Infinite Bliss || Volturi Kings

|27| APPREHENSION

The trial that Eliana had been promised would be over by the time she left, unsurprisingly, was very much not over. Demetri and Afton had vanished to prepare the car to escort her to the airport, but the entire building was otherwise deserted.

With the trunk open, Demetri placed her suitcase inside, along with one that contained any belongings for the guard accompanying her. Afton was already in the driver's seat, turning the keys in the ignition which instantly started the radio.

While all this went on, Eliana leaned back against the side of the BMW, a half-finished bottle of orange juice in her hand. Her feet brushed against the ground in a bored fashion.

"I get that you want to wait for them," Afton said as he climbed out of the driver's seat so that Demetri could take over, "I do, Eli, but we really need to leave now. We're already eating into the 5 minutes I reserved for potential delays."

Eliana raised an eyebrow at him. "Isn't it a private jet?"

"A private jet, but unfortunately not a private airport," Demetri clarified.

His door slammed shut. She watched him through the dark tinted window, motioning for her to climb inside. Afton was already in the back, lounging across the seats with his feet up and his phone idly propped up in his hand.

Feeling more than a little dejected, Eliana relented and opened her door. Again, she didn't consider herself needy, but the complete lack of goodbyes she'd received, even if only going for a few days, sucked, simply sucked.

It didn't matter, she supposed. Two or three days was nothing, really, not exactly something to plan a full leaving party for. She could always message them later once they were out of their trial.

"Not going to say goodbye then, no?"

She gasped, turned around, and flung herself into Aro's arms without a second thought. Before her juice had a chance of staining his suit, he swiped it from her hands and held it some distance away (Afton took it from him less than a second later).

With his hands both free, it was far easier to hold her more comfortably against him. Her face was buried in his shirt, with her arms caught between them. He pressed his nose into her hair, inhaling her scent.

One of the perks of having Aro as a mate was that he always just knew, which meant that no awkward and wordy explanations were ever required. Before she'd fully formed her question in her head, it was already being answered for her.

"I'm afraid the other two have found themselves preoccupied," Aro informed her. He pulled away and stroked back her hair. "I apologise for the admittedly pitiful sendoff, amore mio."

"It's okay." She shook her head and pulled herself closer. "I'll miss you."

A cold finger rested against the bottom of her chin and tilted her head upwards. His lips met hers softly, his hand caressing her cheek. As she pulled away, he planted one last kiss on her forehead.

"And promise me you'll be careful," he insisted.

She playfully rolled her eyes. "Like I'm ever."

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The time she spent at home as usual that evening was brief. A taxi arrived to take her parents to the airport some time after 8pm, and they planned to be away for the following week, which left her in her room alone, a cardboard box open on her desk which gradually filled with some of her belongings.

Afton climbed in through the window and sat on the windowsill in the same spot Santiago had months ago. "Do you plan to mope all night? Just watching you is giving me a headache."