A/N: Moving along!
The summer between freshman and sophomore year was one of the best Bella had ever had. It was the first time she tasted pure freedom. Though she did go home for a couple of weeks to visit her father and her mother came to stay the weekend with her, Bella stayed in her apartment. She had a job, after all, and it would have been a waste to lose her apartment just for the sake of hanging out at Charlie's house while he went fishing.
Edward, on the other hand, did have to go home for the summer break, but given that his mother lived in the same city as their university, Bella didn't see him any less. She felt a little bad that Carlisle kept paying for his little brother not to sleep in his room, but there wasn't much she could do about that.
Either way, Edward was never far, and he—and Carlisle, for that matter—was always there when she needed him. Edward was the one she'd texted with an S.O.S. when she needed to bail on a first date.
"Ugh," she groused, throwing herself down on the couch when they got home. "This is all your fault."
Edward arched an eyebrow, arms crossed as he looked down on her. "How do you figure that?"
"After James, you said you were going to help me find a good guy, but you're always busy, so I had to go looking for myself."
Even though he had to know she was teasing, Edward looked abashed. "I know. I've ditched you too often. It's just this music thing, you know?"
Of course Bella knew. Edward was some kind of unsung music prodigy, and the university was finally beginning to recognize that. He'd been accepted into a summer program that was headed for DC in another month. It was an intense program to say the least. He was putting in an obscene amount of hours practicing.
"I was kidding, nitwit," she said, ruffling his hair as he sat beside her.
He studied her a minute. "Why do you go for those kinds of guys though?"
"What kind of guys?"
He pointed at her, a smirk playing at his lips. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. There's always something about the guys you're attracted to that's a little, I don't know, dangerous?"
"Exciting. Exciting, not dangerous." Bella sighed and tilted her head on the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm like...the perfect mix of my mom and my dad."
"Well, yes. That's true of all of us." Edward snickered.
"No. That's not what I meant." Bella smacked him playfully. "Jerk. I mean when it comes to love. My dad always wanted someone steady, someone who was concerned about him. You know. Someone who wants you to be happy, secure, and fulfilled-all that jazz. And my mom was always attracted to the guys who could give her the biggest thrill."
She shrugged. "My mom was never scared to make a fool of herself for the sake of a good time, and I didn't think that's what I wanted. But, I don't know, I guess I like the thrill more than I thought I would. It's romantic, you know what I mean? In that bohemian, free spirit kind of way? But that part of me that's like my dad gets freaked out when they're a little too wild."
"A balance of the two sounds nice." He tapped the tip of her nose. "Although, exciting doesn't necessarily have to go with bad. Just for the record."
"Yeah, yeah." Bella looked at him. "So what about you? You've got to be surrounded by devilishly handsome musicians. You got any 'this one time at band camp' stories yet?"
Edward rolled his eyes. "I do, but I got over that phase in high school. Musicians are arrogant bastards, Bella."
"You don't say." She fixed him with a grin.
~0~
The semester started, and Edward went from busy, busy, busy to ludicrously busy. After missing him one too many times, Carlisle decided he was going to wait Edward out. He was surprisingly easy to talk to, and before Bella knew it, they'd chatted into the small hours of the morning.
They ended up with their heads bent together, both of them cackling like loons at their plan to remind Edward he was still only nineteen years old and maybe he could act like it every once in a while. A surprise party would be just the thing.
To that end, they swapped numbers. That was how Bella ended up chatting with him as she sat in the library, trying to track down the studies she needed to complete a project she was working on. She was tucked into a far corner, so she didn't think talking softly would disturb anyone.
"Although, speaking of which, he's not the only sophomore who may be taking school a little too seriously. I hear a lot of paper rustling on your end of the line. Are you still at the library?" Carlisle asked.
"Ah, yeah, but I haven't been here that..." Bella glanced at the time in the corner of her laptop and balked. "Shit, it's almost midnight."
"I was going to say. Aren't they closed?"
"In fifteen minutes." Bella sighed and rubbed at her eyes. "Maybe majoring in biology isn't a good idea after all."
"Good thing you haven't officially declared your major," Carlisle said with a chuckle. "Where's your truck?"
Bella considered and cursed again. "Shit. I walked today. I really wasn't expecting to be at the library this long."
"Can you call the Campus police to escort you?"
"I could, but it usually takes forever for them to get here." Bella had made it to the front door of the library now and stared outside. She could see the wind whipping the trees back and forth. "That's if they answer at all." She shook her head. "I'm just going to walk. It's well-lit. Mostly."
"Bella, no." She could hear rustling as he moved around his place.
"You don't have to worry about me. I got the pepper spray my dad gave me."
"Isn't James still being a creeper?"
Bella grimaced, a tendril of fear racing down her spine. Her ex was indeed being a wee bit obnoxious. Nothing too horrible, but the thought of him lurking wasn't entirely out of the question. "I haven't seen him in days. He was just being stupid. You really don't have to worry. There are so many books in my bag, I can use it as a weapon." She tried to joke, but judging from the silence on the other line, it fell flat.
"Just sit tight," he said, and she heard a door close on his end. "I'll be there in ten minutes."
"Carlisle, you have work in—"
"I'm not going to get any sleep anyway until I know you're home safely. Ten minutes."
True to his word, Carlisle and his way-too-fast, sleek car pulled up in front of the library. Bella hurried down the steps. She tossed her backpack in the backseat before climbing into the front.
"Whoa." Carlisle stared into the backseat where her bag had landed with a loud thump. "You really could kill someone with that thing."
"Told you." Bella buckled up and flashed him a smile. "Thanks for coming all the way here just to save me a twenty-minute walk."
"At midnight." He shook his head as he put the car in gear. "You can call me any time for any reason. I hope you know that."
"I do. I would have been fine, though."
"Better safe then—" Carlisle was cut off when Bella's stomach gave a loud rumble. A very, very loud rumble.
Bella clapped her hands over her face. "Oh, man. Because that wasn't embarrassing."
"You've been in the library all day, haven't you?"
"I told you I lost track of time. Don't worry about me. I have—"
"If you're about to say Ramen…"
Bella made a face. "There's nothing wrong with Ramen every once in awhile."
"There's nothing right with Ramen. Unless it's an actual Ramen place, but I know that's not what we're talking about here." Carlisle waved one hand out. "So, Denny's. Buffalo Wild Wings is open until one. There's also that twenty-four hour sandwich place."
"Don't be crazy. It's already crazy that you're out here when you have work in the morning." Though, now that Bella thought about it, she was really hungry.
He turned to look at her. "Do I look like I'm tired?"
"You look like someone who should be watching the damn road!" Bella ducked her head, squeaking as she stared outside. "Cripes, you're worse than your brother, you know that?"
"Ha." Carlisle thankfully didn't take his eyes off the road again. "My brother still owes me from the last speeding ticket he got, so I know for a fact I'm better at speeding than he is."
Bella rolled her eyes. "Strange things you Cullen men are proud of."
"We all have to be good at something." Carlisle pointed a hole-in-the wall place with an Open sign. "How about a taco?"
Deciding that Carlisle was a big boy and could deal with being exhausted, Bella decided sandwiches were the way to go.
Some minutes later, she was settled across from Carlisle, enjoying a BBQ pork, Vietnamese style sandwich on a crusty French baguette and talking about potential majors. "Genetics seemed like the good way to go, you know? It's fascinating stuff, and it's the key to fixing so many devastating diseases." Bella shrugged. "But that's doctorate level stuff, and I'm getting a headache on the 200 level class as it is."
"Nothing worth doing is easy." Carlisle shrugged. "Though, there's no sense in hanging on to a major you picked on a whim, if that's what it was. You're free to change your mind and explore your options. That's what your general education units are for."
"Sure, but it drives me crazy that some of my gen ed courses can be used toward my major if I could only decide." She made a face. "I hate having decisions hang over me."
"I know," Carlisle said with a soft smile.
She eyed him. "How did you decide to be a lawyer, anyway?"
He snorted and looked down, his smile tightening considerably. "Pure obstinacy, actually." He took a long sip of his drink. "I learned from a very young age to control myself, my emotions, and my actions. But inside my head, it was very loud. I was always arguing internally because I couldn't do it externally.
"So, the first thing I did when I got to college was enroll in an argumentation and debate class. Because when I was finally able to speak my mind, I wanted to do so with eloquence, class, and irrefutable logic.
"After that, it was kind of a one thing led to another situation." His cheek twitched. "My charming father consistently told me I was the worst thing to happen to the world, so I decided I was going to help people. Which…" He laughed. "I guess it might not seem like that given that I practice contract law, and entertainment contract law at that, but it was the same principle. The little guy is still screwed over by the big guy, you know? Especially newbie musicians and actors. They don't know any better, and they get taken advantage of. I don't like that. I like to think I'm doing some good."
"Hey." Bella, her heart aching, reached out and brushed her fingers over his on his coffee cup. She waited as his eyes, troubled and heavier than they had been just minutes before, met hers. "You are doing good things. Your dad's a dick."
He smiled and ducked his head. "Yes. You've mentioned that before."
"Hey, you know what I was thinking?"
"What's that?"
"This is the first time we've had dinner just you and me. No Edward."
Carlisle considered her a moment, thinking. "It is, isn't it?"
"And you're here looking out for me. I guess I'm officially your honorary sister, huh?"
His smile was oddly rueful as he looked down at his coffee. "I always did want a little sister." He looked up at her, his smile more genuine now. "A sister from another mister."
Bella laughed. "Yeah. My dad's a great guy."
"Thank goodness for that."
A/N: He's been brother-zoned. Dun dun dun.