𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘍𝘐𝘍𝘛𝘌𝘌𝘕

(the cursed witch, act two)

DEMETRI LEFT THEM IN THE CHEERFULLY OPULENT RECEPTION AREA, WHERE THE WOMAN GIANNA WAS AT HER POST BEHIND THE POLISHED COUNTER. Bright, harmless music tinkled from hidden speakers.

"Do not leave until dark," He warned Edward and Alice.

Edward nodded, and Demetri hurried away. Gianna did not seem at all surprised by the exchange, though she did eye Edward's borrowed cloak with shrewd speculation.

"Are you all right?" Edward asked under his breath, too low for the human woman to hear. His voice was rough—if velvet can be rough—with anxiety. Still stressed by the situation, Nina imagined.

"You'd better make her sit before she falls," Alice said. "She's going to pieces."

It was only then that Nina realized she was shaking, shaking hard, her entire frame vibrating until her teeth chattered and the surrounding room seemed to wobble and blur in her eyes. For a moment, Nina thought she might have been turning into a wolf again.

She heard a sound that didn't make sense, a strange, ripping counterpart to the otherwise cheery background music. Distracted by the shaking, she couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"Shh, Nina, shh," Edward said as he pulled her to the sofa farthest away from the curious human at the desk. "I think she's having a panic attack. Maybe you should slap her," Alice suggested. Edward threw a frantic glance at her.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Definitely don't do that."

Then Nina understood. Oh. The noise was her. The ripping sound was the sobs coming from her chest. That's what was shaking her.

"It's all right, you're safe, it's all right," He chanted again and again. He pulled her onto his lap and tucked the thick wool cloak around her, protecting her from his cold skin.

Behind her eyes, where the tears could not wash the image away, she could still see the panicked face of the tiny woman with the rosary.

"All those people," She sobbed.

"I know," He whispered.

"It's so horrible."

"Yes, it is. I wish you hadn't had to see that."

Nina rested her head against his cold chest, using the thick cloak to wipe her eyes. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

"Is there anything I can get you?" A voice asked politely. It was Gianna, leaning over Edward's shoulder with a look that was both concerned and yet still professional and detached at the same time. It didn't seem to bother her that her face was inches from a hostile vampire. She was either totally oblivious or very good at her job.

"No," Edward answered coldly.

She nodded, smiled at Nina, and then moved to walk away, only to be stopped by Peter. "Can we get a water, please?" These dumbasses still don't know how to take care of a human, Peter thought to himself, rolling his eyes.

Once more, she nodded before disappearing.

Nina waited until she was out of hearing range. "Does she know what's going on here?" She asked, her voice low and hoarse. She was slowly getting control of herself, her breathing evening out.

"Yes. She knows everything," Edward told her.

"Does she know they're going to kill her someday?"

"She knows it's a possibility," He said. That surprised Nina. Edward's face was hard to read. "She's hoping they'll decide to keep her."

Nina felt her blood run cold. "She wants to be one of them?"

He nodded once, his eyes sharp on my face, watching her reaction. She shuddered. "How can she want that?" Nina whispered, more to herself than really looking for an answer. "How can she watch those people file through to that room and want to be a part of that?"

Edward didn't answer. His expression twisted in response to something she'd said.

And suddenly, it struck her where she was and whose arms she was in. She pulled away quickly, moving to stand. "Sorry."

She could see Edward's brow's pull as a grimace appeared on his face.

Nina glanced at Peter. "I'm gonna get the car–"

"You don't know where I left it," Alice reminded her.

"I'll find it," Nina reassured her, before backing away quickly, her eyes fleeting a second glance at Edward before she ducked out of the door, letting it close behind her.

Nina wandered the streets of Volterra for a few hours. She wasn't necessarily searching hard for the yellow porsche, more so trying to clear her thoughts before she appeared back at the clock tower.

She knew she should go back, spend the rest of whatever time she had left with Edward. But she couldn't bring herself to put herself through the tortuous act. If he was going to leave again, it would be better not to see him, right? It would be less painful that way.

She eventually wandered into a side street and found the porsche. And luckily, Alice had left the keys hidden in the console. Sliding into the sports car, she started the engine and let it purr softly.

Shaking her head, she scoffed before pressing her foot on the gas.

It took twenty minutes before she was able to find the clock tower through the small, winding streets that all looked the same.

"Get in, losers!" She shouted when she parked in front of the doorway after rolling down the passenger window.

Slowly, the three vampires walked out into the night.

"Are you sure you want to drive?" Alice questioned, standing beside the driver's side, peering into Nina's window.

"Afraid?" Nina smiled. "Get in the back seat, Alice. You'll be fine."

Alice glanced at Edward and saw him nod before he, too, got in the back seat.

"You're not gonna... scare us for abandoning you, are you?" Peter asked as he got into the passenger seat.

"Scare you?" Nina's smile widened. "Now, why would I do that?"

As soon as the words left her lips, she pressed hard on the gas, making them brace themselves as she drove quickly through Volterra.

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep, Nina?" Edward asked from the backseat. He could see the dark circles lining her eyes as she drove out onto the main highway lined by orchards. Peter was already passed out, seemingly not caring about the four pylons Nina had deliberately hit.

"I'm fine." Her voice was dull again as the speedometer reached 130. The two Cullens held the edges of their seats.

"Nina–"

"Just stop," Nina scoffed, laughing. "Come on, guys. Stop acting like you care. Okay? I am fine. I will drop you off at the airport and you can go back to whatever it was that you were doing before this. You won't have to worry about me anymore. I'll have my Dad turn me if the Volturi comes back before I die naturally."

Alice peeked her head through the front seats. "How many years is that, exactly?"

"13. So... No need to worry."

"I thought I told you not to do anything stupid," Edward said from the backseat.

"You also told me you'd never leave. Guess we broke our promises." She reached 140.

Fifteen minutes in, they were halfway back to Florence. Only another fifteen to go, a thought that reassured Nina.

"Nina–"

"Stop, Edward. You've done enough, haven't you?"

She could see his eyes on her through the rearview mirror, but ignored it, diverting her eyes back to the winding road.

The drive was quiet from then on, the only person to speak being Alice, who gave Nina directions when they reached Florence to get back to the airport as well as Nina's (very occasional) road rage.

"Holy fuck! You dumb bitch! Are you waiting for a different shade of fucking green?"

"It's not getting any fucking greener!"

"Nice signal, stun cunt."

"Are you waiting for a bloody invitation? I could have mailed you one by now!"

"Oh, I guess stoplights are optional now."

Parking in the same spot Alice had stolen the yellow car from, Nina shook Peter awake. "Wake up or I'm leaving you here," She warned before getting out and grabbing her bag from the trunk in the front of the car.

She walked away quickly, dodging Edward as she almost ran toward the airport's doors.

"She hates me."

Peter patted his shoulder twice, smiling widely. "Big time," He told him before following Nina. "Kid! Wait up, I wanna stop and get some chocolate."

"She hates all of us, Edward." Alice told him, moving to his side after leaving the car keys on the console for the poor owner of the car.

"I thought it'd be safer for her; if we left her..."

"Us leaving only made her life worse," Alice admitted. "I'll let her tell you why, though."

Edward's eyes hardened. "What happened?"

"It's not my place." Alice tried her hardest to think of anything else. "She'll tell you if you do the right thing."

"And what is that?"

Alice started leading him toward the airport. "Come back to Forks. No more of this stupid bullshit about not having a soul and not being good enough. Edward, you are more than enough. Nina knows that. Or at least, she did. So you have to remind her that you are worth putting her heart on the line again."

"And, um... about what Aro said about her–"

"The fact that she's apparently a wolf now?" Edward guessed. 

"Yeah, that. Don't be a dick about it. Try to talk to her about other things. Let her open up to you. Don't force it."

Nina walked back out after a minute, pausing their conversation. She threw Edward a set of clothing. "Get changed. That cloak isn't really airport attire."

She turned on her heel before he could say thank you.

"See? She still loves you."

Edward held the clothing to his chest. "Really feeling the love, Alice." After a second, he was in the clothing she had given him and threw the cloak out in a nearby dumpster.

Alice pulled him toward the airport and found Nina and Peter in security. It wasn't hard to find them, being able to track the witch's scent with ease. They sped through the security lines so quickly they were invisible to any human eye and met the father-daughter pair at the end of the hall.

Nina flinched slightly when he appeared beside her.

"Can we talk?" He asked as Alice led Peter into one of the duty-free stores, leaving him and Nina alone to find their gate.

"We are talking," Nina told him, glancing down at her plane ticket to see the gate number. "What's your gate number? I'll leave you there."

"My gate number is the same as yours, Nina."

The witch paused in her steps to look back at him. "What?"

"I'm coming back to Forks."

She grabbed his ticket, shaking her head in disbelief as she read over the number that matched her own. "Why? Did you leave something?"

"I left the most important thing."

Nina hummed. "What? Your CD player?"

He grasped her arms. The touch sent unwanted butterflies through her stomach. "I left you, Nina. I never should have left you."

Her stare met his, and she moved back slightly. "Your eyes are black. Are you sure you don't need to make a pit stop?"

"Stop changing the subject–"

"I'm not changing the subject. I am only worried you might eat the entire airplane and I've already seen enough murder today—"

"Nina."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not leaving you. Not again."

"You've said that before, Edward. Kinda hard to believe when you lied the first time."

"I know," He whispered, his hand coming up to hold her jaw. "I know I lied. I only left to keep you safe, Nina. I thought you'd be better off without me. I thought you'd live a better life without me in it–"

"How many times do I have to tell you we're mates? Because to me, it seems like you don't feel that way."

"I feel it, Nina. Trust me." Before she could argue about trust, he continued. "Leaving you felt like dying. Life didn't feel like it was worth living if I wasn't next to you. I didn't want to live it if I couldn't be with you."

Nina ground her jaw together as she looked back at her shoes for a second before she looked back at him. "How long... did you know you were going to leave? When did you decide?"

"I decided the moment you woke up in the hospital that I wouldn't let you get hurt because of me," He told her honestly.

"You lied," She sighed.

Edward nodded. "I did."

"How many other things have you lied about?"

His hands trailed down her arms till his fingers reached her own. He grasped them softly before pulling them up to his lips. "The only other lies I have told you... is everything I said before I left you. The truth is, Nina, you are the only thing I want and the only thing I will ever want. You don't tire of me pretending to be something I'm not. Nina, you are the only person in a hundred years that has truly made me happy. How could I ever be tired of you?"

Nina sighed, shaking her head. "You're such an idiot," She scoffed before her hands grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer. Her warm lips met his cool ones slowly, parting slightly, the difference in temperature startling her.

His cold hands left hers to grab her waist tightly, pulling her close so that their bodies were touching.

Needing air, Nina pulled away after a moment. She went to look down but was stopped by his hand, grabbing her jaw, holding her face up to meet his stare.

"Give me a chance to earn your trust back."

She was too tired to fight out of his grasp. She didn't want to either. His touch alone healed half the hole in her heart. It was heavenly.

"I'm still mad at you," She warned him.

"You should be. I would be concerned if you weren't."

"I've been... a little angrier than normal, so, uh, I apologize if I punch you at some point in time in the future."

"Have at it. You could tear my hand off if you wanted to."

Her brows pulled together, but a small, confused smile rose on her lips. "You have so many issues."

"It'll grow back," He defended, smiling at her smile.

"So, I'm the lamb and you're the starfish?"

"I think you've upgraded to Jaguar."

"Ooh, exciting," Nina teased. "Bit of a leap, though. You haven't seen everything."

He shook his head. "I can tell. Now come on, Alice is about to explode over there." His hand raised to point in the jumping vampire's direction. When her eyes glanced in the direction, her eyes met her fathers.

"Maybe it's not so safe over there," She whispered, looking back at Edward.

He looked over her shoulder. "Maybe not. How would you feel about some airport dinner?"

"As long as you don't eat me or the server," Nina smiled, pulling at his hand, leading him far away from her father's glare.

"No promises."

"Your dad seems..." Edward started, looking around the small empty restaurant they were sitting in, before looking back at her. "Nice?"

Nina shrugged, stabbing her fork into the pasta on her plate. "He's something, I guess."

"When did he show up?"

"Couple weeks after..." Nina's words fell faint, but he knew what she meant. "Victoria showed up in Volterra to tell them about me. Somehow, she figured out about Bella and the stupid party. He found her first and put two and two together."

"Victoria came back?" He asked, his eyes widening slightly as a worried crease appeared between his brows.

She nodded. "And, uh... Laurant did too."

"What happened?"

Nina realized Alice hadn't spilled the beans yet and that he clearly hadn't dived too far into either of their minds.

She grasped his hand, holding it tightly. "It's not really airport appropriate. I'll tell you when we get home."

He smiled slightly at the word. "So, now you want me to come home? I thought I'd have to do a lot more convincing than that."

Shaking her head, a quiet laugh fell past her lips. "Just because I'm letting you in, doesn't mean everything is going back to the way it was."

"I know that."

"Good." She looked up to meet his loving gaze. "If you don't stop looking at me, I will make you turn around again."

"Nina, I haven't seen you in 183 days. Let me make sure you're still real for a few more minutes."

"Just don't make it weird, Sparkles."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Darling... Or should I start calling you Puppy?"

"Say that again and I'll leave you here."

Edward only laughed.

The plane trip to Rome was so short that there wasn't really a chance for the fatigue to drag Nina under. She knew the flight from Rome to Atlanta would be another matter entirely, so she asked the flight attendant if she could bring her a coffee.

"Nina," Edward said disapprovingly. "You need to sleep at some point."

Alice and Peter were behind them. Though they had almost accidentally left Peter in the terminal. Nina could hear Alice murmuring to Jasper on the phone along with Peter's snores.

"I don't want to sleep," Nina reminded him. She gave him an excuse that was believable because it was true. "If I close my eyes now, I'll see things I don't want to see. I'll have nightmares."

He didn't argue with her after that. It would have been a very good time to talk, to get the answers she needed — needed but not really wanted; she was already despairing at the thought of what she might hear.

They had an uninterrupted block of time ahead of them, and he couldn't escape her on an airplane—well, not easily, at least.

No one would hear them except Alice; it was late, and most of the passengers were turning off lights and asking for pillows in muted voices. Talk would help her fight off the exhaustion.

But, perversely, she bit her tongue against the flood of questions. Her reasoning was probably flawed by exhaustion, but she hoped that by postponing the discussion, she could buy a few more hours with him at some later time—spin this out for another night.

So she kept drinking coffee and resisting even the urge to blink. Edward seemed perfectly content to hold her in his arms, his fingers tracing her face again and again. She touched his face, too. She couldn't stop herself, though she was afraid it would hurt her later, when she was alone again.

He continued to kiss her hair, her forehead, her wrists... but never her lips, and that was good. After all, how many ways can one heart be mangled and still be expected to keep beating?

With her mind closed to him, she let her thoughts of anxiety roam. What was he thinking? Why wasn't he talking? Did he have nothing to say? Or did he just want her to fall asleep? Was he going to disappear the second her eyes closed? Would she open her eyes to find herself back in Forks, alone once again? Would he love her again, if he was truly real and not another illusion?

She won the fight against her heavy lids and she was awake when they reached the airport in Atlanta, and she even watched the sun begin to rise over Seattle's cloud cover before Edward slid the window shut.

She was proud of herself. She hadn't missed one minute. Though when she stood, she immediately felt the exhaustion fall through her. Turns out, not sleeping for 72 hours really messes with you.

"This is why I told you to sleep," Edward muttered, holding her up by her arms. "Still a stubborn little thing, aren't you?"

"Fuck off, jerk." Nina's voice was slightly muffled, her face mushed into his arm as she leaned against him, letting him guide her through the airport.

"Do you think Aro has a bit of a thing for Carlisle? I think he does. I think that's why he let us go," Nina babbled on. "Fair enough, I guess. Your dad is hot. So are your sisters. If you weren't my mate, I definitely would have gone after Rosalie—"

She slapped her hand over her lips, her eyes widening as she realized what she had said. She looked up at Edward, who was chuckling softly, shaking his head.

"You can't tell Edward I said that," She pointed up at him sternly. "Pinky promise?"

She extended her pinky toward him. He linked his pinky with hers. "Pinky promise."

"Hey... You kind of look like Edward..." Nina trailed off, her eyes hardly open. "Holy fuck. You are Edward... Shit... Damn it. Now I look like a dweeb. I'm not a dweeb. I'm actually really cool. You should see my rock collection. It's pretty dope, if I do say so myself."

"Your rock collection is very cool," He agreed. "And so are you."

"I'm fucking awesome."

Neither Alice nor Edward were surprised by the reception that waited for them at Sea-Tac airport, but it caught Nina off guard. When her eyes swayed slightly to the right, leaving Edward's smile, she saw them.

"Mother trucker. Do you think they heard about my rock collection?" She asked, turning back to Edward.

"Emmett's thinking of stealing it," Edward told her, trying to stop himself from laughing.

"That bastard. I'll cut his dick off and smack him with it."

She was about to trudge off to fight Emmett, only for Edward to grab her hand. "Not today, Pup. Let's wait till you have slept, then you can fight him."

Jasper was the first one to walk over—he didn't seem to see Nina at all. His eyes were only for Alice. She went quickly to his side; they didn't embrace like other couples meeting there. They only stared into each other's faces, yet, somehow, the moment was so private that the sleep deprived Nina still felt the need to look away.

Carlisle and Esme waited in a quiet corner far from the line for the metal detectors, in the shadow of a wide pillar. Esme reached for Nina, hugging her fiercely, yet awkwardly, because Edward kept his arms around her, too.

"Thank you so much," Esme said in her ear. Then she threw her arms around Edward, and she looked like she would be crying if that were possible.

"You will never put me through that again," She nearly growled. Edward grinned, repentant.

"Sorry, Mom."

"Thank you, Nina," Carlisle said. "We owe you."

"Hardly," Nina mumbled. "Though you should put him in therapy. I think it would be a substantial investment." The sleepless nights were suddenly overpowering. Her head felt disconnected from her body.

"She's dead on her feet," Esme scolded Edward. "Let's get her home."

Not sure if home was what she wanted at that point, Nina stumbled, half-blind, through the airport, Edward dragging her on one side and Esme on the other. Nina didn't know if Alice and Jasper were behind them or not, and she was too exhausted to look.

She thought she was mostly asleep, though she was still walking when they reached their car. The surprise of seeing Emmett and Rosalie leaning against the black sedan under the dim lights of the parking garage revived her some.

Edward stiffened.

"Don't," Esme whispered. "She feels awful."

"She should," Edward said, making no attempt to keep his voice down.

"It's not her fault," Nina said, her words garbled with exhaustion. "If it's anyone's fault, we can blame it on my dad... Where did he go?"

"Sorry!" His voice called from behind her. "Got lost in the chocolate shop."

Nina rolled her eyes as she watched him, multiple bags in hand, all filled with chocolate. 

"Let her make amends," Esme pleaded, taking only a second glance back at Peter before he disappeared into the night. 

"We'll ride with Alice and Jasper." Edward glowered at the absurdly lovely blond vampire waiting for them.

"Please, Edward," Nina said. She didn't want to cause any more discord in his family. He sighed and towed her toward the car. Emmett and Rosalie got in the front seat without speaking, while Edward pulled her in the back again.

Nina knew she wasn't going to be able to fight her eyelids anymore, and she laid her head against his shoulder in defeat, letting them close. She felt the car purr to life.

"Edward," Rosalie began.

"I know." Edward's brusque tone was not generous.

"Nina?" Rosalie asked softly.

Nina's eyelids fluttered open in shock. She had never heard the blonde's voice be so kind when it was directed at her.

"Yes, Rosalie?" She asked, hesitantly.

"I'm so very sorry, Nina. I feel wretched about every part of this, and so grateful that you were brave enough to go save my brother after what I did. Please say you'll forgive me." The words were awkward, stilted because of her embarrassment, but they seemed sincere.

"Of course, Rosalie," She mumbled, not wanting to make Rosalie hate her. "It's not your fault at all. I'm the one that killed Laurant which triggered the whole bone breaking fun-time sesh. Of course I forgive you."

The words came out like mush.

The vampires glanced at each other in shock at the new knowledge delivered by the half-asleep witch.

"You killed a vampire?" Emmett asked with a somewhat proud look on his face.

Nina only hummed in response.

"It doesn't count until she's conscious, Rose," Emmett chuckled, moving back to her muffled acceptance of apology.

"I am conscious," Nina argued; it just sounded like a garbled sigh.

"Let her sleep," Edward insisted, but his voice was a little warmer. It was quiet then, except for the gentle thrum of the engine.

Nina must have fallen asleep, because it seemed like seconds later when the door opened and Edward was carrying her from the car. Her eyes wouldn't open. At first, she thought they were still at the airport.

"What happened to the doorknob?" Edward asked suddenly when his footsteps slowed to a stop.

Nina opened her eyes quickly and saw where they were. "Not here. Take me to Bella's place. Please?"

He frowned. "What? Don't you want to see Natalie?"

She squirmed herself out of his arms and quickly walked back down the driveway. "Nope! Gotta go!" She almost ran down the paved area. "See you at school! Love you, bye!"

Edward slowly approached Rosalie's window, after watching Nina sprint down the road to the Swan home.

"Should I be confused or worried or both?"

Rosalie and Emmett glanced at each other before looking at Nina's figure that was barreling into the Swan house's front door.

"Both. Definitely both," Rosalie muttered.

"Never seen a human run so fast." Emmett shrugged. "But, the broken door knob is probably a red flag, you know... and her literally leaping out of your arms and sprinting away from you..."

"She did say she loved him, though," Rosalie cut in.

"While literally sprinting away from him."

"Maybe she finally realized he's ugly and that she could do so much better."

"Possible."

"What?" Edward asked, an annoyed look on his face. "Seriously?"

"Oh, come on! We haven't seen you in like five months! Let me make fun of you for a few days at least."

"No!" Edward grumbled.

"Fine. You can walk home!" Emmett shouted before stepping on the gas, leaving Edward alone, standing at the edge of Nina's driveway.