Four

The plane screeched, jumping up slightly a few times as it came back into contact with the runway. Eve was shaken awake and began to quickly compose herself, getting ready to jump up from her seat and disembark the craft.

As soon the airliner came to a halt, and the intercom went off, thanking them for choosing the airline, she jumped from her seat and made her way out. Her feet carried her down the somewhat familiar terminals and towards the luggage claim, where she grabbed each of her bags that came down from the chute above.

Eve walked out of the building and got into a line, waiting for a shuttle bus. After about a ten minute wait she was given a bus of her own and was being driven back to her old home in La Push.

She stared out the window and was shocked yet happy to find that nothing had really changed. Why would it? Nothing ever happened in the small town.

After a thirty minute ride, she arrived back at her home that looked more battered and wearier than ever. Its light blue paint was chipping and faded, muddy on the bottom. The grass looked wild, seeing as it was almost a foot in height. The roof was almost shingle-less, with only a few hanging onto it. After the driver got her bags off of the truck, Eve paid him and hurried on inside to escape from the chilling wind that suddenly started up.

She looked under the mat in front of her door to find that the spare key was gone. Eve cursed a few times under her breath and lugged her bags to the back of the house to see if there was another spot where it could be hiding. She searched in the planters and under them, not finding the key in the end.

"Crap, how am I going to get in?" She mumbled.

There was a clap of thunder and the graying sky lit up with a streak of lightning. Eve groaned in frustration and began to pick up all her suitcases and putting them onto the back porch so they would remain untouched by the falling drops of water.

On the ground she noticed a large rock that was the size of her fist, maybe a bit bigger. She didn't want to, however she didn't know how she would get in otherwise. Eve put her black hood up to protect her from the rain, and grabbed it from the muddy ground. She walked towards the side of the house where the larger windows were, and wound her arm back.

Eve took a breath to calm her nerves before catapulting the rock forwards with speed. It hit the window directly in the middle and the rest of it came crashing down with ease. Eve got a running start towards her house, seeing as it was elevated about three feet, and jumped up and into the window frame. She pulled herself forward and fell onto the shards of broken glass, scraping her knees and getting a few small cuts on her palms.

"Shit," She muttered, getting up from the ground and shaking herself free of any shards that were still on her.

Eve walked to the back door of the house and unlocked it, grabbing all of her belongings and hustling up the stairs with them. She walked into her room to find that nothing had changed about it. The only thing that was new was the amount of dust and cobwebs that were all around.

"Who are you?"

Eve jumped, screaming in surprise and fear of who was behind her. She spun around quickly, falling on her butt due to lack of balance and stared up at the boy.

He was dark skinned with a height much taller than her own, his dark brown eyes looked warm and inviting, his large lips looked irresistible and she wanted to do nothing but kiss them, and his black hair was cropped messily.

Eve's heart raced in her body, her mind went fuzzy and blank, her limbs now numb and useless. What was wrong with her? She couldn't remember being this awestruck since that boy helped her back when she was still at La Push High School.

It clicked. This was the boy, however, he was more mature now than before. His body had grown, his muscles were toned, and his new found masculinity was a bit of a turn on in Eve's eyes.

"Who are you?" Eve questioned, finally finding her voice.

He chuckled. "I asked first."

"Evangeline Blair, Darla Blair's daughter." She responded. "You?"

"Jacob Black."

"So... what are you... what are you doing here?"

Jacob extended his arm out and helped Eve to her feet, as he took back his hand, he noticed a few smears of blood on his hand. He looked at hers to find it was scratched up a bit.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Eve apologized quickly as soon as she noticed his hand.

"Come with me." Jacob ordered, taking her hand in his and leading her back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

He began to rummage through out the many cabinets and Eve could only assume he was looking for a first aid kit.

"The last cabinet on the left." She stated.

Jacob looked at her oddly before walking to the same cabinet and opening it to find the white box with "FIRST AID" written on it. He took it out and walked back over to her, setting it on the table. He motioned for her to sit on the table and she did so slowly.

He took her hand delicately in his and began to disinfect it, soon wrapping it up in a wad of bandages.

"You still haven't answered my question." Eve pointed out.

Jacob chuckled to himself. "I was driving with my dad and we saw you throwing a rock through the window and go jumping through it. My dad knows your mom so we stopped to see what was going on." He answered. "He thought you were a burglar or something."

Eve laughed along with Jacob, and when she heard it, she felt everything turn up. Their laughter together sounded so harmonious that it made the pain in her palm become nonexistent.

"So what are you doing here?" Jacob inquired.

Eve's smile faltered, soon disappearing from her face. Eve was reminded of why she was here, she was reminded of reality. "I got a phone call saying my mom was in the hospital." She replied.

"Oh," Jacob looked down at the floor, ashamed he brought up something so depressing, ashamed he had made her smile go away. "We just left there."

"Would you take me?" She asked quickly, leaning forward. "I mean, would you please take me there?" She rephrased. "I don't know how to get there and I don't even have a ride."

Jacob nodded. "Sure, sure," Eve enveloped the boy in a hug, and she didn't even really know why, it was as if her body moved on its own. "I just have to drop my dad off at home." He said.

"Alright, that's fine, thanks so much." She grinned.

"When do you want me to pick you up?"

"Whenever is fine with you is fine with me." Eve shrugged her shoulders and ran a hand through her hair.

"How about thirty minutes?"

"Sounds good." She nodded eagerly, the smile growing bigger.

"Okay, I'll be back in a while."

Eve nodded and walked Jacob to the door, saying goodbye and telling him to drive safely. He gave her a warm smile before saying he'd be back as fast as he could, soon driving off in his car.

Eve closed the door as soon as he was out of sight and bit her lip, thinking about him, how he had captured her attention so easily, how he had made her so dumbfounded when she first saw him, and how he had made her heart race with such excitement and happiness with only a smile.

After getting over Jacob Black, Eve made her way up the stairs and into her old room. Eve dusted off her dressers and put her clothes away into the drawers, putting them away just like before she had left La Push. She opened up the window with force, it was so old it squealed loudly as it opened, and let the misty air inside her room.

Eve's phone began to ring and she got it out from her pocket. She gave a slight grimace when she read who it was calling her, but answered it nonetheless, putting it up to her ear.

"Hello Jesse," She greeted in a fake, lively tone.

"Hey Eve," He responded in his smooth voice, Eve could just see his smirk on his lips. "Are you busy tomorrow, I was thinking we could go out to eat at that new restaurant on Sunset Boulevard and then go shopping on Rodeo Drive." He posed it as more of a statement than a question, and Eve became flustered.

"No, sorry, I can't." She answered. "I'm busy visiting family."

"Family? All your family isherein Beverly Hills, babe. What are you talking about?"

"It's complicated, Jesse." She sighed, rubbing her temple tiredly as a headache came about. "Listen, I'll talk to you later, alright? Bye." Eve closed her phone and rolled her eyes.

She really needed to dump her boyfriend...

Five

Eve was finishing up putting her clothes away when Jacob's voice could be heard from below. "Evangeline, open the door!" He bellowed.

Eve got up from the floor and looked out her window to see Jacob staring right back up at her. "It's open!" She called back to him.

He grinned before running up the porch stairs, out of sight, and could be heard coming up the staircase inside. Eve quickly put the rest of her clothes away so he wouldn't see the mess, and dusted herself off. He soon stood in the doorway with the same grin on his lips.

"Hey, were you ready?"

Eve nodded her head, grabbing a jacket and slipping it on. "Now I am, yea. Oh, and it'sjustEve, no 'Evangeline'." She walked over to him and turned the lights off.

"Got it,justEve." He smiled as he guided her down the stairs and to the front door.

A gust of wind made its way into the house and the two of them turned towards the window Eve had broken to get inside the home.

Eve grumbled. "Crap I forgot about that." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Now the rain's going to come in."

"We could try to cover it up somehow," Jacob suggested.

She turned to him, flashing a small smile. "Yea, but withwhat?"

"Maybe we could use one of your huge suitcases." He teased.

Eve laughed, punching him as hard as she could in the shoulder. "Not funny." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Do you think plastic wrap will do a good job?"

"Only if we use the entire roll." Eve answered. "And eventhenI don't think it'll help much."

"Well, we have to try something." He shrugged his shoulders and made his way into the kitchen, Eve following him like a lost puppy.

Eve looked for the plastic wrap where it usually was, and was happy that her mom didn't like to reorganize things much. They found a roll of duck tape and Eve and Jacob walked outside with them to the window.

"Here, try putting it on the inside." Eve laughed, handing him half of the plastic and giving him some of the tape.

He nodded in understanding, taking the objects and running inside the house. Eve put a large piece of plastic wrap over the window and got a long piece of gray duck tape. The rain hit Eve hard as it went from a soft drizzle to total downpour, soaking her jacket. The rain made the tape soggy and unusable and Eve gave up trying to cover the window.

Something caught her eye, and her head twisted slowly to the right, towards a wall of trees and shrubbery. She could barely make out two small red dots in the darkness that the trees created, and a pale face soon arose. She could barely make out the blond hair that was sticking to his forehead. She was once again captured by his red eyes and she became frightened.

Get away from here, Eve.

"Eve!" Jacob came bolting out from the house and his eyes were coated with worry. He had smelt the leech from inside the house, and as soon as he saw Eve's unreadable expression, he didn't waste any time.

Eve's eyes darted from the man to Jacob, and when they returned back to the woods, he was gone, making Eve much more alert and shaken up. Was what she saw just her imagination playing tricks on her due to lack of sleep?

Ithadto be. There was no way he could appear one second and be gone the next. Besides, his eyes were red...red...! No human could possibly have such dark, crimson eyes like he had.

"Stupid jet lag..." She murmured under her breath.

"Hey, um, I fixed it from the inside." Jacob said quickly. "C'mon, let's go to the hospital to see your mom."

Once her mom was mentioned, Eve quickly spun around and was guided to Jacob's car, which was a Rabbit. He helped her in and got into the car himself. He started up the engine and they were soon driving down the road.

"So where did you come from?" Jacob inquired.

"Well, here, but I went over to California to live with my dad for a while. It was supposed to be only for a summer, but... things changed."

"What things?"

"Me."

"I doubt that."

Eve glanced over at him curiously, before shaking her head and dismissing the matter. "So how does your dad know my mom?" Eve questioned.

"Well, from what I know, my parents were friends with your mom before they had me and before your mom had you." He explained. "I don't really know much about it, actually."

"How old are you anyways?"

"I'm eighteen-years-old. You?"

"Seventeen." She answered. "You'reold." She joked, sticking out her tongue playfully.

She didn't know why, but she felt comfortable around Jacob. If this were anyone else, she'd be slightly more reserved, more cautious, however with him, it seemed to come naturally. This boy was causing her to be out of character... and she kind of enjoyed it.

It was different.

It wasreal.

"So... is your coming back permanent?"

"Um, probably not." She sighed, running a hand through her hair and beginning to fiddle with her thumbs, becoming fidgety. "It all depends on how my mom is. Not to mention that I have a job and I have to go places."

"Oh, I see," Jacob mused, stiffening up as he held onto the wheel with both hands.

He wished that she had said "yes", that she had looked over at him, flashed a smile with her perfect white teeth, her eyes glistening with happiness, and said she'd stay withhimforever.

There were a lot of things that Jacob was wishing for concerning Eve, though he wasn't going to brood over it for any longer. If he did, his heart would break, shatter completely, and he knew that he would take out his feelings on her. He didn't want that.

They arrived sooner than expected and were entering the large sliding doors with haste, Eve letting Jacob lead her towards the receptionist. Eve was given a large white sticker that read "VISITOR" in capitalized, bold letters, while Jacob still had his on from the earlier visit. Jacob guided her down the hallway and stopped in front of a room that had the door closed.

"This is it." Jacob stated.

Eve's heart began pound in her chest cavity, it seemed like it would pop out at any second. She hadn'tseenher mom in two years. She hadn'ttalkedorthoughtabout her in a year and a half.

"Are you alright, Eve?"

Eve remembered what was happening and stopped zoning out immediately when she felt Jacob's large hand consume her left shoulder. She looked up at him and gave him a small nod. Eve stared at the handle for a minute and began to reach for it.

"Hello Jacob, is there something I can help you with?"

They both turned to see one of the hospital's doctors standing there with a clipboard in his hand. He was pale, paler than chalk, with amber eyes that were like honey with warm and caring emotions in them. His blond hair was sleeked back and made him look neat and tidy along with his white coat that hung over his broad shoulders.

"Hello Carlisle," Jacob greeted, clearing his throat. "This is Eve Blair, Darla's daughter."

Realization swept over Carlisle's face, and he soon was smiling at Eve kindly. "Ah, Evangeline, it's nice to finally meet you. My name is Doctor Carlisle Cullen, and I'm taking care of Darla." He held out his hand and he shook Eve's warmly. His icy, cold touch burned Eve's skin, though she didn't let it show. "Would you like to know what happened to your mother?"

"Please, Carlise," She nodded eagerly.

"Your mother was involved in a car accident. She was driving home when she went off the road and hit a tree head on. We believe that she had blacked out and that's why the accident occurred."

"But why would she black out?—I mean, she'salwaysbeen healthy." Eve told him, her voice cracking at the end of the sentence.

"We looked back at her records and noticed that, too, Eve." Carlisle said. "We ran some tests and a CT scan of the head found that she had a brain tumor. It's a Meningioma brain tumor, it's next to the Olfactory groove, right between the nose and brain. We've had a pathologist examine it, and we believe that it's a grade three, which means that it's cancerous and it is fast growing. Malignant Meningioma tumors are rare, counting for only one-percent of all Meningioma cases, however, it does happen."

"Will this..." Eve tried to swallow the lump in her throat, get rid of it, relieve the amount of pressure that was causing her to choke. "Will thiskillher...?"

"We're not sure. The tumor is two inches in diameter, which is putting a lot of much pressure on her brain, so there is always the possibility."

"Can she be treated—what can be done to get rid of it?"

"Well, I've already called a member of the UCLA Medical Center, they're specialists in this area, and they'll be sending someone over to evaluate the tumor, see if endoscopic surgery is an option since the tumor is large and in a hard to reach area. If surgery isn't an option after all, we'll begin radiation or chemotherapy."

"Thank you for doing that." Eve cleared her throat, wiping the tears away from her cheeks and trying to calm herself down. "It means a lot to me."

"You're welcome, it wasn't a problem, Eve. Your mother will have to stay another night or two here so we can make sure she's healthy enough to leave. I'll keep you posted on how she is."

"Thanks so much, Carlisle, I appreciate it ."

He nodded and gave her a warm smile. "She's doing very well, Eve. Right now she's asleep due to some medications so she probably won't be up for a few hours. However, you're more than welcome to go inside and stay until visiting hours are over." With that, Doctor Cullen said goodbye to Eve and Jacob to go tend to other patients, and it was only the two of them once more.

Eve turned to the door and took the cold, silver handle in her grasp, pushing it down and moving forward slowly, opening the door. The walls and floor tile were pure white. The two velvety chairs on either side of the room were a dark blue color, and the curtains that were drawn over the large window were as well. The heart monitor beeped and it felt like it was echoing inside the room to Eve; it was like it was taunting her, making her feel like every time it made it's obnoxious sound it would hold itself there, and show Eve that her mother had flat lined. Eve'sownheart began to beat a bit faster at this. Finally, Eve's eyes made contact with the bed. They slowly went up to see her mom, Darla, sleeping soundly underneath the sheets.

Her mom's dark brown hair was frizzy and wild, sprawled over the large white pillow that was behind her for support. Her skin was pale compared to her usual dark, sun-kissed skin, which was now marred with scrapes and purplish-green bruises. Eve wanted to see her mom's never-ending chocolate eyes that gave her comfort when she needed it the most. Her arms were stuck with IVs and tubes that were giving her the necessary nutrients she required to survive, and her wrist held the paper bracelet that carried her information.

Eve slowly made her way from the door frame towards the bedside, and sat down onto one of the chairs after pulling it up closer to Darla. Eve stared at her mom's unmoving hand for a few seconds and then slowly took it in her gentle grasp. As she held her mom's hand she felt a sense of wholeness, of completion, oflove—something she hadn't felt since she left La Push for Beverly Hills. Guilt overcame Eve, and she felt awful for choosingfameoverfamily, for choosing thelimelightoverlove.

The words spilled out of her mouth just as fast as the tears flowed from her misty, dark brown eyes. "I'm so sorry, mom..." She sobbed, holding her mom's hand to her eyes. "I never should have left La Push."

Eve cried her heart out for a few minutes, letting herself get it all out so she wouldn't keep it all inside and make it worse. Eve had forgotten that Jacob was there with her until she felt his large hand begin to rub her back in circular motion, trying to soothe her.

His touch did exactly that.

And she needed more of it.

She needed to feel that relief that he gave her—that sense ofhopethat was somehow installed into her being.

Eve placed her mom's hand gently onto her own lap before she put herself into Jacob's lap, curling up next to him and letting him tell her it would all be alright. His soft tones did miracles for Eve's distressed mind, and she was in a haze soon enough, becoming drowsy and being put to sleep by Jacob's harmonious voice.