Caius let out a heavy sigh. "Must you attend class tomorrow? I highly doubt the content they "teach" you will be of any importance."

"Brother, I believe you're sending the wrong message here," Marcus reasoned. "There is nothing wrong with Eliana becoming an educated young woman of the 21st century."

Eliana sighed and fought back an eye roll. She'd climbed into her rather small double bed as usual to scroll aimlessly through her phone when Marcus had decided to position himself on her right and Caius on her left. Due to the slight lack of space, she found herself virtually pressed up against both of them, although she couldn't exactly say she found it uncomfortable.

"Like I said," she reminded them, "the semester's over in a few weeks. Besides, I didn't exactly expect you to all visit this early in the first place."

Aro, who had been pacing back and forth in her room, halted in his tracks just to give her a look. "If you are so unhappy with our presence here, by all means we'd be more than willing to leave-"

"No, I'm kidding," she interrupted with a quiet laugh. "You can leave once I get bored of you. I'm guessing that'll be in about 2 days 一 oof!"

Eliana flinched back as a small pillow of hers dropped from her face into her lap. Since it had been left on her desk chair, it was painfully obvious that that had been Aro's doing. Not only that but he also seemed to be doing anything to stop himself from bursting into laughter.

"Cheeky," Aro teased. He then glanced down at the carpet beneath his feet and his expression became confused. "Is there a reason why your cat is rubbing itself across my suit?"

She gasped. "Fernando!" Her hands patted down the sheets on her lap a little to make some space. "Come here, baby!"

Almost immediately, the black and white tabby cat in question had leapt up onto the bed and wandered directly over to her. Fernando curled up in her lap with absolutely no hesitation whatsoever and slowly stretched out his paws, the action causing the bell on his collar to make a noise.

Meanwhile, Caius watched in bemusement. "You have a cat?"

She furrowed her eyebrows together. "Well yeah," she answered matter-of-factly. "Didn't I ever mention him?" His slow head shake served as confirmation. "Fine. Caius, Marcus, Aro, meet Fernando. Fernando, these are my vampire true mates."

Predictably, the cat simply yawned at that statement and began to lick his front paws.

"Yeah . . . he's kinda dopey, a joke of a cat really. He'll move under my desk near the radiator once I'm asleep," she told them. ". . . So I really never mentioned Fernando while in Italy?"

"Not once," Marcus replied. He reached out to pet Fernando's head briefly.

"Huh. Well, I wouldn't say that's the face of a cat who's offended by that," she commented. "Aro, did you-"

She paused as she took in the position she was in, pinned down by her own housecat, and the sheer lack of remaining space on the bed. She wasn't entirely sure if her weak bedframe would be able to withstand yet another person anyway

She carefully yet unsuccessfully attempted to budge Fernando off her, giving up on her efforts once he'd been awkwardly pushed into the small gap between herself and Caius.

Aro didn't need to be asked twice. The moment she'd settled beneath the covers properly, he was laying across her with his head on her stomach and his shoes on the floor. Not that she minded in the slightest. She simply laughed a little and ran her fingers once through his raven black hair.

"You're like a housecat yourself," she joked.

Aro hummed in thought. "I will try to take that as a compliment, cara mia. Sleep now."


"Elian-"

She woke up with a scream, a blood-curdling scream that came out at the top of her lungs as she wrapped her arms around herself and hyperventilated. Her eyes were wide and terrified as she scanned her dark room, only lit up by the faint glow of a street lamp outside. Caius and Aro had moved off the bed, leaving her with a little more space beside Marcus, while Fernando, completely oblivious, remained curled up beneath her desk.

Tears pricked at her eyes, but she briskly wiped at them with her hand before they had the chance to fall. Despite that, the faint aroma of salt in the air said enough.

"Ssh, come here." Marcus tentatively pulled her into his arms and onto his lap as he wiped another tear away for her using his hand.

The coolness of his body was welcomed as she pressed her forehead against his shoulder and let out a breathy sigh. Even through his button-up shirt, his skin was cold enough to calm the heat she could feel on her skin.

While Caius repositioned himself back on the bed, gently placing a hand on her thigh, Aro sat on the edge of the bed just beside Marcus and held a hand out.

Eliana glanced up at him briefly and then shook her head. "I don't remember what the dream was about," she whispered, although her voice was still hoarse.

"I may be able to see myself regardless," Aro responded, his hand still outstretched. "Only if you want me to."

He watched her every move carefully as she reluctantly placed her hand in his palm and he clasped it between his own. His gaze only left her tired face when he closed his eyes in order to shift his attention solely onto her thoughts.

Nothing about the way she thought or the way her memories formed were ever out of the ordinary, but he knew there would never be a time when he wouldn't find enjoyment in observing her own head, her mind from her own perspective.

He saw what had occurred just a few hours ago before she'd fallen asleep, and that she'd been so comfortable that it took a little longer than usual for her to be willing to drift off to sleep. But once she did, where he was more often than not met by some type of elaborate and obscure dream sequence, he was instead met with darkness. This darkness was prolonged, as though her sleep had been entirely dreamless after all.

In fact, the heavy feeling of distress she felt only seemed to appear as a sudden wave the moment she'd awoken again. With his eyebrows furrowed, he opened his eyes slowly, confusion written on his face as he let her hand go.

"What did you see?" Caius all but demanded.

Aro paused. "Nothing. I saw nothing at all. But truly dreamless sleep is not possible . . ."

"I'm just good like that," she muttered very sleepily in response. In fact, it was quite obvious judging by her answer just how delirious she was.

With an almost silent laugh, Marcus moved her back under the covers with himself, pleased to see her instantly close her eyes and curl closer to him. Ensuring he wouldn't jostle her, he moved towards the centre of the bed, allowing both Caius and Aro more space.

Eliana became subtly aware of Caius' arms around her from behind, and then Aro's hand holding her own which she'd left by Marcus' side. With a sleepy smile, she sighed contentedly and with her tears dry and her eyelids heavy, she let herself slip back into a peaceful slumber.


Maybe it was due to her disruption the previous night, but Eliana somehow managed to sleep through her alarm entirely. Her phone was placed on the edge of her desk within reach of her bed, and the alarm she'd selected happened to be the most obnoxiously loud beeping noise she could have chosen, yet she didn't so much as stir.

It was her lack of response that prompted Caius to hold the phone, alarm still ringing away, up to her ear. He held it there for only 6 or so seconds before she groaned and lazily swatted him away.

"Turn it off," she mumbled.

"And I plan to," Caius agreed, still not moving. "Once you awaken, that is."

She whined and hid her face in Marcus' shoulder. "Go away, Caius."

He hummed briefly in thought. "What's the magic word-?"

"Caius!"

Her agitation only made him chuckle. "Not quite. I'll provide you with 2 more attempts."

"Brother, there is a time and a place for exacting your revenge on Eliana," Aro snatched the phone from his grip effortlessly and shut off the alarm, "and now is certainly not the time."

Eliana slowly rolled onto her back and squinted at the daylight she was suddenly hit by when Caius yanked the curtains open. "What revenge . . .?"

"The text messages?" he prompted.

After staring at him blankly for a second, she rolled her eyes. "Oh boy, do you hold a grudge."

"I do not hold grudges," Caius snapped.

Aro coughed, but his cough sounded astoundingly like he'd said, "Liar."

Caius shot a glare at him. "I do not hold grudges, but you have not so much as whispered an apology, a genuine apology, in months."

"What's there to apologise about?" she argued. "Get a grip, it's not that deep. If I wanted to actually offend you, I'd come up with something way better than texting you abbreviations."

Caius narrowed his eyes at her and pulled out his phone. "Translated, you said, "What the fuck I explained the meaning of them? WTF = Google it, I'm done helping you, motherfucker.""

Eliana simply shrugged. "I said what I said-"

"I feel I'd best intervene before this can get out of hand. Caius, brother, this can be discussed at another time, and Eliana," Marcus' attention turned to her, "get out of bed before you miss your train."

"It's fine," she sighed as she pulled the duvet towards herself regardless, "that train comes every 15 minutes anyway."

"Every 20 minutes," Aro corrected her.

She dismissively waved her hand at him and yawned into her pillow. "Same thing — Marcus, don't get up!" she whined.

At that point, Marcus was already across the room, straightening the collar of his shirt. "If I didn't, I don't think you would," he responded.

Eliana sat up a little, silent for a moment, before she held out her arms expectantly and looked at Caius. "Caius . . .?" she said hopefully.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "No."

Then she pouted and furrowed her eyebrows together, a look she sure hoped would convince him. "Please? I mean, if not, I'll just ask Aro-"

No one was surprised, literally no one, when Caius appeared at her side with his arms around her at that very second. He wasn't the cuddling type, but he would not allow himself to become second to anyone.

She hummed a little giggle and rested quite comfortably against his chest. He tilted her head towards him in order to kiss her nose, which was apparently enough to cause Aro to decide to break things up.

"Caius, don't be a pushover," Aro sighed. "Eliana has a busy day today and keeping her in bed really isn't helping. Look, you've made Marcus leave the room."

She pulled a confused face, especially at the unexplained lack of the tallest person in the room. ". . . Marcus?"

"Yes, tesoro?" He appeared in the doorway instantly.

"Where did you go?"

"To make you breakfast, since Caius is too lazy to do so himself-"

She blinked, bewildered. Caius was gone suddenly, which caused her to collapse forward onto her pillow. Marcus was gone too, but she could hear the pair of them arguing in the kitchen easily anyway, not that she understood what they were saying.

"Aro?"

Aro walked over to her and leant her a hand as she climbed out of bed. "Yes, amore mio?"

"Why did Caius leave too?" she asked. "I mean, why Caius specifically?"

"Caius has always had an interest in culinary arts," Aro explained as she rummaged through her wardrobe for clothes. "There is nothing he is unable to cook." He then leaned over to whisper to her, "Between you and me, I think he is only doing so now to impress you. I haven't seen him so much as lift up a frying pan in 87 years."

"87?!" she repeated. "I forget how old you are," she muttered as she left to go to the bathroom to change. She knew there was a perfectly good chance that she'd only make it more awkward if she asked Aro to leave the room instead.

Even as she changed her clothes and brushed her teeth, she could still faintly hear Caius and Marcus having a conversation that would occasionally turn into an argument, only to shift back to a civil conversation in a matter of seconds. She honestly couldn't imagine what could possibly be causing that much conflict, but at the same time she wasn't sure if she wanted to know either.

Once Eliana left the bathroom, she immediately walked back over to her desk and picked up her hairbrush, only for it to be snatched out of her hand before she could bring it to her head. She felt who was unmistakably Aro place a hand around her neck and tilt her head upwards so that he could begin making his way through her tangled hair with her comb.

"Aro?"

He hummed in acknowledgement, although the sound of it was just slightly absent due to how much attention he was giving her hair.

"About last night . . ." She trailed off with a sigh. "What . . . why . . .?"

"I don't know, cara mia," he answered truthfully. "I truly don't know. I could only guess that it has something to do with our arrival, since the timing of it is too perfect to be a coincidence. But I'm afraid I have no definite answer to that, and neither does Marcus, and this certainly isn't Caius' field of expertise."

"It feels like everything we say turns out to be Caius slander in one way or another at this point," she humoured.

Aro breathed a laugh as he worked around her hair towards her fringe, careful to untangle any knots in a way that wouldn't cause her discomfort in the slightest. "Caius is just as valuable in his own way, I assure you."

"A very special snowflake in his own way, okay," she retorted jokingly.

"That came out wrong!" Aro gave a small teasing tug of her hair.

"Hey!" She nudged his chest with her shoulder. "So . . . oh jeez, this sounds meaner than it's supposed to be, but . . . what's so valuable about Caius?"

He sucked air through his teeth melodramatically. "Damn it, that was harsh," he quipped. ". . . Are you certain you want an answer to that question now?"

She winced. "Do I?"

"It isn't so bad," Aro assured her. "Caius simply has the most sexual experience out of the three of us."

"Not something I wanted to learn at 7 in the morning, but I guess there's a first time for everything," she sighed.

"You did ask first," he reminded her. "And there will quite possibly come a time when you'll come to rely quite heavily on his experience and expertise on the matter. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Seeing how uncomfortable she was becoming, he quickly changed the subject. "You didn't spend nearly as much money as I expected you to."

"Well, I guess I didn't really know what to spend it on," she admitted.

"You could have gotten yourself a new phone, laptop, iPad, reliable hair straighteners, that £200 alcohol brush marker set you left in your Amazon basket, all of those rings you browsed through but never purchased-"

"I get the idea," she interjected. "But I don't know. It sounds dumb, but using your money like that, even if you don't mind, even if you literally gave it to me, just . . . doesn't feel right."

"You intrigue me, amore."

She turned to look at him. "Hm?"

"Most would leap at the opportunity to own whatever they wanted with unlimited funds — I certainly would in your position — yet you . . you still refused to spend so much as a fraction of it unnecessarily," he mused.

"The way you talk about it makes it seem like you just gave it to me for some kind of social experiment," she joked.

Aro shook his head in amusement. "That money is all yours. Whether you spend it or not is up to you, of course, but it will remain with you for whenever you want or need it."

She frowned. "You're spoiling me."

"That we are," he agreed. "That is the idea. And in the future, don't deny yourself extra oreos in your milkshake only because it costs extra," he chuckled. "You deserve it regardless."

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Author's note: I'm beginning to notice that writing this fic is only making me feel more single, and making my standards for men all the more unreasonable, but I guess there's no turning back now.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, stay safe, and ily lots!