"I'm so excited I'm so excited I'm so excited I'm-"
"We heard the first time," Jane cut off.
I was on one of the kings' private planes to Forks with Jane, Felix and Santiago. While Jane had taken to complaining about my never-ending excitement, Felix and Santiago had spent the first hour of the journey playing Uno together before beginning a game of Hungry Hippos, that game with the coloured plastic hippo things. Sure, the entire set up was completely shattered by round two, but it was admittedly a lot of fun to witness.
I hadn't seen the Cullens in over two months now, and the kings in almost a month. On the plus side, I was officially out of school, meaning that I could finally get on with my summer. It turned out that I did get accepted into the University of Pisa, which ended up giving me a perfectly valid excuse for moving into Volterra. I mean, worst case scenario I could always drop out.
"Guess what I found!"
"Hells yeah dude!"
Felix dashed at full speed from the back of the plane carrying the box for the game Twister. There were few things that made that guy happy, playing childish games being one of them. Santiago grinned and high-fived him as they sat on the floor together with their legs crossed like a bunch of five year olds.
"Jane, you going to join?" Santiago turned his head to her.
"I have no reason to join your childish games. Besides, I'm wearing a new dress which I bought while in London, and there is no way you can get me to rip it," she scoffed.
In her defence, she was wearing a really gorgeous outfit. The dress was long-sleeved and went down to just above her knees. It was made out of an expensive-looking black velvet fabric with a white leather belt around the waist, which she wore with a pair of black lace-up biker boots. Meanwhile, I was literally just lounging around in an old t-shirt which I'd tied up with a hair band and a pair of fabric shorts. I even brought flip-flops and tied my hair into a bun which oddly resembled Spongebob's house.
"Eli, are you joining?"
I was about to say yes before reminding myself how weird it would be if I played twister with two elderly male vampires.
"I think I'll pass, you two have fun," I responded.
"Your loss dude," he rolled his eyes, the two of them instantly beginning the game.
"Jane, can I ask you something?" I timidly questioned.
"If you must," she shrugged, moving seats to the empty one adjacent to me.
"Just out of curiosity, and I've been wondering this for a while, but what were the kings' wives like?" I asked carefully, staring awkwardly into my lap in case it was a touchy subject.
"Can't say I was a fan of them!" Felix called, leant uncomfortably over the Twister mat.
"She asked me, Felix," Jane snapped before turning back around to me, "the previous queens of the Volturi were… not exactly the kindest vampires."
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Don't get me wrong, they were not evil per se, but they were not nearly as thoughtful and considerate as you. We guard members were not viewed as equals, but rather inferior to them, and there were rarely any friendly interactions between us. That is what makes you so different to them, Eliana; you have such a genuine heart, and you care about us guard members much more than they did," she explained.
My face went bright red. Me? Genuine heart? They were going to need to widen the doorways for my now inflated ego.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I didn't even realise I was being particularly caring to you lot. I was just trying to be friendly," I laughed.
"Well, it's true. The Masters did love them and care about them a lot, however they were kept locked in the tower for their own safety for many hundred years," she added.
"You're joking?" I asked deadpan, my eyes widened in shock.
"Don't worry about it though, I reckon the Masters would have a tough time trying to lock you away. In anyway, even if they did, we guard would personally break you out," she bowed dramatically with a half-hearted smile, "Corin, as you may already be aware, has the ability to make others feel contented with their situation, so she spent her time using her gift on the queens. But anyway, put it by this way; I have not seen the Masters this genuinely happy in a long time."
"What do you mean?"
"The love between the Masters and their queens died out after two or so thousand years, due to the fact that they were not true mates-"
"They were in it for the money and the sex!" Santiago called from underneath Felix. Of course, knowing my immaturity, this caused me to burst out laughing.
"I don't remember inviting you into this discussion, Santiago," Jane scoffed, "but yes, what he said."
"Huh, but how much less happy were they before then?"
"Well, Marcus barely spoke a word before you came along, Aro's smiles have been becoming less forced, and Caius has…he won't like it if I say this…softened up a little."
That was crazy; I could never imagine Marcus being quiet. This was the guy who teased me for literally everything, tossed me across my bedroom, and threatened to use my fear of insects against me. Caius' anger, on the other hand, didn't surprise me as much.
"So…where are the ex. Queens now?" I asked.
"We do not know. I have heard rumours that they have joined a coven in Thailand, but their whereabouts are unknown to anyone. When you came along, the two of them were slightly bitter, and so no longer keep in contact with the Volturi at all-"
"Hold up, you said two of them. But there are three kings…?"
There was an awkward silence in the plane, which was interrupted by Felix yelping out when Santiago bent his arm backwards, followed by him yelling "I WIN SUCKER" at the top of his lungs.
"That…is not our story to tell," she answered hesitantly, "you will find out soon enough."
"Eli, want to play another round of Twister with us?" Felix called.
"Maybe not, I mean, it's just a little dangerous for a human to play a game like Twister with a vampire," I responded.
"You're no fun," he grumbled, continuing the game with Santiago.
One hour down, seven hours to go. This plane ride was going to be painful, especially with two man-children on board.
I was finally off the plane and in the all-too-familiar Forks airport arrivals lounge. Exactly as before, Felix, Santiago, and Jane all disappeared from view pretty much as soon as we came into public, leaving me standing there timidly with my massive black suitcase. In my defence, I was planning on being away from home for quite a while to say the least, hence the luggage.
"Eli, over here!"
I spun messily to meet Emmett and Rose who were both stood as close to the exit as possible while still being in view. I excitedly skipped over to them, handing Emmett my suitcase. Reluctantly, Rose gave me a stiff hug, clearly having better places to be. Emmett, however, picked me up and spun me around twice before placing me back down onto the ground.
"Haven't seen you in ages, Mistress Volturi," he laughed.
"It's nice to have you back," Rose smiled awkwardly.
"It's nice to be back, honestly," I responded enthusiastically, leading us out of the terminal and over to the car, "but don't Edward and Bella usually pick me up?"
Rose rolled her eyes. "We can leave you here if you want," she snarked.
"Geez, calm down, you didn't give me a chance to add 'no offence'," I raised my arms, facing my palms outwards.
"Yeah, Bella still feels kinda bad for her reaction to you banging the Volturi-"
Rose whacked him across the back of the head. "Emmett!"
"Ew, what the hell is wrong with you Emmett? No one asked!" I cringed, climbing into the backseat of the car as he grinned while placing my suitcase in the boot.
"Excited for the graduation?" I joked to Rose who was now sat in the passenger seat on her phone.
"Just as excited as I always am," she answered dismissively.
"And how excited is that?"
"Not very," she replied, turning on the radio while Emmett clumsily climbed into the car and sped off.
"Alice has been planning like crazy for this graduation party, hopefully it won't be as bad as the last party we had," Emmett remarked.
"What happened at the last party?" I asked.
"Basically, one thing led to another, and Jasper accidentally attacked Bella," he explained vaguely.
"Oh, wow, fun, can't wait," I said sarcastically.
"Everything should be fine, there'll be loads more people at this one so there won't be any issues," he assured.
"If you say so," I inhaled sharply, watching the scenery of Forks zoom past the window in a blur. I happily daydreamed for a while, the only sound in the car being the faint noise coming from the radio.
"I LOVE THIS SONG!" Emmett yelled randomly, causing me to scream in fright.
He turned up the volume on the radio, and slowly I realised the song was 'Party Rock Anthem'. Of course, what else did I expect? Rose tried to reach over and turn it down but in response, he pushed her hand away and opened the windows so now the general public could enjoy one of the cringiest songs in existence.
"Party rock is in the house tonight!" he sung at the top of his lungs.
I'd never seen Rose look like she wanted to die that much before. She was almost shaking in anger and general loss of patience. However, I was too excited and had way too much energy to mope around with her.
"Everybody just have a good time!" I chimed in.
"Yes Eli!"
"Lord Jesus please help me," Rose murmured into her palm.
"Join in Rose, you know you want to," I called over the deafening music.
"I think I know what I want, thanks," she snapped, again attempting to turn down the volume and failing.
"And we gon' make you lose your mind!"
"Everybody just have a good time!" I continued with my arms extended above my head.
We finally pulled in to the Cullens' driveway and climbed out of the car, Emmett instantly handing me my suitcase. Rose looked seemed so glad to finally escape as she practically ran indoors and out of the sunlight, closely followed by Emmett and then me. While struggling up the front few steps with my luggage on my own, I almost fell flat on my face.
"Uh, help?"
Alice sped out of the front door and took my suitcase from me, holding it above her head to prove a point.
"It's not that heavy, don't be dramatic," she called over her shoulder as she led me back indoors and upstairs to the kitchen.
The aroma of fresh food filled the house, making my mouth water. God, I was hungry. Walking into the kitchen, Esme was cooking something which smelt maybe Mexican, flashing me a warm smile when she spotted me.
"Eli, it's lovely to have you back," she greeted happily.
"Thank you," I grinned, "smells amazing by the way."
"I thought I would cook you some vegan enchiladas, considering you haven't eaten all day," she answered, bustling over to the cupboard and pulling out some other spices.
"Thank you so much," I smiled sheepishly.
"Eli, can I talk to you for a minute?"
I turned around to face Bella who was stood by the stairs in front of Edward. She awkwardly held her hands in the pockets of her jeans while staring at the ground, fidgeting on the spot.
"Yeah, I guess," I replied reluctantly, "thank you again," I called to Esme as I left the kitchen.
Following Bella, we headed up the stairs and took a left into the guest bedroom I'd usually stay in whenever I visited. Edward comfortingly patted Bella on the shoulder before disappearing off into his room without a word, closing the door behind him.
"I just," she began, stumbling on her words, "I wanted to apologise, for everything."
"Go on," I smirked as I sat back on the bed with my arms crossed over my chest.
"I guess I was really out of line with everything I said-"
"Hells yeah you were!" I interrupted.
"Eli, are you going to let me apologise or what?" she asked exasperatedly.
"Of course, you're right, do continue," I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.
"I shouldn't have said any of the things I did. What matters is you're happy, that's all I care about. Not only was I kinda acting like a total asshole, but I was also selfish. I mean, if they are your true mates and you honestly do love them, that's all that should matter," she shrugged, "I guess I'm trying to say I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted," I smiled, pulling her in for a quick hug, "anyway, if anything I shouldn't have sprung news like that onto you so suddenly."
"No, no way, I'm so happy for you, really. It's just…seriously though?"
"What?" I laughed.
"I mean, do you seriously find them attractive?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah, what did you think?"
"It's just such a weird thought, I mean…wow," she chuckled, "so have you had your first kiss, or I guess kisses, yet?"
"I have actually," I squealed.
"Oh my God, when?"
"During the week I spent in Italy before I told you," I muttered quietly.
"No way! Wow, that's crazy, I mean, good on you, looks like you're gonna be a Volturi now."
"Bella, look at me," I fixed my gaze on hers, "I know, I get it, it's really weird that I'm in a relationship with the Volturi. Hell, I can't even begin to imagine how shocked Carlisle must feel considering he spent years living with them. But, I'll always be the same, and I will always consider you as my best friend, as corny as that sounds," I assured lightly.
"Yeah, you tend to have a kinda cringey way with words," she teased, causing me to launch a pillow at her.
"Ooh wait, before I forget," I leapt over to the suitcase which Alice had brought to the room, unzipping it and pulling out a bag of chocolate, "I brought you some British chocolate!"
"You know me so well," she laughed and opened the bag without hesitation.
"Ready to graduate?" I asked, lying back beside her.
"Can't wait, you coming to Alice's party then?"
"What choice do I have? If you decide not to come though, I'm not going," I warned her.
"Don't worry, she won't let me skip it. I'll talk to Charlie to see if he'll let me sleep over that night."
"Please do, we need a proper catch-up," I giggled, taking a chocolate out of the bag.
Author's note: Okay, I know there was a major time skip between the last chapter and this one, but if I didn't add one, the story was going to get boring quickly. On another note, Party Rock Anthem has been stuck in my head for a week now, so I thought I'd spread the love and get it stuck in your heads too (you're welcome).
Thanks again for reading, be sure to leave some feedback, I'm so pleased to hear people are enjoying reading my story and find it funny so thank you so so so so it means a lot, stay safe, and ily!