In honour of our sixtieth chapter (what!?) I felt like we deserved a little something different... I was asked a while back about whether I'd write about this, and I really didn't plan to but then this chapter came to me and I had to include it.

Carlisle

"I lost him as he passed back through Bolivia."

Carlisle didn't immediately respond to the intrusion on his thoughts; they both knew he had heard the vampire's approach long before the door clicked shut and his American accent rang out through the room.

After two hundred and twenty-some years of close friendship, his guest was content to settle himself in and wait.

Carlisle remained just out of view of the wide balcony, gazing out onto the street below. Hands clasped at his back, he observed the ebb and flow of humanity for half a moment longer.

Months had passed since he'd been able to walk amongst them as freely as he would wish. He had spent so much of his time following Edward's haphazard trail; since he'd arrived at the hotel early that morning, it had been the bright sun's turn, yet again, to hold him at bay.

It was times like these when he was able to feel and observe the heat of life, yet its enjoyment remained just out of reach, he felt every one of his three hundred and sixty-six years.

Pulling his gaze reluctantly away, he turned on his heel and fixed his friend with a beaming smile.

It was met with suspicion.

"You're happy with the news?" the man asked, lounging in the blue armchair furthest from the window. He remained as he was, half shrouded in shadow, the ruby red of his eyes glowing from the darkness. He appeared so comfortable one might assume he had been settled there for some time, but he had arrived barely three seconds before. "I would have assumed-"

"I've missed the company."

White teeth flashed, gleaming despite the diminishing light. "You're far too sentimental," the vampire admonished lightly. "It's one of your failings."

"Along with?" Carlisle asked genially, sweeping his hair from his face.

"Ah, well, I'm glad you asked." The vampire clasped his hands over his middle, crossed his ankles, and stretched long legs out before him. "There's, of course, the matter of your..., background, shall we say?"

"Yes, of course."

"Your diet."

"Indeed."

"Strange predilection for humans."

"How could I forget?"

The visitor shifted in his seat, red eyes narrowing in a playful display of disdain. "And you would have me chase your son across two countries when I could be spending time in far more interesting company - if what you've told me is true."

Carlisle chuckled and shook his head. He allowed himself a glance at the small round table to his right, on which sat a pair of cups. The coffee, which had been delivered steaming earlier that day, had long since cooled, though its fragrance lingered on the air.

"You'll meet her soon enough, Garrett," he said, an easy promise as he strode across the room.

Garrett stood to return a hug, and then settled back when they broke apart.

"I'd better," he insisted sinking lower in his seat. It was a purposeful move that might have made him appear less vampiric if not for his eyes, or his outfit, which was not at all suited to the climate. Whilst Carlisle wore a white t-shirt, black trousers, and leather shoes, Garrett hadn't seen fit to adjust his wardrobe in the least. He wore a white longsleeved shirt, dark brown coat, dark jeans made of heavy-duty denim, and hard-wearing boots. "Otherwise, what am I doing here?"

"I would have thought that obvious." Carlisle's lips quirked as he flicked the lightswitch before easing himself into the chair set in front and a little to the side of his friend's.

"Well, I'm not doing it for fun!" Garrett complained, raising an arm between them so that Carlisle could see the damage to his sleeve. The tears were so minute, a human might need a magnifying glass to see them. "This coat wasn't made for Edward's speed."

Carlisle snorted. "Then as an apology for your inconvenience, I'll allow you to be the first to congratulate me. On my marriage," he added when met with the predictably nonplussed response.

Garrett darted forward in his seat, rested his forearms on his knees, and cocked his head inquiringly. The sudden movement displaced barely a hair from the leather strap which gathered the whole at the base of his neck.

Carlisle ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face once again. With nothing to secure it, it was enjoying its freedom a little too much. He could easily buy some concoction to hold the collar length mass at bay as he usually did, but he secretly rather liked having to adjust it every so often.

"I seem to remember a custom...," Garrett said, punctuating his amused, if mildly sarcastic, tone with an arched brow. "You appear not have heard of it, but it's generally accepted to be good manners to ask your best man to stand up with you before the wedding has taken place."

"Yes," Carlisle allowed with a smirk. "And I'm sure a full proposal, an officiant, and the gathering of witnesses are also expected, but I may have forgotten those as well."

Realisation dawned and Garrett's grin returned as he sank back in his chair and reclined once more.

"I'll ask one last time: why in God's name are you hunting Edward when you could be arranging my introduction to your bewitching bride?"

Something twisted uncomfortably in Carlisle's gut, and he mirrored Garrett's position, forcing nonchalance as he lifted an eyebrow.

"Bewitching?" He asked, his tone betraying his dislike of the word to his immediate chagrin. "I don't think I used that particular term."

"You might not have," Garrett conceded, unwilling to hide his clear amusement. "But I think it was implied after two straight days of you going on and on about her."

Carlisle grumbled and shifted in his seat. "I hardly think I talked about Carys that muc-"

"If you'd started on the sonnets, I wouldn't have been surprised," Garrett interrupted with a laugh.

"And if I was home," Carlisle said after Garrett had recovered himself in the face of his disapproval, "I'm afraid the wedding would take precedence over you meeting her."

"Ah," Garrett said with a slow, understanding nod. "I can understand your worry, but I don't think Carys would necessarily drop everything to run off with me."

Carlisle mock glared, waited a moment, and then dashed his hand out towards Garrett who easily moved his arm out of the way to both of their entertainment.

"I imagine you're just as eager to get back to her as you were a week ago," Garrett said, sobering.

"Oh, I fully intend on it. However, as you've already pointed out, Edward's being rather slippery."

"Not the word I would have used, but your restraint is admirable. It doesn't help that he can hear us coming," Garrett growled, the frustration that had saturated his tone when he'd first arrived returning at the mere mention of Carlisle's erstwhile son.

"Yes, well, I'd hoped you might have more luck," Carlisle murmured thoughtfully, his lips pursing uncharacteristically.

Almost two months had passed since he'd set out on his mission, and it had been over a week since he'd run into Garrett and enlisted his help. Joking aside, he was looking forward to when Garrett and Carys met - they had a similar curiosity for life that could make for as close a friendship as he enjoyed with each of them. He hoped after her time with his cousins, she might quickly find immortal friendships with them all, and others.

And if Carys had been a vampire when they'd met, he had no doubt she'd have made an excellent addition to their present hunting party.

Of course, if she had been, he doubted there would be a need for a party in the first place. If he hadn't been forced to leave without her, he wasn't entirely sure he would have followed after Edward at all; he wondered if he wouldn't have waited for Edward to do the right thing and return to Bella, as certain members of his family were.

The thought irked him.

"My thoughts didn't slip, if that's what you're imagining," Garrett said when Carlisle had let his silence last a moment too long.

"It isn't," Carlisle assured him quickly. His features relaxed, and he smiled gently, meeting his old friend's eye. "Thank you for trying; I'm merely sharing in your frustration... I almost caught up to him outside La Paz and was similarly spurned. He's on a hunt of his own, or, he was."

"Could you think of who or what he may be after?"

"Victoria."

Garrett sat up, suitably intrigued. "One of the three who-"

"Two," Carlisle corrected, turning his head to study the progress of a spider in the corner of the room, weaving its intricate web. "Laurent removed himself from the fight. He's now staying with the Denali and appears to have taken to more than the secluded surroundings... They're keeping an eye on him."

"Interesting..."

"But in answer to your question," Carlisle said, facing his friend again, "yes, one of the two who hunted Carys and Bella last year."

"She remains a threat."

It was a statement rather than a question, and Carlisle's lips quirked again. Garrett had been borne a military man, the product of a vampire who had satiated himself on a band of survivors and believed him dead, having done little more than rendering him unconscious whilst the venom spread through his system.

Carlisle wondered anew at the similarity of their change; fallen upon and left alive by pure chance to suffer their transformations.

"Her power is in self-preservation," he mused aloud. "She's eluded Alice more than once." He leaned in his seat, pressing a knuckle to his lips as he let his gaze fall to the floor between them. "It seems she spent some time in North America before running south, but I wonder if her choice didn't have something to do with Edward's determination to find her. If left alone, I can only wonder if she would seek to protect herself... I worry his efforts will be futile; it's in her nature to disappear, and I can't help but feel somewhat sorry for her. We did kill her mate..."

"You see too much good in the world," Garrett chastised warmly.

Carlisle's smile was bleak as dropped his hand. "You've said that more times over the past two hundred years than I care to count."

"And it rings just as true now as it did when we met."

Carlisle nodded and allowed his mind to drift in the ensuing silence, running through everything that had transpired the year before. He then set about adding Garrett's small measure of information to what he'd gathered in the past week. Garrett, more than happy to occupy himself with his own thoughts, joined him.

For hours, the pair sat frozen in time and space. The only suggestion they had life within them came from the occasional breath.

It wasn't a necessity for them, breathing, but it gave some measure to time and was ingrained in their systems by now. Humans noticed a lot more when the absence of breath was added to the rest of their quirks of inhumanity, and it could be uncomfortable not to fill their lungs for such a long stretch.

Eventually, when the sky was blackened, lit only by the stars, moon, and artificial light pouring from street lamps and windows, Garrett stirred.

His return to life was heralded by a blink which shifted the air enough to capture Carlisle's attention.

"Perhaps a game?" he suggested unmoving save for the subtle work of his jaw.

Carlisle's lips tipped up at the edges. "What did you have in mind?" he asked quietly.

As neither found difficulty in hearing one another or the cacophony from the hotel and the street below, they made no effort to lift their voices to the range at which a human might hear.

"Chess?"

"You have a board?"

Garrett patted a hand to his coat, where a long scroll sat in the inside pocket. "Always. Shall we pick up where we left off?"

Carlisle rose to collect a second, unused, table. "You'll recall we were three moves from mate," he said when he had set it down between them and adjusted his chair to rest opposite Garrett's as his friend unfurled the mat, revealing the pouch containing the pieces.

"You left me with four years to plan my way out."

They made lightning-quick work of arranging the board as it had been the last time they'd played. As Carlisle recalled, it was when he'd been forced to take a holiday so as not to alert the hospital he'd then been working at about his nature. At first, for a few years, he'd ignored their subtle comments, until a rumour had started that he was a robot.

The suggestion amused him still.

Carlisle predictably won the round, and they reset the board.

They played for hours, taking white in turns, before Garrett asked, "Alice?"

"I'm expecting her call when she finds him; mate, by the way," Carlisle announced, failing to veil his triumph. He'd lost the last two games.

Garrett studied the board for a few moments before he accepted there was no way he could save himself from the position, and toppled his King rather than suffer the humiliation of playing through the five moves between Carlisle and victory.

"Would you prefer me to leave the hotel when you speak to Carys? Or have you already?" he asked, gathering his pieces.

"What exactly do you expect us to be doing?"

"I've lived far too long to ask." Garrett's lips twisted, and he looked up to wink at his friend.

Carlisle rolled his eyes. "You're lucky Carys isn't here. She once chased me around a room for less."

"That, I would pay to see!" Garrett roared.

Minutes stretched by as he found continued and rapacious amusement from the comment. Carlisle struggled at times not to join him, such was the strength and infectious nature of his response.

"I haven't spoken to her in weeks," Carlisle admitted when Garrett's laughter finally came to an end. He watched his friend's expression, attempting to suss out his reaction to the less-than-appealing news.

Garrett quickly settled on bemusement, before he asked, "Why ever not?"

"Well, there wasn't a chance to for a while, and today, the first day I could... I just can't quite bring myself to disappoint her again." Carlisle shifted uncomfortably under his friend's silent stare. He sighed heavily, snatching his Queen from the table to examine it as he went on, "I don't want to let her down, but I can't help feeling that if I give up on Edward now, I may lose my son forever. The last time we spoke, she understood my need better than I did, with scarcely a word leaving my mouth; I can't forget the last ninety years of my son, but Carys' understanding that makes it harder somehow. It makes me more desperate to return to her."

"You seem to love that boy more than he deserves, Carlisle. I'm not sure there's as much to him as you see," Garrett told him, glancing at the chess piece as if fearful it might be crushed.

Carlisle replaced his Queen to the formation. "He's in turmoil," he explained sadly. "He believes this is the only way to keep Bella safe, and yet, I fear it's just the opposite. He's broken more than their hearts and is still adamant in his being the only choice. Perhaps I gave him too much credit before - in thinking he had learned more from his long life."

"If his only choice means leaving his mate behind to go-it's not the same as what you've done, so don't start this again, Carlisle," Garrett added when Carlisle's expression grew weary. "Pessimism doesn't suit you, my friend. You should leave it to those of us who have a little more training."

"Ha!" Carlisle shook his head. "I've been far too hopeful for-"

"Stop this, Carlisle. Your situation is a product of the actions of others. If you lose hope now, the rest of us are doomed."

"What on earth do you mean by that?" he asked, frowning.

Garrett's brief chuckle caught Carlisle by surprise anew. "Love," he explained simply, "isn't something that comes along once a century. Whatever's happening now, you'll have eternity to make it up to her. Give the rest of us romantics something to root for, please."

Carlisle couldn't help but smile. "You've just reminded me. Have you spoken to Esme recently?"

"To Esme?" Garrett's eyes narrowed. "No..., our paths haven't crossed in a couple of decades. Why do you ask?"

"I think we both know why," Carlisle said softly, struggling to return to a neutral expression when Garrett could no longer meet his gaze and shifted uncomfortably in his chair, gathering the chess pieces together, stowing them in their pouch.

He was rolling the mat when he finally responded.

"It was one week, fifty years ago, Carlisle. Let it go."

"Hmm..."

There was nothing quite so amusing to Carlisle as reminding Esme and Garrett about their short-lived union.

Carlisle had invited his friend to spend a few months with the family (hunting as far from their home as possible, of course) in the early nineteen fifties, following his presence at Alice and Jasper's wedding. Carlisle and Edward had subsequently returned from a hunt to find themselves in the peculiar presence of yet another couple.

Whilst the brief liaison had been fueled by little more than a mutual need to satiate their desires, it had also run Edward out of the house and forced Carlisle to purchase quite a lot of furniture to replace what they'd broken.

Hence, his amusement.

He figured he had about two hundred years to go before their embarrassment paid him back for the mid-eighteenth century bed he'd lost. Then, and only then, he would let them off the hook.

"You can add old fashioned to your faults," Garrett muttered, stowing his chess set back in his pocket. He was evidently waiting for Carlisle to bring up the subject of marriage again; little did he know, his friend had moved on to new approaches.

"Hardly old fashioned to hope for my two best friends to find love," Carlisle joked, widening his eyes just a little and furrowing his brow in a display of hopeful concern.

Garrett rolled his eyes, all but adjusting his collar and squirming in his seat.

"If one day we do, it won't be with each other. But I appreciate your concern," he allowed eventually.

"When you do, I expect to stand up with you," Carlisle said, giving the matter up until the next time.

"I'm only two hundred and fifty-one," Garrett complained, subtly reminding Carlisle that he was two years older than him as a human when he was changed in seventeen-eighty. "It took you another century and change to find yours."

Carlisle's phone began to buzz from where it sat charging by the window, drawing his attention from the conversation.

Alice's name flashed across the screen.

Their conversation was a short one. She had seen Edward would pass through Santiago in five days.

"Chile?" Garrett asked the moment Carlisle ended the call.

He nodded. Five days gave them more than enough time to get there. He stared at his phone for less than half a second before snapping it open, dialling the first number on speed dial.

Carys' voice rang out through the room when she answered before the line had rung five times, calling, "Lovely!"

Carlisle pressed a hand to his heart when it seemed to leap out of his chest in response to her voice, scratchy from sleep, and turned to look at Garrett, who had both hands pressed to his chest. They blinked hard, and Carlisle returned to the call. The interlude had lasted less than a second, and so Carys didn't appear to find anything remiss in the time it took for him to softly reply:

"My darling."

He held a staying hand up when Garrett began to whisper about the endearment and introducing them again.

Half an hour later, feeling far better than he had in weeks, Carlisle ended the call.

"Possibly the most sickening display I've been forced to listen to in a while," Garrett lied, seemingly attempting to cover his initial reaction. He stood by the door and swung his pack over his shoulder, holding Carlisle's out to him. "Chile then."

"Chile," Carlisle agreed, crossing the room in a flash to retrieve his pack.

Garrett hesitated for a moment.

"I don't suppose Carys has a sister hidden away somewhere?" he inquired lightly.

"Thinking about settling down now, are we?"

"No, not at all," Garrett lied again, not quite meeting Carlisle's eye. "As I said, I like my space. Just might be nice to have someone that excited to hear from me after weeks."

"I'm that excited to hear from y-"

Garrett cut off Carlisle's protest with, "We've discussed this a million times. It doesn't count if they're your best friend. Much as we like each other, I don't think either of us is looking for that kind of relationship from one another."

"Agreed," Carlisle said, smirking. "Well, unfortunately, Carys' only sister is ten months old."

"Ah, that's a sweet age for little humans - they're all chubby-cheeked and happy," Garrett enthused, swinging the door open. Then, seemingly recollecting his assessment that Carlisle had a strange predilection for humans, he stepped into the hall, cleared his throat, lowered his voice to a sneer, and added, "Not that they provide more than an ear-splitting deterrent from drinking their parents dry."

Carlisle snorted. "Of course. Babies. Nature's best weapon against decent hearted vampires."

"Exactly," Garrett agreed, heading for the stairs. "Did I ever tell you about the time I found my blood-singer? Best thing I've ever smelled, and it was a baby. A baby! Went back twenty years later, and it had a baby! What was I supposed to do?" he asked over Carlisle's howling laughter. "It was like it knew I was coming!"

A/N: last chapter, Billy told Bella that Jake wasn't well. In the book, Jacob told Bella to stay away until he contacted her - but canonically the wolves take a while to phase back when they first change; none of the others seemed to be told before they changed, just watched until they erupted into wolves; and Jacob was so adamant that the wolves were just legend, I'm not sure he would have believed it unless he saw it, so I think it fits that better...

Thank you to: chellekathrynnn, Ghostwriter71, Ella (she definitely needs some me time, and a break from all the stress! Poor thing! I think she may be a little done with Bella for the moment after last chapter!), Kimkyrs, souverian, BMBMDooDoo- Doo- Doo- Doo (thank you!), CarlaPA, and Love. Fiction. 2020 for your reviews!