A/N Alright everybody, it's time to get down to business—as in the real plot is about to get going. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited about this next chapter. I have to warn you, this chapter is incredibly short and the ending…. Well it's mean. What can I say, I always wanted to have a cliff hanger!

Stephanie Meyer would never be this mean, so you know that I am not her. That means I do not own any of the Twilight characters or references.

Chapter 12- EPOV

The ride to the restaurant in the next suburb was short and silent. Both Bella and I were completely lost in our own thoughts. "Portofino's?" she asked as we pulled into the parking lot.

"Unless you would prefer something else," I replied, "I myself will not being dining," I teased.

"No, this is fine," she said softly, "Stephanie used to love this place, but I've never actually eaten here."

I wasn't sure what to make of that information. I hoped that my choice in restaurant wouldn't make her sad, I wanted tonight to be happy for us, I wanted it to be fun. At the same time I was now dying to know what Bella had been thinking about during the whole ride over here. She hadn't breathed a word the whole drive. "Bella what were you thinking about during our drive?" I asked curiously.

"A dream that I had," she said easily.

"And was it about me?" I prompted as I swiftly exited my side of the vehicle and dashed to her side to get the door.

She laughed quietly then answered, "Of course it was. But it was also about Claire De Lune."

"When did you have this dream?" I asked after we made the short journey across the parking lot. She had my complete attention and I hated to look away as I told the wait staff that our party was only for two this evening.

Bella eyed our hostess curiously as she kept sending glances in my direction while leading us to our table. I was glad that Bella wouldn't have to hear the jealous thoughts coming from this woman's mind. Well hello gorgeous! And gorgeous' friend I presume? She's dressed a little too nicely, who does she think she's going to impress? I hope they're not together or anything. Maybe I can slip him my phone number sometime?

"This table will do," I said impatiently before she took us to the more crowded section of the restaurant. I was not about to waste my time with Bella by removing my eyes from hers so I completely ignored the hostess as she seated us, much to her dismay. Bella was trying to stifle a laugh and I wondered if maybe Bella had an idea about what this vile woman was thinking after all.

I didn't even bother to look at my peach colored menu as I waited for Bella to reach for hers. She hesitantly opened it for the briefest moment before she pressed the top menu item's button and placed it back on the table.

"Please select a beverage if you would like one," read the little speaker on the front of the menu. Bella blushed then turned the menu back over and pressed the button for a Coke.

Finally she looked back at me and met my eyes. "I had that particular dream today on your couch," she answered my question from earlier.

"You were dreaming while you slept on my couch?" I asked, amazed, "Your mouth didn't open once to speak the whole time, I assumed dreams had eluded you during your nap."

She blushed again with even more force. It was beautiful and it was tempting, but I easily ignored the fire in the back of my throat. "I don't always talk when I sleep," she insisted. I nearly laughed but withheld for her sake. I reached across the small table and stroked her warm fingers with my frozen ones. She eyed my hands carefully and I was rather impressed myself with my boldness.

"You are quite the chatterbox the majority of the time though," I concluded, "So tell me more about your dream. There was an occasion when you became ill at school and we listened to Claire De Lune when I drove you home," I remembered clearly.

"No, no. This was very different," she said with an air of mystery. A waitress walked up and delivered Bella's Coke before she could say anything else.

Jackie wasn't joking, this guy is like gorgeous! Some sort of sexy supermodel I bet. "The food will be out shortly sugar," said the waitress as I cringed.

Bella was unable to stifle her laugh this time and I stared at her incredulously. "Please explain what you find so funny right now," I instructed with mock seriousness.

"Her thoughts," she laughed, "They were even more annoying than the hostess," she declared with another laugh.

The disbelieving expression on my face did not falter. Last I checked, I was the mind reader between us, not Bella. "And when did you learn to read minds?" I queried.

"Oh I don't need to read minds to know what they're thinking and your reactions are quite revealing," she continued, hardly calming her laughter.

"Well she seemed to be somewhat obsessed with alliteration, or perhaps she has simply been reading too much poetry lately. Hers were some of the most annoying thoughts I've heard in a long time, though," I admitted with a grin of my own.

Bella's laughter only increased and I amusedly waited for her to stop so I could learn more about her dream. "I haven't laughed like that in such a long time," she admitted and I felt her hand switch over mine so that she was holding my hand rather than the other way around. Her face was glowing and I couldn't resist the urge to touch her cheek.

I trailed my fingers softly up her cheekbone and she closed her eyes. "So tell me about your dream," I commanded, picking up our conversation from earlier as I allowed my hand to return to the top of hers.

"Well, like I said it was extremely different from any of the ones I've had about you before. It felt like we were in a different time," she continued and once again I found myself completely wrapped up in her words.

"First it was just me and one other man who was old enough to be my father. I was young and I was riding in the upper seat of a horse drawn carriage with the man holding the reigns for a beautiful brown horse. There were really old fashioned buildings all around us and the road was some sort of stone. The man had dark hair and eyes, he called me his little Bella Elena, I called him Babbo."

She looked at me expectantly, as if I had some recollection of this incident. Perhaps it was no more than a dream, I had certainly never ridden in a horse drawn carriage with Bella, and as far as I knew, Bella didn't know Italian, or call anybody Babbo, the Italian word for father. "Elena?" I asked, when I had gathered my thoughts, "Why Elena?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, "It's my middle name?"

"Your middle name is Elena?" I asked, dumbfounded. How had I missed asking her about her middle name?

She smiled and nodded, "Rachel Elena Meyer, but I still like Bella. That's what you called me in my dream today too," she smiled innocently.

Just then the waitress walked up with Bella's food. Her Coke still sat untouched and the foul smelling food joined it in the middle of the table as the waitress tried to place the plate in front of me. "One spaghetti with meatballs?" she confirmed.

I simply nodded without making eye contact. "Just let me know if there's anything else I can bring for you," she said with a sickly sweet voice, emphasizing the "anything".

"So when did I come into the dream?" I asked, expecting a time jump of some sort to take place in her dreamland.

"Well, that's the thing. At first I wasn't sure it was you, you looked so different," she mused. I was utterly confused because for as long as I had known her, I had always looked the same. I was frozen in time as a seventeen year old vampire, she knew this. "My Babbo and I parked the carriage outside of a large brick building with these lovely cedar doors and stone balconies on the higher floors. There was beautiful music wafting out of the building, I snuck out of the carriage and waited by the doors listening to the loveliest piece of music I had ever heard. I didn't realize it in the dream, but it was Clair De Lune," she paused and I seized the opportunity to push her plate of pasta closer to her so that she might have some.

She glanced at the pasta and continued the story without a second thought, "At the end of the performance a small, well-dressed family came out. There was a mother, a father, and a son slightly older than myself. He was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen. He had bronze colored hair and the most beautiful green eyes which were just all lit up," she paused and picked up her fork. She began twirling some pasta around her plate and I stared at her, shocked. This story wasn't sounding so unfamiliar after all.

"What happened next?" I begged to know.

She put her fork down carefully and continued with a sharp inhale of breath, "I bravely marched up to the family and asked them if they needed carriage service. They followed me to my Babbo's carriage and we introduced ourselves before they climbed in. My Babbo of course introduced me as his Bella Elena, rather than simply Elena. You called me Bella, I called you Edward Masen."

A/N Dun Dun Dun!!! Oh who saw that coming? Who's confused? Who thinks I'm a jerk for doing this to you?