Esme could not believe it.

She just could not believe it.

Several hours ago she vowed herself never to speak to another single living soul, and had resigned her fate to an emotional pit of her own anguish and sorrow.

And yet this Doctor, no, this task master comes into her room and barks orders at her to do his will. She had every intention of not moving from her bed and to find another object to throw at him (Something sharp perhaps.), but somehow, instinct told her it was a fool's choice. She was still upset of course, but her anger had mellowed its flame.

Probably due to the idea of having a tube in her stomach, and him force feeding her.

Even though it was against her will, and she hated him for it - she changed her dress.

She didn't however, comb her hair. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

After all the fuss thirty minutes earlier, and the resistance she so valiantly held, Esme now found herself sitting together with Carlisle at the dinner table.

A maid had placed a small bowl of soup in front of her, and a small silver spoon. She shifted in her seat slightly, annoyed at the hawk-like gaze she could feel emitting from her dinner companion.

"Well?" Said Esme, her tone antsy.

"Well what?" Carlisle replied blandly.

Esme could hear him flick a page in what she guessed must be, either a newspaper or book.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?" She asked him.

"Aren't you?" He retorted with a sullen sort of humor.

She let out an exasperated sigh and picked up her spoon and dipped it in the bowl as it made a small sloshing noise.

"Ugh- Ew-" She remarked as she gulped down the watery liquid. The soup was stone cold, and held an aftertaste she strongly disliked.

"Don't give me that excuse." Said Carlisle, raising an eyebrow at her.

"But the soup is cold!" She exclaimed, allowing the spoon to drop into the bowl mid-length.

She could hear him turn another page.

"Hmmm." He muttered, "If you had an earlier change of heart, and perhaps temper - earlier, perhaps that meal would have still been warm."

"But-"

Esme heard something snap in his hand loudly, which told her that he was indeed holding a book, and also told her to tread lightly.

"Finish your meal." He said in a low voice.

She made a small noise, " But do you really have to sit there and stare at me while I digest my food?"

"Yes."

"But why? I demand to know why I'm being observed as if I were some form of lunatic!" She said tenaciously, setting her spoon down.

"You're dilly-dallying." He replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I was not!" She insisted.

"Yes you are."

"No-"

"Stop it!" He snapped at her, "Finish your food, do not test me."

She decided to keep her mouth closed this time, the man made her feel exasperated and ludicrously inferior. Deciding she did not want to cause another turbulence, she finished her soup in silence.

After she finished her supper, she was surprised at how hungry she felt without realizing it, and how her body was silently craving for food for the past several days. Twenty minutes later, after she had finished dessert. Esme was served her after-dinner tea. She sipped it slowly as the scent tickled her nose. She wanted to ask Carlisle why he had not eaten together with her, but somehow she tried guessing the answer herself. Perhaps he already has eaten, or he doesn't like cold soup. Probably both.

As their time in the large dining room continued, she found his silence to be, in a very bizarre way, comforting. It was in a way nice to have someone to be of company to her. Though he would not be her first choice, obviously, his reticence was still in its own eccentric way - pleasant. If you overlook his overall morose and icy charisma.

She continued to sip her tea, her anger melting away. It was almost unbelievable how angry she was at him; at everyone actually, and even worse, how angry she made him with her actions. She had almost forgotten what normalcy felt like. When her grandmother passed away, all she could feel was abandonment and wrath, mixed with her feelings of inadequacy as a child. But like most children, her insecurities were buried deeply. Then the last week rolled by, it was as if she were being drowned in her sorrows, and she could not find the strength to resurface.

She shivered infinitesimally when she remembered how he had just grabbed her by the shoulders at the height of his anger. How violent his emotions were against her, how uncontrollable she made him. But for now, tonight, the emotional storms had calmed. Though Esme was not angry anymore, although she did feel tremendously guilty at the way she acted, she still could feel the painful emptiness within her chest.

She fidgeted with her fingers, blinking slowly. She was not exactly good with apologies, and for starters she does not even know what to say to the strange man who had so forcefully, so vociferously, pulled her out of the oblivion she threw herself into and back into the world of the living.

Her thoughts refocused once again when she heard him going through whatever book he was reading.

She opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say. She secretly wondered whether he was still upset with her.

"Dr. Cullen?" Said Esme as she set the half empty cup onto its ivory saucer.

"Hmm?"

"Would you like some tea?"

"No, no thank you Miss Platt. Have you finished yours?" Said Carlisle evenly as he tucked the book under his arm, making a move to stand up and to call for Mr. O' Hara.

"Yes, sir."

"Very good then."

Carlisle looked at her face, a pale face that was contrasted by wild curly locks, and eyes the shade of Sienna.

She opened her mouth again, and this time instead of hastening to leave, he sat back down and awaited what she had to say. He could sense it was something important - for her at least.

"May I tell you something Doctor?"

"If you wish."

"I know I took an awful lot of your time tonight," She began, her eyes vaguely moistened, "I'm very sorry for the way I acted." She said tonelessly, trying to surpress the waves of emotion that were lapping within her heart. "She was all I had, you see. She was all I knew. This house and its memories are all I know..." Her voice was breaking as the tears started to fall.

"My parents died when I was young, I thought then I was truly alone, till she sent for me. And for a while, I thought I finally found a home, a place to belong..."

She started to sob, her tears falling down to her dress. "I'm frightened... And I'm angry each time I think that I was not the granddaughter she wanted - she deserved."

"I was always so difficult with her..."

She broke down completely as she covered her face with one of her hands.

Carlisle watched the crying, trembling girl before him. The child she once was, and how that child had grown, and yet in several respects remained the same. Somehow in all her grief and sadness, he could feel it too. That profound feeling of pain that made the spirit weep. But he dared not touch her.

Several moments later when the tears started to subside, she asked quietly, "Why did you come tonight?"

He studied her for a moment, "Because I was needed...and because, I made a promise, something I intend to keep."

He watched her nod, as she wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

He extended his right hand hesitantly, and slowly, gently, patted the back side of her hand that was idle. That was all he could do, he himself could not offer comfort, for he himself in all his misery was never comforted. And he wouldn't even know how to begin.

Esme felt his fingers brush against the skin on her hand.

She was about to say something else, when from a distance a noise could be heard.

Like a soft whistle in a strange descending tone. It was faint at first, then louder and louder, till an explosion erupted so loud that it soared from the earth; rumbling the ground as its flames reached for the heavens.

Then a stunned silence so loud that it seemed to sweep over the entire globe, till the first cries of horror broke the solitude.

Carlisle looked up at the chandelier above them, he watched the light flicker till it went black.

A/N: Hey guys! Hope you had fun reading! Thank you so much for all your support, and all the amazing reviews, I love you guys! You are all wonderful people, and the best readers I could ever hope for! And also things are going to get a little crazy in the next few chapters so stay tuned!

God Bless!