"Alice?"
I called her over to the room I was staying in as she I spotted her crossing the landing. This was the first time I'd spoken to any of the Cullens since my argument with Bella, so she seemed to be a little wary of me.
"What's up Eli?"
"I've decided, um, how do I put this? I'm leaving Forks and going home. Tomorrow morning, I'm taking the next plane back to England"
"I know you will"
"Wait h- oh your ability, sorry I forget" I giggled lightly.
"Are you sure you really want to leave? Is there anything we can do?" she asked optimistically.
"It's not you, don't worry, it's just…these past few days have taken a toll on my emotions, my entire head feels like it's going to explode, and I just need time to mentally recover. Am I making any sense?"
"Of course, it completely makes sense. Again, I'm so happy for you! I can't believe you've found your true mates!" she squealed, jumping up and down.
"Ssh!" I hissed with a finger over my lips, trying not to draw too much attention to our conversation, "So, I was wondering if you would be okay with driving me to the airport?"
"Gladly, but I thought I'd let you know that Bella feels awful about everything and how she reacted. She would tell you herself, but she's stuck at home, grounded" Alice shrugged.
I hummed, not really knowing what to say to that. As much as I did want to sort things through with Bella, I'd prefer to make up with her properly i.e. face to face rather than through Alice.
"So, my flight leaves at seven in the morning, so would you be okay to drop me off at the airport by four o'clock?"
"Easy, set an alarm for three tomorrow!" she called, running down half of the stairs before leaping over the banister. That child.
Happy with my arrangements, I decided to head back into my room and pick up the chocolate lump from my suitcase, placing my phone in my back pocket. I headed downstairs in a much more sensible manner than Alice and walked over to the kitchen, the chocolate bag clutched in my hand.
"What's that?" Emmett's voice sounded.
"Chocolate, want some, vampire?" I quipped, spinning around on my heel to face him.
"Never, Mistress Volturi" he countered with a smirk.
"Then let me eat it in peace, thanks" I grabbed a bowl from one of the cupboards, dropped the massive lump of chocolate with a thud, and placed it in the microwave for thirty seconds.
Emmett broke the temporarily awkward silence, "So, you have three true mates?"
"Yeah, it's kinda crazy, and a little weird" I laughed.
"What are they like?"
"My mates?"
He hummed in response. I'd always been very awkward when it came to discussing my relationships, and the kings were no exception apparently.
"I mean, they're nice, and thoughtful I guess, and wealthy," I giggled timidly just as the microwave beeped, "yay, my chocolate is ready!"
I opened the door, the sweet chocolate scent filling up the entire room. Grabbing a spoon, I settled down at the kitchen table, Emmett gazing at my snack.
"Again, want some, vampire?" I offered my spoon over to him.
"I'm never making that mistake again," he held his palms out, "but seriously, what's it like being romantic with three guys?"
I almost choked, dropping my spoon in my bowl, "Sorry?"
"Like, how does having three mates even work? Are they attracted to each other?"
"Ew, no, Emmett!" I scrunched up my nose at the thought which seriously disturbed me, standing up and grabbing my bowl.
"So, they all think you're hot, but they have no feelings towards each other?"
"Uh, yeah, geez, I'll never get that image out of my head, thanks!" I laughed childishly, running back into my room with my food and closing the door behind me to prevent Emmett from following me in and harassing me with any further questions. Yuck, what the fuck Emmett!
My entire body clock was still very confused after all of the travelling, arguing, and crying I'd done that day so, despite the time being 23:36, I'd never felt more alive. Once I'd finished the entire bowl of chocolate and had packed up all of the belongings I'd taken out of my suitcases, I decided to play some music on the iPod the kings had gotten me. Sure, it was a little disappointing that 'My Neck, My Back' wasn't on it thanks to Caius' music censoring services, but at least I still had some absolute bops on there.
A sudden bright light interrupted my peaceful sleep, giving me a throbbing headache. Confused and delirious, I waited for my eyes to adjust so that I could find out what the hell was happening.
"Eli, I told you to set an alarm, its 3:05!"
Oh.
"Chill, I'm up, I'm-"
I fell onto the floor on my back, Alice looking down at me with her arms crossed. With a roll of her eyes, she helped me back up to my feet and hurried over to my suitcases. However, instead of simply taking them downstairs, she opened both of them and started rummaging through.
"Alice, I literally just packed those!" I yelled, as items of clothing were left scattered around the corner of the room.
"What about your outfit? You've got to wear something cute!" she excitedly threw a baby pink blouse and black leggings at me.
"Can't I just wear this?" I gestured to my jeans and t-shirt, which were now left creased.
"Just wear this, I promise it'll look so casual yet stunning" she patted the clothes which she'd folded into a neat pile before cleaning up the mess of clothes and taking both suitcases down the stairs.
Despite the airport at 4am not exactly being a fashion show, I still wore the outfit Alice had chosen out. Don't get me wrong, that girl knows style, but there's a limit. I picked up my phone and cushion and headed downstairs, just to be joined by the entire household stood by the door.
"Is there anything we can say to talk you out of leaving?" Carlisle asked hopefully.
"As I explained to Alice earlier, it's not you, it's me. I just need space, to be away from everyone. It's been a weird, weird week to say the least," I drew my eyebrows together and awkwardly laughed, "and anyway, I'll be back for graduation"
"We completely understand, and apologise if we in any way put you in an uncomfortable situation. Again, you are very lucky, Eli. We wish you all the best" Esme beamed, lightly squeezing my arm.
"Thank you for having me," I said before glancing over at Alice and Jasper, who were both stood by the front door, "I'm going to head off now so… bye for now I guess" I called behind me.
"Thank you for coming-"
"Bon voyage!" Emmett waved embarrassingly.
"Toodles!" I theatrically yelled in response.
"'Toodles'?" Jasper asked once we were in the car, sat in the driver's seat while Alice occupied the passenger seat, allowing me to spread out across the backseat.
"I want to say it's a British thing, but it's not really, I just say it because I can," I responded, waving my hand, "drive"
"Diva" he muttered under his breath as Alice chuckled and placed her hand in his.
"Is this your first time flying in business class then?" Alice turned her head to me.
"Yeah my mates, that sounded weird, booked the tickets for me and sent me the booking details, insisting that I fly business class" I waved the sheets of paper in my hand.
"That's what you get when you're mated to three wealthy men" she chuckled lightly, adjusting her lip gloss in the mirror.
There wasn't really much conversation between us in the car, mostly because I was still in a dazed state so my attention span was pretty slim, but also because me leaving early had made things a little uncomfortable. Before I left, I honestly just felt guilty due to the fact that I was really only leaving them early because I had a small fall out and I'm a hormonal teenager with mood swings. I stared out of the window into the darkened and silent streets, the moon being the only faint source of light. I didn't know how but I was already missing my mates so much that it hurt, longing to be back with them. At the start of the week, I'd only just gotten on a plane to Forks, and now I was getting on a plane back having acquired three wealthy mates and one less friend. Well, my parents had always said that I need to be more productive with my time.
"I'm going to miss you so much!" Alice hugged me tightly, rocking us from side to side.
"I'll be back for graduation, chill out" I giggled, pulling away from her freakishly-strong grip.
"You should come to our graduation party as well!" she squealed.
"I can't say no" I laughed awkwardly, well knowing that I would be staying in their house so I'd be at the party in anyway.
"See you soon, Eli" he smiled, briefly wrapping a loose arm around me.
"You too, don't be a stranger!" I called behind me, wheeling one suitcase behind me in each hand with my booking details held under my armpit, "toodles!"
If there was one thing I hated, it was being in airports on my own. See, ever since I was little, I'd had a habit of daydreaming and hence getting lost, so that combined with my nonexistent navigation skills never ended well. Once I'd made it through the hell that I like to call airport security, I settled down in the departures lounge for the next hour, using my two suitcases as a footrest.
"Eli" I felt a nudge on my shoulder.
Turning around, my eyes locked on Demetri, who took a seat beside me. His usually crimson eyes were now a dark teal colour due to contact lenses.
"Where have you been?" I asked.
"Guarding from a distance. Just thought I'd say goodbye as I'm off back to Volterra. You will still have three guards at all times in the UK, but I will not be one of them" he replied.
"Can you tell me who they are? Or at least if I know them?" I pleaded.
"You're friends with all three," he chuckled, "I hope to see you soon"
"You too" I responded, but he was already gone. Damn, why they gotta be like that? I didn't even get a chance to hug him.
After the hour long wait, which consisted of me daydreaming, making fun of holiday makers, and tapping my thighs in a bored fashion, I finally headed to the gate. However, the woman at security referred to me as "Miss Volturi", which really caught me off-guard. Was it really that hard to use my actual surname in the booking? Aro knows it as well! For some reason, she didn't even question the fact that my passport showed my surname as "Arrowood", and instead proceeded to wish me a happy flight.
As soon as I made it into my seat, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to turn it on airplane mode, only to be met with a message from Marcus.
Have a pleasant flight il mio amore. Xx
He sent kisses? Awh, that's sweet. Pulling my cushion closer to me and crossing my legs, I typed a hasty reply.
Thank you again, for everything xx
The seats in business class for long haul flights are more similar to mini hotel rooms than seats. The padded leather chairs reclined back into beds, there were pillows, a TV and headphones, snacks, water, even slippers. It was considerably quiet around, me being one of the only passengers in this part of the plane. One of the air hostesses came around and asked me if I was old enough to drink, offering me a glass of red wine. In response, I gave her a look of bitch-I'm-17-and-flying-alone-so-no-and-besides-it's-only-seven-in-the-morning-who-do-you-think-I-am, to which she quickly scurried away to the next person who was sat a few rows in front of me. One offer I did accept was when the same woman came back around to my seat a few hours later with a plate full of warm chocolate chip cookies.
Looking out of the window, I was met with an instant feeling of regret. Maybe I should've stayed in Forks, maybe I should've spoken to Bella properly instead of avoiding all of my problems. It just seemed immature, my reaction to everything. Either way, it was too late now, the plane had quite literally left the airport, and besides, I'd be back for graduation in anyway. It was going to be a long two months…
Author's note: Wow, lockdown has had me stir crazy so you now get another goddamn chapter, you're so welcome HA! This one kinda sucks as it's so short and nothing happens, but it's really just a gap filler for what's to come later ;)
On the plus side, Eli is still on okay terms with the Cullens, so yay, and I'm really looking forward to writing the next few chapters ahhh! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading, be sure to leave some feedback, stay safe, and ily lots!