That evening, Carlisle and I had the house to ourselves. Emmett was driving Rose down the coast, and Alice and Jasper had left together shortly after, not saying when they would be back.

The fire was lit in the grate, the crescent moon reflecting off the glass coffee table and the scent of burning candles filled the room. Carlisle had his nose in another book, leaning on the wall off glass. I stared into the fire and sighed.

He looked up at me, and placed his book down."Darling, do not linger on it," he whispered into my ear, rapping his arms around me. His breath tickled me, and I shivered. He chuckled softly, kissing the base of my neck. "It is not your fault. Edward made his decision, and I am immensely proud of him."

"I do worry though, how can I not?"

"As do I. But he has gone to Denali, there Tanya will make sure he is ok, and you know Carmen will treat him as kindly as you or I would. As for Kate, well, she will make sure he doesn't mope about the house, she'll keep him as busy as anything, and slap him right out of it. You know she wont stand him being miserable. No one is allowed to be miserable around her!"

I chuckled. "I suppose you're right," I sighed. I turned round in his arms to face him. Those golden eyes still made me feel weak at the knees. He smiled slightly and lent down, resting his forehead on mine. I felt butterflies in my stomach as he pulled me closer to him.

"At over 350 years old, my dear, aren't you a little old for this?" I whispered with a smile.

"Darling Esme, you make me feel as young as I look. With you, my years count for nothing." He chuckled once, and tilted my chin up, bringing my lips to his. Even though it was the briefest of kisses, I felt all my worries drain away. Sure, Edward had left, but he was ok. He had spoken with Carlisle, and was now on his way to stay with our extended family. And Carlisle was here, with me. And nothing could change that.

"Esme?" he whispered, bringing his lips just below my ear.

"Mmm?" I replied, my eyes closed as I ran my fingers through his thick hair, pressing myself to him.

"I love you."

"I love you too Carlisle. I love you so very, very much."

He placed his hands either side of my neck and brought his face down to mine once again. His lips met mine, and lingered there longer, moving with mine perfectly. Tracing my lower lip with his tongue, he opened his mouth slightly, letting out a sweet, warm breath, and I felt myself becoming lost with him...

The morning sun streamed through a rare gap in the clouds, sending sparkling diamonds across our skin, and I sighed.

"Esme? Are you ok?" Carlisle asked in a low voice, stroking my cheek.

"Yes. Just sad we must return to reality, once again." I much preferred staying in our room, alone with Carlisle. There just didn't seem enough hours in the day.

"I do have the day off, you know," he winked at me, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Good, then you can help me. It's that time again. We need to go down the the Newton's store and buy more camping gear, seeing as we haven't been there for a few months, and the grocery store is simply screaming my name. And then we can call Denali, and see how Edward is..." My voice trailed off. Edward. I wanted to cry for him, but, much like the other 80 years of my life like this, my body failed me. So instead I buried my head into Carlisle's shoulder and prayed that Edward would be back soon. Not even 24 hours and I was missing him dreadfully.

"We're going to school now," Alice said from the bottom of the stairs moments later. She sounded miserable.

"Try to have a good day," Carlisle called back, rubbing my back rhythmically.

"Time to get up I guess, we have to face the world sooner or later," I sighed, sitting up in the great white bed. I looked around. To the left of me, the door to the en suit stood ajar, the white tiles and mirrors sparkling, and the door to the enormous closet stood beside it. In front of me, the wall-length window revealed a miserable day, the break in the clouds from earlier long gone, leaving behind a familiar grey. The mountains behind the forest that we were in stood tall and proud in the distance. And to my right, lay my perfect husband. Half of him was covered in the bright white bed clothes, the other half almost as pale as the sheets themselves. I couldn't help but marvel at his perfect torso. His toned stomach, muscular arms, strong shoulders, they astounded me every time at their perfectness. He looked like he had been carved by angels. He leaned forwards to kiss me once again, and I willingly left myself fall back on to the bed with him.

Later that day I phone Denali. They said Edward was unrecognisable in his behaviour. They said he was the closest thing to depressed they had ever known him.