#sorry this took a lil bit i started something in breaking dawn timeline got 2k deep and changed course

[palmofafreezinghand]

For your Day Needing Distraction requests, wanna do a scene that's just Carlisle and Esme but set during the saga somewhere?

thank you so much for the prompt @jessicanjpa, sorry this took a lil bit!

Esme tries to appease Carlisle's worries about Edward's new relationship with a story about their own. on ao3 here.

Carlisle fed another log to the crackling fire. Edward had banished his ‘parents’ to Carlisle’s study while Isabella Swan was getting a tour of the family home for the first time, something about not terrifying her too much on the first encounter. 

“It never turns off does it?” Esme asked from her place on the loveseat behind him. 

He furrowed his brow, gaze still focused on the flames. “Do I dare ask for more context?” 

“That little brain of yours,” she sighed. His brain being referred to as little made him look over his shoulder at her. “Whatever in there that makes you constantly picture our gory firey deaths and has convinced you God will never let you be happy.” 

He chuckled lightly, standing and walking slightly slower than a human to the couch. “My father deserves some credit for that.” 

“You’re deflecting,” she rolled her eyes as he lifted her feet off the cushion and took a seat, letting her legs rest across his lap. 

“I was not blessed with your optimism, my love.” 

“Faith is a choice,” she parroted words he had told her decades earlier. 

“Alice saw it. She saw him ki —” 

“Alice wears fishnet tights and paints her eyes like a raccoon. Truly I have no idea why any of us trust her judgement.” 

He gasped theatrically, lightly squeezing her calf. “Did I not hear you just yesterday tell her you admired her makeup?” 

“I said I admired her bravery to experiment. There is a difference.” 

“I see,” he nodded absentmindedly, eyes fixed on the fire. Our gory firey deaths. 

She leaned forward and poked at the crease between his eyebrows. “You’re still worrying. Do you not trust Edward.” 

“I love Edward,” he said instinctively. 

“I don’t believe that’s what I asked.” 

“I…” he took a deep breath, weighing the words in his mind. Thousands of thoughts and yet unable to find the way to begin to voice them. She placed her thumb and index on his chin and softly turned his head to look at her. “I believe he can manage it. But you know how he is. He gets over-confident and stubborn, and people get hurt, and he gets hurt.” 

She smiled. “Who does that remind me of?” 

“I’m not stub— ” he stopped himself before he could deny her claim and in turn prove it. 

She blew air out of her nose. “Did you ever worry about us, when we first started courting?” 

“Always” 

“Me too.” 

“You did?” He frowned, again. 

“Till the moment Edward dragged me down the aisle.” 

“Dragged?” 

“He never told you the story?” 

“There’s a story?”  

“Do you remember our wedding day?” 

He laughed. He remembered every single moment they had spent together in perfect detail, but even without the eidetic memory, he would remember their wedding day. “Vaguely.” 

“You remember how I was late?” 

“For the first and last time in your life, yes.” It had been a source of many quips over the years. 

“That may have been because I completely panicked. I believe I ran as far as Colorado when Edward caught up.” 

“Pardon?” 

“Shush,” she grinned, amused by what had to of been horror on his face, slinging her arms loosely around his neck. “My mind had been racing for hours, imagining every horrible scenario that could happen once we were married. Poor Edward had been listening to this for hours. When Edward finally stopped me he said... 

—— 

“You’re right,” Edward yelled, from the other side of the river, still gauging how he was going to cross. 

Esme dug her heels into the ground, coming to an abrupt halt. “Pardon?” 

“Carlisle could become a monster. You’re right. Marriage may be the worst choice you ever make. You are absolutely correct.” 

“This is not helpful, Edward,” she huffed. 

“I can not promise things won’t go horribly wrong, they could. But… I can promise that if things go right you two will be incredibly happy.” 

“I do not gamble.” 

“Esme, you two deserve happiness more than anyone I know.” 

“We’re the only people you know,” she attempted a smile that failed to reach her eyes. 

“If you truly want to leave, I will personally ensure you never have to worry about a cent, I can make sure Carlisle never contacts you again. But I need to know with absolute certainty you are not throwing away something that could be wonderful simply because you’re frightened.” 

Esme sighed as she sat down clumsily on the river bank. She chewed at the corner of her lip. The rushing water was the only sound made for minutes. 

“What time does your pocket watch say?” Esme finally asked. 

“Ten after eleven.” 

She stood, brushing dirt off her ratty house dress. “I’ll have to get ready quickly, but we can still make it.” 

“Are you positive?” 

“More than I ever have been.” 

—— 

“You left?” Carlisle exclaimed, eyebrows nearly in his hairline. 

“I came back!” 

“Mere hours before our wedding you were halfway across the country,” he muttered. He was no longer looking at her, back to the fire, gory firey death in the form of a lonely groom at the altar. The spiral began. 

“Look at that, you’ve stopped worrying about Edward,” she laughed. 

“No, no, now I’m only worried about our entire marriage.” 

“Carlisle,” she placed her hands on either side of his face, “I love you more than life itself. I am not asking you to be an optimist. I am not asking you to even be positive. I’m asking you to let him have a chance at something wonderful.”  

He closed his eyes in resignation, or at least she thought it was resignation. “Colorado, that’s over a thousand miles.” 

“You’re impossible,” she laughed. 

#sorry this took a lil bit i started something in breaking dawn timeline got 2k deep and changed course #carlisle cullen #esme cullen #edward cullen #my stories