Chapter eight... yeah. I feel horrible that I like never update my fics... this school year is extremely stressful, and I've got midterms coming up soon with two more projects to do for English class, so I'm pretty overwhelmed with work and stuff. My sincere apologies to all of you who have been looking forward to frequent updates. But... here it is, and I hope you all like it (:

Carlisle Cullen

Fortunately, my mother had never found out about my skipping school a few days before, and my routine schedule continued flawlessly. Esme's personality in school hadn't changed in the slightest, though; she still continued to stay silent and not put herself out there any more than she did before. She rarely spoke to me during school hours, but I found myself still trying to pry more into her life, trying to discover more of what motivated her to be the way she was. I'd mostly failed, as she never seemed to give me a second glance, except for those few times when I saw her in town or in my fourth period Geometry class. I, of course, knew that my friends had noticed my somewhat strange change in behavior after my absence, though they didn't vocalize it.

After a stressful day at school, I let my bag drop to the floor next to the couch in the small living area of my home as I flopped onto the couch. I pulled the laptop that my mother and I shared onto my lap and pulled up an internet window to check my e-mail. I found yet another new message from Erin, instantly reminding me of her last virtual message; the one that informed me of Esme's disappearance. What could she need to tell me now? I thought as I clicked on the link that brought me into the message. It read:

"Hey Carlisle,

Do you mind meeting me at our tree around 4PM today? I need 2 talk to u about something.

~ Erin"

After typing back a one-lined response to her request, I glanced at the clock. It was 3:30, so that gave me a little time to get down there and contemplate what exactly she needed to speak to me about.

I left the house only a few minutes after receiving Erin's message, and had made it to the tree in about twenty minutes. My watch read 3:53 by the time I reached my destination. I sunk to the ground to sit on one of the tree roots while I waited for my friend, and after a few moments of sitting there and staring at the sky, I heard footsteps approaching and none other than Erin stepped into the small area.

"Hey," I greeted her, standing up from my place on one of the long, stumpy tree roots. "So, you need to talk to me about something...?"

Erin nodded curtly, "Yeah. I do."

I made a slight gesture with my hand, asking her to proceed, "Well, then, go ahead. We've got time." Erin paused for a few moments, as if she were unsure of how to bring up the subject of which she needed to speak with me about. She chewed on her lip for a few seconds – a habit she had from the moment I met her – before taking in a deep breath and beginning to speak.

"Okay, so, it's about that Esme chick again," she began, before I abruptly cut her off.

"Her name is Esme. Not 'that chick' or 'the emo girl' or anything else."

"Okay, okay. Esme. Well... that day a few days ago, when you were absent... she wasn't there, either. Where were you? I mean, Carlisle, you never get sick. You've got, like, the most amazing immune system ever. There's no way you were sick that day." So that's what this is about, I thought, stifling a light sigh. She, yet again, was fretting over my friendship – well, I don't even think it was a friendship, really – with Esme. Could I really just lie to Erin about that? Lie to my best friend?

"Fine, you're right. I wasn't sick." Yeah, I guess I just didn't have the guts in me.

"Then where were you? I tried calling your house, Carlisle, and no one picked up. I also tried your cell and it just went straight to your voice-mail. You know, an explanation for that would be pleasant," my friend replied. Slightly chewing on the inside of my cheek, I stuffed my hands in my pockets and leaned my shoulder against the tree.

"Well... I was with Esme. Y'know, just hanging out." My gaze was glued to the ground, refusing to be torn away from its spot to look up at Erin.

"You skipped school to hang out with her?"

"Yes. Your point?"

"Carlisle, you and I both know that you're most definitely not that stupid. For starters, you're a straight-freaking-A student and would never ditch school, and number two... Really? Her?"

I stifled a light sigh and finally brought my gaze back up to meet hers, "Erin, why do you have such a problem with her? The last time she came up in a conversation between you and I, well, you got all pissed off at me for talking to her. What don't you like about me being friends with her?" Erin paused here, her lips slightly parted, giving me the impression that she was about to shoot back a retort to my question. Her voice formed no words for the next few moments that dragged by like hours as I waited for her response. I let my calm gaze settle on hers once more, slightly rising my eyebrows as if I were saying, 'Are you going to answer me or not?' After a couple more year-long minutes, Erin's soft voice uttered five words:

"Because I like you, Carlisle."

"You...what?"

She sighed exasperatedly, "I like you! What part do you not understand? I mean, you're smart, you're caring, kind, and not to mention it, but...well, you're handsome, too. You're also my best friend," she paused for a few seconds, "and I... I don't want you to like her. I've known you for years, Carlisle. Years. I've liked you for all that time, too, I've just never had the guts to say it or anything, and it's just... you don't even... ugh!" She then dropped to her knees on the grass, burying her face in her hands. Involuntarily, I knelt next to her and gently placed my hand on her shoulder.

Well, this for sure complicated things.

I couldn't yet say at this point that I really 'liked' her back. I also couldn't yet say that I liked Esme in that way, either. But at the same time, the difference between my feelings towards Erin and my feelings towards Esme was like a gaping hole, to say the least. Erin, obviously, was my best friend and had been since I'd come to this town; she also was like a sister to me, and I would have never once thought that dating her would be a likely occurrence for the two of us. Esme, on the other hand... well, she was different. I wasn't sure if I could really call her a friend of mine, but whenever I was near her, that little inkling of that one little emotion that I couldn't seem to decipher always set itself in the front of my mind and gradually grew more and more as I spent more time with her. As that tiny emotion grew, I often wondered if the feeling was mutual between the two of us.

I didn't realize until I felt Erin's light touch removing my hand from her shoulder that I had been staring off into nowhere, lost in my own little world of thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Carlisle," she whispered. "I'm so, so very sorry."

"What for? Having emotions?"

"No, just for... everything. But most definitely this."

I made a movement to raise one eyebrow in confusion at her statement, but then my wonders slipped from my mind as she leaned in and forcefully crushed her lips to mine.