"Hello, Bella."

Bella put her book in her lap and smiled at me. She seemed so relaxed. I could never, and I suppose will never, understand how she could be so comfortable with us. With all the incidents that had occurred, I would've figured she'd leave. Try to get as far away from us as possible. It's what any other human would have done in the first place.

Bella, though…Bella was going to stay. Bella was here for good.

I looked over at Edward, my main reason for coming into the room at all.

He was already looking at me. His hair was wet, and a few stray water droplets were dripping down his neck.

I swallowed. "Edward, could you come downstairs for a minute? Jasper wanted to speak to you."

He took a deep breath and nodded. Then, without even glancing at Bella, he got up and walked out of the room, his arm brushing against my chest on his way past me. After he was in the hallway, his unusually fast pace slowed, and soon he was just simply standing there. He was staring at the wall, deep in thought.

"Edward?" I asked slowly. "Are you alright, son?"

He seemed to come back to reality then, and he looked at me. "Yes, just searching through Jasper's thoughts to see what he could possibly want to talk to me about."

"He said you were having mood swings?" I offered, hoping I could help him in some way. If only Jasper had not been so vague

He was silent for a couple seconds, appearing to be deep in thought again. I was about to ask him if he was alright, but his eyes seemed to refocus on me. "Uh, yeah. Mood swings. I've been…thinking. About the wedding. How Bella's handling everything. Y'know…"

Oh, Bella. That was understandable. Bella was here for good. She was going to stay…

"Oh, yes," I murmured. "That does make sense. I don't know why Jasper's so concerned, then." Are you sure it's not something else, son? I thought despite myself. I didn't want to pester him; someone repeatedly asking if you're alright can get quite bothersome.

"I'm fine, dad." He said the word dad as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

I dismissed that thought for the moment. "Alright, Edward. Go talk to Jasper, assure him you're fine. I will talk to you later."

Before he could say anything else, I started walking towards my study.

His footsteps got fainter and fainter as he got farther and farther away from me.


I took an unnecessary deep breath, then I stepped into Edward's bedroom.

He was alone, sitting on his bed, seeming to be deep in thought.

"Edward?" I asked softly, knowing he'd still hear me.

For a brief second, he speared to be angry, but it went away as quickly as it had come. "Hm?"

"Jasper said he wanted to see you again." Did you two not get everything resolved?

"I thought we did," he said, and I could hear the underlying anger in his voice.

Should I be worried, son? I asked him mentally.

"No. Everything is fine," he assured me. "I think he's actually going to talk to me about Bella's recent emotions."

I smiled a little. "You think?"

He seemed confused now. "Uh, yes, I think."

My smile faded. "I was just poking fun at you, Edward. Usually you know things for sure, because of your gift." Great attempt at a joke, Carlisle. If that could even be considered a joke.

His confusion seemed to go away, but no emotion replaced it. He seemed…blank. "Oh. Right. Sorry. Distracted."

Are you sure you're alright, Edward? I asked him, trying to make my mental tone concerned.

"Yes, Carlisle. I'm perfectly fine," he quite obviously lied. "Why are you so worried?" He seemed to be enveloped by his thoughts, but I spoke anyway, determined to snap him out of it.

"I don't know, you look…" I trailed off, trying to find the right words. "Different. Nervous. It's just…something."

"Well there's nothing wrong, Carlisle. Honestly."

I repressed a sigh.

"Okay. I believe you, Edward. You'd tell me if anything was wrong, though, right?"

"Of course." He sounded so genuine…

His eyes seemed to focus on something else, something other than me, and I could tell he was being consumed by his thoughts. More than ever, I wished I had his gift.

"Edward?" I eventually asked. "Are you gonna go talk to Jasper?"

He nodded, then got up and quickly walked out of the room.

I was alone.

Sighing, I started walking to my room, hoping Esme would be there. Maybe she had an idea about what was wrong with Edward…

Just as I'd wanted, when I walked into the room, Esme was lounging on our bed, reading a book. She did not look up at me or make any indication that she knew I was in the room.

I hesitantly sat down next to her, wondering if I'd done something earlier to upset her.

Thankfully, though, she looked over at me and smiled. "Hello darling." She seemed to notice my expression then. "What's wrong, Carlisle?"

"Edward is worrying me."

"How so?" She put her book in her lap, closing it, though her finger was still on the page she had been reading.

"He seems troubled. Every time I talk to him, he seems to get lost in his thoughts, like there's something he just can't stop thinking about. But I don't think it's anything to do with Bella or the wedding. It's just that I don't know. I keep asking him if he's alright, and he keeps telling me that he is. But I don't…I just don't know."

"Oh, Carlisle, don't get yourself so worked up." Esme took my left hand and held it, squeezing it slightly. "Maybe this is something Edward has to work out by himself. And if it is, you have to let him. He'll be alright."

I smiled a little and nodded. "You're right, love. I need to let him work this out on his own."

"He's strong. Don't underestimate him."

"I won't." I kissed her cheek, then stood up and walked out of the room.

Esme always knew how to make me feel better.

I went into my study and sat down at my desk, transitioning myself into business mode.

Before the transformation was complete, though, I heard footsteps pounding against the ground outside. Heavy breathing accompanied it, and when I looked out my window, I saw Edward running through the forest.

This was not normal running. This was something was chasing me running, I need to get away from something running.

What did Edward need to get away from? What was chasing him?

I stood up and started making my way into the kitchen, knowing that was the door he'd come in.

Yes, he did need to work this out by himself, but…he was my son, and I wanted to help him in any way I could.

When I walked into the kitchen, Edward was leaning against the counter, his breathing still heavy. His shirt was filthy. It was as if his talk with Jasper had turned into a wrestling match. But I could tell that's not what had happened.

Edward looked over at me, but I could just tell that his eyes were about to wander away from me, and I was about to lose him to his own mind.

I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder, trying to keep him with me. "Edward, what happened?"

His head turned, and I realized he was looking at my hand. Then his gaze traveled up my arm, until our eyes met.

His eyes were so gold…

"Edward?" I asked, my voice quiet. "What's wrong?"

He seemed to seriously take my question into consideration. This time he didn't just automatically answer; he was actually asking himself: What's wrong?

After a couple more seconds, he spoke.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

His voice was a whisper. But he sounded genuine. Maybe even a little…dazed.

Relief flooded through me. Edward was alright. Maybe…maybe nothing had ever really been wrong. Had I just exaggerated the situation?

Suddenly, his skin felt too hot under my hand. It felt like a fire was spreading like wildly throughout my body. What was happening?

I nodded in response to Edward's answer, then I took my hand off of his shoulder, putting out the fire. Then I turned around and walked out of the kitchen, my hand tingling.

A/N: I had wanted to try something a little different with this chapter, and I think it worked out well. Carlisle's perspective of the whole situation is a little bit darker, but...I think it works. The next chapter will be back to Edward's point of view, and I'll do this Carlisle thing again in a few chapters. :)