Everyone's Got Problems

[wrongturntaken]

Story Title: Everyone's got problems

Type of story: long fic

Main Characters: Aden/Belle, other members of current cast but also some new own creations.

BTTB rating: A

Genre: Romance, Drama, Angst

Does story include spoilers: NO

Any warnings: Mature themes, sex, mental disorders, some violence, abuse, although won't be written explicitly.

Summary:

I don't want to spoil it but the main story is set 17 years after the prologue and will revolve around Aden and Belle's life. I'm going to make it a bit interactive as i have created all the characters back stories so if you want to know anything, ask, and it will either already be in an upcoming chapter or i will include something to answer your questions. You will find out certain things gradually though and will involve some flash backs.

Sorry it took me a while to upload, i just handed in my essay today so i feel free to write. Thanks for all your comments on Can time really heal? and i really hope you enjoy this.

The prologue is quite long...

Every one's got problems

Prologue

"Aden, wake up… Aden!" Belle said towering over the bed, already dressed and looking at her sleeping boyfriend disapprovingly.

"Yeah, yeah…" Aden said sleepily bringing up his hand to block the harsh light threatening to invade his peaceful world before he rolled over to face away from her.

"You said you were getting up!" she cried, frustrated at Aden's lack of consciousness.

"Hmm…" came Aden's muffled reply before Belle finally got fed up and walked to the end of the bed, pulling the duvet off of him in one swift movement.

His legs jolted up to his chest as the sudden cold hit him, he was only in his boxers after all, but he still refused to get out of bed.

"Aden!" Belle whined and she saw a small smile playing on Aden's lips now and knew that he was awake and just doing this to annoy her. "That's it! I'm kicking you out of my room," she told him as she went to grab his arm as she pulled him up so that he was sat on the edge of the bed.

Aden laughed, "In case you've forgotten Belle, this hasn't been your room in six months, it's our room now so you can't kick me out," he told her smugly.

"Fine," Belle answered him snottily. "I guess I'll just have to rub the little piece of paper that I get for finishing my journalism course in your face whilst you wish you went to collect your one for become a qualified counselor!"

Aden smiled sheepishly.

"Don't tell me you forgot!" she exclaimed and Aden laughed lightly at how worked up she had gotten.

"Of course not, but what are you so worried about, we've got time, it's only…" he looked at the clock on the right hand side of the bed, "…oh my God, we are gonna be so late!" he exclaimed, suddenly becoming worried as he jumped out of bed and headed to the bathroom to have a quick shower.

Belle sighed in relief and put the clock back an hour to the right time. She knew it was a cruel trick but it was funny all the same and it got the job done.

*

"I'm really proud of you both," Irene said as she, Belle, Aden and Roman came into the beach house and the latter three took seats in the living room whilst she stayed in the kitchen, "…tea or coffee anyone?"

All three accepted the offer of coffee gratefully and Irene began pottering around in the kitchen making it.

"Yeah, I'm really proud of you both too," Roman told them smiling warmly as he sat in the comfy chair facing the young couple who were sat close together on the couch and kept sharing warm glances with each other.

"Thanks," Aden said gratefully.

"Yeah, thanks," Belle added, "…neither of us could have done it without either of you."

"Oh, don't go getting all mushy, Belle," Roman said; laughing.

Irene laughed as Belle added, "I'm serious, you've just both helped us so much with places to stay, and to work and just generally, you've been amazing!"

"Thanks Belle," Roman said and then looked at Aden expectantly who was staring in to his lap where he had Belle's hand in his own, and he appeared to be deep in thought. He felt eyes boring into him and looked up to see Roman, "Yeah, what she said," he suggested and Roman laughed. "Thanks mate."

Irene came into the living room and handed Roman's and Belle's drinks to them first before heading back to the kitchen to collect Aden's and her own. She gave him his and took a seat. "So have you two got any plans for the rest of the day?" she asked Aden and Belle conversationally.

"Hmm, not really," Belle answered lacing her fingers with Aden's.

"Actually, Belle, I kind of wanted to show you something," he said to her nervously and Irene looked over questionngly at Roman who just smiled at her knowingly.

"Well, that sounds ominous," Belle replied.

"I hope it's not," Aden said and Belle could see the hint of excitement edging on to his face.

"So what is it?" she enquired; now curious.

"It's a surprise," he told her, shrugging his shoulders and regaining his usual demeanor.

She hit him playfully on the arm, "No, you can't do that! You know what I'm like when it comes to surprises!"

Aden laughed and leant forward to pick up his drink from the table, "Yeah, I do," he said nodding his head with an evil glint in his eye as she scowled at him. "…and if you hit me again, I might never tell you."

"Fine," Belle gave in. "When am I going to find out?" she pressed.

Aden looked at his watch, "In about an hour, okay?" he looked at Belle.

"Okay," she relented and snuggled up in to Aden as he put his drink down.

Irene and Roman shared a glance, thinking of how much the two people in front of them had grown. They had become mature adults, both having now attended the local university for three years, Belle wasn't originally intending to go but when Aden found a journalism course and showed it to Belle, she couldn't resist. They had been together just over three years now and although they had their fights, they both knew this relationship was too important to lose over any. They had experienced life with one another and experienced life without one another and they both knew how they liked it.

An hour went by quickly as the four talked and Nicole and Geoff had joined them having just come in from a lunch date. Geoff was now the minister at the local church and although the pair had had their ups and downs, and a fair few break ups and get back togethers, they had really settled down and had been going strong for at least the past six months. They were actually engaged now and although Roman had been a little shocked to start with, he had come to accept that Nicole had grown into a respecting and beautiful young woman. She had even done extremely well in her HSCs and declared, much to everyone's shock, that she wanted to become a doctor and had now just finished her second year of studying medicine at uni.

"When do you start your new job at the paper, Belle?" Roman asked her.

"In a month," she told him excitedly, "I can't wait... a real newspaper, not a trashy one like the coastal news, it's gonna be great."

Aden smiled at her, pride evident in his eyes before he looked at his watch.

"Okay, I think we better go," he said, standing up, before reaching a hand out for Belle to help her get up. She took it and heaved herself up, not saying anything she followed Aden out through the kitchen and out of the door, looking back at everyone and giving them worried looks, especially when Roman called out, "Good luck," to Aden and Aden had turned and laughed lightly.

*

"Where are we?" Belle said as she approached a white painted building as she walked hand in hand with Aden towards it. It had only taken them ten to fifteen minutes to walk here and Aden had refused to tell her anything in all that time.

"This is… the palace," Aden turned to her.

"…the palace?" Belle questioned, thinking that the name rang a bell somewhere in her mind, "…oh yeah, I remember Irene telling me about this place once… wasn't there a fire here?"

"Yeah, but they've rebuilt it," Aden informed her.

"…and we're here because…?" Belle said shaking her head slowly from sided to side as she looked at him questioningly.

"It's a bit complicated," he told her, "I'll tell you once we're inside," he added walking towards the door as she followed him. He reached in to his pocket and pulled out a key before placing it in the door and opening it. He gestured for Belle to go through first and then followed her in. The sun was shining through and the room was light as the walls were painted white. There was no furniture, which probably added to making he place look huge and then there was a spiral staircase in the corner leading upstairs. "They made it a bit bigger which makes it perfect," Aden told her, pleased at the look of awe Belle had on her face as she spun around taking in the place.

"Perfect for what?" Belle asked, as she came to stand still and looked at him questioningly, "…and why do you have a key?"

Aden looked at her nervously and took a breath, "…because I own it," he told her sharply.

Her jaw dropped, "What?" she almost shouted and Aden looked shocked.

"I own it," he repeated tentatively.

"…but how… how did you afford it?" she questioned him, unable to comprehend what he was telling her.

"You know the money that you leant me… the money that Dad stole…?" Aden began

"…yeah," Belle drawled. "You gave that back to me."

"Yeah, but when I told Roman about the situation with the house, he loaned me the money to pay off the mortgage," he informed her, afraid what her reaction would be that he had kept this secret from her for so long. She stayed silent and looked like she wanted to yell at him but she was restraining herself. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just wasn't sure what it all meant, Roman convinced me to sell the house and let the money build up interest but I didn't know what I would use the money for, it just reminded me of the house and I just wanted to forget that place even existed, so I just ignored it."

Belle's face softened, "…and ignoring it meant not ever accepting it was real which meant not talking about it, huh?"

He nodded.

"So where does this place fit in?" she asked him as she started to walk around the room again, taking it all in.

"This is where it gets complicated," Aden told her but she could sense he was still excited. "…and I won't do anything unless you are completely on board," he added and Belle looked at him funnily.

"Go on…" she said warily.

"I want to make this place in to a drop in centre for kids where they can come and even spend the night if they don't feel like they can go home, and actually talk to counsellors too," he told her.

Belle face lit up slowly into a huge smile, "Aden… that's… that's great," she told him.

His nervous face was suddenly painted with the excitement he had been keeping at bay until he told her, "Seriously, you think so?"

"Yeah, of course, but where does the complicated bit come in?"

"…well it's just that running it won't be easy and there's an issue of money, and I'm going to have to ask you something that you can feel completely free to disagree with. I'm serious, if you don't want to do it, then you don't have to. I will completely understand, it's a huge ask and I don't want you to think I'm pressuring you into it or trying to guilt trip you in any way…" he blabbered on.

"Aden!" he stopped suddenly, "…just tell me what you're talking about," she said softly.

"The thing is, that running this place is going to be expensive and I do have a bit of money left over but I don't know how long that will last with everything that will need doing. The council has agreed to fund at least part of the project and I'm hoping that with donations and fundraisers, as we'll hopefully be registered as a charity, then we'll be able to keep this place afloat. But we'll still have to pay all the bills and our personal expenses, the council has agreed to pay me a small salary but it won't be enough."

"So what are you asking me to do?" Belle asked him.

He shrugged, "…bring home the bacon?" he suggested tentatively.

A slow smile spread across her face as she answered him simply, "I love you."

He was surprised at her reaction, "What?" he laughed.

"You have got to be the most perfect man ever," she told him. "Seriously, do you have any idea how many men would accept asking their girlfriends what you just did?"

He narrowed her eyes, "Is that a yes?" he asked her.

"Yes," Belle said. "I can see how much this place will mean to you and I think it's amazing that you want to help other people so much," she told him honestly.

He sighed in relief, "I know that it's probably not what you had in mind when you got your job at the paper but…"

"Belle placed a finger on his lips to shut him up, "…Aden, this is better than anything I had in mind, this place is going to be wonderful… just like you," she told him as she leant up to kiss him softly.

"There's something else," Aden said to her and Belle noticed he had that nervous look back on his face. Belle wondered briefly why he had been behaving that way for so much of today. She knew it was a big day and all, but every time she had shot him a quick glance when he wasn't looking, he seemed to be deep in thought and kind of muttering under his breath, looking really nervous.

"…yeah?" Belle asked him, stepping back from him slightly.

"I was only planning on using the down stairs for the drop in centre which means there's an apartment upstairs, so I was hoping that maybe we could…" he trailed off as Belle finished his sentence.

"Live there?" she asked him excitedly.

"Yeah," he told her. "What do you think? It would be nice to have a place that we can call our own, even if we might be sharing it with teenagers," he laughed reluctantly unsure if he might have just put her off.

"Yeah I guess it would," Belle said feigning indifference.

Aden smiled knowing that Belle was in this just as much as he was, "So will you help me set up and run this place?" he asked her now smiling face tentatively as she looked at him proudly.

"Yes," she breathed and he kissed her.

"Will you move in with me to our first home together?" he asked; using the same tone.

"Yes," she told him, nodding her head, and wanting to laugh she was so happy as placed both hands on her cheeks caringly and leant down to kiss her again.

"Will you marry me?"

Silence.

Belle's smile went to shock and her eyes widened as Aden reached into his pocket and got down on one knee, he opened the blue velvet case to reveal a ring with a silver band and a single set diamond, not too big but not too small either, "Belle Taylor… will you marry me?" he asked, that nervousness finally being explained as it came pounding through the sound waves from his voice now.

A slow smile curled up her lips as she began nodding vigorously, "Yes, Yes, I'll marry you! Of course I'll marry you!" she told him ecstatically.

He stood up, "Really?"

"Yes," she said with a huge smile.

Aden slowly took the ring out of the case and took Belle's hand in his own before placing the ring carefully on her finger. Belle stretched her hand to admire the ring that now adorned her hand, unable to believe quite how much had happened today.

Aden brushed his thumb against Belle's cheek, wiping away the tears of happiness she was now shedding, "We're getting married!" she told him and he laughed softly as she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him hungrily.

"Yeah, we are," he told her as they broke apart, with a smile that would have reached the moon, were it allowed to.

Belle took a step back for him and she started to get more serious, although there was still a hint of a smile in her words, "I can't believe we're doing this!"

Aden looked at her curiously, "Doing what?"

She shrugged her shoulders and glanced at the ceiling out of the corner of her eye, "Life," she said simply and Aden laughed softly at her response. She looked at him, stroking his chest with the hand that now bore her ring, he took it in his own, and pulled her down to the floor where they sat together, her head leaning into his shoulder as he kissed that hand. They stayed there in silence for a minute or two just taking in the essence of what there life was now, the essence of the emptiness of this room… …something to build on, something to fill, with memories and life and hopefully happiness. "Where do you think we'll be in 20 years?" she asked him quietly.

"I don't know," he answered her slowly, "I hope… that we'll be married with a few kids and… still be running this place," Aden told her smiling.

"…a few kids?" Belle answered him, "How many are we talking here?"

"Only seven," Aden said seriously.

Belle was about to laugh but when she didn't see Aden about to any time soon she began to get worried, "What?" she exclaimed but it was at that point Aden could no longer keep a straight face. She hit him playfully.

Aden wrapped his arms around her absorbingly, "What about you? Where do you think we'll be in twenty years?"

"Same," she told him simply.

"Well then, that's where we'll be," he told her confidently before leaning back slightly in order to give her a gentle kiss.

"I can't wait," Belle said softly as she breathed in his scent as he held her tightly, wanting to live in this moment forever.

I hope you liked it! Please leave me a comment and tell me what you thought, i'm hoping to update either tomorrow or Wednesday with the next chapter...

[Taniya_K]

*squeals* SEQUEL!

Gosh that was just awesome! It was awesomer than awesome! It made me AOL all the way through. It was just so perfect. I loved how he proposed [lol at the silence] and I love the whole Drop-In center idea!

I cannot wait to see where they are in 17 years! I hope you haven't split them up!

More soon please!

xoxo

ETA: First Comment

[LAURZY!]

*wipes away tears* awwwwwww

I love the whole idea of it!

God i hope there still together after 17 years, with kids, and are unbelievabley happy

[Deborah]

Aww, I loved that

Really looking forward to reading more of this!

[adelle]

Lovvvvvved it! Perfect beggining!!

The drop in center is a great idea! Can't wait to see where you are taking this, I love your fics

[Inactive User]

Whoa loved the sequel. Adelle getting married-aww so cute Update soon

[adelle fan.]

Loved it can't wait for an update.

[BeforeItsTooLate]

Oh my gosh, that was just...AWWWW

I loved every second of it, especially the proposal (followed by silence ) and the Drop In Centre is a great idea...very Aden

Can't wait to see where they'll be in 17 years

[xknomex]

I Love it, I Love it, I Love it, I Love it, I Love it, I Love it, I Love it, X100

That first chapter was AMAZING!!!! The whole thing from beginning to end was just perfect! I loved the Drop In Centre and I loved the proposal, I loved that Belle moved the clock forward hehe.

eeek I'm so excited that you have started this fic :D

Cant wait till the next chapter [they better still be together ]

Update ASAP!!!

xxxx

[whispered_envy]

Aww, that's such a cute start. I was grinning while reading that! I hope everything stays that happy for them, but someone I have a feeling that won't be the case...