I was woken up from my blissful sleep by the sunlight brightly streaming through the window and onto my bed. Wait, when did the light from the window ever reach my bed before?
Sitting up with my weight propped up on my elbows, I realised that my entire room had been completely remodelled, all the furniture rearranged and replaced. How I'd missed this the night before remained a mystery to me. The walls were no longer a blood red colour but now white, and the window now stretched from ceiling to floor which gave a pretty damn awesome view of Volterra. My bed, which had previously been a king-sized bed with a mahogany headboard, was even bigger if that was possible, the headboard a smooth white colour while I drowned in pillows and blankets. I'd also apparently gained a vanity, which contained all of the makeup items I'd been given, and a desk, both painted white. In the corner of the room where the armchair used to be was a flat-screen TV, surrounded by a grey leather loveseat and two small grey beanbags. The only parts of my room which remained the same were my wardrobe, the same clothes as I'd left, and the bathroom.
Climbing out of my massive bed and untangling myself from the many sheets and blankets, I took a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt out of my wardrobe and went into the bathroom to change. I'd been provided with a new electric toothbrush apparently, as well as a new hairbrush, which did make things a little easier for me. Once I was finally ready, I unlocked the bathroom door and strolled out, pausing just as I spotted Chelsea sat comfortably in one of the chairs by the TV with the remote in her hand, scrolling through all of the channels which seemed to mostly be in Italian.
"Um, Chelsea?"
"Eli, you're back!"
She immediately leapt up onto her feet excitedly and ran at me, pulling me into another one of her suffocating hugs, this one way tighter than last time. This deathly embrace to last for a while before I managed to yank myself out of her grip, taking deep breaths so that the oxygen would flow back to my brain.
"I've missed you so much, you have no idea," she squealed, holding my hands tightly.
"You too, what are you doing here then?" I asked.
"The guard are all over in the game room, we're going to play Cards Against Humanity. I was going to ask you if you wanted to come and drag you down against your will if you said no," she responded with honesty.
"Well, why not then," I shrugged with an eye roll as she led me by the arm out of the room and down to the game room, "Quick question: What happened to my room?"
"The makeover? Yeah, the Masters wanted to make you feel more comfortable and at-home so they decided to redo the whole thing. I heard that apparently Esme Cullen designed most of it. You're friends with her, right?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say I'm pretty close with the Cullens."
"Do you like your new room then?"
"I love it actually, it's pretty much perfect," I paused, "the bed is massive though."
"It's better to have a bed that's too large than too small," she shrugged.
"Hmm, agreed, besides the fact that I literally end up drowning in pillows and blankets during the night," I giggled, "By the way, where's Afton then? I haven't seen him around yet," I asked her.
"Oh, he's been sent on a task with a few lower guards for a couple of days by Master Caius, something about fire maybe, or wolves. I don't know really, I wasn't listening. Anyway, he'll be back tonight if I remember correctly, but for now everyone else is still here," she smiled, "here we are then," she called, pushing the game room door open.
There were maybe fifteen guard members gathered in one corner of the room with Cards Against Humanity cards in their hands, including Felix, Demetri, Corin, Santiago, Renata, and funnily enough, the twins. It seemed Felix was not actually participating in the game like the others, but instead acting as an umpire, dealing out cards and choosing the winner of each round. Corin patted a space on the ground next to her and Chelsea dragged me around the circle of people so I was sat between her and Renata.
"Okay, so the winner of this round was 'Hey baby, come back to my place and I'll show you a PowerPoint presentation'," Felix laughed, "Who was that?"
Alec raised his hand with a grin, taking the card back and adding it to his stash. It seemed that he and Jane were way in the lead so far with much more than pretty much everyone else; really this was just a competition between the twins.
A few rounds in and I was already catching up which surprised me considering I how late I joined in. Eventually I swapped roles with Felix, seating myself in the middle with all of the cards.
"Oh my God this one, who's idea-" I didn't manage to complete my sentence, keeling over onto my side with laughter.
"Dude, you can't expect us to laugh at it if you're not actually going to read it out," Santiago remarked
"Just say it, Eli, we don't have all day," Jane snapped.
"Domino's Oreo Dessert Pizza + The art of seduction = Having sex on top of a pizza," I howled with laughter just as everyone went completely dead silent. Was it really not that funny then? Huh, figures.
"I am slightly worried about the game you are playing, Eliana. What is it?"
I spun around on my ass slowly to be met with Aro who was standing just behind me, looking down at me unimpressed. Oh, so that's why the others didn't laugh.
"Oh um…Cards Against Humanity?" I winced, looking up at him.
"And why does this game require you to discuss 'having sex on top of a pizza'?"
"It's um… I don't really have a good answer to that," I turned to the rest of the guard, "Whose cards were these in anyway?"
No one was willing to admit it was theirs as they stared down at their shoes timidly, although I had my suspicions that it was Alec.
"Okay, well it was definitely one of you." Still nothing. "Put it by this way, you've won the round…wait there's still one I forgot to read out."
"Please don't," Aro's exasperated voice sounded from behind me, but I ignored him.
"Oh-ho, if you thought the pizza one was bad, and excuse my language in this, 'Harry Potter erotica + An Oedipus complex = Being a motherfucking sorcerer'," I couldn't help by laugh along with some of the other guards.
"That is quite enough for today," Aro took my hand and lifted me to my feet.
"But who won?"
He grumbled. "The Harry Potter one, now let us leave. Do enjoy the rest of your day," he nodded to the guard with an ever so slightly forced smile.
I was honestly quite shocked that he actually chose a winner, and so seemed the guard. Aro led me out of the room by my hand down one of the corridors, his human-paced stride quite difficult to keep up with.
"Where are we going?" I asked him.
"Patience, cara mia."
"Can't you just tell me now?"
"That would simply ruin the surprise, now wouldn't it?" he smiled.
We eventually stopped outside what I recognised as Caius' quarters as he tapped his knuckles on the door lightly, with my hand still held in his other one.
"Do come in," Marcus' muffled voice could be heard from the other side of the door.
Aro opened it and pulled me over to Caius' bed, where Caius was sat on the edge by the headboard and Marcus was stood a metre or so away from him with his arms crossed over his chest. As soon as Caius saw me, he groaned, falling backwards onto his bed with an ear-splitting creak.
"Nice to see you too," I snarked.
"Please sit, cara mia," Aro gestured to the bed.
I sat down on the other side of the bed from Caius comfortably.
"There is no need for so much distance, sit closer," Aro instructed.
With a light eye roll, I scooched over a little and so did Caius, but there was still a lot of space between us. Clearly fed up of our stubbornness, Aro picked me up under my arms easily and placed me down so that Caius and I were sat right up against each other, stepping back and resuming his lecture mode.
"Now," Aro clapped his hands together, "we are here to very simply settle whatever differences the pair of you have. Now, do not start talking or attempting to explain yourselves. Do not take it personally, but I could not care less if I tried. The reasons you two have for constantly bickering are irrelevant, and they make no difference to the fact that you are both simply acting irrational and immature. I think I speak for both myself and Marcus by saying that it is absolutely infuriating. All we need is an apology. From both of you."
Me and Caius both looked at each other, clearly neither of us willing to be the first to apologise. After a few seconds, I glanced down at my lap and inhaled sharply.
"Sorry." I muttered quickly.
"Sorry." Caius added immediately after me under his breath.
"Say it like you mean it," Aro said.
"Sorry Caius."
"Sorry Eliana."
"That was not quite what I meant but it will have to do for now. Isn't this just wonderful? Do you see how lovely it is when we all get along nicely like good friends?" Aro exclaimed, his tone incredibly patronising.
"Are you quite finished, brother?" Caius glared at Aro and Marcus.
"We will be as soon as you two embrace, just to prove that we have well and truly settled any disputes between you."
I glared at Aro, and then at Caius who seemed so reluctant to come near me that it was offensive. It didn't take long for Aro to grab Caius' arms and attempt to force him to hug me, but Caius shook him off.
"I do know how to embrace, Aro," he snarled.
"Then do so," he smiled menacingly.
Caius stiffly wrapped his arms around me, seemingly desperate to pull away. It was only when I hugged him back that he softened up a little, pulling me closer into his chest. Looking up, I noticed that Aro and Marcus had disappeared, just leaving me and Caius in the room together.
"Is Aro always like this?" I murmured into his chest.
He pulled me onto his bed beside him with ease so that we were both lying side by side with his arms around my shoulders. "You will get used to it," he chuckled.
I swung my right leg over him, cuddled into his side comfortably. Sure, I was still pretty damn annoyed at him, but I definitely couldn't stay mad at him for too long. He placed a soft kiss to the top of my head, rubbing my back gently.
"Did I hurt you?"
"Hmm?" I lifted my head up slightly.
"Your leg. I realise I may have been a little…violent," he explained, placing his cool hand where the red mark still was under my jeans.
"Oh, it's fine, don't worry about it. All I have now is a mark in the shape of your shoe," I laughed.
There was a short pause. "I promise to buy you a new speaker if you delete the song," he spoke.
"Really?" I groaned.
"Yes, and it must be removed from your collection permanently. If I ever hear that awful sound coming from you again, I will…"
"You'll what?" I laughed.
"I will…come up with some form of punishment."
"I'm sure you will. Fine, deal, consider that song gone," I agreed reluctantly.
He hummed happily. "What would I ever do without you?" he asked sarcastically.
"You would've been sold to a magician for his magic show by now," I quipped.
He angrily growled, pushing me away from him slightly. Huh, so he really does get that triggered by his nickname, wow.
"I was just joking, babe, come on."
I shuffled closer to him before pressing my lips to his, running a hand through his unbelievably soft blonde hair. Without any warning whatsoever, he'd flipped me over onto my back so he was on top of me, his lips moving roughly against mine. I gasped in surprise as he ran his tongue along my bottom lip, and I granted him entrance, allowing him to dominate over my tongue while he growled deeply from his chest. Once I reluctantly pulled away from him for air, he continued to kiss and suck down my neck as if he was addicted to the taste of my skin, causing me to let out a soft moan. His lips met back up with mine, much gentler than before but still with equal passion.
"I love you, carissima."
"I-I love you too Caius, so much."
Author's note: Awweee they said their first 'I love you', yay! This chapter is quite uneventful haha, but oh well. I'm so glad you guys are actually enjoying reading this, it makes me so happy I want to cry. Thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback, stay safe, and ily!