|| CHAPTER FIVE||

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

The knock on the door of her father's house surprised Aria more than a little bit and she called out from the kitchen, "Give me a second. Kind of trying to cook here." as she felt around on the counter and grabbed a knife, just in case. The calls had began to escalate lately, and she was starting to freak out a little bit more. She still hadn't told her father the whole story, of course, but she was beginning to freak out to the point that she knew that soon, it would become a necessary evil. And she was quite honestly dreading that conversation because she felt ashamed that she'd been so wrong about her former boyfriend and his real intentions, his real character. She'd always thought herself good at reading people and it disgusted her to think about what she'd gotten herself wrapped up in, with an unborn child to think of now, at that.

Jacob stood outside on the small 'porch' of Charlie's house, prepared to knock again when the door opened only a crack and Aria peered up at him through the crack sheepishly before finally opening the door all the way and stepping aside, letting him in the house. He walked in and eyed the knife on the hallway table next to the door, held it up and asked, "Expecting someone?"

She glared at him a few moments, muttered something he couldn't quite understand and then answered aloud, "No, actually, I told you when you knocked before that I was trying to cook. What brings you over? I figured you'd go fishing with my dad and your dad for a while or something." as she held his gaze intently. There it was again, that same look he seemed to get around her a lot lately. She raised a brow and asked again, "So, what's up?"

Jacob shrugged and said quietly, "Didn't feel like fishing actually. You know I haven't ever really been that into fishing, Aria. What was the knife on the hallway table for?" as he eyed her with suspicious concern. When she shrugged he grumbled and said quietly, "Guess that means you haven't told your dad just how bad this guy is and that he might actually be calling you and stalking you." before flopping down onto the couch, looking up at her again intently as he patted the spot right next to him and then added, "I can't want to come over and visit an old friend?" with a slightly teasing grin.

Aria looked at him a few moments, debating on what his actual intent was with coming over as often as he did, wondering briefly if he were just replacing Bella's absence with her presence or something. She started to say this, but then he asked her about her current situation and she answered darkly, "I'd rather not go there, Jacob and you know exactly why, okay? I can't.. I won't worry Charlie with a situation I created myself because of shitty damned judgement. What's the big deal anyway, I mean it could be some skeezy little pervert right here in Forks for all we know." as she stretched lazily and then asked, " Since when have you not been into fishing?" as she looked at him for a few moments, licked her lower lip.

Was it hotter in the room right now or was it just her horomones surging unexpectedly yet again? And was she imagining him moving so that she had no choice but to sit leaned against him slightly, sliding his arm around her shoulders as he did so? She tried to refrain from actually leaning against him, of course, but it didn't quite work out that well for her. She bit her lower lip as her nose filled with the masculine and clean, woodsy scent of his cologne, a scent she'd missed for a really long time and didn't even actually realize it until just now in this moment.

Long and tense silent moments followed as they sat in the den of her father's house and she finally said in a quiet voice, "I didn't say there was anything wrong with you coming by, it's just.. I kind of figured you have better things to do than come over here and sit with me while I do nothing?" as she looked up at him. The electricity between the two of them was almost so thick that the air around them seemed to buzz and pop with the current.

"Never." Jacob said quietly as he looked at her, leaned in a little and hooked his index finger in a strand of hair that had escaped from a long and messy waterfall braid her hair was barely restrained by currently. "It was in your eye.. And is that flour on your face?" he asked, grinning as he snickered a little and grazed his lower lip with his teeth. It took a lot of self control to be around her, Sam was exactly right about that much. He'd had a long time to learn control of his animal side and even having so long wasn't helping currently. He'd love to lean in and kiss her until it swelled her lips and made them tingle. He shifted his sitting position on the couch and coughed a little, awkwardly as he wondered just why in the hell had he not actually noticed how much prettier that she was than Bella before now?

Aria laughed a little and stifling a yawn she nodded then said "Most likely. I was jonesing for chocolate chip cookie dough so I was making eggless cookie dough so I could kind of migrate to the couch and be lazy, maybe binge on that tv show again and eat the dough?" while nibbling her fingertip, a nervous habit she had, as she looked up at him.

Jacob chuckled and then shaking his head, he stood and said with a smirk, "I have to see this eggless chocolate chip cookie dough. There's no way it tastes even remotely as good as the actual cookie dough." and held out his hand, easily pulling her off of the couch and leading her into the kitchen. He couldn't stop touching her, he noticed, the urges were so strong around her, it was harder to hold back.

Aria laughed a little and then said quietly, "It is, actually. And it's safer to eat than normal cookie dough because it doesn't really need to be cooked which is always a good thing. I'll show you and then you can taste it for yourself." as their eyes locked on each other for a full 8 seconds and they stared at each other intently and quietly. She realized she was migrating closer to him as if being pulled by magnets almost the second her body brushed against his.

He smiled that lazy smile of his that was good at making her weak in the knees and steadying her, he nodded to the counter where she was already in the process of making this eggless cookie dough and said with a shrug, "So show me, huh?" his voice coming out deep and husky. He stood behind her, his chest brushing her turned back as she started to nervously fumble around, he smiled to himself, she still got nervous around him, even now, and it made him feel good, it made him feel important and wanted for once.

"I will." Aria remarked, her voice cracking just a little, to her embarassment as she turned her back and held back a gasp when she felt his chest pressed against it, his chin resting on her shoulder as he bent forward slightly, rested it there to stare down at the bowl and what she was doing. His hand, she noticed, was lingering near her hip.

Was Jacob flirting with her?

Coughing, she said quietly, "I can't move if you're propping on me, silly man." as she turned to grab a stick or two of butter out of the fridge behind them both. He chuckled and when she'd turned her attention back to what she was trying to do in front of her, he asked her quietly in her ear, "Can't concentrate or something?" as she bit her lower lip.

Okay, he was definitely acting strange around her lately. But she couldn't actually say she didn't like it. She could try and claim that, but it would be a lie.

She turned around, her chest pressed against his and she said with a smile, "Actually, Jacob, it's all done.. But there is something you can do for me.. I need another bowl to put it in so we can eat it? And I can't reach them." as she pointed to a cabinet and it's topmost shelf.

He grabbed the bowl and held it out, staring at her as he did so, wondering if he were forcing things to move along too quickly given what she'd just been through and what she meant to him, how long he intended on sticking around.. How he was trying his best to get her to himself, become a part of her life again. If he had his way about things?

He'd be the father to the child she carried, not this other bastard who obviously hadn't deserved her love in the first place.