Heartbeat [Alec Volturi]

False

Part 2

Maybe it was the way he watched me.

As often as it happened, it seemed almost involuntary. But every time I caught him, he'd wink and continue on until I succumbed to my own butterflies. You'd think that by now he would have grown tired of my face.

Alec gave a gentle, but firm kick to my shoe. Just hard enough to bring my full attention back on him.

"Ouch!" His eyes flashed with a fearful regret before the corner of my lips turned up in a mischievous grin.

"Very funny." He grunted, but I could see the hint of a smile sneak onto his face. He caught my eye, wiping it off his face when he realized I'd seen it. He pointed at the bowl of soup in front of me to distract. "Eat," he reminded me again.

"You're bossy."

He sighed, "please, tesorina."

I rolled my eyes, but the Italian whisper made my skin jump. "Why?"

"Because I would like to continue our conversation. And you, tesoro, get 'hangry'."

My jaw dropped and Alec's eyes widened. There was a pause before a bubble of giggles rose from my chest. Alec broke eye contact with me to drop his head in his hand.

"Say it again!" I requested eagerly through increasing laughter and he mumbled something incoherent, sending me into another little fit. Alec frowned at me, but glanced to the rest of the lounge before putting his head in his hand. I'd never seen him so out of his element and it was an endearing response to be a part of. His nose crinkled and he continued to furrow his eyebrows in an attempt to save face. He was nothing if not refined every second of every minute I'd known him. And this, was excellent.

My laughter had attracted the attention of the only other group in the lounge. He avoided my eyes as he rubbed the back of his head. "Saffiya," he begged.

I gasped out of my fit, uninhibited through the last of my giggles, "that was so cute!" My hands flew to cover my mouth, my own words sobering me up. Alec raised his eyebrow, eager to turn the tables back on me.

Refusing to wait for whatever witty, well-timed, comment he would use this time, I picked up my spoon. I was determined to ignore the arrogant, self-satisfied smirk on Alec's stupid face.

In between sips and avoiding Alec's eyes, I gave a polite smile to an older couple as they passed by us. The click of the door was confirmation that we were now the last patrons in the empty lounge car. I kept my eyes on the door, taking my time to breathe in the moment.

It was the how, of how this conversation would effect us that concerned me. I had failed to examine my own feelings prior, yet again, to figure out what I wanted. I knew what Alec wanted, and pushing his insistence aside had been my attempt to minimise the bias I had regarding him, within my own process.

Yet, it was impossible to ignore any part of him. My judgement was clouded and I was of the belief that this was a personal fault. The consequences of my previous decisions based on impulse and emotion were rooted in my memory. To avoid future unfortunate events, I had learned to make my decisions independent of rampant emotion whenever possible. Alec made me question my methods. To him, forever was truly eternal. When he spoke of mates, the prospect of 'falling out' wasn't a hundred-to-one, 99.9% chance kind of situation. It was invincible, indomitable, and unyielding in the purest form of its definition. The very idea was a concept I would never have entertained if not for my discovery of vampires. For Alec, I was now forced to consider that a biased decision was the only reasonable one to make.