SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

T R E N T U N O

With a sad smile on her lips, she curled her arms around her father's figure one last time. They were leaving for Alaska, the three days they'd spent together flying by like someone had sped up the time. She tried to remember everything about her mother, the hard feeling of her skin and the sweet smell of her perfume, before releasing her again.

The tears were burning Cecilia's eyes and a smothered sob left her mouth as she focused her eyes on her parent's faces. Both were smiling calmly, but she knew that if they had any tears left to cry, their cheeks would be stained.

She put a step back, leaning into Demetri's strong embrace as she waved at her parents. "Have a save journey."

"Good luck, honey," her mother said. "Be strong."

Cecilia nodded, biting down hard on her lip to keep her emotions in check. She didn't dare to speak, afraid that her voice would crack and she would break down sobbing. It would only make it harder on her parents, who were quietly leaving the castle through some back doors. She forced a smile on her face as her father turned around to look over his shoulder one last time, before the doors closed after them.

Not being able to contain all her emotions a second longer, Cecilia broke down in tears, loud sobs escaping her mouth. She let herself be pulled in Demetri's embrace, curling her arms around his waist as she cried in his chest. The feeling of homesickness, the one that disappeared once she had all of her loved ones around her, crashed over her in tenfold, making her only cry harder and more pathetically.

"Hey, it's alright, cara mia," Demetri said, his voice soft and gentle. He leaned his head on hers, one of his hands brushing her hair soothingly, while the other stroked her back. "It's alright."

"I'm missing them already," she whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut. She felt pathetic, not for missing her family, but for having a full breakdown in a castle full of vampires, all of whom could hear her. She let out a sigh, trying to focus on her breathing. Breathing was the key to everything, she believed, and it proved her right once again as her sobbing slowly turned into shaky breaths.

She forced herself to pull away from Demetri, and looking in his red eyes, she felt some of her sadness ebb away. A feeling of warmth settled in her stomach as she felt his cold fingers remove the tears from her cheeks, gently, as if she was made of china. At least she still had him, when the rest of her family was thousands of miles away.

Grabbing his hand, she pulled him in the direction of the gardens, a place that somehow always managed to calm her down. Maybe it was the peace and calm it offered, something so in contrast with the things going on inside of the Volturi. Cecilia felt him squeezing her hand, ever so lightly, and she looked up, still amazed at the way his skin shattered in reflection of the sun. He looked like a war hero from Homerus's stories.

"Have you already settled on a day?" Demetri asked, as he focused his eyes on the path they were walking. He was talking about the day he bite her, turning her into the creature she was surrounded with.

"As soon as possible," she said, nodding to herself. With her free hand, she brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She had been preparing for the moment for over a month now and she simply couldn't wait any longer. She knew it was going to be excruciating for three days and she'd rather have it over with. "If Aro will allow it, tomorrow will be the day."

"Tomorrow?" he repeated, a look of shock crossing his face. He pulled on her hand, their eyes meeting not a second later. "Are you sure that's not a little rushed?"

"No," she said determinedly, shaking her head with a convincing smile. "I've been waiting for this moment my entire life, Demetri. Especially the last five weeks I've had a tremendous amount of time to consider it. I'm ready."