Hello, all…so… school's over now. So hopefully I can devote some more time to my fanfic. I would like to thank you guys for all of the reviews and feedback you've given me over the time I've been working on this fic; they really mean the world to me, and they're really what keeps me going on my pieces. (: So… here's the long-awaited chapter sixteen. I hope you enjoy it.
Carlisle Cullen
"Hey, Carlisle? Come here for a moment." I closed the book that was lying open on my desk, bounding down the stairs to answer my mother's call.
"Yeah, mom?"
"I just wanted to let you know that we're moving out of New York. I got a job offer in California, so we'll be moving there once school lets out." I merely nodded, struck speechless by the sudden news. One day, we're living a perfectly normal life, then the next we're moving across the entire nation? I have a life here. Friends, family, school. I couldn't leave that behind. What if I never came back?
Huh. Who would have thought that I'd get the chance to return to my so-called "life" in the Big Apple.
To be honest, I had thought that I would miss New York when we left (yeah, right, miss the corrupted state government and being able to experience all four seasons within one week… of course, I was only ten) but strangely enough, I ended up growing more accustomed to California than I ever did back in my home state.
Now that I had the chance to return to my former life, I was baffled. It almost gave me an odd twinge of xenophobia, just thinking about how drastically my life would be altered by returning to my original home.
The largest, most potent conflict I had to confront was Esme.
Yes, I was willing to begin living with my father once more, but only if she was able… no, she wouldn't be able to accompany me. Her father, in prison or not, would never stand for it. Her younger sister also had to be dragged into the formula, which posed an even more complicated version of my plan.
As if she were cued, Esme entered the slightly ajar door, striding across the short distance to my bedside. She took her usual place on the chair to the left, balling up her hands in her lap.
"Hey," I greeted her, forcing a welcoming smile to appear on my lips.
"What have you been thinking about lately?" she questioned plainly, her gazed fixed firmly on the tiled floor below.
Pausing for only a brief moment, I thought up the most basic response, "Things."
"These things being?"
"You're quite straightforward today, aren't you?" I joked lightly, chuckling awkwardly.
"Not necessarily. I'm only wondering if you… thought about a certain something." She finally lifted her gaze from the floor to stare at me pleadingly.
A short sigh escaped my lungs. She didn't even need to specify what it was that she wanted to know. "I haven't made a decision yet, Esme. My mom hasn't mentioned anything, either. Hell, she hasn't even come down here since my dad did."
"Oh." She nodded. "I understand." Silence fell upon the two of us, the only noise occupying the room being the dull hum of the air conditioning.
"But I had an idea," I began, the sound of my voice falling upon the room as if a fifteen-pound bowling ball had been thrown onto the floor. "I was thinking that… if you wanted to… that you could maybe… come with me?"
She simply blinked, procrastinating on responding to my offer. "You want me to what?"
I gulped down the apprehensive knot that had formed in my throat, nervously kneading my hands together, "I asked if you wanted to come to New York with me."
"Carlisle, I…" her sentence trailed off, leaving me in limbo of confusion for a brief second, "I'd love to go with you, but… I can't just leave. I mean, I can't just leave Alice here. You have your friends here, too; you're going to leave them behind?" She paused, inhaling the potent scent of the hospital, "I wish I could go with you, but I can't."
My gaze dropped to fix itself on the starched sheets of the bed, studying each of the small stitches that had somehow managed to come loose. "I get it."
"I'm sorry," she whispered, absentmindedly wrapping her fingers around mine, "I just… I can't leave Alice here and… well, you're not sure if you're even going to go yet, right?"
I shrugged lightly, my eyes still fixed on the bed sheets, "I don't know. It's up to my parents, really. They have the ultimate authority."
"Things will work out," she comforted softly, "they always seem to, one way or another." She sent a slight smile in my direction, slowly inching closer to my face within the few seconds that followed. Our lips finally touched for the first time in a number of weeks, and fortunately went uninterrupted by any sort of outside distraction for the couple of seconds that passed. The two of us were completely absorbed in the contact until the click of the door made it way to our ears. We sprang asunder at the sound, the few moments of bliss that were once in our possession immediately dissipated as the man strode into the room.
"H-hey, Dad," I greeted, my voice adopting a slightly nervous tone. "What's up?"
He didn't bother to return my greeting or even acknowledge Esme's presence before he continued on to his own matters, "I need to talk with you alone, Carlisle. If your…girlfriend wouldn't mind stepping out for a few moments?" She has a name, I thought, internally rolling my eyes at his means of addressing Esme. I looked in her direction, asking with my eyes if she would mind granting me my unwanted privacy. She merely nodded, responding with, "I'll be out in the hallway."
As soon as the door clicked shut, my father perched himself on the wooden armrest of a chair that sat next to the bed. He stifled a sigh, uncomfortably scratching the short stubble of what I assumed he called a beard. "I know that you're not going to be happy with me when I tell you this," he began tentatively, "but I spoke to your mother… and she thinks it best that you do come along with me to New York for a little while."
I set my eyes on his face, my jaw hardening. "How long is this 'little while'?" I demanded as politely as possible, refusing to avert my gaze until he gave me the response I was waiting for.
"Just until you finish high school." He must have felt the sensation of my gaze smoldering into the side of his head, because he then continued, "I know that seems like a long time, son, but… I regret leaving you like I did. I never really got to know you, and I'd like to. A good start would be having you move in with me."
"Moving in with you entails traveling across the entire nation, Dad. Maybe it'd be a bit different if you lived a few streets down instead of thousands of miles east."
He sighed once more, finally mustering up the courage to turn around and fully face me, "That's true. But try, please just try, to think of the pros in this. New York would be a new environment – in a strange déjà vu sort of way – for you. It would be like… starting over."
My jaw kept itself clenched throughout my next sentence, "What kind of sick joke is that?"
"Pardon?"
"'Starting over'? That's what you think this is? Maybe you should have 'started over' six years ago when you went through that so-called mid-life crisis, or whatever the hell it was. Maybe you should have tried to 'start over' a couple years ago, instead of disappearing off the face of the Earth and suddenly making a comeback as soon as I get shot in the head. That's what it takes for you? It takes your kid getting drastically injured and moving across the entire damn country for you to want to 'start over'?" At the end of my speech, I let out the excess sigh that had built up, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger.
"Carlisle," James murmured carefully, waiting a few seconds for me to calm myself down, "that's not what this is about. At all."
"Oh, it's not? Funny how you suddenly reappeared after someone shot me, then, Dad. Funny how you never stopped to think, 'hey, maybe I should go visit my son' before this happened."
He gave me what looked like a reassuring glance, placing his hand lightly on my shoulder, "I did. I did think of that before this happened. Don't believe for a second that I wasn't thinking about you, son."
"Then why didn't you act on it?" I removed his hand from my shoulder, awaiting the answer that never came. Instead, he decided to change the subject from his own faults to mine.
"Look, this isn't about me, I know it isn't. You don't want to leave your girlfriend; that's why you're being so difficult. Am I right?"
"First of all, she has a name. Her name is Esme¸ and I suggest that you remember that for my sake. Second of all… fine, yes, she is a part of it. But there's also the fact that I don't want to move across the entire country. That's just pointless."
Frustratedly, James stood up from his place on the chair, running his fingers through his grey hair. "I'm not going to argue with you over this, Carlisle. Point is, you're coming with me as soon as you get discharged from this hospital." He tentatively patted my tense shoulder before striding out of the room, exchanging places with Esme who took a seat on the edge of my bed.
She leaned back next to me, and I took the chance to gently lay my head n her shoulder, "Did you hear any of that, by chance?"
"Yeah," she whispered, "the last part."
I lifted my gaze to her, attempting to blink away the sorrow that my eyes held, "I guess I'm going with him. There's no changing his mind on this one."
"Do you know when you're going?" she asked, leaning her head to rest on top of mine.
"He said as soon as I'm discharged."
This statement did not receive an answer; she simply slid off the bed and placed a gentle, lasting kiss on my cheek. "I... It's getting late. I should get home to Alice, so… I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Sure," I replied faintly, watching her exit the room. The door clicked shut, leaving me with only the sound of my own breathing.
# #
Esme entered the door of her home, letting out a short huff of breath as she locked it behind her. Slipping off her sweatshirt, she laid it on the back of a kitchen chair on her way into the living area. She plopped herself onto the soft cushions of the couch, letting her eyes fall shut as if to fully absorb the news she had just been granted with.
He's leaving.
If only she had accepted the offer to go with him. If only she were able to. Just when she thought that things were starting to look up, just when she thought that she'd be able to pull out of the metaphorical abyss she had been living in, the one thing – the one person - she had relied on was, once again, being torn from her in a fit of unjust cause.
What would become of her? First her mother, second, her beloved Carlisle – what was next? Alice?
The taste of salt landed on her lips, each small tear sliding down her cheek in time with the tick of the clock.
No. No, this wasn't happening. It couldn't be. There had to be some sort of way to stop this – there had to be something to change his father's mind. Unlike her late mother, there was still a small, nearly microscopic twinge of hope that this plan could be halted. Esme's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a petite form hopping onto the couch next to her.
"Ez, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Alice inquired, her large eyes staring questionably at her older sister.
"Um… nothing you need to worry about." Esme paused for a moment, noticing the time, "You should be getting to bed. It's late, Alice." She discreetly wiped away the excess tears that were left on her cheek, standing up from the couch and taking her sister's arm into her hand. "Come on, let's go."
Once she had finished readying Alice for bed, Esme entered her own bedroom, not bothering to turn on the lights or change out of her clothes before lying down on the bed. She left the window open a light crack, hoping that the sounds of the nocturnal nature outdoors would help to clear her thoughts of the dread that they held for the future.