Dopamine High (Carlisle Cullen)

Five

The sounds of heavy, tired footsteps thumping down the stairs alerted Lorelai of Charlie's presence long before he entered the kitchen, she peeked towards him from her place hovering at the countertop, a knife in one hand, the other hand holding a cucumber in place. "What's that?" Charlie muttered gruffly, squinting through tired eyes as he peered towards the vegetables splayed out on the counter in separate bowls with skepticism. Lorelai smiled a secretive smile, "Dinner." She responded simply. "It's six-thirty," Charlie frowned, "Why are you making dinner?"

Lorelai pursed her lips, he sounded cranky, "What time did you go to sleep last night, Charlie?" She sighed, setting her knife down to glare at her brother with worry, he sighed, "I got a call last night, had to drive to the station pretty early." Lorelai frowned, "Oh- I'm surprised I didn't wake up. We're having steak tonight if that lightens your mood." She beamed over at him, and a hopeful sort of look flashed through his eyes before they dulled down as he glared at the veggies strew about. "... With salad?" He guessed. Lorelai nodded the affirmative and he sighed, "Better than nothing. Bells not up yet?"

Lorelai's lips thinned outside of Charlie's view as the bushy lipped Chief got himself a cup of coffee. Truth be told, Lorelai had heard Bella murmuring again last night when she went to use the bathroom, and she had also recently learned that Bella didn't have a cellphone, or any phone, for that matter, in her bedroom. She didn't sound like she was talking in her sleep either, these weren't inconsistent mumbles, her harsh whispering let Lorelai know she knew she could get in trouble, and also that she had snuck someone in. Lorelai had an idea of who.

"No, not yet." Lorelai forced pep into her voice, but a few moments later when Bella came darting down the stairs, behind schedule on a school day, Lorelai couldn't keep a smile pointed at the teen, but rather a vague look of disapproval, by how pink Bella's cheeks were, she may even have had an idea of why. "Edward taking you to school?" Charlie grumbled from the table, Bella cleared her throat and tucked her hands into her jean pockets awkwardly, "Nope, actually Alice is - Edward and Emmett went camping."

Lorelai glanced up from where she stood tossing the salad with amusement, "You didn't wish to go with them?" She hummed, Bella stood there with wide eyes and after a moment Charlie released a barking laugh, Lorelai only smiled a small smile to herself. "That's a good one, Lori." Charlie wiped away imaginary tears and Bella's cheeks burned hotter. Lorelai felt a little guilty, but pushed it aside, it was normal for Aunts to pick fun every once and a while, wasn't it?

Lorelai put the salad in the fridge, resting it next to the marinating steaks, and she pushed the fridge door shut, dressed in her black slacks and a flowy, white blouse, she grabbed her purse and pressed a brief kiss to Charlie's temple, "I'll be home a little late, so I got everything set up. The steaks just need to be grilled, and the asparagus needs to be roasted - Bella, you know how to do the asparagus?" Lorelai glanced up as she slipped on her black flats and Bella nodded, "Yeah, I can do it." She confirmed. Lorelai shot them both a quick, white smile. "See you around eightish."

When Lorelai entered the hospital she had ten minutes left until she started her shift, and so she rested her hip against the third floors desk, sipping on peppermint tea as she watched nurses and staff of all kinds walk up and down the halls, no one was currently stationed at the desk and she frowned to herself, it was a little odd.

"Hey, could you get me the information on Ben Tigre's - are you new?" A man in his thirties paused in his questioning to look Lorelai up and down, and she cleared her throat to get his attention, politely, back to her face. "Yes, I am. And I'm not working yet, see - no scrubs. I work in emergency care." She added the last part to soften the blow, and he grinned at her, "Ahh...you're the new resident, right?"

Lorelai bobbed her head up and down, awkwardly taking a sip of her tea from her thermos, "Chief Swan's little sister?" She nodded again, sighing softly to herself, "I can see who got the looks in the family." He was trying to flatter her, she could tell, but the compliment was undermining her brother at the same time, and she fought a scowl. She was better than him, she wouldn't be goaded into snapping out. "You might want to find someone to pull that information for you." She responded shortly, turning around to shuffle through her purse as an excuse to ignore him.