Work Text:
It had been a long year, to say the least. At least in Esme Platt’s point of view. In the matter of just 11 months, what was once her life has been completely turned upside down. She had lost p son, attempted suicide, been miraculously changed into a vampire by a man she met once at age sixteen and could only dream of ever since.
And now, in the same amount of time, she grew feelings for that same man. While the feeling scared her slightly because of her past, in the pit of her stomach she was excited for the future. Carlisle and Esme had only been courting for a mere few months, when Carlisle popped the question on an early morning hunting trip.
It had only been three weeks since the day she said yes, and the wedding planning was already almost done. After all, there really wasn’t that much to plan. The only people to be present at this ceremony were themselves, Edward, and a priest who would be oblivious to the fact he was marrying two vampires.
Thankfully, it was an easy ceremony to plan. Carlisle took control of the honeymoon plans, while she took it upon herself to decide decorations and her dress.
That was the last thing that needed to be decided upon: the dress. For that, she had no idea where to even begin. Sure, she could look at several catalogs, but how on Earth was she going to figure out what would look good on her?
She was left with going to the bridal shop near town. She was petrified with the thought of losing control of the bloodlust she was bound to get. Upon hearing of her fears, Edward suggested the idea of Carlisle accompanying her.
While it was absolutely not traditional to have the husband see his future wife in the wedding gown before she walked down the aisle, nevertheless help her pick out said gown, she truly didn’t see any other option. Carlisle was the only one who could calm her down in her bloodthirsty rage if it were to occur. As much as she adored Edward, she couldn’t take the risk of having him losing control as well.
That night when Carlisle came home from the hospital, her feet carried her swiftly across the floorboards to the front door. After a quick peck and catching up with the man who would soon be her husband, she nervously asked for his help.
Carlisle, being the almost-too-good-to-be-true person he is, agreed immediately.
Much to her dismay, he took the following shift the next day off, claiming that he needed a day off to settle the final wedding plans. While that wasn’t a complete lie, Esme hated the thought of pulling away a talented doctor from patients who may need him, just for dress shopping.
“I appreciate everything you have done for me, but you know you didn’t have to take off work just for this, right?” She said quietly as they both entered the bridal shop that morning.
A chuckle escaped from the doctor’s lips. “I know, darling. But I figured less people would be here on a random Tuesday morning than in the evening.”
He was correct. In fact, no one else was even in the store besides a couple of friendly cashiers and sales associates. When one came up to the couple to offer help or advice for choosing a bridal dress, Carlisle gracefully told her they would find her if they needed anything while Esme tried her best to walk as far away from the humans as possible.
It only took a minute or so of looking for Esme to become doubtful. She chose most of her day-to-day clothing from catalogs, in the safety of her own home where no human exposure was necessary. This unfortunately meant she would always be wearing the trendiest clothing, not necessarily what style she wanted. She had opinions about colors she liked, but nothing on what fabrics felt most comfortable in her hands or what silhouette shape looks best on her curvy figure. Besides, it was obvious she would be wearing white.
When she was married once before, to her ex-husband Charles in her human life, she truly didn’t even choose her wedding gown. She went to Columbus’s largest bridal shop, after her father worked tirelessly on the family farm to afford such an elegant gown for his only daughter. Her mother accompanied her and, ultimately, decided on her daughter’s dress without even bothering for her input. Her mother’s excuse was that since the parents are paying for it in full, why should Esme have a say?
All she knew was that she wanted to look her best on their wedding day. She just had no idea where to start looking.
Almost as if Carlisle could sense she was deep in her thoughts, he whispered into her ear. “How about we start in the back then make our way forward? You never know what hidden gems could be there.”
Taking a breath, she was thankful for finding a man who could read her like an open book.
Taking her hand in his, Carlisle walked to the back of the store, grateful he mentioned that suggestion. He was right in that, in his opinion, some of the most gorgeous dresses he had ever seen were hiding in racks that looked like no other customers had even dared to touch or take off their respective hangers. It didn’t take long for Esme to run her hands carefully along the multitudes of dresses, her eyes scanning along at not such a slow pace. After a brief pause, she pulled out a few select dresses that seemed to have caught her eye.
“These ones.” Her eyes had a sparkle of excitement in them as they both made their way to the dressing rooms.
Carlisle sat on a small sofa, slouching lightly as he looked around while waiting. The walls were pretty much completely made of mirrors, allowing the bride and their families to get an accurate view of how the dress looked.
It seemed like at least 20 minutes passed and his lovely soon-to-be wife hadn’t made an appearance outside of her dressing room. Hesitantly, he stood and knocked on the door gently. “Is everything alright?”
Unknowingly, she was slightly panicking in the room. She had one of the few dresses on her body, still unzipped as she couldn’t quite reach the back to complete the complicated set up. The remaining dresses were laid out on the back of the door and on the small sofa inside. Esme looked at herself in the mirror, biting her lip harshly as she worried. She remembered how much anxiety she had the last time she went wedding dress shopping, for a wedding to a man she didn’t even love.
Oh, but she was enchanted by the man knocking outside the door. How could any woman not be? She could be her true, authentic self around him. She never had to worry if she cleaned the house well enough to his liking or if he would purposely put her in harm's way. If anything, she knew he would go to the ends of the Earth for her if it meant she would just smile.
“I-um,” she shook her head slightly and looked down, trying to calm herself down before opening the door. “I’m fine. Just please zip me up before you really take a good look, okay?”
When she opened the door, she found Carlisle with one of his hands covering his eyes, he only peeked in order to just look at the zipper. The silly act caused Esme to laugh as she turned around, holding her hair back as she felt his fingertips softly glaze against her skin before she felt the dress become slightly tighter.
“Can I look, Mrs. Cullen?”
“Sure. And I’m not Mrs. Cullen yet, Dr. Cullen.” She smiled, standing on the small stand and eagerly waited for his response.
Carlisle wasn’t exactly sure how to react as he uncovered his eyes with his hand. He first saw her face, as always. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought she was blushing as she smiled at him. His eyes moved downwards, a smile coming to his own lips as he did so. He didn’t know how, but Esme had never looked so magnificent before. The dress was a pure white color made of silk fabric, completed with long sleeves and a length that flowed completely to the floor, leaving a train behind her. It showed off the figure she gained from childbirth and from her transformation into an immortal being.
He was completely silent for a solid 30 seconds before he finally made a move. He looked around the dressing rooms to make sure no employees or other customers lingered about, as it was quite improper to do so in public. But what else could he do when words failed him?
He stepped towards her and helped her down from the small stand, wrapping one of his arms around her waist. More eagerly than he had ever done before since they had begun courting, his lips met hers. Carlisle lifted his other hand to caress her cheek, attempting to be sweet despite the overwhelming passion that seemed to become him.
After reluctantly pulling away, he pressed his forehead against hers. “Why didn’t you kiss me like that a long time ago?” Esme spoke jokingly, smirking slightly.
“Because you’ve never looked as ravishingly beautiful as you do now, love. I also think it would be a waste to try on any other gowns here, as this is the one I would love to see my wife walk down the aisle in.”