Guess who just remembered a scene that was supposed to be a couple of chapters ago where Rosalie was wearing a tux to Carlisle's party? I cheated us all of that unbridled excellence. I'm almost as sad about that as having to cut my favourite scene from this because it didn't fit after the fifth draft.

Thank you so much to everyone who's following this story, and to KEJunge, Jasper's Hope, Ellixwolf, magicbustrip, sinxical, bludaze, Love. Fiction. 2020, souverian, and LarissaValentiMeedachi2613 for your reviews! Any I can't reply to via PM, I've replied to at the bottom.

Chapter 9

Two days later, Carlisle drove her home from dinner and Carys stared out of the window as she fought with herself about whether or not to ask him to stay the night.

Her issue wasn't whether or not she wanted him to, but more that she wasn't sure what he would say or think about it. After all, he didn't sleep, and she imagined it could get a bit awkward for him if he was left in someone else's house for hours as he waited for them to wake up.

Still, she was tired of lying awake at night without him, thinking of questions she'd forget to ask the next time they saw each other, having to go to sleep without his arms around her.

Carlisle pulled around to the side of her house and cut off the engine. The way he looked at Carys as he let his hands fall to his lap was so resigned, it made her rethink. Again.

She undid her seatbelt and let it slide through her fingers, looking to the dashboard as she licked her lips. She wouldn't ask. She didn't think it was too much of a leap... But... She wouldn't ask.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, Carlisle watching her as she stared ahead, fingers twisting in her lap, not wanting to lose his company just yet.

And then he sighed.

Carys looked up at him as he ran a hand through his hair and turned away, looking toward the forest with a calm sadness.

It seemed forever before he spoke.

"Would it be too..." He trailed off, eyes narrowing a little in thought. "I know we've spent the evening together, but do you think perhaps I could... Stay? For an hour or two?" He turned to her slowly and met her eye. "I wouldn't-"

"Would you like to stay the night?" Carys blurted out, blushing as she maintained eye contact. So much for not asking, she thought to herself as they stared at each other.

Carlisle blinked slowly and shook his head after a couple of seconds. "No, I wouldn't impose on you like that-"

"I mean," Carys clarified, realising quickly that he might think she was suggesting he was asking to stay the night, "I'd like to you to stay... If you'd like to stay..."

Carlisle pressed his lips together for a moment and then turned back towards the forest.

Carys had the impression he'd be blushing if he was able to.

"Unless...?"

"I'll just go park the car somewhere more discreet and call the house... I could be back in a few minutes."

"Okay, I'll see you then..." Carys smiled, and then the thought occurred to her as she pressed her door handle. "Wait, will your kids be okay?"

"My youngest is ninety so I think they can fend for themselves for a night, but it's nice of you to check," he reminded her, smiling kindly in a way that stopped her from feeling as silly for having asked as she left the car and made her way to the house.

She was nervous. Somehow more nervous than she thought she would be as she checked herself in the mirror and waited for his knock.

When he finally returned, she opened the door with a flourish and stepped to the side for him to enter, smoothing her spare hand over her jeans - a nervous gesture she imagined he could instantly pick up on.

"What's wrong?" She asked him softly when he continued to hover in the doorway.

"I just thought maybe you'd change your mind," he explained, stepping into her home. He seemed hesitant, nervous, but not as if he wanted to leave.

"I won't," she assured him as she pressed the door closed behind her and locked it with a flick of her wrist. "At least," she added slowly, "I don't think I will."

He turned to her with a smile from where he stood in the middle of her small lounge, and she felt something tighten in her chest as it struck her that so much had changed since the last time he'd visited - since he'd told her about what he was.

And yet, he hadn't changed, she now understood, not in any way that truly mattered...

"Well let me know if you do," he urged her. When she nodded and returned his smile, he returned to his scan of her belongings. "I've been meaning to say, your house is..." He trailed off, searching for the word.

Carys pushed away from the door and walked slowly across to him.

"Small?" She offered dryly, her mocking half-smile softening her tone as she narrowed her eyes to emphasise her words. "Tiny? ...Minature..?"

Carlisle shook his head instead of joking along with her. "I was going to say cosy," he denied seriously before he looked around again, and Carys wondered if he wasn't as nervous as she was - that maybe he just had a different way of showing it. "It's interesting how these houses are built, isn't it?"

Carys didn't think she'd ever heard him sound as awkward as he did at that moment, and she smiled secretively to herself when she answered. "I thought, when I got here, that they were all made from wood... I suppose some of them are, but it's such a strange thing now - in England, at least... It was like that in your time though wasn't it? Before the Fire?"

"Yes!" He agreed a little too quickly. "Mostly wood back then, well, for the majority of us any-Carys," he let out a breath and shook his head at himself as he grimaced, "are we really talking about houses?"

Carys joined in with his chuckle and wondered what he'd think if she told him she'd been trying to ease his worry.

She asked him for his coat instead, which he relinquished with effortless grace, and hung it over the top of one of hers on the small coat rack by the door.

"Carlisle?" She asked, facing him again as she slid her hands into her back pockets.

"Yes?"

"So..." She was going to ask if he wanted to come straight up, but when she saw his hesitancy continue she settled for sounding as serious as she could as she announced: "You should know I might not take off my makeup."

Carlisle looked at her questioningly when she said that, and she fought her smile, rolling her shoulders back as she lifted her head to meet his gaze directly.

"So it might smear in the night." She raised her eyebrows and sighed heavily as she tossed her head. "I'm just warning you, sometimes my eyeliner ends up on my cheeks and I wake up with my eyelashes all smushed, pointing off in completely different directions. My lipstick? Don't get me started on that. You'll probably have a first-row seat to-"

"You're not really selling this, Carys!" He laughed, finally looking more himself - more the Carlisle she'd joked with over the past year. And then his smile changed, shifted with the adoration in his eyes.

"So-"

"Carys?"

"Yes, lovely?"

His long legs made quick work of the space between them, and then she was in his arms. Her hands slid into his hair as he bent his head and she melted against him when their lips came together.

A couple of minutes later he pulled away, his arms locked like steel bands at her waist, supporting her.

"I sleep upstairs," she told him quietly.

She knew that she'd wait, that they'd wait, to take the next steps in their relationship, but she wanted them to head up before he changed his mind about this one.

He surprised her by turning his head to look at the sofa, staring at it for a moment or two.

"You mean, you don't sleep there?" He asked, a confused frown gracing his handsome face.

"No..." Carys drew away a little, unsure of what to say. She thought she'd seen a bed in his room, but there were some things she was still learning, and she knew he didn't sleep. She tried to make her tone as reassuring as possible in case he thought she was making fun of him. "It's erm... I mean, I suppose I do take naps on the sofa, but it's more for sitting than-" She cut off as she noticed the laughter that filled his eyes. "You're joking, aren't you?"

He nodded as her lips twisted in embarrassment.

"Believe it or not, I know the difference between a couch and a bed," he told her with a smirk.

Carys shook her head at him, but she couldn't help her affectionate smile as she took his hand and led him upstairs. She could tell he'd been trying to ease the last of the tension between them, but as they stepped into her bedroom she felt suddenly more awkward and nervous than she had been before.

Her hands flitted about as she pointed out the painfully obvious - her wardrobe, bookshelf, bed. She was exceptionally thankful for having had the time to quickly tidy up, but she hoped he didn't notice the small pile of clothes on the chair.

To his credit, Carlisle stood quietly beside her as she rambled, gently stroking her back as if it was completely normal that she'd be telling him when she bought her dresser or how lucky she was to get the last one on sale even if it did have a couple of nicks on one leg.

By the time she moved quickly to said dresser and pulled out two sets of pyjamas, Carys thought that the butterflies in her stomach might have moved their friends in as well.

"I don't have to stay," Carlisle murmured as Carys turned back to him slowly. "Would you prefer me to leave?"

"No," she assured him, taking a deep breath as she handed him the folded clothes, "I'm not sure why I'm nervous, t'be honest with you... I-well... It's because it's you, I guess," she added in a whisper.

Carlisle's small smile faltered a little as he examined the pyjamas, and Carys' eyes widened.

"I like oversized ones when it's colder," she explained in a rush, holding up the shirt and shorts she still held, "so mum got me some men's pyjamas when I moved here, but they're too long and I mostly just wear the top-" she blanched as her eyes met his, her voice lowering as she leaned in a little. "-I've washed them, they're clean."

"That's not what I was thinking," he intoned with a slight shake of his head. "I'm simply... These are for me?"

"Yeah? I mean, I'm not just going to force you to wear normal clothes just because you weren't prepared..."

Carlisle's smile grew a little sheepish. "I don't think I've worn pyjamas for a very long time."

Carys dropped her gaze to the clothes in her hands again as her eyes widened and she blushed. An image came to mind that deepened the colour in her cheeks, and she bit her lip to hide the worst of the awkward smile. "I guess... If you'd prefer to-"

"I don't sleep," Carlisle clarified slowly. "And as no one comes to the house, I don't have to worry about pretending. It's a novelty."

Carys gasped and shrugged her shoulders, nodding quickly, incessantly, as she stepped around him and headed quickly for the bathroom to change and get ready for bed.

Her face twisted as she pressed the bathroom door closed and winced. She dropped her head back against the wood, a small whine rising in her throat as she ran their exchange over in her mind. She had no doubt he knew what she'd been thinking.

When she finally crept back into her bedroom fifteen minutes later, she grabbed a silk scrunchie from her dresser and avoided his eye as she wrapped her hair up to give her hands something to do.

Contrary to what she'd joked about earlier, she'd taken off her makeup before she'd returned, and she felt glad that he'd seen her so many times without it that it didn't bother her. She wasn't sure her heart could take any more awkwardness.

Her eyes met Carlisle's in the mirror after she'd swept her toner over her face, and as she unscrewed the lid of her moisturising cream, he laid the book that he'd been examining when she'd come back into the room on the edge of the bed beside him.

"I hope you don't mind, I had a look through your bookshelf."

"Not at all," she told him as she began to dot cream around her face. "I'm not sure how many of them interest you, but you can read anything you'd like."

He smiled gratefully but remained silent as she leaned forward to check her eye and then began to smooth the cream over her face and neck in long strokes. His eyes followed every movement as if it was something far more intriguing than it was.

Carys felt a little unsure about herself as she patted her jaw and stroked her fingers over her neck one last time before massaging the last of the cream into her hands, frowning lightly as he rose to stand behind her.

Their eyes met in the mirror, and she whirled around, her frown deepening as she stared up into his eyes.

"What's wrong?" She asked him, cupping his face as her thumbs ran back and forth beneath his eyes, ready to catch tears that would never fall.

Carlisle dropped his forehead to hers and sighed, closing his eyes briefly. They were clear when he opened them again as if she'd imagined the venom swimming there.

He swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing as he pulled back a little and glanced at her hair, gently stroking his fingertips over her brow, cheek, jaw, and chin before he let his hand fall to her waist.

"I've never experienced this..." He explained quietly. "It's not often that I have a first of anything anymore, but this is..." His lips parted as he ran his adoring gaze slowly over her face again. "For as long as I've lived, I've never just worn pyjamas and sat on the bed watching the woman I love do something as human as..." His voice caught on a quiet laugh. "It's entrancing. I know to you it must be a normal part of your routine, but it's..." He nodded and raised his eyebrows. "It's entrancing. It's such a personal thing, such a human thing - everything about it, from the dots of cream to the way you rubbed the excess into your hands when you were finished... I'm being ridiculous." He stopped himself, embarrassment evident in his tone and face.

"No, go on, what were you going to say?" Carys asked him, lightly biting her bottom lip as she tilted her head imploringly. It had been strange to be watched like that, but she'd not imagined how much stranger it might have been for him.

It took a moment or two before he gave in. "It made me feel... Human... Somehow..." He turned his face to the side and frowned, his expression clearing as he turned back to her. "I've... I don't think I've ever done that before, even as a human."

Carys hugged Carlisle to her, though it was as much to hide the tears that sprang to her eyes as much as to comfort him. She didn't think she could remember anything sweeter than what he'd just said, or sadder to her - that something so normal could have such a profound effect on him. He'd told her about having felt alone even when he had his children, but the full reality of it hit her at that moment.

"You know, this would be scandalous back in my day," he whispered against her neck as he tightened his arms and began to sway them slowly from side to side.

"What would?" Carys whispered, trying to hide the tears from her voice. It was fruitless, he could probably tell no matter what she tried.

"It was completely normal to show affection, to do and say far worse than we are in a far more public setting, but I was a pastor..."

Carys grinned and pulled back, blinking hard, thankful that he was trying to make light of things again.

She giggled, poking him in the chest, first with one index finger and then with the other. "Look at you, in your state of undress, getting ready to spend the night in a woman's bed... So sinful... What would people say? Absolutely shocking, Carlisle I-still-don't-know-your-middle-"

"I don't have one," he supplied with a laugh, and she nodded.

"Thank you... Oh... I've lost it..."

"I'm not planning on sleeping tonight either," he commented.

Carys laughed, swiping the last of the evidence of her sadness from her eyes and reached behind her to remove his hands from her waist, pulling him with her as she climbed onto the bed.

"Not planning on sleeping? Dr Cullen," she gasped, drawling her words to emphasise her accent. "Why if I'd known, I'd never have invited you in-! I'm sorry, I can't!" She laughed as they lay down facing each other.

She pulled the duvet up over them both, shivering from the cold fabric as she tucked the cover over their shoulders. When his hard arms slid around her waist again, she let out a breath and snuggled against him.

They laid there for hours, whispering, murmuring, speaking always in low voices as if some spell might break if they didn't and he might have to leave. The only time either of them really moved was so that they could press small kisses to each other, so that Carys could brush Carlisle's hair back, when Carlisle settled her ever closer to him, or when Carys counted how many seconds it took Carlisle to turn off all the lights in the house.

They talked about small things as they laid there that night, little things about his experiences that might not bother other people but which Carys found continuously fascinating.

Had he met any famous composers? What did normal people eat when he was human? Did he ever visit a chop house? What were coffee houses like when they first opened? Had he really never had tea? And was he as sad as she was that he'd never had the chance? Would all of her questions be about food? Did he use to dress in breeches and pantaloons? How many first editions did he own? How often did he go back to London? And where was he when he first read Frankenstein?

It was only when Carlisle yawned for the second time since they'd begun talking about what it'd been like to watch a film for the first time, triggering Carys to join him again, that she noticed something was wrong.

When she finished her yawn and uncovered her mouth, she blinked at him in slow, tired confusion. "I thought you didn't sleep?" She asked slowly, rubbing her eye.

Carlisle gazed at her as if she was far more adorable than she liked to think she was before his lips twisted and he avoided her eye.

She narrowed her eyes at him as she bit off another yawn. "Are you... Are you trying to get me to go to sleep?"

The look on his face said it all.

"Have you been-" she yawned again "-yawning on purpose?"

He nodded and smiled as she lightly swatted his shoulder. "I noticed the time, and we both have work in the morning," he explained sheepishly. "I don't need to sleep, my love, but you do."

Carys allowed him to settle her against him as he turned onto his back and slid one of her pillows under her head to cushion his hard shoulder.

She knew she ought to be annoyed, but she was almost impressed at the way he'd subtly managed to ease her into sleep without cutting off their conversation or her noticing.

"Are you sure you're not really related to Jasper?" She asked, closing her eyes as she felt suddenly exhausted - more so with every long sweep of his hand up and down her back.

"No," he chuckled quietly, his voice pitching lower and lower as he spoke slowly, soothingly, in a way that had Carys' eyelids growing heavy as her breathing evened out. "I've just read a lot about humans and sleep over the years... According to a study of sleep loss and daytime sleepiness in the general adult population of Japan in the year two-thousand, for example, more than eighteen percent of adults report less than sufficient sleep... And I quote: 'A total of four-thousand adult people, aged twenty and over, were randomly drawn from five areas of Japan, and three-thousand and thirty individuals were interviewed and completed a questionnaire including information about sleep duration and sleep problems. Overall,...'"

"You... Should... Do this for a living..." Carys murmured softly at the moment before sleep claimed her. She thought she felt and heard a quiet chuckle before he started up again, but she was out before she could fully register it.


When she woke up the next morning Carlisle was missing from her bed, but in the few seconds it took her to stretch and yawn herself awake, Carys noticed three things different about her bedside table.

One - a steaming cup of coffee.

Two - three books, one of which held an unfamiliar bookmark in its pages.

Three - a note to say that he'd had to go and get ready for work, but wanted to thank her for a wonderful night.

She was still grinning happily as she made it to work that morning - a grin which only grew each morning over the next week as Carlisle spent almost every night at hers.

It was only when Rosalie called him to complain about how little he'd been home recently that anything changed.

As Rosalie suggested, if Carys spent the odd night at theirs then it might be alright. It might be uncomfortable for some of them, but it wouldn't be nearly as uncomfortable as walking in on Alice hanging upside-down from Emmett's arm as he and Jasper tried to calculate how much pressure she'd need to exert to pull it off, or if she could manage it just by stretching to her full height.

"The answer... Was yes," Carlisle explained as he picked Carys up from hers that evening after work, setting off a peal of laughter that she only got under control when she returned with an overnight bag.

A/N: Don't worry, we'll speed up a bit as we go along, and we'll get to meet Bella soon too, when things will really kick-off! Now... If you'll excuse me, all that yawning and sleep study research has made me think a nap's a good idea.

Jasper's Hope - there are so many I want to reply to, but I've tried to condense it. First of all, thank you so much for your amazingly kind words throughout the story - I'm so thankful that people take the time to review, and I'm amazed when they take the time to do as you have! I'm glad you stuck with it after the confusion, and that you like it so much - I hope this chapter lived up to expectations. It'll be a bit before we get to New Moon, but when we do... Ooohh... The drama...