Control [Carlisle Cullen]

Thirteen

Eleanor curled up to Carlisle's side, and pulled the blanket so that it covered more of her. Even though it was the beginning of September, Eleanor had already pulled out most of her blankets for the year.

Over the summer, she had appreciated how cold Carlisle's body was, but now that it was getting colder, she started to hate it. Carlisle laughed at her when she first pulled the blankets out of her closet, but when he realised how easily she got cold, he bought some for his house as well.

Eleanor and Jessica had turned eighteen over the summer. It was the first birthday party Eleanor had actually enjoyed. Usually her and her school friends would just get together and go to dinner and a movie, while Alice threw Eleanor a small party.

That was when Jess found out she was hanging out with the Cullens'. Needless to say, she wasn't very happy that Eleanor didn't tell her, and she was more upset that she missed their traditional birthday celebration.

Bella walked into the living room, and sat down on the couch across from Carlisle and Eleanor. Eleanor smiled over at her friend, "are you excited for your birthday, tomorrow?"

Bella wrinkled her nose, and shook her head, "don't remind me."

Eleanor laughed at her friend, "Bells, you're gonna be eighteen! It's not a bad thing that you're ageing."

Bella scoffed. She had been set on turning into a vampire ever since the incident with James. She claimed it was because she wanted to be able to protect Edward like he protected her. Eleanor just thought she was being selfish.

Edward walked in next, and sat next to Bella. Eleanor looked up at Carlisle with raised eyebrows. He seemed to get the hint, and stood up from the couch, "see ya guys."

Eleanor followed him out of the room, and into his office. Eleanor immediately headed towards his chair and threw herself down, "I can't believe she's complaining about her birthday."

Carlisle chuckled, and leaned on his desk in front of her, "she doesn't want to wait any longer."

Eleanor didn't mean to talk bad about her friend, but she was getting annoying, "yeah, but she has to think about Charlie. He'd be heartbroken if she suddenly just 'died' and she doesn't even act like she cares."

Carlisle grabbed her hands, "Edward won't turn her for a long time. Charlie has a lot of time left with Bella."

It wasn't like Eleanor hadn't thought about becoming a vampire. If it meant staying with Carlisle for eternity, then she didn't have a big problem with it. She worried about how sad her mum and Jess would be if she died.

"I need to get going," Eleanor sighed, and leaned up to peck Carlisle's lips, "I'll see you tomorrow at the party."

---

"Happy birthday Bella!"

Eleanor made sure she walked ahead of the rest of her friends, so they didn't hear her. Bella had made it perfectly clear that she didn't want anyone knowing about her birthday, "today's the big day, Bella!"

Bella shared a look with Eleanor, before she looked back at Jess, "uh, the R&J essay is due?"

"Wherefore art thou, Bella?" Mike joked, and Eleanor grimaced at his impression of an Italian accent.

"Oh right," Bella sighed in relief, before holding up a camera, "I want to take a picture of you guys. My mum wants me to put together, like, a scrapbook for my senior year."

"Of course!" Eleanor exclaimed, and tugged on Jess and Angela's arms so they stood beside her.

"Uh, I take them, I'm not in them," Angela tried to back out, but Eleanor pulled her back in.

"Just smile Ang, it's one picture." Eleanor flashed a wide smile, and immediately let it fall once the flash went off.

"You'll photoshop it so my nose won't look huge, right?" El shot her sister a look, before she rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, sister. I'm in the picture, so no one will be staring at you guys," her friends laughed at her.

"Oh good, Cullen's here." Mike stopped his laughter, and looked up to watch Edward walk towards them, "we'll see you later, Bella."

Eleanor shot the two a smile, before she walked into the school. She spotted Alice and Jasper by their lockers, "Jess, I'll meet you in class."

Jessica looked over to the Cullens', and faked a smile, before she walked away. Eleanor sighed as she watched her sister, and then turned to her other friends. She skipped over to the lockers, and leaned over Alice's shoulder.

"Hi guys!"

"Hi, El," Alice laughed, and Jasper smiled at the human, "you excited for the party tonight?"

"If it's anything like the last party you had, then yes," Eleanor grinned.

It faltered slightly when she saw Bella and Edward walking their way. She wasn't sure why she was upset with Bella, but she didn't understand why she wanted to be a vampire right away. Maybe she didn't understand because she could protect her mate if something went wrong.

Eleanor watched Alice squeal and pull a neatly wrapped box out of her locker. She hid it behind her back, and hugged Bella with one arm once she approached, "happy birthday!"

"Shh," Bella hissed, as she hugged her friend back. Alice pulled away and revealed the present she was hiding behind her back. The brunette gave Alice a pointed look, "I thought I told you guys no presents."

Eleanor put her hands up and winked, "I listened to you."

Alice ignored Eleanor, "I've already seen you open it, and guess what? You love it! You're going to wear it tonight, our house."

The vampire noticed Bella's attitude change, and laughed, "come on, please? It'll be fun."

Jasper narrowed his eyes at Bella, and she suddenly felt a change in her emotions. Bella sighed, "all right, fine."

Eleanor smiled, and turned to walk with Alice and Jasper, "Jasper, no fair with the mood control thing."

A smirk grew on the blonde's face, "sorry Bella. Happy birth- nevermind."

Eleanor laughed at him. The three departed from the couple, and headed in the direction of their first classes.

---

Eleanor made sure she arrived at the Cullen house a couple hours early. She wanted to help Alice with whatever else she needed, as well as spend some alone time with Carlisle.

Eleanor jogged up the stairs to the porch, and let herself in through the door, leading to the main room. The girl looked around, noticing no one was in the room and frowned, "hello?"

When no one answered, she huffed and headed towards the stairs. She hoped someone was up there. She felt weird being in the house all by herself.

She walked to the end of the hallway, towards Alice and Jasper's room and knocked on the slightly cracked door. There was no answer so she moved down to the other room - Rosalie and Emmett's.

All the rooms were empty, so Eleanor assumed the family was out hunting. She began to head back down the stairs, but stopped short when she saw a painting hanging on the wall. Eleanor had seen it before, but never paid too much attention to it.

Three men stood on the front of the balcony. The man in the middle had short black hair, and pale skin. His skin was almost white, and his eyes were a dark red. Eleanor thought he resembled a rat. He was obviously the leader of the men, and Eleanor could tell by the way he stood slightly in front of the other two.

The man on the left had blonde hair that just stopped just short of his chin. His face was twisted into a scowl, and he stared down at whoever was below the balcony. And finally, she moved her focus to the man on the right. His hair was longer than the middle man's but slightly lighter. She couldn't help but notice how sad and miserable he looked.

Before she turned away, she noticed another man standing on the right side of the painting. A gasp escaped her lips, and her eyes widened as she took in Carlisle. He looked different. He stood behind the other men, and further off to the right.

It was obvious he was important- he was the only other vampire standing on the balcony with the kings. He was dressed in very old clothes, but Eleanor couldn't pinpoint the exact era. His hands were crossed behind his back, and his face looked void of any emotion.

"The Volturi kings. Aro, Caius and Marcus," Carlisle appeared behind her suddenly and Eleanor jumped, "they're a very old and powerful family. Basically vampire royalty."

Eleanor frowned, and pointed at Carlisle in the picture, "what'd you do for them?"

"Nothing really," he shrugged, "I went to live with them when I was studying in Italy. They're very reserved. No respect for any kind of human life."

She hummed, and turned away from the painting, locking eyes with Carlisle. He smiled down at her, and wrapped two cold arms around her waist, "what're you doing here so early?"

"Well, I did come to help Alice put up decorations, but now I just want to spend time with you," Carlisle chuckled, and pulled her closer to him.

"Follow me, then," he unattached himself from her, and began to walk down the stairs. Eleanor frowned, but followed him anyway. The two walked past his office, and down another hallway. They entered a room that Eleanor hadn't been in before. It didn't take long for her to realise it was Carlisle's bedroom.

It was nothing special. There was a couch and a few bookshelves squeezed together in a corner. She raised her eyebrows when she saw the bed, "you don't sleep."

"It's for you. I bought it once we got back from Pheonix," the blonde explained, and went to sit on the new bed. Eleanor smiled, and went to sit next to him.

She laid her head on his chest, and sighed, contently. Carlisle put his arm around her once again, a small smile present on his face. Eleanor closed her eyes. She loved laying in his arms. The one thing she wanted the most in the world was to stay in his arms forever.