la belle dame sans merci | carlisle cullen

63

"Oh, he's going to kill you." Edward said no sooner than Alice had pressed the front door shut behind her. Bella, who had become a fixture in their daily lives, was sitting comfortably on the couch and looking thoroughly confused.

Alice scoffed a little. "He's not going to kill me. I'm his favourite." They all took turns claiming to be Carlisle's favourite, with the exception of Edward who was in denial of his own favouritism. Carlisle was always adamant about 'loving them all equally' which they didn't doubt but there was a clear golden child. He was more of a silver child lately, maybe bronze.

Though the relationship between the father and son since Arizona had sustained a serious bruise, one that had existed like an elephant in the room amidst every conversation. Carlisle had refused to talk it out but Edward said he'd read loud and clear what the grievance was.

"Shut up." Edward muttered, shaking his head. "Just because it went well doesn't mean he's not going to be angry."

"Who's going to be angry?" Bella interjected.

"Carlisle." Edward replied with an apologetic look, "Alice went to talk to Minerva."

The human's eyebrows shot up, "Surprised it went well." She commented, "She was in a mood today." She went on after a moment to stipulate, "Not like a bad mood. She just clearly wasn't in the mood for company. That's usually the case when I get the day off."

"I guess it was the right day to catch her." Alice said rocking on her heels, "She was perfectly pleasant."

"You should have seen her yesterday." Bella muttered, "Sheesh."

The vampire's heads snapped toward the windows at the foreshadowing crackle of gravel under tires. "Good luck." Edward said with a slight scoff, ever the pessimist.

"Don't need it." Alice stuck her tongue out before zipping quickly up the stairs, before Carlisle could even get out of the car.

She drug the spare chair over to lie in wait in front of his desk, legs pulled up to criss cross beneath her. Alice knew very well that Carlisle wasn't going to be mad. A little disgruntled at first, yes— but not mad.

Carlisle's steps were quick up the stairs, until they stopped at the threshold. "Oh, hello." He greeted, resuming his step. There was a disappointment hidden behind his warm smile. Alice knew better than to take it personally. Carlisle's study was his hiding place lately, he'd obviously been looking forward to some solitude.

The pixie haired girl decided to skip the pleasantries. "I did something today." She chirped as her father shed his jacket and briefcase.

"Oh boy." He said with a nervous chuckle, "Do tell."

"I went to see Minerva." Carlisle paused mid motion, not quite planted in the chair. His whole body went rigid, the grip on the arm rests threatening to splinter them. He very slowly settled into the chair, his golden eyes shimmering with panic.

"Why on earth would you do that?" He whispered, astonished and horrified, "I told you to stay out of it."

"And I did. Out of your bit, anyway." Alice explained, leaning her palms against the edge of her chair to lean forward, "I owed her an apology too."

Carlisle pursed his lips, carefully weighing his words. "She doesn't want to see us, any of us." He said sternly, "The least we can do is—"

"It went well."

Carlisle's train of thought stopped, recalibrated, stalled, stuttered and rebooted in the span of ten seconds.

"It went really well." Alice added to break the silence, "She forgave me."