Disclaimer - All recognisable characters belong to their original owners. I do not make a profit from writing this; I simply do it for my own amusement. No copyright infringement intended.

Chapter Twenty One

Black's

"Hi," Nessie called as she walked into the bar, a happy smile on her face.

"Heya," Rose called back, wiping down a table. A child had decided that he wanted to play with the salt pot and consequently had spilt it everywhere.

Esme came out of the back with Ethan in her arms, when he saw Nessie he let out a delighted squeal causing both Esme and Nessie to laugh.

"Who's that?" Esme asked, bringing the small child to the young vampire.

Nessie smiled as she gave Ethan a timid wave and he waved his hands back enthusiastically, the plastic keys encased in his fist making a loud noise.

"It's nice to meet you formally," Esme told the younger woman and Nessie smiled.

"You too." Nessie reached and gently stroked Ethan's cheek causing him to giggle and gently grab Nessie's finger with his hand.

"I've got work," she told him softly, pulling her finger out of his grasp and lightly touching her finger to his nose. Ethan giggled once more as Nessie went into Jake's office to put her bag and coat down.

Jake was serving a customer at the bar, but as Nessie walked past his eyes drifted to her and the corners of his mouth began to turn upwards into a smile. Nessie saw Jake looking at her, and despite her best efforts, a blush bloomed on her face and her mouth formed a small smile.

Rose shook her head at them. They were actually quite adorable.

The blonde waitress headed back to the bar and tossed her rag onto the side before she flopped down on a chair. Things were starting to slow down and Rose was getting tired. She covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath.

"What wrong Rosie - things getting boring without me?" Rose felt herself wake up immediately, her heart speed up and her annoyance levels increase.

She pulled her hands from her face only to find Emmett leant against the bar, smirking at her, showing off those sexy little dimples he had.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, crossing her arms over chest and trying to ignore the way Emmett blatantly began staring at her.

"We need to talk," the large man confessed. "Seems you've been having dreams about me."

"Not dreams - just a single dream. And it was your blood that caused it, nothing more." Rose hoped she was convincing, but the way Emmett was looking at her, she highly doubted it.

"You shouldn't lie, Rose - it could get you in trouble," Emmett murmured darkly.

"Jake - can you kick someone out for me?" Rose asked, her eyes never leaving Emmett. Jake looked over and looked between the two of them.

"Why?" He asked suspiciously - although he already knew the answer; Emmett had gotten under Rose's skin and she didn't like it.

"A customer's annoying me," she told Jake, again her eyes never leaving Emmett. He was now wearing a smirk on his face - he found her telling on him highly entertaining.

"Give him a free drink then," Jake responded cheekily. "Saves me the job of having to irritate you." Rose's mouth dropped open as Emmett let out a booming laugh.

"I'm Emmett - I think we're going to be good friends." The vampire said the shapeshifter. Rose watched in disbelief as Emmett and Jake shook hands, both of them cringing slightly at the difference in temperature before Emmett pulled up a seat next to Rose, and he and Jake began conversing as if they'd known each other their entire lives.

"You've got to be kidding me," Rose muttered, shaking her head.

Across the bar, Esme was smiling politely as a customer was telling her how sorry she was that she was a single mother, and wasn't Esme worried about her son not having a male role model in her life. Esme was struggling to think of any excuse to leave - and she was just about to resort to saying that Ethan had soiled his nappy when Carlisle breezed in through the doors, looking as handsome as ever.

"Excuse me," Esme told the customer, not caring how rude she sounded as she hitched Ethan higher up on her hip and went over to the entrance to greet him.

Carlisle smiled as Esme approached him, she looked radiant in her work uniform, and the vampire couldn't help but notice the way her jeans emphasised her legs.

"Fancy seeing you here," Esme said, smiling as Carlisle gave a small chuckle.

"I wanted to see how you were," he told her, his eyes going to the small child in her arms. "Hello, Ethan." The small child stopped playing with his keys and turned his head up towards Carlisle. His eyes seem to scan the man before he decided he wasn't interesting and he went back to the plastic toys.

"He didn't cry so you obviously have the seal of approval."

"I'm glad."

There was a silence. Esme looked at the floor before she looked back at Carlisle - he was still looking at her.

"Thank-you again for what you did last night - if you hadn't of-"

"Esme - please stop thanking me. I was more than happy to help you out - and I'll be more than happy to help you out again should you need it." His words were sincere.

"Am I the only one actually doing any work?!" Victoria cried, causing everyone to look at her. It wasn't as if the bar was too busy, and Esme and Rose had done the majority of the work this afternoon whilst she had a phone row with her latest boyfriend.

"I should get back to work," Esme muttered and Carlisle gave her a small smile.

"Would it be alright if I stayed?" He asked, his British accent coming through and making Esme's heart flutter.

Esme nodded. "I'd like that." She smiled back at him, a blush forming on her cheeks before she turned around headed to Jake's office to get Ethan's baby carrier.

Esme bumped into Nessie on the way there and Nessie gladly took Ethan off Esme as she put the carrier on herself before slipping Ethan into it, just as she did this morning.

Carlisle went and sat at the bar next to Jake and Emmett, both other men welcoming him into their conversation, as Esme, Nessie and Rose went back to work.

The conversation was easy between the three men as they discussed cars, sports and at one point vampire politics. Carlisle was fascinated by Jake's kind; he'd met a few before but never got to really talk to them. Emmett thought Jake was great; he was funny, liked the same things as he did and he could be useful in getting Rose to like him, or at least admit she didn't hate him. Jake was surprised at how much he liked Emmett and Carlisle - his admiration for Carlisle had begun last night when he'd selflessly saved Esme's life and Emmett wasn't as bad as Rose had made out. Jake could really come to like these two.

About an hour had passed and the bar had quietened down completely. After the last customer had left Rose gladly shut the door behind them.

"Can we please close up early tonight?" Rose asked, she was exhausted, and the sooner the bar closed, the sooner she could get away from Emmett.

"We have had a few crazy days," Jake said, a knowing smile on his face.

"Thank God!" Victoria cried, running into Jake's office, grabbing her bag and leaving before anyone had the chance to stop her.

"No it's alright - we'll finish up here," Rose called after her sarcastically, rolling her eyes at the redhead. Emmett smiled - God she was a spitfire.

Rose turned away from the door and went and leaned on the bar next to Emmett. She smiled as she saw Esme gently cradling a sleeping Ethan in her arms - she'd not let him out of her sight all day and it seemed like both mother and baby had benefited from it.

"Couldn't stay away could you Rosie?" Emmett cheekily asked. Rose shook her head at his comment and despite her best efforts, the corners of her mouth turned upwards into a smile.

Emmett leaned in. "I love it when you smile for me." A blush bloomed on Rose's cheeks. "And I know I'm going to love it when you moan for me too."

"You're a pig," Rose told him, moving from her place next to him and standing next to Jake behind the bar.

"Have you heard off Bella, Rose?" Nessie asked, pulling her phone out of her apron pocket. "Edward usually checks in with me when he goes out - mainly to see if I'm okay."

Rose pulled her phone out of her pocket and shook her head. When Bella was with Edward she seemed to forget that the rest of the world existed.

The doors to the bar suddenly burst open and Sam came walking in, holding Bella in his arms.

Rose gasped and she ran around the bar as Sam lay her down on one of the tables.

"What happened?" Rose urgently asked. Sam shook his head and looked worriedly at Jake. Carlisle got up from the bar, gently pressing his hand to Bella's face. When she didn't respond he opened the lids of her eyes and examined her pupils.

"Do you have a first aid kit?" He asked, his question directed at Jake, but never taking his eyes off Bella.

"Yeah," Jake answered, Nessie rushing off to fetch it from the office.

She used her vampire speed to get it to Carlisle and he immediately opened it up and pulled out some smelling salts. He carefully placed them under Bella's nose and Rose watched with relief as Bella's nose crinkled and then her eyes slowly opened, her lids blinking as she looked around her.

"The wolves," she whispered. "They got Edward."

Bella

My nose wrinkled as a horrid smell filled them, making the insides burn. I slowly opened my eyes; Rose and Carlisle were both stood over me with Nessie stood to the side looking slightly worried.

I fixed my eyes on Carlisle's blue ones. "The wolves… they got Edward."

"Wolves?" Carlisle turned to look at Jake, confusion all over his face.

Jake should his head. "This has got nothing to do with me - my pack wouldn't hurt Edward."

"We weren't anywhere near him," Sam confirmed. "I just found Bella in the woods, she was completely out a breath and all panicky, and then she fainted. I brought her straight here."

"Not Jake's pack," I whispered, fresh tears coming to my eyes when I thought of Edward. I carefully sat up on the table, Carlisle's concerned eyes checking me over.

"Edward said they were were-werewolves," I stammered, tears falling down my cheeks.

"Werewolves?" Emmett asked, coming to stand next to Rose, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he turned to look at Carlisle.

"Are you sure Edward said werewolves, Bella?" His voice kind as he looked at me. I nodded and Rose came and wrapped an arm around me, her hand stroking up and down my bare skin.

"I didn't even think werewolves existed," I told no one in particular.

"Not many people do," Carlisle murmured, his eyes briefly flicking to Emmett's. "They're very secretive - even more so than vampires."

Carlisle came and sat down in the chair next to the table. "Bella, I need you to tell me everything that happened." I nodded, wiping my cheeks with my hands before a worried looking Esme came over and handed me some tissues.

I thanked her quietly, leaning into Rose as I began to recount the evening.

When I got to the bit about the dog running out in front of the car, Emmett snickered.

"That was no dog - it would have been a were. They were trying to get you to pull over - that's when they were going to attack you. They didn't count on Edward getting away so fast."

"They chased the car - there were so many of them… and then one jumped out and bite the tyre." Rose reached up and gently wiped away the tears that were on my cheeks. "It punctured the tyre so Edward said he was going to run us to Forks, but they attacked him." My voice trailed off at the end as more tears fell from my eyes, the memory of Edward falling and being ravaged by the wolves replaying itself over and over again in my mind.

"He told me to run and I did… oh God! I shouldn't have left him!" I wailed, guilt washing over me as sobs wracked my body. "I left him to die! I let them bite him!"

"Bite him?" Emmett asked, his deep voice preventing me from getting too hysterical. I nodded. "Why did they bite him?" He asked again, his voice urgent.

"I don't know!" I wailed. Carlisle gently took my hands in his, his cool hands reminding me so much of Edward's.

"Bella you did the right thing - werewolves are dangerous on their own, but put them in a pack and they become one of the most volatile creatures on this earth." My lips trembled as I looked at Edward's maker. "You got yourself to safety - that's the most important thing."

"But Edward-" I began.

"Will be fine," Carlisle countered. "We'll find out who took him and why and then we'll bring him home. If the wolves wanted him dead, they would have staked him at the first opportunity, not bitten him."

"I was so scared," I whispered and the blonde vampire nodded sympathetically.

"You're safe now Bella - nobody's going to hurt you." I wanted to believe him - I really did, but it seemed like all people wanted nowadays was to hurt me.

"Why don't you go and get cleaned up and we'll get you home?" Carlisle asked kindly. I looked down at my knees and saw they were stained with dirt and there was mud under my fingernails.

I nodded as Edward's maker helped me stand, making sure I was alright as Rose took me into the bathroom to help me get cleaned off.

Carlisle

Carlisle watched Rose and Bella walk into the bathroom and then turned to look at the group in front of him.

"Until we know why werewolves went after Bella and Edward, I don't want anyone being alone - they might come after someone else next." He turned to Jacob. "Can you get the pack to patrol the houses?"

"Of course," Jacob told him. He then turned to Sam who nodded and headed out the door, presumably to give the pack their orders.

"Emmett - can you escort the girls home and then wait until someone from the pack is there? Then we'll go to Bella Italia, try and retrace the steps from there. " Emmett agreed and Carlisle could see Emmett quickly understanding how serious this situation was.

"Jacob," the large man faced him. "Can you escort Nessie home please - I'll see that Esme gets home safe and then can you meet us at the restaurant?" The alpha nodded and turned to face Nessie, giving her a reassuring smile; it was easy to tell she was worried about Edward.

Bella and Rose emerged from the bathroom and Carlisle filled them in, Rose looking less than pleased when she found out Emmett would need to take them home. Emmett chose that moment to wink at Rosalie, causing her to roll her eyes and grab Bella's hand and drag her from the bar. Emmett let out a deep chuckle and sped after them. A few moments later, Carlisle heard a truck fire up and leave the parking lot.

For the moment, Carlisle was satisfied that they were safe so he turned to face Esme, Nessie and Jacob.

"I've just got to lock up here and then I can take Nessie back," Jacob said, his eyes lingering on Nessie. Carlisle bobbed his head in understanding and then fixed his eyes on Esme.

"Ready?" Esme nodded, holding a sleeping Ethan a little tighter against her, as she grabbed his diaper bag and headed for the door, Carlisle falling into step behind her. He opened the door for her, his other hand so close to her lower back Esme could feel the chill of his skin.

The silently walked to the car. "Can you get the keys out the diaper bag please?" Carlisle agreed and carefully reached in, feeling around until he found them. He unlocked the car, taking the diaper bag from Esme as she situated Ethan into his car seat without waking him.

Carlisle handed Esme the keys as he got into the passenger side of her car and she slid into the drivers, turning the engine over and putting her seatbelt on. She had one final look in the mirror at Ethan before she set off, driving carefully and steadily towards her home.

"Are you worried about Edward?" Esme asked, her eyes briefly looking at Carlisle before she focused back on the road.

Carlisle took a moment to respond. He could lie but he didn't want to. "I won't admit this to Bella because I don't want to worry her, but yes - yes I am worried." He paused. "I don't know why werewolves would want Edward - or any vampire - for that matter."

"Whatever they want - we'll figure it out," Esme told him. Carlisle lips turned up into a smile at the mention of 'we'.

The rest of the journey was silent and once they got to Esme's house, Carlisle felt Esme's nerves.

"What's wrong?" He asked, taking off his seatbelt so he could face her. Esme did the same.

"I just want you to be careful," she replied, the dark night making the blush on her cheeks barely visible.

"I will," he told her, drinking her in. Carlisle couldn't take his eyes off Esme - he couldn't believe that this was the same woman he had treated almost ten years ago. He'd never thought he would see her again, and here she was, even more, beautiful than before. He'd felt guilty for his thoughts of her then, but now she was older he couldn't bring himself to feel an ounce of remorse.

Carlisle watched as Esme's eyes darted from his eyes to his lips and then back again. The vampire began to lean closer to her and Esme followed suit, her lips parting slightly.

Carlisle leaned in further, readying himself for the kiss he was sure he was about to receive but was stopped when he heard the sound of leaving crunching. He turned his head around, eyes scanning the night, looking for the intruder.

He was relieved when he saw a large grey wolf step out of the trees, his eyes spotting the vampire. Carlisle turned back to Esme whose eyes were slightly glazed, her plump lips still parted.

"I should get you inside," he said quietly, noting the disappointment in her eyes.

Both adults got out the car, Esme going around the back, opening the door and carefully lifting her son into her arms. She cradled him against her chest with one hand as Carlisle fetched the diaper bag from the other side. Once he'd got it out the car, Esme locked it and headed to the front door, Ethan completely unaware of everything that was going on.

Esme unlocked the front door and clicked a lamp on as she entered the home, the dim yellow light casting a pleasant shadow over the living room.

"Come on in Carlisle," she gently requested.

Carlisle's eyes needed no adjustment period as he stepped into the house and he smiled at the homely living room. There was a small fireplace up against one wall, a fireguard around it so Ethan couldn't access it. In front of the fire was a rug littered with toddler's toys and next to the fire was a child's walker. There were two sofas in the room, one facing the fire and the other facing the window, making an 'L' shape; both had throws over them and a few cushions scattered around. There were various pictures on the walls, Ethan seeming to be the star of all of them. Carlisle felt a surge of pleasure at the fact that there were no men in any of the pictures.

"Sorry about the mess," Esme muttered, embarrassed that her home was in such a state. After last night she hadn't bothered to tidy up and this morning she'd slept in and then headed straight to work. "You can just put the diaper bag on the counter," she told Carlisle, moving some towels that needed to be put away.

Carlisle put the diaper bag down and continued to look around. Esme's home looked lived in - and he loved it. To him it wasn't messy, it was homey; something all of his previous houses had been lacking.

"Thank-you for coming with me," Esme said, her hand lightly rubbing her son's back.

"It was no problem," Carlisle responded.

"You'll keep me up to date won't you?" Esme asked and Carlisle nodded straight away.

"Of course - if we get any new information, I'll let you know." The caramel haired woman smiled. "I'd better be going - I've got to meet Emmett and Jacob at the restaurant." Esme and Carlisle both walked to the door, Esme's heart beginning to speed up once more.

The vampire opened the door and stepped out into the night, turning around just before he left. "Be careful Esme," he gently reminded her.

"You be careful yourself," she insisted back, and suddenly, feeling brave she walked up to Carlisle and leaned up onto her tiptoes, pressing a kiss into his smooth, cold cheek, careful not to get too close and squash Ethan.

"Goodnight," she whispered, returning to her normal height and heading inside.

Despite the situation with his progeny, Carlisle was unable to keep away that smile that took over his face as he left Esme's house that night.

Thank-you for reading.