A/N - Hey, I've got the new chapter! And I also took less than a month writing it! Yay for me! (Ok, so maybe was only one day less than a month, but that's still better than I did last time. I'm sorry, I'll try to get better). Also I'm honestly very happy with what I've done here. I didn't actually think of The Big Thing that happens in this chapter until I started writing it and I've got big plans for it (I realize I'm probably not making sense to any of you right now, but after you've read this update hopefully you'll understand my excitement). I'm just gonna answer a few reviews quickly and then we can get right into the chapter.

Reader - Haha 'cold and aloof' are exactly what I'm going for with Alec, like those are literally the words I had written down for my characterization of him when I was starting this! Glad to that see all that is translating into what I'm actually writing. I'm really glad you like my fic.

Nahannah - Ok so first of all thank you for reading my story, I love your writing so fucking much and it's amazing for me that you're enjoying mine. Second, that's also completely what I was going for lol. I wanted the two of them to be on pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of personality because like they always say, opposites attract. Thank you for saying all those lovely things about my writing, they made me really happy!

Ok, here's the chapter! I hope you love it and please leave a review if you have the time, they mean a lot to me and are really good motivation. Enjoy!

Chapter 6 - Old Faces

It was around midday when I interrupted the silence. By that time, Alec and I had been sitting and not talking for about three hours. It might have seemed boring to an onlooker, but right then I was as happy as I could be in Volterra. I didn't want to talk to anyone, least of all Alec, so curling up in an armchair, playing 'Snake' on my cell phone and not interacting with anyone was pretty much ideal. But all good things must come to an end, and this one did when my annoyingly persistent newborn thirst reared it's ugly head.

"Alec?" I said.

"Yes?" He replied, not looking up from his work.

"Is there anything I could drink?" He didn't even try to repress his sigh. It bothered me a little, I couldn't help needing to feed.

"We don't have any animals here."

"Well do you have a forest nearby that I could hunt in?"

"No." He said, still not looking up from the paper on his desk.

"There must be some sort of-"

"I said we don't."

"Then what should I do?"

"Heidi should be bringing in some humans within the next couple of weeks, we can arrange for some livestock to be brought in then." A thirst fueled panic alarm went off in my head. It must have been a very long time since Alec was turned, because there was simply no way any newborn would be able to go without feeding for two weeks- even three days was a stretch.

"I can't go that long without blood." I was starting to get scared, the idea of living with a fire in my throat for two weeks horrified me, I doubted I'd be able to stay sane for five days, let alone a fortnight.

"Yes you can. I'll numb you."

"No I can't, you won't be here to numb me all the time and I'll be in so much pain, please, Alec." The terror building up inside me was obvious in my voice, I sounded like I was on the verge of tears. I wasn't, of course, since crying was a biological impossibility for vampires, but I was still very clearly distressed. I hated myself for showing emotion, but I was feeling too much of everything to keep a calm exterior. Alec looked up from his work for the first time in hours and stared straight at me before letting out another sigh.

"The most I can do is call the receptionist and ask her, she might be able to sort something out." He said, before picking up the receiver of the phone on his desk and punching in a number. A cheerful sounding woman answered. Alec spoke to her in Italian for a minute or so before putting the phone down.

"What did she say?" I asked.

"She said she'd do what she can." I almost thanked him, but stopped myself before the words could get out. I wasn't going to thank him. He didn't deserve it.

More silent time passed. I went back to playing 'snake' on my phone, although I was losing the occasional game now, as opposed to winning every time like before. My thirst was beginning to distract me, and I started to worry about how long it would be before anyone could get hold of some blood, however I shouldn't have stressed since only a little over an hour later the phone rang again. Alec and the woman on the phone spoke more Italian and after he ended the call, Alec turned to me.

"Your blood has arrived, we need to go down to the feeding room." I stood up wordlessly and followed Alec out of his chambers and through the castle until we came to a large pair of double doors. I could already smell my meal, but was unable to put my finger on what exactly it was. The animals in there were carnivores, and judging by the heartbeats there were a fair few of them, but I wasn't familiar with their scents. Alec opened the doors to reveal a large room. It was probably very nice, there were a lot of pale colors and natural light, but my focus was not on the architecture. Instead, my attention was pulled by the four Bengal Tigers huddled together in the middle of the room.

"Oh my god." I breathed.

"Marvelous, aren't they?" I looked up from the tigers in surprise. I hadn't noticed anyone else, but now I looked I saw Aro, sitting in one of the three thrones at the head of the room. It had been him who had spoken.

"How did you get them?" I asked.

"A magician never tells his secrets, dear one." He replied with a soft laugh. "Please, go ahead, drink." He kept his eyes fixed on me. It made me a little self-conscious, knowing he would watch me feed, but when it came down to it I was too thirsty to care.

After a couple of minutes, I'd drained all four tigers. As soon as I was done, Aro stood from his throne and began to clap.

"Bravo!" He exclaimed. "Well done, young Bree, that was thoroughly enjoyable."

"Thank you." I replied, not quite sure what else to say. Aro made his way over to me.

"Delightful to see you again." He moved his hand down to mine, pausing just before we touched. "May I?" I nodded. He took my hand and, just like before, every thought and memory I had flew up in my mind before disappearing in an instant. It was just as unpleasant as it had been the last time, but the ordeal only last for a second or two, although it felt much longer.

"What a beautiful wedding!" Aro cried. "So elegant, so romantic! Alice should be very proud of herself for planning such a wonderful event, you must give her my highest compliments."

"I'll make sure to."

"It's lovely to see you settling in to your new coven so well, everything seems to be going brilliantly, although I must say it was perhaps a little... risky to have you attend the wedding. You're still very young after all." My anxiety went up a notch at that. I couldn't see the Volturi prosecuting my family or me for going to the wedding, I didn't have any real slip ups after all, but you could never be sure with them.

"Esme insisted I went, she thought it was important for me to help bond with everyone."

"Ah yes, I can understand how it would be difficult to say no to Esme." He said with a chuckle. "Oh," he continued, "I must apologize for Demetri's lack of etiquette earlier on. It was entirely unnecessary and very irresponsible of him to try and provoke a newborn." I shifted slightly, uncomfortable at the delicate subject matter.

"It's fine, really. No harm done."

"Perhaps not, but know that I will most certainly be having very strong words with him. I promise you, Bree, that sort of behavior is not tolerated within the Volturi." I nodded and smiled politely. "Although, I must say, that meeting wasn't all in vain."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You seem to have struck a rapport with Corin. I took her hand not two hours ago and from what I could gather from her thoughts she took to you like a duck to water."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. She thought you were delightful and handled Demetri superbly for a newborn. I must say I agree, most six-month-year-old vampires would've attempted to tear him limb from limb without hesitation." I beamed involuntarily, a buzz of pride and happiness warming my stomach. Not only because Corin liked me, but also because I was finally doing something right. Up until the past couple of days, I'd been nothing but a loose cannon of a newborn, just a problem for the Cullens to try and fix, but I was finally starting to show some progress.

"Thank you." I said.

"You're more than welcome. Now, unfortunately I must leave you now, I have a lot to be getting on with. I'll have our receptionist, Bianca, order some clothes for you. It was lovely to catch up with you again." With that, Aro left the room at vampire speed. I turned back to Alec who had been silently waiting the whole time.

"I guess we'd better go then." I said. Alec nodded and walked out of the door and started to make his way back to the room. I followed him at first, but about half way through the journey back to his chambers I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Alec, I'm gonna go off on my own for a bit." Alec stopped too and faced me.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, I'm a bit bored of just sitting around in your room and not doing anything. This is such a huge castle, there's got to be something to do here other than just play on my cell phone." Alec looked unconvinced and stayed silent. I prayed that he'd say yes and let me stay away from his room. I was planning on exploring the castle, because while playing 'snake' without talking to anyone was good for passing time, I felt that if there was a situation where I needed to leave the castle quickly (which there very possibly would be) it would be helpful to have a feel of the layout. Alec narrowed his eyes like he was figuring out what I was trying to do, but after a few moments of nothing, he gave in.

"Okay, just try not to be too long, I don't want to have to go and look for you." I felt a surge of triumph in my stomach. "You should probably take this, though." He said, pulling at his navy blue sweater. I gave a little groan, I hated having his scent so close to me, it was almost unbearable.

"Why? I still smell like you from earlier." I replied.

"I told you, you're my responsibility, if you get hurt I'm the one who's punished. I have to be as careful as possible." I rolled my eyes but, reluctantly, agreed.

"Fine." I said. Alec grabbed the edge of his sweater and pulled it over his head. This should have been uneventful, but his T-shirt underneath got caught and went with it, riding up an inch or so above his bellybutton, in turn revealing a lean, pale abdomen. It wasn't a horrible stomach, I'd grant him that. It was tight and lean and had one those 'V' line things. There was also the fine trail of hairs that began at the bottom of his bellybutton and slipped right underneath the waistband of his jeans, but that was not something that I noticed. Not at all. Just as soon as it was revealed, Alec's stomach was covered by his T-shirt once again. He handed the sweater to me and I put it on.

"Be back by six." He instructed.

"How about seven?"

"No, six." At that, he turned and continued his way back to his chambers. Without another second of hesitation, I began to explore the castle.

I wandered the castle for quite a long time before anything happened. I hadn't found anything massively interesting up to that point- just the same stone hallways lined with renaissance art and locked doors. Occasionally one of the doors had a name carved into its wood, but those were few and far between. At the start of my travels I was scared of having another incident like the one with Corin and Demetri, so kept close to the walls and always peaked around a corner before turning it, but thankfully, the place was so massive I hadn't managed to pass anyone else, which meant that after a while I felt comfortable enough to walk freely and look inside rooms that weren't locked. After a good ninety minutes of exploration, I came to a door that was slightly ajar. Looking into the room I could immediately tell it was a library. Under usual circumstances I would've simply remembered where that room was and come back to it another time when I wasn't busy, but just as I went to go back to my exploring, I caught a scent that prickled something inside me. It was familiar but in a strange way- I knew it had to be from my vampire life because it wasn't the sort of smell I'd have been able to pick up on as a human, but it was murky and vague like a human memory. It was almost like the scent didn't want to be remembered...

And then it hit me.

I pushed the door further open and walked across the threshold of the library to see the back of a broad-shouldered man with a head covered in blond curls.

"Fred? Is that you?" I asked. The head pricked up and turned to reveal the face of a handsome, pale twenty year old, confirming what I already knew.

It was him.

His face shifted from neutral, to confusion, to pure shock, all in a second. He dropped his book carelessly and stood up to his full height.

"Bree?" Fred breathed. There was a long pause that hung heavy in the room. I did nothing and neither did he for a solid five seconds, but as soon as those five seconds were over he was across the room, squeezing me in a too-tight hug. I was at a loss for words at this, Fred never seemed the hugging type, but after a moment of surprise I went with it and squeezed him back.

"I thought you were dead." He said, still keeping me tight in the hug. Fred held on to me for a little longer before letting go. "What happened? Why didn't you come find me?"

"It's kind of a long story..."

"No, please, tell me. Here, sit down." He gestured toward the couch nearest to us. I walked over to it and sat down, and he sat next to me. "Wait, where's Diego? Is he here?" I felt a sting of sorrow. I looked down and simply shook my head. "Oh, I'm so sorry." Fred said.

"It's fine. I just try not to think about him." I said, hoping this would be enough to move the conversation away from Diego.

"Yeah, of course." There was another short pause. "So, what happened after I left? Why didn't you come to Vancouver?" I explained what had happened, that the 'yellow-eyes' as Riley had called them were actually kind, good vampires that let me surrender, and that after being shown mercy by Jane they'd taken me in. He seemed to understand that I couldn't go off on my own after the Cullens had adopted me because the Volturi could see that as breaking the agreement and therefore the law.

"So what about you?" I asked when I was done. "What happened to you after we split off?"

"I went over to Vancouver like I said I would and waited for you and Diego. When you didn't show up, I knew I had to lay low for a while in case Riley tried to come back for me or something, so I hid out in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. After a few weeks I assumed if anyone was coming for me they'd have done it by then, so I headed up to New York. I'd always wanted to go but never got the chance to as a human, and I was sure it would be easy to find blood because of the dense population, so I figured it was kind of perfect. I was there about a week before the Volturi found me. They'd had business in the country, I don't know where, but after reading my mind Aro seemed kind of curious about me. I was keen to learn more about vampires since I knew I couldn't believe a word of what Riley told me, and Aro offered to let me stay here while I learned about our biology and our history so it would've been ridiculous of me to say no. I've been here about a month now." I chewed his story over for a moment before replying.

"How long are you planning on staying?" I asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. At first I thought I'd maybe be here for a month or two, you know, to see my newborn year out in a place where there's rarely any humans, but I like it here." My eyebrows knotted together a little. I couldn't understand why any normal person would like it in Volterra.

"Why?" Fred thought this over for a moment.

"I guess it's... restful in a way. In my vampire life I've either been surrounded by insane, vicious newborns, constantly worrying about being dismembered and thrown on a fire, or completely alone but still paranoid about people finding and killing me. Here, I don't have to worry about any of that. I'm safe, I can choose who I'm around, there's loads of things I can keep myself entertained with. I don't know, I suppose I just like not having to be scared anymore."

"I don't really think of this place like that." I admitted "It's so dark and miserable, like a prison. Then again, I suppose in a way, it is a prison for me." It was Fred's turn to be confused now.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I can't leave, and you can't leave a prison."

"Why can't you leave?" I frowned. Surely he'd heard what had happened?

"Don't you know why I'm here?"

"I just assumed you were visiting with your new coven."

"Oh, no, they aren't...um. Well, basically, Alec kind of kidnapped me." I waited for a big, emotional reaction from Fred, maybe anger or even surprise, but he remained neutral.

"That explains the sweater then." He replied, as calmly as you'd have expected if we were discussing the weather. I huffed, annoyed at his apparent lack of concern. "What?"

"I was expecting a bit more of a response."

"Oh, ok. Well, in that case, I am very, very angry with Alec and shall be having strong words with him!" He said mockingly. I shoved him, half playfully, half out of irritation. "I'm sorry, I'm just not particularly shocked."

"Why not? Is abducting random teenage girls a common practice here?" Fred smirked.

"No, it's just... it seems the sort of thing Alec would do. I don't speak to him often, or at all, really, but I've spoken to other people about him and... I don't know, I'm just not surprised."

"What have you heard?"

"I think a better question would be what haven't I heard."

"That bad?" I asked, my voice tinged with an obvious note of worry.

"Unfortunately. According to the people I've spoken to, he's cold, distant, and very used to getting his own way. Again, I haven't spoken to him much myself, but he seemed pretty unbearable going off of what other people have said." I believed Fred. Cold and distant I could vouch for, every time I was with Alec he was as removed and apathetic as possible, and Alec always wanting his own way wasn't hard to imagine. He had essentially kidnapped me out of boredom after all. "I'm sure you'll be fine though."

"You don't have to lie to me Fred, I know I'm screwed."

"You're not screwed. This place is huge, it wouldn't be hard to avoid him."

"I can't stay away from him." Fred raised an eyebrow. "No! I didn't mean... that was a bad choice of words, what I mean is that Alec forces me to hang out with him, even though he has literally nothing to say to me. It's one of the many things I can't figure out about him."

"Well, why did he bring you here in the first place?"

"Ugh, don't even get me started on that mess. He said that I 'caught his attention', whatever the hell that's supposed to mean."

"I think he means exactly what he says."

"Which is?"

"That he thinks you're special." I scoffed at that.

"There's nothing special about me, I'm the most average vampire going."

"That's not true!" Fred exclaimed. "You're kind, beautiful, intelligent, funny- there is nothing average about you."

"Thanks mom." I replied. "And I'm average in the Volturi's eyes. I don't have a power, remember? That's the only thing they care about."

"What other explanation do you have?" I didn't reply, I had nothing to say. "Exactly."

"Look, I... I don't think that's it, ok? He's so rude and... if he thought I was special, he wouldn't treat me the way he does." Fred's expression changed.

"What do you mean by that? Bree, does he mistreat you?" He asked. I looked down to see Fred's hands clenching into fists on his lap.

"No, no, he just... he's rude and doesn't seem to care about me much, that's all I meant." He seemed to relax, but there was still a hint of tension in his posture, it was time to change the subject. "Can we talk about something other than Alec? I'm so sick of him, I just want to forget he exists. Besides, we haven't seen each other in so long, there's so much more for us to talk about." Fred happily obliged.

Fred and I chatted away for hours. He was so easy to talk to, everything just came naturally with him. It wasn't like with everyone else in Volterra, where I had to tread so carefully, making sure I wouldn't say the wrong thing or broach a sensitive topic, I could just... talk. Those were the happiest hours I'd spent so far with the Volturi. Of course, that naturally meant Alec had to spoil them. About three or four hours after I'd found Fred, the door to the library flew open, obtaining some fairly substantial damage as it went.

"Have you got any idea what time it is? I have been looking everywhere-" Almost as soon as they were there, Alec's shouts were gone as he saw Fred and I sitting together. "What's this?" He asked. I remained silent. "Well?"

"We were talking." Fred answered. Alec crinkled his nose as Fred spoke.

"Why?" Alec didn't try to hide the tone of disgust in his voice. Fred opened his mouth to reply, but I cut in before he could.

"So I'm not allowed to have friends now?"

"Friend? What do you mean by 'friend'? How do you know him?"

"He was in the newborn army with me." Alec pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Right. Well, we're going now." With a long sigh, I got out of my chair.

"I'll meet you here tomorrow." I said. Fred nodded and gave me a nervous smile, which I returned.

"Hurry up." Alec ordered. I reluctantly followed him out of the library and into the hall. We walked in silence for a minute or so, but eventually, Alec spoke.

"How can you stand to be around him?" He asked.

"Who?"

"Fred. How can you stand being around him with that repulsion thing he does?"

"Well, I guess he doesn't try and repel me. He lets me be around him." Alec didn't reply for a few seconds.

"Oh." His voice was tight. Neither of us spoke again.

We got back to Alec's room in little time. As soon as I crossed the threshold from the hall to Alec's chambers, I pulled of the sweater and threw it across the couch. I still couldn't stand having his scent wrapped so tightly around me, even if I should have gotten used to it by then. Alec sat down at his desk without saying a word, and pulled out a stack of papers which he began to sift through, just like he had earlier. I stood awkwardly for a moment, not sure what I was meant to do, before sitting down in the armchair I'd curled up in before.

"When can I leave again?" I asked.

"When I go on my next patrol."

"Which is?"

"6 AM tomorrow." I glanced over at the clock on the wall opposite to me. It read 7:04 PM, almost eleven hours before Alec would leave again. I groaned, the thought of spending an entire evening cooped up in the same room as Alec filled me with dread, he undoubtedly wouldn't say anything to me and eventually I'd run out of things to do, which would inevitably lead to me feeling completely awkward. It was going to be a long night.

A/N (READ THIS PLEASE) - I hope you liked the update! I have a few things I want to say quickly and I didn't really want to put them at the start because that note was getting too long. So first of all, I have some kind of important exams over the next few weeks so I'm not really going to be able to write very much. They finish on December 2nd, so it's not like I'll be gone for months or anything, but the next update might take quite a long time. I promise I'll try as hard as I can to get it up at within a reasonable time frame but if I stick to the plans I've made it's going to be a pretty long chapter anyway so yeah, that might take some time.
I do have good news though! I'm really getting into fanfiction and the twilight community now but I don't have a twilight based social media platform other than this one, and I want another way to connect with people who enjoy twilight and fanfiction so I was thinking of starting a twilight/fanfic Tumblr. I already have a personal Tumblr account that I use almost every day so I know how to use the site but honestly fanfiction is a total secret from my friends and family and I have quite a few people I know on the Tumblr I have now so if I did do that it would have to be a seperate account, but I was just wondering if anyone would be interested in that? I'd be able to post updates on how my writing is coming along between chapters so you'd all know that I'm not dead and I'd be able to share pictures of things from this fic that actually exist (e.g. the dress Bree wore to Bella and Edward's wedding). So yeah, if you'd like that please let me know and I'd get onto it.
Alright, that's it. Thank you for reading my fic and pleeeeeeaaaaaasssseee leave a review. Bye!