Trees passed through Eleanor's sight in a blur as she sped down the road. She drove like a mad woman but she didn't care. At that moment, her only thought was Carlisle.

The drive to the Cullens' felt longer than usual, and Eleanor was growing impatient. Her foot pressed down the gas further, pushing the car into a faster pace. The sight of their drive came into view, and her heart began to pump faster.

Eleanor whipped the car into the driveway, and sped down it. She had barely put the car into park before she was out and running up the steps. The lights reflected on the ground outside the house, showing signs of life in the once dead house.

Her eyes were still shining with tears, and she reached up to rub her eyes again, but to no avail. It didn't matter if she was still crying anyway. She didn't care about her appearance. Carlisle was home.

Eleanor pushed the front door open, and rushed into the house. She turned in the family room, and stopped in her tracks. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw him. It was like he was waiting for her; he was standing in the middle of the room, staring right at Eleanor with a large, beautiful smile on his face.

She let out a sharp breath, and ran straight at him. Carlisle opened his arms, and Eleanor jumped right into them. She pressed her lips onto his, desperately trying to bring him closer to her.

Carlisle pulled away from Eleanor, and leaned his forehead on hers. Eleanor let out another cry as a tear fell out of her eye, "you came back."

"I promised, didn't I?" He asked.

Eleanor let out a small laugh, before letting her lips connect with his again. Carlisle wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, enjoying the feeling of her in his arms again. However, in an instant, Carlisle let go of her and the moment was over.

Eleanor looked up at him, a flash of confusion crossing her face. His eyes met hers for a brief moment, drinking in her appearance as if he were seeing her for the first time. Then he motioned behind her.

She spun around, grinning when she caught sight of the rest of the Cullen family - minus Edward and Alice. Eleanor left Carlisle's side, and headed straight for the group of three. Emmett stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. El held her eyes tightly shut as she hugged him. The two didn't need words.

With another squeeze of her shoulder, Emmett let her go. Eleanor turned to Rose and offered her a small smile. Rose rolled her eyes, before pulling Eleanor into a brief hug. El's eyes widened in surprise at the short hug, but nonetheless she accepted it.

She turned to Esme next, and instantly enveloped the woman into her arms. Esme held Eleanor tightly, and swayed the two of them back and forth, "we all missed you so much, El. Carlisle was a mess."

"Believe me," Eleanor sniffled, "I was too."

Esme released Eleanor, and the girl turned back to Carlisle. He was silently watching Eleanor's encounter with his family, and gave him a smile when she faced him. El took his hand in hers, and then tucked herself under his arm.

"Where's Edward?" Eleanor frowned.

The family shared a look. Rose looked down at her hands, guiltily, "he's in Volterra."

Eleanor looked up at Carlisle with a shocked expression, "with the Volturi?"

"Yes," Carlisle said, looking at Rosalie, "he believes Bella is dead. He wants to die too."

"What are they gonna do?" She asked, concerned. While the two were very dramatic, she never thought Edward would take his own life if anything happened to Bella.

"Bella and Alice are on their way to stop him," Carlisle explained.

She stayed silent, instead looking down at the floor. She hoped that Bella made it to Edward in time. Eleanor looked up at Carlisle, and then the other three, "can I sleep here tonight?"

"Of course you can, Eleanor," Esme smiled warmly, "you're always welcome here."

Eleanor shot a smile at Esme. The older woman looked between the two, "anyway, we'll leave you two alone."

Once the three walked away, Eleanor twisted her body so she faced Carlisle. She grabbed his scarf and pulled him so his lips met hers. Eleanor sighed contently, once she pulled away and leaned her forehead against his, "I missed you."

"Eleanor, you have no idea," Carlisle mumbled. He leaned down close to her face, "I'm so sorry."

She took her bottom lip in her mouth, and grabbed his hand. El began to lead him to his office. She hadn't been in there since the day she retrieved their photograph. She wondered if he'd notice.

Carlisle and Eleanor walked over to his leather chair, and once Carlisle sat, Eleanor sat on his lap. She faced him, and let her legs hang off each side of the chair. El sighed, searching her lover's face.

He stared up at her. Carlisle's lips tilted up in a small grin as he studied her face. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

"Where'd you go?" Eleanor asked.

"Alaska. We went to live with our cousins for a little bit. Edward left immediately. He didn't tell us where he went at first - only called once every few months. Last time he called, we learned he was in Italy," Carlisle explained, setting his hand on Eleanor's thigh.

Eleanor frowned, "do you think Bella and Alice will get to him before the Volturi kill him?"

He nodded, but his face suddenly filled with concern, "yes, I believe so. They'll be there tomorrow morning, and should be back by tomorrow night."

Carlisle glanced behind Eleanor, and let out a soft laugh, "you came and got the picture."

"So you did know I'd come," Eleanor giggled, "I came a week after you left. I wanted to see if sitting in here would make me feel... normal, and I found the picture."

"Ah. What else happened while we were gone?" His face showed genuine curiosity.

Eleanor cleared her throat, readying herself to explain the last few months, "well, Bella was a lot worse than I was. She didn't talk to anyone for about three months, and I'm pretty sure the only time she left her house was for school. She invited me and Jess to a movie one night, and got on the back of some random man's motorcycle. And then she saw visions of Edward."

"That's when she decided to buy some banged up motorcycles. She asked me to go to Jacob Black's house to fix them, so I did, and we started fixing the bikes. Hanging out there made me feel a little better cause it got my mind off of you," Eleanor took a deep breath, "we fixed the bikes and I rode it - which was awesome - and Bella rode it and crashed into a rock because she was too focused on Edward instead of steering the stupid thing. Then we went to the movies with Jake and Mike, and Jake went off on Mike and disappeared on me and Bella for a few weeks."

"Take a breath, Eleanor," Carlisle kissed her forehead, "you're talking fast."

"Sorry," she mumbled, and sighed, "anyway, me and Bella showed up at Jacob's house, and he looked completely different. Like he cut his hair and got a tattoo. So Bella made me go with her to this meadow that Edward took her to, and we ran into Laurent and some wolves. And then we went back to Jake's house and found out that him and Sam Uley and a whole bunch of other guys are werewolves-"

"Laurent?" Carlisle asked, "and you found out about the wolves?"

"Yes and yes," she confirmed, "you knew about them?"

"Yes," he smiled, "we have a treaty with them. I didn't realize Jacob Black was one. Did you show them your powers? What did Laurent want?"

"He came to kill Bella for Victoria. I stopped him, which gave the wolves an opportunity to kill him. And yes, they know about them. When we found out about them, Bella slapped Paul, and he shifted and I kind of used them on him."

Carlisle's brows furrowed together, "Victoria is here?"

"They chased her out," she reassured, and caressed his face.

He hummed, "is that all?"

"Yeah pretty much," she said, "I got pretty close to the wolf pack."

He smiled, and kissed her lips gently, "I'm glad you made some more friends."

Eleanor leaned forward and kissed his lips again. Carlisle leaned back after a moment, and pressed his lips all over her face, causing Eleanor to laugh.

"Can we go to bed now?" She asked, peeking up at him through her lashes.

"Of course," he wrapped his arms around Eleanor's waist, and stood up.

Eleanor let out a sharp squeal when Carlisle took off towards his room. They were there in a short second, and Eleanor let go of him. She jumped on the bed.

Carlisle stood by the door "do you want to change?"

Eleanor glanced down at her jeans, and grimaced, "do you think any of the girls have leggings or sweatpants?"

"I bet Esme does," he said, "I'll be right back."

He was gone in an instant, and Eleanor turned to lay on her back. She bit her lip, holding back a smile. It had been so long since she was genuinely happy, and she thanked God that the ache in her chest was finally gone.