Just the Way You Are

Eve stretched in her bed, sighing contently as she slowly woke up from her dream world and entered reality. The first thing that came into her mind caused a smile to break out on her small lips, and lightly laugh to herself.

She licked her lips and could still feel them—Jacob's own pair of lips—on her own. Touching them delicately, her grin grew as she felt a tingling sensation erupt at her fingertips.

Eve was still in slight shock at what had happened last night, and also at herself. She was surprised that something like that had occurred—who could've predicted something like that?—and she was astonished that she had been the one to start it.

Slowly, she sat up straight in bed, letting herself wake up even more. She rubbed her eyes and then let out a silent yawn, relaxing on her soft bed.

That kiss was so much different than the ones I have with Jesse... Eve mentally concluded. It was so much better. It was so much more... exciting.

Eve laughed at her choice of words. Of course it was exciting. She had cheated on Jesse with Jacob. She had cheated. Wasn't cheating supposed to make you feel like that... or was it just something she had made up in her mind?

Either way... Eve loved feeling the simple thrill of it.

She loved the thought of possibly getting caught.

Jacob's a much better kisser than Jesse, too.

Eve grinned goofily to herself and chuckled, not believing she was comparing the two boys. Jacob's kisses were so much more romantic and erotic at the same time. Was it even possible...?

Well, Eve had thought that her cheating on someone was impossible, and last night she had proved herself wrong, so who was to say that Jacob's kisses being so unimaginably lascivious was impossible?

No one.

There was a knock on her door and she snapped out of her day dreaming state. "Yeah?" She called.

Jesse waltzed into the room, a smile on his lips, and looking fresh. "Morning, Eve, how'd you sleep last night?"

She stiffened up a bit, and tried to keep her cool. He couldn't possibly know what had gone on only a few doors down the hall. "Pretty good," She shrugged. "You?"

"I think it was the best sleep I've gotten here so far." He grinned, sitting down onto the bed and pulling her into his lap. Jesse kissed her lips softly, and for a moment, she felt like his feelings for her were actually coming through.

However, as he kissed her, that euphoria Jacob's lips had left on her own was now fading quickly, leaving her with nothing.

Jesse pulled away, kissing her forehead quickly before pulling her into his chest lovingly, hoping that he would swoon her just a little bit. Last night he had done his homework. He was looking for good moves to put on Eve so he could impress her and make up for yesterday's mess. He wanted to make her see that he could be "romantic" for her. All the places he had looked over told him to act like he was in one of those cheesy romance movies where the guy is sweet and charming.

Jesse could be that.

That's what his acting lessons were for.

"I helped your mom downstairs, and she's waiting for you." He spoke, running his hand through her silky smooth, black hair. "She asked me to wake you up and to tell you to get dressed quickly."

"Why?" She asked curiously.

"I don't know, she didn't tell me." Jesse whispered into Eve's ear.

Eve sighed and nodded. "Alright, I'll be down in 20 minutes or so."

"Okay, take your time." Jesse got up, kissed Eve's cheek tenderly, and then walked out of the room with a small smile, thinking that he may just have a chance at keeping her under his thumb.

Eve got up as soon as Jesse left the room and grabbed new clothes from her drawers and closet. She power walked into the bathroom, started up a warm shower and got in seconds after it was the right temperature. Eve speedily cleansed herself and was soon stepping out with a towel wrapped around her waist. After quickly dressed and blow drying her hair, she was rushing down the stairs to see her mom and Jesse watching a random television show.

"I'm ready, sorry I took a while."

"Oh Eve, you only took 15 minutes." Darla smiled lovingly at her daughter who gave her a warm hug. "You look gorgeous."

"I would use the word stunning, Ms. Blair." Jesse commented smoothly.

"He's right," Darla looked at her Eve and smiled. "You look stunning."

"Thanks," Her eyes darted to both Darla and Jesse before they returned back to her mom. "So, what's going on, mom?"

"I got a phone call from Emily, and she invited us over for breakfast. Hope you two don't mind, but I haven't seen them in a while!"

"Not at all, Ms. Blair." Jesse replied.

"Yea, it sounds fun, mom. This'll be Jesse's first time meeting everyone."

"Ooh, really?" Darla was intrigued and couldn't help but smile deviously. "Well isn't he in for a real... treat."

They all walked out of the house and got into the Yukon, Jesse. Jesse then followed Eve's instructions on how to get to the Uley residence, and arrived within about five minutes. That was one of the good things about La Push, the commutes were small.

Jesse opened the door for Darla and Eve, and walked in himself, looking around the room to find nothing but towering Native Americans. He felt intimidated, although he did his best to conceal it, and mentally told himself that he was better than these people, boosting his confidence.

"Darla!" Emily shouted and rushed over to meet Eve's mother in a welcoming and warm embrace. "I'm so happy that everything is alright! I was so worried for you!"

"Oh yes, I'm very much alive, Emily." Darla stated. "And thank you for being so concerned."

"Well, it seems that I have a new wheelchair buddy, don't I, Darla?" Billy Black joked.

"It seems that way, Billy,"

"Well, now that everyone is here, why don't we sit down and eat? Sam, honey, help me set the table?" Emily grinned innocently at her fiancé, who only replied with a small kiss on the lips and they both entered the kitchen, returning with a few plates and such.

Eve noticed someone in particular and went to them. "Come with me," She insisted, dragging them along by the wrist joyfully. "Mom," Eve began, smiling down at Darla. "This is Dylan Saunder's, she's Joanne's daughter and my new step-sister."

"Oh yes, it's an honor to finally meet, you dear." Darla smiled sincerely at Dylan and extended her hand out for her to shake.

"You, too, Mrs. Blair."

"Oh, no, honey, it's just Miss." Darla stated sweetly. "How is your mother?"

As Dylan began to reply to Darla, Eve's eyes began to wander, soon connecting with a pair of dark, chocolate ones that made her heart race with purpose. She couldn't control the smile that came about and it grew when he smiled back at her.

She couldn't believe the effect Jacob had over her.

It was supernatural in a way...

"Alright, everybody, take a seat." Emily announced.

Chairs scooting out on the hardwood floor sounded in the room and everyone sat down. Jesse sat on Eve's right, while Darla sat on her left. Jacob was sitting on the opposite side of Eve, making eye contact between the two of them impossible to break.

Everyone began to serve themselves and chatter began to sound.

"So when do you have to go back to the hospital, Darla?" Billy questioned.

"Not sure Billy, they have to call me to set up an appointment." She said. "Eve's going to be taking care of me for the time being."

"And Eve," Eve looked up to see Emily's light and cheerful brown eyes gazing into her own. "If you ever need any help or anything at all, just give me a call. I'd love to help you out!"

Eve smiled sincerely. "I will, Emily, thank you."

Eve served herself a second serving and received shocked looks from Dylan. Dylan didn't say anything, however, she watched her little step-sister with interest. Dylan couldn't believe how oblivious Eve was about her calorie intake. She would gain back everything she had lost if she wasn't careful...!

Eve went for another serving of scrambled eggs and she couldn't help it. "You're going for thirds, Eve?"

Unaware of the situation, Eve stopped mid-reach for the spoon, staring at her sister in shock. She hadn't even realized that this would be her third serving. The table went quiet and all eyes were on her. She began to blush lightly and quickly retracted her arm back.

"I... I didn't even realize..." She murmured, staring at her empty plate in disgust. She pushed it away from herself and Darla and Jacob were confused, even concerned about her reaction to what Dylan had said. "I'm finished."

Eve's ringtone began to blare from her pocket and she stood up. "I'm going to go take this, excuse me." She announced quietly, still ashamed for what she had done.

She walked outside of the house and towards where the tree line began, sitting against the tree on the floor. She quickly answered the phone before it went into voice mail and put it up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Eve, it's dad."

"Oh, hi..." Eve was even more uncomfortable now. Everything that she had done when she left Beverly Hills came into her mind and she remembered how badly she had treated him.

"Honey, if you're worried about what happened earlier, it's all in the past. I admit, I was very out of line, and I apologize for it."

Eve smiled and nodded even though no one could see her. "It's alright dad, I guess I can understand. I was just upset that's all." She said. "Is there something you wanted?"

"Well, I've been trying to reach you on your work phone for the past few days, however, we just discovered that you left it in your room when you were leaving for Washington." He replied. "Elle Indonesia wants to do that photo shoot, remember?"

Eve's head buried itself into her hand. "I completely, forgot..." She mumbled. "But I can't leave, Dad. Mom needs me to take care of her."

"Oh no, I know that, Eve. I've told them that for personal reasons you can't travel far from home." He stated. "They've agreed to send someone out to Seattle to do the photo shoot. I was thinking that maybe you and your mom could go. I'm sure she'd love to see you do your job."

Eve grinned. Why hadn't she thought of that before...? "That's a great idea, dad. When are they sending him over?"

"I'll text you the details later when they fax me them. I've gotta go now, Eve, take care."

"Alright, bye, dad."

"Wait, Eve..." She paused and waited for her dad to continue. "Tell your mom... tell Darla I say to get better, alright?"

Eve felt her spirits become lifted and she laughed. "Of course, I will, dad. I love you."

"Love you, too, kiddo. Bye."

"Bye."

Eve got up from the ground and heard the door open and close. She looked up to see Jesse walking towards her.

"Who was it?" He inquired.

"My dad," She shrugged her shoulders, dismissing the matter. "Let's go back inside."

"Wait, Eve, there's something I want to tell you."

She stared at him, slightly perplexed at what he wanted. "Yes, Jesse?"

"I was originally going to tell you yesterday, but with everything that happened, it just didn't work out that way... but..." He paused and then smiled. "I'm going to be going back to Beverly Hills for a while so I can finish up my acting classes. I'm going to call you everyday, and I'm going to make sure that you know that I love you." He kissed her forehead and let his arms wrap around her small body protectively. "Then when I come back, we'll continue to improve our relationship. It'll be great, Eve."

"How long...?"

"Well, I'm going to try to come back every two weeks or so, so that way we'll be able to still see each other." He explained. "It'll probably take me about two or three months total."

"Alright, Jesse..." She nodded. "When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow."

From inside the house, Jacob was sitting at the table listening to their conversation with his sensitive hearing.

Well, Jesse, it's time to level the playing field.