The Awkward Reunion

[wrongturntaken]

Story Title:The awkward reunion

Type of story: One shot (with alternative endings)

Main Characters: Aden, Belle, Drew, Mattie, Ric, Lucas, Cassie

BTTB rating: T

Genre: General.

Does story include spoilers: No,

Summary: Drew, Ric, Lucas, Mattie and Cassie all return to Summer Bay for Belle's birthday, but none of them know that she is seeing Aden. (Even Ric and Mattie as in the fic they left before Aden and Belle got together). Everything is the same for Belle as it is in the show except i've made up the consequences of the formal accident. Sorry if its medically wrong.

This is a oneshot i've been wanting to do for ages but didn't know quite how to so there's going to be an alternative ending which i'll put up soon if people like this one. There might also be another one tomorrow, not sure yet though.

Hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think.

The awkward reunion

Aden and Belle had just left Irene’s to go for a drink at the surf club. They were walking hand in hand parallel to the beach when Aden caught sight of Roman ahead.

“You go in,” he turned to Belle, “I’ll catch up in a minute.”

“Aden,” she began wearily, “…just a minute, right?”

“Of course,” he kissed her gently, going to walk away as he released his hand from hers. Instead, her grip tightened and he turned back to face her as she smiled at him wryly. “Belle…” he warned playfully.

She shook her head, “One more kiss?” she pouted.

“No,” he told her stubbornly.

“Please…” she tried her puppy dog eyes on him and he rolled his own before cupping her face on either side, as she let go of his hand, and bringing his lips closer to hers. He whispered gently so that she could feel his breath on her skin, “You’ll always fall for it, won’t you?” He took his hands off before he walked away; only turning back to see her glaring at him and then watch as she disappeared into the entrance of the surf club.

Belle walked in hesitantly, wishing to see someone she knew. She was still scared to be out of the house by herself with out Aden near her. After everything she’d been through no one blamed her, but she knew what they were thinking, because she was thinking it too. One day she’d have to be able to leave the house on her own because an existence where she couldn’t even do that wouldn’t be worth it. Although as long as she had Aden, she knew that eventually she’d be alright, because he’d help her through it.

As she walked into Noah’s, she saw that her wish had most definitely come true as a chorus of “Happy Birthday’s’ escaped from the people she hadn’t seen in months.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “What are you all doing here?”

Stood in front of her were all her old close friends; Drew, Ric, Lucas, Mattie and Cassie.

“Well, we’ve all been talking and thought we needed to have some kind of a reunion because we haven’t seen each other in ages,” Mattie started to explain.

“…and we thought Summer Bay would be the best place because it’s ‘home’ to all of us,” Cassie added.

“…and since you’re the only one still living here, we thought your birthday would be the perfect opportunity,” Ric finished.

Belle smiled widely, “Wow, I can’t believe this,” she didn’t move, rooted to the spot out of shock before she brought herself back to reality and began hugging them one by one. “Thank you, thank you so much. This is amazing!” she kissed the boys on the cheek, feeling a little awkward about it with Drew who she also noticed looked a bit uncomfortable. They had eventually left things on good terms, but she wasn’t sure if those terms included friendship, and they hadn’t really spoken since he had left, bar a Christmas card.

“Sit down,” Lucas offered, and they all took their seats again. “How’s your Birthday been so far?” he asked, looking at her expectantly.

She smiled, thinking of the breakfast in bed that Aden had brought her and the white gold necklace with the letters AB entwined together on it, encrusted with diamonds. She brought her hand up to the necklace as she had it round her neck and fiddled with it between her index finger and thumb, as the sudden realisation that none of these people knew about her and Aden hit her.

“I assume that smile means yes, and that necklace round your neck is a present?” Cassie looked at Belle knowingly.

Belle smiled and nodded.

“…boyfriend?” Mattie asked and again, Belle nodded.

Drew took a drink, “Anyone we know?” he asked in a strained voice, trying his best to take the higher ground.

“Um,” Belle hesitated, unsure of how any of these people would react to the knowledge that she was dating Aden Jefferies. The same Aden Jefferies that had dated Cassie and caused problems with Ric, the same Aden Jefferies who used to constantly hit on Mattie, the same Aden Jefferies who Drew absolutely hated. But it wasn’t the same Aden Jefferies. The Aden Jefferies she was in love with was kind, sweet, caring, sensitive, and loving. But none of these people knew that Aden Jefferies. “Kind of,” she settled on.

“Kind of…?” Ric laughed, “I would have thought it would have at least been a yes or no question.”

“Okay then, I guess; no. You don’t know him,” she said because the fact was; they didn’t.

They chatted for a couple more minutes and Belle began to feel uneasy, knowing that Aden was about to walk in. She was warned about his entry with a comment from Drew.

“Look who it is, still a jerk I suppose,” he said spitefully and Belle turned around to see Aden ordering a drink. He hadn’t come up to her, he wasn’t even looking at her and that made her feel even more uneasy. She watched him order the drink, glance at her quickly and leave the room.

“I’m surprised Alf didn’t tell him to get out,” Drew continued.

“We’ve been gone for ages, maybe he’s changed,” Mattie contemplated and Belle wanted to jump in and reiterate her point but was cut off by Lucas.

“…as if that guy could ever change, just think about what he did to Geoff,” and the others all began nodding their heads as Belle sipped her drink, keeping quiet and feeling incredibly guilty about it.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” she told the others after a moment, standing up and taking the path of her boyfriend to the next room. She saw him playing pool by himself.

“Hey,” she greeted.

“Hey,” he said and struck the cue ball, hitting the ball in the pot he was aiming for expertly.

“Why don’t you come over and say, hi?” Belle asked him.

He stood up properly, “Why did you wait for me to leave the room before you came to see me?” he answered, adopting the same tone.

“Because you just ignored me,” she explained.

“Then why follow me now?” he asked and she sighed guiltily. “Look, Belle, I get it okay. They don’t know who I am now, and you don’t want them to give you grief for dating me.”

She gave him a weak smile, “Yes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want them to know. Come on,” she went to grab his hand but he moved out of her reach.

“They were never my friends Belle, you go and spend some time with them,” Aden told her and at the hurt look on her face he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I wanted to spend my birthday with you,” she told him pleadingly.

He sighed, “Roman asked me to cover for Irene for an hour whilst she goes to the bank, so why don’t you hang out with your friends and meet me at the diner in an hour?”

“Aden…”

“It’s okay Belle,” Aden told her. “Tell them what you want to tell them and I’ll just go along with whatever you say.”

“Whatever I tell, them, it’ll be the truth,” she insisted. “It’s just a case of when.”

He smiled and looked at his watch, “I better get going anyway.” He kissed her and at her worried look, responded, “You’ll be okay, Belle. I love you.”

She smiled, “I love you too,” before returning back to her friends who it seemed, had barely noticed her absence.

*

It was nearly an hour later and they had all sat down at a table in the diner before Ric had spotted Aden.

“I can’t believe he works here,” Drew muttered under his breath, glaring at Aden as he dealt with a customer at the till. “I’m just glad I’m not you Belle.”

Belle let out an unconvincing smile but none of the others noticed, “Look, guys, I have to tell you something...”

She had their attention for a second before Drew cut in again, “Oh no, look, this is going to be trouble,” he said as Geoff walked in and up to the counter.

*

“Hey, Aden, have you seen Nic?” Geoff asked worriedly.

“Nah, mate, sorry. Why? What have you done this time?” Aden laughed.

“Why do you always assume I’ve done something wrong, she’s not always perfect you know!” Geoff exclaimed heatedly.

Aden held his hands up in surrender and smiled, “Well, you are the one that’s looking for her so I just assumed, believe me, I know she’s not perfect. She’s so messy, I mean seriously she leaves her underwear all over the house, it can get really annoying sometimes.”

Geoff glared at him, “Do you want me to tell Belle you said that?” he threatened.

“Fine, I withdraw my last comment,” Aden said with mock worry.

*

“When are they going to start fighting?” Lucas questioned curiously, looking at the exchange going on at the till.

“A lot of things have changed since you all left…” Belle tried to explain.

“Woah, wait a minute, here we go, looks like Aden’s flavour of the month just walked in,” Ric claimed.

“What?” Belle said suddenly and turned around to look where the boys were staring. She turned back when she realised it was just Nicole, “Since when were you all such gossip queens?” she asked them angrily.

“Sorry,” they laughed. “…but there isn’t any small town gossip where I live,” Lucas said and all the others nodded their heads in agreement. “It’s a strange thing to miss but somehow I do… and this is quite intriguing,” he continued to watch the now three people by the till.

*

“Hey Nic,” Aden said as she walked in.

“Hey,” she answered him and then looked at Geoff, “Geoff,” she greeted him stonily and he looked at Aden for support who just shrugged.

“You’re on your own there mate, you know how women can get.”

Nicole looked at him angrily and hit him on the arm.

“Ow,” he exclaimed, “What was that for?”

She smiled, “For being you.”

“Ha Ha,” he answered her.

“Anyway, is Dad here?” Nicole asked him.

“Yeah, he’s in the kitchen,” Aden told her and watched as she went to speak to him. “Follow her,” he told Geoff, who smiled in thanks for the advice before obeying the command. He looked over to Belle’s table and sighed, they’d been here five minutes already so it was about time he stopped ignoring them and went to take their order.

*

“Sh, he’s coming over,” Ric said suddenly, cutting Belle off for about the fifth time as she tried to tell them about Aden.

“Hey,” Aden greeted them with a cautious smile. “How’s it going?”

“Good, thanks,” Matilda was the first to reply and Aden continued to smile on and off, glancing occasionally at Belle who smiled at him supportively, “What can I get you?”

The group rattled off their orders to him as he wrote them down.

“…so if you and Belle work together, are you friends?” Cassie asked, getting tired of the boys theories.

Aden looked at Belle who answered the question, “We’re friends,” she told her.

“Yeah,” Aden said and Belle could hear that jilt in his voice that became present when he was starting to get upset, “We’re… friends.”

He walked away as Belle got up from her seat suddenly to follow him, “Aden, wait!” she called and the others looked at her oddly.

“What are you doing?” Cassie asked in a confused tone.

“I’ll tell you in a minute,” Belle answered before following Aden in to the kitchen where Roman, Geoff and Nicole were already talking.

Roman sensed the tension between Aden and Belle the second she walked in the kitchen and sighed, “Guys, if you have to talk can you do it outside the diner, there’s just not enough space in the kitchen to have a private conversation. Geoff and Nicole will cover for Aden until Irene arrives,” he explained to the annoyed look of Nicole.

Aden glared at Belle, “Do you want me to leave first and you can follow me in five minutes so it doesn’t look like we’re leaving together?”

“Outside mate,” Roman commanded calmly and Aden nodded and silently left, Belle following in his wake.

The others still at the table watched them leave, “Wonder what that was about?” Ric said.

“No idea,” Cassie laughed.

“You don’t think…” Drew started. “…that maybe they might be… a couple.”

“…no way!” Cassie exclaimed. “She knows better than to date a guy like that.”

“I don’t know,” Mattie commented. “He might have changed, I mean he’s got a job, and he was polite to us…”

Lucas shook his head, “Sorry Mattie, people like that do not change. Just think of all the horrible things he did, the stunts he pulled.”

“Yeah you’re probably right, she wouldn’t date someone like him,” Drew said. “…but if for some insanely horrible reason she is, we need to make sure that she realises what a mistake it is,” he added.

“Are you sure that’s not coming out of jealousy?” Cassie asked him.

Drew shook his head, “No, its concern, I still care about her. And if she has had a lapse of judgment it’s probably just been because she’s lonely cos she doesn’t have us around.”

“I guess,” Mattie said unsurely.

“Anyway, like you all say, she’s not stupid enough to date someone like Aden Jefferies,” Drew said.

“Well, she was stupid enough to date you,” Ric joked and everyone laughed.

“Funny mate, real funny,” Drew said.

*

“Aden, I’m sorry,” Belle said for the third time as she looked upset at Aden’s hurt face.

“Friend? Friend, Belle?” Aden exclaimed. “I know that I’m not good enough for you, not after what I did to you but…”

“Aden, stop!” Belle exclaimed. “You know that you are good enough me for me, you are the best boyfriend I could ever have wished for. What you did, it’s in the past. Since then we have been through so much together and I don’t think I would have made it through if it weren’t for you.”

Aden sighed.

“I was trying to tell them but I kept getting interrupted.”

“You said you’d tell them,” he pushed though he was obviously hurt, and it was killing Belle to know that she’d caused him this pain.

“I know, when it was the right time,” she defended.

“…and when Cassie asked if we were friends…? That wasn’t the perfect time?”

“Why didn’t you tell her?”

“…because it wasn’t my place to Belle!”

“Okay, let’s just calm down a second, let’s go in there right now and tell them together,” Belle suggested.

“Really…?”

Belle nodded.

“You sure…?”

“Absolutely,” Belle said. “I don’t want to hide our relationship, Aden. I’m not ashamed of it and I don’t care what they think, it was really only just finding the right moment, and just as a warning, they’re not going to take it well. Especially Drew.”

“I know,” he sighed as he picked up her hand and kissed it, making her smile.

He placed it in his before they entered the diner.

*

“It seems she is as stupid as we might have thought,” Drew stated as Aden and Belle walked in holding hands, both looking a bit nervous.

They approached the table and Belle spoke first as she rubbed Aden’s arm with the hand that wasn’t holding his, “Aden I are more than friends,” she told them quickly. “We’ve been together for seven months and…” she laughed slightly before adding with a shrug of her shoulders, “…I love him.”

Aden smiled as he heard her say the words he’d so often heard said to him.

Drew shook his head, “You are joking Belle? He’s a jerk! He’ll hurt you and you know it!” he shouted as Aden stepped in front of her protectively.

“Don’t ever shout at her,” Aden responded authoritatively but with a calmness that made everyone else at the table eerily aware of his power.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Drew growled.

“Aden, it’s okay,” Belle said and gently touched his arm so she could speak to her friends, “I thought you might react like this but you don’t know Aden, okay?”

“No, Belle, talk to us when you’ve got your mind back,” Drew said angrily and got up to leave. He looked at the others who followed his lead.

“We just care about you,” Mattie told her, although she didn’t look too pleased with the decision for all of them to leave.

Belle looked at Aden who was trying to hide the hurt expression on his face that all of these people didn’t think he should be with Belle. He was so used to people accepting him now that he didn’t know how to deal with it when they didn’t. He didn’t used to care but because these people were important to Belle, he did.

Mattie turned around just before leaving to see Belle hugging Aden around his middle and resting her head against his chest as he kissed her hair. She smiled at the image and remembered what Belle had told her about the party Irene was throwing at her place that night in celebration of Belle’s birthday. Maybe she could persuade the others to go.

*

“Did you tell them about it?” Aden asked Belle as they held hands in the living room of Irene’s. Not wanting to be separated even though they were in a sea of people they both knew well.

Belle nodded.

“Well, then if they care about you, they’ll be here,” Aden reassured her.

She smiled up at him, “You’re amazing,” she told him as he leant in to give her a quick kiss which turned into a longer kiss.

“Get a room!” Matilda’s voice jeered from the kitchen and Belle turned to look at her. Aden smiled at the brightened look on Belle’s face.

“You came,” she said, looking at her friends.

“We thought we shouldn’t judge until we’d seen how you were for ourselves,” Cassie told them although she and Mattie looked more pleased about this decision than the boys. But that she could live with.

“Thank you, it means a lot,” Belle said and then gestured to Aden, who’d waited a little way behind her, to come over.

He smiled at them in greeting as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriends shoulder.

They chatted for a while, about Belle and Aden’s relationship, with the occasional snarky comment from the boys which Aden was maturely choosing to ignore as well as all of their lives in general. Aden had noticed Belle looking a bit tired.

“You alright?” he asked her gently as he saw her eyelids dropping.

She nodded, “I’m just tired.”

“Do you want to lie down?” he asked her.

She looked around, “…the party?” she questioned.

“Don’t worry about that, you have to take it easy,” Aden told her.

Belle smiled gratefully and nodded, “Will you come with me?”

He nodded.

The boys had dispersed by this point to talk to other people at the party but Cassie and Mattie watched the exchange of words with concern, “Are you alright Belle?” Cassie asked.

Aden looked at Belle, “They don’t know?” he questioned and she shook her head.

Belle turned to her friends, “I didn’t want to tell you by phone or email because I didn’t want you to worry…” she started to explain. “…basically I kind of had a run of bad luck and I have post traumatic stress because I was run off the road and crashed in my car, then I was bashed, then a hit man tried to kill me and then…” she trailed off at the look of horror on Cassie and Mattie’s faces. “…I had my legs broken in several places in each leg when a stove fell on me. I was in a wheelchair for a bit and I’ve only just gotten off crutches.”

“Oh my God, Belle!” Cassie breathed, “How are you doing?”

Belle smiled slightly, “I’m doing okay, mostly thanks to Aden; he’s been amazing.”

“Sounds like the perfect boyfriend,” Mattie commented and smiled at Aden warmly.

Aden looked at Belle, “…and she’s the perfect girlfriend,” he said, making Belle laugh and the other two look at them weirdly.

“Don’t worry, private joke,” Aden told them. “Seriously though, she’s making me sound like a hero or something when the truth is I wouldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for her. In fact I’m not so sure I’d be here at all,” he said, looking at her the whole time.

“Aden…”

“I mean it Belle,” he insisted and Cassie and Mattie sighed little girlie ‘aws’ at the couple in front of them; fully understanding for the first time what Belle saw in Aden.

“I know you mean it, you tell me all the time,” Belle laughed and he smiled. “Can we just go to bed, I’m exhausted?”

“Sure,” Aden told her as she took hold of his hand, intending to trail him behind her. “Goodnight,” he said to Cassie and Mattie, “…and I guess we’ll see you tomorrow,” he added ass he disappeared into Belle’s room.

Cassie turned to Mattie, “So people can change.”

Please comment, the alternative ending will be up soon if people like.

[wrongturntaken]

Thanks for the comments! I'm glad you liked it!

The first scene from the surf club is the same so i haven't included it, this goes on from there.

Alternative ending*

“Argh,” Belle cried as she hopped in to the diner, leaning on Drew and Ric for support as Lucas, Mattie and Cassie surrounded her, looking worried.

Aden heard her come in and went running over, “Belle!” he exclaimed worriedly, “What happened?” he asked as she immediately let go of Drew’s and Ric’s support to fling her arms around Aden’s neck, pulling herself close to him as she cried into his chest; much to the dismay of the surrounding crowd. Aden ignored their stares. “Look at me,” he commanded her gently and she sniffled slightly as she pulled back to do as he asked. He stroked her hair and placed a strand behind her ear, “What happened?” he asked her softly.

“She freaked out when she saw some guy in the distance,” Ric told him, his voice full of concern, “…and then she tried to run and she fell over, she was screaming in agony but she wouldn’t have us take her anywhere else but here,” he said warily, eyeing Aden.

Aden smiled in thanks at Ric before looking back to Belle, “Have you hurt your leg?”

She nodded.

“…which one?”

“The left one,” she finally spoke.

“Come here,” Aden said and retreated to a chair where he sat down and then pulled her to sit on his lap, knowing that when she got scared, proximity to him was the only thing to calm her down. He could tell that her friends weren’t used to seeing her in this vulnerable state, he wished he wasn’t too, but unfortunately a lot had happened since they had all left. A lot that had changed both Belle and him. “Who did you think you saw, Belle?” he asked her softly.

She looked at him, “Nobby,” she said quietly.

Aden narrowed his eyes, “Belle,” he warned softly.

“I know Aden, I know it was nothing personal but I just…” she trailed off.

“I know, I know,” he whispered and kissed her hair.

“What the hell is going on?” Drew asked, finally breaking the silence of the surrounding group who were encircling Belle and Aden.

“I think it’s pretty obvious Drew,” Cassie said to him before turning her attention to Aden. “You and Belle are together, aren’t you Aden?”

Aden nodded in response then glanced around him, “Look, I know you all hate me. I would too if I was you. I can never apologise enough for anything I might have said or done to you or anyone else for that matter… but I’ve changed a lot. And a lot of that is down to Belle,” he sensed her smile at his words.

“That’s not Belle,” Drew stated, clearly finding it hard to accept the fact that his ex girlfriend was dating someone who he hated so much. “Belle is feisty and strong, she doesn’t break down and cry when she sees some guy 200 metres away in the distance. And the only thing different since when we all left is that now she’s apparently seeing you,” he finished angrily.

“Drew, if you’re going to be aggressive you can get out, because I won’t have it around Belle,” he said calmly but with a powerfulness in his voice and he felt Belle cling to him a little tighter.

“Don't talk to me like that!” Drew shouted at him as Roman came out of the kitchen to see what the noise was.

“What’s going on here?” he asked the group, mainly focusing on Drew’s offensive stance towards Aden who he noticed was cradling Belle. “Is she alright?” he asked, ignoring the others for a moment.

Aden looked at Belle for a second, she was more important than some stupid argument with her ex boyfriend, “How’s your leg?”

She smiled slightly, “Better,” she nodded.

“Do you want me to get your painkillers, I think you left some here the other day and you should go to the hospital just in case,” Roman said in a concerned way.

“Thanks Roman,” she said with a nod.

He faced Drew, “If you can’t keep quiet then I expect you to leave as Aden asked.”

“Fine,” Drew gave in to the taller man.

“Drew has a point though,” Cassie cut in. “There’s something wrong isn’t there?”

Aden looked around at them curiously, “You didn’t tell them?” he asked Belle concernedly and she shook her head. “Do you want me to?” she nodded in response.

“That guy Belle thought she saw,” Aden started and he could tell the others were listening to him intently. “He bashed her a few months ago.”

“Oh my God! Are you alright?” Mattie exclaimed and Belle looked at her gratefully for her concern.

“It gets worse,” Aden told them.

“Worse?” Lucas asked and Aden nodded.

“She was working on bringing down the development site near the caravan park, she succeeded eventually, figured out their was a cancer cluster in that area because they’d buried toxic waste under the land in the sixties, she saved the whole town,” he smiled proudly at her and she hit him playfully on the arm for making her sound so noble. “But obviously she cost the developers a lot of money and they tried to stop her by firstly making her crash her car, then paying someone to bash her, then a hit man tried to kill her,” Aden said.

“I… I have post traumatic stress as well,” Belle told the faces who all looked horrified at what Aden had just told them. “…but Aden hasn’t finished yet.”

He smiled at her questioningly and she nodded for him to go on, “Then Belle had a stove fall on her at the school formal. Her legs were broken in several places, she was in a wheelchair for a bit and she’s only just come off her crutches, which is why she was in so much pain when she fell over.”

“Oh my God, Belle!” Cassie said when Aden had finished, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I didn’t want to worry you over phone or e-mail,” Belle explained. “…especially you, with the new baby and everything.”

“I still would have wanted to know,” Cassie told her stubbornly.

“I know, but it was hard enough for me to do anything here, let a lone talk to anyone outside of Summer Bay properly,” Belle explained.

“I guess I can understand that.”

“I think I need to go home and rest,” Belle said after a moment of awkward silence. “Sorry guys, we can hang out tomorrow if that’s alright? Some birthday, huh?” she laughed.

They all nodded in agreement as Aden stood up and allowed Belle to lean on him. Roman came out of the kitchen with a glass of water and Belle’s pills which she took from him gratefully before they left.

Aden managed to convince Belle to go to the hospital before they went home but luckily everything was fine.

*

Aden and Belle walked in to the diner next morning holding hands, they looked happy enough until they saw the others immediately stop talking as they entered. They didn’t look happy.

“Can we sit?” Belle asked them.

“You can, he can’t,” Drew said.

“I thought we settled this yesterday,” Belle said angrily.

“…as if we had time to ‘settle’ anything!” he exclaimed back. “Besides, after what I heard about him, I don’t want to be anywhere near him. And I can’t believe that you would be stupid enough to either.”

“What are you talking about?” Belle asked but Aden had suddenly let go of her hand and she looked at him questioningly.

“He knows about the kidnapping,” he told her softly and Belle could see how hurt he looked. A fact a couple of other people at the table noticed too, but they kept quiet. “You stay here, I’ll go and see if Roman’s in the kitchen.”

Belle immediately grasped his hand again, “No, Aden. You have just as much right to be here as I do. It’s none of their business,” she told him firmly.

Drew shook his head in disgust.

“What?” Belle said sharply.

“You know what I realised?” he asked rhetorically. “That everything that’s happened to you has been because of what he did to you. I bet you even had signs of post traumatic stress after it too!”

Aden tried to let go of Belle’s hand but she squeezed it and wouldn’t let it go, he turned to look at her, “Belle,” he questioned her softly. “Is he right? Did I make you feel like this?”

She could see how upset he was but she couldn’t stop the silence escaping her. He turned around and headed in to the kitchen, leaving Belle stood there.

“How dare you!” she said heatedly to Drew. “Do you have any idea how much it kills him if he thinks he’s hurt me in any way?”

“It’s Aden, he doesn’t care,” Drew laughed.

“He’s not that Aden anymore. You have no idea who he is or what he’s been through… what we’ve both been through, so don’t you dare start judging us because you don’t know anything!” she yelled angrily. “…and what about the rest of you? Do you agree with Drew, or are you going to trust the fact that I know what I’m doing?”

“Belle,” Cassie started, “We all care about you.”

“…and so does Aden, he’s the best thing in my life… the best thing that has ever happened to me, and you have to accept that because I love him and we’re gonna be together and I hope, no, I know, it’s gonna last,” she told them adamantly.

“Okay,” Matilda said softly. “I trust you, Belle, and from what I’ve seen so far, I believe you.”

“Thank you,” Belle answered sincerely and gradually every one else at the table displayed the same sentiments.

Drew, on the other hand, “…doesn’t change the fact that I was right though does it? You’re post traumatic stress started because of what he did to you.”

“No,” Belle told him. “…but it’s none of your business how I know that.”

She walked away abruptly in to the kitchen to find Aden stood talking to Roman who left the room upon seeing her.

“I can’t believe I hurt you like that,” Aden said quietly as Belle approached him.

“You didn’t,” Belle told him softly.

“Don’t lie Belle, I knew that I hurt you but I didn’t realise I caused all this,” he stated.

“You didn’t,” she repeated a little more forcefully.

“Then why didn’t you answer me?” he asked, not really expecting a reply, he thought the silence would answer for him.

“…because what you did, it did hurt, a lot, you know that. And some feelings after it were some that I do associate with post traumatic stress but I was never scared of you during or after what happened. And that’s the difference. Aden right now, I’m only not scared of everything else because you’re here. And that’s probably really bad because I should be able to go out on my own…” she laughed a little as Aden smiled at her explanation.

“You really should, you know,” he laughed lightly.

She smiled, “It’s going to take time, and it’s going to take longer than it took to forgive you,” she explained.

“I’ll always be here for you Belle, so don’t’ worry, take as long as you need,” he told her, pulling him in to her for a hug.

They walked out of the kitchen and approached the table, “Can we sit?” Belle asked again and the general consensus around the table was a resounding yes.

I hope you liked it, i'm not too sure about my writing but ah well... Please comment!

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