Unlucky

[Taniya_K]

Alrighty guys! The penultimate chapter! I apologize right now for it's lack in size and fluff, but I will make it up to you guys soon!

Chapter 41:

“The moment of truth.” Irene said as both Rachel and Belle laughed, although the latter’s was a bit forced and nervous.

The three women were all in Rachel’s office; Belle sitting as Irene stood to her side as the doctor pulled out Belle’s latest x-ray that had been taken about 30 minutes beforehand.

Although Belle could not see Rachel’s face fully, the fact that she tilted her head at the x-ray and didn’t say anything for a moment told her it wasn’t going to be good.

“There’s good news, and bad news. Which one do you want first?” Rachel told her.

“Good.” Belle responded almost immediately as Irene took as seat next to her while Rachel sat on the other side of the desk.

“Well, it looks like the fracture has healed up nicely and it should be ok to take the plaster off.” she informed them, a gentle smile on her face as she knew exactly what that meant to Belle.

“That’s great, darl!” Irene exclaimed as she smiled along with the other two.

“Yeah, it’s great. But what’s the bad news?” Belle didn’t want to get too excited too soon.

“You’ll have to stay on the crutches for a while. That means no extra pressure and no unnecessary or sudden movements. It will take a bit of time before you will be back to normal, but don’t rush it. The plaster meant that your foot was in one position for about 3 weeks; it will be stiff.” Rachel explained.

“But the plaster comes off?” Belle asked hopefully. She just had to make sure.

“Yes, it will come off.” Rachel laughed at her eagerness. “I’ll go and let the nurses know and they will take it off as soon as they can.”

Once they had gone over some more instructions for Belle, such as keep on taking the medication and to stay on both crutches for at least a couple of days before starting to walk with one like she had before, Rachel led them out to where Belle had had her foot wrapped to now get rid of the plaster.

Irene and Belle had to wait for about 10 minutes before a nurse came. Neither of them recognised the male nurse, which was odd seeing how tight the Summer Bay community was.

“So Dr. Armstrong said that this is to come off, and them to wrap your foot and ankle up in a bandage. Right?” He asked to make sure.

“Uh… yeah.” Belle replied, sharing a look with Irene. She shrugged, but smiled, and Belle knew exactly what she was thinking about the quite cute nurse.

“Alrighty, then.” He smiled brightly before gloving up and getting everything together that he might need. “My name’s Jamie, by the way. Just so you don’t think that I’m a stranger about to attack your foot with a rotary saw.”

“‘Saw’?” Belle asked with a hint of fear.

“Don’t worry, it’s not sharp enough to pierce the skin. It’ll only cut through the plaster.” Jamie told her.

“I thought you broke your leg when you were younger, love.” Irene queried as she stood closer by her side.

“I did, but I don’t remember any saws. I remember scissors.” she informed them.

“It’s not possible to cut through the plaster with scissors.” Jamie said as he sat on a chair to her left to position himself right next to her foot. “Maybe they had put you under when they took it off.” Belle didn’t reply; she watched as he switched on the electrical saw in his hand and gently brought it to her foot. “We do that to kids who get too hysterical or are unable to sit still.”

The nurse may not have seen it, but if looks could have killed, then the one that Belle had thrown in his direction would have put him 6 feet under.

Irene cleared her throat, obviously having seen her foster daughter’s look. Belle sighed deeply before watching as the nurse finished off with her foot. He suddenly stopped what he was doing when he got to the top of her ankle.

“I’m so sorry. I was meant to ask if you wanted to keep the cast or not. I mean, I haven’t cut through anything important yet.” He said hurriedly. Belle blinked at him before looking down at where Annie had draw some pretty picture just where the saw was heading.

“No, that’s ok.” She said slowly.

“You know, it might be a good idea to keep it. For memory’s sake.” Irene added to their discussion.

“Yeah, I don’t think I want any reminders of this. I’ve got enough memories to last a lifetime. Not to mention people who will keep on taking the mick.” Belle replied pointedly, both women thinking of the same person who would not leave her ‘accident’ alone; Aden.

With her consent, Jamie kept on going with his saw, finally being able to take it off when it was in halves. To remove the bandage that was underneath, he simply cut through it with scissors. The coldness of it startled Belle; especially after not having felt anything in that area for almost a month.

“It all looks good. There’s no swelling, and the colour’s all even. Can you see anything wrong?” Jamie reported before asking her. Belle leaned over her leg, twisting it to see it at every angle that she could. But without the plaster restraining her, she tried to turn her ankle, only for it to shoot a jolt of pain up her leg.

“It’s all good.” She hissed out through her teeth.

“Does it hurt? Maybe we should get Rachel to look at it.” Irene said, worried at the look of pain that flashed through Belle’s face.

“No, no. I just found out how stiff it actually is.” Belle told her. Irene gave her a glare and huffed.

“As long as it’s ok,” Jamie broke in, ‘I’ll wrap it up with a bandage to give it some support.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Belle smiled, forgetting her grudge against him for calling her a bratty kid. She couldn’t wait to do some of the things that she hadn’t been able to do over the last few weeks. It was going to be fun.

---

‘Guess what? It’s gone! Feels sooooooo good too. =) Can’t wait to get my life back to normal!’ Belle texted Aden as soon as she got the chance to. Although she had partially typed up the text while in the car, she had to stop halfway to get inside the house and into her bedroom.

Rachel’s instructions for that day was to relax and get used to her leg as it was now. To try and get it back to normal, but not to push it too hard. Belle liked these instructions because ‘normal’ to her meant being able to move and do what she wanted to do wherever she wanted to do them.

‘Congrats. How does it look?’ He texted back almost immediately. Belle knew that he had English last thing on a Friday, but right then she didn’t care. At least he was in lesson, she justified. And in school.

‘Looks fine. What did you expect it to look like?’ She replied just as quickly. Belle peeked at her foot once again. She had undone the bandage, like Rachel said she was allowed to when showering, and got a real look at it and wash it clean. The bandage was now back on, just as tight as the nurse had done it.

‘I dunno. It was wrapped up for 3 weeks. What‘s the plan now? What‘s the first thing on your list to do now that it‘s gone?’

Belle didn’t have to think hard about that. She knew exactly what she had been missing for the past 3 weeks, although she never told anyone. It was something that they all took for granted, living in Summer Bay.

‘Go for a swim! You and me, ASAP! =D’

‘Lol! Missed that too. But I‘ve got practice after school today. You up for a midnight swim? =P’ Aden texted back to her. She could almost visualise the smirk on his face, even in the classroom with Miles teaching him.

‘You’ll be at footy until midnight? You might be able to convince me though…’ Belle replied. She would hate to admit it, but a midnight swim did sound good. Even though Rachel had said to take it easy that first day, there wasn’t much that could go wrong while playing around in the sea.

‘Course not. But a midnight swim sounds better than an evening one, don‘t you think? Convince you how?’

‘Depends why it needs to be in the dark… Just try and convince me!’ Belle knew exactly what answer that first part of her text would bring. She was thinking about it anyway, so there was no doubt it was what Aden was thinking about too.

‘I‘m sure you‘ve figured it out. Alright, convince you… Look under your bed. By the window. x’ The test confused her. Not only because of the weird request that he had given her, but also because of the ‘x’ at the end, indicating that it was probably going his last text for a bit.

Re-reading the text, she tossed the phone to her side before leaning over the right hand edge of her bed. There was nothing there that looked out of place.

Under your bed, Belle remembered what he had told her exactly. So she stuck her hand under the bed, sliding it up and down until she came across something. Pulling on it, it wasn’t hard to tell that it was a thin, but long, gift bag, without even seeing it.

Belle brought it up to her bed, turning it around in her hands, wondering when he had put it there. Aden had left that morning before she was up, but there was no way that he could had hidden it then, especially seeing as he didn’t have it on him the night before.

Realisation dawned on her when she put all the pieces together. He must have stuck it under before I saw him, she thought to herself, wondering what he would have done if she had seen him coming in through the window with the bag in his hands.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head, she pulled on the ribbon that tied the top of the bag together, peering down into it to see white tissue paper everywhere. Digging into it gently, Belle came upon a hard object, which she removed from the bag immediately.

Eyes wide, it wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure out what it was. Opening it carefully, Belle let out an involuntary gasp when she saw the silver bracelet. She skimmed her fingers over it, admiring the charms that hung off it.

At first, she couldn’t tell what each of the charms were; just that there were 5 of them, spread evenly over the linked chain bracelet. Belle didn’t want to think about how much they must have cost. It was obvious that the charms had been bought separately to the bracelet, and with the space that was left, she knew that Aden planned to keep on adding to it.

Delicately picking up the piece of jewellery, she leaned back in her bed to take a better look at it. The two most obvious charms were the letters ‘A’ and ‘B’. They were situated on the opposite ends of the bracelet.

The next one that she could make sense of was a charm of a camera, which was an obvious choice. There was then one which she thought looked like a cloud, but that made no sense. It was in a bluish tint, shimmering white in the light. Pondering about it for a moment, she moved on to the fourth one on the bracelet. It was a red crystal heart. That was easy to understand.

Belle didn’t want to put the bracelet on right then; she wanted Aden to have that honour. Instead, she kept staring at the blue-white cloud, wondering why he would choose a cloud for.

Was there something that she was forgetting? Belle racked her brain for all the time that they had spent together, thinking about each little detail that might be able to explain it. But ‘clouds’ didn’t come up anywhere.

Belle twisted the charm around again, being careful of the other ones. As she flipped it from one side to another, it hit her. It wasn’t a cloud. It was the sea. It was meant to be a surf. A high wave.

As she kept on looking at it, it became more and more clearer as to what it was. She didn’t know how she thought it could have been a cloud!

A surf. Part of the sea. Because they did tend to spend a lot of time by the sea. But Belle knew that that wasn’t the reason for it.

Oh no. He had chosen that because he was Aden, and he wanted to remind her of the first time she had fallen for him.

---

Hope you enjoyed that. I had to put it in seeing as Belle breaking her foot started the whole fic!

I will try to get the next chappie up ASAP!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Right so here it is. The final chapter of my first ever H&A fic! This was so hard, yet so easy. to write. I just can't believe I'm going to end it!

Alright, well I know that I haven't been good as metioning people, but here it goes. I wanna say thank you to:

xknomex, zzazzb, adelle, MissOlivia22, solaris, wrongturntaken, mk1diva, bexxx123, enjoy the ride, H&A_diehard, jessica_2005, SAM27#, Lise, *Zetti*, whispered_envy, matticus01, maccaz, adelle fan., adelle4eva, wooo_im_cool, ezaz8, katef2007, Broken_Ghost, Lustre, HAA Girl 08, **Julie**, linzie_mac01 .

You guys all left comments on my fic and it's what made me want to write more. That and the badgering I got from a certain person *cough* or two! [You know who you are!]

Anyways, hope you enjoy this.

Chapter 42:

“Hey!” Aden called out through the window as he started to climb in.

“Shhhh!” Belle hushed him, getting up to meet him by the window.

“What?” He whispered.

“Everyone’s asleep.” she informed him, standing back a bit. Aden looked at her curiously.

“Did the docs give you the wrong medication?” he asked, confused. When he usually came over and snuck in through the window it was because it was too late to use the door. Like ‘almost midnight’ too late. Although sometimes he did use the window just for the fun of it, or to avoid everyone else. He wasn’t a ‘try to make conversation and get along with the family’ kind of guy.

“Have you got your swimming stuff?” Belle ignored his question and eyed him, noticing that he wore his shorts. “Good. Let’s go.”

“Whoa, hold on a minute.” Aden exclaimed, only to be shushed by his girlfriend once again. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“What? But you said-”

“Yeah, that was before I knew you still need crutches to walk.” He pointed out the fact that she was now leaning on one crutch. Even though Rachel had said to use both, she was comfortable with just the one.

“I don’t need it. Anyway, swimming’s different.” She informed him. Aden was still doubtful, knowing that she would say that now to get her way, but probably pay for it later.

“Belle, what if it gets worse? I’m not explaining to Irene why I had to take you to the hospital from the beach at midnight!” Aden said lightly.

“We won’t go to the hospital then.” Belle replied simply, grinning at him. “Is that a yes?”

“Are you sure you’ll be ok?”

“I’m sure.”

“You will tell me if it hurts?”

“I promise.” Belle reassured him, looking as serious as she could. Aden sighed and nodded, making her smile widely. “Thank you!” Throwing her arms around his neck, she let her crutch fall to the floor and kissed him passionately.

“Just don’t make me regret it.” Aden told her as they broke apart. Belle shook her head, a smile still clear on her face. He placed a kiss on her temple, loving the fact that he had put that smile there.

Belle let go of him and grabbed a bag from behind her that contained a couple of towels and other necessities.

“Let’s go.” She told him quietly, switching off the main light as she approached the window.

“Were you that certain I would give in?” He asked as she pushed him with one hand towards their exit.

“Yep.” Belle said easily as Aden climbed out with practice, holding out a hand for her.

“Why are we using the window?” Aden whispered, making her laughed at his exaggerated attempt to be quiet.

“Because,” Belle paused as she slipped out of the window with Aden guiding her, “it’s more fun this way.”

---

The two of them had managed to sneak down to the beach without causing a scene. It wasn’t that hard, honestly. Summer Bay was a quiet place and no-one hung out after dark if they didn’t have to, even on a warm night like tonight.

“Have you ever done this before?” Aden asked Belle as he watched her strip out of her clothes in the moonlight, disappointed that she had her bikini on underneath.

“Nope.” She smiled as she threw her clothes onto a towel she had lain out and got started on her bandage as Aden sat down next to her, taking off his t-shirt too.

“Really?” His eyebrows shot up, and Belle could just about see his reaction in the dimness.

“Don’t sound too surprised.” She replied sarcastically.

“Sorry, I just thought this was something that you would have done.” Aden admitted as Belle tucked her rolled up bandage under the pile of her and Aden’s clothes.

“Nah, I’ve never felt the want to.”

“Until now?”

“Until now.” Belle repeated. “So… are we going to talk about going for a swim, or actually go?”

Aden laughed out loud, getting up slowly before holding out a hand for Belle to take, which she did eagerly. Gingerly placing her foot on the sand, she let it take most of her weight before placing the other one in front. It took a bit of time, but neither of them were in any rush.

---

“Stop it…!” Belle murmured against his lips as his hand climbed up to her neck where her bikini top was tied. Aden let his hand gracefully slide to midway down her back where another two pieces of strings held up her top. “Aden…” She said warningly.

“Hmm…?” He replied innocently as he let his hands drop to her hips, which was underwater, his mouth now teasing her neck.

They had been playing around in the water for close to an hour now, neither one getting bored or running out of things to do. Belle’s foot felt better than ever before, especially as she didn’t need to put any weight on it while being in the water. That, and the fact that Aden was being extra careful with her.

“Hey…!” He scolded as her hands rounded his waist and began playing with the elastic at the back. “You don’t get to do that to me if I don’t get to do it to you!”

Belle laughed, knowing that she wouldn’t have gotten away with it anyway.

“As much as I would just love to risk that, I think it’s time to head back.” she told him.

“Why? Are you ok?” His playful manner was gone immediately and concern filled his voice as he pulled her even closer to him with one arm, the other hand stroking her hair off of her face.

“I’m perfect.” Belle assured him, giving him a kiss and a smile to prove it. “I just think we could do more back home than here.”

“Ok then. If you insist.” Aden told her, allowing himself to be guided out of the water. As they approached the beach, he could see that Belle found it harder to walk. “Does it hurt?”

“Nah, it’s just a bit weird.” Belle half lied. It didn’t hurt too much. Just like it had been sat on for too long. “It’ll be ok in a bit.”

Aden nodded, although she couldn’t see him do so, following her to their pile of clothes and towels.

They didn’t take too long getting dried and all. The wind had picked up, and although it was a warm night, being wet from the sea made it that much colder.

Getting dressed once again, and helping Belle wrap her bandage over her ankle, they stuffed whatever they had left over into the bag that she had brought with them and started on their way back to the beach house.

They walked back laughing as Belle made fun of Aden‘s attempts of being her nurse, only exchanging a few words in between, which were all quiet in the dead night. Approaching Belle’s bedroom, Aden pushed her window up before throwing the bag in there and tried helping Belle to get through, although she didn’t accept it. He followed her in quickly afterwards, both of them still in hysterics.

“Shhh…” Belle put a finger to her lips, her laughter dying down to giggled which she tried to repress.

“Who’re you telling to ‘shhh’? You’re louder!” Aden told her as she pulled out the wet towels from the bag, her whole frame shaking.

“I am not!” She tossed the towels over to Aden along with a pair of trousers that she dug out of a drawer. “Go hang these in the bathroom and get changed!”

“What if someone catches me?” Aden asked her, his voice low in fake fear.

“Then I guess you can just explain!” Belle’s tone was just the same.

“Explain what? That we just snuck out for a midnight swim when you can’t even walk without any support?”

“True… Maybe you should just try and not get caught. Now go!” Belle added before he could argue. “I wanna get out of these and into something warm!”

Aden did as he was told, returning back in 5 minutes. He knew that she would have been ready by then.

Belle was sitting on her bed, her right leg tucked under her left, which she had to leave straight out. But it was what was in her hands that made him smile more.

“I see you found it then.” Aden said gently, shutting the door behind him and coming to sit next to her.

“Well, you didn’t do a good job at hiding it.” Belle quipped, a subtle smile gracing her features.

“You wouldn’t have found it if I hadn’t had told you.” Aden countered, laughing when she tilted her head at him. “Why haven’t you put it on? Don’t you like it?”

“No! I love it!” Belle quickly told him, not wanting him to get the wrong impression. “I just wanted you to put it on me.”

“Now that can be arranged.” Aden took the charm bracelet out of her hands and came to sat opposite her. She held out her right hand and he managed to clasp it shut properly before twirling it around her wrist to look at every single charm.

“I can’t believe you got this for me.” She whispered to him as he held onto her hand.

“Why not? I can’t remember the last time I ever bought you something.” Aden replied, kissing the back of her hand before letting it go so that she could look at it herself.

“Flowers, chocolates, cake… any of that coming back to you? Or even the 5 grand?” Belle joked as she placed her hand down.

“Yeah, but all that dies or finishes. This will last forever.” Aden told her. “I hope.”

“Me too.” Belle said softly before leaning in to steal a kiss from him. It may have started off sweetly, but it soon became hot and passionate as Belle pulled him on top of her as she laid down backwards.

“Hold on.” Aden gasped out as he broke away from her lips. “Just a minute” He added before giving her a peck on the cheek.

He didn’t move from his position except to reach out to the bedside table and open up the top drawer. Belle looked on curiously, not knowing what he was searching for in there, although Aden obviously did because he pulled out a little black drawstring bag from it.

“What is it?” Belle asked as he handed it to her. He pulled her up, watching her face as she bit down on her bottom lip when she opened it. “Oh, wow.”

Aden couldn’t help but mirror her smile as she took out another charm for her bracelet. This time it was very obvious to Belle what it was. It’s crescent shape and the pearl make of it made it even more obvious.

“A moon.” she laughed. “But how-?” Belle stopped halfway, laughing when she thought about it all. “You were always going to take me swimming, weren’t you?”

“Not really. If not tonight, then one night. I was pretty sure that you weren’t going to get over that idea quickly” Aden admitted as she smiled shyly.

“When did you slip it in there?” Belle nodded towards her drawer. “And when did you get it?”

“I put it in there when your back was turned. I’ve got to admit; you’re sense of hearing needs to be checked.” Aden laughed as she gave him a playful slap to the arm. “And I got it this afternoon. You didn’t think I was busy with footy and work all day, did you?”

Belle blushed slightly to show that she had actually believed him, and that she hadn’t clocked on that there was time unaccounted for in his schedule.

“So sue me for trusting my boyfriend!” She defended herself as she handed the new charm to Aden, and then held out her wrist for him to clip it on.

“It’s a good thing. This way, I’ll be able to get away with more stunts like these.” he kidded.

“If you’re going to be bringing me presents,” Belle said as she wrapped he arms around his shoulders to bring him back down to her, “then I don’t mind.”

“I bet you wouldn’t.” Aden replied before capturing her lips with his. This time, it was purposely a deep and sensual kiss.

“Seriously, though.” Belle managed to say as she slid her hands under his t-shirt and pulled it off over his head. “I don’t need presents. I only need you.”

“I know.” He said in between more kisses, pulling her body closer to him, if that was possible. “But I want to. I love you.”

“I love you more.” She told him as his hands skimmed over her bare stomach, making her eyes flutter shut.

Although she couldn’t see it, she could feel Aden smirk against the hollow of her throat as he trailed kissed up to her mouth.

“You wish.”

The end.

---

And there it is. *tear*

Please leave a comment for the last time.

I hope you'll all join me for the sequel to this, which should be up tomorrow.

xoxo

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