------------------------------------------------------------ Distractions -----------------------------------------------------------

Jake sat beside me on the sofa, his head resting against my shoulder, lightly snoring. It was the second time he had fallen asleep this morning. He didn't get back until roughly 2.30 in the morning the night before. Although I wasn't suffering from the sleep deprivation (I hadn't been able to sleep at all before he had come safely home) Jacob's body had taken a hit from the sheer amount of running he had done with Leah. They scanned every inch of a roughly 30 mile radius from the house, but only found one more trail, which had been ruined by natural forces and was almost completely useless - but it was there.

"Oh man, I wish we could just find what ever is leaving these trails. I'm dying for a real good fight!" Emmet enthused. Both Rosalie and myself threw him a irritated glance. The majority of my family had also searched last night once I was asleep - or so they thought - in bed, but their attempts had also been fruitless. So now we were left, routinely scanning the forest, jumpy and anxious. Or at least I was.

"When did Carlisle and Dad say they'd be back?" I demanded.

" Not till 11. Renesmeee, calm down. If they find anything, they'll come straight here first." Mom tried to appease me, but she didn't completely disguise the worry in her eyes that she felt for Dad, searching for trails as we spoke.

"And there is no need to suspect that whoever is in the forest is dangerous. They haven't attacked either us or the Quileutes yet. That probably means they don't intend to." Esme reasoned. I wished I could have as much optimism as she seemed to. My leg never stopped twitching the entire time, my knee rapidly rising and falling. After a few moments of silence, Rose got up and headed in the direction of the garage, and Emmet followed closely behind her. I glanced at the clock. 10 past 10. My leg moved faster. Mom moved across and sat down on my others side, putting her hand gently on my knee, stopping the jerking.

"Stop. It's fine. No need to over react." I just nodded severely. She smiled and then reached for her book. I glanced out the window, searching the trees for any sign of movement. I don't know how long I sat, unblinking, staring out at the green wall of cedars, but before long I could see Dad and Carlisle making their way across the river and towards the house. I heard Esme sigh as she heard them too, putting her sketchpad down and heading towards the back window. As they made their way through the door and into the large room, Alice, Jasper, Emmet and Rose joined us all, coming to hear the report. We all looked at their faces expectantly. Carlisle just shook his head lightly. He looked very concerned.

"Nothing new." He sighed. Everyone stood frozen for a moment, each thinking critical thoughts.

Dad. What's going on? I'm worried. I projected at my father, my eyes never moving from his face. As soon as I mentally called him he met my gaze. He just gave me a pained look and then shook his head fiercely, breaking away from my stare. I huffed a sharp sigh, forgetting about Jake resting on my shoulder. He woke up with a jolt, his back going ramrod straight.

"What?! What'd I miss?!" He mumbled in a half-conscious daze.

"Thunder!!" Alice exclaimed abruptly, completely out of the blue, speaking for the first time.

"What?" Both myself and Emmet asked her, everyone else just looking at her questioningly.

"Thunder." She said more quietly. "There's going to be a storm." Her brow was furrowed.

"When?" Mom asked.

"Today. Soon." Her face took on a look of complete concentration. "It won't rain though. There will only be thunder. I.." she stuttered. "I can't tell how long it will last." She gave an exasperated sigh as her brow smoothed out. Jasper's face became animated.

"I think we need a distraction." He said, looking specifically at me. I could guess why. He must have been reading my emotions and could plainly feel how worked up I was. Dad read his thoughts and was on the same wavelength in a second.

"What does everyone say to a little game of baseball?" He smiled.

"Sweet. It's about time we had another game. I still owe you a thrashing from the last time." Emmet smiled as he punched my Dad in the shoulder. Everyone seemed to brighten up a little at the prospect of some light hearted sport, but Mom shot a glance at me, assuming that it was constructed for my benefit.

This is ridiculous. There are more important things to be worried about.

I told her. She came over and stood beside me.

"Wrong." She smiled.

"There is nothing to be worried about, which is exactly why we are going to play, to prove it to you." Dad interjected. Alice shot to my side.

"You have sportswear upstairs." She looked pointedly at me, "Go make good use of it." I lifted myself from the sofa, pulling Jake with me, scowling and grumbling the entire way up to my closet.

I located the 'sportswear' Alice had made reference to - lying neatly folded ready for me on my bed. I wondered where Alice had these stored, I didn't remember unpacking them. Tight fitting, purple and gold, lycra sport leggings with a matching hoodie and top - and matching gold high top trainers. Not exactly what I had in mind, but I didn't want to get on Alice's bad side, so I conceded with good grace and changed into the clothes. True enough, they did allow me to move easily but they were bit… Harlem for me. Jake appraised my outfit, a strange look on his face as he looked me up and down.

"Well…" he said, a laugh in his voice.

"Leave me alone." I scowled.

"No, you look… just different, that's all. I'd go to the gym if you were gonna be there." He smiled teasingly at me. I just stared him down, envying his shorts and tank top combo. I stamped my way out of the room and across the hallway into Esme's study, not even pausing before sliding the glass out of my way and jumping out the window into the garden. Jake gave a chuckle and followed behind me. The others were already waiting in the garden. I noticed that Alice and Jasper were the only others who had changed their clothes. My parents eyed me and I could read from their faces exactly what they were thinking as they appraised my outfit and aerobatic stunt.

"The stairs too much for you, Ness?" Emmett taunted. I growled and then crouched in preparation to launch myself at him. He took off like a shot, but I was right behind him. Everyone else began to run as well, following behind us. Once we made it into the trees I took advantage; because of his size, Emmett was fractionally slower in the forest. At the first chance I got I launched myself at his unprotected back, landing my feet on his upper back and my hands on his shoulders.

"Gottcha!" I laughed as I pushed off against his torso and flung myself ahead of him, messing his hair in the process. He rumbled behind me and I glanced back to see his heated expression. As I tried to pick up my pace, to force myself to run my fastest in escape, I heard the sound of Rose pounce to my left. I looked over my shoulder to see her take a sideways pounce at Em, laughing hysterically when she derailed him from his course for me. She looked back at me and winked, catching pace with me quickly. I could hear my entire family's laughter.

"Right, that's IT!" Emmett roared. Crap. Emmett came charging after us, and I was quickly aware that Alice was in the tree's above me, barely touching the limbs as she soared through the air. Dad joined close behind me on the right, a huge grin on his face. He didn't overtake me though, and I could see the plan. Irritate Em by confusing and taunting him. It never failed. As Em gained behind me, inching closer and closer, Dad changed course and ran straight in front of him, pushing his head as he darted away. Emmett growled and flung himself at my father, but Dad was too fast and Emmett was left stumbling and further behind. Jake came powering towards me then.

"Come on." He shouted at me, grabbing my arm and throwing me over his back. He ran faster with me on his back than I had alone, and soon we were a safe distance from Emmett. He let me down then, so that I could run beside him, but we both slowed to a natural run rather than a sprint, following Carlisle. Since he had been carrying the baseball bat, I assumed he knew where we would be playing.

I assumed correctly. Within 5 minutes we ran out of the forest and into a huge open pitch, almost half the size of the town. The range was speckled with little playing fields like this one but I thought I recognised this ground from another time that we had played sports together - the time Carlisle had attempted to teach Jake and I how to play Rugby. I didn't enjoy it much; playing against vampires like Emmett and Jasper, and actually being able to feel pain, it probably wasn't the best activity for me, so now I just avoided most heavy duty contact sports.

Carlisle and Esme walked into the middle of the field, Jake and I following. The others came quickly after us, wide smiles playing on most of their faces - a huge scowl on Emmett's.

"How long do we have to wait, Alice?" Mom called. Alice stalked across the grass towards us, her smile wiped from her face, replaced by a delicate frown.

"Soon." Was all she said. Afraid of upsetting, or possibly embarrassing, her I projected my question silently.

Can you see exactly, like minutes and seconds? Usually Alice was far more competent and exact when it came to time schedules. She just looked at me and shook her head very slightly. My eyes were worried and, as I looked to Dad - who I guessed had heard my question - his eyes mirrored mine.

"Right," Carlisle beckoned us to pay him attention, "Who's playing who?"

"Well, it's even numbers. Esme," my Dad looked to his mother, "you'll have to play." There was an apology in his words somewhere, but his look was teasing.

"Don't think that it means I won't be looking out for fouls and cheating." She teased straight back. Emmett opened his mouth to say something, but Esme interrupted him. "On both sides." She addressed him. His mouth closed and his face fell.

"Boys versus girls?" I suggested. The boys looked at each other with faces that could be clearly read 'We'll thrash them.'

"Sounds like a good idea." Jasper agreed. We split off into our groups, the boys laughing together. I'm sure they assumed, what with Dad's mind reading and all of their strengths, that it would be an easy victory. However, we had a few tricks up our sleeves.

"Hey, Mom," I asked lightly, but with a tone that made the boys stop and turn around, "What do you say to evening up the playing field a little?" She smiled at me, and then wrapped her shield around us all - everyone but Edward. Now Dad wouldn't even be able to mentally co-ordinate with his team members. There was a rumble of thunder then, and it perfectly matched the expression on my telepathically repressed fathers face. "Lets play." I smiled.