Eleanor's eyes scanned the parking lot. Her eyes still felt heavy and all she wanted to do was ditch school and lay in bed all day. Thank God she only had a few more weeks left.

"Look," she glanced over at Eric, "Bella's back."

Eleanor's head snapped over to see Edward's jeep pull into a parking space. Her lips quirked up slightly - she had missed Bella... and even Edward.

"Great," Jess replied with a tight smile, "let's get inside, school's about to start."

She turned to walk into the school, but stopped short when she saw her friend next to a motorcycle. He stood with a smirk, staring straight at Edward's jeep. Eleanor glanced back at her friends, before walking over towards Jacob.

"What're you doing here?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Hey, El!" He grinned and wrapped the girl in a quick hug, "I just came to welcome Bella back home."

Eleanor raised a brow and sighed, "Jacob, you know she's with Edward. She's not going to leave him and I don't want to see either of you getting hurt."

The werewolf just shot her a look, but his frown turned upside down when he saw Bella approaching them. Eleanor watched Edward wrap a protective arm around his mate's waist as the two continued to walk to the werewolf and Eleanor.

"Jake!" She rushed away from Edward, and wrapped her friend in a hug.

"Charlie said you left town," he said, hugging her tight.

"To see my mom," Bella pulled away and glanced at Eleanor, "why?"

"He's here to make sure you're still human," Edward spat. Jacob's lip curled into a smirk, and Edward's eyes narrowed at the boy.

"What're you doing?"

"Just taking a trip down memory lane," Jake said, smugly.

"He's reminding me. Of what is was like for you when I was away."

"Jacob stop," Eleanor huffed, growing annoyed at her friend's antics.

The shifter took a deep breath and then looks back towards Edward, "I'm here to warn you. If your kind comes on our land again."

"Wait, what?" Bella interrupted, looking between the three. Eleanor raised her brow when she realized Edward hadn't told her what happened.

"You didn't tell her?"

"Leave it alone, Jacob," he growled.

"Tell me! I want to know!"

"It was nothing Bella," Eleanor smiled, reassuringly. She noticed the rest of the Cullen's get out of the cars and walk just close enough to hear the conversation, "there was just a misunderstanding between Emmett and Paul."

Edward shot Eleanor a look. The girl tilted her head, "she has a right to know, Edweirdo."

"First of all, don't call me that. Second, you need to leave Jacob."

"Eleanor's right," Jacob ignored Edward, "she's the one the redhead wants."

"Victoria's back?!" She looked between Edward and El, "that's what Alice's vision was about?"

"I was trying to protect you-"

"By lying to me?" She scoffed.

Eleanor rolled her eyes and began to walk away from the group. She couldn't stand to listen to the petty drama between the three of them. She knew what Jacob was doing and didn't want to get caught up in it.

"Where do you think he's taking her?" Alice said once Eleanor caught up with them.

El glanced behind her to see Bella hop on the back on Jacob's bike, "probably the Rez."

"Why don't you go with them?" Edward appeared next to Eleanor, "keep an eye on her."

"She doesn't need a babysitter, Edward. Maybe you should try trusting her," She picked up her pace and walked away from the group of vampires.

Alice and Eleanor collapsed onto the couch together in a fit of giggles. On the way to the Cullen house, the two had managed to aggravate Rose and Emmett, which gave the two their daily entertainment.

Eleanor placed her head on Alice's shoulder, and sighed as her laughter subsided. It felt like ages since she had spent time with Alice, and she missed it.

"That was fun," she murmured, causing Alice and hum in agreement.

"I think we need to make this a daily thing," Alice laughed again.

Eleanor snorted, "Rose would rip both of our heads off."

"Yeah," Alice mumbled. It fell silent for a brief moment, until Alice perked up. Eleanor picked up her head and looked over at Alice. The vampire grinned, "come with me. I want to get you all dressed up for your date tonight."

El frowned, "my date?"

Alice nodded, "you told Carlisle that you two hadn't been on a date. Now he wants to take you out. Now I get to help you get ready. Come on."

Alice stood and held her hand out for Eleanor to take. She looked at the vampire, waiting for the girl to back down. When she didn't, a smile found its way to El's face, and she reached to take Alice's hand, "just don't go overboard."

"No promises."

After what felt like an eternity, Alice had finally finished with Eleanor. The girl stood in front of the mirror, overlooking the simple outfit that Alice had offered her. By the looks of it, Carlisle wasn't taking her any place fancy. She was dressed in normal clothing - jeans and a cute blouse.

She didn't care though. The only thing that mattered was spending time with Carlisle.

"Okay, he's here!" Alice squealed. She left Eleanor's side to reach into her closet. When she stepped back, Alice held a pair of knee high boots. She reached them out to Eleanor, "put these on, and then meet him outside."

Eleanor took the boots from Alice and slid them onto her feet. She glanced back at Alice before she descended down the stairs, "am I allowed to know what this is?"

"No," she said, sternly. The vampire nodded her head towards the stairs, "go on, he's waiting for you!"

El shook her head with a grin before making her way downstairs. Her heart was beating quickly in her chest as she headed for the front door. It was weird - she had always gotten a little nervous around Carlisle, but not as much as she was now.

Maybe it was because she hadn't ever been on a proper date. She didn't know what to expect.

She opened the door, coming face to face with her love. His face lit up with a grin when he saw the girl, and he began to make his way to her. She looked over him, noticing the picnic basket in his hand and finally realized what he had planned.

"A picnic?" Eleanor smiled as he pecked her cheek.

He nodded, "I figured that you wouldn't want people to see us in town. So I thought that we could make a date here."

Eleanor bit her lip, trying to contain her smile, "sounds like a good idea."

"We have quite a walk to get there," he glanced up at his mate, "unless you want to take a faster way."

She smirked, making her way over to Carlisle and hopping on his back, "let's go!"

Carlisle took off towards the forest, heading towards their destination. Eleanor had never been too far in their forest before, and she was curious as to what they would find.

They reached their destination quickly, and Eleanor jumped off of Carlisle to look around. It was pretty - a small meadow, surrounded by trees and colorful wildflowers. She turned to face her mate, only to find him sitting on a small blanket with the basket placed next to him.

She sat down next to him as Carlisle opened the basket to pull out a small bag of food and handed them to Eleanor. She took the sandwich from him, "this place is really pretty."

"I discovered it a long time ago," Carlisle admitted, "I haven't come here in a while."

"Well, I'm glad you brought me," she bumped her shoulder against his. Eleanor took another bite from the sandwich before sighing, "this is nice. Why haven't we done this before?"

Carlisle shrugged, "I'm not sure."

"Maybe we're just too busy fighting evil vampires and saving Bella's ass," Eleanor joked, causing the man to laugh.

"Sounds right," he played along.

Eleanor brushed her hands against her jeans, laying back against the blanket to look up at the gray sky. She closed her eyes, "this is the most relaxed I've felt in months."

Carlisle looked down at Eleanor. He knew her classes had been taking a toll on his mate, but he was glad that he was able to get her away from her worries. Carlisle moved the basket that was in between them, and leaned over the girl.

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. El opened her eyes to meet his golden ones, only to close them again as Carlisle leaned down to kiss her again. She moved her hand to the nape of his neck, messing with the short hairs that laid there.

They stayed there for a moment, before Carlisle pulled away, "I love you."

Eleanor's mouth dropped open and she let out a harsh breath as she sat up. It was the first time Carlisle had spoke those words, and she prayed that this wasn't some kind of cruel dream.

Eleanor reached a hand up to his cheek, just to make sure he was real. When she felt that it in fact was, she laughed, "I love you."

She connected her lips to Carlisle's again, holding him closer than she had before. Screw Victoria, screw the Volturi, and screw anyone else who were going to come after the Cullens. No matter what the problem was, she knew she could face it as long as Carlisle was by her side.