Being the new people in town was never easy, especially in a small town like Forks, a fact that Eleanor Beckett was well aware of. So when her son came home from school one day boasting about making friends with one of the new kids, Eleanor did her...
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Eleanor stood in front of the mirror, frantically smoothing out her dress and adjusting her hair while Cal sat eating gummy bears on the end of her bed.
"You look beautiful, Mom," he reassured, looking up to smile at his mother.
That was enough to ease the woman's mind for a moment, turning toward her son and taking in his appearance.
"And you look dapper. Wow, you even put on your fancy shirt?" Eleanor teased, walking over and running a hand through the boy's hair.
"What can I say? With a face like this I gotta have outfits to match," Cal joked, swatting his mother's hand away and readjusting his own hair. "Can we go now? I know I'm the only one actually eating at this 'dinner' but I am getting hungry."
"Really?" Eleanor raised a brow, lifting up the package of gummy bears that only had the pineapple flavored ones left behind.
"Don't judge me, I have a broken leg! I'm coping!"
"Come on, drama queen," Eleanor laughed, grabbing her car keys off the dresser.
"Says the woman that tried to skip town when someone showed interest in her," Cal mumbled, looking around innocently when his mother's head whipped back to glare at him.
:::
"Eleanor, Callahan! Welcome!" Esme greeted with a wide smile as she opened the door, Alice leaning up onto the tips of her feet's to glance over the woman's shoulder.
"Hello...?" Eleanor trailed off, realizing she did not know the woman's name.
"Oh! I'm Esme, it's nice to meet you," she offered her hand to shake.
"Nice to meet you too! I'm Eleanor, but you already knew that," the woman laughed, following Cal into the house as he went to greet Alice and the others.
Eleanor smiled as she watched the children interact, happy that Callahan finally found friends he didn't have to keep any secrets from. She was happy that maybe she'd finally found people she can be herself around. Maybe one person in particular, a person that she now noticed was nowhere in sight. Esme came over to stand beside her, nudging her slightly before leaning over and whispering in her ear.
"He's in the kitchen."
Eleanor nodded appreciatively, glancing back at her son one last time before hesitantly making her way out of the room. Using her enhanced hearing, she followed the sound of movement until she stood in the doorway of the kitchen. The woman could help the small smile that crept onto her face as she watched Carlisle do dishes, the man muttering quietly to himself as he did.
"It's fine, everything is going to be fine. Don't mess this up, Carlisle," his voice had a reassuring tone, Eleanor letting out a huff of amusement.
Carlisle suddenly went still, a beat passing before her finally turned around. His smile was enough to knock the unneeded air from her lungs, her teeth clenching slightly in order to help press down the feelings welling up inside her.
"You look majestic," Carlisle complimented, not moving from his place beside the sink in fear of making her uncomfortable.
"You don't look too bad yourself," Eleanor replied with a smile, her hands clasped awkwardly in front of herself. "Thank you, for inviting us. Cal, um, really likes you guys."
"We like him too," he replied, a teasing tone to his voice as he motioned to the stove. "Esme insisted on making pizza since she heard it was Callahan's favorite."
She nodded with a smile, glancing down at the floor as they dive into an awkward silence. Eleanor had never been this... helpless around anyone before. She didn't know what to say or do when she was around Carlisle. It was as if something about him rendered her into a blushing, stuttering little girl. Not that she could blush, but if she could she definitely would be in that moment.
"Listen-"
"Do you-"
They both started to talk at the same time, Eleanor internally kicking herself for how she was acting. Even if he was her mate, he definitely didn't want to be any more.
"You first," Carlisle insisted, leaning forward against the counter as he admired her.
"I'm sorry," Eleanor started, looking anywhere but him as she continued. "I just wanted to say that I'm not very good at... this. Emotions and all that. I don't trust very easily, and I promise there's a good reason for that, it's just not one I really want to discuss right now. The only person I actually fully trust is Cal, which is kind of sad once you think about it- I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm not good at expressing myself or letting people in but... I'll try."
"That's all I could ever ask for, Eleanor," Carlisle whispered calmly, staring at her as if he was in awe as he spoke. "And whenever you feel ready to share your stories, no matter big or small, I will be here to listen."
He took a hesitant step closer and for once Eleanor didn't feel the immediate urge to turn and run the other way. She let him step closer and take one of her hands in both of his, holding it up to his unbeating heart.
"Take forever if you must, I will be right behind you the whole way."
:::
The dinner was actually very nice, everyone chatting while Cal ate almost the entire pizza by himself. Every slice he took was followed by a compliment toward Esme, as well as gratitude for what he titled 'the best pizza he'd ever had in his entire life.'
"I have a question," Rosalie spoke up, glancing beside her to Eleanor as she did. "How did you look so normal when we met you? You had normal eyes and a heartbeat, how did you do that?"
Silence settled over the table as everyone looked over in curiosity, except Cal who was instead reaching for another slice of pizza.
"Oh, that," Eleanor commented off-handedly, shrugging her shoulders. "That's my special ability, I can create illusions for prolonged amounts of time. Although the more I use it, the faster I get hungry so I try to limit it to more mundane things. Like eye color, heartbeat, or making it look like I'm breathing."
"Yeah, she's like a real life Doctor Strange," Cal stated with his mouth full, his mother gently wacking the back of his head at the lack of manners. "What? I'm right!"
Eleanor just sighed, rolling her eyes as Carlisle laughed across from her. Her eyes flickered up to meet his, feeling flustered by the expression of pure pride on his face.
"That's awesome!" Emmett exclaimed, leaning over Rosalie to talk to Eleanor. "Can you do other stuff? Oh! Can you make Eddie think he's covered in spiders?"
Rosalie rolled her eyes at her husband, smacking his arm as a chorus of laughs went up around the table. Edward just sat with his arms crossed, glaring over at his brother before mumbling something under his breath.
"Maybe she can make you think there's a bear chasing you. Again."
