Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC
Things got better after I had talked to Doctor Cullen. I stopped avoiding him, much to Ben's relief and we had developed a type of acquaintanceship in the few weeks that passed. In the weeks that passed, through our limited interactions throughout the store, I had learned that he had five children. There were the twins, Jasper and Rosalie and then there were, Alice, Edward, and Emmet. Doctor Cullen would tell me small anecdotes about them from time to time when it related to something in our discussion. Edward and Alice had been the one's he had been placing orders, although more recently it had been Alice requesting all sorts of books. Doctor Cullen usually came in around once or twice a week now, usually he would come straight to me, asking where a particular section was, I was almost surprised he hadn't memorized the, albeit, complicated sorting system himself considering how often he was here. The store was only so big after all. I found myself growing content with his company, even if it was only for a little while. I had completely forgotten my original reason for ever trying to avoid him.
I wouldn't call our relationship a friendship, just because we never really saw each other outside of the book store and I didn't know too much about him other than about his children and even then, my knowledge was limited. He hardly knew anything about myself either, I mostly just told him about a new lesson plan that I was working on or about how my training was going. Nothing that personal but I always enjoyed our talks. He would respond with questions, nudging me into continuing until I finished a fifteen or so minute story about my experience with my students and I honestly enjoyed every minute of talking to the man.
I had actually just left Doctor Cullen in the very small non-fiction section of the book store. He was searching for a particular book on trees and flowers for his daughter Alice, who had apparently sworn up and down that this was the only store that sold such a book. I found it endearing that he would always accommodate his children's wishes. It was quite sweet.
Shaking my head with a smile, I turned back to the paper in front of me, Kathy had sent me home with a list of parent phone numbers and names as well as medical information to compile into a spreadsheet for the upcoming field trip. She had arranged for the kids to go on a tour of the police station then the fire department, and finally the hospital. All the kids were quite excited to get to ride around in a fire truck and were practically buzzing excitement for Friday. I flipped through the binder Kathy had prepared, I had to admit that as much of a hard person she was to work with, she certainly made up for it with her incredible organization skills.
Flipping to the itinerary section, I looked at the names of all of our guides. Chief of police, Charlie Swan would be showing us around the police station, Winston Miller would be giving the kids the tour of the fire department, and nurse, Sandra Copley would be our tour guide for the hospital.
"What's all of that?" I almost jumped at the voice. The good doctor was wonderful at sneaking up on me, sometimes I thought that he floated an inch above the ground instead of walking.
"Oh, it's nothing, just field trip plans" I said, closing the folder. "What've you picked out today?" I asked, taking the books from his hands. "'Trees in North America' and 'Flowers of North America', both riveting choices."
"They were the only two that sounded the least bit normal"
I laughed, nodding. "We have a very different selection at our bookstore, it's all fairytale, fantasy creatures, and a bunch of folk legends."
He tilted his head slightly, "Do you believe in any of those?"
"You mean like bigfoot?" I asked, jokingly.
"Never mind" he said, shaking his head, his lips forming into an amused grin. "Where's the field trip to?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, that" I had almost forgotten that I mentioned that. "We're taking the kids to visit the police station, fire department, and hospital, it'll be my second field trip with them, last time we actually went up to Seattle and went to an art museum, it didn't work out well"
"What happened?"
I leaned forward on the counter. "Well, we brought a bunch of seven and eight-year-olds to an art museum so…"
"They were bored out of their minds?"
"Yes, unbelievably so" I laughed, ringing up his purchase. "Most of them were just restless and antsy and probably would have preferred just going to a park and running around so for this field trip Kathy thought we'd take the kids through the stages of an emergency, I think it'll keep them much more entertained."
"I'm sure it will," I smiled at him. I couldn't actually believe that a few weeks ago, I had been so adamant never to see him again, I must have been insane. He shook his head, breaking eye contact as I rung him up.
"That'll be $16.79" He handed me the money and I quickly returned his change.
"I hope the field trip goes well" he said sincerely.
I just smiled, "Thank you, I hope you have a good rest of your day"
He smiled back, looking at me with those golden eyes of his before walking out the front door, books in hand.
I could hardly catch my breath as the kids whirled and jumped around me; it was field trip day which meant that everyone was bursting and bounding with energy. I was glad that I had chosen to wear my just above knee-length skirt today, with wool tights of course, it would be easier to run and catch someone with more movement that a skirt allowed, plus it was easy to wash stains out of.
"Everyone file nicely into the bus" I reminded. Being a teacher had it's trying days and today was going to one of them. I had only been on one field trip with them before this and it had gone just about as well as I thought it would, which was horribly. Even Kathy had seemed frustrated that day. I had higher hopes for this field trip.
I did a head count in the bus, checking that all fifteen kids were all on board before we left the school parking lot. It would be extremely bad if we started this trip off with forgetting a kid.
"Everyone on-board?" Kathy asked, coming onto the bus.
Kathy was a seasoned teacher, having been teaching for thirty plus years. She was short in stature and didn't look intimidating head on but she more than made up for it with her snarky attitude and sharp wit. In all honesty, she scared me. Yes, a little old Asian woman scared me, don't judge me. During my interview to be her teaching assistant, she upfront told me that she thought I'd fail within the first week, but for some reason she still hired me. After I lasted the first month with her, she started easing up on what I suspected was hazing. She was a good mentor, and a very thorough one at that. If one of my lesson plans wasn't perfect than she would have me re-do the entire thing instead of just fixing the problematic section. That taught me real fast to just read over all of my work several times before I considered it decent and then from there I'd re-read it another half a dozen times before submitting it for review. Come to think of it, I think that's my main reason for being sleep deprived most of the time. Although don't get me wrong, Kathy is a really nice person deep down. It took me a month longer to squeeze out any personal information from her and even longer for her to hold a full conversation with me that wasn't about work. Even now, she was still was closed off but I didn't mind. I'd crack her eventually.
The short ride to the sheriff station was mostly filled with talking children, mumbling to one another, while Kathy looked over the itinerary in the seat next to me and I spent my time, pulling my hair into a bun. I didn't want my hair blowing all over the place and it was easier to manage if it was just out of the way.
When we stopped, we were greeted by the face of Charlie Swan, the town sheriff. I didn't know him too well, at least not anymore. He had been friends with my parents when they had still lived in Forks before I was born and I remember seeing him when I'd spend my summers here with my grandma. Now, I knew more about him from word of mouth. I actually heard that his daughter had just moved back to town a couple years ago, I think her name was Isabelle or was it Isabella, something along those lines. I was never great with names.
"Kathy, it's great to see you" he said, going to hug the short woman before stopping as she gave him a glare that meant 'touch me and you die'. He backed up, holding his hands up in surrender before he turned to me. "And look at you Coraline, you're all grown up, how are the parents? Still enjoying Colorado?"
I nodded, laughing. "They're doing well actually, still hiking mountains and all that, well, mom is hiking mountains, dad says that he's allergic to any form of exercise"
"Sounds like your father," he said letting out a slight laugh before shaking his head, looking down at me. "By the way, I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother, she was a real nice lady"
I nodded, looking down at the ground. "Thank you," I could feel myself getting emotional, now wasn't the time for that. I shook my head, smiling instead. "Why don't we get those kids off the bus, I bet they're just itching to get a look inside" I suggested with a smile, shaking off any remaining sadness and focusing on getting the kids off the bus.
I did another headcount before we went in, making sure everyone from the bus had gotten off before we headed inside. Once we were all ready, I carried my clipboard inside while Kathy held onto her color-coded binder as she stayed in the front of the group and I stayed in the back, making sure none of the kids fell behind.
The tour went rather well. The kids all stayed calm without losing attention and they weren't too loud or repetitive. He told them about what he did on a day to day basis and about some of the previous cases he dealt with, leaving out any of the truly gory details. I felt that it had all gone rather well for our first stop. We ended just on time and I could tell that Kathy was pleased at the accuracy of her plan.
The next stop was the fire station. The kids just went absolutely nuts there. Maybe it was because the drive was a bit farther, but whatever the case was, all fifteen of them just immediately started running in every direction. I wanted to pull my hair out, I didn't know which one to try and catch first. Kathy didn't seem at all concerned, looking at me expectantly as the kids went mad around us, running around the fire station lot like they had each been given an infusion of coffee. I had to be smart about catching the little bugs. I decided to be smart about it and had managed to catch their leader to which many of the others followed in suit and gathered around. Children were much like aliens, take out the leader and you take out them all. Of course, that metaphor when applied to children doesn't have the connotation that I'd kill the child. No, that would defiantly be wrong.
I managed to eventually gather all of them into one area before we entered the fire station. The kids were amazed at the different areas of the station, listening intently to our nice guide who had created a lot of interactive activities to try, even letting each child look around the fire truck and sit in the front seat. The kids were having so much fun at the fire station that Kathy and I had to practically pry them away from the bright red trucks and back onto the bus. I even heard a few of the boys and girls saying that they wanted to be a firefighter when they grew up. It was quite cute.
We stopped by a park for a lunch break. The air was still chilly with the remnants of winter hanging around but in Forks it was hardly ever not at least a little cold. All the kids barreled out of the bus with their jackets tightly wrapped around them and their lunches clutched in their small hands. Kathy and I had warned parents to give their children mats or towels for them to sit on and most of the children had their mats tucked under their arms as they looked for the perfect spot in the small park. We told them not to go anywhere outside of the park and Kathy and I kept a close gaze on them as they found their spots on the dewy grass.
The bus driver had opted to stay inside the warm bus while Kathy and I stayed out to watch the children. We had sat on the high side of the park with the slight hill to be able to see all of the kids without a blind spot. We both didn't eat, too preoccupied with watching the kids as they ate their packed lunches while eyeing the playground across the street. After they all finished their lunches, we walked them across the street to the playground, figuring that it would be better for them to get out any excess energy they had before going into a hospital. I don't think the patients, nurses, or doctors would particularly appreciate a bunch of wired seven to eight year olds running wild down the halls.
Lunch hour ran around ten minutes over time and I could tell that Kathy was ready to leave. I ushered the kids into the bus, telling them that we only had one more stop and it was at the hospital where we'd get a tour of all the different rooms that people didn't normally get to see. I was happy that most of the kids complied easily, most of their rambunctious energy having already been used up on the playground.
Once we arrived at the hospital, Kathy went in ahead of me to get our tour guide while I stayed with the kids in the main lobby. They were all behaving well, just standing around talking to one another while I did a silent head check, crossing off their names on my clipboard.
"Coraline" I was writing down a note when a voice came from behind me, making me jump before I turned, looking wide eyed at the blonde doctor in front of me.
"Oh, Doctor Cullen" I said, looking around at the children who had all turned to look at the Doctor. "This is my third-grade class," I gestured around me and some of the children waved. "And children, this is Doctor Cullen" I introduced.
He gave them a smile, "It's nice to meet all of you" Doctor Cullen opened his mouth as if to say more but he was interrupted as Kathy and our apparent guide rounded the corner.
"You must be Ms. Parsons, I'm Nurse Sandra but you can just call me Sandy" The woman said, directed at both me and towards the kids. The nurse with short dirty blonde hair extended her hand with a warm smile which I took, shaking her hand politely. "I see you've also met Doctor Cullen"
"We've actually met before" I started but before I could say anything, the good doctor jumped in unexpectedly.
"Yes, we're friends" My eyes snapped to him. What? I thought the term friends was pushing it just a bit but perhaps it was easier than explaining that I was the random woman he knew from the weird bookshop in town. Yes, that had to be it.
"Well, why don't we start that tour of ours?" said the peppy nurse to the kids who gave her wide smiles. "Doctor Cullen, are you going to join us?"
I expected him to say no. "I think I'll follow along for a bit"
All of us set out in our group and to my surprise Dr. Cullen also followed next to me as the kids rushed around us to get towards the front. Kathy quirked her eyebrow at me before making her way towards the front of the group next to Nurse Sandy while I remained in my normal position at the back to look out for strays. After ushering all of the kids in front of me, I glanced at the doctor from my side eye, he had kept a steady pace next to me this entire time.
"I wasn't expecting to see you here today" I admitted, my voice hushed into a lower tone. He gave me an amused look and I explained further. "I know that you work at the hospital, it just never occurred to me that I'd see you here, it's odd seeing you outside of the bookstore" I admitted. It really was odd. I had never really pictured him outside of the category that I knew him in which was the cardigan wearing man with kind eyes that came into the store to buy books for his children.
"I don't know why it would be odd for you, you still call me 'Dr. Cullen' regardless of our location" he teased.
"It's what you're called" We were currently walking down a wide hallway, the children a few feet in front of us.
"I've told you to call me Carlisle more times than I can count"
"Well, then I don't know how you became a doctor not being able to count to three because that's how many times you've told me" I said, giving him a sly smile.
He quirked an eye brow, turning to look at me as we continued walking. "So, you have heard me say it, you just purposefully never use my first name"
"Would you rather me call you 'Doctor Carlisle Cullen'? And for the record, I have used your first name" I defended.
"One time and only after I had prompted you" he reminded me. "I'm not very well versed in this subject but don't friends use each other's first names?" he asked, seeming to be rhetorical but my mind stopped, my face scrunching in confusion as we continued walking.
I could hear the Nurse talking, explaining one of the areas of the hospital to the children but I was focused on what the Doctor had just said.
"Do you consider us friends?" I asked, looking at him from the side.
He quirked his head, looking down at me. "You don't?"
Well, this put me in an awkward position. I answered honestly, figuring it was best to be clear. "We're acquaintances, yes but friends? I'm not so sure"
The doctor's face turned down in a frown. I almost felt bad, maybe I should have just lied. He stayed quiet for a moment and we walked in silence. I eventually turned back towards what the nurse was talking about, ignoring the feelings of guilt that were welling up inside me.
I didn't know what to say. I was glad when Doctor Cullen decided to speak, "Why aren't we friends?"
"I know very little about you, you know little about me, and we only see each other under the context of the bookstore"
He looked thoughtful, "Well, we're seeing each other now in this context," he said gesturing to the hospital. "And this isn't the bookstore."
I nodded, "That's true but I still don't know very much about you, I don't even know what your favorite color is."
He looked down at me with an expression that was akin to amusement. "I hardly think that knowing my favorite color matters"
I shook my head, "That's just the thing, friends know the little things and I don't even know the big things about your life besides your occupation and a bit about your various children"
The Doctor nodded, seeming to consider my words for a moment before speaking again. "My favorite color is blue, what's yours?"
I laughed slightly, shaking my head. "Purple, although only light lilac purple"
"What other type of information do you need?"
"It's not an interrogation" I said, laughing slightly, shaking my head. It was only then that I realized that we had fallen behind slightly and I rushed forward to catch up, the doctor's long legs matching my pace easily.
We made our way into a much smaller room where CT scans were taken so the Doctor and I couldn't talk without being heard anymore. I stayed silent, listening to what the Nurse was saying but taking glances at the man next to me every few minutes. Our conversation about friendship had apparently dropped as we got out of the smaller room.
We continued walking in a comfortable silence as we came along to another hallway. Occasionally, the Nurse would direct a question towards Dr. Cullen and he would answer politely, smiling at the children who just stared at him with wonder. They enjoyed talking to him, asking him questions about what kind of patients he saw on a daily basis and if they were all "gory and cool" as one of my students put it. He answered their questions with enthusiasm, and the kids really seemed to like him.
Come to think of it, everyone around here seemed to like him. I had seen more than one nurse and doctor check him out as we were walking by. Anyone else we encountered also seemed to have a friendly disposition towards the blonde doctor. It's almost as if everyone was just attracted to his kindness, maybe he just exuded it.
The tour ended back in the main lobby and Kathy was just finishing up with the nurse while I escorted the children back onto the bus. They all thanked the nurse, each of them clutching a lollipop that she had given them.
"It was nice meeting you" I said kindly, shaking the taller woman's hand before I took the children outside. Doctor Cullen followed next to me, a small smile on his face as he watched me talk to the kids.
The kids filed single file into the bus and I did a head count as they entered before turning to the doctor. I hadn't expected him to accompany us on any part of the tour, let alone the entire time we had been there. It was defiantly different seeing him here but not a bad different. It was nice. My mind wondered back to our conversation in the hallway.
I was always like this. It took so long for me to consider anyone a friend. Maybe that's why I had so few of them. I got along with almost everyone but that doesn't mean they were my friends. Even Ben, who I had known for almost a year didn't fully fit into that category, he went into my category of 'work colleague'. I still couldn't help but feel like things were different with Doctor Cullen though. We didn't know each other very long and I really didn't know a ton about him but I felt close to him, if that made any sense. I couldn't explain it if I tried.
"The children really liked you" I said, smiling up at him.
"They were lovely, and see you were worried about the trip being a disaster"
"Well, thank you for helping to end the field trip on a good note"
He opened his mouth to reply as Kathy came out of the building, pulling on her coat. She turned to Doctor Cullen. "It was nice meeting you Doctor Cullen"
"And you as well" he said kindly, looking down at the shorter woman. Kathy gave me a look before she got on the bus as if trying to tell me mentally 'hurry it up and get on the bus'. I nodded to her, saying I was coming along before turning back to the doctor.
"Well, I think that's my que to go" I said gesturing to the bus.
He nodded in understanding. "It was nice to see you, again, Coraline"
"I'll see you around, Carlisle" His eyes were truly a beautiful sight as they lit up. I don't know why my friendship mattered to him but I would take it. I gave him a wide smile before getting on the bus, sitting on the other side of Kathy. I looked out of the window, and Carlisle gave me a wave as the bus began to move.
I waved back before I turned back around, sitting normally. I would blame the slight blush on my cheeks as a reaction to the cold outside.
…
Yeah so, this chapter is a bit longer than my normal chapters. I hope you all like it! Also, I don't want Coraline to just immediately be in love with our dear Carlisle. Relationships take time to develop, in real life and in story form. I hope you guys like this chapter, I'm very bad at editing my chapters before I post them so that's why there's probably a lot of grammatical mistakes. Please forgive me and also tell me what you think about the latest chapter. I truly just live on the comments because I just love getting feedback on how you guys think the story is going. So, read! And Review!
