Dopamine High (Carlisle Cullen)

One - Pilot

Gravel shook the dark blue Toyota Highlander and Lorelai, who was beyond tired, struggled to keep the vehicle from swerving when she hit a hidden pothole in the road, it was a little past four in the morning, at least, according to the dash, Lorelai never depended on her vehicle to tell her the right time, especially when driving through time zones. It could have most certainly been four, with how dark the clouds were and how still everything around her was, but Lorelai had been on the road for hours regardless. It had taken her two and a half days to get to Forks, and even with her expertise involving sleep deprivation at it's best, three hours of sleep during her whole bout of traveling was exhausting in itself. Hopefully Charlie had tea.

The SUV rolled to a stop on the curb in front of the cozy looking, two bedroom house. Fond memories hit Lorelai hard in the chest and she smiled softly, cutting off the engine and resting back against her seat for a moment, when she tilted her head to peer up at the house she could have sworn she saw a flash of white in the window, but it was too sudden and quick for Lorelai to be sure. It might have been Charlie, come to think of it, Lorelai thought, and with the reminder that Charlie promised to wait up for her, she opened the car door to relieve her brother and hopefully let him get a little sleep in before he went to work at the station.

The door opened with a soft click and Lorelai cringed when she accidentally swung the door too hard and it made a loud thumping noise, glancing around she didn't see any peeved neighbors and she mentally crossed her fingers that no one woke up. Opening the back seat, and shuffling through the piles of belongings Lorelai brought with her, she pulled a baby pink suitcase out from the floorboard and shut the back door silently before wheeling the suitcase and her tired self, up to the front door. She was halfway ready to knock before the door was thrust open and she gazed up at a gruff looking man in his middle ages, his eyes a dark, chocolate brown that resembled her own and his skin seemed only slightly tanned, proving that he worked hard, but there wasn't much sun you could catch in Washington, of all places.

Her lips curled into a soft, tired, teasing smile, "What on Earth is that thing growing on your lip?" She giggled, Charlie's nose twisted slightly and his eyes drifted down as though he could see his bushy, brown mustache, before he looked back at her, giving over a tired smile accompanied with an eye roll. He stepped to the side to let her in, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. What did Dad say about respecting your elders?"
Lorelai hummed pleasantly, setting her suitcase next to the door, taking in the tiny little kitchen, a wooden rocking chair situated with a plaid cushion rested in the corner by the fridge, a little ways away from the four person table, she glanced over at the stove top, it read 2:15, understandable with the three hour time difference between Virginia and Forks, Washington.

"That brothers don't count?" She looked over her shoulder at him, "Isabella's sleeping?" She questioned, Charlie nodded once, and scratched at the back of his neck as he shut the door, "It's real good to see you, Lori." He smiled awkwardly, Lorelai only continued to smile at him affectionately, she knew Charlie was no hugger, he didn't do good with emotions, but being his baby sister she didn't care and wrapped her arms around him in a brief hug.
He awkwardly wrapped her arms around her shoulders, standing a good few inches taller than her 5'4 frame, "I missed you, too. I'm glad you called, it'd be nice to catch up with family, with school and work I didn't have much time." She pulled away and began to peel off her tan coat, "But with me being a resident and all it was surprisingly easy for me to transfer over to the clinic here. I missed Forks, it's so quiet, so...cozy. The city's no fun, too much noise, too many lights, no stars...oh, I'm sorry you must be tired, you have work tomorrow, get some sleep, I can find the basement." She felt guilty when she noticed the circles beneath his eyes, he waved her off, resting back against the countertop, "I'm not that tired, kind of dozed off on the couch, only woke up when I saw your headlights." He admitted, sounding a little guilty.

Lorelai was quiet, perhaps she had seen Isabella, she decided not to comment to the teenagers father about his daughter being up at two in the morning, it wasn't her place anyway, so long as Isabella was behaving herself. "I really think you'll like the clinic, all the same families are here, from when we were kids and the doctors there are great. Edward's father is a doctor there, Dr. Cullen." Charlie continued, he rose a white mug to his lips and Lorelai followed the cup with her eyes, "Coffee?" He offered, she shook her head, "No. If you have tea though, I wouldn't might that." She smiled impishly at Charlie's awkward expression.

"Not much of a tea drinker, I can get some tomorrow."

"No, it's fine. I can get the groceries, you have work and I've kept you up. Edward is Isabella's, yes?" Lorelai questioned, sitting down in the rocking chair, her back released a muted pop and she cringed, Charlie mirrored her expression, but only because of how she referred to Edward. "Yeah," Charlie said gruffly, "Well the son to a doctor, that's very distinguished, wouldn't you say?" She pressed softly, she had gotten the impression over the phone that Charlie wasn't very fond of Edward. "Yeah, I guess. But it doesn't mean he's going to be a doctor, I mean Dad was a mechanic and Mom stayed at home, and look at you, you're a nurse." Charlie muttered around his mug, "Ambulatory Care Nurse, and not yet. I'm a resident, I still have some things to learn. Do you think he's a good kid?" She pressed, Charlie's ears turned red, but Lorelai wasn't quite sure why, based on the tightness of his jaw though, it could have been anger or a bad memory.

"Spit it out, Charlie." She said sternly, drifting to her feet to get a glass of water, nothing in this house had changed and Charlie watched Lorelai collect a glass and fill it from the tap before speaking with a hissy sigh, "Last fall Dr. Cullen was offered a pretty sweet deal to work at some other hospital, and rightfully so, but the Cullen's had to move and when Edward left Bells was - well, she was destroyed. Sam Uley, one of the boys down at La Push found her in the woods curled up, she was - it was horrible, I'd never seen her like that, and she was just a zombie, she cleaned, did her school, but she stopped talking to her friends, stopped going out, Jacob Black finally got her to open up and things between them seemed to be going well. Then I come home one day and there's a note saying Bella went with Alice to get Edward over some misunderstanding. She didn't call, she just up and left the country. And then apparently Esme, the doctor's wife, got homesick and they came back and Edward just popped back up in her life like nothing happened. I mean, she's still grounded, she has curfew, but she threatened to leave if I didn't let Edward see her." Charlie ran a tired hand down his face and Lorelai listened patiently, giving nothing away but compassion and understanding, "I just don't want her to be so attached again that if they do leave she's like that, again. Don't even get me started on the motorcycles." He sighed.

Lorelai's brows rose, "He drives a motorcycle?"

Charlie shook his head, "No, no - Jacob fixes bikes and stuff and apparently he made her one and she was down there riding with him. Come to think of it, she and Jake haven't spent any time together since Edward got back, same thing with her friends." Lorelai looked at Charlie reproachfully, "Charlie, you and I both know that didn't just occur to you. If you're worried about her spending too much time with him and not other people then you can't limit her time, curfew, grounding - it's been months, Charlie. How can she spend time with her friends if she can't go out? If she only has a certain amount of time for visitors? I get you're worried, but you're working against yourself." She took another sip of her water before grabbing her bag, "I'm going to bed, you need some rest, too. Okay?"

Charlie nodded, though he seemed stuck in thought, mumbling a quiet, "G'night." When she rounded the corner.

***
Lorelai woke up before the sun broke the sky, only a faint light glimmered through the thick, gray mist of the morning, she was curled tightly in a patchwork quilt, her neck ached and she realized her pillow must've fallen from her bed while she slept. It was barely six, but she didn't require much sleep, pre-med had gotten her accustomed to that. The basement was spacious enough, it gave her plenty of room for a few pieces of furniture, including her twin bed to fit with space for her belongings, but the concrete floor made her toes crunch up in a quick recoil - it was cold. She'd need to invest in a throw rug.

What happened after that Lorelai would never speak of, but it did not take away from the fact that this twenty-two year old woman was crawling her hands across the floor with her legs hooked on the bed to clutch onto the corner of her suitcase to grab a pair of socks, she would never speak of how she slipped and banged her elbow on the floor or how tears may or may not have prickled in her eyes. The only thing anyone would know was that she wanted a rug, and she liked to wear socks.

Lorelai stalked into the upstairs bathroom with an embarrassed flush to her cheeks, she squeezed into the tiny bathroom and shed herself of her matching Vera Wang pajama tank and shorts before jumping into the shower to start her day, she had brought along her shower bag and the smell of freesia and lavender filling the shower with the company of steam made Lorelai sigh contently, she could think of no better way to wake up. Once she had finished showering she spent twenty minutes moisturizing, waxing her brows and completing her make-up. She then dressed in a pair of dark gray skinny jeans, a loose, turtleneck sweater and a pair of maroon socks. She dried, curled and pinned her hair and opened the bathroom door just in time to bump into a girl an inch shorter than herself, with reddish-brown locks and chocolate brown eyes that mirrored her fathers. By the look of surprise on Bella's face, she hadn't expected her presence.

"Lorelai?" She breathed in surprise, her cheeks flushing lightly, Lorelai smiled softly down at Bella and smoothed her hair out from her face, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead affectionately, "Hello, Isabella. You seem surprised to see me, I'm assuming Charlie didn't tell you I was coming?"

"Um - er - Bella ... I uh - "

Lorelai tried to contain her amusement as she watched Bella fumble a little with her words, "Bella, my apologies." She chuckled, "No, Charlie didn't tell me you were coming - when did you get here?" Bella seemed to regain her ability to speak clearly and Lorelai hummed, pressing a finger to her chin thoughtfully, "This morning, very early this morning. I actually thought I saw you moving in the window."
Something in Bella seemed to change and she seemed nervous, her cheeks turning red and she shook her head, "Oh - yeah, I forgot, I got water sometime earlier..." Lorelai could easily tell Bella was lying, she wasn't very good at it, she never had been, but not wanting to spoil her time with her niece Lorelai merely nodded, though Bella sensed she didn't believe her.

"Do you need the bathroom?" Lorelai asked after a long moment of awkward silence, Bella blinked, but then nodded and Lorelai grabbed her bathroom bag and pajama's before holding the door for Bella, "Have at it." She smiled again, and Bella smiled back, much like her father, Bella was just a tad awkward and not very physical or emotionally adaptive, Lorelai knew to give her space.

It was about two more hours before Charlie, Bella and Lorelai all sat at the breakfast table, Bella was quietly, awkwardly munching on Captain Crunch, Charlie was smacking his lips, drinking black coffee and reading the paper with his gun holstered and sitting next to his left arm, and Lorelai watched them both over a glass of orange juice. "So, Bella. Charlie told me that you have a...lover?" Charlie choked on his next gulp of coffee and Bella's cheeks lit up bright red at the mention of Edward.

"Edward." Bella cleared her throat, Charlie glared over at his sister, "Boyfriend, Lori, it's called a boyfriend."

Lorelai smiled coyly into her next sip of juice, "Forgive me, Charlie. I forgot how sensitive you were after all this time." It was apparent to everyone at the table that Lorelai was teasing her brother as a younger sister might do, but it didn't escape Bella's notice that Lorelai was a lot more reserved and even mature than Charlie, being almost half his age it was a curious thing. Charlie silently glowered over his cup at her, but one playful smile and his irritation turned artificial, "Do you want me to drive you to school, Isabella? We can catch up." Lorelai offered, "After all, I haven't seen you since you were what - eight? Nine?" Bella was halfway through explaining that Edward was already on his way to pick her up when Charlie interrupted, earning a look of disapproval from Lorelai. "You haven't seen your Aunt in years, why can't he go one day without driving you to -"

"Charlie," Lorelai's voice was not cold, but it was stern and reproachful, she gave him an earnest look when he seemed ready to argue, Lorelai set her glass down and smoothed her hands out on the table, "If Bella already had plans, that is perfectly fine. It was just an offer, I can take her another time. Don't be rude - especially on my behalf. Bella," Lorelai turned from Charlie, and Bella looked over at Lorelai gratefully, "If you wouldn't think it too odd could I meet this boy? All this huffing and puffing has made me curious."

Bella didn't have time to respond because a moment later there was a knock on the door and Bella flew from her chair and beat Charlie to the front door, Lorelai remained seated, picking up Charlie's paper to read about the Seattle News, waiting patiently. There was some murmuring, mostly on Charlie and this Edward's part before footsteps came back toward the table and Lorelai glanced up at Bella's voice, "Aunt Lorelai this is Edward Cullen." Lorelai calmly folded the paper in her hands before looking up and a smile pulled at her lips as she stood up.

"Why aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Lorelai laughed pleasantly, looking at the seventeen year old boy, with a strange shade of bronze, tousled hair and honey colored eyes he was as handsome as any boy she'd seen his age, he and her niece complimented each other beautifully at first sight. "I'm Lorelai Swan, it's a pleasure to meet you Edward." She wrapped around the table and held out a dainty hand, Edward flashed her a mega-watt smile, "Thank you. It's a pleasure, Ms. Swan." He caught her hand in his own, Lorelai was used to the cold, working in hospitals, but she was surprised by how chilly his grasp was, she blamed it on the cool temperature outside.

"And he has manners," Lorelai shot a pointed look at Charlie before she smiled back up at Edward and pulled her hand away, "With all this suspension you are certainly not what I expected -, but that is most certainly a good thing. I won't keep you two long, but it was wonderful to meet you."

Edward smiled at her, in a way that told her that he knew Charlie didn't like him much, but that it didn't bother him to the extremes that it would most boys, he had a firm grasp, and made a certain amount of eye contact that labelled him as trustworthy in Lorelai's book. She was a very good judge of character. Not to say he didn't have any skeleton's hanging in his closet, but that was none of her business as long as Bella was safe. "And you, Ms. Swan. I hope we can meet again."

"Please, call me Lorelai. You're much too old to call me miss, and I'm too young to like it." Edward chuckled and Bella seemed relieved, "Drive safe. I will see you after school, Isabella."

"Bella. See you after school." Bella spoke awkwardly.

The moment they were out of the house Lorelai looked up at Charlie with a look of disapproval, "There is nothing I see wrong with that boy other than there being nothing wrong with him. Which, in itself, is an oxymoron, Charlie." She sighed, sitting down again, Charlie muttered something beneath his breath, "I have to go to the station, but tonight we'll eat out, alright? How does The Lodge sound?" He asked, grabbing his gun, his belt and his wallet.

"It sounds fine, Charlie. As long as you're not getting steak."

"What's wrong with steak?"

"Don't play coy with me, you're getting to that age, Charlie. You need to watch your cholesterol, perhaps try a salad every once in awhile." She suggested, she listened patiently to him muttering about 'rabbit food' before heading out the house, and Lorelai sighed. She had groceries to get. Tea to make and a hospital to visit.