Artist/Author: rosesofred
Title: I'll Always Love You
Fandom: Twilight
Summary: Edward ran after getting in a fight with Jasper, taking refuge in a small quaint diner. Unfortunately Carlisle catches up with him, deciding to deal with his errant son right there in the forest before it got out of hand. Emotions ensue. This is a writing prompt for February.
Notes & Warnings: spanking
Edward let out a breath as he neared the rundown building. A large neon sign fizzled in the quiet, promising burgers and shakes inside. The place looked old but he couldn’t remember ever coming across this particular diner. As he walked in he noticed how abandoned it felt, nearly empty besides two patrons and a tired waitress who kept thinking of her cat. “Sit anywhere!” she hollered, disappearing into the back.
He scanned the room briefly, deciding on a corner seat tucked away from the window and out of sight. Edward sighed as he sat down, finally feeling the weight of all the emotions he’d been pushing down and fighting off. Nothing made sense right now except that he needed to be here in this tiny old diner that seemed tucked away from the world like a relic of time. The inside reminded him a lot of the 50s, though he noticed some pieces on the wall that distinctly resembled the styling of 1960s psychedelics.
“Alright, what can I getcha?” The waitress stepped up to his table, notepad in hand with bags under her eyes. Her name tag read Nicole but her thoughts told him she was using someone else’s.
“Just a coffee, thanks.”
“Cool.” She walked away, her shoulders slumping as she went behind the counter.
Edward felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on edge, his senses tingling in warning. Carlisle was near, he could feel it. He got up, looking around for a back entrance as he made his way towards the kitchen.
Not-Nicole came around the corner then, holding a coffee pot like a weapon as she scowled at him. “Can I help you?”
“I was just looking for the bathroom.” Edward looked over his shoulder, making sure the coast was still clear.
“We don’t have one.”
“You don’t have a bathroom?” She was lying.
“No.” She crossed her arms with the pot in her hand, completely uncaring.
“Can I use the employee bathroom?” He tried to move past her, grumbling when she stopped him. He could easily overpower her but didn’t want to make a scene.
Nicole stepped in his path, ready to use the freshly hot coffee if she had to. “No.”
Edward gave her an annoyed look, deciding to just push past as he heard the door to the diner opening. The waitress yelled at him to stop but was interrupted by a smooth deep voice. “Excuse me miss. Is he giving you trouble?”
“Oh, uh-” Nicole looked back at the intruder, then back at the tall handsome man. “Kind of.”
“I’m so sorry for his behavior. Edward.” His name was a warning, sharp as a blade as it cut through the silence of the restaurant.
The young vampire looked up at his surrogate father, eyes wide with alarm. They locked eyes for a long moment before Edward looked away, frustrated that Carlisle had his mental blocks up. He stepped away from the counter, giving the girl some space but still far enough from his father that the man couldn’t grab him.
Apologize to her.
The thought ran through Edward’s mind and he scrunched his eyebrows, realizing it wasn’t his. “Sorry,” he mumbled to the girl, looking out the window. It was darker out now, the blanket of night had fully washed over that corner of the pacific northwest and the tall dark trees seemed to close in around the sky.
“Have a good night, miss. Come on Edward.” He gestured for his son to follow him, giving him a warning glance not to do anything stupid. Reluctantly the boy followed, eyes downcast as they passed the two other patrons and he tried to block out their nosy thoughts. The door slammed shut behind them and Edward felt the cold night air surround him, crisp and fresh. He expected his father to start lecturing him immediately but the man stayed silent, only walking off towards the forest line silently expecting him to follow.
The last thing the young man wanted to do was follow Carlisle into the forest where nobody could hear him scream but something told him it was in his best interest to follow. It would probably be a lot worse to try and run now that the older vampire had found him. Still, it was unnerving for Edward to walk in silence knowing his father most definitely had a lot to lecture him about.
“Stop it Edward.”
The boy looked up, realizing they’d stopped walking at some point and were now in a clearing somewhere in the forest.
“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.” Carlisle sat down on the edge of a dead tree log, resting his hands on his knees with a patient expression.
Edward squirmed under his father’s gaze, looking down to avoid eye contact. After a long stretch of silence the boy only shrugged his shoulders, pretending not to care about his predicament.
“Nothing to say? Alright then, come here.” Carlisle stretched out his hand, expecting his son to do as he said. Instead, the nervous teenager stepped backwards in a moment of panic, a flash of what his father had planned going through his head. “Edward.”
The boy breathed deeply for a moment, staring at his father. He shook his head, unwilling to be punished in such a way. He hadn’t been spanked in at least a decade, he was far too old to be punished like that now. In a blurry whirl of motion Carlisle was beside him, the man’s large hand wrapping around his son’s shoulder to stop him from running. His father walked him towards the fallen tree, stopping to sit back down and pull him to stand between his legs. “Dad!” Edward whined as the older man began unbuttoning his pants, trying to stop him without success.
“Stop it son. If you want to talk then begin by explaining yourself.” In the silence that followed Carlisle raised his eyebrows, taking the boy’s muteness as confirmation of his guilt. He sighed softly as he tried to tug Edward forward, surprised when the boy’s arms flung forward to push against his chest in resistance. “Enough.”
“No!” He tried to pull away, yanking backwards on the hold around his arm to escape. It surprised the older vampire to see his charge resisting so much, usually he would argue first and finally accept his punishment on his own. He didn’t normally put up such a fight like this.
With one quick tug Carlisle heaved him forward to land over his lap, moving fast to secure him over just one knee to prevent any escape attempts. He didn’t waste any time in beginning the punishment, bringing his heavy hand down rapidly on the boy’s backside with meaning. The father in him hated to be so harsh with his son but he had to take care of the defiance now before it grew worse. Having a vampire kid rebel and wreak havoc on the townspeople in a rage of anger would bring a world of trouble he didn’t want to think about.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you but-” Carlisle paused, his hand mid-swing when the sound registered. Edward was crying. His Edward, strong and proud, too stubborn to admit his feelings, was crying softly over his knee. “Son?” He tried to lift him, hands under the boy’s hips when Edward retaliated, struggling like a cat that refused to be held.
“Don’t look at me!”
Carlisle slapped his son’s backside hard, finishing the tantrum before it began. A broken sob escaped his trembling lips and Edward stopped, allowing himself to be lifted and turned to sit in his father’s lap. “What’s wrong? Tell me what happened.”
He shook his head, trying to bury his face in his father’s shoulder but the man pulled him back to look at him.
“No, tell me what’s wrong. What’s got you acting up like this?” Carlisle watched the boy try to hide his emotions and sighed, realizing he wouldn’t get any cooperation. “I guess I’ll just have to spank it out of you then.” He began to turn him again, stopping when Edward threw his arms out to grab onto him.
“No! No, I’ll- I’ll tell you.” He wiped at his face, ashamed of himself for crying like a baby.
The older vampire waited patiently, watching his young one try to come up with a lie. It was so easy to tell when he was trying to be deceitful that he’d picked up on the signs almost immediately after adopting him.
“I can’t tell you.” At least he’d decided to be honest.
“Why can’t you tell me Edward?”
The boy tried to get up off his lap again but Carlisle held him firmly in place, eyes piercing through his plastic facade. They struggled for a moment before the man flipped him back over his knee, resting his hand on the boy’s slight frame. “No! Dad, I- ah!” A stinging slap landed on his backside and Edward jerked forward, hissing in pain. “Dad!” Another slap, lower on his thighs, overlapped by one just at the crest of his backside had him kicking almost instantly.
“This bad behavior stops now Edward. Do you hear me?”
“I’m sorry!” He kicked and twisted as the hand came down in a rhythm, tears streaming down his cold pale face. His legs couldn’t get any leverage being jack-knifed over the man’s thigh and it made him feel trapped. Everything was going too fast and he didn’t want to deal with all the emotions that came rushing to the surface and spilling out the top.
“Ready to be honest with me?” Carlisle had endless patience but he was deeply worried about his son’s erratic behavior, hoping he wouldn’t have to deliver a particularly harsh punishment today. He hated having to be strict with any one of his kids, despite how naughty they may have been.
“Yes, yes!” Edward choked on a sob, crying more when his father’s hand didn’t let up. “Stop! I can’t focus when you- when I-.”
“You can manage.” His hand came down evenly across the boy’s backside, covering every inch in a growing burn that sunk deeply into his muscles.
“I’m sorry!” He threw his hands back in a moment of desperation, blocking his father from striking again. For a moment he felt relief from the fire, only to find his wrists taken in one steady hand and pinned to his lower back.
“You know the rules son.” Carlisle grabbed onto the waistband of his trousers, pulling them down to expose the boy’s tender skin to the cool night. The crisp air felt like a slap in itself, the contrast between burning ache and the chilly night coming as a shock. His father raised his hand again, aiming now for the younger’s sit spots to make an impression.
Edward broke immediately into another sob, arching his back as he tried to hide from the pain. “I was scared, please! Sto-uhp!” His voice wavered as he squirmed, too preoccupied with the pain in his backside to remember his dignity.
“Scared of what?”
“Of-of you!”
This made Carlisle stop again, though he kept Edward in place across his knee. “Explain.”
The young vampire still tried to tuck himself away, hiding from the pain like he didn’t realize it had stopped.
“Edward.” He gave him one quick love tap, barely enough to sting but it got his attention. “Explain.”
“I’m so sorry!”
“If you don’t start talking right now young man, I’ll make you cut a switch. Do you understand me?”
“Yes sir!” Edward shook his head vehemently but the title made Carlisle’s heart sink. His son didn’t usually call him sir unless they were in a bad place. Had he not seen the signs? Did things sink so low that his sweet boy didn’t think of him as a father anymore? “No! Dad, no, you’re still- you’re my dad!” He realized he’d accidentally let his mental shield down, putting it back up instantly before he spoke again.
Carlisle rubbed his son’s back for a moment, trying to soothe the boy. “I’m glad to hear it. But that still doesn’t give me an answer for any of this.”
Edward shifted uncomfortably, clearly trying to test the limits of his father’s hold on him. “Do you promise you won’t be mad?”
“I can’t promise that. But I promise I won’t lose my temper on you, you know that.”
This seemed to ease the boy’s nerves somewhat and he lowered his head as he spoke. “I was scared that you’d leave me. I lost control, I didn’t mean to.”
What? How could he think that, what would ever make his dear son think that he could abandon him? “What made you think I could do that?”
“Jasper.”
Oh. The pieces were starting to fall into place now. Not a whole picture, but far more than he’d been able to see before. “Are you saying Jasper is to blame for your bad behavior?”
“No! Not like that. Please don’t-be-mad-at-me,” he rushed through his words as anxiety grew in his chest, “I punched him.”
Carlisle almost laughed. “I know, son. That’s why you’re over my knee right now.”
If Edward could blush he would have, feeling embarrassed at the declaration of his guilt. “I mean we got into a fight and- and he said some things and I got mad so I punched him.”
“What did your brother say that made you react like that?”
A long silence stretched between them as Edward contemplated escape again, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “He said- uhm, well he said that you keep adopting kids because you’re trying to find a better son. And that you’re trying to find my replacement so you can finally get rid of me.”
Carlisle felt a surge of anger rush through him but waited it out, remembering his promise not to lose his temper. When he felt level enough to react he said, “Was there anything else he said?” He could see Edward feeling deeply hurt by the statement but lashing out wasn’t like him.
“After that I told him to shove it. Then he told me that if I left you wouldn’t care and I pushed him. It kind of escalated from there.”
The whole picture, finally. It made sense why that would hurt his son so deeply, and when he got a hold of Jasper, oh that boy was in for the whipping of a lifetime. But now, right now, he needed his son to know how much he was loved and how ridiculous his brother had been to lie to him like that. “Edward, I would never, ever abandon you. I created you, you’re my responsibility no matter what happens.” He moved to rearrange the boy’s clothes, pulling his underwear and pants back up to let him know it was over. Then he lifted him by his hips up and backwards to sit on his other knee.
“But-.”
“No. No matter what, I am your father and you are my son. I love all of my children equally and Jasper had no right to make you feel like that. And Jasper will be forgiven after I punish him, just like you will.”
Edward’s eyes became glassy with tears as he nodded in understanding, wrapping his arms around his father as the man pulled him into a hug. He buried his face in his father’s shoulder, letting out the pain and tears he’d been trying so hard to hold back all night. Carlisle let out a breath of relief at their resolution, running a gentle hand across his son’s back to soothe him. It was finally all over, or most of it at least. He still had to deal with Jasper and take care of Edward’s punishment for punching his brother.
“What!?” The younger vampire pulled back, looking at his father in alarm. Drats, the mental blocks. “I’m still being punished? But you already sp- you already punished me!”
His father looked back at him with amusement, giving a small smile. “You didn’t think you were getting out of the consequences for hitting your brother, did you?”
“But-but-.” He looked around frantically, suddenly terrified at the thought of another full-blown spanking on top of what he’d already endured.
Carlisle kissed the top of his head, pulling him in again to calm him down. “I wouldn’t spank you again, not while you’re still distraught. I’ll wait until we get home, then you and Jasper can talk it out and I can deal with you both at the same time.”
Edward grunted, grumbling at the thought of having to talk to Jasper about his feelings and share a punishment. He might just decide to punch him again.