Constant Teasing

[Taniya_K]

Aw!

Just read the last two chapters! Grr at Dom! She better tell Aden... hope he goes all hero like and beats him up!

Update soon please!

[adelle]

Thanks for the comments!! (and the cookies, lol)

Here the next chapter, its long, but theres a lot of boring stuff too...let me know what ya think

Chapter 23.

Belle lay in bed, eyes wide awake as she watched Aden sleep peacefully. She studied his expression, he seemed so calm, so perfect and she didn’t want to be the reason that changed. She knew what Aden would do if she told him what Dom did to her. She felt she couldn’t risk it, Aden has come so far, he had just got his life back on track…

She looked over at her alarm clock, it was only 6am, she didn’t start work till for a couple of hours, she got up as gently as she could, trying not to wake Aden in the process, and pulled the covers up to cover Aden’s exposed chest. She gently kissed his forehead and headed out the door, grabbing her camera on the way out.

It was a cold morning and the waters were icy, Belle sat on the beach with her legs pulled up to her chest, trying to keep warm, her phone in one hand. She contemplated ringing Drew, this was his mess, he ought to fix it she thought. As she began to search for his number in her phone book, someone approaching her called out to her, making her jump in fright.

“Belle, Belle! Are you completely insane, it’s freezing out here!” Aden said as he jogged to catch up to her.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Belle exclaimed as she gathered her thought, fiddling with her camera case.

“I missed you this morning, what are you doing out here anyway?” Aden asked as he sat down next to Belle, looking around.

“I was going to take some shots, but it’s a bit foggy at the moment…”

“Ya reckon? It’s like 6.30 in the morning!”

“I couldn’t sleep, I thought a walk would clear my head, ya know”

“Yeah, ok, how about we go inside before we freeze to death, yeah? And then you can tell me what’s going on” Aden said as he got up and held his hand out waiting for Belle to grab it.

“Yeah, fine, but there’s nothing to tell, it’s just work stuff, it just a lot harder than I expected, I’m just a little stressed” Belle said as she grabbed Aden hand and let him pull her up.

“Ok, you’re lying, you know how I can tell?... Cause you’re a bad liar!”

“Yeah, you’re right, there actually is something going on, I’ve kinda been seeing someone else, behind your back…” Belle said, anxiously waiting for a response from Aden.

Aden was clearly stunned by this revelation and stopped in his tracks, half laughing, “What are you talking about, who?”

“Well, there has actually been a couple of guys, you see I had this thing with Alf a couple weeks ago you know how it is with older guys, then there was Tony, yeah he caught me off guard in a moment of weakness, and then there’s Mr Bartlett, I like a man who can carry his weight”

Aden realizing that Belle was just kidding around, laughed shaking his head. “Wow, you sure know how to work your senior citizens!”

“What exactly are you implying?” Belle asked, pretending to be offended.

“Nothing sweetheart, damn I’m never going to be able to look at Alf the same way…I think I just lost my appetite, my girlfriend hooking up with Mr Stewart…if you two got married, that would make you Morag’s sister in law, Ric’s and Martha’s step-grandma, and don’t get me started on Tony or Bartlett…”

“Well, I better go and get ready for work, lunch at the diner?” Belle asked as she leaned her head on Aden’s shoulder as they walked up to the house.

“Yeah, sure” Aden said as he kissed her, “See you later”

“Not if I see you first” Belle replied as she watched Aden walk down the path, laughing as he turned around just to wink at her.

…

Contrary to what Belle lead Aden to believe, her work was easy and quite relaxing as she was very good at her job, which made it easier for Belle to get her work finished despite being distracted by her current predicament with Dom’s reappearance in Summer Bay.

“Great job on those photo’s Belle, you rockstar! I just need you to develop these for me, and then you can have the rest of the day off, we haven’t got any bookings until Thursday, so I’ll see you then!” called out her boss, Felicity Grey. Felicity was a very relaxed and easy going in her mid-twenties, with several facial piercings, violently colourful hair and a large tattoo of what looked suspiciously like a dying woman on her back, although Belle wasn’t game enough to ask what it really was.

“Ok, cool, thanks” Belle replied as she quickly finished what she was doing and hoping to catch Mattie during her free period before she was due to have lunch with Aden. Grabbing her bag and searching for her keys she hurried out the door of the shop and out to her car.

“Dom! What are you doing here?” Belle exclaimed saw Dom, leaned up against her car. He was looking especially creepy today, a lit cigarette in one hand, and his other clutched in his right side pocket, blowing smoke out towards the ground.

“You move on pretty quick don’t you?” Dom finally said. “Here I thought I’d have to deal with Drew, but now you’re with some other mongrel, he’s no good for you Belle”

“What do you want Dom” Belle said nervously, looking back to into the shop to see if Felicity was out the front.

“I told you before I don’t want trouble, I know, what I did was wrong now, almost dying made me realize what’s important, and doing what I did to get you to like me was wrong.”

“You thought by kidnapping me, putting me in the boot of your car and locking me up in some shack was going to make me like you!?!” Belle said, her voice rising as she regained her confidence.

“I just want to be friends, look, I’ll overlook the hit and run, if you just give me a chance, just to be friends. You know I’ve applied for the job at the Diner, so I guess we will be working together, that a good start don’t you think?”

“The job being advertised is mine, I don’t work there anymore…” Belle said.

“Oh, well at least you can give me a recommendation then, Roman said he needs a character reference”

“Even if I did there is no way Irene is going to let you work there, you know how she feels about you!”

“Well I guess you’re just going to have to convince her otherwise” Dom said calmly.

“Is this guy hassling you Belle?” Felicity said as she locked up the shop.

“No, he was just leaving” Belle said, warningly.

“Alright then, off you go buddy!” Felicity replied as she stood there threateningly.

“See you later Belle” Dom said as he nodded his head at Felicity and wondered down the road.

“You sure do attract the weird ones hun!” Felicity remarked as she unlocked her car.

“Yeah” Belle replied in agreement, “See ya”

…

Belle approached Mattie who was sitting in the Diner with a couple of other school girls, studying what looked like chemistry.

“Hey, sorry Mattie could I borrow you for a sec?” she asked, eyeing the door to see if Aden was in yet.

“Yeah, sure what’s up?” Mattie asked, her face growing with concern as she read Belle expression. “What wrong?”

“It’s Dom, he’s back in town” Belle explained as they sat at a table in the far corner away from everybody else.

“What does he want?” Mattie asked, shocked by the news.

“What do you think?”

“Oh…what are gonna do?

“I don’t know, there not a lot I can do, he keeps threatening to go the police over the hit and run. He wants me to help him get a job here, he says he just want to be friends and put everything that’s happened behind us”

“And you believe him?”

“Well he did seem sincere about it…”

“Belle”

“Maybe, the reason he became so obsessed with me in the first place is because he’s got nothing else in his life, maybe this job will give him something else to focus on, interacting with other people…”

“Has is ever been that simple where Dom’s concerned? He’s just doing it to get close to you Belle!”

“Yeah, but I don’t work here anymore and there isn’t anything else I can do, you know what will happen if we get busted for the hit and run, it’s a serious offence!”

“We? Where’s Drew, he’s out of the picture, and I doubt Dom’s gonna waste his time on him, he’s only interested in you! Drew was the one who was driving, so he should take the fall, you need to go to the police, he’s blackmailing you Belle!”

“No, I can’t do that! And please don’t say anything to Aden, I don’t want him to get involved in this”

“What, you’re gonna hide this from him?” Mattie asked.

“You know what he’s like, the second I tell him he’s gonna beat him to a pulp!”

“And that’s a bad thing…”

“I don’t Aden getting in trouble for me, just please don’t say anything”

“Ok, fine” Mattie said, although she didn’t agree with what Belle was doing, she was going to do everything she could to protect her.

“What are you two looking so serious about?” Aden asked as he walked in with his school bag, sinking into the seat next to Belle.

“Oh, nothing…” Belle said, unconvincingly.

“Just girl stuff” Mattie replied, “I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it, meeting Ric for lunch.”

“See ya” Aden said grinning, and turning to Belle.

“Yeah, see ya” Belle chimed in as Mattie gave a grim smile and left.

“Soooo, what’s this secret women’s business?” Aden asked curiously as he flicked through the menu.

“Hate to be the one to break it you, but you don’t qualify as a woman” Belle said, teasingly as she snatched the menu from him, looking through it herself.

“I would hope not!”

“You and me both” Belle concluded, laughing.

“Hmmmm” Aden said flirtatiously, as he moved closer till his head was inches from her face, “You know, I’m really not that hungry”

Belle laughed not moving away, “Yeah, me either, what did you have in mind?”

“Well we could go back to your place, and, I dunno…talk?”Aden said with a cheeky grin on his face.

“Really smooth Romeo!” Belle commented, laughing.

“Alright, fine, let’s go” Belle said, giving in after Aden faked a hurt expression and standing up, pulling up Aden in the process.

“I knew you couldn’t resist me”

“Yeah, ya got me”

[solaris]

Grrrrr, you're keeping us waiting to find out how Aden reacts when she tells him. That's just mean

Great chapter, Dom's still a real piece of work isn't he? I like how you've written him in, just smarmy enough

Awaiting the next update

[Taniya_K]

Aw! Loved the ending... and the beginning! But the middle bit made me wanna scream! What's wrong with Dom!? Why can't he just let them be?!

Oh and I so wouldn't see Aden beating Dom up as a bad thing... actually it would be sexy!

[adelle fan.]

Thanks for the comments!! (and the cookies, lol)

Here the next chapter, its long, but theres a lot of boring stuff too...let me know what ya think

Chapter 23.

Belle lay in bed, eyes wide awake as she watched Aden sleep peacefully. She studied his expression, he seemed so calm, so perfect and she didn’t want to be the reason that changed. She knew what Aden would do if she told him what Dom did to her. She felt she couldn’t risk it, Aden has come so far, he had just got his life back on track…

She looked over at her alarm clock, it was only 6am, she didn’t start work till for a couple of hours, she got up as gently as she could, trying not to wake Aden in the process, and pulled the covers up to cover Aden’s exposed chest. She gently kissed his forehead and headed out the door, grabbing her camera on the way out.

It was a cold morning and the waters were icy, Belle sat on the beach with her legs pulled up to her chest, trying to keep warm, her phone in one hand. She contemplated ringing Drew, this was his mess, he ought to fix it she thought. As she began to search for his number in her phone book, someone approaching her called out to her, making her jump in fright.

“Belle, Belle! Are you completely insane, it’s freezing out here!” Aden said as he jogged to catch up to her.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Belle exclaimed as she gathered her thought, fiddling with her camera case.

“I missed you this morning, what are you doing out here anyway?” Aden asked as he sat down next to Belle, looking around.

“I was going to take some shots, but it’s a bit foggy at the moment…”

“Ya reckon? It’s like 6.30 in the morning!”

“I couldn’t sleep, I thought a walk would clear my head, ya know”

“Yeah, ok, how about we go inside before we freeze to death, yeah? And then you can tell me what’s going on” Aden said as he got up and held his hand out waiting for Belle to grab it.

“Yeah, fine, but there’s nothing to tell, it’s just work stuff, it just a lot harder than I expected, I’m just a little stressed” Belle said as she grabbed Aden hand and let him pull her up.

“Ok, you’re lying, you know how I can tell?... Cause you’re a bad liar!”

“Yeah, you’re right, there actually is something going on, I’ve kinda been seeing someone else, behind your back…” Belle said, anxiously waiting for a response from Aden.

Aden was clearly stunned by this revelation and stopped in his tracks, half laughing, “What are you talking about, who?”

“Well, there has actually been a couple of guys, you see I had this thing with Alf a couple weeks ago you know how it is with older guys, then there was Tony, yeah he caught me off guard in a moment of weakness, and then there’s Mr Bartlett, I like a man who can carry his weight”

Aden realizing that Belle was just kidding around, laughed shaking his head. “Wow, you sure know how to work your senior citizens!”

“What exactly are you implying?” Belle asked, pretending to be offended.

“Nothing sweetheart, damn I’m never going to be able to look at Alf the same way…I think I just lost my appetite, my girlfriend hooking up with Mr Stewart…if you two got married, that would make you Morag’s sister in law, Ric’s and Martha’s step-grandma, and don’t get me started on Tony or Bartlett…”

“Well, I better go and get ready for work, lunch at the diner?” Belle asked as she leaned her head on Aden’s shoulder as they walked up to the house.

“Yeah, sure” Aden said as he kissed her, “See you later”

“Not if I see you first” Belle replied as she watched Aden walk down the path, laughing as he turned around just to wink at her.

…

Contrary to what Belle lead Aden to believe, her work was easy and quite relaxing as she was very good at her job, which made it easier for Belle to get her work finished despite being distracted by her current predicament with Dom’s reappearance in Summer Bay.

“Great job on those photo’s Belle, you rockstar! I just need you to develop these for me, and then you can have the rest of the day off, we haven’t got any bookings until Thursday, so I’ll see you then!” called out her boss, Felicity Grey. Felicity was a very relaxed and easy going in her mid-twenties, with several facial piercings, violently colourful hair and a large tattoo of what looked suspiciously like a dying woman on her back, although Belle wasn’t game enough to ask what it really was.

“Ok, cool, thanks” Belle replied as she quickly finished what she was doing and hoping to catch Mattie during her free period before she was due to have lunch with Aden. Grabbing her bag and searching for her keys she hurried out the door of the shop and out to her car.

“Dom! What are you doing here?” Belle exclaimed saw Dom, leaned up against her car. He was looking especially creepy today, a lit cigarette in one hand, and his other clutched in his right side pocket, blowing smoke out towards the ground.

“You move on pretty quick don’t you?” Dom finally said. “Here I thought I’d have to deal with Drew, but now you’re with some other mongrel, he’s no good for you Belle”

“What do you want Dom” Belle said nervously, looking back to into the shop to see if Felicity was out the front.

“I told you before I don’t want trouble, I know, what I did was wrong now, almost dying made me realize what’s important, and doing what I did to get you to like me was wrong.”

“You thought by kidnapping me, putting me in the boot of your car and locking me up in some shack was going to make me like you!?!” Belle said, her voice rising as she regained her confidence.

“I just want to be friends, look, I’ll overlook the hit and run, if you just give me a chance, just to be friends. You know I’ve applied for the job at the Diner, so I guess we will be working together, that a good start don’t you think?”

“The job being advertised is mine, I don’t work there anymore…” Belle said.

“Oh, well at least you can give me a recommendation then, Roman said he needs a character reference”

“Even if I did there is no way Irene is going to let you work there, you know how she feels about you!”

“Well I guess you’re just going to have to convince her otherwise” Dom said calmly.

“Is this guy hassling you Belle?” Felicity said as she locked up the shop.

“No, he was just leaving” Belle said, warningly.

“Alright then, off you go buddy!” Felicity replied as she stood there threateningly.

“See you later Belle” Dom said as he nodded his head at Felicity and wondered down the road.

“You sure do attract the weird ones hun!” Felicity remarked as she unlocked her car.

“Yeah” Belle replied in agreement, “See ya”

…

Belle approached Mattie who was sitting in the Diner with a couple of other school girls, studying what looked like chemistry.

“Hey, sorry Mattie could I borrow you for a sec?” she asked, eyeing the door to see if Aden was in yet.

“Yeah, sure what’s up?” Mattie asked, her face growing with concern as she read Belle expression. “What wrong?”

“It’s Dom, he’s back in town” Belle explained as they sat at a table in the far corner away from everybody else.

“What does he want?” Mattie asked, shocked by the news.

“What do you think?”

“Oh…what are gonna do?

“I don’t know, there not a lot I can do, he keeps threatening to go the police over the hit and run. He wants me to help him get a job here, he says he just want to be friends and put everything that’s happened behind us”

“And you believe him?”

“Well he did seem sincere about it…”

“Belle”

“Maybe, the reason he became so obsessed with me in the first place is because he’s got nothing else in his life, maybe this job will give him something else to focus on, interacting with other people…”

“Has is ever been that simple where Dom’s concerned? He’s just doing it to get close to you Belle!”

“Yeah, but I don’t work here anymore and there isn’t anything else I can do, you know what will happen if we get busted for the hit and run, it’s a serious offence!”

“We? Where’s Drew, he’s out of the picture, and I doubt Dom’s gonna waste his time on him, he’s only interested in you! Drew was the one who was driving, so he should take the fall, you need to go to the police, he’s blackmailing you Belle!”

“No, I can’t do that! And please don’t say anything to Aden, I don’t want him to get involved in this”

“What, you’re gonna hide this from him?” Mattie asked.

“You know what he’s like, the second I tell him he’s gonna beat him to a pulp!”

“And that’s a bad thing…”

“I don’t Aden getting in trouble for me, just please don’t say anything”

“Ok, fine” Mattie said, although she didn’t agree with what Belle was doing, she was going to do everything she could to protect her.

“What are you two looking so serious about?” Aden asked as he walked in with his school bag, sinking into the seat next to Belle.

“Oh, nothing…” Belle said, unconvincingly.

“Just girl stuff” Mattie replied, “I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it, meeting Ric for lunch.”

“See ya” Aden said grinning, and turning to Belle.

“Yeah, see ya” Belle chimed in as Mattie gave a grim smile and left.

“Soooo, what’s this secret women’s business?” Aden asked curiously as he flicked through the menu.

“Hate to be the one to break it you, but you don’t qualify as a woman” Belle said, teasingly as she snatched the menu from him, looking through it herself.

“I would hope not!”

“You and me both” Belle concluded, laughing.

“Hmmmm” Aden said flirtatiously, as he moved closer till his head was inches from her face, “You know, I’m really not that hungry”

Belle laughed not moving away, “Yeah, me either, what did you have in mind?”

“Well we could go back to your place, and, I dunno…talk?”Aden said with a cheeky grin on his face.

“Really smooth Romeo!” Belle commented, laughing.

“Alright, fine, let’s go” Belle said, giving in after Aden faked a hurt expression and standing up, pulling up Aden in the process.

“I knew you couldn’t resist me”

“Yeah, ya got me”

i was in fits of laughter with that

loved it

[wooo_im_cool]

Thanks for the comments!! (and the cookies, lol)

“Yeah, you’re right, there actually is something going on, I’ve kinda been seeing someone else, behind your back…” Belle said, anxiously waiting for a response from Aden.

Aden was clearly stunned by this revelation and stopped in his tracks, half laughing, “What are you talking about, who?”

“Well, there has actually been a couple of guys, you see I had this thing with Alf a couple weeks ago you know how it is with older guys, then there was Tony, yeah he caught me off guard in a moment of weakness, and then there’s Mr Bartlett, I like a man who can carry his weight”

Aden realizing that Belle was just kidding around, laughed shaking his head. “Wow, you sure know how to work your senior citizens!”

“What exactly are you implying?” Belle asked, pretending to be offended.

“Nothing sweetheart, damn I’m never going to be able to look at Alf the same way…I think I just lost my appetite, my girlfriend hooking up with Mr Stewart…if you two got married, that would make you Morag’s sister in law, Ric’s and Martha’s step-grandma, and don’t get me started on Tony or Bartlett…”

“Hmmmm” Aden said flirtatiously, as he moved closer till his head was inches from her face, “You know, I’m really not that hungry”

Belle laughed not moving away, “Yeah, me either, what did you have in mind?”

“Well we could go back to your place, and, I dunno…talk?”Aden said with a cheeky grin on his face.

“Really smooth Romeo!” Belle commented, laughing.

“Alright, fine, let’s go” Belle said, giving in after Aden faked a hurt expression and standing up, pulling up Aden in the process.

“I knew you couldn’t resist me”

“Yeah, ya got me”

hehehehe

lol

[jessica_2005]

Awww. I wanted Aden to know About Dom.

I really wanted Aden to beat Dom up.

But i dont want Aden getting into Trouble.

Glad Belle told Matilda though.

Awesome update.

Cant wait for moreee.

Awesome work.

Love Jess

xoxo

[xknomex]

thaks for the update

[matticus01]

Wow, like 3 chapter's to catch up on.

Firstly . . .

DOM

**** off mate, your trouble *althoguh I cant talk*

Secondly *hahahaha at Aden*

Thirdly, LOVED IT

Update soon

[adelle]

Thank you for the comments, too kind!

Here is the next chapter...

Chapter 24.

“Are you out of your flipping mind!! What’s gotten into you girly?!?” Irene exclaimed as leant against the counter in the diner.

“Dom! Dom? You want Dom to work here?”

“It’s just a trial, I don’t see what the big deal is? If he’s rubbish you can just let him go! Just please give him a chance.” Belle pleaded, trying her best to be sincere.

“I don’t get it, why the back flip, you couldn’t stand the sight of that boy a couple of months ago!”

“He’s just had a rough time, he just needs a break, Irene please, just do this for me!”

“What’s Dom getting this job got to do with you?” Irene asked suspiciously.

“Nothing, I just told him I’d help him out, can you please just give him a chance…”

“Irene!”

Irene studied Belle’s expression, trying to figure out what was really going on.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but if this turns out badly, you’ve only got yourself to blame!”

“Thank you Irene” Belle said, “I have to go, I’m meeting Aden”

“Oh, well when you see him, remind him that he’s working this evening”

“Yeah sure” Belle said as she walked out of the diner, trying to get her head around what she just asked Irene to do.

…

Belle was waiting outside the Surf Club, watching the surfers who were brave enough to enter the colder waters. Aden came up behind her and wrapped him arms around her pulling her into a hug, kissing the back of her neck.

“Hmmmmm you smell like flowers” he said grinning.

Belle laughed, “Yeah, that would be because I shower regularly, you should try it sometime” she said, as she noticed the grass stains on his knees and the dirt on his top.

“How was practice?” Belle asked, “You show them how it’s done?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe” Aden replied, smiling.

“I didn’t see my number one fan out there, cheering me on…” Aden teased.

“Yeah, I know, Coleen was working this morning, so she couldn’t make it to see you play” Belle retorted.

“Please, don’t you think I’ve had enough disturbing mental images for a life time?” Aden asked as they started walking down the path towards the beach.

“Seriously though, I thought you were coming?” Aden continued.

“Yeah, I was going to, but I had to talk to Irene”

“About?”

“Just some stuff, it’s not important…”

“Ok, seriously Belle, you want to tell me what going on? You’ve been acting all weird and edgy and having secret conversations all week! Have I done something to upset you? You can tell me”

“No, of course not! If you’d done something wrong, you sure as hell would know about it!”

“Ok, so then, if I haven’t done anything, who has?”

“No one, can you please, just drop it!” Belle pleaded.

“Ok , alright” Aden said, still unconvinced.

“Oh yeah, Irene said you’re working this evening, she told me to tell you…”

“Yeah ok, I should probably head off then, see you tomorrow?”

“What, aren’t you coming over tonight?” Belle asked.

Aden grinned, ”Well if you really want me to, I should be able to squeeze you in my schedule” he said, “but you better make it worth my while”

Belle rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but smile, “Yeah, I’ll see what I can do”

…

“I still can’t believe Belle would vouch for the guy, after all the grief he has caused!” Irene complained to Roman as she chopped some carrots violently sending bits flying everywhere.

“Vouch for who? ” Aden asked as he entered the kitchen with a handful of dirty dishes.

“Oh, she’s just given a character ref for her job going here, to Dom!”

“Dom?! You mean that scam bag who was obsessed with her?” Aden asked.

“Yeah, and now she wants him working here! She practically begged me to give him the job, it was like she owed him something” Irene explained, shaking her head.

“Aden, do you know something, that I should?” Irene asked as she noticed the look on Aden’s face.

“No, that’s just it, Belle has been acting really weird this last week, there is something up with her and I can’t figure it out what it is, I ask her and she tells me nothing’s wrong…”

Irene looked absolutely livid, “If that Dom has done something, I’m going to-“

“Irene, Irene! Lets calm down, we don’t know what the story is, so how about we sort this out the civilized way, you remember what happened the last time you took the law into your own hands?” Roman reminded her as he gestured towards Aden, who was now lost in thought.

“I’ll go talk to her” Aden finally said looking up.

“Yeah, go on” Irene responded as she sighed leaning against the counter.

…

“Hey, you, your early!” Belle said as she closed the lid on her laptop and set it aside as she watched Aden close the door.

“What’s wrong?” she asked nervously as she looked at Aden as he sat down next to her.

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?” Aden asked his expression very serious.

“Aden I don’t know what you’re talking about”

“Look I know about Dom ok”

“What?”

“Irene told me, about you hooking him up with a job”

“I just gave him a reference, what’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that I know you’re lying! Just tell me what going on!” Aden said, his voice rising.

“Do not yell at me!” Belle replied angrily.

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry Belle…just please, tell me what’s wrong” Aden begged.

Belle looked up at him, realizing how hurt he was that she was keeping this from him.

“I can’t” Belle said so quietly that it came out a whisper.

“Yes, you can” Aden replied, reaching out and holding her hands.

Belle hesitated, “I…I’ve done something really bad” she said, as a tear rolled down her cheek, avoiding Aden’s eye contact.