Carlisle was in a bad mood, and had been all morning. I thought he'd been pissed off if with me at first, but I couldn't think of anything that I'd done that could have upset him. Or, maybe he was human and was just having a bad day. It was unusual though; it was always me that did all the snapping and grumbling, and him that put up with it, trying to sooth it with hugs and kisses.

"What's wrong?" I asked eventually, unable to stand it any longer; he was driving me nuts.

"Nothing," he mumbled, not looking up from his phone. Typical. It was the kind of 'nothing' that you were given when you should have already known what was wrong, and your query had only put you deeper in the shit.

"You're not usually this miserable." My attempt of teasing didn't work. He didn't even glace up at me. "Carlisle, for god's sake. Just tell me; we're not children."

There was a long pause as he contemplated it. "…It'll be Christmas soon," he told me eventually. I assumed he was trying to distract me, but he reacted badly to even saying the word, folding his arms against the table and resting his head on them.

"So, you're going to be shitty for the next two months, then?" I grumbled back, not understanding the problem. It was the beginning of fucking November. "Everyone loves the holiday season."

He shrugged. "I don't."

"Don't be the Grinch."

Keeping his mouth shut, he just rolled his eyes, dropping the subject. I let him stew over it for a while; he was going back to his flat this afternoon anyway, so Alistair would be the one dealing with his shitty mood.

The kiss he gave me as he slid out of the car was still sweet, and he was obviously put out by having to go home, which was a comfort to me as I meant I wasn't the offender. The two of them had a property inspection, which meant they were cleaning their already immaculately-kept flat from top to bottom. I had offered to help, but thankfully, they'd turned me down; there was no way in hell I wanted to scrub, so I was more than happy to leave. Maybe Carlisle was just anxious about that. Maybe I shouldn't have been so abrupt with him.

I decided to use my free time wisely, seeming as I'd be working long hours this week, and headed for the grocery store. It would do me good to eat something that wasn't takeaways, but having Carlisle around me all the time took away any immediate self-consciousness that I felt toward what I was eating. I was sure I hadn't touched a vegetable in at least a week. And that really wasn't good for my figure. How my boyfriend stayed perpetually slim, I wasn't sure.

.

.

The lines for the check outs were long. This was why we ordered takeaways. I focused on my phone, tuning out my surroundings to fight off boredom. It wasn't until I thought I heard someone say my name, that my head snapped up.

"Hey, Garrett, right? Carlisle's boyfriend?"

I spun around to face the guy behind me. He was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite place him. "Yeah," I answered slowly. "And you are…"

He laughed nervously. "I'm Edward, one of the assholes who harassed you the other day on your way out of the flat," he explained, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh! Shit, I remember." My facial recognition skills were apparently worse than I thought.

"You look more alive this time," he teased lightly. "Are you feeling better? I'll assume your nurse was good to you."

"Ah, yeah," I mumbled, fighting to keep from blushing.

He ignored it, and thankfully left the subject. "This is my wife, Bella." He wrapped his arm around a girl as she came over to put something in their trolley, pulling her into him.

I greeted her warmly, as she did to me, but all the while I was trying to imagine Carlisle in that position instead of her. It was weird and made my head hurt; it didn't look like something that would work. Or maybe that was my wishful thinking.

"We're not actually married yet," she laughed, shaking her head. "Edward just wants the ceremony to be over with."

"Don't say it like that," he grumbled, kissing her cheek. It was some assurance to me that they seemed very much in love. It wasn't that I didn't trust Carlisle one hundred percent, because I really did, but it was nice to know that the option wasn't there at all. Laughing a little, he smiled at me. "I asked Carlisle to be my best man, but he said no."

"What?" I frowned; despite previously having a crush on the boy, I couldn't imagine why he'd refuse. It was sort of rude, really; not like Carlisle at all. "I'll talk to him-"

"He's shy, Garrett. He doesn't like being in front of people all that much, and that's okay. It'll be nice to have him there all the same, even if it's not right next to me."

"I'm sure Alistair will look nice in a suit, anyway," Bella laughed.

"I can't imagine him cleaned up," I chuckled. "Or Carlisle for that matter; I've never seen him wear anything other than jeans."

"You won't be disappointed, trust me," Edward grinned. Perhaps he wasn't as straight as Carlisle had assumed.

It was my turn to be served before I could come up with a half decent reply, and the two of quickly said their goodbyes and hurried away, hand in hand.

.

.

My vibrating phone forced me awake again, and it was only then I realised I'd fallen asleep watching movies on my laptop. It was my mother, and I spent the next hour arranging the logistics of her and dad coming to stay overnight with me. They were taking Kate back to their place at the beginning of the school holidays to give Eleazar and Carmen a little 'free time', and didn't want to have to drive the three hours to El's house and back in one day. They lived out of town, and I lived about fifteen minutes' drive from Eleazar.

My brother also didn't have a spare room, meaning that he'd have to evict Kate from her bedroom and set up airbeds as a means of accommodation. I quickly assured her that it was fine if she and dad stayed here for that night; old people couldn't be sleeping on the floor, anyway. Mum didn't appreciate that comment, though.

"Listen, sweetheart, I'd like to meet Carlisle again. I don't want him to feel pushed out of this family; he's a sweet boy," she started carefully.

"Mum, there's no way in hell I'm letting dad anywhere near him for a long time." I tried not to snap, but I couldn't really manage it.

"He's a big part of your life, Garrett. You can't keep him separate from us forever. Carmen told us how good he was with Kate, and how much happier she was after she spent the day with him. Your father will make an effort-"

"No, mum. That's fine to say, but you didn't see what it did to him last time. I can't do that to him again."

"At some point we're going to have to."

"I love him," I pointed out bluntly. "I don't want him to be hurt again."

"That's my point, Garrett," she murmured quietly.

.

.

We'd agreed on dinner at my place, and then I was driving Carlisle home so my father wasn't in his face. He was glued to my side, visibly anxious and trying to hide it.

"Google maps has marked your place as 'home' on my phone, because I'm here so much," he told me, laughing nervously. His smile quickly fell and he looked down, biting his lip as he failed at distracting himself. I hadn't realised google had the ability to be cute, but it made me grin anyway.

"It'll be fine, Carlisle. If he's horrible to you, I'll kick him out. He's in my house now," I assured him, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him against me. "It'll be okay. It's only for an hour or so, and then you can go home and cuddle Allie." It was only half teasing; I knew he'd need a hug after this, and it hurt that I wouldn't be the one to give it to him.

He buried his face in my neck, his arms around my shoulders. The noise he made was somewhere between a moan and a whimper. "…I could just go home now, and-" He cut himself off at the knock on my door, flinching into me.

"It'll be okay. I love you." I let him go and went to let my parents in. Forcing a smile at them, I guided them into the kitchen. Carlisle had already set the table earlier in the evening just to busy himself, so I had them sitting immediately.

"Hi, sweetheart, how are you?" mum asked him, smiling although he'd sort of tucked himself behind me.

He smiled weakly, but couldn't bring himself to answer. Sitting at the table, he kept me between himself and my parents, which was understandable. Dad didn't acknowledge him at all, and Carlisle blew out a shaky breath, his hand on my leg under the table while we ate. I usually didn't have any issues eating around my parents when it was only them, but knowing that Carlisle was so uncomfortable made swallowing a little harder.

The silence was thick and awkward, but thankfully mum had brought a bottle of wine with her. I poured it into four glasses, kissing the top of Carlisle's head as I put his in front him and ignoring the glare it earned from my father. We managed to keep up a normal conversation, but my boyfriend was rather excluded, sipping his drink and staying quiet. Dad didn't openly attack him again, which was promising.

My head spun as I stood up to clear the plates; the alcohol was stronger than I'd anticipated, obviously. "What'd you put in that bottle, mum?" I laughed, keeping my hand on the table until I felt steady.

"Have you never had good wine before, boy?" Dad teased, in a better mood.

"Can't say it's normally my drink of choice, no." I wasn't drunk yet, more tipsy and pleasantly buzzed. Carlisle had hit the bottom of his glass too, but shook his head when I offered to refill it for him. If I was feeling like this, then he would be feeling the effects of the drink too. He was a little more relaxed now too, managing to keep up a polite conversation with my mother.

We did the dishes together while my parents got themselves settled in the spare room.

"I think I've had too much to drive you home, Carlisle," I admitted. "I can call you a taxi, though?"

A little intoxicated and now quite giggly, he momentarily forgot that he was supposed to be drying plates and leant up to kiss me. "Can I stay? I want cuddles, and I don't want them from Alistair…"

"Yeah, but my dad will still be here in the morning," I reminded him, laughing. "You're okay with that?"

He nodded, his lips against my jaw now.

"Carlisle," I warned lowly, trying to keep my thoughts together.

Hugging me suddenly, his body was against mine, pushing me back against the counter. "No fucking in the kitchen," he remined me, whispering to me although we were the only ones in the room now.

"No fucking while my parents are here," I whispered back, locking our fingers together and kissing him back. I wasn't sure how long I would be able to uphold that rule, if he continued this; already I was getting worked up, and the more he shifted against, the worse it got.

"I'll be good," he promised. "I don't want your dad to hate me even more." It was kind of a joke, but he wasn't drunk enough to forget about that, and was still a little on edge.

I might not be. "You'd better be." I ran my hands down his sides and along the waist of his jeans, tugging them slightly.

As if pre-empting what was going on, mum called out a goodnight from down the hallway, and I heard their bedroom door shut a few seconds later. It had both of us trying to smother our laughter, guilty.

"Forget the dishes, Carlisle. Let's go to bed." Setting down the sponge, I took his hand, pulling him toward the bedroom. "And I'll hide you from my father in the morning if I have to."