray back over her dinner and sitting back on the couch.

"Hey" she smiled at me and I smiled back happy to see that she was actually happy to see me and couldn't help think about what Felix had said that she'd missed me and I found that strange yet endearing as well as it gave me a tiny bit of hope that maybe she was actually growing to not resent me. "Demetri, are you okay?" she suddenly asked and I released I'd been stopped at the door just looking at her.

"Of course" I moved over to the other couch taking a seat resting my arms outstretched on the back. "So how'd you like spending time with Felix, he didn't annoy you too much?"

"No he was actually really cool, except for the constant staring but he started teaching me Italian which was really fun" she replied actually sound generally interested which made me smile that she was actually invested in learning the native langue, I know she'd asked me but I didn't think a human would actually be invested enough to take an interest although Sophia was anything but a normal human.

"If you'd like you guys can continue that or I can continue to teach you"

"I don't mind either" she shrugged with a smile as she picked up a book from the table and started reading.

"A Room with a View?" I asked her cocking and eyebrow when I saw the cover. "You like E.M. Forster?" she shook her head.

"I picked any book that looked interesting, I love reading about the descriptions of Italy since I'd never even left America until I met you" she replied without looking up from the book and I frowned a little with that knowledge seeing as she was in one of the most beautiful countries in the world and hasn't seen anything past the gardens, I must ask the ancients for permission to take her out in the city one day but I wasn't going to make her any promises now.

Sophia's POV

It felt good having Demetri back even though he was constantly watching me out of the corner of his eyes as we just sat on our respected couches and read but having his eyes on me felt different to Felix, every time I caught Demetri looking at me it gave me the strangest feeling in my stomach and it always threatened to bring a blush to my cheeks, he made me feel like a teenage school girl and that's not something I'd ever experienced before.

"Want to go for a walk?" he suddenly said but I was on a very interesting chapter.

"Not right now, this books just getting good" I replied too focused on it not realizing that he'd stood up until the book was swiped from my hands and thrown onto the table before he was picking me up. "Demetri!" I exclaimed when I was thrown over his shoulder. "Put me down!" he just laughed and started walking out of his room. "Demetri I'm not kidding, put me down or else"

"Or else what?" he goaded calling my bluff and I frowned not really knowing what I could do.

"I'll throw your favorite book into the fireplace"

"Keep trying" he shrugged.

"This is so uncivilized for a 1000 year old man" I pouted giving up. "Okay, okay we'll go for a walk but put me down"

"I quite like the view actually" I heard him say before he lightly tapped my ass.

"Demetri!" I exclaimed trying to twist my way off his shoulder.

"What's with the ruckus?" a cold voice suddenly reached my ears and just like that Demetri had put me down pulling me to his side.

"Master Caius, I apologize" Demetri spoke head lowered not meeting this man's eyes, I saw it was the blonde leader that sat next to Aro, he was an ancient and did not give off any friendly vibes whatsoever so I kept my head lowered practically looking at my feet.

"It's enough that we have its scent lingering the castle but I do not have to hear it's pathetic voice while I am trying to read in peace" I wanted to glare at him for calling me an 'it' like I was a lesser species to him but I was afraid of what would happen if I opened my mouth.

"Yes master, I will keep her quiet from now on" Demetri replied and I frowned.

"See that you do, dismissed" I felt Demetri nod and start pulling me away quickly, so quickly that the walls being to blur and I felt the familiar dizziness whenever he used his supernatural speed with me in his arms.

"What did I do to him?" I whispered once I felt we were far enough away.

"Nothing" Demetri replied curtly leading me towards the doors that lead to the gardens. "I shouldn't have done that" I frowned at the serious tone to his voice, I liked it better when he was laughing and smiling since I felt like he hasn't had a lot of good in his life...not that I thought I was good for him but he seemed to not have had much laughter in his life.

"Am I allowed to ask about them?" I suddenly asked once we were out in the gardens, the sun had set about an hour ago so there was no sun and the pathway lights were on lighting our way to the familiar fountain.

"The ancients?" he asked to clarify what I meant, I nodded my head. "What do you want to know?"

"Are they all in charge or is Aro?"

"That's...they're all our superiors but Aro is the leader of our coven" he replied hands behind his back walking beside me.

"Is coven like a plural word for a group of vampires?" I asked him and he nodded his head.

"When there is loyalty and some family bonds yes" he nodded.

"So how'd you end up with the Volturi, you said you were turned by the leader of the Egyptian coven, did you not like your...maker?"

"That's a bit complicated to explain but no I didn't leave with ill thoughts, my sire and I were very close but I felt this was a better fit for me" he replied and I nodded my head falling silent making it to the fountain where he gestured for me to sit before taking a seat himself.

"So tell me more about you?" he suddenly asked and I frowned.

"I already told you about me"

"Not really, you told me of your family history but I want to know more about Sophia...I don't even know your last name?" I frowned since technically I didn't have one. "What?" he questioned seeing it.

"Well that's complicated, according to the United States government I don't have a last name, other thing my biological parents didn't care enough to leave with me since I wasn't found with any letter or marker on where I'd come from"

"So who called you Sophia?" he asked.

"The woman who found me I guess, it's the only name I'd grown up with being called and the last name that I write for all my official documents is Hart"

"Hart?" I nodded my head.

"It's the last name of my first foster parents that I had, probably the longest foster parents I had since I lived with them until I was three before I was returned to the foster system when they had a child of their own" I felt a tear slip out of my eye and roll down my cheek hating to be even talking about this but he was always so honest with me where he could so I owed it to him to be honest back.

"Well despite how you got your name I think Sophia Hart sounds beautiful" he replied reaching out and wiped the tear away making me smile, his cold hands actually felt nice now that I was getting used to it. "It certainly suits you"

"Thank you" I offered him a small sad smile. "So what's yours"

"Legal documents of this century, Volturi"

"Demetri Volturi" I replied and he nodded his head. "What about when you were human?"

"Γεωργίου" he spoke and I frowned not understanding since clearly he spoke Greek. "It translates to 'Georgíou' which means son of Georgios in Italian if that helps you"

"Was that your father's name?" I asked him and he nodded his head. "Do you remember your mother's name?" I asked and he seemed to pause having to think and I understood he had to recall back a long time and remembered him saying that his human memories of his mother were very vague.

"She did die when I was quite young as you remember" I nodded remembering him telling me that. "But as far as I can remember and my father's telling me about her when I asked, I'm pretty sure her name was Selene"

"It's beautiful"

"In Greek it means moon" he smiled as that was a fond thought.

We ended up sitting at that fountain until well into the night, just talking about anything and everything we felt like bringing up with each other, from our favorite colors which I told him mine was blue and he told me his was black which lead to an argument that black is not a color which lead to some laughs, we talked about novels that we'd read since we both liked to read and he even told me about Egypt and other places that he's lived especially Greece knowing how much I wanted to see that city one day and hearing it from his point of view and his memories of growing up in ancient times made me want to see it all the more.

It got so late that I eventually found myself fighting to stay awake with my head resting on his shoulder with his thick grey cloak between us to protect me from his icy skin while he continued to talk and just listening to his voice was like a lullaby to me.

"You still awake?" he suddenly asked.

"Mm-hmm" I nodded my head and heard him chuckle.

"Come on, we should probably go inside" he moved me and I huffed in annoyance since I was comfortable back there before I suddenly found him lifting me up into his arms in a bridal cradle and was carrying me back inside.

"Thank you for telling me about Greece" I spoke feeling like I had to say something.

"It's my pleasure, I really hope I get a chance to share it with you in person" he replied and I could hear the sincerity of his voice.

"I'd like that" I yawned closing my eyes and leant my head into his shoulder, the exhaustion catching up with me given I had no idea what time it was but I didn't care because the talk tonight made me feel even closer to Demetri than ever and quite frankly I felt like I was starting to actually fall for him despite everything that told me I shouldn't be but he was so vastly different from what I'd originally thought.

Demetri's POV

She fell asleep in my arms as I walked through the halls back to my room, it was almost four in the morning and I hadn't realized we'd been talking that long until she'd started to fall asleep on my shoulder, it thrilled me that she was so comfortable to just sit up and talk all night but I knew that wasn't very good for her health given humans needed to sleep but it was easy to forget that she was human when I was around her and it was even better that I felt like I could tell her anything and was confident that she wouldn't go running away...not that she could or that I would let her but be that as it may there was still things I didn't want to tell her until the time was right, like what the Volturi really did in the vampire world as I felt that might scare her off from wanting to become one of us.

I had been so conflicted in the beginning on what I wanted from her but the more time I spent with her and got to know her the more I felt like her change was inevitable because the more time I spent with her the more I was beginning to feel like I couldn't live without her and that both frightened me but thrilled me since I finally had someone in my life that made me feel happy, content and dare I say worthy to love and that was Sophia Hart which was ironic considering if these feeling continued I felt as if she would own my cold, dead and un-beating heart.

I laid her down on her couch...wow her couch that was an odd thought but she was practically moved in, I would have put her on the bed but somehow I knew she wasn't ready for that and that she felt more comfortable sleeping here so I laid her down placing her head on the pillow before I quickly removed her shoes and pulled the blanket over her watching her immediately cuddle them to her chin with a smile on my face since it was the most adorable thing I'd ever seen before I decided to be brave and brought my hand to her cheek brushing her hair behind her ear leaning down.

"Sleep well mi amore" I don't know why I'd started saying that to her in the last week but it felt right especially when I knew I was falling for her.