8. Vegetarian

Caius smiled as Elizabeth turned in her sleep. She was safe here, for now anyway. He was finding this new way of life hard, but it was worth it. He stayed at the Cullen's house rather than attempting to mingle with any humans. When Bella's dad had come to visit he had had to leave the house. It was just too hard.

He had lived for three millennia giving into his cravings for human blood, justifying it, and so trying to now control his thirst was almost impossible. But he was managing, and it was undoubtedly worth it. When he was around Elizabeth he didn't even notice his thirst for her blood, not even a little bit. He reached out and stroked her hair; he loved her too much, how could he even consider killing her. It was impossible.

"Caius." He turned. Carlisle was standing in the doorway, "You ready?" Caius took one last look at Elizabeth then nodded.

"Yes."

He and Carlisle left via the window, leaping down to the ground. They zoomed through the trees of the forest, heading uphill; two immortals racing to the mountains. They both smelt it at the same time; a large brown bear, lumbering along the forest paths. Caius looked over to Carlisle.

"You have it," Carlisle said, still running at extraordinary speed, "You need it." Caius acknowledged this truth and followed the scent, veering away from Carlisle.

The bear heard him coming and turned to see him standing in between two tall trees. It roared, clearly it was hungry, and lumbered towards him, picking up speed as it neared him. Caius smiled; this was something he enjoyed. It gave him a rush that killing innocent people he hadn't had to hunt never had.

The bear was on him in a second but he had jumped high in the air over the creature's head. He landed just behind it then leapt up again, this time grabbing the huge head and yanking. The bear fell to the ground, almost dead. Caius bit into the soft flesh of its neck. The feeding frenzy began and he was lost to the feel of the blood streaming into his mouth and down his throat. He drank it dry and then sat back, content.

He had come very far from thinking feeding off animals was some sort of debasement, very far indeed. He smirked a little: what would Aro say if he could see him now. Thinking of Aro made him worried again. They didn't have a clue what he was planning: according to Alice he seemed to keep changing his mind, nothing was set or decided. There was no way of knowing what he would do. It was terrible.

Caius stood back up and leapt up into one of the taller trees. He scrambled up until he was right at the top, looking out over the whole forest. A cloud drifted aside and the moon shone through as white and as pure as it had always been. Caius looked up at it and as he did, despite all the worry about Elizabeth, he felt more alive than he had ever felt before. That was down to her. It was completely down to her: she had saved him, had given him a reason to be.

He leapt down to the ground when he heard Carlisle coming over.

"Feeling better?" Carlisle asked, smiling a little. Caius realised that he must look happier; the hunt gave him such a rush.

"Yes," he replied, "Did you find anything?"

"Yes, there was a deer," Carlisle replied, "Apparently deer populations are on the rise."

"Or else you wouldn't eat it?" Caius asked, incredulous.

"Only if it was a threatened species," Carlisle replied, "I don't want anything hunted by us to extinction."

"Carlisle," Caius said, staring at the other vampire with respect, "You are something aren't you. I... I guess I overlooked it before."

"You mean when you said I was debasing myself by feeding off animals instead of humans?" Carlisle replied, a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh come off it Carlisle," Caius said sportingly, "That was what? Three hundred years ago? Is that how long it was - when you left the Volturi?"

"I don't think I ever technically joined," Carlisle said, "And it was only ten years ago when..." He trailed off. The mood wasn't as joking as it had been. Caius bit his lip and found it hard to look Carlisle directly in the eye. But he knew he had to, so he forced himself to do so.

"I wish I could take it all back," he started but then hesitated, unsure how to go on.

"Caius," Carlisle said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You're different now; any fool can see that."

"It doesn't change what I did, what I said, what I was..."

"No," Carlisle said nodding, "But it can change the present, and the future. That's more important really."

"I'm sorry," Carlisle said, making his eyes look directly into Carlisle's own, "For it all." Carlisle took his hand off Caius's shoulder and smiled.

"There's nothing to forgive." He said calmly. Caius looked at him, incredulous.

"You really are..." he trailed off, "You really are just... a good guy."

"As eloquent as always," Carlisle said, a huge grin spreading across his face, "Never one for the long monologues were you Caius?"

"No," he replied, laughing, "That's Aro's job: the talking."

"He does love the sound of his own voice doesn't he?" Carlisle said, shaking his head, "Perhaps that's what saved us last time."

"What?"

"Perhaps the only reason Aro hesitated was for his vanity's sake: so he could hear the sound of his own voice." Caius laughed at this.

"Oh god Carlisle," he said, after his laughter had ebbed away. He turned to his friend, a more serious look on his face, "Will he come after us this time? Elizabeth and me, that is. Or will he wait?"

"Who knows;" Carlisle said, "Aro is unpredictable to say the least. And Alice's visions are uncertain."

"Does that mean we have time?"

"There's always time: we're immortal Caius." Carlisle said turning to him.

"Not all of us," Caius replied quietly. Elizabeth was mortal, and wanted to stay that way.

"You want her to live her life," Carlisle said, understanding, "And probably she'll be able to."

"When she dies," Caius said, finding such an idea hard even to think of, "Carlisle will you end it for me?"

"Me?" Carlisle said, "Why not..."

"As if the Volturi would ever be so merciful," Caius said sadly, "I never was."

"You ended it for Athenodora," Carlisle said, "You were merciful to her."

"Yes but after how long," Caius replied, "Millennia!" There was a long silence. Carlisle broke it.

"If I killed you as you want," he began, "It would give Aro every excuse to come here, to kill my family. Therefore I can't, even if I wanted to."

Of course, Caius thought, there was never any chance of Carlisle killing him. But there were other ways, and other vampires. And there were those wolves. He shuddered slightly at the thought of letting a wolf kill him, but he was getting along with Jacob Black at least.

"Let's go back," Carlisle said, "It's beginning to get light and I'm sure you wouldn't want Elizabeth to wake without you there." He raised an eyebrow in jest, but his voice sounded understanding. Caius smiled and nodded. The two of them set off, reaching the house before dawn had properly begun.

Caius went up to Elizabeth's room at once. She was still asleep and he stayed by her side until she woke a few hours later.

"Good morning," he said, smiling at her. She gave him a bleary smile back and then stretched, sitting up.

"Did you go hunting last night then?" She asked, "With Carlisle?"

"Yes," Caius answered, "He's a good person, well, the best really."

"I like him," Elizabeth agreed, "How old is he?"

"Well he was turned in the seventeenth century so almost four hundred years I guess."

"And he stayed with the Volturi, when?"

"Seventeen-twenties I think," Caius answered, "Or at least some time in the eighteenth century."

"So precise," Elizabeth said, smirking then sighed, "What must it be like? To give a whole century as a time when one specific thing happened." Caius knew what she was getting at: for him time had compressed because he had lived for so long.

"I don't remember," he said, "Not like I'll remember these times with you."

At that moment there was a knock on the door. It was Edward. He opened the door and smiled at them both, behind him bobbed Alice.

"Elizabeth," she said, from behind her brother, "You've been putting this off but you really can't go around in those summer clothes much longer."

"Oh no," Elizabeth groaned, "But it's only been a few days."

"You need new clothes," Alice said, decidedly, "And that's what we're doing today!" Elizabeth buried her face in Caius's shoulder. He laughed and kissed her on the top of her head; he knew she hated shopping.

"The Volturi are one thing," Edward said, smiling, "But there's no running from Alice when she wants to go shopping."

"It's not what I want," Alice said indignantly, "It's what she needs."

"I know," Elizabeth said getting out of bed, "But I literally have no money – unless you count the twenty five cents in my short pockets."

"It's on me," Alice said, "Now come on Elizabeth, Bella's attempted to cook breakfast for you. Don't worry," she added, seeing Edward's terrified face, "Ness was with her. It'll be edible."

"That's kind of her," Elizabeth said. Caius nodded in agreement, his eyes on her as she pulled her hair into a ponytail.

"Wait till you've eaten it before you say that," Edward said, smirking.

"Like you've ever tried her food," Elizabeth said, an eyebrow raised.

"No I haven't," Edward conceded, "But Ness has and as her father, from reading her true opinions, it's not looking good."

"But Ness was helping Bella," Alice said, "And anyway we haven't time for this! Come on Elizabeth!" And she dragged her out of the room. Caius smiled; how had he ever overlooked the wonders of the Cullen family.

"Even Rose?" Edward questioned, smiling despite himself. Caius realised he was listening to his thoughts.

"Even Rosalie." He said. Edward clapped him on the back and the two followed Alice and Elizabeth downstairs.

It was Renesmee who was actually doing the cooking. Bella, it appeared, had given up. She sat at the counter table, next to Jake, when they got downstairs. Alice was already sitting Elizabeth down by the time Edward and Caius came into the room.

"Voila," said Renesmee as she served up the three plates full of fried bacon, eggs, beans, sausage, toast, mushrooms and tomato, "A full English breakfast for our English lady."

Elizabeth smiled, "This looks amazing," She turned to Caius and Edward, "You guys don't know what you're missing. I mean – bacon!" And she dug in. Caius smiled at her. Boy could she eat, but not as fast as Jacob.

"Hey Nessie is there anymore?" He asked, his plate already mostly empty.

"No this is mine," she replied, tucking into her own plate. "There's more bacon in the fridge though."

"Ok Elizabeth," Alice said, on her way out of the room, "I want you ready in ten minutes."

"Sure thing," Elizabeth said and turned to Caius, "You're coming with us." It was a statement; there was no question in it. Caius didn't protest; he wanted to go with her. There was no way he was leaving her alone, not even with Alice Cullen.

"I've seen a lot of styles go in and out of fashion," he said, smiling wryly, "I'm sure I can help." She looked at him and smiled, but it didn't quite seem to reach her eyes. What was she thinking he wondered. "Elizabeth?"

"What," she said, seeming to snap out of her reverie and gave him a proper smile, "Jake," she said turning to the wolf-boy, "You can have the rest of mine if you want?"

"Sure thing," Jake said, pulling her plate towards him, "Thanks Elizabeth."

She smiled then turned to Caius. "Give me a minute," she said, "I still need to get dressed."

And with that she hopped off her stool and hurried upstairs, leaving Caius feeling slightly wrong-footed. She didn't seem one hundred percent alright. He looked over to Edward. He was deep in conversation with Bella so must've missed what Elizabeth had been thinking.

It had been when he'd mentioned all the styles he'd seen. It was the age thing, Caius realised suddenly, that was what she was thinking about. He was too old for her, Caius realised with a sinking feeling; he might look twenty-six, but really he was much older. That must be what she doesn't like. Caius felt his heart drop; she couldn't love him because he was just too old. He felt lost.

"Caius," he looked up. It was Alice; "Where is she?"

"She's getting dressed," Caius said, forcing a smile, "She'll be down in a minute."

"Good," Alice said, smiling, clearly not noticing Caius's dreary thoughts, "I know the perfect place we can go."

At that moment Elizabeth came back down stairs. She didn't even look at Caius, instead going straight over to Alice.

"I'm ready," she said, still determinedly not looking at him; "Let's go shopping."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that chapter but I just want to give a heads up: at the end of this week I'm going on holiday! That means that I won't be updating for a little over a week. Just so you know :D

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :D X

Also, it may seem like there's a bit of a lull in the plot but stick with it because big stuff will be happening soon! A key part of these chapters is to consolidate Elizabeth and Caius with the Cullen family so it may seem like not much is happening but it's important to the plot and more interesting and exciting stuff will be happening. Thanks for sticking with it, it'll be worth it! XD