|| CHAPTER THREE ||
Here..
we've come to the end of our winding road
no one knows..
the reasons my eyes had til now been closed..
still you constantly, openly, stripped of me my deepest love
built on promises you never kept.. so just stay gone
There you are.. broken.. fake it
- For The Taking, Blackout
"Are you sure it's a good idea, this registering for college and looking for a job? Aren't you supposed to avoid any and all stress?" her father asked as she bit her lower lip and continued scanning the classifieds before finally taking a bite of toaster strudel and responding calmly, "It's not stress, Charlie, if it's something I wanted to do to begin with. Besides, did you really think I was going to lay around here and be a lazy potato?" before looking up at him. He nodded and said pointedly, "You already clean this house almost top to bottom, Aria."
"Yes, Charlie, I realize this.. But I think that if I were too stressed, sir, I'd know it." Aria started as she reached out for another toaster strudel. The sound of a motorcycle stopping in the driveway had her rolling her eyes and saying "And there is my only real stressor, right there. Jacob Black, ladies and gentlemen." as Charlie chuckled and pointed out, "Correct me if I'm wrong.. But didn't you have this seriously huge crush on him not so long ago?"
"I grew out of it. Or I'm trying to grow out of it. I've made more than enough mistakes to scar my unborn kid for life.. Not going to fall for that guy again, nope, not gonna happen." Aria insisted calmly as she stood and took her plate to the kitchen, watching Jacob through the window, brow raised. "Explain to me what the fucking hell he's doing.. Under the hood of my car, sir?"
"I told him your check engine light came on yesterday when you and Angela were on the way back from Port Angeles, that doctors trip.. Speaking of, why haven't you just told the poor guy what's going on? Why won't you talk to him?"
"I do talk, sir.. Not my fault he doesn't listen worth a shit just like usual." Aria insisted as she watched Jacob silently, her teeth grazing her lower lip, her hand in her hair, distracted by him as he did whatever he was doing to her car. When he stepped back, wiping his brow and swearing at the car she laughed a little to herself and walked to their refridgerator, grabbed a beer. Charlie smiled to himself as he pretended to read the newspaper. If he and Billy kept shoving the two stubborn hard heads they knew as their children in each other's path.. Sooner or later that old spark would be back and burning brighter than ever, right?
The door to the house banged shut and Aria walked purposely towards Jacob, tapping his shoulder. When Jacob turned around, grease streak on his face, she bit her lower lip and tried to fight the sudden horomone surge that seeing him apparently gave her in her current pregnant state. Everything about the guy screamed sex, especially now that he'd let his hair grow out, he had at least a five o clock shadow's worth of stubble on a very slimmed down and masculine face.
Really, had her sister been an idiot? she found herself wondering as he looked at her, brow raised, wondering why she'd come out as if she had a purpose, something on her mind yet now apparently, she was just standing there, watching him quietly and intently.
"You didn't have to come over and work on the car." Aria finally managed to say as Jacob studied her and said quietly, " Is that beer for me, maybe?" while barely hiding his usual infectious and bright grin. Aria held it out and then stood there a few moments, looking at him. "Sorry about the other day.. It's just.. I kinda figured maybe you forgot all about that night?"
"Actually, I didn't. And it made me realize things."
"Right.. Bet you use that line on all the dim witted girls who break into your room at night drunk off their asses and try and tell you things like..." Aria trialed off, voice dropping dangerously low, almost whisperlike as Jacob said "Like they love you and they always kinda have?"
"Loved, Jacob... That was then, this is now. I'm kinda not in the position to open myself up to anything new. Already made a mess of things when I tried after I left here." Aria said calmly, trying to resist the urges she was having an increasingly hard time fighting lately every single time they seemed to 'accidentally' run into each other.
"If you're talking about what your dad told mine, Aria, then that one guy was an asshole.. And it's no reason to just stop believing in anything completely.. How's that gonna help the little guy? He's gonna see mommy unhappy and he'll be unhappy." Jacob said as she started to walk back towards the house. His words stopped her in her tracks and she turned, looked at him for a few moments. It bothered him because somehow in the space of 3 years, his best friend and the girl he'd actually taken for granted in the worst of ways, well.. Now when he looked into those big brown eyes of hers, he couldn't read her like a book anymore.. And he hated that.
This bitterness she had now too. Aria used to be a hopeless romantic, a bit of a dreamer, altogether a lot happier than she'd seemed to be since he'd come back for her, to fight for and eventually take back what he felt truly belonged to him. There was no him without her, now he apparently had to make her see that. So far, both her father and his were on board to help him, though he figured that they didn't realize he was onto them and their constantly setting up ways for them to bump into one another casually.
"My son, Jacob, will be just as happy as a kid who has two parents.. I think I turned out okay." Aria said as she gave him a small dirty look and turned, walked into her father's house. "Why in the hell did you tell Jacob's dad?"
"Because I was happy and I wanted to celebrate. I'm gonna have a grandson, I thought Billy might wanna celebrate that with me. We are best friends." Charlie said as Aria glared out the kitchen window again, sighing to herself. "He told Jacob.. Now Jacob's being all nosy and know it all, saying things that won't be true.. My kid will be fine with just me and his crazy old grandpa in his life. For Jacob to even insinuate he won't.. Ughh, god.. He knows how to get under my skin."
Charlie smiled to himself as he kept pretending to read the newspaper. Aria smirked as she said calmly, "Dad, if you're gonna pretend to read the damn thing at least hold it the proper way. You've been reading it upside down for the past ten minutes. And I totally saw you peeking through the window just now.. Look, I love you because you want to fix things.. But Jacob's never gonna love me for me.. I'll always be second best to him and maybe I've grown up enough to realize that I don't want second best."
"Maybe he's changed. Maybe he just needed to lose what he had to realize how much he actually wanted it." Charlie pointed out as Aria hugged him from behind and said "Aww, how sweet.. But that's doubtful, dad.. If she left that prick Cullen tomorrow he'd be all over her again and I'd be forgotten. And for once? I'm not going to let that happen to me."
Charlie grumbled as she walked out of the kitchen and into the den, flopping down onto the couch. "Okay, so we'll just have to be more subtle." Charlie said as he grabbed himself a beer, walked out to the car where Jacob still stood, working on whatever he'd figured out was wrong that made the check engine light on. Wordlessly, he picked up a wrench and said casually, " Just don't give up."
Jacob looked back at the house just in time to see the blind in the window of Aria's room close quickly. He nodded and said solemnly, "I'm not.. But what happened to her while she was gone?"
"A lot of stuff, Jacob.. She really hasn't told me that much about it.. I've tried to make her talk about it, she clams up or changes the subject or leaves the room. Adam was an asshole.. That's just going by what Renee called to tell me about the situation after Aria went there."
Jacob nodded and said "Kinda figured." as he bit his lower lip and took a long sip of the beer Aria had bought out to him a few minutes before. "I wish I had a rewind button now, actually.." he admitted after a few tense moments. Charlie nodded and said quietly as he sipped his own beer, "Me too, Jacob.. I'd have done what I really wanted and I'd have insisted she not leave here.. I should have seen why she was leaving.."
"Nobody knew what she was thinking or how she felt.. She did pretty good at keeping us all out of her head. And apparently, she's still damn impressive at it." Jacob admitted as Charlie nodded and said "Either way.. Just keep trying."
"Didn't plan on stopping.. I really don't have another option.. Not now that I know how living without her feels.." Jacob said quietly as Charlie nodded and then walked back into the house, content that he'd given Jacob a decent pep talk.. Not that he was really great with them.. But he was trying.. So was Jacob.. Maybe sooner or later, Aria would cave in.