Chapter 14, So Many Questions

Carlisle made it back to Forks in good time, he pulled up to the house and he waited in his car for a minute, clenching the steering wheel. He eventually made his way inside, he walked upstairs to Katie's room and sat on one of the cushioned chairs. He was hunched over and his head was in his hands. That was how Esme found him a few hours later.

She stared at him for a minute before saying, "Carlisle, what's the matter?"

He didn't respond, he didn't even acknowledge that she was there. Esme began to be concerned, she knelt down beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Carlisle, darling, what's wrong? Is Katie okay?" she asked. At the mention of Katie's name, Carlisle looked at Esme, his eyes were weary.

"Katie was- she was-" Carlisle stopped and shook his head, and for a moment Esme wondered if she had died, but then quickly shook the thought form her mind as she realized that he was not nearly upset enough.

"What was she doing?" Esme prompted.

"She was with him." Carlisle said, he had a tone in his voice, it was almost as if he was heartbroken, but Esme knew better.

"She was with a man?" Esme asked, Carlisle nodded, "Were they... together?" Esme asked again.

"Yes, but that's not the worst part, it was someone I knew, someone we've known forever. Have they been together for over 200 years and I'm just noticing now? Or did she just recently decide to sleep with the most power hungry, disrespectful maniac in the world recently?" Carlisle ranted on, "Why wouldn't she have told me? She told him she loved him, and he said it back! I've never known the man to feel, well, anything really. And he was married for half the time we've known him, were they together when his wife was still alive? Is that why the rest of the guard hates her? Is that why she always wanted to go back to Italy? Is that why she spent so much time away? At least it explains why Marcus hates her." Carlisle finished with a breath, "I can't believe it's Aro." he said that part under his breath, but Esme could hear, and the comforting smile was wiped off her face.

"Aro? As in the leader of the Volturi?!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm afraid so." Carlisle looked grim, "I don't know what to do about this."

"Well, what did you see?" Esme asked.

"Well, they went to a restaurant and they talked for hours, then they walked around the city for a while, and then they went back to his hotel room, but when I went outside, they were on the balcony together, and they touched each other and she told him she loved him and he said he loved her more, and she kissed him. And then I left." Carlisle told her.

Esme sighed and sat on the chair next to Carlisle, "Well, maybe this is a good thing." she started to say, Carlisle probably got whiplash from how fast he turned his head at that. Esme laughed a bit, "No, but think about it, Katie's happy, and if they say they love each other, then they probably mean it Carlisle, I mean, they can't lie to each other, literally. I'm just glad she's finally found someone who makes her happy, is Aro the best man out there? No. Would we have picked someone different for her? Yes. But it's not up to us, if she's happy, then the least we can do is try to happy for her too." Esme said, Carlisle nodded, looking out the window, Esme could tell that he wasn't convinced.

"Well, when she comes back she's going to find out that you've found out, and she probably won't be happy about it, so the least you can do is try to be supportive." Esme said, before she left the room.

Carlisle closed his eyes and sighed, when she comes back there is going to be a lot of questions.

Authors Note: Here's a short one, I'll probably finish and post the next chapter tomorrow! Comment/Review please!