|Falling for a Cullen| |Carlisle Cullen Fanfic |

Chapter 1

Ashley Tyler looked out through the car's window. Green hills were everywhere, with a grey cloud-roof above. So this was Dartmouth during autumn. Not too different from London, except it was a lot freer around here. A lot more time to relax and breathe.

"Here we are, then", her father said and stopped in front of her new house. It was small and quite far away from town itself. Just as she wanted it – she was tired of the town after 17 years in London.

Her father couldn't understand why she chose to go here, to live here, far from exciting London. He just didn't know how she felt about town. It was just too... crowded.

"You're still sure about this?" he said as he took out her bags from the back of the car.

"Yes, dad, for the millionth time!" Ashley sighed. "This is where I will be staying for the years coming."

Her father rolled her eyes and then carried the bags into the house. There were a lot of boxes in there with her new furniture. Her father had paid for most of it – to her frustration. She wanted to be a normal person, not someone who always got money from her rich father.

"There you are, then", he said and put the bags down. "Sure you'll be alright?"

"Yes", Ashley sighed. "Go now, dad, I know you have a meeting tomorrow. You can't stay any longer if you want to get some sleep."

Her father nodded, then gave her a hug and a kiss on her forehead before he walked back outside. He waved as he drove away.

And then she was alone.

She sighed in relief and went back inside, looked through her bags until she found a cup and a tea-bag, along with a pot to boil water in. When the tea was done, she went back outside and sat down on the stairs. There was still no sun, but she didn't bother. She just needed to feel that she was actually alone.

She took a sip of her tea and then looked at her surroundings. There was another, quite big house at the end of the road. She could only see the roof of it, hidden among the trees. Tomorrow she would have to go and say hello to her new neighbours.

A sudden movement among the trees made her freeze. Was someone there?

"Hello?" she called. She couldn't hear anything, but she was sure she'd seen something. She slowly rose and walked back inside, putting away the half-empty cup and putting on a jacket. Then she walked back out, locked the house and walked down the lane. She could just as well say hello to her neighbours while she investigated whatever it was that was hiding from her.

There was no movement among the trees when she came to the place where she thought she'd seen someone. She walked further in to take a closer look and those few steps also brought her closer to the other house. It was even larger than she'd thought before, white with big windows and several cars parked outside. She saw people moving inside the house, girls and boys of her own age. She was unable to see what they were doing, except for walking around, but she guessed they were preparing dinner.

When she looked up on the second floor, she noticed someone standing in one of the windows. A tall man in his 20s, she guessed, with honey-blond hair, and he was looking down at her. At least, she thought he was looking at her, but he might just as well be looking at the forest. Then, slowly he walked away.

She shivered, even though it wasn't colder than before. There was something about that man, the feeling he had shown when standing there – grief.

Maybe today wasn't a good day to visit, she thought, and walked back to her new home. There she made a sandwich and brought it with her to her new bed, that the old owner had put up for her. She pulled off her clothes, put on her pyjamas and crept down beneath the sheets, ignoring the fact that it was just late afternoon.

"She must've seen you", Edward said and looked at Bella. He was really angry about the fact that she'd gone so close to the new girl and almost exposed herself as a vampire, because of her speed.

"Edward, she only caught a glimpse of me!" Bella exclaimed. "She probably thought it was an animal. And why shouldn't we greet her? She's our neighbour, Edward!"

"It could be..."

"Dangerous, I know", Bella filled in. "But only if we show that we are vampires. If we do not, if we act as humans, she won't know."

"We'll meet her in school tomorrow", Alice said, taking Bella's side. "Edward, don't you think we should be at least polite to her? She's alone."

Jasper nodded in agreement, which made Edward sigh, before shaking his head.

"We need to tell Carlisle about this", he said.

"No need."

The four of them turned around. Carlisle Cullen, their adoptive father, was standing in the door. His golden-brown eyes were dark, nearly black, as he hadn't been drinking any blood since the accident that took Esme away. It was obvious he was still grieving the loss of his beloved wife. It was really only Edward who visited his office on the second floor, as he was the oldest of them.

"I saw her", Carlisle said. There were no feelings in his voice, it was just plain. Bella thought it didn't fit at all with his character, but reminded herself that he was grieving more than the others.

"And you think we should be... polite and invite her?" Edward said, his voice trembling with disgust.

"Edward!" Bella exclaimed.

"I don't think anything", Carlisle answered. Edward wrinkled his forehead, reading Carlisle mind, but finding nothing.

"Carlisle..."

"Enough about this for now", the older vampire said and turned around, disappearing up the stairs once again.

"I found nothing", Edward said slowly. "He wasn't thinking anything."

"That's bad, isn't it?" Bella said and took Edward's hand. Edward nodded.

"Really bad."