My sister-in-law was overly grateful for the offer, relieved that neither her husband or I would be endangering ourselves or her daughter. I was relieved too, although the loss of having to share my boyfriend was hitting a little hard. We ate pizza for dinner - god forbid if her father found out - and heavily tipped the poor delivery guy for having to bring us our food in the rain.

Kate was boisterous after having spent the whole day sitting down, but she settled after a few bed-time stories read by my wonderful partner. And then we were finally alone again. I kept the bedroom door closed enough to give us a little privacy, but not enough that the latch caught properly, trying to prevent her sneaking up on us without making noise.

I pushed Carlisle back against the bed, tugging his jeans undone before he could get his hands out from under himself. He didn't bother trying to stop me, grabbing a fistful of my shirt to pull me down on top of him.

"She's asleep, right?" he asked, untucking my clothing and edging his fingers under my shirt. The light flush in his cheeks gave away his nerves about it.

"She won't hear anything, Carlisle," I laughed, pressing kisses against his neck. "Relax, okay?"

He let me get his shirt off him and wrapped his legs around my waist, letting out a nervous gasp as I jerked his jeans down to his thighs. "You're really sure?"

"Yes. She's a little kid; she's out like a light as soon as she's settled." Running my fingernails down his sides made him shiver, and I laughed and kissed him again. I groaned as he tangled his fingers in my hair.

Immediately shushing me, his lips trailed down my throat, his teeth occasionally scraping my skin. Upon my prompt, he untangled himself from me enough for me to undress him, using what was left of my clothing as a means to hold me still.

I rolled onto my back, guiding him so that he fell with me. There was something awfully comforting about having his weight on top of me, and I traced gentle circles against the small of his back with my finger tips.

His kisses became softer, and he leaned into me, smiling when I wrapped my arms around him. He ran his fingers through my hair, gently brushing it back off my face and offering me a shy smile. "Why am I the only one undressed?" he asked innocently. The question had underlying nerves behind it, and I was still trying to adjust to this new self-consciousness he'd developed. It made things a little more difficult when we were intimate together, but he was trying, and that was all that mattered.

I gently pressed my lips against his. "Because that's how I like you."

"Unfair," he teased, sitting back so he could unbutton my pants without falling on me.

I let him do it, not about to protest. There was no hesitancy in his movements, not like when we first started dating and he was afraid of freaking me out. Having my clothes pulled off me like this wasn't entirely unpleasant, either. I trailed my fingers between his shoulder blades and down his spine to try and close what little space was between us.

Gripping my hips but not quite ready to touch me yet, he leaned down for another kiss. He was still distracted, though, and I knew he was listening for Kate. We weren't going to get anywhere like this.

"You're paranoid, Carlisle." My hands on his thighs was enough to distract him momentarily.

"Can you imagine what we'd have to tell Eleazar if his daughter walked in on that?" His cheeks grew a little pink at the thought of it, and I laughed and held the back of my hand against the side of his face to feel the heat.

It was going to hurt if we tried anything while he couldn't relax, and I half-pushed him off me, resigning myself to not going any further tonight - anniversary or not. He fell onto the mattress next to me, sliding one of his legs between mine as I rolled over to face him. His fingers teased my chest, and I closed my hand over his, gently squeezing his hand. "I love you."

"Love you too." Wriggling his arm between me and the bed, he hugged me and leaned his head against my shoulder, unable to resist a small smile.

I couldn't be bothered getting dressed again; finding pajamas was too hard, especially now my boyfriend had wrapped himself around me. He'd managed to pull his pants back up again, despite having no opportunity to do so. Kissing as much exposed skin I was able to, I rubbed his leg through the fabric. "Really?" I teased

He rolled his eyes, obediently taking them off and dropping them beside the bed. Still, he immediately covered us with the blankets. I let it slide, if that's what he needed to be comfortable.

With him cuddled into me the way he was, and the sound of howling wind outside, it was easy to fall asleep. I moulded myself to the shape of his body, locking my arms around his waist as he rolled over to put his back to me.

Folding his arms over mine, he shuffled back into me. "Goodnight, Garrett."

I kissed the back of his neck. "Good night."

.

.

Kate's violent sobbing woke us both up, and instantly I panicked; completely naked and faced with my already traumatised niece really wasn't ideal. Carlisle, somehow already entirely dressed, immediately got out of bed to collect her in his arms as she ran into the room, ignoring me while I struggled to pulled on pants.

"Come here, Katie," he soothed. Hugging her and letting her cling to him, he rubbed her back. He was a little bit awkward with her, clearly unsure of himself, but it made it all the sweeter to me."Are you okay? What happened?"

"…I-I-I h-had a b-bad dream…" she whimpered, sobbing into his shoulder. Her tears were soaking his shirt, and I was too groggy to really respond. "A-and it's dark a-and- and-"

"It's okay, you're safe. We've got you," he murmured to her, switching on the lamp to sooth her, apparently not noticing that I was still trying to dress myself and wasn't in any state to be illuminated yet.

"Carlisle," I scolded quickly, my cheeks heating up as I threw the blanket across my lap to cover myself.

He glanced back and laughed when he realised what was happening, picking up the crying child again and taking her into the kitchen with the promise of warm milk. As soon as they were gone, I threw on the closest pair of pants and followed them out.

She was still whining while he heated the cup, and I stood behind her, rubbing her back. I just hoped she wouldn't want to sleep with us; she'd spent the night in bed with me before when she was sick and it didn't bother me that much, but I knew Carlisle had a limit and I was pretty sure we were fast approaching it. The other option was calling my brother to come get her, if she pleaded for it, but I didn't want to do that either.

"You're okay, Kate," I sighed, sitting down and pulling her into my lap to hug her. "It's just a dream, love."

Carlisle put a mug on the tabe top in front of her, smiling when our eyes met.

"Not too hot?" I asked him quietly, not quite trusting his child-caring abilities just yet, despite how well he was doing.

He rolled his eyes. "It shouldn't be."

My niece took a big gulp of it without complaint, so I assumed it to be fine after all. "S-scary," she sobbed, not comforted yet.

"I know, it's over now."

She wasn't listening to me, focused on my boyfriend instead. As he walked past, she reached for him, whining. "Can I have a bedtime story?"

"Is that okay?" I asked him, apologetic. "If you don't want to, I can…" At least she wasn't asking to get in bed with us, I guess.

He nodded. "Go get back in bed, Katie. Take your drink." Something about his gentle manner with her made her listen immediately, and she did it without grizzling about it. He let her hold his hand as they went back down the hallway to the spare bedroom, and I trailed after them.

The sight of my boyfriend tucking her into bed was heartwarming. He managed to get her lying down and tucked up under the blankets within a minute or so, and I watched on as he read to her. He wanted to go back to bed too, and I bit back a smile as he employed the same tactic as many parents did, and skipped through the parts of the story he could without her noticing. It didn't matter; she was asleep soon after he started.

"Thank you," I whispered to him as we quietly went back to bed.

"At least you managed to put pants on," he teased me, fitting himself against my side as we lay down.

"She came running in here because she had a nightmare; I didn't need to terrorise her more." I squeezed him, smiling as he relaxed into me.

"She's not going to want to get up at six tomorrow, is she?" he groaned.

"I sure hope not."

.

.

As much as I loved my niece, it was a relief to have the house back to ourselves; she talked continuously, mostly at Carlisle, and the silence was wonderful. "You really are great with her, you know," I murmured to him, handing him a cup of coffee. He looked tired this morning - we both did, apparently; Carmen had commented on it when she picked up Kate.

Although we hadn't actually done anything, we'd both looked at each other, guilty. She'd brought us cake to make up for it, though, and I definitely wasn't complaining. We ate it on the couch, cuddled up under a blanket and listening to the rain outside as we watched a movie. The weather had eased a fair amount, but it was still wet and cold outside.

I kept him close to me as we sat together, still in the clothes that we wore to bed. It was a relief not to be working today; it meant I could stay home with Carlisle, and that I didn't have to go outside. Both things were very welcome.

"I told you we should have kept clothes on," he teased quietly after a while, laughing as I pushed his shoulder playfully.

"You just be quiet." I stole a kiss to shut him up.

He hugged my arm as I reached over to wrap it around his shoulders, leaning into me again. The kisses he pressed against my neck were distracting, and I wasn't sure what was happening in the movie anymore, too focused on him leaning against me.

Letting my thumb brush over his cheek as I held my hand against the side of his face, I tilted his chin up so that he would look at me. His lips were soft against mine as I kissed him, but the hand he tangled in my hair was pulling a little. I pushed him back against the couch, letting my weight hit him as he wrapped his free arm around my waist. "We can take our clothes off now, though, right?" I teased.

"As long as the door is locked?" He fought back a shy smile, his fingers teasing the nape of my neck.

"Yes, the door is locked, Carlisle," I laughed, stealing more kisses and letting my lips work their way down his jaw. I buried my face against his neck, my teeth occasionally scraping his skin as I kissed his collarbones.

He ran his hands down my back, occasionally grabbing fistfuls of t-shirt as he arched his back under me. "I love you."

"I love you too," I murmured to him. His quiet hum in response made me chuckle, and I worked to get under his clothing. My hands were cold, so he was a little more jumpy than normal as I touched him, and it was making us both laugh. "Is this okay?" I checked, not wanting him to be uncomfortable.

Nodding, he wrapped his arms around my neck, his breath hot against my chest and his kisses a little distracting.

A day late or not, best first anniversary ever.

.

.

Carlisle was in at the office today, and had been for the past week. I'd barely seen him in the past seven days; he left before I woke up, and stumbled home after eight in the evening, only to quickly eat dinner and fall into bed. After all the time we'd spent together lately I was really feeling the separation. It was the second day of my weekend, and I hadn't been able to spend any time with him at all.

I made up my mind to go see him on his lunch break. Even if we could just have coffee together, it would be nice just to be with him for a little bit.

The shop was rather busy as I pushed open the door, and I didn't recognise the guy behind the counter. I joined the line of people, assuming I'd have to ask to see Carlisle seeming as he'd have no idea who I was.

"Are you wanting your boyfriend, Garrett?"

I turned to find the source of the voice, coming face to face with the woman I'd spoken to last time I was in here - Sue, if I remembered rightly. "Ah, yeah," I admitted guiltily. "I was hoping to kidnap him, actually."

It resulted in her calling his name out through the offices, with blatant disregard to the ear drums of anyone standing in front of her. She didn't get a response anyway, but it didn't dampen her spirits at all. "Come and keep me company while you wait for him to get his shit together; I'm on my lunch break anyway."

I nodded and followed her out the back, sitting at the table while she continued to chatter. I was quite fond of being in here, honestly, and it provided a sound capsule from the noise of the customers on the other side of the wall.

Sue frowned, sighing. "A stock shipment has been lost, and the bosses aren't happy about it; it's over Carlisle's head until it gets sorted out. He's pretty stressed, I think." After a moment, she chuckled and rolled her eyes to herself. "I guess you know that, though; you do live with the boy."

"No, he never told me that," I grumbled, shaking my head. "Is that why he'd been here so much lately?"

She nodded. "That, and he's applied to become a regional manager, so he's doing everything he can to stay in the company's goodbooks."

I frowned. "He didn't tell me that, either."

"He's been working his ass off; we'll all be disappointed for him if he doesn't get it." We both looked up as the boy in question wandered in. He looked a little down and definitely worn out, not really noticing that I was there as he hurried through the room to get back out to the counter. "Carlisle," she interrupted, catching his attention.

He stopped and turned to look at us, his face lighting up as our eyes met. "You came for lunch?" Smiling instantly, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders as he stood in front of me, leaning into me as I hugged his middle.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in ages." I pulled him into me, making him slip so that he fell into my lap. Immediately after doing it I second-guessed myself, not sure how he'd feel about this in front of his coworkers.

Thankfully, he laughed, leaning in to kiss me and resting his head against my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Gar...I know I should be home more, I-"

"Regional manager, huh?" I squeezed him, pressing kisses against his neck and jaw.

His face flushed a little, and he looked accusingly at Sue, only to be met with an eye roll. "Ah...yeah...maybe…? Hopefully?"

"I'm proud of you. At least one of us has a little initiative within their career."

"...It means no more counter work, and-"

"And no more cleaning up after everyone else," Sue put in, standing up and pushing her chair back with her legs. "No more working under people who don't care how many hours you put in for them."

"It's not that bad, Sue," he corrected innocently.

"Perhaps you just don't know how to be treated well, Carlisle. It'll do you good to get out of here."

He watched her walk out of the room, and then glanced up at me. "I applied three weeks ago, and they haven't told me anything about it...it's not happening; don't worry about it." The disappointment showed on his face and he sighed quietly.

"Should you be doing all this while you're-"

"I feel fine, Garrett," he interrupted. "I just want to move forward and forget about all the shit that happened. I've had enough." That was...healthy, I supposed. Hopefully.

"Alright, just...just don't wear yourself out."