chapter┊ ✦. :: nine
♡ ﹙gossip﹚  ❋ ˚ ݂ ꛒ

Carlisle took longer than usual to get ready that morning, and everyone in the house noticed. Edward was the first to find out what was going on, and Alice already had an idea, but the others weren't so sure. They knew Carlisle had met someone, but they had no idea that this someone was affecting him so much. Affecting him in a good way.

"Okay, you're not leaving until you tell us everything," Evander intercepted him in the kitchen.

"What are you talking about?" Carlisle frowned as he continued adjusting his tie and hair.

Evander rolled his eyes dramatically. "Carlisle, we all know something's up with you, and you better spill the beans."

He denied with a smile. He was the eldest in the house, yet they were interrogating him like a modern-day teenager.

"Carlisle has a girlfriend," Edward chimed in to spare Carlisle an uncomfortable conversation.

Everyone immediately gathered in the kitchen and looked expectantly at Carlisle.

"Is that true?" Esme asked excitedly.

He relented, thinking he could keep it to himself a bit longer, but apparently not.

"Yes. It's true," he looked at Esme, "it's Lydia. Although I don't think 'girlfriend' is the most appropriate term right now."

The woman was thrilled for her brother-in-law and without hesitation ran to hug him.

"I'm so happy for you. She's so lovely."

"Is she the pretty doctor whose house you renovated?" Emmett asked with a smile, looking at Esme, but earned a disapproving look. "Sorry. But she is beautiful and funny."

"Yes, it's her," Carlisle replied calmly. "Almost everyone has met her, except for Evander and Jasper," he glanced at the latter, who looked offended, "but I was planning on taking her to the baseball game and properly introducing her to everyone."

"Okay, you're forgiven," Evander slapped his shoulder. "If she makes you happy, we're happy too. You deserve it, Carlisle."

"Thank you," he looked grateful. "But if you'll excuse me, I have to go because I'll be picking her up."

Emmett was the most boisterous in congratulating his uncle, but he received a small tap from Rosalie. Everyone was truly happy for Carlisle; he had given them everything, and thanks to him, they had a real family.

When Carlisle arrived at Lydia's house, he wasn't sure if he should wait a bit or go knock. It was still early, but he had stopped to buy her some breakfast. He got out of the car and knocked on the door a couple of times.

Lydia opened it, and Carlisle noticed that she had wet hair but was almost ready. She looked cute even like that.

"Hello," she greeted with a smile, her cheeks reddening despite the cold outside. "Come in."

"Thank you. I brought you breakfast."

"Oh, you didn't have to bother."

"It was nothing."

Lydia took the white paper bag and smiled at the man. He approached and leaned in slightly to give her a quick kiss, which she gladly accepted. He left the bag on the kitchen counter.

"Sorry, I had some trouble with the bathtub, and while I was trying to fix it, I got a little late. Just give me five minutes."

"Don't worry, we still have almost forty minutes. Does it still need fixing? I can repair whatever you need."

She laughed as she watched him. He was like an adorable child seeking approval.

"No, everything's fine now, but if anything else breaks, you'll be the first one I call. I won't be long," she ran upstairs but stopped halfway. "Make yourself at home."

He nodded gratefully, and she continued running upstairs. Carlisle took the opportunity to curiously explore the ground floor. It was evident that the house had just been remodeled, and the furniture was new, although there wasn't much decoration or any trace of Lydia's personal belongings. There were no photos, diplomas, or books. It seemed odd, as Lydia seemed like a medical book addict, and since she finished her career at a young age, he imagined there would be awards and recognitions. But the house was completely empty.

The bookshelf in the living room barely had anything, it was practically empty. His attention was drawn to the only photo in the whole house.

It was Lydia when she was still a child, beside her was another girl who looked younger, probably her sister, and behind them were their parents, or so Carlisle assumed. The family of four stood in front of a large lake, with mountains full of trees in the background. He didn't recognize the place, but the four of them seemed genuinely happy.

He smiled to himself as he looked at the young Lydia, and when he heard her coming downstairs, he put the photo back in its place.

She was already dressed in her coat and with dry hair. She took the breakfast bag and started eating while approaching Carlisle.

"Hey, this is delicious," she spoke with a bite of the sandwich in her mouth.

"I'm glad you like it. I couldn't decide between chicken or ham."

"Chicken is my favorite."

"I also brought you a coffee and a giant chocolate chip cookie," he said with a smile, hoping to please the girl.

"Carlisle..." she was about to reply, about to say that none of that was necessary at all, but she liked being taken care of, she liked being the center of attention of this man—thank you so much," she replied with a smile that revealed her bright teeth, and without thinking, she leaned in for a quick hug.

He seemed relieved to have done things right and also wrapped Lydia in his arms gently to avoid hurting her.

"Come on, you can finish that in the car."

She looked at him with puppy eyes, but he didn't understand why.

"Will you really let me eat in your car?" she murmured with a slightly surprised tone.

He was truly confused.

"Of course," he shrugged, "why wouldn't you?"

She smiled sadly and shook her head with a soft smile.

"I'm sorry, it's just my silly thoughts."

She started walking, but Carlisle took her shoulder to stop her from taking another step.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

The girl's eyes reflected guilt, one that Carlisle didn't understand.

"It's just... Jonah used to get really upset if I ate in his car. It was his sacred place or something stupid like that, and that would be fine because it was his favorite car, but he really got mad if something happened to that thing. He'd lose his mind."

Carlisle didn't want to dwell on the topic because he knew he would be very upset with that guy. He contained his annoyance and nodded.

"I understand," he simply said with a smile, "don't worry about that, it's just a car and it can always be replaced. But you will never be replaceable."

Lydia felt an extreme warmth in her heart. Now she didn't understand how she had been with Jonah for so long or how she had even thought about marrying him.

They arrived at the hospital in fifteen minutes. Lydia noticed that Carlisle had driven cautiously because the man had mentioned that it took about ten minutes to get to work from his house, and Lydia's house was much closer to the hospital than

Carlisle's.

And everything was so strange. Lydia got out of the man's car quite fearful. She knew Carlisle was probably the most coveted man in the entire town, and now she was arriving in his car when she hadn't stopped mentioning how much she hated it for months. She almost felt like a complete fool.

Carlisle took care of opening the passenger door and giving the girl a hand to get out. At that moment, there was no one else in the man's world. They walked through the small parking lot in the rain, and at the door, the blonde man took care again of opening the door and letting the girl go before him.

Lydia muttered a thank you as the warmth began to blush her cheeks. Carlisle was delighted to cause those effects on her. But he also didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable, so he kept a certain distance and avoided direct contact, something that Lydia appreciated. Although she felt a little guilty.

Each went their separate ways, Carlisle to his office and Lydia to the locker rooms.

In the afternoon, around four o'clock, they were both in the emergency room after an ambulance arrived with four boys who had a motorcycle accident. They thought it would be fun when they saw the motorcycles parked outside a bar and simply stole them for a ride.

The road was very slippery, and they were lucky to come out alive, but the motorcycles were another story.

Carlisle only gave glances to the girl as he attended to one of the boys, the one with blood dripping from his forehead and who had only fractured his hand.

At least those foolish teenagers had thought to use helmets, or else... well, the important thing was that they had used them.

The blonde man watched Lydia work. She was so careful with her movements and was truly focused on helping that boy. When she noticed him looking at her, she rolled her eyes and closed the curtain. Carlisle could only laugh.

At six o'clock, when Lydia decided it was a good time to go out for some fresh air and have a quick cup of coffee, she ran into Cristina.

The nurse came out to the back parking lot and looked at Lydia with a wide smile. Lydia, on the other hand, looked confused.

"You have to tell me everything," she choked out.

"What are you talking about?" Lydia seriously didn't understand what was going on.

"You and Dr. Cullen. Sarah saw you leaving his car together, and well... gossip spreads very fast around the hospital, especially if it's a nurse who starts it."

Lydia almost choked on her coffee, and when she stopped coughing, she let out a big sigh that sounded more like a snort.

"I should have imagined that gossip spreads very fast around here."

"Lydia, please. I won't sleep tonight if you don't tell me the truth," she sighed, "but I can tell you that Sarah was almost fuming, she had tried everything to get Dr. Cullen's attention, and... now she hates you. Mostly because you always said you didn't like him, and well..."

She laughed a bit, she should have imagined it. It hadn't been a good idea to arrive in Carlisle's car when their... strange relationship had just begun. And she wasn't sure if it was really a relationship... of course they had kissed the night before, and that morning they had exchanged a quick kiss as a greeting, besides he had brought her breakfast and other things. She was still confused.

"I think we have something, it's still complicated," she said with a rather funny expression. She furrowed her brow, looking worried but also fearful, although her tone was slightly amused.

Cristina's smile changed to an expression of genuine surprise. But then the smile returned along with some screams.

"What do you mean 'I think'? It is or it isn't."

Lydia closed her eyes for a second trying to think of something. It was a simple answer, but she still didn't fully understand what had happened the night before.

"Well... it is. We are. Yesterday... we started going out. Something like that."

Cristina hugged the girl in surprise.

"I knew it. From hate to love there's always a step, and I was hoping that you two would end up together. You're a perfect match."

Lydia didn't know what to say, and the change made her take a sip from her coffee cup, which was practically empty but she wanted to distract herself with something.

"And?" Cristina asked again, this time with a mischievous tone, "how does he kiss?"

Lydia bit her lip and shook her head.

"We definitely won't talk about that," she threw the now empty cup in the trash and adjusted her coat to go back inside. She looked at Cristina when she opened the door, "a ten, completely."

Cristina smiled even more if that was possible and also entered the hospital with the girl.

The gossip that Carlisle Cullen and Lydia Knox were a couple spread throughout the hospital at an alarming speed. There wasn't a single soul who didn't know about it, and they had only arrived together in the car. Nothing else had happened... at least not in front of anyone from the hospital.

At night, at closing time, Carlisle met Lydia in the lobby. He wasn't sure if it would be appropriate to approach her to say goodbye or bid goodnight out loud as a general farewell or just walk past. He couldn't remember the last time he had an existential crisis. But fortunately for him, Lydia raised her hand, and he approached now relaxed.

He leaned on the small reception table, leaving his coat and briefcase to rest although he didn't feel its weight at all. But everyone did that. Lydia no longer wore her uniform, and a backpack hung from her shoulder, but she was filling out some sheets.

"Just give me a second, I just have to fill this out."

"What is that?" he asked curiously.

"It's for the boys from this afternoon. It's for the police, Charlie came earlier and said he needed some documents. Since they stole the motorcycles and destroyed them, they're in trouble, but they're minors and need to stay under observation for a few days, so he asked me for some medical notes."

"I see, do you need help?"

She shook her head with a smile.

"No, I just need one more sheet."

Carlisle nodded. He had no idea Charlie had come. He saw her writing, and the man swore at that moment that he could watch her do that for eternity, and he would enjoy it.

"Ready," she spoke after a few minutes and started organizing the documents, "he said he would send an officer later for this, so I'll leave it here."

Now that he thought about it, he didn't understand why she made him wait, it didn't bother him, but she could have just said goodbye or something like that.

But what happened next took him completely by surprise. Lydia had approached him and stood on tiptoe as she pulled his tie a little to gently kiss his lips.

Carlisle was genuinely surprised by the gesture, but quickly put a hand on the girl's waist and deepened the kiss, being careful not to hurt her.

She pulled away to catch her breath and smiled at the man.

"And that?"

"I don't like gossip much, so I guess this clears up the situation."

He laughed. He had also heard all day those stupid gossips that spread through the hospital about him

and Lydia. It didn't bother him, in fact, it amused him, but he didn't want Lydia to feel uncomfortable, apparently that wasn't the case.

"I guess so."

There were curious looks that only Carlisle caught, but he focused only on the beautiful eyes of his counterpart and on that exquisite scent that he had adored from the moment he met her.

"It's time to go home," the girl murmured.

"Yes," he replied in the same way.

But neither moved. There was a burning heat emanating from deep within their bodies. They had to remind themselves that they were halfway through the hospital lobby, but Lydia could only think about needing to take off the clothes of the handsome Dr. Cullen.

Lydia snapped back to reality and took a step back, placing a hand on the man's chest to keep her distance or maybe to discreetly touch him.

"See you tomorrow," she nodded repeatedly, taking steps back and with her heart racing.

Carlisle laughed quietly.

"Lydia, you know we're both heading to the parking lot, right?"

She shrugged.

"I know... it's just that I'll run away."

And that's what she did. She simply turned around and ran to the parking lot, where the cold air hit her cheeks and helped her feel calmer. She got into her car, and shortly after, she saw Carlisle get into his.

They waved goodbye, and they drove off to their respective homes.

: ‹𝟹 all the votes and
comments are very
appreciated. they encourage me
keep updating!