Title: What Dreams May Come

Summary: Bella and Edward settle happily into married life at Dartmouth but Bella's dreams of a mysterious child persist, drawing them into a centuries old deception with devastating consequences. A Breaking Dawn AU.

Rating: M

Disclaimer: Twilight and all related places and characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

A/N: The first of my more frequent updates and it's a long one! I could have split it into two chapters I suppose but consider it as a reward to all my regular reviewers, you guys rock! On an accuracy note, the Dartmouth Homecoming weekend is a real event and the basics of what is described are accurate to the best of my researching ability, honed by years of academic study, lol. Read, Review, Enjoy!

Quote: The world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love – William Sloane Coffin

Chapter 10: Bonfire

I sat frozen amidst the tumbled sheets, hands gripping onto the red fabric as if it was the only thing keeping me grounded lest the storm in my heart tore me apart. I couldn't be sure how long had passed since Edward had disappeared into the forest, it could have been minutes, it could have been hours for all I knew, so lost was I in guilt that I'd hurt him, that I'd yelled at him. I hadn't meant too, the anger had sprung from nowhere, twisting my words before I could register the impact they would have. I truly did want to share my dreams with him, to have him hold me close and tell me that I wasn't insane, that we'd work this out together but it was like there was someone else in my head, holding me back from spilling the truth.

What if he didn't come back? The thought sprung into my mind with all the force of a wrecking ball and even though I tried to push it away, to tell myself it was stupid to even contemplate Edward leaving over something as small as heated words, irrational dread started to suffuse through my body. What if my perceived lack of trust made him change his mind about changing me? What if he decided that marrying me had been a mistake? What if…the melodic tones of my lullaby sliced through my panic, my cell lit up as it vibrated across the bedside table. I practically lunged for it, not even bothering to check the caller I.D. as I jammed it to my ear.

"Bella, calm down. Edward will be coming back soon. You know he can't stay away from you for long, no matter how frustrated he is."

"Alice," I breathed, as the bell-like voice of my new sister came down the line. I didn't bother to ask how she knew I was in the midst of a mini-meltdown, instead focusing on her words.

"I only saw him leaving and you having a small panic attack, not what caused it but I know my brother. He'd forgive you anything, including murder…that's not what you did right?"

The teasing question elicited a slightly hysterical giggle from my lips.

"Unless you count the squirrel I accidentally ran over last week, no."

I took a deep breath to calm myself, shifting the phone to my other ear before words poured out of my mouth in a torrent.

"I just…I've been having these…dreams and Edward wanted me to talk about them with him but I snapped at him instead. It was stupid, I don't even know why I did and now I've hurt him. I should've just told him. Now he might start regretting that he married me, who wants a wife that yells at you when all you were trying to do was help her."

It felt cathartic in a weird way to admit my fear though the tinkle of laughter that echoed in my ear in response wasn't exactly reassuring.

"Oh Bella, only you could turn a trivial fight into an imagined basis for divorce. Edward gets frustrated when he can't figure out what's going on in your head and he left to give you both some space to think. When he gets back, you will talk to him about these dreams of yours and you'll feel better for it. Trust me, everything will be fine."

Alice's voice was confident and went some way into assuaging my fear but I still needed more reassurance.

"Are you sure?" I asked tremulously, feeling pathetic that I was so needy to hear her say it again.

"Bella, what does our family always say? Never bet…"

"Against Alice," I finished, smiling ruefully.

She was right, I was being ridiculous. Married couples fought all the time, and over things far less trivial than some mysterious dreams. Edward would come back and I would tell him everything that he wanted to know. Resolved to that course of action, I felt a weight lift from my chest.

"You're right," I said firmly, the last traces of panic dissipating; "Everything will be fine."

All I heard down the line in reply was silence. I lifted the phone to check that I hadn't accidentally disconnected the call before calling out her name.

"Alice? Are you still there?"

Another moment of silence, then, "Yes, I'm still here. Bella, why didn't you say anything about these dreams earlier? I'll talk to Carlisle right away, he knows more about the Volturi and vampire lore than any of us. Oh, and Jazz has lots of contacts I'm sure will prove useful for information."

Realization dawned that she must've seen my conversation with Edward once I'd become committed to that decision and gratitude filled my heart that she hadn't questioned my sanity and instead was already thinking about ways to help.

"Thank you Alice, you're the best psychic vampire sister a girl could have," I said softly.

After clarifying a few details of my dreams for accuracy's sake and exchanging goodbyes, I ended the call with one more expression of gratitude. Shifting on the bed restlessly for a while, I decided to head downstairs to wait for Edward to return (Alice hadn't been able to tell me when exactly he'd come back as he apparently kept changing his mind). Clad only in one of his shirts, I padded barefoot down the stairs and after retrieving my rather worn copy of Austen classics from the library, I curled up on one of the couches and lost myself in a world of aloof suitors and stubborn young women.

My eyes blinked open slowly, my lashes heavy with the last vestiges of sleep. Stretching my arms, the thick blanket fell away from neck, sliding down to pool around my waist. Next to me, my book sat closed on the couch, a ribbon neatly marking my place. I frowned, I didn't remember placing the book down…and where had the blanket come from? Eyes widening with hope, I turned to see Edward silhouetted against the window by the faint golden hue of sunrise. He was completely still, facing away from me as he stared out into the still-darkened tree line.

A small measure of shame washed through me at his thoughtfulness, at the fact that even though I had given him no reason to want to help me that he'd still done so regardless. I swallowed thickly, now more than ever determined to tell him everything and apologize a thousand a times over. I debated whether or not to approach him, before deciding to stay right where I was and let the apologies flow.

"I'm sorry," I began hesitantly, the words sounding almost pathetic in their softness and yet I couldn't raise the breath within me to make them any louder, "I shouldn't have yelled at you. I know that you were only trying to help me and that means more than I could ever say."

He didn't turn, didn't move at all. If not for the fact that I knew he would hear me even if I barely breathed the words, I wouldn't have found the courage to keep talking.

"I want to tell you about the dreams; I want to tell you everything so badly that I'm not entirely sure why I didn't in the first place."

There was still no movement and the fear that Alice had so confidently dispelled began to well up in my heart again.

"Edward?"

My voice trembled and my vision blurred as tears began to roll down my cheeks unchecked. He wasn't talking to me, he wasn't even acknowledging me. Had my lack of trust in him hurt that much?

"Oh Bella, I'm so sorry. Don't cry love, please."

Cool arms slipped around me, lifting me slightly so I was cradled on his lap, hands brushing the tears from my cheeks. I hadn't even heard him move, not that I ever did. He whispered soothing nonsense into my ear, interspersed with pained apologies for hurting me with his silence. I felt ashamed that he felt the need to say sorry when I was the one who'd been the cause of all this drama but my throat remained stubbornly clogged with sobs.

As I managed to get my tears under control, I took in a deep lungful of air and before Edward could say anymore, everything came spilling out from my lips; the dreams, the hallucinations, the haunted green-eyed child till my tears had dried upon my face and my voice trailed off in a slight croak. I hung my head, unable to look at him for fear that he'd think I'd gone mad but slender fingers cupped my chin and tilted my face so I was looking into golden eyes full of sympathy and love.

"Thank you," he said simply, "For trusting me enough to tell me. Were you worried that I wouldn't believe you, is that why you didn't say anything?"

I considered his question. A part of me had thought that, keeping me silent as much as the now faded feeling of breaking my dream child's faith in me. I slowly nodded my head, feeling guilty that I had even worried that he'd dismiss my dreams as mere fantasy in the face of the understanding and resolve I could now read on his angelic features.

"We'll figure this out, I promise Bella," he whispered, leaning down to press a soft kiss to my forehead, "I'll ring Carlisle…"

He must've seen something in my eyes because his voice trailed off and he looked at me questioningly.

"Um, they already know," I mumbled, a light blush springing up on my cheeks as I hurried to finish the sentence unless he thought that I had confided in his family and not him, "Alice rang after you left because she saw me having a mini-breakdown and once I decided that I was going to tell you, she saw, well, this conversation I guess and said that they would start looking into it."

Of course, I should have known that my husband would skip over everything in that sentence for the one thing I hadn't really wanted to mention.

"Breakdown?" he prompted gently, though I could hear a hint of unwarranted self-loathing in his tone for the apparent pain he'd caused me.

"It was nothing, I just let my imagination run away with me a bit and I thought…"

I bit my lip, feeling foolish now for even having the thought briefly cross my mind at all but not wanting Edward to feel guilty for something that wasn't really his fault, "I thought that you wouldn't come back, that you'd decide that marrying me had been a mistake. Pathetic huh?"

I looked everywhere but at him, the blush darkening on my cheeks till I was sure they glowed like the embers of a fire.

"Bella, look at me," he commanded softly, waiting until I scrounged up the courage to look him in the eye, "There is nothing on this earth that could ever make me regret marrying you. Every day since I first saw you standing at the end of the aisle draped in shimmering white has been the happiest time of my very long existence."

His words banished any lingering doubt, my heart filling up with love for this utterly, amazingly perfect man. I still didn't know what I had done in my life to be lucky enough to have Edward as mine, but it was something I would never take for granted.

He brushed his fingertips down my cheek in a soft caress before he chuckled lightly, "Besides, pathetic is getting less than 200 metres away from the house, stopping and then sitting in a tree for an hour because I couldn't make myself move any further away from you."

I laughed at the sheepish look on his face, shifting on his lap so I could lay my head on his chest, warmth spreading through me now that everything had been righted.

"Alright, so we're both as pathetic as each other."

"Good thing we're together then, I'd hate to have to inflict our lovesick ways on other people," he replied, dropping a kiss onto my hair.

"Mmm-hmm," I mumbled, contentment stealing over me as I relaxed in his embrace, "I love you."

"I love you too Bella, forever and for always."

As we sat and watched the sun rise over the mountain tops, I knew without a doubt that whatever was to come, whatever challenges solving the mystery of my dreams would create, we'd deal with it…together.

I tapped the page in frustration, staring at the hastily scrawled notes before me. Ever since I had come clean with Edward a few days ago, I had become more obsessed with figuring out my dreams, trying to recall every little detail for something, anything that would help our family in their research. So far, they had uncovered little but as Carlisle assured me, it was still early days yet.

"Now what's a hot chick like you doing all alone?"

I blinked at the sudden intrusion into my thoughts, staring around the small student café wildly till my eyes landed on a smirking young man across the table, a rude slogan splashed across his black t-shirt.

"Uh, what?"

Real articulate Bella, I admonished myself as the guy apparently took that as invitation to lean across the table, invading the personal space bubble that only Edward had a free pass to.

"How about you and I take this conversation somewhere more private, babe?"

I gaped at his apparent lack of any social niceties, before narrowing my eyes and thrusting my hand in his face.

"This 'babe'," I seethed, "Is married to a muscle-bound behemoth who would cheerfully beat you to death so please take your lack of manners elsewhere."

He jerked back, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender as he backed away from the table with a wary expression on his face, before turning and practically fleeing from the room, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like, "Why do I always pick crazy chicks to hit on?"

"Muscle-bound behemoth? I can think of a few sentences to describe Edward but that wouldn't be one of them," Keely said laughingly as she appeared from behind me, slipping into the seat opposite as she bit into an apple.

"I find it works better at repelling unwanted advances than 'bronze-haired Adonis'," I replied, pulling a random piece of paper over my notebook to hide my dream notes.

"Speaking of, where is he? I don't think I've ever seen one of you by yourself."

I sighed, resting my head onto my hand as I glanced out at the bright sunlit morning. It was the first such day we'd had since moving here and I would have been perfectly happy staying home with my sparkly-skinned husband. Unfortunately, said vampire had other ideas and had practically pushed me out the door, saying that my education was important and that I couldn't skip a class for no reason (I had a reason, just one that I doubted would appease my professors).

"He's feeling a bit sick, so he stayed home today."

"Oh, poor Edward. Maybe I should make some of my famed Chicken Noodle soup and bring it over, it always makes Cam feel better," she offered and I fought back a laugh at the mental image of Edward choking down the liquid under Keely's hawk-eye gaze.

"Thanks for offering, but I think he'll be fine by tomorrow."

She nodded but still looked a little unconvinced and I searched for something to change the subject to, eyes alighting on the piece of paper she'd placed on the table.

"Have you got enough volunteers yet?" I asked, gesturing to the list of names. Keely was helping to organize one of the food stalls for Dartmouth Night on Friday, an annual celebration of the school's history which was compulsory for all freshmen to attend.

"Almost…are you sure you and Edward don't…"

I shook my head vehemently, "Sorry, no…it's bad enough that we're being made to march in the parade."

Keely shook her head in mock despair, her blonde hair spilling over her shoulders.

"Where's your school spirit Bella?"

I snorted, rolling my eyes.

"I have plenty of school spirit, I just don't know why we have to run like lunatics around a giant fire to prove it," I explained, thinking about the 30 foot high bonfire that would be built on the Green and the tradition which dictated that the incoming class had to sprint around it, "It sounds like a recipe for flambéed freshmen to me."

Laughing at my obvious distaste, we moved on to other topics but I noticed that she kept hooking her hair back behind her ear with her pinky figure, a sure sign that she was anxious about something (Cam had pointed out the habit of hers during one of our lunches, after she'd noticed my habit of always needing at least one body part in direct contact with Edward at all times).

"Keely, are you ok?" I asked softly.

She started, obviously not expecting the question, her eyes blinking rapidly.

"Yes, no, I don't know," she huffed in frustration, eyes dropping to stare at the tabletop, "I think…I think Cam might be thinking about proposing. Ever since we met you and Edward, he's been dropping…hints, I guess."

"And that's a bad thing?" I questioned, biting my lip to hide a smile. I knew for a fact that Cam was planning on proposing, he'd approached Edward and I for our help in making sure Keely's Bonfire Night would be one she'd never forget.

"No, it's fantastic actually, but I'm afraid that when he does ask me, that I'll freeze up and ruin the moment," she looked up at me, uncertainty on her features, "What did you do when Edward proposed?"

I blanched slightly, not really wanting to answer the question but knowing that I couldn't leave Keely hanging.

"Um, I'm probably not the best example to follow Keely."

"Why not?" she asked puzzled, "Did you pass out or something?"

"If I had, that would have probably made Edward happier than what I did do," I said with a rueful smile, "No, I just made him wait over a month for an answer."

Her jaw dropped and she looked at me in shock, disbelief painted across her face.

"Why? You two seem so perfect together."

I shrugged, uncomfortable talking about my hesitancy now that I was so happily married.

"My parents divorced when I was very young and I grew up with my mother espousing the evils of getting married too early. So even though I knew I wanted to be with Edward forever, it took him a bit of work to convince me that being married wouldn't ruin our relationship."

Keely nodded slowly, understanding dawning in her eyes.

"So my advice to you would be, do the opposite of what I did and you'll be fine."

She grinned, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Are you ready?"

Cameron looked slightly ill, his face taking on a sickly green hue as he gulped in a few deep breaths of air. We were standing off to the side of the restless crowd, who were only somewhat listening to last 'official' speech of the night before the bonfire would be lit up.

"If I say no, you're still going to make sure I get up there anyway, aren't you?"

Next to me, Edward's lips twitched in amusement.

"This was your plan," he reminded Cam gently, as the guy in question took in another deep breath.

"Yeah I know, ignore me. I guess I'm just a little nervous," he ran his hand through his spiked black locks, "What if she says no?"

I looked over to the row of food stalls on the opposite side of the audience, where I could just make out Keely's form hunched over a counter.

"She won't," Edward said confidently, placing his hand on Cam's shoulder to steady him.

"How can you be sure? You're not a mind reader," he shot back then looked over at me quizzically when I was unable to keep from laughing. Fortunately, before he could question my attack of the giggles, the speaker on stage wound up his speech to a smattering of applause.

"Showtime," I grinned, as Edward gave him a little push towards the stage, before coming to stand next to me, lacing his fingers through mine.

"Does Keely have any idea what's about to happen?" I whispered, leaning my head against his shoulder.

His eyes slid out of focus for a second as he concentrated on hearing her thoughts above all of the others swirling around his brain.

"No, she's busy cleaning and wondering whether he's going to propose when they head back to New Jersey for Thanksgiving next month."

My reply was cut off as Cam's voice echoed across the Green.

"Uh, hi. My name is Cameron Blake and no, I'm not going to make you all sit through another long-winded speech, no offense Professor Whitaker," he grinned, nodding at the Geology professor who shook his head amusedly, "Actually, I'm here to talk to one person in particular, Keely, are you here?"

The crowd murmured at the slightly strange turn in events, glancing around till someone shifted one of the giant portable spotlights to shine directly on one stunned looking Keely, whose hand was over her mouth in shock.

"Now she's wondering whether or not to kill him if he's really doing what she thinks he is," Edward said softly, a small grin crinkling his lips.

"There you are," Cam exclaimed with a nervous grin, running a shaky hand though his hair before he straightened up and spoke directly from his heart.

"Keely, from that very first day, when I looked up from my rock hunting to see you sprawled out clumsily before me, I knew I'd found someone special. Someone whose smile can light up a rainy day, someone whose enthusiasm for life knows no bounds, someone who cares for everyone and thing, no matter how small and most importantly, someone who laughs at my jokes, even ones she's heard a thousand times before."

I could see Keely shaking, her hand still clamped firmly over her mouth as the full realization of what Cam was doing sunk in.

"I can't imagine a day without you in it so I'm making a complete fool of myself up here to make sure I'll never have to. Keely Jean Hamilton, I love you, more than my entire comic book collection, more than my personally signed Barry Bonds baseball, even more than my classic '68 Chevy. Will you marry me?"

The crowd fell completely silent, all eyes turning to where Keely stood, her eyes filled with tears. A beat passed, then two, before she slowly nodded her head, her lips barely forming the word 'Yes' before the Green erupted into cheers.

Cam whooped in delight, jumping off the stage to run through the parting crowd, reaching Keely in a matter of seconds and spinning her around in unbridled glee.

"It's so romantic," I sighed as watched them kiss, oblivious to the shouts and catcalls of their captive audience.

"Hmmm, so if I carried out a public expression of my love for you…"

"I'd kill you."