Three and a half weeks later…
Once my eyelids finally opened the next morning, I practically leapt out of my bed and skidded across the floor on my socks over to my phone. With an excited grin on my face, I opened up my phone to check the date; Monday 7 August.
I let out a high pitched squeal and jumped up and down on the spot just as Chelsea walked in. As soon as we made eye contact, she pulled me into one of her regular suffocating hugs.
"Happy birthday Eli!" she yelled enthusiastically.
"Thanks Chelsea," I wheezed, "I'm still the youngest person in the building though."
"That could go on for a while, get used to it," she laughed.
Caius suddenly burst into the room, definitely unimpressed with Chelsea. I shot him a glare before he had the chance to say a word and gave Chelsea another light squeeze.
"I'll catch you later," I waved as she edged uncomfortably out of the room, clearly feeling a little on-edge with Caius around. I turned to the blonde who was stood before me, "Do you have to be so imposing all the time?"
He smirked. "I came here to wish you a happy birthday, but if you would rather I leave, I can-"
"Nope," I cut him off and surrounded my arms around his torso.
"Happy birthday, carissima," he held me close to him and pressed his lips to the top of my head.
"Caius, please do not monopolize our mate on her birthday," Marcus shook his head disapprovingly with a chuckle.
"I was not monopolizing her, Marcus," he snapped.
"You beat us here!"
"It is not my fault you are too slow!"
I sighed as they continued to bicker like children and went into the bathroom to change, locking the door behind me. Some things will never change. The outfit I'd chosen was a white t-shirt tucked into a pair of denim shorts with my hair tied up into a high ponytail. Once I came back out, the three of them were settled down again although Aro looked like he wanted to jump at Caius' throat at the next given opportunity.
"You look wonderful, cara mia," Aro smiled and pulled me into his arms before unexpectedly pushing me back onto my bed so that he was hovering over me.
I let out a startled yelp. "Geez, you scared me you crazy vampire!"
He simply laughed and pressed an open-mouth kiss to my neck, and I only just managed to nudge that little leech off of me. "Save that thought for later, babe," I ran my hands through his raven black hair and breathed heavily as he helped me back up to my feet.
"Happy birthday, tesoro," Marcus surrounded his arms around my torso and lifted me up, spinning me around on the spot before placing me back down again.
"Thanks Marcus," I kissed him softly, "so what's the plan for today?"
"We planned to spend the day with you, carissima, and the weather is nice today," Caius took my hand and led me out of the room without warning, closely followed by Aro and Marcus.
The short walk through the corridors of the castle ended up taking maybe triple the amount of time than usual to due to me constantly stopping to embrace and gossip with the guards. I could tell it was beginning to piss off Caius as he began subtly steering us away from corridors occupied with people in the hope that I hadn't noticed.
Once we got outside, the four of us settled down on the grass under the usual oak tree. I leant against Marcus' chest with my legs across Aro's lap while Caius sat comfortably beside me with his ankles crossed.
"Birthdays are such wonderful occasions," Aro exclaimed, clapping his hands together gleefully.
"For someone who loves birthdays, it's weird that you don't actually celebrate any," I giggled, "Surely you have a birthday?"
"It is difficult to tell when any of us were born due to calendar systems, carissima, but I do believe I was born sometime in the winter months," Caius shrugged.
"That's really depressing, so you don't know what year you were born," they nodded in unison, "you don't know what day you were born on," they nodded again, "and you don't celebrate your birthday?"
"That would be thousands of birthdays, tesoro," Marcus reminded me.
"Geez, I need to throw you a birthday party at some point, like, a big one."
Caius stared at me wide-eyed. "No."
I gasped. "Yes, and we can invite the Cullens! I'm sure Carlisle and his lot would be happy to come, and Alice can help plan it!" I clapped excitedly.
"I said no."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Remember whose birthday it is, blondie? I'll throw whatever party I want, thanks. If you don't want to come, by all means you can miss your own birthday party. Ooh, and we can buy three thousand candles!"
Marcus laughed, absent-mindedly twirling a strand of my hair around his finger. "How would you fit that on a cake?"
"It'll have to be a big ass cake then," I shrugged.
"A big ass cake?" Aro asked.
"Yeah, obviously you can't have a party without cake. Don't worry, I'll eat it all for you, you can enjoy the taste of birthday humans instead, just give the humans party hats before sucking their blood," I was getting way too excited at the prospect of an ancient vampire birthday party, "and we can have balloons!"
"Correct me if I am wrong, cara mia, but don't you have a fear of balloons popping?" Aro teased.
I paused. "Not fear per se, they just startle me. It's like how I don't have a fear of you three creeping up on me 24/7, but it just scares the hell out of me."
"That is good, because there are balloons over there," Aro pointed to the patio where a pack of deflated balloons sat on the table.
Demetri and Felix quickly appeared in front of us, carrying a large stack of wrapped birthday presents each. They both placed them down gently in front of me, and my eyes grew wide in shock. People actually got me presents?
"Happy birthday, Eli," Demetri bowed politely and disappeared again.
"Thanks Demetri!" I called after him.
Felix pulled a handkerchief out from the pocket of his cloak and pretended to dab his eyes like the dork he is. "They grow up so fast, happy birthday little human!"
"Actually, I'm an adult now, legally," I reminded him.
"Child human, adult human, same thing, they all taste the same," he waved me off jokingly and dashed away to rejoin Demetri.
That just left me, my mates, and a pile of wrapped birthday presents. "Wow," I managed to get out after a moment.
"Before you open any of those," Aro reached in to his pocket, pulled out a small white box and handed it to me, "this gift is from all three of us."
"Aw, you didn't have to get me anything," I blushed timidly as I opened the lid hesitantly, half expecting something to jump out at me.
Inside was a Volturi crest with the signature V shape. On the crest were three gemstones; a sapphire, an amethyst, and an emerald, the same gemstones each of them had on theirs. I gasped as I lifted it out of the box and smoothed my thumb across the intricate design printed into the cool metal.
"It seemed a fitting gift seeing as you are now acting Queen of the Volturi," Caius smiled smugly at my breathless expression while Marcus took the crest from my hand and fastened the chain around my neck.
"Queen? I don't know about that," I glanced down at my lap.
"You will make an excellent queen, tesoro," Marcus assured, wrapping an arm comfortingly around my waist.
Aro reached over to the pile of presents and pulled off a small wrapped box from the top. "This one is from me," he smiled proudly as he handed it to me.
"Damn it, you're spoiling me," I giggled as I unwrapped it and playfully tossed the dark crimson wrapping paper at Aro.
The small black jewellery box contained a sterling silver pearl bracelet which looked like it cost more than I wanted to think about. I took it out of the box while my mouth formed an 'O', and Aro chuckled before fastening it around my wrist with ease.
He pressed a soft kiss to my nose. "Happy birthday, bellissima."
"This is gorgeous, thank you," I grinned, briefly wrapping my arms around him in a hug.
Marcus quickly pulled off a larger wrapped box from the pile and laughed tauntingly at Caius. "Too slow, brother," he chuckled at Caius' defeated expression as he placed the box down on my lap, "happy birthday, Eliana."
I squeezed his hand which was wrapped around my waist and quickly unwrapped the present, proceeding to toss the wrapping paper at him similarly to how I did at Aro. Underneath was in fact the box for a silver HP Chromebook laptop. Geez, why were they all so goddamn wealthy?
I gasped in shock. "You didn't."
I quickly lifted the lid of the box and inside was the brand new, unbelievably expensive laptop. Marcus seemed amused by my reaction and gently kissed my neck. "I did."
"Oh my word, these presents are too expensive, you are actually insane, thank you," I smiled and spun around slightly so I could wrap my arms around his shoulders.
He held me close to him. "You are most welcome, il mio amore."
Caius seemed glad that it was finally his turn as he began to hand me a slightly smaller wrapped box. "Happy birthday, carissima."
"Aw, tha- holy shit, that's a bee!" I panicked and curled tightly into Marcus.
"Not this again," Marcus sighed.
He pulled me closer to him as the buzzing sound continued to surround me. I clung onto him for dear life, whimpering slightly when I heard the buzz closest to my ear. Irritatingly, I could faintly hear both Aro and Caius' clear amusement at my fear. Once I was sure it was gone, I sat up straight again and took a deep breath.
"As I was saying- holy moly it's still there!"
I darted over to Aro and hurled myself into his arms as he held me to him reassuringly. "Just stay still, cara mia, and it will fly away."
"Or consume you," Marcus added unnecessarily.
"But it's a bee!" I panicked, my voice muffled by his chest.
"I am able to identify a bee when I see one, Eliana, I am old but not senile. Look, it is gone," he patted me lightly on my back and sat me up straight on his lap.
Caius shuffled over and handed me the gift from him properly this time. "From me to you."
I grinned awkwardly and tore of the gold wrapping paper with ease, scrunching it up into a ball and hurling it at Caius. He barely flinched when he caught it with one hand and flung it at Marcus so fast that all I could see was a blur. The painful-looking hit in the face left Marcus with a tiny crack on his cheek which seemed to heal in a matter of seconds, though he was still fuming.
Turning my attention back to the gift, in front of me was a brand new iPhone. I gasped in surprise, and lifted it out of its box. "This is too much, geez, thank you," my eyes were still wide with shock as I pulled Caius into a tight embrace while still sat on Aro's lap.
"My pleasure, carissima," he smiled proudly and ran a hand through my hair.
"The remainder of these gifts are from the Cullens, and I do believe there is one from the guard as well," Aro gestured to the pile.
I laughed surprisedly. "The Cullens got me gifts? I didn't think they'd remember."
"They are immortal," Marcus shrugged as I took the first gift from the top of the pile.
In my hand was an envelope with my name written on it in Bella's sad attempt at neat handwriting. Inside was a card that read;
Dear Eli,
I know no one bothers with cards usually, but it wouldn't be a birthday without a card. Happy 18th birthday, I hope you have an amazing day! I hope you do like the gift I got you and it isn't too lame, and I can't wait to see you again at the wedding!
Love you lots,
Bella.
Looking back inside the envelope, I pulled out the friendship bracelet she'd made me when we were little. I remember she'd managed to take care of hers but I'd lost mine in her back garden, but apparently she found it again.
"…um?" Caius cocked his head to the side at the sight of a thin elastic band with rainbow coloured plastic beads.
"We made friendship bracelets for each other when we were little, I lost mine but looks like she found it again," I giggled as I slid it on my wrist beside the expensive bracelet Aro had gifted me.
Opening up the next gift, Edward had gotten me a stack of random CDs mostly containing classical music, with a tag that read 'educate yourself with real music for once. Edward (your favourite Cullen)'. Brutal for someone who drives around listening to Debussy all day and mopes at the piano.
I next opened the gift Alice and Jasper had both gotten me together. Inside was a pair of black lace up boots with chunky soles, which were very Volturi-ish in fairness. Worryingly, there was also a bottle of neon pink hair dye with a tag; 'see if Caius wants to borrow some too, sharing is caring'. Caius of course over-reacted to this in true albino bunny fashion and growled angrily at the gift when I handed it over to him.
"They dare mock me-"
"Babe, it's a joke," I giggled, placing a hand on his knee.
"Alice has a good sense of humour," Aro mused light-heartedly.
Rose and Emmett had gotten me a giant Mario Kart mushroom plush which, once I unwrapped it, expanded to be absolutely massive, to the point where I was almost drowning underneath it.
Marcus easily ripped off the tag attached to it and read the label. "80cm wide, apparently."
"It's so PLUSHY!" I squealed, squeezing it as tightly as possible.
"Oh my," Aro sighed.
I rolled through the grass with it in my arms. "You've been replaced, ha!"
Caius simply pulled the plush away from me and threw it over to Aro before pulling me into his arms, lying down on the grass beside me. Of course, only Caius would get jealous of a plush toy. "No one replaces me."
"Is that so?" I teased.
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and nuzzled into my hair. "No one," he murmured.
Carlisle and Esme were kind enough to buy me tickets to a Rihanna concert in Italy for next year. I squealed excitedly, damn I was such a fan girl.
"Who is Rihanna?" Marcus questioned.
Aro proceeded to sing a line from 'Pon de Replay', and he had a surprisingly nice singing voice. "No?" he glanced at both Marcus' and Caius' blank expressions, "well okay then."
"Do you want to come?" I asked Aro with a giggle.
"I am not a fan of concerts, cara mia, but I am sure some of the guard members would love to accompany you. I have heard the twins quite enjoy listening to Rihanna."
The final gift from the pile of gifts I didn't at all deserve was a skateboard from the guard, after I'd mentioned a few weeks ago that I'd always wanted to learn how to skate and become an edgy skating teen.
"A skateboard?" Marcus studied it confusedly.
"I've always wanted to be cool," I giggled, "and skating is how I'll do it."
"Do you know how to skate?" Caius raised an eyebrow.
"No, but that's the whole point in learning," I shook my head with a condescending laugh.
Marcus analysed the scene of me standing beside the skateboard. "This already looks dangerous."
"What? I'm totally careful," I defended.
"You are?" Aro raised a sceptical eyebrow.
"Yes thank you, I am," I nodded in confirmation.
"Okay then, it doesn't look too hard, just push off with your left foot and stand on the board, easy," Caius instructed.
I took in a deep breath and attempted to but jumped off with a yelp before I fell, causing me to land in Aro's arms. "'It doesn't look too hard', he says, 'just push off with your left foot and stand on the board', he says," I mimicked him.
Caius crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you require my assistance or not?"
I sighed. "Yes."
I tried again and got a little closer this time before I almost fell backwards with a light scream.
"I've got you."
Marcus managed to swoop in to catch me before I fell and rolled back onto the ground with me in his arms. The board continued to roll down the path on its own and stopped at the bottom of the hill. Within an instant, Aro had zoomed down and picked up the skateboard, returning it to me with a smile and helping us both to our feet.
"Damn it, why is this so hard?" I stamped my foot down on the ground.
"It cannot be that difficult, surely," Caius chuckled.
"Fine, you try it then," I thrusted the board to him and he set it down on the ground by his feet.
Annoyingly enough, he was good at it. Very good at it. He managed to skate flawlessly down the path and stopped at the end before turning around to skate back.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Not difficult at all, you try," he offered Marcus.
Now this I was certain was going to end badly. But no, Marcus managed to skate absolutely perfectly, even doing a 360° spin on the board to show off. Aro was the same, not a single slip up or mistake.
Once he got off again, I groaned and buried my head in Marcus' shoulder. "Why are you so good at everything?"
"Experience," Marcus chuckled, "and immortality."
We were gathered back under the tree comfortably after that dangerous skating session. Despite my mates catching me from most falls, I'd managed to trip over regardless, causing me to graze my knee on the pavement, so now I had a plaster on my leg like some kind of accident-prone child.
"If it makes you feel any better, you were marginally better at skating by the end," Aro smiled, running a hand through my hair as I laid down with my head on his lap.
Caius kissed my injured knee and curled up beside me with his head rested on my shoulder as he gazed into my eyes. "Maybe learning to skateboard is not such a good idea."
"Give me a break, I tried," I giggled.
Marcus laid himself down on my other side, staring up at the clouds with his hands placed over his torso. "You did, you did."
"Some day, I will miss your constant clumsiness. Some day, you will be so coordinated that you will never need me to catch you before you fall to the ground on your face," Aro mused.
I hummed in agreement, tracing my finger along the markings on my Volturi crest. "Some day, maybe," I shrugged, "but we still have today."
THE END
Author's note: That's it, the end :( I know I didn't really dwell on Eli getting payback on the kings, but I thought I'd skip over to where things get better again. Also, many people are asking about Rafael, but I guess you'll just have to wait and see hehe.
Damn it, I think I'm gonna cry ugh. Writing this story has been such an incredible experience and I've learned so much. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who stuck through this story with me, it's been a mess at times but without you guys leaving comments to keep me going, I probably wouldn't be here.
Anyway, before I leave, I might as well announce the sequel here. I plan to start it very soon, and the title is 'Euphoria'! Things get pretty damn interesting in this, and I am so much looking forward for you to see what I have in store for Eli, yay!
Anyway, thank you so much for reading and sticking with me through this rollercoaster, it's been so much fun, and I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Be sure to leave some feedback, stay safe, and ily lots!