SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

C I N Q U E

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow morning?" Cecilia asked as she took a seat on the couch in the living room. Carefully, she pushed her hair behind her ears, making sure not to damage the nails Alice and Rose had just painted.

It was 10 PM, which meant that the Volturi would be on their doorstep in exactly twelve hours. She'd left the scheming and plotting to her family, instead spending time with whoever wanted to entertain at that moment. Today, she and her father had taken a long stroll through the woods surrounding their home, she'd listened to Jasper telling stories from his time as Major, baked cookies with her mother, tried out a new piece on her violin with Edward and played games with Nessie and Jake. They'd somehow managed to cramp two weeks worth of memories in two days and though she didn't exactly want to admit it, she was glad all of them distracted her from her own terrifying thoughts.

Somehow she managed to keep up a mask in front of her family, more for their sakes than her own. Or that is what she told herself at least. The calmness she'd woken up with yesterday had gradually turned into uneasiness that made her feel like her life was a porcelain vase carried in the hands of someone walking a thin piece of rope spanned between two tall buildings, about to shatter in thousands of tiny irreparable pieces any moment.

Jasper had tried to calm her down, but that had only made it worse and he'd given up on it after that.

"We'll go for honesty," her father said after a painful silence.

"Meaning?" she asked, her dark eyebrows raised high.

"Meaning you're coming with us to the clearing where we will meet them and we're going to tell the truth," her father elaborated. His eyes shifted from her to his wife, who gave him a reassuring nod. "And hope that something we say will change their minds."

"I still think we can take them on," Emmett said, looking pumped up. He'd been restless ever since Alice's vision. 

"You're on your own on that one," Rose said, giving her soulmate a short slap on his knee. 

Carlisle nodded. "You can't just take out the royalty and expect to live afterwards."

"Alright, I'm all game with honesty," Cecilia said, clapping her hands together with an enthusiasm she did not feel. She straightened her spine and jumped up from the couch, remembering she still had to finish Hymn to Aphrodite, since she hadn't been able to do so in the last two days. "See you all tomorrow, lads."

She quickly turned around to flee to her room, where she could mull over her terrible thoughts and wail in her own misery with a fake sense of privacy. She knew they would hear her toss and turn, maybe even let a slip a tear or two, but at least she could pretend they didn't.

"Can I talk to you for a moment, honey?" her mother called after her, causing her to halt instantly.

She didn't dare to turn around in fear of her mother's face, so, instead, she faced the flight of stairs. "No, I really want to finish Hymn for Aphrodite."

She wanted to continue her get-away to her room, but she knew she wasn't being fair, so with a little sigh, she turned around to face her mother. She'd been right to fear the expression on her mother's face. It was a mix of devastation and horror that made her own heart cry. She felt her eyes burn from tears threatening to spill, her throat ache from heartbreak. She struggled to find words.

Cecilia might excel in certain subjects and skills and she could even be considered as a social butterfly, always finding something to talk about, but the thought of expressing her emotions made her freeze up like she'd been left in the blistering cold for weeks and turned her usually with witty remarks filled brain dry. She found conversations with true and deep emotions more excruciating than shopping with Alice and Rose, though she had no idea why. Her whole family had always been really open to her, never pushing or forcing her to talk, but she just never felt comfortable letting her heart air out.