Carlisle buried himself in his work for a solid week and a half, though he didn't completely avoid family gatherings the way he had for so long.

He joined them for an ice skating session and it triggered his mind to playing hockey with Jacob and the others. He went to a Christmas parade with Alice and Jasper. He even attended a Christmas party with the people from work. It wasn't the worst way to pass the time - but Carlisle acknowledged how he felt something was missing. That something was Bella.

"Hang in there," Alice whispered when she sensed there was a night Carlisle appeared extra lonely as the two week mark of her absence closed in.

He smiled at her and allowed her to take his mind off of it with a few rounds of chess.

"I won't cheat and try to see your moves beforehand," Alice promised, making him laugh.

What cheered him up a little were the pictures Bella would send him from her days on the reservation. She was happy and it made him feel a little torn. The last thing Carlisle wanted was to pull her away from her family.

It shouldn't stress you out. He heard the words Alice echoed to him over and over again. Regardless of the circumstances he was certain it would all work out.

Saturday night marked two weeks since he had been in Bella's company and he didn't know if she might pop in before Christmas for a quick visit.

"Imagine Dragons aren't going to wait on us!" Emmett shouted, spinning on a backwards baseball hat as Rosalie joined him by the front door. They waited on Jasper and Alice, hearing Alice's outward struggle about her last minute outfit change.

"You look good no matter what!" Rosalie shouted to her sister and soon she and Jasper came whipping down the stairs.

"Jas, you good?" Emmett asked.

"He's good," Alice assured them. "We hunted just this morning."

Carlisle walked to the door, having declined the invitation to go to the concert they were attending. He glanced down to see a photo of Bella with Nessie that she texted on the porch of their home in Washington. A smile decorated his face and he then he refocused on the four of them.

Have fun," Carlisle said with a nod and a grin.

"What's our curfew?" Jasper teased, making him chuckle.

"If there are any.. emergencies," Carlisle told them. "Just leave."

They all knew what he meant by emergencies. Everyone nodded and smiled.

"It should be a smooth evening," Alice assured him. "Sure you'll be okay here?"

He chuckled again. "I'm fine, Alice. Have fun."

The four of them bid him a farewell and then Carlisle settled himself on the couch and turned on the television. He took the time to text Bella back regarding the photo and then sighed as he placed the phone beside him.

With nothing better to do he flipped through the stations and found a college football game to watch. He wasn't a huge fan but he always quietly rooted for Notre Dame.

Another text message came through from Bella: What are you doing?

He wrote back: Watching the Notre Dame game.

Close game so far, she wrote, 10-7.

Carlisle smirked to himself, surprised she was watching the game. He eyed the television and noted she was correct on the score.

It's a good one, he typed back.

Carlisle leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees as he got into the next few plays of the game. With the ball on the goal line the quarterback dove into the end zone and one of the referees threw his arms straight up to indicate a touchdown, while another ref threw a flag to call a penalty on the play.

His phone went off again.

What was that flag for? Bella wrote to him.

Before he could write back there was a knock at the front door and Carlisle turned and looked. He slowly rose to his feet and went to open it. When he flung the door open he almost couldn't speak.

"Pretty sure the defense face-masked one of the Notre Dame guys," Bella said, standing at the door with a big smile. Her expression was a combination of amused, excited and guilty. She held her phone in her hand and bit down on her bottom lip. "Is it creepy that I watched the last few plays through the-"

Carlisle pulled her to him and kissed her hard. She wrapped her arms around him and when he finally pulled back, he laughed against her lips. "How are you here?"

"I'm very fast," she teased

Carlisle looked down at his phone. "But the picture.."

"It was from yesterday," she confessed. "I didn't mean to lie but I wanted to surprise you."

"Well I'm surprised." Carlisle smiled and almost felt frozen for a moment before Bella finally took the initiative and pulled him by the hand inside.

"I can't believe you're here," he said again, looking at her like she might be a mirage.

"I missed you," Bella told him, placing her hands on his chest. "And the nights were getting.. long.. and lonely."

"I understand."

"Didn't feel like going to the concert?" She asked, looking back up at him with a little smile.

He grinned and smirked. "This, uh.. this was very well planned out, wasn't it?"

"Sorry for not telling you."

Carlisle picked up Bella by the backs of her legs and she wrapped her arms around him as she sat in his hands. "You should surprise me more often."

Both of them smiled into a kiss that they each prolonged, fighting the other for dominance. Carlisle sat down on the couch with her straddling his lap and their lips finally parted.

"God, I missed doing that," she breathed against his lips with her eyes closed as she toyed with the back of his hair. When her eyes flickered open she ran a hand along his face, making him open his eyes.

"I want you to be here every day with me," Carlisle said quietly. "I can go back to Forks if it's better. You looked so happy there." He closed his eyes as she played with his hair some more.

"I already talked to everyone in Forks," Bella explained. "Nessie.. Jake.. they know what I want." He opened his eyes and she went on. "There's a U-Haul truck with a lot of my stuff in it here."

Carlisle opened his eyes and she took a deep breath.

"I hope.. I hope that's okay," Bella went on speaking a mile a minute. "I didn't really ask you. I just-"

"Really?" Carlisle asked. A smile spread across his face.

"It's nothing for me to run home when I want to see everyone. I want to be here.. with you."

Carlisle placed both of his hands on her face and couldn't keep a smile from his face. He didn't have the words to respond with. The entire evening had taken him totally off-guard and so he just pulled her back to him and left a long, closed-mouth kiss on her lips.

Bella kissed him back and let her forehead touch his when their lips parted. "So, it's okay?"

"Okay?" Carlisle laid his head all the way back now against the couch cushion and looked up at her. Even through his reaction he could tell Bella needed verbal confirmation from him. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. "Bella, this is the best surprise I've gotten in a long time."

She smiled and looked down and then back up to meet his stare. Bella leaned down the rest of the way to kiss him again. "I'm sorry for not telling you," she said again

"You're forgiven," he said with a grin against her lips and then teased her as he kissed up her neck. "Why don't you make it up to me right now?"

Bella smiled. She loved this sexy, playful side of Carlisle that she never would have known existed if she wasn't experiencing him first hand.

"Mmm.." her eyes closed when he bit down gently just above her collar bone. "Deal."