Untroubled

[Taniya_K]

Hey there guys! I hope you all enjoy this! I can't believe that I'm starting on a sequel! Anyway, here it goes!

Story Title: Untroubled

Type of story: Long Fic

Main Characters: Belle and Aden.

Characters Mentioned: Matilda, Irene, Nicole, Geoff, Annie and many more [don't want to give the plot away before I even start].

BTTB rating: G/T

Genre: Humor, Suspense and Drama mainly.

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

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

Summary: Sequel to 'Unlucky'. Set 4 months after, Aden and Belle have new dramas to face, both within their relationship and outside it.

Chapter 1:

Belle sighed heavily, flipping through the magazine in front of her as she sat on a stool in the Diner. Peering at her watch once more, she shook her head before turning back to her reading material.

"I'd hate to break it to you, love, but you do realise that you don't work here anymore, right?" Irene broke into her thoughts as she cleaned up the main counter.

"I know." Belle replied tonelessly. She had stopped working as a waitress at the Diner about a couple of weeks beforehand when Irene had told her that she should focus more on trying to get her dream job rather than working there.

"Then why are you here at half 9 on a Monday morning?" Irene came to stand before her, making the younger girl to look up at her.

"I was supposed to be meeting Aden." Belle told her. A look of clarity went across Irene's face.

"I see. Maybe he's just running late." She offered. Belle didn't know why, but Irene did seem to be making more excuses for Aden than she had been, and Aden was her boyfriend.

"No, he's just forgotten." She simply said. "Again."

"Darl, you have to try and understand." Irene almost reprimanded her.

"I do understand. I just… worry."

"Worry about what?" Mattie interrupted their conversation as she walked up to them with Ric by her side. When Belle just shook her head, Mattie could guess easily. "Aden again?"

"Yeah."

"I swear he's studying more than me." Mattie stated, almost in disbelieve.

"That's because he is. He's studying more than anyone." Belle corrected her.

"What's he doing at uni anyway?" Ric asked.

"Yeah, love, you never got around to telling me that." Irene added.

Irene had asked her several times before what Aden had planned to do after he got his HSCs, and although he didn't mind telling people who asked him, Belle wasn't that keen on telling anyone. Mainly because she didn't want Aden to go on to study this particular course.

"Psychology." She told them.

"Really? I would never have guessed." Mattie said, surprised.

"Yeah." Belle didn't want to add he fact that he had chosen psychology because he wanted to become a counsellor. "Ok, I'm going to go and see if I can find him instead of sitting here and looking like a loser."

The other three all nodded and laughed as Belle slung her bag over her shoulder and headed off in the direction of Roman's place. It wasn't too far away from the Diner, but as she dawdled, it was almost 10am by the time she got to the walkway.

Belle had turned the knob on the door, not surprised that it opened without any hesitation.

"Whoa!" Belle jumped in shock when Nicole popped up from behind the door suddenly. "Geez, you scared the hell out of me!"

"Please! I don't look that bad." the blonde joked, picking up her bag from the couch before heading out of the door. At the last minute, she turned back around to Belle. "Don't tell Roman I was late for school."

"Uh… ok." Belle responded, not sure why she would tell Roman that. "Why are you late?"

"Had things to do, people to see. You know how it gets." Nicole drawled, adding a sweet smile at the end. Belle faked one back. "He's in the back."

Belle raised an eyebrow to Nicole's statement. I'm not that predictable, am I? she thought to herself.

"What? You didn't come to see me, did you? And Geoff's at school, and Roman's at work." Nicole informed her. "Maybe you can get him to come back to the world of the living. I mean, I thought mellowing out a bit would be good for Aden, but this is just getting ridiculous."

"I'll try my best." Belle told her, eyeing her carefully as Nicole's mood flipped from concern to playful.

"Okaaaay. Bye!" she let the door slam behind her and Belle could hear the teen's car being revved up outside.

Shaking her head, she walked further into the house, dumping her bag on the kitchen table before coming to stand in the doorway that led to the back porch.

Aden sat on the love seat, his feet propped up on the nearby sun lounger with a couple of books open on his lap and next to him and a pen in his hand. He looked up at when he felt someone else's presence close, only to see his girlfriend leaning against the door jamb, arms crossed.

He raised an eyebrow at her stance, curious as to why she stood so defensively. When Belle didn't speak, but mirrored his action and raised her own eyebrow at him, Aden suddenly remember what could have been a cause of this.

Belle watched as realisation crossed Aden's face. Although she had been a bit mad, seeing the guilt pass through his eyes got rid of that.

"Yes…" Belle nodded, confirming what he was thinking.

"I'm so sorry, Belle." He apologized as she pushed herself off what she was leaning against and walked towards him. "I just totally forgot."

"Hmm… I know you did." She sat down facing him, placing the book from the seat on her lap as she pulled her legs up. "I've got to admit Aden, I'm starting to feel a bit neglected here. That's the third time that you've stood me up now."

Aden laughed softly when he saw her smile and heard her teasing tone. Dropping his pen, he placed his hand on her cheek, stroking it gently before pulling her to him for a love-filled kiss.

"I'm sorry. I promise the next time I'll be there." Aden told her as they broke apart.

"You better be, otherwise I might just have to trade you in for someone who doesn't ignore me."

"I wasn't ignoring y-" Aden started, another guilty look, mixed with hurt, passed his through his features.

"I was kidding." Belle assured him. "Well, about the ignoring me bit."

"So I should live in fear of you running off with another guy because I'm studying?" Aden asked incredulously.

"Yup." Belle simply replied, resting her head on the back of the love seat. "You look tired." Her brushed the pads of her thumb under his eyes, allowing him to press a kiss to her palm as he captured her hand and brought it down.

"I'm ok."

"You look like you haven't slept in days." Belle countered, watching him as his eyes fell, looking downwards to where he fiddled with the charm bracelet that he had given her 4 months ago. She hadn't taken it off since. "You did sleep last night, didn't you?"

"Of course I did!" Aden replied immediately.

"For how long?" Belle asked, intrigued as to how much he had slept and yet look so tired.

"I dunno. I don't count how many hours I get." He turned his attention back to the page that he had been reading before she had come along, dropping her hand and letting his right arm to lay across her bent legs that were being supported by his leg.

"Aden-" She began sympathetically.

"I'm fine, ok?" he all but snapped at her.

"No, it's not 'ok'!" Belle said in the same tone and volume as him. "I'm worried about you. All you seem to do these days is go to school, work or study. It's not good for you."

"Look, I'll… I'll…" Aden faltered, not knowing what to say and keep his word. "I'll spend some time with you after work."

"I don't want you do think that I'm forcing you to do something with me." Belle sighed.

"Wait, so first you're complaining that I'm neglecting you, and now that I say that I'll spend time with you, you're making me feel guilty about it?" Aden asked in disbelief.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty!" Belle exclaimed, backing away from him. "I told you, I'm just worried about you."

"Yeah, I get it, Belle. God knows you've been telling me for the last two months." He sneered, the last words letting Belle know that he wasn't talking about just the studying anymore.

"You know what? I don't know why I even bother anymore. All I do is tell you that I don't want you to put yourself through something that might just cause you more pain in the future and you bite my head off every single time."

"It's my life, Belle. I decide what I want to do, and I want to go to university next year, I want to study psychology and I want to become a counsellor." Aden replied, not bothering to look up at her.

"Fine. You do that then. I mean, it is your life. Got nothing to do with me at all, right?"

Before Aden could even stop her, she got up, dumping the textbook back onto the bench with such a force that it actually shook.

"Belle!" He called after her, hearing her pick her bag up and leave the kitchen. Aden stood as quick as he could, going after her, but by the time he got to the front door, she was nowhere to be seen.

Knowing that he could go after her, Aden sighed and looked at the time. There was no point going after Belle right then. He knew that she wouldn't calm down for at least an hour.

So instead, he headed back inside and got ready to go to school, thinking about how the best way to apologize would be.

---

How was that then? Hehe...

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thank you for the comments guys!

Here's the next chapter...

Chapter 2:

“Shouldn’t you be studying?” Belle said mockingly as she walked into her bedroom to see Aden sitting on her bed with her laptop open.

“I told you that I would spend time with you after work today.”

“Right.” Belle replied dryly, standing at the end of her bed. “So what do you want to do? Argue more or just pretend like everything’s ok?”

“Belle, I’m sorry.” Aden sighed as he placed the laptop aside.

“You are?” She asked in disbelief. Every other time they argued about this, Aden was never the one who apologized.

“Yeah. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

“Uh-huh.” Belle stood rooted in her place, nodding her head although her eyes were averted from him.

“What?”

“Nothing.” The one word came out with a tiresome sigh that made Aden’s anger fire up a tad bit again.

“You’re not happy with my apology?”

“I didn’t say that.” she said defensively.

“You don’t get to choose what I apologize for, you know.” Aden told her, earning himself a dark glare.

“Did I say I did?” Belle sharply replied.

“Why are you so angry then?”

“You don’t get it, do you?”

“No, because unlike everyone else, I can’t read minds.” His sarcastic tone made Belle shake her head.

“Forget it. Just get out.” She naturally pointed towards her window rather than the door as she turned away from him.

Aden didn’t move. He had come there to make it all good between them and instead he had been himself and, like always, just made it worse.

“Belle-” He began, voice neutral, hoping it would make her listen.

“Aden, please. I’m not in the mood to argue.” She told him, still not facing him as she moved thing around on her chest of drawers just to keep busy.

“I don’t want to argue. I just want to know why you‘re mad at me. It’s not cos I snapped at you. What else is there? Is it because I forgot about this morning?” Aden was prepared to go through all the mistakes he had made in the past 9 months that they had been together. Of course, that would probably take a long time.

“No. Just forget it, Aden.”

“I can’t ‘just forget it’. Tell me what it was.” He tried. When she didn’t reply, instead stopping what she was fiddling around with and staying still for a moment, Aden decided to carry on. “Sweetheart, I’m trying to think what I did or said, but I’m coming up blank. I’m a guy; we aren’t programmed to remember things like this.”

Belle let out a reluctant chuckle, albeit it was quiet and somewhat wry, letting him know that she wasn’t going to give in.

“Belle…” Aden got off the bed and walked over to where Belle stood, placing his hands gently on her shoulders before letting them glide down to her elbows before leaving them on her hips. “Tell me.” He whispered into her ear.

“It’s nothing.” She replied, taking a hold of his hands for a moment before manually pulling them off of her body.

“C’mon, Belle. Don’t be like this.” Aden groaned, holding on tightly to one of her hands, hearing the tinkling of the crystal red rose charm he had bought for her a couple of months back against the moon charm.

“I thought you had that dinner tonight?” She changed the statement into a question so not to sound that she was trying to get rid of him.

“So I’ll be late. Roman’ll get over it.” He told her, not liking the fact that she had ignored what he had said. Belle’s exasperated look told him that she wasn’t going to tell him and that she’s rather leave it alone right then. “Alright. I’ll head off then.”

“Yeah…” Belle murmured, looking away from him once again as he pulled on her hand, bringing her closer to him.

“Love you.” Aden said softly just before he pressed a kiss to her forehead. She let a hand skim down his chest in a loving way, letting him know what she was saying without words. “I’ll see you later.”

And then he was gone.

---

“You’re late.” Nicole chimed as Aden walked through the door.

“Doesn’t look like it.” He replied, referring to her lounging around the front room, watching the TV.

“That’s because Dad wanted to wait for you.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have bothered. I’m not that hungry.” Aden muttered as he started to head up the stairs.

“What’s wrong with you?” She called as he got halfway up. “Trouble in paradise?”

“What would you know?” Aden almost immediately retorted, pausing on his way up to give her a dark look.

“Aden.” Roman reprimanded as he appeared in the kitchen doorway; Charlie not to far behind. After Morag and Ross had gotten married and moved out into a place of their own, the female police officer had moved in. “Dinner’s ready.”

“I’m not hungry.” He repeated, staring off into the distance up the stairs rather than at Roman.

“Fine. You can just sit there then. But you’ll be at that table, you got it?” He demanded. Aden sighed, pushing a hand through his hair.

“Can I at least get changed first?” At Roman’s nod, he continued upstairs, vaguely registering the commotion behind him with Nicole’s loud suggestions of what had put him in such a mood.

---

“Aden, a word.” Roman said to him as he turned to walk out of the kitchen. Nicole had already left, doing her best to avoid the washing up and Charlie excused herself when he had been called back.

“Yeah?”

“Everything alright, mate?” Roman asked straight out. There was no beating around the bush with him. He watched as Aden sighed heavily and crossed his arms in a defensive way, leaning back against the counter.

“Sure, why wouldn’t it be?” He asked, the words airy. Roman got up from the table where he had been sitting and stood opposite the younger man, arms behind him, resting on the counter.

“You did snap at Nic earlier. Not to mention that you were unusually quiet at dinner.” He pointed out.

“I’m just tired.”

“You sure that’s all?” Roman’s tone was cynical, but not untrusting.

“What else?” Aden shrugged.

“Nic mentioned that Belle was around earlier. And I’m guessing that’s where you came back from before dinner.”

“Nothing gets past you, does it?” Aden said lightly, causing the ex-army man to laugh.

“You know how Nicole likes to gossip.”

“More like butt into things that aren’t her business.” He corrected.

“Although she has a funny way of showing it, she only mentioned it because she cares.” Roman said on behalf of his daughter, knowing what she was like at times.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” A roll of his eyes emphasised just how much he believed that. Aden knew that Nicole cared about him; just as much as he cared for her, but she didn’t tell them about Belle coming over because she was concerned. It was because it was Nicole and she liked to stir things up.

“Are you going to tell me what the problem is, or are we just going to keep talking about Nic?”

“Well, you know how she likes to be the centre of all attention.”

“Aden…?” Roman prompted. Aden couldn’t help but see the similarities between this conversation and the one that he had had with Belle.

“It’s nothing. I’ve just done something to annoy Belle, and I have no idea what it is. Like always.” he informed him.

“Did you ask her?”

“Seriously?” Aden raised an eyebrow at Roman, wondering what he could have been thinking. “Of course I asked her.”

“What did she say?”

“That it was ‘nothing’.”

“Ooh.” Roman didn’t know what else to say. “There’s not much I can help you with there.”

“Thanks.” Aden replied sarcastically.

“I’m sure it’ll come to you. Belle’s not one to hold a grudge for long over petty things. She’ll get over it soon enough.”

“I hope so. Cos it’s driving me crazy!”

---

Hope you enjoyed that!

Sorry for the lack of Adelleness! There will be more next chapter!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

So it's really boring here and I didn't have much to do [life of a student in a cold and rainy England]. And I needed some nice Adelleness in my life SOMEHOW. I’ve never written two chapters in a day before, I don’t think.

I loved all of your theories, although they did all did seemed to focus on Belle being pregnant...

Here's the answer though!

Chapter 3:

Belle exited the bathroom the next morning after having a shower, feeling a bit more refreshed. She hadn’t slept great last night, having felt guilty for treating Aden like she had.

Aden had sent her a couple of texts late at night, just before she went to bed, as he always did. Although he apologized in each text, he couldn’t remember what it was that he was actually apologizing for, and Belle didn’t want to get into it so late at night. So she had told him that they would talk the next day, hoping that it would make them both feel better. It hadn’t worked for her.

As she walked into her bedroom, Belle paused in the doorway to see her bed was now occupied, whereas it was not when she had last been there 20 minutes ago. Looking back out into the kitchen where Irene puttered around before work, Belle looked back at Aden’s sleeping form on his back. He hadn’t even bothered to climb into her bed.

“Morning, love.” Irene greeted her as she turned around and went in seek of some food to maybe help her think clearly.

“Morning…” her response was distant.

“Something wrong?” The red haired woman asked as she watched Belle pour herself a glass of orange juice.

“Aden.” She simply replied, taking a sip of her juice. When Irene raised an eyebrow in confusion, Belle carried on. “You didn’t let him in, by any chance?”

“No, darl. I’ve been upstairs though, so maybe he came then.” Irene’s reasoning was logical, but Belle knew that he had most probably just climbed in through her window. Even though he tended to use the door during the day, at 8:30 in the morning, Belle guessed that Aden must have assumed she would still be asleep.

“Alright.” Belle said, picking up a piece of toast and biting into it as Irene got ready for work. “Where’re Geoff and Annie?”

“Geoff went to pick up Nicole and Annie’s down at the Den with Ruby.” She replied. Belle nodded, wondering how she hadn’t figured that out herself. Ever since Geoff and Nicole had started going out about a month ago, they spent every minute that they could together. Although that didn’t include nights.

Irene bid her goodbye just as Belle poured herself another glass of juice, deciding that it was time to head back into her room and see what Aden wanted.

Entering the threshold of her room, she walked around her bed, keeping an eye on the sleeping person on her bed who had turned onto his now to face away from the door. Taking a sip of her drink, she peered down over the rim of her glass at him.

There’s something different about him. She thought to herself.

Still standing, she pushed her free hand through his hair gently a couple of times. Frowning, Belle placed her glass down on the bedside table and pressed the back of her hand to Aden’s forehead.

Aden started to wake up when he felt the pressure of her hand on his head.

“Belle…” He murmured sleepily, eyes still closed.

“Shhh…” She ran her cool hand down his cheek as he turned on his back. “You’re burning up.”

“I’m sorry about what I said.” Aden told her, words clear even though she was fairly certain he didn’t have the energy to do anything else.

“Don’t worry about that now.” Belle said softly. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

She quickly filled up a glass with water from the kitchen before grabbing a box of aspirins from the bathroom cabinet. Returning to her room, she was surprised to see Aden sitting up, although his eyes were closed.

“Here.” Belle sat on the edge of her bed and handed him the glass of water as he opened his eyes, before giving him two tablets that she took out of the box. “These’ll make you feel better.”

“I’m feeling fine.” Aden replied, taking a sip of the water.

“You have a fever.”

“I still feel fine.” Aden said defensively, only to receive a glare from his girlfriend. Sighing, he swallowed both tablets at once. “Happy?”

“Extremely.” Belle’s voice was toneless as she took the empty glass from him. “How long have you been ill for?”

“I’m not ill.”

“I beg to differ.”

“I’m not ill.” Aden repeated. “I’m just… really tired.”

As he shuffled down the bed, Belle could see the exhaustion in his eyes and in his pale face. The fever had made his cheeks flushed a tiny bit, and she had to admit that he looked kind of like a wax figure.

“Please don’t tell me that you stayed up all night studying.” Belle almost groaned, a slight hint of anger colouring her words.

“No, I gave up on that.” he sighed as he laid lazily against her head board. “I just couldn’t stop thinking.”

“About?” Although she was fairly sure what he was going to say, Belle asked anyway.

“What I had done to make you so mad at me.” He confirmed her thoughts with his simple sentence.

“I… uh,” Belle sighed deeply, looking downwards and dragging a finger around a pattern on her duvet cover. “I might have over reacted about that yesterday.”

“Belle, you know that I didn’t mean what I said, right?” Aden watched her as she continued to trace the pattern over and over again. Gently, he reached out for her hand, halting it midway.

“It still hurt, Aden.” She confessed, now looking at their hands. The last thing that she wanted to do was to see the guilt on his face.

“I never meant to say it like that. I never wanted to hurt you.” Aden said quietly, the guilt that she wanted to avoid now clear in his voice, breaking her heart that she had put him through that.

“I know you didn’t, but do you know how it felt? You talking about your life, your future, like I had nothing to do with it? Like I don’t matter? Like I won’t be there?” Tears brimmed her eyes and Belle did her best to keep them back. She had always prided herself on being independent, never relying on anyone else, especially not a guy. But all that had gone out of the window the past 9 months, despite how much she tried to deny it.

“Belle, you know that’s not true.” Aden pushed himself back up to sit up straighter. “You do matter. You will be there, that’s a given. That is if I’ve got something to do about it.” When Belle smiled at his last comment, Aden knew that his apologies were now working. “Why didn’t you just explain to me yesterday?”

“Because it sounded… needy and stupid.” She answered after a moment’s hesitation, finally looking up at him when she had a hold on her emotions.

“Come here.” He murmured, tugging on the hand which he still held. She crawled into position next to him, laying down so that her ear pressed right where his heart was beating under it and wrapping her arms around his waist as his came around her shoulders. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

“Only about you.” Belle mumbled, watching as she intertwined her fingers with his and then gently started to play with his ring.

Aden laughed quietly at her response; the exact same response that he had gotten about 5 months ago when she had broken her foot and landed herself in hospital because she had refused to do as the doctors had said.

“You don’t have to worry about my future, Belle. You’ll always be a part of it, one way or another.” He twirled a lock of her hair around in his fingers before lightly brushing it over her cheek and nose, which scrunched up from the tickling sensation. “You’re my life, babe. Never forget that.”

---

Adelle fluff back at full force!

Leave a comment please!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Wow, I'm actually surprised with how many people wanted Belle to be pregnant! But don't worry, didn't I say that I have this whole story, and the next one, planned out already? I hope what's left to come impresses you and keeps me all on your good sides!

Warning: More fluff!

Chapter 4:

Glancing over at the clock, Belle debated what to do. It was just approaching 1 in the afternoon, and she knew that Aden was supposed to be working from half 1. But she didn’t want to wake him up.

After their talk in the morning, they both had fallen asleep. Belle had woken up at around 11, but Aden had slept on even as she climbed out of his embrace. She had checked his fever, glad to see that he wasn’t as warm as he had been before, although he was still warmer than usual.

Sitting on the floor with her laptop open in front of her with a couple of folders by her side, she looked over her shoulder to see if Aden had changed or moved. He was still in the same position as he had been 3 hours ago; lying on his back with his face turned towards the door.

Belle pushed the laptop away from her, hoisting herself to her feet with the help of the bed behind her. Climbing on top of it, she knelt by her boyfriend’s side, trying to decided whether he looked better or not. The dim lighting in her room didn’t help, though she couldn’t bring herself to put them on or open the curtains that she had drawn in fear of waking Aden up.

Content with just watching him for a moment, the ticking of his watch became extra loud, a sign telling her to make a decision. Lifting a hand to his forehead, Belle left it there for a moment to make her mind up. If he was still feverish, there was no way she was letting him work.

Before Belle could even tell if his temperature was different or not, Aden started to shift. Blinking a couple of times, she watched as his eyes completely opened, taking a moment to get his bearings.

She removed her hand as he turned to face her. A small smile appeared on his lips as everything came back to him.

“Hey.” Aden said sleepily, his voice slightly hoarse and deep, a hand coming up to rub his eyes.

“Hey. How you feeling?” Belle replied as she helped him to sit up.

“Better.” As soon as the word was out, Aden raised his hand to cover up a yawn. Belle pressed a kiss to the other hand that she had been holding, hiding her smile.

“You still seem tired.”

“It’ll wear off.” He instinctively looked at the time. “Damn, I’ve been sleeping for hours.”

“Yeah, you were really knocked out.” she laughed as he smirked at her.

“I’ve got to get to work soon.” Aden half groaned, tilting his head backwards.

“You can’t still be thinking about going in.” Belle said, sceptically.

“Why not?” His tone was of filled with pure innocence that Belle had to control the urge to slap him around the head once.

“You’re running a fever, Aden. Not to mention that you didn’t sleep for the whole of last night.”

“I wouldn’t say the whole of last night…” Aden corrected her.

“I don’t care. You’ve only had about 5 hours sleep over the last 48 hours. You’re not going to work.” She told him.

“Well, I can’t just not go. They’re going to be packed, not to mention that their already two people down today.” He pointed out, reminding Belle that both Colleen and Leah had requested that particular day off to take care off personal things.

“I’m not doing anything today.” Belle informed him after a moment of silence. “I’ll cover for you.”

“No, I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Tough, you’re not asking.”

“Belle-”

“You’re tired and you’ve got a fever. There’s no way Irene or Roman would let you work in this state. Just let me help.” Belle reasoned with him.

Aden didn’t reply and it was obvious to anyone who knew him as well as she did that he didn’t want her to feel sorry for him or for anyone to think that he couldn’t handle work and study and a social life all at once.

“Listen, why don’t you tell Roman to take you off the roster until after the exams?” she suggested, trying to help him lighten the load.

“Why?” The expression on his face made it obvious to her that hadn’t considered that option before.

“Because you’re overwhelmed at the moment? Because you’re exams are coming up? Because you don’t need to work there? Take your pick.” Belle listed for him.

“I can handle it.” Aden said stubbornly.

“Aden, at least think about it.” He nodded in reply to her request. “Why do you work there, anyway?”

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“I mean, you have all that money; you don’t need a job. Especially not now when you’ve got enough on your plate. But you just don’t quit.” Belle explained. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought about this earlier. Ever since he had sold the house, Aden had actually gain more and more wealth due to the interest he was getting on the money her had placed in the bank accounts.

“Why should I quit? It gives me something to do.” Aden said simply with a shrug but Belle knew there was more to it.

“I didn’t stop working until Irene made me.” She decided to take another way around it. “I didn’t want to seem ungrateful for what both her and Leah offered me after I quit at the papers.”

“So?”

“Roman would understand.” Belle told him but instead of showing any understanding or even that he was listening, he arrogantly kept staring at the same spot on the opposite wall. “Never mind, then.”

“I know what you’re saying, and it’s partially the reason. I’m not going to rely on the money from the house all the time, ok?” Aden suddenly spoke, although his words had a dark aura about it.

“Ok.” Belle agreed, deciding not to push it any further and changed the subject back again. “So you’ll stay here and rest?”

“I’m going to go crazy on my own.” Aden’s light heartedness re-emerged.

“Well, if you go to sleep, then I’ll be back in no time.” Belle heavily hinted.

“Are you sure? I’m sure there’s something you need to do.” Aden tried but she dismissed it with a shake of her head.

“Look, I don’t mind, ok? And don’t you even think about arguing with me about this one anymore,” she added when she saw him open his mouth to say something, “or so help me God, I will tie you down to this bed.”

“Really?” A very suggestive smirk shone on Aden’s face, emphasising his amused tone.

“That… that didn’t come out right.” Belle faltered, pushing a hand through her hair as she smiled embarrassingly while Aden let out a small laugh.

“You sure about that? Because if you’d like, I-”

“I’m sure.” Belle cut him off, not liking where he was going with it. Aden laughed some more at the look on her face which showed that she would rather not hear what he was going to finish the sentence off with.

“Alright…” He drawled out. “But if you ever change your mind…”

“I won’t.” Aden laughed once again at her insistent tone while she shook her head, not being able to hide the smile from him. After a couple of minutes, he seemed to get a control of his laughter.

Sighing heavily after laughing, Aden moved his hands to either side of his body and got up.

“Hey, where’re you going?” Belle immediately asked, grabbing onto his left forearm.

“I need some water.” Aden replied, looking at her peculiarly. “Can I go or are you going to threaten to handcuff me to a chair this time?”

“I’ll get it for you.” she shot him a dirty look letting him know that his comment was not appreciated.

“I can get it. I need to move anyway.” He insisted, pulling his arm out of her grip and walking out of the room.

Belle watched him as he went into the bathroom first and listened as he turned the taps on. Leaning backwards onto her arms, she could see into the next room and could just about make out Aden drying his face.

“I’m not going to try and escape, you know?” Aden called out as he fully opened the door. Belle just raised an eyebrow while he made his way to the kitchen.

Keeping one ear out for any weird sounds, Belle reached down onto the floor and picked up her laptop and folders before repositioning herself to sit at the top of her bed and started her computer up once again.

Opening folder after folder and then entering a password, Belle got to what she was looking for, making notes in one of the folders. Although she had only been at it for about 5 minutes, she didn’t notice Aden re-enter the bedroom and sit opposite her until something landed in her lap.

Belle looked up to see Aden watching her as he laid propped up by his hand.

“What was that?”

“Why don’t you look and see?”

Rolling her eyes at Aden’s typical answer, she quickly shut the folder she was writing in and placed her laptop on top of it before picking up whatever had been flung into her lap.

It didn’t take long for her to realise what it was; a smile creeping upon her face as she made the connections. Twirling the tiny black velvet circular box in her hand, Belle glanced up at Aden.

“It’s small.” She stated the obvious. The object couldn’t have been more than 5 cm in diameter.

“Good things come in small packages.” Aden quoted.

Belle laughed at his words and tried to pull the lid off, to no avail. She tried once again, letting out a slight growl of frustration when it didn’t work.

“Try unscrewing it.” Aden said in a ‘duh’ voice with a huge smile on his face.

“Glad to see you’re enjoying this.” She grumbled as she did as he said. With the whole thing being so small, it was fiddly to twist it upright, but she didn’t want to turn it onto it’s side just in case whatever was inside it fell out.

Finally, Belle had unscrewed it enough so that the lid became loose. Lifting it off gently, she placed it on top of the laptop before looking at what was inside. Even though she had been expecting it, Belle was still surprised as she was the first time.

The charm this time was in silver, just plain silver. Picking it up with the nails of her forefinger and thumb, she laid it onto her palm to get a better look at it. This one didn’t take too long to understand.

“A dove.” Belle stated.

“It’s a symbol for peace.” Aden explained as if it all made sense. Belle looked at him and let out a small laugh.

“Of course it does.” She smiled.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Belle shook her head as she held up the charm. “You apologized already. You didn’t have to get me this.”

“I wanted to.” He shrugged.

“You shouldn’t waste your money on me, Aden.”

“It’s worth it, gorgeous.” he winked at her. “I like spoiling you.”

“I don’t.”

“You love it.” Aden countered.

“Clip it on?” Belle asked him even as she passed him the dove and held out her right hand for him.

“Where?” He queried, learning his lesson the last time he had bought her a charm. It was the red rose then, symbolising the flowers that he had brought her a while back that she loved, and they had spent about half an hour arguing where it should be positioned on the bracelet so that it looked good.

“Uh… move the heart and the wave one link each side and then put it in the space in-between.” Belle explained. She knew that she could just do it herself to save him the hassle, but making him do it was much more fun.

Aden did as he was told, making sure not to drop any of the charm or to break them. When it was finally done, Belle retracted her arm to look at it.

“Perfect.” She smiled at him before looking at the time. “Ooh, I better go before I’m late!”

Belle practically jumped off the bed, wandering around her room to pick up some bits and pieces that she would need. Aden watched her do so, before grabbing the laptop and opening it up. He tried to retrace what Belle had been doing, but she had shut all the windows. Placing the laptop on the side, he reached for the folders.

“Oi!” Belle exclaimed, slapping his hand away from it as she picked them up. “No!”

“C’mon, Belle! It’s been two weeks already!” He moaned, throwing himself backwards on her bed.

“I don’t care. I’ll tell you when I’m done.” Belle had been preparing another charity event in aid for the leukaemia fund. The son of the police officer that Peter worked with was now getting better, but Belle had wanted to do something, especially as she had nothing else to do except for finding another job.

But she hadn’t told anyone what she was preparing. Well, that was no-one except for Mattie, who thoroughly loved the idea.

“I’m taking these with me.” She informed him, holding onto the two folders.

“Fine. I’ve got this, anyway.” Aden chuckled, pulling the laptop to his side.

“Good luck with that.” She told him as she approached him, letting him pull her down to sit on the bed for kiss.

“Hmm… I don’t need luck. I’ll find it.” he said as they parted.

“If you do find it, that’s great. If you get into it…” Belle trailed off as she stood up. “It’s password protected, and there’s no way that you’ll guess what it is.”

Giving him a final peck on the lips, she left him with a disappointed look on his face.

---

Hope you enjoyed that...

So what's Belle's charity event?

Trust me, it will be good... I just wish they would really do that in the programme!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thank you guys!

Sorry for this update being sooooo early [in my opinion] but I might be busy today afternoon/evening and I didn't want to not update for today.

Chapter 5:

It was 1:25pm and Belle was just on the other side of the road from the Diner. She laughed at the text that Aden had sent, threatening on somehow locking her laptop by putting in too many wrong passwords if she didn’t tell him how to get in. Her only reply was that he would lose something way more important to him if he even tried.

As she pushed the phone back into her pocket, she heard the light jingle of her charms. Holding it up to look at it, Belle twisted her wrist a couple of times to hear them tinkle once again. Even with 8 charms decorating it, there was more than enough space for plenty more.

Captivated by her most prized possession, Belle walked up to the edge of the road, giving only a quick glance each way and listening for any nearby vehicles. Just as she was about to cross, the familiar buzz of a speeding car reached her ears, causing her to take a sudden step back as a car rushed by on the other side of the road.

Hissing in pain that jolted up her left leg from her injury that had left her foot weaker than she would like, Belle easily guessed whose car that had been. There was only one yellow convertible that she knew of in the small town of Summer Bay.

“Belle! Where’s-?” Irene began as she walked into the Diner.

“I’m covering for Aden.” She said tonelessly, walking straight into the back to pick up an apron and tie it around her waist.

“Everything al-?”

“I’m fine.” She replied quickly, trying to keep the pain that dully throbbed through her calf at steady intervals at bay. “What do you need me to do?”

“Uh…” Irene looked back at Roman for some help on whether to leave it or to ask her again.

“These need to be taken to table 4.” Roman told Belle, handing her two plates.

“You got it.”

---

“You going to tell me what’s going on, girly?” Irene asked an hour later when it Belle’s mood had lightened up a bit, but not to the full perkiness she usually showed.

“Nothing’s going on.” Belle replied, chopping up some more peppers for the salad.

“You’ve been short with me and Roman since you got here.”

“I have?” Her tone was distracted. She had been trying her best to put her mind off the pain that still came and went in her leg since she had gotten there so not to let on about it, but she had apparently forgotten about everything else. Like talking to people.

“Is it Aden again?” Irene huffed.

“What?” She looked up at her foster mother, who stood with her arms crossed, watching her. “No! We’re fine.”

“Then what is it?” Her tone was almost desperate for understanding. Belle put the knife down and clasped onto the side of the counter tightly, head tilted slightly downwards.

“My foot is killing me.” Belle told her.

Instead of telling her off for not saying anything sooner, Irene rolled her eyes and went into the backroom and returned with some painkillers.

“Thanks.” She gratefully accepted the glass of water she filled up for her too.

“Anything else you want to get off your chest, love?” Irene asked as she rinsed out her glass and placed it in the dishwasher.

“Like…?”

“Like how come you’re here and not that boyfriend of yours?”

“Oh, that’s nothing.” Belle replied, relieved. She didn’t know why, but she felt as if she was being grilled for something that she didn’t know about.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. He’s just been over working and got himself a fever. The usual stuff.” Belle joked as Irene shook her head and turned to head back out into the quietening down Diner. “Actually, there is something…” she added as she picked up the knife once again and continued with her job.

“What is it?” Irene asked, carefully eyeing her.

“I know that you’re busy, but is there any chance of maybe cutting back Aden’s hours until after his HSCs? I can fill in if you really need someone to work.” Belle suggested, trying not to sound too hopeful.

“Is there a reason why you’re talking to me about this and not him?” Irene grilled, knowing full well what her reply was going to be, especially as she dropped the knife and turned to face her.

“Aden seems to think that he can do it all. I’m just trying to make things a bit easier for him. And I don’t have that much going on at the moment.” She tried to reason.

“Darl, you can’t fight his battles for him. If he wants to cut back on work, then he can come and tell me or Roman himself.”

“But he won’t! Irene, don’t you see? Aden’s too stubborn to do something like that.” Belle pointed out. Although her words may have sounded harsh, Irene knew that they were out of love.

“Sounds like someone else we know.” She replied, heavily hinting as to who that ‘someone else’ was. Belle sighed, knowing just how right she was. “Look, if he’s fine with it, then so am I. Just don’t go making decisions without consulting him first. Trust me, it won’t go down right, no matter how much you insist it was for the right reasons.”

---

That Friday, Belle walked up the road towards Roman’s place. It was just past 2 in the afternoon and she knew that Aden would be home.

They hadn’t spoken about him quitting his job, or anything to do with his busy life, since Tuesday. As his fever had virtually vanished by the next day, changing back into his cocky self, Belle knew that he was getting a better handle onto things. Even if it wasn’t for the reason why she wanted for the change, she was glad that he was taking things slower now.

Just as she reached the driveway of Roman’s house, she heard a beeping horn behind her. Turning her heard on instinct, Belle saw the same yellow car as she had three days ago. Only this time the driver had changed.

By the time she reached the porch, the car had pulled up and Nicole jumped out of her car from the passenger’s seat immediately after pulling the keys out of the ignition.

“You are never driving my car again!” She shouted as loud as she could at Aden who laughed while climbing out of the driver’s seat. He was wearing dark shades, but Belle could guess from the look on his face that he would have a dangerous glint in his eyes. “You’re a maniac! How the hell do you still have a licence?”

“Look who’s talking.” Belle said, walking up to the car and taking one of the grocery bags that had been stuffed into the trunk and the back seat. “Run anyone over lately?”

“Wait, you almost ran Belle over?” Aden asked incredulously as Nicole handed him a couple of bags.

“Of course not. She was on the other side of the road.” She replied, offhandedly.

“Only just.” Belle corrected as Aden’s arm came around her waist to press a kiss to her lips.

“Gross. No making out on my car!” Nicole exclaimed as she shut the boot to see Belle leaning against the back door, Aden’s body pressed right up against her.

When neither of them showed any sign of acknowledging her words, though she was sure they had, Nicole grabbed the back of Aden’s red t-shirt, pulling him with her as she walked up to the house. She only let go when he groaned at her and she heard Belle laugh.

“So what’s up with all the shopping?” Belle finally asked as they entered the house.

“Nic was complaining that I don’t spend enough time with her anymore and she needed to go shopping so I thought I would help out.” Aden explained, taking off his sunglasses to walk up to help her.

“Only because I said that you could drive back.” Nicole scoffed as she started to put things away with the aid of Aden. “Which, can I add, was a big mistake.”

“Oh, I see. You can take time out to spend with Nicole, but when I arrange to meet up with you, you always forget.” Belle said amusingly.

“You see babe, if you invested in a car like hers, I’d be all yours all of the time.” Aden grinned as she playfully punched him on the arm.

“Alright, alright.” Nicole interrupted their banter. “No need to get violent. There’s plenty of me to go around, and I’m sure there’s plenty of Aden too…” The smirk added to the end of her words made Belle close her eyes and shake her head, trying to pretend that she hadn’t said that.

“You didn’t answer my question. Why did you go grocery shopping?”

“Nicole’s cooking dinner tonight.” Aden told her as he came to stand next to her, resting against the table.

“Really?” Belle responded in shock. “I didn’t know that you could cook.”

“Um… my dad is a chef. I’m sure I’ve got some of his skills. ” Nicole pointed out in an obvious tone.

“He was also in the army. Do you have any of those skills?” Aden laughed at her words, knowing that they were only half mocking. Since Nicole had started going out with Geoff, Belle had given her the benefit of the doubt and tried her best to get along with her. Not that she always wanted to or wanted to spend anymore time with her than was necessary. “Can I talk to you for a second?” she asked, turning to face Aden.

“Sure.” He pushed himself off the table, following Belle as she led them towards the living room, only to be stopped by Nicole.

“You know, Belle, you’re more than welcome to stay. I’m making lasagne.”

“Uh… that’s ok. I’m a vegetarian.” She replied, trying to be polite while turning down her offer.

“Oh, right. I forgot about that. I could always make a veggie one. I could do with the practice.” Nicole said, her tone a bit too bubbly for Belle’s liking. The fact that she had probably never cooked anything like a lasagne before, let alone making it veggie, kind of screamed ‘food poisoning’ to her. Even without any meat.

“Did I say vegetarian? I meant a vegan.” Belle lied, slipping a hand into Aden’s and pulling him out with her as Nicole stood looking a bit confused.

“That was mean.” Aden informed her as they came to a stand just by the front door, still laughing at her words.

“If you think that I would sit at that dinner table eating whatever she tries to make and just pray that it doesn’t kill me, then you’ve got another think coming.” Belle hissed at him.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?” he asked her even though he found her words amusing.

“Probably. She’ll get over it.” Belle shrugged, a small smile gracing her features.

“What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh, right yeah. I was talking to Amanda earlier and she mentioned that Drew’s coming down next weekend to see Ric and probably me too.” She told him.

“And?”

“And, I was thinking that, maybe, if you’re not doing anything -” She began, trying to sound as innocent and sweet as possible so that he was say ‘yes’.

“No.” Aden said even before she got to ask him.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“You want me to be there?” Aden guessed, walking back to rest against the back of the couch. It wasn’t really a guess as it was a prediction.

“Just for once. I don’t like having to split spending time with either him or you when he comes here or I go up to the city.” She groaned, hoping to make him realise what she was trying to say.

“No, Belle. Stop trying to make it happen. Because I’m telling you now, it won’t.” He crossed his arms arrogantly and to anyone else that would have been a sign to leave the subject alone. But Belle wasn’t like anyone else.

“Aden, please?” Belle approached him, laying a hand on one of his arms. “For me?”

“Belle…” He moaned, looking at her before letting his eyes focus on the stairs behind her. “You don’t want me there.”

“Yes, I do.” she told him confidently.

“No, you don’t.” His gaze went back to her and he sighed. “We’ll argue. Or we won’t say a word. There is no way that we could get along in any way. Not that I really want to.”

“That’s because neither of you try.”

“Yeah, because if we try, we’ll end up in a fight. And if we do that, you’ll hate us. And that’s something that we both don’t want.” Aden watched as she turned her face away in defeat, knowing that there was no point to this fight anymore.

“Geoff used to hate you too. And Annie. And Irene for that matter. But that all changed.” She sighed, giving it one last go.

“That’s cos they’re your family. And none of them are as bad as Drew.” He admitted, hoping that she was upset enough to never mention what he had just said again.

“Drew’s family.” Belle said quietly.

“Have you asked him? About my being there?” When she didn’t reply, Aden knew his girlfriend’s answer. “Exactly.”

“Convincing you is much easier than him.”

“Is that so?” Aden asked as she leaned up to kiss him deeply, pulling on his arms so that she could step closer to him.

“What do you think?” She murmured as his arms came around her waist.

“That I’m still not going to say ‘yes’.”

“Aden…” Belle groaned and he imagined that if she wasn’t so mature, she would have stomped her feet too.

“Look, you can go spend time with him, that’s fine by me. Just don’t try to include me in it.” He told her, hating himself for not being able to make her happy this once.

Ever since the day that Drew had taken her to the hospital, Aden and him had never spoken a word to each other. They stayed out of each other’s way, knowing that if they didn’t, a confrontation would occur. And then they would be in trouble.

“I just don’t know why.” Belle told him, pushing away from him slightly so that only his hands rest on her waist now.

“Let me hate him. It makes me feel better.” Although his tone was humorous, Belle had a feel that Aden only semi-joked. “Plus, it helps keep my image intact.”

“Can’t go ruining that image.” Belle said with a dry tone.

“Nope, we can’t.”

---

I know that I added more things into the story without solving the existing stuff, but I just wanted to build things up.

More about Belle's charty event next chapter. And a couple of other things.

Oh, and wrongturntaken, you will find out the passwords tomorrow. I put them in just for you!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

This is mainly a filler chapter. I can't just keep giving you Adelle fluff, now can I?! How realistic would that be? Lol.

Alright, so the passwords are revealed in this chapter [there are three of them]. They're all significant in some way. Well, kind of. Can you guess what they stand for or are hinting?

Chapter 6:

“Can we start telling people now?” Mattie asked as she and Belle sat upstairs in her bedroom. They were going over the details for their charity event, although Mattie couldn’t do as much with her HSCs coming up.

“Um… give it a couple of days. I need to talk to Roman and Irene first.” Belle replied. “Are you sure the Diner’s the best place to do it? Maybe we should move it to the Surf Club. There‘s more space there.”

“We could. Nothing’s set in stone yet.” Mattie replied as she got up and shut her door a bit. Annie and Jai were sitting downstairs and she didn’t want them to think that they were keeping an eye on them, even though they were.

“I think the Surf Club would be a better place.” Belle decided.

“Unless we use the school hall. That’s the biggest place around.” Mattie pointed out as she pulled Belle’s laptop out of her bag and switched it on.

“Maybe.” she sighed. “Urgh, too many decisions!”

“Use the Surf Club. That way the bar’s right next door.” Mattie told her.

“Good idea.” Belle nodded. “Why do we need the bar?”

“Because,” she laughed, “with all the guys we’ll be working with, we’ll need the drink to keep us sane.” Belle laughed along with her. “Have we got a list of guys?”

“Yup. It’s on there.” she nodded towards her computer as she flicked through some papers in her folder.

“How many of them have you asked?”

“None.”

“I don’t think anyone’s going to take part if you just tell them on the day, Belle.” Mattie joked.

“I’ll ask them when we’ve got it all sorted. Otherwise it might give them more time to make up excuses and back out.” She pointed out.

“You might need to give them some warning just in case their girlfriends mind.”

“Yeah, maybe. But I’m pretty sure that it’ll be ok.”

“Okaaaay.” Mattie replied doubtfully as she started to click on various folders on the computer in front of her. When she got to a particular one, which required a password, she stopped. “Password.”

“Oh, right. Give it here.” Belle held out her hand for it as her best mate passed it over. She typed nine in quickly, not allowing Mattie enough time to see what it was. “There.”

“Thanks.” She mumbled as she opened another folder and then a file, only to be stopped again. “Password. Again.”

Belle rolled her eyes at the exasperated tone as she typed in the longer password. This time, Mattie managed to catch what it was, but only because she knew what auction stood for.

“Why do you have two passwords? Well, three if you count the one to get onto your account.” Mattie asked curiously.

“To stop people from getting to it.” Belle replied simply.

“‘People’ as in Aden?” her words were casual, but the meaning wasn’t.

“‘People’ as in everyone who uses my laptop, and yes, that includes Aden, who knows my password to get into my account.” She explained.

“Why don’t you just change that password and leave it at that?”

Belle tried not to show the smile that was slowly threatening to show as she remembered the first time that he had began saving work on her laptop. He had changed the password so that he would be able to get back into it, without telling her. That resulted in Aden getting a text while at work asking for the password, only to get ‘belle4aden’ in response. She had just looked at the one worded text for a second before typing it in. Unfortunately, for some reason, it had stuck.

“Because he uses it and has a lot of work saved onto it.”

“Just make him another account, like mine. These files are in the ‘shared folders’ for you and me only.” Mattie informed her as if she didn’t already know.

“I know, Mattie. But that takes time and it’s not worth the hassle.” Belle sighed. “Why are we talking about Aden?”

“We weren’t, but now that you mention it, how are you two?” She asked politely while taking the laptop back.

“We’re fine.”

“Just ‘fine’?”

“Why don’t you just ask what you want to ask, Mattie?” Belle told her, looking up at her only to see her avert her eyes to the laptop screen.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She said innocently.

“Matilda…” Belle’s use of her full name warned her not to mess around.

“I saw him on the beach this morning with Nicole. I figured any time he had to spare he would spend with you.” Mattie glanced up at her before looking back down again, not missing the look of surprise and irritation on her face.

“We’re not fighting, if that’s what you’re trying to get at.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you meant it.” Belle sighed once again, stretching her legs out in front of her as she leaned back onto the bed’s headrest. “I told him about Drew coming down yesterday.”

“And he didn’t take it well?” Mattie guessed, putting the computer to one side, listening intently. Everything about the charity event was now forgotten.

“No, he did. But I kind of asked him to be there.” She said slowly.

“I’m guessing he said ‘no’.” The look on Belle’s face just showed how obvious her statement was. “Belle, even I could have told you that!”

“I knew he wouldn’t go for it, but I thought just maybe. I mean, he’s changed a bit over the last few months. Clearly, it’s just the academic side of him.” Belle added, mumbling.

“You haven’t seen him since?” Mattie probed.

“Nope. Nicole was making dinner yesterday so he had to stay. And then cos he had taken time out to spend the afternoon with her, he was studying last night and didn’t come over.” The words coloured with slight annoyance and it wasn’t hard for Mattie to realise why.

“Belle, are you...jealous?” Mattie concluded, a slight smile on her face, watched as her best friend shot her a glare.

“I’m not jealous.” She insisted.

“Yes, you are. You’re jealous that he’s been spending time with Nicole.”

“I am not jealous.” Belle said through gritted teeth, but her over defensive side just made her words hypocritical.

“Belle, it’s me. I can tell when you’re jealous, and right now? You’re jealous.”

They stared at each other for a moment before Belle groaned and buried her face in her hands, resting her forehead against her knees as she brought her legs up.

Mattie let out a stifled laugh as she watched her reaction, knowing that she was finally admitting to herself what she had been trying to deny.

“I’m glad to see you find this amusing.” Belle snapped at her. She pushed her fingers through her hair as she looked up at the ceiling after a minute or two. “I can’t help it. Every time that I suggest doing something, he either says he’s too busy or he agrees but doesn’t turn up. But when Nicole wants to spend time with him, he just goes along with it.”

“Jealousy is an irrational emotion.” Mattie told her. “There’s no reason for you to be jealous of Nicole, but you are anyway.”

“I’m not jealous of Nicole.” Belle admitted. “She’s like his sister. I know there’s nothing going on there.”

“But…?” Mattie prompted, eager to hear more. Until recently, Belle and Aden’s relationship had just been perfect, to say the least, and it was Mattie who had been having relationship problems. Now she was glad that she could swap the roles with her.

“But it just seems like he would much rather hang out with her than me.”

“So you want him to spend time with just you?” she asked, trying to understand fully what Belle was saying.

“No!” She almost instantly responded before changing her mind. “Yes… I don’t know!” Belle groaned once again. “I sound like such a bitch.”

“How, exactly?” Mattie had lost her once again.

“Cos I’m becoming one of those clingy girlfriends. I trust him, he can do what he wants. It’s just that I haven’t spent time with him properly for almost a month now, and… and-” Belle faltered as she searched for the best way to put her feelings and thoughts into words.

“And now that he’s taking time to spend with people, you want it to be with you.” She supplied for her, now getting into her mind.

“Yeah! See? You get me! I’m not crazy for thinking that, am I?” Belle asked her, almost pleading for her to say ‘no’. Before Mattie could even open her mouth to reply, Belle carried on with slight self-disgust in her tone. “Of course I am.”

“No, you’re not. In fact, if I were in your position, I think I would have lost it ages ago.” She said, trying to reassure her.

“You and Ric live together. There’s no way that you wouldn’t see each other or spend time together.” Belle told her.

“That’s true. But the point is,” Mattie continued, trying to sound like she knew exactly what to say, although she didn’t really, “that even with my HSCs and him working, we do manage to hang out too. Even if it is just before we go to bed or something.”

Belle was only half-listening to her. As she picked up a teddy from beside her and hugged it close to her, she tried to think back to the last time that they had spent the night talking or just joking around.

“I can’t even remember the last time that Aden spent the night.” She admitted. “Must have been about a month ago.” It can’t have been that long, Belle thought to herself. There was no way that she could have gone a month without waking up beside him in the morning.

“Really?” Mattie was shocked.

“Yeah. I mean, he‘s been over in the morning or in the evening, but he hasn‘t stayed the night.” Belle thought back to the previous Monday where she had practically thrown him out. She was sure that if she hadn‘t made him go, he might have stayed that night, or came back over after the dinner.

“Wow…”

“This is messed up.” Belle moaned. “I shouldn‘t be complaining. I shouldn‘t be jealous. He’s focusing on his studies, and that‘s what‘s important right now. Everything else can wait.”

“You can say it as much as you like, but you’re not going to convince anyone, especially not yourself.” Mattie told her, showing just how much of a bad liar she was.

“Well, it’s either that or the other option. And I don’t want to think about that.”

“What other option?” Mattie asked as Belle sighed, looking away from both her and the teddy on her lap.

“Maybe he just doesn’t want to spend time with me.”

---

So how many of you have guessed what the charity event is? C'mon... the clues were all there!

I will get back to Adelle in the chapter... though whether it will be fluff or not... you'll have to wait and see!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Just a quick update before I head for uni!

Hope you all enjoy...

Chapter 7:

By the time that Belle had gotten home from the caravan park, it was close to dinner. Irene was already in the kitchen with Geoff helping out. Nicole actually stood by the counter trying to do something that Belle couldn’t see.

Greeting them with a quick ‘hello’, she went straight to her bedroom, leaving the other four to worry about her actions.

“Is she ok?” Geoff asked, pointing over her shoulder to Belle’s bedroom.

“She was quiet while we were walking back.” Annie informed them. “I asked her what the problem was, but she said that she was just tired.”

“That sound’s like a lie.” Nicole added softly so that only Geoff heard her, although he did give her a reproachful look.

“Whatever it is, you all know that if Belle wants to talk, she will. Don’t hassle her about it.” Irene told them all, knowing full well that, although they would only ask her out of love, Belle would probably get more reclusive on them about it.

---

Inside her room, Belle threw herself down onto her bed, staring up at her ceiling for a moment before turning over to her side. The first thing that she saw were the many frames that lined her room, and the photos that either adorned them or were just stuck up without an outlining. She had given up on buying a new frame for every picture that she wanted to put up, knowing that there wouldn’t be enough space for them. And that they would cost a bit of money. Aden had offered to buy her a digital frame the last time that they were in the city shopping, but she had said no. She wanted physical copies of her photos, not digital ones.

Most of the pictures were of her and Aden, and two of them were a collage that she had made of pictures that she had taken of just him. The rest of the pictures were either random or of her friends and family. Belle remembered when there were more pictures of that than there were of Aden. She didn’t know how he became such a big part of her life, in every single way.

Sighing heavily and pushing herself to a sitting position, Belle reached for her mobile, contemplating whether to text or to call him. While at Mattie’s, Belle had come to the conclusion that if she didn’t talk to him, then she was just going to drive herself even more crazy. She just had to know where she stood with him.

The time showed that it was 6pm, and on a Saturday it usually meant that Aden would either just be getting off work or staying on for another hour. She wasn’t sure how long he was working for that day. Knowing that if she waited, she would talk herself out of it, Belle typed out a quick text.

‘I don’t know if you’re working, so I won’t call. But I need to ask you something. Just promise me you won’t get angry.’ She didn’t bother reading it over before pressing the send button.

Belle had heard the saying ‘a watched phone never rings’, but she couldn’t bring herself to put her phone down, or to take her eyes off it. Shuffling down on her bed so that she was half laying down, Belle reached for her laptop, deciding to at least pretend to be interested in something else.

She had just entered her first password when the phone buzzed on her leg. Immediately, she picked it up and open the received message.

‘Working till closing. What’s wrong? Are you ok?’ Belle could almost feel his agitation through his words, and it started to make her think about what she wanted to ask. Surely him being this concerned is a good sign.

‘I’m fine. I need to know something. About us. But promise me first.’ She sent. Although he was working, Belle was sure that she had piqued his curiosity and would keep on checking his phone.

‘I promise. What is it?’ His reply was short and quick.

Staring at the phone in her hand, she didn’t know how to word what she wanted to ask. She had been planning to do this face to face, but her nerves had gotten the better of her and, knowing she would back out, this was the only way she would be able to guarantee herself that she wouldn’t.

‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but are we ok?’ was the only thing that she could type so not to make him suspicious.

‘Course we are. Why? Have I done something?’ Belle smiled at his response. He always assumed that he was the one in the wrong.

‘Actually I was thinking that maybe I had?’

After staring and holding onto the phone for about 2 minutes, Belle placed it back onto her leg and continued with her laptop. Her and Mattie hadn’t gotten much done that afternoon, seeing as they ended up talking and gossiping for the rest of the afternoon.

When Aden hadn’t replied in 10 minutes, she realised that he must have either gotten caught out by Roman, or the Diner must have been packed. Hearing a knock on her door, followed by Geoff telling her that dinner would be ready in 15 minutes, Belle replied with a short ‘ok’ before getting back to the laptop. Just as she clicked on a tab, her phone vibrated.

‘You’ve lost me babe. What have you done?’

‘That’s what I’m asking you. Have I done something wrong?’ Almost as soon as she had placed her phone to a side, it began to ring. Checking the caller ID, she was surprised to it was Aden.

“Aren’t you working?” She greeted him with.

“I’m taking a quick break.” He replied, his words sharp as if he had more pressing matters to take care of.

“Oh, right.” Belle simply said.

“What are the texts about, Belle?” Aden asked her straight out. Suddenly, the want to find out where she stood with him vanished. This was not how she wanted to have the conversation.

“Uh… can we talk about this later?”

“You‘re the one who brought the whole thing up.” He informed her. “What‘s going on?”

“I’m just…” Belle hesitated. This was not like her. She didn’t get so insecure about a relationship just because of miniscule things like this. But she guessed that she hadn’t been in a relationship like this before. “Have I done something to make you mad? Or to upset you?”

“No…” Aden drew out the word. “Why would you say that for?”

“I just got the feeling that you were avoiding me.” Belle admitted.

“What? I‘m not avoiding you, sweetheart. Why would you think that?”

“No reason.” she said, sighing.

“No, tell me.” Aden insisted.

“Shouldn’t you get back to work?” Her words might have meant one thing, but Aden knew that she wanted to leave the subject alone.

“I can spare a couple of minutes.” He told her, wanting her to confide in him what she was thinking.

“You’ll get in trouble. Get back to work.”

“We‘ll talk about this later, Belle.” Aden warned her, not letting her think that she was off the hook.

“Ok.”

“Alright. I should get back to work.” Belle could sense that he was contemplating whether to hang up or not, even if had to get to work.

“Aden, get back to work.” She made his mind up for him. A slight humorous tone to her words convinced him to do as she said.

“Yeah, ok. Love you.”

“Love you, too.” Belle replied before hearing the dial tone as he hung up.

Sliding her phone shut, she tapped it subconsciously against her chin, thinking about their conversation. She wanted to try and get some conclusion from it, but she wouldn’t allow herself to look too much into it right then. There was just one thing that Belle focused on for that moment.

At least he still loves me.

---

Leave a comment?

I will get back to the charity event stuff! Promise! And other things toooooo....

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Alright here's chapter number 2 of today.

Hope you all enjoy it!

Chapter 8:

Belle looked up from the magazine she was trying to read intently when she heard some rustling outside of her room. Holding her breath so that she could hear clearly, she was almost disappointed when the noise stopped.

Turning back to her magazine, she flipped the page with more force than was need, ripping the corner off. Belle growled gently, rolling the torn corner in her hand into a small ball before throwing it into the direction of the bin. Her aim wasn’t good, missing the bin by inches, but she put it down to the fact that she was laying on her side with her right arm being preoccupied with hold her head up.

Another rustling sound outside her window caught her attention once again, but this time she didn’t get her hopes up. It was just before midnight, and after trying to sleep for an hour, Belle had given up. She was too anxious from before.

When the rustling turned into a smooth sliding sound, like the sound of her window being opened, Belle finally looked up once again. She watched as he stepped through her window with expertise now, almost as if it was easy. Belle had found out first hand that it was not.

Aden didn’t say anything as he moved closer to her and leaned down over her to kiss her tenderly, turning her over onto her back. His hands naturally came up to her face as hers pulled at his shirt to bring him closer.

When they parted, his hands slid down to her waist while hers let go of him altogether. Catching her breath, she looked at Aden oddly while he smiled his traditional ‘I know you want me’ smile.

“If this is a booty call, then you can climb right out that window.” Belle informed him straight away.

“‘Booty call?’ I don’t know what you‘re talking about.” Aden said, both his face and tone concentrated with fake innocence.

“Sure.” Aden laughed at her short reply; it was typical Belle. “What are you doing here, anyway? Don’t you have some studying or other stuff to do?”

Her words stopped his laughter and sobered him right up, although a faint trace of a smile still lingered there.

“I’ve calmed down with the studying. Especially at night.” Aden explained as Belle pushed herself up so that she sat propped up by her bed rest.

“And during the day it seems.” she murmured not quietly enough for him to not hear. Aden’s eyebrows rose right up at her words. “Never mind.”

“No, go on. I came here to talk with you about earlier.” Aden told her, taking his shoes off and crossing one of his legs under him to make himself more comfortable.

“Oh. You did?”

“I said I would.”

“No, you didn’t. If you had said you were going to come over, I would have remembered.” Belle said hotly.

“I said I would talk to you later.” Aden corrected her.

“That’s not the same as saying you’ll come over.”

“Why are we arguing about this?”

“I don’t know.” Belle covered her face with her hands for a moment before running them through her hair. As she let them rest on her lap, Aden grabbed a hold of them. He looked at them for a moment while slipping his fingers in between hers, not remembering the last time that he saw her wrist bare of his bracelet. It had been so long since he had stayed over that he had forgotten that she had to take it off before she went to sleep because she was scared of maybe breaking it.

“So what’s this about me avoiding you?” he broke the silence that they had fallen into, looking up at her although her eyes didn’t move away from their joined hands.

“I-” Belle hesitated, not knowing how to say what she thought without sounding unlike herself.

“Is this because of Monday?”

“Monday?” Belle looked up at him, mirroring the confusion that was already clear on his face.

“Yeah, me forgetting and all.”

“Oh, that. Uh, no, not really.” She told him, only half truthfully.

“Ok then. Well, I’m all out of ideas.”

“Aden, you’re not… mad at me for any reason, are you?” She asked, changing the subject slightly from her him.

“Not that I know of. Should I be?” Aden replied lightly.

“You sure? I mean, I’ve been a bit pushy lately. I just thought that maybe…” Belle trailed of, not believing that she was actually trying to convince him that he was angry with her for any reason whatsoever.

“Pushy with what?”

“You know, trying to get to you to quit working, stop studying too much, asking you to see Drew with me…” Belle listed as he shook his head, a wry smile on his face.

“I’ve stopped studying so much, in case you haven’t noticed. So I can fit in work now too, and sleep.” Belle bit her tongue to tell him just how much she’s noticed him spending the free time he now had. She argued with herself that he was there, with her, now. “And Drew isn’t worth the time or the energy to even think about, gorgeous.”

“Must save a lot of energy for you, then.” Belle naturally mocked, a sly grin on her face. Aden smiled back almost shyly, not being able to come up with a quick remark for his defence.

“Funny.”

“I thought so.” She replied, her smile dying down a bit. “So you’re not avoiding me?”

“Never.” Aden said earnestly. “I just haven’t had much time to spare. I’m sorry.”

As soon as he said the last words, Belle debated whether to ask him why he didn’t have enough time for her, yet he could work overtime today and hang out with Nicole. Taking in a deep breath to calm herself, Belle told herself that she was thinking too much into it. Instead, she put on a bright smile and pulled him to her.

“So…” She whispered as he moved closer, one hand detaching from hers and smoothing her hair back, “you going to stay the night?”

“I thought you told me not to make this a ‘booty call’?” Aden reminded her as one of her hands trailed up his torso under his shirt.

“Are you turning me down?” Belle gasped in fake shock as he placed a kiss on the corner of her mouth.

“Would I ever turn you down?”

“Good point.”

---

The first thing that Belle was able to realise when she woke up the following morning was how restricted she felt. There was something that stopped her from moving her legs and her arms. Actually, there was something that was basically stopping her from moving everything.

Opening her eyes, a slow smile shone on her lips as she saw Aden’s unmistakable hand clasped in hers right in front of her on her pillow. She could feel his other hand in hers, wrapped tightly around her waist, making sure that she was in full contact with his body. Every inch of it. He had even managed to intertwine his leg in between hers.

Focusing her eyes on something else, Belle saw that the time was just past 10:30am, and on a Sunday, it would mean that both Annie and Geoff would be a church, and Irene at work. That left just the two of them at home. Alone.

Gently rubbing her foot against his, she heard him groan softly before burying his face into the side of her neck. Belle laughed. She had expected that response. They hadn’t fallen asleep until pretty late. Or rather, pretty early.

Turning herself onto her back, she forced Aden to back off a bit to allow her some space. Watching him as he struggled to wake up, Belle didn’t know why she had been so insecure about their relationship. Everything since the last night showed her just how much she had no reason to worry.

“You up yet?” Belle whispered as he took a hand out of hers to rub his eyes.

“Not yet.” Aden murmured sleepily, his voice husky. Belle involuntarily smiled before leaning in to give him a simple kiss. “Hmm… what was that for?”

“Thought it might wake you up.”

“It sure did the trick.” Aden replied, pushing himself up a bit so that he could look down on her. “Though it doesn’t make me want to get out of bed.”

“Really?” Belle said before adding in false thoughtfulness. “Whatever could we do?”

“I’ve got an idea.” Aden told her before dipping his head down to give her a much more passionate kiss. He could hear her giggle just as he did so, but after that, there wasn’t much that he could sense apart from her. Especially the burning from where her hands roamed around on his bare body, everywhere from his waist to his hair.

Which was probably why it was Belle who was able to hear his mobile phone ringing rather than him. Parting from her, she raised an eyebrow at him.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?”

“If it’s important, they’ll leave a message.” He simple replied before touching his lips to hers once again. Belle seemed to go along with it until the ringing got louder and louder. Although Aden could now ignore it, it was clear that she couldn’t.

“Aden! Just answer it, would you?” she said, annoyance colouring her words.

“Leave it and it will stop.” Aden informed her. He thought that he had convinced her, but that was only until she shoved him on the shoulder, pushing his back onto the bed and stretching across him to reach for the phone herself.

“Aden’s phone.” She answered, kneeling back on her side of the bed as Aden propped himself up with the pillow against the headrest.

“I was wondering where Aden had gotten to.” Roman’s voice came through to her, a smirk obvious in his words. “Just remind him that he said he would work from 3 today.”

“Uh… ok.” Belle told him. That was news to her. Aden never worked Sundays unless they really needed the help, and he hadn’t worked weekends for weeks now.

“Thanks, Belle. Bye.”

“Bye.” She replied before hanging up. “That was Roman.”

“I know.” Aden said smugly. At her look, he carried on. “Caller ID. I saw it.”

“He said to remind you that you’re working today.” Belle added, her voice toneless, all the fun from earlier vanishing from the atmosphere.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”

“Why are you working today?”

“Cos Roman asked me to yesterday and I said yes seeing as I’ve got the spare time.” Aden said slowly. “Something wrong?”

“No, of course not.” Belle tried to sound as casual as possible, even trying to add a smile, but she knew it wasn’t that good of an effort. There was a voice at the back of her head, the one that had been suppressed throughout the night and earlier that morning, reminding her of her insecurities. Even as Aden sat in her bed right then, a hand on her thigh, she couldn’t get rid of the voice.

“You sure?” Aden asked worriedly. Belle angry was fearful, but when she tried not to show her anger, Aden was even more scared.

“Yup.” Belle said brightly, handing him his phone before getting up off the bed and headed towards her drawers.

“Where’re you going?” He practically moaned, watching look for some clothes. “I thought we were going to spend some time together.”

“Yeah, Roman kind of killed the mood.”

---

You didn't think I would make it all good already, did ya?

Leave a comment?

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Hey!

So I got out of my lectures early [yay] and decided to post this now just incase I forget that I hadn't posted one earlier!

Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 9:

“Uh oh” Mattie exclaimed as she saw Belle approaching the house. She was sitting outside at the back table, doing some basic revision in the subtle sun. Belle had called earlier saying that she needed to pick up the folders that she had left there the day before.

“What?” Belle replied, looking at her curiously as she leaned against the wall.

“You didn’t talk with Aden, did you?”

“Yeah, I did. Why?”

“Did you get an explanation?” Mattie replied with a question, intriguing Belle’s curiosity further.

“Yes.” she said hastily.

“Then why are you still in a mood?” Mattie placed the book onto the table from her lap and stared at her best mate to push her to give her an honest answer.

“Why do you think I’m in a mood?” Belle asked defensively.

“Because I haven’t seen that top in a while.” Belle looked down as Mattie point to her gray and black top. So what if she hadn’t worn it for about a year? It was a nice, and expensive, top that she didn‘t want to let rot at the back of her cupboard. “And I can’t remember the last time you didn’t have the charm bracelet on.”

“I was planning on going for a swim.”

“Liar.”

“Shut up!” Belle growled, sitting down heavily on one of the chairs.

“Alright. Start from the beginning.” Mattie instructed. “Oh, and don’t be too loud; Jai’s in there.”

So Belle told her everything that had happened since she had gotten home yesterday, not leaving one bit out, including their activities and the phone call in the morning.

“So now, instead of spending his spare time with other people, he’s spending it at work. Now tell me I’m being paranoid!”

“You’re being paranoid.” Mattie stated, earning herself a dark glare from Belle. “So he’s working. From everything that you’ve told me over the past couple of months, it sounds like Aden doesn’t like having free time on his hands. Maybe he’s just working so that he has an excuse for not studying.”

Belle had to agree. It did sound like a very Aden thing to do. But it wasn’t the explanation that she was looking for.

“But then why didn’t he tell me before this morning?”

“Because he forgot. Like he said.” Mattie sighed. “Are you starting to doubt him now?”

“No.” Now it was Belle’s turn to sigh. “I trust him. I just wish he would tell me why he’s spending his free time doing everything else other than spend it with me.”

“Well, you’re not going to find out if you don’t ask.”

“And how do I do that?” She asked cynically. “‘Aden, why do you feel the need to spend all of your free time away from me?’ Yeah, cos that doesn‘t make me sound desperate”

“I’d hate to say it, but-”

“Then don’t say it.” Belle interrupted her, although she was pretty sure how that sentence was going to end. She knew that it was true, she was being kind of desperate, but Aden needn’t know that.

“You should have asked him last night.” The reprimand in Mattie’s tone made Belle’s words that much defensive.

“I thought that he was acting like that because I made him mad. When he said he wasn’t mad, I thought it was all ok.”

“No, you thought that he was either mad at you or that he didn’t want to spend time with you. You should have told him that I saw him with Nicole yesterday morning.”

“And if I did that he would think I didn’t trust him.” Belle reasoned.

“Belle. Nine months. I think after everything you’ve been through, he knows you trust him.” Mattie responded with a tone that was supposed to point out the obvious, but instead it made Belle even more defensive.

“You and Ric have been together for two years. If he asked you why were spending time with some other guy, wouldn’t you think he didn’t trust you?” Belle countered. When she didn’t say anything, Belle knew that she was right.

“So what are you going to do?” Mattie broke their silence.

“Nothing.” Belle said finally, nodding her head to show just how much she meant it. “There’s nothing going on. I’ll just… ride it out. After his exams, Aden won’t be so busy.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“Because, as much as I’d hate to admit it, Aden’s not an idiot. He knows you better than anyone else. He’ll know something’s up.” Mattie pointed out.

“No, he won’t. I won’t let anything on.” Belle said with even more confidence. “I did it yesterday.”

“Yeah, only because you couldn’t resist him.” Mattie’s words were mocking, but Belle couldn’t stop the faint blush from rising to her pale cheeks.

“It got him off my case, didn’t it?”

Before Mattie could say a word, a crash from inside the main part of the house caught both of their attentions. Staring at each other for a moment, both girls got up and rushed into the house to see what had happened.

Annie must have came over because inside, both her and Jai were standing there in the middle of the front room. Mattie and Belle looked at each other as they walked further into the living room, wondering what on Earth was going on. It was only until then that they could both see the look of anger, a rare sight, on Annie’s face.

“What’s going on?” Mattie asked, seeing the front door slightly swinging. She had figured out where the crash had come from.

“Why don’t you ask him?” Annie replied in a tone that sounded very foreign from the young girl’s mouth.

“Jai?”

“I don’t know.” He insisted. His words were clearly not what Annie wanted to hear.

“You’re lying!” She yelled. And, with all the might that she had, Annie tried to hit him.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Belle grabbed her younger foster sister from around the waist easily with one arm, dragging her backwards. She was surprised with just how much force it took to move her. There was no way by just looking at her that Belle could have thought she had this much power. “Annie!”

Belle finally managed to get a hold of her, pulling her to a stop behind her, holding tightly onto one of her hands to make sure she didn’t try to hit Jai again, or run away.

“What’s going on here?!” Mattie managed to get everyone standing still and breathing deeply. This time, neither one of the younger teens answered. Giving Belle a look, they both nodded.

“Alright, c’mon. we’re going home.” She told Annie, pushing her towards the back door, not letting her out of touching distance from her.

Outside, Belle didn’t take her eyes off Annie even as she stuffed her two folders into her bag before swinging it onto her shoulder. After saying a quick ‘goodbye’ to Matilda, they both left for the beach house.

“You wanna tell me what that was about?” Belle asked her as they walked along the beach. Annie shook her head, not looking anywhere except for down. “I can help.” Annie still didn’t respond. “Ok, then.”

---

Geoff stomped down the stairs harder than was necessary, annoying Belle with each thud. Soon enough, he was standing in her doorway, arms crossed.

“Yes?” She asked, over-politely.

“Have you seen Annie?”

“She’s in her room.” Belle went back to her work on the laptop about her charity event.

“No, she’s not.” Geoff said pointedly.

“Are you sure?”

“I just came from there.” Belle looked up at him before shutting her laptop and climbing off her bed. Passing by him, she took the stairs two at a time and saw Annie’s door wide open. There was no way that Geoff was lying.

Entering the room, she looked around to see if there was anything odd about it. The only thing she thought that seemed odd was her open window.

“Please tell me you opened that.” Belle begged Geoff as he followed her into the room.

“No, it was like that when I came here. Why?” He questioned as she shot him a ‘think about it’ look. “She wouldn’t!”

“She would.” Belle leaned over the edge of the window to see the flat roof of the porch underneath. It didn‘t take a brain surgeon to figure out where she went. “And she did.”

“But why?”

“Cos she had a fight with Jai this afternoon.” Belle informed him as she shut the window, making sure that if Annie was to return home, she would have to use one of the doors.

“I knew he was trouble.” Geoff muttered, not quiet enough to keep it to himself.

“Geoff.” She said warningly, taking a quick check of the room once again. Annie’s bag laid on the floor, and nothing was missing from the desk or from near the vanity mirror. Just to make sure, she opened her cupboards, happy to see that nothing was missing.

“What do we do?” he asked as Belle took her phone out and dialled her number. It took a moment to connect. “What are you-?”

“Shhh…” Belle hushed him, turning around in the room when she heard the familiar ringing. Digging through Annie’s bag, she pulled out the still ringing phone before hanging up. “That’s just great.”

“I’m going to go look for her.” Geoff stated as he turned to leave the room.

“No!” Belle stopped him. “I’ll go. You stay here and call Irene and Miles and anyone else you can think of. I’ll take the car and see if I can find her.”

“Shouldn’t we call the cops?” He asked her nervously.

“And say what? That Annie’s run off because she had a fight with her boyfriend?” Geoff gave her cold look in reply to her words. “Look, I’m worried about her too, but she’s going to be fine. There’s not that many places to go in Summer Bay and Annie’s not stupid enough to go looking for trouble.”

“She just climbed out of her window, Belle! Does that sound like Annie to you?” Geoff yelled.

“I know you’re anxious, Geoff, but don’t yell at me.” At his apologetic nod, Belle sighed. “There’s no point in getting the cops involved yet. If she’s not back by the time it’s dark, then we will. Right now, she probably just wants some space.” She thought it would be best not to tell him about his little sister’s attempt of being violent this afternoon, which was very out of character for her too.

“Fine. But we’re still going to look for her, right?”

“You think I would just let her climb out of the house and not throttle her for thinking she‘s cleverer than me?” Belle attempted at making the situation a bit lighter. When Geoff let out a small laugh, she knew it had worked.

They both bounded down the stairs, Geoff heading straight for the phone and dialling in the memorise numbers as Belle grabbed her car keys.

“Let me know anything you find out.”

---

Tut tut tut Annie!

Lol, there is a reason for all this drama... it's a nice reason too!

Leave a comment please?

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Yup, I'm in the great London. Which isn't too bad. It's almost like where I grew up, so it's alright. The weather ain't that bad, to be honest. It's just that we're too lazy for move our asses and go down to the union or anywhere for that matter. But why are you glad that it's bad weather, H&A_diehard? I've never been to Scotland, but isn't cold there all the time or something lol?

xknomex, thanks for the links! I will watch them as soon as this is up! I can't wait though it ain't gonna be happy at all!

Anyway, here's the next chappie. It's really long, but only because I just couldn't find anywhere to stop it!

Chapter 10:

The sun began to set at around 8pm that night, bringing twilight around quicker than Belle would have liked. She had been practically everywhere she could think of in Summer Bay over the past two hours, not finding any trace or clue about Annie’s whereabouts. A sinking feeling in her stomach would not budge as she drove to the Diner.

Parking her car by the end of the pier, she stepped out of her car and slowly walked up. The first thing that she saw when she entered was Irene’s worried face.

“Anything, darl?” Belle shook her head as she took a seat on one of the stools. “Thought as much.”

“Geoff still at home?” She asked as Irene made her a cup of coffee.

“Only just. He was prepared to take off until I convinced him that if Annie was to return, it would be better that he was there.” Irene replied. “Nicole went over to keep him company.”

“Now what?” Belle took a sip of the hot beverage. Although the weather was pretty nice, she needed the extra kick. All the travelling and thinking had worn down on her energy.

“I’ve got another hour before closing up tonight. If she’s not back by then, we’ll call the station.” Irene said strictly. They both knew that the only reason that they hadn’t called them yet is because that made it more serious. Plus Annie’s curfew was 9pm on a school night, and earlier if she was out alone for some reason.

Irene got back to work to keep her mind on other things while Belle just sat there thinking. She couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty. Annie had obviously been upset earlier and she hadn’t taken the time to talk to her. True, she did try to get her to talk, but she could have tried harder. Or maybe have kept her downstairs and forced her to watch some TV with her instead of letting her have some time to herself.

Sighing, Belle looked up and gave Aden a forced half-smile as he walked up to her. He stroked her cheek with one hand as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“She’s going to be fine.”

“Doesn’t stop me from worrying.” Belle replied as he dropped his hand to hold onto hers on the table in between them. She decided to put her split mind about him aside for now.

“Don’t blame yourself.” Aden told her softly, making her look up at him in curiosity. She didn‘t know how he knew what she was thinking. They hadn‘t spoken in any way since he had left that morning, when Belle‘s hostility had forced him out. “I can tell.”

“Yeah?” Mattie’s words from before about Aden knowing her better than anyone else came to her mind.

“Yeah. Your smile only came up to here.” He pointed a finger about a centimetre from the edge of her mouth. Belle pushed it away, unable keep a true smile coming to her face. “That’s better.”

“Aden.” Roman called from the kitchen. He tossed a look over his shoulder only to see the elder man still cooking and pretending to not see him there with Belle.

“Go.” Belle insisted as Aden turned back to look at her, a clear look of debate on his face. “I’m going to head home. See if there’s anything I can do there.”

“Alright. I’ll talk to you later, then.” He leaned in for a quick kiss which she greatly needed.

“Later.”

---

Irene and Belle had both left the Diner together soon afterwards. The place wasn’t busy and anything that needed to be taken care of could’ve been done by Aden and Roman. At around 8:45, Charlie had came in. It was clear from her reaction about Annie running away that they hadn’t called the police about it yet.

“Irene did say that her curfew was at 9. I think they’re waiting until then.” Aden heard Roman explain as he entered the kitchen.

“That’s a good idea. We wouldn’t be able to do anything about it until a day later. She wouldn’t be a ‘missing person’ until then.” Charlie replied.

“She should be back by then.” Roman watched as Aden placed some coins back into the till that were lying around. “You can head off if you want, mate.”

“You sure?” Aden asked even as he untied the apron from his waist.

“Yeah. It’s pretty much empty and I’ll close up.”

“Ok, I’ll see you later then.” Aden said goodbye to the two of them before heading out of the Diner as quick as he could. It would be uncomfortable to be around just the two of them while at work.

Walking along the beach like he normally did, Aden pulled his phone out and began to text Belle.

‘Hey. Any news on Annie?’ He simply typed and sent. Her response was quick and simple.

‘Not yet. x’

Aden sighed at the sight of the two words. He knew that she was beating herself up about it, and the fact that there wasn’t anything that she could do about it was even worse. Belle liked to be in control. He had learnt that ages ago.

Almost at the road towards home, Aden paused and did a U-turn around the corner. It was the way that he would use when he snuck out the house to go see Belle. Although it was a quieter route, making it much more dangerous during the night, it was quicker and somewhat peaceful. It went past a secluded part of the beach where the tide was low at all times.

Coming to the road which met the beach, Aden couldn’t help but notice the full moon. He didn’t know how he could have not seen it earlier on, or the night before when he had travelled the same route. Standing still for a moment by the rocks that separated the tarmac from the sand, Aden scanned the place. He went there a couple of times when he wanted to get away from everything. Everything and everyone. No-one knew about this place. Including Belle.

Turning around to get back on track to his destination, Aden had to do a double take. A shadow nearer the main part of the beach caught his eye. Squinting a bit, he took a rough guess as to who that petite form would belong too.

Rounding the rocks in his way, Aden walked down the beach, keeping a safe distance from the figure just in case he was wrong. Casually looking, it wasn’t until he was about 25 meters away from them that his suspicions were confirmed.

Aden slowed down a bit, pulling out his phone once again.

‘Found Annie. I’ll bring her back. x’ He typed out easily before sending it to Belle. He didn’t bother to put the phone away, knowing that in a matter of seconds she would reply. And she did.

‘Thank you. x’ Aden smiled at the two words this time before tucking it away in his pocket.

Annie sat in a protective position. Her knees were drawn close to her chest while her arms wrapped around them. She continued to stare out to the sea even as Aden sat down beside her, drawing his own legs up, but not as tightly, and resting his arms on top of them.

“Hey there.” Aden finally broke their spell of silence after a couple of minutes. Annie didn’t reply in any way or form. “Nice night, huh?” He didn’t know what else to say. These were the kind of things that he wasn’t so good at. “You know, you and Belle are more alike than I thought you were. Amazing, seeing as you don’t share any blood.”

“How so?” Annie said, acknowledging his presence at last.

“Well, you both seem to use the beach to get away. Especially at night. And you’re getting good at that ignoring people act that she uses when she’s mad. That is until I just keep on talking and annoy the heck out of her.” he explained.

“Where is Belle?” Her voice was monotonal.

“She’s at home with everyone else.” Aden answered. “They’re worried about you.”

“I’m fine.”

“You ran away from home.”

“I didn’t run away!” Annie looked at him for the first time, a bit of anger entering her words. “I just needed to get away.”

“From?” This time, Annie didn’t reply, instead facing back out to the sea. Aden copied her, letting the quiet hang for a moment. He knew that he had to get her home, but there was no way that she would go with him without any reason to. So he decided to get to the bottom of it. “I heard you had a fight with Jai.”

“Did Belle tell you that?” Annie semi-scoffed.

“No. Like I said, I heard.”

“From who?”

“Irene was telling Roman.”

“So Belle told Irene?”

“No, that was your brother.” Aden corrected her, happy to keep the conversation going at any rate.

“Great. Now everyone knows.”

“I wouldn’t say everyone.” Once again, he received no reply. “They’re just worried about you.” He repeated. “You ran away without letting anyone know.”

“My curfew’s at 9. They shouldn’t worry until after that.” Annie informed him as he subconsciously looked at his watch.

“It’s 10 past 9.” Aden pointed out. Annie’s head snapped towards him instantly as he held his arms out for her to see. “Don’t worry. They know you’re ok.”

“I don’t want to go back.” She confessed, looking downwards.

“Well, we can’t stay here all night. It does tend to get colder.” He said before adding in a softer tone. “Ok, we’ll stay for a bit longer.”

“Thanks.”

“… as long as you talk to me. Because otherwise I’ll get board. And I can easily just lift you up and drag you back home.” Annie let out a little laugh at his words, knowing full well that, although he was capable, he wouldn’t do anything of the sorts. “Where did you get to after climbing out of your window? Which, can I say, is a very good method.”

“I uh…” Annie faltered, a faint blush rising to her face. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?” Her voice was little and hushed, and it reminded him just how young and naïve Annie really was.

“Um…” Aden paused before shrugging. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Including Belle?”

“Sure.” He agreed, knowing that he would either get Hell or something good for it from her later on.

“I got on a bus to Yabbie Creek.” Annie told him.

“Okaaay.” He elongated the last syllable, not knowing how to word his thoughts. In the end, he just said the one word that came to his mind. “Why?”

“Because I didn’t know where else to go where no-one would find me.” She said quietly. “Everyone knows everyone in Summer Bay. If I stayed here, someone would have found me and taken me back home.”

“Only because they care.” Aden interjected.

“Have you ever ran away from home before?” Annie asked suddenly, turning the spotlight to him. Aden twisted his head to look at her as she did the same. Sighing, he nodded.

“A couple of times. Mainly when my dad got drunk and I couldn’t be bothered to pick up the pieces.”

“Why?”

“‘Why’, what?”

“Why did you run away? Couldn’t you just stay at home and let your brothers help?” Annie questioned with such pure innocence in her voice that Aden knew that he couldn’t even hint the harsh truth to her.

“My brothers didn’t care.” He simplified for her.

“That’s just wrong.” Annie shook her head. “Family help each other out. Not turn their backs on each other.”

“We weren’t much of a family, Annie.” Aden informed her. “We were just four people who happened to share the same genes and last name, stuck with each other until we got the guts to do something about it.”

The stiffness in both his voice and his posture showed her just how much he meant it. She had always known that there was more to Aden than what met the eye, but she had never gotten to the bottom of it. And she had a feeling that she never would.

“Have you ever ran away from Roman’s?”

“Just the once. Right when I first moved in.”

“Why?” Annie asked once again.

“Now that,” Aden began, smiling lightly, “is a story for another day.” Annie nodded, understanding that he didn’t want to get into it. “Do I get to ask you questions now? Or can we head home?”

“Not yet.” She whispered, her gaze drifting back to the sea.

“Ok, so are you going to tell me why you ran away?” Annie didn’t bother correcting him that she hadn’t ran away.

“Because I had a fight with Jai.”

“Why?” He now asked.

“Ruby said that he tried to kiss Michelle.” Annie told him, lowering her eyes to look a the sand in front of her feet.

“Michelle?” Aden had no idea who that was.

“She’s a girl in our year.”

“Oh.” What else was he supposed to say? This was girl stuff, and there was no way that he had done anything like this before. “Did he?”

“I dunno. He said he didn’t, but Ruby said he did.”

“So who do you believe?” Aden simply said.

“I dunno.” Annie repeated. “That’s what I had to think about.”

“Come to any conclusions?” She didn’t respond for a minute before nodding her head.

“Why would he do that?” Annie rested her forehead against her knees, wiping away the tears furiously with the sleeves of her top.

“Because…” Aden stopped. What was there to say? If it was Nicole or someone closer to his age, maybe he could just slag them off. But with Annie, she still saw the world as white and black, and he couldn’t introduce the greys to her right then. “Because us guys can be idiots.”

“I know.” She sniffled, still hiding her face from him.

“Ouch. That hurts.” Aden mockingly said, making her laugh. A triumphant smile came upon his face.

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright.” He was pretty sure that she was apologizing for crying as well as ‘offending’ him. “Look, Jai’s young, and so are you. You’re bound to make mistakes. Just don’t let everything get messed up because of it.”

“I can’t help it.” Annie turned her head up wards, trying to physically stop her tears, but with no avail. He watched her for a moment before removing an arm and wrapping it around her shoulders to comfort her.

“Annie, if there’s one thing that I’ve in the last year, it’s that if you mean as much to Jai as he does to you, then he’ll be in the same state as you.” Aden whispered as she leaned against him.

“I haven’t seen him since this afternoon, so I don’t know what he’s like. I don’t think he even cares.” Annie murmured, pressing her cloth covered wrists to her eyes to stem the flow of tears.

“If he doesn’t care then I guess you’ve got your answer, yeah?” He gently squeezed her shoulder as she nodded. “If he makes you cry then he isn’t worth it.” Aden added. He always wondered why girls stayed with guys who upset them when any girl that pissed off a guy would promptly be dumped. But then when he thought about all the times he hurt Belle and made her cry, he was glad that she didn’t take his view on things.

“I’m not like Belle, you know.” Annie spoken after a moment.

“Hmm…?” Aden asked as she pushed herself away from him gently.

“You said that we’re really alike, but we’re not. Belle’s…. stronger. She would know what to do. And she wouldn’t run away from home.” Aden held back a remark about how Belle had ran away from home, which brought her to the Bay.

“Maybe you should talk to her then. I’m sure she’s better at this stuff than me. She might be able to help with Jai and all.” Aden informed her. “And if that doesn’t work, just let me know. I can always sort him out.”

Annie let out a reluctant laugh, not knowing why she found Aden being violent sort of funny.

“Thanks, Aden.”

“No problem.” He smiled back before looking at his watch. “Wow, look at that.” He held his arm out for her to see when she peered over. It shone in the moonlight. “It’s almost 9:45. Ready to go now? Or do I have to keep on talking? Because this is as far as my knowledge of ‘girl talk’ goes.”

“We can go back.” Annie told him, wiping at her eyes one final time as Aden stood up. He held out a hand for her and she took it gratefully.

They silently walked up the beach and back to the main path towards the beach house instead of Aden’s way. He kept close to Annie, just in case. After all, it was still pretty late and dark.

“Aden?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad that it was you who found me.” Annie said shyly, not removing her gaze from the ground. Aden looked over at her, a small smile of pride appearing on his face. “You’ve really changed. Thank you.”

“Anytime, kiddo.”

---

Phew! That went on for a while, didn't it?! Bet you guys were all waiting for it to end!

But back to other more pressing issues next chapter. Well, that's the plan!

Hope you all liked it! Let me know!

xoxo