𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 | carlisle cullen (2)

(𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐧) your funeral

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ESTE WASN'T SURE WHERE SHE WAS GOING nor when she was going to turn away. She watched as the gas level of her car slowly depleted. The numbers going down, the dashboard flashing orange. She filled the car up at a gas station lost in the middle of a highway. There she sat for a while with her head leant against the window as the ghostly red and green light illuminated the damp, oil soaked floor.

The man who worked behind the counter eyed her carefully. Este looked back, not afraid to meet his eyes. Through the steamed up glass he could hide his thoughts. Este could image what they had been. Sometimes she wished she was invisible.

As dawn illuminated the sky in orange, she turned the car around, leaving her hand out the window to feel the velocity of the air as she drove. It had been an attempt to calm her mind as she watched the pine trees blur into one massive paintbrush of green.

Este planned out words in her head, some that she would never say. As she reached Forks, she pulled into a bypass and called up the school office. Quickly she explained that she wouldn't be there today due to having to be out of state for a funeral. They didn't question that and Este didn't feel guilt for lying about something harmful.

She was dressed in yesterdays clothes yet Este still looked like Este. Her hair still fell perfectly, her skin still shone under the dull grey clouds that had muted the sunrise. Heavy drops of rain hammered onto her windscreen faster than her wipers could distract them. She drove in a haze, hearing the commotion the weather was causing from all corners of Forks. The forests whispered in the joy of the downpour, shaking their leaves in the clarity of it all.

Este arrived back home at nine thirty. The kids had gone to school, at least she hoped they had. When she pulled the car into the garage, she saw the missing silver Volvo and the remaining black Mercedes. Carlisle wouldn't have gone to work knowing everything was so messed up. She'd been aware he would wait for her, even if it had been longer than he'd expected.

However Este wouldn't have left him in fear and panic. Este hated the fact that Carlisle often expected her to leave and not come back. Time and time again she'd told him that forever was not a lie but Carlisle was more anxious than he'd ever reveal. Of course he didn't think Este was fooling him nor did he underestimate how much she loved him. Carlisle doubted himself, not Este. She wished she could clear any doubt from his mind.

She got out the car and walked into the warmth of the house. The dining room was as they'd left it. Edward's chair remained on the floor and those which had been pushed back in surprise and anger remained there. It was clear that no one had re entered after Este and Edward had stormed out, maybe scared that the argument would pick up again.

Este carefully replaced each chair, ridding any sign that the argument had even happened. Then she walked out of the room and upstairs to Carlisle's study. She pushed open the door slowly and saw him stood by the window, gazing out to the rain clouds that had corrupted the sky.