Unlucky

[Taniya_K]

My first H&A fanfic... please be nice!

Story Title: Unlucky

Type of story: Long Fic

Main Characters: Belle and Aden.

Characters Mentioned: Matilda, Irene, Geoff, Annie and many more.

BTTB rating: G/T

Genre: Humor and Drama mainly.

Does story include spoilers: Maybe... out of Aus

Any warnings: Maybe some L, SC, V, but very mild

Summary: After breaking her foot, how will Belle cope without having her total independence like she had always had?

Chapter 1:

He knew that he shouldn’t be laughing. He really shouldn’t be. But he honestly couldn’t help it. It wasn’t everyday that you would find it funny when your girlfriend was in hospital.

“I swear Aden, if you don’t shut up-” Belle Taylor warned him from where she sat on one of the ER beds.

“I’m not saying a thing.” He defended himself. However, he hadn’t removed his fist away from his mouth, knowing that if he did, Belle would probably try to throw him out of the room at the sight of his smile.

“I can’t believe Mattie called you, of all people!” she moaned. In all honesty, she wasn’t that fussed about it being Aden who Mattie thought of first, but that was before he refused to show her any sympathy.

“Well, it’s not like you could’ve driven, and Matilda doesn’t have a license. And I really didn’t mind.”

“Oh, but I really do.” She mumbled. “What’s taking them so long?!”

“Rachel said that they were quite hectic today. It’s not like you’re in a life or death situation.” Aden Jefferies replied, not managing to keep the smirk off of his face.

“If you don’t stop laughing-” Belle’s threat was cut halfway as Nurse Julie entered the room.

“Hey Belle, Aden. How’s the foot?” she asked as she gloved up.

“Not as painful as it looks, surprisingly.” Belle answered, grimacing when she looked down at her left foot.

“Well, Rachel said that you were lucky you have such a tiny fracture.” Nurse Julie told her.

“I think ‘lucky’ would’ve been no fracture at all.”

Nurse Julie laughed at her comment and Belle couldn’t help but glare at Aden who had laughed too. It wasn’t his fault, none of this was, but somehow it felt better to take it out on someone else rather than to blame herself.

Sighing, she fell back to lay down as Nurse Julie started to wrap her foot up in bandaged before applying the plaster. Letting her eyes wander, they finally landed back on Aden. He gave her a little smile, almost a pitying one, which made her roll her eyes and think about how she got into such a mess.

*Flashback*

It was Saturday, and for the first time in weeks, Belle hadn’t been put down to work and Mattie had no assignments due. So, being the free girls that they were, the two of them had decided that a nice girly day out would be what they needed. The plan was to hit the beach, go shopping and catch a movie later on in the city. Unfortunately, they never made it out of the Bay nor past the beach.

Laughing and joking as always, the girls laid tanning in a secluded area on the beach, away from the prying eyes of anyone else.

“So how are things with you and Aden then?” Matilda Hunter asked her best mate. Belle smiled naturally.

“I was wondering when that was going to come up.” Belle sighed dramatically before laughing at Mattie’s defensive ‘Hey!’. “Yeah, things are going great, just like every other time that you ask.”

“I can’t help it. 4 months is probably the longest relationship that he’s had.” Mattie said.

“Hmm… maybe. I’m just glad that you didn’t say that it was the longest relationship that I’ve had.” Belle joked.

“Well…” At Belle’s look, Mattie raised up her hands in a surrendering pose. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” They both laughed before silence drifted upon tem for a minute or two. “But honestly, no more of him being a tool and calling you a skank?”

“Nope. We sorted all that out. It’s all good now…kind of hard to believe too.”

“What’s that?” Mattie asked.

“That it’s been quite smooth recently.”

“Maybe it’s a sign.” Mattie said almost dreamily. Upon hearing that tone, Belle sat up straight.

“Alright, we’re gonna leave now before you go off into your fantasy land and ruin our girls day out.”

“What?! What fantasy land?” Belle laughed at her outrageous tone as the two of them got up and packed up while arguing about Mattie’s short attention span at some times.

---

Lemme know what you think...

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thanks for the comments! Here's another update for you guys seeing as you're all so nice!

Chapter 2:

*Continue Flashback*

“It’s already 3pm.” Belle stated as they walked along the shore back to a bumbling Summer Bay and where the Pier Diner was situated with The Den.

“Well, if someone got out of the house on time…” Mattie said accusingly.

“Hey! I live in a house with 3 other pe-”

“4 if you count Aden.”

“4 other people and we all share one bathroom. It takes time!”

“If you’re late because of the bathroom then something isn’t right!” Matilda’s eyebrows jiggled a bit to make sure that Belle knew what she meant, not that her tone would have not let her know.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore, ok? Let’s talk about you instead, and what’s happening with Per-” Belle’s sentence remained half finished as she fell to the ground.

“Belle! Are you alright? What happened?!” Mattie asked, concerned.

“I dunno… I just tripped over that!” Belle waved her hand behind her as her other hand grabbed onto her left ankle.

“There’s nothing there Belle.” Mattie pointed out before seeing the pain etched across her friend’s face. “Does it hurt?”

“No, Mattie. This is just for your entertainment!” Belle snapped while holding her hands out for Mattie to grab and lift her off of the ground. Gingerly placing her feet on the ground, Belle’s left leg buckled from the pain as she took another step.

“I think we need to get you to the hospital.” With that, Mattie pulled Belle’s arm over her shoulder and wrapped an arm around her waist before assisting her up the beach. The slight hill took them a while and they were more than grateful to get to a bench.

“It’s not that bad, you know.” Belle insisted.

“Oh yeah?” Mattie poked her swollen ankle gently at first then slightly harder until Belle was cursing her existence. “You can’t drive like that. We’re gonna have to call someone.”

It took only 15 minutes before Belle saw who Matilda had called. Walking slowly with one his hands tucked into his jeans pocket, the other carrying a very cold bottle of water, he smiled as he saw the girls.

“So… what happened to a girl’s day out? Couldn’t stay away?” Aden smirked at Belle before his eyes drifted to her overly sized and red ankle. “Whoa… what happened?” his exclaimed, eyes open in shock.

Matilda retold the story, minus what they were talking about, while Belle tugged the cold bottle out of his hand and placed it on her ever growing foot.

“Lemme get this straight. You tripped over nothing and now you’ve got a broken ankle?” Aden queried, teasingly.

“No. I tripped over something and we don’t know it’s broken. That’s why we’re going to the hospital… idiot.” Belle added the last bit under her breath. Pain didn’t bring out the nice and caring side in her.

“Alright, let’s go then.” he offered a hand to Belle, who just gave him his water back before standing up. Balancing on one foot, she tried to grab her stuff, but unluckily for her, she wasn’t a gymnast. Almost toppling over, Aden managed to catch her around the waist.

“Let go of me!” she hissed while shouldering her bag.

“Just let me help you to the car…” he replied. Matilda stood aside watching them banter. Smiling, she understood why these two were so suited for each other. Both stubborn and hot headed, they really went well with each other.

“Seeing as you’re in capable hands, I’ll head off, yeah?” Mattie told them. She thought that they hadn’t heard her until Belle threw her a look that asked for a favour.

“Could you tell Irene what’s happened? I don’t want her to worry.”

“Course I can. I’ll head up to the Diner. Let me know what happens, yeah?” Mattie tried to give Belle a hug, but found it difficult with Aden’s arm around her waist keeping her upright. “Bye!”

Belle watched her leave before turning to Aden, who stood trying to keep the laughter at bay. Still.

“Go on. Laugh. I know you want to.” Belle huffed as he pulled her closer. Wrapping one arm around her shoulder, the other not letting go of her waist, Aden finally let out his laughter as Belle wound her arms around his waist.

After a minute though, Belle got fed up. It’s not that funny! She thought as she pushed him away, hitting his shoulder to get some of her own back.

“To the hospital then?”

“Where else?” she snapped back. If she had to let her boyfriend drive her to the hospital because of a stupid little accident, and listen to his laughter, she wasn’t going to do it without sharing the pain.

*End Flashback*

---

Lemme know what you think please!

[Taniya_K]

Thank you all for your replies! You guys are too good to me [that doesn't mean you can be mean now ]

Fortunately, I've never tripped over nothing... but I have fallen up the stairs! Enjoy this chapter! Sorry it's a bit short...

Chapter 3:

“There we go.” Nurse Julie said, breaking Belle out of her thoughts. She sat up and looked down at her foot, which was covered in smooth white plaster. It only went from her toes to mid calf, but to her it looked hideous.

“Thanks.” She replied dryly. The nurse could tell that Belle was less than enthusiastic despite the fact that her injury wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

“Just look at the bright side, now you’ll have to have a personal slave to help.” Nurse Julie winked as she left the room, leaving Belle with a smiling Aden.

“What?” she asked incredulously.

“Just the thought of you sitting in one place for a day.” He laughed as she threw him a dirty look. She was about to retaliate when Rachel cam back in with a pair of metal crutches.

“I thought you would prefer these to the wooden ones.” She informed her, smiling. Going over her prescription for the pain medication, Belle nodded along until she was asked if she knew how to use the crutches.

“Yeah, I’ve had them before.” she said tiredly.

“Good. That’s it then. The cast will come off in about 4 to 6 weeks, and I’ll arrange an appointment for you in 2 weeks time to see how you’re getting along.” Rachel signed the papers she held and handed them over to Belle.

“Thanks Rachel.”

“No problem. Now, I’ve got to get back to my other patients, but if you have any problems, just let me know. See you later.”

Aden walked over to Belle’s bed as Rachel left, holding out a hand to help her up. Belle, however, ignored it, and, folding the papers she had been given up and stuffing it into her pocket, she hopped off the bed and used her new crutches to move around him.

“When did you use them before?” he asked.

“I broke my leg when I was 11.” She replied tonelessly as she started to head out of the room. Aden caught up with her and held open the doors ahead of them that led them to the elevators.

“Oh yeah? What did you do that time? Fall down the stairs?” he teased, laughing as he thought about her tripping over nothing once again. When Belle didn’t reply, he looked at her face, only to realise that she was paying too much attention to the elevator. “You didn’t?!”

“Shut up!”

---

Hope you liked it! I'll try to update later on tonight or tomorrow morning!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thank you to everyone who commented!

zzazzb - I've haven't tripped over nothing cos I trip over everything else!

Chapter 4:

Belle was surprised to see that it was only just past 6pm when she got home. Hobbling through the back door of the house, she gave Annie a very big shock.

“Oh my God, Belle! What happened? Are you alright?” she fired her questions off quickly, rushing from her place at the table and into the kitchen.

“I’m fine. It was just a little accident.” Belle reassured her as she made her way into her bedroom just as Aden entered the house.

“What happened?” Annie asked him. They weren’t the best of friends, but both tried to get along for the sake of Belle.

“She tripped when she was on the beach with Mattie.”

“Must have been something hard to break your foot over.”

“You would think so.” Aden smirked before following Belle into her room, leaving a confused Annie behind.

Inside her bedroom, Belle was attempting to change her top to something much more comfortable for indoors than a bikini top and a beach t-shirt. However, with one leg to stand on, she was finding it very hard.

“Here, let me help.” Aden said, heading over to her.

“I can manage!” Belle insisted, her tone making Aden pause halfway across her bedroom. Instead, he perched on the back of her chair watching as she pulled out a tank top.

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s just a fractured-” Belle paused to pull on her top fully. “A little fracture. I’ve still got my hands.”

“You’re really stubborn, do you know that?” Aden pointed out.

“Thanks.” Belle replied dryly while making her way over to her bed. “Anyways, I don’t need any more help than I needed before. I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself.”

“Really?” Aden raised his eyebrows before digging into his trouser pocket to pull out a small plastic bottle. “Is that why you left these,” he gave the dark orange colour bottle a shake so that the pills inside rattled. “in the car?”

Belle groaned at her mistake and held out a hand for them. Aden kept on smiling and placed them onto the table behind him.

“Aden…” Belle groaned. She knew that he was trying to make a very valid point.

“If you’re so capable, why don’t you get them yourself?” he asked her, crossing his arms to show that he was serious.

“Because you’re much more closer.” Belle answered back smartly. When Aden didn’t reply, she pushed herself up and made to get up. “Fine. Have it your way.”

“My way would be you admitting that you’ll accept a little bit of help for a while.”

“I don’t need-” Belle began to say, sitting back down and making herself very comfortable.

“It’s not about what you need. It’s what you should do.” Aden interrupted her.

“Oh yeah?” her eyebrows raised slightly at his argument. “Well, tell me then doctor, what should I do?”

“You should let me help.” He said matter-of-factly.

“You mean take care of me?”

“Well, you’re going to need help. Especially with certain things... like changing, showering...” Aden trailed off with a smile playing on his lips.

“I wouldn’t want you to put yourself out for me.” Belle rolled her eyes to emphasize her sarcasm.

“It would be no problem. I’ve had practice.” At his girlfriend’s sudden look of shock he added, “With taking care of people.”

“What dya know... he’s not just a pretty face.” Belle joked.

“Pretty face?” Aden asked, faking outrage. “I thought it my body you went after.”

“That’s just for the pictures.” She teased in a serious voice.

“Now I feel used…” Just as the words left Aden’s mouth, another voice rang out from outside the room.

“Belle, love,” Irene said gently while knocking on the door.

“Come in.”

Irene took one step into the room and stopped when she saw her foster daughter.

“Good Lord, girly. You really know how to make a mess outta something, don’t you?” she commented as she rested on the side of Belle’s bed.

“It’s nothing, Irene. Just looks worse than it is.” Belle tried to assure her, but she knew that there was no way that she could pull wool over the older lady’s eyes.

“’Nothing’? I wouldn’t call this nothing. I almost had a heart attack when Matilda came to tell me that you were injured.”

“Mattie knows how to make a mountain out of a molehill.”

Irene huffed at her reply before turning around to face Aden.

“You have a shift starting in 15, young man.” Aden nodded to show that he was listening. “You know what?” Irene said as she turned back to Belle. “I’m going to make you some nice hot chocolate, and then we’ll see what we can do about this.” She waved her hand over the broken foot before patting Belle’s hand and leaving the room.

“So you won’t take my help, but Irene’s you won’t even argue?” Aden taunted.

“Don’t you have work to get to?” Belle replied instead. Knowing that he better leave it before he made it worse, Aden walked up to where she was sitting.

“I guess that’s my cue to leave then.” he smirked before bending down to give her a gentle kiss. Once he moved back, he stroked her cheek gently while whispering in her ear. “Be careful, yeah? I don’t think that Roman will give me time off to take you to the hospital again.”

Laughing he walked out of the room as Belle threatened to throw a pillow at him.

“Hilarious! You’re a real laugh.” She said sarcastically. Once he was out of eyesight, she relaxed completely, placing the pillow back down onto her lap and closing her eyes a bit. She could still hear him talking to, what it seemed like, Irene.

When the voices died down, she heard footsteps approaching her room. Gently pushing herself up to sit straighter, she assumed it was Irene with a drink.

“Why are you still here?” she said tiredly when she saw that it was Aden.

“I’m getting the feeling that you don’t want me here.” He replied.

“Really? Wow, whatever would give you that idea?” Aden smiled at her response.

“Relax. I just forgot to give you your car keys.” He dropped them on her bedside table. Turning to leave, he paused as if he remembered something. “By the way, in case you forget, there’s a step just before your room.”

Belle’s eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.

“So?”

“Try not to trip.”

“Go!”

---

Hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a comment... good or bad! [preferably good!]

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thank you guys!

Here's a new chapter! I hope you enjoy it. I know it's very fluffy, but I'm going to get a bit srious in a couple of chapter or so, so enjoy it while you can!

Chapter 5:

3 days later, Belle was starting to feel claustrophobic. She hadn’t left the house since Saturday, which must have been a record for her. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had been in the same building for so long. Willingly, that was. She shuddered to think about the times that she had been kidnapped.

After Aden had left Saturday evening, Irene had kept to her promise and brought her a drink. Annie had soon followed with some marshmallows and crisps, and a set of colourful markers, wanting to be the first to sign her cast. Belle allowed her to do so, glad to have something to distract her for a bit.

Sunday was just as much exciting. Waking up to see that Aden had joined her, she had realised that she must have fallen asleep pretty early. Belle put it down to the medication being drowsy.

With Irene working the whole day, and the boys having footy practice due to their upcoming tournament, Belle was forced to ask Annie with helping her cover up her cast for her shower. Luckily, Annie had been more than happy to help.

Aden had come over after his afternoon shift, where he kept on teasing Belle until she threatened to ban him from the house. That had shut him up pretty quickly. They ended up spending most of the day in her room, doing trivial things like cleaning up her floor, which Aden insisted on doing in case she tripped, playing around with her camera and laptop and making out on the bed.

Unfortunately, he had to leave before dinner because Roman was making a big deal out of it. But before he left, Aden, once again, insisted on signing her cast. Which is how she ended up with a black square with the words ‘Property of Aden J’ inside it on the left hand side of her cast.

On Monday, Mattie had had the morning off, so she had came around, also taking her turn to sign the cast. They had a real girly morning, with Mattie insisting on painting Belle’s toenails for her and then watching a total chick-flick before heading off to school.

Belle was then left home alone, for the first time since Friday, for about 3 hours in which she fell asleep. When she woke up, she could hear someone puttering around in the kitchen. Slowly getting up, picking up her crutches which she had left laying on the floor, she made her way to see who it was.

“What are you doing here?” She asked when it was clear who it was.

“Good to see you too, babe.” Aden replied, taking a sip of the orange juice he had poured himself. Belle stood giving him a glare, telling him to answer her question. She wasn’t one of patience nowadays. “I just came to see you.”

“You mean to check up on me?” Belle asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“Uh… yeah. I guess I’ll be late…” Aden trailed off, turning around to place his glass into the sink as Belle hopped onto one of the kitchen stools.

“Irene’s not going to like that. She’s not your biggest fan, you kn-” Belle stopped midway, realising what she was missing. “Irene sent you to check up on me, didn’t she?”

“Look-”

“I can’t believe she would do that! I can’t believe you went along with it!” she said disgustedly.

“She was just worried.” Belle huffed at his words.

“I’m 18. I can take care of myself for a couple of hours.”

“Just look at it this way. I get to spend a bit of time with you and get paid for it.” Aden tried to tell her.

“Yeah, well, off you go. You’ve checked up on me and I’m fine.” Belle informed him, not impressed when he didn’t take her seriously and stalked his way over to her.

“Maybe I should make sure.” He whispered as he stood in front of her, bent over so his lips were just a millimetre away from hers. When she didn’t object, he leaned in to close the gap and bestowed a very passionate kiss upon her.

Belle got carried, as was usually with such kisses. Pulling back when she needed to breath, she gently shoved Aden away, although his arms around her waist didn’t let him go far.

“You need to go back before Irene fires you.”

“I’m just-”

“Making sure I’m fine. Yeah, I heard you the first couple of times.” Aden smiled at her irritation, leaning in to kiss her again. “You need to stop that.” She murmured when he pulled away, gently stroking her cheek.

“Why?” he asked as he kissed her once again.

“Cos I say so.” She laughed before she kissed him. “And because that’s Annie and Geoff coming.”

Aden had just turned his head to look at the back door when Annie walked through the door, talking animatedly to her brother about something that he really had no interest in.

Seeing Aden, Geoff gave a curt nod. The two of them went close either, but Geoff had a new found respect for him since he started going out with Belle. Not to mention what he had done to his best mate because he had attacked Melody.

“Alright, I’m off then.” he finally said. Giving Belle a final kiss, he turned to leave.

“Tell Irene that I can take care of myself, yeah?”

“Will do!”

Belle didn’t see Aden again until later that night, when he climbed in through her bedroom window as she was just turning off the light to go to sleep.

He climbed into bed her bed wordlessly, wrapping his arms around her protectively and kissing her bare shoulder before settling with his face pressed into her neck and legs covering hers, gently.

---

Hope you enjoyed it!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thank you for your comments!

Sorry for the wait but I've been packing and I just had no time to update.

Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 6:

Tuesday morning, and Belle woke up alone once again. She vaguely remembered Aden leaving earlier in the morning, but she figured that she was still half asleep when he kissed her goodbye and told her to go back to sleep.

Today was day 3, and she now hated it. Although she would complain about people babying her, Belle now missed the company. She almost wished that she hadn’t spoken to Irene last night about not needing to send Aden over to check up on her. It seemed like a good idea then, but now she missed him.

Annie came home from school at 3:30 that day and Belle couldn’t have been happier to see another human being. All that she had done that day was sit on the sofa watching meaningless TV and reading useless magazines.

“Hey, Annie.” Belle said as she came down the stairs after changing out of her school uniform.

“Hey. What you been up to all day?” Annie sat at the table with a couple of books in front of her.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

“Sounds…”

“Boring? Yeah, it is.” Belle joked before continuing reading the magazine on her lap so she could let Annie get on with her school work.

10 minutes later, Belle looked up at Annie to see what the younger girl was doing. She had noticed, out of her own boredom, that she hadn’t turned a page or written anything for the past 7 minutes.

“Annie?”

“Yeah?” Annie looked up at her.

“Everything ok?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t it be?” Annie tried to sound casual but Belle knew that she was lying.

“Ok. What’s going on?”

Annie sighed and shook her head. Belle figured that she wasn’t going to get an answer by pushing her, so she got up and hopped her way to her with her crutches.

“I remember this assignment. Really hated it though.” Belle looked at Annie work a bit more and then it struck her. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing this in pairs?”

“Well… yeah.”

“Then why are you doing this all by yourself?” Belle asked, knowing the answer anyway.

“Because… uh…”

“Irene told you to stay here. Great.” Belle sighed. “Who’s your partner?”

“Ruby.”

“Why don’t you go to hers and finish it then? I’ll be fine on my own.” Belle reassured her. “Or better yet, invite her over here!”

“I would, but she’s at school.” Annie predicted Belle’s question before she could even ask it. “She’s with Melody. They’re watching the footy match.”

Belle’s face lit up when she heard that. Footy meant getting out of here and being around people. And then there was the fact that she could watch Aden play too.

“Alright then. Let’s go!” Belle had already started to head towards her room to grab a bag.

“Go where?” Annie called after her.

“To the school. I need to get out of here, and you need to complete your assignment. Take it with you and you can do it afterwards.”

“But Irene said-”

“I’ll sort it out with Irene. It’ll be ok. You coming? Cos I’m going with or without you…” Belle could see Annie battling with herself, so she started to walk towards the door.

“Ok, I’m coming. But if Irene gets mad, I’m blaming it all on you.”

---

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Chapter 7:

It took Annie and Belle almost as twice as long to get to the high school, and the journey was starting to take its toll on Belle’s arms, not that she would let on how much it hurt.

“Are sure you don’t want to sit down for a bit?” Annie asked for about the 10th time in as many minutes.

“Yes, I’m sure. Anyways, we are here!” Belle informed her. Annie knew as well as Belle did that the footy practice took part in the field at the rear end of the school, which was at least another 5 minute walk.

Once out on the field, it wasn’t hard to see where the practice was taking place. Heading towards the crowd, Annie was able to lead Belle to where Ruby and Melody were, right at the sidelines, and thankfully by the pitch fence.

“Hey!” Ruby called out as she saw Annie. “I thought you had to go home and lo-” she stopped mid-sentence before carrying on without missing another beat. “Heya Belle! How are you?”

“I’m glad to be out of the house.” Belle smiled back at the ever preppy teenager before making her way to the front where she could finally put her crutches to the side.

“Who’s winning?” Annie asked. The game was still going on, with the pupils and supporters of the Summer Bay High School team cheering them on.

“I don’t know.” Ruby replied. “I think Geoff’s team. Melody should know…” she trailed off and began clapping as everyone else did.

Belle had never been into football that much. Actually, she had probably seen more matches since she began dating Aden then in her whole life before that. And she sure as hell didn’t understand the rules.

“I thought this was supposed to be a practice.” Belle thought out loud.

“It is. They’re preparing for the tournament.” Melody replied.

“And what better way to prepare than to pit them against themselves.” Ruby added mischievously.

Belle nodded just as the whistle blew and the boys went off to the other side of the pitch to grab a drink.

---

After listening to the coach’s new tactics, complaints and compliments, Geoff veered around the rest of the football players to see if he would catch sight of Melody. He knew that she was there, having heard her cheer for him when he had the ball.

Aden stood with Jacob, the captain of their team, when he saw Geoff run off to where he crowd were. Looking over his shoulder, he had to do a double take when he saw who exactly was there.

When Jacob noticed that Aden’s attention had drifted elsewhere, he decided to follow his gaze, only to land on a brunette that had left school already. She must have noticed someone’s eyes on her, because at that moment she turned and looked directed at Aden, giving him the briefest wave and a smile.

Jacob’s eyes glanced downwards, not being able to help but check her out. He was glad that he was stood behind Aden, knowing that if he had the slightest clue of what he was thinking, he would rip him a new one.

But there was one thing that Jacob knew would be safe to comment on.

“What happened to your girl’s leg, mate?” he asked.

Aden barely heard him, but when the words registered in his head, he smile. His girl, he thought to himself. He really liked the sound of that. Before he got a chance to respond, he heard the coach call his name.

“Yeah?”

[Taniya_K]

Thank you guys for wishing me a good time! I just hope I can breathe, like zzazzb said!

And yes, I think we would all love to be Aden's girls! But unfortunately, there's only one girl out ther ewho can be that!

Anyways, without a futhur ado... here's the next chapter!

Chapter 8:

“Hey! Good match.” Belle greeted Aden as he approached her.

“What’re you talking about? We lost!” he replied.

“Yeah, I know.” Belle laughed. “Geoff was pretty happy with himself.”

“And here I thought you had finally understood what I play.” He mocked, holding a hand out to her. Giving him a dirty look, she grabbed onto it and pulled herself up from the bench. “Where are the others anyway?”

“I sent them packing.” Belle joked while steadying herself with her crutches. “Annie and Ruby had some assignment to do, and Melody needed to get home, so I told Geoff to take her.”

“Hold on… You actually had to convince him to be a Good Samaritan?” Aden teased.

“Well, he was trying to be a Good Samaritan. He was staying to help me.”

“He knew I was here.”

“Probably why he wanted to stay.” Belle said innocently.

Aden tried not to give her the pleasure of knowing that she actually made him laugh, but he couldn’t hide the smile threatening to break out from her.

“So… why did you come?”

“What makes you think I didn’t come to see you play?” Aden scoffed at her words. “Hey! I’m a supportive girlfriend.”

“You don’t understand the game-”

“It’s got too many rules.”

“-and you always bring Matilda along-”

“Thought you would like a personal cheering squad…”

“-and you never come to practices.”

“First time for everything.” Belle had a reply for everything. Aden laughed when she answered earnestly, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes. “What?” She asked when she saw the laughter fading form his face, with a thoughtful smile replacing it.

“Nothing.” He sighed, the smile still not leaving his face. It was moments like these that he sometimes wished that he had the courage and the reputation that everyone thinks he had. The ‘Aden’ that everyone thinks he is, or was, would have no problem with 3 little words.

Belle was about to ask once again, but her phone started to buzz just before she could gather the words. Pausing in their journey, it took Aden a couple of steps to realise that Belle was no longer walking besides him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked at once.

“Grab my phone.” She told him, glad he had stopped. She had been contemplating how she was going to answer her phone while on her crutches. It wasn’t like she could stand with no support.

“Where is it?”

“Left pocket.” Belle replied as he smirked and stuck his hand into her front jeans pocket. She scowled him when he purposely slid his hand across her waist, making her shiver at his gentle touch.

“Irene.” He told her after glancing at the screen. “Want me to answer it?” Belle had groaned when he told her who it was.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

They continued on their journey home as Aden spoke to Irene for about 2 minutes, no doubtingly about her going out without telling her.

“Here.” Aden held out the phone to her once he had hung up.

“How am I supposed to take it, exactly?” Belle retorted, indicating that he hands were unavailable at the moment.

“Alright, alright. Someone’s a bit grouchy.” He murmured, knowing full well that Belle would hear.

“Sorry.” Belle sighed. “What did Irene want?”

“She was wondering where you were seeing as you weren’t answering the house phone. And then Annie walked into The Den.”

“Yeah, Annie did say that she was going to blame me if Irene got mad.” Belle remembered.

They were now at the walkway up to the back of the house. Aden held the back door open for her, trying to be as nonchalant about it as he could.

“Oh!” Belle gasped once she had entered and saw a bouquet of fresh flowers on the breakfast bar.

“Wow…” Aden replied when he finally noticed them, slightly surprised that he hadn’t seen it first, seeing as they were pretty big.

“I would say ‘you shouldn’t have’, but judging from your reaction, I’m guessing these aren’t from you.” Belle commented.

“No… though I’m starting to wish they were.” Aden said as Belle hopped onto a stool and smelt the lilies with a slight smile on her face. “I’m getting a bit jealous… who’s sending you flowers?” Aden joked.

Belle laughed as she reached out to pull him to her. She gave him a brief kiss, one still filled with passion and lust.

“Happy now?”

“I dunno… Might have to try that again.” Aden replied before taking her lips in between his once again. When he pulled away this time, he smiled. “Better.”

“Good.” Belle laughed before turned to face the flowers once again and rotated the vase to see if she could locate a card. It took longer than normal, seeing as there were many flowers covering it up, but she finally found it. Taking the little envelope, she took the card out.

“Huh… cute.” Aden commented when he saw the tiny envelope and the card that came out of it. Belle groaned when she read the name of the sender.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

---

So... who's sending Belle flowers? And should Aden be jealous?

[Taniya_K]

Aw, Lily you're too nice!

Anyways, some of you gues who sent the flowers correctly, so yeah... lol!

This is an extra long chapter cos I'm not going to be able to update tomorrow! Sorry! But enjoy, please!

Chapter 9:

“Who is it?” Aden asked, standing behind her to look at the card in her hand.

“My mother!” Aden’s eyebrows shot up. He knew that Belle kept in touch with Amanda, although it was more of the mother calling the daughter rather than the other way round.

“You told her?” he queried, resting his arms on the stool so that he could rest his chin on her shoulder and look closer at the note that Amanda had sent with the flowers. “‘Get well soon, darling.’”

“Course I didn’t tell her!” Belle exclaimed, outraged. “The last thing I need is her making a fuss out of it.”

“Well, looks like you got that right.” Aden chuckled, nodding towards the flowers.

“I don’t know how she found out…” Belle thought out loud.

“Irene, maybe?” he suggested.

“Are you crazy? Irene hates Amanda. Probably more than she hates you.”

“Irene doesn’t hate me!” Aden insisted. Belle turned her head slightly, and he could tell that she was raising an eyebrow at him. “Anymore.” He added.

“True…” Belle commented before sighing. “I better get this over and done with. Pass me the phone, would you?”

“What’s the magic word?”

“Now.” Belle replied as Aden shook his head and gave her a sweet kiss on the side of her neck before getting the phone for her.

“I’ll be in there.” He pointed towards her room as she nodded and fished out her own mobile to find her mother’s number.

---

“I was wondering what you would be doing in here.” Belle said as she hopped through her bedroom door.

“Hmm…?” Aden replied, not looking up from the laptop he was typing furiously on.

“Oh, I see. Using me for my technology, are you?” she teased as she climbed onto her bed. Aden finally tore his eyes away as she settled behind him, resting against the headboard.

“Where are your crutches?” he asked, frowning.

“Inside.”

“There’s a reason why you have them.”

“There’s also a reason why I have legs.” Belle answered smartly.

“You mean leg, right? Seeing as one of them is broken.”

“It’s not broken, it’s-”

“-fractured.” Aden finished for her with a roll of his eyes. “Yes, I know.” He didn’t think anyone didn’t know with the way she used it as a defence. “What did your mum say?”

“She wasn’t in. On some course for her teaching.”

“She’s teaching again?” Aden asked. When he didn’t get a reply, he turned around to see what Belle was so preoccupied with, only to see her stretching to reach the other bedside table to get a magazine, with no avail. Smirking, he took pity on her and grabbed it for her.

“Thanks.” she huffed. Aden brushed some of the hair that had gotten into her eyes out of the way and leaned in to kiss her.

“You… are… welcome.” He said slowly, kissing her once again.

“I could get used to this.” Belle commented when they parted once again.

“Does that mean you’ll ask for help now?” Belle’s smile deflated.

“Why don’t you do your work like a good little boy?”

“‘Good’? What makes you think I’m ‘good’?” Aden said outrageously as Belle giggled while he attacked her neck in kisses. Her laughter turned into sighs of pleasure before she, finally, came to her senses when she felt his hand crawling up her back.

“Aden… Aden. C’mon…” she said.

Well, she at least tried to say it, but it came out more as a whisper as it was hard to get any words out when he moved up to her jaw and finally her mouth. With his other hand gently stroking her cheek, Belle was reluctant to pull away herself.

“Aden…” Belle murmured when she gasped for air. “We have to stop.” She heard him groan as he paused, burying his head in her neck, causing her to laugh. “Geoff and Annie could come home at anytime.”

“Yeah… alright.” He replied, nodding as he backed away.

“Good. Anyway, don’t you have work to do?”

Aden sighed before stealing another soft kiss from her and turning around to get back to work. He shimmied back so that he was now leaning Belle’s right leg.

“What’re you doing?” she asked, a slight smile on her face, though he couldn’t see it.

“I thought you told me to get back to work like ‘a good little boy’?” Aden quoted as she laughed, removing her leg causing him to fall backwards for a second before her caught himself. “You wanna play?” He threatened.

Belle rolled her eyes and pulled him backwards until he was leaning against her, her legs on either side of him.

“That better?”

“Much.” He replied, pulling the laptop up onto his legs, carrying on with his history assignment while Belle continued to read her magazine. They stayed like that for about 20 minutes, before Belle had read her magazine and started to get bored. She fiddled with her phone, knowing that she had Amanda’s mobile number and that she could have tried that if she really wanted to.

To distract herself from thinking this over and over, she turned to see how Aden was getting on. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she leant forwards so that her head rested on top of his.

Aden continued to type away, regardless of the roaming hands of his girlfriend playing with the top of his t-shirt.

“Do you even know what you’re writing?” Belle finally asked. Aden stopped his typing.

“Yes. Why?” he asked, curiously.

“Cos that’s wrong.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you taking history at the moment?” Aden asked sarcastically.

“At least I’m not repeating my final year.” Belle quipped back.

“Yeah, well, I don’t care. Once I get this done, I’ve got some English to do too.”

“Alright then.” Belle backed off, knowing that he wouldn’t give up, so she had to do it instead.

---

An hour later, and both Annie and Geoff had returned home, but neither Aden nor Belle had moved. To be honest, they much preferred the comfort of their own world.

That was until the house phone began to ring. A moment later, Annie called out for Belle, who groaned and pushed Aden off of her so that she could move.

Hopping out of the room, she could hear a stifled laugh coming from behind her.

Aden sat up straight as Belle left, continuing with his work, only to be disturbed by another ringing phone, this time his own.

Frowning, he reluctantly answered the call, but not before closing the door to the bedroom to make sure that no-one else heard.

---

Please comment! There's going to be drama from now on!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Heya guys! It's very early in the morning here, but I just can't sleep! I'm also half deaf due to the noise around here, but it's soooo worth it!

Anyways, I thought I'd share my joy... Enjoy!

Chapter 10:

Belle sat watching the TV mindlessly, going over her conversation with Amanda in her head. She didn’t know what had possessed her to agree with her mother’s suggestion. And to top it all off, Aden wasn’t answering her calls. Belle sighed once again just as Irene returned home.

“You alright, darl?” she asked when she saw Belle sitting on the couch.

“Hmm...?” Belle replied, not being able to register the words at that moment in time.

“I asked if you were ok. Did something happen?”

“Oh, no I’m fine. Nothing happened.” Belle answered, plastering a smile on her face for Irene’s sake.

“Well, you sure convinced me, darl.” Irene said, giving Belle a real reason to smile a bit. She knew that she couldn’t pull wool over her eyes for long.

“I spoke to Amanda.” Belle said suddenly as Irene started to walk into the kitchen. “The flowers are from her.”

“What does she want now?”

“What makes you think she wants something?” Irene threw her look that she understood to mean ‘do you want me to answer that?’, so Belle didn’t reply. “Did you tell her? About me?”

“Nope. Haven’t spoken to that-” Irene broke off and decided to change her sentence. “To her since she last left town. Didn’t you ask her?”

“Didn’t want to sound rude.” Belle shrugged, lying through her teeth. She thought that Irene would buy it if they didn’t continue talking about it so she tried to change the subject. “Aden’s not working tonight, is he?”

“Not that I know of, love.”

“Thought so.” Belle murmured before trying to call him once again, only to have it go through to voicemail. She growled in frustration.

“Ok, girly. What’s going on here?” Irene asked, coming over with a cup of coffee for herself and one of hot chocolate for Belle.

“What do you mean? There’s nothing going on.” She replied, a bit hastily.

“Well, the way I see it is that there are two things bothering. Amanda and Aden. The last time I checked, you didn’t really care for not being rude to someone, and you know that Aden doesn’t work Tuesdays. So…?” Belle chuckled.

“Can’t keep anything from you, can I?”

“Nope. Now get talking.” Belle sighed once again before she started to explain about what had happened with Aden while she was on the phone to Amanda from the very beginning.

“And the he just left. One minute everything seemed fine, and then he was literally running out of here, saying that he had something that he forgot to do. And now he won’t even answer my calls.”

“Maybe he really did have something to do.” Irene commented. Belle gave her a curious look, surprised that she had stuck up for Aden. That was usually her job.

“All night though? It’s been 4 hours, and I don’t think he’s going to answer anytime soon. I know he said that he had some work to do, but it’s not like he would work constantly.” Belle stated, slightly disgusted with herself that she was keeping tabs on her own boyfriend. She put it down to the fact that she was bored out of her mind.

“Look, I know that it all seems a bit suspicious right now, but I’m sure that he has a legitimate reason. I’d hate to admit it, but I’d give Aden the benefit of the doubt before jumping to conclusions that will just keep you up all night.” Irene told her.

“Yeah, I know. I’m just... I dunno. I know he would tell me if it was something important.” Belle nodded to back up her words, a sign to tell Irene that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“So what’s Amanda done to bother you?” Irene asked, causing Belle to groan.

“I kind of agreed to spend the weekend with her in the city.” Belle said, almost timidly, not being able to meet her eyes.

“You did what?” Irene exploded.

“Yeah, I know! I just... I didn’t know what she was saying or what I was saying! I was still confused about Aden.” Belle placed her cup on the side and covered her face with her hands. “It’s not that I don’t want to go. I mean, I wouldn’t mind spending some time with Amanda, and Ryan too.”

Irene made a sound that was a lot like an ‘hmph’.

“Darl, normally, I wouldn’t try to get to you reconsider. As much as I despise that woman, she is still your mother. But don’t you think you should wait until you’re a bit better? Rachel said that bed rest was the best thing you could do right now, and the medication doesn’t give you a lot of energy, now does it?”

“Irene...” Belle moaned. “Bed rest is not the best thing for me. I’m going stir crazy in this place. Everybody’s busy with school or work, and when they aren’t, I’m still stuck here until I have to convince them to take me out!”

“We’re only doing this because we want to look after you, Belle. Annie felt guilty today when I saw her in The Den. She thought that it would be her fault if something happened to you.” Irene smiled a bit at the young girl’s innocence and Belle couldn’t help but smile either.

“I did tell her I would take all the blame.” Belle confessed. A silence fell upon them for a moment.

“Belle, I’m not going to stop you from going. You’re old enough to make your own decisions and know what’s right for you. However…” Irene stopped and got up.

“‘However’, what?” Belle asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“I might not try to stop you, but I’m sure that boyfriend of yours will once you tell him and he figures out that you’ll spend the weekend with your ex.”

Belle sighed as Irene walked into the kitchen to get started on dinner. She had been thinking about that too.

---

Hope you liked it! So what's up with Aden? And what's he gonna think about Belle's up-coming weekend?

xoxo