When Bella wakes up the next day she remembers glimpses of her dreams. Cool, strong hands holding her lower back and body pressed against his. Lips mouthing, gently kissing and trailing fire from her ear to her collarbone. The lips kiss their way up to her ear, to whisper in Carlisle's voice
Bella
She wakes up flushed- feeling her long hair had escaped its ponytail from bedtime and now sticking to her damp forehead. She left her window shut completely last night, and her room feels stuffy when she comes to fully. Jeez.
Bella has a good mind for a shower and a hot breakfast to take her mind off of things.
She looks at her phone and the time and debates reaching out to Carlisle again, not wanting to seem desperate and needy.
When she makes her way to the kitchen she sees a note left on the fridge in Charlie's scrawl.
Should be back around 4 or 5 pm with Fish Fry for dinner. Call if you need anything
The yellow post-it note brings a smile to Bella's face as she fixes herself eggs and toast. Even though her life has been relatively peaceful the last few weeks, barring the strange events and accidents, she's glad it's Friday and to rest the next two days. Next week she'll be working Saturday to cover for the store but in a few hours, she'll be enjoying the weekend and enjoy some books from the library. Maybe she'll call Angela and see about catching up again. Maybe she'll be able to catch Doctor Cullen on his time off and spend her Saturday night with him.
Either way, Bella will be taking her life back one day at a time. It's an unusually warm morning in September with the sun out. She opens up the blinds and the windows to let the fresh morning air in on a gentle breeze. Forks isn't so bad, even if it is so much quieter than what she's used to.
She's practically skipping into work today. Maybe she'll go for a walk or a hike later? It's about time she started using her employee discount at the shop on supplies and exploring Forks on foot. In New York she walked everywhere; it wasn't as simple in Forks but she could definitely incorporate more walking into her days. Bella opens the Newton's shop again and enjoys the rare taste of warmth from the sun on her drive over. The shop is typically quiet in the morning, so it's no surprise that she doesn't see a soul for the first hour of her shift before the doorbell rings, announcing a customer.
Bella looks up smiling, the greeting dies on her tongue before her smile completely fades away.
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
Carlisle is standing in the middle of the forest when his phone buzzes in his pocket. Modern technology has many benefits in his life. At the moment he's trying to take appreciation in the crystal clear sky and 68 degrees and sunny weather from under the canopy of trees. He's been walking and hiking with several books in a backpack he's carried with him that he plans to read in a secluded grove. He's been deliberate and slow in his pace today, imagining himself walking at Bella's pace. It would be refreshing to spend a day like this with her, and he does feel wistful again to have lost that shred of the humanity of being able to walk in the sun unnoticed.
He gives into the buzzing of his cellphone. So few people have access to this phone number that Carlisle feels he must check the phone even though he would rather stay in his reverie. His eyebrows knit- it's Alice, and likely urgent for her to call him.
"Alice?"
"Bella is going to think we're related- Jazz and I, are related to you. We're on our way to her now. I might bringing her by later. Wear the light blue button-down just in case, no tie!- Faster Jazz!- Anyway, she should be fine but just needed to give you the heads up."
Carlisle's head is spinning. Where is she? Why are Alice and Jasper rushing over?
"Alice- What's happening with Bella? Why-? It's sunny out, you can't risk being seen!"
"Carlisle, just go home and nothing bad will happen."
Carlisle swallows. Alice's visions are imperfect, based on solid decisions, especially premeditated ones. She can't predict intent, but she sees some things that help them especially stay one step ahead of ever being caught with living amongst humans.
The phone clicks and Carlisle looks down into the small backpack he was carrying over his shoulder, that held his phone, a copy of Don Quixote, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Order of Things. The cold in his chest gnaws at his ribcage and aches in his chest. The uncertainty of Bella being in danger is clawing at his dead heart. Initial pace forgotten, he sprints home. Edward greets him at the door as Carlisle breezes past him at inhuman speeds.
"Carlisle you can't go to her!"
His face must be aghast "I know I-" feel so helpless.
Carlisle thinks of the families he's had to move at human speed for, to protect his identity and his coven's lives. The guilt sits on his aching chest heavily, increasing his agony. Nothing could stop him from barreling into a silly little shop in a usually damp town. No one would even see him. The 29 frames a second of the security cameras at the Newton's shop wouldn't pick up the blur of Carlisle sprinting to Bella and grabbing her. He isn't a neanderthal, but the primal instinct in his gut is the step in the way of whatever crisis is abating her. Why must Alice and Jasper go to her-
"Carlisle!" Edward's tone barely snaps through the moment of panic.
"Alice suggested we go for a hunt together."
It's the last thing Carlisle is thinking of right now. What does he care for his thirst when something is happening to his- his
"Edward I…" Carlisle is struggling with the words. What's happening to me? Not in 360 years has he felt like this. It's a brimming of rage, fury, jealousy, and- and so much burning. He wants to turn her. It's agonizing, Carlisle realizes, knowing she is so fragile. It's been a short couple of weeks she's been near to him and she is in peril consistently. No vampire is in peril like this. A vampire could have torn apart any person that dared to touch them. A car accident would have been brushed off- she could walk into a speeding vehicle and the vehicle would give way. He wants to know she's safe.
"Carlisle." Edward's tone is calming and agitating to Carlisle's somewhat frantic state. "You need to feed. You won't be yourself around her like this."
Carlisle passes a mirror in the otherwise silent Cullen residence. His eyes are darkening so quickly already, long gone is amber and nearly jet black eyes of a predator stare at him back in the mirror. This is the creature he has tried to evade for centuries. This is the creature he hunted lifetimes ago.
"No, it isn't. Carlisle this is temporary. You need to hunt and snap out of it." He sees the reflection looks agonized and he shuts his eyes and tries to listen to Edward. Why is this happening to me?
He obliges Edward's urgent suggestion and they speed off. The once overpopulated deer in Forks, Washington is thinning out more than usual. Carlisle can usually wait a week or two between regular feedings. He sinks his teeth into the neck of a doe greedily.
The breaths after are not necessary but are symptoms of Carlisle's need for humanity and human behavior.
"I thought you might have realized by now Carlisle the call of your mate."
The words hang like an anvil over Carlisle.
"Well, there's no need to be so morose about it."
Edward met Esme so young in his lifetime- a mere 12 years into his second life. Esme was on the cusp of death when Edward had found her and begged Carlisle for his help in turning her. She had just stopped breathing but her blood was pumping and her heart still carried a beat. Edward had dove into the icy Atlantic to pull her from the waves. Esme would recall from the last moments of her life a warm feeling in her chest as she took her next steps. It felt like life- the first time she took her own steps forward was to end her own life. Edward had felt the pull so intensely- an agony, nothing would stand in the way of him to fetch and protect her. Carlisle remembered the sheer agony and panic on Edward's face, cradling Esme's broken body to his chest when he begged.
Esme couldn't say anything, and Carlisle agonized for a brief moment on the moral of making this choice for her. Edward had never requested anything like this.
"Please Carlisle!" He remembers Edward's voice breaking in the request, "I don't know if I'm strong enough. She needs me, I- I need to be strong enough."
Carlisle felt a shiver up his spine at the memory still. Esme's change had taken longer than Edward's. Her body was only a few years older than Edward's, now frozen at 24 for all eternity. As she changed, the punishment that the rocks and waves had abused upon her vanished. After she woke with a gasp, her hands flew to cup Edward's face as they made eye contact for the first time.
Carlisle remembers leaving them for that day and allowing them their peace walking on clouds. He had spent 12 years with Edward witnessing so many moods, and versions of Edward. Seeing Edward at that moment, full of relief, joy, and fulfillment invoked contentment in Carlisle that he didn't expect. Even now the words didn't make sense.
"Carlisle, I think you're the only person I've ever met that would reject their own happiness. I mean truly. I have nothing but respect for you living on the blood of animals alone and know acutely the pain it had caused you for so long. But why fight this so vehemently?"
"A mate suggests the presence of a soul."
Edward rolls his eyes.
"I'm not sure that soul mate and mate have the same meaning here, Carlisle."
Carlisle nods at Edward's words, not fully processing his meaning.
"I don't know that we have souls. I don't know if that's for any of us to have the final word on. I don't understand why the possibility that you might not have one would stop you from sharing mutual happiness with someone who would like to share it with you."
"She doesn't need to have the curse and chain of immortality to have happiness."
"Sure. I'm sure you could both have fantastic times chatting for the next several decades. Well, maybe the next few years before we have to abandon ship and leave her without a word."
Carlisle's mouth sets into a hard line. He doesn't want to focus on how much that thought twists like a knife in the heart.
"Well, I'm sure you don't plan on breaking any rules about our kind to her."
"No."
"Right, so I guess you have a few years of kinship to look forward to cherishing until you perish." Carlisle rubs his forehead to psychosomatically abate the painful thoughts.
"Unless you change her." Despite having just fed the mere suggestion of him sinking his teeth into Bella and changing her sets his teeth alive and throat burning again. He has no hunger, no thirst, or need for blood but the suggestion alone sparks venom in his mouth. He swallows it down.
"Edward… I would never choose that for her. I will have to be content with a few years. Knowing her for this long has already been something I will cherish." Carlisle manages through gritted teeth. The words are genuine. This is not a family that lies or secrets may hold in.
"You can't be content with that!"
"I may be. And…" Carlisle pauses. The image of Bella passing away is in his mind again, by a car accident, by old age, by slipping in the shower. All images end with him laying to rest beside her. In fire and flame.
Edward's jaw works as he stares Carlisle down.
"No." Carlisle looks up to meet Edward's stony glare and finality in his tone.
Carlisle's tone isn't defeated or unhappy. "I'm not sure that I could stay in a world without her in it."
"Carlisle I know that the pull of the bond is strong. But it isn't everything. You may change your mind yet." Edward sounds barely convinced.
This is likely the sternest and serious conversation they've had in decades. When Esme and Edward entered each other's lives they were inseparable. The years had built up a trust and love so strong that they moved with ease in each other's lives, more than two halves of a whole, but two individuals who found absolute happiness in each other's company.
"Would you go on? Without Esme?"
Edward's lack of answer is enough for them both.
They walk back to the house together and Carlisle changes as per Alice's suggestion. He doesn't look at the blue shirt once it's buttoned up and instead tries to read patiently, trying to avoid staring at the cellphone on his desk.
"Evan, get the absolute fuck out of here. What about flying across the country after breaking up with you told you I wanted to see you in person?"
"Bells, I just want to talk. I don't care that you don't want to see me."
"You never cared about what I wanted."
Evan's eye roll is visible even from fifteen feet away. "Alright, I don't want to have things get any uglier, Bell. Just take that shit down, ok? You wouldn't answer my calls or texts, no one would tell me where you went-"
"Good!"
"And I just wanted to talk about what happened. I still don't understand why you did that instead of talking to me first. That was two years down the-"
"Don't you dare imply I threw our 'relationship' away Evan!"
"Drain! Fuck, Bella!" Evan closes the gap to the counter in a few steps. Bella hits the panic button before she steps back, and reaches blindly behind her along the wall. There was a shovel here somewhere… here!
"Don't come any closer asshole. I don't know why you felt the tiny-dick need to show up at my job and fuck up my life more." Bella is simultaneously grateful and utterly devastated that no one is in the store to witness this. She didn't think that Evan would hurt her weeks ago, but now she isn't so sure. She isn't sure she wants to be seen or overheard with a shovel waving overhead either.
"Bell, just put that down. I don't want to see you hurt yourself, baby. Just let's talk about the… stuff you posted. I don't even know the bitch you posted it about. I haven't seen anyone but you since Freshman year."
Bella is quickly robbed of that uncertain way she's feeling. She's furious and seeing red looking at Evan she can barely even speak to call him out on his lies.
The bell rings, letting both Bella and Evan know that they are no longer alone. Bella lowers the shovel quickly but keeps her death grip on it. The smallest woman she's seen in Forks walks in wearing a headscarf, long sleeves, and enormous sunglasses. She looks like she stepped out of the Hollywood golden age in the head ensemble. The rest of her outfit looks modern but out of place on a relatively warm day in Forks.
"Hi! I need some help finding some camping stuff. My boyfriend loves the outdoors. Do you guys have mattresses for tents? I was thinking about memory foam."
Bella's blood pressure feels enormously high like her heart is beating in her eardrums staring down Evan still.
"Hey, I think the shop is closed," Evan smirks at Alice while trying to hint for her to leave.
"I don't think so. What do you think Bella?"
"Who are you?" Bella's attention is now split trying to keep up with the evolving situation in front of her. Her teeth are set on edge by someone knowing her name and
"I'm Alice. Who's… this?" Alice gestures vaguely in Evan's direction.
"I'm her boyfriend."
"That's my ex." Bella and Evan answer simultaneously. Bella glowers at his answer, and Evan smiles at the newly introduced Alice.
"I'm sure Bella can help you pick out what you need after she's done with her lunch break." Evan tries to supply helpfully with a plastic smile on his face.
Bella feels like she's about to start vibrating with anger.
"Evan, get out." Bella makes her way around the counter, glaring at Evan.
He puts his hands up in mock arrest. Bella realizes she's still carrying the camping shovel. It's a nice piece of collapsible steel that would hurt a guy like Evan. Or any guy for that matter.
"Ok, I'll just chill outside for now. We can chat when you guys are done." Evan smirks at Alice.
"It sounds like she wants you to get out out, bud." Alice's voice may be sweet but the words immediately feel like a threat. Evan suddenly swallows and feels a sense of cold dread and panic wash over him. What the fuck? Something about the small woman sets his spine on edge. His sharp reply doesn't come out. Evan takes a breath to calm himself.
"Sorry about that ladies. Bella," He nods towards the visibly angry girl standing behind the counter.
Alice moves aside and opens the door for him with a gloved hand.
Evan looks at her cautiously and walks by slowly out the door. "Have a good day." The two see him walk to his car and sit in the driver's seat but not move. They watch through the window as Evan starts a small sedan and pulls away slowly, the zipcar logo visible from even behind the register.
"So um, how about that mattress?" Bella plasters on her best customer service smile whale trying to not think at all about the asshole that had just occupied her store and was now waiting for her outside, damn it! Alice steps further into the shop and pulls off her sunglasses and pulls back her silk scarf headwrap.
Jesus Christ
Alice has the same honey amber eye color. Her hair is dark brown shaped into a long and stylish pixie cut. It's not unbelievable that they could possibly be related, Bella remembers him mentioning some family in the area, and having the same eye color is a good possible indicator. Is she related to Carlisle?
Bella places the shovel down and walks around the counter to come face to face a few feet away from Alice.
"Oh, Bella. I know we're going to be great friends."
"How did you my name?"
"Your name tag silly! Plus, that creep called you Bella." Alice points at her vest and tag. Bella blushes, feeling tense and flustered still from Evan's presence.
Alice smiles as she closes the distance in three ballerina-dancing steps pulls Bella into a hug.
"Alright." Bella squeezes out during the hug. It would probably be nice to have a hug after seeing Evan, but my God this girl is much stronger than she looks, with a hug in tiny vice-grip arms.
Alice spills the details on their cover story- she has a sensitivity to sunlight. Maybe, some of that sensitivity is just the desire to prevent wrinkles and sun damage (The UV index is over a 7 here today in Forks! That's literally poison for your skin and eyes!).
"How long have you lived in Forks?"
"It's been almost 4 years now. What about you?"
"My dad's always lived here. I just moved from New York about a month ago."
"New York! Oh, I loved shopping in Soho!" Bella laughs now. Bella doesn't love to shop or dilly dally in stores, but it was nice growing up with shops never far away if needed. Thankfully New York didn't have a shortage of tee shirts and jean shops for young women, so it was never difficult to find something quickly. Finding things within a reasonable budget was another story.
From Alice's attire, Bella was sure that she didn't worry about the price tags or she knew how to thrift from very well-to-do neighborhoods. Growing up, Bella and her friends would thrift jackets and jeans in SoHo. Alice's clothes weren't especially trendy or new, but the outfit looked intentional and purposeful from head to toe. It was a level of coordination that Bella rarely had the patience for. Alice's wistful gaze made Bella feel just the slightest bit homesick before she immediately felt bile at the thought of going back. She wondered how she would ever finish her degree. Transferring seemed like a tough road, but maybe senior year online was an option?
"Yeah, SoHo is great. I think I miss walking the Highline, and just being able to walk everywhere." Bella's thoughts are slightly consumed by the things she doesn't miss.
She had enjoyed clubbing and bar hopping with and without Evan, but the memories with him still left a bitter taste in her mouth. Her night out in Port Angeles had been fun, as Bella colored slightly at the memory before dispelling it. She'd need to get her passport in order to go to Vancouver if she wanted more nightlife and scenery. Maybe Seattle would be worth checking out one day? Seattle was a hike at almost two hours away but it wasn't like a little bit of highway had stopped her before. Maybe next weekend-
"I was thinking about taking a day trip to Seattle in a week or so. If you're around, would you come with?"
Bella was startled by the request and gives Alice a surprised look.
"Carlisle is going too silly! Not just me. And I'd be bringing my Jazz." Alice almost sighed out the last name.
"Oh! You know Carlisle?" Bella chokes out,
"Yeah, he's my cousin. It's too bad for him that I got all of the good genes." Alice smiles at the empty jab at Carlisle.
"But there are worse people to be related to." Bella nods at the information but feels slightly tense. Alice seems really genuine, nice, bubbly, and charming; but she also acted as though they had known each other for more than five minutes. Carlisle had mentioned family in passing but no one by name.
"Um, yeah… I'll have to check in on my schedule and get back to you."
"Oh! I didn't even give you my number yet." Alice produced a cellphone from a tiny black leather luxe purse that had been placed onto the counter.
"Oh um- yeah. I can add mine to your phone and you can text me?" Bella had a knot in her stomach for giving her cell number away quickly. Her hookup in Port Angeles didn't even have her number. But something compelled Bella to add her number to Alice's phone and a moment later her phone buzzed with the message Alice had sent.
"I'm sorry you had to see that earlier. With Evan... I can't believe I was with such a creep. I mean. He wasn't really this bad when things were ok. I guess the red flags just look like normal flags with rose-colored glasses." Alice witnessing as much as they did leaves her feeling embarrassed and vulnerable and results in her being more open than she would have been.
"Bella, don't be silly. You aren't wholly responsible for someone else's actions. And you shouldn't blame yourself for that kind of behavior." Alice speaks as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Plus you'll never be with a creep like that again." Bella smiles and laughs lightly at that statement. It's so definitive that she can't help but agree.
"Yeah, not that brand of creep again. I hope that I can see the warning signs from a few miles away now." Alice's smile and expression is strangely intimidating. She isn't afraid of Alice- it's just like Alice can see through her and knows something Bella doesn't. Or knows more about Bella than she lets on. Bella wonders how much Carlisle shared about her with his relatives. A small flicker of fuzzy, warm hope in her belly ignites at the thought of Carlisle talking about wanting to be with her.
"What kind of creep is Carlisle, anyway?" Bella jokes, aiming for playful. If it gets back to Carlisle that she's interested in him, she wouldn't be upset about it.
At that moment, before Alice can reply, a cruiser skids into the gravel lot of the shop.
Bella remembers the panic button she pushed a few scant minutes ago. It doesn't feel good to be sitting idly when an officer rushed over to her aid. The officer that hops out of the driver seat isn't one of the few that Bella recognizes, but the car is Forks dept.
Alice explains to the officer what she saw unfold when she walked in, and that she was keeping Bella company until the officer showed up.
Bella leads the officer to the back where footage is kept. She then thinks to call Mike, cause she has no idea how to access the footage or anything. It hits her then that she's been coming down from Evan showing up at her job and trying to coerce and intimidate her.
She calls Mike, who says he'll be around in 15 minutes to give the officer a hand with the footage. After she hangs up, she asks for a moment and steps outside to call Charlie. The sun is on her face in the parking lot with three cars. The sedan that she doesn't recognize looks suspiciously nice. Bella's never been into cars or emblems but the body looks sleek, aerodynamic, new, and fast. Bella notices a young man sitting in the driver's seat, paying close attention to a phone, and she turns her body away.
Charlie picks up after the first four rings and she doesn't ease his slightly worried tone when she tells him about what happened and what is ongoing with reviewing the footage.
Bella feels a little silly with Charlie on his way over now too but can't ask him to stay away. It's rational for him to be concerned and want to see what happened. But Bella can't help and dwell that Alice stayed to keep her company, now Mike and Charlie are on their way while there's a cop starting a report on Evan's presence in Forks.
There's something comforting knowing that she has a support system forming around her in this usually rainy town, and the luck of being a police chief's daughter.
The sunlight warms her skin as she takes a few breaths to ground herself.
Leaving New York was probably the best thing she's done since she can remember.
