Just the Way You Are

Eve parked the Yukon on the side of the house as usual and got off the vehicle. She took out the wheelchair from the back of the car and helped Darla get off as well and into the chair. Evangeline then wheeled her mother up the ramp Jacob had so kindly made them a few weeks ago, and into the household and out of the slightly chilly weather. It had been two months since she had gotten back from rehabilitation and things were were going well.

Things weren't perfect, but Eve was managing to deal with whatever got thrown her way.

Darla's chemotherapy had taken priority over everything, even Eve's relationship. Her and Jake hadn't gone out on any kind of date since they had both given themselves to each other. He would come over for breakfast and leave when she took her mother to Forks General. Whenever Eve was available, however, it seemed that Jacob wasn't able to make the date. He explained that his dad, Billy, was making him run "errands" most of the day.

Eve missed Jacob. Not only that, but she felt slight anger towards the boy.

She had given him her virginity, and now they hardly ever saw one another. Eve felt stupid for making such a decision. Part of her wished they had never done the deed, while the other was completely fine with the fact.

It seemed that "errands" were the only thing the boy did nowadays. Errands. Errands my ass. No one can possibly run that many errands every single day. She thought to herself.

Eve shook her head at the thought that he might have someone else and mentally scolded herself. Jacob Black would never do that to her... would he...?

Eve pushed Darla's chair into the kitchen and towards the table, making sure that she was nice and comfortable.

"Want some hot cocoa mom?" Eve inquired as she walked over to the stove, turning on the flame.

"Yes, please, Evangeline. I'd like that very much." It was silent as she made the concoction. Soon enough though, she was carrying two large mugs of the chocolate liquid towards her mother. "Whipped cream?"

"No, thank you." Darla replied, and simply stirred the hot cocoa with a spoon in an attempt to cool it.

Eve shrugged before sauntering over to the fridge, getting out a can and spraying a bit of the fluffy topping onto the cocoa. She added a few marshmallows to the top and sat down at the chair in silence, taking her spoon and scooping some into her mouth.

"So... tell me," Darla began. "When did you and Jacob become so distant?"

"What are you talking about?" Eve stared at Darla in confusion. She didn't want to let her know that their relationship was being strained at the moment. She thought that Darla might feel responsible for it and that was the last thing she wanted.

"I know that you two aren't the same with each other. It's obvious. Even when he comes over for breakfast you both act so... uncomfortable around one another. Did something happen, Eve?"

"No... no, nothing happened."

"Tell me the truth, Evangeline. I want to know."

"Our schedules just don't... revolve around each others, that's all."

"Is that all?" She questioned her daughter knowingly.

Eve knew she wouldn't be able to hide it any longer. "Whenever I'm busy, he's free, and whenever he's free, I'm not. We just don't see each other any more and it's... it's hard."

"I understand." She sighed. "I'm sorry that you're unable to have the relationship with him that you deserve, Evangeline."

"Mom, don't be. I'm happy that I'm able to help you out, and I'd rather make sure that you're healthy than spend time with Jacob. He understands, too."

Darla smiled through her misty eyes and took hold of Eve's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Thank you, Eve... I love you so much."

"I love you, too, Mom." Eve replied, giving her mom a smile back.

Later that night, Eve was cleaning the dishes as Darla took a shower. After finishing the last one, Eve headed upstairs to get ready for bed. She changed into her pajamas and pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail.

Eve heard Darla turn off the shower and get out, and so she went to the bathroom to see if her mom needed any help getting to her room. She was about to knock when she heard a soft muffled sob from inside.

"Mom, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Evangeline."

"Can I come in?"

There was no reply and so Eve decided she would risk getting yelled at by her mom to make sure that she was alright. She turned the knob and took a step inside. Eve saw her mom in her yellow bathrobe, sitting upon the toilet seat cover with her face buried into her hands, her shoulders shaking as she silently cried.

"Mom, what's the matter? Are you hurt?" Eve's questions came rushing out, sounding almost jumbled together.

"I'm fine... I'm fine...!" Darla yelled.

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm sorry for yelling, Evangeline." Darla apologized. "I'm just... emotional right now."

"Mom... what's wrong?"

"It's nothing really. I... I just noticed when I was taking a shower that... my hair is falling out." She explained. "The chemotherapy is doing it's job, though, so I shouldn't be complaining." Darla chuckled.

Darla ran a hand through her hair and pulled it out to find a large clump of her dark brown hair tangled in between her fingers. She frowned threw the hairs into the trash can, a look of disgust soon occupying her face. "I'll be bald within the next week."

Eve didn't know what to say, so instead, she told her mother that things would get better and helped her to bed. After helping Darla, she walked into her room and sat atop her bed, her fingers playing with strands of her hair.

She looked down at her hair for a few seconds. She hadn't gotten a hair cut in a long while, it had been more than six months perhaps...? It was long now, almost reaching her mid-back.

Without another thought, she reached for her laptop and got online. Her cellphone buzzed with a new text and she got it out, reading it with interest.



She immediately texted him back with her reply.











After sending the final text to Jacob, she found what she was looking for online. She called the number and made the first appointment for the next morning, feeling satisfied after hanging up the phone. Eve realized that she would have to have someone watching her mother while she was away and then quickly rang Emily before it got any later.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Emily, it's Eve calling." Eve greeted.

"Oh, hello, Eve, how are things?"

"Pretty good, could be better, but I'll get what I can take, you know?" She answered. "How about yourself?"

"Things on my end are pretty good, too."

"I'm glad to hear it," Eve sincerely replied with a small smile, even though Emily couldn't see it. "Emily, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can you possibly take care of my mom tomorrow? I'm going to doing something and I don't want to leave her alone."

"Yes, of course I will. Bring her anytime you want, I'm up at the crack of dawn." Emily laughed.

"Great, thanks so much, Emily!"

"Happy to help. Well, I'm going to head to bed now, Eve. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Emily."

With that, Eve hung up the call and placed her cell phone on it's charger. She closed her laptop after shutting it down and climbed into bed with a smile. She was excited about tomorrow.

The next morning, Eve woke up early. She took a shower and got out quickly with a towel around her torso, rushing into her room and getting dressed as fast as she could. Rushing back into the bathroom, Eve began to blow dry her hair and brush it out, leaving it soft, silky and straight.

When Eve left the bathroom, Darla was walking out of her bedroom. "Morning, Mom, need help?"

"No, no, I'm fine, Eve. Thank you, though."

Eve hesitantly left her mother and continued getting ready in her room. After getting her shoes on and applying some light make up, she was ready. Eve found her mother already dressed and downstairs sitting in her wheelchair, watching a random television game show.

"Mom, um, I'm going to be doing something today, so I was going to take you over to Emily's. Is that alright?"

"Yes, it's fine. When did you want to leave?"

"Right now."

"Okay, then." Darla nodded and then wheeled herself towards the door.

After loading up the car, Eve drove the Yukon down the small asphalt road towards Sam's and Emily's home. When they arrived, Eve took out the wheelchair and placed it upon the porch, rushing back to help Darla out of the car and up the few stairs, soon setting her down into the chair and wheeling her inside.

"Morning Emily," Darla and Eve greeted in unison.

Emily laughed heartily at the greeting before smiling at the two of them. "Good morning, Eve, Darla. Want some breakfast?"

"That would be great, thank you, Emily." Darla said.

"No thanks, I've gotta head out. I have a bit of a drive to do."

"Well, here," Emily said, and reached for a muffin on the table, wrapping it up in a napkin. "At least take this in case you get hungry."

"Thank you, Em," Eve smiled, and hugged her tightly.

"Be safe driving, Eve." Darla said.

"I will, bye, Mom, Emily." She gave her mom a quick hug and a wave to Emily as she made her way out the door and into someone's chest.

She looked up and found those brown orbs she loved and smiled instantly. "Jake." She sighed out and wrapped her arms around his torso, him doing the same with her.

"I've missed you so much, Eve." He sighed out into the crook of her neck.

The two of them walked down towards the car and Jacob smiled down at her. "So what are you doing here, Eve?"

"I dropped my mom off with Emily for the day." she answered. "What about yourself?"

"I come over for Emily's breakfast sometimes."

"I feel slightly betrayed." Eve joked.

Jacob kissed the top of her head and hugged her tightly. "Don't let her know that I love your cooking more." He whispered into her ear, causing Eve to smile and laugh softly.

"I'll try." She replied. "I've gotta get going right now, but I don't wanna leave you. Do you wanna come?"

Jacob frowned. "I wish I could, but... I have to run some errands."

"You told me last night that you were free."

"Yes, but something just came up." He told her quickly. "I didn't expect it."

"Oh, okay... well, I have to get going."

"I love you, Eve."

"Love you, too." Eve replied.

Eve got into her car with haste and started it up after buckling herself in. She wasn't happy. Again with his errands...! You're being childish. Eve concluded, beginning to become annoyed with her selfishness. He's just... busy. Her thoughts wondered to him having some other girl with him and she gripped the steering wheel with enough grip that her knuckles turned white.

"Stop being so damn paranoid!!" Eve yelled. "He wouldn't cheat on you!"

Eve then blasted the Yukon's radio to take her mind off things as she drove. Thankfully, it worked, and the only thing she concentrated on, was the road and the lyrics to the songs she sang along with.

Eve arrived at the salon she made the appointment with, and parked the back parking garage. After getting off the car and entering the building, she walked towards the receptionist.

"Hello, do you have an appointment?"

"Yes, my name's Evangeline, I'm scheduled for ten-thirty with Lisa."

The blond haired girl looked down at the tablet in front of her and looked back at Eve with a smile. "Oh yes, go ahead and take a seat on the third chair, Lisa's just getting ready."

"Thanks."

Eve then made her way towards the third chair and sat upon it slowly, placing her bag atop her lap comfortably. Soon, a fair skinned woman with chestnut hair in a tight ponytail approached her.

"Hello, I'm Lisa. I take it you're Evangeline, my ten-thirty?" She inquired with a warm smile.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too." Lisa agreed, leaning up against the counter in front of Eve. "So how much do you want to cut off?"

"About eleven inches. Will that be enough?"

"Oh yes, the minimum is ten inches." Lisa nodded. "We'll make the wig here right away, though it may take a while to complete. It might take an hour or two at the most."

"Sounds perfect."

"Great, let's get started, shall we?"

Lisa led Eve to another chair in the back of the salon where she had her hair washed once again. After wrapping the stringy mess into a towel, the two of them walked back towards the third chair, Lisa soon getting out her scissors and cutting away Eve's locks.

Eve looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled. She hoped that her mother would love this....

After waiting two hours, the wig was completed and Eve picked it up from the receptionist. "I think what you're doing is so amazing." The girl told Eve. "It's so nice of you to donate your hair to make a wig for your mom. She's lucky to have you."

"Thank you." Eve smiled gratefully.

The girl simply nodded and smiled. "I hope she loves it, and I hope she gets better!"

"Thanks so much for the well wishes and for helping make this."

"Happy to help." She replied.

After exchanging goodbyes, Eve left the building and scurried off to the Yukon, getting in and starting it up. She was soon heading down the highway back towards La Push.

Eve parked the car in front of Emily's house and got off, walking up the porch stairs and into the homey building. Darla and Emily sat at the dining table, and Eve could see Embry and Dylan cuddled up together on the couch, both of them asleep. The sight caused her to smile, she was really happy that her sister had found someone.

"Mom, are you ready to go?"

"Hm? Oh hello, Eve!" Darla smiled and hugged her daughter tightly. "Yes, dear, I am. Emily, we have to do this again sometime. Thank you so much for everything."

"Yea, thanks for taking care of my mom while I was away. I really appreciate it." Eve agreed.

"It wasn't a problem." Emily replied with her usual caring smile. "Be safe driving home."

"Thanks, Em."

Eve loaded up her mom into the car and began to short drive home in silence. When Eve parked the car, she looked over at her mom who was staring right back at her.

"You got a hair cut..." She noted. "I like it."

"Thanks."

"Was that all you did? Where did you go anyways?"

"I went to Seattle."

"All the way out there for a mere hair cut?"

"It's not the only thing." Eve replied, and reached into the bag that sat between them, pulling out the wig. "I used the hair I cut to make you a wig. I know that the chemo making you lose your hair isn't he easiest thing for you emotionally, and I just wanted to do this for you, mom, because I know that you would do the same thing for me."

Darla's eyes were filled to the brim with tears and she hugged her daughter tighter than she ever had before. "Oh, Eve. I love you so much, but you shouldn't have done this. You shouldn't be sacrificing more for me when you already do so much."

"I want to, mom. You mean the world to me and I want to make sure that you're happy."

"Oh Eve," Darla sobbed. "Bringing you into my life... was truly the best thing that ever happened."

"I love you, mom."

"I love you, too, honey... so, so, so much."

Another month had gone by, and things were still the same. Not perfect, but not horrible. The Blair family was getting by, and that was really all that mattered. Darla's chemotherapy was going fine with her two visits once a week, and Eve's relationship with Jacob was getting better as they began to see each other one or two days a week.

Eve had just finished washing the dishes and cleaning up the mess from dinner when her phone received a text message. She opened the message and read it to herself.







Eve felt a pang in her chest. She hated saying no to Jacob, but both of them knew that Darla's health was much more important than their relationship. She wished her mom had never gotten the disease, things would probably be picture perfect if it never happened. However, Eve wasn't blaming her mother for the way things were, she would never do such a thing.

Maybe I could call Emily... Eve thought, and so she dialed Emily's number. After the two chatted, Eve hung up with a frown. Emily was busy with Sam making final preparations for their up and coming wedding and wasn't able to. She thought of another person and dialed another number, Sue Clearwater soon answering the call. Once more, the answer wasn't in her favor and so she hung up the phone with a sigh.

"Thanks for your time, Sue. Goodbye."

"Eve, what were you doing?"

She spun around to see Darla standing there in the door frame, a curious look upon her face. "Nothing, mom."

"I'm not buying it. Why were you calling Sue?"

Eve sighed and plopped down onto the chair at the table. "I was trying to see if someone could look after you while I went out with Jacob. No one can though, so... I'll just stay home."

"Evangeline, you're going."

"But mom—!!"

"No, buts. You're going. You give up so much of your free time to take care of me, and it isn't fair or right. You're losing so much time to be with Jacob and your friends. You deserve time off. Besides, I'll be fine."

Eve gave her mom a smile and engulfed her in a hug. "Thanks mom."

"Go have fun, honey."

Eve then rushed past her mom and upstairs into her room, sending a quick text to Jacob saying that she'd be over in a few minutes. She changed out of her sweats and baggy t-shirt and into nicer clothes before dashing out the door with a fast goodbye to her mom who was laughing to herself as she watched it all unfold.

When she arrived at Jacob's house, she killed the engine with haste and jogged up to his front door, knocking out it twice before waiting. The door opened and Jacob stood before her, a large grin on his face.

"Hey Eve," He greeted, and engulfed her in a large hug, picking her up in the air as he did so and bringing her in. He set her back down on the ground and placed a kiss on her lips delicately. "I'm so happy you could come."

"Me too," She agreed with a smile. "So what are we doing?"

"Well, I rented a movie for us to watch. Quil and Claire watched it together and he said it was nice."

"What is it?"

"The Princess and The Frog."

"You're going to sit through it?"

"Yes, I am." He chuckled.

Eve plopped down onto his couch and after inserting the DVD and pressing play, so did Jacob, pulling her into his body comfortably. The movie was, in fact, nice. Eve was enjoying herself. As another song began to play, Jacob's voice sang along with the firefly.

"Look how she lights up the sky,
Ma Belle Evangeline.
So far above me yet I,
Know her heart belongs to only me.
J'et adore, J'et aime Evangeline,
You're my queen of the night,
So still,
So bright.
That someone as beautiful as she,
Could love someone like me.
Love always finds a way it's true!
And I love you, Evangeline.
Love is beautiful,
Love is wonderful!
Love is everything, do you agree?
Mais' oui!
Look how she lights up the sky,
I love you, Evangeline"

Eve blushed darkly and kissed Jacob's lips tenderly, enjoying the sensation of them together. She pulled away and buried her face into the nook of his neck. "I love you, Jacob."

For the rest of the movie, the two of them cuddled closer together than they originally were and Jacob would kiss the top of her head occasionally. When the credits began to roll, Eve checked the time, finding it to be nearing midnight.

"I've gotta go home." She sighed, and got up along with Jacob.

"Alright, drive carefully." Jacob replied, and kissed her lips quickly. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Jacob walked her to the Yukon, and helped her inside like a gentleman. From the porch, he watched her back out and drive down the street, her taillights slowly fading away. He was glad that she had opted for leaving, he didn't want to have to tell her to leave. He looked at the clock and noticed that it was now officially midnight as the clock's big hand moved to the middle. He sighed before walking into his room and changing clothes. It seemed it was time for him to run more patrols... or errands as he had told Eve.

When Eve arrived home, she walked inside with a smile on her face.

That smile was wiped off instantly at the sight she saw and she let out a scream of terror.

Darla was sprawled on the floor at the bottom of the staircase, not moving and silent. She sprinted to her mother's side and checked for a pulse immediately. When she felt nothing she let out a sob as she grabbed her phone from her pocket, fumbling with the object before dialing the three digits.

"911. What is your emergency?"

"My mother fell down the staircase, isn't breathing and doesn't have a pulse! Please send an ambulance quickly!"

"What's the address?"

After giving the address, Eve hung up the phone and sobbed, not knowing quite what to do. The door burst open and Jacob ran into the room.

"Eve, what happened?"

"She fell, she's not breathing, and she doesn't have a pulse!" Eve sobbed out.

Jacob knelt down beside Darla's body and checked for a pulse just as Eve had done. "Eve, I'm going to do CPR on her." He mumbled, and immediately began the process, breathing out air into her lungs and pushing down on her chest.

Much to Eve's displeasure, it took the paramedics ten agonizingly long minutes for them to arrive. They quickly loaded Darla onto the stretcher and placed her into the vehicle, the EMTs getting into the vehicle as well. Eve went to get into the ambulance, but one EMT told her otherwise.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you in."

"Why?"

"The longer we talk, the less chances she has."

With a grimace, Eve got off and watched the EMTs drive off. Jacob put a hand on her shoulder to let her know that he was there, and Eve shrugged it off. She rushed towards the Yukon and got inside, sitting down in the driver's seat and starting the engine.

Jacob was about to jump into the passenger seat when he heard a loud howl from the trees, a certain ring of authority embedded in the wolf's cry. Damn Sam...! He cursed and backed away from the car, heading towards the trees.

"Jake, aren't you coming?" Eve shouted out at him, and a pang of guilt surged through his body when he could make out all the pain and hurt that was in her quivering voice.

"I can't. I have stuff to do."

"Yea, more 'errands', right?" She snapped.

Jacob didn't reply to her, and his heart broke in two when she backed out in silence and sped down the street after the ambulance towards Forks General. As he continued walking, the anger was building up inside him. When he passed a large tree, he stopped walking and then punched the bark, leaving a large indent.

I can't keep up this façade. I have to tell her what's going on.

After driving for what seemed like an eternity, Eve parked in the parking garage and sprinted inside the building. When she received the sticker and found out the room that her mom was in, she went dashing down the hallway.

She walked inside the room with haste and gasped as she saw the sight. Darla was on the bed looking paler than before with cords and IVs stuck inside in body. Carlisle and other nurses and doctors surrounded her bed with emotionless faces. Carlisle was putting away the defibrillator, a look of pure failure on his face. The long and monotone beep that sounded from the heart monitor taunted Eve, and the flat line she witnessed only made it worse.

Carlisle turned and saw her there, making him even more distraught. "I'm so sorry, Eve. There was just nothing that we could do."

Eve didn't want to hear it. Instead, she darted from the room as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

Her mom was gone. She was dead.

And Eve began to wonder, was there anything still holding her here to La Push...?

The drive home was quiet and only made Eve cry that much harder. It felt wrong to be leaving her mom at the hospital. It felt wrong to feel such a loneliness consume her being.

When Eve got home, she killed the engine and hopped out of the car, stalking up the ramp and into her house, slamming the door shut with such force part of the wall shook. She ran up the staircase and into her room.

What was she to do with herself?

Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor, letting herself finally cry her heart out. There was a pounding downstairs on the front door and she heard his muffled voice.

"Eve! Let me inside!"

She contemplated. After he had left her, claiming he had other things to do, she didn't want to see him at the moment. Eve felt like he had just cast her aside in her moment of need.

Eve stood up and slowly descended the staircase, walking towards the front door that Jacob continued to hammer upon. She reached for the door handle and pulled the door open, Jacob rushing in and enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Eve, I'm so sorry about Darla."

She didn't return his hug and, in fact, attempted to get out of it. When Jacob realized her true intentions, he pulled away and stared at her in confusion.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"We can't be together anymore."

Jacob stared at her in shock, and he took a step back as his heart began to break. "Wha...what?"

"We can't be together anymore. We're... we're over."

"Eve, where the hell is this all coming from? We'll get through Darla's death together. I'll help you...!"

"Oh, like you did when I went to the hospital right now...?!" Eve yelled. "Sorry if I don't want to be with someone who deserts me when I need him the most...!"

"There was nothing I could do!"

"You could've stayed! You could've acted like you fucking cared!"

"Eve, you don't understand!"

"Well, then tell me so I do understand!" She shouted. "I want to understand why you always have so much to do now!"

"I can't tell you..." Jacob replied through gritted teeth.

"Then don't expect me to be here tomorrow." She said. "Because there's nothing holding me here anymore."

With that, she slammed the front door in his face and walked away, ignoring his hand slamming down upon the door and his shouts for her to come back.

She wasn't coming back after she left.

Not to La Push...

And not to Jacob Black.