Second Chance at Forever | C. Cullen

018

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Cold Ones

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-Abigail-

Slowly she slid off his lap to the couch behind her and to her surprise and sadness, he let her go without complaint. But she couldn't voice that right then because her mind was wrapping around the fact that sitting in front of her was one of the Cold Ones from Billy's story, another legend of its own that clearly was not actually a legend. It was clear what the Cold Ones actually were, but she was so stunned she couldn't move. How could she not have known they weren't human? How could she not have remembered Billy's story? She heard it more than once and yeah it seemed just like a campfire story at the time, but she remembered how serious he was about it. It occurred to her that he might've known Jacob and the others would phase one day.

But this wasn't about Jacob, not this time. She saw that and handled that awhile ago. This time it was Carlisle, and what he was. Not human. A Cold One. "Vampire," she whispered, not even realizing she had uttered the word aloud until she felt distress coming to her from...the other side of the room?

She looked up in alarm and found herself alone on the couch and her eyes sought him out quickly, and only did she breathe again when she saw him. Standing behind the leather chair, eyes agonized and guarded as he watched her gather her thoughts. Why's he over there? she thought. Oh. Oh. No no no, he thinks I'm going to be afraid of him. No no, oh no. I'm not afraid. Never afraid. Why should she be afraid? All he's done is protect her and love her; why should that change who he is? She had been afraid for thirty seconds when Jacob phased, but he didn't ease her into it and let her draw her own conclusion like Carlisle did. Plus, she was in love with Carlisle and she knew there was nothing that could change her mind.

Standing up, she saw his body tense and the way his face changed, it was clear he was waiting for her to run. Instead she shocked him by crossing the room, rounding the desk, and wrapping her arms quickly and tightly around his waist. She pressed her face against his chest, inhaling the scent that was pure Carlisle, and breathing out slowly as her eyes closed. He took a second longer to hold her and she could feel his fear and apprehension. So she decided to try and take that away by leaning up and drawing him into a kiss, which she felt him easily surrender to.

It was shorter and a bit more chaste than the others, but it was still wonderful and she was smiling as she pulled away. "Girl could get used to that," she said dreamily. "You spoil me."

His eyes were wide. "You're not afraid?" he asked in wonder, and she was delighted when she saw the pain leaving his eyes.

Her eyes grew tender and she shook her head. "Never," she confirmed. "I love you. The fact that you're a vampire doesn't change that. I question my intuition because I had no idea, but I'm not afraid." She grinned. "Besides, walking me into it is a much better way than suddenly becoming a wolf and leaping at me."

Carlisle's eyes went hard for a moment. "Believe me, I talked to him about that."

She clicked her tongue. "He would never hurt me."

"You and Bella must have had conversations when you were young about forgoing your self-preservation," he said dryly.

She giggled. "Well we grew up in a boring small town. What else is there to do besides riding motorcycles and cliff diving and becoming best friends with werewolves?"

He sighed in exasperation and she giggled again. "You just might be the first woman to give a vampire an aneurysm. Please never tell me about motorcycles and cliff diving."