Control [Carlisle Cullen]

Eight

Bella paced around Eleanor's bedroom. Her hands were tangled through her hair, and she pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth.

Eleanor watched the girl with an amused look on her face. Apparently, after Edward dropped Bella off last night, the girl stayed up all night reading the book she bought, and researching legends on her laptop.

She had called Eleanor as soon as possible the next morning. While she didn't give anything away, El could hear the panic in her friend's voice, and immediately invited her over. She already knew what Bella had figured out.

"What am I supposed to say to him?" Bella asked, pausing her pacing, and turning to Eleanor.

El hadn't told Bella she knew the Cullen's secret yet, and she didn't plan to until Bella confronted Edward.

"Get him by himself, obviously. And make him admit it, don't just blurt it out," She cringed, remembering her outburst.

"Should I do it at school today?" Bella asked, wringing her hands together, and chewing on her bottom lip.

"Sure, and speaking of school, we need to get going. We've already missed half the morning."

---

Eleanor sat outside on top of a picnic table. Jessica sat beside her, while Angela sat on the bench below them. It wasn't raining, for once, so the girls sat outside for lunch.

"Where's Bella?" Jess turned her head in multiple directions, looking for the girl.

Eleanor looked around too, and noticed her walking towards the woods. She frowned for a moment, before she noticed Edward walking a few feet ahead of her. Eleanor smirked, and silently celebrated the fact that she would have someone to gossip with about the vampires, "I don't know. Haven't seen her since this morning."

Jess simply shrugged and took another bite of her sandwich.

---

Eleanor didn't see Bella nor Edward for the rest of the day. She wasn't too worried. She knew how much Edward had wanted to be with Bella, he was just too scared he would hurt her.

"Are you coming over today?"

Eleanor turned to Rosalie, and nodded, "yeah, Alice wanted to go shopping."

The blonde vampire nodded, "meet us at our car, and you can ride with us."

El nodded, and watched as Rose walked away. Rose had slowly been warming up to Eleanor. El wasn't sure why, she just assumed that it was because they were forced to spend time together. Rosalie liked how happy she made Carlisle, even if Eleanor didn't know it.

The rest of the school day passed quickly, and soon Eleanor was walking towards the coven of vampires. She attempted to keep her head down, not wanting to attract too much attention to herself. She especially didn't want her sister seeing her with the Cullens', because she knew she would never hear the end of it.

The car ride to the house went quickly - Emmett drove faster than anyone she had ever met. Eleanor followed Alice into the house, and was instantly pulled into a hug from Esme. El smiled and embraced the woman, trying her best to ignore how cold she was.

"Carlisle won't be home for a little bit, just to let you know. Anyway, are you hungry? I went and bought some food so you can eat something when you come over." Esme was very happy to have someone else to take care of in the house. She was thrilled that Eleanor was a human, since it meant she could use the kitchen.

"That'd be great Esme, thank you." El was slightly confused as to why she mentioned Carlisle. The theory about mates popped into her head, and she made a mental note to ask someone about it later.

"Edward is upstairs if you want to speak to him. Apparently Bella found out about us today."

"I heard about that. I actually kind of convinced her to say something to him," El smirked.

"Of course you did," Esme laughed, as El began to head upstairs.

She could hear soft, classical music coming from Edward's room, and gently knocked on his door, "can I come in?"

Without looking up from the book he was reading, Edward nodded. Eleanor walked in and sat in an empty chair, "can I ask you something?"

Edward turned to the girl, "you're going to even if I say no."

She laughed, knowing it was true, "am I Carlisle's mate?"

Eleanor watched as Edward tensed up. He was quiet for a moment, obviously hesitant about answering her question, "maybe you should talk to Carlisle about this."

"So I am?"

"How'd you even figure that out?"

She scoffed, "do you think I'm an i***t? Actually, I didn't really know for sure until I came up here and then you kind of gave it away."

Edward chuckled, "your food's ready. Talk to Carlisle when he gets home."

Eleanor rolled her eyes, and left Edward's room. El ran down the stairs quickly, excited for the food she was about to eat. She spotted Esme scooping food onto a plate, and slid into a seat at the table, "thank you."

Esme smiled at the human, and sat down next to her. Eleanor took a bite of her food, and nearly moaned, "this is so good."

The two sat in comfortable silence. Eleanor's eyes were trained on the plate in front of her. She planned on talking to Carlisle, she just didn't know what to say. She figured Carlisle knew that she was his mate. El didn't understand why he hadn't said anything sooner. Maybe it was because he didn't want some freak as a mate.

"Why did you guys cook?" Eleanor's head snapped up at the sound of Carlisle's voice, and she scooped the last bit of food into her mouth.

He turned into the kitchen, and stared at the two women sitting at the table, "oh, hi."

El smiled with her mouth closed, still holding food inside. Esme stood up, and walked into another room, leaving the two together. Carlisle took his sister's seat at the table, as Eleanor swallowed her food, "I wasn't aware that you were coming today."

"Alice wanted to go shopping," Eleanor said, and pushed her plate away, "I don't actually know where she is though."

Carlisle chuckled. Silence fell between them. Eleanor stared back down at the table, deep in thought.

Carlisle stared at his mate, as a soft smile graced his lips, "what're you thinking about?"

The girl looked up at him, "I'm your mate, aren't I?"

He nodded, "yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Eleanor felt more hurt than anything, "is it because I'm some sort of freak?"

"No, no, no," Carlisle smiled, moving off the chair and landing on his knees in front of her, "I didn't tell you because you're only seventeen. And you're not a freak. Your powers make you unique, El."

El raised her eyebrows, and looked down at her hands. Carlisle sighed, and grabbed them, "If you don't want to act on this, I will leave you alone."

"No, don't. But, Carlisle, you're right. I'm only seventeen, what would people say?"

"We don't have to do anything, yet. Take as much time as you need."

Eleanor smiled, and locked her eyes with Carlisle's, "thank you."

Carlisle didn't say anything. They stayed in their positions, holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. Eleanor was glad she was Carlisle's mate. She was glad she had people in her life that understood what she was.