Hello! Welcome to "Somebody to Love". I originally started writing this story a while back, and I posted it on another site. I have 32 chapters so far, and I'm almost done with it. The title of this story was inspired by the song "Somebody to Love" by Queen. Most chapter titles are symbolic of a song that goes along with the theme of the chapter. I will place excerpts from those songs in my chapter notes. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Parent-Teacher Conference

Carlisle's POV

The noises of the hospital were comforting to me, even if some of them didn't bode well. A man with cancer was flat-lining upstairs. A little girl was all but screaming as a cast was put on her arm. I took a deep breath, noting certain scents as well: sterile wipes, latex gloves, gauze, and blood. The last one didn't bother me at all anymore. I had guarded myself against vampire nature many years ago to pursue this line of work. It was a pity my shift had ended.

As I walked toward the lounge, a receptionist called after me. "Dr. Cullen." I turned around. "You have a phone call." I hid my confusion. My children— of sorts— were in school, and no one else would need to contact me at work. I thanked the receptionist and took the phone.

"Hello," I said. I didn't know what to expect, but I definitely wasn't expecting the voice I heard to be so entrancing.

"Dr. Cullen, this is Esme Allen. I teach Architecture at Forks High School. I was wondering if it would be possible to set up a Parent-Teacher conference with you sometime this week," she said evenly.

"My shift just ended. I could come by after school today, if that's all right," I suggested. What on Earth went wrong at the school? "Is there a problem?"

"Today is fine, 3:30 in classroom 14. I just wanted to speak to you about Emmett and Rosalie, but my next class starts in one minute so I'll go into detail later. Thank you, Dr. Cullen," she said. I didn't speak for a moment. Her voice was like a symphony.

"You're welcome, Ms. Allen," I replied. I hung up the phone. On the way to my car, I considered pulling them out of school for the rest of the day. I had never been called to Forks High Scool for a conference before. As a matter of fact, I'd never been called into any school for any conference in all the years that I'd spent with Edward, Bella, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie. I considered each of them my children.

Some humans found it weird that a seemingly young bachelor would adopt six teenagers, but there was a story for them all. In reality, Edward and Bella were dying of the Spanish Influenza. They were already in love and about to die together when I bit them. They were the first of my children. Now, we say that their families were friends, and a nautical accident took their parents.

I had found Rosalie dying on the street, and a few years later she found Emmett dying in the woods. The two of them fell in love soon after. Rosalie pretends to be Jasper's twin, and Emmett is supposedly Alice's older brother.

Alice and Jasper adopted us in a way. They joined my family with their own histories and meshed perfectly with the others. I smiled as I thought about how well this all worked out. One hundred years ago, I was alone, and now I had a big family with only one thing missing. I pushed the idea from my mind, though. Edward always smirked suggestively when I considered myself with a wife. He'd been doing an awful lot of smirking in recent years.

It was a solid dream of mine, but it could not be. Not once in my three hundred odd years had I ever been in love. I thought of Esme Allen's voice again. Even in formal tones it was beautiful. My cell phone vibrated, interrupting my day dream. Alice was reminding me about my meeting. Of course, she would have seen it. Alice's visions were very helpful most days. I glanced at the clock. There was just enough time for me to drive the speed limit. The drive was short and uneventful. However, I did manage to arrive before my family left. Emmett narrowed his eyes at Alice as I parked next to Edward's Volvo.

"I thought you were just joking," he said accusingly. Alice stuck her tongue out at him. I shook my head at them.

"I'll meet you at home, and when I find out what this is about, we'll discuss it," I said to Emmett and Rosalie. They nodded and got in the car. I walked into the school and located classroom 14 with ease. A young woman in her mid-twenties was sitting behind the desk grading papers. She looked up when I entered the room.

"Dr. Cullen, I presume," she said. Her voice sounded strong, but there was something different beneath it; something that hadn't been there before.

"Yes," I admitted. She stood and leaned against the marker board. "Call me Carlisle, please."

"Carlisle," she said, testing my name. I smiled. "Emmett and Rosalie are two of my best students. They're every teacher's dream— intelligent, hard-working, and well-mannered— but they have a problem with keeping their hands to themselves. I've given them several warnings for Public Display of Affection. I really don't want to send such brilliant kids to ISS but I'm running out of options. To be perfectly frank, I also doubt it would do much good. I was hoping that you could shed some light on subject. Do they behave this way at home? Have other teachers discussed this with you?"

I could see that she was getting flustered. "Emmett and Rosalie have always had a slightly physical relationship. I have never been talked to about it, but I think you might be the only teacher who manages to catch them," I said. She looked disconcerted. 'Slightly' had been an extreme understatement, of course. "What exactly did Emmett and Rosalie do?" Part of me was sure I didn't want to hear the answer, but nevertheless I had asked.

"I saw them leave the paint room together," she said quietly sounding a little embarrassed. "Rosalie was telling Emmett to be more careful with her clothes because he had accidentally ripped a seam on her shirt."

"That would explain why the girls went shopping," I mused. "I will discuss this with Emmett and Rosalie. Do you have any suggestions?"

"I don't know. Rearranging their schedules is one option," she said honestly. "This is my first year as a teacher at Forks, and I've never had children so I can't really recommend anything more than that. Punishments aren't my specialty. Perhaps, your wife might have some ideas."

She knew I wasn't married, but she wanted to hear me say it. That, or I was misreading her tone; which was the more likely of the two. Either way, I was obligated to reply.

"I'm not married, Ms. Allen," I said. She smiled almost imperceptibly.

"You may call me Esme, if you like," she said. I nodded. She took a deep shaky breath. Only a vampire could've heard it. I couldn't help but smile at the effect I had on this lovely woman. Her heart was beating with excitement, not fear.

"That's all I wanted to discuss, I guess. Dr. Cullen..."

"Carlisle," I reminded her.

"Carlisle, they really are good kids," she complimented. "I've seen Alice, Jasper, Edward, and Isabella around school too. They are all very polite."

I nodded. "Feel free to let me know if Emmett and Rosalie misbehave again," I said. I took another good look at her as I felt the meeting come to a close. Her long, wavy locks were the color of caramel. Her heart-shaped face was framed with it. Her eyes were blue with flecks of gray and showed her wisdom. They seemed so endless. Standing at about 5'5, Esme Allen was beautiful.

I had moved toward her without realizing it. I forced myself to look away, breaking the spell of wonder. As I walked toward the door, I just couldn't get over the way she looked, but then I took a deep breath, and her appearance was nothing. The scent that surrounded me completely was like every sweet thing in existence. Venom pooled in my mouth, reminding me of what I was. I swallowed it and took another step toward the door.

"Ms. Allen..."

"Esme," she corrected.

"Esme," I said wistfully. "Do you enjoy dancing?"

She nodded absently. "I love to dance, but I haven't in a very long time."

"Would you like to go dancing with me Saturday night?" I asked. She bit her bottom lip. A small pool of disappointment tainted my hope. She was going to say no.

"I'd like that," she said, smiling at me. Her smile was more dazzling than lightning dancing across the sky. A surge of happiness flooded through me.

"I'll pick you up at six o'clock on Saturday evening, then. I know of a wonderful place in Tacoma," I said. "Where shall I meet you?"

"That sounds wonderful," she replied. "My address is 1589 Cedar Avenue. I live in town."

"I'll see you Saturday, Esme," I promised. She waved. As I left the classroom, I could hear her collapse into her chair and make a solid attempt to even her breathing. I did the same when I reached my car. Esme was a wonderful woman. I looked forward to getting to know her. Maybe, just maybe, I had finally found somebody to love. Still, it felt very hypocritical. I was always stressing the importance of blending in with the humans but not getting too close to them.

I tried not to dwell on it as I pulled into the garage. Edward was waiting for me by his Volvo. Emmett's Jeep and Rosalie's M3 were both gone.

"The girls are shopping, and the other two are hunting. I wanted to wait for Bella. We're going dancing on Saturday as well. Don't worry, though. We're going to Seattle," he said. There was an amused smile on his face.

"I know," I confessed to him. "I know that I'm breaking my own rule, but I couldn't help myself." I trailed off, unable to explain the feeling that had taken over my senses. It had been a sudden need to be near her. I had to make sure I would see her again.

"I get it, Carlisle," he said. "You took one good, long look and swore you'd never look away again. 91 years ago, I did the exact same thing, and two years after that I made sure I'd never have to. I kept my vow too. When Bella got sick, well you remember better than I do."

"You wouldn't leave her side. Eventually, you came down with the influenza, and it took two orderlies to get you into your own room," I recalled. "The separation sent you both spiraling downhill fast."

"You told them to put us in the same room," he added.

"You both started to look considerably better after that, but Bella's body had been fighting too hard. She wasn't going to last much longer. You kept telling me not to let her die," I continued.

"You were honest with me. You told me that she wouldn't survive the night. I took her hand as she slept and said, 'Then we will die together.'. We'd only been married for a few months, but I knew I'd never love another," his voice sounded distant. He was reliving that day 89 years ago. So was I.

"You were determined to go with her, too. Your hearts were beating in perfect synchronization. Every skipped beat, every falter, was exactly the same. I couldn't let love like that die," I admitted. I continued remembering. When Edward and Bella's breathing had gotten shallow enough to go unnoticed, I passed them off as dead. The hospital had sent me home. They knew how hard I had fought for the young lovers. It had been all too easy to steal their bodies from the morgue. No one noticed. One mature vampire trying to handle two newborns was difficult, but it could have been much worse.

Bella had an unnatural amount of control over herself. Edward soon found out that he could hear the thoughts of those around him, except Bella, of course. Her shield was impenetrable. Edward hadn't been thrilled by this revelation. Over the years, Bella learned how to extend her shield to others and take it from herself completely. Each talent was the other's opposite.

I wondered idly if Esme would have an extra ability. No, I stopped myself. She wouldn't become a vampire. She wouldn't want to. I couldn't tell her about my family and me. Sorrow settled into my long-dead heart.

"You never know," Edward interrupted. "Miracles happen. Look at Emmett. By all reasoning, Rosalie should have killed him long before she made it to you. You appreciate Ms. Allen's scent, but it doesn't overpower you. Just think about it. My suggestion would be to go out, have fun; and, when the time comes, you tell her what you are. If it is meant to be, she will accept you."

"I suppose there's no going back now. I still have to talk to Emmett and Rosalie about their behavior in class," I cut off when I saw Edward grin.

"Don't be too hard on them," he said. "It's Alice's fault, really. She had a vision about you meeting Miss Allen, and she wanted to speed up the process. It's really better that she'll be with you Saturday night. She was supposed to get into a car accident on the way to the store. Alice's vision changed on the way home. The new version is much better, trust me. I'm going to get the TV set up for movie night. The girls are coming down the driveway with Emmett and Jasper right behind them."

I was shocked. Alice didn't usually keep her visions a secret unless they were personal or irrelevant. Yet, I wondered what she had seen for us. Edward ran to the house, but I walked slowly. Alice grinned at me as she stepped out of the car. There were at least twenty shopping bags hanging from her arms. Jasper appeared behind her.

"Do you need anything carried in?" I heard him ask Alice.

"Nope," she replied. He laughed.

"Alright, I guess I'll just have to carry you," Jasper said with mock seriousness. However, he did pick her up. He gave me a surprised smile as he walked by, no doubt reading my good mood. "Someone's happier than usual."

"Just counting my blessings," I told him honestly. There were so many I could scarcely believe they were mine. It seemed that just when I thought life couldn't get better it found a way to prove me wrong.

Movie night was always eventful, but I had a feeling the girls were ganging up on me. I had threatened to have Emmett's and Rosalie's schedules rearranged if they didn't behave in Esme's class. They were laughing about it.

"Our PDA has served its purpose. We won't get caught again," Emmett assured me with a wink. Edward shot me a sympathetic look. Alice clapped her hands together.

"Okay, our first movie is Cinderella the Musical as written by Rodgers and Hammerstein," she said excitedly. The boys groaned in unison, but one of the rules of movie night was that no one could leave. It was actually quite funny, and I'd seen it live a few times during Rodgers's and Hammerstein's lifetimes. The Great Depression was a bad time, but Rodgers and Hammerstein had found a way to make people laugh. There was one part that made me think of Esme.

"I have found her! She's an angel with the dust of the stars in her eyes! We are dancing. We are flying, and she's taking me back to the skies," Prince Christopher sang as he danced with Cinderella. I imagined dancing with Esme, having her in my arms. I barely even noticed Rosalie put in another movie.

"The Princess Diaries," she said. Emmett and Jasper rolled their eyes, but Edward was grinning. That's when I realized something was going on. The movie started out slow, but I soon figured out what its message was.

"How do you go in for a parent-teacher conference and come out with a date?" Mia demanded from her mother. Emmett turned to smirk at me.

"I don't know. How does that happen, Carlisle?" he asked suggestively. I decided to play along.

"You send in a three hundred sixty-seven year old vampire who has never had a date," I replied in sarcastic tones, even though it was true.

"So what are you going to do if she asks how old you are?" Rose asked.

"Divide by ten, and then subtract six," Jasper suggested. I laughed. That was a good plan. We watched the rest of the movie in silence, but I wasn't paying attention. I was thinking of Esme.

So, what do you think? Should I post the rest of what I have on here? Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated.