Chapter Eight
Hypothetical
Grace Cullen

After regretfully saying goodbye to Charlie when he dropped me off at my car, I drove over to a well secluded area to change into some activewear before going on a quick hunt. I wasn't very long, just long enough to get my eyes back to a pretty golden shade to get through the week.

Feeling much better, I drove home and pulled Emmett's Jeep into the garage before heading inside.

"Hello Mother." Edward greeted me the moment I opened the door. "How was your hunting trip?" He asked me, looking like he had caught me in a lie.

"Fine." I nodded. "What's with the inquisition?" I giggled as I hung Emmett's keys up.

"The Jeep was left at the school last night." He stated firmly. "The principal called Carlisle to make sure you were alright."

"Oh, I decided to run the route up there." I explained. "After a week stuck in the house it was nice to feel a little free." I giggled.

"Okay." Edward nodded, believing me.

"Where's your uncle?" I asked him.

"The hospital, he got called in a little early this morning." He replied.

"Alright, I've got to talk to him about how this week at school is going to play out." I sighed. "Guess I'm going to the hospital."

"Here, take my car." He told me, taking his keys off the hook and handing them to me. "Emmett said he wanted to go off-roading when you got back."

"Thank you, I'll see you later." I promised him, kissing his cheek before heading into the garage.

I arrived at the hospital shortly and went straight to the front desk, preparing several possible excuses to see Carlisle.

"Oh! Miss Cullen!" The receptionist, Anne I remembered, gaped at me as I approached her. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." I smiled at her. "Carlisle asked me to come in for an exam before he releases me to go back to school tomorrow." I explained.

"Dr. Cullen doesn't have any appointment times booked today." She shook her head at me.

"What a forgetful man." I giggled and she laughed with me. "Would you mind paging him?" I asked her.

"Dr. Cullen, please come to the front desk." She announced over the intercom, easily buying my excuse.

In a few short moments, Carlisle came from the hallway leading to his office with a surprised look on his face.

"Sister, I wasn't expecting to see you today." He greeted me with a kiss on the cheek.

"Actually, you were." I nodded. "You asked me to come in for an exam, remember?"

"Oh, of course." He laughed, we were easily fooling the receptionist. "Here, come with me to my office." He directed and I followed him down the hall and up the stairs to his office.

"So, what do I owe the pleasure of such a visit?" He asked me, shutting the door and motioning me into a seat across his desk.

"I have some questions and I feel like you're the only one that can answer them, as always." I laughed. "Did Esme decorate your office? This place practically screams her name."

"Yes, as a matter of fact she did." He chuckled. "So, what are you curious about?" He asked me gently.

"Hypothetically, do you think that a vampire can recognize their mate regardless of the situation that surrounds that meeting?" I brought up the question, careful to keep things open and indirect.

"Well." He thought aloud. "Yes, I believe they can. It's an instantaneous bond, and once it's fully recognized, I don't see how a certain situation over another could influence their feelings differently."

"But what if it wasn't the right time for them to meet?" I asked.

"I believe it's an act of Fate, or one of God, whichever you prefer, and so in whatever time or circumstance that meeting occurs must be the right time." He nodded. "Take Alice and Jasper, for example, it took Alice decades to find Jasper because Fate was waiting for a time when he would be more open to her influence."

"So then what about Rosalie and Emmett? Say if, for circumstantial purposes, Rosalie happened to see Emmett walking across the street from her one day. Would she have recognized their bond then?"

"I don't think Rosalie would've ever recognized someone other than herself in those days." He laughed lightly. "But for the sake of the question...maybe. However, she was so unpracticed with her bloodlust that any kind of formed bond between them when he was human would've resulted in chaos." He shook his head.

"What if she were practiced? Say she had our level of control, would such a bond be able to form in even that situation? If mates are really fated regardless of the circumstances surrounding their meeting?" I inquired, we were now reaching the most crucial part of the conversation and I was hanging on Carlisle's every word.

"I don't know." He shook his head and my stomach clenched uncomfortably. "You're not usually one to be so curious about this type of subject. What's brought this on?" He smiled at me.

"Simply curious." I shrugged. "I got worried I might miss him if I wasn't paying attention to the signs." I confessed, not lying to him. "I'm getting old." I laughed.

"That we are." He nodded.

"Can you believe it? Three hundred and sixty-six years." I sighed.

"Nearly sixty-seven." He reminded me. "In just a few short weeks."

"Even older then." I teased him. "Thank you for taking the time to talk to me." I smiled at him.

"Of course. It's been awhile since we've gotten to talk like this, scholarly and uninhibited." He nodded as he stood from his seat. "Remember, I'm always here if you need me. I'm always on your side." He smiled and gave me a sweet hug.

"Always on your side." I agreed, kissing his cheek as he opened the door for me. "Are you too terribly busy today? I'd hate to take time from your patients." I sighed.

"No, I'm not." He shook his head, motioning me to go ahead of him on the stairs. "I'll walk you out." He smiled, putting an arm around my shoulder playfully.

We turned the corner to the main hallway just in time to watch Charlie rush inside with a bleeding girl held tightly in his arms.

"Motorcycle accident." He announced to the receptionist who quickly jumped into action. "She was the passenger. Got thrown several feet. Ambulance would've been too slow." He explained as doctors put the girl on the gurney and wheeled her away.

He turned toward us then, I couldn't resist smiling widely at him, and my heart leaped in my chest when he smiled back at me.

Beside me, I felt Carlisle's eyes shift from me to Charlie and then back again as his arm tightened around me.

"Damn it." He muttered uncharacteristically before coughing in embarrassment. "Chief Swan! Follow us please." Carlisle asked him before pulling me back towards his office.

"Is something wrong, Dr. Cullen?" Charlie asked Carlisle as he caught up with us easily.

"I hope not." He sighed, looking very worried and stressed. His normally serene expression was creased and manipulated by such stress as he motioned us into his office and closed the door behind us.

"Sit." Carlisle ordered us, and my anger flared at being spoken to like I was a misbehaved child. "Tell me what's going on between you two." He demanded as he took his chair.

"Carlisle, I don't know what you're talking about. I-"

"Do not lie to me." He cut me off, eyes staring into my soul. A soul we practically shared at this point in our existences. "We have never, never, lied to each other before. Do not break that trust now." He warned me.

"I'm sorry." I apologized to him, not really knowing what I was apologizing for. "We're...dating."

"Billy Black down at the reservation told me about you and your family being vampires." Charlie suddenly revealed, looking so guilty that he couldn't help but confess.

"Quite rude." Carlisle frowned, aggravated over the lack of disrespect to the treaty I'm sure. "And why didn't you deny the accusation?" He asked me.

"I shot her." Charlie confessed again.

"What?!" Carlisle sputtered. "How could you have possibly known the bullet wouldn't harm her?" He asked him.

"Charlie led the investigation into the shooting incident in my classroom." I stepped in, mostly to prevent Charlie from doing anymore damage to our case. "He found the flattened bullet and studied the path the bullet should've followed and found the inconsistencies. He's too intelligent and too perceptive to believe any lie I could've told him." I explained. "And I don't think I wanted to lie to him." I offered up my own confession.

"I see." Carlisle nodded. "So your hypothetical questions weren't as theoretical as you presented them then." He sighed. "This is dangerous. So very dangerous for everyone involved."

"I'm sorry, brother." I apologized, feeling a sinking sensation in my chest. "I'm sorry for putting you at risk as well. I was hoping to keep you from getting involved. I didn't want to hurt you."

"I understand." He smiled softly at me, and I knew I had been forgiven easily. "I am happy for you, just to make that clear, although I am worried about what such a relationship could mean."

"I'm not a bad guy." Charlie stated. "I'm not ill-intentioned in all of this. I'm going to treat your sister right."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that." Carlisle chuckled. "I simply meant that the concept of a mate bond forming between a vampire and human is more than rare, it's unheard of. I'm mostly concerned as to the laws regarding human knowledge of us, let alone romantic involvement."

"I know. Me too." I agreed with him. "I don't see any reason why the others have to know about this. It would only put them in unnecessary dangers." I told Carlisle.

"Alright, if you think that's best." He nodded. "I'm inclined to agree with you."

"So, just to be clear, we're not in trouble here?" Charlie asked. "Because I feel like I'm back in the principals office for sneaking off under the bleachers." He laughed, and Carlisle and I couldn't help but join him.

"No, not at all." Carlisle chuckled. "You're both adults, and I more than trust my sisters judgment after so many years, and so I have to have faith that everything will be alright." He smiled easily.

"Okay, good then." Charlie nodded. "Well, if we're done here. I should get back to the victim I brought in."

"Speaking of that, how did you manage to be in the right place at the right time?" Carlisle asked him as we all stood from our seats.

"Oh, I uhh." Charlie stuttered nervously. "I went down to La Push after dropping Grace off at her car this morning. I ripped Billy a new one for breaking the treaty before I threatened them all about saying a word to anyone else in town, including Bella. I may have lost my temper." He grimaced in embarrassment. "As I was leaving La Push, the passenger on the motorcycle ahead of me got thrown off. The ambulance would've been too slow so I got her in my cruiser."

"You lost your temper?" I questioned him, not able to picture such a gentle man capable of that kind of anger.

"This morning?" Carlisle questioned before his eyes went wide in recognition. "You two slept together?! Grace!" He yelled and Charlie took off down the hallway.

"Oh, not fair!" I called after him as Carlisle rushed to shut the door.

"He misspoke. Tell me he meant to say last night. Tell me you did not sleep with a human!" Carlisle panicked.

"Well, of course I didn't sleep." I laughed and Carlisle put his head in his hands in frustration. "Yes, okay, we had sex is that want you want to hear?"

"No, it's not." He shook his head rapidly.

"Twice." I added with a smirk just to make him squirm in discomfort. I liked having the upper hand after being chided by him. "Look, we're mates, that's solidified now, and my bloodlust is just as trained as yours. There was no way I was going to hurt him. It never even crossed my mind." I explained.

"But you're so much...stronger than him." Carlisle spoke, sounding very uncomfortable discussing his twins sex life.

"It's a good thing he's good in bed then, isn't it? I hardly had to do any of the work." I laughed at Carlisle's face. "Honestly brother, I know it's absurd but he's it." I smiled widely. "I've never felt so deeply for a man like this before. And the best part is that he likes me for me. It's not my lack of attachment or body or looks. It's me."

"How could he not love you?" Carlisle smiled sweetly at me and hugged me tightly. "You're brilliant and kind and such an incredible rare soul. I'm happy for you sister."

"Thank you." I smiled back at him. "It's crazy." I shook my head.

"It is." He agreed. "But, I'm on your side. I'm rooting for you." He chuckled.

"Thanks." I giggled with him. "I feel like a love stricken teenager."

"You look like one too." He laughed. "How old is Charlie? Are people going to question the age difference?"

"No, he's thirty six." I replied. "That's only ten years older than our cover age, and he still looks so young, I don't think anyone would question it if they found out."

"And hopefully they won't." Carlisle noted. "I won't interfere, but as your brother I need to make sure I'm doing everything possible to take care of you. I need to know that you two will be careful in the extreme to keep this a secret until it's time." He begged me, and my heart clenched at the worry and love in his eyes.

"I promise you that we will be so secretive that no one will suspect a thing, not even Edward." I grinned up at him. "I really appreciate you being supportive about this Carlisle. Thank you." I hugged him tightly.

"Of course." He hugged me back. "What kind of brother would I be if I kept you from such happiness?"

"A justified one, in this case." I chuckled humorlessly. "I'm endangering your family and status."

"My family?" He questioned me. "It's our family and I don't see how you are endangering them by hiding your mate from them. The Volturi very rarely check in on us, and so as long as there is no major incident I think it's more than fine to let your relationship carry on as it is. When I was talking about discretion earlier, I simply meant that I didn't want half of the town speaking ill of my sister due to some preconceived notions. It's best to not tell the family until you're settled into your relationship. I didn't mean that you shouldn't tell them at all." He explained.

"Oh, well that changes things doesn't it?" I laughed with some relief. "Not as grim of a situation as I was making it out to be."

"We do crazy things for the people we love." He smirked down at me. "And downright delusional things when it comes to our mates sometimes."

"Oh yeah?" I smirked. "What kind of delusional things have you been up to with Esme?" I teased him and he grinned at me.

"I'll tell you when you're older." He laughed, shutting his office door behind me as I headed down the hall.

"What a stiff." I laughed, knowing he could easily still hear me.

Just as I was getting into the Volvo, my phone rang out and I quickly answered it.

"Grace." Charlie greeted me, and I relaxed at the sound of his voice. "I was just calling to make sure you were still alive. It sounded like you were really about to get chewed out." He laughed at me.

"Yeah, thanks for abandoning me by the way." I laughed with him as I pulled out of the parking lot.

"You're a lot more indestructible than I am. I was trying to get out of there before Carlisle decided we were in trouble after all." He chuckled.

"We're not in trouble." I stated. "He was just curious about the logistics involved."

"You told your brother about our sex life? Really, Grace?" Charlie sounded absolutely mortified.

"Not too much." I giggled. "Not anything really. He was just a little shocked I behaved myself is all. I'll tell you more about it later." I promised him.

"Later? So he didn't ban you from seeing me again?" He teased me.

"Of course not. I think he's actually a little thrilled for us honestly. As crazy as that sounds." I laughed.

"Crazy." He agreed, and I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"What are you up to?" I asked him, picking up on odd sounds in the background.

"Trying to get this blood out of my favorite jacket." He grumbled. "Bella just left to go to the library and then the grocery store, so I thought I'd sneak a call to you."

"How romantic." I smirked. "You know what's even better than a phone call?"

"What?" He asked.

"Coming and opening the door for me." I laughed as I parked in his driveway and quickly ran up the steps before someone could see me.

"What are you talking about you're not-" He mumbled as he opened the door, his phone still pressed against his face. "here." He finished, the phone echoing his voice before he hung up. "I swear you amaze me." He chuckled, opening the door for me.

"I'm about to amaze you even more. We've got a lot to talk about. Things about my life I think you should know." I explained. "Let's talk while I show you how to get blood stains out the right way."