I flopped back onto my bed after flinging my school bag in the direction of my wardrobe, my arms spread out as I let out a melodramatic groan. I'd been away from the kings for almost a month and a half now and, I know it sounds cliché and overly-dramatic, but the aching feeling in my muscles had been increasing by the day. The best way to describe it is probably growing pains, the aches occasionally preventing me from even sleeping. I was literally aching to get back to them.

"If your muscles are really that sore, maybe we could buy you some multivitamins. I know they sell some at the supermarket or maybe the doctor-"

"I'm fine mum, stop trying to feed me vitamins" I grunted, staring intently at the ceiling.

"Okay, fine, but my offer still stands baby" she called, wandering lightly back down the stairs while singing some obscure song she'd heard on the radio earlier.

I would never tell her or my dad about my true mates, not unless I had a death wish. Just imagine their reaction if I casually strolled up to them and said 'hello mother, hello father, just thought I'd let you know that I am in a very romantic relationship with three wealthy old vampires who live in a castle in Italy, one of whom has anger management issues, one who can read every thought you've ever had just through holding hands, and another that can see the bonds between people, and being kept separate from them is what has been causing me my constant muscle pain'.

On the plus side, I only had less than one month of school left, and then I was done, finito, kaput. My final exams had served as a pretty good distraction from my crippling separation issues, the stress being the only thing I concerned myself with at this point. A few times, I'd managed to talk the kings into helping me study by emailing them flashcard questions and making them read the questions out to me at random. See, that's what's great about being so close to a bunch of ancient artefacts; with a long life comes extensive general knowledge.

During my second week back at school, I'd forgotten to bring all of my coursework and so, in a lazy attempt to get myself out of trouble, I stood outside the building of my class and called out to see if there were any guards around. Funnily enough, Felix, Jane, and Santiago all emerged from around the corner. Though, once I'd explained my situation to them, they seemed to be anything but impressed.

"Eliana, we're supposed to guard you from any actual threats, not run errands simply because you're terrified of your teacher"

"Oh chill out, it's literally just one little thing. I promise, it'll never happen again"

And it didn't happen again, not to my coursework in anyway. The thought of constantly being watched and followed everywhere I went was very unnerving and felt quite unnecessary, especially considering that I even lived in an area of England which had one of the lowest crime rates in the country.

I sat in my pink desk chair, opening up my psychology binder and continuing with my dead boring revision. A few more weeks, a few more weeks, a few more weeks…

My phone vibrating on my desk completely caught me off-guard, causing me to fall backwards off my chair and onto the floor. I clumsily climbed back up and slid it across the desk into my hand, answering it while still attempting to regain my breath.

"Yes?" I panted.

"Someone is eager to speak to us, I see" Caius remarked smugly.

"I fell off my desk and," I took in a sharp breath, "I had to climb back up to grab the phone," I wheezed heavily, "before I missed the call"

Are you hurt, tesoro?" Marcus voice chimed in.

"No, just out of breath," I laughed, gently closing the door to my room and sitting back in my desk chair, "the aching is only getting worse, by the way"

"We are very sorry to hear that, cara mia," Aro said, "we would visit sooner if we were able to, although we may be able to move a few meetings-"

"Let me stop you right there. Please don't sabotage your jobs just because my body is acting up" I insisted with a giggle.

"Hmm, if you insist" he responded mischievously, as if he was up to something.

"How has your day been?" Marcus asked.

"Eh, same as usual. Went to school, came home, my mum offered me multivitamins again, I answered the phone to you" I recited.

"Maybe you should try the multivitamins, carissima" Caius suggested.

"I have, and I can confirm they make no difference whatsoever," I sighed, "though, on the plus side, I only have a few weeks of school left, so it's not long now"

"If it makes you feel any better, the discomfort you are experiencing currently is reflecting on both sides of the bond. All three of us have become quite restless recently" Marcus informed me.

"Oh, really? I'm sorry…" I trailed off, genuinely feeling bad that, simply due to me not being in Volterra with them, they were the ones suffering.

"Do not apologise, carissima. You are truly experiencing much more discomfort than us due to all three of the mating bonds being connected back to you" he assured.

"That's great," I answered deadpan, "I have another final exam on Wednesday" I attempted to change the conversation topic.

"In what subject?" Aro asked.

"Law. Its times like this where having you three around would help" I humoured.

"I am sure you will do very well, do not underestimate your intelligence Eliana"

"Still, I reckon if you were to sit the exam, you'd get a way higher mark than me"

"Perhaps, but it does not mean to say that you will not do exceptionally" I could hear his smile through the phone.

"I guess we'll see" I giggled, falling backwards onto my bed with a soft thud. I honestly felt like I was in some kind of cringey teen romance movie at this point.

"Are you still certain that you want to go back to the Cullens' residence after graduation?" Caius asked with a tinge of anger in his tone.

"Well, I did promise, and if anything I'm quite looking forward to it. I've never been to a graduation before" I responded.

"Never?"

"Never, that's what you get for being educated in the UK," I shrugged, "why, have you been to a graduation?"

"No, but Carlisle sends photographs of his coven graduating every few years, and we did attend once" Caius added.

"We'd better leave you to rest. If I am correct, it is getting quite late, and we would not want you to lose any sleep" Aro spoke softly.

"You're only one hour ahead of me" I laughed.

"Is it late?"

I looked over at the clock on the right end of my desk, and I saw that it had already hit the evening.

"Maybe," I admitted, "I need to finish this essay first though"

"Of course, do not let us distract you. Goodnight, il mio amore" Marcus murmured.

"Sleep well, carissima" Caius chimed.

"Dormi bene, bellissima" Aro called, before hanging up the phone.

I continued working on my essay for a few hours, my mother bringing a plate of chicken and chips upstairs for me to eat while I worked. The only real thing that motivated me to finish the school year was the thought of spending the summer in Italy, or visiting the Cullens again. I still hadn't really spoken to Bella since our little disagreement, though I did briefly message her once or twice. I just hoped she was doing okay, but I was way too stubborn to be the first to break the silence between us. Surely, if we'd been best friends for this long, one argument wouldn't end it all.

I arrived back home and sat back on my white leather sofa, my bag left discarded on the floor. My parents were out on a work trip for the next few days as they often are, which left me home alone again. When the kings had heard about this, they were very concerned about my safety at first, but I had reassured them that one: I was 17, two: I was responsible, three: there were guards literally surrounding my house, and four: what actual threats were my human parents going to protect me from?

I'd only settled for a few minutes having taken my shoes off, my usual aches somehow going down significantly, before the doorbell rang. Rolling my eyes, I lazily stumbled over to the door, opening it to be met by my ex-boyfriend stood on my doorstep.

"Noah. Um…why are you here?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

Noah wasn't much taller than me, put it by this way, all three of the kings are way taller, but he still had an intimidating feeling around him nonetheless.

"Why do you think?" he snapped.

"Oh, did you want your hoodie back? It's in my wardrobe somewher-"

"No, I'm here to talk to you. What the fuck Eli?"

"Awh, little Noah's using big words now, is he?" I teased, standing to the side to let him storm through into my living room.

"You broke up with me through the phone? What, are you too much of a pussy to say it to my face?" I'd never seen him this angry, or genuinely hurt before. But still, how dare he.

"Excuse me?" I spoke through my clenched teeth.

"You heard me, why didn't you just talk to me? We could've talked this whole thing through? But no, Eli decided she's better than everyone else"

"Noah, calm down, it's not as easy as that" I explained as calmly as possible, both of us stood either side of the round side table.

"And without explanation either!" his fists slammed on the table.

"Okay, what the actual fuck? That's not even a valid argument! I tried to explain myself further, but you hung up the phone and blocked me, so who's the pussy now?" I yelled, my fists also slamming down on the table.

"What did I ever do to you?"

"Just leave me alone!" I screamed, throwing my arms out which ended up sending an empty mug on the table flying in his direction, smashing against the wall before shattering on the ground. Tears were beginning to form in the corners of my eyes.

"Stop being such an entitled bitch!" he bellowed, smashing a vase against the table. I felt a sudden sharp pain on the right side of my face, and we both became completely silent, his face taking on a horrified expression.

"Eli, I-"

Before I even had the chance to comprehend what was happening, a pair of cold arms flew around me, pulling me closer to them. Meanwhile, I looked over to see that Noah was being held against the wall by his neck by Caius, his feet inches from the ground as he squirmed in his grasp. Aro stepped around from behind me and…Marcus apparently, gently examining the side of my face which was still throbbing with pain. He tutted as he cupped my cheek with his hand, a frown on his face, before spinning back around to face Noah with a forced, slightly psychotic smile.

"Noah was it?" he clapped his hands together joyously, tilting his head to the side with a grin.

I tried to wriggle free of Marcus' hold, but it only became tighter as he gently shushed me, protectively holding me close to his chest. Caius growled, his grip around Noah's throat becoming tighter and tighter; it was a miracle he was still conscious.

"You see, you have in fact hurt our mate. Now that is truly a regrettable decision on your part" Aro stepped closer with his hands held together, Caius teeth edging closer to Noah's neck.

"Don't hurt him!" I yelled as tears began to run down my cheeks, now squirming more than I was before, "Please, j-just let him go Caius"

Caius turned his head to me, his black eyes locked on mine, before snapping back around and snarling at Noah, their faces only a few millimetres apart. Aro lightly tapped Caius on the shoulder and shook his head, causing him to reluctantly release his grip of his victim. Noah dropped back down to the ground with a painful-sounding thud and crawled back onto his feet with a terrified look on his face, stumbling out of the front door and slamming it behind him.

Aro dashed back over to me and glanced again at the side of my face while the tears I'd been attempting to hold in poured down my face. Carefully, he picked me up from Marcus' grip and held me in his arms, swiftly carrying me upstairs into my bedroom and sitting me down on his lap on the beanbag in the corner of my room. I sobbed into his chest, curling up as close to him as possible and burying my face in his jacket. He quietly hushed me, whispering sweet nothings in my ear while my tears continued to soak his black shirt and velvet waistcoat. Marcus knelt down on the carpeted floor beside us, soothingly rubbing circles on my thigh with his right hand.

If it was any consolation, my muscles were no longer aching, but the right side of my face was still stinging painfully. Everything happened too fast for me to actually see what had happened, but I assumed maybe Noah had accidentally whacked me in the face or something.

Looking around the room to see where Caius was, my gaze fixed on him stood glaring out of the window, all of the muscles in his body tense as his face twitched. He held his hands in tight fists, and I'm sure his knuckles would've gone white if he actually had blood. I also noticed that their black cloaks had been left discarded on my bed, the calming scent of all three of them filling up the room.

My tears were finally beginning to dry, my breathing steadying back to its normal rate. I took in a sharp breath and bit my lip at the stinging pain on my cheek.

"Are you in pain, il mio amore?" Marcus asked quietly, his head rested on my legs.

"A little," my voice quivered slightly, "I'm sure it's not that bad"

I sat up straight, pressing a chaste kiss to Aro's jaw and squeezing Marcus' hand, before sliding off of Aro's lap as he removed his hands from around my waist. Wandering over to the bathroom, I looked in the mirror and gasped.

"Shit!"

Not only was all of my mascara smeared down my cheeks, but there was also a long slash across my face, running from my right temple down to where my dimple was. Well, I guess I won't be smiling for a while.

"There is no need for such profanities" Marcus remarked as he leant against the doorway.

In an instant, he had grabbed a wet cloth and a tube of antiseptic cream from under the sink, spinning me around by my shoulders to face him. Up close, I noticed how stunning his eyes actually were, his crimson irises shining in the white light of the room. I grimaced as he gently cleaned the wound for me, inspecting it carefully so as not to cause any more pain than necessary.

"I'm surprised you know anything about first aid" I laughed before hissing another sharp sting.

"Hm," he gently ran his hand across the side of my face, "you are too kind for your own good, Eliana" he spoke softly, ensuring he was gentler around where the cut was deepest.

"Do you think I should've let Caius kill him?" I asked with a whimper.

He paused, "He hurt you, tesoro" was his only response.

Once Marcus had finished tending to the gash on my face, I turned to the mirror, attempting to inspect it for myself.

"Does it look that bad?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I would not worry about your appearance, bellissima" he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead.

"Thank you, Marcus" I whispered, wrapping my arms around his torso as he pulled my body against his into a tight hug.

Pulling away, I headed back into my bedroom, deciding to try and comfort Caius. Aro was still sat comfortably on my beanbag as he mindlessly tapped his fingers on his thigh, but Caius seemed to be brimming with fury. I'd never seen him this aggressive before, and I was seriously worried about him.

"Caius?"

I approached him from behind, joining him in gazing out of the window. At least his eyes were no longer black, but instead were now their usual crimson hue. Rather than giving me any verbal response, he simply placed his much colder hand over mine, entwining our fingers together. His grip was very tight though, almost too tight.

"Ouch?" I winced slightly, causing him to instantly let go and take a cautious step back.

"I'm sorry, cara mia" he muttered at the floor, still a slight bitterness in his voice.

I suddenly stepped back towards him, wrapping my arms around his body and holding him close to me. It was only then that I realised just how tense he was, all of the muscles in his body completely stiffened. He seemed to loosen under my touch, placing his hands around my waist with his face pressed into the crook of my neck. I realised how much I'd missed this for the past month, missed being held comfortingly in his arms.

"He tried to hurt you" Caius muttered into my neck, his cold lips brushing against my skin.

"But he didn't deserve to die" I responded, running a hand through his snowy blonde hair.

"Marcus is correct; you are too kind for your own good" he growled softly.

"Well, I'm sorry for taking away your light afternoon snack babe" I joked and, despite Caius seeming to take a liking to me calling him 'babe', he gave me a glare, to which I pressed a hesitant kiss to his cheek.

Author's note: Haha the Volturi are back! This chapter was actually a lot of fun to write for some reason, and I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for reading, stay safe, be sure to leave some feedback because I love reading your comments (they honestly make my day so thank youuuuu :)) and ily!