Oh my dears, I am so terribly sorry! Mucho apologies for being so late! Finals and a nasty headcold took me out for a while, but I promise I'll get back to updating more often!

I own nothing, dearies.

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I was in the lead of the race; skirting around the wolves and dodging between trees. We were racing to Emily's house (per usual) after school, and every day the boys somehow managed to team up and sneak Jacob into the lead. Gritting my teeth when I saw him up ahead, streaking through the trees like a bloodied bullet, I pumped my legs faster after him, kicking up a spray of damp loam and debris as I ran. Angling my path, I launched myself off a fallen tree trunk and yelled as I soared through the air, "Not today, Black!" Twisting into a somersault over his head, I flew a good ten feet in front of him.

Landing with a skitter, I stumbled slightly before charging full speed ahead with a wild half-yell. Scrambling up the steps and bursting through the door, I yelled triumphantly "I win!"

Skidding through the door behind me, Jacob stomped his foot childishly and grumbled, "You cheated!"

"Lies and slander," I said airily, waving my hand flippantly at him. "I won fair and square. You just fail at life."

"That hurts," Jacob said with a faux sniffle, placing a hand over his heart and pulling an anguished face at me. "I'm heartbroken."

"You should be," I replied absently, drifting towards the kitchen. The strong smell of muffins wafted across my nose, making my mouth water as I scurried towards the door. Peeking around the doorframe, I found Emily removing her oven mitts as she glanced at a dish of freshly baked muffins. "Are those blueberry muffins?" I asked, slipping next to Emily.

Jumping a little at the sudden proximity, Emily grinned at me and said, "Yes, they're blueberry. Congratulations on winning your race, Bella."

"Thanks," I said, inching my way towards the muffins, fingers itching to snatch one. "I passed Jacob so fast that I met myself on the way."

Emily laughed, and Jacob yelled from the entryway, "That's a total lie!" His footsteps thudded like someone dropping miniature elephants as he barged into the kitchen and pointed a dramatic finger at me. "You barely squeaked past me at the last second!"

"Technically I launched myself off a log and landed ten feet in front of you, allowing me to use that extra distance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat," I said in a monotone, deftly snatching a muffin from the cooling rack and juggling it as it burned my palms. "But who was analyzing?" Ignoring the blisters that surely had to form on the roof of my mouth, I bit into the muffin and let out a soft moan. "Emily," I mumbled through a mouth full of muffin. "This muffin is the most fantastic thing I've ever eaten. I could marry this muffin."

"Then you'd be Bella Muffin," Jacob said, grabbing a muffin for himself and nearly dropping it from the heat. "And when you got fat from eating muffins, you'd be Bella Muffin-Top."

"I'd still be married to the delicious muffin," I muttered, biting into it and chewing it slowly.

Shaking her head in amusement, Emily bustled around the kitchen. Pulling ingredients out of the fridge and opening the cupboards, she stretched on her tip-toes to try to reach a large bowl.

Swallowing my last mouthful of muffin, I wordlessly slithered on top of the counter and rose to my feet. The bowl was cool and delicate in my hands; the light shone off the metal in swirls that caught my eye. Sliding into a crouch, I handed Emily the bowl with a small smile before fluidly stepping off the counter and onto the ground as if I had just walked down the stairs.

Thanking me, Emily continued to prepare her food while Jacob gave me an oddly blank look. When I raised a questioning eyebrow, he said quietly, "It's weird, seeing you do things like that. I keep forgetting that you're not the same old Bells."

"What do you mean?" I asked, folding my arms and leaning against the frame of the door.

"You're a Shadowhunter now," he said, looking away with a brief flicker of upset crossing his face.

"And it's hard for you to see your childhood friend being someone you've never seen before," I concluded, looking down at my toes. "Charlie has the same issue. He forgets that I've changed, and when he catches me practicing or working, he'll get all sulky and mutter about how I've changed." Straightening my back, I moved forward to place my hand comfortingly on Jacob's shoulder. "I'm still your friend, Jake. I'm just stronger now."

Turning his head, Jacob grinned shyly at me. Flicking a grin back at him, I turned to help Emily with the cooking.

...

The ocean was always calming for me, but it was rarely so during the evening. The sun was newly vanished from the world, tucked beneath the rim of the horizon and leaving a faint strewing of light that turned the sky an elegant blue. Ignoring the pain that came with twilight, I sank my tired haunches to my heels and folded my arms around my knees. Moodily I stared at the disappearing sun, lips tracing the empty chords of a lullaby that I used to hear. Resting my chin on top of my knees, I let out a small sigh.

"Is Bella Swan not a fan of night time?"

"Not anymore," I replied, not bothering to turn and look at Jacob.

I heard the crunch of his feet on the rocks, the soft grunt he uttered as he lowered himself to sit next to me. For a short while, we didn't speak.

"I used to be afraid of the dark," he said, startling me enough to turn and look at him. I raised a curious eyebrow, and he continued, "My mom would have to put a nightlight in my room every night, and I'd make my dad check for monsters."

I chuckled at the thought of a little Jacob Black, with his blankets drawn up to his nose as Billy searched the room for monsters. "There never were any, but I was still scared. So my mom would sing me a little lullaby," Jacob told me. "After she died, I couldn't stand to hear the song. It broke my heart each time I heard it."

He mulled for a short while in silence, before he let out a nervous laugh and ran a hand through his hair. "I have no idea why I told you that. I don't know if it helps or anything, or even if it applies to you..."

Resting my cheek on my knee to face him, I smiled a genuine smile. "It does Jake. Thanks."

Nodding, he looked down at his feet and kicked them together awkwardly. Turning my head and resting my chin on my knees again, we watched the sky finally drop it's colored veils and slowly reveal the stars.

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Thank you all for your patience! I hope I can update soon after, so please review!