Here we are... ehem ... I'm not really sure what to say ... *sheepish face.* Thanks to everyone who reviewed! This chapter is dedicated to my fan/would-be criminal reviewer, LadyJemsie, who virtually kicked my butt into getting this chapter finished. Let's hope your right eye will stop twitching.
p.s: Is there a POV you want me to write in? Like a different character's? Bella`s? Edwards? Jasper's?
Enjoy!
Disclaimer; Me. No. Own. Can't get any simpler than that.
Emmett McCarty was definitely a strange – and not to mention BIG – vampire. He enjoyed teasing Edward – whereas Angeline would rather tease Jane. Though somehow Edward seemed to enjoy being teased by Emmett, so the teasing continued. Angeline was glad for Emmett on this part, as it had been a while since she'd heard Edward's laugh resonating through the house. Plus he seemed to be playing the piano a lot more now. So, Emmett somehow fit nicely into their hodgepodge family.
It hadn't started out that way, however.
Newborn's were usually very aggressive, startled and prone to violence. Emmett was no different. Angeline hadn't known Jasper as a newborn, and thinking about his personality now – she shuddered at the thought of him as a newborn. Edward – was a little aggressive, but more moody than anything. Esme settled into being a vampire better than anyone Angeline knew, but perhaps that was because she had loved Carlisle even as a human. Rosalie had been aggressive as well, but as soon she caught sight of herself –everything but her appearance was forgotten.
Emmett was another story.
When Emmett woke up, after the initial panic subsided and it suddenly dawned on him that he was wearing strange clothes, in a strange house, feeling strange, and surrounded by strangers – he flipped off the table and crouched low – hissing and snarling and spitting. You name it, he was probably doing it. When he did a quick mental scan and assessed the situation, he seemed to calm down a little bit. That didn't mean he was less on edge, however. Nobody spoke, because nobody wanted to set him off. Then Esme, feeling extremely maternal towards the curly haired man – stepped forward tentatively. Emmett didn't move, he only stared at her. We all sighed internally, then Esme did something that to her, may have been an act of comfort, but not to him. She reached towards him, as if intending to pull him close – and Emmett flipped out.
He snarled, lunging at Esme. Carlisle was quick to wrap his slim fingers around Esme's wrist and yank her out of the way. Unfortunately for Emmett, this meant he missed his intended target. He flew through the spot where Esme used to be and crashed into the person who was standing directly behind Esme.
Angeline.
Jasper reacted immediately.
Before Angeline could react, Emmett's weight was suddenly gone. Jasper had thrown Emmett through the open door; his large frame had dented the wood and torn chunks from the framing. Emmett was fuming, pivoted, facing Jasper. Jasper was crouched in front of Angeline, trying to put as much of himself between his mate and the violent newborn as possible.
Thank god Carlisle had intercepted.
And suddenly Jasper and Emmett were best friends. They spent a lot of time together. Well, every moment that Jasper wasn't with Angeline and Emmett wasn't following Rosalie around like a love sick puppy. Emmett seemed to like Jasper, and bonded with the much older vampire immediately. Angeline had no problem with this, because with a little male bonding Jasper seemed in a generally good mood. He'd been in sort of a slump since he'd killed that teenager last spring. It was a complete accident, but she was still dead. So Jasper had his hilarious moments, but he got into Funk's too. So out of everyone- except maybe Edward, who was almost a complete introvert – Angeline was the one who had the least amount to do with the newest Cullen member.
So it surprised her when one Saturday afternoon – while Carlisle was working, Esme and Rose were hunting and Edward was .. being Edward; Emmett approached Angeline in almost a bashful manner. Angeline – who had been reading Vogue – raised an eyebrow at him. He sat down beside her on the chesterfield and stared at her until she sighed, folded the magazine in her lap and stared back at her.
"Yes, Emmett?" She asked, and felt a mixture of suspicion and alarm as Emmett fidgeted under her gaze. It wasn't like Emmett to be nervous; usually he just brushed it off with humour and went about things.
Emmett stared at the tiny creature in front of him. He'd been with the Cullen's for almost three months now, and out of all of them – Angeline was the one he was least closest too. Esme and Carlisle had become his replacement parents; hell, Esme paid more attention to him than his real mother did. But Emmett supposed that wasn't her fault, he'd had more than a handful of siblings who needed that attention as well. Jasper and Edward had welcomed him, and Jasper and he were rather close. Like real brothers. Emmett felt a little flutter inside of him as he thought of his beautiful, blonde, Rosalie. She'd kissed him only two days ago, pressed her lips to his and allowed him to press her into the grass and deepen it.
But Angeline?
He didn't know what to make of the other female blonde Cullen. She seemed to like him, but he never really knew. She was there, and she smiled at him, and helped him when he asked for it – but she never made the effort to talk to him. He knew she wasn't terrible, she was practically the glue of this family. Plus, Jasper was awesome, and anyone that he loved so whole-heartedly couldn't be that bad, could she?
So when he slipped away from the Cullen's under the guise of taking a walk, ignoring the raised eyebrow of Edward – he visited his home town. He watched with his hawk-like vampire eyesight as his little sisters played in the yard, their limbs very thin. He looked at the gaunt faces of his brother's as they were shipped out to war. He watched as his family slowly but surely starved to death. He couldn't stop going back, no matter how hard he tried. To watch his mother's tear-stained face through the window as she went hungry so she could feed her children.
Then the Cullen's decided they were moving, and Emmett's resolve to help them hardened. It was no secret to anyone that the Cullen's were swimming in money. And even though the part of him his mother'd raised right screamed not to ask for charity was hard to ignore – he sat beside Angeline that day and asked for just that. He wasn't sure why he'd asked Angeline. Esme certainly would have helped, as would Rosalie and Carlisle. But – excluding Edward – he knew Angeline wouldn't tell anyone. He knew he could trust her, and when she smiled at him finally and leaned towards him, he smiled back.
"What is it?" Angeline asked, in her high voice. "Do you need my help?"
Emmett hesitated for a full ten seconds before saying, "I do, actually. Could you .. I mean, would you .. I want to give a care basket to my family. My human family. With me gone, and my older brother's at war .. they aren't doing too good."
Her eyes, already soft, softened so much that they resembled liquid butterscotch. "Of course Emmett."
...
So that night, it was Angeline who accompanied Emmett back to his hometown, where Emmett watched in the shadows as Angeline walked casually to the door, holding the large basket carefully in her arms. She set it down in front of her, and knocked on the door sharply three times. Emmett felt like he couldn't breathe when his youngest sister, Teagan, answered the door. Her long dark hair was frizzy, and her five year old form was wrapped in a too-long nightdress. Teagan stared at the woman in front of her with unhidden amazement. She shyly smiled at her, and Angeline must have smiled back because his sister giggled suddenly, and when Angeline reached a hand out to shake hers, Teag threw herself at Angeline. With expertise that had been mastered over decades, she caught the girl gently, as not to hurt her.
"Teagan McCarty!" A stern voice shouted from the doorway, and Angeline looked up suddenly. "What are you doing! Get back in here this instant!" Teagan looked sad as Angeline placed her carefully down on the step. Teagen scampered around her mother's legs and disappeared back into the house. The woman's gaze zeroed in on the basket. Her eyes widened, and she shuffled a bit. The basket contained copious amounts of food, scattering's of ration ticket's, and a large sum of money. Enough to get them through this winter and many to follow.
"Thank you –" His mother stopped suddenly as she realized just who was on her step. "M – M- Ms. Cullen. I – I thought your family had moved on, I didn't – I mean, thank you – but, I couldn't, not – I won't-''
Angeline smiled softly. "Call me Angeline. I heard about your son's death, and Emmett was a friend of my fiancé Jasper's." The woman stiffened at the sound of her sons name, and she could feel her eyes involuntarily fill with tears. "I am so sorry for your loss. Please, accept this basket as a token of our sadness. For Emmett's memory. He wouldn't want his family suffering because of him."
Emmett could see his mother trying to see a way out of it, but Emmett could tell she was hungry, and she kept glancing at the basket. Finally, she nodded and smiled at Angeline. "Thank you, Angeline. You're a saint."
When Angeline eventually wandered back over to him, after a hug and three more thank-you's, Emmett stared at her. He wasn't sure what to say exactly, but in the moment, it seemed there wasn't much to say. So instead, Angeline smiled at him, tilted her head, and placed her small hand on his shoulder. Emmett stood perfectly still, and stared down at Angeline. He had never really looked her head on before. Her pale hair danced in the wind, and she was tiny, only about up to his elbow. Her face was delicately carved, and smooth like polished stone. Her eyes were large, set apart in her face and burning underneath thin eyebrows.
She just turned, took his hand, and squeezed his large hand with her tiny fingers once. He squeezed back, careful of his newfound strength. Then she let go, breezed past him and headed home.
Emmett followed her without a word.
Angeline and Jasper sat at the round table of the Cullen kitchen, dozen's of magazines spread before him, and each had a black felt in hand. A notebook, pen, and Binder sat in front of Jasper, who nodded dutifully as Angeline chattered about cake and shoes and jewellery and aisles. Honestly, as long as it was Angeline walking down the aisle, he didn't care who was there, what she wore, or the flavour of the cake (It wasn't like they'd be eating it anyway.)
At the same moment, Emmett sauntered in from the porch, dirty from a recent hunt. It had been three years, and he'd yet to master hunting without making a mess. He paused whilst passing the table, and glanced down at the papers with an eyebrow raised. Rosalie ghosted along behind him, and smiled warmly at her sister.
"Finally planning are we? When should I schedule and bridesmaid's dress fitting?" She inquired, sidling up behind Angeline.
"Well-'' Angeline never finished her sentence, because Emmett cut her off.
"Cake?" He said incredulously, and glanced at Jasper – who raised his hand as if to say 'Don't include me in this'. "We don't even eat."
Angeline narrowed her eyes. "Emmett. There will be human's there. And I can't very well drop a dead mountain lion on the table for us to pick at, now can I?"
"I suppose not. Though it would be hilarious," He mused, smirking.
Rosalie rolled her eyes good naturedly, and took Emmett's hand. "Come on, Em."
As they walked, Emmett paused, looked over his shoulder and called out, "Oh, don't go with the chocolate by way. It'll go straight to my hips."
Angeline sat on the end of her bed, ankles crossed, with Jasper laying on his stomach beside her. They were picking wedding colors. She flipped the page, and pointed. "How about this? Simple black and white?"
Jasper opened his mouth, but was cut off. "No. What was I thinking, too simple." She continued flipping, and peered closer.
"Or how about purple and pink?" She smiled, "I could imagine Emmett in a pink tuxedo."
Once again, Jasper opened his mouth, and started to speak, but was silenced by his fiancé. "Never mind. Pink`s not my color."
She glanced at the page opposite of it. "I know! Red! Red and Chocolate brown!" Jasper moved as if to speak, "And white!" She announced, happily.
Jasper sat up, and stared at Angeline long enough she turned her head to look at him. "What?"
A bemused look settled on her mate's face. "Do you ever listen to my opinion?"
Angeline smiled. "Of course, darling."
He raised an eyebrow. "But you don't consider them."
She paused, placing a hand on her chest in mock outrage. "Of course I do. I listen to what you're saying, I mull things over in my head, and I consider what you say strongly." She nodded, and Jasper smiled.
"And then I do whatever I want."
Once again, on a Sunday afternoon, on a particularly, windy day in at the newest Cullen abode, Emmett prodded Angeline while she was reading a Russian language book. Edward sat at the piano, mulling over his latest work. She looked up from the vowel's section and narrowed her eyes when she saw him mischievous expression. Esme, Rosalie, Carlisle and Jasper had gone to hunt for the day, testing out the new Alaskan wildlife. Edward paused and turned on the piano bench, chuckling to himself.
"You might want to think about what you're asking first, Emmett," He warned, eyes sparkling with amusement.
"I think I can take her," Emmett declared back, and looked at the tiny girl. "What do you say, Angeline? Wanna fight?" He nudged her leg.
She shook her head. "No." She turned the page languidly.
"Come on, Ang, I'll go easy on you!" He boasted, flexing on impressive bicep. Her eyes flashed, blinked slowly. In a flud motion, she snapped the book shut and ghosted past Emmett, dropping it on the table.
"Come, little brother. Let's see what you can do."
Edward followed behind them, as the approached the large yard in front of the house. He stood gracefully on the snow, mindful of his clothing and linked his hands behind him.
Emmett and Angeline faced each other looking very opposite. One large, the other, small. One fair, the other dark. Both sizing up what they assumed the other could do. Angeline knew Emmett went for simpler attacks, and used his strength and size as an advantage. Emmett, on the other hand, had no idea what Angeline could do.
Then, without thinking twice about whether this was a smart idea or not, he charged at her. She didn't move, and he kept going. He pounced at her, and tried to grab her. His hands grasped air and he blinked at the spot she was at less than a second ago.
He spun, and found her standing behind him. He narrowed his eyes at his opponent. He lunged again, and twisted, trying to catch her as she flipped through the air, but she spun and evaded his grasp. He swung and grasped and tried to wrap his hand around the girl to no avail. He could never get a solid grip on her, his fingertips never even grazed the tips of her long hair as it twirled in the heavy wind.
Angeline had grown tired of the game, and spun, landing a grip on Emmett's shoulder and pushing herself backwards. The shove pushed him off balance, even if only for the slightest of seconds. He growled when, and grasped behind him when he heard her approach. Smirking when his hand grasped her jacket sleeve, he flung her upwards, intending to throw her high enough to catch her off guard so he could pin her and win. However, his higher-than-the-average-vampire strength shot her higher than he'd intended. He flung her up so far he could barely see her shape in the air.
"You are a moron," stated Edward, who'd stepped forward in alarm and was now at Emmett's side. "Jasper is going to rip you apart."
Suddenly, she came back into focus, and Edward dived out of the way she her straight and stream-lined form caught Emmett in the chest, pummeling his form into the earth, flat on his back. He was disoriented, an odd thing for him since he'd become a vampire. She crouched on his chest, and he noticed that he'd created a shallow crater in the frozen earth. She stood, and offered him a hand up, he scowled and pushed himself up.
"You cheated!" He accused.
"Oh Emmett, don't be such a sore-'' Angeline started, and froze when an accented voice spoke from the left of their little group.
"Hello, there, little one's."
Emmett, Edward and Angeline all turned towards the voice, and found five vampire's there, all dressed in furs and wools. There were three blonde females, and two brunette's, a male and female. None of the Cullen's spoke back – but vampire instinct kept them alert. None on either side moved, and they stared at each other, sizing each other up.
Finally, the one with curly reddish hair stepped forward.
"Hello," She spoke, with a silky lilt. "My name is Tanya."
MWAHAHAHA. EEEEEVVVVVIIIILLLLL LAAAAAUGH. THANKS FOR READING AND PLEASE REVIEW.
I would like to personally thank:
bangingprude,dancergirl16161,ladyjemsie,redstar8,udumuhv,patrishis and daloneganoquishi for their review's of the last chapter (which was a note) because it served as motivation. Give yourselves a pat on the back!
oh! BTW! I was thinking up names, like Brangelina, TomKat, Bennifer for Angeline/Jasper. LadyJemsie suggested Jazzeline, Angasper? Jaslene? Jangeline? I NEED IDEA'S. Whoever comes up with the best one will get a special surprise!