|| CHAPTER EIGHT||

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 laughter of small children bought a warm smile to Aria's face as they walked into the house where the party for Claire, Emily and Sam's niece, was being held. She looked around and quickly realized with a shocking clarity that Jacob had invited her for a reason... It seemed that all of his other friends all had dates. She shrugged that off mentally to his not wanting to feel left out, and when Emily gave her a hug hello, she smiled and hugged her back as she said "Thanks for being okay with me coming."

"We were glad you said you would." Sam said as he gave Jacob a look, Jacob shrugging it off. Jacob didn't much care that Sam currently thought he should be staying away, he should be learning how to control himself better around Aria, especially given that Aria was expecting a baby in a matter of months. It was for the girls own safety, Sam kept saying, but Jacob wasn't listening. Given her other situation, and her being pregnant, Jacob was the only person that Jacob trusted to keep his imprint safe. Because after it'd taken so long to finally get this close to her, he was damned if he were going to let anything mess that up now. He smiled at Aria and slid his arm around her as he said quietly, "See? It's like I said on the way over.. Just because Bella isn't their favorite person, that doesn't mean they are automatically going to hate you. You're not her, you are different."

Aria nodded, though the hairy looks she got from Leah Clearwater and Sam Uley were kind of making her wonder if Jacob weren't at least partially wrong in telling her they weren't going to judge her by her sister and the things her sister had done in the past. She bit her lower lip and kept quiet for the most part, choosing to sit down beside Jacob who'd flopped lazily on a couch and was currently being held down by two or three adoring little girls who showed obvious signs of a little girls crush on the handsome Quileute male. The recognition of his not having a clue bought a soft smile to her face when no one was looking.. Jacob had always been a very sweet natured guy, and seeing him around the kids in the room was a heartwarming sight to behold.

"You okay?" Jacob chuckled as a little girl finished braiding his long hair, climbed off of his lap and took off at a run, finding Claire, giggling. He fixed his eyes on Aria who seemed to be lost in her own happy thoughts and waited on her to answer, edging closer to her, ignoring Leah's disgusted look from across the room, choosing instead to focus on Aria, make sure she wasn't uncomfortable or that she didn't regret coming with him today.

"I'm fine, Jacob.. It was just cute watching you with all those little girls." Aria admitted, smiling as she leaned in and whispered, "What's Leah's deal? She's sitting there giving me these intense and hateful looks and I barely know her."

"She's probably just in a bad mood. Her date didn't show up, she feels left out." Jacob said as he gave Leah a knock it off glare and Leah rolled her eyes. He laughed as he stood and then pulled Aria off the couch. "It's kinda noisy in here.. Wanna go for a walk on the beach with me?" he asked, casual smirk that made her knees weak on his face as he looked down at her. Her eyes were this tantalizing shade of almost milk chocolate brown, he noticed. He licked his lips as his stomach growled and reminded him he was kind of hungry. Thing of it was, he wasn't sure if this was a food hunger or a lustful kind of hungry.

Aria got sucked into the playful gleaming dark brown eyes and with a shrug and laugh she let him pull her off of the couch, let him lead her outside. Once they were outside, Jacob asked idly, "How'd it go with the doctor?"

"It went great. I'm about half tempted to find out the sex of my baby, but parts of me want the surprise. Dad and I both think it'll be a little boy. When I saw Jessica the other day, she said she thought I'd have a girl, gave me some old wives tale about all the food I'd been craving." Aria said as they walked along the waters edge, looking up at the setting sun in a dusky grey sky.

Jacob looked at her and shrugged as he said "I kinda think it'll be a boy too. Just a feeling I get." while holding her gaze. They'd stopped walking and he did nothing but stare at her for a few long moments that seemed to drag on to her like an eternity. Finally, she asked with a curious look in those gorgeous eyes of hers, "Are you okay, Jacob? It seems like you have something really big on your mind.. We're friends, you can talk to me.." which made him chuckle and bite his lower lip intently.

Oh he had something big on his mind alright.. But he wasn't entirely sure that now was the time or the place to do it. Still, though, he found himself leaning in, his hand caressing her cheek as he pulled her lips to his slowly. She bit her lower lip and she felt her skin heating, her pulse quicken and her stomach fluttering.. It was also at this particular time that the baby chose to kick. She giggled and grabbed his other hand, held it to her stomach as she said "I just felt him kick, I think."

Jacob nodded and coughed a little then said in a husky voice, "He did, didn't he." while rolling the thumb on the hand that rested against her stomach lazily along the smooth and soft pale skin beneath her t shirt. He held her gaze and leaned in again, his lips dangerously closer to hers by now as he said quietly, "If you don't want me to kiss you, stop me now."

Aria found herself stuck in his gaze and to her own surprise, though she knew she shouldn't just yet, she was still so afraid to give in and fall again, she leaned in and let him capture her lips with his, his tongue slipped past her lips and caressed her tongue as he nipped at her lower lip. She groaned and her hand went to his hair, tangling in it.

When the kiss broke she just stared at him a few moments, wide eyed.. "Umm..."

"You didn't stop me." Jacob said as he gave her a soft grin and then added, "I've wanted to do that for a while now.. I finally couldn't take it anymore, okay? The rest you'll figure out later.. But are you starting to see that I'm not joking? I'm seriously attracted to you.. I'm not planning on going anywhere unless you tell me to get lost." as he looked at her intently.

She nodded as the shock of what happened set in and she found her mind a whirlwind of various different thoughts. But her father's earlier advice cut in, persistant as ever and she said quietly, "We cannot rush this, okay?"

"We won't." Jacob promised as he slid his arm around her and pulled her close. "I just.. I had to do something, say something.. It was driving me insane, it's been driving me insane. I know you need time.. I'm willing to take as long as you want, okay? I just.. I need you to know that I want you.. I've wanted you a long time I think.."

She nodded. This was the last thing she'd expected to happen when he got her outside and alone. She still felt as if he were keeping something huge from her, but she was too caught up in the moment currently to demand what it might be. Maybe the less demands she made right now, the better off things were for them...

Maybe her father was right.. Some risks were at least worth a shot.

"I feel the same way, it's just.. That's why I left.. It hurt, watching you so caught up in her.. I was just your friend, I didn't think you'd ever return the feelings and I certainly didn't want to force my own on you." Aria admitted as he chuckled and leaned down, grazed his lips to her forehead and said quietly, "Maybe we shoulda just gotten this out back then, huh? Things might be a lot different now..."

She looked up and bit her lower lip as she nodded in agreement. He said quietly, "But they still will be different.. I know what I'm getting into and I'm perfectly fine with it. I want all of it.. Just want you."

She nodded again, mostly still in shock as she said quietly, "And I want you too.. And all the craziness that comes with you." looking up at him, laughing a little when he pretended to pout.

From the house someone shouted out cake and Jacob smirked as he nodded to the house and said "Last one to the cake is not getting a corner piece. And I know how you love those corner pieces." which made her take off and try to pass him. He caught hold of her, his arms around her waist as he carried her indoors.

Maybe if they went from today forward and didn't try and lay things out perfectly, things would work out.. After all, Aria had made plans before.. And as a result, when those plans fell through, she found herself in the situation she was in currently.