A/N: Hi Everyone! So for the no go there for a while. Lots of stress floating around because of end of year stuff, but I've finished now, so it's all okay! haha I hope you enjoy this chapter. I accidently wove a new sub plot into it that doesn't appear in Twilight (of course, cos it has to do with Ally), but I hope it will keep you guessing and wondering! So once again, Enjoy! I love hearing your reviews! x L.

"What are you doing?"

I could see Robert's body lying on the floor, everything but his head visible, which was hidden under the bed.

I set my mug of coffee on the desk, not bothering to move my Calculus assignment out the way. Coffee stains were so in right now where homework was concerned. I folded my arms, looking on curiously and somewhat annoyed.

A muffled noise came from under the bed, ineligible words from Robert's mouth. I moved closer to the bed, tapping the soles of his shoes with my own feet while I waited for him to resurface.

Tonight was the night of the much anticipated baseball game that Bella and I had been invited to. Much to the amusement of Charlie, who had given us his permission to go spend the evening at the Cullens, I had convinced Bella to brush up on her baseball skills.

We had armed ourselves with baseball bats, mitts and a ball, invading the quiet street and had attempted to teach Bella how to bat until Robert was rolling around on the asphalt laughing and Charlie had given up, throwing his hands in the air, and muttering something about going to watch a proper baseball game. Bella herself had stormed back inside the house, threatening not to come out until Edward came to pick her up.

That had been yesterday. Today, Robert and I were spending the day at the Cullen house – again ­– before coming back to pick up Bella for the baseball game.

A barely audible noise which sounded something like a cheer came from Robert's headless body. I moved away from Robert as he wriggled his way out from the bed.

"Oh no. No, no, no and no."

Robert grinned at me, his hair all ruffled. He was also holding a Yankees shirt in one hand and some form of whistle, which, when he put it to his mouth, the familiar theme tune of baseball came out.

"No," I repeated, shaking my head.

"Aw, come on! It's the Yankees." Robert held up the shirt, shaking it like he was a Spanish bullfighter.

I raised my eyebrows, slightly confused. "You hate the Yankees."

"I do not."

"Yes you do."

"Not."

"Three days ago, the Yankees played the Mets and every time the Yankees scored a home run you threw my shoe at the TV screen until I literally had to hide every single shoe in the house so I didn't have to explain to Charlie why there was a gigantic hole in his television screen. You hate the Yankees."

Robert looked at me, and then at the shirt he was holding in front of him. He continued doing this for a few seconds, a confused look on his face. I laughed aloud, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet. "We have to go," I said, turning round to drag Robert out the room.

"Where?"

I stopped in the doorway, turning back around so that Robert was inches from my face. I looked up at him with an incredulous look on my face. "Where?" I repeated, leaving my mouth open in an "o" shape. I wrapped my fist lightly on the side of his head.

"Oh, right. Carlisle," Robert replied, an aloof smile on his face.

"What is with you lately?" I asked as we walked down the stairs. Robert didn't hear me. He was too busy looking left to right on the bottom of the stairs, as if expecting The Indian Pacific to roar past.

"Come on," I muttered, grabbing my car keys off the table. "We're already late."

--

The Cullen house was quiet when we arrived. I already knew that Bella and Edward were off doing something – as if they didn't spend enough time together as it was.

Esme greeted us at the door. "Hi Ally, Robert." She smiled at me as we walked through the door.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, looking around.

"Alice and Rosalie went to Seattle for the day, and Emmett and Jasper are around somewhere. Emmett's still trying to get Jasper in for a rematch," Esme laughed. I grinned. Last time we were here, Jasper had won against Emmett in an arm wrestling match, much to Emmett's dislike.

"Carlisle's in his office, as usual. He's expecting you of course. I need to get back to the kitchen. Baking, I'm afraid, is something I've never quite perfected." Esme gave me one last smile before heading back in the direction of the kitchen.

We walked up the stairs, Robert walking behind me.

"Give me a home among the gum trees with lots of plum trees. A sheep –"

I turned around, noticing that Robert's footsteps had ceased. "Are you coming?" I asked.

Robert continued to stare at me. "What was that?"

"What was what?" I stepped down onto the stair below me, so that I was standing one step taller than him.

"You were singing." I smiled.

"Yeah it's a country song. I found it on the internet." I grabbed Robert's hand, trying to get him to move. He didn't budge.

"Since when did you listen to country?" he asked, stepping up, so that we were level. I grinned, moving a lock of his hair out of his eyes.

"Since I discovered that John Williamson is the best thing to come out of Australia since the Wiggles. There are actions. Wanna see?" I took a deep breath, and started singing again.

"Give me a home among the gum trees, with lots of plum trees. A sheep or two and a kangaroo, a clothesline out the back. A verandah out the front and an old rocking chair!"

I finished with a flourish of my hands, a cheesy grin on my face.

Robert just stared at me before moving around me. "Do I need to remind you that you are the strangest person I've met?"

I let myself be pulled along by Robert. "Do I need to remind you that you chose me to be all Spirity with?"

Robert looked as if he was going to say something, but we had reached Carlisle's office. I grinned triumphantly as I knocked on Carlisle's door. I won, I mouthed. Robert just shook his head.

The door opened. "Ally, Robert," Carlisle greeted us with a smile. "Come in." I squeezed into the office, Robert following behind me.

"How are you today?" Carlisle asked, sitting back down at his desk.

"I'm well thank you. Excited about tonight though, have been practicing my swing," I grinned, mimicking swing a bat.

Carlisle laughed. Suddenly there was an awkward silence between us that hadn't been present since we first started these 'sessions'.

Robert cleared his throat, and I turned to look at him. "What?" I asked him. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again.

I looked from him to Carlisle. "Am I missing something?" I threw the question out there to both of them.

Carlisle rested on his hands. "I need to speak to Robert, Ally."

I shrugged my shoulders. "So go ahead. I'm not finished with the Plutarch yet. I promise I won't interrupt."

"Alone, Ally." The low blow came from Robert. I looked down at my hands. I bit my lower lip.

"I get it. I'll go." I stood up, the chair scraping behind me.

"Ally..." Robert said, standing up also. I smiled grimly. "No, I get it. I do." I turned, fumbling for the door. I slid around to its other side, shutting it before sliding down onto the floor, resting my head on the cool wooden door.

I drew my knees up to my chin, resting my head on my hands. I'd never willingly left Robert before. It felt strange, to leave him there in the room with Carlisle.

I groaned. Robert was in the next room, and I was acting like a sissy already. It wasn't like I couldn't live without him – I could. I was still pretty much my own person, but having someone around all the time for nine years straight made alone time something that was pretty much a thing of the past.

I knew how to have alone time, some time without Robert. It was time to do things on my own. On my own. By myself. Alone. "Me" time.

I rolled my eyes, standing up. I had been without Robert numerous times in the past. Especially in the last couple of weeks, when Robert had spent time with Carlisle while I was at school, or when I had gone downstairs to talk to the others. I'd been separated with Robert before, and I sure as hell could do it again.

I walked down the corridor. My plan was to go see if Esme needed any help with her baking. I was stopped in my tracks however, when the opening chords of ACDC's Highway to Hell started up. Instead of making my way down the spiraling staircase, I continued down the corridor until I found the source of the music.

The door was slightly ajar, and I poked my head around, holding back the laughter that threatened to escape past my lips.

In front of me, on the other side of the room, was a widescreen plasma television, flashing images lighting up the somewhat darkened room. It didn't surprise me that the Cullens had the latest technology. Blocking my whole view of the TV, which was the source of the ACDC, stood Emmett and Jasper, their backs to me, each holding something long in their hands.

As the song finished, I found out what was going on when Emmett yelled out, "Rematch! Rematch!" to a gloating Jasper, a guitar hanging loosely around his neck.

Guitar Hero. Of course. Because it was so natural seeing vampires playing Guitar Hero. I chuckled to myself softly, but it didn't go unheard.

"Hey there Ally!" Emmett boomed, dropping his guitar onto the couch before making his way over to me and squeezing me into an awkward bear hug. "Having fun? Is your friend here?"

I nodded. "Robert's talking with Carlisle. I was bored, so I thought I'd go for a wander when I heard the ACDC." I nodded my head in the direction of the TV. I felt the anger and frustration from before start to melt away. It was then that I remember Jasper was the room, and his abilities.

"Do you mind?" I asked sharply, turning to glare at Jasper. Jasper was a funny one. He wasn't as talkative as Emmett or Alice, but he didn't openly share his dislike for Bella and I like Rosalie did. I still didn't know what to make of Jasper, but one thing I hated was someone manipulating my emotions.

"Sorry," Jasper confessed. "Your emotions were sky high, so I thought I might help, make you feel more relaxed."

I relaxed my body – out of my own will. "I'm sorry," I apologized. "My emotions are running a little high, but it's not fair to take them out on you."

Emmett looked at me, a solemn look on his face. "There's only one way to settle this," he said, moving back around the couch.

"Guitar Hero." A big grin came across his face.

"No," I shook my head. I didn't mix well with video games.

Emmett turned his mouth down into a fake pout. "Please, Ally. I'll be your mentor. Because that way, when you win against Jasper, it'll be as if I had won, and then Jasper and I will be even."

I laughed, shaking my head this time in defeat. I held out my hands. "Teach me, oh Wise One of the Guitar."

Emmett cried out in victory, grabbing me in another bear hug. Clearly he was intent on beating Jasper, whether it be through me or another poor innocent soul.

Soon I was having more fun than I would have expected. Not only had I picked up the basics in record time, I had knocked the socks off Emmett and Jasper. On Easy of course, but I had still whooped them. It helped having a great musical education. The day had gone from pleasant to horrible and back to fun all in one morning, and this time Jasper had no part in my emotions.

--

I tied my wet hair into a loose ponytail as I walked out of the bathroom and back into my own room. Edward was coming any minute to pick us up for the baseball game, and I had only just managed to squeeze in a shower.

"I need to tell you something. About tonight," Robert said, putting his book down. He was reading the Plutarch Carlisle had lent me. We were currently having a debate about who was the greater civilization, Greece or Sparta. I was all for the Spartans of course, and had managed to convince Robert earlier in the week to read Plutarch's essays On Sparta.

I sat down on the bed, cross legged as he swirled around in my desk chair. "What?" I replied warily.

"It's nothing bad, or so I hope. Its part of the reason Carlisle had wanted to talk to me alone today. He knew I would most likely tell you after, and I think it's only fair that you knew. Bella knows, I think."

I was looking at Robert strangely. He looked as if he was talking to himself, which was odd, because it was usually the sort of thing I'd be caught doing.

"You could just tell me you know," I said, spreading out on one side of the bed so he could come and sit next to me.

As he lay down next to me, resting his head on his hands, I heard him sigh.

"Alice saw some…visitors coming this way. They've caught wind of the Cullens, and are merely curious, that's all. They are however, how would I say it?" Robert screwed up his face as he tried to search for the right words.

"Carnivores?" I suggested. Robert looked at me darkly. "What? If we can call what you and the Cullens do vegetarians, then the others must be carnivores," I pointed out. Robert coughed out a laugh.

"Anyway, going to back to what I was saying," he said, grinning. His face was quick to change to seriousness. "Carlisle said that the visitors don't look like they are going to be any trouble. They are however, nomads."

I felt my back stiffen, and I sat up, looking at Robert. From the look on his face, I knew my own had turned a pale colour.

"No."

It was the only noise that my mouth could make, and even then my voice trembled.

"No?" Robert was sitting now also, his face inches from mine and full of concern.

I shook my head. "We're not going. Tonight. We can't go. What if…if…," I managed to gasp out the words. I felt Robert's hands on my cheeks, bringing my eyes to meet his.

"It's not going to happen. How many nomads are out there, Ally? There are hundreds of them! And who's to say that he's still in America? These people, they travel all over the world. They don't make homes like the Cullens' do. There's no possible way that any one of these nomads will be the same who -"

I cut Robert off, putting my hand over his mouth.

"Don't say it. Please," I let my emotions play out through my eyes. "I don't want to take any more chances, Robert. Last time…last time almost got me killed, and I don't want to go through that again. Especially not with Bella around."

Robert rolled his eyes, taking my hand off his mouth. "Bella will be fine. She has Edward, the Cullens. And so do you. Nobody would dream to think of hurting you while they are around. While I am around."

I looked away, staring at my bedspread until it made my eyes water. Robert was right. While there was the slightest chance that one of these nomads…

"There's still a risk," I murmured.

"A small risk," Robert counteracted. "It would be stupid not to go and spend all evening here not having fun."

Why were guys always right? I found myself thinking. "Fine," I mumbled, hopping off the bed and picking up my jacket. "Let's go."

As we walked downstairs, I could hear the murmur of voices, which meant that Edward was here. I zipped up my jacket and smiled, hoping that the others wouldn't notice my somewhat sour mood.

--

I jumped out of the Jeep, landing smoothly on the damp ground. It literally was a jump too – the Jeep, which was Emmett's, was one of those huge monster Jeep things you usually see riding over cars on the TV, complete with massive headlights and thousands of buckles to strap you in.

I was already gearing myself up to get onto Robert's back. Edward had mentioned in the Jeep about having to run the rest of the way and Bella had kicked up a fuss, and now Edward was trying to stop her from hyperventilating at the thought of running at God knows what speed through the trees. Personally, I don't know why she hated it so much. I found it exhilarating.

Robert swung me onto his back, as if I weighed nothing at all. Soon we were running, and as I pressed my face into Robert's back, I could feel the wind picking up my hair. I didn't dare take a peek – especially not at this speed. Soon however, it was all over, and I found myself sliding down Robert's back.

Seeing my frown, Robert nudged me in the shoulder. "Cheer up grumpy," he said, grinning, as we walked in the direction of the clearing. I threw a dirty look in his direction.

Robert sighed. Still holding onto my hand, he gave it a quick squeeze. "It will be fine, you'll see. You have nothing to worry about."

I looked at him in disbelief. "Nothing to worry about?" I asked, my eyebrows raised. Robert just looked at me. As we stood there, our eye contact never faltering, I knew that Robert was serious. A loud noise that sounded like laughter came from the direction of Bella and Edward, and I glanced over as they caught up to where I stood with Robert before we entered the clearing together.

The rest of the Cullen family had already assembled in the clearing. Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Rosalie were grouped together, talking while Alice and Jasper flitted around the field, presumably setting up the bases. Every now and again, sounds of Alice's tinkling laughter filled the air.

As we approached, the four Cullen's closest to us looked up. With a scowl, Rosalie turned and walked in the opposite direction. Clearly, she was still none too happy about Bella and I being there. Emmett looked longingly at her retreating figure, as if fighting an internal battle as if whether to join her or stay. He chose to stay.

Esme was the first to greet us, Carlisle by her side. "We're so glad you could join us," she said in her soft, quiet voice, a smile on her lips. Carlisle smiled also.

"Ready for some ball?" It was Emmett who spoke. He came running up, gracefully like the rest of them, even though he was double their size in muscle. Emmett punched Edward on the shoulder. Obviously it didn't hurt Edward, because he didn't flinch.

Instead he laughed. "Ready to massacre you brother."

A loud clap of thunder boomed overhead, causing me to tilt my head up towards the sky. The dark clouds hung low, threatening rain. "It's quite eerie," I whispered to myself, wrapping my arms around my neck.

"It's time."

The voice came from Alice. My head swiveled round; I hadn't realized that she had come into where we were still standing. The Cullens scattered around the field at her words. Edward went to the out field, a small pin prick against the trees. Carlisle had joined him on the field, standing between two bases. In the diamond stood Alice, ball at the ready. Rosalie held the bat, Jasper crouching down behind her. Emmett was just off to Rosalie's left, ready to step up onto the plate.

"Ally!" I turned around at the sound of my voice. It was Esme, beckoning to come and sit with her and Bella. I turned back to Robert, grabbing his hand as I jogged over to them.

"I was just telling Bella why I don't play," Esme smiled. I wait for her to continue, sitting down on the grass, pulling Robert with me. He wasn't expecting it, and instead of falling down gracefully, he landed on the ground with a loud thump.

"Oops," I giggled, covering my hand with my mouth. Robert glared at me, brushing off any signs of dirt on his shirt. I looked back to Esme.

As I did, my eye caught Carlisle's. He was staring at me. Or at least, it looked like he was staring at me. I felt my stomach clench at the strange look, but decided nothing of it. My head continued in the direction of Esme.

"Sorry, you were saying?" I turned my full attention on Esme.

"I like to keep them honest. Sometimes…they have the tendency to cheat." As she said this, Emmett bounded over.

"Cheat? Us? Never!" He grinned. An exasperated sigh came from Rosalie.

"Are we going to play, or…?" She was glaring more at Bella and I. Esme smiled apologetically at Rosalie before looking towards the out field.

"Play ball!" she called. The game had begun.

I watched the game for a while. The thrill of seeing why thunderstorms were needed to play baseball had disappeared long ago for me, but for Bella, it was a whole new ball game, literally.

I lost focus however, tuning out. I couldn't shake the funny feeling in my stomach, however. This time, it didn't have anything to do with the nomads. I trusted Robert on that one.

No, this one had to do with Carlisle. The doctor had kept looking at me all evening, and in a way, it was quite unsettling. I don't think that he knew that I was looking – then again, how would you not know?

I tried to keep my eyes averted. I cheered and clapped along with Bella as each Cullen made home runs or catches, all the time resting up against Robert, who cheered on as well, although no-one would be able to hear him.

Twenty minutes later, everything fell to pieces.

A loud clap of thunder sounded overhead, but Alice's gasp was still audible as she dropped the bat. All eyes turned on her, the Cullen's by her side in an instance. I felt myself stand up quickly with Robert.

"I see now. I got the perspective wrong before," Alice murmured to herself. I heard Edward groan.

"What is it?" Carlisle's smooth voice rang out. Alice looked up at him.

"They heard us playing. They're coming in this direction."

Edward was by Bella's side. "We have to get the home, now." He was referring to me as well. Alice shook her head.

"No, we don't have enough time. They'll be here any minute." I gulped. That previous fear I had about the nomads was coming back.

"We have to take them back, now!" Edward said through gritted teeth. "I'm not risking it."

Carlisle shook his head. "You're going to have to. There's nothing we can do." He smiled grimly.

"They're coming," Alice whispered. Edward instructed Bella to take out her hair.

"It won't work," Rosalie hissed. "I could smell her from the other side of the field."

I hadn't said anything up until this point. "Okay wait. What exactly we doing? And why don't I need to take down my hair? No-one seems too concerned about my safety." It sounded a little harsh, I know.

Rosalie glowered at me. "Because you don't smell."

I laughed. "I don't know whether or not to take that as a compliment," I sneered at her. Esme quickly jumped in.

"It's not that you don't smell – you do. But your scent…you smell just like us. It must have something to do with Robert being around you for so long." She smiled softly at me.

"Huh," I said aloud, mulling on this new piece of information.

Carlisle took charge. "We have to act like normal. We play ball until they arrive. Esme, swap places with Edward. Ally, it would be great if you and Robert could stay with Bella."

I nodded, and moved over to where Bella and Edward stood. Bella shifted from one foot to the other, looking quite uncomfortable, Edward looking furious – with himself. "I should have never brought you here. I've put you in danger." He looked over at me. "Both of you."

I smiled a small smile at Edward in recognition of what he had just said. Robert moved us closer to Bella. I was standing a few feet away from her, a big enough gap left so that Robert could stand next to her without it looking too suspicious. Edward was on Bella's other side.

The rest of the Cullens were playing baseball again. This time, however, there were no fast balls. Alice was throwing the ball as gently as she could to Jasper. The fielders had moved the game in so that they were closer to where we stood.

That's when the nomads came.