Work Text:
I took a slow, careful breath, afraid that all the scents here would overwhelm me.
The information carried by the scents was unconsciously filtered by my brain. For instance, there was the scent of a herd of deer in the northern part of the forest, down the slope near the valley. And it seemed Jasper and Alice were heading that way.
I took another breath to locate someone, Carlisle was at the mountaintop, and Esme was on her way back home. Rosalyn and Emmett weren’t detectable anywhere around these mountains; perhaps they’d chosen the forests near Seattle.
I ran at my vampire speed to catch up to Carlisle. I cut through the forest like the wind.
I arrived shortly after, in less than five minutes. Carlisle was sitting on the trunk of an old tree, reading a book in the moonlight. His eyes were bright and golden—a sign that Carlisle had been hunting.
I approached slowly, deliberately crunching on twigs and dry leaves to signal my arrival.
Carlisle turned and gave me a faint smile, “Edward, you’re here.”
He patted the empty spot next to him, gesturing for me to sit with him.
I complied and sat down next to him, glancing at the book resting on Carlisle’s lap. To my surprise, it wasn’t an anatomy book or any other medical text, but a novel.
'This is a gift from Bella,' Carlisle replied in my mind, sensing my unspoken question about the book.
Really? I hadn’t realized Bella was comfortable enough with Carlisle to give him a gift. I furrowed my brow a little—for some reason, my heart felt a little heavy.
"Have you been hunting? What did you get?"
Carlisle asked just to distract me; I could tell he was worried and had noticed I wasn’t happy. Carlisle is truly perceptive; sometimes I suspect he’s a mind reader too. But that question had already been asked, and Carlisle laughed for quite a while at my suspicion.
"Not yet."
I didn’t want to leave Carlisle’s side, because it was so rare to be alone with him. Except for those times when I deliberately barged into his office during work hours. At those times, it was just the two of us.
A pale hand reached for my face; Carlisle tilted my face until it was facing his.
'Your eyes are very dark. You’re hungry; go hunt.'
Carlisle said in my mind as he ran his fingers—as cold and hard as diamonds—over the stubborn purple circles under my eyes.
His touch relaxed me, even though there was no warmth in it. I hummed instead of answering, taking Carlisle’s hand and covering it with mine.
Carlisle lowered his hand from my face, taking my hand with him. He placed our hands on his lap, next to the book he was holding with one hand.
I looked away from him as his thoughts returned to the book he was holding.
I didn’t pull my hand back. I just gazed calmly at the bright moon.
Although, I don’t know, I hope I looked calm. Because right now my mind is in turmoil; I just hope it doesn’t show on the surface.
Just like I always do when I’m alone with Carlisle.