A/N: … I'm an enabler. Jessypt has figured out I can't say no.

::Jess butts in:: Soooo, when I originally envisioned this story, like seriously over two years ago, I NEVER wanted Carlisle and Bella to end up together. When Kris posted the last chapter, I was content. It was exactly what I wanted.

But then, she had to succumb to her lovely readers (YOU!) and write a mini little "what-if" snippet. And that changed everything. Now, all of a sudden I needed/wanted more. I could envision a life for these two years down the road. So... I basically twisted her arm to write more... and God love her, she did/is!

I hope you like what we've plotted out and that Kris has graciously agreed to write ::cough:: Carlisle/Bella sex ::cough:: twice ::cough:: You're welcome and ENJOY! ::Jess backs out::

Alice was smut with satisfaction when Bella asked for her help putting together an outfit for the concert. Of course. She'd been trying to set Bella up with Jasper's best friend, Peter Damon, for ages.

"It would be too perfect," Alice said, giddy. "My best friend dating his best friend? Come on. You have to see that's kismet."

Bella just rolled her eyes and let Alice believe what she wanted.

In all honesty, she had every intention of giving Peter a chance. He sounded nice enough, and there was no reason not to. Anyway, it would get Alice off her back about moving on past her first, somewhat disastrous relationship.

Freshman year had been an experience to say the least. She was halfway across the country from either of her parents for the first time. It was further than she'd been from the west coast... ever. She was meeting interesting new people - her roommate, of course, and Jasper.

And then there was James.

In retrospect, Bella could have kicked herself for falling for James. It was not a new story. She was the Freshman who knew no one. He was the handsome, charming, athletic upperclassman with a smile that could make anyone's knees weak. There was an edge of danger around James, and though she would kick herself later, at the time, it was appealing.

The relationship only lasted as long as it took for James to show his true colors. He was controlling - psychotically so. When he found Bella and Jasper hanging out together on the quad, he went ballistic. Jasper ended up with a black eye, James with a broken nose, and Bella minus one boyfriend when she kicked his ass to the curb.

She wasn't jaded. Honestly, she wasn't so very attached to James. She'd just never been the kind of girl who needed or wanted a boyfriend constantly. She didn't spend a lot of time thinking about boys.

Except this week. She'd been entirely preoccupied this week, though not with a boy. No, Carlisle Cullen was far away from boyhood.

There were so many reasons nitpicking her outfit for tonight was just ridiculous. It hadn't even occurred to her to do anything before and look where that had gotten her.

Looking in the mirror, Bella put her palms to her flushed cheeks, remembering.

It was easy to convince herself she had to have been dreaming; she had to have made it all up. There was no way she'd spent two nights in an internationally known artist's bed. There was no way they'd been skin to skin, his body pressing hers down.

And even if it had all happened, he'd sent her on her merry way two years ago. It made zero sense that a man with friends all over the world even remembered a silly little girl with a broken down truck. She wasn't so naive that she believed a man like Carlisle - though he was unquestionably a gentleman - had bedded his fair share of people. The blushing virgin who got in over her head too quickly couldn't have been so memorable, at least not for any good reason.

Except there was a whole album that suggested maybe, impossibly, she'd left the same mark on him he had on her.

But what difference did it make? They were still separated by twenty-two years. Certainly, the time between had given Bella more experience, more perspective. But then, it wasn't as though Carlisle had stayed still. He was a father now; his world had changed as much as hers had if not more.

Best not to even think about it, girl, she warned herself.

~0~

Peter was quite funny. He was handsome, charming, attentive, and hilarious when she was paying attention.

He was also very much aware she wasn't paying complete attention.

"Are more of us coming?" he asked, catching her less than surreptitiously glancing around.

Bella cleared her throat, trying not to look guilty. "Just people watching."

He nodded and shifted, leaning in close enough to her ear that Bella shivered at his nearness. It wasn't an altogether unpleasant feeling. "I don't want to make assumptions; you seem like a pretty capable gal. But there's this creeper staring at you."

Surprised, Bella carefully looked in the direction Peter indicated, her heart already pounding.

The corners of the man's eyes crinkled as he grinned at her across the room, the expression teasing and ever so slightly flirtatious.

Alistair.

He extended one hand, crooking his finger in a beckoning motion.

"Just say the word, and I'll do something about it," Peter offered.

"No, it's okay," she said quickly. "He's a friend."

Peter's expression turned incredulous. "He's a friend?" he repeated as if the words were completely nonsensical to him.

Bella frowned at him but found she didn't have enough space in her head to concentrate on sussing out exactly what Peter's look meant. Her throat had gone dry, her pulse thready. Shaking her head dismissively at Peter, Bella found herself lurching forward before she consciously thought through her actions.

"Hey, Alistair," she said when she got to him, pleased that her voice was reasonably steady.

He chuckled, reaching out to take her hand. He pressed his lips to her knuckles, and Bella recognized that he was playing with her. "So, you do remember me. Well, that's quite an honor. Typically I'm the vague shape standing beside the one they're really looking at."

She tilted her head at him. "Does that ever get tiring? Being known for who you are in relation to someone else?"

He raised his eyebrows and gave a little laugh. His smile was private. "If it were anyone but Carlisle, I might be bitter." He chuckled. "Won't you come with me, lovely? I think you know I wasn't the one who spotted you."

At his words, Bella felt herself sway a bit with lightheadedness. When she hesitated, suddenly unbearably nervous and self-conscious, Alistair tilted his head, leaning in to whisper so only she could hear. "He's just about as nervous as you seem, dearie. It's a little adorable, I don't mind telling you."

Bella had to smile. She couldn't help it.

A niggling thought at the back of her mind demanded attention, and she gasped, turning to look over her shoulder. By then, Peter, Alice, and Jasper were all staring her with varying expressions of concern and confusion.

"Here with friends this time?" he observed. "How many?"

"Three."

He nodded and raised his hand, beckoning now to the others. Bella turned slightly so she could give them a smile of confirmation. "Everyone's invited, of course."

Alistair was smooth as ever as he introduced himself and told their motley little crew to follow him.

When she realized where they were being led, Alice grabbed Bella by the arm, hauling her backward to a slower pace. "Bella," she hissed. "We're going backstage! How the fuck did you pull this off?!"

Before Bella could answer, they had arrived in a private room off the soundbooth with a perfect view of the stage.

Alistair excused himself, ducking into the soundbooth, and Bella's friends jumped on her.

"What the heck is going on?"

"Did you win some kind of contest without telling us, hells Bells?"

"Seriously, Bella, if you don't tell me what you..." Alice's words trailed off, her eyes going wide as she focused on a spot just over Bella's head.

The energy in the room had shifted. Even without Alice's reaction, Bella would have known exactly who was standing behind her. Goosebumps raised on her arms, a pleasant shiver shooting down her spine. The skin of her back was warm, as if the energy he exuded was enough she could feel it on her body. She turned slowly.

For a long moment, they stared at each other. Her memories had not done him justice at all, and as before, she observed that no video, no glossy magazine photo could capture his stunning beauty. He was the rockstar again, sexy and stunning.

In direct contrast to the confident way he held himself, his eyes reflected the more serious emotion she felt - uncertain but intense. "Hi, Bella," he said, his tone quiet. He held his hand out.

"Hey," she answered, her voice a breath. She curled her fingers around his.

The moment she touched him, she knew. Everything she remembered about the precious little time she spent with Carlisle was true. She hadn't made up the way the air felt around them: electric and incendiary and alive. Even at this simple touch she felt it, and time, sound, sense seemed to warp.

Suddenly, anything was possible.

~0~

"You realize that's the start to a lot of pornos, right?"

"Alice!" Bella hissed at her friend, turning beet red.

Carlisle looked down at the table top, hiding a smile behind his hand. Bella's friends were amusing to say the least.

Sitting beside her, Peter chuckled, elbowing her lightly to get her attention. "I have this image in my head now of you walking down the road, doing that thing women are supposed to do where they stick their leg out to hitch a ride." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

Beneath the table, Carlisle's fist clenched reflexively. He was glad he had one hand up, over his mouth or someone might have noticed his lips turn downward.

It was completely stupid to be irritated at Peter. He was only acting exactly how any other twenty-something would be around a woman as beautiful and beguiling as Bella. He was a flirt - a charming one at that with the kind of grin that could make a person's breath catch.

And it was very clear he was entirely unaware Carlisle presented any kind of competition.

Obviously, none of Bella's friends knew she'd met him before - that was clear by how they'd reacted to him before the concert. And afterward, the minute they were tucked into the corner booth in the VIP lounge of a swanky club, they demanded the story.

Bella had told them the truth, carefully editing the part where he kissed her and not talking about Portland at all.

Beside him, Alistair cleared his throat. Loudly. He stretched, discreetly bowing his head in Carlisle's direction. "You're being pathetically obvious, mate."

That was when he realized he was glaring across the table, his eyes fixated on Peter's hand. Peter was idly twirling a long strand of her hair around and around and around his finger.

And when Carlisle looked up, he saw that Peter was staring at him.

The two men gazed at each other. Peter's eyes narrowed - the look of a man assessing a threat. Carlisle only hesitated for a second before he let his mouth curl up in what he knew damn well was a sly, cocky grin.

He'd been working an audience, owning a stage for well over half his life. There was no competition, and he could see the boy knew it.

Of course, that didn't stop him from upping his game. Peter wasn't without advantages, Carlisle mused. He was sitting next to Bella for one thing.

And he made so much more sense.

Not for the first time, Carlisle wondered if there was anything going on between them. Bella had introduced him as a friend, but there'd been a pinch of nerves to the sound of her voice.

Honestly, there were a million things he wanted to know but didn't. Even if she wasn't with Peter, was she - or had she been - with someone else? It was likely. In fact, it was what he wished for her. He remembered their game of twenty questions, remembered her coy look when she admitted to kissing one boy and one man.

What would she say now if he were to ask the same question?

"It was nice of you to stop," Jasper commented, still going over the finer points of the story of how Carlisle and Bella met. "A lot of people wouldn't."

Carlisle's smile was easy and sincere as he looked over at Bella, remembering the first time he saw her - drenched and bedraggled, obviously young and pretty. He'd wanted nothing more than to protect her. "It was the middle of the night, on a dark street, in the pouring rain. There was only one right thing to do, in my opinion."

Bella's cheeks pinked as she looked up at him, her lips quirking upward.

Peter chuffed, his eyes searching. "And plenty of wrong things to do." His tone was heavy with implication. "I think there's a special place in hell for any man who'd take advantage of that."

Either oblivious to the sudden tension at the table or not playing into it, Jasper continued on smoothly.

As Carlisle pretended not to notice, Peter stretched, putting his arm around Bella over the back of the booth. He ran the tips of his fingers over her bare shoulder to get her attention and leaned in to whisper something in her ear that made her laugh.

Jealousy made Carlisle's stomach twist, though he knew he had no right.

He had no right at all.

Somehow, that didn't stop him from carefully finding her foot under the table, nudging it gently with his.

It was such a little gesture it could have been misconstrued as an accident. He'd just needed to touch her somehow, someway.

And it took her attention away from Peter. She looked up, toward Carlisle with surprise. He was careful to keep his attention focused on Alice, who was speaking again. Out of his peripheral vision he saw her press her lips together and then felt a tentative toe touch to the side of his foot.

He glanced at her, holding her gaze for a three count beat.

Like when they'd briefly touched before his show, the very air changed. His thoughts were instantly diverted, and he saw nothing, knew nothing but the look in her eyes. He remembered with stunning clarity what it was like the first time he took her face in his hands, how it felt to know with absolute certainty he couldn't live the rest of his life if he didn't kiss her right then.

This girl, this woman, drove him so crazy. She'd turned his life upside down and changed him irrevocably in two nights and now she was right in front of him again. What was he supposed to do with that?

From the moment he saw her on the side of the road, he'd never been able to get her out of his head. He'd spent weeks writing song after song, trying to encapsulate how and why she meant so much in so little time. One album full of songs later and he was no closer to figuring out why, and really, what did it matter?

After she bounced in and out of his life, he'd made so many changes. He'd realized there was so much missing in his life. He spent more time at home now. He'd adopted a wonderful baby boy who made his life so much more complete.

She was the catalyst, and as ridiculous as it sometimes seemed, he'd often found himself missing her.

A question from Alice drew his attention, making him break his stare. He fervently wished they were alone. There was so much he wanted. He wanted to ask her if she'd noticed, when he sang that night, that he'd so often looked up at the dark glass window that hid the private room from view.

He should have felt self-conscious - naked and vulnerable. She'd had a knack for seeing everything - even the words he didn't say when he sang. But somehow, with Bella, it didn't feel uncomfortable being so exposed.

"So!" Peter's voice was a touch too loud even in the crowded club. It made Carlisle start. "It's kind of weird, isn't it? Bella must have been one girl in hundreds." He ducked his head, giving Carlisle a knowing look. "Over the course of your career, obviously."

Carlisle felt a flash of irritation, especially when he saw the insecurity and hurt flash over Bella's face before she looked down at the table. He brushed the tip of his shoe along her ankle until she lifted her head again.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you," he said, looking at Bella instead of Peter. "Bella isn't the kind of girl you forget under any circumstances."

Her answering smile - shy and pleased - was the highlight of his entire week.

~0~

Bella was going out of her mind, out of her skin.

All night, she'd felt jumpy, all too aware of Carlisle's presence. During the concert, she'd been entirely focused. God only knew what the other three might have said to her; she certainly didn't remember. She'd been lost in his movements and the way he sang his songs.

She could have sworn, when he sang the ones from his newest album, he was staring right at her.

Just like the first time she'd seen Carlisle in concert, she had trouble not jumping him the second he got back in the room. Adrenaline made her blood quick and hot through her veins, and she so wanted to touch him. She'd squeezed Alice's arm so hard her friend yelped.

And most of the time at the club, Carlisle kept his distance, engaging her friends as frequently as he did her.

Although, the way he looked at her sometimes... Holy hell. It made her just as breathless as his kisses.

Oh, sweet baby Jesus, she wanted to kiss him again.

But at the end of the night he'd taken her hand, squeezing it tightly, and only kissed her cheek. "It was so good to see you again," he'd said.

And now she was alone in her dorm room - Alice was at Jasper's - miserable and turned on and restless right down to her bones.

If she knew where his hotel was, she would have been there. What she would do...

What she needed was to convince her stupid psyche that he didn't want her. If he did, he would have-

A knock at the door cut off her thoughts. Bella actually gasped, startled at being reminded there were more people in the world than herself and Carlisle.

It wasn't so unusual for someone to knock on their dorm room door in the middle of the night. It was Saturday, after all.

Growling to herself, Bella got up and walked to the door. She opened it, and all the breath left her body in one long huff.

Carlisle was leaning on the door frame, his head resting on his arm, his beautiful face close and his expression uncertain.

For the longest five seconds of her entire life, they just stared at each other, a million questions neither of them knew how to voice filling the space between them.

Carlisle opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again.

And then Bella surged forward, grabbing him by his jacket and dragging him inside. She pushed up onto her toes, her kiss hungry and seeking. These were not tender kisses. These were need, pure and simple. These were filled with every moment she'd tensed her body to keep from touching him, from doing exactly this. They were kisses trying to make up for every moment she'd spent aching, wondering, wishing she'd made a different choice two years ago, that she hadn't left him.

"I missed you," she said breathlessly when they parted for one second.

His arms were wrapped around her waist, but his hands traveled up her body until he cupped her face. His eyes were shining, his expression as thrilled as she felt. "Oh, Bella," was all he said before he tilted his head to catch her lips again.

They would stumble a few feet, stopping to keep each other upright and steady - anything so they wouldn't have to part. She tugged him down onto the couch, pulling his body over hers.

"What are we doing?" he asked, panting hot air against her mouth.

"I don't know," she admitted. "But I don't want to stop this time."

He pulled back minutely, and Bella's heart stuttered, fear making her body freeze up.

Closing his eyes, he sighed quietly and kissed her sweetly, slowly. "Then we won't," he promised.

A/N: So many thanks to AstridGreenEyes who made a cute banner for me. That was so very sweet. I love banners!

I really don't know if I should thank jessypt as I was supposed to be done with this. *glower* But she left flails all over my docs and that makes me smile.

It's almost worth this Carlisle being all … sexy... and...

My stomach. Ugh.

Thanks also to Barburella for putting up with me.