Mirror Of Love

[Zetti]

Story Title: Mirror Of Love

Type of Story: Long Fic

Main Characters: Aden, Justin, Belle, Casey and Nicole plus others

BTTB Rating: T/A

Genre: Angst, Romance, Fluff and Violence

Does the Story Include Spoilers? : No

Any Warning: Sexual Content, Violence and Swearing

Summary: One teen is in love with her boyfriend's brother and another is confused...

Chapter One

The sun had set on Summer Bay, the red hot image made Aden smile; it had been a very long time since he had been in the Bay.

So much had changed; he had more contact with his brother Justin although it had been nearly three months since they had spoken.

Aden just assumed that he was busy with his job and to be completely honest, Aden was too busy training to be a PE teacher.

The past five years in prolonged education was enough for Aden when he was a teenager but his views seemed irrational when he saw people fulfilling their dreams.

From then on, working in a trailer, didn’t seem to be a very good dream or ambition in life.

Walking into the school, for his interview, he was so nervous, but he kept on reminding himself that it was for his future.

**

‘So, this would be your first teaching job?’

‘Yes, it would be’

‘What makes you a better choice than the other candidates who have let’s say 10 years’ experience on the job?’

‘Experience counts for one thing but one day they will not be able to work because of age. If new graduate teachers are not given a chance to develop and learn. I can’t get experience until someone gives me a chance. I hope you give me a chance’

The panel looked at each other, but Aden couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing’

‘So, if you were offered the position, when would you be able to start?’

‘As soon as possible’

‘Have you got permanent accommodation locally?’

‘Yes, I am renting but I am in the process of buying a place’

‘Right, well, we do have several interviews to conduct today but we will inform you of our decision in a few days. Thank you’

‘Thank you for the interview and the opportunity’

**

‘Darl, relax, you really need to calm down’

‘Sorry Irene, it’s just I can’t stop thinking about it’

‘I can’t really help until you tell me what it is’ Irene said calmly

‘I know, it’s just if I tell you, it just opens up more old wounds and pain from the past that I would rather keep in the past’

‘Does it have something to do with this fella of yours?’

She smiled ‘No, he is the only thing in my life that is constant’

Irene smiled, Belle had only lived with her for 5 months, there was so much about her life that she knew nothing about but then again.

She had come from a background where uncertainty was part of her daily life, she knew no better or worse. It was completely normal for her.

‘Hello, can I get a hot chocolate please’ she heard a voice ask

‘Aden Jefferies’ Irene exclaimed as she walked in the diner floor ‘It has been a long time’

‘Too long’ he replied smiling ‘how have you been?’

‘Good, yea just been for an interview’

‘For what?’ Belle asked interrupting

‘Sorry, this is Belle, she is living with me, Belle darl, this is Aden, he used to work for me a long time ago’

‘Nice to meet you’ she said

‘Same here, its nice to meet a new face’

‘So the job?’

‘Oh, its for a PE teaching job’

‘Oh good for you Darl, I hope you get it’

Aden smiled and accepted the hot chocolate that Belle handed to him ‘So do I’ He put his hand in his pocket to get his cash out but Irene waved it away. ‘It’s on the house, go and sit down, I will bring you over a slice of chocolate fudge cake’

‘You spoil me’ he winked at her, smiled at Belle.

Belle got a weird sense of déjà vu, she felt like she had seen him before, it was very weird, it was seemingly uncanny.

**

About ten minutes later, Belle to Irene’s relief said she was going on a 15 minute break’

She was increasingly curious about how she knew Aden, or where she might have seen him before.

Before she got a chance to ask him. She felt her eyes being covered from behind. ‘Hello beautiful’

She spun around. ‘So where have you been’. Belle wasn’t happy at all.

He frowned. ‘Please don’t’

‘Don’t what?’ she folded her arms to display

‘Argue, I am here now’

She narrowed her eyes, ‘come on’ he said as he linked arms with her and walked out of the diner.

Aden had heard Belle talking to someone but he didn’t hear the other voice, he was curious now.

Belle was an interesting person, she had that grace about her that made her very interesting and he genuinely wanted to get to know her better.

**

‘Mmm’ Casey snuggled up to Nicole ‘Don’t go yet’

‘Your brothers will be home soon’ Nicole said as she pulled on her jeans, wriggling out of Casey’s grasp.

‘Sooo… they never disturb me’

‘They are creepy and their surfie mates’

Casey smiled as he sat up, ‘They are not that bad’

‘You want to bet’

‘You have to meet them sometime; we have been dating for nearly 4 months now’

Nicole sighed as she pulled on her dress, she sat on the edge of the bed looking at Casey.

‘Listen, my last serious relationship was a disaster; I just want to enjoy our time together before we announce it to the world’

‘Can you accept that’ she added before Casey got a chance to say anything.

Casey nodded, a few seconds later. His door opened, Nicole turned around in a flash ‘Well well…’ Heath said as he saw them two together’

‘Leave them’ Brax said as he walked past the room, pulling Heath with him.

Casey got up, and closed the door. As he turned around, Nicole looked absolutely mortified. ‘Oh my god!’

‘Calm down, they will not care, babe, seriously’ he frowned ‘This isn’t about my brothers is it’. He walked towards the bed ‘There is something else going on’

Nicole got up and ran out of the door grabbing her bag on the way. Casey was confused, the past few weeks they had been getting closer and now he felt like they were back at square one.

**

Nicole got to her flat and went straight to her room. Heath had scared the hell out of her, how was she supposed to tell Casey that her last serious relationship was with his brother and that it had been a very scary time for her.

She knew that it was a bad idea getting involved with Casey, but he made her laugh. She shouldn’t have agreed to go back to his place.

They always met at hers, it was easier, and she lived on her own. Why did she have to complicate things?

Her phone jingled. It was Heath, for a moment she decided not to answer it but she picked it up and heard his voice ‘Nicole’

‘Heath’

‘I thought, we agreed, you weren’t to have anything to do with me or my family’

‘I know what I said, but I love him’

Heath scoffed ‘Love, come on, he is 17, not old enough to be in a serious relationship’

‘Age makes no difference, I am 18, you are 25, and we worked well for a while’

‘Stay away from him, he doesn’t need relationship drama’

Nicole said ‘That’s his decision not yours’ she was feeling quite defiant today, she had enough resistance from herself, she wanted to be with Casey, she didn’t know what was stopping her anymore.’

‘If you carry on, I will tell him about us and then it will be over’

‘And ruin your brother’s life?’

‘He will get over it, we are family, and you aren’t’

‘Go ahead, our relationship will survive especially since he loves me and for once, I love him back’

‘Don’t mess with me, I will ruin you!’

Nicole hung up the phone, she knew Heath was serious but she didn’t want to ruin one of the good things in her life.

**

Reason for Edit: To change the summary title... now matches the storyline more

[Zetti]

Thanks for the comments, here is the next chapter

Warning: Sexual Content (mild)

Chapter Two

Casey rang Nicole for the twentieth time that morning but it just kept going through to voicemail.

‘Please ring me, I am worried about you. If I don’t hear from you by this afternoon then I am coming to find you, just ring me so I know that you are okay, love you’

Brax walked into the kitchen and poured some cereal and milk into a bowl.

‘Still not answering’ he asked conversationally

‘Nope, she stormed out two days ago and she still won’t call me’

‘Go and see her’

‘I would if Heath would let me out of the house’

‘Oh yea, your grounded’

‘I didn’t even do anything’ he complained

Brax said ‘Go and see her, I will deal with Heath’

Casey looked at him with uncertainty ‘Go, before I change my mind or Heath catches you’

‘Thanks bro’ he grabbed his phone and wallet, ran out of the house before Heath got back from his surf at the beach.

‘Where’s Casey’ Heath asked as he walked into the kitchen.

‘Gone to Summer Bay’

‘What! I told him he was grounded’

‘And I revoked it, get over yourself, he isn’t a kid that you can boss about, he has been through a lot when he was a kid’

Heath huffed but Brax put his foot down ‘No, he has a right to do what he wants, we did worse when we were his age.

‘That’s not the point. You know why I don’t want him anywhere near Summer Bay!’

‘You are an idiot, Nicole shouldn’t have started dating him but you can’t control his relationships merely by grounding him’ Brax was getting more and more annoyed by the minute. ‘He is a big boy; he can deal with it himself!’

‘Fine. But don’t blame me when it blows up in his face’

‘Leave them alone’ he warned Heath before he walked out of the kitchen and into the shower.

Heath wasn’t in the mood to argue with Brax when he came back out from the shower. However Brax didn’t want to let it go.

‘Why cant you just leave it alone? You are in the past anyways’ Brax wanted to get a solid answer from him not just a grunt.

‘We split up because I moved back to Melbourne’

‘You still have feeling for her’ Brax realised

Heath nodded

‘And how does she feel about you?’

‘She claims to have moved on but I don’t know, it doesn’t feel like she has, it’s like she is holding something back’ he replied frustrated.

Brax shook his head ‘you need to stay away from her, Let Casey be with her, haven’t you noticed how much happier he is now he is with her, he isn’t as moody as you anymore’

‘Ha-ha’ Heath mocked but deep down he knew that Brax was right. It just wasn’t going to be that easy. He knew what he wanted and right now nothing was going to stop him getting his own way. Being selfish was the only thing that Heath knew how to do effectively.

**

Aden was lying in bed that morning, on most typical days, he would have been up and running at this time but he was too nervous about the phone call.

They said that they were only going to take a few days and it had been 2 days, He didn’t feel very optimistic about it though.

A few moments later as if by magic, his mobile phone rang, blaring through the pillow. He frantically picked it up, breathed in and answered the phone. ‘Aden Jefferies speaking’

‘Hello Mr Jefferies, its Bill from the interview’

‘Hi’

‘Hope you have been well, the panel have come to a decision regarding the position and if you are still available’ Aden smiled as he heard that ‘then we would like to offer you the position’

‘Thank you so much, you will not regret this’

‘Of course we will not, Mr Copeland will see you on Monday morning at 8am for your induction. Good luck’

‘Thank you’ and then he hung up the phone.

He smiled, he got up out of the bed and went into the shower singing along as he finally felt like life was going his way’

**

Casey nervously knocked on Nicole’s door; He had been there for 10 minutes trying to get the urge to actually knock

Nicole opened the door, she tried to shut it once she realised who it was, but Casey was quick and wedged his foot in between the door and the doorframe.

‘Go away Casey’ she said exasperatedly as she tried to move his foot, but Casey was stronger. He edged his way in and Nicole moved back towards the sofa.

‘What do you want?’ Nicole demanded trying to get back control over the situation

‘I want to know why you ran out, I know it was a shock for you being caught by my brother but it didn’t warrant you running out’

Nicole moved towards him and put her hands on his face ‘I am sorry, that was harsh but I made it clear that I didn’t want anyone to know about us’

Casey took her hands from his face and held it in her hands ‘I get that but why did you blank my calls?’

‘A text?’ he added before Nicole got a chance to say anything,

‘I was hoping you were going to visit, I was too ashamed after my reaction to contact you’

‘Heath grounded me, I managed to get out today’

She sat down on the sofa snuggling up to Casey ‘I think we have to tell people that we are dating, it is literally impossible to hide it from anyone anymore’

‘Before we do that, lets just catch up on lost time’ he said cheekily as he moved her face towards his.

She looked deep into his eyes and then kissed him. At first it was slow and meaningful kisses that soon got more passionate.

Shirts and jeans were flung all over the lounge, a few moments later Casey picked her up and walked with her towards the bedroom.

She smiled as he got on top of her, she put her legs around him as he began to unclip her bra.

‘Mmm’ she moaned pleasurably as they both climaxed in each other.

As they both lay next to each other, content. Nicole got a text off Heath ‘You better stay away from Casey. He doesn’t need anymore heartache’

‘Who was that?’ Casey murmured sleepily. He didn’t really care but the annoying jingle was stopping him from sleeping.

Nicole deleted the message and turned her phone off ‘don’t worry about it babe’ she snuggled up to him and put her head on his chest, within a few minutes Casey began to snore gently.

She picked her phone up, turned it back on. She manoeuvred her way out of the bed, put on her dressing gown and walked onto the balcony where she knew she wouldn’t be heard.

‘Hello’

‘Heath, stop contacting me, I have told you several times that I don’t want to talk to you’

‘You didn’t say that last week when you ended up in my bed’

Nicole sighed ‘that was a mistake. I never meant for that to happen’

‘You say that now, but I am not sure that I believe you’

‘You can believe what you want Heath’ she said annoyed

‘It was so easy to kiss you and get you in my bed; I know that if I do that again, you will fall for me again’

Nicole didn’t say anything so Heath pressed on. ‘Remember, my hands all over your body, you melting by my touch’

Nicole couldn’t talked, she was too aroused by what it was Heath was saying, she made an involuntary groan.

Heath smiled ‘You don’t love Casey, you love me’

Again, Nicole made no comment for a few moments ‘I can’t be with you, Casey doesn’t deserve that at all’

‘So you are willing to be unhappy just for him? Is that fair?’

‘No it isn’t. But I made my bed, I have to lie in it’ she said

‘I am not giving up’ he warned

‘I can’t be with you’ she stressed, ‘not when I am with Casey, I love him’

‘But you’re in love with me. Stop lying to yourself, its just I can be selfish and tell Casey that we were together, if I thought you didn’t love me then I would but you feel the same, why should I be the bad guy in this relationship when you are in the same boat’ he rambled on

‘Calm down’ she urged

He breathed ‘Sort it out, I want to be with you, either you meet me tonight at the Sands or I will find you, whatever happens, I will be with you tonight.’

Nicole hung up the phone before Heath could say anything else, she sat down on one of the chairs on the balcony.

She had no idea what to do, she wanted to be with Casey but the lure of Heath was too much for her.

She knew what she had to do, but she didn’t want to do it. The right decision wasn’t an easy one to make.

[Zetti]

Here is the next chapter, apologies again for this, I tried to update this morning but my net died on me. Anyways here is the next chapter. I probably wont update now until middle of next week due to university and work commitments so enjoy while you can

Please do give me some ideas as to what I can do next because am at a loss at the moment

Chapter 3

Belle had just finished work that evening when Aden came into the diner. ‘Sorry we just closed’

‘Oh sorry, my brother asked me to meet him here’

‘Oh really, well maybe you should text him and ask him to meet you outside, its just am in a rush, my boyfriend is meeting me after I finish’

‘Sure no problem’ he got his phone out

‘Hello’ Justin called out as he walked in a few seconds later.

‘Hey!’ Belle and Aden said simultaneously

Justin smiled; he knew that this was going to happen

Belle turned to Aden ‘he is your brother’

‘As much as it shames me to say it, yeah it is’

Justin smacked him gently around the head but Aden ducked and he ended up hitting the wall

Belle chuckled ‘well, this is a turn up for the books then. Never knew you had a brother’

‘There is a lot you don’t know about me’ Justin added cheekily.

Aden grimaced ‘don’t believe a word he says about me’

Belle smiled and said ‘Both of you please wait outside, just need to grab my bag and then I will lock up’

‘Sure thing babe’

They both walked outside and perched on the top of the table ‘So how did you two meet?’

‘At a club, she thought I was a jerk’

‘Not far off the mark then!’

Aden chuckled at his own joke, Justin ignored him ‘within a few weeks, it had become serious’

‘How long have you two been going out?’

‘About 9 months’ he admitted

‘And you never said a word’

‘Well, she wanted to keep it a secret and I was just going with the flow at the time’ he said

‘Wow’ he was speechless for a few seconds ‘Well I am happy for you. It’s been a up & down few years for us, but we are happy now’

‘So what’s new with you then?’

‘Got the new PE vacancy at Summer Bay High, start on Monday’

‘Little bro is moving up in the world’ Justin ruffled his hair. Aden moved out of his reach.

Belle came out a few minutes later ‘So what’s the plan?’

Aden sighed ‘Am going to head home, am knackered. I will see you around’

‘You sure?’ Justin enquired

‘Yea, am just really tired, I need my energy if I am going to be teaching a bunch of hormonal teenagers tomorrow’

‘Just remember you are bigger and uglier than them, you will be fine’

Aden punched Justin on the arm.

‘Stop teasing him’ Belle punched Justin as well.

Justin looked hurt ‘My brother and girlfriend ganging up on me... Someone help!’

Aden chuckled before he waved goodbye and walked off home.

**

‘so, your first class is a Sport Theory class with the year 11. You got your lesson plans and everything in order?’

‘It’s all here’ he patted his folder in his hand

‘Have fun’ Miles called as he left him in the classroom.

The bell went and students came into the classroom.

Once all the students had sat down and calmed down ‘Right, who wants to start?’

Students looked at each other perplexed ‘Aren’t you meant to be teaching us?’

‘Am I? I mean I am a teacher but do I know everything’

Ruby piped up ‘No but you need to tell us the relevant information so we can pass the exam’

‘So is that all learning is about?’

‘Well yes, we pass exams get to year 12 and hopefully get our HSC then uni’

‘So you are jumping through hoops to get to uni, do you all even remember anything you learnt last year?’

A series of shaking heads occurred, Aden smiled, ‘Thought so’

‘Sir?’

‘Yes. What’s your name?’

‘Casey’

‘Go on’

‘How is this relevant to Sport Theory?’

‘It isn’t but it is something that I was curious about’

Ruby and Casey looked at each other with a confused look on their faces before looking back at Aden.

Aden smiled; this lesson was going to be fun for him and for the students as well.

**

‘So how did it go?’ Justin asked when Aden turned up at his flat later that evening.

‘Good, year 11 were interested, year 9’s not so much but I expected that’

Belle walked in. ‘Hey Aden, you staying for something to eat? Justin’s cooking’

‘Hmm.. no, I want to survive the night, got to work tomorrow’ he smirked.

‘Ha-ha’

Belle smiled, ‘well I am sure you will be fine, I survived’ she winked at him.

Shaking his head at Justin’s funny faces ‘Okay, then I will stay for dinner’

**

‘That wasn’t bad’ Aden commented after he had finished his lasagne.

Justin bowed ‘Thank you’

‘Don’t let it get to your head babe’ Belle laughed

‘Anyways, I better be off, got to work in the morning’

‘Alright then, drop me a text and we will meet up at the weekend or something’

‘Would you drop me at Irene’s? Got to work as well tomorrow morning’

‘Sure’

**

Nicole was in her flat, it was half past 10. Heath had texted her to meet him at the Sands for 11.

She didn’t want to go but yet she felt like something was pushing her towards it.

KNOCK KNOCK

She frowned, was it Heath? He said 11; maybe he didn’t believe she was going to turn up.

She walked towards the door and opened it, she saw a bloodied and bruised Casey.

She grabbed hold of him and slowly put him on the sofa

‘What happened?’

‘I was mugged’ he admitted in shame

Nicole picked the phone up and called the police even when Casey protested. ‘You have to report it’

**

‘Did you see the assailant?’ Charlie asked

‘It was too dark, I didn’t even realise that someone was even behind me’

‘Okay, that’s enough for now; we will look into it and get back to you as soon as possible.

Charlie escorted Casey out of the interview room where Nicole, Heath and Brax were waiting for him. Nicole hugged him. ‘You ok?’

‘As okay as I can be’ he replied, grateful for Nicole hugging him

‘Wow, they gave you a shiner’ Heath commented but Nicole gave him a dirty look so he stopped trying to wind Casey up.

Brax punched him on the arm ‘Leave him.’

Heath was going to say something but Nicole glared at him once again warning him not to put his foot in it.

**

[Zetti]

This chapter is dedicated to Miranda for all the kind comments and encouragement. It’s truly appreciated hun.

Chapter 4

Brax dropped Nicole off at her door; Heath was in the car with Casey ‘Are you going to be okay?’

‘I will be fine’ she replied

‘You sure?’ Brax wanted to make sure that she was.

She nodded.

Brax smiled and walked back towards the car but before he reached the car ‘Be careful’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You know what I mean’ Brax gestured subtly to Heath and Casey ‘Casey doesn’t need any heartache or pain’

‘I know I love him. I won’t hurt him’

‘Make sure you don’t’ he warned but it didn’t come across as malicious but in a concerning and dignified way.

‘I won’t, but please get Heath to back off, I can’t fight him and be with Casey at the same time. Someone will get hurt and I don’t want anyone to get hurt’

‘I will do my best’ he replied. ‘Go inside’

She opened the door and before she closed it, she took one last look at Casey and mouthed I love you’

Casey mouthed back ‘I love you too’

Heath saw the exchange, he was beginning to realise that Nicole might not be that easy to get back.

He would have to step up his game if he was going to get the girl.

It was a shame that it was his brother that he was competing against, but Heath always got what he wanted and he knew that this wasn’t going to be any different at all.

**

Aden had just finished at the gym early that morning, he knocked on the door to Justin’s flat, and he needed to drop off the keys he had borrowed.

The door opened slightly, Aden frowned but edged in nonetheless.

‘Sorry Aden’ Belle said as she saw him walk in ‘I was trying to clean the garden’

‘Oh don’t worry, just pass these on to Justin for me.’

Aden couldn’t stop admiring how beautiful Belle was in her top and jeans.

‘No problem. You want to stay and keep me company?’

‘Sure why not?’ he said

He knew he shouldn’t be lusting after his brother’s girlfriend but he couldn’t help it.

‘So, help me clear the weeds will you’

Aden smiled ‘Sure’

It was a hot day and he ended up clearing the weeds topless, it was just too hot for him.

Belle smiled as she saw him effortlessly pull out all the weeds that she had spent all morning struggling to get out.

She found it hard to pull her eyes away from his six packs and his cute bum in his blackish jeans. He was definitely fit.

She shook her head as he turned around. ‘Well, the weeds are done’

‘Well, that was the plan for today’ she laughed

‘What was your plan for tomorrow?’

‘To plant the seeds’

‘What seeds?’

‘Tomato seeds and potatoes’

‘A vegetable garden then’

‘Yep, it’s to kill time. I swear, Justin spends his life working and Irene has given as much shifts as possible, but you know a woman has to pass the time somehow.

Aden smiled ‘Don’t you have any previous job experience’

‘I used to work in a newspaper, but didn’t end well’ she looked uncomfortable talking about it so Aden didn’t push it any further.

**

Aden smiled after he got out of the shower, he could smell the lasagne in the oven, and he had set it on a timer.

He made his way down the stairs and turned off the oven, putting on his oven gloves, he placed on the worktop to cool down as he went and got changed.

The phone rang, ‘Hello’

‘Hi, it’s Heath Braxton’

‘Hey, mate, been a while’

‘Yeah, I know, I was wondering, do you want to go out for a drink tonight?’

‘Tonight’ he asked unsure

‘Yea, I kind of need a wingman’

‘Hmm. What time?’

‘About 10’

‘Where?’

Heath smiled, it was a done deal’

‘Meet me at the surf club’

Aden smiled ‘Fine, but you’re paying’

All he heard was a chuckle as he put the phone down on him.

He groaned, his first Saturday night in wasn’t going according to plan.

**

Belle was sitting in her room the next morning. She had all her old newspaper articles around her. Something that Aden had said had stayed with her.

She wanted more for herself, maybe she should go back to journalism, she enjoyed it and the past experiences made her want to do it even more.

She had heard that Summer Bay High was considering introducing a newspaper for the students and that they wanted a professional to come in and help with it.

She had an appointment to see Mr Copeland in about 1 hours’ time

**

‘So, I gather, you are here about the newspaper job that has just been advertised’

‘Yes, I heard about it from Irene, and since I am here for a long time to come and journalism is a passion for me, it wasn’t a hard decision to come to’

‘Well as the position has been open for 20 days and you are the only person to come forward, I would say your chances are looking pretty good, I would need to do a background check and consult the Department, but if that’s all good then you should be working here in no time’

Belle smiled, ‘Thanks so much’ she smiled

She was in her own little world that she didn’t even realise that she had bumped into someone.

‘Sorry’ she said waking herself up

‘Oh, no problem, don’t worry’ Aden replied, ‘It happens’

‘Can I ask though, what are you so happy about?’

‘I don’t want to jinx it but I might be the newspaper editor here’

‘Oh wow, that’s fantastic, such a change from the diner then’ he commented

Belle smiled ‘yea, such a big change’

‘So, how’s Justin on his work trip’

‘Oh not bad, I spoke to him yesterday night, he seems knackered more than anything’

‘Never could hack the pace’ Aden chuckled wryly

‘Sir!’

‘Hold on’ he said

‘You better go, they seem to be getting restless’

‘Yeah, they do, how about us going out for a meal tonight?’

‘Erm...’

‘I can’t stand ready made meals for one anymore. Please, you would be doing me a massive favour!’

Belle still wasn’t sure, she didn’t want to get herself into an awkward situation.

Aden waited for an answer

‘Fine. Why not’

‘Good! I will see you tonight, Angelo’s ok?’

‘Yes, I will meet you there at 8.’

‘See you then’

**

The next chapter I should have up on Thursday if I am off uni

[Zetti]

Here is the next chapter, thanks for the comments. I wont be able to update till Sunday at best so enjoy this one

Chapter 5

Aden was looking forward to getting out of the house even if it was for a meal with his brothers girlfriend

Belle walked into the restaurant and was directed to the table where Aden was sitting.

She was wearing a dress that was gorgeously slim fitted, made her look so much more beautiful than before.

He was gobsmacked when he first saw her walking towards him.

‘Wow, you look stunning’

Belle smiled ‘Why, thank you’

The waiter approached them with two menu’s ‘Have you got a drink preference?’

‘I would like a bottle of the house red’ Aden said ‘Is that okay with you?’

‘Absolutely fine’

‘As you wish’ replied the waiter.

‘So, how’s the teaching job going’

‘Good so far, it’s different to what I expected but then everything always is’

‘have you heard about the newspaper job?’

‘He said that the background check should be back in a few days but the Department are happy when it comes back clear that I should get the job’

‘That’s great. It will be fun.’

‘Oh yes and I have loads of ideas as well for it’

‘Good’

Aden looked at the menu. Angelo’s had started to branch out into Italian food.

‘I want the chicken alfredo pasta’ Belle said

‘Hmm.. I will have the Chicken Caesar Salad’

He waved to the waiter to take their order.

‘One Chicken Caesar and Chicken Alfredo pasta please’

‘Sure,’ he took the menu and left them to it.

‘So tell me something I don’t know about you’

‘Well. I am Irene’s niece’

‘Really?’

‘Yes, I thought you knew that, didn’t Justin tell you’

‘We don’t talk much about you, he doesn’t even tell me much really to be honest’

‘I don’t think that’s just you though’

The waiter interrupted ‘Here we go madam and sir’

‘Thanks so much, could we get another bottle of the house red’ Belle asked

‘Of course,’ he took the other bottle and came back a few minutes later with the other bottle.

‘So how come you never visited Irene in the past?’

‘I didn’t even know she existed’

‘Wow, I mean I knew Irene for a very long time, she never mentioned her family.’

‘I don’t think she knew I existed either though’

‘How did you find her?’ Aden asked

‘I was looking through a family album, one that Mum had forbidden me from seeing and I saw her picture, I was curious’

‘Interesting, it’s good that you have found her.’

‘I am really lucky, anyways enough about me.’

‘Well I am not that interesting to talk about’

‘I am sure that isn’t true’ Belle answered with a hint of disbelief in her voice.

Aden smiled ‘Another time, another day’

‘I won’t let it go’

‘I can tell. Another time’ he repeated

Belle frowned but didn’t bring it up for the rest of the meal.

It was a clear and crisp night; Aden walked Belle to Irene’s. Once they had reached the door, Belle turned to him ‘Thanks for a nice night. It was really good’

‘My pleasure, beats sitting indoors and poking at a ready meal’

‘Well next times come round and I will cook for you’

Aden smiled ‘Are you sure you can cook?’ he said jokingly

‘I can cook better than you’ she started to flirt with him.

Aden raised his eyes. ‘I will definitely come around then’

He waved goodbye. Belle watched him walk away again admiring his bum in the jeans. She shook her head and walked into the house, it had been a good night.

**

The next morning, Casey was on the sofa with the blanket around him. It hurt even more the bruises appeared and it didn’t help that Heath kept on poking him.

The phone rang and Brax picked it up. It was Charlie ‘We need to talk’ she said

‘I am fine thanks so much’ Brax said sarcastically

‘Sorry, but I need to talk to you’

‘Shoot’

‘Are you on your own?’

Brax walked into the garden and made sure he was out of earshot from anyone.

‘I am now’

‘We know who assaulted Casey’

Brax’s skin went cold, ‘who?’

‘I can’t say yet but it will be revealed eventually, and when it does, there cannot be a reaction from you guys’

‘This moron beat up my brother to an inch of his life, he is so lucky that he was near Nicole’s otherwise it would have been much worse’

‘I understand that, you know I do, family is one of the most important things in your life, I understand but you cannot do anything, you have to promise me’

‘I can’t babe, I wish I could but I can’t’

Charlie was silent for a few moments ‘This will end badly if you react to the news’

‘Just tell me, or I can find out myself, it shouldn’t be too hard’

‘Fine, I will tell you, but he is in police protection so any attempt to harm will result in you being arrested, and I have no intention of dating anyone who is in prison’

‘Fine, tell me’

‘It is Steve Wheeler’

He was shell-shocked ‘Are you sure?’ he whispered so no one would hear him.

‘Yes, you okay?’

‘Yeah, you were right though, I can’t do anything, it will bring too much back for Casey, that animal should be in prison for what he did to him’

‘I know, I read the report, just had no evidence’

‘I know, if Heath found out, he would kill him, to be honest I am finding it hard to control the urge to kill him myself’

‘You promised’

‘Actually I didn’t but I won’t hurt him yet’

‘Brax…’ Casey called.

‘Babe I need to go, Casey wants me’

‘Okay, I will ring you later’

‘Sure, I love you’

‘Love you too, say hi to Casey for me’

Brax smiled and said, ‘will do, bye’

He hung the phone up. He began to walk back into the house. ‘What did you want?’ Brax asked as he hung up the phone.

‘I remember something about the accident’ his voice sounded really shaky.

Brax looked uncomfortable but Casey didn’t notice.

‘What is it?’

‘I remember a voice in the background, I don’t know why I didn’t remember after but anyways he at least I think it was a he and he muttered something like ‘This was a long time coming.’

‘And?’

‘I thinked I blacked out, it was weird’

‘Blacked out’

‘Yea’

‘You never mentioned it before’

‘I don’t know why I didn’t; it just didn’t register in my mind’

‘I will have to tell Charlie’ came his response

‘Sure, fine’

‘So that’s all he remembers?’ Charlie asked when Brax rang her up later on that afternoon.

‘Yes, so does that change anything?’

‘No, and I shouldn’t have said anything to you so please don’t say anything’

‘I haven’t’ he has hurt by Charlie’s lack of faith.

‘Sorry, I know it’s disheartening but I need to know that it’s a secret, the Head Office will not let me tell anyone, am pushing it by telling you’

‘What’s the secret?’

‘I can’t say babe, just trust me and it will be okay’

Brax was really frustrated but he knew that he had to keep Steve’s reappearance a secret, he had caused Casey so much pain as a kid, he didn’t need that back in his life, it was his responsibility to protect him. After all who else was going to do it?

http://www.marisota.co.uk/shop/product/det...#colour:0,size: Belle’s dress

[Zetti]

Thanks for the awesome comments and encouragement, this chapter is for all of you who read it.

Chapter 6

Belle was woken by a loud bang. She was taken aback; she jumped up out of her bed and pulled on her dressing gown.

She ran out of the room. Irene was lying on the floor. ‘Irene!’

She ran to her, she checked her pulse it was faint. She got to the phone and dialled triple 0. ‘Ambulance please’ she said desperately once she had got connected to the operator.

‘Slow down, what’s happened?’

‘Erm, my auntie must have collapsed, I don’t know, I just found her!’

‘Okay, where are you?’

Belle told them the address and they said ‘We have sent out a unit, they will be there in 5 minutes’

‘Thanks’ she hung up the phone. She kneeled down ‘Please be okay, please!’

The paramedics turned up a few minutes later.

‘Do you know how long she has been like this?’

‘Well I heard a bang which must have been the pan so I am guessing about 10 minutes. I checked her pulse and put her in the recovery position’

‘Good, that was a good thing to do’ he reassured her.

Belle didn’t feel very reassured but she quickly got changed as the paramedics put Irene on the stretcher and made her way out of the house so she could be with Irene.

Once they had reached the hospital, she was rushed into the emergency room where Belle wasn’t allowed.

She waited for a few hours before Sid found her ‘What happened!’

‘She is very ill.’

‘What is wrong with her?’

‘Her cancer spread and it attacked her heart causing her to collapse’

Belle was still in shock, she had no idea that Irene had let it get that bad.

‘I had no idea that it was so bad!’

‘I don’t think she did either, she had her last scan 3 weeks ago and it hadn’t spread at that point, so even if she had known, it mightn’t have made a difference’

Belle breathed in ‘Can I see her?’

‘Of course you can, she is awake now’

‘Thanks Dr Walker’

Belle walked into the room. Irene turned her head slightly to acknowledge Belle.

‘Hey darl’

‘You scared the hell out of me’

‘Sorry’

‘When are you going back to the chemo?’

‘I don’t know, I haven’t spoken to my oncologist yet, I don’t even know if it is an option yet’

Belle frowned ‘what do you mean?’

‘The cancer is spreading, chemo might not make a blind bit of difference, I don’t want to torture myself with hope of a future, if there isn’t going to be one. I have to accept that my time might be up’

The tears began to flow from Irene’s eyes as she finally voiced her thoughts, the thoughts that had been like a parasite in her head since Sid gave her the news.

‘You still have to fight’ Belle was struggling to fight the tears coming out of her eyes.

‘Oh darl, my time is up, I have to give up and go gracefully, I just am so glad that I have met you and that you are a big part of my life now’

Belle hugged Irene ‘I wouldn’t have it any other way’ she replied sniffing

Irene began to doze off, Belle slowly left the room and made her way to the bathroom. She felt so worn out, she was losing the only family she had left, and her boyfriend hadnt rang her in days. She just felt so and completely abandoned and alone.

She needed to talk to someone; she got her phone out of her pocket and dialled Justin.

‘This is Justin Jefferies, I am not available at the moment but leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as humanly possible’

She hung the phone up and groaned in frustration and then she dialled another number

‘Aden Jefferies speaking’

‘Aden’ she said in a small voice

‘Belle? What’s wrong?’

‘Are you busy?’

‘Just finished, I was going to do some marking but it can wait’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course, what’s wrong?’

‘Irene’s in hospital, I don’t know what to do now’

‘Slow down, why is she in hospital’

‘She has had breast cancer for about 7 months, she never went into remission and now the cancer has spread’ her tears began to fall again.

Aden felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest ‘I will be at the hospital in 20 minutes’

‘Ok.’ She said yet again in a small voice, she just didn’t have the energy anymore.

**

Aden got there about 15 minutes later. He saw a worn out Belle sat down on one of the chairs just a few metres away from the entrance.

He looked at her; she looked beautiful even when she was upset.

Belle saw him. He walked up to her and he hugged her. She just let him hold her, she had been so strong for too long, she needed someone to be strong for her.

For a few moments there, he felt like Justin, and she felt content but when he murmured ‘Belle’

She came back to the land of the living and realised that it was Aden and not Justin. ‘Sorry, I just needed a hug’

Aden sat down next to her ‘Don’t apologise, it’s not a problem’

‘I tried calling Justin but his phone’s off; he is probably in a meeting or something’

Aden hugged her and let her cry for a few minutes until Sid walked up to her.

‘What is it?’ she was frantic

‘Irene just had a heart attack’ he said in a gentle voice.

Aden was still holding onto Belle who had begun to shake. She wasn’t able to talk so Aden asked ‘Is she okay?’

He shook his head ‘She passed away a few moments ago’

All he heard was Belle cry hysterically. He wished he could have taken some of her pain away, she had just lost the only family that she had ever had.

‘Can we go in and see her?’

‘Of course, Nurse Walker will take you when you ready, no rush’

‘Thanks Sid’ he managed a weak smile.

**

Later on that evening, Belle was laying on the sofa at Aden’s flat, she couldn’t face going back to Irene’s. Not yet anyways.

‘Do you want any sugars with the hot chocolate?’

‘No thanks, sorry again, I shouldn’t be taking up the space’

‘I have a spare room, it is not a big deal. Like I said on the way here I am happy to help’

‘I really do appreciate it, I have so much to organise with the funeral and the wake, I don’t even know where to begin’

‘We will deal with that later on, for now, just drink this and we will watch some bad romantic comedy’

‘Like what?’ she asked

‘Well, what do you want to watch?’

‘Remember me’

‘With Robert Pattinson in it?’

‘Oh yes, he is adorable and a good actor’ she gushed

Aden rolled his eyes ‘Fine, I will go and get it from the rental place, I will be back ASAP’

‘Ok’ Belle picked up her phone.

She dialled Justin again, she was calmer and she really wanted to tell him about Irene. She needed him right now.

After a few rings, the phone was picked up ‘Hello?’

‘Hi, is Justin there?’

‘Who is this?’

Belle was confused ‘it’s his girlfriend. Who are you?’

‘Sorry, stupid of me. I am Rob, his partner in the workplace’

‘Oh right. Is Justin there?’

‘He is in the shower, shall I tell him you called?’

‘Please’ she replied

‘Actually hold on. He is just getting out’

She heard him say ‘its your girlfriend’

A few moments later Justin’s voice came on the phone ‘Hey, sorry I missed your call this morning, was in a meeting’

‘Its fine, I have to tell you something’

‘Sound serious’ he replied with a tone of concern in his voice.

‘it is, I tried to tell you before but anyways…’ she faltered

‘What is it?’

‘Irene passed away this morning’

Justin was shell-shocked for a few moments. ‘How?’ he asked when he had got his voice back.

‘Heart attack which was brought on by the pressure of the cancer on her lungs and it was just too much for her’

‘Oh babe, how you coping?’

‘Not very well, Aden’s been helping me’

‘I am so sorry I can’t be there’

‘When you coming back?’

Justin breathed in ‘I got the deal, I need another 10 days to close it’

’10 days’ she said in disbelief ‘Irene’s funeral is probably going to be on Tuesday, 5 days from now’

‘Sorry, I wish I could be there’ he sounded genuine but Belle was too angry and sad to listen so she just hung up the phone.

**

[Zetti]

Here is the next chapter. Thanks to Miranda for reading and making me feel better about posting

Enjoy it x

Warning: sexual content.

Chapter 7

Aden came back from the rental place about ten minutes later, he found Belle sobbing on the floor.

He ran to her and slowly picked her up onto the bed, ‘what’s wrong?’

‘Your brother’ she said in anger and frustration.

‘What’s he done?’

‘He isn’t coming back for the funeral.’

‘Are you serious?’ he asked as she sat back on the sofa

‘Yes, he knows how much Irene means to me and yet he can’t even be bothered to come back for one day to support me’

She began to cry, she was just so emotional, she needed some comfort so when Aden hugged her, she interpreted it differently and kissed him on the lips.

Aden was in shock and pushed her away from him gently.

‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that’

Aden looked into her eyes and he could feel her pain but yet at the same time, he really wanted to kiss her back.

He wouldn’t though because she was vulnerable and she was dating his brother.

‘It’s okay, don’t worry’

‘You can’t say anything to anyone’

‘I won’t, its forgotten, don’t dwell on it’

**

Tuesday came but still no sign of Justin. Belle had refused to talk to him. The funeral procession had just begun. Belle was walking behind the coffin.

The coffin was placed at the front of the coffin and then the priest began to speak

‘We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of Irene Roberts’

Belle kind of tuned out, she looked at Aden who was sitting a few rows above her. She didn’t want to sit in the front row, she wanted to be able to walk up the aisle to say her final goodbye to Irene.

Ever since the kiss, she couldn’t stop thinking about Aden. It was really weird but she was getting really close to him.

She hadn’t even gone to the house yet but she had been told that Irene’s will was to be read the next day.

‘Now we call on her niece Isabella Taylor to say a few words’

Belle stood up. Aden looked at her with a smile.

Just before she got to the end, she looked at the photo of Irene on the coffin.

She turned around ‘I haven’t got much to say about Irene but she was my rock. I have only known her for a few weeks, she gave me a job and stood by me when I realised that I wanted to follow my dreams.’

‘I found this poem that sums up just how I feel about Irene’

“I think of you as watching from,

A time and space beyond the sky,

A place where we might someday come,” she faltered but looked into the audience, she saw Aden’s face who was encouraging her to carry on, to be strong.

“Irene and I, and we three some

Sweet moments share. Though it's a lie,

I think of you as watching from” she smiled to herself as she remembered Irene in her thoughts

“This place, and know you're gone, but numb

With grief, I cannot let you die.

There is no place where we can come”

“Together once again. It's dumb

to think so. Yet when I cry,

I think of you as watching from”

“A happiness I cannot plumb,

More real than real, more want than why,

A place where we might someday come,”

“Irene and I. No heart can sum

The measurements that yield goodbye.

And so I keep you watching from

A place where we might someday come.”

As soon as she stopped, the tears began to flow; she kneeled next to the coffin and placed her head on it. She was so numb that she didn’t even realise that Aden had picked her up and took her to sit next to him.

‘Thanks’ she said as she sat up slowly edging away from him, ever so slightly.

‘It’s okay’ he made a faint smile

**

The wake was in the diner, Irene loved that place. She built up her business from scratch and she had left a hole in so many people’s lives.

Belle was sitting down on the beach. She wanted a few moments to herself.

Someone interrupted her thoughts

‘Belle?’

She looked up to see Aden standing there.

‘Hey’

‘Can I sit?’

‘Of course you can’

‘I just got a phone call’

‘Off who?’ she kind of knew who it was but feigned ignorance.

‘Justin’

She tensed up ‘What did he want?’

‘He wanted to talk to you’

‘I am too annoyed at him; he couldn’t even take one day off to come to Irene’s funeral’

‘I know, but talk to him, he is your boyfriend’

‘Why are you defending him’ she asked

‘He is my brother’

‘That’s not an explanation, just because he is your brother doesn’t mean you have to back him up.’

‘I know, he is a jerk but he loves you’

‘Don’t tell him but it’s not been working for a while, ever since…’

‘What?’ he asked in a gentle voice

‘… Well since he started to go away on these little trips for work’

**

Heath had decided to up his game. Nicole wasn’t at home at the moment; she was at Irene’s wake. He wanted to be there for her.

Despite the fact that she was with his brother, Heath had never let go of hope that one day they would be together again.

He heard the door open and Nicole walked in. ‘What are you doing here’

‘We need to talk’

‘We’ve done all the talking; I am not getting back together with you’

‘Just listen to me and then I will leave you to think’

Nicole frowned but said ‘fine, go on’

‘Do you remember our date where we had the picnic and the awesome dessert?’

‘What about it?’

Flashback

Heath and Nicole were on their first date, he had planned a picnic at a secluded area. There was no one around for miles.

‘This is nice’ Nicole commented

‘Am glad you like it’ he said as he lay down on the grass looking up

Nicole snuggled up next to him ‘Still feels too good to be true’

Heath chuckled and put his arms around her pulling her closer to him ‘Well its not’

He sat up pulling her with him. He moved himself so that he was on top of her

Nicole gasped ‘not here, its public’

Heath traced her jaw ‘There is no one around’

‘But still’ she protested weakly as Heath lowered his face so that he was only a few centimetres away from her face

‘… still what?’ breathing on top of her turning her on even more.

She didn’t respond as she just stared deep into Heath’s eyes.

He kissed her and she returned the kiss back. It got more and more passionate. She unbuttoned his shirt and he pulled off her dress and threw it to the side. She put her nails on his chest and he shuddered at the pleasure of her touching him.

Nicole kissed him on his chest and moved further down but he stopped her ‘Don’t. please don’t’

He got off her.

‘What’s wrong?’ Nicole asked as she put on her bra

‘Doesn’t matter, come on we had better go, don’t want to be late’

‘Sure’ she was really confused now, nothing made sense’

End of Flashback

[Zetti]

Here is the next chapter as I know that the next one wont be up till next week at this rate. This is dedicated to -Carina- for always complimenting me and the chapters, it means a lot. I also want to say a big thanks to all that have commented, it is truly appreciated x

Chapter 8

Nicole was confused.

‘Well, I never did tell you why I stopped did I?’

‘No, it was the reason we split up, you became so distant and cold’

‘Cold. I wasn’t cold; I just couldn’t cope at the time’

‘Cope with what’ she asked

He ignore her question by asking her a question

‘Do you remember that I left for 5 months?’

‘Yes’

‘Just before we broke up’

‘Yep. I remember’

‘Well. I am finally ready to tell you why’

‘Go on’

Heath paused and put his hands together on his lap, he needed a few moments before he told her.

‘I had cancer’ he said quietly.

**

Justin parked his car outside his flat, he knew Belle was inside, Aden had tipped him off.

He knocked on the door. ‘Belle?’

Belle opened the door, ‘What do you want?’

‘To talk’

‘I can’t talk to you, I am too angry’

‘Please’

‘No, just go before I get angry at you, I have too many emotions controlling me right now and I can’t cope with it.’

‘I am sorry’

Belle closed the door on him. Justin tried ringing her but it just went to voicemail. After a few minutes he left her a message

‘Hey. Sorry that I wasn’t there at the funeral, I know how much you needed me, I was a jerk and I really hope you let me make it up to you soon, please.’ He hung up the phone and walked back to his car.

As soon as he got back in his car, his phone beeped ‘I can’t be with you anymore, its over’

He was still in a state of shock, he couldn’t believe that Belle would break up with him by text but then he did deserve it, he was such a jerk. Like Aden had said, it wouldn’t be hard to come back for a few days to be there for the woman he loved.

**

‘Why didn’t you tell me’ Nicole asked once she had got over the shock.

‘I didn’t want to make you feel obligated to tell me’

‘What do you mean? I was falling for you and then you reject me. It was so painful and I didn’t even know why’

‘I didn’t even know how to admit it to myself, let alone tell you’

‘So that’s the real reason you left town?’

‘Yep’

‘Does Casey or Brax or both of them know?’

‘No, they just think I went to clear my head and what I normally do’

‘Why didn’t you tell them after?’

‘And drag it up again, it’s part of my past, I don’t need or want to bring it up all the time, its not something I want to dwell on.

Nicole sat on the sofa where Heath was and took his hands in hers ‘I wish you would have told me, it would have changed everything’

‘And now?’

‘It changes a lot; you aren’t the person I thought you were’

‘Is that a good thing or a bad thing?’

‘I don’t know’ she admitted ‘I need time to think’

‘Okay, I don’t want to be selfish and hurt Casey, at first I did but now I just think that you deserved the truth’

‘I truly do appreciate it; honestly I just need time to get my head around it’

‘That’s fine, I will wait for you’ he replied as honestly as he was able to.

**

‘We are here today to distribute the contents of Miss Irene Roberts.’

At the table was the solicitor, Belle, Nicole and Aden. Aden was shocked to realise that he was in the will but he would have went anyways if Belle needed him.

He admitted to himself that whatever she wanted, he would have given to her in a shot, and he loved her.

He felt so guilty thought about the amount of time he spent with her, but he didn’t know how to stay away, he had it bad.

‘So, as I am the executor, I will make sure everything is carried out’

They all nodded. Belle held Aden’s hands under the table; Aden smiled to himself but then had a passive face in respect of the occasion.

‘To Nicole Franklin, I give you 25% of my estate which roughly translates into $54,000’

Nicole sucked her breath. ‘Wow. I never expected that’

He carried on. ‘Your father has been a big part of my life in the past few months, I would never have met Belle if you hadn’t pressed him to encourage me and you gave me what I always wanted, a family and for that you deserve everything, spend it wisely and have fun with it’

Belle smiled ‘You deserve that, she is right, you gave her and me for that matter what we both wanted and I will always appreciate that’

The solicitor smiled. He knew Irene personally and she would be glad that there was some element of happiness after her death.

‘Next. I give Aden Jefferies, my car, the one that he always wanted’

Aden smiled as he remembered the time that he and Irene had the conversation about the car

Flashback

Aden was walking on the beach on his way home from school. He was walking past the diner when Irene drove past in her Ferrari.

‘Whoa’ he commented as Irene parked up

‘Like?’

‘Love’ his mouth was wide open as he touched the paintwork

‘A Ferrari California’ he said with awe

‘Yep, just got it

‘It’s awesome, my dream car’

‘Well, one day you might be lucky enough to get it’

‘I doubt it, even from my job at the school. I would never earn enough to be able to afford it’

‘You will. A bright boy like you will earn himself a promotion soon enough’ she smiled

End of Flashback

He smiled as the solicitor continued ‘I also give to Aden Jefferies..’

‘That’s not all?’

‘No, there is something else that she wanted you to have’

‘What?’

He opened the file and handed to him a letter.

‘She only wrote this about a week ago and gave it to me.’

It was a small brown envelope with the words Aden Jefferies.

Aden nodded as he moved his hands away from Belle’s to hold onto the envelope.

‘Last but not least, I give to Belle Taylor, the rest of my estate and assets’

‘Wow’

‘That includes the 65% of the diner and the house that you both lived in’

‘It’s entirely mine?’

‘Yep, the estate agent will sort out the details but yes as of this moment, it’s all yours’

She smiled ‘Thank you so much’

‘Also, this isn’t part of the will but she also left you a letter that she said she wanted you to have’

He handed her a blank envelope.

Belle was curious but she didn’t open. ‘Thank you’

All three of them got up to leave ‘Miss Franklin, I need your account details so I can sign the money over. Mr Jefferies?’

‘Yes?’

‘The car is in your name but the keys will not be given to you until next week as the garage are doing a MOT at the moment’

‘Thank you’

**

Aden was sitting on Belle’s sofa. ‘So what you planning to do with the car’ Belle asked as she walked in from the kitchen with two cups of tea.

Aden took his cup of tea and smiled ‘I don’t know, I love the car but with my job I know it will end up scratched and deformed eventually’

‘Hmm. Leave it in your garage and use it when you travel long distances, at the moment you don’t even need a car do you?’

‘No, I don’t live that far from school anyways’

‘There you go then, just keep it hidden and use it when you can’

Belle sat next to Aden. ‘I just want to say thanks’

‘For what?

‘For being here when Justin wasn’t’

‘No problem.’ He didn’t ask what their relationship status was, as far as he was concerned according to Justin ‘a work in progress’

He didn’t want to interfere, mainly because it was too painful to even contemplate doing that.

[Zetti]

Managed to get this chapter done. Thanks for all the comments, enjoy this chapter

Chapter 9

Nicole rang Casey a few days later after Heath had told her about his cancer. She had made a decision and she needed to act on it.

‘Hey babe’

‘Hey, can we talk?’

‘Sure. Am near yours anyways, should I come around?’

‘Yeah, am on the balcony, let yourself in’

‘Sure’

Nicole had spent the past few days gearing herself up for this. She knew that she had to do this since Heath had told her, it just confirmed everything that she already knew, that she still had lingering feelings for him.

She just didn’t know how he was going to react; she knew that it wasn’t going to be pretty and that she would face Brax as well especially since she promised him that she wouldn’t hurt Casey.

Her justification was that he didn’t deserve to be living a lie; they shouldn’t be together if she wasn’t sure about the direction they are going in or if they even really had a future together.

‘Nicole?’

‘Balcony’ she called out

He came and smiled.

‘You okay?’

‘Yea’

‘So what’s the mystery about?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Why did you want me to meet you here?’

‘I need to talk to you about us?’

Casey looked at her with a strange look ‘What about us?’

‘You know how it’s not been the same the past few weeks’

‘Since, my brothers found out?’

‘Well yeah but if we are totally honest, it’s not been working for a while’

‘Hold on, confused. So what you are saying is that it’s not working at all between us?’

‘Okay, basically the way I see it is, all we do is have sex, nothing else, no dates or talking about what we like or dislike or anything like that at all’

‘But now that we know that’s the problem, can’t we try and fix it?’

‘It’s not as simple as that’ she admitted

Casey was perplexed ‘But why?’

‘Because it’s not easy to change the whole dynamic of our relationship’

‘There is something else’

‘No, there’s not. It just isn’t working. I am sorry but it’s over’

Casey wasn’t convinced; instead he kissed her on the lips. Nicole was surprised but she couldn’t deny that the chemistry was there so she kissed him back even more passionately.

After a few moments she pushed him away ‘Don’t, this is my point, it’s just physical, there is no emotional aspect at all!’

‘Well we can remedy that’

‘No, we can’t. Sorry, it’s over, just go’ she turned away from him

‘Nicole’

She didn’t answer so he let it go and walked away from her and their relationship.

**

‘She did what!’ Brax was fuming

‘Don’t, it didn’t make sense and it still doesn’t’

‘well, she still shouldn’t have just dumped you for no reason’

‘Well she said it was because the relationship was too physical and no emotional aspects at all or something along those lines’

‘She actually said that?’

‘Yep’

Heath walked into the kitchen ‘Who said what?’

‘Nicole dumped him’ Brax said giving him a look. Casey didn’t take any notice of it

‘What?’ Heath was confused and in turn that made Brax confused but he hid it from Casey.

‘Yep, I don’t know, but am not giving up, there is something more to it, I will find out. I will’ he made that promise to himself.

‘I am going to go for surf with Romeo, I will be back late’

Neither of them said anything, they were too busy looking at each other with a lot of confusion.

Brax waited until Casey was out of earshot

‘What did you do?’

Heath didn’t answer.

‘I am waiting’

‘It’s got nothing to do with you, leave it’

‘You didn’t know that she had dumped him did you’

‘No’ he admitted

‘God, that girl, she is playing both of you and yet you both can’t even see it!’

‘Don’t, I really don’t have the energy right now’

‘I can warn you but I can’t warn Casey, she is trouble, stay the hell away from her otherwise she will damage your already fragile relationship with Casey.’

A few moments later, Casey woke up with a start. He didn’t know why he had that dream but as he saw Nicole lying next to him asleep, he knew that it was a dream and that they were okay.

Maybe the dream was to tell him that their relationship shouldn’t be all physical but have emotional aspects as well.

**

Justin had left Belle so many voicemails and texts. She wouldn’t talk to him.

‘She doesn’t want to talk to you’ Aden said that morning as he got ready for school.

‘I know, I just need the chance to explain’

‘She won’t listen to me’

‘I know. I need to be more upfront’ he decided

Aden grabbed his things and left the flat. He was sick of hearing about him and Belle, he was a broken record and he had others things to worry about at the moment.

He arrived at the school half an hour before the students were supposed to be there. He put all his things in his office and then made his way to the classroom he was in.

He sat down and closed his eyes for a while until he heard students coming in.

He sat there until all the students had assembled.

‘Okay, you know what you need to do, I will be here marking assignments, you all get on with your portfolio, remember it is due in at the end of the day’

‘Sir?’

‘No’

‘You don’t even know what I was going to ask’

‘Extension?’

The student looked at him hopefully but he shook his head. ‘No I told you last week that it was due in today’

‘Please sir!?’

‘No, end of the day, on my desk or I will penalise you 3 marks each day it is late, any more answering back and it will be 3 marks every hour’

‘Fine. I will move into the library for the rest of the day’

Aden smiled as he watched the rest of them getting on with their work.

Casey was sitting there with a faraway look on his face. Aden didn’t take anything from it at first but as the lesson dragged on, he got more and more concerned.

The bell went and students began filing out of the classroom

‘Remember 3pm on the dot’

‘Casey, will you stay behind a minute please?’

Aden shut the door behind them ‘Are you okay with the work?’

‘Yes, just trying to finish the conclusion, it will be done for today’

‘Okay, you do know that if you need anything that I am here for you’

‘Thanks, I appreciate that’ he said as his phone vibrated

‘We need to talk’ Nicole texted

Casey felt a sense of déjà vu. ‘Yea, me too, got some things to tell you’

**

[Zetti]

Here is the next chapter. I loved writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy reading it

Chapter 10

Casey met Nicole on the beach. They sat down away from everyone else.

‘So what did you want to talk about?’

Nicole looked at him and smiled.

‘Us, I think that we need to talk about where we are going?’

‘How do you mean?’ Casey asked meekly

‘I think we are ready for the next step’

‘Hold on. What next step?’

‘Moving in’ she said after a few moments

‘Whoa, hold on, are you sure we are ready for that?’

Casey didn’t mean to sound so negative but he wasn’t sure that moving in was right and he didn’t think his brothers would like it either.

‘Okay, I know, we’ve only been together for 9 months, but I love you and I just want to wake up next to you’

‘Me too, but maybe wait until I have finished year 12. Its only 4 months now’

Nicole looked at him and Casey leant in and kissed her gently on the lips.

Heath walked by and whistled ‘Get a room’

Casey stuck two fingers up at him and carried on kissing Nicole.

**

‘Do me a favour please’ Aden asked Belle on the phone.

‘What?’ she asked curiously

‘Talk to Justin before I punch him, he is driving me up the wall’

‘It’s over’

Aden was shocked ‘What?’

‘Yes, I dumped him, it hasn’t been working for a while, and the non-attendance at the funeral was just the last straw.’

‘And…’ he started

‘And what?’

‘Our kiss had nothing to do with it’

‘A little bit, it just made me realise that me and Justin weren’t going to work’

Aden pushed his hand through his hair ‘He can never know’

‘I don’t plan on saying anything’

‘Me neither’ he confirmed

‘So don’t worry, I don’t want another relationship’

‘So what do you want?’

‘Well, got the job at the school so I am going to focus on that’

‘Oh congratulations, so we will be working together’

‘Us and bunch of other staff’ she mentioned

‘Yeah I know but you know what I meant’

‘I know, it’s just fun winding you up’

‘Well, be careful, I just might get you back’

‘Is that a warning?’

‘Maybe’

‘Oooh am so scared hehe’

‘I am going to get you, just when you least expect it’

Belle laughed ‘In your dreams Granddad’

‘Granddad! I will have you know I have a 6 pack so don’t start with the labels’

‘Ha-ha, what you going to do’ she teased him.

‘Well, for starters open the door’

‘You’re outside?’

‘Well obviously if I am asking you to open the door’

‘Oh so it’s Mr Sarcastic now then’

‘Well, why not, life’s too short to be miserable’

‘Err... you calling me miserable’ she said as she walked towards the door

‘Hmm…’

‘If you answer that, I swear I will punch you’

‘Fine, I will keep my mouth shut’ he said but couldn’t help but laugh.

She opened the door, she was in her nightie and Aden couldn’t help but admire her.

Belle wasn’t surprised he was eyeing her up. ‘Do you like what you see’

Aden went bright red with embarrassment. ‘Sorry, that was out of order’

‘I am winding you up, Jeez’

‘Okay, you sound like a 60 year old woman and…’

‘And…’

‘Nah, I think I will keep that thought in my head’

‘No, go on’ she crossed her arms across her stomach.

‘Nah’

‘Tell me’

‘No!’

‘I won’t let it go’ she said

‘No!’ he insisted.

She narrowed her eyes at him ‘Tell me’

‘Fine. I was going to say you look like one as well’ he grimaced as he waited for the backlash.

She didn’t do anything, he looked at her.

‘What is it?’

‘You just look like Justin when you do that’

‘Oh really?’

‘Yeah really, it’s strange but I will get used to it’

‘yeah…’

Aden wasn’t being entirely honest to her though, he was glad that she had broken up with Justin even though he is his brother because truth be told, he was falling more and more in love with her. She just didn’t know it yet but hopefully with time, she would fall for him at least he hoped she would.

**

Brax was lying in bed that morning. Casey had stayed at Nicole’s and he had no idea where Heath was.

As long as he stayed away from Nicole and Casey, he wasn’t really that bothered.

‘Life’s too short’ heath said on the phone in the kitchen

‘I know but then I can’t change what’s done can i?

‘Listen, I don’t want you to break up with Casey, at first’ he said ‘But now I just want you to be happy, the cancer was something that dominated my life for so long and now I just want you to be happy and if it’s with Casey then fine’

Brax walked into the kitchen ‘you’re giving up?’ he asked wary of his true intentions

‘Well, I can’t keep on trying when she doesn’t want to be with me’

‘It’s taken you long enough to get to this point’ Brax commented

‘I know but hey life goes on and I need to move on, got other stuff to deal with’

Brax patted him on the arm and made off to walk out of the door.

‘Like Steve’ Heath said in a low voice

Frozen for a moment, heath walked up to him and faced him ‘You should have told me’

‘What good would it have done?’

He growled ‘We should kill him, he got Casey involved in his drugs ring, he could have died!’

‘I know, but killing him isn’t going to help, he needs to pay but not by us, we will end up in prison’

‘Oh and you can’t afford to hurt your copper girlfriend.

Brax grabbed Heath’s shirt and pushed him up against the worktop ‘stay away from Charlie’

Brax let go of him and Heath straightened up his shirt

‘I am not interested in Charlie, I just want to get Steve’

Brax sighed and told him about the conversation he had with Charlie on the phone previously.

‘So you don’t even know why he is being protected?’

‘No, not yet’

‘He works for the government, remember he was always boasting about his contacts’

‘Hold on, what do you mean?’

‘He is an advisor for the prime minister’

Brax frowned ‘So why would he come back and go after Casey when he has it all?’

‘Don’t know, but he needs to be taught a lesson’ Heath responded

‘I know, but you aren’t the one to do it!’

‘Why not, he sexually abused Casey and then thrust him into a drug deal that he knew would go wrong, he needs to be banged up’

‘If you beat him up, you will end up in prison!’

He retorted ‘Better than doing nothing at all!’

‘Let me try something, if not then we will do something’

**