I couldn't believe I'd agreed to this, it was fast approaching 11pm and I was rushing around trying to change out of my worn night clothes and into something a bit more appropriate. As I pulled my jeans over my hips I looked up and was grateful that i'd remembered to pull the drapes over the windows, I was sure he was already outside and giving him an eyeful wasn't on my agenda for tonight. Not that I even knew what wason my agenda. I pulled a blouse on over my bra, trying to pretend that I wasn't conscious of its fit being slightly better than the clothes I usually wore.
I grabbed my worn, brown leather jacket off the side and headed downstairs. I tried to keep my face neutral as I leant against the doorframe into the room where Charlie still sat in front of the TV.
"I'm heading out Dad, no it's not with the Cullen's, it's with a friend. Yes i'll be careful, yes I have the pepper spray and my cell phone, no I wont be back too late and if I am I wont wake you." I summarised all the questions I knew he was going to ask me to save time, he looked momentarily off balance before he nodded and grumbled under his breath.
Once his attention was firmly back on the television I slipped out of the front door and into the night.
I could faintly see my breath in a cloud before me as I stood on the step and waited, sure he was nearby. My assessment was proven correct when I saw the glint of a car door as it opened across the road and a tall, pale man stepped out; his hair shone just as much as the car door had in the moonlight. He approached me with grace I envied and yet admired, once he was before me he bowed his head in greeting.
"Thank you for agreeing to see me again, Isabella." His voice was dark, rich and sultry and I felt way out of my depth as a shiver ran down my spine.
"It's no problem, though there isn't much to show you at this time of night, everything is closed." I smiled and walked with him to his car.
He followed me to the passenger side and for a moment I wondered what he was doing, until he opened the door and stepped back to allow me inside. "I'm sure we'll find somewhere." Was all he said as he shut the door gently and got in beside me. The car seemed to shrink with him sat next me, his rich spicy scent so different from Edward's yet just as inviting. I tried not to sway toward him and instead looked out of the window as the engine purred to life.
He began driving with no prompt from me, and because I liked to talk when I was nervous to fill the empty space, I began doing just that.
"Um, so there isn't much to see like I said. There's a few diners, one Chinese restaurant that never really has any customers, the police station, a few small stores and the school. That sums up Forks really… Not the best place for sight seeing." I finished awkwardly, feeling the tension in the car as Aro turned and looked at me.
"Would you believe me if I said that I had the only sight worth seeing in Forks before me now?" My already swooping stomach flipped at his words and I struggled to keep my breathing calm. Why did this man have such an effect on me?
"So you didn't want me to show you around Forks?" I asked in a light tone.
He chuckled, it was a deep sound and I discovered that it was the sort of laugh I wouldn't mind hearing again. "No, I admit the sightseeing request was a ruse to spend some more time in your company, Isabella."
"You could have just…asked." I looked at him, aware I was chewing on my lower lip nervously. Everything about him put me off centre.
"Hm? And would you have accepted had I done so? Forgive me, but you didn't seem so overly thrilled at the thought of our companionship only hours ago and so I wasn't sure you would agree unless it was under the guise of something else entirely."
"Where are we going?" I asked, changing the subject knowing that he was entirely right. If he'd asked me out this evening I wouldn't have come. It was frightening how well he knew me, better than I knew myself.
"Wherever you desire, dearest."
Again my traitorous stomach swooped low and flipped, stirring long dormant butterflies and making my face flush red. Suddenly I had an idea.
"There is a meadow, it used to be a place I loved but more recent memories have soiled that. I was hoping to go back there and make it a safe place again, somewhere I can be happy."
He looked at me intently then and if he'd been human I would have been worried about his lack of attention to the road, but still he drove as smoothly as ever. "Just point the way, Isabella."
And so I did.
The climb up to the meadow was as steep and treacherous as ever and Aro waited patiently for me as we climbed, offering his hand to help me up over particularly difficult ridges. On the steepest part of the climb I was struggling, my breaths coming in pants and my legs shook like jelly.
"Isabella, forgive me for being so forward but perhaps this would be easier on you if I carried you up?" His skin shone beautifully in the darkness and I felt relief overwhelm me at the thought of not having to make the climb myself.
"To be honest, right now I care less about forwardness and more about not collapsing before we reach the meadow." I panted, struggling to get the words out over my need to breathe.
"As do I." He smiled and stepped toward me, I half expected to be thrown over his back like a rag doll much as Edward had done but instead he placed one hand on my shoulders and bent slowly, giving me enough time to realise what he was doing before I was in his arms bridal style. My head rested tantalisingly close to his neck, which smelled far better than any man should. A small hum of contentment left my throat before I could hold it back and I squeezed my eyes shut in embarrassment. Thankfully he said nothing and merely carried me gently up the hill.
Quite literally within the blink of an eye we were stood at the mouth of the meadow and I looked up in shock at Aro, who moved to put me back on the ground.
"That was so fast, I didn't even feel anything." I was stunned, I knew of vampire speed but I hadn't even felt so much as a breeze to indicate we'd been moving.
"Ah, one of the advantages of being an older member of my species, I long ago perfected speed and ease of movement with very little interference from the elements." I mourned his arms loss as they withdrew from my body, though he kept his hand placed on my lower back as he looked over the meadow.
"This is the place?" He asked and I nodded, not quite sure now that i'd bought him here what my intention had been. I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered as I saw ghosts of my memories upon the grass.
Edward and I when we first began our relationship, his skin so beautiful in the sunshine.
Edward and I on other occasions, touching, talking and occasionally kissing.
Me alone, sobbing into the dead grass after Edward had left me broken.
Laurent as he advanced on me, his voice echoing around my head. 'After all, how much could you mean to him if he left you here unprotected?'
Suddenly a thought occurred to me.
"You had the wolves fight Laurent off, didn't you?" I asked turning to him. He only nodded and watched me with a careful assessing gaze. "Why? Why were you protecting me, even then?"
Aro sighed and looked out once again over the meadow. "I fear that we may need to sit for such a conversation, dearest." He shrugged off what looked like a very expensive suit jacket and laid it out on the slightly dewy grass. At his indication I sat with my legs crossed, facing him.
He took a slightly more refined pose with one hand behind him to support his body and the other arm draped over his knee, which was bent at an angle. How he still managed to look so… perfect was beyond me.
"I had heard of you, Isabella. Even before you met the Cullen's. I had seen you in memories of Vampires who had crossed your path and noticed your scent, or their inability to use their gifts on you. Once you moved here, it seemed a perfect opportunity to get Carlisle to keep me updated on you and your progress. He however left a few details out, for which he has been punished." His voice took on an edge and I raised an eyebrow at him in question. "Had I known you knew about our… race, I would have come to you sooner. However that revelation was kept from me, until Edward arrived at Volterra, asking for us to kill him."
Aro turned to me here and raised the hand that had previously languished on his knee. His icy touch swept across my jaw and to my chin. "All because he said he couldn't live without you."
I dropped my eyes but he held his touch, forcing me to raise them again. "You hold such sympathy for our kind, I still struggle to understand it but nonetheless I am grateful. When I saw Edwards memories, saw how breathtaking you truly were I had to meet you. And so you came to Italy."
I frowned in confusion as his thumb edged closer to my lower lip. "But you couldn't control that, I made that decision on my own."
He tilted his head and smirked wickedly. "Did you?"
I thought back and suddenly it hit me. "Jacob and Alice… The phone call, the visions, you played it all to your advantage didn't you?"
He dropped his hand and shrugged elegantly. "I wouldn't be the leader of the Volturi if I didn't know how to play difficult situations to my advantage. How to control that which appears uncontrollable. I wouldn't have killed Edward, but thankfully Alice had not met me yet and so wasn't able to see my decisions. Instead she saw Edwards, all I had to do was assure him he'd receive certain death should he expose our secret."
I blinked. "You did all of that, for me?"
"Why does that surprise you?"
"I… Because you didn't even know me!" At the Aro leant closer and he scent overwhelmed me.
"Ah but I did, little bird. The memories of another person fuse with my own as much as I allow them to, I have seen almost everything. Though I do regret having to manipulate your father, but I had correctly concluded that he would be the one to have to most memories of you, the richest ones."
"When you told him what gift to get me on my birthday." I surmised and he nodded. "But that was after Volterra, what had you seen of me before then?"
He seemed to hesitate and it was the first moment of indecision I had seen from him, I knew that didn't bode well. "Do you truly want to know? I fear you will change your mind yet again about our acquaintance if I told you the truth."
A lump welled in my throat at the tone of seriousness in his voice. Did I want to know?
"Is it that bad?" I asked, my voice quieter now.
"Not in my eyes, once I had discovered you I needed to learn more about you and your gift. I had done the same thing when recruiting Alec and Jane, the memories of others served me well in discovering what I needed before deciding their fate."
I chewed on my lower lip, deep in thought. I weighed up the pros and cons of knowing the truth and decided that even though the cons far outweighed the pros, Aro Volturi was speaking to me freely and offering me information very few people were aware of. I couldn't change what had happened and I couldn't change that I was going to Volterra soon, It would be better to know what I was getting in to.
"I want to know."
AN: Thank you for your patience, please review.