Soft humming filled the kitchen of the swan residence, the air filled with the pleasant smell of freshly baked cookies. Nora continued to hum along to the song on the radio, bending down to take the final batch out of the oven. She smiled as she looked at her creation-milk and white chocolate chip, her dad's favorite.

Loosely covering them with a sheet of tin foil she left them to cool; moving to wash all the equipment she'd used in the sink, rolling up the sleeves of her black scoop neck dress. She stared out the window watching distractedly as the cool wind rustled the leaves on the tree's. The beauty of Forks was lost on her today, her thoughts were on the last couple of weeks and how great they'd been.

It had been hard at first, that day she'd arrived especially. Having to talk about the party, the horrible incident fate had placed upon her, it had been more difficult then she'd anticipated. She thought she was over it. It had been months since it happened and she deluded herself into thinking that it hardly affected her anymore, that it was just a distant memory.

That night after her long talk with Bella, they had gone down and had dinner, the atmosphere thick with unanswered questions. It was shockingly her dad who'd taken it upon himself to bring it up. Bella and Charlie had waited and listened intently when she began to explain what had happened.

Halfway through it became clear to her she was very much not over it. Of course it was silly to pretend like it was some sort of vivid nightmare but it had been easier to disconnect herself from it; particularly when she was isolated, alone. No one asked her questions and she didn't have to think about it. Nonetheless, her family deserved to know the whole story and by the end of her sorrowful tale she was on the verge of a breakdown all over again.

Her dad and Bella, she truly realized that night how lucky she was to have them. They'd been so understanding and supportive that it had almost shocked her. It's not that they weren't like that anyway but they both had problems with expressing their feelings and emotions. It felt so good to be surrounded by people who truly loved and cared for her; she had felt like slapping herself at how anxious and worried she'd been to come home.

They hadn't spoken about it since then-it was unnecessary to. The proverbial weight of her trauma was lifted from her shoulders and it was such a relief to be able to feel like she was living again. She still had moments, nightmares and unwanted memories still haunted her, but slowly she was getting better.

There were other things that drew her concern presently, mostly Bella's unfortunate predicament. Scoffing, she scrubbed the baking tray viciously as she thought of the cause of her sister's misery.

Edward Cullen.

Even his stupid fancy name pissed her off. Cullen, seriously? What kind of last name was that? Yes, Bella had told her all about him. How charming he was, how much he loved her and doted on her. He was so kind and handsome, he could do no wrong in her eyes. Apparently Edward was a saint, the love of Bella's young life.

"How charming can someone be if they abandon you in the fucking woods for the bears to eat." Venom coated her words as she muttered to herself and scoffing again, she dried the tray and slammed it on the counter, imagining it was Edwards stupid face. She was never one for violence but when it came to her sister she'd slaughter and entire army to keep her safe.

Pausing she gripped the counter and breathed out slowly, trying to dispel some of her anger. It was clear the task was impossible, it flared again as she remembered the other reason her sister was so distraught.

If it wasn't enough for this Edward guy to abandon her, Jacob black just had to put the cherry on top of the cake. She knew Jacob and his dad quite well. He was more Bella's childhood friend then hers but she used to see him quite a lot when she came down on her breaks from college to see her dad.

Billy Black was her dad's oldest and closest—no, his best friend. It was only natural Bella and Jake were each others in return. Sand box love, as it was sweetly known. Until their mother carted then heartbreakingly away from seeing their father, that was.

He was a nice boy. She had to give him that. The only true friend Bella had really had since that idiot left her and dumped her like she was a damaged toy he grew bored of playing with. Her dad had told her that Bella had been spending most of her time with Jacob, he made her feel something again, brought her back from the dark edge she'd been teetering along.

But he too became another chip on Bella's heart when he suddenly decided they couldn't be friends anymore. Neither Charlie nor Bella knew why and that pissed Nora off to no end. Could he really not even give Bella a reason? It was pathetic, as most men were. Her heart ached for Bella everytime she called him and he didn't pick up, and her poor little sister grew more desperate with each call that went ignored.

Still silently fuming about it all, the dishes clanked unpleasantly in the sink as she scrubbed them clean and thought of how unfair it was. Bella was 18, she should be out making memories with her friends, enjoying her last few years of highschool and living her life. Not sitting at home depressed and chasing ghosts or people who only seemed to want her when it was beneficial.

Thankfully her angry musings were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. She turned as she heard footsteps approach the kitchen and a smile lit up her face at the man who trailed into the room after her father.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, walking forward hastily to give him a hug, the flour that dusted the skirt of her dress and black tights transferring onto his khaki pants.

Chuckling warmly he gave her a squeeze,
quickly pulling back to examine her.

She blushed a bit, feeling slightly insecure. Sadly for her fragile minds state, she'd put quite a bit of weight on since she'd been back with her family and though she knew that was a good thing, and though Bella and her dad encouraged it, in her head she felt a little guilty. It was silly, but her mother's projections about self image had rubbed off on her.

"Look at you! You look so much healthier now Nora. Absolutely beautiful." He gushed, and she had to resist covering her flaming cheeks.

"That's sweet, Harry, you big charmer. Thank you." She deflected her insecurity with teasing, and with a small smile she moved to grab a beer for them both from the fridge as they sat at the table.

It was always lifting for her spirits to see Harry clearwater. He was just so full of happiness—a genuinely kind person to his core.

"How did fishing go?" Placing their beers in front of them she moved back towards the sink, huffing as her frizzled hair fell on her face. She twisted it into a bun and continued with her washing, tilting her head when her father spoke to show she was listening.

"It was alright, didn't really catch much." He sounded distracted and when she quirked her head to look at him she laughed under her breath.

He was staring at her freshly baked cookies like a kid and she giggled before she placed the plate in his waiting hands, shaking her head when he basically snatched them from her with childish petulance, hoarding them close to his chest.

"I do have to say, we both missed your baking Nora. One of us clearly more than the other." Harry said, staring with amazement as her dad shovelled cookie after cookie down his throat like a starving man. His jaw should've just unhinged like a snakes to make it easier for him.

Harry very cautiously took one from the plate, afraid he might lose his hand. They both looked at her father with scrutiny before she burst into laughter when he choked on his last mouthful, a spray of crumbs sputtering out of his pouty mouth.

"Yeah, laugh it up." Charlie muttered, though he couldn't stop the small rare grin that spread across his face as Nora's laugh graced his ears. It had felt like forever since he'd heard her laugh like that.

The happy moment was broken when Bella suddenly ran into the kitchen, sweaty and out of breath and looking like she'd just had the fright of her life. Nora wondered what made her sister actually run. Bella was normally far too clumsy to and always ended up falling flat on her face somehow.

"Dad, I saw them in the woods! They're not bears!" She exclaimed, wheezing as she struggled to control her erratic breathing. Harry frowned deeply and Nora sent a bewildered look to her sister.

'What the fuck?'

"What do you mean in the woods? Bells, what the hell were you doing out in the woods?" Charlie groaned in exasperation, worry clouding his features at her reckless actions.

"They're wolves! I mean, they're like huge wolves!" She screeched, nearly rolling her eyes when the three occupants in the room just stared at her dumbfounded.

"Are you... sure about that Bella?" Nora pursed her lips, squinting her eyes suspiciously at Harry as he spoke. Something about his tone and the way he'd reacted when Bella mentioned these so-called 'huge wolves' didn't sit right with her.

"Yeah, I just saw them! They were after...something." Bella's tone pleaded with them to believe her and Nora knew Bella wouldn't make something like this up.

"Wolves? You saw em'?" Her dad sounded sceptical and Bella seemed to grow agitated at that, nodding her head at him like he was stupid. To spare them all a possible argument Nora decided to speak up.

"Okay well, I'm sure dad and Harry can round up some people to check it out? Right?" She said it with a questioning and pleasant smile directed at the two but her eyes stared them down firmly, conveying that they didn't really have much of a choice.

"Sure, yeah, I'll...I'll just, uh..." Harry mumbled to himself as he made a quick escape from the tense atmosphere accumulating in the room. Bella released a little terrified gasp of realization to herself and Nora turned her suspicious gaze onto her now. 'Hmmm...my spidey-sense is tingling. What's up with her?"

"I should go to the station." Her dad grumbled, chugging the last of his beer. He sighed as he dragged himself from his chair and Bella, strangely, nodded eagerly for him to go. "Yes! You should...you should go."

Continuing to nod weirdly, her sister shifted about and trembled slightly, almost as if she were in shock. Nora frowned, confused as to why her sister was acting more awkward then normal.

"Look, can you just stay in the house?" The demand was harsh, and her dad sent Bella a stern glare before he made his exit. She seemed to deflate slightly now that they were both gone.

"Alright... well do you want to clue me in? Beause I'm pretty confused and I'm almost certain there is something weird going on here." Bella jumped as Nora's quiet voice filled her ears, spinning around to face her older sister who leant against the sink with her arms crossed and her eyebrow quirked-staring at her expectantly. Damn her for being so observant.

"What? There's nothing else to know, okay?" she fumbled nervously with her hands, a clear tell both girls had when they were lying or nervous-so unfortunately for her it was now obvious she was lying straight to Nora's face. Nora continued to stare before she let out a long sigh.

"Okay fine. I'll ignore how odd you're being. You don't have to talk about...whatever the hell this is right now but know this," Stopping for a moment, she grabbed two cookies and passed one to Bella before she made to exit the kitchen. Halting in the doorway she turned to Bella with a reassuring little grin. "Whatever's going on, never be afraid to tell me Bells. I'm not stupid, it's clear something is up, but i'll wait for you to decide when you want to spill the juicy details, okay?" She winked and took a bite of her own cookie, spinning on her heel and heading to her room.

Bella bit her lip as she contemplated what the hell she was going to do. She wanted to tell her sister everything about the Cullens and what had happened with James, why Edward had really left but she couldn't. She wasn't even supposed to know, she couldn't drag her sister into this dangerous world, not when the price would be to lose her. 

Sighing she plopped onto a chair, nibbling at her cookie, a nagging thought eating at the back of her brain. What if Nora figured it out herself? No, she couldn't let her figure it out, she'd just have to be more careful from now on.

(Edited 07/12/21)