Control [Carlisle Cullen]

Nine

It had been a week since El had found out she was Carlisle's mate. While she had been hanging out at the Cullens' all week, she was usually dragged away by Alice for 'girl time', or busy training herself. The two had hardly gotten any time to themselves.

Edward was bringing Bella over to meet his family, and Eleanor was nervous. She didn't necessarily want Bella knowing about her and Carlisle, or her powers. Jasper told Carlisle how El was feeling, so he decided to distract her by taking her on a walk, "So, is Alice Jasper's mate? And is Rosalie Emmett's?"

"Yes. Rosalie found Emmett after he was attacked by a bear. I changed him, and they've been inseparable ever since - they're actually married," Eleanor raised her eyebrows and nodded, "Alice saw Jasper in one of her visions before she met him. They met in a a diner in Philadelphia. Alice told him about our coven, and they joined us in the 50's."

"Wow," Eleanor laughed, "that's cute."

"Were you born with your powers?" Carlisle stuck his hands in his pockets and stared at his mate.

"No" she muttered, "I first realised I had them when I was ten."

Carlisle hummed, confused on how her powers just showed up, "did you tell anyone?"

Eleanor laughed a little, "of course not."

The two walked in silence for a few moments. They both slowly moved closer to each other, until they were finally brushing shoulders with each step they took.

"So what about you? When were you turned into a vampire?"

"I was born in London in 1640. My father was a pastor, and he actually hunted vampires. Once he got older, I took over for him. I was actually on a hunt when I was turned in 1663," Carlisle started, and sighed, "When I got bit, I found a potato cellar and hid in it during the change. I knew exactly what my father would do if I tried to go back to him."

"After the change, I was horrified of what I had become. I had tried everything I could to kill myself. Starvation, drowning. One day, I was hiding in a cave when I saw a deer come by. I was so hungry I couldn't stop myself from attacking it. After that I decided to feed on animal blood."

Eleanor frowned up at him, "that sounds so awful. I'm sorry."

Carlisle shook his head, "I'm grateful now, as crazy as that sounds. I found Edward, and Esme, and the rest of them. And I found you."

Eleanor blushed, and looked down at her feet, "I used to think of myself one way, when I first got my powers. But now, I am something else. I'm still me I think, but I always feel... I don't know."

Eleanor trailed off, turning her head to look down at her hands.

Her mate smiled down at her, and took her hand, "you need a little guidance to feel comfortable. I want to show you something that might cheer you up."

Eleanor narrowed her eyes at the Doctor, but followed behind him willingly. It was a nice and sunny day out in Forks, and El could see Carlisle leading them to a sliver of sunlight. He dropped her hand, and walked faster.

The man began to unbutton his dark blue shirt, and turned around to face Eleanor. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the sun hit his skin. The look of surprise was replaced with one of amusement and Eleanor walked up to meet him.

She reached a hand out to touch his skin and laughed, "I think this defeats the whole purpose of trying to be scary."

His skin was sparkling in the gleaming sunlight. To Eleanor, it looked like a diamond had been caught in the sun, and the crystals shined in every direction. It was beautiful.

"Yes, it does," Carlisle spoke softly, "I thought seeing this might lift your spirits."

"Spirits lifted," she grinned, and looked up to meet Carlisle's eyes.

The man sighed, and moved to fix the buttons on his shirt. Eleanor watched him, and blushed when he saw her looking.

"Come on, El," the vampire grabbed her hand, "let's go see Bella."

Eleanor smiled, and followed the doctor back to the house. Once inside, Eleanor skipped into the kitchen, eager to see what Esme was cooking.

"What're you making?"

"Italiano!" Esme smiled.

"Is she even Italian?" Eleanor turned to see Rosalie enter the kitchen.

Emmett turned around from chopping up some food, and looked at his wife, "her name is Bella."

"I'm sure she'll love it anyway," Eleanor jumped when Carlisle suddenly appeared behind her, but quickly turned to him with a smile, "I know I will."

Suddenly Rosalie stuck her nose in the air, and took a deep breath. Eleanor watched her expression turn to a scowl, "here comes the human."

El tensed up, and moved closer to Carlisle, who wrapped his arm around her waist. They stood back by the window, so it would be hard for Bella to see her friend, "Bella! We're making Italiano for you."

"Bella," she heard Edward speak up, "this is Esme."

"Bon giorno," Eleanor could hear how uncomfortable her friend was.

"Molto Bene!" Esme smiled, and walked back to the stove, "you've given us a reason to use the kitchen for the first time!"

Esme caught Eleanor's eyes and winked, while El just smiled, gratefully. She was thankful she didn't say anything to Bella.

"I hope you're hungry," Emmett said, and set the knife down on the table.

"Oh yeah absolutely!"

"She already ate," Edward said, and Eleanor rolled her eyes at his tone.

She noticed Esme's smile drop, and suddenly felt bad for the woman. The sound of glass shattering startled Eleanor, and she looked over to Rosalie, "perfect."

"I-It's just because I know you guys don't eat," Bella defended herself.

"Of course. It's very considerate of you," Esme sent a reassuring smile towards the human girl.

"Just ignore Rosalie, I do," Edward said, and Rosalie glared at him.

"Yeah, let's just keep pretending like this isn't dangerous for all of us!" She exclaimed, and El frowned, looking up at Carlisle. Carlisle was staring at Rosalie, but she seemed to ignore it.

"I would never tell anyone," Bella said.

Eleanor snorted, but quickly covered her mouth. Bella had just talked to Eleanor about the Cullen's being vampires earlier in the week. Carlisle squeezed her hand.

"She knows that," Esme said, trying to calm Bella and Rose down.

"Yeah, well the problem is you two have become public now, so..." Emmett said, backing Rosalie up.

Carlisle suddenly let go of El and stepped into view. Eleanor stared after him, but hid herself deeper into the corner, "Emmett."

"No," Rose cut Carlisle off, "she should know."

Eleanor took a step forward, eager to hear what Rose had to say, "the entire family will be implicated if this ends badly."

"Badly as in, I become the meal." Bella said, awkwardly. Emmett chuckled, and El covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Carlisle looked back on her with a look of amusement on his face.

Eleanor turned her head when she heard Alice come in through the window. The girl walked over at gave Bella a hug, "Hi Bella! I'm Alice. Wow, you do smell good."

El raised her brows, and smirked when she saw the look on Edward's face, "Alice, what...?"

"It's okay. Bella and I are going to be great friends." Bella nodded, before she looked to Jasper. He was obviously tensed up, and El couldn't help but feel pity for him.

"Sorry, Bella," Carlisle smiled at her, "Jasper's our newest vegetarian."

El smiled at him, before turning her attention back to Jasper, "nice to meet you."

"It's okay, Jasper," Alice skipped back over to her mate, "you won't hurt her."

Eleanor cringed. Edward rolled his eyes, and grabbed Bella's hand, "okay, well, I'm taking her on a tour of the rest of the house."

The two walked away, and Eleanor came out from her hiding spot. Alice went and hugged the girl. Rose threw the girl a small smile, which El returned. She knew Rose didn't care for Bella - or humans in general - but she was happy Rose was giving her a chance.

"Well, I think that went well," Carlisle smiled, and moved back towards El.

She laughed, "that was the most awkward thing I've ever experienced."

"Clean this up," Esme pointed at Rose, then the floor, "now."

Carlisle grabbed Eleanor's hand, and began to lead her out of the kitchen. She noticed a large cross outside the door, and assumed it was Carlisle's, considering his father was a pastor, "what is this?"

"My office," he said, but then noticed her eyes on the cross, "that was my father's."

She nodded, "do you still believe in God? Even though you are a vampire?"

"Yes," he answered without hesitation, "what about you?"

She shrugged, "I definitely think there's something out there."

Carlisle smiled, and turned the knob on the door, "this is my office."

El stepped inside and looked around. The room was bright, considering the two huge windows that covered the back wall. A few paintings hung on the wall, as well as another cross. In the middle of the room was a simple oak desk, and chair. She noticed loads of paperwork on his desk, along with a few stray books. "Wow."

Carlisle chuckled, and leaned against his desk. Eleanor followed behind him, and sat on his leather chair. She spun around in it, slowly, taking in the whole room. El studied the paintings hanging around his office, "where'd you get these?"

"I actually painted them," he said, and Eleanor turned to him with a smile.

"They're amazing."

Carlisle thanked her, before putting his hands on either side of the chair. He turned it to where she faced him, and she frowned.

"Rosalie does not like Bella," he said with a chuckle.

"Why?"

"She believes that Edward is risking our family by telling Bella about us. She's happy here. She doesn't want to move again." He explained.

"Why doesn't she care about me knowing?"

"You're different," Carlisle said, "you have a secret that would hurt you if it came out, as well. I think she understands that."

El hummed, and looked down at her hands, "and we're not doing anything, so people don't know about us. And they won't unless we decide to turn this into something."

Carlisle frowned, but nodded, "I know."

Silence fell between the two, once again. A part of Eleanor wanted to be with the doctor, but at the same time she worried about the age difference, and what people would think. That was her problem, she cared too much about what people thought.

Eleanor decided she wanted to wait a little while before she talked to Carlisle about a relationship. She wanted to be older.

"It's supposed to storm tomorrow," Carlisle said, "we're playing a game of baseball if you'd like to join us."

"Of course, I would," she smiled at him, "just tell me when."