A/N: I am very excited about this chapter because I've had it all worked out in my mind since I started this story. It was fun to imagine and to write and hopefully, it is also fun to read.

Thank you to ms. ambrosia, my wonderful and brilliant beta!

Disclaimer: SM owns all things Twilight. I own my convoluted twist on the story.

Chapter 29

I stopped at the grocery store on the way to the hospital, reluctantly buying a slightly wilted bouquet of flowers. I shuffled my feet as I walked down the hallway toward her room, driven forward by guilt and a somewhat stilted sense of honor.

I knocked briefly before pushing on the door, peeking around it tentatively to see if it was okay to enter. I wasn't surprised to see Jacob slumped uncomfortably in the chair next to Jessica's bed.

He was a crazed shadow of himself the past few days, fueled solely by his feelings of guilt and the shame that he'd hurt Jessica in trying to protect her. And tormented by the pack's failure to find and save Lauren, he'd insisted that they all stay in wolf form, continuously patrolling the area for vampires.

As soon as he'd felt that Forks was secure, he'd come to the hospital to check on Jessica and hadn't really left. Bella had surreptitiously visited the hospital the night Jessica was admitted to learn the extent of her injuries and found Jacob there. He'd been haunting the hallways like a ghost, listening for news of her condition, hoping that she'd recover and praying to the gods that he didn't have to live with the knowledge that he'd allowed another victim to slip through his fingers.

When I entered the room, he straightened instantly, silently jumping up from his seat in the corner. I shot a quick glance at Jessica to see that she was either sleeping or unconscious. With a nod of the head, Jacob gestured toward the hallway, slinking out of the room.

I slipped back out into the hall, my drooping flowers still clutched thoughtlessly in my hand. I noticed the dark circles under Jacob's eyes and wondered when he'd last slept. He looked thoroughly exhausted, his broad shoulders curled forward.

"How is she?" I asked.

"She's actually not too bad off. I overheard the doctors tell her parents that she broke her wrist when she fell and that she had a pretty severe concussion. They were worried about brain damage, but she woke up this morning and talked a little bit.

"Your dad was actually in here a few hours ago, asking her all kinds of questions, like her name and where she lives and how old she is. I hid around the corner when he pulled her parents into the hallway. He told them, um… that he was hopeful. She has some memory loss, but she'd answered the important questions right."

"So, she's going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Well that's good news, right?" I asked, feeling awkward.

He ignored my question, explaining, "As soon as she fell asleep again, her parents left for home and I slipped in to see her…you know to apologize, and to see how much she saw…how much she remembers of what happened.

"She woke up about twenty minutes ago, and didn't even know who I was. She thought I worked here and asked me for some water before she fell asleep again. Now that you're here, I think I'll take off," he said, slapping me on the back in a friendly gesture. I sensed that the brunt of his burden had lifted from his shoulders, his relief palpable as he sauntered off down the hall in his long, natural stride.

I had just put my hand on the handle to the door of Jessica's room when I heard my father's voice. "Edward, son, what are you doing here?" he asked as he approached.

"Um, Jessica…she's, um…a friend from school…" I stuttered, pointing at the door with the flowers.

"Oh, you know Jessica Stanley?" he asked, his eyes latching onto the bruised bouquet dangling in my hand.

"Well, not really…" I struggled to come up with some explanation for my visit, for the flowers. "Bella is friends with Jessica. She asked me to come visit her, because she…um, hates hospitals," I stammered, blurting out the last few words.

"Oh, well…you can tell Bella that Jessica is doing much better and should be leaving the hospital by the end of the week," he said happily, miraculously accepting my badly-contrived explanation.

"I believe she's sleeping now, Edward, and you shouldn't disturb her," he said with authority. "Why don't you give those to me and I'll find a vase for them," he suggested, grasping the flowers out of my hand. "Don't you have homework you should be doing?"

"Oh, yeah, okay. Thanks Dad," I said, nodding. He smiled widely at me. For a moment I wished that I could confide in him and tell him everything, to ask him for advice like I did when I was a kid. He was always there for me, firm but gentle, wise but humble. I had always thought I wanted to be just like him when I grew up.

I stared at his warm expression and realized how far removed he was from all the supernatural darkness that had overcome every element of my current life. No matter how wonderful it would have been to have his guidance and his support, I didn't want to tarnish his perception of reality with my problems. And what if he didn't react well to the news? What if my involvement with Bella ruined his opinion of me?

As I drove home I wondered how much time I had left with my parents. Would I have to choose between them and Bella? Was my life becoming too dangerous for them? For even Alice and Emmett? How could I leave my family behind?

As soon as I walked through the front door, the mixture of excited voices from inside the house filled me with an unexpected sense of dread. I followed the chatter automatically to the kitchen where my mother, Alice and Rosalie were sitting, eating strawberries from a bowl in front of them and giggling. They all looked over at me as I stepped in the room, their eyes alight with mischief.

I could faintly hear Jasper tuning his acoustic guitar in the living room as I sat down on a barstool, reminding me that I hadn't practiced my own music in a while. I was momentarily distracted, lost in my thoughts, planning out a session with the piano, when Alice slipped into the stool next to me, garnering my attention.

She leaned in conspiratorially, whispering, "Don't freak out, but Mom and Rosalie want to have the picnic this weekend." My eyes flew to hers in panic.

"What? No!" I whispered forcefully back to her. "We can't! It's too dangerous!"

"I know, I know," she agreed. "But, well, we'll have Bella there with us, and she can bring that other girl…you know…"

"Tanya?" I blurted incredulously, trying to picture the statuesque vampire on a picnic with my family.

"Yes, and Jacob and his friends can, you know, be around?" I didn't say anything in response; I was too stunned by the stupidity of the idea to think of a response.

"What are you guys whispering about over there?" my mom asked, popping another strawberry in her mouth as if she didn't have a care in the world. "Did Alice tell you that we are going to have our family picnic this weekend? Of course Bella and her aunt should come."

"No!" I exclaimed, with a little too much passion. "It's not a good idea," I said firmly, hoping that I could come up with some legitimate excuse for them to cancel their plans.

"But why?" she asked, confused by my reaction.

"It's supposed to be nice weather, a little cloudy, but no rain," Rosalie added, as if the weather were the only consideration.

"Yes, it's about the best we could hope for around here, and your father has the whole weekend off. It's a perfect opportunity to do something outside before the weather changes. I'm not sure if we'll have another chance," she explained, standing.

I couldn't agree with her sentiment more – this could be our last family outing.

She walked over to the counter where I was seated so that I could clearly see the determination in her eyes. She put her arm around Alice, squeezing her to her side. "Alice was so disappointed when we had to cancel before. We have to make it up to her."

"Mom, I'm not sure if Bella can make it," I said, pulling at strings, stalling while my mind tried to come up with some way to prevent the picnic from happening.

"Persuade her, Edward. I'm sure she'll find the time," she stated, resigned that she was right. "Now Rosalie and I are putting together the menu, you and Emmett can get together all the baseball stuff, and Alice, can you find all our blankets, honey?"

"Sure Mom," Alice said, tugging on my arm and pulling me from the stool. "We'll go look now." As soon as we turned the corner Alice dropped the pretense, training her worried eyes on me.

"There's no use fighting Mom when she's like this. It will all be alright," she said, as if trying to convince herself. Taking me by surprise, she leaned in and hugged me tightly. Though she tried to hide it, I could feel her hands trembling on my back and I knew that she was much less certain and more frightened than she at first let on.

"Yeah, of course; it will fine," I reassured her, patting her on the back.

You would think that vampires wouldn't get nervous. But there was no other way to explain the odd and tense way that Bella was acting as we walked down the grassy pathway at the edge of the forest. Tanya too, at her side, seemed even more rigid and inhuman than normal.

Bella insisted on driving, speeding like a demon and taking the curves so swiftly that we arrived several minutes before the other two cars with the rest of our party. As we neared the meadow that served as a makeshift field, Bella pulled her eyes away from her almost continual scan of the forest and exchanged a terse, hard glance with Tanya.

"I don't sense anyone, do you?" Bella asked her.

"No, but we can't let our guard down," she replied, her face grave.

I'm worried, Edward. I still don't think this is a good idea. Your entire family is a target because of me…because of my stupidity.

I reached out and put my hand on her neck, running my fingers through her beautiful hair. I wanted to tell her that it was all going to be okay, but the future was never more difficult to predict. I wanted to tell her not to worry and that I would protect her, but I couldn't even promise that. I wished more than ever that I was strong enough, but I knew that if vampires attacked I would be helpless against them.

"It's a horrible idea. I wish I could have stopped it from happening. I just have a really bad feeling about this whole thing," I said in response to her thoughts.

"Remember what we talked about?" Bella asked, reminding me of our agreement. When I'd first told her about the picnic, she'd panicked, insisting that it was too dangerous and threatening everything from tying me up to handcuffing me to my bed. She'd eventually calmed down enough to admit that imprisoning me was not a good idea and that she would agree to go if only to protect my family from harm.

She made me promise her that if something happened at the picnic, if we had any unwanted visitors, that I'd gather my family and run to safety. She wanted me to leave her, to allow her and Tanya and the wolves to protect us. I hated myself for making this promise. I would break it if I had the chance.

Just as I was about to remind Bella to breathe, to blink, and to attempt to seem a little less like she was providing security and more like she was here to have fun, she took off running. Her movement was just a blur of scarcely discernible motion until she reappeared in the distance at the other end of the meadow.

"Bella!" I yelled, taking a step in her direction, before a stone-like hand darted out to stop me.

"Edward," Tanya hissed. "She is just talking with the boy-wolf. Look," she pointed, and sure enough, I saw Jacob ease forward out of the trees in his wolf form. Bella said something to him, ruffling the fur on the back of his neck before she flew back across the meadow to where we stood waiting.

For an instant I saw the forest as Bella saw it, the wolves becoming visible through the density of the trees, their heady, canine scent filling my nostrils. Their menacing growls echoed off the pines, charged with apprehension, threatening in the most primitive of ways. I searched with my eyes, but could see nothing; the vision was only in my mind.

"Bella!" Alice squealed as she ran up and wrapped herself around Bella. "I'm so glad you're here," she admitted, casting a quick, nervous look at Tanya. A few seconds later the rest of my family along with Rosalie and Jasper appeared, all toting bags, blankets and sporting equipment.

My mother began barking orders as if permanently moving into the space. "Carlisle, put the big blanket over there, and the smaller one can go right there. Emmett put the baseball stuff at the edge of that blanket. Oh, Rosalie, put the basket here, dear. Jasper, will you and Alice put the folding chairs up over there?"

We each carved out a little space on the blankets, my mother, father, Alice, and Rosalie sitting in the folding chairs. Tanya awkwardly remained standing until I saw Bella mumble something quietly under her breath at her and she slowly lowered herself to the blanket. She looked entirely out of place, as if she'd never sat on the floor before, and I was reminded that it had been a while since she'd been around humans.

"I wish there was more sun," Rosalie stated, stretching out her legs.

"I love this weather," Tanya said. "It's warmer than Alaska."

"I don't think I'd like Alaska much," Rosalie replied, her eyes showing that she was wary of Tanya.

"Bella, do you and your aunt play baseball?" Carlisle asked in a friendly way.

"I don't think so. I mean, I don't really play sports," Bella answered unconvincingly.

"It's just as well, we don't have an even number of players and if you're not used to playing sports, you could get injured," Rosalie warned. Tanya eyed her intently, before the edge of her lips curled into a tight smile. She seemed to be considering Rosalie's condescending words, weighing them in her mind.

No, I heard Bella plead. We can't.

"Yes, I think I'd like to play," she said, her smile broadening.

"Tanya, no," Bella begged, her face grave.

"Oh Bella, come on, I think it will be fun. I've never played baseball, but I'd like to try," Tanya explained.

"We shouldn't," Bella whispered to Tanya.

"I don't really think Bella likes sports, Tanya," Alice said, trying to help.

"Yeah," said Emmett, who all of a sudden picked up on the discussion. "Why don't you guys just watch, okay?"

"Emmett, don't be silly. They're not watching. Everyone needs to participate! I'm a horrible player, Bella, but we're all family here. Really, no one cares how bad you play," my mother said as she stood up, wiping her hands on her jeans. "So do you guys want to eat first or play?"

"Eat, definitely eat," Emmett answered enthusiastically, already digging through the picnic basket.

Sandwiches were passed around, followed by bottles of soda and water. Tanya and Bella pretended to share a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I kept glancing in them nervously, wondering how they managed to make it disappear, but I never figured it out. Emmett was the first to finish so he ran off to the field, laying all the bases down and pulling the bats and extra balls from the bag.

As soon as everyone had finished off their lunch we all walked over to the center of the field where Emmett was standing on the spot he'd determined as the pitcher's mound. Alice was whispering nervously in Bella's ear and I could tell by Bella's gestures – her arm around Alice's shoulders, her head tilted so that it was touching Alice's – that she was calming and reassuring her in some way.

"Is everything okay?" I asked her as Emmett was belting out the rules of the game for Tanya and Bella's benefit.

"Yes, she's just worried for me. I told her not to; I can pretend to be human," she said sweetly, smirking at me.

Tanya knows too. Don't worry, Edward. I won't hit the ball too hard.

Since there were nine players, we decided to make two teams of four, with Alice pitching for both teams. My mother excitedly pointed out that with Alice pitching, we had the same number of women to men, suggesting that we divide the teams this way – women against men.

Little did she know that she was stacking the cards in her favor, with two vampires on her team. Rosalie seemed a little irritated that she was separated from Emmett, probably thinking that the women were sure to lose. But my mother convinced her that the game wasn't about winning - it was about having fun and it was more fun this way.

We flipped a coin, and the girls were first up to bat. Rosalie stepped up to the plate, swinging the bat from side to side as she swayed her hips. Alice threw the ball slow and straight, right over home plate. Rosalie swung at the ball but missed. After another strike, she finally hit the ball right at Alice who caught it easily. Surprisingly, Rosalie was a good sport and high-fived Alice, who smiled sheepishly back at her.

Tanya was up to bat next. She grasped the bat in her hands, standing with her feet apart, her knees bent. She seemed to be in deep concentration, her eyes boring a hole into Alice's hand as she released the ball in a much faster, sharper toss than she'd done for Rosalie.

Tanya pulled the bat back, readying to hit the ball, my breath hitching in my throat as I waited for her swing. She looked like she was going to slam the bat hard against the ball, and I winced, nearly closed my eyes. But at the last second, she hesitated and snapped the bat lightly, just barely grazing the ball. The ball thudded to the ground near her feet.

"Run!" screamed Rosalie from the sidelines, and Tanya cast a questioning glance in her direction.

She turned back to the game, looking at Bella for some kind of guidance. She smiled knowingly as if finally remembering her role, trotting toward the base at a deliberately forced slow pace. I reached down and grabbed the ball, chasing her. She barely made it halfway to first base before I crashed into her hip with the ball in my hand. I flew backward at the impact, skidding almost into Alice before stopping. I vaguely registered the ache in my bruised arm as I looked up into the cloudy sky.

My eyes shot over to Bella, mumbling furtively and silently to Tanya, who was still standing where we'd collided, tall and rigid. While I was pulling myself up to a sitting position, I saw her dramatically drop, her body colliding with the ground with a resounding boom.

Bella's eyes were huge as she threw a worried glance my way. She turned back to Tanya, prone on the ground as if unconscious. It wasn't long before everyone was looking at her, their mouths agape with shock and concern..

"Tanya, honey, are you okay?" my mother asked in a shrill voice, running to where she'd collapsed.

"Yes I am, thank you, Esme," Tanya said, springing too quickly to an upright position.

"Let me give you a hand," Carlisle offered, his arm outstretched.

"Oh, no thank you," Tanya said robotically, effortlessly rising to stand. She patted her hair, walking back to the edge of the diamond near Rosalie, as though nothing had happened.

Rosalie took a few steps away from Tanya, her arms clasped tightly across her chest. "It looks as though we're equally talented at this sport," Rosalie said snidely to her. Tanya didn't respond, but pretended she didn't hear, taking a step closer to Rosalie, her head cocked to the side. Rosalie shuffled away, stumbling and almost fell before she regained her balance, Emmett's voice drawing attention back to the game.

"Let's get back to the game people," Emmett suggested, ushering everyone back to their places.

My mother stepped up to bat next, her face trained on the ball in Alice's hand, her expression serious. Alice threw the ball underhand so that it slowly arced right in front of mom. She swung hard, hitting the ball with a loud snap to the bat, the ball flying right over Emmett's head so that he had to run for it.

My mom threw the bat, skipping into a run with a loud squeal, waving her arms wildly around her with the effort. When Emmett scooped up the ball and began to run back to first base, I chanced a glance at Bella, but she wasn't there. She'd vanished.

I felt my stomach drop, my intestines writhing. I quickly and frantically scanned the area. Seeing no sign of her, I took a step toward where she'd been earlier when she reappeared from the trees. She caught my stare and her eyes were full of fear.

Jacob…he had news. One of the wolves caught the scent of some vampires near town. And Sam thought he smelled others over by the river. They're going to split up and investigate.

"Bella, it's your turn," Jasper was saying. I looked around at my family, feeling the true meaning of fear and panic as I worried for all our safety. My mother was on first base, bent over, her hands resting on her knees, clearly happy at having beat Emmett to the base. My father was standing with his hands on his hips, swaying slightly as if waiting for the ball to head in his direction. Emmett was ogling Rosalie from a distance while she appeared to be carefully examining her nails. Jasper wasn't paying much attention to the game, except for staring at Alice intensely. Alice was getting ready to throw the ball at Bella, concentrating and perhaps hoping that Bella would hit it like a human.

Bella was also concentrating. I could hear it.

Not too hard. Just tap it. Not too hard.

Alice threw the ball and I could still hear Bella's thoughts repeating in my head. Then at the very last second before the ball connected with the bat, they changed.

NO! No no no no no…

Bella lost her concentration and swung the bat forward so fast it was like the flutter of a hummingbird's wings. The bat crashed into the ball with such force that the bat split in two, hurtling the ball so high in the air and so far that it disappeared completely from sight.

I tore my eyes away from the search for the ball in the sky to Bella, who was frozen, her eyes darting from side to side as if seeing things that were invisible to me. Tanya too had dropped any pretense of being human, flying to Bella's side, crouching defensively. The others had stopped the futile search for the ball, turning their gazes to Bella and Tanya, varied looks of fear, panic and shock woven onto their features.

"What…what is going on here, Edward?" my father asked as if I had the answer, as if he somehow knew that I was responsible for what was clearly inexplicable.

"I…I…don't know exactly," I answered truthfully.

"Bella?" Alice asked.

"Edward, now! Do as I asked…now!" Bella demanded.

"What's going on, Bella?" I begged for an answer, desiring more than ever to stand next to her.

"Just go, now! They're here!" she screamed at all of us passionately.

I turned around and grabbed Alice's hand, running for the car, fulfilling my promise.

"Come on!" I yelled to everyone else and they stumbled confusedly along with me toward the cars. "Run!"

My father was helping my mother as she bent to pick up the picnic stuff. "Leave it, please. Just go to the car and drive out of here!" I begged.

"Edward, I don't understand what you've gotten yourself into," my father said as he cradled my mother in his arms. She was trembling and crying.

"Please, just go!" I said frantically, knowing time was running out.

Emmett stood still, gawking at Tanya and Bella. I pushed him in the back to get him to move and he twisted reluctantly, his feet propelling him forward.

Jasper too, was moving slowly, trying to understand why I was forcing him to the car.

"Alice needs you," I whispered urgently. "Go!" I said as I shoved him toward her.

"You're too late!" a shrill, high-pitched voice reverberated across the meadow.

The words - laced with anger and malice - terrified me to the very depths of my soul. And the second they were spoken, I knew I could never walk away from Bella. I broke my promise just as I knew I would. I turned around - away from my family - to return to her and I didn't look back.

End Note: It's been a while since I've begged for reviews, so…Please leave me a review! I need to know that you guys are still out there reading. How did you like my version of the baseball game? Who do you think stomped on the Cullen's picnic? Just send me a smiley face if you want…I'm not picky.