It had been a week since El had found out she was Carlisle's mate. While most of her time was spent at the Cullen household, she was usually dragged away by Alice or busy training her abilities. She hadn't been alone with Carlisle since she found out.

Edward was bringing Bella over to meet his family and Eleanor was nervous. She didn't necessarily want Bella knowing about her and Carlisle or her powers just yet. Jasper had told Carlisle how El was feeling so he decided to distract her by taking her on a walk.

They strolled through the forest, hands and shoulders brushing but both too nervous to entwine them. "So Alice is Jasper's mate, right? And Rosalie is Emmett's?"

"Yes. Rosalie found Emmett after he was attacked by a bear. I changed him and they got married soon after." Eleanor raised her eyebrows, shocked by the information. "Alice saw Jasper in one of her visions before she met him. They met in a a diner in Philadelphia. Alice told him about our coven and they joined us in the 50's."

"Wow," Eleanor laughed. "Are they married too?"

"Yeah." Carlisle answered, before sticking his hands in his pockets. He snuck a glance at Eleanor. "Were you born with your powers?"

"No." she muttered. She still didn't like to talk about them."I first realized I had them when I was ten."

Carlisle hummed, still curious as to why her powers just randomly appeared. "Did you tell anyone?"

Eleanor laughed ironically. She tried to imagine how telling her mom or sister would go. "Of course not."

The two walked in silence for a few moments. Eleanor closed her eyes as she walked, enjoying the sounds of nature around her as she walked beside Carlisle.

"So what about you?" She switched her attention to him. "When were you turned into a vampire?"

Carlisle huffed a laugh. "I was born in London in 1640, the son of a vampire hunter." At Eleanor's incredulous look, he snorted. "Ironic, I know. I was actually on a hunt when I was turned in 1663."

His shoulders hunched forward, telling Eleanor that he didn't enjoy talking about this either. "After the change, I was horrified of what I had become. I had tried everything I could to kill myself. Starvation, drowning. One day, I was hiding in a cave when I saw a deer come by. I was so hungry, I couldn't stop myself from attacking it. After that I decided to feed on animal blood."

Eleanor frowned up at him. She couldn't imagine having to go through that alone. "That sounds so awful. I'm sorry."

Carlisle shook his head, stopping in his tracks. He looked around the forest before settling his gaze on Eleanor. "It may have been bad in the beginning, but I wouldn't change a thing now. I found Edward, and Esme, and the rest of my family. I found you."

Eleanor's cheeks flushed and she sheepishly looked down at her feet. "I used to think of myself one way, when I first got my powers. That I was some kind of monster... But now, I am something else. I'm still me, I think, but I always feel... like I could be more. Like I could snap and ruin everything... I don't know."

It was hard to put in words, even harder to admit out loud. Carlisle remained silent but he reached forward and gripped Eleanor's hand with his own. Eleanor peaked up through her lashes.

"No one will let that happen, Eleanor." He reassured her with a squeeze of the hand. "Come on. I want to show you something."

Eleanor narrowed her eyes at the doctor but followed behind him willingly. It was a nice and sunny day out in Forks, which was why the two had ventured to the forest instead of somewhere warmer. As the two reached the top of a small hill, Carlisle dropped her hand and flashed to a sliver of sunlight that was shining through the trees.

The man began to unbutton his dark blue shirt, causing Eleanor to frown at him. She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing when the sun hit his skin. Her words died on her tongue as she moved towards him.

Awestruck, Eleanor reached a hand out to touch his skin before laughing. "I think this defeats the whole purpose of trying to be scary."

His skin was sparkling in the gleaming sunlight. To Eleanor, it looked like a diamond had been caught in the sun, every inch shining in each direction. It was beautiful - he was beautiful.

"Yes, it does." Carlisle spoke softly. "I thought seeing this might lift your spirits."

"Spirits lifted." She grinned and looked up to meet Carlisle's eyes.

The man sighed after a moment before moving to fix the buttons on his shirt. Eleanor watched him, blushing when he saw her looking.

"Come on, El." His smile was bright as he reached for her hand. "Let's see how this goes."

Eleanor laughed in response, tucking her hand into Carlisle's as they strolled back to the house. He led her inside, moving straight to the kitchen where most of the family resided. Alice and Jasper were no where to be found.

The food that Esme was cooking smelt amazing, the smells invading Eleanor's nose and making her mouth water. She let go of Carlisle's hand and moved to rest her chin on Esme's shoulder as she stirred a pot. "What're you making?"

"Italian!" Esme grinned, holding up the spoon for Eleanor to taste. She hummed at the flavors in the pasta.

"It tastes great." Eleanor complimented before moving away and leaning against the counter beside the woman.

"Is she even Italian?" Rosalie entered the kitchen, folding her arms in front of her with a scowl on her face. She had made it quite clear that she wasn't thrilled about Bella coming over.

Emmett's grin was teasing as he looked from the vegetables he was cutting to his wife. "Her name is Bella."

"I'm sure she'll love it anyway." Carlisle snuck up beside Eleanor and placed a hand on her shoulder when she startled. Eleanor went to answer when she was distracting by Rosalie, who let out an irritated huff.

"Here comes the human." Carlisle guided Eleanor to the back of the kitchen where it would be hard for Bella to see her. She was still hesitant to tell her friend that she knew about the vampires, too worried about the questions that would come up.

"Bella!" Esme greeted with her usual smile. "I hope you're hungry. We're making Italian for you."

Edward introduced Bella and Esme in a hushed tone, leaving Bella to mumble a hello in Italian.

"Molto Bene!" Esme replied in a bright tone. She walked back to the stove to stir her pot once more. "You've given us a reason to use the kitchen for the first time!"

Esme caught Eleanor's eyes and winked, leaving Eleanor feeling more than grateful to her new friend.

"She already ate." Edward grumbled, leaving Eleanor to roll her eyes at the boy. She didn't see howBella was so smitten with him.

Esme's smile fell and Eleanor felt her heart clench in her chest for the woman, knowing she wanted to make a good impression. Carlisle must have sensed her discomfort and squeezed her shoulder comfortingly.

The sound of glass shattering and hitting the floor nearly had Eleanor rushing to help. However, when she saw it was Rosalie, she stood back, knowing she was angry with her brother, too. "Perfect."

Bella hurried to defend herself. "I-It's just because I know you guys don't eat."

"Of course. It's very considerate of you." Esme sent a reassuring smile towards the human girl.

"Just ignore Rosalie, I do." Edward said and Eleanor held her breath when Rosalie turned her glare towards him.

"Yeah. Let's just keep pretending like this isn't dangerous for all of us!" Her statement caused Eleanor to glance back at Carlisle, not completely sure what Rosalie had meant. Carlisle didn't glance at her, keeping his narrowed eyes towards the blonde.

"I would never tell anyone." Bella tried to assure Rosalie, who wasn't buying any of it.

Eleanor snorted at the girl, quickly covering her mouth after. Bella had been at Eleanor's a few days prior exclaiming that the Cullens' were vampires.

Esme glanced to Eleanor, obviously having heard her before she stepped closer to Rose. "She knows that Bella."

"Yeah, well the problem is you two have become public now, so..." Emmett mentioned, trying to defend Rosalie now. Eleanor watched with bated breath, curious to what they were talking about.

Carlisle left Eleanor's side, stepping in front of Emmett with a hard stare. Emmett only shrugged at the doctor but didn't say another word.

"She should know, Carlisle." Rosalie said harshly and Eleanor got the feeling that she meant her as well as Bella. "The entire family will be implicated if this ends badly."

"Badly as in, I become the meal." Bella said.

The tension broke immediately after that, leaving Emmett and Eleanor to giggle. She had to cover her mouth again to avoid being too loud. When Carlisle looked back on her, he looked as if he wanted to laugh as well.

Carlisle was making his way back to Eleanor when Alice and Jasper made their entrance. Alice grinned widely, enveloping Bella into a hug. "Wow, you do smell good."

El couldn't help the quiet laughter that escaped her at the expression on Edward's face. He sputtered, not able to form a coherent thought towards his sister.

"It's okay." Alice fixed him with a glare, keeping her arm around Bella's shoulders. "Bella and I are going to be great friends."

The same couldn't be said about Bella and Jasper, who was tensed behind Alice, his stare locked on Bella. Eleanor felt sorry for him.

"Jasper's our newest vegetarian." Esme commented, looking between the two and Bella only nodded.

Alice turned back to her own mate and gripped his hand. "It's okay, Jasper. You won't hurt her."

Eleanor couldn't help but cringe.

Edward seemed as uncomfortable as the rest of the family and grabbed Bella's hand. "Okay, well this has been great. I'm taking her on a tour of the rest of the house."

He pulled the two away from the kitchen, allowing Eleanor to come out of her hiding spot. Alice hugged the girl when she noticed her while Rosalie and El exchanged friendly smiles.

She knew Rose didn't care for Bella - or humans in general - but she was happy Rose was giving her a chance. Even if it was because she was Carlisle's mate.

"Well, I think that went well." Carlisle laughed, wrapping an arm around Eleanor's waist when Alice released her.

"Right." Eleanor scoffed, causing Emmett to laugh. "That was the most awkward thing experience of my life."

"Clean this up." Esme pointed at Rose, then the glass covered floor. "Now."

Carlisle nudged Eleanor and the two began to walk out of the kitchen. He led her down a hallway that she hadn't been in before and stopped in front of a wooden door. A large cross hung above the door and Eleanor assumed this room belonged to Carlisle. "Where are we?"

"My office." He answered, eyes flickering between her and the cross. "That was my father's."

She hummed, glancing back to him. "Do you still believe in God? Even though you are a vampire?"

"Yes." He answered without hesitation. Carlisle glanced down at Eleanor. "What about you?"

She shrugged. "I've never really thought about it. My mom wasn't very religious when I was growing up."

Carlisle reached out to turn the door knob. "Even after turning, I never doubted it. Even after all the things that I've seen."

Eleanor didn't get another word in as she began to look around. The room was bright, mostly due to the window that made up the back wall. A few paintings and others crosses decorated the walls, giving the room a splash of color.

In the middle of the room was a simple oak desk and leather chair. She noticed loads of paperwork on his desk stacked in neat piles, with a few stray books cluttered together. "Wow."

Carlisle huffed a laugh at her before leaning against his desk. Eleanor moved behind him to sit in his chair and spun slowly around the room, taking in every detail. She studied the paintings hanging around his office. "Where'd you get these?"

"I painted them. " He said, casually. "I painted a lot when I was living in Italy."

"They're amazing." She said with a smile. They sat in silence for a brief moment before Eleanor frowned. "You'll have to tell me all about Italy someday."

"I'll take you there someday." Carlisle shrugged. "To Rome and Venice and wherever else you'd like to go."

She bit her cheek to hide her growing grin. "I'm going to hold you to that."

Carlisle laughed again before moving to stand in front of Eleanor. He stopped the spinning of the chair, a serious frown pulling at his lips. "You heard Rosalie say that having Bella here could end badly for all of us."

Eleanor nodded, not sure where he was headed. "And it could. If Bella told anyone about us there would be serious consequences. We would probably have to move again."

"That's why she doesn't like her?" Eleanor asked. She knew how serious it was for them to keep their secret but Rosalie never acted as rude to Eleanor as she did Bella. "Why doesn't she care that I know?"

"You're different." Carlisle said simply. "You have a secret that would hurt you if it came out, as well. I think she understands that."

El hummed as she looked down at her hands. "Would it be bad for you if people found out that we were together? I mean... in the future?"

Carlisle frowned. "No. People may have an opinion, but everyone has an opinion about everything. It only matters how we feel."

Silence fell between the two as they each thought. Eleanor wished she didn't care so much about what people thought. A part of her was ready to be with Carlisle but she didn't want to be the reason that had people talking.

The best thing would be for her to wait to get into a relationship with Carlisle until she was eighteen. She only had a few more months until her birthday and she could easily make it.

"It's supposed to storm tomorrow." Carlisle's soft voice broke through the quiet. "We're playing a game of baseball if you'd like to join us."

"Of course I would." She grinned, reaching down to squeeze Carlisle's hand. "Tell me when and I'll be there."