Authors Note: This piece is written purely for my own entertainment and enjoyment (so please refrain on commenting on anything inconsequential) and that is why it's such a fat first chapter. I am writing it while watching the movies over and over again like a lunatic, so I hope the internet enjoys. Also, it is all improv. I am writing it and will continue writing them this way- off the cuff completely.


Chapter One

I had just lost everything I knew and loved, I died.

There was a cold hollow feeling of pure nothingness. There would be no going back, no reliving it all- just the void. And then something changed. I wasn't even aware of it until it was already well over but a split somewhere in the pitch black ripped open the molecules the air whatever the fuck it was all around what must have been my spirit, and that cosmic force (call it whatever you want because I couldn't tell you) it yanked.

Going from feeling nothing at all and having no sense of sensations to being ripped through layers of being was excruciating. My soul was transported by whatever the fuck that was into a specific realm and not just any, but one I was incredibly familiar with.

Just as quickly as I was basically awoken from my afterlife of nothingness- as soon as the horrible feeling of having my entire being torn apart and then sucked back together over and over again to get to wherever in God's name was considered my destination appeared…it was gone. I was immediately just plopped into what I could only describe as a wet and cramped darkness. I didn't know what the fuck was happening and was terrified, too scared and confused to have any idea that I was undergoing reincarnation whilst somehow aware.

When I was finally popped out and came to the painstaking realization that I was to begin again but the universe somehow forgot or fucked up and left me with my old life's memories- I screamed so loud the hospital thought something was insanely wrong with me like I was just a baby letting them know my body was hurting me and something hadn't formed right. Imagine if they knew I was actually an adult in that little newborn body yelling out of anger and fear? At least I can make light of it.

Comically when I finally calmed down enough for them to put me in my mother's arms, something horrible happened and thus began my reign of vocal terror all over again.

First I was squished into the breast of my new mom and I dead ass don't want to suckle a tit, I figured I would have to get over it, but something about knowing its my mom disgusted me even if I was hungry and I knew logically I'm just a baby- but the act of having to feed that way to an adult stuck in this shit was horrifying. And whilst trying to process that then came to the second realization which was that I had a twin. No big deal and if anything a positive….probably. I didn't pay much mind to the pair of wiggling toes the same size as my own tiny ones sharing the space of my mother's hold with me.

It was when they said our names that brought out my inner opera singer once more.

"Isabella Marie Swan" I heard that and just about shit myself physically defecated then and there and I probably would have if I hadn't already upon being birthed but they said that to the other baby thank fuck and whilst I blinked in shock they called out my own name. I was so shocked that I for some reason didn't immediately hear Bella's name and associate that with meaning I'm a Swan in the Twilight series- when I was sitting there absolutely flabbergasted I was trying to make my newborn eyes focus and thinking 'did they just say that's THE Bella Swan?'

Hearing my own name of "Delilah Adele Swan" kind of brought me to the reality of just what my circumstances were, it slapped me out of my own fish out of water thinking and oh boy did I scream. They ended up putting some sort of warm numbing fluid in my throat that made it harder for me to scream probably so I didn't permanently damage my still vulnerable and new vocal chords and for that I was thankful but to the staff and my new mother they were perplexed and horrified. I was still crying quietly. Nothing at all like a baby that had just been born but more like one that was clearly bothered by something.

My mother and father, I refused to call them by their names as it was like a reminder of being inside of what isn't supposed to be a real universe, worried endlessly which to be fair I would too if my child was just fresh out of the womb and causing an uproar. And eventually Baby Bella caught on to it because she too began fussing and crying. That made me steel myself. I quit crying and screaming because I didn't want to be upsetting what I considered to be an actual newborn that was now stuck with me, a sentient twin. Which made everyone happy and though my parents didn't want to let it go, the staff eased their minds with baseless claims of that happening all the time and that sometime's babies are just colic-ee when they're first born.

Being alive again was both a positive and a negative, in many many varied ways. For example, I now had the opportunity to love again and literally live as if I get another chance to accomplish my dreams. Plus I also was born to two parents that would never become addicts or die early like they had in my previous life. Now, as Delilah I had the chance at a fresh start. The problems though…were that I couldn't ignore the fact that I knew the future and I also couldn't act my age. I physically couldn't bring myself to drool or pretend to not know how to do things. Sure, I was restricted as my motor skills were far from developing but everything I did was obvious with intent. Another problem was that yes I had died early and been given another chance at life but…with this being a world centered around Bella, my new twin, being constantly in mortal danger- the odds of me dying were remarkably high. At least, it felt that way. There was no way to know if I would somehow tie into the plot or be a side character that relatively never mattered at all like Mike Newton.

Being a woke baby, I made every effort I could think of to ensure that it was obvious I preferred my father to my mother. I wanted to be raised eating at a diner in a cold town, not taken to a place with hot weather and learning extracurriculars like Bella with her ballet in Phoenix and so I screamed just as I had at the hospital every time I was separated from him, from my new father. When he went to work I would ignore everyone and refuse to eat until he came home every day without fail which of course drove my mother insane and though I felt guilty I continued. I didn't want to be raised somewhere else. Then came the night of the fight where my mother finally called it quits. I say finally because the woman would scream her head off over the most innate little things, almost like spending time with my father had driven her to hate him or something. hen they had that final argument- it was like a weight had been lifted off of my baby shoulders.

Some people just are bad for one another and I knew my father would be lonely but my insane attitude and for lack of a better word shunning of my mother since birth had worked because she didn't bother to take me as she gathered her to go bag and snatched up my twin sister from our shared cot.

It was for the best, though being an adult in that scenario didn't make it any less traumatizing nor did succeeding in my efforts of being left behind. I had mommy issues from my previous life so it was exceedingly gut wrenching to watch my new mother completely disregard me and remove my other half, my twin, from me with me being too little to be able to have a say at all.

That night was hard on me and my father. I spent an hour or two, I can only guess, listening to him cry down the stairs and try to get ahold of her before he came up and forced himself to stop crying so he could hold me.

Things had very quickly become less surreal and more just real, from the standpoint of it felt like a fever dream at first. But just as I figured things would- they got better the minute my mother was gone. I missed my twin so much it hurt and I often cried. I had never had a twin before and I hadn't expected it, but I had grown used to never being alone and having someone to do everything with. Now it was oddly quiet and lonely whenever my dad worked. Luckily the station provided financial help when they discovered he'd been walked out on and left with a baby to raise and so he was able to hire a very kind lovely old lady he called 'Rita' who watched me while he was at work. He warned her that I would scream and cry the minute he handed me to her that first week he went back to work, but I didn't bother. I only did it before so my mother wouldn't take me with her when she left and so he was utterly surprised to see me serenely kicking my little legs as the stranger took me in her grasp.

Going through babyhood all over again left me with nothing but time to think and listen to 'wheels on the fucking bus.' Which yes it was driving me off the god damn wagon, but I mugged through the what seemed to be never ending duration of being a useless tiny infant by planning. After all- it was all I could do in terms of intelligence since my body was so useless still growing. I had been reborn into a fictional universe that I knew quite a lot about and the only other thing I could possibly reflect on would be the things I lost, my old identity and life. Who the fuck wanted to do that? On the horizon as well as just in general, there were two immediate things that popped in my head. The Cullen's and the Quileute's. I couldn't help but wonder if my existence had changed anything. Like, what if I'm someone's imprint? Or like some sort of unholy fanfiction Edward falls for me instead? I of course panicked greatly at these thoughts because it was scary, knowing everything is supposed to go a certain way and that little 'ole me would now be like a nat in the pudding that is the plotline.

Eventually I came to the conclusion that it would be best to let things flow organically, but I did have some passing thoughts of joining the Volturi before the events of Breaking Dawn since I could be an incredible asset if turned. I knew I would have an ability. I couldn't tell you how I knew, but something inside me felt it. I would bet my entire new life on it. I also wondered if I could possibly be fated to join the pack via soul bond though I didn't get any sort of psychic intuition on that front, as frustrating as that was. After all- who doesn't want to be someone's destined true love? Sounds like a fairy tale.

These are the thoughts that perused my mind as I aged up ever so slowly. My dad was great at being a single dad and though I could tell the hole my missing mother and sister had left wore on him everyday, he really didn't let it show very much. I could also tell that having me helped. He didn't seem thrown off or scared of how intelligent I was and in fact encouraged it. He bought me flash cards, sensory toys, baby puzzles, and everything he could think of once he realized I was a woke baby. Or at least I think he realized. He spent an entire night speaking to me as if I was meant to understand him, as if he knew I did. And I did and I never hid it so after that he treated me a bit differently, not that I minded. He obviously yearned for those moments you would have with a real little kid where they act extremely foolish and its utterly adorable, things you remember for years to come once they mature, but I could only ever do some childish things as being in a limited body as I grew grated horribly on my nerves.

Meeting Jacob was as iconic as I expected it to be. I had met Billy early on as he had been at the hospital during the time of my birth and came over to watch the games for the first month of my life here or there until my parent's began fighting, but I didn't ever meet his older daughters as I expected to since I remembered vaguely the books mentioning Bella had met them before but it wasn't as if I could ask where they were.

I was three years old for our first playdate. My father put my hair in pigtails and I felt very much like I was being set up, like he and Billy were crossing their fingers we would end up together. Which in my opinion was kind of funny to imagine since its kind of like the two are trying to be together without being gay by combining their bloodlines via children. My dad asked me what was so funny as I giggled and he strapped me into a pair of insanely adorable pink overalls and I instead replied with an equally as funny truth.

"I gonna play in the mud" I told him, speaking incredibly slowly since I hated sounding and feeling illiterate but being stuck with an undeveloped pattern of speech.

He looked at me with a level of shock and fond disbelief before giving me a gentle noogie on the head and rising to his tall ass usual stance, picking me up with a quick swoop and plopping me down on the top of his shoulders so I could one feel tall and two probably to keep me from running loose once we got to the park.

Unfortunately for him with it always raining in Forks, I did in fact make a mess of myself. By the time Billy and Jacob arrived, I was dolphin diving like the earth was my own personal slip'n slide whilst my father shook his head in disbelief and took pictures with his disposable old camera. Jacob was adorable as fuck as he ran up completely amazed to see me with my hair done and outfit nice but uncaring as I flung myself around in the dirt unlike the other little girls our age, and in response he simply yelled 'hi' as his dad laughed approaching and he dove in mimicking my actions.

Only he hit the dive a lot more clumsily and I rushed to my feet. Or I tried to, I ate shit in my rush twice but once I got up I helped him up and ignored his tears giving him a show of how he's supposed to do it so he doesn't stub his toe or scrape his knee.

Of course our dad's "oo'ed and aw'd" at the scene which made Jacob look over confused but I rolled my eyes.

Eventually Jacob grew tired of my feral antics and demanded we do something more fun, dragging me by one of my pigtails despite our father's shocked yells over to the sand. I simply let him like a deflated anime character because he was a big fucker for our ages, almost like how Samoan babies are built. Besides it didn't bother or hurt me since in my previous life my dad had a girlfriend he would let hit me with a hair brush in the head so the small five feet distance drag was like nothing to me and since he had size on me it felt more like someone yanking me with a leash except obviously it did hurt a little.

I wanted to yell fucker and bop him back on the head, though.

He seemed to appreciate my weirdness because he giggled and proclaimed 'I like you.'

To which I replied, 'Mud on your hand' which was nothing more than a jab at the fact that he had just lowkey assaulted me since we were both drenched head to toe in mud. I knew he wouldn't get it but his look of confusion made me laugh even if only for a second and the literal childhood I was getting to experience gave me so much serotonin I could've spun around singing since I didn't get one before.

The other children having seen us acting like wild animals off to the side before avoided us like we had the plague but endearingly Jacob didn't seem to notice and if he did, he didn't give a fuck that was for certain.

After that we went back home with Jacob and Billy in tow and Jacob and I fell into a peaceful but chaotic dynamic where he knew I was smarter than him but enjoyed the way I was willing to do anything AKA how unhinged I was. It became an everyday thing- my dad getting off of work and us meeting up at the park before our dads brought us back to my house so they could watch the game and kick back a few beers.

I was happy having Jacob as my first friend and when kindergarten began, I found myself digging around in the kitchen just a few weeks prior to the event. At that point it had been a good two years since our initial meeting and I had become quite set in the idea of attending school on the reservation.

My father hearing the noise came downstairs wondering what I was doing and when he asked I told him "I wanna go to the same school as Jake."

I think it impressed him and reminded him that I wasn't your average kid, because he furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin before telling me he would handle it for me and ruffling the hair on my head before taking over my search in the drawers and instantly pulling out the brochure he had lying around. He had researched the various schools in the area at the beginning of the year in front of me before tossing them aside, originally saying out loud how 'it's all the same shit just different mileage.'

With me telling my dad to keep it a secret surprise, I got to see the look on Jacob's face as my dad's police cruiser pulled up to the front of the reservation's kindergarten. Billy of course knew, as they were waiting to greet us outside. We were still little but Jacob and I now had our own handshake reminiscent of the one in the Parent Trap movie but not so complex. He hugged me shortly so our new classmates wouldn't see or tease him as they too were piling out of their cars. I grinned toothily at him.

"Reporting for duty" I held out a thumbs up before straightening my My Little Pony glitter backpack, which fucking slayed if you ask me.

I loved my new school and kindergarten itself. The way they kept bright colors everywhere and the toys were immaculate. Once I got older, I often thought to myself, maybe I could get LSD or mushrooms and break in after hours to play with the toys and shit whilst high. The other kids immediately knew something was wrong with me and at first they called me creepy but after the first week, they stopped because I was incredibly kind and smart. Meaning I knew shit they didn't and would help them when they struggled. The teacher, who's name I literally ignored I can't make this up, was nice enough but absent as fuck which was fine since its not like we had an epic class plan he was supposed to follow and it meant I had more agency to do as I pleased.

That was the year I finally got to see Bella again, on our birthday. Or if you have a huge ego like I do- my birthday…(half kidding.)

When I was brought to the park I was lowkey expecting to see Billy, and Jacob, and my dad's coworkers and the staff from the diner with a cake. I was surprised to find nothing. An empty park. I crossed my pudgy arms in my outfit which I had been gifted from my grandmother in the mail, a Cinderella costume, with my lip jutted out standing by the brick where my dad's favorite bench to sit on was refusing to move until something spectacular happened. So in shorter terms…I was in peak brat mode.

My dad seemed amused and I really didn't think it was very funny until fifteen minutes into my silent fit- a nauseatingly familiar mini van pulled up and out ran my little twin sister with my mother in tow.

My mouth fell open and I immediately ran to meet her pace whilst screaming Bella.

Not being one for mooshy emotional moments with family, cough past life trauma, I surprised myself when I broke down crying along with her when she and I collided into a hug falling on the grass with our mother in my peripheral approaching.

Like I said before- these were real people now to me. I couldn't be in a fantasy, this was all too real living through my new daily existence to possibly think of them as mere character's I had grown to love. This was my family. New or not, memories intact from my previous life or not, and fictional saga or not, all things to me now were reality. After all- I was going through every single day of years as my new identity. If anything I knew in retrospect to count myself lucky I was adapting and adjusting with relative ease to the insanity instead of literally going off the rails and needing to be put in some sort of asylum.

The moment was all very touching but almost immaturely as an adult, I had immediately glared at my mother and literally asked 'what took so long?'

My dad smacked me (lightly) on the back of my head with his hat and I quickly apologized. My mom tried to explain that she didn't have money and I softened at that. Good play, mother, good play. I hoped she was telling the truth and chose to believe her, and just like that I got to have an incredibly special birthday.

I wanted her to come home with us and spend the night on the couch with Bella and I but unfortunately she said she had to make her flight or some shit. Honestly I tuned it out as soon as I realized it was a no. But having gotten to see my twin, my sister, again and eating hot dogs with my mom and dad being cordial was too lovely for that 'no' to spoil my mood.

Bella was just like any other toddler, if not more reserved. But she clearly was familiar with me from our birth on SOME level because every little weird thing I did that day at the park, she was rockin with even the times where she was mildly concerned. She was much much more childish than Jacob and I had to remind myself that she was like my classmates in the way that she didn't have an insane reincarnated soul bestie to boost her like Jacob does. And it didn't get in the way of playing the way I do roughly even when she incurred injuries being clumsy and cried for longer than I wanted to deal with. I was so happy to have her back in my life I was like a diligent older sister despite us being the same physical age and I comforted her and carried her, keep in mind she's my exact same size if not only skinnier than me, in a rush over to my dad and mom to snitch on myself. She immediately got a bandaid and kiss from our mom and was bouncing ready to do more dumb shit with me.

So in short- I loved her so much.

Much like it had in my previous life- childhood flew by. The only significant changes as I grew were Bella's visits and I befriended two girls that were older than me by three years on the beach during the monthly bonfires I was invited to named Ashley and Gemma. They didn't live here though they visited frequently since their grandmother did which was fine with me since they didn't care I was a weird kid and I had a blast making bracelets with them while the Elders told stories. Bella's visits around the age of eight had become her coming to see dad and wanting nothing to do with me. I figured it had to be some sort of psychological twin resentment for our differences with me living with our father and being more advanced than her. But I wasn't sure if that was my ego and considering how much I adored her I couldn't truly fathom what was the cause and was forced to wait for her to grow out of it (at least I hoped she would.)

The best thing that happened was when I turned eleven and got something I had been asking for for a long time.

Complete freedom on the internet. No more parental blocks.

I could now do as I pleased and obviously I was aware he could simply find out anything I looked at that way, I didn't give a god damned fuck honestly. I knew my dad loved me for me and I honestly didn't do anything too insane…at least nothing that would worry him. And this beauty of a blessing led to my dad being extremely shocked when on my thirteenth year of being Delilah I asked him to set up a bank account for me or give me his information so I could use his as I was beginning to make a killing in donations for my fanfiction that I had nowhere to put. Which for context I was writing Harry Potter stories and every single time I did it, it still was fun and made me feel better, I often found myself nauseated because I couldn't not know that I was writing fanfiction while IN a fanfiction myself.

Gave me many headaches but I soothed them with the beauty that is music and other people's stories to make me feel like I'm somewhere else entirely during intermissions of my fun online.

Jacob inevitably discovered my writing and that was a whole other fiasco which involved us beating the crap out of one another because he found it hilarious and I found his laughter embarrassing. Both of our dad's were pretty pissed about that since we both came home from school sporting black eyes. Literally. Jacob and I thought it was pretty cool looking though. It was times like that where I was reminded not to feel bad for making him a bit more outcast in school than he probably would have been, because we were undoubtedly iconic as a duo.

It was such a peaceful era that I knew I would miss it once shit hit the fan.

In my previous life most stories where the character goes to school on the reservation- they usually meet like half of the cast over the years but I didn't. I saw Leah in passing, hard to miss when she's so pretty, and I heard Jared in the hallways for the first time this year- but I didn't see anyone else. My first encounter with a canon character after meeting Jacob and Billy was at the ripe age of thirteen while grocery shopping for my dad (he was outside waiting in the car.)

Jessica Stanley was serving cunt as she strode down the store aisles behind who I assumed was her mother. She was wearing head to toe purple in a dress with an over the top fur coat and a pair of crocs full of, you guessed it, purple pins. I was absolutely flabbergasted as she played with what I think was a nintendo DS but I couldn't see from where I stood. Not without looking like a creepy stalker.

I stumbled as I threw the macaroni in the cart and got out of there, thinking about how her mom looked tired just vaguely as I wiped the barely-there sighting from my mind. A normal person probably wouldn't have gotten out of there like a chicken with its head cut off, but I hate being social and could you blame me? Girl was dressed like she walked out of a My Scene girls episode. My dad asked me why I looked so spooked as I loaded the groceries into the floorboard of the backseat of his cruiser and I told him I saw a girl my age serving cunt to which I was promptly banished to the back seat and told to speak like a damn lady for christ's sake. Love that for me.

As childhood led into my pre-teen years and thus after my actual beginnings of teenagehood, I didn't care too much about going through puberty again. I was more worried about the fact that I would soon be approaching the beginning of my life crumbling and dissolving into supernatural lunacy. Of course that was inevitable but being Delilah, I knew what it meant for me. I didn't know what it meant for the story.

That was part of why I was stockpiling money for myself. That way if the going ever got too rough, I could book a one way flight to Volterra. Not that I thought very highly of that option. Selling my soul to a man who laughs like a pedophile (Aro and yes that's a reference to the god awful scene in the Breaking Dawn movie where he meets Renesmee) and murdered his own sister wasn't exactly high up on my list of possible futures but I often had vivid nightmares of my second life ending at the hands of James before the god damned saga even really kicked off.

With Bella withdrawing from me entirely and me receiving no explanation, our mother followed suit and stopped pretending to care about coming to see me after her fourth visit. So in short I was quickly developing a deep seated bitterness towards them that made me want to violently break things. Which led to me asking my dad for a punching bag on my fifteenth birthday.

It wouldn't help me against literally anything being in the universe I was, but it would help with the aggression for when the writing didn't.

Jacob of course helped me set it up. Jake was the kind of best friend I had always wanted in my previous life. He never let me down in the entire time I had grown up with him. He was more impish about his puberty and I took full advantage of the fact, teasing the fuck out of him over every little thing I could and putting up posters of half naked chicks while he was asleep one time for shits and giggles. Which of course made him turn into a little girl and ghost me for a week but being best friends it didn't take long for him to appear at my doorstep asking me to make him a sandwich.

When I found out that Bella would be moving in, I did my best to be happy about it.

Which was difficult since I wanted to hug her as much as I wanted to strangle her. Being older didn't make me any less human and it was hard not to have resentment when her randomly cutting me out of her life with no explanation was a big part of the reason I grew up with only one parent whereas she always had two. Even with the distance and stuff- our dad never ever went without contacting her like our mom did with me.

Listening to the good angel on my shoulder and setting up her bedroom and not the evil devil that circled whispering for me to hide a fish under her mattress- I took the dull cluttered beige and purple bullshit she had originally loved so much that our father set up with the help of the worker at Bed Bath and Beyond where he bought the comforter from and turned it into a god damn beauty if I do say so myself.

I knew Bella well enough. Not from being her twin, bitter angry stabbing- ANYWAYS but from my previous readings of the series. I was sure she was probably different or more complicated and I got something wrong probably but I knew she would be amazed since I put in a fuck load of effort.

Her room had been mine but hearing she was coming and not wanting to share the space, I gave it up and just worked on making the gardening shed out back into a liveable space. I already had cleaned it up when I got my punching bag which felt like forever ago so it wasn't too bad and if it was too small I wouldn't have even considered it. That didn't make my dad happy at all but he spared me the drama and allowed it. Probably because he knew I was a freaky ass kid and didn't give so much as a thought to the boys my age or hormones. I watched movies like Ip Man and Black Hawk Down and wrote silly stories and often made fun of things that had to do with romance. Plus I was sure he trusted me not to start a fire or start trapping out of it and I was sure he knew that neither I nor Bella wanted to share the room despite us being twins.

It was fairly easy work since I did manual labor in my past life and I had Jacob to slave out.

I paid him in cheap sandwiches and did hard parts for him in video games.

Using a little of the funds for setting up Bella's room, I kept the new mattress and let her have mine since they were the exact same and I felt like it. I then poured the rest of the budget into cleaning the carpet, getting blackout curtains, and insulating the door so she could one not be so cold and two feel like there's a bit more of a sound barrier between herself and our dad. I opted for baby blue sheets and a big plush yellow comforter going so far as to set up a few books I owned that I knew she liked, not exactly difficult to get your hands on a copy of Wuthering Heights and Romeo and Julie (I stole the copies from the school library.) Her room was now staggeringly clean and perfect for her to not only make her own but welcome her. I tried really hard.

Feeling nauseous about the beginning of Stephenie Meyer's bullshit coming- I found myself away from home the day of Bella's arrival and doing something I normally would never do. I was on the beach of La Push by myself. I didn't tell anyone that I was going out as I threw on my hoodie and exited the Shed in the light of dawn. I needed time to sit in my own skin and think. I took an extra thirty minutes to shower and wash my hair and then another forty five minutes (I knew when my dad would be waking up to pick up Bella from the airport) making a quick freezer lasagna and then stuck it in the fridge that way there was something to eat when he got back with her in case I wasn't home by then.

I went to the only place I ever usually go.

I had grown and I honestly didn't think I looked much like my twin. Sure we had the same coloring and hair texture, but our faces were quite different. I didn't know what that made us in terms of types of twins. My eyes were larger than hers, and not brown but blue like our mother's. My jawline was stronger like our father's and I wore my hair chopped short. Kind of like how Leah's hair looks in the movies. Everything else was pretty much the same except I had a dimple on one of my cheeks that Bella did not.

My teenage years being upon me and reflecting on what had passed, I knew I could count myself lucky. The beautiful quiet nook of peace I found myself living everyday had actually lasted incredibly long. Most people's joy and good childhoods, from what I heard and had read, ended around the age of eight at least.

I stared at my hands and then looked up at the waves as the frigid morning air threw sand and a bit of water in my direction. I smiled despite the heaviness of my mind. How could I not? Just looking at First Beach from afar made me relive the epic countless number of visits I'd had growing up here. Dad often joked that if he had the money he's sure I would demand we move there (he's right.)

Some people were arriving to surf but they paid me no mind and I almost didn't even notice them, I wouldn't have if not for one of them being a sexy beach blonde. It was hard being internally older than my physical form. Boys my age were about as appealing as worms because to me they were still babies.

I couldn't help but wish I had more agency, with me feeling fear knowing that being a human amongst a bunch of vampires and shapeshifters couldn't possibly work out too well. It could, I argued myself mentally then, I'm just scared. It was hard because being self aware didn't make a damn difference. Nothing helped. My stupid, supposed-to-be-big brain, had no answers for me in terms of: what the fuck do I do?

I wished I could do magic. Some stories take their character down that route.

I looked up at the gray clouds overhead and rose to my feet. I shoved my frigid hands into the pockets of my hoodie and turned, grabbing my sandals from the floor and wiggling my toes in the sand. I took that moment as I left the beach to be thankful for my new life and body. I surmised that if I were going to die in this fate, just like how I had in my last (too soon,) then it wouldn't be up to me- as in I would have no control over it and it was just something I needed to learn to be okay with.

Even knowing that it was a control freak thing and acknowledging that I should stop driving myself insane…I researched protection charms on my phone the whole walk back to my house. Which was a pretty long walk. I came up with nothing. I had hoped that like how Bella had discovered the bookstore in the first movie and slowly figured out the truth about the Cullen's that in this universe there would be some sort of native american magic ceremony or necklace that I could use but alas there was nothing. The few things in the search results that came up were pretty moot and pointless in regards to my situation. Most charms were supposedly spelled for more specific or too general protections.

During my walk- it was cold and dewy but I got used to that before my fifth birthday. I found it charming even with my bad circulation.

The two major areas, La Push and Forks, are gorgeous. I loved the huge cascading trees and the smell of pine and the fact that you never had to worry about temperature really because almost all of the houses in town had heated bathrooms and air control systems in them. I wasn't sure if it was literally every single home but as far as every one I had been in, even at my dad's few work parties he attended (his boss's house,) had the two life savers.

Everyone knew to wear layers and if you were a resident in either of the two spots- you grew used to the cold pretty quick. You could tell when someone was new or only visiting in the way they walked like baby deer when the floors were slick with ice and the gloves they all adorned the first week in town. All in all I was extremely happy with my decision to scream and somewhat ruin my chance at a good relationship with my new mom considering how much I hated the heat. I couldn't imagine waking up in eighty degree weather every day all over again like I had in my old life. Which while that isn't that hot of a temperature- if you wake up and its that temperature, it only gets hotter as the hours pass in the day.

When I arrived at my house having gotten nowhere with my issue of 'oh no the plot is coming what do I do' and I discovered that Bella and my dad had yet to arrive- I set to work cooking. The truck from the movie had been in our driveway for about a week and Jacob was gushing over Bella's arrival the whole time my dad bought it. I found it cute and so I didn't tease him though it made my stomach churn- hearing him sound like he hoped she would be romantically interested in him causing flashbacks of the various scenes in which Bella stomped on his heart to play in the forefront of my mind. I silently vowed a long time ago that I would do my best to save him from himself. Most readers didn't think about it (I know I didn't until I found myself living here as Delilah) but he had wasted his entire teenage years being a plot device for Bella due to his simping. Only to wind up with her and Edward's daughter…so all those years were pretty much wasted. He could have done a lot more with his high school years. Had more hobbies, more fun hangouts with his pack, etc. Hopefully my big mouth, bossiness, and familial territory with him would make it so I could argue with him or at least boss him into being healthier about his crush. I counted myself lucky that I knew the future whilst remembering that- grabbing the screen door and heading into the warmth of my home. Imagine I was just Delilah and not my woke ass past life remembering self and I had to go through the entire plot watching my bestie get done dirty completely unaware of it happening or the context. I doubted Bella would include me at all in her deeper thoughts and romantic life.

Something about filling the house up with food smells took some of my anxiety away over her arrival. I knew I already made a lasagna and I should just heat it up and relax or warm up in the shower but the idea of being in the middle of actively doing something that everyone loves made me feel better about her impending stay. I know her and she's family so I knew it wouldn't be that weird, just a little awkward at first from her ghosting me, her twin, but that's just how anxiety works. Stuff worries you and even if you're freaking yourself out over nothing, knowing that doesn't make it go away.

With me living here and growing up with our dad- we had actual groceries always. Of course we ate at the diner and ordered pizza and made super unhealthy food like a frat boy duo, but because I'm a good cook and I love taking care of others dad was blessed to have actually nice meals weekly and I never let him sit in his sadness over the divorce. The only times I allowed him to wallow in his depression was when he went into his bedroom and shut the door. That was like a silent way of saying 'I need to be by myself.'

When the familiar sound of dad's cruiser pulled into the driveway- I had just finished serving the mashed potatoes and popcorn chicken I made onto plates with guessed serving sizes for both of them. I took off my apron and set aside the serving fork I had been holding- rushing to the front door. The natural love for Bella and missing her took over of course, my anxiety flying to the back of my mind.

She smiled almost unsure at me- her lips tight- as she exited the car and I threw open the screen door.

I all but rushed toward them with a toothy grin on my face. She looked just like she had in the movie and was carrying a cactus that she'd brought with her from Phoenix. It was pretty adorable. I felt so old then, thinking that. I couldn't wait to at least be twenty years old and therefore closer to the age I had been when I died.

"Bella! I missed you!" I all but hollered. I was sure I sounded hilarious and childish but being her literal other half is an actual feeling. It's like that stuff I used to see in movies and online that I always thought was bullshit about twins being connected spiritually. Her ghosting me had affected me more than the shit with our mother which is insane since I literally had mommy issues my whole life only for me to then acquire them in my new life as Delilah- and still it bothered me more that Bella didn't want me in her life. So in short the act of seeing her again and knowing that she's here to stay had me fuckin' juiced.

I made the effort not to hug her like I wanted to since I had a feeling she would appreciate the space, her internal narration of 'the best thing about Charlie is he doesn't hover' playing in my head, and so I instead began stacking her luggage on my back like a pack mule. As I did so I couldn't help but wonder if this meant I would find out what had caused the sudden ghosting.

Dad shook his head and chuckled warmly at the sight of her three suitcases being juggled by me (one in each hand and the other strapped to my waist band with a hair tie comically somehow holding together and tying the luggage epicly) and Bella's mouth dropped a little before closing, a wry fondness appearing in her eyes as if remembering what I'm like.

"I missed you too, Liles" Bella said, absolutely melting my heart.

The nickname was something from our childhood visits before they thinned out and faded. Instead of calling me Lilah, a pretty princess cut off of my full name 'Delilah,' she insisted on calling me Liles. It grew on me though and was something I adored and hadn't even realized I greatly missed hearing.

Hearing that put a pep in my step and while dad showed her her new truck- I carried her shit in like Esteban from Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

It wasn't that I enjoyed it and wanted to volunteer myself for that task but I knew if I just did it, it would be done the fastest and I didn't want the yummy food I cooked them to go cold or be reheated later like takeout. Some things were meant to be eaten fresh. Like popcorn chicken. Every American knows chicken nuggets are sacred.

"Dinner is on the table!" I shouted from the entryway of the house as I was about to make the trek upstairs and put all her things in her room for her.

I thought about unpacking them for her to be nice and keep busy but decided not to since I wouldn't want anyone going through my own belongings and doing that even if it was a helpful act.

Once her shit hit the floor with a 'ka thunk' I kicked it a bit forward so I didn't look too lazy and it wasn't completely blocking the doorway and then spun on my heel, trotting back down the staircase. Bella and dad were just entering and they looked at me with a look of confusion. Probably about my speed.

I sheepishly grinned, stopping at the bottom step and placing my hand on the banister while they exchanged amused glances and looked over at the dining room where the colossal sized plates were set up for them.

"Ah I just wanted to get everything out of the way to" originally I had done everything out of anxiety and wanting to be able to relax and try to enjoy my own cooking with them but suddenly I felt different "to…to go out" I stammered completely improvising where I was going to go "yeah those girls I hang out with sometimes during the bonfires I told you about, Ashley and Gemma, texted and we're going to go check out this new arcade that opened up."

I crossed my fingers on one hand behind my back hoping that he wouldn't call me out on being a liar or ask me to bring Bella with me.

I wish I had an explanation for not wanting to be around for Bella's first day but I didn't. Not at first at least.

Earlier in the morning I figured I was just anxious about the plot and her ghosting me which was reasonable but now with everything out of the way and my real world life for the first time feeling scripted and fake- I was terrified about it. Almost like Teen Beach Movie when the character's are very first like 'dog what the fuck' and everyone around them starts singing and shit. Only worse. Because it's a goddamn vampire saga. It's all fake and now I'm in it. I wanted to shout and scream as if I hadn't known this every day of my new life.

The idea of sitting down at the table while she and dad enjoy silence made me want to throat a chainsaw.

It wasn't that Bella wasn't likable in a social setting but having seen the scene before me, read it multiple times- I knew that they would eat in silence and then Jake and Billy would pull up so Billy could flirt with dad (kidding) and Jake could get to see and hangout with Bella for the first time in literally forever. I could understand the moment of 'this kid I knew that I really liked is back in town and hasn't been in what feels like a century' paired with Bella being the opposite gender and a direct tie into my family (something he might want since I made it very clear from a young age that he was nothing more than my buddy and we even talked about girls together, he knew I was bisexual and not interested.) And though I joked and still joke about our dads being gay- it's quite common for best friends to want their families to combine. My mind did jumping jacks in that moment as I struggled greatly with being Delilah for the first time since being reborn as her.

Dad let it slide but I could see in his narrowed deep set brown eyes that he knew I was full of shit.

I wasn't surprised since I had never snuck out before only to do so this morning and then as soon as he got home with Bella to then try to rush away? Thankfully he respected me enough as a weirdly mature kid (somehow I don't know how he did it truly. If I had a kid I would be so strict) to know wherever I was going I would be safe and not do anything he wouldn't approve of I supposed. I figured it was also to do with the fact that I was anti-social and preferred nerdy activities. It was while I was leaving the house and trotting down the porch when I fully came to terms with why I didn't want to be around Bella- or around for these moments specifically.

I had now spent seventeen years trying to make this life my own and forget about it being a fictional love story between a teen and an old man in a teen body. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the epic romance between Edward and Bella as a fan before all this bullshit reincarnation stuff became a thing but every time I, as an adult, thought about it- it was hard not to know that imagining an 80 or 90 year old man falling for someone who's so immature and physically as young as it gets for it to be legal is terrifying and though one could argue that being a vampire is different because he's literally centuries old all I could think whilst rewatching the series the last time I had was 'Wouldn't you find that odd? Being that old and falling romantically in love with a seventeen year old? Wouldn't you want someone closer to your own intellect aka another vampire because most of them are centuries old too?

My realization of 'why do I so desperately not wanna be home' was that I simply refused to accept my life as a work of fiction all while knowing it truly is in every way and now being forced to see it all come together. My biggest nightmare had arrived: The Plot. And it was staring me down in the most mundane yet startling way. I mean it sounds stupid but it would probably be easier to be in the literal thick of the actually dangerous parts than it is to have to sit through the beginning knowing it's the calm before the storm. The amount of tense anxiety I was experiencing had to be that- I mused. It was hard to come to terms with the feeling of wanting to get away from literally everything and made me feel like I was right back in my old life.

I was well aware since birth that I'm now a goddamned motherfucking plot device somehow and though avoiding it is simply that, trying to forget, having to visually see scenes you have always known about and thinking to yourself 'Where do I fit in? What am I supposed to do here in this scene?' is sickening and unhealthy for me. I cannot think that way about MY LIFE. I looked around and saw a tall tree and a mud puddle off to the side of my house as I began another aimless walk. I took a few deep breaths.

What was I supposed to do? I asked myself. Never be at home and avoid the plot entirely until god damn New Moon?

I laughed sardonically at myself then, my brow deep and furrowed despite my hilarity at my own situation.

How fucked is it to walk around knowing you've done all the internal work in the world to try and accept that you have a new identity and body in a new universe and have to start over only for it to feel like its all unravelling and now you're confused, vulnerable, and unsure about everything because its a fictional setting?

I also felt silly and annoyed since I had already wasted most of the day doing fuck all of nothing.

That's when it hit me- pouting and grumbling in my walk- a lightbulb moment. I would do something to act my age! Not my literal age but my body's age. Similar to when I did things just because I could because I was a toddler once more- I needed to have some good 'ole seventeen year old hot girl fun. Hot girl, not city girl. I hadn't even been kissed yet as Delilah and had a feeling it would be a long while before I went down the road of having a significant other. It was hard to imagine me ever having one since whoever it was, I would have to tell them the truth. The truth about me remembering everything. And now who the fuck is going to understand or believe that? Let alone love me after hearing me say I have memories of a previous existence where everything I live now is a god damn young adult best seller in Barnes and Nobles.

I didn't want to go party or dance and I knew I wasn't a normal seventeen year old girl so now that I was older I couldn't just go dolphin dive in the mud but I also couldn't go dance in a club or hit up a classmate for drugs. How interesting.

I hummed and gazed up at the sky as my steps began to slightly zig zag, walking in a side to side sway out of amusement as I pondered my options.

Master of my own fate, fuck the plot. I hate this shit.

I stripped off my hoodie leaving me in my Kuromi t-shirt and tied the sleeves around my waist, the outfit suddenly a lot cuter as before my ripped and frayed black jeans didn't stand out at all with my giant beige plain jacket covering most of my short ass self. I straightened out and fixed my wind blown chocolate brown hair which by the way I loved. I missed my lighter blonde hair from my past life in terms of color but this hair on this body ate. It felt like silk and was shiny no matter what and in a chopped style so manageable and stylish- It was iconic and I knew it.

I always covered up and glared because I knew it would make me unapproachable to most people with common sense but for this night I was 'out on the town.'

I grinned with a little bit of a pep in my step as I swerved down the familiar route towards La Push.

I still felt silly as fuck since I literally had no clue what I was going to do with my free time but I didn't let it get to me. Logically speaking, I knew I could probably go anywhere and just nab a guy or girl to spend my time with chatting them up. It was pretty easy before and I wasn't nearly as symmetrical or as aesthetically pleasing as I was before but now being Delilah I was annoyingly pretty and who knows? Maybe I'll make a friend out of it. At least that's what I told myself to wipe away the thoughts of 'where the fuck am I even gonna go?'

I did find myself wishing that my lie had been a truth but I made the mistake of only ever hanging out with Jacob or being at home so even if Ashley and Gemma were hanging out and available- I honestly wouldn't know. Making this, trying not to be around the plot, all the much harder.

Like a gift from god my brain suddenly remembered a place that I was waiting to go to with Jake. He would have to get over it and not be a little girl when I told him I went without him, I thought snickering as I began mentally mapping the route to the shooting range. Not just any shooting range but an archery one. In other words I would get to pretend I'm fuckin' Merida from Brave. Assuming I'm not total ass at it. The spot had just opened and was in a part of an outlet that was like cursed or something because every business that rented it was out within the year. No one really knew why but a studio for shooting bows and arrows had to be the coolest thing in town. I was sure it would be packed and I fiddled with the pockets of my now long hanging hoodie- grinning victoriously as I found a twenty dollar bill leftover from the money I got out last from my bank account.

It took about thirty minutes more of walking once I hit La Push to find it and I had to ask two old ladies sitting outside of a barber shop for directions , but on the plus side one of them gave me one of their cigarettes without even bothering to ask if I'm of age which was pretty sweet. Stuff like that almost never happened with everyone knowing me as the police chief's daughter.

My first drag gave me such a head change since this would be my new body's first encounter with nicotine that I found myself beaming, my smile from ear to ear. I didn't even give a damn at that point about finding the archery range (though I did successfully) as the cigarette was so nice. I hadn't even realized the amount of tension and stress I was holding in my back until I smoked it.

Arriving at the newly painted red building with a fat ass line trailing out of it, it looked more like a pizza parlor than a damn shooting range and my brow shot up to the roof in confusion.

People in line stared at me as I arrived as if to say 'back of the line, bitch.' It amused me honestly. Sure I would go to the back of the line. Pffft when someone made me. A habit from my old past life with me being incredibly inpatient when out in a social setting- the minute I spotted a line I would just try to ignore it. I ashed my cigarette on the side of a pot for a plant and tossed the butt into the gutter mentally waving goodbye at it, sad for it to be gone so quickly, and simply strode right on past security like I belonged there.

The single security dude they had posted out front looked like he thought about stopping me as our eyes met momentarily but I simply smiled charmingly, or at least I hoped it was a cute grin. He shyly averted his gaze and just like that I knew I was in the clear. Dude kind of looked like Mike Newton.

The key is to One act like you're supposed to be there and Two know that it doesn't always work.

If he stopped me and asked what I was doing I would have bluffed and said I had been there with my sister and went outside to get my jacket from the car. It didn't look like they were stamping people or using bracelets to mark anything.

Inside it looked more like a bowling alley (the lobby did) and that's when I saw the brightly lit with neon grip strip lights lining a grand hallway carpeted with a retro space print leading to a glass door with an obvious card slot for entry and an actual fake field with targets similar to a driving range on the other side of it. I looked around left and right, absolutely amazed. How the fuck did they fit that? I supposed that it made sense since the outlet it was in did wrap all the way around the block and I had never been around the back but from the front it did not look that big.

I grinned toothily and merrily made my way to where the hell spawn line led, a counter with a red headed guy wearing glasses with freckles. He was cute and around nineteen if I were to guess, but a bit paler and lankier than I preferred in men. I laughed internally at myself for appraising him the way I did but to be fair, I do that to everyone and I was stuck going through literal puberty hormones all over again. Which you really do not notice it until you grow out of them and move into adulthood but dear god is it noticeable for me.

When he made eye contact with me I could tell he was going to say something about me cutting unlike the security dude who barely gave me a second glance, especially with all the people exclaiming angrily so I simply handed him the twenty dollar bill grinning like the lights were on but no one was home. AKA like I was an idiot.

I don't know why that part worked honestly. I think to make everything go faster he just took it and kept it pushin. I noticed there were no cameras pointed directly at him or I, just his back and the register so I supposed he would get away with it- but essentially there was no way in hell they only charged twenty bucks.

I had originally planned to flirt my way to a discount but the fact that they were so busy and I was acting like a rude dummy was definitely working in my favor because he slid me the smallest cheapest bow and arrow set. It was still really nice and definitely not the kids one so I thanked him gushing and fled the scene down the hallway with my card for access now in tow. It also might have been pretty privilege but I had no way of knowing and was too excited with my new weapon in hand to care. Hell, if I thought I could get away with it I wouldn't even return it.

Walking up to one of the empty lanes which made me feel kind of like an asshole since it explained why there was such a fat line, the number of people being given access cards were being limited till another checked out that way nobody ended up fighting over the shared space once they paid to go in- I didn't bother to ask for an instructor like a lot of the people around me did. I had seen enough Hunger Games to notch an arrow back. That didn't mean I executed it well though.

I blushed and stammered looking around like an anime character I was so fast, hoping no one saw as my first attempt led to the arrow falling to the floor with a light clank sitting at my feet and mocking me having not even been fired..

My cheeks burned bright red and I puffed them out, shaking it off and getting the notch part right on my second attempt. Remember how I figured I would make a friend or approach someone since I figured I'm a good looking girl and I'm out by myself? Well at that moment uhhh something like that happened. Spoiler alert: that's a lowkey cruel quip at myself because what happened next was the exact opposite of what I wanted for my first night out.

And when I tell you I just about morphed into my baby self when I was first reincarnated and heard Bella's name, shitting myself right then and there- when I realized who the man that approached me was. All my god damned mental jokes about previous fanfictions having improbable meet ups had come back to bite me in my ass.

A pair of large warm tanned hands slid up to stop me from firing my arrow and I squeaked. I didn't move. I didn't necessarily freeze for long though not liking someone stopping me- I shook the dude off without turning towards him and blew out a strand of hair that fallen in my face, lowering my draw.

His voice was extremely deep and sexy when he did speak and I fucking knew in that moment this was a god damn canon character. There was no way a man that sounded like a fuckin' narrator for smut was just existing with extremely hot hands in La Push. There was a reason I hadn't turned to face him. I was internally screaming DON'T YOU DARE WALK IN FRONT OF ME. I would spin and crash the fuck out honestly. I had come to get away from my troubles (AKA the plot) and here it was interrupting again. Son of a bitch.

"Don't be so feisty." Narrator voice, I mentally dubbed whoever it was, said first "I stopped you because you need to lower your elbow when you do that or you're gonna overshoot it and possibly hurt your arm. It took me forever to realize that was my problem so I stopped you when I saw you doing it, brat."

I shivered when he said brat. It sounded hot. Stupid fuckin' hormones. Stupid fuckin' plot. I wanted to run outside and shoot an arrow up at the sky at the clouds like a maniac, I bristled standing there feeling embarrassed as sexy voice man had indeed caught me doing something wrong on my first try having walked up to the lane as cockily as I had.

Fortunately I didn't have to thank him because suddenly a voice I knew well enough hollered quite viciously.

"SAM!" Leah Clearwater screamed from the other end of the room, from the right side where he was standing.

It took all of my willpower to fight my natural bird-like curiosity and not snap my neck to get a look at the two of them but on the off…off chance I was somehow this motherfucker's imprint- I wasn't letting it happen on my watch. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know its practically a fairy tale to have a love story like the imprints do but what part of I was on my break from being a fictional character did the universe not understand?

Surely the fucking god forsaken plot could handle me taking the night of its arrival off…right?

As he retreated back to his girlfriend, my hands shook holding the bow- my nerves at an all time high. I felt like I was being irrational but also fair which literally made no sense. Because logically speaking Emily should still be his imprint. Was it because I knew Sam/OC to be a popular pairing in fanfictions? Or was it because I was simply tripping myself out due to my fear of the inevitable storyline and my role in it whatever it may be?

I mean imagine he phased already (I didn't know if he had yet especially since I hadn't looked but from the temperature of his hands if he hadn't he would soon) and in that moment we made eye contact and he imprinted on me while on a date with Leah. That would be absolutely fucked. I thanked god for my sense of awareness at that moment. Thank fuck I noticed his touch was unusually warm and was as cautious as I was because up until Leah yelled out his name- I had no way of knowing if it was okay to look or not and honestly any pack member other than Jacob being there that night and I was gonna be shielding my eyes shitting myself. The fact that it was Sam on a date with Leah just made it more of a dramatic and tense worry.

I took a few deep breaths and steeled myself. I would have my god damn fun no matter what. I notched back my arrow and shivered as the feel of his touch on my skin came back in the forefront of my mind only furthering to freak me out. The memory replaying in my head made me wince before I fired my first shot and so my arrow didn't hit the target I wanted to. Instead it hit its arm.

In a fit of rage over the various emotions and stress and pure lack of fun I had gone through all day, I growled like a feral autistic and slammed back the bow's chord thingy letting the arrow fly and literally aiming for the dummy's crotch.

That time it hit the target.

And I laughed. For some reason it was hilarious to me. I began firing my entire stack of arrows at the dummy's crotch. Was it childish of me? Yes. Was everyone staring? Also yes. But did I give a fuck? No. I could only imagine how much fun I would have when I came back with Jake and hopefully Bella.

The archery range spot was actually pretty picturesque and I realize I haven't mentioned its name- but I had been busy smoking a cigarette for most of my walk over, can you blame me? Remember how I said it looked more like a pizza spot from the outside- that's because it had bold yellow lettering in lights that read 'Tony's.' While I found it weird now that I had been there it made a bit more sense. You could tell upon your first visit there that it was a family run and owned business. The pale redheaded boy at the front desk was matching in the genetics of all the workers in the shooting room. Everyone was pretty fair skinned with the same exact shade of copper like red which really gave away that they were all related.

I wasn't really taking in the location much at all though as I was more locked in on the activity at hand but the way it resembled a golf driving range was the way they lanes were so specifically spaced as well as the green astro turf they used to carpet the entire expanse leading to the various dummies all over the area. You could shoot any dummy in the room but being practical I simply fired away at the closest one to me which was a reasonable distance away from me. The neon lights from the hall before were all over the room and the main lights were shut off creating a really cool atmosphere that was honestly my favorite part of it all. There was enough light to where you could see but enough darkness to feel like you were in a challenge scene similar to the one in Catching Fire, the second in the HG saga. The one where Katniss does her training montage when returning to the Capital.

"I could get used to this" I sighed to myself as I rested once I finally went through fifty arrows.

Seeing that I finished, a worker rushed over and handed me a polaroid of my success at absolutely obliterating the dummies crotch which I thought was pretty cool before taking the bow and my access card. Leaving the place I felt a lot better than I had going in. Between the cigarette beforehand and the physical act of shooting arrows for about an hour- I resolved I would definitely become a frequent visitor there.

Figuring that Billy and Jacob would probably be heading back from my house about that time- I pulled out my phone and shot Jake a text asking for a ride so I wouldn't have to walk more. My legs were sore from me being a lazy bum my whole life only to randomly walk all day like I'm fuckin' Forrest Gump and now my arms too were aching but thankfully only barely since I did do boxing so they weren't too noodley.

It only took five minutes to get a response and it was ":O" followed by "we're coming :("

Reading that I laughed again. I forgot that I still needed to tell Jake I went to the spot we were waiting to go to together. Whoops. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face.

He was probably shook since I almost never went out, let alone without him.

Standing there and waiting for my ride as the sun began to set, I had another (and hopefully final) moment of introspection over the day. Was that really all it took? A bit of archery and boom I felt all better about my fate being lowkey at the mercy of a fictional plot? I chewed on the inside of my cheek before deciding to dismiss my worries. I shouldn't question the miracle that is feeling better- I thought to myself rocking back and forth on my feet.

Maybe if I got really good at archery I could explore it further, get my own bow and aren't there competitions?

Suddenly my mind wandered to Sam Uley- of all the things it could have brought to the forefront of my mind…I suddenly was remembering his touch. I gulped like a goddamn scooby doo cartoon character. Why on earth am I thinking about him? I wondered. Was I that touch starved? Jesus christ. I shivered and told myself my sudden goosebumps were from the cold air and not the repeating sound in my head of his voice- putting my hoodie on just in time to see my best friends disapproving face. He was leaning and standing in the backseat of his dad's car so that he was a bit out of the rolled down window for me to see his crossed arms and childish pout.

I giggled at the comedic sight of him and gleefully threw open his door, literally lifting my leg and pushing him back with a flooring kick to the chest before hopping in the car ass first.

"Thaaaaank yooooou, Billy" I said even though I already knew what his response would be.

"You know you never have to thank me, Delilah. We're family" he assured me warmly "I'm just glad you texted Jake for a ride. It's not safe for anyone to be walking home by themselves at sunset, let alone a seventeen year old girl y'know."

My improv skills kicked in to avoid a lecture.

"Yeah I know- my friends that came with me…there was some drama. We got in a fight and they left. I don't think they realized they were my ride" I shrugged "if you guys hadn't answered, I would have gotten ahold of dad but I didn't wanna interrupt his time with Bella just to come pick me up."

It made sense. Not that it was true at all. If they hadn't come through for me- I would have indeed simply walked without care of the safety risk.

Billy's eyes crinkled with age as he smiled and began the drive back to my house.

Jacob, still bowled over and glaring at me as I crushed his hip with my fat butt, finally hopped out from under me shoving me with a bruising strength that made my elbow jab into the door handle painfully. I hissed and bit back a 'fucker.' Faintly, I remembered him yanking me across the park that fateful first meeting.

"Why did you go by yourself, without me!?" Jacob exhaled as he spoke pouting, his hair looking shiny.

I sighed and leaned against him rubbing my side he had just floored.

"I didn't wanna be at the house honestly. I was anxious about getting through the first day of Bella's return since she ghosted me y'know? There really isn't much to it. I'm not used to being stressed out for super long periods of time and figured going out and being independent for once would probably be good for me. You aaaand Billy are both well aware I'm a bit of a shut in. Happily so but" I shrugged "on the brightside- I got in for only twenty bucks. If we went together the first time and spent our money without knowing if we were gonna enjoy it or not and it turned out to suck- that would've been worse. I can confidently say that you will love it. And it's still gonna be just as fun when I go with you, except better. You know I love doing everything with you. You're my best friend."

Jake softened at my words and Billy smiled in the rear view mirror.

I think he secretly hoped I would end up being Jacob's imprint.

Oh the worries one has whilst being in this universe.

I just took it all in grateful that they both were used to me being so candid and running my mouth.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence aside from the rock music playing at a relatively low volume from Billy's stereo system, which was insanely impressive considering he didn't even use it. I think he just installed it to entertain us kids while he and my dad fished. I loved singing and Jacob loved listening to me do it and it kept us preoccupied for long periods which is all fishing is. Sitting and waiting for hours.

When they pulled up to the house- I didn't get anxious or nauseous. I even directly thought on purpose about the plot and didn't feel weird.

Suddenly, I felt in control even if only for a moment. Entering the house, my dad was sat in his recliner watching a recording of last week's baseball game.

"Where's Bella?" I asked good naturedly as I plopped down on the couch next to him.

He looked at me disapprovingly.

"She's upstairs taking a shower but we need to talk about you, young lady. Where on earth did you go? And don't say a god damn arcade with those two girls. I know that was a lie."

I winced.

"Yeah I went to a shooting range that just opened up in La Push. ARROWS, BOWS AND ARROWS" I reassured him loudly as he looked like he was about to crash the fuck out as the words shooting range left my mouth "I was stressing out over something really dumb. I honestly don't want to talk about it but I figured it would be good for me since I'm always at home. It was too. I really enjoyed myself and it made me realize the stuff I was stressing over wasn't as big a deal as I was making it."

Yes it is. It's all a huge fuckin' deal.

A little dark voice whispered that, the part of me that doubted my ability to survive a fictional plot.

My dad visibly relaxed at my words. He was so respectful and sweet I noted then as I stretched my shoulder blades. The fact that he accepted me for me and didn't push me when I said I didn't wanna go into detail about my worries and trusted me when I assured him they were inconsequential was heartwarming.

When I heard the sound of running water shut off and realized I should have registered it upon arrival and somehow missed it. I hopped to my feet, kissing my dad on his cheek and giving him a big hug.

"I love ya, dad" I told him then as he blushed and wiggled his mustache crossing his arms and raising his brow.

"What was that for?"

I laughed at his reaction.

"You have a teen that's actually grateful for you, and you question it? Tut, tut" I teased as I began my trek up the staircase to take a shower of my own.