"The Cullens that aren't here...it's because of the half-human girl, right?"

The sand dipped beneath us, pooling in around our feet. We'd abandoned our shoes and the sweater he's given me at the top of the Cullen's property to make our way down to the shoreline. The waves were subtle, with nowhere to go and nowhere to be except in the moment, as silly as it sounds. A greenish-blue hue in the water was breathtaking and the sun was sparse on this cloudy day, rare patches of light streaming to the earth around us. Between the mountains that rose in the distance behind us, the deep green trees we'd walked under only moments ago, and the ocean in front of us, it all felt like the landscape of some painting hanging in the Louvre.

Alec had been given a change of clothes as well. The light green linen shirt, whose buttons I'd played with only minutes ago, was a relaxed cut. It was only about one size too big for him, but you could hardly tell. He'd rolled up the sleeves once more, and there was a slight shimmer covering the pale white of his skin, like powder. Alec never rolled up his sleeves in Volterra.

As we wandered further down the beach, Alec's eyes scanned the line of trees around us. Despite his vigilance, he was visibly…different here. Lighter. Even with the Cullens' presence, which I had expected to put him in even more of a sour mood.

Maybe Vladimir's defeat brought him peace, to prevail over an enemy that had evaded him for so long. Or perhaps it was the fresh air surrounding us, rather than the enclosed walls in Volterra, that confined my scent inside the castle. And yes, the Cullens were near us, but the further we walked, the more alone we became. As alone as we'd been since the first night I tried to run away. A memory that seemed odd now. Out of place.

"I was not surprised," Alec confirmed, humouring my field of questions. As usual. "Edward's mate holds a grudge against Jane."

"And Jane doesn't?"

"They do not give us refuge out of the kindness of their un-beating hearts," he said sarcastically. "There is an ulterior motive."

"Or they're just decent people."

He smirked. "Not people."

"I'm serious." I rolled my eyes, bumping his side as we continued walking. "The Cullens are nice."

Alec scoffed, revealing his holier-than-thou Volturi attitude. It was almost endearing. "They're weird."

"Well, at least they don't eat humans."

"They're still vampires."

"Vampires that won't eat me," I sassed back playfully. Alec, however, didn't appreciate my wit. Like a snap, he turned me into him, holding me tight against his chest. Almost too tight. I thought I understood why as I looked up, though still slightly stunned by the move. His eyes burned into mine, harsh, with a flash of something new hidden behind the irises.

His voice was low, and though his words were more of a warning than a threat, they certainly seemed like one. "They are still vampires." My eyes searched his, their intensity desperate to make me understand what he wouldn't dare to put into words.

I tipped my head once, and he continued moving closer to the shoreline with an evident change in topic. An equally targeted one, at that. He was clearly still bitter from my comment, though pushing past it with a hint of attempted humour. I was also eager to move past the discomfort, which was easier when he prompted, "Jane had precise questions regarding our latest incident." My brain froze for a moment, and my heart picked up speed before I realised he wasn't talking about our 'one-on-one' encounter but the mini-battle we'd nearly lost. My internal freak out went unnoticed as he continued, "as well as an impressive knowledge of the event."

"Oh?" I started, and Alec didn't look away from the landscape ahead of us but raised his eyebrows to indicate he was listening. "Did you answer any of them?"

He sighed dramatically, muttering under his breath, "the two of you." The reaction lightened the air, and I responded in kind.

"Hey!" I laughed, bumping his hip. "You act like I'm going to break anytime I leave your sight, but Jane and I can't be just a little worried when you almost get hurt on a mission?"

He was quick to catch my words, a cheeky grin growing on his face. "You worry for me?" I stopped mid-thought, my jaw nearly dropping at the gall of the question.

"Jane worries," I attempted to brush it off, but the suggestion sent an unfamiliar wave of exhilarating nerves through me.

Alec smirked casually, "and you."

"What? Psh, no." I tried to pull off a casual laugh in a stampede of butterflies, but he saw right through me. He raised an eyebrow, mischief exuding from his expression.

"No?" He questioned, taking a step towards me. Immediately, I stepped back, tripping over the dips in the sand. Alec caught me, of course, his arm shooting out to wrap around my waist again.

I pointed a finger at him, countering with, "you see, that — this, is so not fair—" Alec smirked, and his hold tightened, pulling me flush against his chest. I inhaled sharply, meeting his eyes. My breath disappeared again as he leaned in.

Of their own accord, my eyelids fluttered closed as his nose softly brushed against my skin. His lips swept across my cheek like the whisper of a ghost, and his eyelashes grazed along my temple, their touch even lighter. And yet, as the wind blew against us, he stood firm, holding us to the earth like an anchor. His chest froze as he held his breath.

I couldn't help but look up at him. His eyes were shut tight, and he was still as stone. Until there was a firm tug on my scalp, his fingers tangling themselves at the ends of my curls. I relaxed in his arms, laying my head in the crook of his neck and doing the exact opposite of him. I breathed him in, filling my senses with a smell that had no title, no comparable scent but merely a word: Alec. It was just Alec.

"You are human," he whispered against my temple with a sorrowful tone. Almost seeking my permission as he continued, "and I should think your condition validates my concerns all the more." It felt strange, the straightforwardness of our conversation. We never really talked about it or how it affected anything I did. I knew he was aware of it, and from the time Aro had told him to be careful with me, he had done his best to stay conscious. But I'd never considered that he might be thinking about it, factoring it into every interaction, possibly even more than me.

Then, my brain intruded on my thoughts, forcing new, darker memories to the forefront of my mind.

A flash of Alec's face in a grimace, Travis' hands poised to take him from the world. "I thought he was going to kill you," I said, the words slipping from my mouth before I'd even fully thought them through.

Alec's face became livid, and the flare of madness was gone just as quick as it appeared.

I swallowed, with the idea that some of the ire could be rooted in the role I'd opted to play. "You're still mad at me, aren't you?"

He clenched his jaw and didn't deny it but continued to twirl my hair around his fingers with the gentlest touch.

"He wasn't going to stop –"

He opened his mouth, only able to say a few words, "it was foolish," before I interrupted.

"Would you have preferred that I let you die?" I stepped back. "Because that's hypocritical –"

"I am grateful."

"– and you can't just…." I trailed off as I processed his response. One that was quite opposite during our first time broaching the topic. "Oh."

The corners of his lips curved up at my dumbfounded expression, and he moved on. "You conveniently left your actions out in your narrative to my sister." Before I could talk myself into a corner, Alec took hold of my hand again. His thumb traced curved lines into my palm, and he waited for me to meet his eyes before speaking. "I am here. With you. That is what matters."

He sighed softly. "But please, in the future, do try to refrain from deliberately placing yourself in even more danger than necessary?"

I bit my lip and avoided his gaze, lowering myself down on the sand and shifting to face the water. Alec joined me, watching my every move with the diligence of a hawk. But he waited. He was good at that. Waiting for me.

I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes tight, worried that I might cry despite the lack of tears building up.

"Saffiya. Look at me." I did, and crimson eyes seized mine. "I will never let anyone hurt you ever again." It was a wonderful sentiment, but we'd been forced into a world of reality. There was only one way to ensure his claim, and that wasn't about to happen anytime soon. "Including myself…"

The train.

My gaze returned to the sand. "You can't possibly guarantee that." The statement hurt both of us, but the words were as accurate as they were inevitable.

"No," he admitted. "But I will do everything in my power to make it so." He must still have sensed my doubt because he leaned back with an unusual casualty that drew my attention. "Even if I must grovel to my enemies," Alec watched me observing him and lightened his voice to tease me with, "or beseech the Cullens for assistance." I breathed out a short laugh and the corners of his mouth tilted up. "I swear it."

We both shared a slight sense of hesitancy that wasn't there before, a new form of uncertainty. But, it was forgotten as we rested there in silence until I had a suitable reply.

"I'd say 'right back at ya', but I don't exactly have any enemies to grovel to. So you might be out of luck, there." I grinned, tilting my head up at him. The piercing red of his eyes contrasted brilliantly with the colours around us, and though it was a cloudy day, he seemed to almost…shimmer. More so than before. I reached out and ran my fingers along his arm, trying to see if I imagined it or not.

I could sense his amusement as he lifted his arm away from my touch and moved it directly under a speck of sunlight within reach. The sand sparkled underneath the burning star, and now, so did Alec's skin.

I reached forward, throwing my hand under the beam of light as well, and was quite disappointed when my skin didn't do the same. Alec burst out in a fit of laughter, a sound I cherished now more than ever. I pouted, taking my hand away and trying again. Nothing.

"How are you doing that," I demanded to know.

He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me in-between his legs, letting me examine his arm - the only skin subject to the sun's warmth beside his face, which is where I went next.

My fingers lightly touched his brow and traced the lines on his skin. His eyes closed, and he leaned into my touch. Even without the direct light, the glow his body emitted was impossible to look away from. My fingers finally reached his lips, and I paused, eyes flickering up to his closed ones.

Alec caught my hand before I got us into trouble. His eyes observed me under thick lashes as he brought my hand back to his lips and kissed my palm.

"You should be careful where you touch a vampire." He hummed, "we do tend to bite."

I felt almost like a child, exposed to the world with this adapting behaviour. This shift in our interactions and how to go about actions, words or activities we might otherwise not have engaged in.

A quick laugh escaped me as I teased, "you wouldn't dare." I pushed myself up from the sand as if to make my way away from him.

His voice lilted from behind me, "Wouldn't I?"

He leaned back in the sand as I turned, and though I stood above him, his mischievous arrogance controlled the conversation. "What are you on about?"

"I did not previously understand the appeal of marking one's partner, despite the insistence of Demetri." Alec flashed to my side, and I tilted my head, frowning in confusion. He continued as if he were merely talking to himself, moving to stand behind me. "It is uniquely, fundamentally enticing."

I opened my mouth to admonish him and his mystery, but as I did, his chilled hand brushed my throat. My breathing hitched. He'd rendered me speechless with a single touch. Alec chuckled, close enough that I could feel his breath tickle my skin. He collected my hair over my left shoulder, his touch never leaving my body.

Alec paused, and I waited with bated breath for his next move.

"It seems that when tempted by two of the seven, I chose temperance…." Seven?* I turned my head to look at him over my shoulder. His eyes were already awaiting mine, "e cedette alla lussuria." [and gave in to lust]

It clicked for me then only as his eyes dropped to my collarbone. The hint triggered a gasp of outrage from me. Alec leaned out of the way, a smart move on his part, as I nearly slapped my hand on my neck. I ran my fingers over my skin until I felt the faintest bump, not dissimilar to the last time Alec had 'marked' my neck. It wasn't nearly as prominent yet, having only been a few hours, but my nerves flashed, and the butterflies fluttered as I recalled the train. I exclaimed in disbelief, "I can't believe you."

I sent him the dirtiest glare possible, but his laugh reverberated in his chest. "Consider, my darling, that you did challenge a rather famished vampire."

"I swear to god–"

"Yes, you never did finish that sentence, did you?" My eyes widened as I realised why. I swear, he chose words he knew would specifically make my heart pick up speed – entirely involuntarily. Even worse, I had no way to retaliate.

I smacked his arm. "I met an entire coven of vampires today!"

He rolled his eyes, still messing with me. "They did not see it."

"Yeah, if they were human," I scoffed. The first time he gave me a…hickey (the word was unfamiliar, even in my own thoughts), I couldn't even see it until the day after Heidi, Felix, and Demetri had pointed it out. Their vampire vision or senses or whatever somehow picked up on the early stages of Alec's brief lapse in judgement. However, days later, once I could see it, it hadn't bothered me as much as it should have, especially at that point in our relationship. It had been almost…. "First impressions are important – aren't we representing the Volturi? And now I look like some sort of trollop."

His smile became softer as he sought to tame my concerns. "I would not allow for such ignorant assumptions to be associated with you." He moved my hair back to cover my neck. "But while I favour the presumptions generated by your wearing my attire, I do believe our first impression was my motivation."

I blinked, just barely catching the confession he'd slipped in before pushing it aside in favour of the current topic. I scoffed, "that's completely asinine."

Alec raised an eyebrow, a habit I suddenly found distinctly more attractive. It nearly distracted me as he defended his actions. "We vampires tend to be very…possessive creatures."

"You don't own me," I reminded him.

He firmly agreed, "I do not." Alec returned to trace his thumb over the forming mark on my throat, and despite myself, I shivered in response to his touch. He smirked, "and yet…."

I smacked his hand, not quite as miffed as I wished to be. However, the embarrassment had faded as his fingers graced over the mark one more time before leaving my neck.

"You're such a boy."

He was truly taken aback, offended by my statement. I couldn't help but let out a small giggle at the look on his face. "I am over a thousand years old." He made a guttural sound, "I am no boy."

I was grinning but put my hands up in fair game. My attention returned to the glitter on his skin, but the novelty had been bypassed for the moment. "You know you don't have to be Batman, right?" Among the various movies the elite guard members had introduced me to, one of the genres I'd found a great deal of interest in was superhero action pictures. Oddly enough, they were a group favourite as well. "Even Bruce Wayne hung up the cowl every once in a while."

I could tell he had several retorts, no doubt fuelled by an impressive rationale. My argument may not have convinced him, but he still played along. "Who?" I punched his shoulder, mindful of the force I put into it before growling softly.

"That's not even funny." He was smiling, so he nodded at my glare. I'd become somewhat invested in the fictionalised hero. "Seriously. Jane and I, we're tougher than we look."

Alec chuckled, "you, my darling. You will never cease to amaze me." He knew he was sending another message to the butterflies in my stomach, but I couldn't help but smile back at him anyways.

Perceptive red searched my eyes, holding me in place. I could hardly think of looking away, especially now, for fear that I may not see them again. It was as if he were staring straight through to my soul, which was, I must admit, quite attached to his.

I began to brush the sand off my body when Alec made a noise from behind me. "I think you owe me an apology for that comment." I raised my eyebrows in giddy delight.

"Oh, do I?" I took a step towards him, making as if to touch his arm before declaring, "you're right. You look more like the Boy Wonder, anyways." I giggled as he reached out for me. I spun out of the way, turned, and ran the rest of the way to the water's edge. The sand fizzled under my feet, sinking me with every step. The wind swept through the air, propelling me forward, competing with the sand over who got to keep me.

Alec let me go, only using his speed once I'd arrived at the shoreline.

He caught me around my waist, and suddenly wind and sand lost their battle as he spun me into the water. I shrieked in-between laughs, slipping out of his grasp as a wave crashed around our calves. I bent down and splashed my own wave at him, evading his counterattack and moving into deeper water. I pushed the ocean to Alec again, drenching my shorts entirely in the process. Conveniently, I had also splashed his shirt as spots of dark green indicated the areas where saltwater was now invading the fabric.

Alec narrowed his eyes at me, and I bit my lip out of habit, backing away. He grinned, disappearing into thin air before succeeding in capturing me. His arms snaked around my waist from behind, spinning me in the water. My feet landed back on the ocean floor, and I turned my head up to him.

A roguish sparkle in his irises had me narrowing my eyes, attempting to calculate his end game. Until I realised he'd deliberately positioned us in the path of the next wave. He sacrificed himself to win the game I'd started as the roar of the sea filled my ears. The wave crashed on top of us, and his arms held me in place, keeping the wave from kidnapping me as well.

I was released, a lovely chime in the air causing me to scowl. I sent a small splash of water at Alec again, despite both of us being covered chest to toe in the salty liquid. My hair was almost entirely plastered to my skin. He reached forward and brushed off the few curls in my eyes that had also fallen victim to the water.

A whip of the wind found the dry sand beneath our feet once again. I let out a small shout, my fingers gripping tightly onto Alec's forearms at the sudden movement. When the world had stilled, Alec's chest was shaking, and I glared at him with as much seriousness as I could muster.

I shoved him, but the fullness of his laugh and the carefree nature of his smile…the genuine freedom in his instant of happiness. I smiled.

Alec's hand brushed the palm of mine before grasping it in his. The act, in itself, speeding up my heartbeat. With a slight tug, he gently encouraged me to take the step that bridged the small gap between us. My breath caught in my throat. I followed his gaze down to my hand cupped in his. His thumb moved slowly back and forth across my palm. The action was almost timid, but he didn't say anything.

He leaned forward, and my eyes shut as his lips touched my forehead. As he pulled away, he murmured demurely, "we should return." He took a step back towards the house and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

He didn't let go.

~•~•~•~

A/N: Final, official trailer for the story was created by Millie West thoroughlymodernwest and can be found on youtube by searching the title: Heartbeat [Alec Volturi] - Official Trailer, on the youtube playlist, or through the link on my profile.

I would like to apologise, but I am trying not to give in to my perfectionistic tendencies, and I think apologising only makes it worse. Still, I want to do so because this chapter feels, to me at least, a bit all over the place. The awkward/odd transfers in their behaviours were technically purposeful, but I ended up having to mess with the plot, so I'm struggling with balancing and developing Saffiya and Alec's interactions in a realistic manner - AKA: Dynamics. So, call me out if something is just not believable or too out of place. I'm reading and re-reading and writing these scenes, so I may be missing some obvious things because of this.

Thank you to everyone who has ever left a comment, voted, and read in general. And especially thank you to those that return to comment again and again. It's amazing and somewhat embarrassing how one comment on this can spur me into action for the story.

Fendera321, seleneariel, fishywishygirl, Guest, and Mari: As you wish ;)

Ariel: Damn, you caught me. It's a little messy throughout the chapters since they left Volterra because I forgot clothes were a thing normal people travel with. You might notice lines randomly where I try to slide something in to counter my mistake, but yeah we're going with no. They did not bring clothes. For some reason. My bad.

monyqsll: So sorry to keep you waiting, but thank you so much!

sab31897: Your comment made my day because casual interactions making readers feel or respond a certain way is probably something I work the hardest on. I think it's all in the word choice haha

Belle: What an interesting theory... ;)

Thank you for all the song suggestions! I've added them to the Spotify list, but have not updated the youtube playlist in a while. Let me know if you would like me to, if you ever use the youtube one.

The guest who left a review about making all your friends read this story: thank you so much! I'm honoured. I really hope you and your family and friends are all safe. I was thinking of you all week.

Happy New Year! As always, check for updates on my profile (I'm going to try to update you more regularly) and sorry for the long note!

Ro

*Alec's line regarding "two of the seven" is in reference to the Seven Deadly Sins. He is saying that during their moment on the train, he had two options - bite her and drink her blood (greed, the opposite of temperance) or give into his...ahem...hormones (lust). Just as the first time he gave her a hickey, choosing to do so instead of biting her, he is acknowledging a pattern of behaviour.