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Back to the Future

Guest solaris

By Guest solaris
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solaris Member

solaris

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Okay xknomex, you can stop bouncing and start reading :D

Thank you to all my readers for their comments and encouragement. The drama side of this fic is going to start to come to a head fairly soon, the past will have to be dealt with! In the meantime this chapter sets the scene, both for the immediate and more distant future. Enjoy.

Chapter 21

“Principle Bartlett, do you mind if I have a quick word?”

Martin Bartlett looked up from his paper, a little surprised to find Roman Harris stood by his table. He'd been planning to call Nicole's father on Monday, his daughter's concentration hadn't been good enough in class yesterday and several teachers had mentioned it. They'd also told him that Nicole had appeared upset, something he'd witnessed for himself in detention, but in his opinion Miss Franklin needed to grow up.

“Of course not, I was going to call you on Monday as it happens. I received several reports on Friday about Nicole and I'm not happy.”

Roman sat down, his temper already beginning to simmer.

“Then we seem to be sharing a sentiment. I understand that my daughter was very distressed on Friday, more than one person has mentioned it to me and asked if she's okay. I am curious as to why, given that she was so upset, I received no communication from the school? Had she been attending a large city comprehensive I could have understood it – up to a point – but that isn't the case here.”

He'd been dealing with parents for more years than he cared to think about, long enough to recognise when one was unhappy with a situation. He also knew that how he handled this particular situation was vitally important, straight to the point was probably best.

“Mr Harris, Nicole has been in a significant amount of trouble recently. It was reasonable to conclude that she was just acting out again, trying for the sympathy vote if you will. However, it is of little consequence what the reason was – what concerns me is that her attention was again not on her work.”

Nicole's attention may not have been on her work yesterday, but her father's attention was certainly on her Principle now and he was less than impressed.

“Principle Bartlett, I know my daughter was not in the best frame of mind yesterday and that was partly my fault. There has been a great deal happening at home, it has affected her tremendously. I would have thought that given the problems Aden is facing, you would have considered the possibility that Nicole may have been caught up in them. I am going to make one thing clear and then return to work; should Nicole become so distressed again, I expect to at least be informed. Good day.”

With that Roman strode back to the kitchen, leaving a stunned Martin Bartlett behind. He was aware that Aden had been dealing with some serious issues, it was also reasonable to think that Nicole may have been impacted by them. Perhaps he needed to speak to Nicole on Monday.

The rest of the day passed in relative tranquillity, much to relief of those who had been involved in the recent drama's. Belle and Aden passed the day at the beach and in surrounding areas, generally avoiding contact with anyone other than each other. Geoff spent the day with Nicole, helping her catch up with the work she hadn't been able to focus on. He'd also listened to the rest of her story about the city...including some surprising aspects she still hadn't told her dad – and had no intention of doing so! Roman's day had been busy but good, as enjoyable as possible under the circumstances – he was still worried about Nic. By the time evening fell, everyone was feeing better than they had at the start of the day.

Aden arrived home after seeing Belle back to the beach house, Geoff had already left for home and Roman had been delayed at work so it was just him and Nicole.

“Hey Nicole.”

She looked around at the sound of Aden's voice, the mellow mood she'd been in evaporating. How much did he know? Surely Belle must have told him? The last thing she needed was Aden ragging on her...she just couldn't take it at the moment.

“Hey!”

Aden watched the colour leech out of her face, saw the fear flickering through her eyes. Taking a deep breath he forced himself to remember his own fear, the terror that someone would find out his darkest secret. That was what Nicole was feeling now, she thought Belle had told him.

“She hasn't.”

“Hasn't what?”

Nicole tried for nonchalance and failed.

“She hasn't told me your story, that's yours to tell if you choose to share.”

Aden headed for the kitchen, Nicole followed him and leaned against the counter.

“You're not going to ask me about it?”

He looked at her, a shadow of remembered pain flashing across his face. His tone was soft when he answered.

“No princess I'm not.”

He paused, wondering how much to tell her. Enough to know she wasn't alone.

“I remember what it's like to have a secret that's too painful to share, who you tell is up to you.”

Moving back towards the living room, he paused in front of her.

“But if you want to tell me, I'll listen and I won't judge you.”

Brushing a brotherly kiss against her temple, left the kitchen and went upstairs. Nicole stood there, shocked into immobility. What she'd seen in Aden's face was a pain so deep she couldn't begin to guess it's origins, how had he understood? Acting on impulse, she followed him upstairs and knocked on his door.

“Come in Nicole.”

She opened the door, moving just far enough inside to lean against the wall.

“You knew, didn't you?”

Aden glanced in her direction from where he was sat on the bed, but remained silent.

“You knew I was hiding something!”

She made it a statement, for some reason there was no question in h mind that he'd known. He nodded slowly.

“I recognised the signs. I should do, used similar methods myself for long enough. Then my life went the rest of the way to hell, it taught me the hard way that I couldn't deal with everything on my own.”

Crossing the room, Nicole sat on the floor leaning back against the bed. She jumped as a pillow hit the floor next to her, a glance at the guy on the bed netted her a trademark shrug.

“Thought you might want something to hug.”

She half smiled at his comment, hugging the pillow to her.

“How did you cope? You said you couldn't do it on your own...how did you cope with telling someone?”

Aden leaned back against the wall with his eyes closed, what on earth had possessed him to try and help? He didn't really want another trip down memory lane, but Nicole needed

this!

“I felt sick...I was sure that anyone I told would back away, wouldn't want to know me any more. How wrong I was! Roman knows a lot of my past, Belle all of it – I couldn't have got though the last couple of months without Roman.”

“That's why you were so hard on me isn't it? My dad was there for you when you needed someone.”

Aden made a sound of agreement, she was working her way through things pretty quickly.

“I just feel so worthless all the time...but it's my mom more than what happened that's made me feel like that.”

A hand squeezed her shoulder gently.

“If someone is putting you down, they're jealous or insecure...or both. It took me a long time to realise that I'm not responsible for the actions of those around me, it's something you need to learn as well. It takes time to believe it.”

Nicole pushed herself up until she was sat on the bed, the pillow still held in a death grip.

“So, you and Belle are a couple again? You've worked through everything?”

Aden laughed and rubbed his hands over his face, how he wished they'd worked though everything!

“We're a couple again, but with everything that's happened it's gonna take time to work through everything. Belle's the best thing to ever happen to me.”

He dropped his head.

“There are times when I still think she's far too good for someone like me, she could have any guy she wanted.”

“She's your girlfriend...of course she's too good for you, that's her job!”

Aden burst out laughing at the sassy smirk on her face, she quickly followed suit. It felt good to laugh.

“How did you end up being the brother I don't have?”

His laughter dying down, he thought about that.

“Who knows? Now go get some sleep princess, you look as if you didn't get too much last night.”

Nicole left his room, as she closed the door she realised that 'princess' had stopped being an insult – it made her smile.

zzazzb Member

zzazzb

Posted
Posted

Aw, i love the Nic/Aden sister/brother thing you've got going on here :D

“She's your girlfriend...of course she's too good for you, that's her job!”

loved that :P

update soon :D

xknomex Off the Scale!

xknomex

Posted
Posted

How did this get on the second page :o

Update soon ?

because there are soooooooooooooooooo many Adelle fics, trying to keep people happy over recent events in the show. :P

but ye uptade??

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