A/N: Thanks to those of you that kindly took your time to review for the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this one!

Chapter 14

Last night was probably one of the worst nights of my life. I lay in bed for four hours straight sobbing and thinking over everything. I thought about what my mother had said to me and whether she had a point or not. Was I too young to be engaged or was she just selfish enough to want me with her until her time comes? I went with my second thought. Mom was always alone, no brothers or sisters, just her, her mother and father. Her father died when she was just ten years old from an illness and so she was left with her mother. Her mother wasn't an easy woman to live with, having stayed with her myself I know that for a fact.

One summer my mom was working at a café near some beach and that's where she met my father. He did deliveries for the place and so they got talking, started dating and got married. Two years into the marriage my mom discovered she was pregnant with me. It was the talk of the town and everyone was delighted except for my father, Owen. He wasn't too happy about being a father. My mom described him as a ladies' man and so of course he left just two weeks before my birth, leaving my mom heartbroken.

After giving birth to me, mom was struggling to pay for our accommodation. It was a small house just two blocks away from my Grandmother and my mom adored it. It held so many memories for her but the time came when we had to leave. I was two years old when we moved farther away from Grandmother but still in the same state. Mom rented a rundown apartment and we stayed there until I reached six, that's when she couldn't take it anymore. So we moved from house to house which was very hard for me since I had to keep changing schools and making new friends. Finally mom decided to move to Forks, Washington when I was twelve, where she saw a decent house being rented at a good price in a newspaper so off we went to Forks. I made a lot of friends there including Dylan, he was the best and I grew to love it but mom wasn't earning enough money to pay for the rent so we had to move once again.

Before we moved, mom did a little research online, looking for a house to rent nearby and that's where she spotted this house in La Push. The rent was much cheaper than our house in Forks and so that's how we ended up here. I love it here, more than any other place I've lived in. I made some great friends and fell in love with a werewolf but now that everything is settled the only thing my mom has to worry about is being alone and that's why she's upset about me getting engaged. She doesn't want to be alone but no matter what, I would never leave my mom. I love her to bits and no matter what she says, nothing can ever change that.

So here I am, taking a bath for about an hour now thinking things over. I have come to the decision that I'm more than delighted that to be engaged to Jacob Black. I just need to speak with my mother, maybe there are things she has never told me and she needs to let them out. I'm not angry with her any more, I just feel pity for her. I know she's sorry about last night, I could see it on her face. She looked as though she was crying, her eyes we're puffy. No I didn't say good morning to her, I just walked by her to take a bath and I guess she's watching TV now because I can hear it on.

I quickly got dressed and headed downstairs. The living room's door was closed so I took a deep breath before walking in. Mom was curled up on the couch in her pajamas which was unusual for her since it was already 1pm. She looked up at me and I could tell she hadn't slept last night. Her brown hair was messy and her eyes we're puffy. I smiled weakly at her, letting her know I wasn't angry with her anymore and I saw her lips tremble, tears filling her eyes. I wasn't sure whether I should just sit down and allow her to cry or go over to her and give her a hug but before I could do anything she jumped up from the couch and pulled me into hug as she cried into my shoulder. I felt tears sting my eyes and soon enough they we're rolling down my cheeks.

We held onto each other as we cried and I felt an over flow of emotions flood through me. Mom pulled away but kept her hands on my shoulders as her teary eyes stared into mine, "I'm so sorry Eva, I shouldn't have said what I said last night, I was just in a mood and didn't know what to say or think, I love you honey and I wish you all the best, Jacob's a good boy," she confessed before pulling me into another hug.

"Thank you mom," I whispered into her hair. She just nodded before pulling away and taking me over to sit beside her on the couch.

I needed to talk to her, I needed to let her know that I will always be there for her no matter what so I did. "Mom," I started, taking her hand in mine and squeezing it, "I know that you've been alone for a very long time and I know you haven't had it easy but I need you to know that I'll never ever leave you, I'll always be here for you through good and bad, I love you mom and nothing," I wiped a tear away from my cheek, "Can ever change that,".

She smiled, tears flowing down her cheeks, "I love you too honey, I know you'll always be here for me, I just," she sniffled, "I just don't like being alone,".

"I know mom but isn't Shayne good to you?," I asked sincerely.

She nodded, smiling through her tears, "Yes, he's great to me but what If he gets bored with me Eva, then what do I do?,".

I smiled at her, giving her hand another squeeze, "If he loves you mom he won't and if he does, there's plenty more fish in the sea,".

She chuckled, nodding, "Yeah, you're right. Look at me, I'm such a mess but I love you honey and all I want is for you to be happy love, give your mom a hug," she finished, smiling.

We hugged and she continued to congratulate me on my engagement after that, she also loved my engagement ring. She brought me out for lunch down in Port Angeles and gave me a golden locket her great grandmother had given her when she was young. She considered it lucky. I was more than happy that we had made up and mom wanted to congratulate Jacob on the engagement as well. So mom invited Jacob and Billy over for dinner tonight at seven.

I was really nervous with how the dinner was going to go and mom made me wear a dress she had bought me last year which I hadn't gotten to wear. It was a cream colored satin dress. It had two straps with tiny red roses sewed into them and a bow at the back. It was really pretty and so I left my hair down, keeping it back with a red hair band along with red shoes and ruby earrings.

While I double checked myself in the mirror upstairs, mom called up to me, "Eva, our guests are here,".

My hands started to turn clammy and I was feeling very nervous. I took a deep breath, something I always do before making my way downstairs into the kitchen. Billy was seated at the dining table and smiled up at me when I walked in, "Eva, you look lovely,".

I blushed, smiling shyly, "Thanks Billy, you don't look bad yourself,". He was dressed in a red shirt and black trousers, a difference to the casual jeans and shirt I usually see him wear.

He chuckled, "Jacob made me wear these, I didn't want to get on his bad side," he eyed me and I instantly got his double meaning, laughing.

"Speaking of Jacob where is he?," I asked scanning the room. Mom was nowhere to be seen either.

"Oh your mom needed to fit in a new bulb for the light in your living room so Jacob offered to do it,".

I laughed, rolling my eyes, "Mom sure knows how to treat guests,".

I sat next to Billy at the table and chatted with him until mom and Jacob came in. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when Jacob entered the room. He wore a white V-neck t-shirt that clung to his muscles along with perfectly fitting jeans and brown leather shoes. His hair was growing out, reaching the tips of his ears and it was so smooth and shiny, I just wanted to run my hands through it.

He walked over to me, smiling brightly before leaning down to peck me on the lips, "You look beautiful tonight," he said lowly as he straightened himself up and sat across from me at the table.

I saw my mom giving Billy a knowing look before stirring the pot on the stove. "Billy, Jacob I hope you both like soup," she said as she set plates on the table.

"Anything is fine with us Liz," Billy said as he smiled at Jacob. What he meant to say was anything is fine with Jacob, he'd eat anything.

I chuckled and Jacob rolled his eyes, "Wow thanks dad," he muttered.

We all continued our small talk before mom served us our soup and we ate into it. Mom sat next to Jacob, smiling politely at both him and Billy and the night seemed to be getting cheesy with mom around.

"So Jacob, have you decided on what you want to study at college yet?," mom asked as we started on desert.

Jacob shot me a look before answering, "Hmm well I haven't really put much thought into it yet,".

She nodded, "Well I think Eva would like to do something with Art and Design, don't you honey?,".

I frowned at her, where did she get that from? Yes I love Art but what makes her think that?. "Eh, I don't know mom,".

She opened her mouth to say something but quickly turned her attention to Billy. They chatted about random things as Jake and I ate into our desert. He'd give me flirty looks across the table which had me blushing most of the time and even though mom made this dinner cheesy, it seemed to be okay.

"Well it was nice to have you both over, Billy I love Jacob like a son, he's a great kid… or should I say man, he's so big," mom joked, chuckling.

Billy smiled, "Thank you Liz, I'd have to say the same about Eva, they're meant for each other,".

What was with Billy and his double meanings today?

Jacob wheeled Billy outside with me following behind. Mom waved goodbye to them and Jacob turned around to me to give me a hug, "I can't stay with you tonight, I've got patrol but I'll pick you up for school tomorrow," he whispered before giving me a quick kiss on the lips.

I nodded, "Okay Jake, goodnight, thanks for coming," I said as Jacob continued to wheel Billy back to their house.

I walked back into the kitchen to help mom clean up and she was smiling at me slyly, "What?," I asked.

"I can tell Jacob is really in love with you Eva," she said as she scrubbed the dishes, I dried them.

I blushed, "I love him too,".

She nodded, smiling, "Billy is a nice man, I'm happy Jake's the one Eva, I couldn't be happier,".

"Thanks mom," I mumbled.

She laughed at my awkwardness as we continued to clean up the kitchen. Once we we're done she asked me to join her in the living room to talk. Hmm what talk exactly…

We sat down on the couch, the TV was off so it made it a little awkward but mom broke the silence, locking her eyes on mine, "Honey we need to talk about you and Jacob," she started.

Oh no, no it can't be. No the sex talk please! I've already had this when I was thirteen.

"You've both known each other a while now, a year to put it roughly and now you are both in love and engaged so because I'm your mother and I care about you, when you and Jake are… intimate-," I cut her off.

"Mom stop! Please, this is so embarrassing," I whined, covering my face in my hands with embarrassment.

"Honey, look at me," she ordered so I obeyed, my face scarlet, "When you're intimate with him-,".

"Mom I've never… I'm a virgin," I told her, diverting my gaze to the floor. This is so awkward.

"Eva," she said, I looked up at her and he face was serious, "You both love each other and it'll only be a matter of time before you take the next step,". I groaned, "Just listen to me Eva, never ever forget protection, alright honey".

I nodded, "Okay mom,".

"Alright well I just needed to hear that so I wouldn't have to worry about you," she said.

I rolled my eyes, "Mom, we've spoken of this before-," she raised her hand to stop me.

"Yes true but you we're young back then and there was no Jacob in your life,".

I sighed, "Yeah I know, look I'm tired,". I needed to get away, this was so awkward besides I have school tomorrow.

"Alright love," she smiled, kissing my forehead, "See you tomorrow, goodnight,".

"Night mom," I mumbled before darting up to my room. Talk about awkward, that was so embarrassing! Thank god Jake wasn't up in my room, he would have heard everything.

The drive to school was silent but a comfortable silent. Jake looked so tired, he had bags under his eyes and he looked like he just threw on whatever caught his eye. He wore a black creased t-shirt and worn jeans along with a pair of muddy Nike's.

"I know I look like crap," he said as he pulled up at the school.

I burst out laughing, how on earth did he know I was checking him out?. "Jake you look gorgeous as always," I said honestly as I stepped out. It was true, no matter what he wore, he always looked great.

He rolled his eyes as he took my hand in his, "Oh please, I only got three hours sleep last night,".

I frowned at him as we entered the building, ignoring all the dirty looks I got from the girls, "Why?," I asked as we reached my locker.

"Well apparently Edward Cullen is back so his scent is around Bella's house, we thought it was a dangerous vampire but it turns out it's not," he said sleepily as I took out my books and shut the locker behind me.

"So Bella took him back?," I asked as we made our way to his locker.

"Yup but it's what's best for her, he makes her happy," Jacob said sincerely. It was good to know that he didn't love Bella anymore, just thought of her as a sister.

"Yeah but a leech Jake, ew!," I wrinkled my nose up in disgust.

He chuckled, "Yeah, werewolves are in, vampires are out!,".

I laughed at his joke as we entered our first class together. Quil waved at us as we entered and I rolled my eyes, as if we didn't know where he sat. He's such a dork sometimes. I noticed Hannah giving us dirty looks or should I say giving me a dirty look. Seems like her friend Jennifer is absent today.

"Alright class settle down, now before you hand me in your homework we are having a quiz," everyone groaned as our teacher gave us the news, "Class school is almost done so it's best we take a few quizzes to test ourselves, now everyone be quiet, no cheating!,".

I totally forgot about that! School was almost done and that means freedom! Hmm I hope mom doesn't take me on holiday, I don't want to be away from Jake.

The quiz was quite easy. It was English class so I was actually quite good at it but I heard Jacob sighing a couple of times behind me and I knew he was finding it hard. I bit my lip to hold in a laugh. Soon enough I was done with the quiz so I stood up to hand it to the teacher. As I started down the classroom, I tripped over someone's foot and fell face first onto the floor.

I heard a growl sound from Jakes direction and the scraping of a chair.

"Jacob Black sit back down," I heard our teacher say before I lifted myself up off of the floor. I could feel a throbbing pain in my nose and I looked down at my shirt to find it covered in blood. Oh no, nose bleed but before I headed to hand the teacher my paper I turned to face the one and only Hannah Stevenson. She was grinning at me, the little-, "Eva, come give me your paper and clean yourself up in the bathroom,".

I glanced over at Jacob who was shaking uncontrollably in his seat, his fists clenched and his eyes glaring at Hannah. Not good. I saw Quil patting his back, whispering something in his ear.

"Eva?," the teacher said. I quickly made my way over and placed my paper on the desk before running off to the bathroom.

I burst out crying the minute I entered. Why was she so mean to me? What did I ever do to her and she wasn't even shocked she caused blood to pour from my nose. I walked over to the mirrors and my nose, lips, chin, neck and chest was covered in blood, not to mention the blood was still gushing out.

My white blouse was ruined and I had no tissues so I started splashing some water on my face, wiping my nose which was now swollen with a big purple bruise, thank god it isn't broken or is it? Oh my god, I've got to stop panicking.

Just then the bathroom door was thrown open and to my shock an angry, shaking Jake rushed in and over to me. He spun me around to face him and his eyes examined my face, "Eva I'm so sorry, she… I could just…,".

"Jake no, she's a bitch but she's not worth Jail," I told him, the blood running down my lips.

He reached over and turned on the sink, "Lean your head back," he said softly so I did. Jacob placed his hand behind my head and I leaned my head back as he splashed water onto my nose. His eyes looked determined to help me, probably an imprinting thing. "Don't cry baby," he whispered to me as he continued to splash water on my nose, "She's not worth it,".

Gradually the bleeding started to stop so I straightened myself up and looked at myself in the mirror. The blood dried into my blouse and it was quite disgusting, I needed a change of shirts. Not to mention that my eyes we're puffy and my nose was bruised.

Jacob was leaning against the sinks beside me, watching my every move, "Jake I can't go out like this, it's horrible," I said pointing to my blood stained shirt.

He pushed himself off of the sinks and stood behind me wrapping his arms around me. "Do you want me to get you a shirt?," he asked into my hair.

"And exactly how will you do that?,".

He shrugged his shoulders, "Jump into your window,".

My jaw dropped and I looked up at him, "You're not serious,".

"I am,".

"No, no you're not going I'll just put up with this," I cringed as I looked down at it, "Bloody blouse,".

He growled, quivering slightly, "That Hannah… I swear I could just… ugh!," he spat in frustration.

I hushed him, turning around in his arms to face him, "Ignoring her is the best we can do, she wants to get noticed Jake so we won't give her the pleasure," I told him, stroking his cheek.

He nodded against my touch before leaning in to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, bringing him closer to me as he grabbed my thighs in his large hands, lifting me up so I could straddle his waist.

We we're so lost in each other's kiss that we didn't notice when the bathroom door opened. I froze once I heard footsteps and then I heard a gasp before I heard whoever it was run back out of the bathroom. Oh great we look naughty now.

Jake chuckled before helping down off of him, "Come on, the bell rang," he said taking my hand in his and walking out of the bathroom with me with a smug look on his face. Jake didn't care what other people thought of him, only my opinion mattered.

By the time it was lunch the whole school knew about Jake and I in the bathroom but we're smart enough not to say anything out loud in case Jake broke their faces. Quil and Embry eyed us both as if to search for a confirmation before they burst out laughing. Today was definitely NOT the best day at school, thank god I decided not to wear my engagement ring to school for two simple reasons: 1. There would be a lot of talk and 2. Anything could happen to it, people touching it and all that, it was precious to me and I wanted it perfect.

That night I was worried about Jake, he said he'd call around six but never did and now it was nine. Maybe he was patrolling late tonight but somehow that didn't seem like the correct answer.

Mom was out with Shayne and I had yet to meet him. He seemed like a pretty cool guy and definitely my mom's type so I'm sure they're having fun but I wasn't. I was sitting on the couch in a pair of sweats and a baggy t-shirt biting my nails. I sat there for three hours waiting on his call, my cell phone placed beside me on the couch but I knew he wasn't going to call so as crazy as it sounds, I decided to look for him.

I pulled on my white converse and jogged out of my house into the pitch dark streets of La Push. I had a feeling Jake wasn't at home so maybe I'd find him around First Beach. I ran all the way there, shivering from the cold and I could tell there was a storm on its way. The sea was rough, crashing up against the rocks and it was surprisingly very quiet around.

I started searching around First Beach, peering into the forest and scanning up at the cliffs. No one. What if Jake is in trouble? Maybe he's at Sam's.

Just as I was about to turn back, Jake appeared half naked from the woods, and started running towards me, I felt so relieved to see him then I heard thunder erupt from the sky before the rain started lashing onto us.

"Eva what are you doing out here!," Jake demanded as he reached me. He didn't look too happy.

"I was worried about you, you never called," I replied, my voice higher than usual due to the sound of the rain. Not to mention I was freezing!

"Eva are you crazy? It's not safe out here for you and look at you, you're freezing!," he complained, pulling me into his arms, warming me up.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled against his chest, "I was just worried, mom's not home,".

He kissed my head, "It's alright Eva, come on, let's get you home,".

Jake picked me up, cradling me to his chest and carried me bridal style back home. It was kind of funny how he was able to do it but he was a werewolf after all and it was nice and warm in his arms.

We made it back quicker than normal due to Jake being a werewolf and he carried me all the way upstairs to the bathroom, placing me down and handing me a towel. I took that as a hint to take a warm shower.

Before I took it though, I called after Jake as he trudged down the stairs, "Jake are you heading back out?,".

"Yeah, Sam needs me," he called back up to me, "I'll wait till you shower though, I'll just be in the living room,".

I smiled when he said that and took a quick shower. After I was done I sprinted to my room in a towel and threw on my grey sweatpants and white t-shirt before heading down to Jacob. I'd dry my hair after he left.

"Hey," I smiled as I entered the living room. Jake was sitting on the couch staring at nothing before his head shot up to smile breathtakingly at me.

"Hi, you all cleaned up and warm?," he asked as he lifted himself up off the couch, walking over to me.

I nodded, "Yeah-," I was cut off by the sound of my cell vibrating off of the coffee table.

I ran over to it and checked the caller ID but it was anonymous, I answered it anyway.

"Hello,".

"Hi honey, it's your mom,".

"Oh hi mom,". Why is she calling?

"Listen Eva, the roads back to La Push are flooded so I'm staying over at Shayne's tonight, is that okay?,".

"Oh," that took me by surprise, "Eh well I guess I don't mind…,".

"Alright honey, I'll see you tomorrow if the roads are cleared, goodnight,".

"Night mom,".

I hung up the phone and placed it back on the coffee table, sighing, "Guess I'll be alone for tonight," I muttered as I turned around to face Jacob.

He smiled as he came over to pull me into a bear hug, "So I heard, do you mind if I spend the night?,".

I pulled away, smiling at him, "Sure! For a minute I thought I'd be alone but yeah, that sounds great Jake,".

He chuckled, pecking me on the lips, "I'll be back by eleven, Sam's probably wondering where I am,".

"Okay, I'll be waiting," I said before he headed to the hall door, giving me a wink before running off into the night.

My heart was beating uncontrollably in my chest and I couldn't wait for Jake to get back. I have never been alone with Jake in a house before but tonight I would and we could be free to do whatever we want without having to worry about mom finding out.

I can't wait.

A/N: Like it? Review?