Was so tempted to condense this chapter into a couple of paragraphs, but I think we all need it - it's extra long, but it makes sense that it is. I'm going to try and update a couple of times this week, so watch this space!
Chapter 21
"I can understand why so many long-distance relationships fail now," Carys whispered, sighing and rubbing at her forehead with her free hand.
Having returned to the Cullen house and taken care of their immediate needs, she and Carlisle had spent hours catching up on about everything they could think of. It wasn't as bad to be there as she'd imagined earlier in the day, and she'd even stopped checking her phone as often - it didn't make a difference to how many messages she had.
They were now getting to the subject they'd both skirted around for the best part of their conversation. There was nothing Carys had wanted more than to ignore it for as long as possible.
"It was everything - everything else, you know? The depression, the loneliness, the silence for weeks at a time, the family - Alice, Edward and Jasper especially, and the distance. I don't think it was the relationship before or the foundations of us, was it?" she rhetorically asked, frowning at the wall. "I mean, you left while I was recovering, which was highly unfair - but it wasn't as if you had a choice in it any more than I did?"
They sat in the near-empty living room, on the sofa he'd sourced from Esme's room when they'd arrived. From the outside, the house seemed almost empty, but Esme, Rosalie, Emmett and Carlisle had all left things behind - ready for when they returned.
Carlisle rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, lifted it to his lips, and spoke against her skin. "Go on?" he urged. His knees bent, legs bracketing hers, he cradled her in his arms, her back to his chest.
"I knew you were coming back," Carys slowly admitted. "Just like we planned - June. Whatever happened, you'd be back in June. Even if the others decided they weren't coming too, I knew the plan. Believe me," she laughed, shaking her head. "I ran it over and over and over in my head... But after a while, it was harder to remember how it used to be. You ruined me for doing this on my own, you know..."
Carys paused, but Carlisle's only response was to press another kiss to the back of her hand. It was her turn to talk, and he was honouring that. She felt a little better for it. His presence had been all she thought she needed, but he'd insisted on the conversation. This seemed like the easiest way to get through it.
"We had the phone calls at first," she went on, unmoving save for the way Carlisle returned their hands to her waist. "And then we had the car so I knew no matter how bad I felt, or how depressed I was, or how lonely, I would get to see you once a month - and that would have to be enough..."
Unable to continue, Carys left the sentence dangling in the air for too long. Carlisle picked up the thread. "But then I went after Edward," he gently prompted, squeezing her hand in an additional show of support.
Carys nodded, sinking against him. "You went after Edward, and that was it... The calls got further and further apart. I had my life, but you were completely alone - so how was I supposed to-" she broke off, waiting when he stiffened, but he relaxed and held his tongue. "I didn't feel like I could ask you to come back just because I was feeling the way I was. It wouldn't have been fair to say 'you've already chosen me, but I want you to choose me sooner'. I understood-I do understand why you went.
"But then you were gone gone, and Richard was gone-"
Carlisle's hand tightened around hers. "What?" he interrupted, his voice low and devoid of emotion.
Carys turned in his arms. Tilting her head back, she nuzzled the underside of his jaw. "I promise it'll make sense," she assured, returning to her previous position and finding the spot on the wall she'd been staring at before his interjection. "When Richard dropped off the face of the earth without warning, he did what you did - only, he wasn't coming back. The parallels were easy for people to draw, and at first I just... I kept telling them they were wrong, you know? For months. I kept saying they were wrong, but I mean, how could I not see their point?
"It wasn't just one or two of them either. The rumour mill picked it up and ran with it, it was all over town. It even made it to La Push. Some people had the decency to ask me to my face, but it was mostly behind my back. The looks they-anyway... Your calls were so far apart, and I never really knew when I'd get to speak to you again... Bella'd pushed me-shoved me, really - out of her life. She told me it was too painful, that I was too painful to be around. When she needed me, I was there and yet as soon as I needed her, she was gone.
"There was all the stuff about her being injured that I told you about too, but the worst part for me was as much as I love my friends, only Bella knew about what you were, so she was the only one I could be open with. I had to lie to everyone else about where you were and what you were doing, and stuff. I know I had Esme, but I couldn't put all this on her, it wouldn't be fair when she was always so happy and fulfilled with the project. I can't explain it, but... Anyway. I guess-"
"It got to you."
Carys knew she didn't need to confirm his statement, but she did anyway. "Yeah. I started thinking maybe you were pulling away - giving me just enough; easing back until one day you maybe stopped calling altogether. So when Bella turned up that night and work was terrible, and I was so low... I just-I needed to get out - to get away."
"And that's when you saw them."
Carys nodded, playing with Carlisle's long fingers as she stared unseeing ahead, lost now in previously unspoken thoughts and memories. "I had a lovely few days first, don't get me wrong. And I tried to fight the compulsion. It was stupid, I knew that. But I felt like everything was getting to me. It was all too much pressure. I mean, even the house."
"The house?"
"I... I didn't tell you 'cause I didn't want you to worry, and I didn't want you to feel like I wanted you to spend a ton of money on me like that. It would've been easy to ask you, but I didn't want you to feel like you had to bail me out, or all I wanted was your money. It felt like my problem, not yours. I tried to work out a plan, but Mum and Findlay got an offer before I could, and it was well above asking - well above what I could afford, so that was that. There was some crappy rent agreement," she muttered, fiddling with the ends of her hair while she spoke. "I could pay an extortionate amount for a six-month contract, but by then I thought I needed to be smart in case you weren't coming back."
"I see..."
Carys could tell Carlisle was trying to sound casual, but his voice was a little too soft to be entirely believable.
"So. I started putting everything together in Seattle and I felt-God, Carlisle, I felt good. I know what you must be thinking, but for the first time in ages, it was like I was good at something. It became mine - my search to find out what was going on. I didn't think it would bring you back, but I thought I could have proof..."
Carys paused again. She wasn't sure how to phrase it - how she could describe it as it was. Saying it aloud, she couldn't find the right words. It sounded as if she'd been doing it for her alone - which, she supposed, did somewhat happen in the end. The seconds stretched into minutes, and still, she couldn't find the words.
"I'm making it sound wrong," she finally admitted. "I can't work out how..."
Carlisle pressed his lips to her temple. "Don't worry," he murmured. "Go on. If you need to, skip over it - we can come back when you're ready."
"You're sure...? Okay. Well... I guess things changed when Alice called. I was sad after we spoke - I wished you could come home again. I missed you, but when we talk, you have this way of making me feel completely-" Carys cut off. Letting out a faint whine, she grabbed his other hand and pressed both to her chest, just above her heart. Letting their hands fall back to her lap, she half-turned in his arms and closed her eyes. "You weren't going to call for a while. Then Alice called, and it was like I didn't exist again." She shifted against him, finding a place for her gaze to rest now that her cheek was pressed to his shoulder, and his arms tightened around her. "She thought I'd married someone else, did she say?"
"Yes," he told her, resting his cheek on the top of her head.
She twisted her hand in the sleeve of his jumper and held on.
"I talked to Rose too," she said. "Before Alice made it about Bella. She was so... Rose? You know? Exactly the same - so it was worse with Alice - feeling as invisible to her as I was to Bella. I just saw red... After I smashed my phone, I couldn't stop crying, but then everything stopped. Like someone turned off the valve, and it was just me again.
"I wanted proof at first because they were encroaching on your territory, but one glance in a dark street couldn't prove anything. If you were coming back, you'd need to know what was out there, and a suspicion didn't feel like enough...
"I kept my distance, but I felt so free, engaged. Oh. Shit," she said, looking up at him. Carlisle leaned back just enough that they could look at each other. "I forgot. When I told you about them, I forgot - they're only active at night, you should know that - like book vampires or something? I don't think that's just because of the sun or-sorry," she said, cutting herself off when he raised an eyebrow. They returned to their previous positions. "Topic. Got it. So... I remembered why I love searching for things. Not to sound like a bloody magpie or anything, but I remember wondering why it couldn't have just been a book or a painting."
Carlisle chuckled, and Carys grinned, tugging his arm to her chest. "You are absolutely a magpie," he said, speaking against the top of her head. "We both know you like sparkly things."
"I only like you," she grumbled, making him laugh again.
"Tell me."
After a pause, Carys licked her lips and jumped straight to the end. "When I had those photos, I knew where they were, where they'd been. I've got a list of people who fit their areas - either victims or potential vampires. I have proof. Getting that was like... For a brief moment between the horror and the fear, and the nauseating reality of it all - for the first time in such a long time, nothing could touch me.
"You know when I first got to Forks and everything fell into place?" she asked. Carlisle nodded against her hair. She'd told him before. "Well, it was like that for a second. I was completely and utterly alive... I can't explain it. It was like a relief? Maybe? Euphor-Oh god..."
"What?"
"Nothing," Carys said quickly, covering the awkward realisation as best she could. "So, anyway. I had what I needed - I could come home. But then-Well, I mean, you know the rest."
"I do," Carlisle said slowly, rubbing his face against her hair for a few seconds before he drew a deep breath and dropped back against the sofa. "I also know Emmett's getting an earful from me," he announced to the ceiling.
"Emmett?" Carys asked, stifling a yawn borne from the release of having shared with him.
Carlisle's voice wafted through the air, hesitant but determined. "Here's the thing," he said. "Your house. Emmett bought your house."
Carys' jaw dropped and she twisted, meeting his hardened gaze with her shocked one. "What!?" she breathlessly exclaimed.
"It was supposed to be a present," Carlisle told her, lifting his head to rest his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes. "I was going to buy it for you as a wedding present, but he asked if he and Rose could instead. Those two, they're quite romantic when they want to be. Only, he promised me he would tell you what he was doing."
"He didn't," Carys whispered as an entirely new realisation dawned. "That... He wanted me to pay... Fuck. Ten thousand dollars. I should've-that bastard, I won fair and square! Piece of work... Argh," she finished on a grumble, slumping against his chest.
When Carlisle remained silent, she could tell he would be content to occupy himself by imagining how best to give Emmett his just desserts. Instead of allowing him to, she returned to her previous position, faced forward, squeezed his knee, and reminded him, "It's your turn now."
It hadn't landed as Emmett probably planned it to, but she doubted it would take long before Carlisle realised what she had - that she'd had too much to think about to unravel the riddle he'd set her to solve. Was it annoying? Yes. Did she want to wring Emmett's neck? Yes. Did she dislike the begrudging respect she felt for Emmett's expensive and elaborate attempt to give her a puzzle to solve? Yes...
Almost as much as she wished she'd caught on to that instead of the far more dangerous option she'd gone with.
Carlisle drew a deep breath. "Where do I start?" he asked.
"At the beginning?" Carys blithely supplied.
"Well that's obvious," he replied sarcastically.
Sweeping her hair over one shoulder, he pressed his face to her neck and playfully growled. Giggling at the ticklish sensation, Carys raised her shoulder and pushed at his head with both hands.
"Stop!" she complained. "You're supposed to be serious!"
"I am," Carlisle argued. Wrapping his arms around her, he trapped her arms and nuzzled his face more securely into the crook of her neck. "I'm a vampire - this is what we do to humans. Now hold still and accept your fate."
"No!" Carys shrieked, twisting this way and that. She fought for as long as she could, but he only tightened his hold, keeping her still, and so she accepted her fate. Dramatically slumping to expose her neck, she sighed, "Go on, then. Just make it quick."
He leaned in, fixed his mouth over the side of her neck, and blew a cold raspberry against her skin. Shuddering, Carys made a face of disgust and pushed him away. This time, he let her.
"Now can we be serious again?" she asked when he finally sat back and loosened his hold so she could breathe comfortably.
Carlisle nodded. "Now you remember to fear me." He waited through another bout of giggling then dropped a kiss to her shoulder and settled her more securely against his chest. "I'm not supposed to respond to everything you said, am I?"
"You're the one who suggested we do it like this," Carys reminded him, lifting a hand up and behind to run it through his hair. "Now you talk, and I listen."
"Alright. Well. We both know how I felt up until I left, so I'll start there..."
"Just launch straight in, I'll catch on," Carys said when he dithered over the right way to begin.
"I suppose I couldn't bear it any longer," he finally said after another pause. "I know what you must have thought, but I couldn't wait for them to change their minds. They weren't going to; Alice was set in her loyalty to Edward; I was frustrated. Do you remember what I said? I was going to drag him back kicking and screaming if needs be? That wasn't for Bella or Edward, Carys. In a way it was - but more than that, it was for us.
"You and me. I'm sorry if I didn't make that as clear as perhaps I should have. I thought it would be faster, you see. It was difficult - near impossible - to be without you for so long, and the only option I could see was to take matters into my own hands.
"Every time we spoke, as disappointed as you were - as much as you missed me, you understood. For the time being. Nothing felt black and white after a while. The hours and days stretched but somehow blended as one; I realised what Edward was doing, and I feared I would lose him forever if I gave up too soon. Of course, I knew you wouldn't wait forever, but I told you it would be a few months, and I told myself that you had your life, Sarah, Monica, Charlie, your friends, your family.
"Then came Garrett, and things became a little easier again. I had someone to share things with, and so I talked about you." He paused for a moment, and sounded as if he was smiling when he said, "All the things I could share, at least." Sobering, he added, somewhat cryptically in Carys' opinion, "And the fear."
Carys, having paused in her gentle stroking of his hair, redoubled her efforts. Carlisle swayed against her, losing his breath on a slow exhale. She waited until the tension left his body and he sat up slowly, peppering the exposed skin of her neck and cheek with soft kisses.
"I disappointed you time and again," he breathed against her ear between pecks, "you kept adding to the ways I could make it up to you - and I plan on keeping us both to that if you'll let me. But Edward wasn't going to stop running. I was chasing him, and he was chasing Victoria. Now, I realise he can't have been hunting her all the time as she was running around here, searching for you. I remember how you felt about Laurent and Irina - your scepticism when I told you they were getting closer..."
Carys forced her eyes open when his tone hardened.
"By the time Emmett found me, I'd given all I could - more than the three months I'd suggested."
"You came back for me..."
Carlisle dropped his head to her shoulder. "I tried to call you, to assure you I would be home soon. Whatever you felt from Alice, whatever you felt in regards to me, I was going to make it right... We would be alright.
"When my calls went unanswered, I'll admit I panicked. Perhaps it was too late. Perhaps the promises weren't enough - perhaps you simply no longer believed I would follow through with any of them. It'd been a week and more since you'd talked to Alice - you might have taken my silence for proof...
"Garrett came with me," he went on, a small smile lifting his tone. "He'd been very vocal about wanting to meet you. I've told you what happened next... It terrified me, Darling. You could have died. By all accounts, you should have died."
Carys held her breath, but he didn't follow the path she expected.
"I said that if you burn, we all burn," he told her. "A touch dramatic, but I was speaking the truth. Losing you... You're loved, Carys, and not just by me. That being said, I'm not surprised you don't seem to realise just how much. Not after what's happened these past six months.
"The part I'm afraid I assumed you understood after your time with the Denali... Did Carmen begin to call you Reina when you were there, or only once you'd left?"
"She..." Carys narrowed her eyes as she thought back to the year before. "She... Did...," she admitted finally, relaxing when she recalled. "She said it was because you're the head of the coven... It means Queen?"
Nodding, Carlisle rested his chin lightly on top of her head and said, "We call ourselves a family rather than a coven - as do the Denali - but save for Carmen, they've all spent time in more traditional coven structures. As have I - though, as a guest rather than a long term member.
"In being my mate, you immediately take precedence in the hierarchy of a coven. Of any coven really. You command a different level of respect from vampires, either Nomads or Covened. Garrett and I were amused when you called me a 'danger throne'," he said, his smirk clear despite her inability to see his face, "because in a way... Off-topic, sorry. Respect. Right. When you're one day turned, you'll take your place beside me. Even if they didn't care for you as they do, which they do, the family would be forced to accept you.
"To give an example of the way it works... Marcus, Aro, and Caius rule the Volturi together, as you know." Carlisle waited for Carys to realise it was a question and nod, then continued. "To begin with, their wives ruled alongside them. It was only after the loss of Didyme that Sulpicia and Athenodora were confined for their protection.
"Athenodora is the oldest living vampire, and Sulpicia was chosen as a human; courted for the sole purpose of adding to Aro's power, she was moulded to her role. It became impossible to ignore the power they wielded, just as it was clear the relationship and future of the coven depended on their survival.
"Marcus lives because he's not allowed to die-yes," he added softly when Carys murmured her sorrow for his fate. "If he alone controlled the Volturi, it would no longer exist in the way it does. The coven might have ripped itself apart once his vengeance was complete. They wouldn't be the first coven to succumb, and he wouldn't have been the first leader to order his own death.
"A successor would have been chosen from the Guard, but it wouldn't have been the same. Not for them. Even the briefest vacuum would have called their strength into question. Now, for us, it would be no different. The guilt and loss our family would feel if anything happened to you would be deeper - more devastating, because of the connections and depth of relationships that can come from our form of sustenance. Losing you - especially now, after the decision to leave - would-"
"I think I understand what you're saying," Carys said, relieving him of the burden of an explanation.
"Do you..? I've become so used to-all of us have become so used to viewing ourselves as a family, to removing ourselves from the structures belonging to other vampires, that sometimes we forget how deeply ingrained our nature can be, and how different it is to the way humans now live.
"Alice came to you as she would have come to me if I'd been there. She sees you as a mother figure because of the relationships you've created within the family, but equally, because you were here, and you were the highest level she could complain to. I'm not making excuses for her - she would have been wrong for the way she acted regardless. I was wrong for-"
Carys curled her hand around Carlisle's nape and grabbed his hand, tightening her hold on each. "Don't," she said simply, stopping him in his tracks.
"What?"
Mind whirling, Carys sorted through everything she knew, all the memories and information his words had conjured. "Carmen told me... The Denali told me... You explained the power structures, and I know full well how important mates are. I was still thinking of myself joining a family. I forgot. In that sense at least, I forgot you were vampires. That's on me - I'm the one who's sorry."
"It's on us for leaving - for leaving you alone, and assuming you knew how solid your relationships were - not simply because of the loyalty your connection to me fosters in the family, but because of the relationships you've created with each of them. I thought - I shouldn't... There's so much to say, Carys, by each of us. I'm afraid the words 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' may become a little overused."
"Carlisle..."
Carys held on to the mention of the relationships she had with them all, and thought about what it had been like with each of them before they'd left, and the arguments she'd had with Alice and Jasper over their decision. She tried to remember how she felt - Edward made the decision, and he'd waited until they'd been divided to enact his plan.
Rosalie and Emmett had been on the next leg of their extended honeymoon; Esme had returned to college; Jasper was guilt-ridden; with Alice's unwavering loyalty to him, Edward had secured the majority of three.
Carlisle had created a democracy, and fallen foul of it.
Had she really forgotten everything over the course of a couple of months?
"Darling?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm going to murder Edward one day," she finally said aloud. "And maybe Bella too. D'you think you'd still love me if I did?"
Her words surprised a laugh from Carlisle. "I wouldn't have a choice," he joked. "In all seriousness - after what he's done to us and to Bella, I can't blame you for feeling that way about him. I've never felt angrier. As for Bella-"
"Bella," Carys cut across, taking umbrage with the placating tone Carlisle used, "treats everyone but your family, and now Jacob as if they're invisible until they're useful to her. She ignores advice unless it agrees with what she's already decided - and treats you like crap if it's not. She can be just as selfish as Edward, and sometimes she seems to forget you're mine."
Carys' cheeks grew hot. She hadn't meant to mention that last. When she glanced back at him, Carlisle was staring at the ceiling, his lips pressed together as if he were struggling not to grin or laugh.
"Her faults aren't lost on me, Darling. I haven't had the chance to get to know her quite as well as you have, but I know that much at least. I suppose I'd expected she and Edward would have the chance to grow together - to move out of the stage where their relationship bordered on a worrying state of codependency. She was good for him, but... She's been through deep trauma, however from what you've told me, and what Alice filled me in on at her house earlier... I don't agree with the way either of them has acted."
"It's how she's been treating everyone in her life, especially Jacob-"
"Especially you, Darling."
"I think Jacob is worse maybe." Leaving her on a sigh, there wasn't much weight behind Carys' counterclaim. "I don't even know him, but it's wrong the way she's treating him. She just treats me like she treats Charlie and her friends - like she doesn't realise how it affects us. Maybe she just doesn't care. Ugh. This is s'posed to be about us... I think our foundations are strong," she said, raising a hand and rolling it to emphasise her point when she changed the subject completely, "but everything going on took its toll."
"I'd like to agree," Carlisle said. "We have things to work out and work through, but we can do that so long as we don't force it-" he broke off when Carys raised up and span, resting her hands on his shoulders. When she finally pulled away from the long, passionate kiss she slanted against his lips, it took him a few moments to recover. "I'll take that as a yes?" he asked. Carys responded by kissing him again, breaking away only when their grins caused the likely issue. "I think we should take that first trip and just spend some time together - just us, so we can reconnect and move in the right direction," he murmured between soft brushes of their lips.
"I think that sounds perfect," Carys agreed. "But... Doubling back for a sec. If we're gonna start anywhere, I just wanna be sure... What you're saying is." Raising a hand between them, she counted each point on her fingers. "You're a King, I'm a Queen, and everyone loves me?"
Carlisle shook his head. Clearly amused, he adopted a judgemental expression, all the same, his brow furrowing. "Not exactly, love," he disagreed. "I'm a coven leader; one day, you'll also be one - rather, a co-head of the family in our sense. However, yes," he said, nodding seriously, "everyone loves you - they might just need to dedicate themselves to showing you how much."
"Okay..." Carys glanced at Carlisle's shoulder for a moment, suppressing her grin as she met his gaze once again. "You're speaking," she said slowly, "but all I'm hearing is: 'you're a vampire Queen, Carys. You're loved and adored by all your subjects. Without you, the second-largest vampire kingdom would fall.'"
"Not quite," Carlisle said. Narrowing his eyes and shaking his head, his frown deepened when Carys avoided his kiss.
"I'm the lynchpin on which your throne is now secured," Carys went on.
"You're being ridiculous," he informed her, tugging her against him as he tried and failed to capture her lips.
Carys pressed her hand across his lips before she gave in and swung her other arm wide, raising her voice so that her announcement filled the large room. "All my enemies should tremble before my immense power."
Carlisle tried to speak, then removed her hand from his lips. "Nope."
"As with Aro," Carys began, eyes lit as she sat higher on her knees. Carlisle's hands held her steady, and he stared up at her. Her hair falling around their heads like a cocoon, hiding them from the world, she repeated, "As with Aro, you sourced your perfect match from the living, in order to secure-"
"Carys..." Carlisle pulled her firmly against him and cut across her, his light golden eyes glinting with amusement and barely concealed lust.
She sobered. "I only have six years left now," she told him. "This took a thirteenth of my human life... I want to be with you, Carlisle, but I don't think I can do this again. Next time, whatever we do, it's going to have to be together. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying joined at the hip, but long-distance isn't going to work like this. When we're a team, we're solid. When we're apart-"
"Things can get in the way," Carlisle agreed.
Carys closed her eyes and slumped, burying her face in his neck as he hugged her, stroking her back.
"Is our room still there?" she asked quietly, rousing herself after a while.
"I've made up the bed if you need a nap," he whispered against her ear.
Carys half-laughed, half-sobbed, "I've been through hell these past couple of days, and I've just found out I'm now a Queen-"
"Not a Queen."
"As I said," she told him, pulling back to meet his eye once again. "All I'm hearing is: Queen Carys Thorntonvale-Cullen of the Golden-Eyes."
"And I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible to return a mate if you accidentally got the wrong one..."
"Mmmm," Carys hummed. Squinting at him, she crinkled her nose and lightly kissed her teeth. "Not sure Caesar or Marc Anthony ever said that to Cleopatra, did they?"
Carlisle adopted an equally dubious expression. "You will remember each of them happened to wind up dead? - And not of the most natural causes...?"
Carys flashed a grin, patted his chest, and drew back when he let her.
"I love you," she said, standing from the sofa, sweeping her hair back over her shoulders. "But I need bed, now, so I'm just going to tell you you're being a smart-arse and you'll have to deal with it."
"Good plan," Carlisle said, nodding his agreement.
When he made to follow her, Carys held out a hand to stop him and shook her head.
"D'you mind if I go up alone?" she asked. He hesitated for a moment before, in the blink of an eye, a calm expression descended, covering his unhappiness, and he agreed by capturing her hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it before releasing her. Carys ambled for the stairs, wrapping her hair into a low bun at the base of her skull. Halfway up, she paused mid-step. "Carlisle?"
"Yes, Darling?" he responded from the sofa, where he sat watching her as if moving might lead him to break his word.
"What're we going to do about Edward?"
Carlisle shook his head. "Both he and Bella have choices to make," he told her, raising his voice so that she could hear him - something she hadn't needed to. "I can't keep treating him as if he's a teenager making a bad decision. He knows what he's doing, and he has to learn to take full accountability for his actions. And that the world doesn't revolve around him."
"It's not going to be easy," she murmured.
"It never is...," he agreed sadly. "Go on to bed now love, I'll come to find you in a couple of hours with some dinner."
"I'm beginning to think I'm corrupting your vocabulary," Carys informed him with a faint smile, before continuing on her way.
By the time she reached their bedroom, she had secured her hair and begun to strip off her jumper. She shouldered the door open and paused. It was almost exactly the same. It smelled a little different - as if the room hadn't been aired for a while - but other than that... Carys flung her jumper onto the stool before her vanity, and crossed to her chest of drawers.
The things she'd left behind were all there - present and correct. She wondered... Sliding the bottom drawer open, she felt around and grinned when her hand came into contact with the silk drawstring bag at the back. Grabbing it, she walked as slowly and calmly as she could to the walk-in wardrobe - as not to alert Carlisle - and sifted through the clothes he'd left on his side until she found the sole piece that belonged to her - hidden, again, from view.
No matter what happened, she was his, and he was hers.
That in mind, she headed for the shower.
Three-quarters-of-an-hour later Carys adjusted her wig one last time in the mirror, then made her way into the hall.
Occupied by sifting through a box of what looked to be decorations, and likely imagining she was heading down in search of a glass of water before she finally went to bed, Carlisle didn't immediately look up.
Carys smoothed the waist of the dress and rolled her ankle, adjusting one of the matching high-heels. Resting her hands lightly on the rail which cut across the end of the hallway - providing a small mezzanine from which to view the floor below - she posed herself and waited.
Five seconds passed, and then he took note of her lack of movement, looked up, froze, and straightened as he dropped the string of lights he'd been unfurling directly back into the box.
"I thought that was just for special occasions," he called once he'd regained control of his tongue.
Carys raised one shoulder brushing a finger over the fringe of her wig. The movement caused the bracelet resting high on her upper arm to catch the light. She could feel Carlisle's darkened gaze sweep over her.
"We've got the house to ourselves and lots of making up and life-affirming to do," she said. "I'd call that special enough, wouldn't you?"
Not needing to be told twice, Carlisle strode across the living room, taking the stairs two at a time when he reached them.
Gaining the hallway, he slowed to a stroll as he stripped himself of his jumper, passed her by, and headed for his office. Carys followed behind, grinning near uncontrollably.
Backing into his office - which, when she saw it, was as unchanged as their bedroom - he paused halfway through unbuttoning his shirt and spared her a commanding nod.
"Ave, Cleopatra."
"Ave, Caesar."
A/N: I don't want to say it, but I think we all saw that particular kink coming all the way back in Twilight...
Thank you to: BMBMDooDoo- Doo- Doo- Doo, Riariabookworm (I'm glad you picked up on that!), souverian, claire1805, mariananininha, Guest (I hadn't thought of that! I had her treat Carys as she treated everyone else - how it would have looked without having Bella's thoughts to guide us at to how she felt - but a lot of people stopped being her friend etc because they felt like that!), chellekathrynnn, GhostWriter71, Ella (definitely not - as soon as she knew he was safe, things changed for her. He's really lovely too, so I think it would be hard for many people to turn their backs on a vampire who was that nice to them and just saved their life! I hope, at least! And Bella? I completely agree - she gave their secret up to Alice super quickly, and she gave the inner workings of the Cullens (their gifts etc) up to Jacob pretty soon after knowing what he was as well... Like, more information than she needed to...), GuestMG, Guest ( I hope this chapter cleared things up a bit! They decided she would stay when he was forced to leave - not just for Bella, but so that she had her human life and friends still. The plan was always that he came back and he later went after Edward to try and bring him back earlier. I think the long-distance got to them both, and the situation and his family made things 100 times worse), Love. Fiction. 2020, and TDI- Ryro- Eclares for your reviews!
