I was sat in Aro's office on his black leather chair, spinning around in circles while eating the pasta I'd been given for my meal. My hair and clothes were still damp, but I couldn't be asked to change, instead reminding myself that it would dry eventually. Still though, how dare Aro pour water on my head, even after he was the one who interrupted me and Caius that morning.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Aro, Caius, and Marcus all stood there frozen in the doorway. I spun the chair around slowly to face them, an eerie silence filling the room while we stared at each other in confusion.
"…hey," I waved awkwardly, taking in another mouthful of pasta.
"I did not expect to find you in here, on my chair, cara mia," Aro raised an eyebrow.
"Me neither, I got bored," I shrugged.
He gestured for me to get off, but I refused. "You want me to get off? Why should I?"
"Because we in fact came here to have a meeting, and it would help if you were not seated on my chair," he responded.
"Oh, I'm sorry for ruining your tiny butt imprint, you should've just said," I teased which earned a scowl, standing up with my bowl and moving over to the sofa to sit on Marcus' lap on the sofa.
"Why is your hair wet?" Caius asked, sat beside us.
I propped my feet up on his lap. "Ask Aro."
"Such accusations," he gasped dramatically, widening his eyes.
"What on earth did you two do with each other?" Caius seemed disgusted.
"Oh relax, get your head out of the gutter," I giggled. "He poured the contents of my water bottle on my head."
"Brother, why did you feel the need to water Eliana? She is not one of your houseplants," Marcus joked, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist as I continued to eat my pasta.
"She squirted water at me first!" Aro defended.
"I have a name, you know," I reminded him playfully.
"Okay, Eliana squirted water at me first, or should I say smelly-Eli," he childishly corrected.
"You're so mean," I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest.
He instantly lifted me up off Marcus' lap and placed me down sideways on his while he sat on top of his desk, one hand on my thigh while the other snaked around my waist. "Mean?"
"You called me smelly-Eli," I frowned, pretending to be upset.
He chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to my cheek. "I meant to say Eliana."
"U-huh, sure," I drew my eyebrows together and nodded sceptically.
"I am not mean, bellissima, I am Aro Volturi," he argued.
"Your point?"
"My point is that, contrary to popular belief, I am not 'mean', I am in fact the most compassionate vampire you could ever meet," his tone lacked in confidence.
"Fine, you're not exactly mean, but I wouldn't go as far as to say you're compassionate. Maybe…a little psychopathic?" I laughed.
"I agree," Caius chimed in.
"I have to side with Eliana on this one, Aro," Marcus added.
"Hmm, and I am the mean one?" Aro seemed genuinely offended as he frowned.
"You may be psychopathic Aro, but it doesn't mean I love you any less, babe," I giggled, curling up into a ball with my head on his chest.
"Psh, psychopathic," he muttered to himself in disbelief while cuddling me as close to him as possible and pressing a kiss to my hairline.
"Don't take it personally. You're the psychopathic one, Caius is the one with anger-management issues, and Marcus…I don't know about you, babe," I turned my head to him, "you just have a general way of creeping people out," I laughed.
"I'd watch your wording, cara mia," Aro murmured in my ear.
While Caius seemed to acknowledge my statement about him with a shrug, Marcus seemed beyond confused, and slightly hurt. "I really 'creep people out'? How?"
"You don't really, babe," I slid off Aro's lap and curled up with Marcus, "you're just a cinnamon roll, too pure for this world," I giggled.
"'Cinnamon roll'," he repeated to himself with a chuckle, absent-mindedly tracing patterns on my forearm.
"Oh, did you want to have a meeting? Because I can go-" I pointed to the door.
"Not at all, not at all. We were simply going to discuss sending some of the guard to Seattle to deal with an issue that has arisen there," Aro explained.
"What issue?"
"A newborn army, their purpose being to destroy the Olympic coven and eradicate your friend, Isabella Swan."
I shot up worriedly. "Am I the only person who didn't know about this?!"
"The issue is being controlled, we will handle it accordingly," Caius reassured.
"Wait, you said a…newborn army?" I questioned.
"An army of newborn vampires. Vampires are most powerful during their newborn stages within the first year of immortality, easily able to crush an older vampire," Aro informed me, "The Cullens are apparently preparing to face the newborns themselves, but an assault of that magnitude is far from manageable."
"That is why I recommended sending Jane, Alec, Felix, and Demetri. It should not be a tremendously difficult task," Caius suggested.
"My thoughts exactly, brother. Maybe we can also be updated on young Bella's mortality," Marcus spoke.
"Then it is settled. The guard will be dispatched in two days time," Aro clapped his hands together before turning his head back to me. "Do you see? The issue is being controlled, cara mia."
I still wasn't entirely convinced. What the hell was with everyone and leaving me out of the loop? Especially when it concerned one of my best friends? Marcus must've sensed my anxiety, as he began purring in my ear which calmed my nerves immensely.
"Why are they after the Cullens? Why Bella?" I asked.
"We do not know, but we will find out soon enough," Aro answered simply, "meeting over. We will do what we can to eliminate this issue, the last thing we'd want is the coven's destruction."
I drew my eyebrows together. "Okay, it's not just what you said, but it's the tone-"
"Cara mia, do not fret. We have a close alliance with the Olympic coven, so we would never wish them harm unnecessarily."
I tilted my head to the side. "See, there, it's just your wording-"
"Do you trust us, Eliana?" he cut in.
"Of course I do, of course, yeah, I'm just… worrying over nothing," I assured myself.
"Precisely," he responded, "this situation is being handled, il mio amore. I shall have the guard notified of their task within the next hour, and I expect they will be occupied for two weeks approximately. Jane will lead this mission as per usual."
So, no one, not even the Cullens themselves, had bothered to tell me that they had an army of crazily-powerful hungry vampires coming after Bella? The human? Huh, figures.
"So…that's it? You really had to come in here and kick me off your chair just to say a few words?" I looked at Aro, frustrated, "If you're quite finished, I think the chair might still be warm."
Just as I walked over, Aro placed his hand over my chest, stopping me in my tracks. "Did I give you permission to sit in my chair, Eliana?"
I rolled my eyes. "Fine, all-mighty Aro Volturi," I bowed dramatically, "may I have the honour of sitting in your chair and ruining your tiny butt imprint?"
"Tiny?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Tiny," I confirmed with a nod.
"For that statement, no you may not," he snarked.
"Be like that," I scrunched up my nose at him and sat back down on Marcus lap as he placed his hands on my waist.
"I do believe you are losing here, Aro," Marcus grinned.
"Losing? Losing what?"
"Thanks a lot, Marcus, you have ruined it for both of us!" Aro yelled exasperatedly.
"Ruined what?!" I was becoming impatient, none of my questions answered.
Caius let out a soft laugh. "Carissima, these two," he gestured to Aro and Marcus, "were jealous because I spent last night…with you. So, in order to settle this dispute, I do believe they made a competition based on who would be next."
"These accusations-"
"Did you?" I crossed my arms.
"We agreed not to pressure you into anything you-"
"That didn't answer my question, Aro. Did you or did you not create a competition against Marcus on who would sleep with me next?"
Aro paused for a moment. "It was Marcus' idea."
"That it was not! This has your name written all over it, Aro-"
Wow, so I'd become a competition now, huh? I hadn't realised they were that desperate, or jealous of Caius. But since when was I some kind of trophy girlfriend they passed around? Now that's just rude.
"I literally don't give two flying fucks-" I stopped, noticing the glares I was receiving from all three of them, "I mean, I don't care who made up this stupid competition, but it stops now. Continue it, and I'll vow to only sleep with Caius for the rest of my existence. Capeesh?"
Aro stared at me for a second with his jaw dropped. "You wouldn't."
"Watch me," I taunted.
"Gladly-"
"Oi! Don't be like that, no one asked. No more competitions, no more getting jealous, no more she-loves-me-more-than-you bullshi- I mean nonsense, I love you all equally. Deal?"
"You would make a good queen some day, carissima. Minus the foul language, of course," Caius shrugged.
"Thanks, babe," I shot him a smile before continuing my speech, "I will choose who I spend my time with, and I'm trying hard enough as it is to ensure none of you crazy peeps are left out. Please don't make my life any more difficult for me, there are three of you freakishly-strong vampires and one of me i.e. the physically weak, clumsy human. Oh, and also," I turned my head to Aro, "for someone who's competing to win me over, not letting me sit on your chair was a real dumb move. Speech over, thanks for coming to my TED talk."
Marcus sighed. "That is precisely what I said but Aro-"
"Nobody likes a suck-up, Marcus," I shook my head and leant back into his chest.
Aro let out an immature snort of laughter. "Aro," I warned.
"What are your plans for the remainder of the day, other than Aro watering you like a houseplant?" Caius asked, which earned another scowl from Aro.
I shrugged. "No idea, not much to do around here."
"Would you like to spend the evening with me, tesoro?" Marcus asked, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"Sounds fun," I giggled, ignoring the death glares Aro was shooting at Marcus as he let out an audible huff. "You snooze, you lose, babe," I turned my head to him.
"I am not a fan of this attitude to life, Eliana," he added stubbornly.
"Hey, Marcus asked first, just wait until next time," I laughed.
"Let us go then, il mio amore," Marcus stood up, taking my small hand in his and leading me back out of Aro's office.
"This was fun! Again, I'm sorry about your tiny butt imprint, Aro!" I called behind me playfully.
Walking into Marcus' quarters, it had such a different aesthetic to any of the other rooms in the castle. The wall on the right was completely filled with books from ceiling to floor, with a dark wooden ladder to reach up to the higher shelves without having to constantly vampire-jump, while the opposite wall was painted a dark grey colour with some kind of woodland painting hung up beside the bed. The desk by the window at the end of the room was much tidier than Caius' had been, everything organised in neat piles. His TV was also definitely bigger than mine, with a few DVDs scattered around the floor.
"This is cool," I pointed to the painting.
Marcus chuckled. "Caius painted it, and he insisted I take it since it fit the colour scheme of my quarters so well."
"I knew he was an artist, but he paints?" I asked surprised.
"I am surprised he has not shown you his art studio yet," he responded.
"Okay, so Caius does art, you…read?"
"As you can see, reading is an escape for me," he swept his arm across, gesturing to his insanely-large bookshelf.
"Huh, so what's Aro's thing?" I asked.
"He adores music, there are very few instruments he is unable to play," he informed me.
I walked over and settled down on his sofa, Marcus taking up the cushion to my left beside me. "Did you want to watch something?" I asked.
He picked up the TV remote and began flicking through a bunch of movies. "I have many different films on here, I usually watch them when I get tired of reading," he explained, "let us watch this one."
"Which one?" He opened up one of many films I was absolutely terrified of: Child's Play. "No."
"Why not?" He pouted slightly.
"Not only does it scare the hell out of me, but it's also terrible," I stated.
"Please? It is one of my favourite films, it is so bad that it is funny," he pleaded.
"But I don't like jump scares," I drew my eyebrows together.
"They are not too frightening, I promise," he assured, beginning the movie.
"Okay, well when I scream and everyone runs in here thinking I'm dead or something, you're to blame," I shrugged, shuffling over and leaning my head on his shoulder while I hugged his right arm to my chest.
The first half of the movie wasn't so bad, me only interrupting with the occasional "holy shit" and "it's gonna kill you dumbass, turn around". By the time we got to the second half of the movie, I'd moved so that I was lying on top of Marcus, cuddled as close to him as humanly possible so that I could easily hide my face every time anything happened. Whenever a jump scare came up, I would jolt slightly, prompting him to chuckle before purring in my ear lightly to calm my nerves.
"This movie's so stressful," I murmured.
"However your reactions are adorable," he countered, "next time, we should watch something much more graphic and bring Aro and Caius with us."
Just as he said that, another jump scare came up, causing me to whimper like a puppy while he shushed me gently, running a hand through my hair. "It's like you're trying to give me a heart attack."
"I would never try and hurt you, tesoro. If anything, quite the opposite; I will always protect you, with my life if necessary."
"Don't talk like that, I don't know what I'd do without you," I frowned, the thought on its own making me want to burst into tears for some reason.
He hummed lightly, tightening his hold on me. "When I first saw your true mate bonds with us, I was incredibly reluctant to meet you. I did not want to become attached, afraid of losing you and being left heartbroken, but I am now glad Aro and Caius persuaded me into forming a relationship with you. You are the most brilliant, extraordinary, beautiful person I have ever met, bellissima, and the saddest part is you do not see that in yourself," he spoke.
I shuffled upwards so my head was in line with his and placed a kiss on his jaw. "You need glasses, Marcus. It's an absolute miracle to me that I'm bonded to you three. You're like walking gods, not only devastatingly gorgeous but the most wonderful people I've ever met. I'm now glad Alice, that crazy child, dragged me along to save Edward from making a dumb decision, because without it, I would've never met you. And I really, really don't understand what the hell I did to deserve you, it's beyond me," I giggled.
"You see, that is what I do not understand about you, Eliana," he chuckled lightly while shaking his head, "You really do not see just how incredible you truly are. Maybe you have managed to single-handedly turn my life upside-down, but I would not have it any other way," he murmured.
"Wow, what did I do in my past life to deserve you?"
"You must have messed up badly," he laughed, "I am thinking along the lines of serial killer, anti-Christ-"
"Don't be like that," I slapped his chest jokingly, reaching up to press a chaste kiss to his lips.
"It is such a shame I have to share you," he mused.
"Such…" I trailed off with a yawn, "…as life," I shrugged.
"You seem tired, tesoro. Do you want to sleep?" he asked.
"I'm fine, great, I'm thriving actually," I responded wearily, earning a chuckle.
Author's note: Eli found out about their jealousy, ha! This chapter took a little longer to get out but that was only because I was editing for instagram sorry (follow me haha /seriousactorsheen)
Also, little side note, basically once this story is finished, I have some really jUiCy ideas for a sequel, involving Eli becoming an absolute badass queen, so depending on how well this does, that may be an idea for the future hehe.
Anyways, thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback because your lil' comments are the highlight of my day, stay safe, and ily!