"What has gotten into you?!"

Ah, finally it had dawned on Carlisle that it was indeed her doing and that no one else had been involved. Good, because she had no clue how else she could have made him see that she was telling the truth.

But with this now out in the open came the next big, difficult part – explaining herself.

"I don't know," she mumbled, shrugging her shoulders. "I was just going through some books and then I wanted to see if it's true."

He gave her the smallest of frowns as he got a suspicious feeling about what she might have read. "What kind of books?"

It was good to know that she had wanted to spend her time alone reading, which was a very harmless and safe way to spend her time, but leave it to her to turn something so harmless into a complete life-threatening disaster.

She bit her lip and averted her eyes before she continued in the same low mumble. "The ones in your office… you know, these old ones."

Carlisle internally groaned. He wasn't keeping them to have his kids try everything out they found in there, the books weren't meant for that.

"Maddie, you are welcome to read any book on my shelves that you are interested in, but I would have preferred for you to tell me that you wanted to know more about our origin. We could have gone through them together, I can explain a lot of this to you."

"But I didn't need an explanation. It said that fire kills us. Turns out, it does."

The way she spoke about it, so casually, pained him. It was like she still didn't recognise the severity of her actions... she had been injured but healed up, and therefore she didn't see a problem with it. Was she even able to grasp how different the outcome could have been? How it could have permanently changed all their lives and ended hers?

He briefly cleared his throat. "How did you do it?"

She squirmed a little in her seat.

What was up with all these questions? This was getting uncomfortable. Well, this entire talk was uncomfortable, but now it was getting a whole lot worse for Maddie.

"I can't hear you."

She really didn't want to tell him, because she knew he wouldn't like her answer. So she opted for giving him a pleading look, hoping he'd just skip to his next question... because she knew there would be a lot more to come.

"Madeline."

"The stove," she reluctantly admitted.

"That's it," he growled, clenching his jaw. "No more gas stoves in any of our houses, no matter how much Esme loves the way they look. This was the last time."

She was aware that he wasn't speaking directly to her, but she still felt obliged to say at least something. "I swear I won't do it again." The thought of him telling Esme she wouldn't be able to plan her kitchens the way she wanted to was seriously scary. Esme would not like that... she wouldn't like that at all.

"Now, you said Jasper took care of your wound, so I assume that Alice told him. Correct?"

His voice had a sharp edge to it like he was gradually getting angrier, and Maddie just gave him a nod in response.

"I guess that all of your siblings know."

She nodded her head again, but then realised just why he was asking and what she had just unknowingly confirmed. Now she actually would have preferred to talk a bit more about gas stoves...

"They didn't utter a single word to me about it," he remarked, giving her a piercing stare.

She looked down at her hands, hoping he would just drop it, but apparently she was out of luck today.

"Did you take their memories as well?"

"No," she replied, hanging her head. "They remember, but I kept them from mentioning this to you or mom."

Mentioning it… this girl had some nerve.

"So for the past six weeks, you kept them from telling me or Esme?"

Her head shot up again. "I couldn't make them oblivious, I needed their help. But when they urged me to tell you or they would, I was forced to do something. And you wouldn't have believed them anyways."

Yes, she could get very creative when it came to hiding her misdeeds. If she would only put that much thought and effort into making better choices... "Your mother?"

She evaded his gaze when she answered, "She'll remember soon."

Maddie had made sure that they wouldn't get their memories back at the same time. It would have been too much to deal with for her, and talking to Carlisle alone and explaining just what the heck she had been thinking was already extremely difficult. However, she now realised that she would have to suffer through this exact talk again, with both of them... maybe her plan wasn't as good as she had thought.

"Anything else I need to know before we talk punishment?"

This made her look up at him through wide eyes, before she scooted a bit further away to be out of his reach. "Um... what are you talking about?"

"Did you really think I would just shrug it off?" he queried, squinting his eyes at her. "You breaking the rules and then lying to us about it?"

She now openly gaped at him. "Hey, when did I lie?"

"Six weeks, Maddie. It's been six weeks."

"I told you what happened, you remember every single second of it, how can that be considered lying?"

"Nice try, sweetheart. You took your mother's memory as well as mine, and you forced your siblings to remain quiet about it."

"Well, technically," she said with a raised index finger, "I didn't take your memory, I just blocked it. You have it back, no harm done."

He took a deep breath in order to remain calm, then slowly exhaled. "Why did you do it?"

"Like I told you, I didn't like your reaction and I kinda panicked… and then it happened. I don't have control when I'm upset like that." She really hoped he would understand and just try to see this from her perspective. That day had been really hard for her and some things just happen.

"And you panicked three times in a row with me over the course of six weeks, as well as with your mother?"

"This is not fair." And it was five times actually.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took another deep breath. "What exactly do you consider not fair?" Why does every single talk with her have to go like this?

"I allowed you to remember, and I think you should be thankful for that."

Carlisle's eyebrows went up into his hairline. "Thankful?" he queried, blinking his eyes at her for he was convinced that he must have heard wrong.

"Uh-huh."

"You believe I should thank you?" He was in complete disbelief of what she was asking of him.

"Yes."

This was new… she was trying to be bold. But two could play that game.

"All right, how do you want me to thank you? Over the backrest of the couch, my desk or across my knee?"

She slumped back into the couch pillows and folded her arms tightly across her chest, scowling at him.

"That's what I thought."

She ostentatiously looked away.

"And you did not allow us to remember, your bad conscious kept you from blocking our memories yet again and eventually you influence wore off. Besides, this is not the only reason why you will face consequences. I explicitly told you to stay away from fire, because it's dangerous for you and everyone else around you – and you didn't. This is a major rule, Madeline."

"I didn't leave the house and I only hurt myself. Where's the problem?"

"You willfully broke a very important rule."

She huffed and leaned forward, her eyes a notch darker now. "What part of 'It's healed' did you not understand?"

"Enough, Maddie," he warned. "You better mind your tone." They weren't making any progress and it started to really frustrate Carlisle, especially since his daughter was now getting mad at him for whatever reason.

Luckily she heeded his warning and was a lot calmer when she spoke again.

"Dad, look around, nothing changed. The house still stands, not a single human got suspicious, I didn't burn anything - it's in the past. Why can't you just forget about it?"

Did she really think this would get her out of her punishment?

He pointed at her arm. "There is a burn scar on your forearm that definitely hadn't been there before."

"And I told you I will cover it up for you."

She was either not getting it or desperately trying to downplay what had happened - he really wasn't sure.

"It's not the fact that you are carrying another scar now," he explained. "It's about why it's there."

She huffed. "There is no reasoning with you, you are ruining everything," her voice turned a bit whiny at the end. Then she got up, so he got up as well, put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down onto the couch. This talk was over when he said so, and not a second sooner.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, keeping his grip on her shoulder to hold her in place.

She shook his hand off, then glowered at him again. "Actually, I did you a favour, but you are acting like I blew up an entire continent."

"Maddie, you lost me there. How did you do me a favour by almost burning to death?"

"I proved that you are right. Fire can kill us."

"I know that I am right about that, which is why I told you and your siblings to stay far away from it."

"And I backed up your theory. You're welcome."

In this very moment Carlisle thanked the Lord for his amazing self-control, because without it he might have given her a resounding slap in the face - which was odd, because he would never strike anyone across the face.

She pretended like she had just single-handedly saved the entire family with her little experiment. Her reasoning was beyond bizarre. And it was not a theory, but a well-known fact. "Maddie, you are making this so much worse for yourself, I hope you are aware of this."

"I'm done talking, I don't care what you think. I did you a favour, period," she replied defiantly before she looked at him like she had just gotten an idea. "You know what? It really was a mistake to let you remember."

She was taking this a bit too far. Of course she wanted to talk her way out of it, giving him a warped version of her thoughts to convince him that she had actually not done anything wrong. In fact, she had even shown everyone that he had told the truth. Like they had ever doubted it...

This was ridiculous.

Carlisle knew by the look in her eyes that she was about to fix her alleged mistake. So when she suddenly reached towards him, he quickly moved his hand out of the way before he tightly grabbed her wrist. "Don't you dare, girl. Don't you even think about doing this again," he advised her in a dangerously low tone of voice while his eyes shone with anger, before he let go of her.

She was making this so hard for him to remain calm...

She huffed. "Are we done now?"

This entire conversation was so surreal... "We haven't even started, my dear. I cannot shake the feeling that you are in complete denial of how much trouble you're in."

She gulped, but quickly went into defensive mode again. "Whatever happened doesn't affect you. I hurt myself, but the wound healed up. Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

"Because I care about you, I am responsible for you. Knowing that you are capable of doing such a mindless thing and acting as though it's nothing is painful for me. I set rules to protect you, to protect the family and the humans surrounding us. I cannot let it slide just because you tell me what you think I want to hear."

"But I really won't do it again. It wasn't for fun, it was to find out what's true and what's not."

"Maddie, don't you realise what else happened? You lied to your mother and I for weeks, you got your siblings involved and kept them from doing the right thing of telling us – you tried to cover it up. This wasn't to protect someone, but to hide what you had done from us. And why? Because you knew it was wrong and that we would step up and hold you accountable. So don't you tell me that everything is fine and that you did the right thing when you very well know that you are in trouble and rightfully so."

"Stop blowing this out of proportion! Nobody got hurt except for me! I only hurt me!"

Carlisle was getting so upset that he had half a mind to smack her right then for the way she acted and spoke to him. He could only take so much. But he wisely decided against it for he didn't want to hurt her.

He took another calming breath before he replied. "Stop pretending you don't know what else could have happened. With an injury like that you are so deprived of blood and venom, your body is using up whatever it has in a desperate attempt to heal itself and if it hadn't been for your siblings, you might have slaughtered the entire town in sheer blind blood rage."

"But I didn't."

"I'm not going to let it slide."

"Why?"

"Why?" He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep a firm grip on himself. "Madeline, I believe you need a moment to yourself. Why don't you go to your room and spend some time thinking real hard about your actions before I come find you."

That sounded horrible. And very unpleasant... he seemed dead set on ruining the rest of the day for her. And then next ones. So she needed to do something, and quick.

"Um... what about mom?" she asked quickly.

"What about her?"

"I think we should wait until she gets her memories back."

He was sure she was stalling and trying to evade a well earned trip over his knees, but she did have a point. Esme had been just as much affected by her actions as he was, and she needed to be in the loop and decide with him together on how they would address her behaviour.

"Good thinking. We will wait for her then."

Internally, Maddie cheered. She had won this round and felt like she could take on the world now. But leave it to Carlisle to ruin this moment for her.

"You're grounded until she regains her memories," he announced. "No TV, no video games."

Why would he do this to her now? That wasn't fair. "Can I still read?"

"Sure."

At least something. "Okay."

"You have more than enough school books that you surely need some catching up on, am I right?"

She probably didn't notice herself, but her nose crinkled up.

"Can I read something else?"

His face hardened. "No."

"Please?"

"I said No, now go to your room."

Maddie left the room with her head hanging. This hadn't turned out the way she had wanted, but at least now she had some time to prepare herself for the next big talk with both her parents. Esme was a lot more understanding and forgiving, and Maddie hoped dearly she would take her side and save her from a very unjust punishment. Yes, she had played with fire and that was not okay, but Carlisle was completely dismissing the fact that she had already suffered the consequences. The pain had been immense and it had taught her just how dangerous it was to hold your arm into a flame. Why did he want to teach her that it was dangerous and she shouldn't do it again when she had already told him that she wouldn't? It made absolutely no sense to her.

She looked back over her shoulder when she reached the bottom of the stairs in the foyer, and saw how Carlisle was leaning back in his armchair, rubbing his hands over his face like he was tired and exhausted. Which also didn't make any sense to her.

She had given him six beautiful weeks, free of worry and stress, and now he acted like she had betrayed him. She had suffered while he had been happy and relaxed... that had been very kind and considerate of her, she thought. But the way he had reacted throughout this horrible talk, she actually doubted that he had deserved it. Esme would surely be different - she'd appreciate her thoughtfulness and consideration, that was for sure.

Maddie ascended the stairs, neither feeling happy nor completely down. She felt discouraged, knew that talking to Carlisle had maybe not been the hardest part yet, but still held onto hope that her mom wouldn't be too mad.

When she reached the third level and made her way to her room, she could see Edward in the hallway, leaning against her door frame with his arms folded across his chest. He looked like he was silently chuckling.

"What," she grunted as she walked towards him.

"That was strangely entertaining."

His voice was chipper and he was obviously in a very good mood... she wanted to strangle him. "No, it wasn't."

"Oh, so it didn't turn out the way you had planned?" he asked in mock sympathy. "What went wrong, huh?"

He absolutely loved this. What a jerk.

"You know what went wrong. He didn't react like he should."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, he just doesn't get it." It was quite obvious, wasn't it?

He snorted and shook his head. "No, his thoughts are very clear."

"And what is he thinking?" Knowing exactly what was going on in Carlisle's head might give her an idea on how to change his mind about this whole matter.

"He was very outspoken on how he thinks about this situation. You are screwed."

Her shoulders slumped and her voice took on a whiny edge. "But he's wrong."

"No, he is absolutely right. You are wrong."

Maddie's eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched. "Stop talking to me."

"And that," he said with a smile, pointing at her, "is exactly why this evening is so entertaining."

Nothing he said made sense to her and so she just gave him a questioning look.

"It's not just the talk between you and Carlisle... but your desperate attempt of justifying your actions in your head. Priceless, really."

"My thoughts are none of your business."

He smirked. "But they made my day."

"What do you want?" she asked in a less than friendly tone while glowering at him.

"Just to remind you that this is solely your problem. Leave us out of it."

"I will, and I have. Don't worry," Maddie replied with a wave of her hand. She had told Carlisle what he needed to know, and she was absolutely sure that he'd leave them alone.

He made to turn around and walk back into his own room, when they suddenly heard footsteps at the bottom of the stairs. His eyes narrowed while he tilted his head slightly to the side, before he looked back at her and hissed, "Like hell you have. Trust me, you'll pay for this," he promised with a deep growl, then walked into his room and quickly shut the door.

She could hear him walk out onto his balcony, and Maddie knew it could only mean one thing: He was leaving. Why exactly, she wasn't sure, but apparently it had something to do with Carlisle coming upstairs.

Since she wasn't too fond of yet another discussion with him, she hurried into her room and quietly shut the door, then grabbed a book from her desk and sat down in the chair standing in front of it.

Knocking.

Her head shot up.

Luckily Carlisle hadn't knocked on her door, but on Edward's.

She waited, listening intently.

He called his name and knocked again, but he never got an answer. Eventually she could hear him enter her brother's room, only to emerge a second later and rap his knuckles against her closed door.

"Maddie?"

"... yes?"

Her door opened, and he peeked into her room with a questioning look on his face. "Do you happen to know where Edward is?" he asked.

"Nuh-uh." Maddie shook her head.

"Hm, maybe he went on a hunt...," he said musingly, blinking his eyes in thought.

"Could be," she replied with a shrug, still holding her science book in both of her hands.

"If you hear him return, please tell him to come find me."

"Okay."

Just as he was about to shut the door, he looked back at her with a frown. "And you might want to turn your book around, it's upside down."

"Oh, um, yeah." She gave him a sheepish smile, then watched him nod his head and close the door again.

Someone dodged the bullet for now, phew. So let's wait for Esme, shall we?

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!