|Falling for a Cullen| |Carlisle Cullen Fanfic |

Chapter 7

Ashley woke up in his arms the next morning. It was a wonderful feeling to look up into his lovely eyes and see him smile towards her.

"Good morning", he said. She yawned and smiled.

"Morning", she said. Then she grew solemn again.

"Anything new?"

He shook his head.

"Not tonight. Emmett found some scent of another vampire, but not his."

"But that means that there is another vampire out there", Ashley said and sat up. Carlisle sat up next to her.

"Don't worry", he said. "We'll fix things, I promise."

He stroked her cheek and smiled comfortingly.

"Hopefully things will not turn out as bad as before", he whispered and kissed her.

It was hard for both of them to end the kiss. Once they did, Ashley's hands had messed up Carlisle's hair and Carlisle had a hard time leaving her shirt alone.

He was the one to make the decision to end it.

"I'm still weak", he whispered. "I might harm you."

"I'll wait for you", she whispered back, even though she'd whished they had continued. Now he lifted her up and carried her out into the kitchen.

While she was eating her breakfast, Emmett stepped in through the door.

"Wow, Carlisle, must be the first time I've seen you with messy hair", he said and grinned. "Well done, Ashley."

Carlisle quickly pulled his honey-blond hair backwards so that everything was once again in order.

"Anyway, Edward suggested that you'd go and hunt some", Emmett continued. "He remembers far too well how it was when Bella was still human. Besides, Ashley has hardly spent some time with the rest of us."

"Are you sure about that?" Carlisle asked.

"Well, I'd love to learn more about this person that's captured you", Emmett answered with a new grin. Ashley blushed.

Eventually, Carlisle agreed on going hunting while the other Cullens watched over Ashley. After the discussion the day before, Edward had decided to be nice to her. He didn't make her do anything with him to compensate, but he didn't look angry, or sound angry, when around her.

Ashley had soon heard Alice, Bella, Edward and Emmett tell their own stories of how they became vampires. Jasper still seemed to be a little cautious around her; according to Alice he was the one having the hardest time staying vegetarian. And Rosalie... well, it was hard not to find her beautiful, but that was the only thing. She never spoke to Ashley, only to the other Cullens. And out of those, Bella seemed to be the one she liked the least. Ashley believed it might have something to do with her being the newest addition to the family, but she never asked.

It was past midday when Carlisle returned from the hunt. At once, he made sure that Ashley had had a good time with the others and also checked with Alice if she'd had any more visions. She hadn't, which Carlisle found both good and bad.

"It means that he is still coming", he told Ashley, "but also that we still know what is going on."

He sat next to her outside the house, watching Emmett and Jasper competing in arm-wrestling. Alice, Edward and Bella sat on the opposite side, while Rosalie stood behind Emmett.

It was as if she was already a part of their family. As if she'd always been there, next to Carlisle, but she hadn't. Esme had been there before.

She'd never thought of her predecessor before, not much anyway, but this day she found herself wondering who that woman might have been. How she'd looked, how she'd been around Carlisle and the others. It wasn't hard to thing of her loving Carlisle, only that he'd loved her, and still did.

She felt that Edward was looking at her and blushed when she realised that he'd probably been listening to her thoughts. Carlisle looked at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing", she answered. "I was just... just looking at your family."

"They're your family too, now", he said with a smile. There was something in that sentence that made her feel uncomfortable. She knew that it didn't mean anything more than that; she was a part of their family through her love, but there was something else as well. Something that she should remember.

Suddenly, Bella's cell-phone buzzed.

"Hello? Jacob! You're already here? That was quick... yes, I see... what? In London? You're sure?"

There was a long pause before Bella nodded.

"Thanks Jake, I really appreciate it... I'll see you and the others later... bye then!"

She turned off the phone. During her conversation, all the others had tensed and listened to every word she said.

"Jacob and the rest of the guys are in London at the moment, and they found a track there", Bella explained. "It's the same scent that was on Esme after she'd been killed."

"He's in London?" Carlisle asked and rose, pulling Ashley along.

"According to Jacob, the scent was all around a large building with a sign, reading Raver & Tyler Corporations", Bella continued. Ashley gasped.

"Oh God", she whispered. "That's my father's office!"