SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW ➻ DEMETRI VOLTURI

D I C I A N N O V E

She was laying on the bed, her back against the pillows she'd piled up against the headboard so that they would offer a little more support, her thumbs flying over the screen of her phone. Her hands were becoming numb already, which told her that she'd been playing like that for at least half an hour. Gasping for breath, she quickly positioned her character to look at the ground instead of the black figure which had appeared on her screen.

"What on Earth are you doing?" she vaguely heard Demetri ask, a slightly bemused tone in his voice.

She'd been ignoring him pretty much since he'd walked in his room and taken a quiet place on one of the settees with a book in his hands. It wasn't that she was purposefully ignoring him, at least, that's what she told herself, but she wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel after the whole incident with Heidi that afternoon. She knew she shouldn't let the other vampire's words get to her, but ever since that conversation she couldn't help but wonder if Demetri was tied down to her, like an imprintee was to a shapeshifter. She'd told Heidi that he was free to go, but was he really?

She'd completely forgotten Demetri's earlier question, already occupied with the task of collecting wood for a house. It was a game she played in phases, sometimes not opening it for months at the time and then staying up till late in the night to finish one of her projects. However, as soon as the side of the bed dented in, her full attention shifted from the game on her phone to the handsome vampire sitting next to her.

Demetri's dark eyes scanned her face, making her heart slightly flutter. "What is it on that screen that can keep you busy for hours?"

"Minecraft," she answered simply, shrugging her shoulders.

He lifted his eyebrows in wonder and Cecilia couldn't help but think that the centuries old vampire probably had never heard of a thing called Minecraft. "Minecraft?" he repeated questioning, the tone of his voice unsure. Especially when something was unfamiliar, his Mediterranean accent slipped through, ever so slightly. Cecilia loved that.

"Yes, it's a game. Look," she said, as her hands found her phone again. She showed him the basics, how she used blocks to build something, how there were zombies which you should avoid and the fact that you could kill animals.

"The graphics look ugly," Demetri noted, but from the smile on his face, she could tell he was entertained.

"You look ugly," she countered, not looking up from her screen as she lured a sheep in a self-made enclosure. When she shifted her glance, she had to suppress a laugh from escaping her mouth, chuckling behind her hand instead.

"First you insult me and then you laugh at me?" he asked, looking offended.

"I can't help it," she said, still trying to stifle her laugh. "The look on your face... it was just so ridiculous."

"Oh yeah, keep those insults coming," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

She gave him a shove and whether she'd really taken him by surprise or if he just gave in, she didn't care for, but she was satisfied to see him slightly bounce back. She smiled smugly. "Drama queen."

"Oh, you're calling me a drama queen now, are you?" he said, raising a daring eyebrow.

She copied his moves, raising an eyebrow of herself. "Nothing's wrong with your ears apparently."

Before she had the time to yell"boo" or call out, he'd grabbed her wrists together with one hand, the other one tickling her sides mercilessly. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was tickling. An involuntary scream left her mouth and she began to thrash wildly. She didn't even have time to consider how ruined the silky sheets would be if she kicked them from side to side, the only thing on her mind escaping Demetri's hands.