"You can't pretend it isn't a possibility."

"I do not intend to," Alec assured the man like one would an impertinent child. "Your timing is convenient." His sarcasm was discourteous.

Whoever Alec was speaking with did not appear to be concerned about being on the receiving end of the boy's short temper. "You need to be more careful." The voice warned, aggravation ringing clear in his tone.

"I do not require a lecture, Cullen."

They seemed to have moved down the hall, and my curiosity got the better of me. I abandoned my chair and moved beside the open door. I knew they could've heard me, but both men were rather focused on their conversation, and there was no pause to indicate that I'd been discovered. I sat beside the door and leaned against the wall, trying to even my breath as I listened in.

The man kept pushing, "I was constant, frustratingly vigilant when Bella was human. If she had Saffiya's condition..." I strained to hear the end of his sentence to no avail. But, Bella. I knew that name. Alec scoffed, but the man was ready, "you came to me once before." This must be Edward, then.

"It is a settled matter."

I breathed in and out to control my heart, mimicking an unconscious pace in case they did decide to see if I was still asleep. The man I now assumed to be Edward took another approach. "Bella has offered to speak with Saffiya. It could help."

Alec responded without patience. "I won't have your mate filling her head with lies. No."

"Bella was struggling as much as I was." I'm not struggling.

Alec responded with similar spite, "I am not struggling. My control surpasses anything you could ever hope to achieve."

"You wouldn't be so arrogant if today had ended differently." That shut Alec up, and I was almost incensed by the statement, even if it was valid. "Maybe your control is greater than mine was. But when her blood is spilt, its call is stronger than you are capable of combating on your own."

Alec snarled lowly at the suggestion. He would never allow anyone in Volterra, save the obvious, to speak to him like this. Let alone stay in a hostile conversation where he did not have the upper hand.

Edward continued as if he were answering something Alec had said, but I hadn't heard anything. "Actually, I'm the only one that does." His voice lowered a last-ditch effort to get through to the red-eyed vampire.

There was nothing for a second, but I could finally make out Alec's voice modulating purposefully, "she is listening."

My heart jumped. Just once, I'd like to eavesdrop on a conversation without my useless organs giving me away.

I heard an unfamiliar chuckle as I pushed the door and poked my head around the corner from my spot on the ground, trying to convey my half-apology through the expression on my face. Alec and an unfamiliar, thick browed, golden-eyed vampire, already expecting me. The unknown male seemed amused as his eyes flashed between Alec and me.

"You are meant to be asleep," Alec chided. I stood and leaned against the doorway like a child trying to pretend they had no idea the cookie jar existed. Yet, the shift in his demeanour was instantaneous, and I caught the other man keeping watch over the process. Alec's crossed arms fell, and with them, his shoulders rolled back. He breathed out with his reprimand, but nevertheless, he raised his hand out for me to take, and I drifted to his side without another thought. Even though they'd been somewhat arguing, I was much too curious and eager to meet another of the Cullen clan.

The man offered me a kind smile. "You must be Saffiya."

"Saffiya, this is Edward. One of the many, many Cullens." Edward ignored his comment.

That's when I put it together. "You're the mind reader!" He chuckled again as I apologized for my outburst. There was no way they didn't know I was listening in earlier. Their conversation wasn't that intense...from my perspective. "I've just heard a lot about you."

"Not all bad, I hope." I scrunched up my face to try and think of a positive story.

The best I could offer him was, "probably."

"We were just finishing," Alec started to say.

Edward interrupted him, going serious once more. "I'm not sure we are." Alec scowled, his fingers pressing into my hips protectively and twisting in the loop of my jeans to keep himself from reacting in a manner unbecoming of a Volturi elite.

I spoke up before Alec could stop me. "It's not his fault." The other vampire furrowed his brows at my gull, and I felt as though I acted outside of the submissive bubble he'd already put me in.

Edward quickly recovered, however, as if he'd had the conversation before. "It is his responsibility to keep you safe in our world. Especially from himself."

"And you're gonna help him? Cause you were so great at it–" Edward's eyes widened, perhaps at the bold harshness I attacked a stranger with. I didn't intend to sound so mean. I only meant to defend Alec. My regret seemed to almost trigger a contemplative response in the other vampire, and it took me a second to realize why. I couldn't decide whether his gift was more helpful or intrusive.

Alec's hand slipped behind my back and came to a stop at my waist as he tucked me into his side. I was flooded with relief that he didn't hesitate to be close to me after what happened. Being away from him left a small weight in my chest until we were reunited, the intensity of which I still wasn't quite ready to admit to myself for genuine fear of its power. Hopefully, the action meant that he also found these dramatic reactions tedious. I would discover momentarily, however, that this couldn't be farther from the truth for him. His nose nuzzled my temple, an intimate action that Edward had conveniently turned away for.

He hushed me softly, "Tesoro." [Darling]

I peeked up at him, curious and mimicking innocence. Alec gave me a stern smirk, half pride, half warning, before looking back at Edward. I played with the end of Alec's sleeve, tugging at it like it was more fascinating than the conversation at hand. It took a minute for me to put together that their discussion was using Edward's gift, cutting me out of a new conversation. There was no opportunity for me to call them out as a second later, Edward nodded.

Topaz eyes examined me politely, a slight curiosity in his gaze. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Saffiya."

Feeling ridiculously out of the loop, I responded automatically. "You too?" With that, he left the hallway for Alec and me.

I lifted my head up, and Alec raised an eyebrow at me, a boyish smirk already on his face.

"You should be sleeping." I rolled my eyes and pushed off of him. He released me with ease, and I regretted the move, instantly missing his touch.

"You're so bossy." I mocked, pivoting back down the hallway with Alec in tow. "You and Jane, what's with you two?"

Alec waited until we reached my room to reply. Faster than my eyes could see, he shut the door and his arms flexed as they wrapped around my stomach.

"I almost lost you today." My head leaned back into the crook of his neck. His voice was thick, and his breath tickled my temple as he tightened his hold. His lips found the tender skin just below my ear, and I bit my lip, cherishing the stroll of electricity that rushed through my bloodstream. I squirmed at the ticklish sensation as they continued to grace and explore the bare skin along my shoulder. He pleaded with me in a whisper, "never do that again, do you understand?"

"To be fair, it wasn't exactly on purpose," I imagine he rolled his eyes before he squeezed my sides, ending my defence and finally sending laughter to my lips before he moved around me. His eyes flickered to my bandaged thigh, my hand and then to the new forming bruise.

He parted from me to collect a rolled-up bandage and a bag of ice from the top of the dresser and came back to me.

I narrowed my eyes at the items, but Alec cleared his throat, and I lifted myself up onto the edge of the bed. He set the bandage on the bed, coming to stand in front of me as he held out his hand.

I looked at it. "If we're playing pretend, you're doing an excellent Aro."

"Darling, give me your arm." My heart fluttered, and the will to ignore his requests went out the window when the endearment left his lips.

After placing the ice bag where he wanted it, he picked up the bandage and began wrapping it like an expert. "When did you learn how to do this?"

He didn't say anything at first before admitting, "I asked Carlisle to teach me."

I could feel the smirk growing on my face as he refused to look at me. And when he did, he narrowed his eyes and swiftly pecked my lips to throw me off balance.

When he'd finished, he set my arm on my lap and rested his hands on either side of me.

Alec's voice was soft, his eyes gentle and innocent as a puppy waking from an afternoon nap. It was a look I had not seen for quite a while. I'd missed it. "Forgive me?"

"What for?" He waited for it to click, patient as ever. "Oh." His eyes traced mine, and I was struck, as one often is in the presence of vampires, by the grace of his features. Goodness, he was handsome. I found his lips and shook my head. He was still expecting an answer, though he seemed amused by my process to give one. I said it as if it were obvious, "always."

His shoulders relaxed as if he were actually worried I would say anything else. But I should've known that would not be the end of it with him.

Alec joined me on the bed, laying down and pulling me into his side with a kiss on my forehead.

I lowered my voice as if that would somehow make our conversation private. "Why is Edward here, anyway?"

The familiar tug of his fingers twirling my hair allowed me to breathe a little easier. "I suspect Alice had a vision and summoned him to moralise us." I couldn't tell how sarcastic he intended to be.

"He kinda sounded like a douchenozzle." Alec's chest vibrated, and he leaned down to kiss my head. I tilted my head and pushed up to touch my lips to his.

"What happened to playing nice with the Cullens?" He murmured against my mouth; his voice was husky and more focused on tasting my lips than calling me out on the standard I'd set for him.

"Niceness associates with niceness." Alec parted from me, releasing a small chortle in amusement with my reasoning. "And he was blaming you for something that wasn't even your fault." I settled back on his bicep, staring up at the empty ceiling with him.

He didn't say anything at first, but his fingers eventually dropped my curls, neither of which I noticed until he spoke again.

"He was right."

I gripped his shirt in my fingers and shifted onto my stomach to face him, "pardon?"

"I nearly killed you."

I tilted my head to the side, debating as I traced a nonexistent pattern into his chest. "Yeah, but like, not really."

He frowned in the corner of my eye, and the commitment to the topic became more important to him. "Surely you cannot be so desensitised to my kind that you do not realise the danger you were in today?"

"I mean, sure. But nothing happened." I shrugged as best I could in my position. "All's well that ends well, right?"

"Cuore," he ran his hand down my arm, intertwining our fingers and turning my wrist over with his. He had rewrapped it without the ice to try and combat the swelling. However, it did little to change the mark's colour from his thumb, where the bandage wouldn't reasonably cover. The bruise was beginning to darken after these several hours, and it was, hopefully, not as bad as it looked. "I hurt you."

"It's fine." I rolled my eyes and protested, half trying to lighten the situation that I was sure was being blown out of proportion. "I'm alive; I'll heal. It's no big deal," I giggled at the rhyme.

He turned on me immediately. "Do enlighten me, Saffiya. I fail to see the humour in this discussion."

I pushed myself up to a sitting position, and we were already so close that my knees rested on the side of his thigh. But I hoped the change would help to better reassure him as I hardly placed my hand on his chest. I doubt he noticed, but I felt it supported my point. "It's just a bruise. It's not like you broke my arm or something."

Alec stared at me, astounded by my lack of alarmism on the situation. He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to reconcile my perspective. "This time, perhaps. But, if you were wrong? If I had broken one of your ribs, would you truly have been able to distinguish before it punctured your lungs – or worse?" I clenched my teeth, trying not to be bothered by his accuracy.

It didn't feel like a fair point to make, but it was. Alec was highly aware that I would not be able to tell the extent of damage inside my body, that my claim was impossible. I had been careless and arrogant, all the while being highly aware that more severe injuries could have been present or developed without professional care. Unfortunately, I hadn't recognised that yet. It had all seemed so tedious when surrounded by those with immortality.

I became defensive, and without thinking, "I check and recheck and check again after everything I do. Just because you can see this one doesn't mean your other ones are any different–"

Naively, I hoped he'd missed the specifics.

Something changed in the air around us. Alec's silence was deafening, striking a blow to my very core as soon as he stopped, and I had to process what I'd let slip. As far as he knew, the only injury I had was my hand, which he was very aware of and visible. My eyes widened, and he scowled, taking control of the situation.

Alec's hand gripped my thigh, and with a hand on my waist, he easily moved my left leg over his body. My hand relied on his chest for balance at the surprise move, but it hardly mattered. The arm around my waist tightened, and suddenly, I was on my back. Alec hovered above me, situated between my legs. While it was quite an intimate position, it was also an efficient way to subdue me if needed.

Except, a much more absorbing and volatile exchange at hand made his action irrelevant.

I tried to look anywhere that wasn't him, but I had nowhere to go. I wriggled under him as if I would ever willingly leave him despite my secrets, but it only brought his chest closer to mine. For a moment, I was frightened. Petrified of the secret I'd kept and the consequences that came with it. I was weighed down by something I didn't even consider relevant, an exact opposite of the ideals belonging to the man who was silently imploring me to meet his conflicted gaze.

I could resist no longer, and the testament in his eyes would forever haunt me.

There was a reflection of a single light in his eyes, piercingly bright among the other colours. Like fireworks, from the very spark igniting in the air with a million strings of red, forced to turn white against the background of the night. I was standing underneath them; the boom was my initial notice, and a radiation of light captivated a wiser soul than me. A soul that knew not to play with fire and knew perfectly well that it was the blood of a recent kill swimming in his eyes. A wise woman would run from that fact.

But I sought the flames. I desired the initial strike, the biting sparks lasting in the ashes scattered in the air while the fireworks exploded like rain. Not willingly. Naturally. Like needing to come up for air before the water filled your lungs. It was impossible to dominate the initial contact, but to return again – and again – and again. Searching for peace had become my favourite prayer.

Alec's hand raised to brush the stray hairs from my forehead, and his fingers intertwined within the waves of my hair. He returned to trail the side of my face. His thumb caressed my cheek, once, twice, until my eyes flickered open to see him.

I didn't realise he was working up the courage to prove my lie.

We stayed there, watching each other with a patient impatience that held us together like glue. Then, he made his move. His fingers drifted down the side of my neck and along my collarbone. His actions were deliberate, intimate, but this time, without a distinct carnal intent.

I took a small breath of surprise when he didn't stop at the v in my collarbone but continued down the exact centre of my chest to my stomach. He outlined my ribcage and ended just above my navel. The only skin on my upper body he was positive had nothing but the yearning for his return.

I was deprived of his eyes, but only briefly. When he got the strength to look at me again, it was for a purpose. His hand disappeared from my body. And then I felt the familiar cool touch of his fingers through my shirt, drifting purposefully across my abdomen and over my ribs. He was looking for the injury I had let slip, and he expected me to give it up.

He grazed over the sides of my waist. Would he know without me telling? Could he - his thumb brushed over the side of my rib and my eyes shut, breaking contact. Confirming his suspicions.

There was no distracting him this time as he started to cautiously move under my shirt. I inhaled sharply as my stomach flexed with the brush of his fingertips. He grasped the bottom of the fabric and hesitated. We'd been here before.

"Alec." I brought my hand down to cover his, the fabric falling. Our fingers interlaced without either of us initiating the action. I shook my head lightly as if this alone would change his mind. "Don't."

His jaw clenched at his name. "Show me." It was a request and I grimaced, biting my lip to hold myself together – anger and guilt and all.

I hated the weakness. It had always been there, but Alec saw through the walls I'd built to hide it. My condition littered me with weaknesses, but I'd never cared so much about keeping the effects of my condition under wraps. I hated that he took my bruises personally, blaming himself. That he hadn't gotten over the first one from before he even knew about my condition. They were just bruises. I'd walk away from a playground with the same injuries that I had now. It wasn't avoidable, and they were not permanent, but I'd seen their effect on him since day one.

I let go of his hand, consenting at his own peril. I was loathe to see the pain it would cause him. But it was his decision.

He used both of his hands to raise the shirt up to my stomach, stopping below my chest. My eyes shut tight, and my head leaned into the covers as his eyes fell to observe the 'damage' he felt responsible for.

"Oddio." [My god]

Travis had left remnants of his hatred for me that mainly encompassed my lower ribs and near my lungs. It was newer, dark, and unpleasant in its early stage. Alec's fingers briefly and with an oh so feather-light touch swept over the marks. Various scars and marks covered my stomach from my childhood, including a burn scar on the side of my ribs that was outshined by Travis' work. But I knew Alec would examine it all. This was an investigation. He might recognise the rug burn along my hipbone, but it was hardly visible anymore, at least with my eyesight.

I could no longer control my heartbeat. It sped faster and faster, and I swore I could see it beating under my skin.

Amazingly, astoundingly, Alec was not acknowledging my heart. His eyes had frozen and narrowed on the bruises that told their story loud and clear. Marks were left by the pads of his fingers and the bones that instructed them. They were specific and prominent on the sides of my waist, and they were undoubtedly his doing. Simply by saving me, he'd painted my skin with colours that had now faded to blue and yellow.

My eyes fluttered open to watch him place his hand over them as if to repeat the action. A perfect match.

He made a sound I'd never heard before, something guttural, innately dark and lowered my shirt back down my stomach. He moved off of me to stand at the corner edge of the bed.

"I want Carlisle to confirm." He grunted but didn't move. His focus, despite covering it up, had not left my stomach.

"I told you, it's fine."

He hissed at me, "you are not a physician." I did a physical double take at his tone, and his eyes softened.

With a more potent declaration, I informed him that "it doesn't matter. They're almost fully healed."

He crossed his arms and clenched his fists, turning away and theorising with the logic I'd attribute to the Cullens, rather than his own coven, "having the control not to drink your blood is not enough. I was a fool to believe it was."

"Damn it," I rolled my eyes and protested, getting off the other side of the bed. My mind was still half making fun of the situation that had been blown out of proportion. "Things happen whether I run into a table or punch a vampire." He didn't laugh. "This is my life; it always has been."

He turned on me immediately, "then how do you still not comprehend the gravity of your decisions?"

"It's just that – I mean, I get it. I do. I just don't see the point of making a big deal about it. I always have bruises, scars, all of it."

"That is different." He fumed, gesturing pointlessly.

Exasperation drowned my throat, "how?"

Alec snarled, "they do not bear my fingerprints on your skin!"

I leaned back against the bedpost, the admission taking the air from my lungs. Or was it the guilt that now decided to take refuge in place of air? It terrified my butterflies into submission and they could hardly flutter without being weighed down by their history.

"Why did you keep this from me?"

My eyes looked up, seeing his were already waiting for me. His fireworks were made darker by the distance, hiding within the midnight that centred them.

"I didn't think it mattered." Certainly not enough to put him through this.

Alec crossed the room to get to me. Cautiously, he lifted my chin. His eyes dashed across all corners of mine, into the depths of green and black to the outskirts of milky white. Like he was searching for something.

Whatever he was searching for, he did not find before his head tilted down to the side, listening to whatever the Cullens were whispering. I'd almost forgotten about them, and frankly, I was surprised that they didn't interrupt us sooner.

His hold on my chin tightened, not enough to hurt me but enough to gather my attention. His words almost broke when introduced to the air, "why does your life mean more to me than it does to you?"

I pushed him away a few moments before his gaze returned to my glare. Alec let out a breath of distress but turned his back and disappeared with a soft breeze.

Leaving me with two options.

~•~•~•~

A/N: This chapter has been casually edited since its first posting, so there have been some minor changes if you're a re-reader.

This chapter was necessary to address Saffiya's condition and its impact on Alec. Which, as you can see, is much greater than Saffiya has given you, as Readers, reason to consider. Some of you may see more validity in one perspective than another.

I've been ignoring my schoolwork entirely for the last week getting these chapters out. So be sure to check my profile for updates. I'll try to get something up on Fridays if I won't be posting.

Guest: For that reason, no, Zafir did not meet Razin. Okay, I just need to figure out the best way to put it up, so I'll make a note about it in a future chapter :)

sab31897: Yeah, I've mentioned before I'm strongly averse to writing sex scenes or anything to do with pregnancy/babies. But, I've already written quite a few scenes for Part 2 that would have you reaching for water. Not all of them will make it into the story, but Part 2 will be a little less innocent than this Part 1.

Cheers,

Ro