CentauRita, your reviews never fail to make me laugh! Glad you enjoyed.

I'm still trying to figure out how to get the paragraph breaks to show up in this format, so I apologise for everything being stuck together all the time, and I am trying to fix it because it's driving me absolutely insane.

We ended up stopping at a bakery on the way to Eleazar's to pick up something to take, seeming as our baking went out the window. Carlisle promised to help me clean up the kitchen when we came home again, seeming as we were already running late and didn't have time to do it before we left.

I knew he was getting a little nervous now that we were on our way there, and I kept my hand on his thigh as we drove. He covered my hand with his, forcing a smile. "It'll be alright, Carlisle. My family doesn't bite," I assured him. He hadn't seemed too worried about it at all when we were still in my apartment, but now reality seemed to be hitting him a little hard.

Carlisle dropped my hand as we waited for someone to open the door, nervously folding his arms instead. I wrapped my arm around his waist, rubbing his side. "Just be yourself; they'll love you," I promised him.

Carmen hugged me immediately upon opening the door. "I'm so glad you came! I haven't seen you in ages, and we were worried you wouldn't come," she told me, shaking her head in mock annoyance.

"You and I both know Eleazar would kill me if I bailed on your little one's birthday," I teased back.

"Carlisle, right?" she asked, taking the cake from him and hugging him as well. "It's nice to meet you. I've heard your name a few times now."

He mumbled something polite and I shook my head at her for dobbing me in. Once I'd let his name slip once, and they hadn't reacted, I hadn't bothered about hiding the time I spent with him anymore – omitting the romantic parts, of course.

"I'm just teasing," she giggled, leading us inside. "Come, your parents are here too. They turned up last minute."

I watched the blood drain from Carlisle's face the minute 'parents' were mentioned. "For all they know, you're just my friend," I reminded him, rubbing his back before breaking the contact.

As soon as we stepped into the room I knew I'd thrown Carlisle in the deep end. There were kids everywhere, it was loud, all the parents knew each other, and to top it all off, most of my family were here. It was not the little birthday Eleazar had made it out to be after all.

Kate immediately charged at me, squealing as she did so. "Uncle Garrett!" She threw herself at my feet, hugging my legs until I picked her up. Carlisle couldn't resist a smile at the name she called me, and I elbowed him for it.

"Happy birthday, Katie," I chuckled, trying to hold her in a position that was more comfortable than the one she had gotten herself in. Somehow, she seemed bigger than before, although birthdays didn't actually represent an immediate change of height.

I could see he was nervous, but my boyfriend seemed to slot in with my family rather well. Eleazar and my father immediately pulled him into some conversation regarding the latest sporting matches – something I knew Carlisle was way out of his depth with – and the laughs and giggles carried on as normal. He kept close to me, unwilling for us to be separated, but managed to pull off 'calm' pretty well.

The party dragged on far longer than I had anticipated. There was food and presents and party games and complete chaos, and it went on for hours. After an hour or so, I realised I'd completely lost track of Carlisle's whereabouts. It was the first time since we had gotten here that his hand was more than ten inches from mine, and I missed him as I thought about it.

I wandered through the house in search of him, eventually finding him cutting vegetables to help Carmen and my mother cook dinner. I watched from the doorway for a while, unwilling to interrupt the scene. I quickly realised why; the three of the were avid readers, and I knew my mother and sister-in-law could talk about books all day, and Carlisle certainly wouldn't turn down the opportunity.

"Need any more help?" I asked after a while, laughing when they all jumped.

"You can come here and stir this," mum directed, holding out a spoon and pointing to a pot.

"Did you teach Garrett how to cook?" Carlisle asked her as she stood next to him at the sink. His attempt at polite conversation was cute, if nothing else, but my mother seemed to enjoy it. "He's great at it…"

"Sort of, but he didn't want to listen to his mother. He knew the basics when he left home, and then learned the rest himself," she told him, unable to resist a cheap jab at me. "What's your cooking like? Eleazar is the worst."

"You can say that again," Carmen muttered under her breath.

"Mediocre at best," he told her, laughing nervously.

"Well, hang around my son for long enough, and I'm sure he'll teach you," she chuckled, giving me a pointed look. "Won't you, Garrett?"

"Whatever you say, mother," I teased, rolling my eyes.

Dinner was delicious, to say the least. For the first time in a long time, I felt okay about eating in front of a group of people; it seemed less traumatising with Carlisle by my side. Whenever I glanced up at him, he gave me a reassuring smile, his hand on my thigh under the table. Whenever I felt the lump start to form in my throat, I forced myself to focus on his proximity to me, and the feeling would subside a little.

He pulled me aside as I got up from the table, and we ended up standing alone on the back deck together. "I'm so proud of you," he murmured, pulling me down for a kiss and holding my face in his hands.

I relaxed completely, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him into me. "You're the one who just handled meeting the majority of my family." I ran my hand up his back, smiling when I felt his lips against my collarbone. "I promise I'll take you home soon, though. Sorry we've been here so long."

"It's fine, but they're going to miss us if we stay out here much longer," he reminded me, squeezing me affectionately before wriggling out of my grasp.

I shook my head at him and followed him inside.

An hour later, and I'd been watching Carlisle for a while as he stayed sitting at the table, focused on his phone. He had stopped interacting with anyone around him at all, and I assumed he just wanted to go home now. He'd done amazingly well, to be fair to him. I sat down in the chair in front of him, close enough that our legs were touching, and told him so.

He glanced up, shifting a little. "…Can we go for a walk? I think I need to get outside for a bit…"

I nodded, offering him my hand to pull himself up on as I stood. I couldn't blame him for feeling a little claustrophobic after the last few hours. As soon as we were a little way from the house, I threaded my fingers through his, squeezing his hand. It was more than dark now, despite it only being early evening. Damn winter.

He stayed quiet, offering me an apologetic smile but nothing else. We walked for little while until we came to a park bench, and Carlisle asked if we could stop for a bit.

Confused, I sat next to him, my hand on the small of his back while he leant forward. He braced himself against his knees, resting his head on his arms.

The night air was cold, and we didn't have much more than a dim street light and the glow of a couple of shops across the road. There were plenty of stars out as well, but Carlisle didn't look up when I mentioned them, just nodding instead. I let it slide, tracing circles with my thumb against his shirt. "Are you alright?" I asked after a while, not able to stand his silence without knowing what was going through his head.

" …I feel like I'm going to puke," he mumbled glancing up at me.

It took me off guard a little, and I instinctively shifted a little closer to him. "I'll take you home, Carlisle." I kissed his cheek, trying to reassure him.

He sat back a little, leaning against the seat and folding his arms across his stomach. "I think I'll be okay, I just…need a minute."

I nodded as he offered me a weak smile. Rubbing his leg, I waited while he forced a few deep breaths, eventually calming himself down enough to rest his head against my shoulder, relaxing slightly. "Feeling any better?" I asked warily, seeing that he was a little too pale and kind of warm. He didn't respond to me, but I didn't need him to. "I'll just say goodbye to my family, and we can go home," I promised, pulling him to his feet and kissing his forehead.

"…I'm sorry, Garrett," he told me as we approached the house.

"It's okay. Things didn't turn out the way I thought they would. I didn't mean to throw you in front of my family without warning." I squeezed his hand before dropping it once the door was in sight.

"They're all really nice. Your brother didn't seem to want to murder me, so that's a plus."

I laughed. "Yeah, but he doesn't know you're my boyfriend, yet."

His silence reminded me that he wasn't feeling good, and I made sure I was quick as I let everyone else know we were going.

As we waited at another set of traffic lights, I tried to control my frustration. Carlisle leant his head back against the seat, sighing and drumming his fingers against his thigh. I didn't know what was wrong, but I knew he was violently uncomfortable.

He glanced over at me, repressing a moan. "Shit, Garrett…how much longer…?" Holding one hand against his stomach, the other gripped the seat so tightly his knuckles were white. I interpreted this as 'I'm going to throw up, but I'm too shy to outright ask to stop'.

His flat was still twenty-five minutes away, but mine was only ten, so I made the choice for him and continued to drive back to my place. "Not long." I placed my hand on his leg, tracing the seam of his jeans with my finger in hope of distracting him.

"Fuck," he whispered under his breath. I knew I wasn't supposed to have heard it, and he reached for my hand.

"Are you still feeling sick?" I asked him, squeezing his fingers.

Nodding slowly, he swallowed thickly, really fighting it.

"Tell me if you want to stop for a bit."

Carlisle was getting more and more nervous. The more time we spent trying to pull out into traffic or waiting for a light to turn green, the more fidgety he became. I didn't think he'd realised that I wasn't taking him back to his own flat yet, but in the state he was in, I didn't think he would care.

He stayed silent as we pulled up outside my building, but glanced over at me for confirmation that it was okay he was here.

"I'm not going to make you go all the way across town when you're not feeling the best." I kissed the back of his fingers, and he gave me a weak smile.

Once we came in the door, we settled on the couch to watch the tail-end of a late-night movie. It was only after Carlisle's abrupt movement shook me awake that I realised I had drifted off. The bathroom door slamming a second later got me aware enough to move, and I traced the sound of it. I got to the doorway just in time to see Carlisle vomit into the toilet, barely making it in time. There wasn't much I could do but watch as everything he'd eaten came rushing back up and his body convulsed.

I ran my fingers through his hair to stop it sticking to his face, running my hand down his back. His clothing was wet but cold; his fever making him sweat but quickly sucking the heat out of his body. "I'm going to get you a bucket, and then we're going to bed," I told him as he apologetically glanced up at me.

Going into the bedroom, I turned on the lamp next to the bed, straightening the blankets a bit so they were a little easier to sleep in. I grabbed a bucket from the laundry and dropped it beside the bed, getting a glass of water and a cold cloth and setting them on the bedside table as well.

"Come here, Carlisle." I slowly pulled him to his feet, letting him lean against me while he got his bearings back. He immediately tried to hug his stomach, but needed to hold onto me to keep from falling. I let him move as his own pace as I took him into the bedroom again.

"…thanks…" he mumbled, taking the glass from me when I offered it to him.

"Do you want to get changed?" I kissed his cheek, holding my hand against his forehead and frowning at the temperature. "You'll probably feel a bit better."

He nodded slowly, reluctantly wriggling out of his clothing and into the clothes I offered him. He moved like his entire body ached, which I had no doubt it did.

I wiped his face with the cloth, trying to cool him down a bit, but it didn't help much and he cringed at the gesture. I got changed as well and crawled up the bed, getting Carlisle to do the same. He lay next to me and tried to keep his distance, but I pulled him closer, resting my chin on the top of his head while he leant his cheek against my chest. I slowly ran my hand up and down his back, relieved as I felt him relax slightly.

"…I'm so sorry about tonight…" His voice was muffled by my shirt.

"Don't be." I squeezed him gently and he managed to let go of himself and wrap one arm around my waist. "Get some sleep."

I wasn't entirely sure what was happening as I woke up. The clock read two thirty AM, and I rolled over, relieved I didn't have to get up for work yet. Stretching out, I reached across the bed in search of Carlisle. My hand was met with empty sheets, and I quickly sat up.

Switching on the lamp next to me, I called out to him. I slid out of bed when I didn't get response from him, feeling my pulse pick up. "Carlisle?"

My relief to find him in the kitchen was short lived. He was sitting at the table, resting his head against one arm while the other squeezing his waist. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be in bed?" I kissed the base of his neck, hugging his shoulders.

His temperature had come down a little, but he was still too warm. "…I didn't want to wake you up…tried to be quiet…"

"Jesus, Carlisle." I sat in the seat next to him, rubbing his leg. He looked like he felt awful, and I knew by how he was sitting that he was in pain. "Your stomach's hurting, huh?"

He nodded tiredly, clearly worse for wear.

"Are you still being sick?"

"…yeah…think I've got food poisoning…"

Honestly, it wouldn't have surprised me. The 'bring a plate' food system wasn't the most hygienic thing in the world, especially with little kids around. "If it was that, then I would be sick too. It must be a virus." We'd both eaten the same thing.

Sighing quietly and gritting his teeth, he curled into himself a little more. I felt helpless; I didn't know what to do to ease the pain any. He didn't give me time to think, rushing forward to vomit into the sink.

I scrubbed a hand over my face, trying to wake myself up a bit. "Is it worse when you're lying down? How'd you end up out here?"

"…I didn't want to keep you awake all night…" he forced a tired smile, and I slowly shook my head at him.

"I'd rather be up all night with you than you being alone," I grumbled at him. "Come back to bed. You'll feel even worse in the morning if you don't sleep." Wrapping my arm around him, I pulled him into me and started to lead him back down the hallway.

Wanting to double over, he was leaning against me. He collapsed against the bed once he was able to, immediately curling up and hugging his stomach. It seemed to spasm, and he winced, unable to hold back a whimper.

I carefully sat on the edge of the bed, pulling the blankets over him and rubbing his back. "I can find you some pain relief?" I kissed his cheek as he nodded slowly. "I'll be back in a minute, then." Going to the kitchen cupboard, I dug out the medicine, encouraged a little when I remember it was supposed to make you sleepy.

Carlisle quickly swallowed the pills when I handed them to him, but gagged as soon as they hit his stomach. His body convulsed and he scrambled to get the bucket, everything coming straight back up again.

"Jesus." I rubbed his back, running my fingers through his hair. I kissed his forehead, ignoring when he cringed away from me.

"…I'm so sorry, Garrett…" he mumbled, out of breath.

"Do you want to try again with the pills?" When he shook his head, I lay beside him, pulling him into me. He immediately cuddled into my side, resting his head on my chest. Slowly rubbing his side seemed to help him relax a little bit, and I knew he was tired. "Do you think you can sleep for a bit?"

He nodded, already halfway there now he was lying down. Eventually his shivering slowed, and I kept my arms around him as I fell asleep.

All too soon, he moved suddenly, barely having time to grab the bucket before he was vomiting again. Too sleepy to really be aware of what was happening, I stayed lying on my side, rubbing my hand up and down his back as a weak form of comfort. He slid away from me and stood up, mumbling something about water and disappearing for a few minutes. I reached for him again as soon as he was beside me, wanting to keep him warm.

I hadn't realised that Carlisle had been gone until he tripped upon trying to get back in bed, and this time I forced myself to sit up. "Have you gotten much sleep?" It was a long fucking night, and I'd been asleep for most of it, so he must have felt like shit by now.

He shook his head, awkwardly sitting on the edge of the bed. "…no…it hurts to lie flat for too long…"

"It's almost four o'clock," I sighed, trying to figure out what I was going to do with him.

"I know…" he mumbled, climbing back under the blankets and gingerly lying down again.

"You'll tell me if there's anything I can do to help you, wont you?" I shuffled closer to him, moulding my body to the shape of his. His hand immediately shot up to protect his stomach as I hugged him, and I was overly cautious not to touch him there. "I'll be careful, Carlisle," I assured him, kissing his neck. "Just get some rest."

I called Carlisle's manager first thing the next morning; there was no way he was going to work if he'd been awake until four AM throwing up. Not on my watch, anyway. I took his phone out of the room as well, disabling any alarms that would pose a threat.

That being done, I tidied the kitchen after yesterday's baking adventure. I knew Carlisle would feel bad for not helping me once he realised, but it was far more important that he slept instead. As ten AM rolled around, I started to become antsy; I didn't know whether I should wake up him – he really needed to sleep – but I really wanted to check on him.

In the end, I gave up, getting a glass of water and going back to the bedroom; I needed to know if he was okay.

"Hey, Carlisle…." I crouched in front of him, rubbing his arm until he glanced up at me. I forced a smile, but it quickly dissolved when he forced back a whimper, hugging his stomach but jerking back at the pressure.

"…hey…I-I'm sorry…" He sunk his teeth into his lip to keep from making any other sound.

I shook my head at his apology, kissing his cheek. If he apologised again, I was going to have to hit him. "It's okay. Are you feeling any better?" I asked hopefully. He hesitated, and it was enough for me to know the answer. "Will you drink?" Not giving him much of an option, I shoved the glass into his hands. It all came back up again before he's managed more than a few mouthfuls.

"…Garrett…I have to go to work…" he mumbled after catching his breath, glancing over to find his phone but confused over it's whereabouts.

No fucking way, Cullen. I leant forward to kiss his forehead, running my fingers through his hair. "I've already called your manager. You're staying in bed today."