Edward had left a window open leading into the lowest level of the school cafeteria where he had surprised Bella earlier in the day. He sat there waiting, chuckling when he first saw Emmett emerge from the darkness.

"Emmett!" Edward whisper-shouted his name and the two of them shared a low chuckle before his friend practically dove through the open window of the basement.

"Where are the girls?" Emmett asked with a boyish giggle.

"On their way."

Emmett placed his backpack down and snatched a pair of beers, cracking one open for Edward first and then for himself. "Cheers!" The two of them tapped their cans together and took a drink.

"I grabbed a bunch of leftovers from the cafe before they threw them out," Edward told him.

"I hope you ignored meatloaf Monday," Emmett told him with a laugh.

"I hate that meatloaf." Edward laughed and took another sip from the can of beer.

The two of them stood by the window in anticipation of the girls' arrival like two kids waiting for their gifts on Christmas.

..x

Carlisle strained the spaghetti and smiled as Esme handed him a glass of red wine.

"Thank you." He leaned into a kiss she initiated and was happy to see her relax a bit. When she went to go help him he gently grabbed her forearms. "Sit."

"I can't just let you do everything." Her beaming smile made him mirror her expression and he left another lasting kiss on her lips.

"Esme.."

"Okay." She gave in, allowing him to take the lead and serve her dinner.

Carlisle sipped his wine and then topped off her glass. He proceeded to stir the sauce before combining it with the noodles and fixing a plate for each of them.

"Thank you." Esme looked at him for an extra long moment and smiled when he served her a bite from his plate. "You're kind of romantic."

"I try," he said with a chuckle.

Esme cleared her throat and looked at him, wanting to reveal her back story but also not wanting to kill the mood. "Carlisle.. I.. I'm not exactly who you think I am."

He smirked. "Okay.. who are you?"

"I haven't always lived in Northern California," she confessed. "Like my resume says."

He nodded, encouraging her to go on.

Esme took a sip of her wine. "I changed some information when I went into hiding."

"What did you like.. rat out the mob or something?"

"My brother killed my sister.."

Carlisle straightened up his features. "How'd he do that?"

"With a really big, sharp kitchen knife." She paused. "They locked him up for a long time and one autumn night he decides to go trick-r-treating. He.. killed a lot of my friends.. it happened-"

"On Halloween," Carlisle finished her sentence.

"You've heard the story."

He sipped his wine and spoke the name of perhaps the world's most infamous serial killer. "Michael Myers.." Carlisle narrowed his eyes, "What happened to the sister she died, right?"

Esme shook her head and took an extra long sip of her wine. "No.. she faked her death.. and now she's the head mistress of a very posh, secluded, private school in Northern California.. hoping and praying every year that her brother doesn't find her."

Carlisle raised his eyebrows and his jaw practically hit the ground. "You're telling me truth?"

"Do you want me to refill your wine?"

"Yeah.." he nodded in a state of mild shock, noting a little wine might take the edge off. "Esme.. you've lived with this for twenty years?"

"I was seventeen." She nodded.

Carlisle was speechless. "You don't think after all this time he'd still be coming after you do you?"

"They never found his body."

Both of them sipped their wine simultaneously and she sighed.

"That's why I get so uptight around this time Carlisle. It's just.. I haven't been completely successful with this."

He placed a hand over hers. "I know.. and it's okay."

Esme sipped on her wine. "I just.. wanted you to know."

Carlisle rose to his feet and rounded the high top table where they sat and gave Esme a kiss. "I'll help you through this."

"Thank you." Esme let her forehead rest on his a moment and then edged off the chair as she grabbed her glass of wine. "We can start by watching a movie."

Carlisle pulled her to him and kissed her with a hint of more passion, which Esme eagerly reciprocated.

"Did you mean what you said?" She asked him.

"Which part?"

"Do you love me?"

Carlisle nodded, his face only a few inches from hers. "I've loved you for a long time Esme."

She smiled and shared another series of kisses with him, the burden of her past finally feeling like it had been lifted, at least slightly, from her shoulders.

"I love you too."