Bella couldn't begin to express the level of excitement and joy she was feeling. It was the last day of July and Alice had thrown them a small, and surprisingly it was small, going away party and then sent them off to Seattle to settle into their new apartment. Carlisle and Esme had picked it out; Esme and Alice had furnished and decorated it, and now Bella was finally going to see it. She, of course, had given her input along the way, but hadn't gone to the walk through with Carlisle and Esme, having decided to do a few classes over the summer break to keep herself busy.
Though she knew Victoria was gone, had seen the woman's body burn, and knew that everyone had somehow managed to come out of it unscathed, her dreams still reminded her of that day. They had become less frequent over the summer months, thankfully, but on occasion they still came. Sometimes it was Victoria, sometimes it was James, and now and then, it was the Volturi coming to punish the family for her remaining human despite their agreement to let her wait. Whenever a dream reared its head, Carlisle was always there to gently wake her, then hold her till she calmed. He would listen to her retelling the dreams, reassure her that it was just a dream, and eventually attempt to lull her back to sleep.
She hoped that was all behind her now.
This was their fresh start. The others were planning their own get aways while her and Carlisle were in Seattle. Alice and Jasper were heading to the south to visit some of Jasper's old friends, Rosalie and Emmett were going on a honeymoon around Europe and Edward and Esme planned to stay in Forks, mostly for her job, but Edward playfully told her it was incase she found another vengeful vampire to piss off. Either way, she was secretly glad to have them nearby, though more so for Carlisle's sake than her own. She knew Carlisle loved them all but also knew that he had a soft spot for Edward and Esme being his oldest family members.
Giving his hand a squeeze she watched the world go by as they continued to drive to their new home. When they finally arrived, she was almost bouncing with excitement to finally see their home. They rode the elevator up from the garage to the top floor and Carlisle led the way to their door. He unlocked it and stepped aside with a flourishing bow.
"My lady."
She laughed at him but quickly went inside. It was perfect. Simple, functional, and homey feeling. It reminded her of the cottage which was exactly what she wanted. Though she'd adjusted to the more elegant style of the main house, she still liked the simpler, rustic style that Charlie's house had been. It just felt more comfortable than the fancy, high end world Carlisle and the others seemed so used too. Moving through the apartment she went to the balcony, sliding the glass door open and stepping out to look over the campus below.
Carlisle came up behind her, his hands resting on her hips. "Do you like it?"
Leaning back against him, she looked up at him. "It's perfect. Thank you."
"You're welcome, love. I've got your set of keys on the table, feel free to grab them whenever." He lightly kissed her hair, his arms wrapping around her.
She hummed in reply. The sun started to peek out from behind the clouds hitting her feet thanks to the overhang on their balcony. She had hoped to go walk around the campus with Carlisle, sadly that was now out of the question, leaving her a little disappointed. Her fingers fiddled with her engagement ring spinning it on her finger absently. It was a habit that had started recently though she wasn't sure why.
"You're thinking too hard again." Carlisle's voice interrupted her musing.
"Sorry." She quickly dropped her hands away from each other.
Concern seeped from the bond, as Carlisle gently turned her to face him. "What is it?"
"I was just hoping we could go walking around the campus, but now we can't." Her fingers ached to play with the ring again. "I guess I was just disappointed."
Carlisle's arms pulled away. "I'm sorry, you could go without me if you wanted."
Realizing he misunderstood, she quickly took his hands in hers. "No, no, I'm not disappointed in your inability to go, I was disappointed that the sun came out. For the last year I haven't had to worry about the sun being out or not, but now we need to be careful again and it makes me wish I was like you. I'm not asking for you to turn me early, it would just be nice to be like you, so we weren't living in different worlds all the time."
A little smile pulled at his lips as one of his hands came up to caress her cheek. "I understand, I can't deny that it irks me not being able to take you out right now and explore the campus with you like you want. There's a lot I'll never be able to experience with you, which is why I wanted to wait, to give you time to at least experience them yourself even if I can't."
Her own smile spread as she leaned into his hand. "The problem is, I don't want to experience them without you. I want to see the world with you by my side guiding me. Even if we only see the nightlife, that's fine with me. I'll have you there."
"You sure you won't regret it later?" There was hesitation in his voice.
"I'm sure. Besides, there's bound to be cloudy days in other countries too and when we're alone, we can enjoy the sunny days too."
He leaned down to lightly kiss her. "As long as, you're sure."
Smiling, she backed him into the apartment before stepping around him and over to the bookshelf that currently housed all of her and Carlisle's music and skimmed through the plethora of choices until an album title caught her eye. Nibbling her lower lip, she plucked it from the shelf and popped it in. Moments later, the same music Carlisle had taught her to dance to started playing over the speakers as she turned to him and held out her hand.
"Dance with me." His eyebrows shot upwards in shock making her giggle.
"Who are you and what have you done to my Bella?" He took her hand and spun her into him.
She laughed as he spun her, her hand coming to rest on his chest as he started to sway to the music. He smiled down at her as he guided her in a small circle, and she couldn't help but think back to their first dance that felt so long ago now. It made her chuckle thinking about how awkward they had been with each other, dancing around their feelings at first and now, she couldn't imagine loving another man. Laying her head against his shoulder she breathed in the all too familiar scent that she loved dearly. The same scent that used to draw her in at every turn, tormenting her with a promise of something she couldn't have but now served to soothe and lull her into blissful peace.
As the song came to an end, Carlisle slowed their dance. Stepping back a step, she looked up at him. "When this school year ends, I want you to marry me."
Suddenly, she found herself lifted off the ground as Carlisle spun them around, a huge smile plastered on his face. Laughing, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he slowly set her back onto the floor kissing her. "I'd be happy to, my love."
Both of their phones started buzzing, and neither needed to look to know who it was. Neither bothered to check their phones as they continued to embrace each other, the music softly playing in the background. Their phones continued to go off eventually causing Carlisle to sigh and pull away from her to check the messages.
"Alice told the others that you set a date, they are all congratulating us."
Bella shook her head smiling. "That doesn't surprise me, though be nice if she'd let me tell my future hubby our date before she told the family."
He set his phone down onto the table. "Alice is Alice."
"Alice is Alice." She echoed.
With that they set about unpacking the little they had to bring from the main house and quickly settled into their new home. The next day it was nice and cloudy with no chance of sunshine, so Carlisle whisked her outside and they toured the campus together. Carlisle knew the campus well as most of his 'children' had attended the college at one point or another, so he was able to guide her easily around. They made a habit of taking walks around campus almost daily, so when her classes started, she knew exactly where to go.
Time passed as if in a fairy tale. Bella would wake up to Carlisle cooking her breakfast, she'd get ready for the day and meet him at the kitchen table, they'd talk about what their plans were for the day, she'd head off to class while he'd work on his lesson plans for the students he'd be teaching. Around noon she'd have a break in classes and would meet him at the student lounge for lunch before she'd head off to her last few classes for the day. Once done, she'd head back to their apartment where he'd have dinner ready for her and he'd read while she worked on homework, or if she asked, would help her.
It was absolutely perfect.
Even her birthday was perfect. Somehow Carlisle had convinced Alice to let them have this one birthday to just themselves and had gone with a minimalistic style celebration and bought her a cupcake at the local bakery with a single candle in it. When it came to the present, he went overboard. Once she'd blown out the candle and eaten her cupcake, he took her down to the garage and next to his Mercedes was another one, though this one in a metallic blue color. When she turned to ask him about it, he simply held out the key to her.
"You need a way to get around if I'm not here, I thought you could use this." Was his excuse.
Knowing it was pointless to fight him on it, she gratefully took the key and kissed him. "Thank you, I love it."
They headed back upstairs where she promptly shoved him against the door capturing his lips in a heated kiss. She could feel him chuckle and a moment later, was lifted up, her legs wrapped around his waist as he carried her to their bedroom. Their clothes vanishing in a flurry of motion both as eager as the other until they were bare and Carlisle laid her back against the bed, moving between her legs. She gasped as he thrusted into her, her head falling back and his lips dropping to kiss and suck at the skin of her throat as he continued to thrust into her. Her arms wrapped around his neck holding him tight as she rode the waves of pleasure he gave her.
Lifting himself off her so he was braced on his arms, his thrusts sped up, her cries of pleasure mixing with his own. Her hand gripped his hair hard as she arched up into his thrusts, her other hand sliding down from his face to his chest. She'd long gotten used to the lack of a heartbeat, knowing if it could, it would be racing like hers, and instead was loving the feel of his sculpted muscles.
She could hear the change in tone in his moans signaling he was close, and she wasn't far behind him. Pulling him down, she kissed him as her legs wrapped around his waist forcing him as deep into her as he could go. He groaned deep in his chest, one hand gripping her hip while the other fisted the sheets as he came, his body shuddering above her as her own trembled with her own release. Carlisle laid a light kiss between her breasts as she caught her breath before he sat back on his heels with a wicked little grin on his face.
Before she could ask, he tenderly coaxed her onto her hands and knees before moving over her again, his lips brushing against her ear. "We're just getting started."
A zing of excitement ran down her spine. His hands coming to rest on her hips as he pressed back inside her causing her body to shudder in sensitivity. True to his words, he brought her to release several more times, until she was a trembling mess on their bed to tired and weak to even move. Her body covered in a sheen of sweat and her inner thighs coated in a combination of their fluids.
Bella was vaguely aware of Carlisle using a warm cloth to clean her up before tucking her into bed. As tired as she was, when he tried to leave her in the early hours of the morning, she woke with a groan.
"Carlisle?"
"Sorry, love, I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep." He tucked the covers in around her to make sure she was warm enough.
"Then come back to bed." She grumbled at him, grabbing his hand and attempting to tug him onto the bed.
Carlisle gave a soft sigh. "Will you at least let me get you your heated blanket?"
Humming, she released him and waited impatiently for his return. Once he'd returned, he plugged in her blanket, draped it over her and then rejoined her on the bed. Without hesitation she snuggled back up to him, pulling the blanket around her to keep her warm. Sleep, however, didn't come right away. She could tell there was something Carlisle wanted to ask her but seemed hesitant to do so.
"Something wrong?"
She felt him shake his head. "It's nothing, you should sleep."
This, of course, had the opposite reaction in her and now she was even more awake than before. Shifting to look up at him, she wiggled a hand free to lightly caress his cheek. "Tell me."
"I was thinking about our wedding, and a thought came up. What made you want to get married next year? If memory serves, you don't care for the whole ceremony thing, or about marriage at all, and really were doing it to appease me. So why the sudden change of heart?"
"To quote you, because it matters to you." She sat up, crossing her legs and pulling the heated blanket around her. "I never thought I'd want to marry someone, but I want to be bound to you in every way, and I know that sounds a bit psychotic but its true. Plus, like I said, its important to you, so I want to do it, the whole white wedding for you. You've done so much for me; I can do this for you."
Carlisle sat up as well, bringing a hand to cup her face. "You know you don't have to do anything you don't want to, even if it's for me."
Smiling, she took his hand in hers. "I want to do it, because it's you."
With a little smile, he brought her hands up to his lips. "Alright, love, then we'll plan a wedding. Alice will be thrilled."
They settled back into the bed, and this time sleep came easily to Bella.
The late summer months soon broke into fall and the leaves started to change, but it wasn't the only thing to change in Bella's life. During one of her classes, they were placed into pairs for a project, and she was paired up with a young man named Damien that was maybe a year older than herself if she had to guess. He reminded her a lot of Edward at first, his hair was a disheveled mess, he was pale and charmingly handsome. A lot of the girls in the class were upset that they hadn't been paired with him, though she was indifferent. He didn't compare to the wonderful man she had at home.
As they worked together, she got to know him a bit better. He was one of three kids, his family lived there in Seattle though he lived on campus as they lived on the other side of the city. He was funny and liked to joke around, but could be serious when needed, and he was chivalrous. He would always hold open doors for her, or offer to carry her books or bag, and little things like that, it was charming.
They normally worked in the library but after a month or so of getting to know one another, Damien asked if he could come study at her place one night. He claimed it was because the dorms were to loud and the library got lonely when it was just him, and that he could use her help in studying for an upcoming test they had. Shrugging, she agreed to it, and they headed over to her apartment. Carlisle wouldn't be home for an hour now that he was back to work, so they had a little time to study before then. When they arrived, Damien whistled at seeing the apartment.
"Damn girl, you must be rolling in money to get this nice a place so close to campus."
She shrugged out of her jacket and hung it up by the door before offering to take his. "Just lucky to find it at the right time."
"Right." He said with a hint of disbelief in his voice.
"We can set up at the dining room table, we'll have more space there." She led the way through the living room over to the table.
They laid out their books and got to work, Damien sitting next to her leaning in as she went over the information, he'd need for the test. She barely noticed how close he got until their knees bumped against each other and she noticed his arm was resting on the back of her chair. It seemed a little odd to her, but she ignored it as she continued to review the material with him. When she heard the key in the door signaling Carlisle's arrival, her heart skipped a beat as she turned to greet him.
Carlisle hesitated a moment when he noticed her guest, his smile faltering a little as his brow pinched in confusion. "Whose is this?"
His tone was pleasant, but she caught an undertone she wasn't used to, though she couldn't put her finger on the emotion. "This is Damien, my friend I told you about."
Damien gave him a wave and Carlisle nodded in response. "I see, will he be staying for dinner?"
She started to shake her head, but Damien butted in with a big grin. "Dinner sounds great, how about a pizza, my treat."
Carlisle smiled as he came over and gave her a quick kiss to the cheek. "Sounds good. I'll be in the office if you need me."
Bella was about to ask him to stay when Damien let out a yelp, and the hand that had been resting on the back of her chair jerked away. Carlisle's mirth was strong through the bond, as he turned and headed towards the hall to the bedrooms, one of which was converted into his office. Confused, she turned to Damien who was nursing a small bruise forming on the back of his hand.
"What the hell, he pinched me. What was that for?" Damien whined to her.
She shrugged. "Maybe he didn't like your arm on the back of his fiancés chair."
Damien blinked at her a few times. "Wait, your engaged to him? I didn't know that."
"What did you think the ring was for?" She showed him the engagement ring on her finger.
"Oh, guess I never noticed it." Damien shrugged. "Cool, anyway. I'll order us a pizza."
Damien set himself to the task of getting them food and while they waited for it to arrive, he questioned her about her relationship with Carlisle, asking the standard questions of how long they'd been together, when were they getting married, what he did and on and on. Once the food arrived, it seemed to distract Damien, and he forgot about his questioning of her and focused on eating half the pizza. She made a show of saving some for Carlisle, while she ate the rest and they returned to studying.
Damien left about an hour later and she went to check on Carlisle, who had stayed locked away in his office the whole time. Knocking, she stepped inside, as he was reading over an assignment from one of his students. "You could have joined us, if you wanted too."
"I'd rather not watch a guy try to encroach on my fiancé."
Rolling her eyes, she wiggled her way onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "We're just friends. He's just friendly, that's it, I swear. Don't be jealous."
"If you say so." He gave her a quick peck on the lips before rubbing their noses together. "I need to finish this then we can go to bed."
Leaving him to his work, Bella went to clean up the pizza box and her books from the table. Over the next couple of weeks things did not get better, however. Damien seemed to enjoy teasing Carlisle whenever he got the chance, despite Bella trying to get him to stop, so she stopped bringing him around the apartment when Carlisle would be home. Not that this made Carlisle feel any better as he didn't like the idea of her being alone with him, his idea that Damien was flirting with her kept coming up, even though she continued to insist they were merely friends.
As finals neared, they ended up just taking refuge in the library most nights to help appease Carlisle's worries of her being alone with Damien but also not being in the apartment. This did lead to a new problem of Bella occasionally forgetting to text Carlisle if she'd be late for dinner and then coming home to him having packed away whatever he'd cooked for her. She'd apologize, but after the first couple of times it happened, he stopped being responsive to her apologies.
Winter break was a huge relief for them both as they headed back to Forks to work on the wedding planning with Alice. It was like the weight of everything that was going on in Seattle had lifted off their shoulders and they could just be themselves again. Alice had created a binder of things she thought they'd like for the wedding and over the winter break they slowly went through it and picked out the things they liked and didn't like until they'd gone through the whole book. It was a bit exhausting, but also kind of fun. Especially seeing how excited Carlisle seemed over the whole thing, that just made it all worth the effort.
It was sad having to leave the family again at the end of the break and head back home. At first, she worried things would return to their rough state, but surprisingly, things were good at first. Carlisle seemed to have backed off on his dislike of Damien and was being a little more lenient on her tardiness to mealtimes or date nights.
At least, at first.
By the time February hit, they were back to arguing again over her spending all her time with Damien. It was frustrating to say the least. It made sense she spent so much time with him, they were in several classes together, were partners on projects in those classes and were friends, so why wouldn't they see each other all the time. Sure, Damien was a little overly friendly with her at times, but that was just how he was, Carlisle had nothing to worry about. Yet every time they argued, he kept telling her Damien was trying to hit on her. She'd always brush it off and just tell him he was being jealous, which never helped the situation.
Valentines Day started as it normally did, with a rose Carlisle carefully slipped into her hand as she slept. Smiling at it, she got up and headed to the kitchen to greet him and thank him for the rose. Things had been tense between them, and she felt guilty about it, and hoped to make it up to him tonight at dinner. She'd used some of the money she'd gotten from selling Charlie's house to have a ring made for him. It was a silver on the top and bottom of the band and blue like a sapphire in the middle. It reminded her of her own ring and thought it would match nicely and planned to give it to him to show how committed she was to him.
Hopefully it would help ease some of the jealousy she'd felt in him since Damien had come into her life. Though she wished she understood why Carlisle felt threatened by Damien at all. Bella loved Carlisle, that was it, Damien would never be more than a friend to her, but that didn't seem to make things any better. Hugging Carlisle's arm, she really hoped things improved soon, she missed their easy-going nature and wanted it back.
Her day passed as normal, she went to classes, had lunch in the student lounge then would meet up with Damien for their last two classes, then head to the library. They had a big research project due soon, so they'd been spending a lot of time in the library trying to get it written up, though it didn't help that Damien was good at distracting her from the work. Time flew by as they laughed and joked between getting sections of the paper written and soon Damien offered to get them dinner. She agreed and continued to work as he ran off to find them food.
Something in the back of her mind was nagging at her that she was forgetting something, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Shrugging, she continued to work until Damien returned and they started to eat. It wasn't until Damien made an off-hand comment about it being a weird way to spend a Valentine's Day that her heart suddenly sank.
"Oh shit." She cried out, several people glaring at her as she rushed to pack her bag.
"What?" Damien asked looking perplexed.
"I was supposed to meet up with Carlisle." She grabbed her phone and groaned. She was 4 hours late for their date and had several missed phone calls and text messages from him. "Damnit."
She raced out of the library and across the campus to their apartment, mashing the elevator button when she hit the lobby. Finally, she reached their floor and fumbled for what felt like 20 minutes with her keys and unlocked the apartment door to find the apartment dark. Flicking on the lights, she dropped her bag under the coat hooks and kicked her shoes off as she rushed inside.
"Carlisle?" She called out but got no response.
Crossing the living room into the dining room, she paused at the lovely dinner setting that he'd set up for her, the candles he'd set out had burned down to stubs, and the food was likely cold. There was a posted note next to her plate that read 'Happy Valentine's Day' in Carlisle's handwriting. Feeling tears begin to burn her eyes, she checked the kitchen for him before going to check the bedroom and then his office.
There was no sign of him anywhere.
Pulling out her phone, she went through the voicemails he'd left her first, each one sounding more and more frustrated and upset. She moved to the text messages next, the last one reading, 'Don't wait up'. Slumping onto the couch, she let her head fall into her hand and cried. Reaching out she tried to portray her sincerest apologies to him but got nothing in response. In fact, she could barely feel anything from him, it was like he was void of all emotions.
Despite his text telling her not to wait up, she did just that and laid there on the couch waiting and waiting until she drifted into a light sleep. It was around 3 in the morning when she felt herself lifted off the couch and placed into bed, but her companion didn't stay. When she woke, the clock read nearly 12 pm. She was late, but she didn't care. Pulling herself out of bed, she shuffled to the kitchen, hoping to see Carlisle, but once again, she was alone.
The table had been cleared off, and the food tossed out, which saddened her. She had hoped to still eat it with him. Unsure if she'd see him tonight, she decided to take things into her own hands. Changing she grabbed her keys and headed down to her Mercedes and drove down to Carlisle's school. Stopping at the office, she got herself a visitor pass and directions to his classroom and waited until his class was over to lightly knock on his door.
"Now's not a good time." He said without even looking up from his papers.
"Please, Carlisle." Her voice trembled but she didn't back down stepping into the room. "You said before we'd fight, but we could get through it if we talked, so please talk to me."
Sighing, he leaned against his desk. "What do you want, Bella?"
Coming to a stop in front of his desk she held out the ring box. "I wanted to give you this yesterday and say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to forget, I just got distracted by our project and lost track of time."
He reached out and took the box and set it aside without opening it. "You were with him again, weren't you?" She nodded slightly. Carlisle ran a hand through his hair as he turned away from her, busing himself with wiping down the white board. When he finished, he was across the room from her, and when he spoke, his voice was soft, but she heard the words like he'd shouted them. "Do you want to be with him?"
Her mouth fell open at the question. "What? Why would I want to be with Damein? We're just friends I've told you that."
"He does, he's wanted you from the beginning." Carlisle leaned against the whiteboard, hands in his pockets.
"That's not true, he's just a friend. Like me and Edward." She insisted.
"Can you not see it, Bella? Everything he does is to drive a wedge between us, he's been trying to pry us apart for months and you're falling for it."
She was starting to get angry, what did Carlisle have against Damien, sure Damien could be a bit of a goof ball and a bit of a flirt at times, but it was harmless. "He's just a friend, I don't know how else to tell you that, he's not trying to come onto me. I swear. Why does he make you so jealous?"
Carlisle shook his head, looking a bit exhausted. "We're not going to get anywhere like this. If you think he's so innocent, ask him directly. Until then, I'll find somewhere else to stay."
For a moment, it felt like her heart stopped. He was leaving, did she really hear that right? "Wait, what?"
"I'm not going to watch the woman I love parade around with a man trying to take advantage of her." He stepped back behind his desk and packed up his papers into his bag, tossing the ring box into the bag as well. "So, I'll do the only thing I can do and give you what you want."
Shaking her head, she reached out to stop him, but he pulled away and headed for the door. "Carlisle please, this isn't what I want. I want you."
Carlisle paused in the doorway and glanced back. "At the beginning of the school year, I would have believed you without question. Now, I'm not so sure."
He turned the corner and was gone. Bella managed to make it to her car before the tears burst out of her and she found herself dialing Edward and telling him what happened. Ever the amazing friend he was, Edward started driving to Seattle that day as she poured her heart out to him the whole drive having some how managed to get herself home and to the couch. When he arrived, a new wave of tears started as Edward held her letting her get it all out. Finally, she calmed down again but this time her feelings went to that of anger at Carlisle.
"I thought the bond was supposed to be forever, how could he just leave me like this, I thought he loved me, and he's just abandoned me." She griped, arms wrapped around her legs, which were pulled to her chest.
"He does love you, and the bond is forever, but humans can love more than one person, so if you did like this other guy sounds like Carlisle would let you have a life with him." Edward explained keeping his voice level.
"Ugh, we're just friends, why doesn't anyone believe me?" She growled.
Edward leveled his gaze at her. "I've seen how you and this Damien are in Carlisle's mind, your so not just friends. He flirts with you in front of Carlisle, and you let him. Were you really expecting Carlisle to just be ok with some guy slowly taking the love of his life away from him?"
"You and I are flirty together, but it doesn't bother Carlisle." She tried to defend herself though it sounded weak even to her ears.
"Yes, it does. The difference is Carlisle knows I love Esme and won't do anything, so he tolerates it."
Bella pouted slightly. "Oh. I didn't know that."
"Well now you do." Edward poked her in the forehead. "Now, lets make a deal, I'll meet this guy, and see if I can ferret out whether he really is trying to get at you, and if so, you can confront him and set him straight and then we'll fix this thing with Carlisle."
Nodding, Bella pulled out her phone and texted Damien to come over to hang out. "There, he's on his way."
Edward nodded. "Good, now go clean up, you look like you've been through a car wash."
Shoving him, she chuckled and headed to clean up and straight her hair. By the time she'd finished up, Damien had arrived. Edward got to the door first and grinned at Damien, who looked shocked to see Edward there. Bella did quick introductions and gave a lie about Carlisle being gone for a teachers' conference for a few days, so Edward was staying with her for company.
They all got comfy on the couch, with Bella in the middle and it wasn't long before Damien's leg happened to shift so it was touching hers, which now that she thought about it, happened a lot. During a commercial break, Edward offered to make popcorn and disappeared into the kitchen and Damien's arm snaked across the back of the couch over her shoulders. Feeling a bit awkward she hopped up and ran into the kitchen with Edward who smirked.
"Oh, he's totally after you."
Nibbling her lower lip, she was finally starting to understand what Carlisle had been saying. "I guess I never thought anything of it, I figured it was harmless. Maybe he doesn't realize he's doing it?"
Edward gave her a flat stare. "Bella, when you told him Carlisle was gone, he was doing cartwheels in his head. I think he's been planning this."
Sighing, she nodded. "Alright, I'll go talk to him."
"I'm here for back up if you need."
Heading back out to the living room, she sat back down next to Damien, who had put his arm back by his side. It took her a few minutes to work up the courage to say anything to him and when she did, she turned to face him. Just as she went to speak, he leaned in and kissed her. Shocked, she hesitated for a moment before pushing him away.
"What the hell are you doing?" She wiped her lips with the back of her hand.
He looked at her like she had two heads. "Kissing you, duh. That's why you brought me over here right?"
"Hell no. I brought you here to tell you nothing is going to happen between us. I love Carlisle, I want to be with him, and nothing you do will stop us from being together."
Damien laughed. "Right, that's why you've been leading my on this whole time."
She glared. "What are you talking about?"
"Are you really that thick? You've been flirting with me since we met, I figured there was trouble in paradise, and you were just waiting for blondie to scram."
"That's not true at all, I love Carlisle, I would never want him to leave." She stood and grabbed Damien's jacket and tossed it at him. "Get out."
He laughed catching his jacket. "Ok, whatever, keep playing hard to get, I can wait. You'll be calling me in a few days when your freaky blondie boyfriend dumps you, I bet he's not even at a conference, I bet he left you already. Am I right?"
She opened the door and shoved him out. "Get out."
"See ya, babe."
Shuddering, she slammed the door in his face and locked it. She felt gross now thinking of all the times they'd been in close proximity and knowing he'd been trying to weasel his way into her pants this whole time. She was also pissed off that she'd been so blind to it, she'd wanted so much to have another friend like Edward she'd ignored every warning signal and everything everyone had said about him and charged forward like an idiot. Now she didn't know if she could repair the damage done to her and Carlisle's relationship.
Edward clapped his hands as he came back into the living room. "Nicely done."
She sighed coming to sit next to him. "I don't get it; he was such a nice guy and suddenly he went all creep mode. How could I have not seen the creepiness until just now?"
He shrugged. "Outwardly he seemed normal, but inside his head he was a major creep, he has a thing for breaking up couples, he gets off on it. You two have been his biggest challenge and he's been loving it. I'm guessing your not done with him yet, so I'd be careful."
Nodding she looked around the apartment. So much of what was there reminded her of Carlisle, and the fact that he wasn't there. She wanted him back badly. "Maybe I should call Carlisle?"
"Give him a couple of days, if he felt like leaving was the best option, it might not be just you that he felt needed the separation. Maybe he needed a chance to cool off himself. I'm sure he'll come back before you know it." Edward gave her his charming little smile.
"I miss him." She mumbled, moving so Edward could hold her.
"I know, and I know he misses you too."
Several days passed, and in that time, she let her teachers know that she wouldn't be working with Damien anymore and would avoid him at all costs. Edward helped, playing bodyguard the first day and by the third she was on her own as he had to head back to Forks. Thankfully Damien seemed to have gotten the hint to leave her alone. Carlisle had texted her on day two, just a simple good morning, but it was something. She had written a paragraph back to him, but he never answered it. In the afternoons, she spent all her time at the library because she couldn't stand being at the apartment alone. It reminded her of Carlisle, and it hurt too much to know he wouldn't be there again to help her sleep.
When she would go home, she'd often call Alice or Edward and talk to them to help distract herself from her troubles. It helped until it was time to go to bed. She'd taken to sleeping with one of Carlisle's shirts stuffed with a pillow to help her get to sleep, but it wasn't the same and by the end of the week, she was exhausted.
It was late when she left the library, normally she was extra careful to look around to make sure no one was following her, but after the week of not sleeping well, she didn't care. She was halfway home when two hands grabbed her and pinned her against the wall of the nearby building, a hand going over her mouth to keep her from screaming. She focused on her attacker's face and was shocked to find it was Damien's face staring back at her and he looked furious.
"You little bitch. Thanks to you I'm going to fail my class project because you have all the materials for it. Then you thought it was cute to ghost me like that, no one ghosts me." He shoved her harder against the wall. "I'm going to remove my hand, if you scream, I'll bash your head against the wall, got it?"
She nodded and when he removed his hand, she stayed silent as he yanked her by the arm hard towards her apartment. They got three steps past the buildings edge when a figured walked up the path, their face coated in shadows from the streetlight behind them.
"Release her." The figure said.
Bella's heart nearly soared at the voice she knew so well. Damien, however, didn't recognize him, and gripped her arm even harder making her whine in pain. "Beat it asshole, this doesn't concern you."
"Release her, now." He repeated, his voice dripping with malice. It was not a tone she was used to hearing from him.
"You want her, come and get her." Damien taunted, shoving her behind him.
Before she could hit the ground, arms wrapped around her catching her and gingerly set her back on her feet, fury like she'd never felt before radiating from within. It wasn't hers, and it was pointed directly at Damien. Damien stared openmouthed at them, trying to work out how he'd moved so fast, and likely shocked to now be able to see that it was in fact Carlisle that had come to her aid. Carlisle, however, wasn't willing to wait around while Damien tried to work it out and stepped forward grabbing Damien by the throat and lifting him off his feet with ease.
"You should consider yourself lucky I hold a great deal of value in preserving life, but test me again, and I'll make an exception. Am I clear?" Carlisle seethed.
Damien choked out an answer and nodded as best he could as his hands clawed at Carlisle's arm. Carlisle held him like that a moment longer before dropping him, letting him collapse to the ground coughing and wheezing. Damien quickly scrambled to his feet and ran away into the night. Carlisle watched him go, then turned to her and held out a hand. Without a second thought, she took it and let him lead her back to their apartment in silence. Once there, she let him examine the bruise on her arm from Damien's hand, his fingers gently caressing her skin as if trying to wipe away the mark.
"You came back." She finally broke the silence after a while.
His eyes met hers. "I never left."
Confused, she tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
The corners of his lips turned up. "I've stayed close the whole time, Bella, did you really think I'd leave my mate completely alone?"
A light blush creeped into her cheeks as she'd assumed exactly that. "You seemed so angry; I figured you wanted to get away from me."
Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, he gave a soft sigh. "I want to lie and say I wasn't angry at you, but I don't want to lie to you. Watching you slowly slipping away from me, it hurt, more than I could bare, I couldn't watch anymore. I knew if I backed away, you'd likely turn to Edward or Alice for comfort, and they'd come to you then you wouldn't be alone."
"You were, though." Her voice soft, the thought of him on his own was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
"I've been alone for hundreds of years, what's a few more days." He replied coldly.
Bella turned away from him, turning instead to stare at the floor. Twiddling her fingers she struggled with what to say to him. She knew she should apologize, but it felt like that wasn't good enough. How could she convey how sorry she truly was for putting him through the last few months. Only in the last week had she realized how much damage had been done, even to their bond, which normally glowed like an eternal light burning bright between them. It had dulled to a flickering candle threatening to go out at the hint of a breeze. She'd been clinging to it trying to feed the small flame in hopes they could recover but being unable to feel Carlisle she wasn't sure if it could.
Without him, she knew life would be pointless.
From the corner of her eyes, she saw Carlisle lean forward, his arm propped on his knee and his face in his hand, his shoulders trembling. After a moment he took a shuddering breath and it clicked in her head that he was crying, or the equivalent for a vampire. Cautiously she wrapped her arms around his upper arm and laid her head on the back of his shoulder. She could feel his body trembling as he continued to cry though no actual tears fell.
They stayed like that for a while until Carlisle stilled, his unneeded breath evening out. He ran a hand over his face with a tired sounding sigh. "Sorry, I just…I don't know what to do Bella."
Swallowing hard, she sat up a little, still holding onto his arm. "Do you still love me?"
"Of course, I still love you." He turned to face her, his eyes briming with unshed tears. "Nothing would ever make me not love you."
Cupping his face with her hands, she leaned in and kissed him. It was just a light kiss, then she pulled away. "Then stay with me. Please, don't leave me again."
He gave a little nod before leaning in and kissing her again. When he pulled back, he stood. "You should sleep, you look tired."
Together they headed to the bedroom and changed into their night clothes before climbing into bed. Carlisle didn't even comment on the Carlisle pillow, he simply moved it aside and laid down so she could cuddle up to him. She slept soundly all night for the first time all week. Come morning, she felt a lot better than she had in a while. After getting ready for the day, she met up with Carlisle in the kitchen where he had breakfast ready for her, to her surprise. As she ate, he read news articles on his phone and as soon as she finished, he was up and cleaning the dishes.
It was weird having him not be talkative around her. Normally they could talk about anything, but right now it felt weird even being around the other. She didn't like that. Getting up, she came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle as he cleaned the dishes.
"I know it won't fix anything, but I'm sorry. I really am. I love you so much, and I just want our lives to go back to how they were when we moved in. I miss you; I miss us."
She could feel him dry his hands a moment before they were laid over her own. "I know. I'm sorry too, I want things back the way they were too, it will take time. Try to be patient."
Her hands gripped his shirt as she squeezed him, his frame solid under her arms as always. Slowly, she unbaled her fists and released him to start working on her schoolwork for the day. Things stayed tense throughout the next few weeks. Bella would try to reach out to Carlisle like she used to, but he seemed unreceptive, and she began to wonder if there was any hope for them left. One night, as they sat at the dinner table, she reached out to take his hand. He allowed her to hold his hand, but he didn't hold hers back, his hand limp in hers. Sighing, she pulled her hand back and left the table, not bothering to finish her food, and headed to the bedroom.
Climbing into bed, she curled in on herself and silently wept. Nearly an hour later, Carlisle came into the room to check on her, she'd cried herself out and was just staring out the window wishing she could redo the last year. To her surprise, Carlisle climbed into bed behind her and wrapped an arm around her midsection, pulling her against him.
"I'm sorry, love." He whispered so softly she almost didn't hear it. "I'm trying."
"I know." She whispered back, a fresh wave of tears forming. "I've ruined everything, haven't I?"
She felt the press of his forehead against the back of her head. "Not everything."
"What do we do?" She rolled in his arms to bury her face in his chest. "I can't stand having you here, yet it feels like you're a million miles away. Tell me what to do, how do I fix it?"
"I've asked Jasper to come visit for spring break to help mediate between us, and to help us get back on the same page. He'll be here Saturday."
Nodding, her fingers gripped his shirt. "I love you, Carlisle."
His lips pressed against the top of her head. "Love you too, Bella."
Closing her eyes, she reached out to the little flame burning between them. It felt stronger than it had in months, giving her hope that things might be finally turning around again. She knew Jasper coming was a good thing, Jasper was always good at helping her see things in a different way so maybe she could help them both see each other's sides of things to help them reconnect.
Saturday morning, Jasper arrived, and Carlisle met him at the door. The three of them sat down and began the long process of telling Jasper what happened from each of their own perspectives. It was difficult for Bella to hear Carlisle's side of it, only because she hadn't realized how lonely and abandoned, he'd felt all that time. Each time she'd blown him off had only solidified in his mind that he wasn't important to her, and she'd had no idea she was doing it to him. She felt awful.
Jasper, sensing her need for a break in the session, called an intermission and asked her to come with him on a walk. When they were a few blocks away from the apartment he finally spoke. "How are you holding up?"
She shrugged, her head hanging limp as she shuffled her feet as they walked. If she was honest, she felt like shit. After everything Carlisle had done for her, she'd betrayed him and ruined everything. She was the worst; she was sure of it.
"I'm here to help, Bella, but this doesn't work if you don't talk to me." Jasper pointed out as they came to a bench, and he gently pulled her down onto it.
"I feel like shit, ok?" She snapped at him.
"Why?"
Sighing, she tossed her hands up. "I'm a horrible person. After everything Carlisle's done for me, I went and broke the man, I treated him like crap and made him think I didn't love him. Happy now?"
"Yes." Jasper leaned forward clasping his hands together. "You should feel bad, it's a normal reaction to what you heard from Carlisle today. It means you genuinely regret what happened. If you didn't feel bad, I'd tell you to leave and never come back."
Frowning, she leaned back against the bench. "Aren't you supposed to be making me feel better?"
"I'm here to help you two see the truth of the matter, to learn to talk to each other again since your lines of communication have been broken over the last few months. Carlisle doesn't want to argue with you anymore, so he's resorted to backing down if he feels the conversation is headed that way. That isn't healthy, for either of you."
Fiddling with her fingers, she nibbled her lower lip. "I really did break him, didn't I?"
Jasper gave a light chuckle. "You sure gave it a good shot. Carlisle is stronger than he seems, if a bit weaker when it comes to you. From what I can gather of the situation, he's likely worried he made the wrong decision in pursuing the bond and feels he should have turned you away so you could have chosen a human life."
"So, he regrets bonding with me?"
"No." Jasper leaned back. "He loves you, wholeheartedly. There isn't a lot known about the bonding of a human and a vampire, we typically only see bonding with two vampires and its unbreakable. However, humans love differently than vampires do. So, its possible that despite being bonded, you could love another person."
"You're saying, he thinks I'll feel obligated to choose him because of the bond, instead of going with what I really want?" She pondered out loud.
Jasper nodded. "It's a possibility, we'd have to ask him to verify, but I'd wager that's a big part of why he's struggling right now."
"How do I convince him that he's what I really want?" A hint of desperation creeping into her voice.
He shrugged. "Guess we'll have to figure that out. You ready to head back?"
Nodding, she followed him back to the apartment. Carlisle was still sitting on the couch where they'd left him looking deep in thought. It tugged at her heart knowing what he'd been through and without thinking she ran to him and threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his neck. He seemed shocked at first, but slowly relaxed and cradled her in his arms as she repeated the words 'I love you' in her mind trying to make them resonate through the bond to him. Whether it worked or not, she didn't know. What she did know was that the bond seemed brighter even as they continued their discussions.
Everyday Jasper would sit them down together to work through things, occasionally taking one of them out of the apartment to work one on one with for a while and slowly things seemed to be getting better. It wasn't drastic changes like she'd hoped, but little things like Carlisle sitting closer to her, or him seeking out her hand to hold as she ate, or even just smiling more. His whole demeanor seemed to relax by the end of the week, and it was starting to remind her of how he was before.
Though it wasn't without a lot of work.
Jasper had given her a lot of things to work on, like her punctuality, planning time with him instead of making him plan it all, and doing little things for Carlisle like he would do for her. In the weeks that passed after Jasper left, Bella made sure to keep working on both her schoolwork and her relationship with Carlisle, and to her great delight things started to get back to normal. They started to laugh together again, to snuggle on the couch while reading, taking long walks through the city parks, and just enjoying being in each other's company again.
It was late April, and they were on the couch, Carlisle's head propped in her lap as they each read their own books, and she found herself looking down at him. After a while, he glanced up with a curious look on his face.
"Something bothering you?"
Smiling, she laid a hand on his chest. "Just thinking how happy I am that things are back to normal. How happy I am with you and how I want you to know, I love you and always will."
He reached up and brushed his fingers against her cheek. "I love you too. I'm…"
Bella quickly put her hand over his lips. "Don't apologize, it wasn't your fault. Just, please remember, I want to be with you and only you, forever."
She felt him smile and kiss the palm of her hand before moving it from his face. "Forever."
Smiling, they returned to their books. Finals came and went and that meant it was time for the wedding set up. The Friday after finals Bella drove back to Forks, as Carlisle still had a week left to teach, and Alice greeted her upon her arrival. Most everything was already handled by Alice, so really there wasn't much for Bella to do, other than supervise. Though come morning, she did pull the pixie girl aside to ask her if she'd seen the whole Damien issue coming.
Alice looked at her sheepishly. "Yes, but I saw you wouldn't listen, so I didn't say anything, you had to wait for him to show his true colors to really understand what was happening."
Crossing her arms, she tried to stay mad at the other girl, but it was hard since she knew it was true. "Did you at least know we'd make up?"
Alice half shrugged. "Sort of, Carlisle was determined to figure something out, so I knew you'd at least stay connected somehow, just not sure if it would be as a bonded pair."
"Was I really that indecisive?" She mumbled more to herself as she thought back to all the time she'd spent with Damien.
"I think you got so comfortable with how we are here as a family, that you forgot that's not how others are. You wanted Damien to be like Edward so much that you ignored Carlisle's warnings and feelings trying to shape Damien into another Edward." Alice smiled, giving her a hug. "You don't have to worry about that now, Damien is gone, and you and Carlisle's future looks brighter than ever."
That made her feel better as they went about their day getting everything set up, arranging flowers, putting up streamers and whatever else Alice could come up with to make it look fancy and elegant. On Friday night, Carlisle arrived, and Bella showed him where the ceremony would take place and then the reception, both he approved of. Having wanted to have her father at her wedding they decided to only invite those that knew about him, so that left only vampires, the pack and Billy and Harry. Bella felt guilty not telling her mother about her wedding, especially since they'd been so close before.
Esme suggested doing a vow renewal but just not tell her mother it was a renewal, then her mother could be a part of her wedding still. It was a clever idea, and one she planned to run by Carlisle at some point, but for now she was focused on her wedding day. The day before her wedding Alice and Rose seemed to enjoy torturing her getting her waxed so she was smooth and trimmed in all the right places, then spent the rest of the time exfoliating and moisturizing her until she was smoother than she'd ever been before. None of the attention, however, calmed her nerves. She wasn't nervous per say about being married to Carlisle, but about being married in general.
As she sat at the edge of her bed waiting for her body to finally tire enough to sleep, there was a light knock on the window. Turning, she smiled as Carlisle waved at her from the balcony. Rushing over, she opened the door for him and let him in.
"Isn't it traditional that the groom isn't supposed to see the bride the night before the wedding?" She teased him.
"You're not one for traditions, Miss Swan, soon to be Mrs. Cullen." He gave her a quick peck on the lips before pulling her into a much-needed hug. "I figured you could use the company."
She hummed into his chest. "You were right. I'm a bit nervous about tomorrow, but more so that I'll mess something up and ruin it. I do seem to have a knack for it."
Carlisle gently rocked her back and forth. "Enough of that, you've beat yourself up enough, you'll be just fine tomorrow. Just try to relax and enjoy yourself."
Nodding, she closed her eyes trying to burrow deeper into his shirt making him chuckle. He guided her over to the bed where he managed to pry her off him long enough to lay down and get her under the covers before she was back to being nestled into his chest. Now that everything was as it should be, sleep took her easily.
Once dawn broke, things became busy. Alice, Rose and Esme were buzzing around getting everything ready and getting everyone where they needed to be. People started to arrive, so they set the boys to work directing people to their seats while the girls took Bella to get her ready. They scrubbed her down, dried her off, then did her hair and make up before helping her with her dress which fit her like a glove and looked absolutely gorgeous. Charlie came in as they finished nitpicking at the dress to make sure it was perfect and smiled at her.
"You look stunning, Bella. Carlisle's a lucky man." She could hear him getting chocked up.
"Thank you, dad."
The girls finally finished their fussing, and they all headed down to where the ceremony would take place, the girls taking their places as Bella and Charlie waited out of sight. Bella could feel herself trembling as she stood there in her heels. Turning to Charlie she whispered. "Don't let me fall."
"Never."
The music started up and they started walking, then turned down the isle as everyone stood. At the end of the isle, all she could see was golden hair and eyes staring at her. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him, perfect in every way, standing there among all the white flowers and frills Alice had insisted upon. She barely noticed they were moving as they drew closer and closer, her eyes solely focused on him, the man she was set to marry, the man she loved. When they reached the alter Charlie kissed her cheek and took his seat as Carlisle took her hand and the priest began his speech. She didn't hear a word of it, to focused on the man beside her.
Vaguely she was aware of Carlisle's voice when he said his vows and slipped on her ring, and it was then that she came back to herself enough to get through her vows and place his ring on his finger. Then came the kiss, and it was official, she was married to Carlisle. Happiness flooded her then as she kissed her husband, the guest clapping and cheering them on. Finally, they parted and headed down the isle and over to the reception area where the party began. The pack ate and drank, along with Bella, while the vampires watched and danced.
Carlisle forced her into a dance a few times, through out the night and when she couldn't party anymore, he scooped her up and brought her inside so she could change out of her wedding dress and into some travel clothes before climbing into Carlisle's Mercedes and driving away to start their honeymoon.