Not a word was spoken between me and the kings for another half hour or so. I didn't want to talk, and there was nothing I was willing to discuss with them. Stepping into the shower, I tried to clean myself and remove my makeup as quickly as possible, turning the temperature of the water to the highest setting without burning myself. Once I climbed out, I caught my gaze in the clouded mirror and went to re-examine the cut.
Although I knew it wasn't getting any worse, it looked more obvious than before. Maybe it was during my hysteria, but the wound had apparently reopened and started bleeding again, leaving my dark crimson blood smeared dry across my cheek. The skin around it was a little red, but not too bad. On the plus side, it definitely looked like it was healing a little, the edges of the cut already narrowing together.
Still furious from earlier, I stormed slightly dramatically out of the bathroom, my towel wrapped around my body. To make matters worse, I'd forgotten to grab any clothes before showering, so now the kings were going to have to witness me in nothing but a towel, like some sort of out-of-control naked child.
The kings were all sat in my bedroom minding their own business. Marcus had picked up my copy of The Hunger Games and was reading it with his feet propped up on my desk, Aro was absent-mindedly solving a Sudoku puzzle I'd left unfinished on my windowsill, and Caius was sketching something on a piece of blank paper with a pink unicorn pencil he'd picked up from my old stationary set. However, as soon as I walked in, all three pairs of piercing crimson eyes turned to me, taking in the fact that I was wrapped in a towel and still dripping wet.
I paused, glancing at each of them. "What?"
"Did we say something?" Caius asked, his back leant against the wall.
"Nope, nothing," I shook my head quickly and picked up a pile of discarded clothes from the floor, "have you seen my deodorant anywhere?"
Aro was in front of me within an instant, handing me the metal spray can. There was an awkward silence between us, which mostly consisted of me holding my breath and him eyeing my body. After a few seconds, he snapped out of his trance and his eyes met mine again.
"I do believe this is what you are looking for," he forced a smile. God, I hate it when he does that.
I simply replied with a simple "Mhm," before turning around and walking back into the bathroom. I'd always been a pushover to be honest, always forgiven people at the first apology, but this time around they'd seriously fucked things up. Thanks to them, the entire school was under the impression that I was mourning the loss of my boyfriend, that I was going through a hard time. Oh, if they knew…
Once I was back in my bedroom, dressed properly this time, I realised that Caius was gone. Again, I briefly searched around the room for him just in case I'd lost all traces of both vision and sanity.
"Where'd Caius go?" I asked deadpan.
"He decided to cook you some food, as I do believe you have not eaten in a few hours." Marcus glanced up from his book for a moment before gazing down again, completely expressionless and apathetic. Wow, cold. To be honest, I deserve it.
Without a word, I headed out of the room and down the stairs, stopping briefly at the door to the kitchen. After taking in a sharp breath, I hesitantly walked discretely. I found Caius stood over the hob, cooking something that smelt…mushroom-y? I love mushrooms. Despite him being well aware that I was literally in the same room as him, there was eerie silence between us. Weirdly enough, one half of me wanted to apologise for snapping at him, but the other half of me wanted him to apologise to me for ordering the execution of my ex. This confusion made it even harder for me to try and start a conversation with any of them, as both the kind and unforgiving sides of my personality were completely contradicting my every action.
Still daydreaming, I hadn't even noticed Aro and Marcus walk in, the two of them literally sat on the wooden chairs to the left of me. I was so incredibly desperate to start some form of conversation at this point as it wouldn't be long until they'd fly or whatever back to Volterra, but not a word came out of me.
"Your dinner," Caius handed a bowl of risotto to me without making any eye contact whatsoever, "I made you mushroom risotto as Aro informed me that that is one of your favourite foods."
"Thank you," I looked down sheepishly, tucking in straight away. Caius seriously needed his own cooking show though, he could work miracles with food.
There was another awkward silence, but it was only getting more painful. I knew it was unrealistic for me to stay silent for the entire duration of their stay and sure, maybe it was their fuck up, but I wasn't going to wait around for them to start the next conversation.
"Right, I can't take this anymore, this whole awkward-silence-in-every-room-I-walk-in-to thing" I sat up with my back straight, glancing at all three of them.
"We simply made the assumption that you were no longer willing to talk to us," Aro responded with a shrug. Did they really need to guilt trip me now?
I sighed heavily. "I'll admit, I was… majorly out of line. I probably shouldn't have snapped at you like that, so for that I am sorry. However, you still did kill, no order the execution of, Noah without even remotely asking me or telling me about it. You left me out on a decision that primarily affected me"
"There was no other choice, il mio amore, none at all. We only carried out the necessary precautions to ensure the security of our kind's existence and of you," Marcus pleaded.
"Did you not think to maybe tell me face to face instead of leaving me to find out in a school assembly?!" I snapped, instantly regretting it and ducking my head back down, "sorry."
"No, you are correct. We should have informed you ourselves, that was foolish of us. For that, I apologise," Aro responded with sincerity.
"We only had good intentions," Caius spoke, less anger and more guilt audible in his voice.
"Well, as my grandmother often used to say, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'," I countered.
"She sounds nice," he added sarcastically.
"Okay, maybe she was a little dark, twisted, and senile, but she was also very wise," I shrugged.
"We very selfishly did not take into consideration the emotional strain Noah's loss would cause you, and for that we are sorry," Marcus said, placing his cold hand over mine. I didn't pull away but instead flipped my hand over, allowing his fingers to entwine around mine.
"An apology won't bring him back," I murmured solemnly, "but won't the authorities catch on to you?"
"We are vampires, meaning that we have plenty of experience with inconspicuous killings," Aro assured.
I nodded, still a little pissed off, but I loosened up instantly when Caius came and hugged me from behind, wrapping his arms around my waist with his head on my shoulder. I leaned into his embrace comfortably with my left hand still holding Marcus'.
"You make a mean mushroom risotto by the way," I spoke to Caius.
"I will take that as a compliment," he replied, seeming a little confused.
"It was a compliment. What else would it have been?"
"I do not know how you would use the word 'mean' in this context."
"All I meant was you're amazing at cooking mushroom risotto, geez!"
"Watch your attitude, carissima," he warned.
"What attitude? I'm complimenting your cooking!" I defended myself while I gestured wildly to the bowl in front of me, taking in the last massive spoonful of risotto.
"That wa-"
"I think that is enough of this insignificant quarrel for today, thank you," Aro interrupted, standing between us.
"Agreed," I smiled before narrowing my eyes at Caius jokingly.
"Do you see the attitude that she is demonstrating? Intolerable!" Caius exclaimed furiously at Aro while shooting death glares at me.
"I was joking!" I retorted.
"What, are you implying that-"
"Brother, that is enough," Aro smiled gleefully, pushing Caius back two steps before stepping over to me and pulling me closer to him with his left arm snaked tightly around my waist. I curled up into him he ran a gentle hand along the length of my body down to my thigh.
"Again, our sincerest apologies, cara mia," he whispered.
I simply shrugged, taking in another sharp breath. As much as I much appreciated the gesture of their apologies, a simple 'sorry' wouldn't bring him back. Sure, I kind of see why he had to go, vampiric law and all that jazz, but was it really that crazy to maybe have some input from me in that decision?
I headed back into the bedroom now dressed in an old hoodie and leggings, still a little annoyed about the absolutely fucking mental day I'd just had. It's not every day that you find out that your ex had his execution ordered by your three thousand year old boyfriends.
It was times like this where I was glad that I'd talked my parents into buying me a double bed rather than that old high-sleeper bed I used to have with a ladder. The kings were all laying comfortably side by side on my bed, with Aro in the middle, Caius on the right, and Marcus on the left, the most relaxed I'd seen them in a while. If vampires could sleep, they would've been sound asleep by this point. I stopped hesitantly at the door, slowly placing down my hairbrush on my desk while still trying to comprehend what the hell was happening.
"Um…hi?"
"Is something wrong, carissima?" Caius questioned smugly, tilting his head up slightly and opening one eye.
"Not at all," I awkwardly responded.
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence while I debated how on earth I was going to sleep, I decided to crawl on my hands and knees onto my bed so that I was hovering over Aro, resting myself down on top of him with a light thud. He seemed amused, a light chuckle sounding from him.
"I was under the impression that you are still, as you would often put it 'pissed off'?"
"I am," I answered plainly, "I just knew I'd regret it if I didn't spend as much time with you as possible before you all fly back to your little castle in Italy."
"Little? Is the size of our residence not up to your standards?" Marcus teased with an eyebrow raised, absent-mindedly tracing patterns on my forearm.
"Yes, I'm disappointed that you don't own the whole of Volterra at this point. The fact that you only live in one castle is just sad," I replied deadpan.
"You are almost as painfully-sarcastic as Caius," Aro remarked.
"Excuse me?" Caius hissed.
"He's right, your sarcasm is a little annoying," I added playfully.
"Aro, brother, do something with this insufferable child," Caius groaned, placing his head in his hands.
"This 'insufferable child'," I mimicked, "is your mate, so deal with it!" I giggled.
"Well, I do happen to know that one of dear Eliana's greatest weaknesses is that she is exceptionally ticklish," Aro slyly noted. Goddamn telepathy.
"You wouldn't."
"I would."
"Please don't."
"Why ever not?"
"What do you mean 'why ever not'? Are you seriously asking that question?"
Instead of responding verbally like a sane person, he decided to slide his hands up my top and tickle my sides, well knowing that that was my weak spot.
"ARO! OH MY GOD STOP IT!" I managed to get out through my uncontrollable laughter while writhing on top of him.
"Do you want me to stop?" he asked innocently.
"Y-YES!" I barely responded while he tickled under my neck.
"As you wish," he let go as I rolled over and ended up lying on my back on top of Caius, still attempting to regain my breath.
Caius looked at me a little confused before encircling his arms around my waist. "How I will ever put up with you is beyond me," he joked.
"Huh, rude," I scoffed, "come on, you know you secretly love having me around."
"Definitely," he answered, his tone laced with sarcasm.
Marcus soft voice chimed in. "Tesoro, so you will spend the summer with us?"
"That's the plan," I rolled back over Aro and onto Marcus as he held me to him tightly, "I don't know for sure, but I'm considering, you know, moving in with you guys for the foreseeable future. Maybe, I'm not sure, and only if it's okay with you, but either way I've been considering a few universities abroad, so maybe I could, I don't know, study in Italy?"
"That would be wonderful!" Aro clapped his hands together joyously, "have you applied to any of these universities yet?"
"Well, yes actually. It was sort of a last minute application, but I applied to the University of Pisa, which I think is only an hour or so away from Volterra," I told them, "I thought I might study mathematics there."
"Excellent choice. Even if you are not accepted, remember that you are always welcome to stay with us for as long as you would prefer," Caius assured.
"Thank you, I haven't really decided if there's actually any point in studying though. I mean, it sounds like I'm jumping to conclusions, but as I'm mated to you, surely I'd eventually have to become a vampire and move in with you?"
"That is not something to concern yourself over for the time being. You have the privilege of currently living a young human with many opportunities in life. I do believe there is a saying, 'the world is your oyster'," Aro responded warmly.
"True, true. Either way, I'm coming back so brace yourselves, especially you Caius!" I giggled, glancing at him pointedly.
"Joy," he unenthusiastically murmured into his palm.
"I know, right?" I clapped excitedly, energetically rolling off Marcus and back over onto Aro.
"You'd better rest now, cara mia. I am afraid tomorrow you will have to endure another day of your human education system," Aro laughed, pulling a grey throw blanket over me.
"School sucks ass," I quipped, my voice muffled by his chest.
Author's note: Yeah this chapter turned out shorter than usual, but oh well. I have some really fun plot ideas for this story, and I honestly can't wait for you to see what I have in store for Eli and Co. It makes me so happy to see how much people are enjoying reading my story, so thank you so incredibly much (if I could hug each one of you, I would). Again, thanks for reading, be sure to leave some feedback, stay safe, and ily!