It was raining when I woke up. The pitter patter of rain drops on the roof was almost as relaxing as the slow breaths my boyfriend was taking, his hand resting on my chest. I'd always thought that awaking to someone so close to me would be claustrophobic until it started happening to me, and now the thought of him being any further away made me nauseous. Thank god he hadn't freaked out about my job; I needed him more than anything.

I stretched my hand out under the cover until I felt the warmth of his body and the softness of his shirt, letting it brush against him. My touch was enough to make him stir, and he covered my fingers with his own. "Morning," I whispered to him. It was still super early, and I didn't really want to be awake, but I still felt a bit uneasy about everything.

"Morning." Somehow he managed to smile despite the time. "Are you okay?" His voice was soft and he still looked sleepy, not really wanting to be up either. When I nodded - unconvincingly, apparently - he wriggled closer against my side, pressing a gentle kiss against my lips. "No you're not. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just...come here?" I slipped my hands onto his waist, pulling him harder against me and shifting onto my back. Thankfully, he took the hint, untangling himself enough from the sheets to throw his arm around my middle, his cheek against my collarbone as I draped my arm around his shoulders. Crushing any space between us, he slid one of his legs between mine, squeezing me until I relaxed again.

"Better?" His fingertips teased small circles against my ribs, and the air left my lungs in a rush as the tension melted from my body.

"Yeah." I felt like I might be able to sleep again now, slowly tracing his spine. My thoughts wandered again as he fell asleep. I knew what I wanted for our relationship after our conversation yesterday, starting to suspect that Carlisle wanted that too, but it seemed wrong to ask him while he was forced to support me. Unemployment wasn't something that I hoped would last long for me, but the thought of trying to scrape together a resume was enough to give me a headache. I knew he'd tell me off for focusing on that now, though. He was right - we hadn't come out here to worry.

.

.

I'd never been to Edward's house before. We had to stop there on the way home to pick up Fox, and I didn't expect the wave of uneasiness I felt about being there. I considered waiting in the car, but I didn't want to be rude. Instead, I followed my boyfriend up their concrete steps, putting all my focus into not slipping on the wet leaves that were plastered to the pavement, creating a slimy layer wherever they had fallen. The tree hanging over their driveway may have been beautiful, but I was glad that I wasn't in charge of the maintenance of the property.

A gust of warm air rushed out when Edward opened the door for us, Fox nestled in his arms. Her purrs rumbled up from her chest as Carlisle took her from him, barely managing to greet his friend first. It was almost funny, the two of them fussing over the cat, and Bella's amused expression mirrored mine as our eyes met.

They led us inside and I glanced around their flat. The decor was a lot like ours, though a little more meticulously arranged - obvious feminine touches lacing the walls and the furniture. It wasn't as intimidating that being in Emmett and Rosalie's house - I'd been scared to touch anything there.

Suddenly involved in discussing Alistair's situation, Carlisle had abandoned me in the kitchen with Bella, and the two of us awkwardly stood in silence for a few minutes. "Did she behave?" I asked uncomfortably, just trying to make any sort of conversation. Our weekend away had been perfect, and I was battling being bitter that it was over, trying not to take it out on everyone around me.

She laughed, thankfully. "Yeah, she's a good cat. My parents own one that's a complete asshole, but Fox is sweet." The aforementioned creature was bunting at my ankles, whining a little that my boyfriend wouldn't pick her up. "I think she got a little homesick though; she wouldn't settle the first night."

I reached down to scoop her into my arms. "She's very attached to Carlisle; I don't think she cares about much else."

Bella leaned forward against the bench, resting on her elbows. "How'd he talk you into getting a cat? I'm trying to convince Edward to get one, but he won't budge."

"He didn't; I bought her. He wasn't well, and I was worried about leaving him at home alone all day, and I thought that having her with him would make it a bit easier for him. It worked, apparently; he's been happier since we got her." I couldn't resist a fond smile. Thank god it had worked - I wasn't sure what the hell I was supposed to do if it hadn't. "I mean, I'm sure you could just accidentally bring one home one night; it's kind of hard to say 'no' once the animal is in the house."

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "I would never hear the end of it. Do you want coffee? God knows how long those two will be."

I nodded, sitting myself down at the table and watching her get a couple of mugs out. She had her back to me, and I was half listening to the hushed voices of our partners. There had been another incident with Randal over the weekend, and they were both panicking a little. A dull thud sounded as Bella put a cup in front of me, and I quickly looked back at her as she sat down across from me. "Thanks...hey, um...when Edward proposed, how did he…?" Even though my boyfriend was obviously distracted, my nerves were still on edge that he might overhear.

"He did it at dinner with my family; we went out to a nice restaurant, and everyone we loved was there, and it was perfect." Her smile faded after a minute, her eyes meeting mine. "Don't do that to Carlisle; he won't be happy if you try that with an audience."

"I won't," I chuckled. It wasn't like I could; he didn't have family to speak of, and I still wasn't confident eating out. "He'd probably break up with me."

"Are you thinking of asking him?" An excited grin spread across her face and she grabbed my arm.

I hadn't expected it, flinching back unintentionally. "Uh, I don't know. Maybe. I don't know if he wants that yet, but we were talking about it the other night, and...maybe." Mostly, I just wanted her fingernails out of my arm.

"He's hardly going to say no, is he? He loves you, just bite the bullet and ask him. And then call me. Immediately." She only squeezed me tighter, her grin growing.

"I don't know how, Bella. We only get to do this once, and I don't want to screw it up. We're both kind of stressed at the moment, and I don't think it's a good idea for me to try it while we're preoccupied." Aside from the fact he was working for both of us, I knew he wasn't going to be settled until Alistair was officially safe.

She rolled her eyes at me. "You're a good guy, Garrett, you're not going to screw it up."

I groaned, scrubbing my hands over my face. "I can't anyway; I don't have a ring."

"He's not going to care; stop making excuses," she grumbled.

"Why are you so invested in us?" I grumbled back.

"You're the one who brought it up," she teased. She let me go as the other two came back into the room, falling silent as our conversation was cut off. Her smile grew as Carlisle immediately wrapped his arms around me, but I suspected the affection was born of nerves.

"You ready to go?" I asked, pressing a quick kiss against his forehead. Anymore talk of marriage, and I was going to lose my mind.

Carlisle nodded, his fingertips trailing down my arm to find my hand. He squeezed my fingers pretty hard when he got there. "Yeah, let's get Fox home."

I got a hug from both Edward and Bella as we left, and it helped to dull the sting of jealousy I felt as my boyfriend hugged his former crush. Jesus, I really needed to get a grip. The sky had started to spit again as we got outside, our feet sliding on the leaf-mush as we ran to the car. The tread on my shoes stopped me from slipping too much, but I had to literally catch Carlisle as he tripped down the stairs, off-balanced by the cat and his normal lack of coordination. "Don't knock yourself out," I teased. I kept my hands on his waist until we were at the car, not wanting him to fall to his death. "I don't fancy trying to find myself another partner."

He laughed, giggling as he tried to contain Fox in his arms. She was whining and clawing at him, excited by the birds on the lawn and apparently not caring that she was slowly becoming damp. "I don't think you'd have a hard time finding another kitty babysitter; women love cats."

"I don't want a kitty babysitter, I want you," I murmured to him, trapping him against the passenger door and leaning down to bring my lips to his. The warmth of his body against mine was a welcome contrast from the winter air around us.

"This would be a whole lot more romantic if our cat-child didn't have her teeth in my arm," he told me as I pulled away from the kiss. "As much as I like kissing you in the rain-"

I cut him off, interrupting him with another kiss before stealing the cat from his hands and carrying her around to the driver's door. "Get in the car before we freeze to death, Carlisle, let's go." I waited until he'd done up his seat belt and dumped the purring creature in his lap. Her tail was whipping back and forth, pissed I'd man-handled her, and it only resulted in her sinking her teeth into his wrist again. The scoulding he gave her only ended in more patting. I rolled my eyes. "Remind me never to put you in charge of telling off our child, if we ever have one."

"Don't you trust my disciplinary skills, Garrett?" He was grinning at me, and I shoved him lightly as I released the handbrake

"You just apologised to the cat for her biting you," I laughed. "You're such a dork; I love you."

"I love you too." He got caught on the statement for a moment, seeming to forget I'd just insulted him and failing at hiding a smile. "And it isn't like I can make her sit in the corner and think about what she's done."

I snorted. "You wouldn't, even if you could." I slid my hand onto his leg, squeezing his thigh. Our silence sat comfortably for a few minutes, but I knew I had to break it. "Is everything okay with Alistair?" I asked softly. I felt him tense up immediately and hug the cat a little tighter.

"Sort of. Randal found out where he's staying, but he hasn't done anything to him. He just won't leave him alone. Al is moving back to his mother's place next weekend; a few of us are going around to help him back in a few days - you can come with me, if you want." He rambled a bit, unable to completely hide his nerves from me.

"Are you worried about Al, or sad that he's moving away?" I tightened my hand, starting to think I should have left this conversation until we got home; at least then I'd be able to hug him.

There was a long pause before he answered me. "Both, I guess? Randal just...I don't know, he freaks me out, and I don't want him to hurt Al." His fingertips sunk further into Fox's fur, holding her a little closer to him. "Sorry, I don't want to ruin our weekend with all this."

"I asked about it. If he's making you feel unsafe, I need to know; he's already hit you once." I was a little sorry for reminding him of that, but I wasn't about to stand for anymore of that bullshit.

"I don't think he'll hurt me again; he wants Alistair back, so he's not going to do anything to piss him off." He repositioned the cat until he could free one of his hands to hold mine. "Besides; Emmett and Jasper will be there when we're packing - he won't want to be there while they're around, they're bigger than him." Something was building up though; his breaths were starting to catch, and he couldn't calm down despite his frenzied cat-patting.

"Carlisle…" I warned. I glanced at him while we were stopped at a red traffic light, easily able to see through his barely contained anxiety attack.

"I just want him to be safe, but I don't want him to go- I love him- I don't know how Randal can do that to him," he told me in a rush, starting to fall apart as we sat there. "I don't want him to be hurt."

I tried not to grab at those three words. I really did. The deep breaths I forced myself to take helped me to calm down, not wanting to hurt him just because I was suddenly horribly jealous. "Before you met me, you and Alistair were never together, right?" I checked, trying not to freak myself out.

He glanced at me, but wasn't outrightly hostile about my question. "We slept together, Gar, I've told you that, but we never dated." It wasn't helping his muted meltdown at all.

I sighed, rubbing his arm and silently trying to convince him not to be mad at me. "You know he loved you when we got together?" My voice was quiet, but he choked on the air in his throat, silent for a few seconds. So no. No, he didn't know, and I was about to be in deep shit for telling him. I wasn't entirely sure why I did, but part of me was insecure enough to need to make sure that he didn't feel the same. Perhaps Randal and I were on the same page in some respects, and that was why he was so horrible to Carlisle.

"I wouldn't have asked you out if I wanted him like that," he said eventually.

"But did you know, Carlisle? Would it have made a difference?" I pressed.

"No, but how would you know that?" he snapped back.

I bristled a little. "He told me; I slept over at your place, you went to work early, Alistair was mad at us for being noisy the night before, and we both walked to the bookshop to see you. He told me on the way, and I bought him coffee because I felt like an asshole for taking you from him."

The silence returned, awkward now. "He's just my friend, Gar," he repeated, sounding a little sad now. "He was all I had for a long time, it feels weird that he's going to be so far away. It's like if you were to move away, but not as painful. It sucks."

I was sorry for asking. I had already expected that this was going to hurt him, and I didn't need to rub it in just because I was jealous. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be a dick."

"Its okay; I know your stressed about everything at the moment."He readjusted his hold on the cat until he could free one hand, reaching for my hand. "Whatever is happening with your job, don't go thinking it's going to change how I feel about you. I love Al, but I love you so much more, and there was never anything romantic between me and him. You don't need to worry about us."

God, I was such an asshole. "Sorry, Carlisle, I know."

.

.

Tuesday morning came around far too quickly. For the first time ever, I was awake and ready to start work well before Carlisle. Except I had nowhere to go, and nothing to do. I'd spent the last hour and a half trying to put together a semi-decent resume, and it was barely 6am. Another half an hour rolled around before my boyfriend joined me in the kitchen, blatantly confused to see me up. "Is everything okay?" he asked slowly, stifling a yawn as he flicked the switch on the kettle. The bubbling of boiling water slowly grew louder, and I tried to figure out what I was supposed to tell him.

"I don't know what to do all day, this feels really weird," I murmured, watching him spoon coffee into a mug. "I don't like it."

He struggled to hide a frown. "Go back to bed, for starters? Why are you up so early to begin with?"

I shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. Could you maybe proofread this for me later?" The sticky feet on the bottom of my computer clunked against the table as I turned it toward him. It seemed kind of rude to ask, seeming as he was the one having to work all day anyway, but sending a document riddled with errors to a potential future employer really wasn't a good look. "Not right now, but...later?" I asked again. I didn't want him to feel like I was pressuring him, and it wasn't helping me feel any less weird about it. "Please? I don't want to look like an idiot and-"

"Promise me you'll get some sleep later?" he interrupted.

I sighed and nodded, caving. "I promise."

"Then yeah, of course I will. Just leave it there and I'll do it before I leave."

Despite his reassurance, I didn't move from the chair. I left him alone until he was ready to come back to me, and I grabbed his waist as he passed. His hair was still wet from showering when I pulled him into my lap, locking my arms around him and holding him against my chest. I needed the contact to keep my sanity. "I haven't had to do this since I was 16," I groaned against the fabric of his shirt.

He was laughing after I'd off balanced him so suddenly. His fingers trailed across my arms, gently rubbing my hands as he glanced down at my computer screen. "You need to sleep before you freak yourself out; you'll be fine."

I just shook my head. I didn't let him get up when he reached for the computer, unwilling to break the contact between us just yet. He just sighed quietly. As he slowly picked through my terrible grammar, I rested my chin on his shoulder, watching his fingers flit across the keys. "I wish this was over already."

"So do I, Gar, but we'll figure something out until it is."

"What time are you coming home again today?" I kissed his neck, letting my lips trail along his jaw in hopes that it might encourage him to stay a little longer.

No such luck. He hit save on my computer and started to untangle himself from me. "I've got a few classes, so probably around five tonight."

Great. That seemed like an impossibly long time to be alone.

I was already counting the minutes.