Thank you to my awesome beta idealskeptic and my two lovely prereaders K. K. Fush and TheMortician'sDaughter! Happy Birthday, K.K Fush!
Esme POV:
"Where the fuck are you going?"
I jumped out of my skin and my heart lurched violently. I hadn't realized he was standing right behind me when I had just gotten downstairs with all my things. Renee was coming to pick me up soon. I wanted her here so badly so I could get out of this horrid dump that he called our house. Sure it was a house, but it wasn't a home, nothing close to it.
"Renee's house, to sleep over," I spoke faintly. I was so nervous and such a bad liar. I was sleeping over, but I needed to leave out who else was joining us. I couldn't screw this up. I wouldn't.
He laughed darkly and pushed me against the wall. His mouth curved up into a nasty smirk and he guffawed. He was going to make fun of me, I was sure of it. "Sleep over at her place? Like spend the night? What are you kids gonna do? Giggle over boys? Play with your Barbies? Talk to your dollies? Isn't that what girls do at a sleepover? You guys are lesbian lovers, I bet!" Charles cackled evilly. "You and that weirdo Renee, ever since you were a kid...not many teenagers wanna hang out with a snot rag baby like you!"
I ignored his cruel comments. "Well, we're gonna talk all night."
"What about watching scary movies and throwing popcorn up in the air when the guy yells, 'BOO!' at the screaming little girls, huh?"
"W-we might," I stammered. His loud voice shook me to the core and he was the reason I hated scary movies. I couldn't even watch them with my girlfriends.
"Aww, well, have fun. God, you're such a big baby. Remember, if you get too frightened, you can always come home to your uncle Charles, sweetie pie," he said in a sick and childish voice. He patted my cheek and pouted at me. "Or you can call your mommy and daddy...wait, they're not here." He gasped. "Did something happen to them? Oh, child, no wonder you're so messed up in the head! You're fucked up, you brain dead moron!" He was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of his eyes.
I stared at him and blinked a few times. My breath was wavering, but I willed myself not to cry. I bit my lip and kept my eyes on my feet. I clutched my bags in my hand. He walked a few steps back and continued his cackling. "Such a fucking baby!" He pointed at me. "Loser! You're a lo-ho-ho-ho-ser!" He shaped his fingers into an L and placed it on his forehead. With his other hand, he grabbed a bottle of whiskey, twisted it open, threw the top into the sink, and drank as it dribbled down the front of his shirt. He whooped, "This is my thousandth drink tonight and I'm going back for more!" and started running around the kitchen, howling with laughter. "You can't even drink alcohol, you can't even drink alcohol! Nah nah nah nah nah, you're so stupid!"
Well, you're just immature, you piece of garbage.
After doing that for a few minutes, he fell down and cried from being such a maniac. The doorbell rang just in time.
Don't let him get to you. Remember, you are going to have fun tonight! Carlisle, just think about Carlisle!
My mind's voice made me smile and just that thought let me escape without crying.
"Hey stupid, get the door," he snapped and then went back to his pitiful wails.
"Yes, Master," I said quietly and skipped over to open the door for Renee.
"Hey, Esme, you ready to go?" Renee asked kindly, giving me a big hug.
I nodded into her shoulder. "Yeah."
"What the hell is that noise?" she asked with a hint of a smile on her face.
"Charles," I answered with a roll of my eyes. "He was insulting me and then the next minute he fell over drunk as a skunk."
Renee poked her head into the kitchen while I stayed back. I had no idea what state he was in now. "Oh, Charles, stop sobbing. She's only going to be gone overnight. You can handle yourself, can't you? Esme can't take care of you all the time." She ran back to me, looped her arm through mine, and we rushed out the door. We held in our laughter when we got into the car. She revved the engine, stepped on the gas pedal, and drove off. I sniffled, remembering his previous comments. Even if he was drunk, he meant every single rude word he said to me. They were insults that stabbed deep into my heart.
When she noticed I wasn't giggling as much as she was, Renee took one of her hands off the wheel and glanced at me for a second. She wiped off a tear that was slowly dripping down my cheek.
"Thank you, Ren. He's so mean to me," I said weakly.
"Don't you cry, Ez. Tonight will be special for you. Do not let him ruin your night, you understand me?"
"Okay." I nodded. "But he was reminding me that I had no parents."
"I'm glad I burned him, then. He's an asshole, inside and out. You know that. Just ignore what he says. It's not even true. When he recalls bad memories, think of the good times you had before he came into your life, and the greatest moments with me, your best friend. Are you ready to have fun?"
"Whoooo!" I cheered. "Oh, hell yeah!"
"Alright, that's the spirit!"
She pulled up into the driveway and parked. I got my things out and together we walked to her door. She opened it with her house key and we went inside. I wasn't allowed to be downstairs, according to what she had told me earlier.
"I got some things for you." She winked at me and I followed her upstairs. There was a purple flowy dress on her bed, and I gasped when I realized it was meant for me.
I took a shower just as Renee instructed me to do, and slathered myself with body lotion. She said a man liked smooth skin on a woman...and then she sprayed me everywhere with perfume. I wrapped the towel around myself and undid my hair that I put up and out of the way of the lotion and perfume.
Renee had me sit down in front of her vanity mirror. "What are you-OW!" I groaned as she brushed through my curls with a widetooth comb.
"Sorry, but your hair is frazzled and messy, my dear. I'm straightening it."
"But he's seen me like this before!" I protested, pointing to the messy side of my hair.
She rolled her eyes and tutted. "It's your first date...you have to look hot!"
I blushed. "Renee, it's not a date. We're just friends!"
"Really? You won't be after tonight," she smirked and turned me around to face the mirror. I had never thought my hair could be straight; I always thought it was frizzy and ugly. She blow dried my hair and ran her hands through it. "Perfect! I love making you over!"
"You're my doll next time, got it?"
"I promise I will be! Now for your makeover..." She took a bag out of her drawer and unzipped it. Bottles of lip gloss, lipstick, mascara, eyeliner, and eye shadow spilled out and I spotted blush underneath the pile.
"Wait, all this makeup scares me...you're not gonna make me into a prostitute, are you?"
"Of course not! Less is more!"
I sighed with relief. "Thank you so much for doing this for me...I will love you forever!"
She hugged me when she finished painting my face. "You're welcome. Oh, my little Ez is all grown up!"
I stared at my reflection. My eyes were lined in black and my lashes were curled and covered with mascara. I had dark purple eye shadow to match my dress and it was my favorite color. A light blush caked my face especially my cheeks. I pursed my dark pink lips, which were almost red and seductive looking with the shimmery lip-gloss she put on them. I opened my mouth but nothing came out.
"You like it?"
"Yes! Oh yes!" I cried, hugging her and jumping up and down. "You did an outstanding job!"
"Thanks! Make sure your hair doesn't catch on your lip gloss!"
"Oh that would suck!"
"I know. Now your nails!" She painted a pale pink polish on my nails and then I was almost finished. "Time to get your dress on!"
"I really owe you!" I declared, pulling it over my freshly shaved legs and adjusting it so Renee could zip up the back.
"There you go, sweetheart." She smiled, pleased with herself. "Just in time! You're gonna wow him tonight!"
A knock at the door sounded and then the doorbell rang. My heart fluttered in my chest and I almost forgot what to do next. I was grateful when Renee took my hand and led me down the stairs. "Please don't let me stumble in these death traps!"
"Never fear, baby. I've got you. Good luck, and remember, just invite him in for dinner with a surprise and a movie, I'll be in my bedroom, but I'll let you two use it-"
"Shut up!" I hissed and pushed her away as she chuckled while going back up the steps. She looked at me again when I looked back at her. "If he breaks your heart, I'll shoot him. But he has my approval thus far." She gave me a thumbs up when I shooed her away and rolled my eyes at her silliness.
"You're a true friend!" I told her and she cheered wildly. I laughed hysterically as I made my way to open the door.
The pounding of my heart increased as I unlocked the door, twisted the door handle, and let him in. My hands were shaking with nerves as I tried to find my voice. I had no idea what to do but just let my arms hang limply by my sides. He was in a suit with a purple tie, matching my dress perfectly. I knew Renee planned this and she was helping us out so much in our forbidden friendship, which I hoped would turn into so much more.
"Hey there, Esme," Carlisle greeted me, his blue eyes twinkling.
"Hi, Carlisle," I said softly. "Come on in."
"I'm so glad we could hang out," he commented.
"Me too...so, um, are you hungry?"
"Aaah, you remembered the way to a man's heart...through his stomach!"
I giggled. "Yeah...let's eat!"
"What's on the menu?" he asked me as we walked through the hallway.
"How do you like pasta?"
"Sounds enticing," Carlisle grinned and licked his lips. "Fettuccini Alfredo's my favorite!"
"No way! That's my favorite!"
"I think everyone with a sense of taste has that on his or her top ten greatest foods list," he said with a short laugh. Then he took in the scene surrounding us and both our eyes widened. She set up a candles and roses dinner for us? No wonder she wouldn't let me anywhere downstairs until he came! I was speechless. She was too sweet.
"Oh my..."
His eyebrows rose quizzically. "You didn't set this up?"
"No, I'm not this talented...um, my friend Renee did this for us." I sat down on a bouncy chair on one end of the little square table and he sat on the other end with a comfortable chair.
"Well, that was nice of her. She must be a special friend of yours, huh?"
"Ooohhh, yeah. We go waaay back!" I spied Renee, busy in the kitchen.
"So you and Renee are longtime friends, then?"
"Yup, to when she was almost fourteen and I was a little newborn baby."
"You were just a baby?"
"This small." I showed him with my hands. "The length of a keyboard."
"Wow, you were just a tiny thing...you still are, shorty," he teased and poked me in a spot that was extremely ticklish. I would have to keep that to myself. It was Renee's favorite place to tickle me when I was little.
"Hey!" I protested with a giggle. "I'm five feet two."
"My point exactly. I'm five feet six," he bragged. That was okay; I liked men who were just a few inches taller than me. What else should I say to him? I had no idea!
"Dinner's ready!" Renee sang before the silence got too uncomfortable.
When our eyes met, she was grinning like a Cheshire cat and my smile was so big it hurt. I tried not to laugh as she brought out a huge pot, walked flirtatiously over to us, and set it down.
"Your first meal of the day, soup!" she announced in a really bad Italian accent. I muffled my giggles with the palm of my hand. She lifted the top of the pot and we jumped as a head popped out and floated around the pot. I recognized it immediately. It was the papier-mache balloon that she and I painted to make it look like Charles. We always put it in boiling red tomato sauce so it looked like we were setting him on fire. We made it during one of our days out at an art and craft fair when I was ten or so. She squeezed my arm when Carlisle asked, "What is that?"
We both burst out laughing. "Charles fucktard Evenson getting owned by boiling hot liquid or drowning in his own blood!" Renee said through her gasps of air.
"Fucking bastard deserves every bit of his punishment!" Carlisle joined in our laughter.
"Damn right! It's the best way to go!" I agreed after I had calmed down from my giggling fit. She and I hi-fived and flipped our hair. That was our signature handshake.
"That's what he gets for being a nasty principal!" Carlisle exclaimed.
Our conversation died as we ate our dinner happily. Sometimes, I would look up from my plate at him and he would be smiling at me like he knew something I didn't. I felt him playing footsies with me under the table and I snickered beneath my palm. We were flirting without communication, and I loved it. I let out a squeal of surprise when he caught both my feet in his. That sensation in the pit of my stomach when he carried me a short distance was back. I had now been in his arms twice, but having my feet between his caused me to have the same excited reaction.
"You're never gonna let me go, are you?" I asked when we finished our food.
"Oh…sorry," he mumbled, looking ashamed. Our feet broke contact and we loaded our plates into the sink. Renee was ready and willing to do our dishes after she watched us eat while eating her own meal.
"Do you wanna watch a movie now?" I offered.
"Sure, or if you want, we can talk…I'd like to get to know you a lot better. You look too young to be married."
"I'm twenty-five now...my birthday is on June fifteenth," I let him know. "How old are you, big guy?"
"I'll be twenty-four November twenty-sixth."
I was so shocked that he was younger than me. He seemed a little older and he looked it too. I raised an eyebrow at him. "And your son is ten?" I quickly did the math in my head. Emmett's mom had him when Carlisle was only thirteen? Forget sixteen and pregnant...this guy had a kid in middle school! Wait, maybe he adopted Emmett…
"Yeah…I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable." He looked away and put his hands in his pockets. We both sat down on the purple couch in Renee's teen lounge. "Cool room by the way." I could tell he was trying to change the subject.
"Oh, no! I mean, I dunno…I just figured he was ten since he was in Carmen's fifth grade classroom…I assume that he's adopted."
"That's what everybody thinks because we don't look a lot alike. We both have blue eyes, but our hair color is different. I mean, his is dark brown, but mine is light brown, almost blonde. It's lighter than your hair. Emmett is my biological son."
"You were thirteen when you started raising him?"
"Around that age. I need to tell you something, Esme." A grave look crossed his face and I braced myself for what he was about to say. "My mom sucked my cock when I was changing one day…she had a crush on me when I started puberty. After my mom raped me, my dad beat the shit out of me because he wanted to believe that it was my fault."
"Oh my God, Carlisle, I'm so sorry…" I whispered with my hands over my mouth in horror. "I had no idea!"
"It's okay now, Esme. They're both in jail and I'm just happy I have Emmett. I rarely get nightmares, but it is disturbing to think about."
"And you couldn't beat her up? I thought men were much stronger than women..."
"Not her. She had a bull neck...she was like a sumo wrestler, double the size I was at thirteen...about Charles' size."
"She was huge like the Trunchbull?" I asked with wide eyes.
He nodded. "She could break my bones."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, my childhood wasn't very pretty..." I muttered, not really wanting to go all the way into it. It was too disgusting.
"I'm trying to picture you as a child...you must have been precious." He smiled at me.
I beamed. "Thank you. I actually have pictures. Wanna see?"
He nodded eagerly and I ran upstairs to get Renee because she kept a safe full of our pictures together in her closet.
"What's up, girl?" she asked.
"I need a lot of pictures of the two of us," I explained. "Please?"
She handed me a photo album full of our life together and then my fifth grade yearbook. "Here you go. Have a nice day."
I laughed at her proper tone. "Thanks, BFF!"
"No problem, BFF!" she replied and then I walked out of her room with photos and yearbook in hand.
I dumped all of what I had in Carlisle's lap. "There it is, from my baby pictures up until now. Enjoy them while they last!"
"Renesmee, that's what I'll call you two!" Carlisle teased me.
"You put our names together, that's hilarious!" I snickered. "Clever, man, very clever."
"Thank you. Now, where are you? In the P's?" He looked through the pages but when he couldn't find me, he was confused.
"I'm in the E's." I flipped the pages back and found myself. "Esme Evenson."
The young girl in the picture did not smile for the camera when the photographer told her to. Her eyes were emotionless and sunken in, like she hadn't had sleep in years. Her dark, straight hair was in pigtails, but her long bangs covered half her face and there was the faintest bit of a bruise on her jaw line. Her mouth was turned down into a serious expression, and suddenly I knew why. It was the day Renee had to leave. She had dressed me, but she was gone and I had nothing to be happy about anymore. The photographer asked me why I didn't smile, so I told him to fuck off.
Carlisle was staring at it with a dumbstruck look on his face.
"Say cheese my ass," was my only explanation for my depressed look in the picture. "Here's all the signature pages, filled with Renee's words of love she had for me. She wrote all of it when she came back."
"That was sweet of her." He grinned at me but still, his eyes looked troubled.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
"But you said your maiden name was Platt…"
I was glad he wasn't focusing on the fact that I wasn't smiling in my school picture.
"It was, but Mr. Evenson, well, he's my uncle…he was in charge of me when my mom died." I stared down at my lap as I told my story. "My dad was killed in the war when I was two. Charles murdered my mom with his own bare hands when I was five. He tried to get me, but Renee, then eighteen and about to leave for college, saved me. My mom risked and lost her own life for me. Sometimes, I feel like I was the one responsible for her death."
"Esme, nobody would be guilty except the monster who did it. You were five, so you couldn't stop him from getting to you or your mom. I'm so sorry that happened to you and he's still torturing you today."
"I hid under my bed to get away from him, I remember rolling under there, and I still do it today. It's gotten harder since I'm bigger…did you ever have to do that?"
"I would try, but she'd always find me and play hide and go seek with me. It was torture and she got a sick pleasure out of it. My dad would whip a belt under there and when he heard my screams of pain, he would laugh demonically. It only lasted two years. Yours was for twenty years and counting…so you have a much darker childhood than me. When did Renee come back?"
"She came back when I was nine, just for the summer, though. She had to transfer to a two-year community college to get her masters degree in teaching. But her coming back for a few months was better than no contact at all. I had not spoken to her in years because Charles didn't let me talk on the phone. She knew he was a monster, so she made sure to come to my house before she stepped a foot inside her own little apartment. It was a good thing she did. She saved me in more ways than I can think of. I remember I was in my room and it was hot and stuffy, so I opened a window. I was wearing a puffy-sleeved brown dress, like Charles always made me wear and then wash, no matter what the weather was like. The door of my room banged open and I let out a shriek, not expecting him to come in without knocking. I don't know why I was so surprised; he never knocked. He stared at me for a long minute and took off his shirt."
I had no idea why I was telling him this. We had just met. It didn't stop his words from coming alive in my head, though.
"Boy, is it hot today! And you're very beautiful for a nine year old. Not even double digits..."
I backed up, all the way to my closet, preparing to hide in there. "W-what do you mean?"
"It's about time you learn the male anatomy..." He grinned and unbuckled his pants. His wiener bounced out and bobbed in my face. "...Now this is a dick, cock, penis, whatever you wanna call it, but I want you to suck it like a hot dog or lick it like a lollipop. You love 'em, right? I can't put it in your ass or your cunt til you're eighteen. Just nine more years..." I shrank further into the tiny empty closet that only held my dingy brown jacket and a light gray sweatshirt. "Come on, don't be shy, little girl, just touch it." I had no idea what he meant, but I started shaking.
"What did he do, Esme?" Carlisle's voice brought me back to earth, and I jumped.
"He-he was trying to get me to give him a blow job and a hand job…but then Renee came to my rescue."
"Good, I'm glad," Carlisle said gently with a smile. "How come Renee didn't adopt you?" he wondered when I was on the verge of tears.
"She couldn't, because the people at Child Services believed Charles was capable of taking care of me. Really, I was the one who kept the house neat and cooked all the meals. My reward was to be beaten within an inch of my life, but he wouldn't dare touch me where it would show. Sure, I got a few broken limbs and a black eye or two, but Charles fooled the doctors into thinking I merely fell down the stairs and hit myself in the eye by accident. He forced me to tell anyone that who bothered to ask." I was sobbing at this point and trying to wipe my wet face with my hands without smearing my makeup. I turned away from him so he wouldn't see that I was an awful mess.
"Charles almost gave me a heart attack last night after I left you."
"Yeah, he's been known for scaring the shit out of people," I said in a wobbly voice, sniffling.
"I'm so sorry you've dealt with this all your life, Esme. But there is hope for you. Your mom is watching over you and Renee, and she would never allow either of you to die. She sent me to protect you, that's what it feels like."
My heart warmed at his words. Renee came into the room just then and turned on a movie. Carlisle sat closer to me.
"Do you want a hug?"
I was unsure. No man had ever been friendly to me before. I took a deep breath and allowed him to put his arms around me. It felt warmer in his embrace and we stayed in that position until the movie was over and it was time for him to go home.
What did you think of this chapter? Favorite part?
Also, please check out K.K. Fush's new story, Evenson House. You will LOVE it!
Another story you'll enjoy is The Vampire in the Mix by TheMortician'sDaughter which is a Twilight and Bones crossover.
Thank you to reviewers idealskeptic, K.K. Fush, MrsCarlisleCullen13, that kiwi chick, Just4Me, CarlisleandEsme, TheMortician'sDaughter, livi harkness, MileneLiraB, cuddyannie, TeamCarlisleandEsme8, and k8ln713! Twelve reviewers, wow that's shocking! Read and review please!
