It was difficult to tell exactly where Aro was in my memories based solely on his reactions, but it wasn't hard to guess. Every so often he would let out a low growl that rumbled through his chest that I could only just hear. It took him so long to sift through everything that I had nearly drifted back off to sleep by the time he finished, comfortable where I was secured in his arms. I wondered if it always took this long or if he was simply being thorough.

"I will never let anyone harm you again, mia cara," he murmured, threading his fingers rhythmically through my hair.

I glanced up at his face, which was stormy despite his soothing words. "Don't-" I yawned, which effectively cut off my ability to speak for several moments. "Don't kill him."

"Sleep now," was all Aro said, moving to place me gently back on my mattress.

I grabbed his hand, relaying my thoughts to him rather than taking the energy to speak. Stay. Please.

"Gladly, bellissima," he murmured, settling back down to his previous position. In moments I had drifted back off, no longer fearful of nightmares, but not before I had one more quick, passing thought.

Aro had never agreed to my earlier request.

I woke more rested than I had felt in several days. I was still clinging to Aro, who had me tucked under this chin close to his chest, his eyes half-closed as he kept watch as I slept.

"Good morning, my dearest," he hummed, his lips ghosting a gentle kiss on my hairline. "How are you?"

"Okay," I said truthfully, rolling off of him to stretch, then nearly rolling off my bed in a clamor to stand. "I'm late!"

"Relax. Carlisle called you in sick, he said you needed the rest. He also believed that we needed to talk, though that was something I garnered through his thoughts," he said with a small smile. "It's just us here this morning."

That was a first. "Where's everyone else?"

"Esme and Carlisle are both out working, Rosalie and Emmett are hunting, and the rest of your siblings are at school, I believe."

"We can figure out how to spend our day as I eat," I suggested, pulling a brush through my tangled hair. I grimaced as it worked its way through the knots. "But I'm going to change first."

"Alright," Aro said, looking as if he was lost in thought.

I suppressed a grin. "I'm not going to give you a strip show, if that's what you're hoping."

"Oh! My apologies," Aro exclaimed, looking only slightly abashed. "Perhaps next time. I'll meet you downstairs."

He laughed and disappeared with a gust of wind, leaving me to stare open-mouthed after him. "Cheeky vampires," I finally muttered, dressing in jeans and a t-shirt before heading downstairs after him.

I made myself scrambled eggs, leaning against the counter as I stirred them within the pan. I could feel Aro watching me from where he stood, and while the silence wasn't comfortable it was clear he wished to speak.

I realized that I would have to be the one to break the silence. "You've seen everything now."

"Thank you for showing me."

"I got tired of hiding things from you," I admitted, glancing at him. I was able to read him well enough to know that he wasn't pleased with what I had asked of him the night before, though he waited until after I had finished eating to breach the subject again.

"What your father did to you is unforgivable. He beat you, I cannot-" He took a deep, unneeded breath, eyes dark with rage, and started again. "He does not deserve life after what he did to you."

I grabbed his hands, allowing my soothing thoughts to roll into his mind, and after several moments Aro's rage cooled. I stared into the fireplace. "I know you don't like it, Aro. But I can't be responsible for my dad's death, too."

"You were three, mia cara. Your mother's death was not your fault." I wanted to object, but admittedly he had a point. There was little I could have done.

"Please, Aro, don't kill him," I said softly.

"I promise I won't," he relented, though he clearly wasn't pleased about it. "Though I doubt Caius and Marcus will be quite as forgiving."

I let out a sigh. "I can deal with them. I was able to convince Caius to let me stay after Victoria, and my dad is much less of a threat."

"Don't remind me of the incident with Victoria," he said, and I could feel the growl of displeasure that rolled through his chest.

I shook my head, knowing that none of the kings would be truly satisfied until I was safe within the walls of Volterra. "And you believed Alice to be infallible."

"They left you alone-"

"I was with Caius," I interrupted. "You act as if he, of all people, would allow anyone to live after even thinking about touching me."

"A fair point," Aro groused, but I could tell he was still troubled by it.

"Let's play chess," I said, decisively changing the subject. "And I guess you know that I know that you're letting me win?"

"I thought I was being subtle," Aro said, a smile curling up his lips.

"Clearly not," I quipped, also grinning as we took a seat across from one another, chess board between us. "So should I call checkmate now or wait three moves?"

"So you were sick, huh?" Bella questioned when she first saw me Wednesday morning.

"Slept in. Carlisle is the best," I said with a grin, bumping my shoulder with hers in greeting as my arms were currently loaded down with books. "Nightmares, you know."

She grimaced. "Boy, do I. Edward said you finally showed Aro everything."

"There really is no privacy with him around," I grumbled. "I should have Carlisle call a meeting so he can lecture Edward on that."

"Please don't," Edward said, materializing by Bella's side as if he had been summoned. "I thought you wouldn't mind if I told her."

"It's fine, Ed," I said, tipping my books into his arms instead. "Here, hold these."

He didn't have much of a choice, but he nodded anyway. "Sure."

"Thanks. Don't tell Jasper, but you're my favorite."

"That's hurtful," Jasper drawled, amusement on his face as he walked up with Alice.

"It's nothing personal, Jazz. It's just Edward carries my books, and you don't."

"That's the qualification for being your favorite? Give me those, Edward," Jasper said, smiling.

"Nah," Edward said, easily dodging Jasper's attempt to take them. "I like being the favorite."

"Rowan! Hey!" Mike Newton showed up then, interrupting the conversation, though Jasper continued to half-heartedly attempt to steal my books from Edward. "Can I talk to you?"

I shrugged, sharing a look with Bella. "Sure, I guess. What's up?"

His words came out in a rush once we had separated slightly from the group - though I knew it wasn't enough for my siblings not to hear. "Uh, look, I was wondering if you would like to go out with me sometime. Like a date sort of situation, you know?"

I chanced a glance at Edward, who was looking my way with a smirk. He knew this would happen and didn't even try to stop it, the little shit. At this thought he chuckled and murmured something into Bella's ear.

"So?" Mike asked hopefully.

I tried to let him down easy. "That's really nice of you, Mike, but I'm already seeing someone."

"Oh. Who? Because it's obviously not someone from here, otherwise I wouldn't have..." He trailed off, looking embarrassed.

"You wouldn't know him, he's... in college. The son of a friend of Carlisle's," I lied, thinking quickly.

"Okay. Well if you ever break up or change your mind or whatever, let me know," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "See you around."

"See you," I said, relieved when he shot off. I stalked back over to Edward with a scowl. "You could have at least tried to stop him, you know."

"That would have been much less entertaining for us," he responded with a grin.

I hit him with my backpack. "I take it back, you're no longer my favorite brother. Jasper, congratulations. You've been promoted."

"I'm honored," Jasper said with faux seriousness.

"Aro's gonna be pissed about it though," Alice said, eyes alight with humor.

I rolled my eyes. "As if I would go out with Mike. Honestly."

"I'm just warning you, he may or may not want to kill him," Alice said. "Don't worry, you talk him out of it."

"Spoiler alert," I muttered, purposefully loud enough for them all to hear. They laughed as the warning bell rang. "That's my cue. Shall we, Bella?"

"What am I, chopped liver?" Edward asked.

I sent him a sideways glance. "That's what you get for making me have that conversation with good ol' Mike."

"Yeah, I deserve that," he muttered. "What do you want me to do with your books?"

"Drop them in my locker, if you please? It's not like you don't know the combination. And if you do that, I'll think about letting the Mike thing go."

"I'll be late," he complained.

"No you won't. C'mon, Bells, time for some more invigorating discussion of Shakespeare's greatest hits."

Bella let out a sigh, taking the playful arm I offered her. "Can't wait."

I was spread out in the backseat with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in one hand and sandwich in the other when Aro arrived. "Mia cara," he greeted me cheerfully as I bookmarked my page and leaned against him instead of the door. "How has your day been?"

"As well as it can be in this soul-sucking abyss," I said with a dramatic sigh, before my face dissolved into a grin. "Yours?"

"Better now that I get to see you," he said, happily accepting the hand I offered him to take in my thoughts.

"We saw each other like, four hours ago. You drove with me to school," I pointed out, though he would be able to glean from my present thoughts that I felt the same way.

Aro frowned deeply, and I knew he had reached the earlier situation with Mike as he let out a furious hiss. "The worthless boy thinks he has claim over you? Over what's mine?"

"Relax," I said, sending a wave of calm to him which he received through our connected hands. "Mike didn't stand a chance. I like you. And Caius and Marcus, too."

"But I'm your favorite?" he asked with a cheeky smile.

"Now that's not fair. I don't have a favorite," I said, which was the truth.

He let out a hum, calm now as he stared at our intertwined fingers. "Are you sure you have to return to your classes? You could just leave with me now."

"Yes, I'm sorry. But it's only for a month. Then I will be going to Volterra to stay with you, remember?"

"I remember." At this, Aro smiled. "We're excited to have you stay with us. Your wing is already under renovation."

"My wing?"

"You're queen now, remember? Ours most of all. You only deserve the best, and to be treated as such," he said.

I simply shook my head. "Alright, but still, a wing? What on earth will I do with that much space?"

"Whatever you'd like. Caius protested against giving you an art room, since he wanted to share his with you, but I told him that you can decide what you wish to do with the free rooms you will have once you arrive over the summer."

"Bella and Edward are getting married this summer," I said offhandedly. "So I'll need to be back for that."

"Naturally. We will be attending too, of course. Considering there will be additional vampires milling about," Aro said.

"Just the Denalis. You worry too much," I chastised.

"We cannot help it, bellissima. Your safety is of the utmost importance to us - as is your happiness," He said, cool lips pressing a kiss to the back of my hand.

As with graduation, I decided that this was not a battle worth fighting - it wasn't like I didn't want them there. "Alright," I relented. "But I'll have to convince Bella."

"Fantastico. I'm sure she will agree," he said happily, taking up the book I had discarded when he arrived and examining it. "I've never read Harry Potter. The guard has been raving over it recently, apparently the last in the series is due out soon."

"Yeah?" I said, brightening. That was something I had in common with the guard, at least. It also meant they weren't quite as old-fashioned as I had assumed.

"We cannot read classics forever," Aro pointed out with a smile, reading my thoughts. "Jane and Alec have been bickering over whether I'm a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw - whatever those are - for months."

"You're a Slytherin," I said instantly. "But yeah, a close Ravenclaw second."

"I shall read the series and get back to you," he decided.

I checked my watch. "Well, while you do that, I have to get back to class. See you after school?"

"Certainly," he said, giving my hand one last squeeze before slipping out, gone as quickly as he had came.

Edited 4/16/2021