Untroubled

[Taniya_K]

This was meant to be posted earlier and longer, but I'm not feeling too good so I thought that I would split the chapter into two. Here's the first part. I will try to get the next chapter up later on tonight. I know what it's going to be about, but getting the energy to type it is not easy right now, lol.

Sorry.

Chapter 11:

Irene was the first person to see them approach the house. She stood in the kitchen, looking out of the window, just waiting for them. Annie walked in first, taking shy steps, frightened of what she was going to endure.

“Oh, good Lord, girly!” She exclaimed as soon as she was inside. “You gave us such as fright.”

“Sorry.” Annie apologized as Irene brought her into a fierce embrace. As she back away, Annie saw her brother sitting on the couch with Nicole, both looking over at her, making sure that she really was ok. Belle walked out of her bedroom upon hearing Irene’s exclamations.

“Are you alright?” Irene asked her strictly, holding her at an arms length.

“Yeah. I’m just a bit tired.” Annie told her. “Can I just go to bed?”

“Hmm…” Irene looked at her for a moment with pursed lips before nodding. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

“Ok.” the young girl whispered back before walking around Irene to leave the kitchen. She stopped when she neared Belle and allowed her elder sister to give her a hug. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

“It’s ok. Just don’t do it again.”

“I won’t.” Annie turned to leave before pausing. Belle could see that she wanted to add something more, but with 4 other people there, she couldn’t say it.

“Tomorrow?” Belle hinted, knowing that she probably just wanted to talk.

“Tomorrow.” Annie agreed before saying ‘goodnight’ to Geoff and Nicole and walked up the stairs with as much energy as she could gather.

As soon as Annie was out of sight, everyone else’s eyes turned to Aden, who was causally leaning against the door frame in the kitchen. He raised an eyebrow at all the attention, causing Nicole to smile brightly at him while Irene and Geoff both averted their gazes to each other. Belle was the only one who didn’t change her stance at all.

“Geoff, you should get Nicole home before Roman has to come get her himself.” Irene instructed as he nodded, standing up and pulling Nicole with. As they left, Aden had to step into the house to let them out.

“Night!” Nicole called back after them at them all while Geoff just gave a grateful nod to Aden in response to both moving out of their way and bringing his sister home.

Once they had gone, the three remaining people downstairs all stood silently until Irene finally took it upon her to break the silence.

“Where did you find Annie?”

“She was on the beach.” Aden informed her.

“But I searched the beach.” Belle said in confusion. “She wasn’t there.”

“You must have missed her. She was in a pretty secluded area.” Aden half-lied, not liking himself for doing so. Another silence stretched before them as Belle tried to work out whether Aden was telling the truth or not.

“Well, I’m going to hit the hay. After a day like today, I don’t think I’ll be up until the cow’s come home tomorrow!” Irene exaggerated as both Aden and Belle forced out a small laugh. “Night.”

“Night, Irene.” Belle replied. As she disappeared up the stairs, Belle turned to face Aden once again.

“Night.” Aden said at the same time before feeling someone‘s eyes on him. “What?”

“Nothing.” She replied sincerely. “Thanks. About Annie, I mean. Whatever you said to her must have worked, seeing as my attempts failed.”

“Well, I am a guy of many talents.” Aden replied with fake sincerity.

“Is that so?”

“Yup. Just ask Annie.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Belle replied dryly as she turned and walked back into her room. Aden stood in the kitchen for a second before following her.

He watched her for a moment while she removed the clutter from her bed, ready to use it for sleep. She had already changed into her night clothes, and Aden guessed that it was only so to pass time after he had texted about finding Annie until they arrived.

“What?” Belle now asked, feeling his eyes on her as she dumped the folders onto a chair. Aden shook his head as she stepped up to him, eyes narrowing as if trying to figure him out. “Did you really find Annie on the beach?” Belle asked instead of probing him for why he had been staring at her.

“Yes.” Aden replied truthfully.

“Did she say anything else?” She questioned, wondering how she could have searched all of the Bay and still not find her, yet Aden had found her without trying.

“No, Belle. We just sat there for about 30 minutes staring into space.” There was a slow smile climbing onto his face accompanying the sarcasm, which made Belle frown a bit.

“Funny.” She said, closing the distance between them. Her actions were confusing Aden. Although her words and tone may suggest that she was upset with him, her closeness to him said otherwise.

“We talked, but she kind of made me promise not to tell anyone.” He explained. “Including you.”

“That’s alright. She’ll tell me tomorrow.” The fact that Belle was being so casual about it started to freak Aden out. If she was trying to make him tell her out of guilt, she was going the right way about it.

“Belle?” Aden queried as she rested her palms on his shoulders before letting them glide down to wrap around his waist.

“Sorry.” She sighed, pressing her face into his chest for a second. “If she said not to tell anyone, then that‘s fine. It‘s just been a long day.”

“Don‘t worry about it.” Relief coloured his words.

“You know, it takes a lot for Annie to open up to someone.” Belle backed off a bit as Aden’s arms came around her. “She trusts you. That’s a lot.”

“Ah well, you know me. No-one can resist me.” Aden joked, making her laugh as he pulled her back to him, brushing her hair off her face while dipping his head down to give her a kiss.

“But seriously, though,” Belle spoke as they parted, holding onto his hands as they came down to her waist. “It means a lot to me. You guys getting along, and bringing her home safely.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to leave her alone on the beach at night, Belle.” Aden teased, gently squeezing her hands and her hips.

“I know.” She murmured as she pushed herself up to gently graze her lips against his. “But this is the second time that you’ve found her and brought her home.” Belle pointed out, referencing to when Annie, Jai, Geoff and Nicole had all gone missing in the rain. “You’re like… a hero or something.”

“A ‘hero‘?” Aden replied, doubtfully.

“Yeah, a hero.” She repeated, grinning slyly. “My hero.”

Aden laughed at how earnestly she had said the last words. He didn’t know how to respond to something like that. Especially at how her mood towards him had changed throughout the day, although he put it all down to the fact of priorities.

Instead, he touched his lips to hers in a sweet, delicate kiss which only intensified with time, ending up being a hungry, passionate, yet still a gentle, kiss. As it got deeper and things got further, including Belle pushing his jacket off of him, Aden pulled away, resting his forehead against hers to allow them to catch their breaths.

“I love you, you know that, right?” Aden said suddenly, as Belle opened her eyes to look into his.

“Of course I do. I love you, too.” She replied, bringing him into another kiss that he broke after a moment once again.

“And that I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you?”

“I know.” Belle told him, now moving back from him too look at him properly. “Where’s all this coming from?”

“I just…” Aden didn’t know how to explain. He had been thinking about back on the beach when he had informed Annie that no guy was worth her tears, and how many times he had made Belle cry himself. “I just want to make sure you know.”

“I do.” Belle assured him. “Everyday.”

“Good.” They fell into a silence as Aden played with the hair framing her face as she thought about what he had just said. She knew that this was the perfect time to ask him about the past couple of days, to clear things up between them about. It was the ideal time to get rid of her insecurities.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” He dropped his hands to her sides as she looked up at him. Hesitating, Belle opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before plastering a fake smile onto her face.

“Will you stay tonight?” Belle backed out, asking instead a much safer question.

“I was planning to, anyway.” Aden told her.

“Good.”

---

Hope you liked it. If not, then blame it on my stupid freasher's flu. [is it possible to get 'freasher's flu' if I'm a 2nd year? Ah well...]

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Sorry for not updating last night like I said I would. I just didn't get the chaater finished.

Done it now though, so forgive me?!

Chapter 12:

Belle sat in her bed, propped up by the pillow behind her as she waited for Aden to get out of the shower. It had only been 10 minutes, but every minute that she spent on her own, she kept thinking about how she should have just asked him about spending the time away her.

Biting on her thumb nail, she contemplated what other reason there could be. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to spend time with her.

He’s here, isn’t he? she thought to herself, trying to convince herself that her original thoughts were wrong.

When Aden walked into her room a couple of minutes later, Belle was still sitting in the same position. He gave her a quick glance while rubbing at his hair with a towel, wondering why she was so deep in thought.

“Belle?” He said softly, watching as she didn’t even acknowledge him. “Babe, you ok?” Once again, he didn’t receive any kind of response. Rolling his eyes, he rounded her bed before giving a short whistle and throwing the damp towel at her. His aim was perfect, landing right in her lap.

“Hmm…?” Belle snapped back to reality, eyes going straight to him as he dumped his clothes on the floor by the cupboard. “Aden.” She reprimanded while pointing at the mess.

“I’ll pick it up in the morning.” He replied casually as she just glared at him before chucking the towel back at him. “Everything ok?”

“Yeah, course.” Her voice was distant as if she still had her mind on something else. Aden looked at her from over his shoulder as he hung the towel over the back of the chair.

“You sure?” Aden stood by the bed, eyeing her carefully.

“Yes. Now get in so I can get to sleep.” Belle shuffled down in the bed as he did what she said. Reaching over him, she switched off the light before laying her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him. His arm automatically came around her to hold her close.

Try as she might, even after an eventful day like today, Belle couldn’t just switch off and go to sleep. She tried to stop thinking about anything that made her anxious, but it didn’t do anything to stop the uncertainty inside of her. Knowing that there was only one thing to do, she pushed herself up and turned the lights back on.

“Belle…” Aden moaned as he covered his eyes with an arm.

“We need to talk.” She stated. There was no way that she would ask him for this opportunity. She wanted to be in control of this, seeing as she couldn’t control anything else at the moment.

“Alright… just let me get my eyesight back.” He groaned as he pushed himself up to rest against the head board. Although it had only been about 30 minutes or so, Belle was sure that Aden had probably fallen asleep.

“Sorry. I should’ve woken you first.” She apologized as she knelt on the bed facing him.

“Yeah…” He murmured why blinking a couple of times. His actions brought a smile to Belle’s face. “What’s up?”

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a couple of days.” She started off, taking a deep breath so that she wouldn’t lose her nerve this time.

“Go on.”

“I know that you said that you haven’t been avoiding me-”

“That’s cos I haven’t.” Aden interrupted.

“Do you..? Have I…?” No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t find a proper way to word what she was thinking. She didn’t look at him as she thought of the best way to express herself. “Is there something that I’ve done to not make you want to spend time with me?”

“What?” Aden asked in astonishment. Out of everything that she could have said, that was probably one thing that he could not have predicted. “No! Why would you say that?”

“I dunno. I just got the feeling that you’ve gone out of your way to spend any spare time you had away from me.” Belle admitted, shyly looking up at him as he stared back.

“‘Out of my way’, how?”

“Hanging out with others, working overtime and then some today.” She shrugged casually, taking care not to mention Nicole as such. The last thing she needed was for him to think that she was jealous. “I know you explained it, but I just can’t get rid of the feeling that you would rather do something else than be with me.”

“Is this why you’ve been in a mood with me at times?” Aden questioned, everything falling into place for him.

“I haven’t been in a ‘mood’ with you.” Belle frowned, defending herself.

“Yeah, you have. Especially this morning. You practically forced me to leave with that ice-queen routine you had going on.” Aden informed her, a small smile on his face.

“You left on your own accord.”

“Only cos I knew you wanted me gone.”

“Because I thought that you didn’t want to be here.” Belle confessed, tilting her head to the side a bit, glad that they were having this conversation even if she hadn’t heard the reason to why he had been acting like he had been.

“Belle, if I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t have been. Subtly is not one of my strong points. You know that.” Aden pointed out, reminding her just how forthright he could be.

“Then why have you spending time away from me? I thought that you would want to spend any time we got together with your exams coming up and all.” When Aden turned away from her, something inside of her sunk. She forced herself to not think anything bad while grabbing onto one of his hands. “Aden?”

“I’m sorry. If I knew you would think that, then I would have been here.”

“I know.” Belle told him, pulling gently on his hand to make him look at her, but her attempts failed. “But why?”

“You… you don’t want to know.” He sighed heavily.

“Aden, I do want to know. Is it something I’ve done?”

“Why do you think you’re in the wrong?” Aden finally faced her, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. She knew what he was thinking; she was the experienced one, she didn’t get insecure about their relationship and she wasn’t the one who messed it up. Belle had told him many times how wrong he was and how it didn’t matter how guys she had been with, that it was just this one that mattered to her, but he obviously hadn’t listened.

“Because it feels like it.”

“It’s not.” He told her promptly.

“Then what is it?” Aden didn’t answer her question, just leant his head back against he headboard and closed his eyes briefly. “Aden, what is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, it’s not.” Belle got up on her knees and crawled right up to him. “Is there something wrong? I can help, Aden.”

Aden looked up at her as she poised over him, balancing on her knees. He shook his head before sliding a hand along her cheek and threading it into her hair as he brought her closer to him, claiming her lips with his. As he deepened the kiss, Belle was forced to grab onto his shoulder to stop herself from over balancing.

Backing off, Belle smiled while using her other hand to pull his hand down.

“Nice try.” She whispered, sitting back down. “Start talking, Aden.” Aden looked at her with tired eyes, almost begging her to leave it alone. “Not going to work. Why don’t you want to tell me?”

“Because it’s stupid.” He told her.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Aden just stared at her, hoping she would just let him sleep now. He didn’t feel like having this conversation right now. “Aden, I’m sure it’s not stupid. Tell me. Please?” She added sweetly, knowing that he couldn’t say ‘no’ to her now.

Sighing heavily, he ran a hand through his hair before slumping down even lower in her bed. He had wished that she would never ask him about this.

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.” She repeated after him. He turn his head away from her but nodded.

“I didn’t want you to think that I was slacking off.”

“‘Slacking off?’ Belle questioned, placing one hand on his duvet covered upper leg. “Slacking off what?”

“Studying. I just thought that if you saw I had time to spare, you would think that I wasn’t taking my HSCs seriously.”

“Are you for real?” Belle asked in astonishment. “You have been revising for the past two months straight. I don’t think it’s possible to even think for a second that you’re not taking this seriously, Aden.”

“Yeah, but now that they’re nearer, I didn’t want you to think that I couldn’t handle it or anything. I worked overtime or spent time away so that you wouldn’t see how much less studying I was doing since last week.”

“You shouldn’t worry about what I think.” Belle shook her head, not believing how realistic and Aden-like his reason was, yet she had thought the worse.

“Belle,” Aden began, facing her once again. “I’ve never been one to care much about my education or my future, you know that. But I worry about what you think because I want you to be proud of me.” Belle opened her mouth to say something, but he jumped in before she could. “I know that I’ve pretty much messed everything up in the past, but that was up until we happened. And since then, I’ve just wanted to make up for everything that I didn’t do, or couldn’t be asked to do, before. Those counselling sessions, the house, all the studying… I do it so that you can be proud of me.”

“I am.” She replied instantly, her voice hoarse from the emotions that she felt. “I have always been, Aden.”

“No, you haven’t.” Belle tried to argue, but he smiled wryly at her. “It’s ok, I know that you were ashamed of us at first.”

“That’s… that’s…” She faltered. Aden was right; that was part of the reason why she had wanted to keep their relationship hidden at first. “That was before I knew you properly. But after I got to know you better, and saw this side of you, I wasn‘t. Never since then have I ever been ashamed.” Belle pushed herself up and let hand glide along his jaw before pressing a kiss to his cheek and sitting back down.

They sat in silence for a minute while taking in what each other had said. Aden stared at where her hand rested on his thigh, while she looked away from them altogether.

“I know I don’t say it often,” Belle began as she turned to look at him as he did the same. “Actually, I’m sure that I haven’t said it once, but I’m glad that you’ve decided to go to university. I’ve just been trying to change you’re mind about the course you want to do, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t support you. I just don’t want to see you getting hurt in the long run.”

Aden didn’t respond for a moment, instead licking his lips while trying to think of what to say. He slipped a hand into the one of hers that rested on him, pulling on it slowly. Belle got the message and climbed back under the covers to snuggle back up to him.

“I can handle it, Belle.” Aden finally spoke as she rested her head on his chest. “It’s different, studying psychology rather than psychiatry. What I want to do, it won’t involve anything as deep as…” She could hear him swallow, not wanting to finished his sentence off.

“Ok.” Belle tightened her hold on him. She didn‘t want to go into anything right then. “Ok, I trust you.”

“Alright, then.” Aden replied. “Is that the end of our midnight chat, then?” He added to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, though I’ve got to admit, I’ve missed this.” She laughed.

“What? Talking about the most inappropriate things to be talking about at night?” Belle frowned at his words, trying to figure out what he meant. She knew he was trying to confuse her on purpose.

“I meant just staying up talking. Like we used to.”

“Yeah, I miss that too.” Aden admitted. Although the other parts to their relationship was brilliant, it was the fact that they could either talk all night or just be in each presence without sharing a word that made them so unique.

“You wanna keep on talking or go to sleep?” Belle asked him, tilting her head to look at him.

“Sleep. Please.” He practically groaned, making Belle giggle. She moved away from him so that he could get comfortable in her bed. Once he had slid down, she leaned over and turned the lights off once again, resting her head on his shoulder in the same place as before.

This time, Belle was sure that she would fall asleep before Aden could.

---

So that's one thing out of the way... ain't Aden just so sweet?!

But there's more to come now...

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

A semi-fluffy chapter to get over the drama so far. Plus, I'm just in the mood for fluff... Haven't seen/read much fur a bit so I thought I'd make my own up

Chapter 13:

“Aden…” Belle said in a sing-song voice as she re-entered her room. It was just past 10 in the morning and everyone else was either at school or work. She knew that Aden started school at midday today, and if she didn’t get him up now, there was no way he would get there in time.

A slight groan, so quiet that it wouldn’t have been audible to her if she hadn’t taken her place on the side of the bed, indicated that he had heard her. He didn’t open his eyes, or move, except to bury his face further into the pillow.

“You’re going to be late.” She informed him, running a hand down his bare arm several times until he retracted it out of her reach. Sighing, she got up. “Fine, but don’t come asking me for a ride when you’re running late.”

“I’m up, I’m up.” Aden murmured, turning onto his back and rubbing his eyes slowly. Belle rolled her eyes as she picked up his clothes from the previous day and placed them in the laundry, knowing full well that he would never do it himself.

She continued to do little things around her room before going to the main part of the house, keeping her occupied for about 10 minutes. When she returned she wasn’t surprised to see that Aden hadn’t gotten up at all.

“Oi!” She yelled as she walked up to him, giving him a shove on the shoulder. “Up!”

When he didn’t respond, Belle pressed a hand against his forehead while sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“You’re not ill.” She pointed out. “Just lazy.”

“I’m not lazy.” Aden mumbled while pushing her hand away. “Just tired.”

Belle sighed at his words, knowing that it was probably true. There were certain nights when Aden just couldn’t sleep, but he would never let on or wake her up. She hated that he thought he had to go through some of these things alone, even if there was nothing that she could do.

Not wanting to get caught up in the depressing stuff, Belle tried once more to wake Aden up, only to result in him turning over and away from her. Glancing at the time once more, Belle realised that if she couldn’t get him up now, then there would be no point in even trying; he was going to be late for school indefinitely.

Doing the only thing that she thought would wake him up, Belle pulled the duvet cover down as much as possible, trying to uncover him. Unfortunately, he had a strong hold on it. Giving up on that idea, she pushed open the window, knowing that the cool morning breeze would probably freeze him in no time, seeing as he slept in only his boxers.

“Ow!” Belle hissed in pain as she studied her finger. There as no blood, but she could clearly see the thin slice of wood stuck in there. Facing the bed, she frowned to see that Aden hadn’t moved.

So much for being my hero… she grumbled to herself while entering the bathroom to wash her hands. Returning back to her room, she grabbed a pair of tweezers and angled her finger right to pull the splinter out.

“Aden, seriously. You need to get up before you’re late.” She said while wiping the tweezers clean. Receiving no response, Belle approached the bed once more, this time on the other side. She didn’t know what came over her, or why she did it, but she reached out with the tweezers and pulled quickly on one of his eyebrow hairs.

Aden‘s response was almost immediate. He scrunched up his eyebrows in slight pain while turning onto his back.

“What the-?” He exclaimed, words slurring in sleep.

“You up?”

“What did you do?” Aden asked, rubbing the offended spot as he blinked a couple of times, taking in his surroundings. “Did you just pluck my eyebrow?” He questioned as she sat down, seeing the silver instrument in her hand.

“Maybe. It woke you up, didn’t it?” Belle replied, smiling sweetly.

“No.”

“Oh? Ah well, I guess I could keep going. You have a nice shape going there.” She teased as he batted her hand away and pushed himself up.

“Alright, I get it. I’m up.” He told her, swinging out of bed on the other side. “Why are you up so early, anyway?”

“I’ve got things to take care off.”

“What kind of things?” Aden asked while rooting through a drawer for some clothes.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Belle said mockingly, laying back on her bed, watching him.

“Anything to do with that charity thing?”

“Might be.”

“Are you going to tell me what it is anytime soon?” Aden asked, pausing at the end of her bed.

“Maybe. If you play your cards right.” Belle smiled back cheekily, making him copy it.

“Well, in that case, I guess I’ll know pretty soon.”

---

“Hey, Belle.” Martha greeted her as she entered Noah’s bar.

“Heya. How you feeling?” Belle replied, leaning against the counter.

“I’m good. Doing really great, actually.” Martha had been in remission for about a month now. If anyone looked at her, Belle was sure that they wouldn’t be able to tell the horrific year that she had had. “Is there something you’re looking for?”

“Uh, yeah actually. I was wondering if it was possible to stage an event here in about two weeks?” She asked.

“Yeah, that should be fine. What kind of event? Mattie said you guys were planning a charity thing, but she wouldn’t give anything away.” Martha put down the glass that she was drying and turned all of her attention to the teenager in front of her.

“Well, she is the one dying to tell people. Maybe I should just let her do that.” Belle teased, laughing.

“I’m sure she would understand. I’ve tried guessing but you know what Mattie’s like.” Martha told her, indicating to how loyal Matilda can be, even if she didn’t agree with something.

“Yeah. Oh, well. I guess you’re going to find out anyway. We’re planning a bachelor auction.”

“No way!” Martha gasped before a wide smile covered her face as Belle nodded. “That’s such as great idea! Who have you got so far?”

“Um… I haven’t asked anyone yet. But Mattie and I did make a list of all the guys that we could think of. There’s quite a bit of them too.”

“Can I see?” She asked hopefully, holding out a hand as Belle just shook her head in disbelief and pulled out the list from her bag. “Wow! There is quite a bit!”

Belle watched as Martha skimmed the list of about 20 guys that her and Mattie had been able to put together. Most of them they both knew, with the occasional some who Mattie knew from school.

“You do realise that half of these guys are taken. Including your own.” Martha commented as she handed the piece of paper back.

“Yes, but the definition of a ‘bachelor’ is a guy who’s not married. Therefore…” Belle left the rest of the sentence unfinished, knowing that she would get it.

“True. Too bad too… I wouldn’t mind paying for some of these lot.” Martha said unashamedly.

“Unfortunately, you’re married.” Martha pouted. “Sorry, but it’s the rules. No married men, no married women.”

“Well, that sucks.” She claimed as she pulled out a folder for booking events. “Where’s the fun in that?”

---

I guess you all knew what the event was, but in case you didn't.... Ta da!

Hope you all enjoyed it.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

This chapter's mainly a filler. I had to put it in to build everything up. Sorry if it's boring. Don't hate me!

Chapter 14:

“Did you get everything sorted with Annie then?” Irene questioned her eldest foster daughter as she walked into the kitchen of the Diner.

“Yup. We had a good chat.” Belle had met up with her during the lunch break, having promised her that they would talk. She was glad to get some things cleared up, especially about that stunt that the younger girl had pulled yesterday.

“That’s great, darl.” She replied enthusiastically as she continued to chop up some vegetables. Belle nodded as she jumped up onto the far counter, peering at the roaster that was pinned up right opposite.

“Isn’t Aden working later today?” Belle queried when she didn’t see his name up.

“Nope.”

“Really? Why not?”

“I dunno, love. Roman said that he wanted to cut down on the shifts until after his exams. I thought you might have had a word with him about it.”

“Not me.” Belle said, slightly distracted, thinking back to their conversation last night. “You didn’t say anything, did you?”

“Nope. Thought I’d keep out of that.” When Bell didn’t respond, Irene gave her a quick glance. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” She snapped out of her thoughts, plastering a genuine smile onto her face. “Of course.”

“So what else have you been up to?” Irene asked. Ever since she had stopped working there, Belle’s life had no order. Aside from a couple of things, she chose to do things that she wanted to do whenever she wanted to do them. But unlike anyone else with her freedom, she didn’t abuse the time she had.

“I just went down to the Surf Club.” Belle told her. At Irene’s questioning look, she continued to explain why she had gone there, finally revealing to her what the plans for the charity event was.

“Gawd, darl! Doesn’t that sound like a right laugh?” She joked, laughing as she did so.

“I just hope it all goes well.”

“I’m sure it will. It’s not something that you see often in Summer Bay.” Irene informed her. “So who have you got lined up to auction off?”

As if right on cue, Roman walked back into the kitchen from outside, hearing just the last part of the sentence.

“Auction?” He asked, pulling a confused face at the two ladies as they laughed.

“Him, for one. If he agrees, that is.” Belle nodded towards the chef who stood by the fridge. As he came to stand at the opposite counter, he gave both of them a curious look.

“I’ll let Belle explain.” Irene patted her knee while taking out a couple of plates, filled with a variety of salads.

“Explain what exactly?” Roman asked once again, not liking the smile on Belle’s face. He had seen that smile many times before. It was the same smile that Nicole used when she wanted something.

“Well, Mattie and I have organised a bachelor auction for the charity event we were doing.” Belle started off, knowing that Roman, being the educated guy that he was, would figure it out easily.

“You want me to take part?” He asked incredulously.

“That was the general idea.” She confirmed, nodding her head.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Roman laughed.

“C’mon! It’s for a good cause, Roman.” Belle told him.

“Yeah, but shouldn’t you use, I don’t know… younger guys.”

“You’re not exactly old, you know?” She pointed out as Roman shook his head good naturedly, letting out a small chuckle. “Is that a ‘yes’?”

“I dunno, Belle…” She could tell that he was debating it in his head. Belle prayed he would agree; this was the first person she’d asked, and the last thing she needed was for him to say ‘no’.

“If you’re worried about what Charlie would say, you could always ask her. I don’t need an answer right now.” She reasoned with him. Roman sighed, smiling as he gave in.

“Alright, I’ll talk it over with Charlie.”

“Talk what over with Charlie?” They heard a female voice call out into the kitchen. Roman walked out to the till while Belle jumped off the counter and stood in the background a bit to see Charlie and her partner, Angelo.

“We were just discussing the event that Belle and Matilda are organising.” He told her while preparing two cups of coffee for them.

“Oh yeah, I heard about that. What is the event exactly?” Charlie asked, looking back at Belle before returning he gaze to Roman.

“Bachelor auction.” Belle supplied.

“Really?” Angelo asked with his cheesy grin. It was a contagious smile that got the other three mirroring it.

“Yes.”

“If you need some more volunteers, I’ll be happy to take part.” He mentioned, before adding in fake modesty. “Although, I do warn you, I might put everyone else down to shame.”

Everyone else laughed, not only at his words but at how genuine he sounded when he said them.

“Alright, if you’re really up for it…” Belle told him.

“Sure, why not?”

“That’s great.” She nodded thankfully at him. “At least I’ve got one person down.” Belle said forcefully, indicating with her head to Charlie that she was talking about Roman.

“Oh!” Charlie came alive. “Yeah, why don’t you take part too, Roman. I’m sure you could knock him down a peg or two.”

“Hey!” Angelo said, offended.

“I dunno.” Roman repeated and laughed slowly, knowing that he had no more excuses.

“It’s for a good cause.” Charlie had said exactly what Belle had told him earlier.

“I’m not going to be able to get out of this, am I?” He moaned light-heartedly.

“Nope.” Both girls said at the same time.

“Alright then.”

“Yay! Thank you!” Belle exclaimed happily and Roman had to smile at the joy on her face.

“Just don’t make me regret it.”

“Regret what?” Irene asked as she walked up to them with a couple of dirty plate from outside.

“Roman’s taking part in the auction.” Belle informed her. Angelo cleared his throat loudly, hinting at her. “And so is Angelo.”

“There, see? Told you it would go well.” Irene said. “Actually, there’s something I forgot to give you this morning.”

“What?” Belle followed her into the back room where Irene handed her an envelope.

“The post just came as I left and I saw this. I didn’t have to time to run back inside.” Belle examined the stamped words on the white cover, her eyes widening when she recognised the company’s name.

“Oh! Wow…” She gasped, turning it around in her hands.

“Aren’t you going to open it?”

“Yeah, of course.” But Belle didn’t make any move to do so.

“What’s wrong?” Irene asked worriedly.

“What if it’s bad news?” She replied, biting her bottom lip.

“Well, I guess you’re going to have to open it and find out.”

“Yeah…” Belle still hesitated.

“Belle! Hurry up, girly! I want to see what it says! You can’t change it now, anyway.” Irene told her.

“True.” Belle sighed deeply before turning the envelope over in her hands. “Alright, here it goes.”

---

If it's any consolation, I'm halfway through the next chapter and it's Adelle fluff to the max!

Leave a comment?

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thank you all for the comments! I seriously thought that that chapter was boring... but if you liked that then you might just like this too. It's filled will Adelle fluff, so just be warned.

Chapter 14:

Walking as slow as he could without seeming like there was something wrong, Aden made his way to the beach. He had texted Belle, telling her to meet him down where they usually spent their time just before he had left school. That was about an hour ago.

“About time.” Belle exclaimed, not looking up from the list she had been looking over. Aden stopped right by her side, trying to peer at what was written. “You’re in my light.”

“Sorry.” He didn’t sound it, but he rounded her anyway, coming to stand in front of her. “And I was held up by Nic. Don’t ask.” Aden added hastily. He didn’t want to go into it, not that he would have been able to explain what the blonde had been talking about, having lost meaning of her talk before it had started.

“That’s ok. Left me time to complete this.” Belle had managed to ask a couple of more boys and told Mattie to do the same.

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you later.” She replied, tucking the piece of paper away. “So why aren’t you working?” Belle looked up at him before smiling a bit. “And why have you taken to wearing sunglasses all of a sudden?”

Aden laughed at her words, taking a hold of her hands as she held them out to pull her up. Gently doing so, she regained her balance by holding onto him tightly.

“Anything to get close to me, huh?” He teased as she rolled her eyes and pushed away from him. “Hey, I get it. It’s not like I blame you.”

“Seriously, ‘modesty’. Have you never heard of that word before?” Belle asked earnestly, but a glint in her eyes showed she was just messing with him.

“You love it.” He told her, sweeping the hair off her face with the tips of his fingers.

“Yeah, right.” Belle scoffed, pulling his hand down before wrapping an arm around it while the other held onto his hand as they started to walk up the beach.

“Well, you love me, and therefore, you love everything about me, so you do love it.” Aden explained to her as if it was the simplest thing ever.

“That’s your logic?” Belle peered up at him to see the ghost of a smile on his face. “It’s really bad.”

“If you say so…”

“Anyway,” She said as she shoved him gently with her hip, letting go of him. Aden strayed a bit as she changed the subject to something more interesting, “you never answered my questions.”

“What? Why I’m wearing sunglasses?” He asked while placing his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “Ain’t that a bit obvious?” Aden said, tilting his head upwards the bright sun.

“The sun’s always out. We live in Summer Bay.” she pointed out.

“Exactly.” He grinned. Belle just shook her head good-naturedly while rolling her eyes.

“And why aren’t you at work?”

“Because I took your advice and decided to cut back a bit.” Aden told her out right.

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“So what are you going to do with the extra time?” Belle queried.

“Sleep.” His reply was instant as it if was the only thing that he had considered doing.

“Then why are you here?” Belle huffed, trying to pull away from him, but he had a strong hold around her.

“I really don’t know…” Aden put on a confused face as Belle just sighed, showing him that she wasn’t impressed with his mocking. Her reaction just made him laugh.

Watching him for a quick moment, Belle reached up and smoothly pulled his shades off of him. Aden replied with an indignant ‘Hey!’ while she examined the dark tinted lens before hooking them on the bottom of his V-neck T-shirt.

“That’s better.” She said, nodding her head while patting his chest.

“I’m blinded…” He grumbled, squinting as the sun shone right at them.

“Aw, my poor baby.” Belle teased. “It’s just the sun. You’ll get over it.”

“Sure, sure.” Aden replied slowly. She loved it when they could just muck around like the teenagers that they were, forgetting about all of the hardships that they had faced, or were going to probably face in the future.

“Actually, there’s something I need to tell you.” Belle piped up, paying more attention to the sand in front of them rather than where they were going or to him.

“Oh yeah? What’s it about?” Aden replied, stopping as she did so. A look of uncertainty came across his face before Belle smiled gently and removed his arm from around her.

“Don’t worry. It’s good!” She assured him as she turned to face him.

“What is it?” He asked once again as Belle pulled out a white envelope from her bag. She held it out to him and he took it with confusion.

“Just read it.” Belle encouraged him. Aden raised an eyebrow at her before turning the item in his hands over to see the front of it.

The envelope was in a typical business style, with a clear patch on the left hand side through which Aden could see Belle’s name and address. He eyed the business stamp on the top right hand corner. New South Wales News.

“Open it already!” Belle anxiously told him. Aden rolled his eyes at her, contemplating whether to annoy her more and just take his time. But when he got a look at her face, he knew that torturing her would just be wrong. She was so excited, biting onto her bottom lip to stop herself from yelling at him while holding her massive grin back, and Aden already knew what it said inside.

“Alright…” He flipped over the envelope and pulled out the piece of paper. Skimming through it, he got the gist of what the whole letter said just by the first paragraph. Aden had been the one to encourage her to apply for the internship at the state-wide newspapers as she had been worried about it turning out to be something like working at The Coastal Gazette.

“You got it.” He simply stated, folding the paper back up before replacing it back into the envelope.

“I got it!” Belle confirmed, everything about her showing just how elated she was. Aden chuckled at her joy, pulling her into a hug and dropping a kiss on her head as her arms came around his neck.

Pulling back after a moment, she tilted her head up to him while stepping back a bit, seeing only a hint of a smile on his face.

“Aren’t you happy?” Belle asked, her mood deflating in an instant.

“Yeah, of course I am.” Aden dipped his head down to give her a sweet kiss. “I’m really happy for you.”

“And the best part is that it’s at the Yabbie Creek office, so it’s close to home. Plus, it’s the biggest office around here, anyway.” She added, her happiness returning.

“That’s perfect, then.” Aden told her, rubbing her back gently out of habit.

“Yup! Not to mention that I don’t start until the end of January.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s only for 6 months, isn’t it? And they only take one person on at a time.”

“And that one person is you.” Aden pointed out, moving his arm upwards to let it rest around her shoulders again as they continued up the beach. Belle threaded her fingers through his with the hand that rested lightly on her shoulder. “I think we should celebrate.”

“Don’t you have other things to do?” Belle enquired, surprised when he just shook his head.

“Nah, they can wait a day. I want to spend today with you.” Aden said seriously, making her smile. “So what do you want to do?”

“I want to…” Belle trailed off. She didn’t really know what she wanted to do. As long as she was with Aden right then, she really didn’t care what she did either. While walking, they had come up to where the pier went out to the sea and she had an idea. “I want cake.”

“Cake?” Aden repeated incredulously.

“Yes. Chocolate cake.” She nodded to show how serious she was.

“Out of everything you could choose to celebrate with, you choose cake?” His tone was the same, although a hint of amusement underlined his words.

“Chocolate cake.” She emphasised the first word to show it’s importance. “Don’t forget the ‘chocolate’.”

“Never, babe.” Aden replied sternly. “Alright, if it’s what you want. My treat.”

“Good. Cos I’m the one we’re celebrating for.” Belle joked. “And I’m a little low on cash at the moment.”

“You are?”

“Yeah, well, seeing as I haven’t worked in about a month now, or bothered to go to the bank.”

“Belle, if you need money-” Aden began, but she cut him off before he got the chance to even say what she knew he was going to say.

“I don’t. I’ve got about 10 grand in my account, Aden. Most of it from you already. I just haven’t been to take any out lately.” She informed him.

“Alright then.” Aden replied, knowing just how independent Belle was, and that even if she didn’t have that money, she wouldn’t take his anyway.

“So…” Belle said in a sweet voice as they kept on walking. “About this cake then…”

---

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

More fluff coming up again... I just can't seem to get rid of it all! But there is drama somewhere along the way...

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thank you all for the wonderful comments! I love hearing your thoughts on it, even if it is just a word or two!

This chapter's more fluff... I will get to the main part of this story at one point, I promise! But until then...

Chapter 15:

“You sure you don’t want any?” Belle asked while forking up a small piece of the fudge covered chocolate cake and holding it out in his direction.

“I’m sure.” Aden replied, smiling as she shrugged and ate it herself.

“It’s really good...” She teased as she broke off another piece. They sat in the Diner, off to one side. Aden had kept to his promise and bought her chocolate cake to celebrate her successfully earning an internship at one of the most read papers in the state. Although, even as he watched her happily eat her treat, Aden was just as happy to stick with his lemonade.

“I’m sure it is.” He laughed. “But death by chocolate is not how I planned by going.”

“It’s not that much chocolate.” She scoffed at his words, not allowing him to offend her favourite dessert.

“It’s got more chocolate than I probably eat in a year.”

“Now that’s an exaggeration.” Belle told him. “I know for a fact that you love chocolate as much as me.”

“No, Belle. No-one could love chocolate as much as you.” He said solemnly as she gave him a sarcastic smile before forking up another piece of cake for herself.

“Hey!” Mattie said as she walked into the Diner a second later, walking straight up to them. As soon as she saw the cake on the plate in front of her best friend, she got curious. “What’s the occasion?”

“Here.” Aden handed her the letter that he had been reading over. Mattie took it slowly, reading it word by word.

Belle gauged her reaction as she clapped a hand over her mouth. She had told her about her application almost as soon as she had made it, having gotten her opinion on the portfolio too.

Keeping her eyes on her, Belle reached across the table and pulled Aden’s glass towards her, taking a sip, still watching Matilda.

“Hey!” Aden exclaimed, raising his eyebrows at her pointedly. “You don’t get to have of that if I don’t get any of the cake.”

“I offered.” She answered cheekily, taking another sip of the lemonade before pushing it back to him, smiling innocently. As he shook his head, Belle turned back to Matiie. “What do you think?”

“This is just… it’s… it’s… wow.” Mattie stuttered. “Oh, wow! You’re going to be famous.”

“Um… I doubt that.” Belle replied as Aden laughed.

“You will! Everyone in New South Wales reads this! And then when you get your pictures in here, you’ll be given a job at some big national paper or something.” She explained her theory.

“Yeah, maybe. If I’m lucky.” Her tone was uncertain, not wanting to get her hopes up in any way.

“Sure you will. You’re the best photographer around. Trust me, I know these things.” Mattie informed her, her tone suggesting that there was no way to budge her from her views.

Belle just nodded as Mattie managed to catch her eye. She watched as they drifted to Aden quickly and then to her bracelet which had taken it’s rightful place back on her wrist. Belle simply smiled at her, knowing that Mattie would get the message that everything was alright between the two of them.

Although she hadn’t said it, Belle knew that she was also wondering if she had asked Aden about the auction yet.

Shaking her head gently, with a small smile, Mattie nodded.

“Just let me know when you do.”

“Will do. Have you?” Belle replied, enquiring whether she had asked Ric yet.

“Nope. I will though.” Aden just looked from one of the girls to the other before shaking his head. He didn’t even want to try and understand what they were talking about.

Mattie stayed for a moment longer before heading off back home. She had just taken a break from some revising, coming for muffins to give herself a reward for studying so much.

“What?” Belle questioned Aden as he stared at her fiddling with the remains of her cake.

“You’re not going to finish that, are you?”

“Yeah.” Irene had cut her the biggest piece that she could and there had been no objection from Belle.

“There’s no way. That piece of cake probably weighed more than you.” Aden joked as she scooped up another fork full and slowly, teasingly, ate it.

“Hmm…” She murmured, eyeing him closely as he continued to doubt her. “You know what would go great with this?”

“Some time?” He replied sarcastically, noting how she had managed to eat three-quarters of it in about 10 minutes.

“Ice-cream.” Belle corrected him.

“Of course.” Aden said, laughing. “What was I thinking?”

---

“I’m surprised you can still walk.” Aden told her as they approached the beach house.

“Why?”

“Cos you just ate your body weight in chocolate cake.”

“So?” Belle asked, throwing a smile over her shoulder at him as she fiddled with the keys in the lock.

“So… if I were to eat that much, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to move for about a week.”

“See? That’s the difference between you and me. You would just get lazy, I use the energy.” Belle pointed out, twirling around to face him, one hand on the handle behind her.

“I wouldn’t get lazy.”

“Alright then, just fat.” She countered, pushing the door open as he frowned.

“That’s mean.” Aden complained, a slight pout forming on his face as Belle walked into the house in front of him.

“What can I say? I’m a mean person.” She replied dryly. Belle dumped her bag in her room before returning to the living room where Aden was standing, arms crossed in a slight sulky expression. “You’re not upset are you?”

“Please. Like I would take that seriously.” He scoffed, turning to look at her. She approached him slowly, trying to figure out if he meant it or not. Belle knew that he was joking around with her like she was with him, but she just had to make sure.

“You know…” Belle said as she sauntered right up to him, gently forcing him backwards before pushing him to sit onto the couch behind him, “there’s no-one else home right now.”

“Is that so?” Aden grinned as he held a hand out for her, loving how her mood had flipped from teasing to seducing in an instant.

“Yup.” She replied as she climbed onto him, balancing on her knees as she straddled his lap with his hands on her legs to keep her close. “Whatever could we do?” Belle whispered before pulling him into a deep kiss that he willingly reciprocated.

“You tell me.” He said when they parted for the briefest moment to get some air. Belle giggled as Aden’s hands went under the back of her top while taking her lips with his.

“I say,” she began, only to be interrupted by another heated kiss. “We continue,” she was able to add while catching her breath before initiating another one. It was only seconds, or so it seemed to her, before she was able to finish off her sentence, “Celebrating.”

“Great idea.” Aden was able to comment when they parted for once and for all when the need of oxygen became necessary. He rested his forehead against hers, both being able to sync their breathing with each other. “We should move though.”

“Great idea.” Belle repeated, her voice barely above hearing level. Rubbing her nose against his in a loving way, she stole another kiss from him. Even though her mind was telling her to move to her bedroom first, Belle couldn’t being herself to part from him.

Knowing that she wouldn’t move without any help from him, Aden decided to take action. Drawing her closer to him, he gave her one final kiss before pulling right away. Belle got the message he was trying to tell her and nodded, sliding off him and holding out a hand for him, which he gladly took, after which she guided him straight to her room for their own privacy.

---

Hope you all enjoyed it!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Right, so just for you loyal readers with ya laptops and DSs under the covers, I finished this off quick as I could. It did turn out pretty long once again. And fluffy...

Anyhoos, enjoy!

Chapter 16:

Aden watched Belle as she chatted on her phone to Mattie, not giving any clues about their secret charity event away. Well, it was still a secret to him. They hadn’t had the time to talk about it since they got home about 3 hours ago. Actually, they hadn’t had time to talk much at all.

After ‘celebrating’ for about an hour, the two of them had been too lazy to get out of bed, just laying there in Belle’s darkened room, talking and simply spending time together, until Mattie had called. At first, Belle had given in to Aden’s pleading of just letting it go to voicemail, but after the third time, she picked it up.

He hadn’t been happy, to say the least, with the lack of attention he was getting from his girlfriend, even as he trailed his hand up and down her back. The only time that he did get any attention was when Aden had grazed his thumb very lightly along her waist as she laid curled up next to him, making her jump at the tickling sensation. And the attention that he had gotten wasn’t the kind he was looking for, as her hand came to hit him on the chest and then pushed himself off of him.

Complaining about the stinging that she had caused, Belle had rolled her eyes and gotten out of bed, quickly pulling on her clothes with ease, even with one hand or with the phone shoved in between her shoulder and ear. When Aden had made no action to move, she had thrown his clothes at him, hinting greatly what he had ought to do.

Rolling his own eyes, he got redressed, although Belle hadn’t given him his t-shirt. Aden thought that she had left there on the chair on purpose, and a grin on his face as he settled back onto the bed, content with just watching her.

Belle had been on the phone for about 20 minutes before she hung up, leaving the room for a moment to fetch her laptop from the table where Annie had been using it. She locked the door as she re-entered the room. It hadn’t gone past her that Aden sat half-naked in her room while Geoff and Annie were also in the house. Dumping her computer on the bed, she turned around, the already drawn curtains making her switch on the lights.

“Don’t.” Belle said warningly as she saw Aden reach for the computer out of the corner of her eye.

“Fine.” He sighed, settling back onto the bed. Belle picked up her laptop and sat on the opposite end of the bed, facing him. “What did Mattie want?”

“Just discussing some stuff.” She replied vaguely.

“About the event?” Aden asked, hoping she would finally tell him what it was.

“Yes.”

“You going to tell me what it is?”

“Depends.”

“On what?” Aden wasn’t happy with her one word answers. It was making him more impatient than normal, and he was pretty sure that she knew that and was using the single word answers to annoy him.

“Whether you’ll agree.” Her words were still vague making Aden frown, especially when she didn’t stray her eyes from the laptop.

“Agree on what?”

“Agree to take part.” Belle’s tone was now more focused on him, making it sound like it was the logical choice for him.

“Take part in what, exactly?” Aden asked, frustration clear in his voice. Their conversation, if it could be called that, had brought them in a full circle.

Laughing at his irritation, Belle finally gave him the attention he had been clearly searching for. Taking her eyes off the laptop, she looked at him, her laughter dying down into slight bubbles of laughs when she saw the unimpressed look on his face.

“We’re holding an auction. A bachelor auction.” She corrected herself when Aden’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

“Seriously?” His eyes widened in surprise, pronouncing each syllable slowly.

“Yup.” Belle reiterated to using one worded answers.

“Wait… you want me to take part?” Aden had to make sure that he had heard right.

“Yes.” She confirmed.

“Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’?” Belle frowned. It seemed pretty simple to her. “It’s a charity event, and we need people to take part to raise money. Otherwise-”

“Yeah, I get that bit, Belle. I’m not entirely stupid.” When she opened her mouth to counter his statement, Aden carried on quickly. “I meant why do you want me to take part?”

“Because we need guys. And I dunno if anyone’s told you, but you’re a guy, Aden.” She smirked as he rolled his eyes, unable to come back with a witty remark.

“So you want me to… what? Get up onto a stage and let girls bid for me like some kind of… thing?” He asked incredulously.

“Well, kind of, yeah.” Aden shook his head at her response. “Ok, look, you just put it in a bad way.”

“Put it in a good way.” He challenged her.

“It’s for charity, Aden. It’ll be fun.” Belle explained. “You’re always saying how ‘irresistible’ you are. Prove it.”

“True…” Aden accepted her answer easily before sighing. “When is it?”

“Next Saturday.” She told him promptly, knowing that he was close to giving in.

“Next week?” He exclaimed. “Belle, that’s like a week before the exams.”

“No, it’s two weeks, I checked.” Belle hastily told him. “I made sure that it wouldn’t get in the way of exams.”

“Belle…” Aden groaned. He was really split on this.

“C’mon, Aden. What’s the problem?” She whined. If she had know that he wouldn’t have agreed straight out, then she would have thought of more arguments and reasons.

“It’s not just me I’m thinking about here. What about all those girls? I mean, what’s to say that you won’t get all green-eyed and go crazy on them? Or those unfortunate girls who just won’t be able to afford me?” He told her in his normal egotistical way.

“I’m sure they’ll get over it.” Belle replied dryly. “And I can promise you that I won’t go ‘green-eyed’. Any more excuses?”

“Who else is taking part?”

Giving Aden a dirty look for being difficult, Belle got up and rooted through her bag for the piece of paper she had been looking at before. Finally finding it, she climbed back onto her bed, holding the list out for him. Instead, Aden grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her onto his lap before taking the paper out of her hand.

“This is a long list.”

“Not everyone can take part.” She informed him as wriggled her arm around the back of his waist to make herself more comfortable as his came around hers to make sure she didn‘t fall.

“I see…” He mumbled. Belle watched his eyes take the names in at a glance before starting to read each name one by one. “You got Roman to do it?” Aden’s tone was in astonishment.

“Yup. I’m a miracle worker at times.” Belle joked, resting her head against his shoulder as he continued to read. She felt him laughing soundlessly at some of the names at the beginning.

“Ok, I get Miles and Ric, but Alf? Really?” Aden looked down at her while she just shrugged with one shoulder.

“It was worth the try.” She told him, referring to the reason why his name was crossed off.

“Hmm…” He simply said, and Belle could guess by the change in his mood that he read the name that she had scribbled at the bottom of the list while at the beach. “I thought Drew was coming this weekend?”

“He was. But now he’s coming next week.” Belle tried to say it as if it was no big deal, but she knew that he wasn’t going to be happy with the rest of the news.

“Why?” Aden asked just as she had predicted. Lifting her head up form where it rested, Belle put on a light smile as if it was like an every occurrence.

“Because he’s got that week off for studying, and he’s going to stay here.”

“For the week?”

“For the week.”

“Well ain’t that just great.” His tone was more than just sarcastic. Underneath those words, there was anger and vexation.

“Look, don’t think about that. It’s just before HSCs; you’ll both be busy.” She knew that it wasn’t the right time to point out that in the one week, there’s probably going to be a time when she could get the two of them in each other presence. With her there too, of course.

“Like I said before, he’s not worth the energy to think about.” Aden said in clipped words. Belle stared at the side of his face as he turned his attention back to the list, wondering whether to push it or not. In the end, she decided that she should just stick to the original part of their conversation.

“Back to main point.” Belle said while placing a kiss on his cheek. “You going to take part?” Aden didn’t reply, even as she trailed a couple of kisses along his jaw, letting her hand roam over his abdomen lightly. “Please?”

“That’s not going to work.” He said matter-of-factly even as she saw in his eyes that it was working.

“For me?” Belle asked in the sweet voice that she knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. “If you really love me, you know how happy it would make me if you took part.”

“No.” Aden quickly said. “No, no, no. Don’t go using that ‘if you really love me’ line. You don’t get to guilt me into this.”

Belle giggled at his reply. She knew that he knew what she was doing. And that in the end, she was going to get her way anyway.

“Please, Aden?” She asked one more time, dropping a kiss just by the corner of his mouth. When she pulled away, he rested his head back against he headboard and sighed wearily.

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Really?” Belle asked excitedly. “You’re not just saying that cos I kind of guilt you into it?”

“No,” Aden replied with a sigh. “I mean it. I’ll do it. It sounds kind of fun.” Belle could tell by how he smiled a tad bit at the end that he actually meant it.

“Yay! Thank you!” She kissed him hard on the lips, laughing when he did so at her actions. “Just one thing though.”

“What?”

“No stripping off like last time. No-one but me needs to see you topless, alright?” Belle said, half-seriously.

“Alright.” Aden reluctantly agreed, before smirking. “I’ll just save that for the date.”

---

Bet you all knew he would give in in the end, didn't ya?

Right, so the bachelor auction... how will that work out?! Stay tuned and find out!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

I was gong to post this whole chapter together, but it's getting pretty long. So I thought I would give you guys part a now, and then part b when it's done [should be tonight].

Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 17:

Part A.

“Ok, we’ve got our 17 guys then.” Mattie stated a week later.

“Yup. I just hope that none of them back out at the last minute.” Belle told her.

“They won’t.”

“What makes you so confident?”

“Are you kidding me? Not only is it a charity event, it’s organised by me and you. I happen to know that many of these boys are scared to get onto your bad side.” Mattie explained to her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“They are not!” Belle exclaimed, throwing one of Mattie‘s pillows at her, slightly horrified at her words. “Why would you say that?”

“Because you have a history of getting even with people who tend to tick you off.” She pointed out.

“That’s… that’s…” Belle faltered. It wasn’t like she could deny it; when it came to revenge, it was her specialty. People who rubbed her the wrong way got a taste of their own medicine, although she did like to think that it was only justice. “I’ve matured since then.”

“Sure. So you wouldn’t go pouring cooking oil on some jerk if they… I dunno, happened to blackmail someone?” Mattie asked rhetorically, remembering the time when Belle had done so on the man who has tried to blackmail Amanda.

“Well, if the occasion called for it and there was cooking oil within reach…” Belle trailed off, a smirk on her face to show that she was joking, even if deep down they both knew she would do it still.

“Anyway, back to this.” Mattie said after a minute. “We have… 5 days.”

“And I think that we’re kind of done.” Belle told her.

“Really?” She was beyond surprised. “Lemme see that.” Taking the laptop that Belle offered her, she looked at their checklist.

“I’ve done most of it. And the rest will be done during the week.” Belle informed her.

“Alright. We got the… venue, check. Date, check. Guys, check. Hostess,” Mattie raised her own hand up in the air, “check. Music?”

“Got a DJ.” Belle inputted.

“Check then. Photographer, check.” Mattie pointed at Belle, who had told her straight out that she had wanted to photograph it rather than to host it. “Food and drink, check.” Both the Diner and the Surf Club where helping with the appetisers. “Advertisement?”

“Word of mouth. Pretty much done. Saves a lot of money too.” Belle pointed out.

“Pretty cool. And did you get the new charity’s info?” Mattie asked, remembering how they had decided to donate to the Make A Wish foundation in the end.

“Next page.” Mattie did as she said.

“Brilliant! So we’re done!”

“Yup. Until next Saturday that is.”

“Don’t worry. I have taken that day off from studying to help out. I deserve the break.” Mattie said pointedly so that her best mate wouldn‘t argue with her.

“Seems like everyone’s taking the day off. This thing is only in the evening, you know!” Belle kidded just as her phone buzzed in her pocket.

“If that’s Aden demanding some of your time, tell him that I’ve got you for the next hour, at least.” Mattie threatened. “And if he really wants you, he can come up here and get you!” Belle shook her head as she laughed at her antics.

“It’s not Aden. It’s Drew.” She informed her. “And guess what?”

“What?” Mattie asked carefully, knowing that it wasn’t good news by the look on Belle’s face.

“We’re down to 16. He’s coming on Sunday now.”

“I’m going to kill him!” Mattie said through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, well, get in line.” Belle said in the same tone. “Next time I see him, there better be no fryer oil nearby!”

---

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Mattie began as she stood on the stage the had put up in the main area of the Surf Club, “welcome to Summer Bay’s first, and hopefully not the last, bachelor auction!”

A round of applause and whistling accompanied her opening lines. It seemed as if everyone who could be there, was there. Surprisingly, even those who couldn’t take part, such as the married couples and the too young teenagers.

But there was only one person that Belle was keeping an eye out for. The ladies all sat or stood in the main part of the building while the guys were either hovering in the doorway or in the bar. Some, if they were the lucky ones, were backstage if they were up next. Yet out of all those places where people were positioned, Aden was nowhere to be found.

“There are only 3 rules. No bidding on partners, you can only take away one guy,” the terminology of that rule made the others laugh, “and only spend what you have. Just keep in mind though, this is for charity, so the more the better. Remember, these guys will be your slave for the whole day.”

Everyone was too caught up on Mattie’s version of the rules that there was almost a pin drop silence right until the end, when the girls cheered and the guys groaned.

“… without further ado, let’s get this show started!” There was more clapping as the crowd got prepared for the event. “First up, we have 18 year old Michael Abbot. In case you didn’t know, Michael plays for Summer Bay High School’s football team and is planning on going to study law in Sydney…”

Michael came up onto the make shift stage, looking slightly uncomfortable being the first person up. They had originally decided to go alphabetically to make it more fair, although there were some people, such as Ric and Roman, who would have been at the end of the list because of work commitments. But Mattie had forgotten to make the list, so she had just thrown a list of the guys who were going to take part together randomly.

Belle started to snap pictures from her position at the back of the room so that she could get everything in view perfectly. A smile came onto her face when she heard Mattie starting the bid at $10, which went up to $25 almost immediately.

Felling her phone buzz in her pocket, Belle decided to keep on taking pictures until Michael had been ‘sold’ to Michelle for about $67. She was glad that people were willing to spend a bit of money on this.

Don’t worry. I’ll be there.’ the text from Aden read. It was the only reply she had gotten since calling him repeatedly and then finally texting him the last time about an hour ago. Sighing, Belle pushed the phone back into her jeans pocket and picked up her camera once again.

“… popular teacher, if you can call him that.” There was a laugh and a couple of ‘whoops’ from the audience, mainly the guys, while Miles mockingly told Mattie off whilst he came up onto the stage. “So… we start at $10 once again.”

“20!” Nicole, sitting right up front, yelled out straight away. There were many other bids above hers and both Mattie and Belle had a hard time keeping up. They shared a look when Belle paused for a moment from her job, an amused look on her face.

“Right,” Mattie said uncertainly. “Well, I say $130. Anyone wanna bid more?” When there were no more takers, she smiled. “Excellent!”

Belle couldn’t help but laugh when Miles gave Mattie a very appreciated look and hug, and she guessed it was because she had saved him from the clutches of the school girls. Or Colleen.

---

Part B will be up soon!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Ok, so I lied. This chapter won't be in 2 parts, it will be in three. It's getting extra long, and I don't think I can finish it off right now and I wanted to give you something, so I've split it. Again.

I'm pretty sure you'll like this chapter though. I hope you do...

Chapter 17

Part B

The next half an hour passed just the same. There was such a great atmosphere in the Surf Club, and both the organisers were sure that that was the reason for why everyone was so enthusiastic with their bids.

“You should be happy.” Irene whispered to Belle as she snuck up behind her.

“Geez, Irene!” Belle gasped, almost dropping her camera as she quickly went to the last dozen of pictures or so. “You scared the Hell outta me!”

“Sorry, darl.” Irene apologized as she came to stand in front of her. “This is going down pretty well, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I’m really surprised it’s going down this well!” she replied, a smile gracing her face, although Irene knew that it was only half-real. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Her quick reply didn’t help her defence. “I’m just wondering where Aden’s got to. He was supposed to be here to help set up, but now he’s about 4 hours late!”

“Have you heard from him at all?” Irene asked, slightly worried. She knew that Aden wasn’t the kind of guy to be extra late for something, or not turn up, if he was being counted on. And if he was being counted on by Belle, she was sure that he wouldn’t be late at all.

“Yeah, he texted saying he’ll be here.” She sighed, fiddling with her camera as Mattie started to introduce the 6th guy.

“Then he’ll be here.” Irene told her confidently. Belle nodded, lifting the camera up to snap pictures of Geoff as he stood on the stage. “Now, this is going to be funny.”

Belle had to agree, especially as Geoff started to go red when Nicole wolf-whistled at him, only to be followed by a couple of other girls. Trying to keep up with the bids and who made them, Belle lost everything she tried to keep track with when she heard someone step up beside the stool that she sat on.

“I never would have taken Geoff as the type to sell himself to girls.” The person drawled.

“He’s doing it for me. Family, and all, you know?” She said dryly.

“Ouch. Alright, I’ll give you that. But in my defence, I did say that I would do it.”

“Until you backed out.” Belle continued to take pictures as Geoff walked off the stage and went to sit next to some blonde that she had never met before.

“Because I wasn’t going to be here!”

“Really, Drew?” she finally turned to face him. “Cos it looks like you’re here now.”

“That is true.” Drew nodded, accepting the obvious truth.

“If you’re just going to annoy me, then please just go.” She muttered while Mattie started of auctioning Angelo off.

“If you would just listen to me for a second instead of trying to get rid of me,” Drew informed her, “you would find out that I am willing to take part. Still.”

“Seriously?” Belle asked excitedly, missing the first bids on the officer.

“I guess so.” He shifted a bit on his feet. “Will it get you off my back?”

“Yes! Totally!” She grinned properly for the first time that night, trying to keep her voice as low as she could without disturbing everyone’s bidding. “Thank you!”

“Anything to stop that guilt trip of your’s and Mattie’s.” He told her, rolling his eyes. Mattie had been very cold towards him since Monday when he had told them that he wasn’t going be down in time for the event. Every time that he would call to speak to Ric, she would purposely just hang up. Although he had only called to speak to Ric twice, Drew had enjoyed messing with Mattie, phoning her up at least once a day; twice or even three times if he was being sadistic. With Belle though, he didn’t even dare ring her.

“Ok, lemme tell Mattie.” Belle smiled, pulling her camera down as Angelo was sold off for $97. She watched as the ever-bubbly and nice copper walked down from the stage and over to his winning bidder. Belle saw the path he was taking in shock. “Irene!” She hissed at her.

“What? It‘s for a good cause.” Irene replied, smiling slyly.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Belle shared a look of amusement with both Geoff and Annie, who was sitting near the back with Jai. They had sorted out their differences; her telling him that she believed he didn’t kiss someone else, even if Belle had her doubts.

“Here, hold this.” She handed Drew her camera as she saw her chance to go talk to Mattie. “Don’t move. I’ll be back in a second.”

“Sure thing, sis.” He murmured, not paying much attention but rather eyeing up the crowd. She guessed that he was not only checking out what girls there were there for him, but why he hadn’t felt daggers being shot at him by a certain someone.

---

An hour later, there were only three people left. Ric, Drew and Roman. Aden still hadn’t turned up and neither one of them were holding their breath on it.

“… mechanic, security guard, business partner… the list could go on.” Mattie told the crowd as she introduced Ric. There were a couple of exaggerated coughs from the crowd, mainly from Nicole and Belle, telling her to just get on with it.

Like always, there were a couple of wolf whistles as Ric strutted onto the stage, not shy at all. He continued to show off even as the bidding started. Even with most of the crowd already out of the bidding game, there was still a busy rush of bids.

“$100!” Colleen called out hysterically. A scared looked passed Ric’s face, and although he tried his best to hide it, Belle had captured it on camera.

“120.” Belle countered, taking pity on the guy. She continued with her job as if everything was normal, even as she felt Drew, Mattie and Ric all stare at her from various points of the room. Smiling sweetly at the guy on the stage, he shrugged, glad to be clear of the threat of having to settle with Colleen.

Although several murmurs filled the room but no-one decided to go higher.

“Sold!” Mattie exclaimed as Ric approached her.

“Thank you!” He vehemently said, the relief clear on his face. “You just saved my soul!”

“Mate, your soul’s been long gone.” Drew teased, clapping him on the back. Ric tried to gibe back violently, but had was forced to stop when the former’s phone rang. “Ah, saved!”

Belle laughed at their antics, showing Ric the pictures of him when he made her. She listened as he criticized her work, trying to delete the photos of him looking scared.

“They’re locked. So don’t even try… it.” Ric threw a look over his shoulder when her tone became distracted. He saw her stare behind him, and when he looked, he wasn’t surprised that it had gained her attention.

Drew was standing just inside the doors, back against the wall with the phone to his ear as Aden gave him a curious glace. They were only in that position for a moment before Aden entered the main part of the Surf Club in a rush.

“Where have you been?” Belle snapped at him as Ric handed her camera carefully and walked away as quickly and quietly as he could.

“I’m so, so, so sorry.” He apologized, out of breath. Belle realized that he must had ran from God knows where to get there to be in the shape that he was now. “Why was he here?”

“I asked first.”

“Later.” Aden told her. “Am I in trouble?”

“Get up on stage and I’ll think about forgiving you.” Belle informed him as she nodded towards Mattie, indicating that Aden was up next. She had been watching them and smiled before starting to introduce him.

“Going.” He replied, placing a hand on her cheek to give her a sweet kiss first before jumping up onto the stage in a very Aden-like manner.

“… main star of the footy team.” Mattie had just finished saying when he had taken his place. “Like always, let’s start with $10.”

“50!” Nicole called out. Belle had started to take pictures already, not missing the traditional ‘you want me’ smile that Aden had automatically placed onto his face.

“60!” One of the girls that Belle didn’t know called out.

“65!”

“70!” Two others called out. After that there was a buzz of numbers, each one making Aden’s grin grow, getting more happy with himself as Belle had predicted he would. She knew that this wouldn’t have been good for his ego.

“150.” Nicole said easily, making everyone else who had bided murmur in shock and disappointment. There weren’t that many school girls that could afford more than that.

The whispering had made Aden even more confident, winking at Belle at the back before blowing a little kiss to Nicole.

“If there’s no more takers, then-”

“175!” A voice interrupted her. The murmuring started up again, and even Nicole turned in her seat to see who had upstaged her. Belle moved her camera down, wondering who it could have been. The voice had been very common.

“176...” The resident socialite replied, confusion clear in her voice.

“177.” The other person countered. It was now easy for every to tell form the jolly voice who it was. Silence once again followed the whispers.

“Please. I can have him for free.” Nicole gave up, settling back in her seat as Aden laughed at her words.

“Sold!” Mattie concluded when no-one else spoke up.

An extremely pleased Aden hopped off the stage and walked over to Ruby, who sat by Annie and Jai, both who were in fits of laughter. As he got near enough, he dramatically bowed down in front of her, a smirk playing on his lips as she casually waved him off.

“I’ll deal with you later, oh dear slave boy of mine.” Ruby said in a fake snobby voice. Smiling, Aden headed over to where Belle sat.

“Happy?” He whispered into her ear.

“For now.”

“Hey! I just raised you a lot of money there. Had to put on all my good stuff too.” Aden exclaimed, crossing his arms while she went through the recent pictures.

“Eh… I’ve seen better.”

“Yeah, I know you ha-”

“Don’t!” Belle interrupted. “Don’t finish off that sentence.”

“Alright, alright.” Aden said. “So, how good did I do? Did I raise the most?”

“This is a charity event, Aden.” she reprimanded. “It’s doesn’t matter who comes top, or whatever.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” Belle rolled her eyes at his cockiness before pushing him out of her way.

“I need to take photos.”

“You can take them of me.” He told her matter-of-factly.

“No thanks.” Her tone was dry and Belle knew that the only reason he didn’t tease her back was because Mattie had started to introduce Drew. Neither one of them had seen him re-enter the Surf Club, but true to his word, Drew got up on stage.

“So… $10?”

“25!”

“30!”

“35!” The bids came all at once from the same group of girls that had been bidding before.

“50.” Nicole inputted.

“75!” The red head, who Belle had found out to be called Stephanie, hurriedly added. Every other girl around her murmured in shock, wondering how she could get so much.

As she continued to take pictures, Belle couldn’t help but recognise the smirk on Drew’s face when Nicole up-bided her.

“100.”

“Sold!” Mattie called out when no-one added anymore bids. Drew walked off the stage and sat right next to Nicole who was sporting a pleased look.

Aden scowled quietly, not happy with that result at all. Grabbing his hand, Belle pulled him behind her slightly; a sign to tell him to leave it alone. She knew that he understood when he rested his hands on either side of the stool that she was sitting on.

“What’s he doing here?” Aden all but growled into her ear. Sighing, Belle leaned backwards rest against him.

“I don’t know. He just turned up and I got him to go onto the stage. I’ll find out later.” She whispered back, aiming her camera towards the stage to take the final photo’s of the night.

“… start the bidding for the final time at $10.” Mattie’s voice rang out, still as cheerful as it had been two hours ago, as Roman stood on the stage.

“I bet he’s here so that he can steal the limelight, or something.” Aden muttered.

“Aden…” Belle said warningly, never wavering from her job.

“I’m just saying, ok?”

“Can’t you just leave Drew alone for a bit? He did me a favour tonight. Leave your problem with him aside for now. Please?” She pleaded, knowing she got through to him when he sighed.

“I didn’t have a problem with him. He had one with me.” Aden corrected her.

“But you have one with him now, don’t you?”

“Only cos he had one with me. Just letting you know.”

“I hear ya.” Belle replied, understanding what he meant. Aden had trusted her to spend that weekend in the city with her mother months back, even though he knew that she would have been sharing the house with Drew too. She had been scared to tell him, but in the end, he had been understanding. It had been Drew who had gotten pissed off when he had learnt that she was dating Aden. It was Drew who had started their mutual hatred of each other.

“Sold!” Mattie broke into her thoughts, and Belle carried on with her job, watching as Roman put on a fake smile.

“Wow… Poor Roman.” Aden laughed. He had obviously been paying attention to what had happened.

“Aw…” Belle finally said when he saw a very happy Colleen hugging a very not-so-happy Roman. “At least Colleen got her toyboy.”

“I’m just glad it wasn’t me.” The shudder that went through him made her laugh.

“Yeah, me too.” She added. “Who knows how attached you might have gotten in a day?”

“Tell me about it.” He joked, keeping one eye on Roman sliding stealthily away from Colleen. “I really feel sorry for him, though.”

“I feel sorry for me. I’m the one who wanted him to take part.” She informed him, switching her camera off as Mattie finished up. “Me and Charlie, but seeing as she’s a cop, I don’t think he can hurt her.”

“Didn’t take you one to be scared of Roman.” Aden said.

“Not of this Roman.” Belle explained in a hushed voice as if it was a secret. She carried on when she saw him look at her funnily over her shoulder. “The ‘Roman’ that comes out after a day with Colleen… now that’s going to be scary!”

---

No drama... just fluff and humor! Don't get used to it!

Please let me know what you thought!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

This chapter ended up more fluffier than I originally expected it to be. It also had a lot more Adelle than I had planned. Ah well...

Hope you all enjoy it.

Chapter 17:

Part C

“I think tonight’s been awesome.” Ruby claimed as she stood with Annie and Jai by the bar, drinking orange juice.

“Only because you got to bid on Aden.” Annie replied.

“You don’t have $177, do you?” Jai asked her.

“Yes, Ruby, how were you planning on paying for that?”

All three teenagers spun around to see Charlie, a slightly intrigued look on her face. Ruby smiled back sweetly as their father and Morag joined them. Annie sensed that this was going to be a private conversation, so she held Jai by the hand and slunk away.

“Well, I was thinking, you see… You know how it’s my birthday coming up?”

“Yes?” Charlie replied, nodding.

“Instead of presents, you guys can all give me money!”

“Money? What for?” Ross asked as he neared them.

“Ruby wants money for her birthday instead of presents so that she can pay for this.” Charlie explained, an amused tone to her words.

“Really?” Morag asked.

“Yes. Well, no, because technically, you’ll be buying me a present. It would just be Aden…” She informed them as they all laughed. “What?”

“Nothing. I think we just didn’t know that people could be bought for birthdays.”

“For my birthdays you can.”

“Alright, I don’t see why not. It’s for a good cause and all.” Ross told her. Ruby squealed in delight, giving all three of them a hug. “Ok, now that that’s sorted, you can head home.”

“What? Why?” She moaned as Charlie left to find Roman.

“Because it’s almost midnight and we’re leaving. And before you argue,” He carried on as she opened her mouth to debate, “your friends are leaving too.”

Sighing, Ruby nodded, agreeing with what her father said. They gave her 5 minutes to say goodbye to everyone, even though they would see each other the next day probably.

Once she had spoken to Annie and Jai, she had caught Aden’s eyes from where he sat with Belle, Nicole and Geoff on the couch and he gave her a knowing smile. Ruby narrowed her eyes at him playfully, almost as if criticizing the fact that Belle was practically sitting on him, and then left.

“I can’t believe that Ruby out-bided me!” Nicole exclaimed as she watched her leave. “How is she going to afford that?”

“I dunno. But it’s money well spent, don’t you think?” Aden replied to which no-one answered. “Thanks.” He added sarcastically.

“Sorry.” Belle replied, tiredly. She was sitting on the armrest, her head kept up only by her arm which rested on the back of the couch. Her tucked up legs had slid down so that they were now resting on Aden’s lap. All in all, she looked as if she was going to fall asleep in a second, and the other three where just noticing it.

“Belle, don’t take this the wrong way, but you look… dead.” Nicole said as tactfully as she could.

“How could I possibly take that the wrong way?” Belle’s tone was dry, making the boys laugh. Clearly, even being that close to sleeping didn’t stop her from her witty remarks.

“C’mon, I think it’s time you went home.” Aden said, patting her legs gently. Belle pushed herself up onto the armrest more before swinging her legs onto the other side.

“No, I need to help clear up first.” She told him. People had mainly left now, many of them tired from a day’s work or a lazy Saturday.

“We’ll do it.” Geoff informed her. “It’s not that bad anyway.”

“Yeah, why not?” Nicole agreed.

“Sure?” Belle asked to make sure. They both nodded, although Nicole less enthusiastically than Geoff. “Alright then.”

Finally getting up, she accepted the camera that Nicole handed back to her before letting Aden guide her out of the building. It took about 5 minutes after everyone told her how good the event had been and that she should be happy with the outcome.

The cool wind woke her up some more, but it didn’t stop her from stumbling a slight bit while holding back a yawn.

“Anyone would think you’re drunk.” Aden joked, wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her still.

“Shut up.” She simply replied. It took a moment for her to realise that Aden was taking her the other way to the beach house. “Are you sure you’re not drunk? Home’s that way.” She pointed behind them while looking up at him as he laughed.

“I know. But the car’s this way.” He informed her.

“What car?”

“Your car.” Just as he spoke, they turned the corner so that they could see her blue car parked on the other side of the road.

“But I didn’t bring my-” Belle broke off when she thought about it. “You stole my car again.”

“I did not. I just borrowed it. You said I was allowed, remember?” He defended himself. Belle scowled, regretting ever telling him that he could use her car if he even needed it.

“Why haven’t you just bought your own one yet?”

“I will. After the exams. I know exactly which one to get, too.” He told her. “It’ll be the best car around. Trust me, you’ll love it.”

“It’s not one of those ‘chick-magnet’ cars, is it?” She asked worriedly.

“Uh…”

“Nice.” She added cynically when he hesitated.

“What? If I can afford it, I’m going to get it. No way am I going to stick with a little car if I don’t have to.” He replied, hinting at the fact that her car wasn’t the kind of one that he wanted.

“One day, Aden, I’m going to report my car stolen just for the fun of it. And then let‘s see you get into university with a criminal record like that.” She teased as they crossed over.

“You know,” Aden began as he unlocked it and opened the door for her, “there was this one time when people used to point their finger at you when cars went missing or got broken into.”

---

Stumbling through the kitchen in the dark, they both burst out laughing when they ran into one of the dining table chairs. Although it was Belle who took the brunt of the pain, it wasn’t much and it didn’t stop her from finding it funny.

“Shhh…!” She hushed Aden as they entered her room. “Irene and Annie are already in bed.”

“I’m sure they didn’t hear that.” he responded, a soft smile on his face as turned to face her after shutting the door behind him and throwing his jacket onto the chair. “You don’t look so tired anymore.”

“It’s amazing what a good laugh can do.” Belle replied, replacing her camera where it belonged. “Especially with the right person.”

Aden lightly chuckled at her words, heading over to open the window a slight bit for some fresh air.

“Careful.” Belle called out as she settled onto her bed. “I got a splinter last week doing that.”

“You got a splinter?” Aden asked, incredulously as he took his shoes off.

“Yes, why‘s that so hard to believe?”

“Because your window’s made out of plastic.” He replied, rapping his knuckles against he window pane to prove his point.

“What? No!” Jumping up off her bed, Belle went to check herself. She pushed the window fully up when she sure that Aden was right, making sure that there was something made of wood nearby. “That’s- that’s not possible. I had a splinter.”

Shutting the window, Belle huffed while sitting back down, eyes on her finger. Aden watched her do so, opening the window a little bit once again before joining her on the bed.

“I’m sure you did.” He said gently, amusement lacing his words.

“Urgh… don’t patronise me.” She sneered at him, pushing her hair off of her face as she gave up trying to find the almost two week old injury.

“I’m not!” Aden tried to say with a straight face, but it failed after seconds. “Ok, so maybe I am. But it’s funny. You’re a disaster at times!”

“Am not.” Belle muttered, crossing her arms stubbornly, not caring how childish she seemed to get when she was tired.

“You got a splinter from the window which is made of PVC, and let’s not forget you breaking your foot by tripping over nothing.” Aden pointed out.

“There was obviously something there that made me get a splinter.” Belle countered, but she couldn’t argue the other point, even after 5 months of defending herself. “And shut up.”

“Ok, ok. I’ll leave it alone.” He gave in, laying backwards across the bed to stare up at he ceiling. “It’s not your fault you’re a klutz or something like tha- Ow!” Belle had given him a well placed kick to the side of his stomach. “Fine, I’ll shut up.”

“He finally gets the message.” Belle said in mock astonishment, a yawn interrupting her dry tone.

“You’re shattered.” Aden told her, pushing himself up to lean on his elbows while staring at her. “What time did you get up this morning?”

“Uh… about half 6. We had to get everything sorted and make sure that it was all going to plan.” she explained.

“It all went down well, so I’m guessing it did.”

“Hmm… yeah, in the end. Although it took longer to set up, seeing as we were one person down, and all.” Belle said pointedly, raising an eyebrow at him. “Is it ‘later’ enough yet?”

“I just had something to do in the city. I didn’t think it was going to take that long.” He confessed. “Just be glad I took a car otherwise I would never have made it back in time.”

“You had to go today?”

“Yes, otherwise…” He started as he got up off the bed, “I wouldn’t have had the time to do this.”

Aden picked up his jacket from the chair and rooted through the inside pocket. Belle sat up, curious, and shuffled to the edge of the bed. When he found what he was looking for, he threw it back down and walked over to her.

“Here.” He held out a thin slip of paper. She stared at him for a moment before taking it. Unfolding it, the frown on her lips vanished as her mouth opened in shock.

“Aden…” She gasped, her eyes finally tearing away from it to her boyfriend who stood leaning against her vanity table. “This is…”

“… a cheque. A copy of one, I mean.” He finished off for her, knowing that that wasn’t what she was going to say.

“Yeah, but this is too much. I can’t take it.” She got up, folding the piece of paper, a receipt showing transfer of $2000, back into half before taking his hand and placing it into it.

“I’m not giving it to you.” Aden told her. “Well, I guess I am. But it’s not for you, it’s for the charity. Which means that you can’t decline it.”

“I know I can’t, but 2 grand, Aden?” Belle asked him, unsure if he knew what it was doing.

“Listen, all that money that I have is just piling up. Literally. And if I don’t do something good with it, then I’m going to feel really bad when I buy that awesome car.” Belle giggled at his warped reasoning. “At least this way, I feel like I deserve it.”

“By giving money to charity, you feel like you can reward yourself with a car?” She asked sceptically.

“See, you’re getting it!” Aden joked, wrapping his arms around her waist as she stepped up closer to him, tucking the piece of paper in his hand into her jeans pocket.

“I guess I can’t let you feel bad. That would just be mean.”

“It would be very mean.” He confirmed. “Even for you.”

Giving him an unimpressed look for that last comment, Belle rolled her eyes when he just grinned back. Wrapping her own arms around his neck, she pulled herself up and closer to him for a kiss.

“You’re just… perfect, you know that?” Belle asked him when they parted.

“‘Perfect‘?” Aden repeated with a scoff, twirling a piece of her hair between his fingers. “I’m far from perfect, love.”

“No, you’re not.” She said determinedly, curling her fingers into his hair to make him look at her. “You are perfect as you can be. To me, you are.”

Aden didn’t know how to reply. Apart from love and happiness, the only other thing that he could feel was a pang of guilt. Pushing that far down, he gave her another kiss, letting her know the first two emotions.

“You staying tonight, right?”

“Why do you always ask that?” Aden laughed.

“Cos I just wanna know. You’ve been staying at home for a while now…” Belle shrugged slightly to make her reasoning seem more casual than accusing while fiddling with the accessories that adorned his wrists. When her fingers came to play with the buttons on Aden’s white wristband, he swiftly removed his hand from hers.

“I’m staying. Just let me…” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder towards the bathroom as Belle nodded, stepping out of his embrace and pulled out her nightwear from a drawer.

As soon as Aden locked the door to the bathroom, he turned the taps on as quickly as he could without making much of a noise. Unclipping his watch and taking off his wristband, he carefully ran his hands under the flow of water.

Picking up the bar of soap, Aden rubbed it gently between his hands before purposely letting it linger around his right wrist. Even though the ink came off easily at first, there was still some that looked as if it was staining his skin.

Frantically scrubbing at the little black words, now all smudged, Aden was glad that he had thought ahead and worn the wristband. There would have been no way that he would have been able to get back from the city, go home, get rid of the stamp on his hand and then turn up to the event on time. The wristband had been big enough, and casual enough, to cover it up with no questions asked.

Scrubbing harder, Aden could see the black remains wash off. Turning the taps to slow the water down a tad bit, he rinsed off all the soap, watching as it left his skin rough and red from the force he had used. But there was no black left.

Sighing, he turned the taps right off before patting his hands dry; the raw skin giving a stinging sensation to the air and the cotton fabric. Aden prayed that Belle was tired enough to have either fallen asleep, or be close to it, so that she wouldn’t see the change in colour of his wrist. He hadn’t thought of an excuse to explain it yet, and he had no desire to feed her another lie if he could avoid it.

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What did you think of the event then? And the after stuff?

If you're thinking 'where did Drew go?', all will be answered soon.

xoxo