Marcus was dismayed that I still had to go to school despite his presence. He was understanding, however, and was satisfied when I told him to meet in my car for lunch and that he could join me on the ride there and home. His presence had ceased being a source of uncertainty for me, to the point where it became more natural for him to be by me than not - especially since he rarely left my side outside of school hours.

His presence didn't stop me from noticing that Bella had been acting cold towards me recently. We were best friends, and I was determined to figure out what it was that I had done to slight her, so after a week of being given the cold shoulder I was determined to confront her at school Monday.

I met her at her locker that morning - though it wasn't such a feat, considering our lockers were beside each other. "Hey, Bella. How are you?"

"Hi, Rowan. I'm fine, thanks. You?" She gave me a tight smile.

"Good. Look, did I do something wrong?" I asked, getting straight to the point as I leaned against my locker.

Bella looked surprised at my question, her lips parting slightly. "Um... no?"

"Then why have you barely been talking to me? You know I would have stayed with you in Forks if I could have, right?" I asked. I wanted to make sure that she knew that I didn't want to leave her here - that was all Edward, who I was still somewhat annoyed at.

"No, no, I know. It's just..." She trailed off with a shrug.

"It's what? I can't fix whatever is wrong if you don't tell me."

"I know it wasn't your choice. It's just the whole thing with the kings has got me kind of... weirded out," she admitted.

My mouth formed an 'o' of realization. "That's what's been bothering you?"

"Well, they're just so much older than you. And they kill people, and I was - am - worried that you will change," she said.

"Bella, the Cullens who haven't slipped up and killed someone are Carlisle and Rose. It's in their nature. Don't act so surprised, even Edward isn't perfect," I said. "But what Edward has done isn't my story to tell. My point is, the Cullens are the exception to the rule. And just because I'm with the kings doesn't change me. The bond doesn't bring together those who are incompatible, it doesn't work that way. It brings together those who already fit. I don't have to change myself to be with them."

My tone was firm but kind, and the words seemed to soothe her worries, since she nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Of course I'm right. This is me we're talking about," I said cheekily, looping my arm around hers. "C'mon, we're going to be late for English. Are you still grounded?"

Bella sighed. "Yeah, I am."

"Don't worry, I'm sure your dad will make an exception for me. How about we do something later this week?" I suggested.

"Yeah, okay," She agreed, and we separated to go towards our separate seats in English.

It turned out that straightening things out with Bella had been a wise choice, especially after Marcus left that Wednesday, shortly after I had gotten home from school. I had wrapped him in a tight hug before he left, which he didn't seem to expect, but it lit his face up with a smile and he pressed a hesitant kiss to my hairline.

"Don't worry, my heart, I won't be gone forever, and you'll be seeing Caius soon," he murmured. I'm sure he meant the words as comforting, but my fragile trust didn't transfer over to Caius, whom I was perhaps the most nervous about being alone with due to his fiery temper. As a result, I stiffened. Marcus gave me a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "You don't have to be scared of him, Rowan. Caius would never dream of harming you."

I nodded, uncertain, but whether or not Marcus was correct was yet to be seen. "Okay."

"I'll see you soon," he said with a smile, finally releasing me from his gentle hold. "Don't get into too much trouble while I'm not around, hmm?"

"I make no promises. But I'll try," I said with a smile. Unlike Bella, I didn't have an outrageous tendency for trouble, so I doubted he had much to worry about.

I paid Bella a visit at her home the following day, unannounced but not unwelcome. It seemed that Edward was the only one of the Cullens that Charlie had an issue with, as he invited me in warmly and told me that Bella was upstairs.

"Hey," she said, startled when I walked into her room.

"Hey Bells," I greeted, flopping down onto her bed beside her.

"Edward said Marcus left yesterday," she said. "How are you doing?"

I offered her a shrug in response. "I can honestly say I don't blame you for cliff jumping."

"I was doing it for fun!" she exclaimed indignantly. I offered her a grin, signaling that I was simply teasing, and she huffed. "You're horrible."

"Yeah, yeah. How did you bear it, with Edward gone? I feel like I'm trapped in my own skin," I said, resting my head on her bed and closing my eyes.

"I didn't," I heard her admit sheepishly. "I withdrew from everyone."

"Do you have any tips besides becoming a social recluse?" I quipped, and she smacked my shoulder lightly. I snickered.

"Just keep busy, that helped me," Bella said.

Fortunately, that wasn't hard. The Cullens and Bella were more than willing to keep my mind off things until Caius' arrival the following Thursday. The only forewarning I received that he had arrived was Alice mentioning this as we turned into our driveway.

"Alice, why are you like this?" I grumbled. "Can't you give me a little more warning than two minutes?"

"Absolutely not. Surprising you is so much more fun, especially with how mopey you've been," she chirped.

I hmphed. "I haven't been mopey."

"Don't worry, we don't blame you for it, it's really not your fault," she said, ignoring the glare I sent her way as she parked the car. "I'm just saying you have been mopey. You didn't even want to go shopping with me yesterday!"

"Because we went two days before that!" I protested, slinging my backpack over my shoulder as we headed up towards the door. "You are the only person I know that somehow runs out of new things to wear within a week."

"That's not true. I just like variety." She held open the door for me to walk through.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever you say, Alice."

"I don't appreciate the sarcasm in your tone. I'm your elder, you can't talk to me like that!" she said playfully.

I laughed and threw my blue-knit beanie at her - she caught it easily. "I'll talk to you however I want!"

Esme appeared, wearing an amused smile and successfully ending our argument. "Welcome home girls. Caius is waiting in the living room for you, Rowan. He's speaking with Carlisle."

I was half-surprised that Caius was actually able to carry on civilized conversation with the Cullens, but remembered that he and Carlisle went much further back than the rest and Carlisle had likely earned at least some form of his respect.

"Thanks, Esme," I said, hanging up my coat. I left my backpack at the foot of the stairs, resolving to take it up to my room when I went, and headed off to battle.

Edward, who had been walking down the stairs as this crossed my mind, lifted his lips into a smirk and squeezed my shoulder. "It'll be fine."

If you say so, I thought to him, and he chuckled, bringing his lips close enough that they brushed against my ear as he murmured quietly so as not to be overheard. "I know. He's very excited to see you. And very impatient."

This settled me slightly - it was no different than Marcus, really - and I gave Edward a smile. Thanks. He nodded and sent me a wink, and I didn't need to read minds to know his response: any time.

Suitably heartened, I followed Carlisle's light voice and Caius' low lilt into the living room. Caius' eyes snapped to me almost instantly, and he sent me a genuine smile as he stood, ruby-red eyes warm. "Rowan."

"Caius," I said, sending him a hesitant smile.

He turned towards Carlisle, expression hardening minutely. "Excuse us if you please, Carlisle?"

"Of course," Carlisle said, lightly squeezing my shoulder in greeting as he passed.

There was what I perceived to be an uncomfortable silence that lasted for several moments, in which Caius checked me over with sharp eyes as if for any sign of injury and I fiddled uneasily with the hem of my shirt, wanting nothing more than disappear. I felt that such an action may irk Caius, however, and abstained.

"I'm quite sure my brothers were glad to be rid of me." Caius finally spoke, his voice soft and near enough to uncertain that it startled me.

I took a nearly imperceptible breath to steady myself and allowed my lips to quirk upwards into a small smile. "Why's that?"

"The mate bond. I'm sure Marcus mentioned it's hard for us to be apart from you, and it left me more... irritable than usual," he admitted, taking a hesitant step forward. When I didn't shy away as I had done the first time we had met, he smiled.

"You'll be happy to know it's not one-sided," I said, passing him to sit down in the corner of the couch.

"On the contrary, love, it kills me that you must go through it too. Most humans pay the mating bond no mind - especially if they meet their mate only once - though Aro suspects that your knowledge of the bond combined with there being three of us instead of one contributes to your strong awareness of it," Caius said.

"That makes sense," I said, sensing that he wanted to sit but wasn't quite sure if I'd welcome him being so close. "You can sit, Caius."

"I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, though Marcus had assured me that he had eased your worries about us," he said, sitting down beside me. He left enough room that I was comfortable, but the arm that he stretched over the couch caused his fingertips to just graze my shoulder.

I didn't quite mind the contact.

"To a degree. Trust isn't something that comes easily for me, even now," I said. A muscle in his jaw twitched agitatedly at this admission, but he gave no other outward sign that this bothered him. I was growing used to the fact that they weren't angry at me, but at the person that had caused it.

Caius crossed his legs, still angled towards me. "I can sympathize. Though you can rest in comfort knowing that we would never lay a hand on you."

"I know," I said, after studying him for a moment and reading nothing untruthful in his steady gaze.

He sent me a quick smile at this, and changed the subject. "Marcus tells me you draw?"

"Some. Not very well, and not people. I can never get the expression right," I told him. "But I can show you, if you'd like. My sketchbooks are in my room."

"Lead the way," He said, standing lithely and following after me like a pale shadow. I bent to retrieve my backpack to carry upstairs, but he was quicker than I was, grabbing it and slinging it over his shoulder before I could reach it.

I turned to him, eyebrows raised, and couldn't help but smile at the sight of the feared Volturi leader carrying a backpack. He smirked. "What?"

"Nothing." I shook my head with a light laugh and lead him upstairs. Of the Cullens, Edward and I were the only ones to still have rooms to ourselves, though Edward hardly spent any time in his anymore considering he was almost always with Bella. My room was situated near the back, nestled in the shade of the tall pine trees that surrounded the house, leaving the room dimly lit a majority of the time which was the way I tended to like it.

Still, I turned the light on when we entered which dispelled most of the shadows. "Just set my backpack anywhere, I'll have to do my homework later anyway."

"What sort of things do schools require now?" He asked curiously, moving in a few long strides to set my backpack by my desk.

"Math, English, history, science, P.E., that sort of thing," I said with a shrug. "It's standard almost everywhere."

"Interesting," was all he said, flitting throughout my room to take everything in - one of Esme's drawings, which hung framed on the wall; the well-worn books that lined my bookshelf; and the pictures scattered about featuring me and various members of the Cullen clan.

"I moved in with them when I was fourteen. That's one of the earliest pictures of me with any of them, I think I was just fifteen," I told him, sitting down in my desk chair and watching as he examined a picture of Emmett and I with interest. It was one of my favorites of the two of us - Emmett had me hoisted up on one shoulder, laughing, with Edward's grand piano balanced on the other. Edward had been furious when he found out we had manhandled his piano, but it was the first time I had genuinely laughed in a long time.

"They care for you very much," Caius observed, after looking at several of the other photos - one of Alice and I, buried under a pile of clothes that she had bought for me on a shopping spree, another of Edward and I making a snowman together in Alaska, and another of Jasper and I leaning against each other as we read.

"Of course they do. They're my family," I said softly. Caius had picked up the picture of Emmett and I again and I took the chance to open my bottom drawer, taking out the oldest photo I had. This one was framed like the others, but I hadn't set it out.

"This is the earliest one I have," I told him, and he walked closer to take the picture from me. His head tilted to one side as he looked at it. It was me with family, my real family, before everything had gone so wrong. I was held between my parents, sporting a broad, chubby-cheeked smile, and my parents beamed at the camera from either side.

"You were so small," he said with a soft smile.

"I was two. That's the only picture I have from before..." I trailed off with a shrug, looking at the floor.

His cool fingers were gently against my skin as he steered my chin up to look him in the eye. "Thank you for showing me."

"Of course," I said, staring with wide eyes as he pressed a featherlight kiss to my forehead.

He chuckled upon seeing my expression, knowing I was startled rather than scared by the gesture, and moved to flit around my room once more. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts, and placed the picture that he had at some point returned to my hand back to the drawer.

"You said you wanted to see my drawings?" I asked even as I opened the first drawer of my desk, pulling out the top notebook. There were a lot in there - it was organized chaos more than anything - but only the top one held any drawings of real talent.

"You have a lot of notebooks," Caius observed, snatching a few before I could close the drawer once more and settling himself on the edge of my bed.

I could feel myself blushing. "None of those are any good, I'll have you know."

"They're not so bad," He said, flipping through the pages. Most of them were of nature, but there were some pathetic attempts to draw various Cullens which he chuckled at. "I can give you some pointers on drawing people, if you would like?"

"You draw?" I asked in surprise.

"Well, paint. But I can draw just as well. I find art to be soothing," he said, as if needing justification for this.

I walked over to sit by him on the bed. "You don't to rationalize what you enjoy doing, Caius. It's alright to just enjoy things."

"I wasn't rationalizing," he said, perhaps a little too quickly, which was enough to tell me that he most certainly was. I shook my head in amusement at this as he finished looking through the second notebook he had snatched.

"These are my most recent drawings. I want to draw a sunset, but we don't get to see many of those around here," I told him. "Though I'm not sure I'd be able to get the colors right. There are some things that just can't be reproduced."

Caius sighed, as if he had recently experienced that exact struggle himself. "You are quite right on that count. These really are quite good, you're better at this than you give yourself credit for."

"Perhaps," I conceded. "You'll have to let me see your own work someday."

"Anything for you, love." There was a certain tenderness to his words, and I knew that he wasn't just referring to showing me his paintings.

Edited 4/16/2021