LITTLE ANGELS
She could hear them talking, quick rapid whispers with regular intervals of either a weary sigh or a frustrated huff. At first she thought something must be terribly wrong, already thinking of her new friends-the young Jacob Black and the quirky Leah Clearwater-but then, as lucidity came over her mind, she gathered the general gist and the contents of the rapid dialogue.
It was between her father and... Doctor Cullen, of this she was sure and the issue that had both men sighing and huffing (rather gracefully in Doctor Cullen's case) was not that something terrible had the audacity of occurring after the supernatural incident in the forest that had almost cost three lives (that Pastor Weber would know nothing of as present or forever more, this she was sure off) but the issue at hand was as simple as her father was insisting Carlisle Cullen was a saint while the vampire remained adamant that he was nothing, if not ordinary and the situation in itself was the miracle...
The argument ended, as Carlisle said softly "Pastor Weber... I think you and I both know who we should be thanking... the Almighty?"
"I hope to see you and your family in church, Doctor" she heard her father say and this gave her enough incentive to open her eyes. The light streamed through the world painfully in a hot white flash before the blurred smudges of her father and Doctor Cullen began to focus, and she made out her father in dark clothing and Carlisle's shining blonde hair. She looked to her right stiffly and she saw her two little brothers huddled under either arm of an apparently sleeping Edward Cullen, Henry peering up at her while Timmy remained asleep and clutching onto Edward with such conviction that Angela thought for a moment, not even a vampire could escape his tight lock and determination to remain in a cuddle.
"Angela?" Henry whispered, leaning forward sleepily and moving Edward Cullen's arm easily from over him. Henry moved forward and smiled weakly, his wide eyes rimmed with red and expression unfamiliarly sombre for a child his age, a boy with his energy.
"Ngh?" she wanted to ask 'How did I get to Forks General?' but her mouth felt numb and her heart started stuttering with the simple notion of making a sentence. She was weak, impossibly weak...
Her eyes moved from her little brother's relieved face and up, to Edward's face. He was asleep, she thought, his eyes shut and mouth slightly open. She let her head fall back on the pillow, a smile on her lips... he wasn't asleep, of course she knew this-but what had caught her by surprise was how good an actor Edward was.
She fell asleep again, relieved-how could she have ever thought it could all have fallen into the flames if he was there? It had to be alright, all of it... she would wake up again, and Jacob Black would be safe, and Leah and her would have managed to cross the stream.
There were no monsters on the other side of the stream, only misunderstood Angels.
Xx~xx~xX
"Your father has gone to talk to... Jacob's father" Edward sat carefully by her side, on the bed-his dark eyes swimming with raw emotions that he was keeping at bay, hidden on his face and actions but threatening to burst out with each twitch she made. "They used to talk... when the man's wife died and his twin daughters..."
"Jacob has twin sisters?" Angela asked suddenly, something about this little fact seeming to be of vital importance to her and Jacob's budding acquaintance. It made her-as petty as it was-like him more.
"Yes, he does" Edward's expression was strange, a tinge of reproach at her continuous questions on Jacob Black and Leah Clearwater. They hadn't covered the core of the events yet, Angela's suspicions that Edward was on the verge of 'freaking out' kept her questions superfluous and airy, all siding to the safer subject of everyone's well being except James-the red eyed sadistic vampire.
Rosalie sat on the couch were Edward had been pretending to be asleep with the twins, with a brush in her hand and somehow she had managed to coax Henry into having his hair attended to. Angela smiled at this, it wasn't very hard to know how she had managed to get Henry to sit still for her-the little boy was staring at her face as though it were the most interesting thing, as though it were the most beautiful thing... and it was, Rosalie was breathtaking, even to a child.
"They are moving Jacob" Edward said, shaking his head with the same mysterious reproach "They don't trust... him being here. But that's okay, I saved him for you"
"You saved him because it is the right thing to do" Angela frowned at Edward, catching him with barely a second to spare in the midst of rolling his eyes.
"I keep warning you, I keep telling you that I am no angel!" he whispered quickly to her, some of his control slipping "I would have whisked you off and left James to those two... if Rosalie had not convinced me that she could take you away safely! I would have let them be the distraction and their lives would be collateral for me to save you... I am selfish and I am not an angel!"
"Liar" Angela muttered, unsure of herself.
"Angela, what happened with James showed me that..."
"Blahblahblah" Angela sang closing her eyes and ignoring Edward's weary sigh. "A bunch of over worked bull, that's what's coming out of your mouth!"
"I like her!" Rosalie said.
"Told you that you would if you gave it a chance" Alice Cullen waltzed into the room and sat at the other side of Angela, casually tossing two chocolates to Rosalie who immediately unwrapped them and gave them to the twins-who were oblivious to the tensions in the room in their enjoyment of Rosalie's attentions.
"So what are you proposing?" Angela asked leaning up "We call it quits because I was attacked?"
Edward remained silent.
"You want to tell me what happened?" Angela asked "Let's start there"
"I should never have gone away" Edward said softly. "I should have insisted you remain away from that beach..."
"That's not telling me anything" Angela fell back on her large pillow, watching his hypnotic beauty with caution, willing herself to remain slightly upset by his increasing and already strenuous situation.
"It's telling you the root of the problem" he whispered.
"The root of the problem is... there are criminals in the world, and by that fact alone, there will be vampire criminals in the world" she said technically. "He was just like those robbers... and just like those robbers, I would extend what you extended to me... and ask that you not over think it?"
"Fine" Edward breathed "I went to Alaska... to cousins" he ignored her interest on the word 'cousin' and continued swiftly "Alice had the vision and I ran back, scouring the highway for you and Alice made a quick call to the house. Alice and Rose took you to safety while I handled James... but he had bitten Jacob Black and it had been a good fifteen minutes of the venom being in his blood stream... I was in a dilemma but with you safely away, I could risk James-so in a way, Rosalie saved the boy for if she had not taken you away, he would have a different sort of heart in him. I sucked the venom from the boy, trying to keep James away of course and Emmett and Jasper arrived and we... took care of things"
"Took care of things?" Angela said in a hollow tone, remembering something about ash.
"James... is dead, truly dead" Edward said "And you are safe and the Quileute... well, we saved two of theirs so ...they owe us"
"They know?" Angela asked softly, piecing together all the little sayings she had heard in her interaction with Leah and Jacob at the beach. "They know..." she whispered to herself, remembering Sam. "But Leah... she didn't believe. Nor did Jacob..."
All three vampires remained silent, the sound of Henry and Timmy having their private twin conversations filling the air momentarily.
"They wont tell!" Angela breathed anxiously, her hand shooting up and touching Edward's cold one. It was their first touch, never having had a moment alone and the suddenness of it and the desperation in it made both of them freeze momentarily, drowning in the others eyes and wondering on how such a love as the one they shared could be so restricted and fragile when it came to touching.
"Neither will we" Edward said cryptically after a loaded moment, squeezing Angela's hand in his cold one.
"I need to talk to Leah" Angela sighed, looking over to the twins.
"You can go" Edward said glancing at Rosalie and the boys, it was their turn to brush her long flowing blond fountain of hair "They are fine with... me" he seemed shy about this fact.
"Of course they are" Angela rolled her eyes and Alice laughed.
"Jazz and Emmett are always telling him he is as scary as a big yellow bird living on Sesame Street!"
Xx~xx~xX
"What do you mean he said you could go?" Angela asked, watching in disbelief as Leah Clearwater-who should be by all accounts be worse off than her-leaned forward effortlessly and stretched out a lightly bruised arm.
"I mean just that" Leah said groggily "I can go home just the same as you"
"But... I saw..."
"Exactly" Leah looked at the door warily before whispering "We saw"
"Err... what did we see?" Angela asked.
"That guy... had red eyes" Leah said slowly "That guy, had pale skin. That guy, Angela... was a dead and breathing real live vampire and you and I saw. Jacob too"
"Oh" she stared at Leah's frown, something about it made her terrified of the weary young woman, something about it made Leah seem dangerous.
"He asked me not to say a word" Leah said "To the... rest of the world, because of course the Elders know what's up"
"He...?" Angela asked.
"Edward" Leah said impatiently, frowning viciously at her again. "But you knew... didn't you?"
Angela remained silent, opting to look outside the window while Leah busied herself with her clothes.
"I won't tell... you can tell him that" Leah sighed "Not after what he did"
"What did he do?" Angela asked softly. "Save you...?"
"Save me... hell, he saved Jake..." Leah said, her anger merging with fear and sadness, a slight underlying awe mingling in there "He sucked the... poison out, and didn't... well, let Jake become a demon; Jake is going to be okay. Doctor Cullen promised he was fine. I have to go, kid... the tribe wants me on the Reservation quickly... my parents wouldn't come here for shit. Jacob practically has an army surrounding him there... this is crazy..."
"Right, crazy" Angela breathed "Will I see you at school?"
"I work there, don't I" Leah grinned shakily, a sense of grand casualness draped on her bruised but unharmed form "And I want that project in, you tell Edward that too. Vampire or not, I want to see art in my classroom...!"
Xx~xx~xX
"Oh, Angela... you should have told me you were dating Doctor Cullen's son...!" her father sighed, shaking his head. He watched her eat the horrid jelly quickly, slightly concerned by her haste but she didn't slow. She wanted to be done with the whole 'nutrition' thing, so she could officially leave the hospital without him worrying.
"A fine young man" her father mused, more to himself than to her "Thank God you called him..."
"I called him..." her spoon hovered in front of her mouth, jelly wobbling in it in confusion.
"Yes, he was very distraught... called the police but they were busy dealing with the situation at First Beach..."
"Situation?" Angela dropped her spoon back into the bowl, pushing the food aside.
"Rowdy kids drinking... I don't know the details" he sighed "What I know is this, he didn't wait on them... scouted the road and waited with you and Ms Clearwater and young Jacob..."
"Yes, that sounds... familiar" Angela breathed, her mouth dry... not because of the true contents of that story, but because this version was just as possible. Her and Leah had left a steadily out of control Bon Fire at First Beach with a sleepy young Jake, and lost control of the car on the wet road... tumbled into the forest and managed to crawl out... before Angela could call her dear boyfriend for help and pass out.
"Oh, he is truly heaven sent" her father's eyes were shining with moisture and she was looking away terrified. He had always been in touch with the raw side of his soul while she... she must have been solely her mothers daughter; and kept all tenderness and rawness exclusively to herself. "I don't know what I would have done... the boys would be so miserable... Angela, if you were to..."
"I didn't die, daddy!" she whispered, touching his hand and smiling feebly at him, willing him to return the smile "That's what matters?"
"Oh, Jacob is pretty banged up" he finally sat down by her side, shaking his head sadly "And Billy Black...I never told you but since his twins left and his wife's death, we've been having occasional chat's..."
"...confession isn't chatting" Angela sighed and her father overrode her comment.
"...he is in a hard place" he continued, shaking his head in disbelief "He doesn't know whether to be grateful for the Cullen's help with the accident or to side with his community over some dispute... strange story, I asked Charlie to explain it to me but he called it 'bull'"
"Hmm" Angela breathed, recalling Leah's own initial feelings when it came to Quileute 'bull' and how far they had come from that in a day. "I need to get changed, Dad"
"Oh, right... well, I do need to go and get the boy's from Edward and Rosalie. They've gotten quite attached to him and Rosalie..." his eyes lost focus and Angela cringed. Rosalie, from afar was extremely beautiful as it was... but in direct contact, it was an over load of the senses. "She adores them..."
"Err, don't worry about it too" Angela smiled "I'll go get them since I wont be staying in, luckily..."
"Luckily..." her father breathed and she cringed when she thought she saw him wipe his eyes, and the sound of a sniffle resounding through the hallway as he stepped outside.
Xx~xx~xX
She found them in the hospital waiting room. He had been watching her since before she had entered the room, she could tell-he stood facing away from Carlisle, his expression wrought in anxiety and what she was now growing accustomed to as his love for her rather than something so mind-boggling in its complexity that she would have shied away from gazing into it any other day. It felt like she was a rabbit, and he was car and she was staring into his headlights while he could never stand to see her on the dark road. While he was capable of running right over her...
"I went to see Leah" she said when he reached her, she watched as Carlisle glided away and got lost in a group of nurses "I think she says thank you... and she definitely won't tell"
They stood staring at each other for a moment, Angela occasionally looking away from the intensity of Edward's love and fear, terrified of what a telepath could possibly be thinking in that moment.
"I love you" he told her "I have no heart, but I love you... and I didn't know how such an emotion could exist in this form without a heart until last night. Angela, your heart beats for the both of us... and if it would fail a beat, if it would still and quieten, I would follow you from this earth. And if heaven would refuse me entry, I would wait at its gates for eternity"
"...I love you too" she rasped, peaking up at him. "When he told me that... what he wanted to do was hurt you, the anger I felt Edward... I thought I could hurt him with it. And however shy or timid I may be with every other being and however you may feel I bully you" she smiled a little "It is you who makes me brave. It is you who fills me with passion-not tales of how magnificent a woman my mother was, or how her blood runs in my veins... in loving you, I know bravery. Gosh, we sound so..."
"Corny?" Edward finished, smiling a little.
"Yeah, you do... I prefer it to Edward's normal disposition of morose and bitc...err, whiny..." Rosalie sniggered fussing over Henry's curls continuously.
"You were lucky I was in your futuristic neighbourhood" Alice startled Angela's silent moment with Edward into diffusing, shocking Angela when she wound her around her "And now that we are all on the same page... and your father has terrified poor Carlisle with his insistence of church, and now my family finds themselves in a situation were we might have to eat something..."
"Seriously, Edward" Rosalie sighed "You always find a way of torturing the rest of us"
"You are welcome to not be there" Edward grumbled.
"And miss Timmy and Henry!" Rosalie cried "Never... never ever!" the twins squealed at Rosalie's theatrics.
"...you owe me" Alice whispered "I saved your life"
"Alice that's a tad bit dramatic" Edward murmured "Angela, you don't have to fall for her tactics... this is the one time I wish you would be passionate and bully her..."
"It can't be so bad" Angela smiled.
"A sleep over and a makeover" Alice chirped. "Yes, I see it... oh my, yes... beautiful"
"Liar" Edward muttered.
"Okay, fine..." Alice grinned sheepishly "I don't see it yet..."
"A sleep over?" Angela repeated in confusion. "Can't be that bad..."
"Yes!" Alice grinned "I see it now..."
Xx~xx~xX