Unlucky

[Taniya_K]

Heya guys!

Thanks sooooo much for your comments! I am having a fantastic time in Beijing [even met some hot swimmers lol] but somehow, when I log onto here, I just don't want to leave.

Anyways, here's the next chapter. Sorry it's short...

Chapter 11:

Waking up to the sound of Irene knocking on her door, Belle moaned when she realised that it was now over 12 hours since she last spoke or saw Aden.

“Belle, I’m leaving now. Is there anything you need?” she called through the door.

“No.” Belle replied sleepily. Apart from my boyfriend, she thought to herself.

“Alrighty, then. See you later, girly.” Belle could hear her footsteps as they left the house. Head buried in her pillow, she finally gave in to her urges to check her phone. Throwing her hand out, she prayed that she wouldn’t knock it under her bed like last time.

Finally finding it, she wasn’t too surprised to see that there were no texts or calls. Sighing, she noticed that it was too late to call Aden, seeing as he would be in school already. Debating whether to get up or not, Belle stayed in her bed, nice and warm, and far from her worries.

---

Aden slammed his locker shut as he finally found his English book and essay. He had spent most of last night working on that essay, and the last thing he needed was to have left it at home.

Turning around, he paused before turning back to his locker and opening it to grab his phone. He hadn’t answered a call from Belle in the last 15 and a half hours, not that he was counting or anything. He knew that if it was important, or an emergency, then she would have sent him a text telling him so.

Feeling bad for ignoring her, Aden decided to send her a text to make sure that she wouldn’t worry.

Typing it as quick as he could before lesson started, he finally sent ‘Sorry for missing your calls. Was busy. Hope everythings ok. Will see you later. Promise. x’ Placing his phone back into his locker, he could hear the rising voices of a group of girls approaching the lockers.

Looking out of the corner of his eyes, Aden noticed that the 4 girls were standing next to where Annie was at her lockers, talking loudly, no doubt about her. Although he couldn’t hear what they were saying, he was pretty sure that Annie was trying her best not to show how they affected her.

“... on a farm!” Aden could finally hear some of the words as their voices rose. “No wonder her sense of style is a bit... off to say the least.” A chorus of practiced laughter came after it.

Shutting his locker, Aden walked over to where Annie still stood at her locker, gathering her stuff.

“What lesson you got now?” he asked her, casually leaning against the lockers on the other side.

“Uh... history.” Annie answered, not at all surprised that the other girls has stopped taking altogether when they saw Aden walking over. Annie knew him a lot better now, but it was still known around the school that he was a ‘bully’ and a ‘bad boy’ of sorts.

“C’mon. I’ll walk you to class.” He smiled at her as she closed her locker and nodded. Once they were out of earshot of the others, Annie stopped and turned to him.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know.” Aden shrugged non-chalantly, but a gentle smile played on his lips. “You shouldn’t let them get to you. Ignore them and they’ll go away.”

“Yeah, I know. But it’s easier said than done.” Annie replied. “Thanks, though. For back there.”

“Anytime.” Aden replied. “Let’s get you to class before I get late, yeah?”

---

Hope you liked it!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Yes, the hot swimmers are to be jealous of!

Gotta admit though... it's just their bodies that I'm lusting after lol!

I am still on the prowl to find someone of Team GB that's close to my age [and a guy!!]

Anyways, here's the latest update. It's extra long because I couldn't sleep this morning while my sister was singing horribly in the shower...

Chapter 12:

“You didn’t have to do this.” Belle said.

“Stop feeling bad! I did this for me.” Matilda replied, sitting on her best friend’s bed. She had had a free period after her first lesson and decided to go see how Belle was doing. That was almost an hour ago, and now she had to head back.

“Somehow I doubt that.” Mattie gave her a look that said ‘prove it’ and Belle raised up her hands in surrender.

“Look, I’ve got to go now, but I can come back later on if you want.”

“I’ve got a better idea. I’ll walk with you.” Belle told her, getting up before Mattie could protest.

“To see Aden? Isn’t that a bit...?” she asked, confused.

“To The Den!” Belle exclaimed, knowing what Mattie was getting at.

“Sure, sure.” Mattie murmured, leaving Belle to defend herself while they walked out of the house.

---

Like always nowadays, it took the two girls almost twice as long to walk from the beach house to the path leading towards The Den. When they approached it, Belle paused.

“Look, why don’t you just head off to school? It’s not like anything’s going to happen from here to there.”

“Are you sure? Cos I really don’t mind...” Mattie told her, fighting with the two options inside her head.

“Yes, I’m sure, I don’t want you to get late because of me.” Matilda chewed on her bottom lip as she still thought it over.

“Ok.” She finally agreed. “But let me know when you get there.”

“Mattie!” Belle groaned.

“Just a text or a simple phone call to make sure that you haven’t gotten run over by a van. Ok?” Belle sighed, giving in. “Promise.”

“I promise.” She said, almost mockingly.

“Good.” Mattie gave her a brief hug before heading off in the direction of the high school while Belle hobbled down the path to The Den. Surprisingly, it only took her an additional 2 minutes to make the journey.

“Belle!” Leah called out when she saw the young girl walk in. “How are you?”

“I’m good. Despite what Irene might be sa-”

“Good Lord, girly. Don’t tell me that you just came from the house by yourself.” The woman who they were just talking about yelled, walking out of the kitchen.

“Of course not!” Belle replied. “Mattie dropped me off.” She didn’t feel that there was a need to explain that she hadn’t dropped her off at The Den exactly. Irene seemed to doubt her before huffing and turning around to head back into the kitchen.

“She’s just being protective.” Leah commented. Belle found herself nodding along as she made her way over to the sofa by the counter. But before she sat down, a sudden realization struck her. “Hey, Leah. You haven’t spoken to Amanda recently, have you?”

“Uh, yeah. Yesterday morning, actually. Why?” she asked as she straightened up some of the tables and chairs.

“She sent me some flowers and I was wondering how she found out.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know that you hadn’t told her. I just assumed that-” Leah began to apologize.

“No, no. It’s ok. I was going to have to tell her at some point, I guess. You might have done me a favour, anyways.” Belle smiled as she settled herself on the sofa and pulling out her phone to text Matilda. She had received Aden’s text earlier that morning, but had decided not to reply. Two could play this game.

Almost 15 minutes later, a bunch of high school girls came in, sitting around one table and ordering more food and drinks than Belle thought was possible to be consumed by the 6 slim girls.

Being as bored as she was, even though she was glad that she was out of the house, Belle continued to play around with her camera, but kept one eye on the door too. This finally paid off when Annie walked in through the door.

Belle could see Annie visibly pause as she entered, noticing the girls who were sitting at the table nearest to her. These girls all glanced at her, slowly, when one of them pointed her out. They didn’t say anything, but Belle could see their eyes following her as she made her way over.

“Hey.” Annie greeted, sitting on the sofa by Belle’s feet, slightly slumped.

“Hey.” Belle replied, hesitating a bit. She could feel the eyes on her now. “Why aren’t you in school?”

“Free period. Teacher’s off.” Annie sighed. She sounded as if she would prefer to be in lesson at that time.

“No-one else free?” Annie shook her head.

“Lunch is in an hour, though. So Jai’ll be here then.” Belle nodded before glancing over at the group of girls who were doing a bad job at being stealthy. Their heads turned away swiftly.

“What’s up with the ‘Plastics’ over there?” she asked.

“Nothing.” Annie answered a bit too fast.

“Annie...” Belle said gently yet warningly.

“It’s ok. They’re just being...” Annie shrugged and Belle got what she was trying to say.

“Well, you shouldn’t take it.”

“What would you do?” Annie asked. She looked up at Belle as an older sister of sorts and she knew that she was pretty wise.

“What I would do? Well, I would probably confront them and do what they’re doing to me back.” Annie opened her mouth to say something but Belle beat her to it. “But if you do that, you’re degrading yourself down to their level” Annie nodded, looking a bit guilty as if she has contemplated doing what Belle had just said. “What you should do though, is ignore it. Bullies thrive off attention.”

“Yeah, that’s what Aden said too.” Annie sighed, not noticing Bell’s eyebrows shooting up at her words.

“Aden? What’s he got to do with this?” Annie told her about what had happened earlier that day in school. “Hold on. Are we talking about the same Aden? Aden Aden? My Aden?” Belle continued to ask, perplexed.

“Yes.” Annie replied, exasperated. “Why is that so hard to believe?”

“I don’t mean it that way. It’s just...” What did I mean?, Belle thought. Sure, a year ago or so, when she was still at school, he was a jerk. He would bully people for no reason, or so she thought as much. But now? Somehow, she could justify everything he did due to his childhood experiences. Now, he wasn’t like that at all. He was everything that she had told Mattie. Everything and more. This had proven it once again.

The two girls sat in silence for a moment while trying their best to not let the 6 girls annoy the hell out of them. Belle could see that Annie was getting more wound up about them than she was.

“What do you say we go to the beach?”

“I dunno…” Annie replied, slowly. Belle knew exactly why she wasn’t that keen.

“I need to go to that beach anyway. There’s not that much I can photograph in here.” Belle insisted. Annie seemed to accept her explanation, probably because she predicted Belle’s next words to be ‘I’m going with or without you’.

---

I hope you enjoyed it.

I assure you, the next chapter will have Adelle... a great load of it actually!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Heya guys!

Thank you sooo much for your positive posts! Each onemakes me want to write more!

Oh and this chapter was inspired by Michael Phelps... who I saw from like a meter away this afternoon! I'm still on a high from that! Now I've just gotta go up to him and get a photo!

Chapter 13:

Belle sat on the beach, in the warm sun, alone.

Well, she wasn’t alone per se. There were plenty of people on the beach, playing with kids or just sunbathing. Teenagers walking to or from school, lunch in hands or whatever that was left over from it. There were even people in the sea. Swimming, surfboarding or just mucking around. She had a good view of everything from where she sat at the top of the beach.

She continued to take pictures, each one different to the one before, even it if was just because of a little movement. Everyday she thought that her portfolio was complete, but then she would go out and see something else which captured her eyes, telling her that it wouldn’t be complete without this picture.

Sighing, Belle viewed the pictures that she had taken over the last hour. The first ones were mainly of Annie. Once they had made it to the beach, Belle had tried her best to cheer the girl up, finally succeeding when she began to snap pictures of her. The two of them were practically fighting for the camera in the end, wanting to either delete or keep the pictures. Belle had won when Annie had run off with Jai, after gaining permission to leave her alone on the beach.

There must have been over 150 pictures. Belle couldn’t remember taking so many, but then again, time did run with her when she was caught up in photography. Twisting and turning the camera so that she could see each photo, as steady movement to her right caught her attention. Glancing out of the corners of her eyes, she was sure that she knew who it was, and that they were heading to her.

Belle pretended not to notice as they sat right behind her until she felt lips press against her shoulder gently.

“A girl like you shouldn’t be sitting here alone.”

“Well, if my boyfriend wasn’t ignoring me, then maybe I wouldn’t be alone here.” Belle quipped. She heard a wry chuckle in response to her words.

“I haven’t been ignoring you. I’ve just been busy.”

“Oh? So busy that you couldn’t even pick up the phone once?”

“I texted you this morning, didn’t I? You’re the one who didn’t text back.” Aden defended himself. He heard Belle huff when he tried to blame it on her. She still hadn’t torn her attention away from her camera so he didn’t know how annoyed she was. “Ok, I’m sorry. I should’ve called or something.”

“Yes, you should have. And you shouldn’t have run out yesterday either.”

“And I apologize again. I was a jerk.”

“Yeah, you were.” Belle agreed once again. Aden sighed.

“Am I forgiven?”

“I dunno.” Belle shrugged gently, putting her camera away and started to stare out to the sea. “You haven’t given me a reason as to why I should forgive you.”

“Cos…” Aden paused before carrying on seriously. “Cos you are the greatest girlfriend ever, and you know that when I say that it’s a surprise you’ll believe me and leave it alone until I’m ready to tell you.”

Belle didn’t like that answer. Particularly because she knew that she would leave it until he was ready to tell her.

“Fine. I’ll leave it. But only because I’m the most perfect, greatest, amazing girlfriend ever.”

Aden smiled as she gave in. He gave her a sweet kiss on her cheek before she turned her head so that he could give her one on her lips too. They stayed like that for a while before the need for air, and the fact that they were in a public place, became obvious.

“Where are you off to?” Belle questioned when she noticed his attire for the first time. She didn’t know how she hadn’t seen it before seeing as he stood out from the usual school crowd.

“What do you mean?” Aden asked innocently.

“The last time I checked, black t-shirts weren’t part of the school uniform.” Belle retorted causing Aden to smile.

“I’ve just got some business to take care off. And no, it can’t wait until after school.” He added on before she got the chance to ask.

“Where you going?”

“Into the city. It won’t take long, but I’ve got to get there and back too.” At the mention of the city, Belle felt a pang of anxiety bubble through her. She still hadn’t thought of a way tell Aden about her up-coming weekend trip.

“How about you walk me home and I’ll let you borrow my car?” Belle bargained with him.

“Hmm…” Aden pretended to think it over. “Well, it does sound like a win-win situation for me. But what do you get out of it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you hate being at home alone. You and I both know that you would rather spend the rest of the 4 weeks sitting right here if you could.” Belle laughed, surprised at how precisely he had described her thoughts.

“Yeah, ok that’s true.” She felt Aden brush some hair out of her face and from the nape of her neck. “I kinda forgot my medication at home. And as fine as I am, the last thing I need is Irene on my case too.”

“Ah… not as capable as you thought you were, are you?” Aden teased as he stood up before she could possibly hit him. Reaching down a hand to help her up, she placed her bag into his hand before Belle pulled herself up. She smirked at him to show just how capable she was. “Ok, I take that back.”

“Good.” Belle replied while they walked up the beach. She was glad to see that Irene was outside cleaning the tables as they passed by. Letting her know that she was heading home, Belle could tell that Irene thought that that was the best decision she had made all day.

---

Hope you enjoyed it! Please leave some comments and I'll try to update later on today if I can!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Aw... don't be jealous! I'm actually jealous that after this I'm gonna have to go back home in a couple of weeks and back to uni =( I'd rather be in Aussieland as I like to call it for some reason. Better weather!

Anyways, here's the first update of the day. I will post another one later on. It was supposed to be one chapter, but it got too long and I thought I should give you something now and then more later...

Chapter 14:

---

One of the upsides of Belle being on crutches was that she didn’t have her hands free to hit or shove him when he continued to tease her on the walk home. Aden knew that she wasn’t taking him seriously with the way the smile on her face was threatening to crack into laughter at any second now.

They had fallen silent now, and Belle knew that it was the perfect opportunity to tell him about the impromptu trip. She took a deep breath and glanced over to him once before looking forward once again to make it as casual as possible. She could see the beachside house.

“So… I spoke to Amanda yesterday.” She began.

“Yeah, I figured.” Aden replied. “Did you find out who told her?”

“It was Leah. She told me this morning.” Belle answered, slightly agitated. Aden noticed this as they approached the walkway up to the kitchen of the house.

“What’s going on, Belle?”

“Yesterday, when I was talking to Amanda, I… uh…” Belle faltered. “What I mean is that I didn’t know what I was agreeing to until after we both hung up. You had left in such a hurry and I was confused by everything and the only thing I cold think of was that I needed to get off the phone as soon as I could and-”

“Belle, Belle, Belle!” Aden interrupted. She hadn’t realised that he was speaking until he took her face in between his hands and silenced her with a kiss. “You’re babbling.” Aden had a slight smirk on his face as he pulled away. Belle looked into his eyes, and she knew that this was not the way to convince him that it would all be ok.

“I told Amanda that I would spend the weekend with her in the city.”

“Really?” Aden asked, the smirk on his face not moving. “That’s it?”

“What do you mean ‘that’s it’?” Belle was in shock. Maybe he hadn’t made the connection yet she thought. That had to be it.

“I thought it was going to be something… major.” he moved some hair out of her eyes, twisting it around his fingers as it hung loosely now.

“Aden, do you realise what I just said?” Belle asked doubtfully. When he nodded, eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, she realised that he must not have understood. “You do know that by saying I’m spending the weekend with Amanda also means Peter, Ryan… and Drew, right?”

“Yeah, I realise that.” Aden said slowly. Belle could see that this seemed to have no effect on his whatsoever. She didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry until she saw his face change a bit as a thought came to him.

“What is it?” she asked, backing away a bit so that she could see him better, but he kept his arms around her waist now.

“You’re going to miss the footy tournament!” he said, outraged. Belle blinked. He can’t be serious!

“Aden-” Belle began but was cut off by him once again.

“I know. Look, can we talk about this later? No offence, but I’ve really got to get to the city.” He unwound his arms from her waist and started to walk into the house, leaving Belle to stand dumbfounded for a moment before following him.

“Yeah, sure.” She replied, slightly distracted. “Keys are in my room.” She told him as he went in search for them. Hopping onto the stool, Belle waited for Aden to return again.

“Found them.” He smiled before placing her pills next to her. “And these are for you.” Aden added while going to the fridge to pull out a bottle of water for her. “Here.”

“I’ll not totally incapable, you know?” Belle glowered.

“I know. But humour me.” Aden smiled as she shot a sarcastic one back at him. “I need to get going. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

“Yeah.” She smiled, this time real, pulling him to her for a kiss. “I hope you can tell me this secret of yours then.”

“Ah… we’ll have to see about that, gorgeous.” With one final kiss he dragged himself out of the door.

---

Will he tell her?

And how will Aden genuinely react to Belle's trip?

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Here's update 2 of 2!

It's mega long because I couldn't stop writing, but I think that the chapter will take time to post. Maybe a day or two?

Hope you enjoy it!

Chpater 15:

“Don’t make too much of a fuss.” Belle told her mother as she chatted away on phone.

“It’s no problem! I just want to do something nice for my daughter.” Amanda replied in an almost motherly way.

“I don’t mind just hanging out at home or going shopping. Don’t go into any trouble for me.” She pleaded. The last thing that Belle wanted was to be a burden on anyone.

“It’s no trouble. Of course we’ll do that too. But we’ll have 2 whole days, and nights! I want to spend as much time with you as I can.” Belle groaned mentally as Amanda continued to go through different schedules with her. She had decided that arguing with her would help her no more. Amanda was her mother after all, and she truly was her mother’s daughter.

They had already been on the phone for about 20 minutes when Belle heard a car pull up outside. Concentration split 3 ways; keeping a conversation going with Amanda, painting her toe nails and seeing if anyone was home or arriving, Belle wasn’t too sure whether it was Irene or Aden who had driven up. She hoped for the latter, although it had only been just over 2 hours since he left.

“Belle? Are you listening to me?” Amanda’s voice rang through.

“Yes.” Belle lied. She could practically hear the eyes rolling.

“Well in that case…” Amanda continued to plan the weekend visitation while Belle listened out for whoever had arrived. It wasn’t too long before she could hear the jingling of keys and she knew that it was Aden as Irene’s keys weren’t that noisy.

“Your keys are very girly.” Aden stated as he entered her room. She smirked at him. “Who’s on the phone?” he whispered, pointing to the mobile that was resting between Belle’s left shoulder and ear as she tried to paint her nails.

“Uh huh. Sure.” Belle must have said for the 5th time that minute. Fortunately, when Amanda got excited, she didn’t seem to notice things like that. “Amanda.” She mouthed to him.

“I see.” He commented as he dropped the car keys on her bedside table and flopped onto the bed by her feet. His action caused Belle’s hand to jerk suddenly; ruining the nail she had been painting and getting the varnish all over her toe. With a glare aimed at him, he smiled innocently. “Oops.”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun.” Belle said suddenly as she reached for a tissue. “Whatever’s fine with everyone else is fine with me.” She tried to wipe of the smear of the black nail varnish off of her toe, but the cast stopped her from being able to tilt her foot anymore.

Aden watched as she tried to reach once again. When he saw her wince in pain at the third attempt, he took the tissue off her and tried to do it himself. She continued to say something to Amanda as Aden did his best to wipe off the black smudge from her pale, creamy skin.

He threw the tissue in the trash when he was done, only to see Belle trying to paint the same nail once again while arguing with her mother. Aden laid on his back, staring at the ceiling, having nothing to do.

5 minutes later, Belle still hadn’t been able to get Amanda to hang up although he knew that she had tried. A lot.

Aden turned to lie on his side, his arm keeping him up as Belle still struggled to paint the same nail as before. He actually found it funny. Belle, obviously, did not. So, being bored out of his brain as he was, he took the little brush out of her hand and decided to help her.

It took Aden almost next to no time to finish the last two nails. Although it was his first time as doing such a thing, he didn’t want to think about how good at it he actually was. Or so he thought.

“You missed a bit.” Belle commented, wriggling her toes as him. Aden frowned, not being able to see what she meant. “No, I was talking to someone else.” She added hastily when Amanda asked her if there was something else she wanted to do on the weekend. Somehow, Belle didn’t think there were enough hours in the day to do what she had planned already, let alone adding anything else into the mix.

When Aden was done with her left foot, Belle placed her right foot onto the bed right next to it. She smiled sweetly at him; pretty sure that he got what she meant. With a roll of the eyes, he complied.

“That sounds great.” Belle spoke into the phone. Aden then heard her forced laugh, which made him laugh too. “Ok, I’ll let Irene know.” She sighed before finally being able to hang up the phone.

“How long was that?” Aden asked as he heard her moan before throwing her phone onto the side.

“Over half an hour. Seemed like much longer though.”

“Doesn’t she have classes to teach?” he queried, not taking his eyes off of his ‘artwork’ once.

“Night classes. She teaches at the local community college.”

“Ah... I was wondering.”

“You seem to be good at this.” Belle said as she admired her twinkling feet. Mattie has painted them a light shade of red that was practically pink, which Belle had forced her to remove this morning. “Had practice?” she teased.

“Oh, yeah. All the time. Haven’t you seen my pretty toes?” he said with such seriousness that she was tempted to make him show her. “There! How’s that then?”

“Hmm...” Belle twisted her feet in as many directions as she could, which wasn’t much, pretending to judge. “I dunno... you’ve made a bit of a mess of it.”

“What? Where?” Aden asked, outraged causing Belle to burst out laughing.

“I’m kidding! You’re such a girl!” she teased.

“Hey! I did you a favour here. The least you could do is be grateful.” he replied, twisting the lid on the nail varnish bottle shut before handing it to Belle to place next to her.

“You painted my nails, Aden. I wouldn’t be too proud of it.”

“I’ll remember this for the next time you ask me to do this.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that time will come anytime soon.” Belle laughed as he pretended to look hurt. “So, did you get everything done in the city?”

“Yup.” Aden nodded, avoiding eye contact.

“You’re still not going to tell me, are you?”

“Not right now.” He admitted. “I will. When it’s all… sorted.”

“Alright.” Belle sighed. “Just promise me it won’t be something stupid.”

“Uh… define ‘stupid’.” Aden said, awkwardly.

“That had better been a joke.” At Belle’s look, he threw up his hands, laughing.

“I promise, I promise.”

“Good.” Belle paused for a moment before carrying on. “So about this weekend…”

“I still can’t believe that you’re going to miss the tournament.”

“Will you get over it already? It’s not like I would have watched the whole thing anyway.”

“Gee thanks.” He sighed.

“I do seem to have a problem standing in the same place for a long time in case you haven’t noticed, Aden!” Belle snapped. Her change of tone caught him off guard.

“Why are you angry?” he asked curiously. The last time he checked, his girlfriend could take a good joke.

“Why am I angry?!” she repeated. “I’m angry because you keep on changing the subject!”

“From what? You going to stay at your mom’s? I thought it was a done deal.” Aden sat up straight on the bed now as Belle pushed herself up too.

“Well, yeah, I guess it is.” She admitted difficultly.

“Then what’s there to talk to about? I’m not going to stop you from seeing your mother.”

“You know that’s not what I want to talk about.” She buried her face in her hands, not understanding why he was being so difficult.

“You want to talk about Drew being there.”

“Yes.” She mumbled through her hands.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, don’t you care?” she asked, removing her hands now.

“Course I care.” Aden searched for words, trying to describe what he felt in the simplest way. “But it’s not like you’re going to stay just with him. Amanda and the rest are going to be there. I knew that he lived with them. I guess I kind of made my peace with the fact that you would have to see him if you went to see your mother. And it’s not like I’m going to stop you from seeing her.” He paused. “I mean, it’s not like I care when you spend time with Ric.”

“This is different from me hanging out with Ric.” Belle told him. She wasn’t sure why, but her voice had gone softer, almost in shame. Maybe it was because she thought that he wouldn’t be able to handle it. Or maybe because she wished he would stop her from going so that she didn’t have to spend the weekend with Drew.

“I know. But, crazy as it may sound, I trust you Belle. I’m not too sure about him though. And I know you can hold your own, so that’s not too much to worry about. Although with a leg like this,” he patted her thigh before placing a kiss on her upright, left knee, “I’m not too sure how that would work. And it doesn’t mean that you can forget about me all weekend, yeah?”

“Are you sure? I don’t understand how you can be so… calm with it.”

“Oh, that’s just my pride. Believe me, on the inside I want to scream and shout and give you an ultimatum.” He joked.

“An ultimatum, huh?” Belle played along as he pulled her legs out straight.

“Oh, yeah. You know, me or him. Me or your family. You know what I mean.” He teased as he leaned in closer to her.

“Good thing you didn’t, cos I would hate to tell you who I would choose.” She wound her arms around his neck. Aden laughed as he stole a kiss from her. “But seriously?” Belle asked when they parted.

“How many times do we have to go over this?” he sighed. “Seriously, go. I’m not going to stop you. I love you and I trust you. I don’t see the problem in this. Just make sure you come back home.”

“What did you just say?” Belle asked, shock colouring her words. Aden tried to recall his words, not sure what he had just said that had caused her to be in such a state. Her arms had gotten lax, but they still held him in place. Finally, he realised what it was.

“Oh.” He said. Belle’s eyebrows rose.

“‘Oh’?” she repeated, indignantly. Aden smiled a bit and she realised that he was teasing her. “Did you mean it?”

“Yeah.” He answered simply. Belle smiled, pulling him down to meet her lips once again. This kiss was much more passionate, tender and caring.

“I love you too.” Belle told him as they parted. He brushed some of her hair out of her fair, stroking her cheek while he was at it.

“I know.” Aden said smugly, a wide grin on his face as Belle laughed. This time, he initiated the kiss and it was Belle who broke it.

“You know, Aden…” she began.

“Hmm…?”

“Seeing as you love me so much,” she gave him another kiss while pausing, “could you go get me some chocolate?”

---

Please comment! I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thanks guys for the comments! I love it that you guys love it.

Ok, so it's back to the fluff this chapter. It was meant to be longer, but I didn't know if I would be able to update today, and I didn't want to make you wait.

I know it's not all that, but please enjoy.

Chapter 16:

“I thought you had work to get to.” Belle murmured sleepily. Blinking a couple of times to wake herself up more, she could hear the tapping of the laptop pause before continuing.

“Been and came back.”

“Really?” Belle perked up a bit, pushing herself into a sitting position. “What time is it?”

“Just past 9:30.” Aden replied without looking at her once again.

“What? That means I’ve been out for…” she tried to think how long it had been.

“About 5 hours.” Belle yawned as she laid her head on his shoulder. “Yet you’re still tired.”

“No, I’m not.” But a second yawn betrayed her words.

“If you say so.” Belle rolled her eyes at his sarcasm as she started to move to the edge of the bed. “Where’re you going?” Aden finally stopped typing and looked at her.

“Just to get some water.” She smiled.

“Give me a second and I’ll get it for you.”

“I can get it myself. Anyways, I need to move....” Belle was already at the edge of the bed now. “My whole body’s stiff.”

“If you want, I can help with that.” Aden said, suggestively.

“Why don’t you just finish of your homework first?” she smiled as she stood up. However, her sense of balance wasn’t entirely in tact, causing her to topple backwards and end up, fortunately, back on the bed.

“Are you alri-?” Aden began to ask.

“I’m fine!” Belle snapped, not wanting to hear the teasing that would come out of it. She grabbed her crutches this time and was able to steady herself as she left the room, listening to Aden’s amusement.

Belle was surprised to see that the house was almost entirely silent. There was no-one around, that was for sure. As she stood by the sink, a note on the fridge caught her eye.

In case you’re hungry when you wake up. Belle could tell that it was Irene’s handwriting. Placing the glass she was done with in the sink, she opened the fridge door to see some pasta left for her. Usually, food would appeal to her when she hadn’t eaten for most of the day. But right then, it didn’t even look good to her.

Shuffling back to her room, Belle walked over to her dresser and drawers to get changed. With her night clothes in her hands, she turned to look at Aden, debating whether it was worth trying to persuade him to leave or not.

“All you gotta do is ask.” He told her without any sign of acknowledging her. Belle raised an eyebrow and stayed silent, prompting Aden to explain. “If you need my help. To get changed that is.” Belle could now see the smirk on his face as well in his words.

“Actually, I was thinking about making you leave.” She informed him, making it sound more like a command than a suggestion.

“Why? It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.”

“If you don’t shut up, then you won’t again for while.” Belle retorted, half joking.

“You know you wouldn’t keep to that.” Aden replied easily. “Anyways, I was just being logical.”

“Logical?” Belle asked, amused, as she finally decided to give up before even trying making him leave and started to get changed. “Well, in that case, I should get changed in front of Geoff too.”

“Geoff?” Aden’s head snapped up. “How does he fit into this?”

“Well, seeing as he’s seen me naked too...” Belle trailed off, leaving him to use his own ‘logic’ on it, although she knew that that wasn’t what he was thinking about.

“He’s seen you naked? Why?” Aden asked, incredulously.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Belle replied. “We fooled around. Don’t worry, though. This was way before you.”

“Ha! I knew there was more to him than meets the eye. There’s no way he could resist for that long.” Aden played along, causing Belle to laugh.

As she finished getting changed, Belle finally noticed how quiet the house was when it was just the two of them at night.

“Where is everyone?”

“Irene’s closing up and Annie’s at Jai’s. Geoff just went to pick her up.” Aden replied. Belle found it funny how he seemed to know more about her family than she did.

“Melody usually comes around on Wednesdays.” Belle remembered. “Didn’t she come today?”

“Nope. I think there’s trouble in paradise over there.”

“Really?” now Belle was interested. Yesterday, the two of them seemed fine. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.” Aden shrugged. “Maybe she found out about you and Geoff.” Belle rolled her eyes at his obvious joke.

“I somehow doubt it. How do you know all this anyways?”

“Annie.” He simply said. Belle had to smile. Of course the younger girl would gossip, but for her to gossip to Aden would have been funny if it wasn’t so cute.

“Speaking of Annie,” Belle began as she moved to climb onto her bed, “she told me about this morning.”

“What about this morning?” Aden asked coolly, not bothering to stop his working.

“About those girls who were… talking about her.” Belle chose her words carefully. She saw a wry smile appear on Aden’s face as she settled herself on her bed.

“Nothing stays a secret around here for long, does it?” he asked rhetorically, finally finishing off with his work and placing the laptop to the side.

“Not from me.” She smiled. “But seriously, what you did… it was nice. It was sweet.” Aden winced at the word ‘sweet’. “What?”

“‘Sweet?” he repeated as he leaned over her.

“Yeah, ‘sweet’. You got a problem with that?” Belle wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her.

“Well… it’s not really a fitting word, now is it?”

“Fitting to what? Your ‘bad boy’ image?” she teased.

“I’ll have you know, that it’s my ‘bad boy’ image that makes you love me.”

“Oh, is that a fact?” she laughed as Aden rested his forehead against hers.

“You should know.” Aden mumbled while pressing his lips to hers.

“Actually,” she started to say, only to be interrupted by another kiss. “It’s everything that you do outside of your image…” she felt him smile against her lips as she kissed him this time. “That makes me love you.”

As their kisses escalated, getting more passionate and sensual with each second, nothing could have stopped them from heading towards where they were going. Belle’s hands moved down his chest and to his waist, ready to pull his t-shirt off when she was able, somehow, to register voices outside the room.

“No…” she moaned as Aden pulled away, holding his body to hers with as much strength as she was able to conjure.

“Belle…” he replied in the same tone.

“I’m going to kill them.” She said through gritted teeth, making Aden laugh.

“For what? Coming home?” Belle sighed, knowing that he was right. Accepting a final kiss from him, she allowed him to move away.

Getting her breath steady again, she could now hear Annie’s voice, slightly louder than usual, and her feet stomping as she made her way into the living room. Following that was Geoff’s voice.

“Sound’s like a fight.” Aden commented as he stood up, putting his shoes back on.

“Where are you going?” she asked, not moving at all.

“I need to get home.”

“What? Why?” she sulked. “We haven’t spent any time together today.”

“I’m sorry.” Aden apologized while taking a hold of her hands to pull her up. “Roman wants me home tonight.”

“Another family meal?”

“A bit late for that, don’t you think?” he smirked. “Nah. I think he wants to ask Charlie to move in. He hasn’t said anything, but I’m guessing that’s what the whole dinner was about last weekend.” He informed her.

“Alright. I’ll let you off this time.” Belle said, sighing dramatically as she heard Annie yelling once again.

“Shouldn’t you go sort that out?”

“Maybe if we stay in here, they’ll give up soon.”

“Or end up killing each other.” Aden countered.

“Either way, they’ll shut up.” Belle pointed out. Aden had to laugh. He really liked this almost sadistic side of his girlfriend.

“Well, you can do that. I need to go.” Turning to leave, he felt Belle take his hand as she followed him, slowly, using him to keep her balance and the weight off her bad foot. “I’ll try to come around tomorrow before school.”

“Sure. I’ll need someone to help me hide the bodies if I end up killing these two…”

---

I know it wasn't the best, but I hope it made you laugh.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

You guys are all so sweet!

I promise, one day I will mention each and everyone one of you but for the moment, will you just take my lame attempts at updates lol?

It's mainly just a filler chappie... the more exciting stuff starts next chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter 17:

Thursday went too fast for Belle’s liking. Aden had came around as promised, lucky enough to spend the morning with her and not end up dragging out 2 bodies to the sea. After Belle had come out of her room, the other two kids of the house had gone quiet. Apparently, Geoff had embarrassed Annie by picking her up from Jai’s.

It was now Friday and Belle sat in the living room at home, waiting for Amanda to come pick her up. It was currently just past 2 in the afternoon, and bored with the daytime TV that she was ‘watching’, Belle started to text Aden, even though he was in lesson. She was trying her best to make him laugh, knowing that it would get him in trouble in class.

“Knock, knock!” Belle whipped her head around to face the kitchen doors to see her mother standing there, head popping into the house. “Hey!”

“Hi!” she called back as Amanda made her way over to her. Sitting on the edge of the couch that Belle sat on, she leaned in and gave her a brief hug and kiss on her forehead.

“How are you feeling, darling?” she ran a hand over Belle’s cast, a slight smile on her face as she took in some of the writing and pictures on it.

“I’m good. A bit bored, though.” Belle laughed.

“Sorry I couldn’t get here earlier. I had to drop Ryan off at school, and then Drew forgot his keys so I had to take them to him.” Amanda rolled her eyes as Belle laughed along.

“Yeah, that sounds a lot like Drew. But no, it’s ok. I kept myself busy.” She nodded for emphasise.

“Alright then. Are you all packed? If you want, we could always leave everything here and go on a massive shopping spree. What do you say?” Amanda asked, her eyes twinkling.

“As great as that sounds, I don’t think I have the money for that.” Belle told her.

“Well, that’s why you have me! Living with 3 guys makes shopping with you even more special. Not that spending time with you isn’t special already, because...” Amanda trailed off as Belle stared at her with an amused look on her face.

“I get it. But I don’t think that my room has enough space for that many more clothes.”

“Ok. Well, do you want to head off then? Unless there’s something you have to do...?” Amanda asked as she stood up.

“No, I’m all set. We just need to pop into The Diner to tell Irene.” Belle informed her mother as she stood up. “I’ll go get my bag.”

“I’ll grab it. Is it in your room?” she asked while walking towards it anyways.

“Yeah, it’s on my bed.” Belle called out after her. A minute later, Amanda handed her her purse while she took the bag out to the car.

---

“Take care, darl. Call me if you need anything.” Irene told her eldest foster daughter as she hugged her. “Even if it’s a lift home.” She whispered to her, half joking. Belle laughed as she let go, assuring her she would and exited The Diner with Amanda behind her.

Walking towards the car, Belle felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Stopping, she pulled it out to see who was texting her.

Turn around, it simply read. With a slight smile, she did so.

“Hey!” Aden called out to her as he walked up to The Diner. Belle held up her phone to him to prove that she had done as he had said. “I see you got my text.” He smiled. Belle couldn’t help but smile back.

“Just in time too.” She told him as he neared. Belle nodded her head towards where Amanda was waiting for her by the car. Aden’s gaze wondered to her and he gave her small wave. Amanda smiled back tightly before getting into the car.

“I don’t think your mum likes me much.” Aden joked as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders to pull her closer to him.

“She’s just keeping her distance.” Belle replied. Noticing Aden’s confusion, she added, “Never mind. My attempt at a joke.”

“I thought we agreed you would stop that?” Aden teased.

“Nah, I just let you think that.” She told him, referring to the texts that they were sending earlier on in the day.

“Ok, well you better go.”

“Trying to get rid of me, are you?” Belle asked, pulling away from him slightly.

“Am I being that obvious?” Aden laughed as Belle glared at him. “No, I just need you to leave before I meet girlfriend number 2 in there.” He pointed towards The Diner.

“At least I’m girlfriend number 1.” Belle commented.

“For the moment.” Aden murmured as Belle rolled her eyes.

“Ok, I really should go. And don’t you have practice?”

“Who’s getting rid of who now?” Aden said.

“‘Whom’. Are you sure you’re passing English?” Belle corrected. Aden pulled a face while bringing her closer to him.

“Whatever.” He simply said before giving her a kiss to wipe her smile off. “I’ll see you on Monday then, yeah?”

“Yeah…” Belle sighed.

“You could sound more excited, you know?”

“About what? Coming back? Why would I be excited about that?” Belle asked in false seriousness.

“Ouch. That hurts, Belle. Really hurts.” He told her while she giggled.

“Sorry.” She apologized, removing one arm from her crutches to wrap around his waist. “I love you really.”

“Love you too.” He murmured into her hair as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“Right, I’m going to go now before I get tempted to stay.” Belle said, pulling totally away from her boyfriend and balancing herself on her crutches.

“You saying that I could tempt you to stay?” Aden’s eyes lit up.

“Good luck for the footy this weekend.” Belle carried on, pretending to ignore him. “Bye.”

“I’ll call you later.” Aden called after her as she made her way towards Amanda’s car. “If I remember.”

---

Hope you liked it.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Well, guys... here's Drew! Lol. And some of yuo asked if he knows about Aden and Belle and the answer is no. He will soon though...

Hope you enjoy this...

Chapter 18:

Dinner had been a slight awkward affair. It was the first time that Belle was left alone with Drew, even if it had been for about 2 minutes while Amanda went to get Ryan from his room.

“I’m glad you decided to come.” Drew finally said as they finished setting the table.

“Yeah, well… Saying no to Amanda is pretty hard.” Belle said, trying to sound casual. It was hard to do when she felt so many raw emotions inside of her whenever she saw Drew.

“Oh yeah, we all know that.” He told her. “You should have seen how happy she was that you were going to stay for the weekend.”

“Hmm... I’m glad I came.” She half lied. So far that day, Amanda had taken her and Ryan to the movies to pass some time before coming home to make dinner. Drew had arrived home about 10 minutes ago, finally coming into the kitchen to see Belle when Amanda called him to set the table.

“It’s good that it’s not that weird between us, you know?” Drew said, sitting down opposite to where she was sitting at the dining table.

“‘Weird’? Why on Earth would it be weird for?” Belle asked earnestly, amusement colouring her words. Drew laughed at her attitude.

“Seriously, though. It’s not... weird between us, is it?”

“Nah. I mean, if you want to make it weird, you’re going the right way about it.”

“Me? You’re the one who hasn’t come to see anyone of us in the last 6 months.” Drew countered.

“Actually, I was here about 3 weeks ago for Ryan’s birthday.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“I think I remember where I have and have not been, Drew.” She retorted.

“Then how comes I didn’t see you?”

“Because you and Peter went on that ‘Father/Son’ thing.” Belle watched as Drew’s face changed to show that he now remembered, a slight grimace breaking out.

“Yeah, that really sucked. But still, you chose that one day when you knew that I wasn’t going to be here.” Drew said, pointing a finger at her. Belle tried to hide an embarrassed smile. It was true; she did plan that weekend because she knew that he wasn’t going to be there.

“You’ve been avoiding Summer Bay too, you know.” Belle changed the subject from her to him.

“I moved to the city for a reason, Taylor. And I keep in touch with Leah.” Belle rolled her eyes just as Amanda came down with Ryan in tow.

“I hope everyone’s hungry, cos I made a lot of food.” Amanda joked as she pulled the lasagne out of the oven.

“It looks great, Amanda.” Drew said, grabbing his plate to cut himself the first piece. Unfortunately, being the guy that he was, he burnt his hand on the tray as he tried to cut a piece.

“Genius!” Ryan taunted him, laughing along with the other two as Drew sneered. “I want that piece now, mum.”

“Hey!” Drew yelled as Amanda gave Ryan the piece that he was after.

“Drew, it’s just food. It’s not like it’s going to be on your plate for longer than a minute anyway, with your animal-like behaviour.” Amanda laughed. Belle couldn’t help but join in. They acted like a normal, albeit dysfunctional, family.

“I resent that.” Drew defended himself, holding up his plate anyway and accepting the piece that Amanda handed him.

“Here, darling.” She said to Belle as she cut her a piece. Belle held her plate out for her before bringing it to rest before her. Picking up her fork, she prodded the food gently “Something wrong?”

“What? No… it’s just,” Belle paused, “you made this?”

“Yes. Why? Is there something wrong with it?” Amanda asked immediately while the other two boys stopped eating.

“No, I just can’t remember the last time you cooked, mum.” Belle smiled to show that she was just teasing. Amanda gave her a look.

“I can cook, Belle.”

“Finally.” Drew muttered as Ryan cracked up laughing. Amanda’s glare went from her to him. “I’m just saying…”

“Well, if you don’t like it, no one’s making you eat it.” Amanda reached a hand out to pull his dish away from him.

“No, no. I didn’t say I didn’t like it.” To prove his point, he stuffed a huge piece into his mouth. “Hmm…yum.”

“Gross!” Ryan commented the same time as Belle pulled a disgusted face.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Peter?” she asked her mother.

“Dad’s working late. Like always.” Drew replied instead. Belle was sure that he was teasing, but an angry undertone to his words proved otherwise.

“Thank you, Drew.” Amanda commented. “He and the others are covering for one of their workmates. Poor guy, his son’s been diagnosed with leukaemia so they all have to pitch in to do his shifts too.”

“Wow, that must be rough.” Belle said, not sure what else to say. There was silence around the table for a bit.

“Oh, I forgot to ask. What did you do to your leg?” Drew asked, pointing to Belle with his fork. She could see a small smile appear on her mother’s face, clearing showing that she knew the story that Aden and Mattie preferred.

---

I know it wasn't much, and no Adelle, but it will get better!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Yes, I know I promised Adelle... and here it is. It's not much, but I don't want to overwhelm everyone.

I know it's a bit iffy... but I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 19:

“Drew! Will you come and help?” Amanda yelled through the kitchen and into the living room where he was currently playing on the Playstation.

“But Ryan and Belle are there.” He called back.

“Drew...” she yelled once again.

“But-”

“No ‘buts’.” Amanda reprimanded as she carried on with the washing up. Belle could hear Drew sigh and grumpily switch everything off in the main room before he came.

“I could help you, mum.” She insisted.

“That’s ok, sweetheart. It’s Drew’s job anyway.” Amanda told her.

“But I’m right here.” Belle said. She was sitting at the island in the middle of the huge kitchen with Ryan next to her, who was going through the pictures on her camera. The last time she had visited, she had promised her younger half-brother that she would bring some pictures of VJ and Summer Bay the next time.

“Yeah, Amanda, she’s right here.” Drew added as he walked into the kitchen, heading straight to the sink.

“Belle’s a guest for this weekend. And even if she wasn’t, she’s injured.”

“I thought you said that she’s family?” Drew asked, faking confusion.

“Well, she is. But that doesn’t get you out of your chores.”

“If she’s family, then why doesn’t she get any chores?”

“Why are you complaining so much?” Ryan asked.

“Oh, I see. Stick up for her.” Drew huffed as he grabbed another plate.

“Don’t talk about your sister like that!” Amanda snapped. At her words, the eyebrows of both Drew and Belle rose. Ryan didn’t stop looking through her camera; though she was sure he understood what their mother had just said.

“Sister?” Belle asked in disbelief.

“Sister...” Drew repeated, a smile grazing his face as looked at her.

“Don’t you even think about it.” She warned him.

“Think about what... sis?” He grinned, knowing that the new nickname was going to annoy the hell out of her.

“Mum!”

“I’m sorry, darling. It just slipped out.” Everyone could hear the smile in her voice though, although she tried to sound serious.

“I’m sure it did.” She grumbled.

---

At 10 o’clock that night, the four of them sat in the front room watching a DVD. It wasn’t the best movie in the world, and the only person who seemed to be into it was Amanda. Ryan sat by the foot stool Belle’s feet were resting on, looking as if he was going to doze off at any moment. In all honesty, Belle felt as if she was going to join in a minute.

A buzzing in her pocket sent a jerk through her body, making her more alert. Digging it out, she couldn’t help a smile from spreading across her face.

‘What are you up to right now?’ it read. Belle let out a silent laugh at the pure vagueness of it.

‘Watching a movie with mum and the boys. What about you?’ she replied, keeping it just as straightforward. She didn’t have to wait 2 minutes for a reply.

‘Sounds fun. How is everything over there? It’s really quiet here.’ Aden’s reply said.

‘Not fun. It’s alright here. So far... Where are you? At home?’ she sent. When the phone confirmed that it was sent, Belle looked up to see Drew looking at her from his seat. He raised an eyebrow and nodded towards the phone in her hand. She smiled at him politely before pulling her right leg up so that it blocked her phone out of his view, which had just buzzed in her hand.

‘So far?? Yeah, just got home from work. Roman’s having a go at Nic so that’s keeping me entertained.’ Belle could almost visualise the smirk on Aden’s face as he listened to Roman telling Nicole off.

‘Yeah, I’m expecting WW3 anytime now. Uh... should I ask why Nicole’s in trouble? Aw... if you’re really bored, you could always come and visit me =). Belle suggested. She knew that if she asked him genuinely he would actually come to see her.

‘You really don’t want to know. I wouldn’t mind coming over, but... isn’t your step-dad a cop? I don’t think he’ll appreciate me climbing in through your window.’ This time, Belle did laugh. She kept it quiet, but she knew that Amanda had heard it.

“Who’s got time to text you this late?” Amanda asked her.

“It’s not that late.” She defended as she checked the clock. It was just past 10:30pm. “But it looks too late for Ryan though.” All eyes went to the youngest member of their family as he slept sitting upwards.

Drew, closest to the boy, stuck his foot out and nudged his leg gently, gradually moving up to totally shove his legs.

“Ow!” Ryan murmured as he woke up. “Mum!”

“Drew...” she warned him half-heartedly, her eyes not moving from the TV once.

“Alright, buddy. Let’s get you to bed.” He said as he stood up, pulling Ryan up while he was at it. The young boy swayed on his feet and only moved as Drew pushed him forward and finally up the stairs.

Belle’s eyes followed them just as the noise from the TV stopped. Looking over, she saw that Amanda had paused it.

“I’m going to make something to drink.” She said as she, too, stood up.

“Do you want some help?” Belle asked, although she knew the answer already.

“No, that’s ok, darling. You relax and get back to texting Aden.” She replied, not bothering to turn around and see the guilty smile on her daughter’s face.

“How did you know it was him?” she yelled in the direction of the kitchen.

“Call it motherly instinct.” Amanda called back..

“Or past experience, right?” Belle laughed as she started to text back

‘I thought you were a bad boy? A cop for a step father wouldn’t have stopped you a year ago...’ she taunted him.

---

Will Aden actually do it?! Lol...

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Well, I am a fan of 'happily ever after', so if, and I mean if, Aden and Drew ever meet, they might be forced to get along by me. But I'm also a fan of Aden hitting people and looking hot... so yeah...

Thank you all for your comments. Please enjoy!

Chapter 20:

As per usual, Belle was awoken too early the next morning. This time, however, it was due to her ringing phone.

“Hello?” she said, the syllables slurring as she finally found the device she was looking for on the pillow next to her. No wonder it was so loud.

“Good morning.” Aden’s voice greeted her.

“It is?” she murmured as she rolled back onto her side.

“Morning? Yes, seeing as it’s past dawn.” he laughed.

“I meant good.” Belle yawned.

“I know what you mean. Waking up without me must really dampen your day.” he told her with mock-seriousness.

“Haha.” Belle paused to emphasize her sarcasm. “What time is it?”

“Uh...” she could hear the phone being switched from one hand to the other as he checked his watch. “Just past 9.”

“Really?”

“Yup. What time did you finally go to sleep last night?”

“Just after the last text you sent. I was going to reply but I must have crashed out.”

“Hmm...” Aden said non-conversely.

“What does that mean?” Belle yawned once again. She couldn’t seem to keep them away.

“Nothing. I was just thinking what you could have been doing that knocked you out so quickly. I mean, what did you do that was so tiring?” He suggested. Although Belle knew he was joking, the thought of someone else making her tired, as he put it, kind of made her sick.

“Well, you didn’t turn up...” she trailed off, not wanting to complete the sentence. She heard him scoff on the other end of the line. “No, it was the fact that mum practically shoved my medication down my throat just before that might have had something to do with it.”

“Why did she have to do that for?” When Belle didn’t reply, Aden was able to figure it out himself. “Belle! You know that you need to keep on taking them if you want to get better quicker.”

“I forgot.” She defended herself, although she said it timidly.

“I’m sure you did.” Belle could practically hear his eyes rolling. “Seriously, Belle -”

“I know, Aden. And Amanda knows too. And so does Drew and no doubt Peter will know soon. Hell, even Ryan will know by the end of the day. So you don’t have to worry, ok?”

“I’ll always worry, Belle. It comes with the territory.”

“What ‘territory’?” She asked, genuinely confused.

“Of loving you.” Aden told her as if it was general knowledge, but she could still hear the emotions and feeling behind those words.

“I miss you.” She sighed.

“Course you do. I would miss me too.” he joked. Belle couldn’t help but laugh. She loved the way that he was able to switch from being such a romantic to being a tease in a second. That was Aden Jefferies for you.

Belle was about to answer back when someone knocked on her door. She heard the handle of it being turned, and then the halting slam as the lock stopped it from opening.

“Wakey, wakey. Rise and shine!” a voice on the other side called. Belle audibly groaned. She could hear the laughter coming from both Aden and the person she would kill when she got up.

“What?” she shouted as she pushed the phone away so not to yell in Aden’s ear.

“Time to get up, sis. Amanda’s got a day packed just for you.” Drew replied as he carried on knocking on the door.

“Get lost!” Belle yelled, rolling onto her back to see the door still shaking as he tried to open it. “It’s locked, you idiot.”

“Alright, alright. Try to do a girl a favour and this is how I get repaid?” he said to himself, though Belle could hear it loud and clear. She could also hear Aden’s laughter through the phone too.

“You’re not supposed to be laughing.” She hissed at him as she brought the phone back to her ear.

“Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry at all. “I think you should get up.”

“Too tired...” she moaned.

“You fell asleep at about midnight. I don’t know how you can be tired after 9 hours sleep.” Aden told her.

“It’s possible. Trust me, it-”

“You know, Taylor,” Drew interrupted her, loudly, “talking to yourself is the first sign of madness. Unless it’s not to yourself. Which then begs the question as to who is in your bedroom?”

“Will you shut up?” Belle snapped at him.

“I’m trying to help. What if dad or your mum found out you were sneaking boys into your room?” Drew sounded almost genuinely concerned. Belle could hear him chortling as someone called him from downstairs.

“Yeah, Belle. What would they say?”

“That’s not funny.” She grumbled as she once again rolled onto her side, pulling the covers over her head. “What are you doing, anyway?”

“I’m just heading to school. Almost there, actually.”

“Ah, yes. The tournament. How’s that going?”

“Well, seeing as we haven’t started yet, I’d say not so good.” Aden joked.

“Hmm... funny.”

“What’s the plan for today, then?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to have to take whatever she throws at me.”

“Well, whatever it is, have fun.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re about to hang up?” Belle asked as he laughed lightly.

“Cos I probably am. Tony’s just spotted me, and the rest of the team are already here, warming up. Whoops.”

“What time was practice?”

“9, I’m guessing.”

“Turning up late to practice. If you’re trying to redeem your ‘bad boy’ status after failing to turn up last night, then you have sadly failed.” She informed him.

“Damn. I guess I’ll just have to come and visit you tonight then.”

“Hmm, you do that.”

“I will. See you then.”

“Bye. Good luck.”

“‘Luck’? I don’t need luck.” he replied.

“We’ll see.” The last thing she heard was him laughing before Aden had to hang up.

Groaning, she pulled the covers down and sat up, ready to spend the whole day doing whatever Amanda wanted her to do. Hopefully, she would make out of it alive.

---

I hope you enjoyed it.

xoxo