Carlesme

"More than eighty years had passed since Carlisle had found Esme, and yet he still looked at her with those incredulous eyes of first love. It would always be that way for them."

- Edward about Carlisle and Esme.

Carlesme is the het ship between Carlisle Cullen and Esme Cullen from the Twilight Saga fandom.

Canon
Carlisle and Esme met for the first time in 1911, when Esme fell and broke her leg while climbing a tree. The local doctor was away, and she ended up being treated by Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Although she mentioned it to no one at the time, meeting Carlisle affected her deeply. He was unlike anyone she had ever met: genuinely thoughtful, and truly interested in what she had to say. Unfortunately, he was in town only briefly and left soon, but she never forgot him.

Esme’s friends began to marry, and before long she was the only one still unwed. She wanted to fall in love herself, but she never found anyone who measured up to her memory of Carlisle, so her father pressured her to accept the son of a family friend who wanted to marry her. Several years Esme’ senior, Charles Evenson had good prospects. Esme was indifferent to Charles, but not opposed to him, so she agreed to the marriage to please her father.

Esme quickly discovered that the marriage was a mistake; Charles’s public face was very different from his private one and he physically abused her. Her parents rejected her plea for asylum; they counseled her to be a good wife and keep quiet. Soon, Esme became pregnant. The baby was her motivation to escape—she would not bring a child into Charles’s home. In 1920, Esme ran away and went to stay with a cousin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When her husband discovered her whereabouts, she fled to Ashland, Wisconsin, where she posed as a war widow. In order to support herself, Esme pursued her old dream of being a schoolteacher. Esme began building a life for herself and her baby. She loved the unborn child more than her own life. But two days after her son was born, he died of lung fever. Feeling as if she had lost everything, Esme walked to a cliff outside of town and jumped.

In 1921, Carlisle and Edward had moved to Ashland. While working in a local hospital, Carlisle was called to the bedside of a young woman grievously injured in a suicide attempt. Carlisle was surprised to recognize Esme. It was almost impossible for him to believe that that vivacious, beautiful girl had come to this tragic end. Carlisle knew he could not save her life through conventional methods and, influenced by his memory of the happy girl Esme had been, he bit the dying woman and took her to the home he shared with Edward to wait for her transformation to be complete.

Esme regained consciousness in excruciating pain. Despite that, she was amazed to see Carlisle again, not sure if she was in heaven or hell. Carlisle explained that he’d turned her into a vampire in order to save her life and he apologized for what he had done. Esme was not as upset as he had expected. She had never forgotten their first meeting and had always considered Carlisle her ideal of a gentleman. Adjusting to her new vampire nature had its challenges, and there were times when the call of human blood was too strong for her to resist; still, she was happy to be with the man she‘d always idolized. Her youthful crush transitioned easily into full-fledged love.

Before long, Carlisle fell in love with her too and they were married in 1926.

Twilight
Edward said Carlisle was the soul of the family and Esme was the heart and that their relationship is more spiritual than physical. According to Edward, even after so many years together, Carlisle still looks at Esme with the incredulous eyes of the first love and it will always be this way for them. In one of the deleted scenes of the first Twilight movie, Carlisle calls his wife a hopeless romantic.

New Moon
Carlisle and Esme leave with the rest of the family in order to protect Bella and when they return they both accept Bella as a member of their family.

Eclipse
They fight alongside each other and their family against the newborn army that was sent to kill them.

Breaking Dawn
In Breaking Dawn part 1, Carlisle kisses Esme on the cheek at Bella and Edward’s wedding and later he rescues Esme when she is attacked by one of the werewolves while they were hunting with Emmett in the forest. In Breaking Dawn part 2, they are seeing playing chess together while Edward and Renesmee play the piano. Later, Esme is devastated when Carlisle is murdered in Alice’s vision. After the encounter, when the Volturi finally leave, they celebrate it sharing a kiss.

Fanon
While this is not one of the most popular ships in Twilight fandom, it is still very loved by many Twilight fans and there are several fanarts and above all fanfics about them. Many people love the story about how they met and they usually recreate it in fanfics in order to fill the gaps of unknown details about their first okencounter, relationship and marriage.

The Storytellers—the New Voices of the Twilight Saga, a collection of seven short films made by fans released on Facebook on July 14, 2015 featured a short film about Carlisle and Esme called Masque.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Carlisle/Esme tag on FanFiction.net
 * Carlisle/Esme tag on FanFiction.net

WIKIS
 * on