Belle... Rocky Road to Love - Part 1

Ric discovered Belle living rough on the beach. She was on the run (in search of) her birth mother who she believed to be living in the Bay. She had rejected her adoptive parents along with the name Susan which they had given her.






Settling in the Bay in a room at Irene's, after being caught breaking into her car, Belle quickly set about making an impression on Ric who she ended up kissing in front of his then girlfriend Cassie. The plan succeeded, she and Ric became an item. Ironically despite her bold pursuit of Ric it was while with him that this desperately, insecure teenager discovered that her birth Mother was the "evil" Amanda Vale despite efforts by her Grandmother to throw her off the scent.

When Belle was lost in the bush after a helicopter accident Amanda somehow "knew" that her daughter was in trouble. This lead to her rescue.

Once again though Belle was left alone when Ric decided to go back to Cassie. Belle was devastated by this and in an attempt to help her win Ric back Amanda came up with a number of elaborate schemes which Belle was caught up in. She moved in with Amanda.




Belle realised eventually that Ric was not taking her back and so began her first tentative relationship with Drew, a new arrival in the Bay. This relationship would prove to be one of extremes, with times of great passion punctuated by violent arguments and breakups. The first of these breakups came when Belle found that the mystery woman who had stolen Drew's heart was her own mother Amanda.

Once again devastated Belle ran back to Irene's and also sought comfort from her friend Lucas.




Lucas fell heavily for the much more experienced Belle and the relationship looked ideal with him providing a loving, caring partner and her introducing him to new experiences. But all the time Belle was with Lucas, Drew was a constant shadow hanging over their relationship. In fact when Belle believed that Drew had slept with another girl Lisa, she slept with Lucas (his first time) only to realise that Drew hadn't slept with Lisa at all. When Lisa realised that Drew still had feelings for Belle she announced this to Lucas which broke his heart.


Belle resumed her volatile, explosive relationship with Drew but never at any time did they seem settled together. There always seemed to be forces bubbling below the surface threatening to blow the relationship apart. This was not helped by a succession of meddling, divisive outside influences.

Belle was caught up in fight between her mother Amanda and her Mother's sister Kelli. This caused the first of a number of explosive breakups when they argued over falsified cheating pictures. Although it is obvious that Belle and Drew still had feelings for each other, incidents involving their volatile personalities kept them apart despite a number of "near misses". They finally reunite in a sexy pool scene at Amanda's house.



Things were relatively serene until Drew's mother Jazz and his friend Jules turned up. In a typical confused series of events Jules hit on Jazz, Drew was furious, Belle reminded Drew of his affair with her Mother and asked him to give Jazz a second chance. Belle heard that Jazz doesn't believe Drew should be "exclusive" with Belle and withdrew her support for Jazz. Jazz tried to help by buying concert tickets for them but Drew, with a rather confused sense of priorities, sold them to buy parts for his drag car. We then met Dom who was also involved in the drag racing scene. When Drew tried to make amends, Belle was mugged at the concert and Dom added extra confusion when he picked up Belle's wallet and necklace. He surprised Belle later by returning the necklace.

The tense relationship between Drew and Belle was strained further by Drew's obsession with the dangerous world of drag racing. Dom's caused further trouble when he got Belle drugs and held her captive. The death of Lisa, who had rescued Belle from Dom, during a drag race left Belle devastated. When Belle convinced Drew to come clean to the Police about Lisa's death, he was charged over the stolen car parts. Belle eventually convinced Dom to confess to the Police to get Drew off the hook but Dom extracted a kiss from Belle as the price for this.

Belle finished her school exams and looked to celebrate. Annie was over the moon when she mistakenly thought that Drew was going to propose to Belle. Neither Irene nor Belle pleased. The "overheard surprise" turned out to be a car as a gift from Drew to Belle. Belle was delighted and a little bit relieved. Belle and Drew both realised that neither of them were ready for a marriage commitment. They head off on a romantic road trip. However the air of romance was short lived. Belle got a newspaper job offer and wanted to return immediately but Drew wanted to continue the trip. After the ensuing argument Belle stormed off only to be kidnapped by Dom. Drew managed to track them down and rescued Belle but as they escaped Dom was accidentally run over. Belle confided in Drew about her time with Dom and there was yet another romantic reunion. Unknown to them Dom was watching.



When Dom turned up injured at the Diner, Belle felt responsible and visited him after he was admitted to Hospital much to Drew's disgust. In an escalating series of events, Dom failed to live up to Belle's recommendation for a Diner job. Fearing she would lose her newspaper job, Belle put aside her sense of ethics to work on stories portraying Sally as a villain and Aden as a hero. Drew stormed into the Newspaper office and resigned on her behalf. Belle was furious and retracted the resignation. The ensuing confrontation, between the two, saw both of them saying things that shattered their relationship forever. Although Drew did return to say an emotional goodbye, Drelle was over once and for all.






With her job at the paper gone and her relationship with Drew over, Belle accepted Leah's invitation to help her with her new business venture, the Den. When this became victim to some bad newspaper publicity and the intervention of Nicole, Belle ended up working with Leah in the Diner. It was while working there that the first stirrings of interest in the local bad boy Aden began to emerge.

She secretly began to photograph him on the beach and was further intrigued by his confused reaction to Axel's abuse of Melody. She supported Aden when his father was in hospital.

A drunken Aden arrived at Belle's window one evening looking for a place to sleep. That "window" was to play a pivotal and recurring role in their relationship. He persuaded her to let him stay but she insisted he sleep on the floor. Geoff and Annie were shocked to find them sharing the bed the next morning.

On another visit through the "window" Aden discovered his pictures were on Belle's laptop and in the teasing that followed they shared a kiss. Adelle had begun.

Belle and Aden drew closer and Belle rewrote Aden's assignment after it had been lost in a school computer crash. Aden initially rejected this help but later changed his mind and once again arrived at the "window". He stayed the night.

At this stage Aden was trying to deal with his father Larry's drinking and when Belle accidentally saw Larry drinking and kept this from Aden he stormed off. He later returned and shared his innermost secret with Belle, that he was abused by his grandfather.

As the relationship grew Belle tried to seduce Aden but was extremely hurt when he violently pushed her away calling her a "skank who had slept with every guy in town". Belle ended up in tears and the relationship suffered its first break up.

Because of her hurt Belle accepted a date with Angelo. Aden, distressed over events with his father, crashed the date to talk to Belle, but she refused to listen and sent him away. Later even more distressed and in need of her support Aden broke down and told Belle the truth about his abusive childhood. Belle had fallen for Aden again.



She agreed to support him and after some secret counselling for Aden they were able to "take their relationship to the next level". As they grew closer, Belle agreed to loan Aden her life savings to make repayments on Larry's unit only to have Larry steal the savings. When Aden finally went over the edge, he held his father and Rachel hostage in his house and refused to allow him medical treatment. Belle found them and was appalled at what Aden had become. As the Police took Aden away Belle couldn't even bring herself to speak to him. Belle broke up with him again.

In the adolescent treatment centre, where he had been sent, Belle assured Aden that she was there for him but only as a friend. He clung to the hope that they could eventually be reunited.


After breaking up with Aden, Belle began to move on with Angelo over an unsuccessful attempt to start a Book Club. Mattie, her friend, had left town and Belle felt very lonely and disheartened. Seeking some direction in her life she became involved in the investigation of a suspected toxic waste site in town and ended up being arrested by her boyfriend Angelo during a demonstration at the site. Angelo broke the rules and got her off with a warning.

Once again Aden came to "the window" to share his recovery with Belle but saw her kissing Angelo.



Belle was in a relationship with Angelo but, in a scenario reminiscent of Drew and Lucas, Aden lurked in the background. When Aden and Belle were forced together in their jobs at the Diner, Angelo was jealous but Aden couldn't get a commitment from Belle and quit his job and left the Diner.