Happily Ever After - by the-volturi-diaries
Story can be found on the AO3 website (Archive of our own).
Pairing: Felix x Reader (female).
Words: 2.6 k
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He had never expected this kind of happiness.
In fact, long ago, he'd given up on the idea of it. No one had told him, before he was turned, that becoming a vampire meant forgoing any chance of having a family of his own making (as far as anyone had known then). But it had mattered very little to him once he'd learned of it, seeming like a worthy enough trade. Felix had gone from a slave, fighting and killing for the entertainment of the powerful to being just that:
Powerful.
And yet...his unbeating heart had ached a little, just a little. He'd never have a family and he'd never be a father, would he? But he forgot about it all quickly, finding a mismatched family within the Volturi and remaining perfectly happy for many a century.
But it still ached.
Every so often, his heart sang out at the sight of a small family; a father playing with his children, a mother holding her babe to her chest.
And he had ached once more as he heard it, the soft laughter a baby echoing in the night. He had only just returned home from a mission, walking through the dark streets alone when he had heard it. Laughter. And a woman's delighted voice as she fussed over the little thing. As he looked over his shoulder, Felix caught sight of a stranger. Your accent told him that you were not from here, new to Volterra. He noticed that your clothes were a bit shabby, bought secondhand and repaired if needed, a bruise upon your wrist catching his attention. And perhaps he had stared a little too long, as the baby in your arms took notice of him and smiled, a small greeting spoken from the little thing.
"Charlie!" you'd sweetly chided as you smiled at your son.
And you'd smiled at Felix as well, just before you turned the corner and vanished out of view. It had been a shockingly lovely smile, stealing his heart in an instant.
His heart ached at the loss of you and it did not stop...not until he found you again.
~
Felix had seen you once more, stumbling upon you both by accident in the garden. Though he had thought about you both often, not knowing why, he had not purposely sought you out. What right, he had wondered, did a monster like him have to a beauty like you? But he had found you anyway, fate leading the way. It was a quiet little corner of Volterra, nowhere near not as grand as the other places it might brag about. Small, crumbling houses and crooked streets, the sort of place that never appeared in the vacation pamphlets. There was nothing to play on, just a few skinny trees and a wrought iron bench, a little patch of grass and wildflowers scattered here and there. He had been walking the cobblestone paths alone, taking to the less traveled path, when he heard it.
A baby's cry..and a lullaby!
His heart had pulled him closer, taking Felix to that tiny garden. And there he had found you, sitting upon an old quilt you'd laid beneath the tree as you soothed and sang to the baby. And you had not noticed him right away, Charlie seeing him first.
At the sigh of the giant, the baby smiled and spoke again, his small voice sounding like a tiny, tinkling bell.
"Hi."
You looked up in surprise, a flicker of fear in your eyes. He thought of the faded bruises he'd seen (and took notice of others exposed by your dress) and made a point to look less alarming, though he did not know why. Something within him, some still-beating and aching little thing, did not wish to frighten you, no, never.
"Hello," Felix greeted the baby.
And it was then that you smiled, the sight of it so sweet to him.
~
After that, he made a point to visit you and your son.
It was, he tried to claim, simple kindness. You were a stranger here and struggling alone, especially with a child to care for. There was no father that he knew of. And so Felix would visit you in the little apartment you'd barely managed to rent. It was a lovely place, as shabby as it seemed, the walls painted colors of your favor. And you'd filled it with books and music and little toys scattered about...and him.
There quickly became a place for Felix, a third chair appearing with two others (it was a mismatched set but he did not care at all).
He would help you to settle into Volterra, planting flowers in the garden outside of your home (it was Charlies favorite place on earth, that sunny patch of land) and showing you everything. The library, the historical sights, all of it.
"Felix!"
You did not speak his name, no, upon your lips his name became something of a song. And the sound of it brought him to you at once, never realizing the command you had over him. There, in the kitchen, you held your son and chattered happily, Charlie reaching out to Felix. In truth, he was unsure of what to make of the child.
Felix knew what he thought of you, that had been simple enough. Love. He was falling in love with you.
But the baby was a complication, something he'd never expected. Things like him were not supposed to be fathers, were they? The sky was downcast that day, soon it would rain. So there would be no trips to the park or the library or any of it. Charlie already so fussy about it. But still he reached out to Felix, who found himself picking up the little thing and teasing him in Italian. The sound of his deep, richly dark voice had Charlie bursting into a smile...your smile! How had he never noticed that before?
And it was then that everything else became simple again.
He loved Charlie too, as though the boy had always been his own. And he was, after that, Felix had become a father despite everything.
~
Charlie had quickly grown, walking on his own and speaking a handful of things, both in your own tongue and in Italian, having picked it up from Felix. It was almost shocking to Felix, how quickly everything had changed, but what had been more shocking was how much he'd grown to love all of it.
And Felix had changed as well, though he did not notice it himself.
It had been the others, Demetri and Heidi, that had first seen the changes. Constantly smiling and laughing, vanishing for long periods of time and reappearing just as suddenly, always with a carefully thought up excuse. Demetri had never been one to be left out of a bit of fun...and that was no point in hiding from a tracker! So he had hunted Felix, one cloudy day, and found him there in the garden. A woman leaned against him, looking at Felix as though he were the sun and stars. And a baby played upon his lap, giggling and babbling away. So confused by the sight of it all, he had not even realized he'd been caught until his old friend called out to him.
"Demetri?"
Felix had beckoned him closer and, having wanted so much to tell someone of his happiness, introduced Demetri at once.
"This is my Y/N and this," Felix had grinned. "is Charlie."
That night, as they walked home slowly, and Felix told him everything of you, the woman and baby he had come to love so dearly. It was then that he had known that he could no longer keep the truth of it from you any longer. Already you had taken notice of his strangeness, asking questions that he could not answer.
But he wanted to.
For so long, he had wanted to tell you the truth. And he would, very soon. But until then, Demetri continued to visit you along with Felix, he spoiled your son until Charlie thought the world of Deme (that was all he could manage to make of his name, forever known as Uncle Deme to him). And Heidi quickly followed, finding a true friend within you.
It had been perfect.
So perfect that Felix had feared telling you the truth would bring ruin to it all. But he could not lie anymore, forced to admit everything even as he feared what it would bring.
~
He had taken you out of Volterra.
It had not been hard to convince you to go away with him, Heidi happy to watch Charlie for a while. There was an island off the coast and a little house upon it, he'd owned it for years. And it was there, upon that island, Felix had revealed himself to you. In the light of the sun, he had stood before you, shining as he confessed to the story of a boy, a slave, a warrior...a monster.
Vampire.
All of his fears had come back to him then, the bitter taste of rejection so close...but rather then run, you had reached out to him.
You had kissed him, pulling Felix into your arms and embracing him.
Fear died within that kiss, something sweeter born within its remains. Hope. Happiness. And yet there was sorrow there as you confessed your own story of a cruel man and his sweet wife, a woman who had suffered in silence...until she learned that she was pregnant and made an escape. She'd had her baby and had been happy until he'd found them again, forcing her to flee even farther.
"You're not a monster, Felix. Arthur is."
That night was the first night you spent together.
There, tangled in the sheets, Felix whispered his vows into your lips as you moaned beneath him, cries of pleasure so sweet they might have been a song. And you whispered your own in return, a promise made of love and venom.
~
You had always been beautiful to him.
Always.
But Felix had surprised himself by falling even more in love with you as you'd awoken after your transformation, cold and lifeless and loving, so loving! For a little longer you remained there together and you made plans for your happily ever after. You would leave behind the apartment and come to live with Felix in the castle, rooms already prepared for you. Charlie, you agreed, could not know, not yet. He'd be told the truth once he was old enough to be turned.
And until then..
"We'll be so happy!" Felix declared. "And we will do nothing but love and be loved, darling, what else would be ever want?"
How had it been possible for him to be so happy?
Felix watched in wonder as you glittered for him, naked in the light of the sun. Red eyes bloomed like roses as you smiled, his name the sweetest symphony upon your lips as you called out to him. And he went to you at once, kissing you once more. Everything came true within that kiss, happiness and hope and love...you.
It had always been you.
He had waited for you for so long and finally, after all of it, you had come to him. It was worth the wait, Felix decided as he kissed you again and again and again.
There would be one stop before you returned home together.
Just one thing left to do. It had been Demetri that had found the creature for you, still in the home you had once called your prison. Felix had waited for him in the dark, the creature stunned to see him. But he had been terrified of you, eyes like roses and a smile of the sweetest thorns as you appeared before him.
"I'm home!"
Together you put an end to the man you'd once called your husband, though you never fed from him. That had surprised Felix, he had thought the scent of blood would tempt you even then. But the anger and hatred had been too much, you'd later confess, and it had not been about feeding. It had been about killing, returning the hurt he had given to you for so, so long. It had been the most beautiful revenge! And he had been so happy to be the man you shared it with, the both of you bloodied and delighted in one anothers sweet brutality.
By morning, you'd returned to Volterra, dressed in white as you walked alongside him.
An arm wrapped around you protectively, the black velvet of his cloak warm and safe. Charlie had already been awake and waiting for you, laughing in delight as he called out to his mother and father. And so adored with his wife and child, Felix held you both protectively.
No one, he swore, would ever hurt you again.
~
"Babbo!"
Felix laughed as his son ran into his arms, swooping him up effortlessly. Charlie had grown so much and yet was still so small, something he had been grateful for. He'd be man soon enough, let him be a boy for now!
The night grew late, stars sparkling over the earth.
As you gathered the stuffed animals he adored (Mister Fox, Wrinkles the Camel, the little trio of bears, Mooney the Wolf, a little bat named Deme II, his most beloved), Felix prepared Charlie for bed. Together you would tell him stories and kiss him sweetly, watching over the boy as he slowly, slowly fell asleep.
"Night, Mama. Night night, Babbo..."
"Goodnight, sweet boy," Felix had whispered.
And you left him to dream, hand in hand as the door closed softly.
"I'm going to miss this," Felix confessed. "One day, he won't want bedtime stories and bears and wolves, he'll be grown! And it won't be long after that..."
He did not finish the thought.
But you both had smiled about it, dreaming a little dream. There were still little pieces of your former life, mismatched chairs around a little table and an old quilt tucked over the slumbering boy. Little things here and there. But so much had changed too, no longer wearing shabby things and hiding in the dark from monsters. You glittered now and smiled often, the sun of his sky. It was almost complete, he realized, all of the bits of his happy ending together. And as much as he would miss this, he could not wait to see what all of it would be one day.
"It's not too much, is it?" you asked your husband. "All of this...I know it isn't what you had expected."
"Never!" Felix had promised. "I've waited a millennia for the both of you to find me, darling. And now that I have everything, I've found that it is far better than everything I expected it to be. Too much! I have eternity with you and it does not seem to be nearly enough."
At that you smiled for him, singing his name once again as you pulled him into a kiss.
That kiss, the ones that had came before it and all of the ones that followed after, had all been the same sort of glorious thing:
True loves kiss.
And this was his happily ever after.