Chapter twenty four: Sister bonding time.

I was so tired.

And yet, at the same time I was wide awake. My body tingled where he touched, where he held me closer to him. How could someone make you feel relaxed and so comfortable, it was quite possible for you to fall asleep in their arms; and yet at the same time... Feel so alive, and hypergenic with energy. That was what Alec did to me. He was my comfort. He was my energy. All that was missing was for him to be mine again.

It was moments like this I needed to salvage and cherish dearly. When this was all over, who knew when or if I'd ever see him again? When would I next get to see his perfectly defined face, or tauntingly beautiful smile, or hear his laugh...

That was the reason I refused to let myself sleep. I wanted to savor every moment I had left with him; for I didn't know when it would come to an end, nor if we would ever be together again. I still held hope, though. Alec may see it better that we be friends... That we go on as if 'us' had never happened; but we did.

And I would give anything to have that back. I knew what I was giving up when I had done it, and I did it for him. I understood what I was doing, and why I was doing it. I even understood why he wouldn't let me try and fix this, or let us be together again. He didn't owe me that. He didn't owe me anything; but that didn't stop me from wanting it. I didn't regret what I did. If it came down to Alec's life, I probably would have done it over and over again. Maybe he didn't the right in what I had done, but I did. And in the end, that was all that mattered right?

I felt as though I did the right thing, and despite me having to pay the price for it; I didn't regret it. I still held hope, belief, that whatever Alec and I once had... Wasn't gone. I still felt the same about him. I always would. I still get butterflies whenever he looked at me. My heart still misses a beat when he says my name. I still feel everything I once had for him, and somewhere... I hoped he felt the same. If not now, or for a long time to come, we could be one again. Our fate, our destiny, wasn't pinpointed to this. We could change whatever we wanted to, if we wanted too.

But right now, Alec was being everything I needed him to be. A friend. Someone who understood what I was going through, because he was going through the same thing. Our families were at risk because of us, because we had been teenagers to subcome to that little thing we called love, and now we were doing all we could to protect our families.

Perhaps, in a way, we were trying to protect that love too...

Alec let me down onto my bed, and proceeded to pull my shoes from my feet. I was motionless, and exhausted; but I wouldn't sleep. I just watched him carefully as each shoe was torn from my foot, and then the covers were brought up over my body.

He brought them up to my chest, and finally let his eyes meet with mine. A sad, yet heart-warming smile came to his face as he brushed his hand across my forehead and banished some strands of hair.

He leant down, without a word, and pressed a kiss onto my forehead.

As he stood up to walk away, I grabbed hold of his hand gently. He stopped, and looked over his shoulder. I wasn't sure what was reflecting off in those eyes of his, but I wasn't going to question it. I was fine with that look. I was content and... Happy.

"Stay with me..."

Alec looked away from my eyes, and down to her hands. It took a moment, but his thumb slowly ran itself over my knuckles. His head gently bobbed up and down, and he lowered himself to sit on the bed. I quickly shuffled myself over, allowing him the space to get in. The moment he did, I scooted closer to his side. My arm wrapped itself around him, while my chest nuzzled itself into him more as his arm crawled over my head and around me.

Alec was above the covers, and I was still drenched in the material of his cloak; but I couldn't have felt more closer to him. His breathing was calm, the gentle strokes on my shoulder were slow and soft. I was comfortable here, and apparently so was he.

I inhaled a lungful of his scent, the sweet, musky and delicious aroma I'd always found solace in. Automatically, I began to pull myself in closer to him; surrounding myself in everything that smelt like Alec. I was wearing his cloak; which smelt like him almost as much as he himself did and I had him beside me, waving off the odour naturally. I hoped my room clinged to this smell... That my sheets hooked the scent of Alec deep within its material and let me sleep comfortably when he was no longer here.

We could be friends... We could be. We might've had a past, and it might be hard for us; but we could do it. We were vampire's after all. Alec took on the impossible every single day, and I lived in the human world; taking on the challenge of not killing anyone. He might know all there is to know about me, and I might know everything there is to know about him; but what friends didn't know that?

I knew all I needed to know about Alec, and although I might not be as happy as what I would be if I was with him; but it was better than not having him at all.

"Do you remember the first time I met you?" I asked in a sleepy tone. Alec didn't answer, though the gentle strokes to my arm provided me with the knowledge he was listening. I continued, even without his answer. "You appeared out of nowhere... Caused me to spill popcorn all over the place."

"Which, you didn't clean up."

"Hey, you made me do it; it was your job." I giggled.

Alec gave a weak, and gentle chuckle along with me.

"You were so different... From anyone else I'd ever seen before. Dressed in black... Terrifying." I felt Alec's jaw tense itself above my head. His teeth were clenching, but he otherwise said nothing. "But at the same time... You were like an angel."

I felt him smirk.

"I haven't been called that before," Alec chuckled. I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic enough; but his tone implied that he was deadly serious. Why would anyone call him an angel? Alec was a Volturi guard. His sole purpose in the Volturi was to ensure we followed the laws, and execute those who didn't. People wouldn't view him as angelic for that reason. If anything, it explained why he was known as a demon more or less.

"I won't lie. After you so... Sarcastically and rudely introduced yourself; I was a little scared."

"Naturally," Alec commented with a nod. He was used to his reputation, I knew that.

"But even then... I still saw you as beautiful." I whispered. "Even after knowing who you were, what you did and why you did it... It didn't define you. Your family, your actions don't define who you are."

Alec stayed silent again.

"You're not just Alec of the Volturi to me. You never were. You were just... Alec."

I knew Alec would never admit it, but I could feel the smile falling off his face. His jaw tensed a little bit again; and I could already picture the emotionless look taking over his face again.

"Alec... Who's favorite color is red or black." I whispered, more so to keep myself awake more than anything. But I wanted to prove to him; he wasn't the only one who knew all there was to know. I knew him, just as much as he knew me. "It was blue... For seventy five years."

If Alec wanted to say something, he didn't. He just lay there, with me hugging into him, silently. His breathing was normal, and calm; and the strokes to my arm hesitated as I first spoke, but they continued. He was listening to me. "and favorite time of day is dusk... Because it's breathtaking to watch the sun evacuate the sky..."

I glanced up, making the minimal of movement I needed. Alec's face was impassive, but there was a small curve to the corner of his lip. His eyes were closed.

"When you were four hundred and nine, you enjoyed photography and art. That's what got you into drawing. Then you took up reading, and dancing..."

He smirked. It was the first sign of life since I'd began to talk to him.

"And you've never been in love as a vampire. You're above all that. You don't believe in love..."

Although it pained me to say it, to remember that conversation with Alec, it was the first time he had let me past those walls of his. Where I actually got to know the red eyed demon that scared our world so much. Alec wasn't so bad, once you got past the reputation, the rumours and the hard facade he put up. Deep down, Alec was just like every other vampire out there in the world.

He was just a little more dangerous than the rest of us.

And happened to have a sister that was also more dangerous than the rest of us, and so happened to cherish the ground he walked on. Alec was just like us, maybe even a little more privileged. He had his sister with him still, whereas Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett; they lost their brothers. They had to sit back and watch as everyone they had ever met and loved got old and died, while they were to carry on without them. Alec didn't have to watch his town die, despite knowing about it. The only person he lost... The only people he lost that he loved were his mother and Grace.

Alec was privileged, as was I. I would never have to watch my parents slowly die. I'd have them around me for as long as I would live. They'd never leave me. Just as Jane had his sister. She would never leave him. He was so dead set that we were different, that we would never work because of those differences, and yet... All I could see were the resemblances.

Alec had people who loved him, and cared for him. They surrounded him every day of his life, and I was sure he knew this. Although he was off doing mission all the time, he was still with the ones he loved. He still had people think about him... Miss him. They all outdid the rumours, the reputation he had for himself. People lived in fear of him because what he could do, they wanted him and his sister dead because of how dangerous they were, but if they were to sit back and look at the bigger picture like I had... They'd see themselves reflecting back at them.

Alec and Jane were just vampires. Talented ones, yes; but vampire's none the less. They had their pasts too. They had their flaws, and they had their perfections. But no matter what; they were just as broken and messed up as every other vampire in the world.

I closed my eyes, and snuggled myself in closer to him.

"Wrong." Alec finally whispered. "I do believe in love, because of a highly irritating, and very annoyingly stubborn little hybrid."

"But... You said your life ended the moment I came into it..."

I felt Alec's lips against my head as he pulled me in closer; bringing both his arms around me. In a tight embrace, and his gentle breathing ruffling through my hair; Alec whispered one of the most memorable things I'd ever heard him say to me.

"My life began the moment you came into it."

And just like every other messed up vampire out there, suffering due to their hunger and their sorrow for watching those they once loved die; they still carried on loving someone, or something. Be it a person, a memory of a person... Or someone they still would love, but had to let go... They still loved.

Alec still loved me. He didn't have to say it for me to know. I knew it already. I had doubted it before; but now I saw it clearly. He was doing what he thought was right, just as I had for love. He was letting me go for a purpose he believed in. Just like a vampire who had been torn from a loved one, and refusing to let them see what they'd become, refusing to let them suffer the same fate - he wanted me to live my life. Even if that meant it was without him.

Despite how utterly irritating it was, I understood; and I'd probably do the same thing for him, if the roles were reversed. I once viewed Alec as a selfish, self centered, arrogant dick who only cared about the good of his coven and himself... When really, Alec was everything but all of the above. He was sweet, he was kind, he was selfless and thoughtful, and he cared for those who held meaning to his life.

He wanted to let me go... Because he loved me.

"I'm... Sorry for what I did to you." I whispered gently.

"Reny, you don't have to apologize. I underst-"

"No.. You don't. I ruined the one thing I had in my life that was mine alone. That I had created, that I had caused without any help from anyone else. You... You didn't see me as some perfect angel like I saw you. You saw me for what I was. A spoiled little rich hybrid, the freak of nature, who had been sheltered all her life from everything out there in the world... And even then, you still treated me with respect. You treated me like a normal person, when I was so used to being treated like... Like..."

"A princess." Alec nodded his head, and another kiss was placed into my hair.

"With you, I didn't have anything I had to stand up to being. I could just be myself, and you accepted me for that."

Alec pulled my in tighter. So tightly, I could feel the strain beginning to hurt my ribs, but I didn't care.

"And I ruined that because I was so scared that you'd be taken from me... From this world. I couldn't... I couldn't let that happen. I wasn't thinking about you. I was thinking about myself, like you said. Only because I didn't want to live in a world where you didn't exist."

I turned my head up to look at him, and saw that his eyes were still closed. Tightly.

"Not having you in my life is better than not having you alive at all."

Alec's eyes slowly opened, and I could see the sorrow reflecting back at me from my own eyes.

"I know." He nodded gently. "I know, and I've forgiven you."

A sad smile broke it's way across my face.

"Can you ever forgive me?"

I frowned. Why would I need to forgive him?

"For what?" I blinked.

"Tomorrow, when it all becomes real for us; and we can only be friends. I want you to forgive me... For doing this, but I need too."

Alec leant forward, and his lips pressed themselves onto mine. Before, the violent, the raw, and the blissful night we had spent together hadn't held this. I could feel Alec's emotion through his lips, and I welcomed it. He needed this, because the other night we had managed to rid ourselves of the sexual frustration we had for one another, but we hadn't been able to rid the emotional link. Alec was letting out all the love, all the adoration and all the feelings he had ever had for me, and I was doing the same.

That night had been about sex, and just sex. Where as tonight, it was love. Complete and utter heartbreaking love.

—xXx—

"I'm SO bored!"

A thirteen year old Ryan was laying on the bedroom of his best friend Delilah. She was at her desk, trying with all her might to ignore him. Ryan had burst into her room moments before complaining about the lack of fun things to do, since the local comic book store got closed down. Delilah was working on her summer reading homework that Ryan had forgotten about ages ago. Nothing new there.

"You and me," he sat up and began to poke her in the side. "We need to do something crazy."

He tugged on the hem of her 'beam me up, Scotty' t-shirt. "Dude, c'mon! Don't be a nerd. I don't want to be best buds with a nerd."

Delilah sighed. "Fine. What do you want to do?"

"We should go out."

"I don't want to go out."

Ryan groaned loudly, and slumped back down onto the floor. "Then there's gotta be something in here we can do."

Delilah had returned to her reading, and it wasn't until she heard the large scrape of a box being pulled out from under her bed that she realized what was going on.

"Don't go in that box!" Delilah was up and out of her seat in seconds. She had moved quicker than Ryan had ever seen her move before; and was prying the box out of his hands. "It's personal!"

"Why? Got something in there?"

Delilah glared. "Thats none of your business."

"C'mon, Delly!" He persevered; leaning closer and trying to take whatever it was in her hands out of it. "Let me see!"

"No!"

"At least tell me what it is?"

"No."

Ryan stuck out his bottom lip, and made his eyes go wide. She wasn't sure why, but Ryan believed it made him look cute when he did this. If anything, it made him look like a guy who had gone through a serious amount of botox and was suffering the consequences.

When Ryan figured it wasn't working, he huffed. "Best friend's share things. Y'know that."

She had never had a best friend, other than Ryan, so no. She didn't know that. Anything she knew to do with best friends came from him, and she was positive he was making it up as he went along. But, if Ryan said that was what best friends did...

"It's my diary, okay?" Her cheeks flared a little pink.

Ryan sat back onto his heels and arched an eyebrow. "You have a diary?"

"Yes.." Her blush was deepening as she hid her face from him. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, nothing..." Ryan chuckled. "Just, I didn't picture you as the diary kind of person. You know, it's too... Girly."

"I am a girl, y'know." She was glaring at him now, protectively holding onto the box. He could see her fingers turning white.

"Yeah, I know. Just not like those girls. They're so prissy and... Girly. I mean, if I were to say to them; you'd suit purple hair - which they probably would, they'd be like 'Oh really? Well, okay. I'll get it for you' But you... You'd probably get it because want it, and not to impress some guy. If you didn't, you'd tell me to piss off. You got a backbone, sometimes."

"You think I'd suit purple hair?"

"Well, not all of it. Maybe just your bangs. See? You're not biting my head off about it. You're cool. Like one of the lads. Anyway, you probably don't write in it like other girls. Their diaries are full of lovey-dovey crap, like who they have a crush on and stuff. That's the stuff us boys wanna read."

Ryan waved off the box, losing all interest in what was in there. Though, what he wasn't realizing was what she wrote about, among other things. Her diary was full of her problems, her life hardships... And the people she admired, and formed... Emotional interests with. She was a typical girl.

She vowed there and then, she was never writing in that thing again.

She pushed the box away and stood herself up. "On second thoughts, lets go out. I want a lemonade."

"You got it!" Ryan was on his feet in a flash. "Lets go get a doughnut too!"

The next time she would write in that diary, would be when Ryan started to view her as a girl. As someone he could find attractive, and not simply as 'one of the lads.'

And if getting purple bangs was the beginning of that, then so be it.

"Then so be it," Aro sighed towards Carlisle. Somehow, despite all the commotion she had caused in coming here; they had convinced the others to continue with their training. It was early in the morning, she knew that; but she had no where else she could go. She didn't entirely expect to find them here, if she was honest. She would have thought they'd all return to their homes due to the hour, but they were still here.

Demetri and Felix were still training the others. The only ones surrounding her were Jane, Aro, Carlisle and Edward. Well, the ones that she knew the names of. There was another one too, who smelt... Terrible.

The other two leaders, Marcus and Caius as Alec had introduced them as, stood at the sidelines; watching the training going on.

"I don't think we are at liberty into going into battle so soon, Aro." Carlisle responded. "I want this to be over and done with as much as anyone here, but we have to think strategically about this."

"What's done is done, Carlisle." Aro said again. "If they do indeed come sooner than Tuesday, then we have no choice. I have set the date, and that is when we will carry out this. You do not have to stand with us."

Oh, but they would. Delilah could see it in their eyes. They were determined on this. It wasn't just the Volturi who were at threat here. They wanted to stand for their own coven, and prove that they will not be treated this way. Despite their differences, the Cullen's wanted to work with the Volturi. Edward, who currently was crouched down beside her, nodded his head discreetly, clarifying her thoughts and proving them correct.

For what felt like the hundredth time, Delilah looked across the clearing for Alec. She trusted him, and she had no idea why. Out of all these faces, it was him she wished to speak to.

"He will be here soon." Edward said lowly to her.

Although it did sooth her to hear that, she wondered... What would happen if he did return. Would he be disappointed in what happened? Would he understand why she had done it? Aro, and Edward understood. Or, said they did anyway. Once Edward had explained it to the others; they also seemed to share the same amount of compassion as everyone. They were sympathetic towards her reasoning for telling Lilianna the truth; for it meant she would be saving Scott's life. But would Alec? She was no longer of use to them... Was she? She had been their gateway into seeing Lilianna's choices. She had been their only intel; and now that was severed because of a quick, rash decision. But even though it was quick; she would do it all over again.

"Alec will understand." Edward's hand moved to her shoulder, and she had to force herself not to flinch away from it. "If not Alec, I can assure you Renesmee will."

Renesmee would understand? But how... Oh.

Because she had done the same thing. She gave up something for the life of Alec. Just as Delilah had given up her family, the value she held to the Volturi on being their little spy in order to save Scott's life.

"If we do not have to stand with you, then why are you enforcing that she does?"

"I merely assumed, Carlisle." Aro chuckled bitterly. "However, if it bothers you so; why don't we ask the girl herself? Give her a choice."

"Very well," Carlisle sighed. He looked down to his son, and Delilah with bright caring topaz eyes and slowly sunk to her level. She pulled her knees closer to her chest. "Delilah; you did the right thing coming to us. I know it might've been tempting to run off... Be free from all this; and because of that I thank you for coming here. You're welcome to stay with us for as long as you need, or you can leave and no one will follow you. The choice is yours."

Tempting to run off? The thought hadn't once crossed her mind. It would have been easier, but that would have been a life of being alone. Being scared. Being without those she loved. She had ran from her problems before in the past, and often hid behind those she felt who could protect her - Ryan in her human life, then Scott, then Ryan again alongside Damien and Scott, but now she felt Alec was the one who could do that. Protect her, maybe - but Ryan had always been right.

Running away didn't solve her problems. It just gave her more time to deal with them, it hid them away until one day she would need to face them again. A never ending cycle of running and hiding. She didn't want to do that anymore. She wanted to face them, and say goodbye to the problems forever. For her family.

"I want to help."

Above her, Jane frowned. It seemed as though the small appearances girl didn't expect that from her. Perhaps Jane had dealt with people who would rather run from their problems, a lot like she used to be. But she wasn't like that anymore. Delilah wanted to change that, and be the brave person Ryan always believed she could be.

"I want to fight. With you."

Carlisle, and Edward smiled genuinely at her. When she turned her eyes up to Aro, she found a much more sinister smile, but oddly; it still brought her some comfort.

"Well, it seems as though she has made her choice."

—xXx—

Running water stirred me from my slumber, and the moment it did; I awoke to feel the most instantaneous feeling of regret. I had fallen asleep, when I had done everything in my power not too. But how could someone blame me? After everything that had happened, the long and eventful day I had. Everything Alec and I had talked about, the kiss...

Oh, the kiss.

My body still tingled from feeling that immense moment his lips had found mine. Despite it not moving any further than that, I was still content with it. We were on the right steps. Alec and I were working through this slowly. Gary was right... With everything he had said.

It was good to get it all out there. That way, it would be easier to move on and not have it bottling up inside. Now that Alec and I had gotten past it, we were on the right road of becoming real friends the way we once were.

At some point or another, I must've fallen asleep after Alec expressed his wishes for me not to attend this battle. I told him, though. I told him exactly what I was going to do. Where he went, I went. This wasn't just his problem, despite how much he thought it was, and I wasn't going to let him go through this alone.

He didn't reply after that, so that must've been when I gave in and fell into the world of darkness. Either that, or he numbed me for a while. I stretched myself out and quickly climbed off the bed. The running water came from out in the hall; so automatically I suspected someone was showering.

I hoped it was Alec.

As I changed, the water turned itself off, and I moved across to stand at my door.

The bathroom door opened, and I grinned widely. What friend didn't like a good morning from the person they'd spent the night cuddling?

Only, as the person stepped out from the bathroom; I realized it wasn't Alec.

It was... Jane?

Despite having been in the shower, Jane still looked as elegant as ever. Her damp hair was tied back into it's classic firm bun, and she was clothed in her usual black uniform and cloak. The vivid necklace around her throat, identical to Alec's, winked at me in the light.

She paused at the doorway, finally resting eyes on me, and arched an eyebrow curiously. I knew Grandpa welcomed them into our home, and asked them to treat it as if it were their own; but the last person I expected to ever... Actually do that... Was Jane. Yet here she was, walking out of our bathroom as if it were nothing. And she was looking at me as if I were the strange one.

Had she forgotten just who the hell she was? Jane of the Volturi! The most terrifying, heart stoppingly petrifying immortal ever to walk this Earth! She hated us. She hated my mother especially; but she saw no problem in showering?

"You're awake." She stated blandly. "Perfect. Go get some food, training begins as soon as you finish."

"... Wh-what?" I blinked.

"Did you not understand?" The confusion and annoyance was back on her face.

"Where's Alec?"

Jane rolled her eyes. She actually... Rolled her eyes at me. Before, if I even mentioned Alec, she'd glare at me. She'd look at me as if she were saying 'how dare you say my brothers name.' Yet this time, she rolled her eyes as if she was bored of the subject already.

"He's busy. You're spending the day with me."

Spending the day with Jane... "Again?"

"Last time we read books. This time will be much more exciting. Come, I'll show you a good way on how to take down my brother and not have to use your body."

I couldn't quite help it, but I was positive she was calling me a slut.

Just like anyone else who had been asked to do something by Jane, I nodded my head and followed after her down the steps. Whatever Alec was up too, whatever was more important for him to leave me, I hope it was worth it.

A/N:

Well, you guys certainly worked fast; huh?

As promised, here's the chapter.

Happy reading. 1,660 reviews for the next one to be sooner? Almost finished writing it as we speak. I decided I was going to dedicate my free weekend to getting my head down and sticking in with this story. So far, everything seems to be moving to plan.

I'll see you soon, Corruptedheartians.

Take it easy.

-C.H