Chapter 16

Carlisle took out some cotton from the kit and dabbed some antibact on it, a focused look drawn on his gorgeous face. He gently took my hand, and brought the piece of cotton closer.

"This might hurt you a bit, so feel free to press on my shoulder." He told me, prepping himself to clean the small cut, clearly overreacting.

"I've heard that line one too many times, I think a little blister won't be the death of me." I retorted, with an all knowing look on my face. He spared a glance at me, then diverted his gaze back to my bloody finger.

His stare became somewhat intense as the stench of my blood grew stronger and intoxicated my breathing. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me at that moment.

Carlisle however couldn't stop staring at my finger with so much fascination, it sent goosebumps all across my hands.

"Any day now..." I said in a bid to try remind him that my blood was drying against my skin.

My words seemed to snap him back into reality, because he shook his head and wiped off the blood in one swift motion. His move was so precise, that I wondered if he'd done this a couple of times.

He took out a bandage and carefully wrapped my finger, never letting his gaze wander for a moment. For once, someone's whole attention was pointed at me, and only me.

"That should fix it, just sit here and I'll take care of the mess." He said, standing up from his former position, taking the first aid kit back to the kitchen.

Before I could even mutter a simple thank you, his shirtless body had set out to work, cleaning up the mess my clumsy sister had made. Carefully taking care of my house...

"So, who is he? And where's Ace?" Sophia rudely asked in a loud voice, acting ignorant to the fact that Carlisle was a couple of feet away.

"None of your business." Was my response, the very last thing I wanted was for Sophia to stick her nose into my private life.
She merely just scoffed at me and walked over to Carlisle, whose pants were still drenched in rain. "Since Peyton won't be giving us a proper introduction, I'm Sophia, and I'm unfortunately related to her." She announced, sticking out her hand to shake his.

"Oh, you must be her sister then, the resemblance is...visible." he responded, taking her hand in his as he flashed her an awkward smile.

"Only. Everything else is uncanny." That brat told him, about to run her mouth about things that should be best kept secret.
"I think the variation in you both is what makes you two all the more compatible as sisters." Carlisle stated, coming off as a sweet talker. Sophia herself was stunned by his good manners, and instantly took a liking to him.

"Why don't I show you a room to get changed in? Since it's clear Peyton doesn't know how to treat a guest." She offered, making a complete fool out of herself.

I immediately sprung up from my seat and rushed in to pull Carlisle by the arm, leading him up to my bedroom to have a change of clothes. Sophia tried to protest, but the death glare I shot her was enough to make her stand down.

"If you really want to be receptive, his hoodie is lying there, be a dear and have it washed." I told her, finding something to keep her away for the time he would be over.

She obviously didn't like the idea, but had to put on a good show to impress him, Carlisle would flip if he knew how many tantrums she threw.
Defeated, she picked up the dripping wet hoodie and turned to get it cleaned up.
"While you're at it, you could mop the wet floors before mom and dad get back. I mean, you wouldn't want them getting mad, right?" I forced the politeness out of my mouth, whilst Carlisle just stood behind me, amused.

"Come on, let's get you changed." I told him, as we marched up the stairs into my bedroom, far away from Sophia and her prying eyes.

I locked the door behind me to make extra sure that we were both alone here, then I looked out the window, measuring how tall my bedroom wall was. If worse came to worse, Carlisle could use my scarfs and form a rope ladder to escape my parents.

*Chuckle*
"Did I say something funny?" I asked, looking over my shoulder at Carlisle who was randomly laughing at me.

"You act cuter than you imagine." He said, changing the mood in the room with just one sentence. I couldn't decipher whether he was just being flattery or if he was serious with me.

I shook my head and ran to my bathroom to get a robe, sure enough that one of my dad's old robe was still hung on my bathroom wall.

"So...that drawing from before was yours?" I nervously asked from inside my bathroom, spraying some perfume on my clothes and body.

"Yes." He responded, in a tone so low I almost didn't catch what he said.
"Wow. I really did mess that one up, you should have said something, instead of let me ruin it." I retorted, just realising how much I had looked down on him.

He didn't say anything back to me, and I felt my heart sink from guilt. I grabbed the red robe and slung it over my shoulder after bathing it with all sorts of sprays.

I walked out of the bathroom, only to fix my gaze on my bright blue bra, just sitting on my nightstand, right next to one of my photos.

My feet took off in a flash and rushed up to the scene before it got tragic, without thinking twice, I sat on my bra and crossed my legs in a messy movement. It was obvious that I was hiding something from him.

What I didn't take account for, was my favorite photo falling off the top to the floor. I reached out to grab it before it broke, but he beat me to it. Catching it firmly, like he knew it was going to fall.

He brought it to his gaze and stared at my photo frame, feasting his eyes on what caused me to panic so much.
"This is Sophia, right?" He asked, raising a brow at the picture of me and Sophia on the day she was born.

"The only time she was an angel, unfortunately." I teased, whilst discreetly pulling my bra from underneath me, to stuff into my pillow.

Carlisle kept it in a safer spot and took the robe in my hand, mouthing a short thank you to me. I smiled back at him, waiting for him to turn around so I could tuck my bra away.
"I think it's nice to have family so close to you." He replied, giving me a feeling that his relationship with his family wasn't so smooth.

The mood was condensing after, I cleared my throat to say something to change the topic of discussion.
"You were right about the foundation, and about the spring dance. I didn't even know Redlake had a foundation."

"It's been falling apart long before you were born Peyton, so it's understandable." He said, trying to make me feel better about myself.

"Yeah right, that's no excuse, you knew about it and you don't look that much older. I think I'm too caught up with myself to be as selfless as you." I gasped the second the latter part of the sentence flew right out of my mouth.

When did I start thinking he was selfless?

"That's not entirely true, I mean when you're not around that dick boyfriend of yours, you're a pretty great person to be around." He told me, staring at me like he was dying to take a bite out of me.

I found myself completely smitten by his words, that I almost started to believe them.

"And if you're talking about me being selfless, I beg to differ because..." He suddenly brought his head down to meet my line of sight.

"I always chase after what I want and I never stop till it's mine." Carlisle possessively said.