A/N: So... I stayed up late last night plotting the course of this all the way to the start of Eclipse, and if I can manage one chapter a day, we should reach the beginning of that book in about 7 and a half to 8 weeks... Jeez...

Thank you Kongfangxiong00 and time-twilight for your reviews! I'll PM you, time-twilight!

Chapter 7 - Forks, Mid-December 2003

Alice had been completely right, Carys thought thankfully as she unlocked her front door three weeks after the teenager had insisted her feeling of being watched would end sooner rather than later.

She hadn't felt disquieted since that day, and the fact that no one had mentioned her slip up with the Cullens made her think that the gossips had just run out of things to talk about.

There was only so much you could discuss about someone after the first few weeks, she supposed.

It was good she hadn't run into Dr Cullen since that day, and though she still felt overwhelmingly embarrassed about her slip, she expected their paths simply hadn't crossed rather than that he was actively avoiding her.

She'd seen him around the hospital, of course, they'd simply not had a reason to be alone where she could apologise. She would, one day... She really should have sought him out already, she supposed, but she would rather not make him uncomfortable and it had taken almost two weeks for her to get used to the idea that maybe she wanted him to be comfortable around her.

Flicking the kettle on, she wondered why she had such an overwhelming urge to be around him considering how shocking her body's reaction had seemed to be each time before, but by the time she was settled on the sofa she knew the answer to her internal question. It wasn't a case of considering, but instead because of how intense her reaction was that she wanted to be around him.


"Tragedy. When you lose control, and you got no soul, it's tragedy!"

Carys nodded her head to the song, swaying from side to side in time to the music as she prepared herself a cup of coffee the three mornings later, pausing to wave her hands on either side of her head each time tragedy was repeated. The longer the song ran on, the more exaggerated her movements became until she was quietly singing along, shoulders rolling.

"There's a burning down inside of me, oh / Burning love with a yearning that won't let me-"

Carys turned and jumped violently, ripping her headphones off her head as her heart beat wildly out of her chest.

For a moment she was struck dumb at the sight of the handsome golden-eyed doctor before she asked in a hollow, shocked tone, "how long have you been standing there...?"

Dr Cullen licked his bottom lip and captured it between his teeth before a wide grin transformed his face. He shook his head, chuckling to himself as he reached past Carys to grab the coffee pot, pouring the dark liquid into the mug he'd been holding. She was just about to ask again when he raised his mug slowly to his lips, eyeing her over the rim.

"Long enough." He told her, before turning on his heel and making a swift retreat from the room.

Carys' embarrassment was enough to have her abandon the last of her lunch to the bin and immediately seek out the woman who'd become a friend to her over the past couple of weeks. She wondered why it was so much worse of a feeling than if anyone else would have caught her.

"You can stop laughing now," Carys moaningly complained to Dr Sarah Martins ten minutes later as she covered her face with her hands and knocked her head gently against the wall.

Sarah laughed harder, and Carys turned to face her again with a dejected expression, watching her for long minutes until she was able to control herself and straighten, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Sarah, what do I do? First, I meet the man and go all moon-eyed, rambling on about how my name means love and farewell-" Carys slumped, holding onto the rail which ran along the corridor as she emphasised the words in a mocking tone. "-then, he catches me dancing in the bloody staffroom like an absolute dolt." She studiously ignored mentioning the Alice incident, deciding the fewer people who knew about that one the better.

Sarah shook her head and wrapped an arm around Carys' shoulders, pulling her from the wall to join her as she began to walk towards her office.

"Oh Carys," Sarah began as she patted Carys' shoulder sympathetically. "Half the women in the hospital - and more of the men than I'd expected, actually, were head over heels when he came to town. Poor guy's used to far worse than anything you've said or done so far. And I promise you, it'll get better. Give it a couple of months and you'll have forgotten all about the handsome doctor."

Carys eyed her warily.

"I don't see that happening if I'm honest."

"Trust me, Carys, it's not as bad as you think it is!" Sarah assured her with a quick pat to the shoulder before releasing her as they parted ways. "If you don't believe me, come out for a drink tonight after work and you can ask some of the others."


"-oh, and don't quote me on it, but I think you made quite an impression on Richard at the bar last night," Sarah told Carys with a wink as they entered the staffroom the next morning. They'd arranged to nip away for coffee at the same time if they could, and as things were quiet at the hospital that day it had all gone to plan. "It looked like you were getting on very well."

"No, I mean... Maybe? I don't know!" Carys laughed as she leaned a hip against the counter and grabbed a mug from the cupboard, checking it before she held it out to Sarah who'd gone straight for the pot. "We'd sort of met before - on my first day. He's the one who confirmed Sandra was wrong about the whole..." Carys tipped her head slightly in the direction of the only other person in the room.

It was much easier to be around him when Dr Cullen had his back to her and a number of files open in front of him.

"Oh! I wondered who that was! A handsome dark-haired man could describe a few guys in town if I'm honest with you." Sarah told her quietly, nodding in understanding as she'd heard all about Sandra's attempt at a nickname a week before.

"Well, mystery solved!" Carys replied in an equally low tone, the two leaning in to continue their conversation without disturbing Dr Cullen.

"So... You can't seriously think I believe you two were cosied up in the corner for the best part of an hour talking about-" Sarah broke off as they both turned to face the room, the hair standing up on the back of their necks. "Did you hear that?"

Carys nodded and shuddered as she spoke in a low, fearful voice. "Yeah... It sounded... I don't know..."

"Dr Cullen," Sarah called out, gaining his attention. Carys failed to fight a blush at seeing his face again and was thankful he appeared to be focused solely on her friend as he turned in his seat - though she equally felt comforted by the bland look on his face. "Did you hear that?"

Sarah moved further into the room and Dr Cullen eyed her in confusion, which only added to Carys' relief, her heartbeat slowing somewhat.

"Hear what?" He asked, frowning lightly.

"It was like a loud hissing sound - Carys, you heard it too right?"

Carys nodded, looking about the room as if the source of the noise would announce itself if she did. They all remained quiet, concentrating to see if they could hear it again, but nothing came. Sarah shook her head as if to shake off the feeling of unease and seemed as if she was about to say something when her pager went off.

"Crap. Duty calls," Sarah sighed, heading swiftly for the door and calling back to Carys as she went. "Don't think you're off the hook, Vale, this isn't over!"

Carys chuckled at her friend and took a sip of her coffee before she looked towards Dr Cullen and realised he'd gone straight back to his work. Debating with herself, she wondered if she should leave him alone or take the opportunity to apologise for at least one of their interactions so far. After all, he'd unknowingly calmed her down only moments ago.

She was speaking before she could stop herself, wrapping her hands tightly around her steaming mug.

"I'm sorry!" Carys blurted out across the room, and Dr Cullen appeared to stiffen before he turned in his seat once again and appeared almost surprised she was still there. "You know, erm... For... The whole thing with your daughter..."

Dr Cullen calmly raised an eyebrow as she fought for control of her senses, but then his lips quirked as if he was fighting a smile at just about the same time her heart began to steady again. "Go on?"

"What?"

"Which part of the whole thing with my daughter?"

"Well... I guess... The part where I... Where I said... You know?" Carys fiddled with her mug and then pulled lightly at the hem of her dress as her eyes flitted around the floor between them.

"And if I don't know?" He prompted gently.

"Where I said I thought at first she might be your..."

"Secret girlfriend?" Dr Cullen finished for her, sounding amused as she winced.

"Yeah, that would be it..." Nodding at the ground, Carys would be surprised if he'd heard her quiet admission.

"It's okay," he told her kindly as she raised her hopeful gaze to meet his. His gaze softened, and he appeared to Carys to be about to add to his comment but was unable to as a moment later they were interrupted by the sudden and dramatic entrance of quite possibly the most beautiful woman Carys had ever set eyes upon.

Last night after she'd recognised Richard as the dark-haired stranger from the hallway on her first day, they'd got to talking and she'd ended up interrogating him about what he knew of the Cullens. As he was more than happy to be given an excuse to tell her what he knew of them, she could now easily identify the teenager as Rosalie Hale, Dr Cullen's sixteen-year-old foster daughter.

"Carlisle, I need to speak to you. Now." Rosalie told him, eyes flashing as she crossed her arms across her chest. Carys found herself struck dumb, completely spellbound by the girl's beauty and utterly convinced that if she were ever to become a model she'd take the world by storm.

As if she'd only just noticed her presence, the statuesque teen spared Carys a dismissive glance before she rounded on Dr Cullen again. "I am not driving Edward to school anymore. He's being an absol-"

Rosalie cut off as if she'd been interrupted a moment before Dr Cullen stood and swiftly and quietly gathered his papers together, picking up his coffee mug to take with him. Carys thought she might be going mad, but the look Rosalie then turned on her seemed to be far more critical than it had been the first time - it was as if she'd suddenly decided to take full notice of her and was assessing what she'd found.

Carys' face reddened slightly as she was given a contemptuous once over, and her tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of her mouth. Something about the look on the girl's face made her felt less attractive than she ever had in her life before, and gave her the sudden urge to adjust her pencil dress, fix her hair, and stand up straighter - though she'd never achieve anything close to the perfect posture Rosalie possessed.

"We should discuss this in my office, Rose." Dr Cullen told the angry girl quietly before turning to Carys with a nod of his head. "Thank you Miss Vale, for your... Very kind apology."

"Oh," Rosalie stopped and turned suddenly as Dr Cullen guided her towards the door, casting Carys one last insolent stare before she flounced away. "In case you were wondering, I'm also not his girlfriend."

Dr Cullen sighed and spared Carys an apologetic glance before he followed his foster daughter from the room.

And she'd thought he was beautiful? Carys wondered to herself long seconds later when she was once more in full control of her wits. If Carlisle Cullen was beautiful, and he definitely was, they'd have to create a whole new word to describe Rosalie Hale.

Lifting her mug to her lips, she smiled slightly to herself. She couldn't put a finger to why, but she quite admired the confidence of the girl. There was no denying she had a will and backbone to be reckoned with - she almost felt sorry for Edward and whatever he'd done to incur her wrath.

Turning back to the counter, Carys sighed heavily and then pushed off and headed back to the office she shared with the other administration staff.

And Dr Cullen's not angry at me, which means I can talk to him without feeling like I want to go dig my own grave, she added happily to herself, unaware that Edward Cullen, standing just out of sight, could hear every word.

A/N: I know I should be putting more of Carys' life outside the hospital, aka the drinks, into the story, but it almost didn't really seem to fit the plot or chapter to actually put it in. Also, I have a migraine and had to lower my screen brightness and wear sunglasses to write this, so it might not be my best work but I'm proud I stuck with it!