"How about this one?"

"No."

"This one?"

"No."

"This one?"

"Definitely not."

"What's wrong with it?" I asked, gesturing plaintively at the dress I currently held. "It's nice!"

Jane sniffed, turning up her nose at it. "It most certainly is not your color, my q- Rowan."

"It's not like it's traffic cone orange!" I exclaimed, waving around the mustard yellow dress.

"It might as well be," she said. "I'm looking out for your best interests."

"Let's see what Felix thinks."

"He doesn't care."

"We'll see," I said, whirling around to where Felix sat hunched on a bench outside the dressing room. "Felix!"

He looked up from his book when I called his name. "Yes?"

"What do you think of this dress?"

"I dunno. It's fine," he said, lifting his shoulder in a half-shrug as he looked back down at his book.

I let out a long sight through my nose. "Thank you for that enlightening response."

"Glad I could be of use," he intoned, not looking up.

"They carry it in green," Jane said, reappearing by my side and shoving the green dress in my hand. "Try this one instead."

"I'll try both."

The lift of her eyebrows was enough to tell me exactly what she thought of that plan, but she said nothing other than, "Very well."

I disappeared into one of the dressing rooms, changing first into the mustard yellow and then into the forest green that Jane had forcibly given me. When I was finished, I walked out and tossed the yellow dress to her without a word.

"Told you so," she said, looking incredibly smug as she darted off to put the dress back.

I sat down next to Felix. "Every time I think it's a good idea to go shopping with vampires, and every time I'm wrong."

"Hmm," he said.

"Are you listening?"

"Yes," Felix said, before reciting word-for-word what I had just told him, all while not looking up from his book. "This is why I order my clothes online whenever possible. Or just have Heidi buy them for me."

"Are you and Heidi..."

"A thing?" he finished, finally looking up. "Nah. We get asked that a lot."

"Probably because you spend half your time talking about her," Jane said, returning with another dress, four tops, and three pairs of shorts in her arms. "Try these on, I think you'll like them."

"If you say so," I said, taking them from her. My stomach growled. "But after this, lunch."

Nearly a week had passed since the fight that occurred between Marcus and I. True to her promise, Jane had taken me out shopping, as the sun was concealed by a thick layer of clouds, though it was still quite warm. Felix, taken both as a second guard and as designated bag-carrier, had actually volunteered to go with us. I strongly suspected he did this in order to avoid participating in trials all day.

We stopped by a quaint restaurant so that I could eat. Felix whipped out his phone and began texting rapidly as soon as he sat down. I raised my brow. "Anything you care to share?"

"Nah. Demetri has been bugging me all day, but he's just mad that I was able to get out of the castle with you," Felix said. "He's stuck in trial, apparently there's a weak shield that Master Aro is working on cracking but hasn't been able to yet. They've been at it for hours."

"That's rough," I said sympathetically as the food I ordered was set in front of me. "Tell him I said hello."

"Sure," Felix said. "Food any good? The secretary recommended it."

I took one bite, then another, before responding. "Yeah, it's great. I'll have to thank her."

"It's raining again," Jane observed, her chin propped on her hand as she stared out the window. The rain, which started coming down in torrents, sent pedestrians running for cover.

"I'm going to have Santiago check the weather radar," Felix said. "I don't like how light these clouds are looking"

"Isn't he in trial too, since you're gone?" I asked.

"Damn it."

I craned my neck to look up at the clouds outside. "I think we'll be okay, it doesn't look like the rain is planning on stopping any time soon."

"It better not," Jane grumbled.

"You know, I actually missed the rain. I honestly didn't think that I would."

"The weather here isn't usually very rainy," she said. "Do you not like the sun?"

"Oh, I do. But I've gotten so used to cloudy, rainy days that I miss it," I said, finishing the rest of my food. "Where are we going next?"

"Well, you probably have a sufficient wardrobe now, considering how many shops we visited this morning. Is there anything else you wanted?" Jane asked as Felix went up to pay the bill.

"Bookstore?" I suggested, never one to pass the opportunity to buy a new book. Combine that with the two second-hand bookstores I had seen during our trip and I was itching to visit.

"Sounds good," Felix said as he walked up. "I'm going to go grab the car."

"You'll get soaked, we can wait a few minutes," I told him.

Surprise crossed his features; he looked startled at my consideration. "Really, it's fine."

"Just wait, Felix. A few minutes won't kill us. It looks like the rain is starting to slow already, see? Give it a couple more minutes and it'll probably just be a drizzle."

He shrugged at sat back down. "Very well."

I was right, and several minutes we were all able to walk outside without fear of getting soaked to the bone. Felix grimaced as two children raced by, squealing and laughing as they jumped in the puddles left behind by the rain.

"Not a big fan of kids?" I asked him.

One side of his mouth turned upwards into an expression of wry amusement. "Yes. I'm not overly fond of children as a whole. They're loud and messy."

"What about Jane?" I asked.

Jane fixed him with an intense look that was closer to a glare, and Felix raised his hands in a surrendering gesture. "I don't consider Jane to be a child. Technically, she's older than me."

She seemed satisfied by this answer. I grinned. "So back a while ago, Marcus mentioned that you guard have a movie night. When is it and how can I get in on it?"

"Movie night is usually once a week, and it's tomorrow night at eight. Just come into the guard lounge, and bring popcorn if you want it," Felix said. "We're going to be watching Predator."

"Demetri's choice," Jane added with a look of distaste. "It's the third time in a row he's chosen it."

"That's fitting. Count me in," I said, grinning.

"Movie night?" Aro asked much later, after Jane, Felix, and I had returned from our shopping trip and the trials had been wrapped up. I had taken the time to show him my thoughts from the day, and this was the point that he fixated upon.

"Yeah, I figured it might be a good way to bond with the guard," I said.

Caius snorted. "The guard won't respect you if you start acting like one of them."

"On the contrary, brother, her bonds with the guard indicate that those guard she knows respect her immensely," Marcus said.

"And their memories reflect that," Aro added.

"Caius, I'm pretty sure the guard respects you because they're scared of you," I pointed out.

He sniffed, folding his arms over his chest. "As they should be."

I rolled my eyes and did not dignify his statement by responding. "All I'm saying is that your methods may work for you, but they don't work for me. I'm not exactly a looming figure of terror."

"True enough," Marcus said. "The guard could use someone who connects with them. It builds unity."

"Exactly," I said, nodding at him. "Movie night will be fun."

"I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself," Caius said. He was stretched out across his bed, legs crossed and eyes closed. "What's the feature film?"

"Predator. I've seen it before, it's a good movie. Demetri chose it," I told them.

"Appropriate," Marcus remarked.

"That's what I said," I exclaimed. My cell phone rang shrilly, cutting into the conversation, and I pulled it from my pocket. Seeing it was Alice, I answered it. "Hi, Alice!"

"Rowan!" Alice chirped, her tone assuring me that nothing was amiss. "I have news!"

"Do tell," I said, standing up to pace the room as I talked.

"Bella and Edward have set a date for their wedding!"

"Took them long enough. When is it?"

"August thirteenth. Which means I need you back in town by August first at the latest," she said firmly. "Oh, and Bella is letting me help plan the whole thing!"

I laughed. "I should probably call Edward to give him my condolences."

"Rude!" she exclaimed, though her tone was far from offended. "But I really would love you back before August first, I know Bella wants you here and she may actually be inclined to listen to you."

"I doubt that, but I'll see what I can do," I said, biting back an amused smile as the kings wore matching indignant expressions at my words. "Though I can't say it will be received well."

"Yeah, I can't promise that. They'll get over it," Alice said with a giggle. Caius scowled.

"Everything good over there, then?" I asked.

"Right as rain! We all miss you, but you're just a phone call away! Anyway, I need to get back to wedding planning, so I'll call you later. Oh, and expect a near-identical call from Edward in about half an hour. His will have a lot more complaining, though."

I grinned. "Thanks, Alice. Miss you guys!"

"Talk to you soon!" she said happily before ending the call.

"You're leaving early?" Caius complained.

"I don't think we ever set a day on when I would be going back. Even if I didn't leave until the first-"

"Which would be preferable," Caius cut in.

I ignored him, "-I would still have stayed with you for over a month. Plus, assuming Bella decides to make me a bridesmaid, I'll have extra stuff that I'll need to do before the wedding."

"We'll probably come a few days before," Aro mused.

"Look, I know I said that you guys might be coming, but that was before I knew that the only other vampires that will be coming are the Denali coven, we call them our cousins. Besides, it is Bella's wedding, I can't just invite people," I told them. "Really it's not fair to her. If you get invitations, then by all means. Otherwise don't worry about it."

"Oh, we'll worry about it," Caius groused. "We can't just leave you at the mercy of an unfamiliar coven-"

"Only unfamiliar to you, I've known them nearly as long as I've known the Cullens," I interrupted.

"Eleazar is a part of the Denali coven, and he is one of us, even though it's not in any official capacity," Aro mused.

"We'll see what happens, but we would feel better if at least one of us is with you," Marcus said.

I willingly agreed with him. "Having only one of you present may be less overbearing. I'll have to talk to Bella and Edward to see what they say, as it's their wedding."

"That seems perfectly fair, mia cara," Aro said. "Now, what are your plans for the rest of the evening?"

I shrugged. "What I'm doing now."

"Marvelous. In that case, may I steal you away?"

"By all means," I said, squeezing Marcus's shoulder as I passed him. "But we're coming back here?"

Aro smiled. "Yes, otherwise I do believe my brothers would start a mutiny."

I laughed, though Caius looked like he was considering it, so I shot him a smile. "We'll be back in a bit, then. I'll tell Edward that I'll call him when we get back." I pulled out my phone to send my brother a quick text, listening attentively as Aro spoke.

"I thought you may like another visit to the rooftop in time for the sunset, which should be in, oh," at this Aro checked his watch, "five minutes."

"You don't see many sunsets in Forks. For obvious reasons," I mused with an excited smile. I tucked my phone back into my pocket. "I usually try to draw them when there are, though."

Aro, whose expression mirrored my own, squeezed my hand. "You're in for a treat, then! Though it would be quicker if I ran."

"You're right, we don't want to miss the sunset," I said. He crouched down so I could hop up on his back and wrap my legs around his torso. "Onward!"

"As you wish," he said with a chuckle, and I shut my eyes as he ran. We made it to the rooftop in little less than a minute, where I was able to drop lightly on to my feet. The sun was low in the sky, casting a mirage of colors against the clouds that remained from the afternoon's rain. I watched, enraptured, as the sun sank lower and lower, the last rays of light scattering across the sky in a brilliant orange display.

"It's so beautiful," I murmured, eyes glued to the scene that looked like it came straight out of a painting.

The sun finally slipped below the horizon and darkness descended. Fairy lights, which must have been on a timer, flicked on as the sun had sunk below the horizon and bathed the rooftop in a serene glow.

Aro was staring at me with such ardent intensity that I felt my cheeks heating up under his gaze. "What?"

"The sunset pales in comparison to your beauty," he said, reaching out to brush his fingers down my cheek. My heart seemed to stutter at his actions, and when it resumed normal rhythm, was faster than before.

The air seemed to crackle with electricity in the moment before his lips caught mine. I sank into him, hyperaware of his hands on my back and the excited pounding of my heart. He kissed me slowly, carefully, as if I was the most precious thing he had ever touched. Only when my lungs seemed to ache for air did he pull back, and I pressed my forehead against his chest in the hopes that it would dispel the heat of the blush on my face.

"That was worth waiting for," he murmured, sounding as breathless as I felt. "I would wait a thousand more for it."

"Are you always this smooth?" I asked him.

Aro chuckled. "Only for you, carissima."

Edited 4/19/2021