“It's his own fault he doesn't like the things I remember, though.”

“Do you truly believe that you care more for me than I do for you?" he murmured, leaning closer to me as he spoke, his dark golden eyes piercing.I tried to remember how to exhale. I had to look away before it came back to me."You're doing it again," I muttered.His eyes opened wide with surprise. "What?""Dazzling me," I admitted, trying to concentrate as I looked back at him."Oh." He frowned."It's not your fault," I sighed. "You can't help it.”

“I would like to ask one favor though, if that's not too much," he said.I wonder what he saw on my face, because something flickered across his own face in response. But, before I could identify it, he'd composed his features into the same serene mask."Anything," I vowed, my voice faintly stronger.As I watched, his frozen eyes melted. The gold became liquid again, molten, burning down into mine with an intensity that was overwhelming."Don't do anything reckless or stupid," he ordered, no longer detached. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"I nodded helplessly.His eyes cooled, the distance returned.”

“Bella, it's not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant.”

“It's not your fault," Carlisle comforted me with a chuckle. "It could happen to anyone.""Could," I repeated. "But it usually just happens to me.”

“I tensed, waiting for the fury - both his and mine - but it was only quiet and calm in the darkness of his room. I could almost taste the sweetness of reunion in the air, a separate fragrance from the perfume of his breath; the emptiness when we were apart left its own bitter aftertaste, something I didn't consciously notice until it was removed.There was no friction in the space between us. The stillness was peaceful - not like the calm before the tempest, but like a clear night untouched by even the dream of a storm.”

“But now you're unhappy," he pointed out."And?" I challenged. "That doesn't seem fair." He shrugged, but his eyes were still intense. I laughed without humour. "Hasn't anyone told you? Life isn't fair." "I believe I have heard that somewhere before," he agreed dryly.”