After so many months of waiting, I have finally managed to rope this into existence. Not going to lie, this chapter was hard to write because I had so many ideas, and I realized that this was the first chapter, and not all of my ideas- had to go in this one chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoy and love Bella and Caius's energy- I have so much planned!

Summary: It's been a month since the events of Never Expected This, and Bella has fallen in love with Caius. Though his devotion to her has never wavered, Bella finds herself in a quiet war within herself. As much as she wants to trust him, deep wounds refuses to fade easily. Now with a second chance at love, Bella must decide whether she's ready to let go of the past and embrace the future, or risk loosing the people that cares for her.

Bella POV

Life can change in a blink of an eye. And no matter how true we wish that saying wasn't true- it is. In more ways than one.

If someone had told me that I would end up in Volterra- surrounded by the Volturi- I probably would have laughed, or cried, one of the two. Yet, here I am, enthralled by one of the vampire royalty. And… somehow, I find myself falling in love with him.

It sounded crazy, as most of the Volturi kings already had mates, yet, somehow- I was the mate of one of them. One that was known for his cruelty, for his infamous temper, someone feared by everyone who crosses his path.

Everyone… expect me.

Though, I've seen Caius's tantrums. I've been on the receiving end a couple of times. But he always apologizes. Always looked at me with remorse, and regret as the unfamiliar words tumbled out of his mouth- and made sure that he always listened to what I had to say.

He tried so much.

And I wish I could say the same.

But I couldn't.

I've had my heart torn open one too many times. I let someone in- someone who saw how lonely I was and took advantage of it. He took everything I had to give- my love, my trust, me- and twisted it into something he could control. He made sure that I believed I couldn't survive without him, that he was my oxygen. That without him, I'd suffocate.

And the worst part is…

I almost did.

When he left, my entire world shattered. I collapsed inward. Spiraled so deep into depression I barely existed. Days bled into nights, and I felt nothing. Wanted nothing. I walked through life like a ghost, hollow and numb, going through motions because I didn't know how not to. Just surviving, waiting for something to matter again.

That version of me… I barely recognize her now.

And yet, she still lives with me.

Quiet. Lingering. Waiting.

But here, in Volterra, against all odds, I've started to feel again. Emotions I thought I'd buried flicker to life in the quietest moments. Hope. Even happiness, as unfamiliar as that is.

Even with all the chaos that brought me here- from nearly dying from a vampire that wanted nothing more to get her revenge on me, or getting dragged to Italy to stand witness in my ex-boyfriend's trial. I wouldn't really change it, besides the whole Victoria thing.

Not if it led me here.

"Are you okay?" Caius's voice pulled me from my thoughts, a gentle thread of concern laced through the otherwise cool tone he usually carried. "You look... lost."

I glanced at him, giving a soft smile I hoped looked more convincing than it felt. "I'm okay," I replied. The words slipped easily off my tongue, even if they weren't entirely true.

"You're sure?" he asked, studying me.

"I'm just thinking," I said with a shrug.

"About?"

"That's the thing about thinking," I teased lightly. "It doesn't always like to be shared."

Caius gave me a small, almost amused smile, but said nothing. He didn't push. That was what I appreciated most about him- he didn't press, didn't pry, didn't try to pull the answers out of me as if they were owed. He waited until I came to him. It was comforting, in a way I'd never known.

Still, I knew it hurt him. The distance. Not being able to reach the parts of me that still felt locked away behind a wall of pain and memory.

And yet, he never made me feel guilty for it.

Even though I knew it hurt.

He didn't say anything, but I saw it in his eyes sometimes- in the way his gaze lingered just a moment too long, or how his jaw would clench slightly when I pulled away. In the quiet tension that lingered when I didn't answer fully. It frustrated him- to not understand me. To not fix whatever was wrong.

It wasn't like I could blame him for that.

He didn't understand the complexities of being human. And why would he?

There was no need too. The Volturi didn't need to care about human concerns. Most of the humans who worked in the castle were temporary- useful until they weren't. I'd learned that this past month I've been here, some of them were disposed of quietly. Others simply vanished when things got inconvenient.

I was the oddball in all of this. A human who didn't disappear.

A human who mattered.

The thought echoed in my mind like a whisper I wasn't sure I was ready to hear.

Because mattering meant being seen. And being seen meant being vulnerable. It meant there were pieces of me- the raw, jagged pieces that I worked so hard to hide- were exposed. And someone could hurt me again, even if they didn't mean it.

Still, Caius tried.

And that meant more than he'd ever know.

Just like how his presence brought out something that I never thought I would imagine myself to have. Him, this place, this life felt like I was living in some kind of fairytale. But for the first time, I can almost believe that I'm allowed to be happy. That maybe, just maybe, this isn't a dream I'll wake from.

But that doubt still lingers.

Maybe this was all fake.

Some elaborate fantasy I'd conjured in the aftermath of the loneliness that envelops me, of the pain that kept me here. Maybe I was dreaming. Or worse- delusional.

Maybe… I don't deserve this.

Maybe… I was too broken.

Too much.

Because how could someone like me- fractured, messy, full of bruised memories and scars, would ever be worthy of having something like this?

Of someone like him?

Someone who looked at me like I was whole.

Like I mattered.

Like I wasn't just the aftermath of someone else's abandonment.

And that terrified me more than anything else ever had.