Whew- finally! The chapter I had in mind since the idea of writing this fanfic popped into my head... this is my first attempt at romance, hope it hasn't ended up being too tacky or anything... Enjoy!

Declarations

We ran for a considerable distance without slowing down or even changing direction. We just ran on and on, hands clutched firmly, not letting go. Already I felt a strange warmth flooding through me- impossible in this cold body of mine, and yet it was true. Just being there, my hand in his, running so effortlessly… everything already felt right with the world.

We finally stopped at the base of a snowcapped mountain. He slowed down and I did with him, until we were slower than most humans. Then, almost gently, he twirled me around as we jogged to a stop so that I stopped facing him, barely a foot away from him.

Though it wasn't a full moon night, I could still see his flawless features, his golden eyes with perfect clarity. We stood like that for a long minute, just gazing into each other's eyes, still holding hands. I don't know what he was thinking, but I knew that I was already in my perfect personal paradise by just being there with him.

Then he smiled- a calm, relaxed, ecstatic smile- echoing every emotion I was feeling at that moment. Slowly, he stepped forward until we were mere inches away. Then I saw something dark etched on his face- something that didn't belong there. Blood.

I gasped. "Carlisle," I whispered. My hand strayed to his chin and touched the trickle of dried blood. "What did you do?"

He closed his eyes for a moment and placed his hand over mine. I felt a strange electric thrill surge through me, something I had never ever felt in my life. I wondered if he felt it too.

"It's animal blood, Esme," he muttered softly, soothingly, his smooth jaw moving like silk under my hand. "A dog."

Then I smelt it- though I suppose I had already smelt it before, but I just hadn't paid much attention to it. It definitely was animal blood- human blood didn't repel and attract at the same time like that.

"Oh." -I said, relief flooding through me.

He smiled at the obviously relieved look on my face. My breath caught in my chest. I loved the way his smile felt under my hand.

Then he placed his other hand on my cheek, gazing at me so intently that it was like he was trying to memorize every single line of my face in that moment. I felt strange, gut-wrenching shivers roll down my spine as he stroked my cheek softly.

"Porcelain," he murmured. "Dresden porcelain."

I averted my gaze and bent my head at that moment, knowing that had I had the ability, my cheeks would have been a furious red by now.

He chuckled at my embarrassment. "Has anyone ever told you, Esme, that your eyelashes are very, very fetching? They are distracting me to no end," he whispered, moving his hand to cup my chin and tilted my face up to look me in the eye again.

Any sound I could utter was strangled in my throat, and I seemed to have lost the ability to form coherent words. He was staring at me as though analysing what he was seeing. "Yes," he murmured softly. "A face made to distract."

My reply surprised even me when it poured out of my lips with my strange new melodious voice. "You're one to talk," I mumbled.

He threw his head back and laughed, a laugh which made my insides alternately twist and contract with pleasure.

When he finally looked at me again, he had a slight solemnity in his eyes, even though his lips were still stretched into a smile. "Is that true, Esme?"-he asked me, his voice light and tripping in my ears. "Do you- do you feel the same way?" All the amusement in his voice was nearly gone by the time he finished; all that was left was earnestness, solemnity, and hope.

I hesitated, trying to find my voice. My sight drifted over to Carlisle's earnest, hopeful golden eyes, and in that sea of gold I found the strength to speak.

"I don't know if it's the same," I said slowly, playing with him a little. I saw his forehead pucker slightly, ever so slightly. Even with that tiny change, he looked like a man drowning in despair. I realised I could not leave him hanging like that, I just couldn't bring myself to, not when he looked like that.

"But I do know," I continued quickly, "that I think that you are- the reason for my existence. That everything is meaningless without you." I wanted to say so much more, but my voice was constricted in my throat again; the look on his face was of such pure bliss that I didn't think I had ever seen a more beautiful face.

He held my face with both his hands, staring at me unbelievingly, as though he was looking at me for the first time. "You can't mean that… do you really?"-he murmured, his eyes wide and bright. I could see myself reflected in them.

"Every single word," I affirmed.

We stood there like that for a long moment, him staring at me incredulously with my face in his hands, me smiling and drowning in his intense golden gaze.

Then, in a sudden, quick movement, Carlisle Cullen dropped to the ground onto one knee; one hand sliding down my face, my neck, my shoulder, and coming to a stop at my hand which he held tightly, the other crossed over his silent heart.

"Then, Esme Platt Evenson… will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

If could faint, I would have swooned then and there. As it were, vampires were imperceptible to all these human fallacies and all I did was freeze into a cold, white statue for a moment. And then, wishing I could cry, I whispered, "Yes… oh, yes! A million times yes!"

I sank to the ground after that, and somehow ended up flowing into his tight embrace, perched on his knee.

"And I am at a stroke the happiest vampire in the world," he breathed into my hair as I buried my face in his neck.

"Don't be too sure about that," I mumbled against his smooth aromatic skin. "I'm a vampire, too, you know." He laughed again, rocking me gently.

"True," he admitted. I felt him press his lips to my head. I sighed softly, feeling warmth spread over me from the part of my scalp where his lips touched me. We stayed unmoving like that for a long time, until an involuntary constriction of my ever-burning throat brought my head up.

"Carlisle?"-I asked softly.

He bent his head to reach my eye level. "Hmm?"

"Why are you covered in dog's blood?"

He chuckled again. "A long story." He straightened up and I slipped off his knee, so that we were both on the snow-covered ground, sitting comfortably, holding hands, and completely impervious to the cold.

"Aren't you curious as to what I did this evening?"

Then his sudden disappearance at my mention of Charles, the thought of which had completely flown out of my mind, was brought to the fore again.

"Oh. Well, yes."- I admitted apologetically.

"I met your ex-husband." With a flourish, he whipped out a folded sheet of paper from his coat's inner pocket. "I think you'll find that interesting," he smiled, handing the paper to me.

I unfolded it curiously, never for a moment imagining that it would read thus:

I, Charles Henry Evenson, lawfully married to Esme Anne Platt on the 19th of February, 1917, do hereby annul the marriage on grounds of ill-treatment, persecution and adultery on my part towards my wife. In doing so, I fully comprehend that I will be relinquishing every right and claim as husband over Esme Platt Evenson, and that she may choose to marry again without having to face any legal repercussions.

I looked up at Carlisle incredulously. "What did you do?"-I asked him.

Carlisle shrugged. "This and that," he said easily. "We needn't go into the gory details… especially now." He lifted my left hand up to his mouth and kissed it gently. I sighed again pleasurably. He was right. Why darken this beautiful moment with ugly thoughts of Charles Evenson?

"No," I agreed softly, gently pulling my hand away from his perfect mouth and bringing his hand to my lips and kissing it in return. "Not now."

He uttered a slight, soft groan- so soft, I'm sure, that mere humans wouldn't have heard it.

"Esme Platt," he murmured solemnly, holding my face again with his other hand. "Thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees, in some melodious plot of beechen green, and shadows numberless, singest of summer in full-throated ease."- he recited softly. He smiled at the look on my face. "Keats," he said in explanation. "I never thought I would find a perfect muse for these lines. They always- excited me, Keats' poems. And now here within my grasp is the living embodiment of- every word that he ever wrote. I… I feel- blessed."

I don't think any passionate declaration of love would have made me feel the way Carlisle's hesitating confidences affected me. That he was actually so touched by my presence, that he was very humanely at a loss for words, that he deemed me worthy enough to know the inner workings of his gentle mind… just knowing that made me more ecstatic than I could ever imagine being.

I smiled and grasped the hand on my cheek, moved it so I could kiss that hand too. Carlisle's eyes were still wide and glassy and so filled with some strong, overwhelming emotion that I nearly turned away again to hide the blush that would never come. Then, so slowly that I could almost hear each snowflake rustle under him, he leaned in towards me, bringing up his other hand that I held and placing it on my cheek too, so that he was holding my face again. I gripped his wrists tightly, certain about what was coming next.

He inexplicably paused an inch away from my face. I could see my own ruby eyes reflected in his golden ones. His lips curved into a small, amused smile, and he whispered, "Gently, Esme." I could smell the heady scent of his breath with complete potency, and it took a moment for me to realize that he had said something.

"Huh?"-I asked stupidly. The corners of his mouth twitched as he tried not to smile harder, and he gestured with his obsidian eyes towards our hands on my face.

Then I understood.

"Sorry," I mumbled, mortified, and loosened my hold on his wrists and let my hands fall limply to my side, directing my gaze away from him.

He chuckled. The sound was so close to me that I suddenly realized how close we actually were. The proximity flustered me; if I was embarrassed before, it was nothing compared to what I felt at that moment.

"It's quite alright," he assured me. I still didn't look up at him, earnestly looking everywhere but him- which was a mean task in itself, considering that his perfect face filled my vision.

He sighed softly, mock-sadly, I guessed. "And there go the eyelashes again."-he murmured. I blinked self-consciously.

He sighed again. "Look at me, Esme," he ordered, so gently that it sounded more like a request. But when Carlisle Cullen ordered, I don't think anyone would deny him what he wanted, least of all me.

I looked up at him and promptly lost myself in his topaz eyes again.

He was still smiling, and he leaned in more so that his forehead rested against mine. "My little dryad," he murmured softly, gently brushing my nose with his. Then I knew the moment had come. I closed my eyes, still engulfed in an ocean of soft gold behind my closed lids. I felt him lean in closer and closer. For a long second, he paused, his lips perhaps a millimeter away from mine…

And then he kissed me.

I had never been kissed like that before. Charles' kisses had always been passionate, laced with desperation, always leading to a certain act- the kiss was only a starting point, never important in itself. But with Carlisle… Carlisle's kiss was so pure, so right. Because of the vampiric imperviousness of my skin, my lips were not as- flexible as before. But they fit so rightly, so perfectly into Carlisle's, every groove matched, that it was obvious, if it wasn't already, that Carlisle and I were made for each other.

I don't know for how long our lips were locked together, but I do know that I never wanted it to end. When we did draw apart, we remained in each other's arms, his face only inches from mine. The look in his eyes startled me. I had expected happiness, contentment, perhaps euphoria- every emotion, in fact, which I felt at that moment- but I wasn't prepared for the hunger that gnawed at the edges of his golden irises, making my stomach do a pleasurable somersault.

"By God, Esme," he whispered, and I could hear the same strange hunger straining his voice, "I… I love you." The simple three words were so charged with repressed energy, so layered with complex emotions that I was left breathless. I dragged one of my hands up his back from where they were clutching him into his cool, soft, smooth, golden hair and knotted my fingers firmly into the silken mass. "And I," I wheezed, my voice shaking, "I love you."

Our lips met for a second time- but this time, something was different. If I had thought before that Charles Evenson was passionate- I was so very, very wrong. We kissed with such ferocity, such wild abandon that we just couldn't get close enough, our bodies crashing into each other. We stopped breathing, stopped thinking… just concentrated our efforts into fusing our charged bodies into one single entity.

And then suddenly, Carlisle pulled away, nearly wrenching his lips from mine, and held me at arms length. Still comfortably breathless, I didn't say a word- only my eyes conveyed the surprise and frustration at him halting the kiss.

Carlisle only stared at me, his golden eyes unusually turbulent. For a moment he too wasn't breathing, then he begin to take in quick, jagged breaths. "I… I think we should wait until the wedding," he explained softly, half rueful and half shy.

It took one whole second for me to comprehend what he meant and I burst into laughter. I stopped quickly though, hoping I hadn't hurt his feelings. The shyness in his demeanor increased, and I was left wondering that a man with an expression like a five-year old was actually more than two centuries old.

That left me to be abashed for my own forwardness.

"Of course," I smiled, finding it odd for perhaps the thousandth time that I wasn't blushing.

Carlisle's face relaxed and he drew me a little closer, slipping his arm snugly around my waist.

"Perfect."-he smiled and rested his chin on my head. I sighed contentedly and snuggled closer again. The strange electric tenseness had broken, but the warmth of contentment was still in the air.

"I am a fool, Esme," Carlisle said lightly after a while.

I lifted my head to look into his golden eyes. "Why?"

"Because I didn't say all that I had to three days ago. Three days do not count much in the long run, but I could have saved us 72 hours of agony."

I smiled. "I didn't say anything either."

"You, my dear, are absolved of all crimes," he said, touching my nose with his lightly. "God knows you had enough on your mind."

"Yes," I agreed, adding firmly, "you."

He chuckled, and I gazed with wonder at the way the corner of his eyes crinkled with amusement. "That may be, but I meant other things. Like for example, living for all eternity."

"Well," I countered, "an eternity spent with you didn't sound too bad."

His smile widened and he beamed down at me benignly. "I still can't believe you- you care so much."

"Always," I said quickly. "Since the day you tended to my broken leg."

"Ah," Carlisle said, closing his eyes. "I remember that day."

After a pause, I asked something that was nagging me for a while now tentatively, "And you? When- when did it start to be the same for you?"

Carlisle opened his eyes and looked at me, almost as though sizing me up- and I appreciated him for that pause. He didn't plunge in immediately into improbable passionate tales of love at first sight; he gave me the truth.

"I believe it was since that night- that last dinner, you know, when you were so changed. "I smiled. The night Esme the Vamp was born. "I already admired you- like I had said on that first day, not too many young women were comfortable with climbing trees."

"Honestly… I don't really remember anything you said on that day," I added, grinning ruefully. "I was too stunned."

Carlisle grinned. "I understand completely. You have stunned me several times since for me to appreciate the feeling."

I acknowledged the compliment with a grin matching his, and prodded him, "So it was that night?"

"You were wearing green," he nodded, his voice becoming slightly dream-like. "And you looked so much like- like a dryad that I was- well, stunned." He flashed me a quick smile. "I didn't know it then, but you had already stolen my heart- if the organ still counts for us."

"It does," I said surely.

"Well, then, that was the day you stole my heart, Esme Platt."

I caught my breath for a moment. I remembered dimly all the effort into making myself look glamorous that night, hoping against hope to catch his eye like no one had. I wondered what I would have felt that night had I known that I had succeeded.

"But you still left," I said, not accusing, but still curious.

Carlisle winced slightly. "Yes. Like I said before, I didn't know it then myself. Ever since then, whenever I thought about ever hoping to win a mate- your image rose into my mind, clearer through the years, and I was so dense that I did not put face and name together and realize that it was you whom I desired."

"And three days ago?"

He grimaced slightly, then smiled lightly, to reassure me that he wasn't really sad. "As I said, I was a fool. It all snapped into place the moment I saw you in the hospital- broken, dying…" His voice trailed away. I could see the pain in his eyes, and my cold heart swelled at the thought that he really cared so much for me. "For the three days you took to wake from the dead, I sat next to you, my mind in tatters, certain about the way I felt for you, but uncertain about what to do about it." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "When you woke up, everything was just… crystal clear. I loved you. More than I could love any thing or being on this earth, more than even myself. But I couldn't force myself on you. I had to give you a choice…"

"But I didn't want a choice!"-I insisted.

His smile widened at my obvious tone. "Yes, but I didn't know that, did I? What would you have me do, Esme? There you were- so tested and tried by harsh circumstances and fragile as a result, newly born into a strange, different world, confused by the plethora of sights and sounds and smells and… well, I didn't want to add to the turmoil in that pretty chestnut head of yours, would I?"

"Perhaps," I admitted.

"And then just staying in the same room as you, with your scent and your beauty and your presence… I couldn't take it. I panicked," he explained, "panicked because I was sure that I would not be able to contain myself if I stayed near you, sure that I would sweep you into my arms and crush you to me without a word of explanation…" The husky note of hunger reappeared slightly in his voice again, and I felt my spine shiver with anticipation.

For a moment we froze in the same position, too wary to move for fear of sinking into unthinking passion again.

He blinked, cleared his throat, and grinned; I grinned back and the spell was broken.

"Well, there you have it," he said lightly. "The very foolish and weak reasons for my… er, misconduct."

"You conducted yourself perfectly well," I assured him, reached up and kissed him on his forehead. "Just the way I expect my man," I emphasized on the last two words, "to conduct himself."

He beamed at me. "Your man," he repeated softly. He took both my hands in his. "I promise you, Esme, I will give you anything want and more- anything in my power, in all the years of eternity waiting for us." He said this with such solemnity that I nodded solemnly, too. I was taking him for his word, and I felt furious pride in the knowledge that he would keep it.

"There is… one other thing," Carlisle said hesitantly after a moment, his fingers loosening on mine.

"What is it?"-I asked gently. He took a deep breath. "Anything, Esme- I'll give you anything you want in my power… but some things I can't give you, even though you may want them more than anything else in the world." I could see where this was heading, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions. It was a deeply affecting topic for me, in any case.

"I can't give you a child, Esme," he finished softly. I sighed softly and closed my eyes. Very slowly, I nodded, indicating that I understood.

I had figured that out from my conversations with Carlisle and Edward over the past three days. Though neither of them were callous enough to say it to me outright, they had hinted at it and I had put together the pieces. I had already accepted this fact, resigned myself to this fate. One couldn't have everything one wanted. I already had Carlisle to myself forever, how much more could I ask for? God had given me my Edmund, and if he had meant for me to keep him, I wouldn't have been here, in the warm snow, in Carlisle's arms.

"I'm sorry," he whispered over my bent head.

I shot my head up and whipped my hand over to place it on his lips. "Shh," I said gently, "Don't be. I understand, Carlisle. It's not your fault-"

"I made you into… this," he explained, words laced with despair, gesturing towards my snow-white skin.

"And saved my life. And given yourself to me for the rest of eternity. What more could I want?" When he still looked unconvinced, I sighed patiently and removed my hand and wrapped my arms around him. "One can't have everything, Carlisle, and I have you. That is much, much more that just everything."

He clutched my waist again, smiling uncertainly. "I love you, Carlisle." I kissed him lightly on his lips. "You're all I need in this lifetime." I waited and his face finally relaxed.

"Thank you, Esme. You are- a wonderful woman."

I smiled. "Thank you. And don't ever say this to me ever again. Never."

He smiled widely. "Alright."

I beamed at him and then, involuntarily, looked up at the sky. Though I could see perfectly well like it was daytime, I could tell that the sky was lightening.

I looked at Carlisle again, a teasing smile on my lips, "Besides, I think we already have a son to take care of."

Carlisle grinned. "Edward. The boy will be waiting."

"Then let's go end his wait. I'm sure he'll be very impatient." I stood up, pulling Carlisle up with me.

"Yes," Carlisle nodded, letting go of me until only our hands were tightly clasped. "Let's go home."