*
Sophie had the house to herself the next day. Her father would be at work until late and Bella was hanging out with Edward once again. She had turned down the invite to go to their house, mainly since she knew none of the kings would be there today.
According to Carlisle, anyway.
Sophie's fingers released their hold on her spoon, the metal clinking against the side of the bowl. The tv was on low, mainly used as background noise while Sophie ate before she continued her work.
After placing her half-finished snack on the table, Sophie picked up her sketchbook and flipped open to the page she was working on. She was only adding the finishing touches to her drawing of the meadow, relying solely on memory since she wasn't ready to go back there just yet.
She knew Laurent was dead now, but she didn't want to risk running into Victoria or any other vampire who may be on the hunt.
The whole situation still made her blood boil. She was angry and worried for her sister, mainly because she wasn't sure when or if this would end. Sophie wondered why Edward had lied to Bella, telling the girl they were soulmates when they actually weren't.
She wondered if Bella would believe him if he ever told the truth. Would Bella believe Sophie if she were the one to tell her?
The tv droned on behind Sophie as she blended the different colors together, stopping every once in a while, to take a look at the bigger picture. It was really starting to come together, her use of color and style causing the drawing to look more realistic.
She had just set down another colored pencil when the doorbell rang. Sophie glanced at the time with a frown, wondering who could be coming to her door this early. She abandoned her work on the couch with a sigh and stood up to make her way to the front door.
Before opening the door, she peeked out the window to the side in case it was someone she didn't know or feel like dealing with. With her newfound knowledge of the supernatural world, Sophie was much more conscious about answering the door.
Her worry dissipated as soon as she saw the blonde vampire on her porch. Caius looked out of place, standing with in a black cloak and fancy-dress clothes. His pale face was twisted with a scowl and Sophie had to bite her lip to contain her grin.
After what Aro had said the day before about Caius, Sophie knew she shouldn't be surprised by his presence.
Realizing that she had prolonged his entry long enough, Sophie moved back from the window and moved to open the door. A part of her wished that she'd known he was coming so she could look presentable, instead of having to greet the king in sweats and a hoodie.
Caius' eyes locked onto her the moment she opened the door and Sophie nodded her head in a greeting. "Hello."
"Hello." He answered back, his scarlet gaze moving quickly over her before meeting her eyes once more. Sophie's cheeks heated in embarrassment, knowing that the king wasn't seeing anything particularly satisfying.
"Wanna come in?" She opened the door wider and swung her arm behind her, hoping to relieve some of the awkwardness.
Caius brushed past her, his shoulder sliding against hers as he entered the house.
It was silent for a few moments as the two stood in the corridor. Caius was clearly looking at everything he could find while Sophie stood nervously behind him, waiting for her mate to say something.
This was easier with Aro.
When it was clear that Caius wouldn't say anything, Sophie moved around him and back towards the living room. She picked up her abandoned bowl and moved back to the kitchen to wash the dish before putting it away.
Sophie jumped backwards when she turned around to grab for the hand towel, not expecting the blonde king to be so close behind her. She leaned away from him, back into the counter and turned her eyes towards his face. "Can I help you?"
Caius' scowl deepened. "You look exactly the same as when you left Volterra."
"Okay?" Sophie said slowly, not quite understanding what he was saying.
"The Cullens' promised to protect you while you were away from us." He answered, his tone and eyes harsh. "I don't believe they've done their job."
Sophie flinched back from him, her blue eyes dropping to the counter. The disappoint coating his tongue was a dagger to her stomach and it twisted in its emptiness. Aro had been good at hiding his disdain for Sophie's condition, but Caius was much more blunt.
And maybe he didn't understand - no, Sophie knew he didn't understand what this illness was - but his words were still a painful reminder that Sophie wasn't good enough for them. She wouldn't be good enough for anyone if she continued going down her path.
"Well, sorry to disappoint." Sophie answered briskly, brushing past Caius quickly to make her way back to the couch. Her throat burned and she fought to swallow past it as she picked up her sketchbook.
In the doorway, Caius' hands balled into fists and his jaw worked furiously. He wasn't good at this, trying to be so gentle and portray his worry to his mate. His brothers were much better at conversing with humans, and he had already approached a sore subject.
From where he stood, he could just barely see Sophie, her head peeking above the back of the couch. Her lips were pursed, and her cheeks were red, and Caius knew he had upset her.
He grumbled, cursing himself as he moved closer to her. "I didn't mean to offend you."
"You didn't." She answered shortly, not even bothering to spare him a look. Sophie continued drawing.
"I just mean that the Cullens' swore they would protect you while we were away." His voice was gentler, and Sophie's hands slowed over the page. "That included making sure you eat."
"They can't protect me from myself." She said quietly, hating the words as she spoke them. The colored pencil she held hung loosely between her fingers, her eyes growing dazed for a moment before she came back to herself. "And I do eat."
Caius rolled his eyes, not bothering to comment on her latest statement. The tension had only slightly dissipated, and he was left standing behind her, his red eyes lingering on her drawing. "Can I see?"
Relieved at the change in topic, Sophie turned her drawing towards her mate. He leaned closer, his hands coming to grip the back of the couch. Sophie kept her eyes down, feeling slightly insecure with him this close, even if he was just looking at the drawing. Her eyes jumped to his fingers when they moved to brush over the colors, softly. "It's good. Have long have you been drawing?"
"Since I was eleven-ish." She mumbled, her cheeks heating under the praise. "I was going to school for it for a bit. Well, minoring in art, anyway."
"Not anymore?" His tone was curious, but still, shame rushed through her like a wave.
"No, I, uh." She stammered, her middle finger picking away at her thumb, anxiously. "I dropped out halfway through my freshman year."
Caius only hummed. "What were you majoring in?"
"Biology. I wanted to be a biologic illustrator." Sophie finally lifted her eyes to look at Caius, trying her best not to flinch back when she met his red eyes. He was still leaning over the back of the couch. "I would like to go back to school, but it's too much, right now."
"You easily could be." Caius told her, his gaze dipping back down to the drawing for a moment. "I would like to see more of your work if you wouldn't mind. I'll have to show you some of mine once you're in Volterra."
"You draw?"
"Paint, mostly." Caius leaned back, finally, moving around the side of the couch to sit beside her. Sophie tucked her feet closer to her so that Caius would have more room to sit. "I have a lot of free time and spend most of it in the gallery."
Sophie found herself growing eager to go to Volterra, now. She would love to see Caius' gallery, to see what he loved to paint and how much of his artwork decorated that room. She wondered if she'd ever have any hanging up one day.
"I'd love to see it one day." She told him, honestly. Caius' expressed faltered, his eyes softening as he looked at her. He was glad that they had moved past his mistake, both of them feeling more comfortable with each other now.
It was silent between them for a moment, the only sound being the small scratches of Sophie's pencils on her paper. Caius sat closer to her, his thighs barely touching the tops of her toes as his eyes followed each movement of her hands. She finished the drawing on another green weed before throwing her pencil on the table and flipping to the beginning of the sketchbook. She turned her blue eyes to Caius. "Think you can give me some tips?"
Caius only nodded, his lips curling up ever so slightly as Sophie showed him the first drawing.
___
Bella was home later that night, helping to cook dinner for Charlie. Beside her, Sophie silently chopped the vegetables, the only sounds being the sizzling in the pan and the knife hitting the cutting board.
The rest of the afternoon with Caius had been nice. He had provided plenty of helpful tips for Sophie's artwork and was happy to watch her make improvements. He had grumbled when Aro had called him but muttered his goodbye with a promise to see Sophie soon.
She had felt much more comfortable around Caius by the time he'd left, nearly forgetting about his earlier confrontation.
It came back to her as she stood cutting vegetables, his sharp words and angry eyes mocking her in her mind. Angry voices and dark images flittered in her mind, leaving her feeling hollow and helpless. She didn't know how she was supposed to help herself when the very thought left her mind warring with her.
"You know that plane ticket that Carlisle and Esme bought me for my birthday?" Bella broke through the silence and the thoughts in Sophie's head. Sophie hummed back at her, moving to scoop the vegetables into the pan. "I have two of them, if you were wanting to go."
Sophie chewed on her lip, thinking the offer over. It was tempting, the thought of leaving Forks for a weekend to visit her mother and to get away from the chaos that was her life now. "When were you thinking of leaving?"
"It expires at the end of the month." She said. "So, I was thinking about going this weekend, leaving Friday."
Really, it wasn't like Sophie had anything going on here and her mates would be in Forks for a month, so a weekend away would be nice. Sophie nodded her head at Bella. "Yeah, I'll go."
"Great." Bella smiled at Sophie, before turning back to stir the food. "I'll call Mom later and tell you."
It was silent again for a moment before a thought occurred to Sophie. "Has there been anything new with Victoria?"
Bella's stirring faltered briefly. "No. Not that I know of anyway. But apparently there's a lot of disappearances in Seattle. It's making everyone pretty nervous."
Sophie had heard about the disappearances - they'd been all over the news lately. She wondered why they were making the Cullens' nervous and made a note to ask the kings about it. "You'll tell me if anything changes, right?"
She only worried about her sister's safety, and she wasn't sure how much she trusted Edward to keep her safe at the moment. Bella regarded her sister for a moment, almost looking like she wanted to avoid the question. After another heavy moment, Bella nodded. "Yeah, I'll tell you."
Bella was wary about dragging her sister into this mess, though, she supposed it was too late now. It wasn't that she wanted to keep her in the dark, but Sophie had proved many times in the past that she would put Bella's safety above her own, and Bella didn't want to lose her older sister.
Though, now that the kings were in her life, Bella found that she felt more relaxed about Sophie's safety. Alice had seen her recovered in her vision and Bella wanted that for her more than anything else.
"Have you talked to Jake?" Bella asked, turning the heat off on the stove and grabbing the plates down from the cabinet.
Sophie frowned. "Yeah, he was just over here the other day. Have you talked to him?"
"Not really." Bella mumbled. "He's said like three words to me since we've been back."
She knew that Jake was still upset about the whole thing, more now because he was worried for them instead of his feelings for Bella. Sophie thought that he was putting the trip behind him, but apparently not. She'd have to talk to him soon.
The front door opened before Sophie could reply and she moved to set their dinner on the table. Their dad walked into the kitchen a moment later, looking exhausted as he placed his jacket on the back of a kitchen chair.
Charlie smiled at his daughters, thanking them silently for the dinner. Sophie watched her dad with curious eyes, wondering what had him so tired.
Dinner was a quiet affair and Sophie tried her best to eat all of her dinner.
But the events of that afternoon had the food tasting like ash and she dumped most of her dinner in the trash before retiring to bed, leaving her family staring sadly after her.
***
i hope you all enjoy this chapter! <3
pleuvoirx