004 Insignificance

Angela relaxed into her seat as the plane began its descent, gently flicking through the pages of her book before settling it in her lap. As with most, the trip home had seemed to go almost twice as quickly as the way there, and after her conversation with Rosalie, Angela had remained for the most part pretty quiet.

As the seatbelt sign clicked off and Angela gathered her things, she watched Rosalie move to collect the dress from the front of the plane. Bella and Esme smiled, and Angela waved and departed, eager to get to Jasper and forget what she had discussed with Rose. She didn't want to worry him when he arrived to pick her up, and though he tried not to read her emotions she knew that sometimes there was no way around his gifts. But it almost ran deeper than that... she didn't want to listen to what Rose had been saying because she knew that if she did she would be too scared to follow it through.

As she broke through the gate she ground to a stop, scanning the area quickly before spotting her blonde fiancé, leaning casually near one of the whitewashed walls and speaking hurriedly into his phone. Angela smiled as he stood there, looking off to the side as if he was actually talking to someone right in front of him.

She had always thought him handsome, but then back at high school no one had doubted the Cullen's attractiveness. But now as she watched him she really saw it. His blonde hair was a little shorter than it had been all those years ago, but it contrasted nicely with the usual blue jeans and grey sweater he wore. Today he had a black coat thrown over the top, hanging open to reveal the multicoloured scarf he had around his neck. One she could remember stealing a long time ago from his wardrobe; he only ever wore it now when she was away.

A light breeze ruffled her hair as she remained standing near the open exit of the gate, and she smiled as he stiffened momentarily and then turned to face her. He was still talking hurriedly into his phone, but he stopped to smile as she waved, and held one arm out as if asking what she was waiting for. With a last look she walked forward, closing the distance more quickly than she had expected and throwing herself into his chest.

She heard his phone snap shut and felt his other arm come around her, but he didn't say anything. She curled her hands into the front of his sweater and smiled at the feel, taking in his scent and his presence. His hands made gentle movements along her sides and for a moment she felt panic, thinking that he had felt her anxiety over Rosalie's confessions in the dress shop.

Angela burrowed her face deeper into his chest like a small child embarrassed or sorry for being scolded by an adult. He gripped her slightly tighter as the wave of panic spread over her and then moved one hand to her hair. Quietly he wondered whether she could sense the distress he had been facing since his moment in the forest, searching for the thing that had threatened his house to no avail. But Rosalie's' whispering caught his ears and he kissed his angel on the head.

"I missed you," Angela's voice was muffled by her position tucked into his chest and he smiled at the top of her head, gently manoeuvring her backwards until she was looking up into his face, tired and a little sheepish, smiling as if she thought she was the biggest idiot in the world, "I think I want to go home now."

He nodded and smiled again, mouth twisted up in one corner as if amused, bending to kiss her quickly on the lips before his arm wound around her shoulders, "I missed you too."

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Angela sat staring out the window of the black Mercedes Jasper had recently bought, watching the trees as they passed, the light darkening as night time decided to crawl up upon them. They were headed out the opposite direction of the Cullen's residence, edging on the outskirts of town and preparing to head in to Angela's house. Jasper hummed momentarily and Angela turned to look at him, recognising the song she had played whilst she was getting ready early that morning.

They had spoken briefly on the way to the car, swapping stories about both of their days as they stowed the wedding dress in the boot and then entered the vehicle. But with the weight of Rosalie's conversation hanging over her head Angela didn't feel too inclined towards conversation, and Jasper had complied, focusing on the road as he discreetly watched her movements.

"You can turn on the radio or something if you like," Angela smiled at Jasper as he shook his head, turning towards her from the road.

"Ange, I don't want to listen to the radio," he saw her face contort and felt the waves of embarrassment, anxiety, panic and slight anger that it expressed. He was smiling in a state somewhat reminiscent of both his own anger and distress and was smiling half with bitterness and half with exasperation at the whole situation.

"Jasper, we agreed we'd have a few minutes," Angela was confused at the way events were playing out, not used to Jasper expressing any of the emotions he was currently showing – at least not in relation to her – without any good reason, "Jasper? What's wrong?"

He bit his lip and pulled over the car, trying not to push his hands too hard into the steering wheel in case he broke it. He could feel the anger welling up inside of him and his frustration doubled when he could not detect the source. His eyes momentarily flickered to outside of the car and his ears snapped to attention. He saw and heard nothing.

"Jasper?" Angela was wary as she spoke to him, aware from his intense concentration that not all of the emotions he was displaying were his own, "maybe we should go."

Her fiancé nodded and started the car, turning to her before pulling onto the road and taking her hand, one of his own left on the steering wheel, "I am so sorry."

"We can talk about it when we get to my place," she smiled and held onto his hand, watching him do the same and taking one last look into the forest before he began driving again. As soon as the car pulled to a stop in her parents' driveway she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, turning to get out of her door.

Her parents were staying for the weekend a few towns over, celebrating some time alone while since her brothers had started soccer camp that morning. They had asked her to stop by to feed and walk the dog, promising to pay her for it since she was more or less out on her own by now.

Angela stuck her hand into her bag and searched around for her keys, frustration growing as they continued to avoid her grasp. As she struggled with the lining of the bag Jasper had come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She smiled.

"I am sorry," his accent was growing thicker and Angela paused to hold onto his arms, sure he was once again beating himself up over something that was neither of their faults, "and I love you. Do you still want to marry me?"

"Of course," there was no hesitation in her answer and she knew he could sense that, nuzzling his face into her hair and the crook of her neck, "I'm sorry about before, it- I was talking to Rosalie and I felt stupid."

He paused, holding her close as she spoke her hair masking her face from him. They had always talked like this; Angela confessed the most to him when she was able to pull her courage together, not looking to see if she was being judged, or being able to pick up on cues herself. He admired the way she could be so honest, not that he thought she would ever lie. Sometimes he wished that he was half as strong as her; sometimes he managed to be.

"Sometimes I wonder what it must be like for you guys, listening to me and constantly watching out for someone," her voice was getting lower but he could still hear her, and her own arms had tightened around his own as if afraid he's let her go, "you have decades of knowledge. Sometimes I wonder if I ever seem small to you Jasper Hale."

She was shaking her head a little as she spoke, turning her face upwards to glace at him. She had gorgeous eyes he was thinking to himself, and a gorgeous smile, "How could I ever think anything as precious as you would be small or insignificant."

She smiled for a second and looked away again, turning up to kiss him quickly and pulling back to say what he knew would be her final piece on the subject, "Jasper I want to talk to you about all of this. I want to discuss this subject we've been avoiding and I want to make decisions with you. But I don't know if I'm ever really going to be able to fully understand."

"You do better than I ever could have," he smiled at her even though she had turned away again, and raised a thumb to turn her chin, aware of the salty tang that usually accompanied tears, "and I would marry you over and over again just the way you are, because you are Angela Webber, the girl I fell in love with for all the things you just said."

She smiled and wiped at one of her eyes, letting him kiss her gently before pulling back to look at her again, "and just so you know; I think you sold yourself short."

She gave a small laugh and smacked him playfully on the chest, wiping the tears away with first her forefinger then her thumb. With a quick movement she barely had time to register he had pulled her key from her bag and slipped it into her hand, aware that her dog was barking excitedly from inside the house, golden tail visibly wagging through the frosted glass of the entryways window.

"I'll get Candice and meet you back here in a minute," she smiled as he kissed her and walked into the house, excitedly greeting her dog as her lock allowed her access.

Jasper gripped at his cell phone in his pocket and slid it out into his hand, dialling the last number and speaking quickly into the phone, "it's followed me."

"We know," Edwards voice rang coolly through the phone as wind clipped at the outside of the conversation, "we've been on your tail since the outskirts of town. Carlisle is at the house with the girls. Jacob is there too, looks like we have the same problem."

Jasper growled quietly and Candice barked in his direction as Angela manoeuvred her out of the house, "if you stick close by we're probably covered better here in town," Jaspers military experience was beginning to kick in and his instincts were on high alert due to the presence of a threat, "we're going to need Jacobs pack for this anyway, the trail was headed straight to LaPush."

Edward made a sound of consent on the other end of the line and then conveyed the conversation to Emmett who was enthusiastically pounding on something in the background, "we'll call you when we have something."

Angela smiled as she walked up to Jasper, taking his hand as Candice pulled at the other eager for a walk, "I think a short one tonight, it's getting dark," Jasper nodded and Angela gave a wary look towards the forest, remembering their conversation the night before, "come on Candy."

Jasper gazed into the trees and saw the shape of his brothers brush past quietly and unnoticed, covering only a small area so close to town. He wrapped an arm around Angela's shoulders and listened to her heartbeat, rhythmically beating around his ears until he was no longer pulling the emotions from the houses around them. She was a godsend his Angela; and he would protect her from anything that came for them.

A/N: Hey guys, I'm kind of worried about this last chapter so feedback would be really great. Hopefully you get an idea of where we're going here and the struggles Ange is facing, and I guess the struggles that Jasper has with being unable to help her. Hope this makes sense, and to all readers that celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving!

Much love to all of you x