That night, Esme went back to her house after dinner. It was the first time in two days that Carlisle found himself alone. For the first time in two days, Esme wasn't there. For the first time in two days, there was no one sleeping next to him. There would be no one when he'd wake up the following morning. Sleeping next to Esme couldn't even be called a habit ; he had done it only two nights (granted, two nights in a row). Yet he missed falling asleep with her in his arms. He missed feeling her tight hold on him, feeling her even breaths on the skin of his neck, feeling her soft hair graze his cheek, feeling her warm body against his.

In that instant, he felt even lonelier than he'd felt since Edward's death.

He enveloped himself in his blanket, he hugged his pillow close to his chest, but it wasn't the same.

He'd see her tomorrow, of course, but right now it didn't matter.

He missed Esme.

That night, Esme went back to her house after dinner. It was the first time in two days that Esme found herself alone. For the first time in two days, Carlisle wasn't there. She was worried for him. There wasn't any really good reason for her to feel that way ; but after witnessing his broken heating and his diet composed almost exclusively of sandwiches, she couldn't feel perfectly serene. She wanted to be with him, to make sure he took care of himself correctly. She wanted to be certain he was all right, and help him if he wasn't.

The main problem, though, was that she missed him. Since she'd truly become acquainted with him, spending time with him had grown into one of her favourite ways of occupying herself. She loved talking with him, going to the Tesco Express with him… sleeping next to him. She had a lump in her throat every time she thought of him, alone in his dark house. She wanted very much to go there and be with him, but, of course, she couldn't.

Her bed felt empty and too big.

She decided to move Feathers' cage in her bedroom. She was very thankful for her presence.

She'd see him tomorrow, of course, but right now it didn't matter.

She missed Carlisle.

—

The evening of December the 23rd found Esme in the living room of her house, Carlisle sitting next to her on the couch. They were both reading – or rather, Esme was reading and Carlisle was staring at a book open in his lap. His leg wouldn't stop twitching.

Ever since he'd begun doing that, Esme had started stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eye every time she turned her page. His gaze never moved from the line on which it was fixed. Though at first she'd been confused, Esme now had a pretty good idea of what was troubling him.

Eventually, she put down her book and turned to him.

"Carlisle," she called in a soft voice.

His head snapped up and he looked at her.

"Yes ?"

"Please calm down. Emmett won't bite you. He's not even here yet."

He sighed.

"You're right. It's not that I'm scared of him, but –"

His voice trailed off hesitantly.

"But you're scared of him," she finished, a light smile curving her mouth upwards.

A small chuckle escaped his lips.

"Kind of," he admitted.

She put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. Emmett is really nice. And I'll be here."

"I would definitely run for my life if you weren't with me."

She laughed.

"You haven't even seen him !"

"Why, is he that taller than me ?"

She smiled internally. She'd seen houses smaller than Emmett.

"Well, yeah, but he's taller than everyone."

Carlisle looked even more worried than before.

"Relax," she said in a soothing tone. "He's muscular and all, but he's really friendly. And very kind."

"That I can easily believe. He's your brother, after all."

She blushed slightly under the compliment.

"You're sweet," she declared in a voice she hoped wasn't too affectionate that he'd discover the extent of her feelings for him.

He gave her a smile.

"I mean it."

There was a short pause before he spoke again.

"I hope he won't think – no, that's not it. What I really care about is – I hope you don't think that I'm too –"

He didn't elaborate.

"Too what ?"

"Too clingy," he confessed in a low voice, averting his gaze away from her.

She was baffled.

"Do you really think that ?"

"Yes."

"But – why ?"

"Well, I – I always insist on taking up your time when maybe you're tired of me and you'd rather I leave you alone."

She almost laughed out loud. That he'd seriously think she felt that way was utterly ridiculous.

"Of course I don't think you're clingy ! I would tell you if I didn't want to spend time with you. I enjoy your company quite a lot, and I'd like to keep getting to appreciate it."

He looked hesitantly into her eyes.

"You would tell me if I bothered you ?"

"Of course. We're friends, we're supposed to be honest with each other. But you really don't bother me."

A shy smile finally bloomed on his lips.

"Okay."

A short silence followed, soon broken when Esme picked up the subject of her brother again.

"I truthfully think Emmett will like you. And, anyway, it's not as if your life depends on your making a good impression on him."

He shrugged.

"I guess."

"I promise I'll stay friends with you even if he doesn't appreciate you."

He laughed a little, and did look pretty relieved. He was about to speak when the doorbell rang, which caused him to stiffen instantly.

"Relax," Esme advised once last time.

She quickly stroked his cheek, chastising herself internally as soon as she retrieved her hand (she certainly shouldn't have done that – but there was a part of her that constantly wanted to touch him in some way or other, and, as much as she tried to rein these urges in, sometimes she couldn't resist the temptation) before standing up to go get the door.

When she opened it, she found herself in front of her giant of a brother, grinning broadly.

"Hey, Es !" he greeted cheerfully.

She beamed in response.

"I'm so glad to see you, Em," she said, reaching up to kiss his cheek. They shared a tight hug.

She had missed her brother more than she'd realized.

"Me too."

His voice dropped to a whisper.

"Is he here ? His name is Carlisle, right ?"

She nodded yes to both questions, and he continued :

"What a name. Poor guy. His parents must have hated him."

"Don't speak like that. They're dead, just like ours, except they died in much darker circumstances."

His laughing demeanor softened.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," he apologized, his voice gentle and sincere.

After a pause, he spoke again, his tone a little brighter :

"So where is he ?"

"In the living room. He's super anxious about meeting you, so be nice, okay ?"

She led him inside.

"Always am."

They were still in the corridor leading to the living room, the door that connected the two parts of the house closed, when Esme slowed down and seized Emmett's arm.

"Okay, here we are. Be careful," she advised one last time. "He's important to me, and you can sometimes seem intimidating."

That elicited a smile out of him.

"Wow, you must have quite the crush on him."

Esme only stared at him sternly until he relented.

"I promise I'll be good."

He cracked a grin.

"Let's go meet my soon-to-be brother in law !"

His sister rolled her eyes and opened the door.

Esme's brother was so tall his head almost brushed the ceiling, and so large his body grazed both sides of the doorway. He didn't share his sister's frailer frame, but Carlisle could distinguish in his face traces of the warmth and kindness which she possessed and that he liked so much in her. They had the same curly hair, though Emmett's was much darker than Esme's. Their eye colour differed, too : Emmett had blue eyes much unlike Esme's brown ones.

"Carlisle, this is my brother, Emmett Platt. Em, this is Carlisle Cullen," Esme introduced.

Carlisle had stood up to shake his hand. Up close, Emmett seemed slightly less gigantic.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Emmett said as he grabbed Carlisle's hand, a friendly grin on his face.

Carlisle smiled back at him. There was a sincerity in Emmett that made one feel like he always meant everything he said. He wasn't the type of person to say pleasant things merely for the sake of politeness.

"I'm equally glad."

The three of them sat down on the couch. Carlisle was on the right, Emmett on the left and Esme was between them.

"So, Carlisle," Emmett began, "Esme told me you're a doctor ?"

Carlisle nodded.

"That's right. I work at the emergency room of the nearest hospital. It's thirty minutes or so away if you take the Underground."

"That's cool. You mustn't have a lot of free time, though."

He shrugged.

"I can't very well tell the people who need my help that I'm busy having fun at the beach and that they have to come back later."

Emmett laughed, accompanied by Esme's more discreet chuckle. Carlisle felt his lips stretch in a grin. He was proud of himself for making Esme laugh – and Emmett too, of course.

"I guess not," Emmett said.

"They do grant me free time sometimes."

He looked at Esme.

"We're Friday, right ? I have this weekend off, which means I'm free on both the 24th and 25th. I'm also thinking about taking the 1st of January off, too."

He hoped maybe Esme would agree to come spend New Year's Eve at his house. Emmett too, if he was still there by then. Carlisle didn't know for how long he was staying.

She smiled at what he'd said.

"Please do, it would be great ! I'm glad you don't have to work on Christmas Day, either."

She turned towards her brother.

"Carlisle's spending Christmas here with us."

"If it doesn't bother you," Carlisle added.

"I already told you it's fine !" Esme protested.

"I'd like to be certain of that."

"Of course," Emmett intervened before Esme could reply. "We'll be super happy to have you."

"All right, then," Carlisle said, not completely convinced. I'll sleep at my house, though."

"Why ?" Emmett asked. "There's plenty of space here."

"He's right, Carlisle, please, stay."

Carlisle met Esme's gaze as she spoke and, because her hazel eyes flustered him, because he would do anything she asked him, because he really had no desire to spend his nights in his empty house, because he wanted to be wherever Esme was, and because she seemed to want him to be wherever she was, he accepted. He spoke in a seemingly half-hearted tone, but he looked into Esme's eyes as he did and he knew she could see through him. She knew he was secretly glad he didn't have to be alone for at least a few days. And he was overjoyed he'd get to spend those days with her. Did she know that too ?

He shook himself. They were going to get dinner ready.