Technically, I've written two chapters today, because I've posted the first of many outtakes in a companion one-shot collection you can find through my profile. I realised there's a lot I've cut out or haven't ended up writing because it doesn't quite fit the chapters or storyline, but which lovers of Carys and Carlisle would appreciate. Check it out if you're so inclined.
Chapter 9
Mid-Late December 2005
The last gathering Carys had promised to attend, before heading to California to spend a week and a half with her family for Christmas, was a small affair at the Yorkies'.
After she'd met them for the first time a couple of years before, they'd seen each other at various parties, and whilst neither the Yorkies nor herself would label themselves as anything closer than acquaintances, they were good company, exceptionally nice people, and threw a good party.
That being said, Carys did think she knew more about their son and his friends than she really needed to. Two years on, and the closer Eric got to graduating, the more they talked about him. She hadn't thought it possible that there was so much to say about one person. She'd been wrong.
As the majority of Forks grew up together, the Yorkies had many friends in town, and Carys wasn't surprised to see a number of people she knew - either vaguely, or to call a friend.
Nor, was she as surprised as she might have expected to be when she entered the tastefully decorated green living room, crammed with more people than there was really room for, and Seth Clearwater greeted her by waving enthusiastically from where he was trapped in one corner.
Since swapping numbers weeks before, his older sister Leah and Carys had become loose friends. Carys would term it loose as their friendship hinged on texting and very occasional phone calls; they were still to pass the point at which they shared secrets with one another, but Carys liked the younger woman despite her initial reservations about Leah still being in high school; Leah was the reason Carys had agreed to attend the party.
"She's out back," Seth advised when Carys reached him a few minutes later and posed the question of where she could find his sister. "She said when you got here, I could come hang out for a bit. Can I?"
"She..." Carys trailed off.
She'd been about to question hanging out with Seth, but then she looked about the room and realised there were two distinct groups, of which he fit into neither.
One, a group of high schoolers made up of Eric Yorkie and his classmates (which, among others, included Mike Newton, who Carys knew through his parents' shop; a short teenager with her brown hair piled on top of her head who was so passive-aggressive, Carys could see it from across the room; and another, blonde, teenage girl with a highly questionable haircut).
The second group comprised of people who were closer to Sarah or Charlie's age than to Monica and Carys'.
In any case, neither looked to have space for him.
It was no wonder Leah had escaped to the garden, and that Seth wanted to do the same. Just looking at the room had made Carys feel out of place. Being in it was claustrophobic.
"I promise I won't annoy you guys," Seth insisted earnestly, his face dropping. He seemed anxious he might be left behind to prop up the wall if he didn't plead his case well enough. "Please?" he added, eyes widening as he affected a pout that made Carys think refusing him would be somewhere on the level of kicking a wounded puppy.
She'd already made her choice, but his expression made her feel guilty about arriving half an hour later than she'd planned.
Carys smiled warmly and held up a hand to indicate five minutes. It was the precise amount of time it took her to greet Gina Yorkie, grab herself a drink, and meet Seth on the way out of the house.
They found Leah sitting on an unfinished deck at the end of the garden path. She was well hidden by bushes. The only light came from a torch she'd left lying beside her and the thick blanket of stars above, and so Carys thought she'd likely left Seth in the living room for the sole purpose of bringing Carys to her.
Leah's need for secrecy was made clear when Carys came close enough to smell the air.
She'd been smoking.
When she realised it was only the two of them, Leah reached behind herself and brought out a bottle of beer, taking a deep swig before standing and swinging an arm around Carys. Carys hugged her back, briefly, and they sat down together whilst Seth sent them a grin and went tearing off in search of a ball to kick around.
"Want one?" Leah asked, holding up a half-finished packet of cigarettes.
Carys shook her head. She'd had her fair share of them at university, and she tried as much as possible to limit herself if she ever partook again. Only if she'd had a couple of drinks. That was her rule.
"Thanks, but not just yet," she replied, holding up her glass. She settled herself and took a sip of her wine. "I'm guessing that's not exactly legal in Forks?" she asked, tipping her head towards the beer. "As you're not quite 21?"
"Mom gave it to me, so it doesn't count," Leah explained easily, taking another swig. "Didn't peg you for a stickler."
"I'm not, just still can't wrap my head around it," Carys countered. "It's eighteen in England, and most of us are drinking before that-" she paused, realising her mistake, and avoided Leah's interested glance. "-if our parents let us."
"Yeah, sure."
Carys chuckled at the disbelieving look on Leah's face.
"Anyway..."
"Thanks for bringing Seth out," Leah said, abruptly changing the conversation with her affectionate comment. They turned to watch as Seth raced across the garden, having found what he was after. "Those up-themselves Forks kids drove me out within ten minutes, but he's always been too nice."
Carys failed to cover her surprise. "He didn't want to come out with you?"
"Not at first," Leah said, shaking her head and dropping back onto one elbow, the other holding her beer upright against her stomach. "He's got this whole hero-worship thing going on with Jacob Black and he thought he might be here. He's Billy's son - Billy Black, you know him?"
Carys thought back, but as much as she tried, she couldn't put a face to the name.
"Billy's been like best friends with my Dad, Mom, and Charlie Swan - he's your friend, right? Yeah, him. Since they were kids," Leah told her when Carys continued to appear non-plussed. "That lot, they're like a tight little unit. Or, they were."
"Not anymore?"
Leah shook her head and tipped her beer up, taking yet another sip. Carys wondered whether she had another, the way she was going about it.
"Nope," she replied, popping the "p". "Not since your boyfriend came to town and Billy decided the legends were suddenly true," she emphasised the words with an exaggerated wave of her hands, and rolled her eyes. "He banned us from the hospital and stuff. Pissed Charlie off." She shifted and stared Carys dead in the eye. "You know, I'm supposed to find out for my dad if he's coming back."
The back of Carys' neck grew hot. They'd become friends based off a mutual need for someone who wouldn't pander to their feelings, but she felt suddenly as if Leah was somehow running rings around her.
"Well, he's-"
"T'be honest, I couldn't care less," Leah said, as if bored already, waving her bottle in a perfect arc as she turned to watch Seth through the bushes again. "Point is, when he rocked up, Billy and Charlie got into this huge fight. I'm talking, hugggeeeee. Like, massive. Only started talking again a while ago."
"What was so wrong with Carlisle?" Carys asked, seizing the moment. She'd wanted to find out more about the situation since she'd realised she was a part of it weeks prior. "He's not that bad, or anything."
Leah grinned mischievously and dropped back so that she lay on her back across the deck. Carys placed her wine glass safely to the side and then followed her, staring up at the stars she'd never appreciated as much as she supposed she should have.
"Well," Leah began, throwing her arms out above them in a way that made Carys laugh despite herself. She waved them about for a few seconds, building momentum, and then dropped them to her sides just as she turned her head towards Carys and said: "It's a secret, I'm not supposed to talk about it."
Carys whined and shoved Leah's arm, hoping they had the sort of relationship where she could do so without overstepping. Leah's responding laugh shook her frame and raised her from what Carys would term as unfairly beautiful, to a level of stunning that Carys didn't think Rosalie would appreciate ever meeting.
Leah was slightly taller than Rosalie, the same height as Carys, and possessed an unmatched bone structure, perfect russet skin, long thick silky straight hair, deep brown eyes, and lashes that fluttered over her high cheekbones each time she blinked.
Rosalie definitely wouldn't like to find out she lived quite so nearby to someone who rivalled her so perfectly.
"Do you have to be so annoying?" Carys complained, crossing her arms over her chest and huffing as she stared up at the stars again.
"Uh, I don't see you rushing to share your shit with me," Leah pointed out, raising her forearm so that Carys could see her index finger pointing in her direction. "Besides," she added, somewhat solemnly, "I've got a reputation to uphold."
"How so?"
"Nuh-uh. I'm not ruining our friendship so early on."
Carys sighed, and they fell silent. She only had one big secret that she could potentially share with Leah, but she didn't know if she wanted to. That was a lie. She was bursting to tell someone.
Of course, she wasn't about to blurt out that she'd hand-fasted Carlisle. That would probably sound dirty at first, and then ridiculous if Leah gave her the chance to explain. It only made sense when you knew that Carlisle was a vampire. Context. Context she couldn't share with Leah.
"Tell meeeee," Carys cajoled, pushing up onto an elbow to reach for her wine. She took a sip and then replaced the glass, dropping onto her back again. Something poked at her, and she wriggled about, sliding a hand underneath herself until she found and removed it. A small twig. Carys threw it towards a bush.
"I get angry," Leah supplied suddenly, in a faraway voice, as if she were thinking aloud. "And then people treat me like I'm gonna get pissed at them all the time, and that makes me angrier." It was her turn to raise herself up and take a sip of her beer.
When Leah returned to her back and threw her arms above her head, Carys blew a long stream of breath from her mouth. It was the closest she could manage to a whistle, which had been a source of frustration as a child and teenager, but now only bothered her when she really wanted to whistle. Like at that moment.
"Who the hell doesn't get angry?" Carys queried, frowning at the sky. "I mean, literally, who the hell doesn't? Especially when you're like nineteen."
"We're not talking angry," Leah explained, turning her head to face Carys. "We're talking almighty shit storm of rage."
Carys turned to stare at her. "Whoa... Well... D'you at least have a reason?"
Leah nodded, and her eyes clouded over in the weak light.
"It's the only thing that stops me crying."
She looked faintly embarrassed by her omission, and her cheekbones darkened; her eyes began to glitter as if she were angry at herself for admitting it, or at Carys for having heard it.
Carys jumped in before Leah could react. "My dad up and ditched when I was seven after breaking my arm in a car crash, then my boyfriend had to up and leave because of a family emergency - three weeks after I broke my ribs. In a car crash. Beat that for things to get angry about."
Leah blinked at Carys, the sparkle in her eyes disappearing, and then grinned a second later. It wasn't a happy expression, more... Gleeful than happy. It reminded Carys of the Big Bad Wolf from Red Riding Hood.
"My long term boyfriend, he-who-shall-not-be-named-"
"Oh, you dated Voldemort? Before or after the whole nose thing?"
Leah laughed, a short, bitter sound.
"Might as well have!" She turned her head and took a deep breath. "Anyway, you've probably heard all this before."
"If I had, I probably wouldn't be asking," Carys countered, drawing Leah's gaze again.
"Like hell you haven't," Leah said, apparently genuinely surprised. "You've... Mon's not told you the story?"
Carys shook her head.
"Fuck, I thought it was their go-to," Leah replied slowly. "Okay, Mon gets to go on the not so bad list with Seth. Huh. Seriously, she didn't tell you? Huh... Well, I have you beat on the whole anger-inducing shit show of life, anyway."
"You know you have to at least-"
"I was going to marry this ass, and then he ditched me. For. My. Cousin."
"You what!?" Carys asked, rearing up to a seated position and curling her legs beneath her so that she could better see Leah, who laid where she was and simply nodded. "Your cousin!?"
"Four years. Four. Years," Leah spat, jabbing at her hip with her index finger. "And she's supposed to be like my best friend, right? Sister more like. Then she fu-" Leah broke off, her jaw set. The glitter in her eyes returned, and she sat up suddenly and slammed her fist onto the deck beside her. "And I'm not supposed to get angry about-?" she stopped again as if she'd said too much, and eyed Carys warily.
Carys stared back, knowing all too well the expression on Leah's face. The I guess you're going to sod off now too? look. Carys hid her shock at Leah's violent reaction, and reached for her wine, downing it in one large gulp.
"How hard?"
Leah frowned, confused and angry.
"How what?"
"How hard?" Carys repeated gently, nodding her head. When Leah's nostrils flared, she added, "Did you kick him in the balls?"
Leah blinked slowly, then fought with herself for a moment before she threw her head back and laughed so loudly that the sound brought Seth running across the garden. He slid to a stop before them and stared at his sister as if he might have prodded her with a stick if he'd thought to bring one.
"What's so funny?" He asked, looking between them.
Carys wasn't sure if she should catch him up or not, but when Leah rolled about and waved her hand desperately, she took it as permission and tried out a response.
"I asked Leah how hard she kicked-" Carys stopped, sobering instantly. She didn't know how exactly to tell a fourteen-year-old what she'd just said.
Seth's lips twisted, and he ducked his head.
"Is this one of those things I'm not old enough for?" He asked meekly.
Leah stopped laughing to meet Carys' eye, and then stared at her brother for a moment or two.
"Yes," she told him carefully. "But I'll tell you if we go to the tree tomorrow."
Carys looked between them in interest. The words made Seth's whole demeanour change, and he perked up instantly, nodding enthusiastically before making Leah promise and then running off again.
"What was that?" Carys asked.
"Nothing."
Leah had sobered completely; she'd closed off; her expression shuttered.
Carys realised the conversation was over and she'd prodded at the wrong thing when Leah swiftly pushed to her feet and brushed her hands over her back and sides, dislodging any stray debris.
Carys followed her. She knew she had one chance to ask.
"Why do your dad and Billy Black not like Carlisle? Or me?"
Leah seemed to ignore her, gathering up her bottle and downing the last of her beer whilst she shoved the cigarettes into her coat pocket. She was three long strides from the deck when she turned and stared at Carys for a minute.
"He's way too tall."
"What?"
"Sam," Leah sighed. "He's way too tall to kick."
With that, Leah turned and walked off, collecting Seth on the way, who, after appearing to argue with her for a moment, glanced back at Carys and then followed his sister into the house.
When Carys returned to the living room a few minutes later, bemused, the Clearwaters were gone.
Carys kept an eye on her phone over Christmas, hoping for a reply from Leah to her rambling apology for having asked too much, but nothing appeared.
There was something incredibly strange about the level of secrecy that ruled over discussions about Carlisle with anyone who had a connection to La Push, and the only answer Carys could come to, as she had briefly before, was that perhaps The Quileute knew about Carlisle. Perhaps they really knew about Carlisle.
She didn't let it get to her whilst she was with her family during the day, and spent the majority of her time with them doting over her little sister, but worry for Carlisle and their family plagued her through each restless night.
When he called her on her way back to Forks, Carys pulled into the nearest rest stop and spent an hour filling Carlisle in on everything Shauna had done that day before she'd left, and then, after he'd spent the next hour telling her about his day, she brought up the subject of La Push and the little she'd learned over the past month.
Carlisle had hesitantly admitted that there was a story there, but not one he wanted to talk about on the phone; he'd then ended their conversation at the next available moment.
It wasn't so much the manner in which he ended the call that made Carys uneasy, but... Well, she couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something... She didn't know.
She'd stared at the console for a good few minutes before setting off again, and stayed overnight at a fairly decent hotel, before starting on the last leg of her journey in the early hours of the morning
A pit had formed in Carys' stomach when their call had ended, and it wouldn't go away no matter what she tried. Even music had no effect.
The feeling grew as she drove, tightening, gripping her lungs, and setting her teeth on edge. Carys tried not to let it take her over - the odd sense of foreboding, but it had its claws in and by the time she pulled into her driveway, every part of her was tense.
The Quileute knew about Carlisle; Carlisle knew they knew; Neither would talk to her about it.
Carys grabbed her suitcase from the trunk and locked her car, then pulled out her phone and called Carlisle before she could think better of it.
It went straight to voicemail.
Of course, she thought, hanging her head and replacing her phone with her keys.
No, she countered, jangling the keys in her hand whilst she thought. Carlisle wouldn't just-
Carys broke off her internal monologue and stared at her door.
Please be right, please be right, please be right, she chanted, slipping the keys in the lock and opening the door with a flourish.
She'd been hoping the feeling had risen (and, Carlisle's phone was off) because he'd come to surprise her. To talk about what he couldn't or wouldn't on the phone. Ten minutes later, after checking the house from top to bottom, she sighed and returned to the kitchen to flick on the kettle.
He wasn't there.
Which meant he was what? Ignoring her? That just didn't seem like him.
Carys pulled out her phone, and texted: If you don't want to talk about this on the phone, you could at least-
She sighed and deleted the message. She didn't have an at least she could suggest, but his lack of response minutes earlier upset her. And what was worse, she wasn't entirely sure how upset she really could be.
Carys stared at the mug next to the boiling kettle and thought about throwing it at the wall. She didn't think that would solve anything either, and the more she thought about doing it, the more she thought about how annoying it would be to clean up.
It frustrated her further that she was so on edge she couldn't even relieve the strange ache by destroying something because she could already see how it wouldn't help.
Carys sighed heavily and closed her eyes, waiting for the click of the kettle. The water seemed to boil too slowly; the kettle was far too loud. It took an eternity, but, finally, it clicked, and when it did, Carys opened her eyes in shock.
The feeling that plagued her for a day and a half had disappeared with the click of the kettle? She couldn't explain it. How had something so simple and tiny have removed such a deep, unsettling feeling within her?
She suddenly felt at peace. Calm. Safe.
Carys finished preparing her tea and turned away from the counter. Her lungs locked, and she jumped. The mug dropped from her hands. And Carlisle caught it before it hit the ground.
A/N: Thank you to: chellekathrynnn, faultyfairytale (ahh, thank you! I'm really in love with this story, so I'm 100% willing to write as much as I can!), GhostWriter71, Ella (unfortunately, it's canon that he did that! So frustrating, but apparently he got Alice on his side so that he could take them all away to "protect Bella". The whole bit about the Cullen children, I'm with you a bit there, but not so much Rosalie or Carlisle, but that's because they're the two I can see wanting to come back. And Esme, too), CarlaPA, loserbopeep, JosieNightOwl, KEJunge, Apfekiachal, Guest SH (Ahhh! I hope you liked the end of this one then! It may do indeed...), Bear (I'm glad you got to see that one too! Things are changing from here on out, but we'll see how it works! I'm surprised I'm getting through New Moon at all to be honest!), Love. Fiction. 2020, and souverian for your reviews.
I hope this wasn't too much of a strange chapter! I'll reply to PM'able reviews in the morning. I need to stop finishing off chapters in the middle of the night...
