AN: Woo freaking Hoo! I am done with Finals! Hallelujah! Anyways, big big thanks to those who continue to review and favorite and alert this story. It truly does mean a lot! And now that I'm on break, hopefully I'll be able to update sooner.
So I changed Esme's background a tiny bit, just so you know. That's all you really need to know for this chapter. So, read. enjoy. review!
Now was one of those times when she wished angels had the inability to get nervous. It had taken a good ten minutes after Edward pulled up to his house just get her out of the car. (And that was only because her claustrophobia was starting to kick in). Now she was pacing back and forth in front of the Cullen's house, only half listening to Edward and Jacob's attempts to get her to calm down.
Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.
Maybe she should just take Jacob and get out of here, pretend like she never said a thing.
After all she wouldn't even know what to say to them, or to her.
"Quinn, you don't have to do this now if you don't want to." Jacob said softly, gently taking her arm and refocusing her attention onto him. "Or ever for that matter."
She allowed his words to sink in for a few moments before shaking her head determinedly. "No, I want to do this. I should do this. And if I don't do this, I'll simply regret it."
Squeezing Jacob's hand and relaxing her shoulders, she glanced over his shoulder at Edward. "I'm ready."
He nodded and turned to head up the porch steps. Quinn moved to follow him but found herself being held back. Her gaze dropped down to her hand, which was still holding Jacob's, before meeting his face. "What's wrong?"
"I-I don't think I can go in there." Simply having to be in the same proximity with Edward was already pushing his wolf's buttons and if he went into a house full of vampires, he was afraid he might not be able to keep his composure. And as much as he would've loved to tear into any one of them, he couldn't ruin this for Quinn.
She gave him an understanding smile and nod, even though he knew she wasn't exactly pleased by this. "I'll be out here waiting though." he assured her, leaning down and kissing her lips before throwing a warning glare at Edward over her shoulder. "There's no way I'd leave you completely alone with a bunch of blood sucking leeches."
"Well, thank you. Although would it kill you to stop comparing them to a type of worm?" she wondered, her eyebrow arched.
He smirked. "Probably."
She scowled, then placed a kiss to his right cheek. "I'll try not to be too long."
Jacob nodded, watching as she turned around and walked over to meet Edward at the front door. "Good luck."
Having already familiarized herself with this particular Cullen home over the years, Quinn didn't take much time lingering and admiring the interior. Although she did notice a few differences from the last time she'd popped in on them. Following close behind Edward as he led her through the house, she did her best to regulate her breathing (even though she technically didn't need to breathe at all) but she knew they'd be able to sense it and she didn't want them to be any more suspicious of her than they no doubt were already going to be.
Edward stopped once they reached the living room and called out Carlisle and Esme. He glanced back at Quinn and gave her a reassuring smile before turning his attention onto his adoptive parents, who had just descended down the staircase. "Edward, what brings you home so soon?" Carlisle asked, his left hand placed on the small of Esme's back as they made their way toward the center of the room. He glanced over at Quinn and gave her a welcoming, yet slightly curious, smile. "I thought you were going to spend the rest of the day with Bella."
Edward nodded. "I was but I came across someone rather intriguing and thought you all should meet." He gestured to Quinn, "Carlisle, Esme, this is Quinn Fabray."
Had she been human, Quinn wouldn't have been able to detect the quick flash of uncertainty across both Carlisle's and Esme's faces as Edward spoke.
Despite that, they both stepped forward to properly greet her. "Hello, Quinn. I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen." He raised his hand as she stepped forward to shake it.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you."
If he was bothered by her scent, which was no doubt laced with Jacob's so-called 'wet dog' smell, he definitely didn't show it.
Esme followed her husband's lead, giving her a sincere smile as she spoke, "It's a pleasure to know you, Quinn."
"Likewise." she breathed out, making sure not to hold onto Esme's hand longer than required. She didn't want to freak her out.
"Why don't we sit down?" Carlisle suggested, beckoning to the two sofas situated around the coffee table in the middle of the room.
But before Quinn could even take a seat, she heard Alice coming downstairs, footsteps that she could assume were Jasper's following behind her.
"Why on earth does it smell like wet dog down here…" Alice questioned as she reached the living room, only to drift off when she noticed Quinn. "Oh. It's you. Quinn, right?"
She nodded, giving an uncertain wave. "Hi, Alice." She quickly moved her hands behind her back, suddenly feeling stupid.
"When I told you about her, I didn't necessarily mean you had to bring her here." Alice said, addressing Edward, "How on earth were you able to get her away from the mutt?"
Quinn frowned. "Jacob's waiting outside actually."
Jasper's brow furrowed, clearly not understanding what was going on. "And why is there a werewolf outside our property?"
He instantly looked to Alice but Quinn ended up giving him the answer. "Because he doesn't want to leave me alone while in a house full of vampires."
"Would someone mind filling us in on what exactly this is all about?" Carlisle politely asked, looking between to his children.
"What's going on?" A booming voice questioned, prompting Quinn to turn her head in time to see Emmett and Rosalie join the rest of their family.
After taking one glimpse of Quinn, Rosalie raised an eyebrow at Edward and scoffed, "Found yourself a new human, have you?"
Edward fought the urge to roll his eyes as his jaw tightened. "Last time I checked, humans have heartbeats, Rosalie."
Emmett wrinkled his nose up and coughed into his hand, shaking his head after looking at Quinn, "No offense but you smell like wet dog."
She looked at him sympathetically, wishing there was a way to make it go away for their sakes, as she sat down. "Sorry about that."
"So if you're not human, then what are you?" Alice questioned, sitting on the arm rest closest to Quinn and looking at her expectantly. She ignored the reproving looks Carlisle and Esme were currently giving her. "Because you failed to answer that question last time." She couldn't help but look Quinn up and down again, taking in her pure white dress. "And if you are a vampire, you would definitely be the strangest one I've ever come across."
"Alice!" Esme scolded.
"What?" She gave an innocent shrug. "It's true. I can't see her future at all."
"I can't read her mind either." Edward supplied, his arms folded across his chest as he leaned his back against the mantle above the fireplace.
"None of your abilities work on me because I'm immune to them." Quinn explained, anxiously tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as forced herself to keep eye contact. Feeling all seven pairs of eyes on her, she was getting awful flashbacks of those dinner parties her parents forced her to attend back when she was in high school. The odd one out. Yet again.
Rosalie crossed her arms over her chest. "Care to elaborate on that?"
"Well, I'm not a vampire, but I am dead."
Jasper frowned. "How is that even possible?"
"What are you, like a ghost?" Emmett chortled, sharing a smirk with Rosalie.
Quinn crossed one leg over the other and smoothed out her dress, expecting the skepticism, "Angel actually."
"An angel." Rosalie repeated, the amusement evident in her voice and the disbelief written all over her face. "You really expect us to believe that?"
"Now, Rose." Carlisle interjected calmly.
Emmett peered his head to the side and inclined his chin toward Quinn, "I don't see your wings anywhere."
"Well that's because angels don't physically have wings attached to their bodies." she replied, " But we can project them onto surfaces at will, kind of like a shadow. My friend Sam, who's an angel of death, does it frequently when he's come to collect those who are about to die to show them that they're in good hands." She instantly bit her lip as soon as the flowed right out of her mouth. Probably not smart to be naming names of other angels to them.
"Could you show us?" Edward asked, intrigued.
Quinn pushed herself off the sofa and nodded, "I could try. I've only ever done it once before though." She passed Edward and walked over to one of the walls before turning around, so that her back was to it, and exhaled deeply. With the simple shift of her shoulders, she watched with amusement as all of the Cullen's golden eyes widened in astonishment. Not needing to glance behind her (she already knew how massive her wings were stretched out), she shifted her shoulders again, the projection of her wings gone within an instant.
She stepped forward, with her hands interlocked behind her back, and patiently waited to see who would be the one to speak up first.
She wasn't surprised when it ended up being Emmett.
He nodded his head approvingly, clearly still impressed. "Okay, that was pretty awesome."
She smiled appreciatively at him. "Thank you."
"Okay, so angels exist." Jasper conceded eventually, speaking slowly as though trying to explain things to himself. "Then I assume that means there is an afterlife? A heaven."
Quinn nodded. "Without a doubt. And yes, that means Hell exist too." she added, answering the other question Jasper was no doubt about to ask next.
"Then what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be up on some cloud playing the harp?"
Thinking Rosalie meant 'here on earth', Quinn replied, "I'm a guardian angel, specifically to Jacob Black."
Rosalie rolled her eyes and shook her head, although her nose had scrunched up briefly at the mention of Jacob's name. "No, I meant here. As in, why are you here in our house."
"She's related to one of us, Rose." Alice chimed in brightly.
Quinn forced herself to manage a smile even though she was inwardly cringing on the inside.
Like ripping off a band-aid.
"She's related to Esme." Edward said softly, sounding as though he was answering one of Rosalie's thoughts. "According to Quinn, Esme is her biological grandmother."
Her head dropped down so that her gaze was fixated back onto the floor. There was no holding eye contact now, especially when she felt her cheeks reddening as quickly as they were.
She wasn't surprised that Rosalie was the first to immediately shoot that claim down. "That's impossible."
Emmett looked around, frowning. "Wait, what? I'm so confused. How can an angel…"
Quinn lifted her head, feeling the need to speak up. "Just to clarify, I used to be human but I died and when I went to heaven I was chosen to become a guardian angel, which is how all guardian angels come to be. Of course that's not the case for all angels, especially the higher ranking ones-"
"That doesn't change the fact that what you are saying is completely preposterous!" Rosalie snapped. "Esme never had any surviving children so your-"
"That's not entirely true, Rosalie." Esme voiced quietly, causing her daughter to stop and turn her attention back onto her.
Esme looked between her sons and daughters sympathetically. "I'm afraid there was one part of my human life that I had failed to mention to you all. You see," she smiled gratefully when she felt Carlisle's hand cover her own and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "while I was married to Charles and while he fighting overseas in the war, I was raped by one of his friends on leave." As the memories came back to her, her smile faded. "Shortly after that, I realized I had become pregnant by him. My first child. And even though it was created out of force, I already loved it with all of my heart. I did a foolish thing, telling my cousin Lydia about the incident. She ended up informing my parents about it. While I knew they would find out sooner or later about the baby, I had hoped to simply pass it off as Charles'. But now they knew the truth and they thought it was wrong of me to want to raise another man's baby."
After a moment, Esme took a steadying breath and continued.
"So when it came time for me to give birth, my parents, without my knowledge, arranged for the baby to be adopted. They had forged my signature on all the paperwork. And when I found out about it, I tried to tell the doctors and nurses there had been a mistake, but no one would listen to me. They took my son away right after he was born."
Even though this was already information Quinn knew, she couldn't help but have the same sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that she had when she first learned about Esme's story. She couldn't imagine her only child being taken away from her.
"My parents then made sure that there was no record of my pregnancy at the hospital and told all of our friends to never speak a word of it because they didn't want Charles to find out. Less than year later, Charles returned home and shortly after I found myself pregnant again. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to survive if something happened to my second child, I fled to Wisconsin. And then…well of course the rest of the story you know." She squeezed Carlisle's hand again when he placed a kiss to her head.
"Your first son was adopted by my grandparents, who were unable to have children." Quinn softly added. "They named him Russell. Russell Fabray. He was my father." That last sentence left a bitter taste on her tongue, considering everything he'd done to her when she was human.
Let all bitterness, wrath and anger, clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Right.
She exhaled deeply, mentally repeating that verse before pushing all those thoughts of ill feeling out of her mind.
Angels were not meant to hold resentment of any kind.
She'd first learned that over fifty years ago, and yet here she was, still having to reinforce that concept more often that an angel should.
"Quinn how did you find out about this?" Came Esme's gentle voice.
Quinn refocused her attention onto Esme and cleared her throat. "Well, it happened while I was still in training to become a guardian angel. You see up there," she pointed upward. "They have a hall of records, in which they have a record of every single person and their lineage. Naturally I was curious about mine and how far back my ancestry went. There I found out that my father was adopted. Which was something I never knew about. I imagine he didn't either. In our records it said that his birth mother was a woman named Esme Anne Platt. Next to Esme's name was an asterisk, which means that she was supposed to go to heaven when she died but special circumstances kept her from doing so. Which basically meant that she was turned into a vampire while on the brink of death."
Alice chuckled softly. "That must've come as quite the shock."
"Mmm, definitely. I mean, everyone grows up with the notion that vampires are purely fantasy and to find out that they're real let alone discover that I'm related to one was definitely the surprise of my life…er…afterlife."
"You know at Bella's, I also overheard you telling the mu-I mean, Jacob," Alice quickly corrected herself when Quinn gave her that disapproving look, "that you have been watching over us over the years…."
Quinn felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. "Well, yes, that's true. But believe me it was only supposed to be a one time thing. When I found out about your family, I tracked you guys down and popped on in just to see what you guys were like and I just…got caught up-"
"With our awesomeness?" Emmett supplied, grinning.
She chuckled, giving a small shrug, but nodding her head nevertheless. "I guess you could say that. I was just so intrigued by you all that I couldn't help but stop by every so often….is that weird?"
While everyone merely shook their heads, Rosalie nodded hers. "Yes."
"So how come we have never seen you before now, Quinn?" Jasper inquired, his head slightly cocked to the side and brow furrowed.
"Well guardian angels aren't supposed to be visible to earth-bound creatures." she replied. "But as of recently things have, for some unknown reason, changed and I'm not invisible to everyone anymore."
"With the exception of Bella." Edward reminded her, standing upright.
She nodded. "Right. Jacob's father as well. But other than them two, the pack, Jacob, and you guys have all been able to see me."
Both Carlisle and Edward seemed intrigued by this little bit of information.
Suddenly Emmett raised his hand. She looked at him quizzically, giving a short laugh, "Uh, yes Emmett?" When Rosalie noticed this, she rolled her eyes at her husband before quickly yanking his arm down.
"Anyways," Emmett turned his attention back onto Quinn, "so if an angel and a vampire were to get into a fight, who would win?"
"An angel, no doubt." she replied automatically, her lips then curling up into a smile at Emmett's surprised expression. He snorted, sharing a look with his brothers before settling his gaze back onto her. "Cocky much?"
She shook her head, frowning. "Cockiness has nothing to do with it. It's a fact. Angels have the ability to overpower all earth bound creatures."
"Okay, then." Emmett grinned broadly as he pushed up his sleeves to his elbows, his biceps flexing as he did so. "You and me, little one. Outside. Right now. We'll see if that's true or not."
She arched her eyebrow before shaking her head again. "I'm a guardian, Emmett. Not a fighter."
Emmett stepped forward, his massive arms crossed over his chest as he walked at a human pace, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "You're just scared cause you know I could take you down."
"Emmett." Edward warned. "Do not forget that we've got a werewolf outside the house."
He scoffed, glancing over at his brother. "So? What does he care?"
"Quinn is his mate."
Emmett looked back at Quinn before bursting into fits of laughter. "Your mate is a werewolf?" He slapped his hand down on his thigh, his body shaking with laughter as he stepped back. "Man, what'd you ever do to get punishment like that?"
Quinn scowled, while Edward let out a low huff of frustration. "Don't antagonize the dog, Emmett. You know he can hear you." Without thinking, Quinn swatted Edward's stomach the second the word 'dog' left his lips and flashed him a reproving look.
Probably not the most angel-like thing to do but that was her Jacob he was calling a 'dog'.
Or as Santana would simply put it, No me gusta.
Alice laughed at Edward's taken aback expression, his right hand still resting on place where Quinn had struck him. She hopped off the arm rest she was sitting on and skipped over to Quinn. "You'll fit in with the family perfectly, Quinn."
Quinn couldn't help but beam at her comforting words and give her a hug, the anxiety she'd felt about this whole meeting practically evaporated.
"Now hold on a second, who said anything about making her apart of this family?" Once again she felt her smile fading at the hands of Rosalie.
Alice rolled her eyes at her sister's remark and swiftly turned around to respond but Esme beat her to it. "Rosalie, please." Esme crossed the room so that she stood on the other side of Quinn. A warm smile emitted from her as she wrapped her arm around Quinn's shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze and gazing down a her with affection. "Quinn is my family."
Carlisle nodded his head, adding, "Which in turn makes her apart of this family. Of course," he glanced back at Quinn and smiled, "if that's what she wants."
She stood there, at a loss for words, and simply nodded her head. Her brain was still trying to compute their touching declarations.
Once it set in, Quinn felt her heart swell with so much love for these people that it made her dizzy.
If only she'd had these two around when she was alive.
Feeling tears welling up in her eyes, she bit down on her bottom lip in hopes of keeping them at bay. She didn't want them to think she was just some overly emotional blubbering angel.
She sniffled though and Esme quickly caught on to what was going on. "Did we upset you, sweetheart?" she asked, looking down at her with concern.
"I'm not upset," Quinn corrected her quickly, while lifting her hand and swiping away at her left eye just as a tear escaped her. "Just…emotional, I guess. I'm not used to this."
Yes, parental figures who were kind, caring, and loving were definitely something of a new experience for her.
"This whole family thing." she elaborated, looking at them all. "What you guys have is special. And the very idea of even being apart of it…well it makes me feel special too."
"You are special, honey." Esme whispered, placing a tender kiss to her head.
.
As Jacob listened from his place outside, he couldn't help but feel a little partial to the matriarch of the Cullen family. Now he wasn't thrilled about feeling this way toward a vampire of all things, but she was making Quinn feel loved, in a way that he couldn't.
He couldn't complain about that.
"Why don't we go out for a walk?" Carlisle suggested to his children, the thought of giving Quinn and Esme some time alone immediately crossing his mind as soon as Esme spoke.
Knowing what he was getting at, Alice and Jasper instantly agreed to join him while Edward opted out in order to return to Bella. Emmett also agreed while Rosalie seemed hesitant, her gaze still fixated on Quinn distrustfully.
"C'mon, babe." Emmett urged, moving his arm from around his wife's waist and taking her hand. She exhaled deeply before reluctantly followed him out of the room.
"She'll come around." Esme whispered to Quinn, patting her arm before taking her arm from around her shoulders.
Quinn nodded and stepped aside when she noticed Carlisle approaching them. "You two have fun now." Quinn directed her attention away from Esme when Carlisle leaned in to properly say goodbye to his wife.
When they finished, Carlisle stepped back, giving Esme one last lingering gaze, the love and adoration for her written all over his face. He turned around and was out of the room within the blink of an eye, much like the others had done, leaving Quinn and Esme alone together.
Suddenly Quinn felt nervous again.
Esme turned to her and exhaled, smiling all the while, "Now I do believe we have some catching up to do."
Quinn returned the smile and nodded, taking a seat back on the sofa when Esme beckoned her to do so. "You have a lovely home." she started, tucking her legs underneath her and smoothing out the skirt of her dress as she glanced around the room again. She glanced back at her. "You decorated it yourself, right?"
Esme nodded, propping her arm up and resting her hand against her temple. "Mmm, yes. It's my passion, designing things."
"It's very open." Quinn commented, taking in the large windows to their right. "It's kind of perfect for someone like me."
Esme stared at her questionably. "I'm claustrophobic." she explained, slightly embarrassed. "Have been my entire existence." She let out a short laugh. "One would think a thing like that would go away after you died but no, I've still got it, even after being dead for nearly half a century."
"Quinn-"
"It was a car accident." she answered, already knowing what question Esme was going to ask. "Ran right through a stop sign and a truck hit me. Of course back in those days there were no seatbelts so I immediately died on impact."
"Why did you run the stop sign?" Esme questioned gently.
"I was trying to get away." she replied softly, unsure of whether or not she should tell her about her father. After all, he was her son. "…I had family problems."
"You don't have to tell me anything you aren't comfortable telling." Esme must've sensed her inner turmoil over the subject.
"It's not that. I'm just not sure you would be comfortable with hearing the things that happened." she brushed her bangs out of her face and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn't exactly live a happy life."
"Then tell me about some good memories you have." Esme suggested.
Quinn stayed silent, mentally racking her brain for a response.
She must've kept quiet longer than she thought because it prompted Esme to voice her name. "Quinn?"
She bit her lip, thinking. "That's kind of hard to answer. I can't really think of anything." Sad, but true. Those bad memories had seemed to overshadow any good memories she might have had, let alone remembered.
When she looked back at Esme, she found her frowning. "Quinn, were you abused when you were human?"
Quinn's eyes widened, completely taken aback. What, did she have an invisible sign reading, victim of abuse, tattooed across her forehead?
"I see myself in you." Esme continued, her voice laced with concern. "And I'm not just talking about the fact that you have my nose."
Knowing she couldn't lie, to her grandmother of all people, Quinn rather ashamedly nodded her head. "Yeah, I was."
"For how long?"
"Basically my whole life, but I was only ever sexually assaulted once." she murmured low under her breath, hoping Esme wouldn't be able to catch it.
But of course with her being a vampire, she did. "You were running from your father, I presume." she said, piecing things together.
Quinn nodded once again, pulling her legs up against her chest and resting her chin against her knees. She turned her head to the side as she tried to read what Esme was thinking.
Then she reminded herself that Edward was the mind reader, not her.
She was just about to suggest to Esme that they talk about something else, possibly something less depressing, when Esme suddenly pulled her into her arms.
Her concern was Quinn's undoing and before she knew it, she found herself crying into Esme's shoulder.
Maybe it was because now, after spending far too many years of being alone, things were finally looking her way. She had Santana, she had Jacob, and now she had Esme.
But still, that didn't make her wish any less that things had gone differently.
How she wished she had been born twenty years later, so she could've grown up with Santana. Then they could've helped each other, been there for each other like they are now. Neither one of them would've had to be alone.
How she wished she could've met Jacob when she was still alive. Then they could've grown old together like couples are supposed to and had a family somewhere along the line. She was never going to be able to give him those human experiences that he so deserved.
Quinn held onto Esme tighter, her body shaking uncontrollably from all the crying, even as Esme tried to soothe her by rubbing her back in soothing circles.
Being held by her, something her own mother had failed to ever do, just made her wish Esme had been around when she was younger. Alive. When she needed someone like her desperately.
"I'm really sorry about this." Quinn apologized after what felt like an embarrassingly long time of crying, lifting her head from Esme's shoulder and noticing the big stain on her blouse from her tears.
"It's okay, honey." Esme reassured her, lifting her hand and brushing away the silent tears that found their way down Quinn's cheeks. "You needed it."
"I guess I did." she chuckled, taking the tissue Esme had handed her and dabbing her eyes with it.
Placing the box of tissues back on the small side table beside the sofa, Esme turned back around to face Quinn. "Let's talk about something else. Like…." she glanced over at the window before flashing a knowing smile, "that Jacob of yours. I want details."
Esme beamed at the way Quinn's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning at the mere mention of Jacob. She found it very endearing.
"Well, he's just…well he's wonderful in every sense of the word." Quinn replied, the smile on her face unable to be contained.
That was all it took.
Before she knew it, she was rambling on about his entire life story and about imprinting, and naming off every single reason why she loved him in a way that practically left her giddy when she finally stopped to take a breather.
Esme laughed for a second, her dimples showing in her cheeks. "To say you're in love would be something of an understatement, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Quinn blushed, lowering her head rather sheepishly.
She smiled tenderly, leaning forward and giving Quinn's knee a gentle pat. "Being in love is nothing to be ashamed about, sweetheart."
Quinn closed her eyes and sighed, indulging in the feeling of Esme gently stroking her hair. Her head rested in Esme's lap while hers was tilted back, resting against the back of the sofa. She cleared her throat once more, feeling it close up on her again. (Her throat always got that way after talking for long periods of time). She knew if she tried to speak up now, her voice would be as hoarse as a crow's.
Her gaze was fixated on the ceiling before her now, as she recalled all the information she and Esme had just disclosed with one another. She wasn't sure what time it was exactly, but judging by how dark it was outside, she assumed they had been chatting for at least a couple of hours.
They both fell into a content silence after sharing a good laugh over Quinn's admitted crush on Rock Hudson when she was growing up.
A fact that Santana just loved to tease her about, but gay or not, that man would always be a hunk to her.
"Do you sleep, Quinn?" Came Esme's soft, curious voice, breaking Quinn out of her Rock Hudson-y thoughts.
"Nope." she replied, although with the way Esme was running her fingers through her hair, she definitely felt as if she could start.
"Sleep." Quinn heard her whisper in a sympathetic voice. "Is what I miss most about being human. You can escape so much in sleep."
"Mmm…only when it's dreamless." she murmured. While Quinn had her fair share of good dreams while she was alive, she'd mostly been plagued by nightmares in her lifetime. Sometimes she felt as trapped in her sleep as she felt while she was awake. "I'm thankful angels don't need to sleep."
And while things were going good for her now, her last human moments still traumatized her. She could only imagine how much worse it would be if she had the ability to sleep.
"Oh, hello, Edward."
Quinn blinked and quickly lifted her head off Esme's lap, then being greeted by the sight of Edward who just walked into the room.
"Hey, Edward." she greeted as she readjusted her position on the sofa.
"Sorry to intrude but ah, Quinn." Edward inclined his chin toward the window behind them. "Your wolf is getting rather antsy having to be away from you for so long."
She whipped her head around and then promptly hopped off the sofa. "Oh my gosh, you're right." He must've been losing his mind from having to wait outside all this time. She glanced back at Esme sympathetically. "I should probably get going."
"Why don't you ask Jacob to come inside?" Esme suggested, standing upright as well and briefly smoothing out her skirt. "I could rustle him up some dinner."
In her head, Quinn could picture Jacob scoffing at the very idea. "As wonderful as that sounds, Esme, I'm not sure he would go for it. At least not right now." Though she had a feeling that he would come around eventually, for her sake.
"Of course." Esme nodded understandingly as she walked Quinn to the front door. "And I want you to know that you're free to stop by at any time."
Quinn stopped at the door and beamed. "You're really amazing, Esme. You and your family." she told her sincerely, to which Esme smiled.
"Our family, Quinn." she corrected softly before enveloping her into another hug. "You're a part of it now, too."
A soft smile graced her features as Quinn hugged her back, doing everything in her willpower to hold back the tears. "You have no idea how much that means to me."
Feeling as though she could conquer the entire world at that moment, Quinn all but skipped down the steps of the Cullen house and around the side of the house before stopping once she spotted Jacob. "Hey, you." she greeted brightly, grinning ear to ear. "I'm sorry about taking so long. I honestly lost track of time." She jumped up into his arms without warning and cupped his face before kissing his lips.
He pulled away slowly, his arms still holding her up. "Mmm…that alone was almost worth the wait. Can I have another?" Giggling, she leaned down and gave him another kiss, this one deeper than the last.
After a few long minutes of exchanging passionate kisses, Quinn reluctantly pried her lips from his and beckoned for Jacob to put her back down. "You must be starving after waiting all this time."
He shook his head, still keeping his arms wrapped around her waist. "No, not really. I hunted down this deer that was passing by."
She quirked her eyebrow. "You ate in your wolf form?"
He shrugged. "Not something I like to do but hey, I was starving and there was no chance I was leaving the area."
"You didn't have to do that for me." she said softly, cupping his cheek and giving him another kiss. "But I appreciate you not wanting to leave me."
He leaned down and kissed her temple. "You know I'd do anything for you."
Edward moved to Esme's side, following her gaze as she looked out the large window. The two of them watched Quinn and Jacob out in the yard. He took a moment to let Esme's thoughts fill his head before speaking. "Just when I think I've seen you at your happiest, you always surprise me by kicking it up a notch."
"My family's expanding in ways that I never could have imagined. I couldn't be any happier than I am now."
Turning her attention back out the window, she sighed when she realized Quinn and Jacob had gone. But that didn't stop the proud smile from spreading across her face. "And it doesn't hurt that my granddaughter's an angel." she glanced back at her son and smirked. "Literally."
AN: More Esme/Quinn bonding to come, as well as more Jacob/Quinn-ness, and of course some drama.
Oh and the whole angels being able to project their wings onto surfaces, yeah, I took that concept from Supernatural just cause I loved the idea.
Anyways, please review!