A/N: I'll spare you the story of why I've been silent for more time than I realized, but I will say that my ability to write completely deserted me. I started this chapter six weeks ago, and it's taken me this long to get just under five-thousand coherent words on paper. So this chapter is shorter than most in this story, and it's honestly not that great. I feel hella rusty at this, but at least it's something. I refuse to abandon this story, I love Leah and Jasper too much to just desert them. I will do my very best to get a chapter out at least once a week, and hopefully writing will start to feel natural again somewhere along the way. I won't lie, this story's lighthearted banter feels like a foreign language at the moment, but again, I'll do my best.

Also, I'm posting at a completely weird time because my anxiety about it is through the damn roof, and if I don't do it right now, I'm not going to do it at all. I'm sure there will be numerous glaring typos as a result, so I apologize in advance.

Anyway, that's enough from me. If you read this and think it's as terrible as I do, maybe… don't comment? My mental state is still a complete dumpster fire and I'm not sure I can handle the criticism, lol.

A Silent Proposal

By the time that autumn had finally rolled around, all those many months after the initial exception to the treaty line had been made, the council and the pack had pretty much given up on trying to control what parts of La Push and the wider Quileute territory Jasper could safely step foot on. Between the day he and Alice had come racing in to get between Victoria and First Beach - which led to Jasper walking to the Clearwater's and that slightly awkward conversation with Charlie Swan - and the night he'd forcibly removed Jacob Black's lips from Bella's mouth - which led to the empath dashing across the reservation to prevent Billy from tipping face first on the forest floor - Jasper had pretty much already run all over creation.

At one particular council meeting back at the beginning of the summer, Jared had even spoken up for him, looking at Old Quil with a smile. "No one's been slaughtered yet that I'm aware of. The man's awfully hard to contain, so maybe it's best that we just give in graciously."

And so, early on the afternoon of Edward and Bella's wedding, Jasper pulled into the Clearwater's driveway to pick up his mate to drive her back to the Cullen's. The day was special and he wanted to treat it that way. Like a proper date.

Jasper rolled his eyes at himself as he took the porch steps two at a time. Who was he kidding? He just wanted an excuse to drive the Vanquish.

Just as he was raising his hand to knock on the door, it opened and he came face to face with the love of his existence. And holy shit, did he freeze in place like one of those marble statues Bella always went on about. He'd never seen Leah dressed to impress before, but boy did she impress.

"Wow," he breathed after a few seconds.

Leah rolled her eyes a little, but couldn't completely smother a pleased smile. She'd never actually been this dressed up before, with the whole nine yards - beautiful dress, high heels, and even a little makeup - and she'd been a little nervous about Jasper's reaction. Which was silly, really. Even in her ripped up sweats and too-big sleeping shirts, he'd always made her feel beautiful.

"I guess that means you approve?" she laughed once her imprint had closed his gaping mouth.

Jasper smiled as he regained his composure. "You could've opened this door in your pajamas and all I would've felt was proud that you're walking into that wedding on my arm," he told her honestly. "But you look beautiful," he added softly.

"You're not so bad yourself," she said as she looked him up and down. Jasper on a typical day was almost hotter than she could handle, but Jasper in a suit? Jesus. As good as it looked on him, she was pretty confident that she wouldn't make it all the way to the end of the night before stealing him away somewhere to take it off him.

Jasper laughed and his eyes lit up at his mate's emotions. "I promise to let you drag me off later, but for now we've gotta scoot. Bella's been on the verge of fainting for hours."

Leah nodded and grabbed a bag off the table by the door before closing it behind her. "I'm ready," she said, taking his hand and letting him lead her to the car.

The very second they walked in the Cullen's front door, Edward popped up at Jasper's side. "Bella would like a word," he said quietly.

"Perfect. I need a word with her also," he said with a smile, then took the little bag Leah held out for him and gave her a kiss before heading for the stairs.

Edward looked between his brother and the wolf a little suspiciously. Leah had gotten too good at keeping her thoughts hidden and he couldn't hear what they were up to. And, of course, he could never get a nosy snoop in Bella's mind, so he didn't know what she was up to either. He didn't know what she wanted to talk to Jasper about when they were less than thirty minutes from getting married.

"It's nothing bad," Leah assured the worried telepath with a smile. "At least Jasper's part of it," she corrected. "I don't know what Bella wants to talk to him about, but I'm almost positive she's not planning on doing a runner."

Edward gave her a very unimpressed look before cracking a smile. No, he was fairly certain his fiancé wasn't going to jilt him at the altar.

As Edward walked with Leah outside, Jasper quietly tapped on Alice's bedroom door, behind which was a very nervous soon-to-be bride. Alice opened the door with a beaming smile, then excused herself to give them some privacy, ignoring the curiosity on her oldest friend's face. She just mimed zipping her lips shut and skipped down the stairs, letting him know she would be sending Charlie up in a few minutes.

Jasper smiled seeing Bella in her dress for the first time. He'd been a little surprised by her choice when Esme had shown him a picture of it, assuming she would want something less formal, but he liked it. And while she did look beautiful, the nerves were making her fidgety. She was wringing her hands and trying to smooth out the bodice of the dress at the same time, shifting from foot to foot.

Before she could say whatever she wanted to say, he opened the bag and handed her a small mason jar with a little bit of amber liquid in it. There was still an old bottle of Leah's dad's whiskey tucked away in the back of one of the Clearwater's kitchen cupboards and Leah had been kind enough to spare some when Jasper had asked.

"Here. Drink this before you do anything else."

Bella tipped her head in confusion, and when she opened the lid and took a sniff, her eyes started to water. "No way," she shook her head, her voice shaky. "I'm already unsteady enough, I don't need to be tripping down the aisle drunk."

"It's barely even a sip," he laughed. "I promise you won't get drunk. It's just enough for you to walk and breathe at the same time without me helping you. Because there's no way in hell you're getting married under my influence. You do it on your own or not at all," he told her in his best stern voice.

Bella only debated for a few seconds before tossing the drink back. He was right. She didn't want to walk down that aisle feeling anything but her own emotions. She shuddered and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she gave him the jar back. "Thank you."

Jasper just nodded. "So why'd you send for me?"

"I had an idea I wanted to run by you. If we work together, we have a shot at getting one of your short-term goals accomplished while also making part of this evening a whole lot less awkward for me," she started. "Not with your gift," she quickly went on. "Just hear me out. You know how much I hate being the center of attention…"

An hour later, Jasper and Leah were sitting with Sue and Charlie, all four of them quietly laughing at how reluctant Bella was to have her first dance with Edward, knowing all eyes would be on her. Not that there were that many eyes. For a number of reasons, Edward and Bella had decided to have a very small wedding. No one was invited who wasn't aware of the supernatural world, and no vampires outside Edward's immediate family and Peter and Charlotte had been invited, so as to not make the wolves in attendance uncomfortable.

In order to not entirely exclude the Denalis, who the Cullens considered an extended family of sorts, the couple had promised to have a second reception a little further down the road, after Bella was changed and past her newborn stage, so they could celebrate with them. Irina's extreme animosity towards the wolves, and her anger at the Cullens for their refusal to step aside so she could get revenge for Laurent's death, was the main reason they hadn't been invited to the actual ceremony. Everyone, including the other members of Tanya's coven, was hoping that perhaps time would eventually ease some of those tensions.

Sadly, Peter and Charlotte had decided not to come back to Washington for the wedding, so the only vamps in the backyard were the Cullens.

When Edward laughingly took Bella's hand to drag her towards the center of the dance floor, she held up her bouquet, as if holding it was the thing that would stop Edward from making her dance.

"Toss it!" Leah called out to her. She was just teasing, because she knew Bella had decided not to do the traditional bouquet toss, as nearly everyone at the wedding had already found their mate. And with the exception of Alice and Sue, all the women were solidly and eternally taken. Actually, now that Leah thought about it, maybe she should ask Bella to throw it to one of them.

Jasper was just watching Bella with a smile. He knew what she was trying to do, but in typical Bella-style, she was doing it awkwardly. His attention was momentarily distracted when he felt two very familiar emotional signatures coming in fast. They stayed out of sight, but within hearing distance. With everyone focused on the action in the backyard, it was only Carlisle who registered that someone was approaching. When he looked at Jasper to see if there was cause for concern, Jasper just smiled and shook his head. "Peter and Charlotte," he mouthed silently.

Last Jasper had talked to them, they weren't planning on coming, so he had a feeling Peter had recently gotten foreknowledge about the conversation he and Bella had before the ceremony, and that was the reason behind their sudden arrival. The level of joy and anticipation in them was the confirmation he needed.

"Do you want it?" Bella asked Leah with her best innocent smile, holding up her bouquet.

Leah snorted a laugh. "I don't need a bouquet toss to tell me I'm going to get married. I'm sure one of these days Jasper's going to finally get around to proposing," she said, looking pointedly at her imprint with a raised eyebrow.

Bella's eyes briefly darted to a grinning Jasper and she laughed a laugh of pure delight, her eyes sparkling. "You're probably right. But take it anyway," she said, tossing her bouquet to the wolf.

Leah caught it with a laugh and it took her a second or two to realize Bella was just standing there watching her with a huge smile, like she was waiting for something. "Uh… thank you?" she said to the bride, thinking maybe that's what she was waiting for. Still confused, she looked down at the bouquet and then completely froze.

That was…

Leah stopped breathing.

Was that…

Jasper laughed beside her and reached over to untie the string that Bella had used to tie his mother's wedding ring to the stems of her bouquet.

It was enough to make Leah suck in a sharp, shocked breath and her eyes snapped to Jasper, taking in the smile on her imprint's face and the familiar soft look in his eyes. She searched his face for any sign that she had it wrong. Trying to make sure that what she thought was happening was actually happening. It would be way too embarrassing for her to ever recover from if she misinterpreted this moment.

Jasper held up the ring to the woman who would live in his heart for the rest of time. He didn't get down on one knee, he didn't make a longwinded speech, he just held the ring up for Leah to see and then surrounded her in every single warm emotion he felt for her. He let her feel the depth of his love for her, his gratitude that fate had tied the two of them together, and his undying devotion to her.

And underneath it all… was hope.

Leah looked in his eyes and felt her own eyes well up with tears with what she saw there. Jasper was almost never nervous, but there was a hint of vulnerability in his eyes.

It took a few seconds for the onlookers to understand what was happening, but eventually, the whole crowd turned their eyes away from the new bride and groom and watched Leah eagerly to see what she was going to do.

Everyone who knew Leah best had anticipated that, whenever it happened, she wouldn't let Jasper actually get a full proposal out before tackling him and shouting 'YES!' while shoving the ring on her finger. So Sue, Charlie, and the rest of the pack that was in attendance were surprised that Leah didn't say a single word. She just cupped Jasper's face in her hands and leaned in to slowly, softly, sweetly kiss him.

Jasper slid his hand around the back of her neck and threaded his fingers in her hair, letting himself just revel in her answering emotions. Sometimes he found it hard to believe that Leah loved him just as deeply, just as fiercely, as he loved her.

When Leah pulled back just enough to pull in a breath of her imprint's scent that felt so much like comfort, Jasper ran his thumb under her eye to catch a tear before it could fall. "I love you," she whispered.

"Is that a yes?" he whispered back.

Leah sniffled a laugh and nodded. "Yes."

As soon as the word left her mouth, the entire crowd, small as it was, started whooping and hollering, and before a full second passed, Leah and Jasper found themselves laughing on the ground, their chairs nothing but mangled metal beneath them, as they were descended on by their friends and family. It was honestly too close to call who got to them first - Alice, Seth, or Paul. In a show of staggering speed, Charlotte and Peter managed to fling themselves on the pile before any of the others.

Bella looked around with a pleased smile when she saw nearly all the eyes in the backyard were not on her and Edward. Perfect. She laughed lightly when she saw the one pair of eyes looking at her were her dad's, and he was giving her a knowing smile.

Bella just shot him a wink and then looked up at her brand new husband and held out her hand. "Dance with me?"

Esme quietly slid into the empty chair next to Jasper and put her head on his shoulder, smiling at the love and amusement on his face as he watched Leah and Rosalie trying to teach Paul how to dance, with Emmett shouting suggestions from the edge of the dance floor. Catalina was standing a few feet away, watching the three of them with her head tipped to the side a little, as if completely baffled by the whole thing.

Jasper wrapped an arm around Esme's shoulders, not saying anything, just accepting her joy and sharing his own.

Sue and Charlie joined them a few minutes later, after saying goodbye to Billy Black, who was leaving with Jared. Jared wasn't especially close to Edward or Bella, but because one of his priorities was maintaining a good relationship with the local vamps, he'd accepted the invitation when Bella extended it.

"Did he say anything about Jacob?" Jasper asked Sue. He'd actually meant to ask Billy himself what was going on with his son, or more importantly, if he was going to be returning to La Push anytime soon, but he'd gotten caught up in the celebration and never got around to it.

"I don't think there's much to say," Sue shrugged with a slightly sad smile. She was still upset and frustrated by Jacob's behavior that spring, but she was sad that the end result had been Billy losing the last child he had left at home. She'd thought Jake would have returned long before now, but he was nothing if not stubborn, and for the moment, his stubborn refusal to know anything about Bella Swan and Edward Cullen was keeping him in his human form miles away from the father who had come to depend on him. "He still has no plans to come home, and he hasn't been a wolf yet."

Jasper couldn't deny that the news didn't bother him personally, he was honestly pretty glad he wasn't going to have to see Jacob Black's face anytime soon, but he did feel bad for Billy. Bella had been picking up some of the slack when it came to helping out with the tribal elder's day to day needs, and when Leah had gotten back from their trip south, she'd started helping out as well. But both of them had a lot going on in their lives, and it should have been his son doing it. And with Leah and Bella both leaving Washington within the next two days - Bella to go on her honeymoon and Leah to go look for protectors in South America - there were going to be even fewer hands around to help.

Bella had cooked up a storm in the week prior to her wedding so she could fill Billy's freezer with home-cooked meals during her absence, and Jasper knew Sue, Charlie, and the wolf pack would make sure Billy was doing fine, but it still annoyed him that Billy's son was a selfish dick who didn't seem to care that his father needed him.

As if reading Jasper's mind, Esme lifted her head and looked at Sue. "If Billy ever needs anything, he's more than welcome to call me," she offered hesitantly. "I've enjoyed cooking again since Bella and the wolves have come into our lives, and I nearly always have free time on any given day, so I can take him to run any errands he needs, or even run them for him myself."

Jasper, Sue, and Charlie all smiled at the woman who seemed to excel at being a mother to just about everyone who came into her life. She had such a big heart and loved so unconditionally, and she genuinely got pleasure from taking care of her family and friends.

"Thank you," Sue answered, reaching across the table to give Esme's hand a quick squeeze in gratitude. "I'll pass the message along."

Esme just nodded, pleased that they didn't immediately shoot down her offer just because of her species. "Perhaps you should go save him," she whispered to Jasper a moment later after seeing the look on Paul's face that said he was about ready for the dance lessons to be over. Leah and Rosalie were a lot to handle when they joined forces about anything.

Jasper looked at the three of them and laughed as he got to his feet. His mate was currently glaring at her best friend with her hands on her hips and asking him why he was pretending to be clumsy. "I know you can do better than this," she snapped at him, not really annoyed but figuring she should put a little bite into her words if she wanted Paul to start following her and Rose's instructions better.

"I believe it's because he's trying to get you to let him leave the dance floor," Jasper whispered as he came up behind his mate and wrapped his arms around her.

Leah momentarily ignored the jolt of pleasure in her that she got anytime her imprint's arms were around her and looked at Paul with a scowl. "Why didn't you just say that? You didn't need to go to extreme measures and pretend you had Bella's balance."

"Are you serious right now?" Paul asked, a weird combination of amused and incredulous. "Are you new here? You and Rose are stubborn as hell and you get mean when you don't get your way! I didn't think you'd let me leave!"

Leah and Rosalie both huffed a little at that. "That is complete and utter bullshit," Rosalie protested indignantly. "We're not unreasonable."

"Okay, sure you're not," Paul scoffed, taking a few steps backwards, away from the two harpies who masqueraded as his friends. "So I'm free to go?" he asked cautiously, as if afraid Leah was going to lunge for him and prevent him from getting far, far away from her.

Leah huffed a few more times, but Emmett popped up at Rosalie's side then and swept her into his arms. "Run while you can, I'll keep this one distracted," he whispered dramatically to Paul, spinning Rose in his arms away from the exasperated wolf.

Paul eyed Leah suspiciously, making Jasper snort a laugh at the two of them. Taking his cue from Emmett, he turned Leah in his arms and waltzed her clear across the dance floor while Paul wasted no time darting back to his own imprint's side.

Leah just rolled her eyes and let herself be led away without protesting. She smiled when she saw Peter and Charlotte watching them while they did some kind of country-looking dance in the grass where the dance floor ended. Peter hadn't gotten a knowledge drop about the proposal until just about the last minute, so the two of them had just immediately started running at their top speed and hadn't stopped until they got to the Cullen's backyard. Because of that, they were in very casual clothes and both were a little windswept and disheveled from the journey. Neither of their shoes had survived under the strain, so both were barefoot.

Leah was honestly a little jealous. It had been fun getting all dressed up, and she particularly enjoyed Jasper's reaction when he saw her, but she'd eaten dinner with the other wolves and the humans, so her dress felt about a size too small now, and her shoes were pinching her feet.

"Just take them off," Jasper laughed, knowing what she was thinking without her having to say anything. "It's not like anyone's going to think less of you. Bella took hers off an hour ago."

Leah only hesitated for a second before toeing off her heels and kicking them away from her. She immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure she'd ever be like Rosalie, who actually enjoyed getting all dressed up. She was much more similar to Bella in that particular respect.

Jasper dipped his head down and kissed her bare shoulder. "You could take the dress off too, if it feels too constricting," he whispered against her skin.

Leah didn't know if she should laugh or have an 'aw' moment that he knew her so well. Eventually she settled on both. "I don't think I'm uncomfortable enough that it warrants public nudity," she laughed.

"How about private nudity?" Jasper asked her with a cheeky smile as he lifted his head.

Leah had just opened her mouth to answer with an enthusiastic 'YES!' when Charlotte stopped her.

"Wait, not yet! You're going to be an official Whitlock soon and you can't be a Whitlock without knowing how to two-step, so get your ass over here."

Leah's eyes lit up at the reminder that Jasper wasn't just her imprint, he was now her fiancé. She reluctantly took one arm from around his neck so she could look at her ring again. It had taken a good five minutes after the proposal to get everyone to stop hugging them long enough that he could actually put the ring on her finger. When he'd quietly explained whose ring it was, Leah had promptly thrown her arms around him and burst into tears. Being the sweetheart that he was, Jasper had whisked her away from the party for a few minutes so she could do a little crying in private.

"So it really was your mom's?" she asked quietly as they went to join Peter and Charlotte on the grass, feeling the need to hear it again.

Jasper nodded and tipped his head at Peter. "It was, and he's the man to thank for finding it."

Leah looked up to find Peter watching the two of them with a soft smile, and she was glad she'd taken her shoes off because it made it a lot easier to run to give him a hug. "Thank you," she whispered, holding on tight. "I can't tell you how much this means."

Peter smiled and let her hang on for a few more moments before laughing and gently pushing her towards Jasper. "I'm glad you like it. Now come on. I know y'all wanna cut out of here but we have some very important coven business to attend to first. Like my better half said, you can't be a Whitlock without knowing this dance."

Fortunately for Leah, she'd grown up dancing around the kitchen with her mom and dad, so it didn't take her too long to get the steps down. And by the time she was moving effortlessly with her fiancé, they'd been joined first by Rosalie and Emmett, and then by Carlisle and Esme.

When she beckoned for the newlyweds to come join them, Bella very firmly shook her head no.

"Absolutely not. I've embarrassed myself enough for one day with my lack of coordination. Maybe I'll give it a shot after I'm changed. I can, however, get you the right music," she said. Then she paused for a second and looked up at Edward with a sheepish smile. "Actually, I can't. All I know is that music is somehow magically coming from the trees. Want to show me where the magic happens so I can find something suitably country?"

Edward just smiled at his bride and nodded, and Jasper and Leah were both honestly impressed that his extreme distaste didn't show on his face at all. The kid hated country music, but they supposed he was blissful enough at marrying Bella that he was willing to tolerate it without protesting.

As the newlyweds headed for the house, Jasper discreetly gestured for Leah to look towards the tables, and she turned to see her mom standing next to Charlie, giving him her very best disappointed face, which they all knew was a killer.

"You're going to make me miss out on learning a new dance?" she asked, trying to really amp up the sadness in her eyes.

Charlie huffed a few times but eventually gave in. Sue's disappointed face and sad eyes were just as effective on him as they were on her kids. "Fine, but they're going to have to slow it down for me. I'm an old man and learning new moves doesn't come as easily as it used to."

Sue just laughed and started dragging him towards everyone dancing in the grass. "You'll do just fine. I'm happy to lead if you start stumbling."

Leah tried to keep her face clear of everything she was feeling inside, but she knew Jasper felt her jumbled-up emotions when he held her just a little bit closer. More than anything, she was happy. She and Jasper had talked more than once about the possibility of a Sue and Charlie romance, and Leah could say with absolute honesty that she'd be thrilled if the two of them got together. Neither would ever take the other for granted, and she knew they would love each other well. But underneath the happiness was a small undercurrent of grief. Sue would never have the possibility of finding love with Charlie if she hadn't lost Harry.

And it didn't matter how much she would enjoy watching her mom and Charlie Swan take their first steps down that road, the knowledge that she'd lost her dad would never not make that too-familiar grief well up inside her.

Leah shook her head as if to shake those thoughts away. There was too much to be grateful for in that very moment to let herself give in to the grief. When Jasper surrounded her in his love for her as a counterweight to her sadness, she smiled and wrapped her arms around him just a little tighter.

Holding him close like that wasn't really conducive to two-stepping, but she wasn't real eager to let him go either, so the two of them just ended up slowly swaying to the music while their friends and family danced around them.