CHAPTER 1

- Turmoils and Turbulence -

When the Land Rover stopped outside the Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, I froze. My heart skipped a beat and I stared at the glass automatic doors, suddenly fearful of going inside.

"You okay?"

His voice startled me out of my trance and I nodded. I then fumbled with the lock and pushed the car open, jumping out and slamming it behind me. A sight left me when the cool breeze hit my face and making me fall back onto the side of the car.

"It doesn't seem like you want to go" Demetri appeared by my side.

I tugged on my bag pack, puling it to my shoulder. "Well looks can be deceiving" I answered dryly and made a move to step away from him.

"Don't hesitate to come back" he called out to me but I continued to walk towards the double doors. "Aro wanted you to have this" he added and when I spun around, a dark burgundy cloak was thrown into my hands.

"And Edward?" I croaked, nervously glancing up to him.

He smirked but it fell when he grew serious and assured me, "He won't know you're gone until you're gone" he promised and I nodded.

"Thank you" I answered and stuffed the cloak into my bag.

I was then startled when a cold hand was placed on my cheek, causing me to look up and meet the bright red eyes. He now revealed them and I glanced down to find his sunglasses were now in his other hand. "You're welcome Bella" he breathed and I gulped nervously, wondering where the genteel nature had been derived from. "At least you know that we're not all monsters" he said with silent regret.

"Not completely" I agreed with a small smirk that he returned.

Suddenly he withdrew from me and took out a piece of paper, passing it to me. "In case you change your mind" he explained as I read the phone number he had written down.

All I could give was a small smile, wondering why they continued to hold out hope for me to end up as one of them. "Maybe" I whispered and intended to make another swift exit, only Demetri stopped me once again.

He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close, placing a cold kiss on my cheek that made me blush. "Arrivederci, dear Isabella" he murmured before releasing me.

When I whirled around, wanting to question his change in demeanour, I found that he was already in the Land rover which was now speeding out of the parking lot.

It didn't matter.

Anyway, I needed to disappear before Edward caught up to me.

-XxxxxX-

Finally after a five minute delay, we were finally making our way to our seats.

I ended being at the back in F27, only to grimace at the sight of the window seat. I had already worried myself to the point of nausea, I really didn't need to be sat there. When glancing behind me, I found no one around so I simply decided to take E27 instead.

The second I sat down, I reached into the bag and pulled out the packet of sour sweets. I read somewhere on the internet that they helped with motion sickness or something like that. Soon enough, the doors were closed and we were in the air.

I intended on listening to music but that was deemed impossible when a voice nearby spoke. "Flight anxiety?"

I looked up with wide eyes at the man I had seen before, flirting with the receptionist. Before, I hadn't really focused on him but now with having him close, I couldn't help the hormonal 18 year old that screamed, 'Yummy'.

Dark hair that contrasted with the pale complexion of his smoothed skin. The sleek long locks framed his sharp angular features. Pink lips that were thinned and tautly lined. Piercing blue eyes swarmed me, leaving me restless and yearning as they locked onto mine.

"Or a phobia?" he guessed but luckily agreed and walked by me, taking the window seat. In response, I simply popped another sour candy in my mouth and chewed. "Or maybe you're upset about leaving your boyfriend behind?"

"Excuse me?" I snapped my head up to the stranger, perplexed by his assumption.

He smirked and then sarcastically explained, "Mr. Bittersweet farewell"

"Oh" I murmured, thinking back to Demetri and dropping my eyes. "Yeah…" I sighed and hid behind my hair when eating another one.

"So, what's the story?" he inquired and I deliberated over questioning his interest but I was distracted with his husked and lowered voice. When I turned to him, he had his head bowed slightly and his eyebrows furrow in a devilish manner.

I grimaced and arched a questioning brow, "Story?"

"You and him" he answered.

I shook my bowed head and twiddled around with one of the sweets. "Not much of a story"

"Humour me" he urged and I craned my head towards him

I scoffed at his persistence. "Why?" I questioned, perplexed with his incessant need to know more about me – a complete stranger.

"Long flight and I'm bored" he explained.

I eyed him for a second and decided to appease him with vague details. "He's not my boyfriend" I admitted and thought back to Demetri and his strange manner. "Actually he's not anything…" I added, trailing off as I sank deeper in thought.

"Well he wants to be" he pointed out.

I could have argued. I could have told him that he didn't know what he was talking about, but I ended up questioning something else. "Why were you watching me?" I wondered and tried not to worry about how much he might've seen. He probably didn't even notice the red eyes – I hoped.

"I wasn't watching you, I was simply walking by and happened to notice the PDA" he replied and I almost believed him, if it wasn't for the glazed look that he obtained.

Rather than encouraging the conversation, I simply dipped back into the packet and took out a strawberry flavoured sweet. My need for silence wasn't deemed plausible as he spoke up again. "So, why were you in Italy?" he asked.

"I was saving someone's life" I replied in a light scoff. The reminder of the past three days whipped through my mind and I groaned, throwing my head back.

"Sounds heavy" he commented.

I nodded slowly, "It was"

"And now you're going to New York?"

Whatever gave you that idea?

I fought against rolling my eyes and decided to stop battling with the ominous feeling I had against an innocent stranger. He probably just wanted to talk to someone and pass the time. "Washington" I answered and pursed my lips with the bitter taste, "New York's just a stop along the way"

"Business or pleasure?" he ducked his head and darkly scrutinised at me.

I shook my head and this time, rolled my eyes at how he managed to make everything seductive and with a hidden meaning. "Just going back home" I shrugged and took a deep breath in relief with the thought of being back to Charlie and back to the simple life of a teenager. "What about you?" I inquired politely.

"What about me?" he toyed, still adorning a suggestive smirk.

Still, I played along and clarified, "Why New York?"

"Pleasure, of course" his huskily reply made me reach out and smack his chest.

Shocked by my brashness, I was about to apologise, but stopped when he stole my sweets and placed three into his mouth. "Hey! I need those!" I argued and slapped his arm again.

"You have more than enough" he smirked and I found myself smiling at how childish we were being. A laugh then bubbled within me and I caught how my stranger's grin widened. "Damon" he revealed and I stopped, my nose scrunching in confusion. "And your name is…?"

I drew my eyes away from how he licked his bottom lip and up to his hooded stare. "Isabella" I replied breathlessly and "…but call me Bella" I corrected.

I froze when his hand was brought up close to my face. As I made a move to pull back, I stopped when he revealed the lemon sweet between his fingers and placed it on my bottom lip. A shaky gasp left me and I had to fight against the need of wrapping my lips around his fingers.

Wait – why was I feeling guilty?

Edward had his chance but he left.

"Isabella's perfect" he smiled and this time I couldn't return it. My head was spinning and my thoughts spun in a whirlwind, making me feel dizzy.

Sure, I didn't have to feel guilty but it just felt too strange to move on so suddenly.

"I'm going to go use the restroom" I sharply said and shot up from my seat, pulling away from her as I rushed inside the bathroom. Once inside, I locked the door behind me and fell back onto it, releasing a heavy breath while gasping in air to fill my parched lungs.

Pulling away from the door, I placed my hands on either side of the sink and stared at the mirror. Heavy bags hung under my eyes; my complexion was ash with the restless night and my clothes were the same as the ones I'd worn three nights ago. Black Rolling Stones tee, the worn out jeans and tired chucks.

Why did he want to know me?

Why was he wasting his time on me?

Sighing deeply, I turned the tap and cupped my hands underneath. I then splashed the cold water on my heated cheeks. The chill quenched the flames of my burning desire and finally helped me breath again.

I pulled back and reached into my pocket for the hair tie. My fingers pushed back my hair and then twisted them as I tied it up in a messy bun. I wasn't exactly here to impress some random stranger because I just needed to get home.

With one last look, I slipped back out of the bathroom but only ended up jumping at the sight of my dark stranger. I gasped again when he placed his hand beside my head and his gaze darkened. "A fantasy of mine has always taken place in an airplane's bathroom" he whispered.

Come on Bella, just leave and walk away.

"That is why it is a fantasy" I retorted.

On the count of three.

"Fantasies and simply possible realities" he winked mischievously and leaned in closer to me.

1…

I kept calm and reminded myself to breathe. "Keep dreaming"

2…

"Oh I will" he leans in and I felt my resolve waver.

3…Fuck it!

In a sharp second, I wrapped my arms around his neck and my anxious lips crashed onto his. As expected, he tasted as amazing as he looked and I found a hunger arise, becoming insatiable by the second. However, when he didn't respond, I was about to withdraw but felt one hand pressed on my back, pulling me closer while the other cradled the nape of my neck, keeping me close and pulling me back to the kiss.

His own need was passed through his heated breaths while mine was in the manner I slipped my fingers up, slipping them into his locks and tugged them lightly. "Damon…" I moaned against his lips and found myself considering his fantasy when his hungered lips found my throat.

"Excuse me…"

We broke apart and I grew horrified at the old lady who huffed in annoyance.

A blush flared and I unravelled my arms, disentangling away from him and stepped away from him. With a ducked head, I wiped the tempting taste on my lips as I rushed back to my seat.

While I began buckling myself in, he brushed past me and fell back into his own seat. "You need to get your mind off it" he spoke again and I wondered how he had found his train of thought already.

My dizziness had taken a toll and I grew faint. "Off what?" I asked, trusting him to try and distract me.

He leaned in and I shivered when he pushed my hair out of the way so his lips would brush against my ear. "Your fear of flying" he piped up. I tried to clear my head to make sense of what I had done and why I wanted it to happen again.

Lifting my head up, I tried to deny his accusation, "I don't-"

He stopped my excuse when pointing to my fingers drumming on my jittery knee. "Here" he spoke and I looked up to the silver flask he offered. "This will help" he encouraged and I shrugged and accepted it.

Hesitantly, my fingers gripped the small silver flask and I slowly brought it up to my lips. The second the searing liquid hit my throat, I withdrew and began to splutter violently. My chest burned, as did my tongue with the leftover after taste.

Damon's smirk transformed into amused laughter, "Lightweight" he chuckled.

I screwed the cap on and threw it at him, feeling embarrassed but composed myself. "Jackass" I sneered but he continued to laugh at my misfortune.

Wanting to ignore him, I reached for the headphones so I could distract myself with a movie. Only he placed a hand on my arm. I looked to him questioningly, ready to protest but was stopped when there was a sharp jolt being fired through the plane.

My breath caught in my throat and I stared, wide-eyed at Damon. For once, he kept quiet and furrowed his eyebrows when his eyes darted around worriedly. His confidence slipped and I realise he too had stopped breathing.

"What's happening?" I gasped inaudibly.

"I'm sure it's no-"

His words were interjected when another fierce tremor racked through. This time, I jumped in my seat and my fingers fell down, gripping Damon's arm.

"Turbulence!" someone else across the side screamed and

"Folks, we are having some technical diff-" even the captain couldn't continue as the whole plane suddenly shook aggressively and continuously. My grasp on Damon's arm slipped down to hold his hand tightly.

The shudders only strengthened and my breaths heaved from my burdened chest. Damon noticed my panicked state so he

"Oxygen masks and life vests" one of the attendants stumbled by, gesturing to the masks that had just broken down. "Put them on. Hurry!" she screamed and I watched as she took off her heels, discarding them to the side when helping others with their masks.

From all the people screaming, there was one that was louder and heart wrenching. "Julie! Julie!" a woman screamed and I snapped my head up, away from Damon's hold and looked around. In the far end, I caught how the middle aged woman pushed the attendant away. "My daughter – sh-she's gone - I can't find her" the woman rambled and continued to search. "Julie!" she called and I searched with her.

My eyes zoned into the young girl, no more than eleven, crouched by the floor. Tears were streaming down her flushed face as she muttered something another her breath.

"Isabella, you need to get down" Damon ordered but I ignored him as I pushed him away and out of the seat as I raced towards the girl.

"Hey" I soothed her when she yelped. "It's okay" I murmured and pulled her in my arms. After a moment's hesitation, her shivers relaxed and she simply breathed heavily. "Just stay down" I warned when watching as the suitcases fell from the overhead lockers. The girl, I presumed was Julie, screamed again so I smoothed down her hair and fought against my own tremors. My hands then cupped over her ears so she didn't have to listen to the other's cries. "It's going to be okay" I promised, wishing I could believe the words myself.

When holding her to my chest, something caught my eye and I looked up to see the large black duffel peeking out of the locker. I could tell it was about to fall and tried to move out of the way but didn't have to, as a hand grabbed it. My eyes followed to look at our saviour; Damon.

"Stay down" he commanded and set the bag aside, crouching down next to us and shielding us. I could feel his warmth against my back and I concentrated on the pulsating heat. He continued to hold onto me and I relaxed when he whispered against my ear, "It's going to be okay" he vowed.

A/N: Did you like it?