With everything said and done, Carlisle would wait a moment to see if anyone had any objections or if anyone had volunteered right away. Once he was convinced that everyone had piped up and he answered their questions he would stand up.
”Right, I have nothing else left to say. If those who want to come with me upto the forest with me, hang around for a little bit, everyone else you are free to go and investigate whatever you want or go back and settle back in. I just need to talk to Lilith and then I will be back.” Carlisle would then look over at Lilith, with a small weak smile and then invite her to go out onto the veranda at the back of the dining hall. He really didn’t want to do this, he had a feeling that Lilith was about to tear him a new one.
Lilith had felt all of the emotions stirring in the room from the moment that she had arrived; Carlisle’s nervousness, Aurora’s familiar calmness, and Victor’s somewhat eager awaiting. The one emotion that she had felt the most though, was Serena’s anger.
While Lilith could and would agree that Serena was far from the best person standing in the room, she would also admit that perhaps Carlisle's comment had taken things too far. Lilith half expected Serena to turn Carlisle to ash right where he sat, but it seemed that the dark haired vixen had more restraint these days.
Continuing to eat, Lilith gave a small welcoming smile to Aurora and waited patiently while Carlisle spoke. As his speech came to an end, Lilith herself stood up shortly after the Interim Coven Leader.
That’s when she felt it.
A gut punching feeling, one that made her grip the edge of the long wooden table with both hands to keep from falling down. While the wave of emotion rolled over her, Lilith looked up just in time to see the fire behind Serena’s eyes as Carlisle’s face connected with the table.
A loud groan escaped the boy's lips, causing Lilith to spring into action. She quickly - and quite literally - climbed over the table, jumping down from the other side near Serena with a fist raised in the air.
Luckily for the other woman, Kolby also had fast reflexes.
Pushing Serena out of the way, Kolby caught Lilith in both arms as she jumped down from the table, taking whatever damage was intended for Serena as he did so.
”I’ll fucking kill you, you stupid cunt bitch,” Lilith shouted, spiting in brunettes direction. ”Put me down, Jett!” she screamed at Kolby, kicking and scratching wildly.
To everyone else watching, it might have been a funny scene. Kolby was a literal foot taller than Lilith, and the small, angry woman in his arms looked like an absolute maniac as he did his best to restrain her.
Elbowing Kolby in the jaw, Lilith felt his grip loosen ever so slightly as she heard a small voice of reason in the back of her mind. She knew Kolby was doing his best to influence her actions, but her emotions were too strong right now.
Almost getting away, Lilith managed to swipe Serena across the face, scratching her as she did so.
With Kolby’s arms now holding her even tighter across the torso, Lilith had stopped flailing around.
Her face burning with heat, and her eyes full of fire, she shouted at Serena once more.
”I swear to you. I swear it on the ancestors - if you EVER touch him in any way EVER again - I. will. fucking. kill. you. No questions asked.”
It took a second, but Carlisle would come back around. Just as he was getting up, suddenly his brain went foggy and he seemed to lose control, the next thing he knew, his brain was telling his body to headbutt the table. With force. Sitting back up, he could feel a warm liquid near his nose. Raising his hand, he swiped his fingers under his nose and felt the sensation of blood. He couldn't tell what condition his nose was in, but it certainly wasn't something healthy. He could swear it was broken.
Right now however, Carlisle was embarrassed. Emotionally, he felt broken. He was already nervous enough about Lilith and speaking to the Coven, and then Serena pulled this crap on him. Sure he was a little rude, but she had it coming given how she decided to enter the place. Carlisle wasn't a pushover anymore. Well. Much of a push over. Standing back up properly, Carlisle would look over to Lilith.
"Lil, leave her, please. I will deal with her later" He said as he glared at Serena while holding his nose. He would then walk out of the dining hall and onto the back veranda, leaving the door open for Lilith to come through. Leaning against the railing, he would curse under his breath as he leant his head back to try and stop the bleeding.
As Kolby sat her down, Lilith adjusted her t-shirt. Feeling the warm tears pooling in her eyes, Lilith kept her eyes fixed on the ground, though she still glared at Carlisle's words. What sort of tone was he was using with her? Lilith didn’t quite know how to label it - all she knew was that she was pissed off and confused.
Quickly using the sleeves of her jacket to wipe the angry tears from her face, Lilith looked up at Kolby.
”You ever try n’ stop me like that again, I'll kick your ass too,” she added, pointing a finger at his chest. Scanning the room, her eyes lingered on Miles for just a moment as her stomach knotted intensely.
Storming out after Carlisle, Lilith walked out onto the veranda to stand beside him, facing the view of the outside world that the Coven House had to offer.
Clearing her throat, Lilith spoke softly, still not looking at Carlisle.
”So what’s the damage?”
"It is not broken. So there is that. I think just taking a healing brew from the kitchen should deal with it. Sorry if I came across as a jerk back there. I guess I felt a little powerless after hitting the table and kinda took it out on the wrong person. I have never had someone get angry when I got hurt before y'know" Carlisle gave off a sort of goofy grin. He could see the hurt and anger in her eyes. She didn't know what to think right now, and to be honest, neither could he. "What did you want to see me about anyway?"
Eyes still glued onto the scenery, Lilith sighed.
”Don’t overthink it. I would have done the same for any of my friends,” she stated dismissively.
It was true. Lilith was fiercely loyal to the people that she cared about. Rather she had to be there for you by fighting you enemies, or making you chicken soup - she’d be there. However, Lilith had a deep suspicion that her reaction had something to do with her lack of sleep and overall shit mental health as of late.
Reaching out to grab the railing, Lilith thought for a moment before speaking.
”I had a vision. Well, I’ve had a couple, actually. Dreams too, ya know?” Nervous on how to truly approach the situation, Lilith took a deep breath. ”Something’s going on with the wards around town. You already know that. What I really wanted to talk to you about… I just… Carlisle -” Turning to look at him, the young woman couldn’t help but glare. ”Have you - or have you not - been messing around in the forbidden section of the library?”
Busted. Carlisle should have known that he could have got one over on Lilith. She could literally see the future. Carlsilse took a deep breath.
"Okay. Yeah. I was in the library a couple of nights ago. I was looking at a book in the forbidden section. I was trying to understand your divination powers." Carlisle looked down, right now he couldn't bear to meet Lilith's glare. "I know you have had issues with your spirits, and I really hoped the book might help me understand it a bit better. I was hoping I could help you through it."
As anger washed over the brunette, she took another deep breath to steady her nerves.
”So let me get this straight…” Speaking slowly and deliberately, Lilith kept her eyes locked onto Carlisle even after he had dropped his head. ”You come to me, seaking my opinion and knowledge on something. I give you my thoughts on the situation. I even go so far as to explain the dangers and warn you thoroughly of the consequences. And you have the audacity to disregard all of it?”
Eyebrows knit in frustration, Lilith threw her hands up in defeat.
”Why on Earth would you even ask me if you’re just going to do what the hell you want to do anyway?! And don’t fucking say it was for me. That just feels manipulative. Even if you aren’t trying to be, that’s how it makes me feel, and I don’t need your protection or your help or whatever it is you're trying to offer anyway, dammit.”
Carlisle hadn’t thought of the points that Lilith made. Perhaps he had been a little hasty himself. He had done it to try and help him understand what was going on. Lilith was fighting something terrible, at least in Carlisle’s mind.
”I am sorry. I was selfish. I wanted to help, but in the process destroyed the trust you had in me. I get it. I fucked up.” Carlisle said with a soft whimper. He would lift his head back up, his eyes welling up slightly, but he tried to move his head to the side to avoid revealing it to Lilith.
”No Carlisle, you don’t,” she responded fiercely. ”You don’t get it at all because I keep giving you chance after chance. You do these things, and I keep on forgiving you, and we end up right back in the same spot. So don’t tell me that you understand when you clearly do not.”
Hands now balled into fists at her side, Lilith was no longer trying to control the angry tears that fell from her face. Truthfully, she didn’t know why she cared for Carlisle so much, or why he had a special way of getting under her skin. Maybe being the only two that stuck around in Tanner had complicated whatever dynamic that this was. Maybe she had gotten too close.
”I’m not trying to be mean, I swear,” she pleaded. ”I’m just trying to make you realize that you can’t keep doing things like this and putting me into these situations and expecting me to forgive you. Look at me, please.”
Getting no response from her friend, Lilith reached up with her right hand to grab his chin, turning his face towards her. With her eyes locked on his, Lilith spoke once more - her tone more calm this time.
”You can’t keep acting like this. I don’t know what’s been going on with you lately. But if you keep acting this way - talking like that to Serena, pissing people off, messing with things that you know you shouldn’t - you’re literally going to get yourself killed, Carlisle. Do you understand me?”
"I am scared. I am just so fucking scared" Carlisle muttered, his shoulders shaking lightly as he struggled to keep his composure together. "I am scared about being a leader, worrying if I will screw up. I am scared that I will lose everything. I am scared about being left behind. I was enjoying a nice time in Tanner with just the two of us, and then all of this was thrust upon me. I am not ready for this. Carlisle then looked into her eyes. Those angry, but somehow soft eyes. And that was what broke him. Seeing the hurt in her eyes. He would begin to bawl lightly, making sure to keep his wails down so that people couldn't hear him in the dining room. The last thing he needed was anyone else seeing him like this. "Worst of all I am scared of losing you. Both in terms of you being killed and with you leaving me because…" Carilse would suddenly stop his sentence. He couldn't say it out loud. Not now. Not while he was looking like a complete respectless jerk.
As Carlisle spoke, Lilith let her hand fall back to her side. Her eyes still on his, Lilith began to finally feel herself start to calm down. Glancing into the dinning room, she could see that Erin’s eyes were still locked on her. There was no doubt that she was to thank for Lilith’s new state of mind. With her own emotions out of the way, however, that now meant that Lilith could feel other people's emotions again - and she was absolutely picking up on everything that Carlisle was not putting down.
Suddenly it all clicked in her mind. All of the times they had spent by the river, or reading in the library over the summer hadn’t been because they were ‘just friends’ and Carlisle wanted to ‘help her with her research’.
Lilith could feel the blood drain from her face as the realization hit her like a ton of bricks.
”Holy… shit,” she whispered, looking him up and down, arms now crossed across her chest.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Lilith laughed. ”I - nope. Not dealing with this shit right now. Absolutely not.” Now blushing and laughing, Lilith tried to cover her mouth in defeat. ”I’m sorry. I’m - I’m not laughing at you. I just —” Taking a moment to compose herself, Lilith looked back at Carlisle. ”I think I’m having a mental breakdown. Let’s just go back inside, and you get out of your head and stop overthinking shit and let’s just go check out the barriers, m’kay?”
Carlisle didn't have to say it. But after a summer together, she finally figured it out. Just why did it have to be right now when he was in the shit? With a soft sigh, Carlisle nodded. He would give a soft smile.
"Yeah okay. I get that. I dropped that at the worst time. I am sorry though. I know you might not get it, but I really am. Listen… After we look at the barrier, fancy grabbing a Taco Bell? Maybe talk about this with a clearer head."
Already re-composed, Lilith responded quickly. ”Talk about what,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. Taking a deep breath, Lilith kept her eyes locked on the group of people in the dining room. ”I’m going to go home and do some cleansing spells after. All of this energy is really…” Waving her arms around, Lilith tried her best to find the word to describe what she was feeling. ”....fucky.”
There was no way she could focus on the fact that her best friend had a crush on her - especially not with the boy who broke her heart in the next room over - and especially not after seeing him for the first time in years.
Carlisle let out a soft sigh. Fair enough. He took his shot, but he got it. It was hard at the moment. Carlisle then gave a small smile and wiped more blood from his nose. "Fair. Fair. Anyway. I will let you go, I need to go to the alchemy lab and grab a healie. You don't have to come to barrier if you just wanna clock off and do your cleansing" Carlisle would then walk down the veranda and leaving Lilith too her thoughts.
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