|| CHAPTER NINE||

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

Whoever called it morning sickness really should've come up with another name, Aria was beginning to think as she looked at the clock on her cell phone before bolting out of bed, running down the hallway and practically slamming the bathroom door shut behind her. From the other end of the phone she could hear Jacob asking if she were okay, he was probably freaking out of course, but she finished emptying the contents of her months food into the toilet bowl and weakly, she picked up the phone and said in a hoarse voice, "I'm fine, Jacob, no need to panic.. It's too damn late for you to be driving anyway, you gotta work tomorrow, remember?" before raking her hand through her hair, caressing her stomach.

By far, the morning sickness was the absolute worst part of all this. Everything else, she could handle. But she'd never actually been fond of throwing up, so that posed a problem, especially now that it seemed like all she wanted to do was throw up, round the clock, every day of the week with no break. She'd been alarmed at first but after her last doctors visit, the doctor reassured her that nothing was wrong, some mothers, especially first time mothers, seemed to get the worst end of the stick when morning sickness was concerned.

Jacob listened intently, using his keen shifter hearing to try and tell if she were still sick over there. It took everything he had, actually, not to drive over there, even though it was almost 1 am. He knew he should be letting her get off the phone, letting her sleep, but she seemed to think otherwise. They were still talking things out from their earlier conversation and he was slowly coming around to finding a way to tell her she was his imprint, that she belonged with him and he wasn't going anywhere contrary to what she seemed most afraid of. He chuckled and then said quietly, "We should both be asleep. Especially you, Aria."

"I know but..." Aria said quietly as she got back into bed, rolled over onto her back to try and get even a little bit comfortable. Horomones were apparently surging tonight, because she found herself lying there, wishing he was here with her and not on the other end of the phone line.. She scoffed at herself because.. she'd been the one to demand they go slow but suddenly, with this sudden surge of horomones, she wanted things to go much faster. They'd talked through everything that kept them apart in the past and Aria just felt like too much time was wasted already.. But she held back, because she felt like there was something he was holding back.

It worried her and she'd started several times to ask him if he were keeping anything from her, but she was just too damn afraid to bring it up. And truthfully? She'd rather him tell her whatever she felt it might be when he got ready to do so. She didn't want to start things off with him fighting and angry, or with secrets and worries.

"But what?" Jacob asked, the tone of his voice coming out huskier, he was lying in his room trying his best not to picture her in her room as they talked. It was really a test of his willpower, making himself stay here with her there.. She was in his reach now, not thousands of miles away. But he'd made her a promise about not rushing things and he was determined not to break that promise. Even though right now, more than anything, he was dying to do so. Things were going too slowly for him.

And he was nervous because he still had to tell her his biggest secret. About what he was and what he could do, and what she was to him.

"Nothing.. I mean I said it earlier.. Don't wanna rush things." Aria muttered as she bit her lower lip, her lips tingling at the memory (and anticipation of) the kisses they shared earlier when they'd started talking about all this. Her own words were really irritating her, but she knew for a fact that she couldn't just rush into this.. Not until she was absolutely sure he wasn't just doing all this, saying all this because he couldn't have her sister.

"And I understand.. What's wrong though?" Jacob asked as he chuckled to himself and shook his head, rolling over in his own bed, stretching his arms behind his head. She sounded like she were wishing she hadn't said that earlier, if he were reading the way she was acting right. Maybe she wanted them together as much and as badly as he did. The thought made him smile.

"I just.. Tonight I kinda wanna be held? It's the damn horomones, Jacob." Aria muttered as she bit her lower lip, mentally kicked herself for blurting out what she just had. She shifted in the bed so she could roll onto her side, prop against the pillow and on her elbow. When he chuckled about what she'd just said, she retorted "Oh haha, fucking hilarious."

"Aww, Aria.. I think it's cute." Jacob admitted as he stood and slid his jeans on, slid his feet back into the boots he wore often then said "Fuck it.. I'm coming over. I won't sleep because you're over there sick."

"Jacob, no.. You have to sleep and it's late." Aria tried to protest, only to have him insist that he'd be fine, he was a 'big boy' he could handle it. She hung up and bit her lower lip, lying there wondering what the hell she'd just gotten herself into.. They'd both agreed to slow.. Apparently, though, slow was the opposite of what it meant to most normal people with them.

She'd wanted him for so long now..

But she knew that rushing into this thing they were starting wasn't a good idea.. Yet she couldn't resist him well enough to not want to rush.. It was one hell of a dilemma to be caught in, actually.