The Twilight Twenty-Five
Prompt: Light
Pen name: TRDancer
Pairing: Angela/Ben
Rating: T

"Angela, please?" Ben begged. I sighed and put my head in my hands. I couldn't look at the tickets to the A Fine Frenzy concert anymore. They were such a kind gesture, one so full of love that I wanted to throw myself on Ben and never let go; I wanted to follow him everywhere he went and never have to be separated from him.

But I couldn't.

And that was why my life was so terrible.

There was honestly nothing wrong with babysitting Isaac and Joshua. I loved my little brothers; they were real cuties. There was nothing wrong with helping out Jessica or Lauren when they couldn't decide what to wear to the big dance.

The problem was that I was asked to babysit every moment of my free time—plus all my time that I didn't have. The problem was those days when Joshua and Isaac wouldn't listen to me and acted like complete brats. The problem was being asked over and over 'Do I look fat in this?' when I'd already informed the person in question that there was no way they could look fat—they were twigs, for God's sake.

And the problem was being overbooked to the point that I just wanted to scream until I couldn't scream anymore because of my stress level. I never had a moment to myself. I'd always thought I liked my life that way, but with Ben sitting in the chair next to me and those A Fine Frenzy tickets in front of me, I wasn't so sure.

"Angela?" Ben asked quietly, placing his hand on my shoulder. I peered out from between my fingers to see the tickets still lying there. I cringed and covered my face back up.

"Get rid of them," I moaned. "Just don't make me look at them."

"But, Ang, I thought you liked A Fine Frenzy..." The hurt tone in his voice was enough to make me look up at his face.

"I do, I do," I said quickly. It was the truth—I really loved A Fine Frenzy, which was why it was so hard to look at those tickets when I knew they were going to end up going to waste. And I also knew how hard those tickets were to get—Ben must have spent hours standing in line for them. The sinking feeling in my heart became worse and worse and a dark haze became settled around me. I sighed.

"So what's the deal?" Ben asked, obviously confused. "I thought this would be the perfect anniversary present, but you don't seem very psyched at all."

"Ben...," I said slowly, "I don't think I can go to the concert."

Ben's face dropped. He looked absolutely crushed and I could literally feel my heart crushing along with his mood. "Why not?"

I sighed. "My mother has this convention thing that weekend, and she wants me to stay home with Isaac and Joshua. I promised her I would help clean up around the house while she's gone, too, and—"

"Bullshit, Angela," Ben cut me off. I stared at him, startled. "Have you ever thought of doing something for yourself? It's always about everyone else—and I get that. That's what makes my Angela my Angela. But I see what all this work does to you, Angie, and I don't like it. This is not healthy behaviour for a teenager."

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. There were no words for what I was feeling at that moment. Knowing something and having it said directly to your face were two very different things.

Finally, Ben sighed and whispered, "Angie?"

"Yeah?" I mumbled back.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know...," I replied, and the tears finally came. I sobbed into Ben's shoulder as he held me, murmuring comforting nonsense into my ear. "Ben?" I sobbed out. "Why am I crying?"

"It's okay," he hummed. "Just let it all out."

When I'd run out of tears, I sat back and wiped my eyes, blinking against the bright light.

"It's gone," I said, surprised.

"What's gone?" Ben asked.

"The haze... the dark haze that was surrounding me before."

Ben smiled. "That's proof that you've let it out—you've found the light."

I snorted. "That sounds so corny, like something my father would say in church. Not to mention sappy..." I leaned against the table with my hand on my forehead, chancing a glance down at the tickets that were still lying there. I sighed and looked back up at Ben's hopeful, searching face. "I don't know, Ben..."

"Please, Angela?" he persisted. "Do something for you."

I sighed again and picked up the tickets, looking at them dubiously. "Okay," I said finally. "I'll get my mom to see if she can get a different sitter for that night."

Ben's face broke out in a gigantic grin and he threw himself on me, wrapping his short arms around me. I hesitantly smiled and wrapped my own arms around him. "You won't regret this," Ben whispered in my ear.

"I know," I murmured back and I realized that truer words had never been spoken. Because in that moment, with Ben's arms wrapped around me, I felt safe, like time didn't matter—and that was all I really needed in life.

Time—for myself and with those I loved.

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