There's a cute role reversal moment with Carys and Carlisle in this chapter which is giving me the feels.
Breaking Dawn, Chapter 5
Leah went for a run while Carys and Carlisle sat down to call the Cullens. Watching Carlisle hit speed-dial set Carys' heart to racing, her skin to prickling with the discomfort of anxious sweat. He cut the call before it had rung and took her hand in his, squeezing gently.
"Shall we wait a little longer, darling?" he asked. "I could do it alone if you'd prefer. I don't mind."
She shook her head. "I'm just a little..." She accepted his understanding nod and the kiss which followed, taking a deep breath. "I'm ready. Hit the button." And when she nodded again, he did. Putting it on speaker, he laid it down in front of them.
Esme answered on the second ring. "Carlisle! Have you two finally made your way to the island? Does Carys like the house? She doesn't, does she? I told you it needed a little colour here and there - it's not-"
Carlisle cut her off with a chuckle. "We're here and Carys loves it, Esme."
"I love it," Carys repeated. "You've outdone yourself on this one."
"Oh, well!" Esme was likely grinning, based on the change in her voice. "That's a relief. And London? Alice says you went to see Carlisle's home. He's never let me get my hands on it, did he tell you that?"
Carys grinned. "He didn't. I liked it just as much. Very Old England but in a good way."
"I wouldn't know," Esme lamented. "I've only ever seen the outside. Swore I wouldn't go to see it or I would have at least had a peek in the windows."
"A shame," Carlisle agreed. "Listen, Esme. There's a reason for the call. Are the others about?"
"Oh? Oh! Yes. One second." She didn't raise her voice, but she called their names and then a chorus of greetings rang out. "They're all here. We've been waiting to hear from you, actually. After Alice's call." There was more to it than she was saying, Carys was sure. Esme's cajoling tone was underpinned by a slight anxiousness which she doubted came from the design of each of Carlisle's houses, no matter what she had said on the call thus far.
"Hello," Carlisle said.
"Hello everyone," Carys said when Carlisle glanced at her. She drew a cushion from the empty corner of the sofa, hugging it to herself. "How are you all?"
"How are we?" Alice complained. "How are we? Is that what you're going with?" She moaned. "First you avoid me, then Leah Clearwater up and disappears. Seth's going around the Rez telling people she's fine and she needed a break, but Edward thinks he's hiding something. What is it? What's going on?"
Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose. "I should have expected you would be playing detectives."
"We wouldn't have to if you two didn't act so shady," Rose said with an air of disinterest. "Just tell us and be done? I'm halfway through curling my hair and I don't appreciate the interruption."
"You're halfway through it?" Emmett boomed.
There was a faint rustle, and then Rose said, "Esme was halfway through curling my hair and Emmett was... 'helping'."
"Thanks," he said proudly. "But yeah, what's up? Can you tell us so Alice and Edward can calm down a bit? Jasper's been on edge since the wedding."
"Not quite since the weddin'," Jasper said, "bu' damn near close enough."
Carlisle licked his lips and tilted his head, offering Carys the telling of it. She shook her head. She couldn't trust herself not to spill everything, and they'd decided that the safest thing to do would be for everyone to come to Rio and to tell them there. "You do it," she whispered.
"Alright," Carlisle turned to the phone. "There is something going on, yes."
"See?" Alice trilled, then turned business-like. "What is it, Carlisle?"
"It's not something we want to talk about on the phone. It's better if we tell you in person... It's urgent but not dangerous."
"Carys isn't pregnant, is she?" Emmett laughed.
Carys and Carlisle held their breath, eyes wide and staring at each other in the beat of silence. Then a loud crack! caused Carys to jump in her seat.
"Whoa, sorry!" Emmett sounded faintly horrified. "I didn't mean it like that. Rose, don't. Fu-da-I'm sorry. Babe. Babe..." His voice trailed off. In the background, Carys strained to hear him say, "It was just a joke 'cause that's what humans... I'm so sorry. It's the way... I know, I'm sorry. Babe... Come here, Rose. Come here." His voice trailed off completely in the awkward, tense silence from both sides of the phone.
Half a minute later, Esme said, "I don't think they'll be back for a little bit."
"Of course not," Carlisle said. "I'm sure Emmett didn't think about what he was saying."
"No," Edward said smoothly. "He didn't. She's not angry at him for herself so much as-"
"Get out of my head, Edward!" Rose shouted from somewhere far away from the phone.
"My apologies," he said, which was as surprising in itself as anything Carys thought they could drop on them. And Emmett had just dropped their secret out in the open without knowing that was what he'd done. "Are you coming home, Carlisle?"
"No, we're..." He palmed Carys' nape and she placed her hand over his, smiling nervously. "We'd like you to come to Rio. The whole family. Bella included."
There was another beat of nothing before Esme's confused voice came over the phone. "Bella too?"
"Yes."
"Whatever for? Is this something to do with the newborns who escaped?"
Carys hadn't thought of that at all in the past week. Not the ones who'd left before the battle. The mere thought of the battle itself had her hand sliding from Carlisle's to cover the bandage on her arm. "No, it's nothing dangerous, like Carlisle said."
"The Volturi haven't been in touch, have they?"
"No," Carlisle repeated reassuringly. "No, no, it's nothing like that, have no fear the Volturi are yet to appear."
Carys snorted. "Don't worry, Carlisle taking up poetry isn't what we need to tell you about either."
"Good," Jasper said, sounding amused. "'Cause tha' was terrible, Carl-isle. Truly terrible."
Carlisle wrinkled his nose. "I thought it was rather amusing."
"P'haps if Emmett were still here, he'd appreciate it."
"I'm sure he would," Alice said quickly. "We'll be there."
"In two days," Carlisle said.
"Yes, that's what I can see. Why two days?"
"Erm..." Carys shifted forward. "Well, Leah's here at the moment."
"I knew it!" Alice announced. "Didn't I say? Didn't I!?"
"You did," Edward conceded. "Back to the subject at hand. I think we need a little more information before I tell Bella about your invitation, surely? Is there-"
"I can't tell you over the phone, Edward," Carlisle said softly. Not knowing their reactions, it was safer to do it in person. "Though I promise neither you, nor Bella will be put in harm's way. It's a conversation, that's all."
"Can't you come back to Forks?"
"I'm afraid not. Carys shouldn't-" Carlisle broke off. "We think you'll all like a break. Unless certain events are too raw to travel South again so soon?" he worried aloud.
"No, no... I simply don't understand... What can't you tell us on the phone that's this important but not dangerous?" Edward wasn't argumentative so much as genuinely confused. "I'd rather know before bringing Bella into this."
"She's part of the family, Edward," Esme said slowly. "Whatever they have to tell us, she should have the chance to hear it at the same time."
"I don't agree. We don't know what's going on."
"Bella would want to be there."
"Bella doesn't always know what's best for her. I'm just trying to keep her safe."
"Have I ever walked you into an unsafe situation with no warning?" Carlisle asked calmly.
"No... But that doesn't mean..."
Carlisle grabbed Carys' phone from the cushion beside her, tapped a few keys, and held it to his ear. It rang for a few seconds. "Ah! Hello, Charlie."
"What is he doing?" Edward demanded.
Carys grinned, listening to the two conversations at once. "He's circumnavigating you and going straight to the source. Sorry, Edward." By the time she'd finished, Carlisle was waiting, playing with her fingers. He raised them to his lips and shot her a devastating grin. "And now he's being excessively charming."
"I wouldn't call it excessive, darling. Not when–Hello, Bella," he said, returning to the American accent he had used with Charlie. "Carys and I have something important to discuss with the family. Now, we understand you're likely busy, but we're flying them out to join us in Rio de Janeiro for a few days and wondered if you might have the time...? Of course, you'll be sharing a room with Esme and Alice if Charlie worries about that aspect." He paused again, listening. "Yes, please do. I'll be happy to speak with him if he'd like, as would Carys ... Yes, I'll wait."
In fact, they all waited, silently, while Carlisle convinced Charlie of the merits of the trip a little too easily. Within minutes, he had turned Charlie from a flat "no" to an part begrudging, part enthusiastic (as far as Charlie could be) "maybe". In all that time, Carys heard not one lie leave his lips. He insisted, and reiterated to Edward following the call, that Bella would be in the company of Esme and/or Alice throughout the trip.
"You-!" Edward faltered. "Carlisle." Whatever he said next was too fast and low for Carys to catch it.
"I'm not going to beat around the bush on this one Edward, it's far too important. If we leave it too long, Bella won't have a chance to come without making another moonlight flit, and I'm not going to do that to Charlie." Again, he waited for Edward's response. "No, you'll know when you arrive ... Edward, you may stay behind if you and Bella prefer to, but I would like you to consider Carys'–thank you. I'll see you in two days' time. Bon voyage, mon fils." He ended the call.
Carys tried to quell the heat in her cheeks, pressing her hands to her skin. "Did you have to bring out the big guns?"
Carlisle quirked a brow. "French?"
"Yes, I mean, yes for me - use more of it, please - but mostly guilt. For a man who's supposed to be kind all the time, you sure know how to use it to your advantage. I feel a bit sorry for him, truth be told."
"Pssh." Carlisle sat back, lifting Carys' legs over his and settling his arm across the cushions behind her. "That wasn't guilt. That was a gentle prod in the right direction."
"You purposefully used me and my feelings to make him come, and to bring Bella too."
"You couldn't hear him. Had I asked him to consider my feelings, the poor boy might have cried," Carlisle said. "It's not funny Carys. For goodness sake, stop laughing. It's unkind." There was no real force to the chastisement.
Carys tried her best, but she couldn't. She wanted to say that it was unlike Carlisle, but she wasn't so sure it was anymore. One thing she knew for sure was that whatever happened, she was glad to have him on her side.
True to his word, Matt and Leah stayed on the island for two days before they left to meet the dhampir Cassandra. In those two days, Carys and Carlisle enjoyed meals with Leah, some with Matt as well, and the rest of their time was spent alone, preparing their speech to the family and enjoying each others company. Matt, on the other hand, spent the majority of his time doing the humanly impossible: he felled trees, compressed rocks, and built a house on the other side of the island.
On the second morning, Leah went to see his progress and came back a few hours later with a full report.
The house had no running water, but it had a buried tank - no one was quite sure how this was set up - which connected to the river and heated water for showers; it had no gas, but it had an stone stove, which, due to thousands of years of experience and a life spent camping, both Matt and Leah could easily light; it had a bed but no mattress, which Matt ordered to be picked up when Carys and Carlisle were on the mainland; it had no glass, but it had windows; the furniture was expertly crafted, though it clearly pained Leah to admit, and it even had a thatched roof of intricately woven palm fronds.
Leah was more confused and upset than angry as she flopped down beside Carys on one of the sofas to complain that, "He's getting rid of me."
Carlisle caught Carys' eye and, interpreting her look correctly, made himself scarce. She asked, "What do you mean?"
Frustrated, her friend said, "It's as far away from you guys as it could be, and it has one bed. One." She threw her hands up. "It's certainly not meant to be for both of us. It's like, why is he building it? He says it's to stop me hearing you two, but it clearly won't be bothering him to hear. I can think of one reason he's doing it - he wants me as far away from everyone as possible."
Matt chose that moment to walk into the living room, shirtless, dust streaks across his cheek, chiselled chest, and abs. "Of course I do, Thea. Obviously this has nothing to do with your comfort and everything to do with wanting to take the spare room."
"Oh, don't act like you're not just showing off!"
"You do realise you're making no sense whatsoever?" Matt ran a hand through his hair and, if Carys wasn't mistaken, his eye twitched. "How did we jump to showing off?"
Waving her hands about, Leah said, "Oh look at me! I'm five thousand years old. I can build a house and furnish it in a day."
"I'm not supposed to build houses now!?"
"Go build your mate a house."
"Maybe I have!" Matt threw his hand in the air. "Did you ever think of that? Maybe I've built her loads of houses and they've all been a lot nicer than that thing!?"
"I actually like sleeping outside - if you wanted my room, you could have just taken it!" Leah pushed to her feet and squared up to him as they fell into yet another argument.
In all the time they'd spent together, Carys hadn't heard Matt speak more than a handful of kind words to Leah. Leah had spoken even less to him. And yet Carys had watched her friend flourish under the freedom of the island, and, watching them interact now, she tried not to feel sad that they weren't mates. No matter what Matt said or did, he met Leah barb for barb, quip for quip, insult for insult, without going too far. He actively avoided going too far.
Carys could only hope that things went better with the others, and she expected they would. From what Matt said, the other dhampirs would treat Leah with more deference. In fact, she wondered if it wouldn't do Leah well to have him with her when she was being bowed down to by the others. Not that Leah would take advantage of the dhampirs, merely that it might make her uncomfortable or unsure if they all treated her as if she were revered. Leah was, after all - wrongly, Carys thought - unused to bring universally adored.
That evening, Carlisle, Matt, and Carys said their goodbyes quickly. Leah and Carys took far longer. They lingered over their hug, tightening their hold on one another until Matt quipped that, "Maybe we should leave them to it," and Carlisle prodded Carys' side. All they earned themselves were momentary grumbles before the women returned to their embrace. Eventually, Leah suggested that they send Carlisle with Matt and stayed there together, which Carys agreed was a good idea.
"It is not a good idea," Carlisle sighed from the kitchen counter, where he and Matt had retreated. "Do I need to remind you that this is our honeymoon?" There was no response. "Or that the family will soon be joining us?"
"Exactly," Carys said, slowly extricating herself. "If Leah's here, they won't want to stay, will they?"
"They've already agreed to stay on the mainland."
"Oh, I know, but..." Carys slipped her arm around Leah's waist, a move which was mirrored by her friend. They tugged each other hip to hip. "But I'm... I mean, they're... You see...?"
Carlisle relaxed, resting his chin on his fist, his elbows on the counter. "You don't want to face the consequences?" What he didn't say, but they both knew, was that they were both worried about how the conversation would go. The closer they came to it, the less prepared they felt. They could guess at some reactions but not all.
"Exactly."
"And here I was, thinking you wanted to spend time with your new husband," he teased.
"I do! I do," she repeated a little less forcefully. "I'm just..."
"She's scared," Leah filled in.
Carlisle's lips pressed into a tight line and he twitched his nose at Carys, who smiled bleakly in response. "We'll be fine," he said softly.
"And you?" Matt queried of Leah.
Leah fixed him with a glare. "I'm not scared of some little dhampirs. I'm just not sure I want to leave my best friend to a bunch of vampires while she's in such a delicate state."
"Hey!" Carys snapped.
She rolled her eyes. "I meant fear."
"Oh, right, well, thank you." Carys crossed her arms when Leah shook her head at Carlisle, who hid a grin. "Whatever you meant, this is the last chance... Staying or leaving?"
"Leaving," Leah said with a curt nod.
Matt sagged dramatically and made a show of checking his watch. "If we leave now, we can still make our allotted take-off. If we take too long, we'll miss it completely and I might just make you fly commercial as a lesson in punctuality."
"What's wrong with commercial?" Leah demanded.
He drew a deep, sighing breath. "Nothing, if you're under six feet tall. When you're six feet four with shoulders and legs like mine - or, for that matter, legs like yours - everything is wrong with commercial."
"What's wrong with my legs!?"
"Long legs and cramped seats don't mix."
"What about first class? What's wrong with that?"
Carys thought it was amusing to see Leah argue about first class flights versus private jets when she wasn't the one paying for either. After that morning, she'd been trying to find anything to argue with Matt about. Carys was beginning to worry that Leah was finding reasons to remind herself that she shouldn't like Matt. At all. In any way.
Matt looked as if she'd kicked him in the groin and was laughing at his pain. "What's right about it?" He made a disgusted face. "You do know they turn the lights down and expect you to settle down to sleep when night falls?"
"Do you have a problem with everything?" Leah asked.
"Five thousand years gives you a lot of time to develop these things called standards. If we're going to be trapped inside a moving vessel for ten hours, we're going to do it on my terms. My terms are: lights go off when I want them to. If I want to sleep, I'm not going to do it in an glorified easy chair, and if I want-"
"A stick-up-the-ass extraction?"
Matt's eyes narrowed. "If I want silence, I'll have it."
"Not from me, you won't."
"I wouldn't speak too soon." He pushed away from the counter and took Leah's and his bags in hand. His tone changed dramatically from one person to the next. "Carlisle? This is where we part. Until next we meet, old friend."
"Ah, so friends again, are we?" Carlisle slapped his palm to Matt's shoulder. "Goodbye for now. Safe travels."
Matt nodded once and crossed the room. "Unless you want to share a tin can with a bunch of humans - some of whom will be using the toilet, I suggest you come along, Thea."
"One day I'm going to have to get on a commercial flight, just to feel normal," Leah said to Carys. "As today is not that day, I hope Matt's as lax about drinking laws as you are."
"It's you Americans who are too strict about them," Carys countered. Patting Leah's hand, she gave her a gentle push towards the door. "I'll see you in a week or so. Come back earlier if you need to."
Leah doubled back to kiss Carys' cheek, offering Carlisle a half-hearted wave on her way out the door. Carlisle came to wrap his arms around Carys. He was dealing rather well with Leah's scent these days, as was Leah to his. All the same, Carys made a note to take a shower as soon as possible.
When their guests had moved out of sight, she pressed her cheek to his chest. "I miss her already," she whispered emotionally. "I just hope they're nice to her." She shifted against him. "They will be, don't you think?" She answered her own question. "They will be. And she'll be back soon enough."
Carlisle silently stroked her back. If he had any thoughts about the matter, he didn't share them. "The others should land in an hour. We'll meet them at their hotel and you'll have plenty of people to keep you occupied."
Carys sensed she had made a mistake. "For a few hours maybe, then we'll leave them to their shock and come back here. Relax, just the two of us." She gently kissed his chest. "I was thinking you should show me more of the island - really get in some quality us time in between visits to the others."
Carlisle readjusted her in his arms, pressing his lips to her hair. "You don't have to try so hard, darling. I understand - there are things that require our attention. It can't just be us."
"It will be though. We'll just have to tell the others that it's still our honeymoon. Matt's said he'll respect it... Whether Leah's moving into the house on the other side of the island when she gets back or not, it'll still be us really... So we've just got to convince them of the same."
Drawing himself up, Carlisle brushed a stray curl from Carys' temple. "Promise me one thing?"
"Anything," she said. And she meant it.
QUESTION FOR YOU ALL: Would you rather have this book be from Carys' POV all the way along, switch chapter by chapter between Carys and Leah while Leah is away, or have a section for Leah? We're currently going to have Carys' POV all the way along, but with Leah and Matt leaving to meet with the dhampirs and then the wolves, we'll be missing a whole chunk of Leah's story and thinking about it all from Carys' POV, she'll be telling Carys what happened, so... I had begun to write a Leah POV separately but I'm thinking it may be better to include it in this story if it happens. So... Thoughts?
Thanks to: Momochan77, Ashies, madigeek, chellekathrynnn, Bailey2797, BMBMDooDoo-Doo-Doo-Doo, Guest (that's exactly it - she's protective of herself, and she's protective of the people she cares about as well! She's got a tough exterior because she needs to have one, and she's a good person, she's just sarcastic and badass and trying to look after herself. She's been betrayed.), CarlaPA, GhostlySights, Guest (I love them both so much haha! Carlisle is definitely their number one shipper from day one within the story!), Guest (Maybe she is...? We'll have to wait and find out... ;)), NeonKat (first of all, you're not left field... I didn't originally plan on it being so obvious but then they got in each other's faces ! I hope you'll still be surprised by some things to come!), for your reviews!
