I have a headcanon for you all: Edward hates calling Carys' mobile (cell) in 2006 because she made his personalised ringtone: Axel F. by Crazy Frog; Carlisle's alternates, but is currently All About You by McFly; Rosalie's is Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall; Emmett's is Thunderbirds Are Go by Busted; Esme's is Independent Woman Pt. 1 by Destiny's Child; Jasper's is Do It Again by The Chemical Brothers (he got to choose as they changed their ringtones together); Alice's is Because We Want To by Billie Piper.

Chapter 8

Thursday dawned bright and early for Carys, who had spent the night tossing and turning to such a degree that Carlisle had abandoned the bed altogether around three a.m. when the risk of her injuring herself by accidentally hitting him as she rolled over became too great. She'd lasted all of half-an-hour before kicking off her covers and carrying them to the settee so that she could get what little rest she could, curled up against his side.

It was no use. She was going to spend her last full day at work tired and yawning. At least, Carys thought to herself as Alice made her way a little too cheerfully into the kitchen that morning to "ask her about something important", she was simply overseeing Hannah.

Alice waited patiently as Carys finished off her cup of coffee and reached for the kettle.

"You could always get a coffee pot," she quipped, peering at the kettle from the safety of her position behind Carys' arm. "I could order you one today, if you'd like?"

Carys, who thought she might more closely resemble Alice than she ever had before - due in the most part to the way her hair felt as if it was still standing on end, and her tendency to find herself staring wide-eyed into the void ever since she'd woken up - stared down at the petite vampire until her smile slowly fell away.

"Is this one of those mornings?" Alice asked, taking a small, cautious step back.

"Which mornings?" Carys croaked, filling her mug once the kettle clicked to signal it had reached boiling point.

Alice took another small step back and glanced at the counter, upon which her hand now rested. "The ones where you're..." she trailed off, unwilling to say the words they both knew were coming.

Carys took a deep breath and released it slowly, shifting so that she didn't need to crane her neck. "I'm not feeling low," she assured Alice, smiling tiredly when the vampire's eyes relit with the news, "I just haven't slept well. Don't worry, I'm not gonna end up inexplicably tearing up." She wanted to remind her that had only happened once, but she realised Alice must have seen a chance things might go that way.

It was an interesting tactic - to gently give people the option of how their future was about to go so that they would make the conscious decision not to let it.

"Good," Alice happily sighed. "Good... Well, if it's not going that way..."

Carys heaped instant coffee into her mug, added sugar, and then poured and stirred the water. All the while, she watched Alice from the corner of her eye, waiting for her to continue the thought. She'd carried her mug to the table and sat down, cradling it between her hands before it became too hot to hold, by the time she did.

"I was hoping - as the boys are away today and tomorrow-"

"The hunt, yes," said Carys, nodding slowly.

"Yes. The hunt. So. Can Bella come 'round for a slumber party tonight? And tomorrow?" Alice sat down opposite Carys, staring across the table with what could only be described as a shining, textbook example of intense, unabashed hope.

Carys blinked. Slowly. "What does Carlisle say?" she asked, propping her chin up with her palm.

"He's got a night shift tonight, remember?"

"Oh... Yeah... Well..." Staring at the tap over Alice's shoulder, Carys grimaced. "What does Charlie say?"

"He'll say yes if you say yes," Alice told her, clambering up so that she knelt on her chair. Resting her forearms on the table, she leaned her body towards the middle. Her expression now bordered on pleading. "Will you say yes?"

Raising her mug, Carys blew on her coffee and made no effort to let Alice see what she was thinking - which was absolutely nothing. She wasn't sure her mind was equipped to make decisions like this on a few hours sleep and only one coffee.

Since she'd started running again and eating "normally", she'd felt sluggish generally - more tired than ever. It was simply worse that morning because of the lack of sleep the night before. Perhaps Carlisle was right, and she shouldn't have skipped seconds of her dinner. Though... His concern mostly came from the fact she'd lost a few pounds of water weight over the week. If that was excluded, she was well within the guidelines for healthy weight loss.

"What do you see me saying?" she asked when the silence went on a little too long.

Alice, who by now looked as if she thought Carys was going to give her a straight no, and whose large eyes had lost all traces of hope or happiness, smiled ever so slowly and bent lower over the table, hugging her arms to herself as she said:

"It could go one of two ways..."

"Well that's obvious," Carys grumbled.

"You could say yes now, or you could say yes later."

"What's the chance I say no?"

"Around..." Alice rose a little and stared off into the distance for a moment. "There's a sixty per cent chance you'll say yes, and a forty per cent chance you'll say no."

"Will I regret saying yes?"

"Probably."

"Will Bella regret me saying yes?"

Alice nodded. Once. "I'm planning pedicures, so it is always a possibility."

Carys groaned and put her head in her hands. After a minute of increasingly lethargic attempts at thinking, she caught herself when her mind shut off and forced her eyes open. "Does Bella know she's having a sleepover?"

"Slumber party," Alice corrected.

"Sleepover," Carys countered.

"She knows she's staying over tonight," Alice said, "but I doubt she'll be unhappy with staying a second night."

"And you're asking me because...?"

"With Carlisle away, Charlie needs to know there will be an adult present. An adult he knows and trusts," she added.

Sighing, Carys voiced the first thought that popped into her head. "Where's she going to sleep?"

"Edward's bed."

Carys dropped her hands and raised her head to stare at Alice. "Edward doesn't have a bed," she commented. "He has a sofa at best."

Alice grinned, pressing up onto her forearms as she rocked back and forth. "He does now," she announced excitedly. "It's coming today. Esme's going to put it together while we're at school."

"Does this have anything to do with the yellow Porsche 911 parked in the garage?"

It had appeared suddenly the day before, shiny and new. Alice had been staring longingly at it when Carlisle and Carys arrived home from work. Carys had taken one look at Alice's face and decided to follow Carlisle into the house, rather than become embroiled in the latest car related intrigue. Usually, it was something to do with either Alice or Rosalie being forced to reign in their choices when driving around Forks.

Alice's lips pressed together as she avoided Carys' gaze. "Maybe..."

"Are you being paid off to babysit Bella when Edward's away...?" When Alice's only response was to shift about and stare at the table as she traced a pattern over the polished surface, Carys prompted, "Alice..."

Alice looked up. "Okay," she said, slumping down over her hands. "Yes, it's a present. And yes, perhaps that present came as a reward of sorts... But," pushing up again, she whined, "it's so pretty, and Bella's going to be all alone. And she does know, I promise!"

Lowering her head, neck and shoulders, Carys gently puffed at her coffee again. The steam swirled and shifted. She waited, watching Alice, unmoving save for the gentle puffs of air, until the vampire had shifted uncomfortably five times, and whined twice.

Then, she said, "Fine. Get my phone."

"Thank you! Oh, thank you! Thank you!" Alice screeched, clambering across the table. Grabbing Carys' face, she lifted it up and ever so slowly pressed a kiss to her forehead. Drawing back, she grimaced. "That was strange, wasn't it?"

"So weird," Carys wheezed, smiling uncomfortably, pulling away from Alice's lax grip.

"I'm never going to do that again," Alice promised, scrabbling back to her side of the table with a mildly horrified look on her face.

Carlisle chose that moment to stroll into the kitchen. He paused in the doorway, cocking his head to the side. For a moment, he glanced between the two of them before he walked towards Carys, frowning faintly. When he reached her, he leaned down and sniffed. His gaze immediately flickered to Alice. He stared. Ever so slowly, he pulled the sleeve of his jumper over his hand, placed the side of his fist on Carys' forehead, and rubbed back and forth.

Carys snorted so loudly and heavily, she could feel the effects in her nasal passage for long minutes to come.

When he was done, Carlisle - never once breaking eye contact with his daughter - leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to his soon-to-be-legal wife's skin, right where Alice's lips had touched.


Carys found herself wide-eyed and alert by the time she returned home that evening. She doubted she would be falling asleep anytime soon - and that wasn't simply due to the twenty-minute goodbye kiss she'd shared with Carlisle in his office just prior to leaving the hospital.

Rather, not entirely so.

It also had to do with the cake Charlie and Monica had surprised her with at lunch. Carlisle and Sarah had been in on it from the start and had pooled their resources to convince Sandra to let Carys have a two-hour break on her last day. Charlie and Monica did the same, though Charlie had only had to consult himself on the matter.

The first half of her extended lunch had involved eating with Sarah, Charlie, Monica and Carlisle - the latter of whom had driven to Port Angeles and back to pick up Chinese food, and wasn't due to start work for hours. The second half had been spent chatting as a group in the staffroom, during which other members of staff drifted in and out to collect a slice of cake.

Such was her pleasure at how the rest of her day had gone, Carys was humming happily as she parked her car in front of the house and waltzed up to the living room to find Bella - as Alice had warned - being subjected to a pedicure while Rosalie and Esme sat on the sofa opposite. A film played in the background, but none of the four paid it any mind. Instead, they watched - with varying degrees of interest and awkwardness - as Alice painstakingly coated Bella's nails with a blood-red polish.

Carys - to whom the entire situation felt rather odd - set her armful of leaving presents on the sofa opposite and removed her coat, kicking her heels off as she did so. After taking her time hanging her coat up and putting her shoes to the side of the room, she returned and sank down onto the sofa beside Esme just as Alice twisted the bottle cap back into place.

"Voila!" she announced enthusiastically. "I'll do the second coat after the next film. Don't move, or you'll smudge it."

The pronouncement set the tone for the evening ahead. Carys made every excuse under the sun - she needed to use the bathroom and it had to be the one in her room as she preferred the taps; she wanted to make a cup of tea; Esme's dress was lovely, where did she get it? And yes, it was worth a ten-minute conversation - to avoid watching Alice apply the second and third coats of polish, then the top-coat.

All in all, the evening was really rather nice - save for when Carys returned downstairs from her post-five-mile-run-around-the-house shower and it transpired Bella hadn't realised she was staying for two nights at all. Having borrowed Alice's phone, she made a couple of calls. The first was to Jacob, to whom she explained the situation and that she wouldn't be visiting him on Saturday as planned. The second was to Edward, on whose voicemail she left the slow, clearly enunciated message:

"You are in trouble. Enormous trouble. Angry grizzly bears are going to look tame next to what is waiting for you at home." Snapping the phone shut, she placed it in Alice's waiting hand. "I'm done," she said.

"I take it you didn't know about any of this?" Carys queried.

Her words had an effect on every woman in the room. Esme and Rosalie stiffened just a little; Alice's ever-present grin dropped; Bella shook her head.

"Edward said it would be for tonight," she explained, having lost the full strength of the acidic anger she'd exerted on his voicemail. "I didn't realise it was for good."

Carys kicked lightly at Alice's side until she looked up from her position on the floor.

"You told me she knew about this," she accused.

"I said she knew about tonight," Alice said, a touch too innocently to suggest she was in any way repentant. "I didn't lie."

Unable to argue with the facts, Carys slid down in her seat and sighed. Alice had said she doubted Bella would mind staying for two nights, but Carys shouldn't have taken her word for it. That one was on her.

"I'm going to sleep now," Bella announced, getting up and heading for the stairs. Alice followed.

The sound of their voices - one tired and annoyed, the other excited - floated from the stairs as they headed all the way up to Edward's room. Carys waited a full ten minutes after Alice skipped back downstairs, then headed up to see Bella. She caught her just as she was about to flick off the lights and close the door.

"Can I-whoa."

Having been about to ask if she could speak to Bella for a minute, Carys' eyes grew round as she stopped dead in her tracks. The pyjama-clad teenager had opened the door wider, and she'd caught sight of the room beyond. Carys didn't want to question Edward's taste, but she didn't think she'd ever seen anything more... Striking...

Edward's stereo had been pushed up against the wall of CDs Carys had only just allowed him to retrieve; his couch was pressed against another wall; the gold carpet and walls were thrown into relief, contrasting with the large black wrought iron four-poster bed that dominated the room.

The entire scene was reflected back at them by the floor to ceiling windows opposite the bed, which formed a black mirror thanks to the darkness outside. There seemed no escape from the iron roses, which worked their way up the vines hugging the tall bedposts to meet the lattice-work canopy overhead. No matter where she looked, the iron roses followed.

Carys' gaze fell on the sofa at last, where she realised Bella planned to sleep - if the dull gold duvet and pillow were anything to go by.

She swallowed. "Lovely bit of redecoration, isn't it?" she asked - and was pleased to hear she sounded almost sincere.

"It's ridiculous," Bella grumbled. "A king-sized bed in a house where almost no-one sleeps."

Widening the door further, she waved Carys across the threshold and closed it behind her. Carys hadn't thought of that. Carlisle had bought his bed before they'd officially started dating. The most she'd thought when she heard the news was that it was just a tad presumptuous, but more than that, it was a rather nice gesture. And, as it transpired, a worthwhile one. Though, theirs wasn't quite as... Ostentatious as his son's.

Sinking down onto the edge of the bed, Carys smiled at Bella while she made herself comfortable on the sofa.

"Don't worry," Bella sighed, "I'm not angry at you."

"Oh, I didn't think you were," lied Carys, averting her gaze in case she gave herself away. "I wanted to say sorry anyway. I didn't realise you had plans on Saturday..."

"Yeah, well, not anymore," Bella bit out, suddenly bitter once more. "Edward will be back by then, and he won't be happy with me going... You know, if I was changed now, there would be no need for all this ridiculousness."

Carys sighed heavily and ran a hand over her brow. "If you were changed now, there wouldn't be any chance of you seeing Jacob in the first place," she reminded her. "Or your father. Or anyone. Or," she added with a nod of her head, staring off into the corner of the room, "of graduating high school."

Bella pulled the cover over her lap. "We'd be safe though," she mumbled.

"Is that what this is really about?" Carys asked as she crossed her ankles. "Safety?" Bella had said as much last time she'd asked, but she hadn't believed her then, and she wasn't sure she believed her now.

"Yes."

"Is it really?"

"Yes." After a few moments, Bella added, "If I was changed, Victoria wouldn't be able to come after us. Your blood isn't as potent as mine - you'd be easier to hide. And I'd be able to help protect you. And myself."

"That's a nice thought," Carys assured her, "but as we both know, your first thought would be to murder me." Smiling gently at Bella - who fought a smile of her own - she shuffled back until the back of her knees hit the mattress.

"Well there wouldn't be any need for this bed," Bella grumbled. "There'd be that at least."

Carys blinked her surprise and leaned forward. Had Bella never heard of... What was sex education like in America? Was it possible Bella had never learned about it? Did she not know what happened in beds? Uncomfortable heat pricked her skin.

Unsure how to phrase it, she grimaced and slowly said, "Bella... I think there might still be a need... For the bed..."

"No there wouldn't," Bella retorted. "Vampires don't sleep."

Carys' breath caught in her chest. Eyes wide, she drew back and nodded slowly. She really didn't want to be the one to give Bella any form of "the talk". Instead, she glanced down at the duvet-less bed and gulped.

Cracking her knuckles, she decided she'd leave it for someone else to explain things to Bella. Unfortunately, that might mean she'd have to discuss it with Carlisle, who would have to discuss it with Edward, who, in turn, would need to discuss it with Bella. Perhaps, she thought with a jolt of relief, they weren't that sort of couple. Sex wasn't part and parcel of a relationship for some people as it was for others.

Looking at Bella once again, she realised she'd let her silence last for too long. The young woman was staring at her questioningly.

"Is there nothing you'd miss?" she asked.

"I would miss Jacob," Bella admitted after a brief hesitation.

Carys happily sighed. This was something they could talk about. A safe shift in the conversation.

"Yeah?" she asked. "And Charlie? Renee?"

"Them too," said Bella, grimacing again. "Edward keeps suggesting I wait as long as I can before I'm turned. He wants me to try college first."

"Well." Slapping her hands to her thighs, Carys nodded sharply. "That doesn't sound too bad, does it? A bit of uni to get you going with?"

Bella glared and violently tugged at the duvet. "It is bad." Her tone verged on venomous.

"Is it?" Carys asked, holding her ground.

"Edward's seventeen. If I go to college, even for a semester, I'll be nineteen."

"Ah," said Carys, nodding slowly. "So it's all about age then."

"Not just age," Bella said dully, eyes wide. "I'm ready now. I don't understand why no one will let me-" she broke off, sinking against the back of the sofa. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions."

"You're..." Carys paused. "Can I be honest with you, Bella?"

Bella nodded.

"I mean it. Completely honest. It might not be fun to hear."

Bella nodded again, though she appeared far more intrigued than before.

"You're old enough, sure," Carys said slowly. "But you're not exactly... Mature enough..."

"What do you mean?" Bella snapped. "Yes, I am."

Carys pressed her lips together. "Not really," she said. "I know you think you are. And in some ways you are-" holding her hands up, she placated Bella when she pushed up onto her knees, "-but not in all ways..."

"I've been looking after my mom since I was little," Bella said. "And I'm looking after Charlie. That's plenty mature."

"Well, you shouldn't've had to do that," Carys said quietly. Worrying her lip between her teeth, she sighed and rubbed the side of her neck. "Look. Bella... The problem is... You keep asking for it to be now. You want to see Jacob with one breath, but you want to be turned with the other... Surely you must think of the people you'll miss? The things you'll miss?"

"I don't think a few months will make any difference," said Bella, a little weakly. "The only difference is I'll..."

"Be older?" Carys supplied. Bella nodded. "Well, you'll also have graduated high school. Said goodbye to your friends."

"I don't need that," Bella said. "I don't need to dress up and walk across a stage."

"What about Charlie? Don't you think he'd like to hold onto that memory? Or your mum?"

"Well..."

"And what about us?" Once she'd got going, Carys found herself unable to stop. "We'd all have to leave. You know that - we'd never be able to come back... And Jacob? You'd never see him again."

"I..."

"Growing up's not so bad, Bella. Neither's maturing a bit."

Bella's eyes narrowed. "Why do you keep saying I need to mature?"

"Because, t'be perfectly honest, you really, really do," Carys said with a gentle shrug. "I'm not gonna sugar coat it for you. You don't seem to realise what you want past becoming a vampire." She lightly jabbed her thumb over her shoulder and didn't bother to lower her voice to a whisper as they'd be able to hear anyway. "You think none of them misses things?"

"There's so much more I'll get," Bella said quietly. "So much more than being this. Human. Maybe I don't want the same things you do. Is that so bad?"

"I suppose not," mused Carys, "but have you really thought about everything? More than just being human versus becoming a vampire?"

"Yes," said Bella.

Carys wasn't sure she believed her.

"I'll think about it?" Bella offered. "I guess I'm hoping Jacob might change his mind about... After..."

They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Carys tried to put herself in Bella's shoes, but she couldn't. Losing everything and everyone wasn't something she planned on doing quite so soon. But she supposed, from Bella's point of view, there was that one shining merit to it all: Edward. As for Jacob, she couldn't quite bring herself to dash the teenager's dreams - though they would be dashed, and sooner rather than later if Bella had her way.

Deep in thought, Carys rose from the bed, said goodnight to Bella, and left the room. Rosalie passed her in the hall, heading towards her brother's bedroom with nervousness that drew Carys' attention. Spinning on her heel, she addressed the vampire, who had paused and done the same some two steps away.

"You alright?"

"I'm going to tell Bella my story," Rosalie said, her golden eyes wary yet determined. "There hasn't really been a chance to before. She's so rarely away from Edward." Then, without giving time for a response, she flashed a small smile, flicked her hair over her shoulder, and turned back to head quickly towards the door.

Carys wished she knew what to say. If her life was a book, she'd know exactly what to say at that moment. She'd probably, she was sure, say something along the lines of "good luck" or "I'm sure it'll go well" without hesitating, and Rosalie would likely say something like "it'll be fine". Instead, she stood, struck dumb, waiting until the door opened and closed, removing Rosalie from view, before walking to her bedroom.

Grabbing her phone from where she'd thrown it onto the bed, she wrote out: Love you x then deleted the message.

Alice popped her head into the room.

Send it, she mouthed.

Carys nodded, sent the message to Rosalie, then got herself ready for bed. It didn't take quite so long to fall asleep this time, and, somewhat to her surprise, Carlisle was walking across the room when she next opened her eyes. She watched him until he was about to disappear into the bathroom when she called out:

"Lovely?"

Turning, smiling brilliantly, he crossed to the bed and knelt on the mattress, bending over her so that he could place soft kisses across her cheek and eyelid. Curled up under the covers as she was, only one side of her face was visible, so she turned to offer the other side of her face for his kiss when he nuzzled at her to do so.

"You know I love you, don't you?" she asked, and he paused with his cold, hard lips hovering over one eye. She opened the other, fisting her hands in his jumper. "That I do want to spend eternity with you?"

Carlisle drew away, eyeing her carefully. "Of course I do," he told her. "What's brought this on? Did Bella say something to you?"

"Yes, but-" gripping his jumper, she refused to let him go when he would have pulled sharply away, "-not like that," she assured him. "She's just so... She's so sure of herself. Of Edward and becoming a vampire. It really is all she thinks she wants... It's... I don't want you to think I don't want you just because I'm-just because I'm..."

Relaxing, Carlisle smiled. "If you had Bella's single-minded determination, I'd be surprised," he said, stroking her hair - some of which had escaped the confines of her satin scrunchie during the night - away from her face. "I'm glad you're going into this with your eyes wide open. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. Neither can I deny how much I hope we can put it off as long as possible."

"No?"

"No," he confirmed, brushing his lips back and forth over her cheek. "You're so soft and warm. Especially when you've just woken up."

Carys chuckled. "That's all? I'm soft and warm?"

Shaking his head, Carlisle's lips trailed a path down to her jaw. "Your... You're... You..." He trailed off.

"Is it literally just because I'm soft and warm, Carlisle?"

He shook his head again, grinning against her neck.

"Then what?" she asked.

Carlisle drew away, thought for a minute, and then said, "There are countless things I could mention."

"Yeah?"

"Indeed."

Carys' eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Like what?" she playfully demanded.

Carlisle laughed, then continued laughing as he lifted himself away and slid to the edge of the bed. Carys pulled one of the pillows from his side and threw it at his head. Catching it with one hand, he opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the sound of Because We Want To by Billie Piper, which blared from Carys' phone.

Carys gathered her covers and shuffled across the bed. Carlisle got to the phone first, handing it to her as he dropped a kiss to her hair.

"What's up, Alice?" Carys asked once she'd answered.

"Bella's run off," Alice immediately declared. Tone hard, her disappointment was palpable.

"Again?" Carys whined.

Carlisle's lips twitched.

"She had help this time," Alice said, lowering her voice. "Jacob Black."

Carys met Carlisle's eye. "Wait. You mean, she's ditched school?" she asked.

"Yes! On the back of that-that-" Alice broke off. "That boy's motorcycle!" she hissed.

Well, that was different. "Well that's different," Carys said, pushing up to support herself with one elbow. "When was this?"

"Around half an hour ago. And I was this close to keeping the car... Please?" she pleaded. "Please can you go and at least make sure she's alright? Edward's going to take it away. I was doing so well."

Carlisle looked as if he'd lost faith in vampires by the time she'd finished. Carys, who was trying not to laugh at the face he was making, nodded.

"Thank you," Alice said as if she'd been there to see her. It must have been certain that Carys would, at the very least, cross paths with a wolf.

After she'd rung off, Carys dropped onto her back and sighed.

"I just want to have a shower with my husband," she complained, throwing her hands down at her sides. "Is that too much to ask!?"

Carlisle's forlorn face came into view. "You wanted to do what?" Sliding his arms under her shoulders and behind her knees, he quickly added, "There's still time."

"No there isn't," Carys grumbled, waving him off as she sat up, yawned, then dropped back, bouncing slightly on the mattress. "I don't wanna," she laughed mirthlessly. "I just... I just wanna stay here, all warm and soft... Someone needs to get that girl a phone!"

"I agree," Carlisle said thoughtfully. Crawling over her, he picked up her phone and, one-handed, typed in a number. "Billy Black's home phone," he said in answer to her questioning glance. He handed it to her and waited.

"Black residence," a gruff voice answered after a few rings.

"Erm, hi Billy, I don't know if you remember me, but-"

"There aren't many English women around town," said Billy, who Carys had met once or twice at gatherings, but hardly knew well enough to nod to. "Hello, Carys."

"Yes, hello Billy, erm..."

Carlisle's eyes widened as he attempted not to laugh, and she hit him lightly in the chest.

"I was wondering if Bella was there," she said, feeling as foolish as she supposed she must sound. "It won't take a minute."

"She's not here," Billy announced over what was clearly the sound of Bella's voice in the background.

"Oh, but I think she is," said Carys. "I promise, it won't take a second."

Billy said something under his breath, then came the sound of his and Bella's voices, followed by Bella, who said, "Carys?"

"Hi. So. Basically, I have to come make sure you're okay."

"Wh-"

"So. I think I'll head over there as soon as I'm able, which will be in about an hour-" Carys broke off when Carlisle held up two fingers. "Two hours, two hours? I mean. Two hours," she said, tempering her tone as she continued to look him over assessingly. "Now, that doesn't mean I'm going to find you immediately-"

"You probably will," Bella sighed. "We'll be-"

"I said I'm not going to find you immediately," Carys quickly snapped. A deep rumble of laughter came from the other side of the phone, and Carlisle chuckled. "You're supposed-gah. So." Huffing, she rolled her eyes. "I'll have to trust you to get out of there if there's danger and come home at some point in the next... I dunno... A reasonable-what's a reasonable time?"

"You're asking me?" Bella sounded hesitant at best, and downright confused at worst.

Carys shrugged. Carlisle shrugged.

You're no help at all, Carys mouthed.

"Erm... Let's say I get there at... Eleven? And I don't find you until... Two...?"

"That sounds fair," Bella agreed.

"If you need me, I'll be parked by First Beach," Carys told her, then poked her tongue out at Carlisle, who licked her forehead. Carys made a face and wiped at her skin. "If I'm not there, I'll leave a note in the car to say where I've gone."

"Alright. Thanks, Carys."

The line went dead, and Carys giggled as Carlisle immediately dragged her from the bed.

Approximately an hour later, she paused, clicked off her hairdryer, and lowered it to her lap. Fiddling with her diffuser, she met Carlisle's eye in the mirror.

"Lovely?"

Tugging his jumper over his head, Carlisle answered, "Yes darling?"

Carys grimaced. "Do we know if... No, nevermind."

"What is it?" he asked, eyeing her as he flicked his watch over his wrist.

"Does... Does... In biology... Is there... Nevermind."

"Darling," Carlisle said. "I'm on tenterhooks. You can hardly leave me here."

"Well... I'm not sure if Bella knows..., what a bed's for..." Carlisle stared at her blankly, and she continued, "I mean... What... It can be for..." He didn't move a muscle. "I mean..."

He blanched. "Oh."

"Yes."

"She knows," he said as they both avoided eye contact. "I've heard her talking to Edward about it."

"Okay. But-"

"He's Catholic."

"Okay."

Carys clicked her hairdryer back on as Carlisle turned on his heel and walked back into his walk-in wardrobe. Neither of them spoke or so much as looked at each other again until it was time for Carys to leave.

A/N: Carys and Carlisle are quite literally the worst people for a toxically over-protective vampire to rely on. Honestly. It's like: if they don't see a problem with you hanging out with a friend, there's no problem! Also, they're so awkward sometimes! I had planned on us seeing Leah again this chapter, but it's going to be next. P.s. with Bella, I think Carys is beginning to see they might simply care about different things.

Thank you to: KEZZ 1, jhaenox, Lizzy B (yay! Glad you liked it!), BMBMDooDoo- Doo- Doo- Doo (thank you! It's just a hint of colour difference in the base of the cream, but Carlisle would definitely like the sound of navy blue!), souverian, Ella (thank you, and definitely agree with all! Plus, with Jasper - he deserves so much praise for what he goes through! And shockingly, I think he is!), HigherAngel, ksyushangel, NikkiNie, and derniermom for your reviews!