For the second time in her week-long stay, she unknowingly had visitors in her own room as she slept. The door was open with Aro and Caius standing inside while Marcus held it in place with his shoulder.
After a moment, Aro gestured towards her. "After you, brother."
"Me? Why must I be the one to wake her?" Caius argued quietly.
"Because I woke her up last time," Aro answered. "Besides, weren't you the one who was busy grovelling about missing her company? How does the saying go again? Ah yes." He grinned at him. "Beggars can't be choosers."
Caius wanted to go on for a lot longer with this argument, and he could very well have done so if the gradual rise in their volume hadn't subconsciously caught Eliana's attention. She let out a little grunt-like noise as her heartbeat slowly increased in pace, the usual telltale sign that a human was waking up. They watched her as she readjusted her head so that it was resting on the pillow she was clutching to herself.
Caius sighed and crouched down in front of her. "Svegliati, carina," he murmured, attempting to somehow soften his voice, not that his attempt made much of a difference.
"Hm?" Her eyelids slowly began to open a little, but once she saw him, she instantly closed them again. "5 more . . . 5 more minutes . . ."
"5 more minutes won't work this time," Aro interjected. "Not if you want to make it to Forks in time for your scheduled arrival there."
Eliana mumbled something that sounded like a garbled mixture of, "Sure," and "I don't care," before curling up deeper into her bed. Unfortunately for her, Caius' patience was far from saint-like, and the sheets were yanked away from her faster than she could properly process.
Registering the sudden cold on her bare legs due to her pyjama shorts, she glanced at the bareness of the bed and then back at the pillow she was still holding before curling up to it just as before. "You can't stop me," she breathed tiredly, her eyes closed, before letting out a yawn. "I can't be stopped . . ."
"You underestimate Caius' willpower," Aro remarked. "If I were him, my next move would be to roll you out of bed, and if all else fails, run you under a cold shower fully clothed. From my limited experience with humans, that seems to work a treat."
"My t-shirt is white," she replied. "I'd rather you didn't get it wet."
"Then cooperate and there is no issue," Caius retorted, and then scoffed. "Aro is correct. You do underestimate my willpower." No response. He sat down beside her. "If you are going to be disagreeable, could you at least have the decency to do so while upright?"
All he received in response to that was an eye roll.
"Brother, did I ever tell you that Eliana is ticklish?" She opened her eyes far enough to see Aro grin at her. He was evidently getting a lot of satisfaction out of this.
Rather grudgingly, Eliana shuffled upwards so that she was leaning back against the headboard of the bed, the pillow hugged to her chest. "Happy now?" She yawned. "What time is it?"
"5:02!" Aro jovially waved his phone in the air.
Eliana groaned and curled into herself. "For fuck's sake, let me sleep-"
Before her head could rest against her pillow again, Caius caught her by her arm and swiftly tugged her onto his lap. The pillow fell to the floor, but it seemed to be unneeded anyway since she simply substituted that for his chest.
"Don't go thinking that I won't carry you straight into that shower," he warned her. "Maybe I should wash your sailor's mouth out with soap while I'm at it."
She sighed as her arms wrapped around his middle. "Please don't," she mumbled. "I just want to sit here with you for a bit . . ."
Marcus stifled a laugh at the scene of Caius resisting the urge to cave as he stiffly held his arms at his sides. In his defence, he had warned both of his brothers that, whether Eliana would be consciously aware of it or not, she would almost certainly be stubborn in leaving.
"I will give you exactly 5 seconds to remove yourself from my lap. 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2-"
"Brother, this seems counterproductive," Aro interjected. "All that will do is distress her."
Caius scowled at him. "Then what do you suggest?"
"Eliana." Eliana very reluctantly looked up at him, her eyes barely open. "If you get up now, we will give you our debit card details."
Caius raised an eyebrow at him. "Bribery? You will stoop as low as bribery?"
"Yeah, I'm not taking your money," she argued.
Aro sighed melodramatically. "Fine. In that case, it's back to Plan A, I suppose-"
"Okay fine, jeez!"
With a glare aimed at each of them, she picked herself up from Caius' lap and swiped a pile of clothes into her arms on the way to the bathroom. They heard the door lock behind her, followed by the sound of items of clothing hitting the floor one by one.
Caius shook his head in a feeble effort to dispel his thoughts of her undressing. "So do you intend to follow through on your little promise?"
"I hardly think that was fair," Marcus commented.
"Marcus, whyever not?" Aro questioned.
He walked into the room, closing the door behind him, and sat down in an armchair that smelled almost alarmingly like Afton. "We have already agreed that she has unlimited access to the coven's funds. Using our bank details as bribery material seems unreasonable."
"If you're going to talk about me," Eliana stepped out of the bathroom, now fully clothed, "can you at least whisper? And no, I'm not taking your money."
Before she could say any more on the topic, Aro within a split second had removed a card from his wallet and placed it in her hands. "I won't tell you how much is on that card, but the current balance is in 7 digits." When she stared up at him, her eyes as wide as saucers, he merely laughed fondly and continued. "If you manage to spend that much, I can only applaud you."
"And 一 you know, hypothetically 一 if I did spend it all?"
"If, somehow, you were to need it topped up, all you'd need to do is ask," he responded. "But do remember that we can see your purchase history, and Caius does check it regularly. We wouldn't judge, but if you wanted to make a more," He cleared his throat unnecessarily, "secretive purchase, I'd recommend transferring the required amount to your own account first so that you can-"
"Okay," Eliana interrupted him quickly before he could go into any more detail, "that's enough of that. I guess I just . . . leave now?"
Just as she began to reach for her phone on her bed, she felt a pair of arms encircle her waist. She wasn't entirely sure how she knew, but she knew that it was Aro almost instantly, and turned around in his embrace so that she could face him better. She felt him slowly caress her shoulder before planting a kiss on the top of her head.
"Quite finished monopolising our mate?" Caius remarked, much of the emphasis on the word "our".
One arm still securely holding her to him, he lifted the other to check the time on his wristwatch. "It has been hardly 20 seconds."
"20 seconds longer than either of us," Marcus added.
With a roll of her eyes, Eliana removed herself from Aro's hold, though it was difficult when the man was so reluctant to comply. She began to walk towards Marcus but he had presumably moved in much faster than her human brain could register. He rested his chin against the top of her head as one of his hands slowly combed through her hair.
"Don't get yourself into too much trouble, tesoro," Marcus murmured against her ear.
"I can't promise anything," she responded jokingly.
Unlike Aro, Marcus pulled away on his own accord, but not before planting one final kiss on her cheek. However, it was literally milliseconds from Marcus losing contact with her that she was pulled into Caius' arms. She was slightly bewildered at first 一 mostly because Caius, well . . . had never really struck her as a hugger 一 but once she'd gotten over the initial shock, she relaxed into his arms.
The next moment, admittedly, was more than a little impulsive.
By the time she'd actually realised that she was kissing him, his lips were already attacking hers roughly, his arms winding around her. Since their height difference wasn't working in her favour, she felt him momentarily lift her off the ground with one hand beneath her before placing her on her back on the bed so that he was hovering over her, his body preventing her legs from closing.
Once they pulled away for the briefest moment, she gasped for air as she came to realise the position she'd been put in. "Caius, I-"
He simply smirked and shook his head before she could continue. "My apologies, carina." His lips then connected with her neck, the cold temperature of his mouth causing her to let out a surprised squeak. "You were getting too difficult to resist," he muttered quietly, his breath brushing against her skin.
"That is quite enough of that, Caius." Although Caius was still covering most of her view of the rest of the room, she could see Aro standing just a metre or so from the bed. "I'm sure you will have plenty of time for that another day."
Caius glared at Aro over his shoulder before gently helping Eliana back into a standing position. Now that she was properly free to move, she finally reached her phone and slid it into her pocket, just as someone knocked on the door and opened it.
"The car is ready, Masters." Demetri bowed to her. "Eliana. After you."
She couldn't quite understand why she felt so numb for the entire journey. Something she usually found enjoyment in was travelling, but now it just felt . . . dull.
Demetri, who had been tasked with accompanying her to Forks, had also noticed while driving her towards the airport. Hell, anyone would have noticed if they so much as looked at her dreary expression and her frequent sighs as she attempted to sleep in her car seat. He'd even pulled into a McDonald's Drive Thru on the way to pick up some breakfast for her in an attempt to lift her spirits, but all she did was nibble at her hash brown in a bored fashion and carry her coffee with her rather than drink any.
Even once on the private jet, something most would swoon over the sight of, she immediately sat herself down on a sofa at the far end in front of the TV, placed her coffee down in a cup holder, and curled her knees up to her chest as she stared into space.
Maybe 10 or so minutes into the flight, Demetri carefully sat down on the other end of the sofa, ensuring that she didn't specifically want privacy or just to be left the fuck alone like her expression gave off.
He nodded towards the black screen of the TV. "Did you want to watch something?"
"No."
"Or listen to music?"
"No."
"Or something to read?"
"No."
". . . Would you like something else to eat?"
She shook her head.
After a moment, she felt someone touch her leg. Once her attention was back, Demetri offered gently, "Would you like me to turn this plane back around?"
That did make her think, for only a moment though, before again she shook her head. "No."
"Is there anything I can do to put you in a better mood?" he asked her.
"I don't think so," she murmured in response. "I'm just gonna sleep."
Demetri nodded in understanding and stood up to give her some space. "Okay. If you require anything, you need only ask."
Eliana nodded and turned over so that she was facing the back of the sofa. With her eyes closed, she fought down every single feeling of apprehension she had and forced herself to drift into a dreamless sleep.
"Eli." She noticed someone gently shaking her awake. "Eliana. We have arrived, ma'am."
Eliana's eyes slowly blinked open as she sat up. The plane had already stopped moving, so presumably they'd landed in the time that she was still fast asleep. She noticed Demetri's phone screen glowing briefly in his hand, which prompted him to check it without much acknowledgement before his gaze turned back to her.
"What time is it?" she muttered.
"10:15am," Demetri explained. "You've been asleep for several hours."
All she did to that statement was nod. She couldn't exactly say she was surprised, considering how bleak she'd felt. The extra sleep she'd gotten hadn't exactly helped though. All it had provided her with was a feeling of grogginess and general lowness.
She put her earphones in and barely paid attention at all as she was led out of the plane, suitcase in tow, and through the terminal. Somehow they'd manage to bypass security entirely, so making it to the arrivals lounge took less than 10 minutes.
"El!"
"Hm?" She removed one earphone in time to catch Bella practically hurling herself at her. Due to the sudden shock of it, all she could do was pat her on the back a little as her friend gave her a once over to check for any signs of injuries.
"I-I was so worried about you!" Bella stammered. Out of the corner of her eye, Eliana saw Edward pick up the suitcase she'd sworn Demetri had been carrying earlier. "How are you? Are you still sick? What did the Volturi do to you? You look tired, like so tired, I-"
"I'm sure she's fine," Edward interjected stiffly. He gave her a very tight smile. "Welcome back, Eli."
His smile was reciprocated in all of it's half-hearted glory by Eliana. "Thanks," she murmured. "Can we leave now? I don't really feel like standing around."
Bella nodded. "Oh, sure."
With that, she took Eliana's hand, an action they'd done since they were much younger, and the pair followed Edward out towards his Volvo. Eliana almost immediately slid her earphone she'd removed back into her ear and increased the volume on her playlist on her phone.
Fortunately, Bella didn't seem to be too much in the mood for conversation either, which made the car ride a lot easier and silent as Eliana closed her eyes once more and rested her head against the cool windowsill.
To put it plainly, she was not in the mood.
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Author's note: Whoops, made this way shorter than I intended, but I guess a short chapter is better than no chapter. I've just been swamped with work this summer, but I'm working on something a little longer for the next chapter I promise.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, stay safe, and ily lots!
