The Truth Will Out

[wrongturntaken]

Story Title: The Truth Will Out

Type of story: oneshot

Main Characters: Aden/Belle/Irene

BTTB rating: T

Genre: Drama, Angst

Does story include spoilers: YES! Aussie Spoilers!

Any warnings: Drug References.

Summary: Aden finds out about Belle's drug abuse, based around the current spoilers we have.

The Truth Will Out "Belle…? Are you in?" Aden called as he wandered into the beach house, as he had done on many occasions now he was a welcome visitor there.

"I'll be two seconds babe," Belle called from the bathroom; trying her best to keep her voice level as she opened the canister with trembling hands. She poured one on to her palm and stared at the small circular shape. One of the few she had gained from selling Aden's gift. She felt awful about it and the guilt was eating her up inside, but even that was worth not having to go through the pain of withdrawal again. She didn't need the gift, but she needed the pills. She put it in her mouth and swallowed, picking up the glass that rested on the sink and swallowing the water to sooth it down.

She looked at herself in the mirror, tentatively pushing her hair behind her ears. She looked awful and she knew it. But pretending it was just the fact that she was sick that made her look so weak and terrible, helped to cover the real reason she was incapable of looking for a job or doing well in an interview from Irene. Aden hadn't pressured her about work. He was too worried about her, she could tell. She splashed her face with water one last time and dried it with a towel, her hands slowly stopped shaking as she did so and she breathed a sigh of relief before stepping out of the bathroom and putting a smile on her face.

"Hey babe," he smiled as he walked towards her and gave her a gentle kiss. "How are you feeling today?" he asked concernedly, pushing a strand of vaguely wet hair behind her ear as his thumb gently caressed her cheek.

The guilt welled up inside of her as she saw in his eyes how much love he had for her. "Better," she lied with a small smile.

"Good," he smiled yet again, only making her feel worse. She was unable to even put up a pretence unless he was looking directly at her. "Maybe you can start looking for a job tomorrow if you're up for it?" he said conversationally, taking her hand and leading them into her room for privacy, even though no one else was in.

"Hmm, maybe," she answered vaguely.

"It's a shame Irene and Roman couldn't give you you're old job back, but let's face it, you don't want to work in the diner for the rest of your life, do you?" he chuckled slightly.

She laughed lightly in reply as she watched him sit on the end of her bed.

"I could always try and get you a job on the boat? We are two men down without Robbo and Joey…" he teased.

"I may love you Aden but not so much that I'm willing to spend my time smelling like fish," she answered with only the hint of a smile as she felt the canister in her pocket subconsciously.

She looked at him shift his position slightly, "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.

She shrugged, "Bit tired I guess."

"Maybe you should go to the doctor," he suggested worriedly.

She walked towards him and stopped just in between his knees, resting her hands on his shoulders, "Aden, I told you. I went, and there's nothing wrong with me."

"But they always miss things…" he continued, resting his hands on her hips.

"Honey, I'm… fine," she shrugged again but could tell he didn't believe her.

"Really…? …because I kind of wanted us to do something special tonight?"

"Like what?" she asked with her first genuine smile since he had entered the house.

"Go out for dinner at a nice restaurant in the Yabbie Creek?" he suggested with a coy smile.

"That sounds really nice."

"You could wear the necklace I bought you," he smiled. "Where is it? I want to see it on you," he said a little excitedly and Belle couldn't help but think how cute it was.

"Yeah, I could… but I don't want to break it."

"Belle, what's the point in me buying it for you, if you're not going to wear it?" he raised his eyebrows at her.

"Aden, you shouldn't have bought it for me," she answered him as though telling off a child rather than brushing off the fact he had spent a lot of money on her.

He looked at her confusedly, "I bought it for you because I wanted to show you how much I love you."

"I know how much you love me," Belle told him firmly. "I don't need a necklace to prove it."

"I know that but… I wanted to get it for you. It means something to me. After everything we've been through, I just want something to show that we're still together and we're still strong. "Go on, try it on now… just for me," he pleaded and Belle felt physically sick at the guilt of what she'd done with it.

"No," she answered in the only way she could. Trying to keep up the charade as long as she could, even though she knew it would probably be pointless.

"What?" he half-laughed.

"I don't want to where it now," she shrugged. "And you shouldn't force me into doing something I don't want to do."

"It's just a necklace, Belle!" Aden raised his voice slightly in shock but at the same time as though he was willing to find it humorous.

"It's not just about the necklace, Aden! You're always trying to get me to do stuff I don't want to do. It was always, 'you need to take a break from work' and then when I'm not working you're pestering me to get a job," she told him spitefully, surprising herself at her words as she realised the drugs were having an effect on her moods.

"Woah!" he put his hands up in surrender. "Where the hell has this come from?"

"I told you, you're always telling me what to do, and then you go and spend precious time with Nicole!" Belle continued to yell at him as her hands had now begun to shake again. She couldn't understand it… she'd only taken something a few minutes ago. She didn't need another one did she?

Aden stood up suddenly, "You know what, Belle? I don't even know who you are anymore! Sometimes, it's like you care and you want me here… and then other's you're just paranoid and it's as though you can't stand the sight of me. So which is it? Do you want me to stay or go, but I warn you, if I go now… I might not come back," his words were met with silence from her. The whole reason she hadn't told him about the drugs was because she was scared of losing him. But if she was going to lose him anyway then what was the point?

He continued to stare at her; waiting for an answer.

"You'll go anyway," she finally said after what seemed like an eternity; so softly that it was lucky the silence rung so loud between them.

"What?" he asked; his voice also soft, although he said it with surprise.

"If I tell you the truth… you'll go anyway," she whispered as tears started to touch the corner of her eyes.

"Tell me the truth Belle… I need to know what's going on."

Belle began shaking her head as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," she croaked.

"Baby," Aden rushed up to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her head into his chest.

She let him do it for a moment, before pushing him away, "Don't," she said with a slightly commanding tone. "You'll hate me when I tell you this. I don't even know if you'll ever forgive me…"

Aden narrowed his eyes in curious concern, "Did… did you cheat on me?" he asked nervously.

"What? No!" Belle quickly defended. "I would never do that!"

"Then I'll forgive you for whatever it is… that's if you even need forgiving," he said with a small supportive smile.

"Please don't say that," Belle begged. "I don't deserve it."

"Just tell me," he said softly.

"I tried to stop Aden," she began. "I really did but… it was so hard."

"What was?" he pushed gently.

"It started off with just the painkillers," she whispered as fresh tears fell down her cheeks and a look of recognition crossed Aden's face at that one small sentence. She saw his softened feature harden a little but he still looked caringly towards her. "…and then the anti-anxiety pills… then the sleeping pills… and then my job… there just weren't enough hours in the day, Aden," she looked at him and saw him looking with confusion at her.

"What do you mean?" he said; his tone flat.

"When Freya said I'd bought uppers off her… I did."

"Yeah, but that was when you were doing that undercover stuff…"

"I was covering my tracks," Belle explained.

"So you took the uppers?" Aden questioned her; trying to remain calm although it was taking considerable effort as he clenched his fist by his side in a sign of stress.

"Only two… the cops wanted them back after that," she saw a brief look of relief pass over his face and dreaded the time when it wouldn't be there anymore.

"But then… I just couldn't cope without anything. I just needed… something," she told him.

"Something…?"

"That's… that's when I realised I had a problem… I came to the boat to tell you…"

"When you're article was all messed up?" Aden questioned her in understanding.

She nodded.

"So you were going to tell me then?"

She nodded again.

"Why didn't you? Maybe if you had told me, it would have been worth leaving Joey…"

"Aden, please don't blame me for that!" Belle begged him as she fought to hold back more tears.

He sighed, "I'm sorry, of course I don't… but you stopped then, right?"

She hesitated, "I tried. I tried so hard, Aden. I went through withdrawal for three days but then I went to that gig and interviewed Liam… he offered me uppers…"

"Please tell me you didn't…"

"I'm sorry," she practically whispered.

"No," he replied, shaking his head repeatedly. "This cannot be true."

"I wish it wasn't…"

"So that morning you came home at five… you were high?"

She looked at him, the image of guilt written all over her face.

"How can you not have told me this Belle?"

"How could you not have noticed, Aden?" he looked up at her in shock for a moment. "You spend all of your time on that boat, or dealing with Joey's or Nicole's or anyone else's problems!"

"That is not true," he defended guardedly. "You know I'd be there for you if you needed me. You know it. You were the one that was spending all your time at work!"

"Lucky for you I got fired then!" she yelled at him.

He paused for a moment and looked at her in shock, "You told me you quit."

"Well telling you I was fired for turning up to work high wouldn't have been a good way of hiding it from you, would it?"

"Why did you hide it? After everything I went through with my Dad, Belle?" he pleaded with her desperately.

"Exactly! I was so scared of losing you Aden. I knew if you found out about this, you would leave me. I couldn't bear that. You are the only thing that gives me any hope."

He met her words with silence before letting out a small sigh; his expression changing to one of remembering something, "What happened to the necklace, Belle?" he asked her calmly.

She averted her eyes to the floor guiltily.

"Did you sell it to get drugs?"

She nodded and closed her eyes slowly in guilt before opening them to look at him pleadingly, "I'm so sorry," she cried.

"Then stop taking them," he gave her the choice.

She looked at him and he could see the choice in her eyes, there was something in them that was different. Something he'd been shoving aside in his mind for a while now he realised as he thought about it, but now it was staring him so clearly in the face as he saw her choosing the drugs.

"If you don't stop, there is no hope for us," he told her, tears beginning to sting at his own eyes.

"It's so hard, Aden. I can't do it."

"Yes you can. If you love me, more than the drugs, you'll stop."

She looked at him in the same way.

Aden looked back at her, his face a picture of sadness as a single tear trickled down his face. He swallowed as he tried to keep more back and then began making his way to the door.

Once he was stood in the door way he heard her voice, "Aden?" she called desperately.

He turned his head, "Tell me you'll stop."

She didn't answer and he continued on his way.

She fell to her knees as tears thundered down her face and sobs wracked her body. She scrabbled with the canister in her pocket and ran to the toilet. She threw every last pill down it and flushed before running outside to catch him.

"Aden!" she called and he stopped and turned around to face her. She ran up to him, "I'll stop, I've thrown them away. I swear, this is it."

"No Belle, it's not," he told her. "You'll keep doing this and you'll lie to me about it. I know what it's like to be around an addict, and I don't want to do that again."

"But I'll stop, I will," she told him determinedly. "I've thrown them away."

"You might have thrown the pills away, but you can't throw the addiction away that easy," he told her calmly before starting to walk away.

"Please Aden!" she begged loudly although she didn't follow him. "I need you!"

It took all of his self restraint to not turn around and let her run into his arms as he saw Irene heading towards him.

"You alright, darl?" Irene asked him worriedly as she reached him.

"No, but I think you ought to talk to Belle," he told her quietly before continuing on his way without another word.

Irene furrowed her brow and continued to walk towards her house where she immediately caught sight of Belle looking dishevelled and lost, stood in the garden.

"Hey, girlie, what's wrong?" she asked soothingly, picking up Belle's hand and placing an arm around her.

Belle looked at her like a child and sniffled, "I've lost him Irene. I've lost him."

"Aden?" the older woman asked; slightly in shock that the couple she'd come to know who could seem to survive anything, were apparently now in a place of torment judging by Belle's appearance.

Belle nodded.

"Let's get you inside, ey?" Irene ushered the young woman into the house and took her over to the sofa where she sat down. "Do you want a cup of tea?"

Belle shook her head as she stared into space.

"Okay then, tell me what happened?" Irene said; sitting down next to her and placing a hand on her knee comfortingly.

"You'll hate me too," Belle answered; finally looking at her.

"I could never hate you Belle," Irene whispered a reply in surprise. "Why would Aden?"

"Because of what I am…" stated and then looked at Irene nervously. "I'm addicted to pills Irene."

"What?" Irene exclaimed at a volume quieter than which would actually portray how she felt.

Tears began to flow down Belle's cheeks again, "I'm so sorry Irene. I've let you down…"

"Hey girlie, listen… if anyone's not going to judge you, it's me… I know how it feels… alcohol, anti-depressants…"

Belle looked at Irene suddenly. Although she knew all that, it had never struck her properly until now. "So you're not going to kick me out?"

"Of course not… What we are going to do; is get you help."

Belle began shaking her head, "I've tried to stop, Irene. I've tried and I can't."

"Which is why you need help," Irene soothed as Belle rested her head on her foster mother's shoulder. "Now, tell me what happened with Aden."

Belle explained everything, not missing out a detail. "He's the best thing that ever happened to me, Irene. I can't lose him but… it's too late."

"It's never too late," Irene comforted her.

"I've ruined everything," Belle resigned to it and it broke Irene's heart to watch the girl that she loved so much, lose all her will to even try.

Please comment! x

Obviously i hope it doesn't really end like this but when i wrote it, this is what happened...

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