Constant Teasing

[Taniya_K]

Yay! That is, if I go to bed, lol.

Can't wait!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Stupid IPS error. Sorry, double post...

[adelle]

Thanks again for all the comments

So I just realised that this fic is almost finished! I now know exactly how I want to end it, so its a couple, say 3, maybe 4 chapters away.

Here is the next chapter as promised

Chapter 63.

It was late at night and Aden and Belle were snuggled together in Belle’s bed, the window slightly ajar to let the evening breeze circulate the room. Aden rubbed his hand up and down Belle’s bare shoulder, as he buried his face in her hair kissing her head gently. A smile crept across Belle’s face as she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him.

“I’m so tired” Belle said, breaking the calm silence.

“Yeah, you would be, after that” Aden commented, a grin on his face.

Belle laughed, “No you idiot, I mean this whole day has been…” Belle began as she tried to think of a word to explain how she was feeling.

“Long? Exhausting? Full on?” Aden offered, “I never knew babies could cry so much, that girl has strong lungs…definitely your sister” he added.

“What are you saying exactly, that I talk too much? Or just too loud?” Belle asked, gritting her teeth.

“I mean you both aren’t afraid to voice your opinions…and hey I happen to like your loudness and how much you talk, its sexy when you take charge like that” Aden assured her, resting his head against her shoulder.

Belle rolled her eyes letting out a small laugh.

“Well I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be even bigger, longer and more full on than today” Belle hinted, wishing that things could stay the way they were right now.

Aden sighed, “So you wanna talk about it? Belle look-“

“No, we agreed remember, tomorrow we will talk about everything tomorrow” Belle maintained.

“Yeah, but if it’s upsetting you this much, I, I just thought we talked about things together…” Aden replied.

“It’s nothing bad, and I don’t know if it’s a good thing either, it’s just a decision I have to make” Belle said softly.

“Well do you know what you want to do?” Aden asked, curiously.

“I do and I don’t, but I need to know where you are at first, I can’t make that choice right now…let’s just forget about all this and we’ll talk in the morning” Belle pleaded.

“Well how can I forget about something when I don’t even know what it is?” Aden asked.

“Just one night, just one night Aden, where we know exactly where we are” Belle whispered softly.

“One night of just us? Hmmmm yeah I think I can do that” Aden whispered back as he pulled her closer into an embrace and closed his eyes.

“Good luck for tomorrow” Belle whispered as she closed her eyes too, savoring this moment, this last night of knowing Aden would always be at her side.

…

The next morning Belle woke up and stretched her arms out across the bed, searching for Aden in between the sheets, only to find he wasn’t there. She sat up suddenly and realized she was alone. There was no sound coming from the kitchen or the bathroom, everything was completely silent.

“Aden” she called out, hoping he was in the bathroom. But there was no response. She let out a small sigh of relief as she noticed a scrap of paper on her bedside table, weighed down by her phone. Taking the note, she skimmed over the words, recognizing Aden’s messy handwriting.

Gone to home to check the mail to get my results, didn’t want to wake you, you seemed really tired and you didn’t sleep well. Meet you at the beach in a couple of hours. Hope you didn’t miss me too much this morning…see you soon beautiful

Aden ox

Aden was right, Belle hadn’t slept well that night at all. Despite having Aden’s protective arms around her, she had tossed and turned all night long. Her dreams had been marred by lonely stretches of endless roads being dragged down by her large camera, and being stuck in hotel rooms all alone and forced to watching happy holidaying couples enjoying themselves with no Aden in sight. No Aden at all. The though was thoroughly depressing.

Belle slowly got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Examining her face in the mirror, she splashed some water on her face, trying to knock some sense into herself. She wasn’t going to let some stupid nightmare decide how she was going to live her life. Trying to shake the images swirling around in her head she got into the shower.

About half an hour later, Belle emerged from her room fully dressed and ready to go, only to be greeted by armed with a stack of toast.

“Sit girly” Irene instructed as she pointed to the chair.

“Irene, I have to meet Aden soon, so whatever it is-“ Belle began.

“Oh don’t worry love, this won’t take long” Irene said smiling sweetly, “Now park it!”

“So are you going to take the job then?” Irene asked finally as the two of them sat down.

“What? How do you know about that?” Belle asked, “Amanda” she added, nodding her head in realization.

“Well, when you told her about it at dinner last night, she was worried that you were not making the choice that’s best for you” Irene said, “and for some reason, she thought I would do a better job of knocking some sense into you”

“But I haven’t made a choice yet, I need to know what Aden’s doing first” Belle protested.

“Love, Aden is the only factor you are considering here, that’s the problem” Irene pointed out.

“Well it’s a bit more complicated than that” Belle argued.

“8 months ago you would have taken this job, no questions asked.” Irene said firmly.

“Yes, and a lot has changed, why are you saying this, I though you liked Aden, I thought you were happy for us” Belle asked, confused.

“Of course I am girly, you know that, but all I’m asking you to do is think about it, are your dreams worth letting go off, I know this is what you want to do, but I’m just not sure if you still know that” Irene reasoned.

“If you are asking me if Aden is worth it, I’ll tell you right now he most definitely is worth it!” Belle said more firmly than she had intended.

“Honey, I’m not having a go, I just think you need to consider all your options, and talk to Aden, you can’t make the decisions that affect the both of you by yourself, and I don’t think Aden will be too pleased that you are giving up your career for his sake” Irene finished.

“So you think I should take the job?” Belle asked.

“No, I think you need to decide for yourself, then you only have yourself to blame or thank for wherever you end up” Irene said as she stood up and picked up her bag, searching for her keys, “I need to head off, do you want a lift?” Irene offered.

“No no, I’m fine, meeting Aden at the beach soon.” Belle said as she stood up and eyed a bit of toast.

Irene smiled and nodded as she turned towards the door.

“Irene” Belle called out.

“Yeah love?”

“Thank you” Belle said, “I needed that”

“Anytime love”

…

There was a soft breeze pushing the sea backwards into the ocean towards the horizon, Belle seated in the sand, her eyes fixated on the business card that her boss had given to her. She brushed her finger over the image and logo, wondering what it would be like to be a professional photo journalist, going places where things were happening, sharing her pictures with the world.

She sat up abruptly when she heard her name being called out and safely tucked the business card in her back pocket. Aden had an arrogant yet humbling grin on his face, which confirmed Belle’s suspicions that he got the marks to get into his course.

“So??” she asked as he sat down next to her, still holding his letter from the board of education.

“You’re looking at Aden Jefferies future business man and entrepreneur” he replied as he handed her his letter.

“Wow, oh my goodness, this is incredible Aden!” she screamed as she wrapped her arms around him, genuinely happy for him.

“Thanks, although I have you to thank as well, you are part of the reason why I have done so well” He said modestly.

“Well don’t forget me when you are rich and famous” she said, still holding on to his hands.

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to” Aden replied, as Belle smiled back at him.

“So uhh, have you decided on a course or Uni?” Belle asked casually.

“Yes I have, but you need to hold up your part of the deal, I showed you my marks, now you have to tell me what’s going on with you” Aden replied.

Belle sighed as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out the business card.

Aden took it and looked up at Belle, a bemused look on his face.

“It’s just a business card, Australian Geographic” he pointed out.

“They offered me a job” she explained.

Aden looked up at her curiously, “Go on”

“To be a photo journalist, on the job training, the equivalent of a degree, it’s an internship for 12 months, and if they like my work they want me to join the team” she said, the excitement on the tip of her tongue.

“Belle, that’s awesome!” Aden said proudly, “What were you so worried about?”

“It’s a travel job Aden, weeks or even months away at a time, and not just in Australia, it’s a full on commitment and the job offer expires by the end of the week” she said.

Aden flipped the card over and saw the number and he looked up at Belle.

“Call them back, and tell them you’ll take the job” he said firmly.

“Aden, it’s not that simple. I can’t just drop everything and run off” Belle pointed out.

“Are you kidding me? This is your chance to make it big, do something you’re passionate about, and you’re going to throw that away for what?” Aden reasoned.

“It’s just an internship Aden, not a Noble Peace prize” Belle said grimly.

Aden sighed, “Belle if it’s about the money, you know I can support you. It’s only for a year, then they will pay you a decent wage. I’ve still got a heap of cash lying around left over from the sale of dad’s house.”

“No, I can’t expect you to do that for me, and it’s not just that” she pleaded.

“Then what?” Aden asked.

“I know it’s been a while since everything happened with your Dom and your dad and my dad, but I’m not sure if I’m up for it. It’s exciting, it’s what I want to do eventually, but the timing is all wrong and…you know sometimes I’m scared to go to sleep alone, I just, I don’t think I’m ready for such a big commitment right now, maybe in a year or two” Belle explained.

“Belle, you can. It will be hard at first, but we can survive this, I’m not going anywhere” Aden assured her.

“You’re going to uni” Belle pointed out.

“What I mean is that I’m here for you, I want you in my life” Aden told her.

“Yeah, and I want you too, that’s why I’m not sure this job is coming at the best time, it will split us apart, I can’t handle that right now” Belle maintained.

Aden sighed, “Have you talked to anyone else about this?” he asked.

“Irene and Amanda” Belle said honestly, “and they both said to do what I wanted, what feels right”

“And what do you want? What feels right?” Aden asked simply.

“I want this job, but I want to be with you too. And I would give everything else up just to have you in my life” Belle said, the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes.

“And it’s not just you, its Amanda and Jess, they haven’t even moved here and I’m already thinking about leaving. And there is Irene and Annie and Geoff, not to mention Nicole. Summer Bay is my home.” Belle continued.

“So I guess you’ve made up your mind then.” Aden asked.

“I’m not going anywhere. I know it looks like I’m just giving up, but I’m not, it just doesn’t feel right to leave now, maybe in a year or two something else might come up” Belle suggested.

Aden put his arm around Belle, showing his support. He thought Belle was making a mistake, but if she wasn’t up for it, he wasn’t going to push her too hard. It had been a long eventful year, maybe all they needed was a quiet year with no drama, no kidnappings, no drunken nights on the town...

“Well, you still have a couple more days to change your mind, but whatever you decide, I’ll support you” he said adamantly.

Belle looked up at him and smiled, no words could explain how much she appreciated him and his support, so she simply took his hand and squeezed it tight, leaning against him as they both looked out towards the roaring ocean.

[LAURZY!]

well that was just so sweet!!

So glad he did well in his exams

Loved it!!

3/4 chapters till the end awwww

[Jody]

Good on Aden for getting the marks he needed.

I liked Irenes advice to Belle. Good to see Belle listen too her and wasn't angry at Irene for questioning her choice. That scene was very nice.

It would have been nice for Belle to accept the job but I liked the reasons for her not wanting to. From the way she was explaining it to Aden it seemed like she did take Irenes advice and thought about it properly before deciding anything.

Loved how supportive Aden was. Maybe she'll change her minded later on.

Please update soon.

[leah1234]

aaw so sweet

go aden!!!!!!!

i hope belle makes the right choice

update soon xxxxx

[xknomex]

AOL! That was so cute!

I'm glad Belle is staying! Yay for Aden's results! :D

[Lise]

I liked that.

I liked the Irene and Belle scene. I hope that Belle is making the right decision.

[Deborah]

Great update.

Glad Aden did well & got the marks he needed. Glad Belle is staying, but hope she has made the right decision. Aden was really sweet, saying he will be there for her whatever she decided

[Taniya_K]

Am sooooo glad you updated! That was just the right amount of fluff and drama.

I'm glad that Aden got his results that he wanted, and everything that he said to Belle was just so awwww...

I hope that she does decide to take the job in the end, but I guess we'll have to wait an see.

Cannot wait for more!

xoxo