Chapter 7 - I Caught Myself

- You're pushing and pulling me down to you

But I don't know what I want, no, I don't know what I want.


Gianna's pleading calls distracted Dominic from his inner turmoil. Her voice, soft as it was, cut straight through his flesh and bone, penetrating his heart. Somehow it served to focus his mind.

I must control this…like my father must have…

He thought he could feel her closeness. He wanted to touch her. The pleasure that thought brought to him spread through his body - his human body!

Grateful for the sudden change, and covered in ancient coal dust, Dominic wasted no time becoming part of the darkness and darted through it. Avoiding the erratic movements of the beam of light guiding Gianna, he worked his way around her detection. He fled to his shop before bolting out the door and into the night. Completely naked, he clung to the shadows working his way to the solitude of his apartment.

Strangely, he thought fleetingly as he ran, on this night, unlike all others before, that damn sickening smell from the shop seemed to track his every step…

Meanwhile, Gianna, not aware Dominic had skirted past her in the dark, began to question her subjugator as he dragged her through the darkness, "Felix…I know Lord Aro needs to know about Dominic's phasing, but we can't just leave him."

"He is no longer on the grounds. Demetri is following your 'situation'. Somehow he's human again, and Aro needs to be updated - I need new orders." Then he chuckled, "That dog wasted no time getting away from you, did he?"

Gianna failed to see the humor in his comment.

As they emerged from the tunnels, Gianna quickly took in her surroundings to get her bearings. They were near the main hall. Felix shoved her backwards. She landed hard in a chair and winced in pain.

Felix didn't see this however. He avoided looking at Gianna; she wasn't worth his attention. In fact, Felix had little need for humans. They were weak, completely inferior. Why Lord Aro had entrusted her with anything of importance to the Volturi was beyond his comprehension.

"Wait here for his instruction," he grunted as he opened the reinforced doors leading to the main chamber of the Volturi lair.

Gianna crossed her legs and tried to regain the composure she always displayed at her desk...but it wouldn't come. Her uncrossed leg began to bounce in time with her throbbing heart. She was again the child outside the headmaster's office awaiting punishment. Nothing more than a child in an adult world.

"Oh, please. Oh, please," she began to mumble. The last thing she wanted to see was Aro coming through those large doors, or worse, Caius. He was too serious about his duties...and she had overheard he enjoyed them too much.

The door creaked and Gianna held her breath, soon the room began to spin as her heart pumped wildly in her chest.

Felix emerged. "Lord Aro said all decisions are yours to make, but he is in agreement with Caius, if you can't make this work..."

"Tonight!" Gianna cut him off in a panicked voice. "Give me tonight."

Felix's eyebrows rose. "Aro is right, you are motivated."

Gianna wondered how much Felix knew about her and about the plan. Then again, she wondered how much she really knew...

"Go," he said, "but we will be tracking him. Any hint that he will expose what it is, we'll take him out...and that would not bode well for you, I'm certain."

Gianna nodded and bolted. She hastily stopped at her station to retrieve her purse and coat, exiting out the workshop to get her shoes. Her swollen, battered feet barely fit into the sleek heels. In passing, she took note that the lunch bag and Dominic's tattered clothing were gone. The Volturi knew well how to hide what they didn't want anyone to know about.

Gianna checked her watch as she hit the brisk night air.

12:30am.

She walked quickly in the direction of Dominic's apartment. "Damn vampires can't even give me a lift," she grumbled between long drags of cool air as she attempted to shake off the rollercoaster of emotions from the day. She had to focus, have a plan. It may be her last chance to get this right.

As her fear began to ebb, a moment of empathy struck her as she tried to imagine where Dominic's head would be. He just transformed into another being. While it may be her ultimate goal to transform, at least she understood what was involved. Dominic had just been blind-sided by his change. Shock, she thought. He must be in some short of shock. Her goal would be to calm him, reassure him, and most importantly, keep him in Volterra. She would have to gain his complete trust and bind him to her, all the while, maintaining an appearance of ignorance to his plight.

This was it. Gianna knew it would eventually come to this. She knew what she needed to do – she just had to get to Dominic.

Trembling feet and legs screamed in pain as she arrived at Dominic's door. Gianna pulled open her purse and grabbed a hairbrush, pulling it roughly through her tangled tresses. Replacing it, she removed her lipstick and applied a thick coating. Straightening her clothing, she rapped firmly on his door. "Dominic? It's me, Gianna."

She waited, wondering where Felix and Demetri were hiding to observe her progress.

Gianna knocked again. "Domenico, please, open the door."

When she still got no response, she pounded on his door. "Are you awake? Can you hear me?"

Still nothing.

Gianna had a set of keys to Dominic's apartment in her purse. However, it wasn't getting in the door that was the problem, it was getting into Dominic's head. Storming into his living room was definitely not the best way to get that accomplished.

"Please," she pleaded instead. "I'm worried about you. I saw the broken glass. Let me in and we can talk about it. Maybe over a nice glass of wine? Just you and me, Domenico."

A light flicked on over the neighboring door stoop startling Gianna, and a pair of eyes peeked through slightly parted drapes.

Gianna stepped closer to Dominic's door. "The neighbors are starting to stare at me. Please open the door!" she said in a strained whisper.

Even in the cold, she started to sweat. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place – and something had to give.

Just then her phone chimed in her purse.

Gianna retrieved it knowing whatever it was, it had to do with this situation. To her surprise, it was a text from Dominic…

G, please go. I can't see you tonight.

"Seriously, Dominic? I'm right outside your door! Let me in, I need to see you."

Frustrated to no end, Gianna's voice was louder than she had meant it to be. Her phone bleeped again.

Something is going on. Can't discuss. Need to be alone.

Unsure what else to do, she texted him back: A burden is lighter when carried by two.

His response was quick: I'm leaving Volterra. Going home. Personal emergency. Sorry.

She replied: I'm not going until I see you. You'll have to step over me to leave!

Gianna determinedly sat down on his stoop and held up her phone snapping a picture of herself. She sent it to Dominic's phone with the message: This is me camped out on your doorstep. I won't leave until I speak with you.

She received nothing in return.

The bitter cool hours passed slowly. Every fifteen minutes or so, Gianna texted Dominic reminding him she was still waiting for him, confident that the Midwestern gentleman would prevail over the shaken man who wanted to hide.

By 3am, Gianna was huddled almost in a ball and her teeth began to chatter.

At 3:10am, the door cracked open.

"Dominic!" Gianna cried. She could make out part of his dark form backlit by the lamps in his apartment. So badly she wanted to look him in the eye. She knew her true desperation would not be hidden from him. She was convinced, if he would just look at her, he wouldn't be able to refuse her.

"Gianna, please. Go home. I can't let you suffer like this. But….I can't explain what is going on. I really can't. Please believe me and just go home and get warm."

Gianna scrambled to her feet, stiff and cold, and pushed on the door. When it didn't budge, she thrust her hands into the small opening knowing he would never slam the door on her fingers. He had always been gentle with her and she knew he'd never hurt her intentionally.

It was then she realized she had never trusted anyone in her life the way she trusted him.

"I can't, Dominic. I can't. You have to believe me, too. Whatever it is, we can work this out together. I—I thought you were different than the rest."

Overcome with emotion at her admission of truth and building stress, Gianna began to cry in earnest.

It was silent as both Gianna and Dominic tried to sort out feelings from logic, what they wanted to do versus what needed to be done.

Dominic helplessly listened as Gianna drowned in her own distress.

"You aren't the only one with secrets, Dominic, and you're not the only one who wants to hide."

The vulnerability and hurt in her voice spoke volumes. Dominic knew there was much about Gianna that he didn't know. She had been kind, giving and caring, yet she never shared anything deeply personal. He was starting to recognize she had monsters in her closet too. She had been hiding her scars. The need to comfort and protect her was so overwhelming, he couldn't fight it with his head any longer. His heart, his new voice of instinct, had just claimed victory in the war.

Dominic opened the door.

And his world stopped spinning.

The cacophony of warnings and fears that had constantly blared in his mind since his transformation abruptly died as their eyes met.

For Dominic, nothing mattered anymore except the beautiful, vulnerable, shivering woman weeping on his doorstep.

"Gianna," he whispered as if he had finally found what he was looking for without ever seeing it was in front of him all along. It made no sense, and yet it was incredibly...right. As if she were the answer to the question he hadn't had the inkling of insight to ask.

Neither of them moved until Dominic reached out tentatively to wipe a lone tear streaking down her cold cheek.

As he brushed against it, she took his hand in hers and brought his knuckles to her lips and whispered into them. "My Domenico."

Dominic backed into his apartment, Gianna moving with him still holding tightly to his hand. His heavy door shut on the darkness behind them.

She blinked rapidly at him and it cleared his fog. "Okay, we'll talk. But this time, we talk about you," Dominic said firmly, but his tone indicated to Gianna he meant to encourage her.

"What do you want to know?"

"I want to know about who hurt you."

"No one wants to know about that. Even I don't care to remember it, Dominic. I'm just very stressed, it was a slip of the tongue. What's in the past should stay there."

"Before today, I would have agreed with you. But it seems the past I left behind has caught up to me. Understanding it may help me understand who I am now. I think that may be true for you too. You want me to trust you, but it works both ways. Trust me, G."

He guided her to the loveseat and sat her down. "I'll be right back. Don't move."

She watched him disappear into the bathroom, and heard the sound of running water. She saw that his large bed was out, but the bedding appeared to be tangled in knots. There were also dark smudges in the carpet leading from the door to the bathroom.

Before she could ponder these things anymore, Dominic reemerged with a washcloth in his hand. He approached slowly and knelt at her feet.

Gianna's eyes grew large and she again blinked rapidly trying to figure out what he was about to do.

"Relax," he soothed and gave her a tight smile. "I think this will help."

Gently, he placed the very warm cloth against her cheek, wiping the day's worry from her face. He cleaned her face and then continued to smooth the cloth across her skin as he saw it pleased her. Gianna closed her eyes and gave herself completely to the incredibly large, charming man who could transform into an even larger beast, yet she had never experienced such tenderness from someone in all her life.

"Why do you treat me so well, Dominic? I don't deserve it," she muttered. She knew he wouldn't understand her cryptic meaning, but it felt so freeing to finally speak the truth to him.

"I want to care for you, like you've cared for me. I want you to trust me, like I trust you. And I want you to feel safe."

He set the cloth aside and took her hands. "Outside, what you said about me being different. What I heard in your voice…share it with me."

Gianna looked into his bottomless, dark eyes and saw something she had never seen before. She struggled to define it. Was it genuine concern? Did someone really want to know her instead of use her and move on? Could she actually trust someone?

Then it struck her: did he love her? Is that what was in his eyes?

He didn't take his gaze from hers. His eyes seemed to reach inside of her, offering everything she had always wanted – honesty, protection, caring, real companionship. No hidden agendas.

She wanted so much to trust him, to be wanted, to be touched lovingly, and feel protected. Maybe it was time she let someone in… The burdens of her past suddenly weighed on her, so heavily, the tears flowed unbidden from her eyes.

"Gianna, someone I care about very deeply once said a burden is lighter when carried by two."

He had cracked through her polished façade, and once she opened her heart to him, the words flowed from her mouth and she bared her soul.

(~*~)

At the same time…

Bella shut her sociology book with an exhausted groan and glanced at the clock on the wall above the dining room table.

10:15pm.

She had been studying for three hours straight for quarter midterms. Social Theory. Damn prerequisites. She could care less about the indigenous people of the forests of New Guinea. Why couldn't she just get to what she was there to study: secondary education.

"...because it'll make you a well-rounded person," she spoke to no one in a sarcastic tone.

Edward's voice flowed from upstairs in response, "You know it's true, love. It will all be worth it, I promise."

She stuck her tongue out in his direction. No way would he hear that! It was tough living day-in and day-out with someone who not only had all the right answers but who also had lived long enough to have the wisdom the words up.

She, on the other hand, still had a lot of growing up to do.

"Well, I'm still done for tonight. I need some human sleep if I have any hope of doing well on these exams."

She stuffed her books and notes into her bag. From behind her, a pair of sturdy, cold arms encircled her waist.

"Penny for your thoughts," he whispered into her ear.

"Hope you have lots of pennies, an eternity with me is really going to add up," Bella joked.

"You are proud of the fact I can't read your thoughts, aren't you?" he chuckled.

"Being surrounded by super-beings can really make a girl feel inadequate, you know. I'm glad I have at least one advantage over you."

Edward pulled Bella into him and buried his nose into her hair, inhaling deeply. "Mmmm. Trust me," he growled, "you have more power over me than you think."

"Now don't go distracting me! Besides, don't you have midterms too?"

"Yes, but I retain everything the first time I read it. Anyway, my degree is secondary to your needs."

"I can handle my own 'needs', thank you very much," Bella responded somewhat defensively.

Edward squeezed her tightly to his body. "Are you sure? Aren't there any needs you'd like me to take care of…" he murmured into the warm skin of Bella's neck as he ran his hands under his wife's shirt, stopping just under the curve her bare breasts.

It got him a swift, but harmless, elbow to the gut.

"I know, I know!" Edward threw up his hands in surrender. "You win. You are the 'master of your domain'. You don't need me to accomplish your goals."

Bella spun and faced him. "It's not that, and you know it. We're came to Dartmouth so both of us can get an education. I know it's like your umpteenth college degree, but it's still important to you, isn't it?"

She wrapped her arms around his waist and stared up into his eyes pleading for understanding. He kissed her forehead.

"Yes. Finance is definitely different, and more challenging. I'm determined to make my first million without Alice's help. Now, didn't you say something about going to sleep early?"

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Probably finish the laundry and do the grocery shopping. Hunt. Then maybe catch the Patriots game on the DVR before you get up. How does homemade Belgian waffles with fresh berries for breakfast sound?"

Bella smiled. "I guess you do come in handy. I'll think I'll keep you around after all." A knowing smile grew across her lips, "Now, about my other needs…"


A/N: Thank you for reading. I love drama - and romance, so I hope you found the chapter a nice mix of both. And did you catch what happened when Dominic saw Gianna?

Comments are welcome and much appreciated - I hate feeling I writing in a vacuum! So say "hey"!

Oh, and speaking of romance, check out my latest video - Bella and Edward's wedding album. Check my profile for the direct link.

New chapter next week!