Just the Way You Are

"Eve, you have to wake up." Jacob's voice whispered in her ear gently. "We have to leave. Visiting hours are going to end right now." His large hands caressed her back delicately, and she slowly began to come to, squirming around in his arms that held her on his lap.

"You sure...?" She mumbled tiredly into his chest.

"Positive." He chuckled, slowly sitting her up.

Eve yawned, beginning to rub her eyes and get used to the bright lighting. As she noticed that she was sitting upon his lap, she blushed with embarrassment, quickly getting up and off of him.

"I'm sorry." She apologized. "I don't know why I did that."

Jacob nodded, before giving her a kind smile. "Don't worry about it. It's understandable. You just needed someone to be there for you." He said. "There's no reason to apologize."

Eve smiled gratefully at Jacob. "Thanks." She turned to her mom before looking back at Jacob. "Would you mind if I have a few minutes with my mom?"

Jacob stood and dusted himself off. "Sure, I'll be outside waiting for you. Take your time." His large build then made its way out of the room, closing the door quietly.

Eve turned to her mom and moved a few strands of hair from her face. "I'll be back tomorrow, mom. I'm going to visit you everyday from now on and when you get out of here I'm staying by your side. You're not going to be able to get rid of me." Eve smiled, taking her mom's hand into hers and rubbing the backside of it with her thumb. "We'll be a family again. A better one. One that doesn't forget each other. I promise."

Eve leaned down and kissed her mom's cheek, putting Darla's hand back onto her lap. Eve sighed, mumbling a goodbye and walking away towards the door. She walked out and saw Jacob standing on the opposite side of the hall, waiting patiently for her to come out.

He gave her a reassuring smile and she returned a small one just to hide how broken she was feeling. For one reason or another, it didn't work on Jacob, and his grin faltered. Jacob walked over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she went into his chest. A few tears escaped her eyes and she wiped them away as soon as they came out.

The two of them walked out of the hospital and to the parking garage, Jacob's arm still wrapped securely around her shoulders. Eve felt protected, safe, and most of all, cared for. It was like Jacob was there simply for her, to help her, to soothe her, to take care of her needs. Jacob was the one thing that was currently right in her life.

They reached his Rabbit and the two of them got in, Jacob starting up the engine and Eve buckling herself in.

Eve hadn't really noticed till now, most likely because Jacob's body was warm and he was holding her close to him most of the time, but she was freezing. Her jacket was like ice because she stood out in the rain for those few minutes when she was trying to fix the window with plastic wrap. Eve rolled her eyes, not believing she had actually tried to fix a window with plastic wrap.

Never again, that's for sure. She told herself.

Subconsciously, Eve began to shiver, and her skin got goosebumps.

"Are you alright, Eve?" She turned towards Jacob and nodded, her teeth beginning to chatter, which she tried to stop, although it was really no use. Jacob put a hand onto her jacket sleeve, the warmth from his palm leaked through the fabric and onto her skin like a heating patch, and she felt much better. "Jeez, Eve, you're freezing! Take it off."

"What?" She looked at him dumbfounded—perhaps the rain wasn't only affecting her skin, but her mind as well...

"Take your jacket off." He clarified, and looked in the back of the car, soon bringing out a black leather jacket. "Then put this on."

Eve did as she was told, trading her wet jacket for his dry one, and soon put that on, feeling toasty inside and out like Jacob made her when he touched her. Eve thanked him and he smiled at her, telling her it wasn't anything. Jacob began to back out and drive towards La Push, and he knew he had to ask her.

"Eve, do you want to spend the night at my house, tonight?"

"Excuse me?" Her eyes stared at him, wide and confused.

"Do you want to spend the night at my house?" He repeated. "I mean, I saw that guy standing outside in the woods and you looked really freaked out by him. He's bad news."

"You know him?"

"No, but... don't you just get that feeling?" Jacob quickly recovered.

"Yea, I guess you're right." Eve mumbled. "But I can't, I don't want to be a bother."

"You won't be, Eve. It's fine. My dad and I would be more than happy to have you over." He stated. "Besides, you can have my sisters' old room."

"You have a sister?" Eve inquired.

"Two, Rebecca and Rachel. Rebecca lives in Hawaii with her husband, and Rachel is living with my friend, Paul, they're together." He explained. "See? We have space for you."

Eve nodded and finally gave in, agreeing to Jacob's suggestion after his pleading for a few minutes. Jacob pulled up to Eve's house and the two of them got out, entering the house with haste to get away from the rain.

Jacob stayed downstairs and waited for Eve to gather her things. He could hear every step she took up the stairs and down the hallway. Jacob smiled as he thought about how he had held Eve earlier at the hospital, so secure and lovingly. He didn't want to let her go when the nurse had told him that the visiting hours would be over. However, waking her up and seeing those endless honey eyes she possessed were worth it.

Eve cried out with a shriek of horror, and Jacob's muscles tensed, his body shook with fear and anger, and his mind went haywire. His instincts kicked in not a second later, and he went shooting up the stairs, skipping three at a time and made it by her side in less than five seconds.

Eve's eyes were wide, and she stared at the room in shock. Jacob looked inside to see what was going on. Her room was trashed. The dressers were toppled over one another, the bedding was ripped to shreds, and the stench of leech was intoxicating.

Why hadn't Jacob noticed before? Had his daydreaming of Eve really distracted him so much...?

"C'mon Eve, let's get your things and get out of here." Jacob ordered firmly, walking inside the room that made him want to suffocate himself.

Jacob picked up the dressers and set the upright, making Eve slightly amazed by his strength. Eve snapped out of it and grabbed a small suitcase, filling it up with clothes for a few days along with some valuables she didn't want to leave behind so they wouldn't be stolen in case he came back. She zipped it shut and then nodded at Jacob who took her suitcase and began to lead he down the stairs and back out the door.

He loaded the suitcase into the back of the car and got into the driver's seat as Eve got into the passenger side. The ride to Jacob's home was silent for the most part. Eve was staring down at her thumbs with her mind blank in slight shock that someone had actually came into her house.

Jacob would take curious glances over at her and he didn't like her silence. He got a firm grip on the wheel and put his right arm over her shoulders and pulled her into his body protectively, as to say that he was there, and he would listen.

Eve snuggled into his safe embrace and relaxed, once again feeling secure. She loved how easily he took every bad feeling that she had away. It was truly something—especially since he was new to her life. It'd take months for someone new in Eve's life to make her feel like this. Not Jacob, though. No, Jacob... he was special. He was something else. He was different.

And Eve loved that.

Jacob killed the engine after pulling up towards a small and humble red home. The layout of the home looked familiar to her own, it comforted her for some odd reason, possibly because she knew that Jacob would be right there with her.

Eve and Jacob both got out of the car, getting her suitcase and walking towards the door. Jacob walked on in and Eve followed him, closing the door after herself. He led her down the hallway and opened a door, flipping the light switch up and putting her suitcase beside the bed.

"Um, you can go ahead and put your things away inside the dresser if you want. Just make yourself at home, Eve." He instructed. "I'm going to go and see what happened to my dad. I'll be right back."

"Alright, take your time."

He flashed her a smile and then vanished down the hallway. Eve then felt all the security leave along with Jacob, making her feel on edge, somewhat scared of her surroundings.

She looked around the room and took it in. The walls were painted white, and the carpet flooring was white as well. Pink curtains with purple butterflies scattered on them hung over the window that was blurry and smudged, the backyard barely visible through it. In the middle of the small room was the bed. It was nice sized; there would be enough space for Eve to sprawl out on top of it. The idea seemed like a good one at the moment, with the fluffed pink pillows and pink comforters that were laid upon it.

Eve decided against it, however, and decided to put her few clothes away into the white dresser and try to "make herself at home" like Jacob had so kindly suggested. When she finished, she placed her empty luggage to the side of the furniture and sat down on the bed, the springs moved around with difficulty, softly squealing as they did so.

Eve couldn't remember a time that she had felt so apprehensive. It was killing her. Without Jacob, it was all slowly falling apart. She could hear his heavy footsteps make their way slowly down the hallway, and she felt the safety he carried around with him slowly wash over her.

This boy is making me bipolar. She concluded.

"My dad went over to a friend's house for dinner, he suggested that we go, too." Jacob said.

Eve's stomach plummeted to her feet in anxiety. "We... we have to?" She questioned. After the words escaped her lips, she felt guilty for being rude. They were giving her refuge from not only the rain, but from the man who most likely was the person to enter her room, and she was complaining about going out to eat with their friends...? That wasn't the way Darla raised her to be. "I'm sorry, when do we leave?" She corrected herself quickly.

"If you don't want to go, we don't have to, Eve. We can make something here."

"No, no, I want to go." Eve replied. "When do we leave?"

"Right now, I guess." Jacob smiled and extended his hand out and helped Eve to her feet.

The two of them walked out of the home, Jacob locking the white front door with his key and racing towards the car. Jacob drove down the street and Eve stared out the window, looking at the trees that were being pelted with large drops of water.

Within a few minutes, they arrived at a sort of log cabin home. A few other cars were parked in the front and he pulled up beside one of them, killing the engine and looking over at Eve.

"This is just a get together of family and friends. There's no need to be nervous or anything. I promise you that you'll feel welcomed."

Eve smiled and nodded in understanding. "Alright, thanks for the heads up."

They both got off of the car and quickly ran towards the porch for shelter, and Jacob walked inside, taking Eve's hand and leading her inside the house.

Eve saw a grand total of fourteen people before her and the fact that Jacob was there wasn't much of anything anymore. She felt as if it was only her in the room now.

Jacob cleared his throat and smiled towards everyone who was now looking their way, their gaze lingering upon their hands that were grasping onto one another. Eve felt her cheeks heat up considerably and she casually dropped his hand and retracted her arm into her body, crossing her arms over her chest to try and give herself some sense of security that Jacob no longer could.

"Guys, this is Eve Blair, she's Darla's daughter." Jacob introduced, turning towards Eve who was standing awkwardly by the front door. "Eve, this is my dad Billy, Sue Clearwater, Seth, Leah, Embry, Quil, Brady, Collin, Jared, Kim, Paul, Rachel, Sam, and his fiancé, Emily."

"Hi," Eve's quiet voice was barely heard in the room and they all eyed her curiously. As she felt their eyes upon her, she blushed lightly and caused the woman named Emily to smile. Eve noticed the large scars that marred her tanned skin and she made a mental note to not stare at her for long so she wouldn't offend her.

Emily walked over to her slowly and put her hands onto her shoulders gently, soon pulling her into a welcoming hug. "It's nice to meet you, Eve, any friend of Jacob's is a friend of ours." She then pulled away, still smiling warmly, and looked over at the boy quickly and then back at Eve. "Don't worry about the boys, just ignore them, they're not good with welcomes."

"Are not!" One of them yelled, and then approached the two of them. "I'm Seth."

"Nice to meet you," Eve replied lamely, not sure how else to reply to that.

A man in a wheelchair rolled up to Eve and smiled. "Hello, I'm Billy Black, just call me Billy, though." He smiled warmly and Eve felt a bit more relaxed around him. "I'm a friend of your mother's, and I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for her." Eve's mood fell slightly, and she told herself to not let it get to her. "If I know Darla though, she'll pull through. She's strong."

"Thanks Billy," Eve replied, smiling sadly down at him. "It means a lot to me."

"Alright, now that everyone's here, let's sit down to eat." The woman named Sue declared, clapping her hands together.

The boys grinned hugely and began to shout. Eve was dumbfounded. She knew that boys loved food, but actually cheering over being able to eat..? That was certainly out of the ordinary in her eyes. The last girl, Leah, simply glared at them and their "moronic behavior" as she called it. Leah turned towards Eve and growled at her, causing Eve to take a few small steps back in surprise.

"Don't mind her," Jacob whispered into her ear, the vibrations and warmth on her earlobe sending small shivers throughout her entire body. "She's a bitch to everyone. Just ignore her and she'll leave you alone."

"O-okay," Eve stammered.

Jacob casually wrapped one arm around Eve's small and petite waist, pulling her towards himself. He guided her into another room and sat her down at an empty chair, scooting her in like a gentleman, and bringing a chair up right next to Eve to sit beside her.

Food was placed onto the table and greedy tanned hands made a mad dash for the spoons and tongs to pick up pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes, and ribs; some hands simply grabbing them without a utensil. As soon as most of the chaos had passed, Eve served herself a bit of everything, putting it onto her plate.

It was quiet, mostly because everyone was too busy and concentrated on eating. Eve liked it. It meant she didn't have to talk to anyone. She could keep quiet and not worry about sounding stupid like she believed she did.

"So Eve," Eve's stomach dropped, but she looked up to see who called her. Jacob's deep, brown eyes captured her eyes and he continued talking. "You said you had a job, what is it?"

"Oh, you have a job, Eve?" Billy looked curiously at her from across the table.

"Yea," Eve nodded shyly. "I model."

"Evangeline!" Everyone's head snapped up and towards Emily who was now blushing lightly with slight embarrassment. "Sorry." She apologized quietly, standing up and walking into the living room and returning with magazine, plopping it down in front of Eve and Jacob, everyone staring at it curiously.

It was quiet as everyone stared. It was a magazine Eve had shot for last year in December. It was called Prestige.

"Damn, girl's got curves." Paul muttered, earning a smack from Rachel. "But yours are much better."

Eve blushed madly and sunk into her chair. Jacob growled and snatched the magazine from the top of the table, putting it onto his lap and going through the pages until he came to the section where there were nothing but pictures of Eve modeling.

"I thought I recognized you from somewhere." Emily began. "I bought the magazine and read the articles. When Jacob brought you here I thought of it, but he didn't say your full name so it didn't click right away. Then when you said you modeled, well, I put two and two together."

"Wow, these are good..." He mumbled.

"Thank you."

The rest of dinner was spent eating and talking about Eve's job as a model, which made her become slightly uncomfortable.

"Man, I bet all the guys are chasing you." Embry commented. "Has someone gone as far as breaking into your house?" Eve knew that it was posed as a joke, however it reminded her of how the man from earlier had broken into her room and trashed it. Eve reached for the mashed potatoes and put two more drum sticks onto her plate. "And she has an appetite?"

Eve was about to put her fork into her mouth and stopped, putting it back onto her plate. She tuned out for the rest of the night, not believing that she had eaten so much. She had served herself more than once, something that was a definite "No" for keeping a perfect model figure.

Billy was taken home by Sue Clearwater after eating and Jacob and Eve were driving to his home at around midnight; the night was black and mysterious, giving Eve an alert feeling as she stared out the window. They pulled up to the front of the house and killed the engine. The two of them got off the car and walked inside, away from the chill of the wind that was softly brushing up against them.

They separated, going into their own rooms to change, and Jacob laid down in his boxers on his bed, staring up at the ceiling with a smile. Being with Eve set something off inside of him. When he saw that magazine, all those pictures of her in poses, and the way her eyes seemed to glow when she took them, it gave him joy. Seeing her happy gave him a purpose. It made him want to make her happy, and keep her happy.

He remembered the first time that he had set eyes upon her. She was different appearance wise, however the feeling he got when he stared into her gorgeous honey eyes was the same. Though he felt more connected to her now, perhaps their time apart had something to do with it, perhaps it made him realize that life was much more enjoyable with her than without her, making him never want to leave her side again.

He looked at the closed door and got up, opening it and walking down the hallway to her room. He was going to knock when she heard that she was in the middle of a conversation.

"Jesse, it's... it's complicated. I don't really want to get into it." She sighed, pausing for a few seconds. "We both know that you and I aren't into each other like we used to be. We know why you're still with me." There was silence for a few seconds. "Jesse, you say you love me, but you don't mean it, we both know it." Jacob's heart was pounding inside his chest like a wrecking ball. "It's just a small town, Jesse. You wouldn't like it. There's no paparazzi." Eve sighed shakily and Jacob could hear the springs in the bed move around. "Goodbye, Jesse."

Jacob backed away from the door and retreated back into his room, getting into his bed and staring at the ceiling. His face was blank and he wasn't sure if his heart was breaking or beating at all, either way, it was killing him inside.

Eve hung up the phone and rubbed her temples. Her stomach growled and she groaned. She had over eaten, and she was freaking out. She'd gain weight, she'd get fat, and she'd be made fun of again.

Evangeline Blair was not going to be going back on that road anytime soon.

She walked out of her room and down the hallway, walking into the bathroom and turning the faucets on, bending over the toilet. She calmed her rattling nerves and then put her index finger into the back of her throat.

It had been months since she had done it, but...

She was back to throwing up.