Chapter 10
"Hello, love."
Carlisle straightened, and Carys couldn't help but stare at him. Hello love. That was what he was going with? She vaguely registered the need to reply, but her tongue was presently glued to the roof of her mouth, and try as she might, she couldn't seem to release it.
One moment, she'd been angry at him for refusing to talk to her about something and then turning his phone off. The next, he was standing in front of her with a faintly remorseful expression on his face.
He was actually there.
With her.
He was dressed casually; his roll-neck jumper appeared to lift its colour from the darker leaves in the pattern covering Carys' black and autumn-hued skater dress. Whilst his long legs were encased in blue jeans, hers were covered by thick black tights. If someone were to see the pair of them, they might think they'd planned their outfits.
"I should have let you know I was coming, but..."
Carlisle's voice faded into the background as Carys' mental gears stuttered back to life. She moved, lost in a daze, taking the mug from him and placing it on the counter behind her. Glancing at the floor as she did so, she noted he'd caught it before it had spilled so much as a drop.
The strange observation led to a stranger thought - that she had two routes ahead of her. She could lean in to the sudden relief of seeing him, or maintain her frustration. It was hardly surprising that frustration won out around a minute later.
"What're you doing here?" she asked, crossing her arms and hoping she didn't sound as shocked or unsteady as she felt.
"You..." Carlisle's voice lowered to a whisper. He cocked his head, his hand flexing at his side, but unlike so many times before, he knew exactly what his reception would be when he pressed flush against Carys and gripped her waist, trapping her against the counter. "You weren't listening, were you, sweeting?"
"Sweeting?" Carys gasped, trying to ignore the effect of his touch; not for the first time, she cursed her body. This time, for the way her belly tightened in anticipation. "That's a new one."
Carlisle's lips feathered over hers before he turned his attentions lower, and she lost her breath on a moan, her head dropping back, exposing the long column of her throat and giving him better access. With the last of her will power, she uncrossed her arms and pushed at his chest before he could raise her skirt any higher.
"I asked what you're doing here."
"I would have thought at least one of my reasons was clear," Carlisle replied, reluctantly giving her the space she requested. He paused when Carys crossed her arms again and arched her brows disbelievingly, "To explain about The Quileute."
"That's-yes, well..."
Carys faltered. Maintaining her annoyance was more difficult than she hoped when he was looking at her as if he was about suggest a better use for her countertop. She had to admit she'd had one or two similar thoughts over the past year, herself. More than one or two if she was entirely honest.
Carlisle bit his lip, and drawled, "I'd rather take this one step at a time... If that's alright with you...?"
"Don't talk to me like that," Carys whined. Grabbing her mug, she began her escape to the living room, giving him as wide a berth as she could in the small space. He didn't make it easy for her. "Or look at me like that either! You know it makes me all gooey inside, and I'm trying to be- I'm trying to be-"
"Annoyed at me for something?" Carlisle asked, following closely behind.
"Yes! Annoyed." Carys dropped to the sofa and tucked her legs beneath her, stowing her mug safely on the coffee table. Carlisle's heated gaze was like a shock to the system, and she narrowed her eyes. "Stop it."
Carlisle sighed and crossed to the coffee table, taking a seat beside her mug.
"You haven't gone off me, have you?" he questioned, a crinkle appearing between his brows.
Carys laughed aloud at the ridiculous suggestion. Surely it was obvious the last thing she could be accused of was going off Carlisle Cullen. She thought her reaction would have been enough, but he maintained steady eye contact as if he needed her to answer. It was her turn to frown.
"I'm asking you," Carys explained slowly, easing back against the cushions, "not to make me jump your bones before you answer my question, because if you keep looking at me like that, I might. And I'm annoyed because... Well, I'm more frustrated than annoyed, to be honest. No, scratch that, I'm annoyed.
"Why didn't you tell me about The Quileute?" she asked. "Why did I have to find out about it at Sarah and Mon's party, when someone let slip that I'm a social pariah? We've been together for going on a year now - shouldn't it've come up at some point?"
It occurred to her in Carlisle's moment of hesitation that she hadn't greeted him properly, but then he began to speak and the realisation passed.
"It isn't something I hoped would-," he changed tack when Carys scoffed, "-that is to say, I hoped, perhaps foolishly, that it wouldn't come up when I was gone."
"Perhaps foolishly!? One of my best friends has brothers on the Rez, and his daughter, Bella, is your son's soulmate. Another of my best friends is Sue Clearwater's cousin-"
"Second. Through marriage-"
"Through marriage or not, she's Sue's cousin, Carlisle. I imagine you knew that?"
"Yes."
"Because she or Monica told you?"
"Because Edward heard it."
Carys' jaw firmed and she rolled her shoulders back.
"So. So. So you knew then? You knew every time I saw either of them, or Charlie, they would know an entire population had formed an opinion of me, based on you?"
"Are you angry with them for not telling you either?" Carlisle countered, clasping his hands between his knees, "Or just me? Is this a two-way street, or am I alone in-"
"You're my husband!" Carys cried, throwing her hands in the air. "They're not! They're my friends, Carlisle. And yes, I'm a little upset at them as well, but-why are you smiling? I don't think this funny in the slightest."
Carlisle continued to grin, and pressed his advantage by leaning towards her, crowding her, befuddling her senses.
"You called me your husband," he said, radiating smug satisfaction.
"Yes, well." He'd thrown her completely. "I mean... Still don't have so much as an engagement ring," she grumbled, then remembered her argument and prodded his knee, "but that's not the point."
"I know," Carlisle admitted, capturing her hand. "I know it isn't, but it's a good start."
He didn't let go when Carys tugged against his hold, so she allowed him the small victory. She had bigger fish to fry.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
Carys rolled her eyes and tugged again. He let her go, and sat back, giving her some room to recollect herself.
"Well?" she said slowly, shifting in her seat and adjusting the cushion at her back, settling in for the long haul. "What's the story with you and La Push? That well."
"Oh." Carlisle bowed his head and stared at his lap, then sighed and passed a hand over his jaw, preparing to answer her question. "You were right when you said you thought The Quileute might know about us... They have a long history with vampires, but as their history is passed down through oral tradition, and the Western world focuses on-"
"I don't think I need you to explain how Native American history, and pretty much most cultures for that matter, have been denigrated by the-you know what? We're not getting into that right now."
"I know," Carlisle murmured. "Of course you'd understand. I'm sorry." He waited until Carys' shoulders dropped in acceptance of his apology before he continued, "They call us Cold Ones, and their people have known about us for going on a thousand years; I'm not quite sure how long exactly, but it's somewhere around that. We, the family, were living in Hoquaim when we first met them."
Carys had to run the name through her mind a couple of times before she recognised it as a small town south of Forks. Carlisle had mentioned living there once, months before, and she'd been surprised they'd moved back into the area within living memory.
"Them?" she questioned once she realised he'd been patiently waiting for her to make the connection.
"The wolves." When Carys shook her head, he slid towards her and retook her hand. "A pack of three Quileute warriors."
"Wolves?" Carys' eyes grew round. "Like. Wolf wolves? How did they train-wait. They were the wolves?"
Carlisle had evidently been expecting that particular reaction as well, and flashed a small smile.
"We came across them on a hunt, or rather, they came across us. They inherited the ability to shift into wolf form at will - incredible power ran in their veins, and they used it to protect their people from ones such as ourselves. I formed a treaty with Ephraim Black-"
"Who the heck is Ephraim-?" Carys couldn't quite grasp which part of the revelation she needed the answer to first. "Go back. They were werewolves?"
Carlisle shook his head. "No, I don't believe so. Marcus was committed to the genocide of The Children of the Moon following their the murder of his wife; the Quileute wolves are more like shape-"
"Children of the-!?" Carys squealed, rubbing her temples. It was all too much to process. Two more types of supernatural beings, and one had been killed off by the Volturi?
Not that the Volturi part really surprised her. Wiping out whole groups was right on brand for them. She really struggled not to make the obvious association.
It took a few moments before she could wet her lips and ask:
"When... When was this, again?"
"The mid-nineteen thirties," Carlisle supplied, eyeing her uneasily, though he made no further attempt to reach for her.
"So..." Carys ran her hands over her hair. "Let me get this straight... In the nineteen thirties, you met...?"
"Billy Black's grandfather, Ephraim," he told her, and she was thankful for the way he did it; as he often did when storytelling, he was happy to calmly clarify if he jumped the gun, but was never condescending about it. "He was the Alpha of their pack. I explained how we differed from others, that we intended them no harm, and we were able form a treaty with them."
Carys sat up straight and cocked her head.
"Wait. So. You "we come in peace"'d them, and they actually believed you? Just like that?"
Why that was the part she found hardest to believe, she wasn't sure, but it was.
"No, not exactly..., but we outnumbered them, and Ephraim therefore understood I had no reason to lie. He agreed to discuss, and we came to an understanding. When we returned to the area, I called Billy Black to confirm our continued commitment to the treaty, and he... He was less accepting than his grandfather had been.
"I shouldn't really have been surprised by his reaction to the news we'd be settling so nearby, and for ten years, no less. But he agreed to keep the treaty entact: we don't cross their border or bite humans-"
"I'm sorry," Carys mumbled, twisting her hair into a bun whilst she avoided eye contact. The "pssh," she'd interrupted him with was a completely unbidden response.
"-from the area, and they," Carlisle continued slowly, "don't tell your kind what we are."
"My kind?" Carys repeated lightly, scratching her chin and trying not to smirk.
It was a good job she'd be losing her wrinkles when she was thirty, because she was confident the amount of time she spent raising her eyebrows because of Carlisle was going to age her prematurely.
Carlisle looked to the heavens.
"Humans, Carys. I meant humans, and you know it. As I was saying, the treaty remains, but Black reminded The Quileute about us - though, many of them think it's a legend now. Because of what we are, they avoid Forks Hospital at all costs..."
"How do they get medical care!?"
"I'm sure you know Sue Clearwater is a nurse, and if they require a doctor, Sarah's often the first port of call. Or they go further afield-"
Carys pressed up onto her knees and held out a hand to cut him off.
"Wait. Wait. You're telling me you're okay with that? You, Carlisle Cullen, committed to saving lives for eternity, Carlisle Cullen, are okay with the fact a whole nation is-"
"Of course I'm not okay with it," he argued defensively. "It pains me to know the closest hospital is off limits because of me."
"Then why did you come here at all? Knowing that, why didn't you-?"
Carlisle's expression crumbled to one of abject horror.
"I cannot believe you would ask me that. If we hadn't stayed, the two of us would never have met. You-"
"I didn't mean it like that," Carys protested, "I meant-"
"I know what you meant, Carys."
"Now you're annoyed at me!?"
"Look." Carlisle dropped his head to his hands and gripped his hair in apparent frustration. "There aren't that many places we can live without suspicion, and-please don't look at me like that, Carys, it makes me feel like I'm something you've scraped from the bottom of your shoe. All I'm trying to do is explain."
Carys schooled her features, putting a tight rein on her emotions. She didn't want to make him feel like that, but the extent of what he had revealed had given her pause. She battled to reconcile Carlisle with a man who would accept a situation like that.
Still... It wasn't fair that she put the blame of another man's reactive decision at his door. Carlisle was right. They wouldn't have met otherwise. But could she really accept anything was worth what it might mean to the health of an entire people?
Sarah was an exceptional doctor. Sue, from what she'd gathered, was an exceptional nurse. She clung to the knowledge as a lifeline and, finally, she caught his eye and nodded.
"And now you have. You made a treaty with Billy Black's grandfather-"
"Yes."
"-and that's why Billy Black and Harry Clearwater did what they did. Because they know what you are, they were trying to protect their people just as you're protecting our family. And-I'm sorry, it's taking me a bit to grasp the fact they were wolves," she added, following the sudden return to her previous train of thought. "I mean, what's next? Are mermaids real? The Loch Ness Monster? Witches?"
Carlisle's lips quirked. "Not that I know of, no."
"So, Sue knows as well?"
If she did... Sue Clearwater skipped straight to amazing in Carys' books.
Carlisle nodded as he moved as close to her as he could and cradled her neck, running his thumbs back and forth over the sides of her jaw. When he spoke, his placid tone belied by the mild desperation that wreathed his handsome features.
"I never wanted to put you in this position, Carys. And I didn't expect you to have to find out and worry about it when I wasn't here. I'm sorry you had to find out on your own. I'm sorry-"
Carys mimicked his actions, cutting him off mid-flow.
"Stop saying sorry... Please... Just tell me why you didn't tell me? And don't say it's because you hoped I wouldn't have to know."
"I was going to tell you, I just didn't want to overload you. Look at it from my perspective. In three months, you'd learned vampires were real, that I was one, made the decision to give up a human life for me, and learned you had abilities. How would you have taken it if I'd then told you about a treaty made seventy years ago?"
"I don't know, Carlisle, but you didn't give me chance. And then you left, and-" Carys broke off, shaking her head sadly. "You had months to tell me."
"It wasn't entirely my secret to tell, and I know it makes no difference, but I did plan on telling you."
"When?"
"Would you believe me if I told you?"
Carys opened and closed her mouth, but nothing came out. She wanted to say yes, but he'd had all that time, he still hadn't. Carlisle buried his face in her neck and wrapped his arms around her waist when she couldn't come to an immediate answer.
It seemed incredible that he could hide something so important from her, after everything, and yet the more she thought about it, the more she realised, to her shame, she was doing the same to her friends and family about him.
The Quileute who understood the full extent of their history hid the truth from humans like her, and she had no real right to that knowledge; she wouldn't have expected it had it not been for Carlisle sharing his secret with her first.
Her real issue was that she was in the middle - a human, whose connection to the supernatural came by choice, rather than birthright or a transformation. She found she couldn't judge him as harshly as she had done. It wasn't fair to him.
He'd asked if she was as upset at her friends as she had been him, and she had to accept the fact she wasn't. That wasn't fair either. She ran the information he'd given her over and over in her mind, adding Seth and Leah's unwillingness to fill her in on the secret into the mix.
She couldn't decide how annoyed she was, or would be once she had time to process everything. If she continued the argument, it might make things worse, and that was the last thing she wanted.
"What else?" she asked after a while, moving her hands to his chest, gripping the fabric of his jumper.
Carlisle raised his head slowly. His gaze darted about Carys' face, surprised by the warmth he must have found there.
"I'm sorry?"
"You said telling me about the wolves was one of the reasons you came back. One of. I'm guessing, but I figure it wasn't just for sex, either."
"No..." Carlisle's response was rife with suspicion. "I... I'm sorry, is that it? Our argument is over?"
"No. Yes. No. I don't know... It's benched until I can work out if it's fair or not, and I don't want to argue with you when I might be just as guilty. It'd be the pot calling the kettle untrustworthy."
Carlisle didn't laugh at her purposeful misquotation.
"We need to resolve this, Carys."
"Fine. Then consider it resolved."
"But it isn't..."
"Then I call time out. Do you really want to continue on in circles, Carlisle? 'Cause I don't, but that's what'd happen, isn't it? I'm annoyed you didn't tell me, but it was only half yours to share," she explained, raising her hands between them and physically weighing her options. "I'm upset you hid this secret, but they're keeping your secret. I'm hurt that an entire group of people judges me for you, but I now know why, and I can kind of understand their need to protect themselves."
Carlisle blinked, frowning when he followed the path she drew for him.
"You're far too reasonable," he observed, his tone suggesting it fell just shy of a complaint. "Are you sure-no, no, I'm going to leave it alone..."
"I'm not reasonable," Carys countered uncomfortably, twisting her hands in the long sleeves of her dress. "I just have too much pride to get into this when I'm not a hundred percent sure I'm in the right anymore."
"Reason."
"Hubris."
Carlisle didn't appear entirely convinced, but he relented.
"I was already on my way back from Ithaca when you called."
Carys' eyes lit up, drawing a responding smile from Carlisle. The confirmation of her suspicions was overwhelmingly satisfying. They're agreed not to talk about where they were living so she wouldn't have to lie to Bella, but she'd wondered whether they were staying with Esme at Rose and Emmett's, or in Alaska with the Denali coven.
"I was coming back because Alice had a vision about-" Carlisle hesitated for less than half a second. "Alice knows where Edward is - where he was, rather. I needed to see you before I followed after him; I plan on dragging him back here by his coattails, kicking and screaming if needs be."
Carys laughed briefly, a sound that rose from deep within her chest and stopped short of her closed lips. There was a glint in Carlisle's eye, but everything else about him, from his body language, to his tone, to his compassionate soul, told her: while he was determined to bring him back, he would stop short of actual bodily harm.
Instead of suggesting he took her along so she could see exactly how he planned on going against everything in his nature, she asked:
"Where is he?"
"South America."
"That's..." Carys gaped. "Carlisle, that's an entire continent. That's like saying he's in Africa, or Asia, or Europe."
She gestured so wildly as she spoke that she nearly slapped herself in the face, which made Carlisle press his lips together to hide his reaction. He failed; mirth was practically beaming from his eyes.
"I know. That's why I needed to see you before I left."
"Because it's going to take a while..."
The thought of Carlisle bringing Edward to heel was suddenly far less appealing to Carys, and she lowered her gaze in case he thought she appeared pitiful.
"I won't be in contact for long stretches," he added, stroking her cheek. "I'll be in touch when I can, but I don't want your last memory of me for the time being to be an argument. It's just for a few months, that's all. Just a few months, and then I'll be back. The first thing I'll do when I do return is let the family know we're married and find you an appropriate ring."
"Maybe not the first thing you do...," Carys suggested, fiddling with her sleeve again.
"No?"
"No... I mean... Maybe it could be the third? The first would need to be throwing Edward on my mercy after what he's done to Bella, the family, us, and-well, you get the point."
"And second?"
"Well me, of course."
Carlisle bit his lip so hard against a laugh that Carys' eyes flared, and she pressed her thumbs to his chin in an attempt to free his flesh before he bit straight through, and she learned first hand how he could reattach body parts. His fuller bottom lip was one of her favourite things about him, and the last thing she wanted was for it to be damaged on her account.
He released his lip and grasped her wrists. "You may want to rearrange that list," he said, a little too smugly for Carys' future wellbeing. "If I'm gone for another few months, and I'm making up for this too, I don't think you'll see sunlight for at least a week after I get back."
Carys pressed a hand to her lips to cover her amusement.
"Surely I'll see sunlight!?" she shrieked.
Tipping his head from side to side as if entertaining a particularly difficult thought, Carlisle acquiesced with a smirk, "Perhaps a little. But I suppose it depends on what time I get back and how long you stay awake before-"
"Okay! Okay!" Carys cut him off before he said too much. She didn't know how long he had before he left, and if her memory served her, he could paint a pretty attractive, and detailed, picture. "You're not leaving too soon, are you?"
"A few hours." Carlisle checked his watch and shook his head. "A couple now."
"You can't've been coming home purely to tell me you're leaving again?" Carys asked, pressing her cheek to his chest while he stroked her back.
"I don't know how long Edward will stay in Panama before he moves on; Alice says he's not been staying in one place for more than a week at a time, so I really need to get there as soon as I can."
"Are you going to see Bella before you go? I'm not sure I've been helping as much as I can-" Carys stopped herself before she told him about the night terrors that she'd eluded to until he'd worked it out himself. Bella no longer screamed at night (she hadn't for a little over two weeks) but she was still a shell of herself, and that much he knew already. "She's in pain, Carlisle."
"I have," Carlisle said against her hair. "I saw her when I was driving through town, but she didn't recognise Jasper's SUV. From what you've told me, and from what I've now seen, I think it would be better for her mental state not to see me before I go."
Carys pulled back enough to see his face. Her confusion deepened with the revelation of his complete self-assurance on the matter.
"Better? How could it be-"
"If I can't find him, or if I do, and he refuses to return, what then? How would it affect her to see me for an hour? For me to make promises I may not be able to keep, and then to disappear immediately?"
"But-"
"You said she's recovering, albeit slowly - seeing me so briefly, or knowing I was here? It could very well set her back. She knows of our plans - I'll return in June if all else fails, and you and I are seeing each other sporadically in the meantime... But she's suffering from trauma related to the abandonment - such a brief reunion could very well reignite the original suffering."
"So you think..." Carys made sense of his words, and her eyes grew round. "Bella needs to trust she won't be left again, but if she were to see you..."
"Indeed."
"Well, is anyone coming back before you do?"
"Alice is keeping an eye on Bella," Carlisle informed her, a spark of excitement in his eye, tightening his hold on her. "And she's now seen herself returning in the summer. I must say, she was quite upset when she realised you wouldn't join us after all."
Carys started. "What, she thought I'd give in? Did she see it or something?"
"She only hoped you would. The longer you abstained from contact, the more she realised that might not be the case."
"You're saying I shamed her into coming back?"
The notion pleased Carys more than perhaps it should have. Carlisle rained soft kisses over her cheeks and nose before he replied.
"Must we, darling? I have two hours - less than that now. And I hadn't exactly planned on spending much more of it talking... Though, frankly, yes, your stubbornness surprised the family as a whole."
"And you?"
"Frankly, I would be more surprised if the sun were to rise again tomorrow."
"Correct answer," Carys said with a grin, pushing herself from the edge of the sofa to straddle his hips. She pulled away from his drugging kiss a few seconds later to ask, "You're sure it would make her worse?"
"Yes," Carlisle sighed, lifting her with him as he stood and turned swiftly for the stairs, taking them three at a time, his urgency completely at odds with his tranquil tone. "I asked Emmett for his opinion before I left. He's rarely serious on a range of issues, but when it comes to the study of trauma, I trust his judgement implicitly."
"Why?" Carys squealed, when she was thrown haphazardly onto her bed.
Carlisle, already occupying himself with the removal of her tights, paused for a moment before resuming his efforts when Carys lifted her hips just enough to wrestle her dress free.
"I doubt there's a book, article, or lecture on the subject he hasn't studied," he told her gently, but when she would have questioned him further on the matter, he tutted and dropped to the bed, holding himself above her, whispering, "No more questions darling... Hush now and let me love you."
A/N: hmm... I don't know about this chapter, but I've spent three days writing and editing it, so I might just be overthinking again. I might have continued the disagreement even if I felt the way she did, but unfortunately no matter what I tried, neither Carys nor Carlisle would. What d'you think? Did she let him off the hook to easily, or are her reasons to wait valid?
Thank you to: Ella (same here! Leah deserves better! I'm looking forward to exploring their friendship more in the next chapters!), chellekathrynnn, Anita Simons, BMBMDooDoo- Doo- Doo- Doo (:D kinda proud of that one), GuestMG, souverian, iblamegreenberg, Love. Fiction. 2020, and Sting3 for your reviews!
