Untroubled

[Taniya_K]

This chapter's mainly a filler. It's got a bit of this and that... Sorry is short and a bit boring, lol. I'll make it better with the next chapter.

Chapter 38:

“Hey.” Aden greeted her as he walked up to the main counter in the Diner.

“Hey.” Belle smiled back, pausing in her writing of something to accept a kiss from him. “What’re you doing here? I thought you were studying all day.”

“I was.”

“But…?”

“I’m on a study break.” He added with a sly grin. “Come join me?”

“Urgh… I wish I could, but I haven’t got the time.” She told him, preparing a couple of drinks as they talked.

“Please?” Aden tried, adding his smile which he knew she couldn’t resist. He watched as she threw him a mock dirty look before reluctantly smiling.

“I really can’t. We’re extremely busy, in case you can’t tell.” Belle pointed out, and now that he looked, Aden saw just how packed the place was.

“Wow. And it’s only Thursday afternoon.”

“Tell me about it.” She murmured, going back into the kitchen as Roman called out for her, only to return with a couple of plates for some customers. Belle could feel Aden’s eyes bore into her as she moved, struggling to keep her mind on the job as he did so. “What?”

“What?” He repeated as she came back to the till.

“You’re staring.”

“Was not.”

“Yeah, you were.” She informed him. “I can tell. Something you wanna share?”

“Nope, not really.” He smirked as she rolled her eyes at his typical response. “So you not going to keep me company? After I came all the way down here to see you?”

“Aden!” Belle laughed. “No-one told you to come down here. And don’t complain. You did the same to me a couple of nights back, remember?” She said pointedly, referring to Tuesday evening when Angelo had been around.

“I had a legitimate reason.” He argued.

“Oh, and what? Working isn’t legitimate enough?” She countered.

“Fine.” Aden sighed exasperatedly, crossing his arms as he leant against the counter once again.

“Look,” Belle began, feeling slightly guilty for turning him down. “I finish in a couple of hours. I’ll come round then, yeah?”

“I guess.” He sighed once again, not moving from his position, even as she walked away to get on with her job. Like last time, Belle could feel his eyes follow her as she cleared a table.

“Seriously, stop it!” She hissed at him while passing by, heading for the kitchen. Aden laughed, shaking his head at her paranoia as she returned. “You’re creeping me out.”

“Sorry.” He didn’t sound it at all, Belle realised. “You’re just good entertainment.”

“’Entertainment’?” Belle asked him in disbelief, stopping what she was doing for a moment. “Ok, that’s your cue to leave now.”

“Aw, don’t be like that.” Aden teased. “Anyway, I’m a paying customer here. You can’t throw me out.”

“You’re not paying for anything.”

“That’s cos you haven’t asked if I want anything.” He informed her. “Your waitressing skills suck.”

“Well, if I’m that bad, then why don’t you go bother someone else?” She muttered as she picked up a tray full of drinks. “I’m working here.”

“I will. As soon as you serve me.” Aden called after her as she took the drinks to a bunch of teenagers still in their uniforms sitting around a table. A frown marred his features when he saw one of the boys on the table smile at her appreciatively, even if she didn’t notice.

“Fine.” Belle huffed as she approached him once again. “What do you want?”

“Huh?” He blinked suddenly, snapping back to reality from trying to see if he could identify that kid who kept on looking up at Belle. “Uh… coffee.”

“You came all this way for coffee?” She questioned him. “When you have perfectly good coffee at home?”

“No, I came to see you.” He said smoothly, changing back into his normal self. “The coffee’s an excuse for you not to kick me out.”

Belle rolled her eyes, biting on her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling at his forthrightness. She was just about to get started on his request when Roman came out of the kitchen. They both looked at him oddly, especially when the place was busy and there was no-one else but the two of them working right then.

“Aden, you haven’t seen Nicole by any chance, have you?”

“Nope. Why? You lost her?” He sniggered, making the elder man smirk.

“Yes, as a matter of fact.”

“I thought she was still grounded?” Belle interrupted their conversation.

“She is. And no-one’s answering the house phone and she’s not picking up her mobile.” Roman sighed heavily. “I swear, that girl…”

“She probably just on her way home and forgot to turn her phone back on.” Aden tried to reason, but knew he was failing at Roman’s reproachful look.

“School finished 30 minutes ago, Aden.” Roman informed him. “Not even Nicole can take that long getting home.”

“Well, I know Geoff had some School Captain stuff to do today. Maybe Nic had to stay for that too.” Belle said, not quite sure why she was defending Nicole all of a sudden.

“Yeah, maybe. I can’t remember her mentioning it, though.”

“You know what Nic’s like. If it isn’t something fun or something she can manipulate to get her own way, then she’ll forget.” Aden joked, making the other two laugh.

“Alright. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt right now. I’ll try her again in a bit.” As soon as Roman re-entered the kitchen, Aden pulled out his phone, scrolling through the phone book for Nicole’s number.

“I bet I can guess where she is.” Belle quipped, her voice low as she watched him dial her number.

“Me too.” Aden knew as well as she did that the School Captain meeting was held during the lunch break today, leaving just one other option. “You would think that Bible Boy would follow rules, not help her break them. Isn’t that a sin or something?”

“No comment.” She replied, not wanting to say anything bad about her foster brother, yet not wanting to sound like she was agreeing with what they were doing. “Do you still want that coffee?”

“Uh…” Aden started as he hung up on the phone. “Nah, that’s ok. She’s not picking up.”

“Her problem.”

“True.” He shrugged, holding the phone in one hand while using the other to push himself away from the counter. “Ok, I’m going to head off, seeing as you’re not going to take any time to spend with me soon.”

“You finally get the message?” Belle joked, handing another customer some change as she worked the till.

“Hmm… amazing huh?” He laughed. “See you later?”

“Sure.” She smiled as he pressed a kiss to her lips gently, stroking her cheek with such tenderness that it made her tummy flip before turning and leaving.

Sending a text to Nicole as he walked out of the Diner’s main exit, Aden stopped when someone called out his name. Looking around, his eyebrows knitted together to see Mattie sitting on one of the benches by herself, books strewn all over, waving him over.

“You called?”

“I have something that you might want.” She said cryptically as Aden leaned against the table, an eyebrow raised.

“And what could that be?” Carefully, Mattie lifted her milkshake off the book she had been resting it on, allowing the tissue below it to fly off onto her work. Aden picked it up, tucking it under a corner of another book before it ruined her revision notes. “Thanks.” She said awkwardly. “Here.”

Aden took the paper in confusion, unfolding it a couple of times before realization hit him as he read it.

“Where did you get this from?” He asked her gruffly, folding it back up and shoving it into his pocket.

“I found it in Belle’s car.” Mattie said in a neutral voice. “You should be more careful. She could have found it.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Aden replied in a way to put an end to the conversation, but Mattie just carried on.

“Is that real?”

“No, Mattie. I just decided to write things like this up for the fun of it.”

“Alright, alright. It was just a question.” She retorted. “Why are you getting so defensive for? I won’t tell her.”

“Good.” He sighed when he realised just how rude he was being. “And thanks. For giving me this and not telling her.”

“No problem. How long do I have to keep it a secret for, though?” Mattie enquired as Aden took a seat opposite her.

“I dunno.” He shrugged gently, looking off into the distance, squinting in the sun as he remembered he had left his shades at home. “It’s her birthday in a month.”

“A month?!” Mattie exclaimed, eyes wide. At Aden’s questioning look, she took a breath. “Ok, I can do that.”

“No hints or anything, ok?” Aden laughed at her look of horror.

“She’s my best mate, Aden.”

“And she’s my girlfriend.”

“Alright, I’ll try my best.” Mattie nodded determinedly as she smiled. “So is it all… sorted?”

“No where close.”

“Can I help?” Her tone was so eager that Aden couldn’t help but just shake his head.

“Uh… I’ll get back to you on that one.”

---

Hope you enjoyed it. Speculate away about the ending...

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

argh! I hope that "Another month" is like, in your fic timeline and not in the real world timeline! I can't wait that long to find out!

It'll probs be a month fic-time. About 2 weeks real time

you are amazing thanks

You're welcome and thanks!

I wanna know!!!! You have to tell us! I'm already in too much suspense about tomorrow!!! PLeeeeeease!!!!

Until then i have work to be doing, 9.00 start tomorrow!

Where would be the fun in just telling you?!

Aw! I'm so glad I've got the day off. It's like fate or something...

sometimes i forget which is the really story and which is your fan fic!

Lol, if only I could write for H&A! I would make Adelle be in it EVERY- FREAKING -DAY!

Ok, so this chapter was meant for tomorrow, which is why it's so fluffy and sickeningly sweet. But here it is!

Enjoy!

Chapter 39:

Hitting the pause button, Aden jumped up from the couch to answer the door. After Nicole had arrived home an hour ago, which in turn was an hour or so later than she should have gotten home, the front door had been locked, as per requested by Roman, and she was restricted to her room to study.

“Hey.” Belle greeted him with a kiss to the cheek as he let her in. “I can’t remember the last time the door was locked. I’m guessing you did as Roman said then.” She laughed, as Aden relocked the door.

“Yup. I wasn’t going to argue with him in that mood.”

“Tell me about it. He was even scaring me. I’d hate to be Nicole when he gets home.” Belle jested when she finally took in the scene in front of her. “Aren’t you supposed to be studying?”

“I am.” Aden said defensively.

“Really?” Her tone was heavy with sarcasm as she perched on the arm rest of the couch he had been sitting on. “I never knew they had exams on how to play on the Xbox.”

“Yeah, well…” He laughed guiltily at her smirk, not being able to come up with a reasonable excuse. “I’m just taking a break.”

“Another one?”

“I can’t work all day, you know?” Aden informed her before heading into the kitchen to get away from her teasing. “You want something to drink?”

“No, I’m good.” She called out, dropping her bag on the side before picking up the controller for the games console. Pressing the ‘start’ button, she un-paused it and, lazily with just one hand, attempted to play. Unfortunately, this was the first time she had ever seen this game. Belle let out a little snigger as her, or rather Aden’s, character died.

“What did you just do?” Aden’s voice came floating out of the kitchen. The noise from the TV had obviously alerted him.

“Nothing.” She replied in a sing-song voice, biting her bottom lip while sliding down onto the sofa.

“Did you just get me killed?” He asked as he re-entered the room, seeing her face as she held back a smile.

“Oops?” Aden rolled his eyes at her attempt to act innocent.

“You’re a disaster.” He told her, placing his glass onto the coffee table before making Belle shuffle forward so that he could sit behind her.

“It’s not my fault this game’s stupid.” Belle huffed, leaning against the back of the sofa on her right as she stretched her legs out in front of her.

“It’s not stupid.” Aden rebuked at her, taking the controller off her.

“Yeah, it is. It’s such an adolescent thing to do; sit at home and spend your days playing stupid games.”

“You’re only saying that because you suck at it.”

“No, I say it because it’s true. These games promote violence and all that anti-social behaviour crap.” Belle said in a judgmental tone.

“Or it helps get your anger out so you don’t go out on the streets looking for trouble.“ Aden countered. “But it’s ok, I know where you’re coming from.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry, you can’t be good at everything. Only I can be perfect.” His tone was so sincere that Belle had no response for it. “Here.” He pulled her up from where she slouched against the couch and wrapped his arms around her waist, controller still in his hands.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to teach you how to play.” Aden simply told her.

“What makes you think I want to learn?” Belle scoffed, looking at him as well as she could from their position.

“Because it’s an awesome game, and you shouldn’t diss something until you’ve tried it.” He replied matter-of-factly, eyes trained on the TV as he set up the game. “Now, stop arguing and let me teach you something.”

Belle sighed mockingly, enjoying their closeness as he moved nearer to her so he could rest his chin on her shoulder while he explained the point of the game and the buttons to her. She went along with it, knowing deep down that even though she would probably never play this game ever again, giving Aden the chance to teach her something possibly meant more to him than the fact that it was a game.

“…got it?”

“Yeah, sure.” Belle replied, taking the controller out of his hands and doing what he had just tried to teach her. So far, she had gotten the game started and was now going around finding someone to shoot. “This is boring.”

“You’re so impatient.” Aden huffed, removing his arms from her waist and leaning back against the couch, making her pull her legs up the side as she lost his support. “Do something, then!”

“Like what?” She asked, exasperatedly.

“I dunno. Anything.”

“I can’t remember all the stupid buttons.” Belle told him through gritted teeth as her character died. “Oh, great. Game over.”

“You’re useless, you know that?” He rolled his eyes behind her back as the game automatically restarted. “Ok, you see that little radar thing in the bottom, right-hand corner?”

“Yeah…” Belle quickly glanced at that while pressing every other button that she could, trying to work out what each one did.

“You see the red dots?” She nodded. “That’s who you’re trying to kill.”

“But I can’t see him.”

“That’s because you have to go find him.” Aden informed her slowly as she continued to just walk around in circles in the building. “Look, there.”

“Where?”

“To the right.” Belle did as he said, but not use to the joystick on the control, she didn’t have much skill on how to do it properly. “You just got me killed!”

“That’s cos you didn’t do as I said!”

“You said go to the right-”

“Then why did you go to the left?” He snapped back and Belle let a little bubble of giggle erupt. It was quite funny just how much they were arguing because of a compute game.

“Alright,” she said cheerfully, “let’s try again.”

Belle restarted the game, following whatever instructions that Aden gave her as well as she could. After about 20 minutes, she realised that he had stopped telling her what to do. It didn’t take a lot of thinking to know why he had stopped. Even as she tried to do as he said, Belle was failing miserably, not to mention that if she thought something different to what he as pointing out to her, she would just go along with it. Either way, it ended with her dying.

“This… is… pathetic!” She exclaimed as the screen returned back to the main menu. “What kind of game is this anyway?”

“It’s one of the best selling games out there.” Aden told her before groaning and getting up. “Let’s make this easier for you.”

“How?” Belle asked, watching him as he picked up another controller from next to the TV and sitting back down behind her. “Is this all we’re going to do all evening?”

“Nah, I’m sure we can find something else to do later.” His eyes were transfixed onto the TV even as he smirked his ‘bad boy’ smirk. “Alright, come on. Me against you.”

Twisting back to look at the TV, Belle crossed her legs so that she could sit up straight to give the game more attention than the boy behind her. She couldn’t help but notice just how carefree and playful he was acting right then, and she had no reason why not to keep it going, even if it meant humiliating herself with her poor gaming skills.

An hour later, after many pokes, tickles and gibing from Aden, and slaps, pinches and just plain full on cheating from Belle, they had both gotten into the game, becoming competitive as they could be, although she hadn’t won one game yet, or killed him once.

“Hey!” Belle suddenly moaned. “What just happened?”

“You killed yourself.” Aden laughed. “Gotta admit, I thought you were improving before you pulled that stunt.”

“Shut up.” She murmured, promptly carrying on with the game. “Stupid game. How did that happen, anyway?”

“You trapped yourself in a corner and threw a grenade. Not so clever.”

“I have grenades?” Belle questioned in perplexity. Even after almost 2 hours of playing the game, she hadn’t gotten the hang of it. The only thing that she knew was that she was aiming to kill Aden’s character and how to pick up weapons and which button to press to use them.

“Useless.” Aden sighed, dramatically loudly before pausing the game and wrapping his arms around her waist once again, peering over her shoulder so that he could show her exactly what he was talking about. “Alright, see this button?” He pressed the trigger at the top of the controller as he restarted the game.

“Yeah.” Belle answered, shifting slightly to make herself more comfortable in his embrace.

“There, see?” He asked when his character threw a grenade.

“Oh… Uh, no.” The little naughty smile on her face told him that she was just playing him.

“Liar.” Aden whispered as he gently nipped at her ear, making her jump.

“Aden!” She squealed “If you’re trying to distract me, it’s not working.”

“Oh, really?” He laughed mischievously, pressing a kiss to her neck and her shoulder as she giggled, trying to shake him off while continuing to play. Aden couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he looked at her, concentration forced onto the TV, even though he knew that she was only bothering with it for his benefit.

A pang of elation swept through him as he realised this. That she were there. With him. Not complaining that he had made her sit there for about 2 hours now just playing like ’adolescents’, like she had said before. But instead sitting with a subtle smile as she bit her bottom lip, looking like an innocent child trying their best at something new.

“Yay!” Belle let out a little shout of joy, snapping Aden out of his musings. “I just won!”

“You didn’t win.” He replied, swallowing his emotions before she got suspicious. “It’s best of 10, and you’ve only got 1, whereas I have 5.”

“Stupid game.” She muttered once again, slumping back against Aden as he moved away slightly. “I give up. It’s useless.”

“Ok, ok.” He chuckled, taking the controller that she handed him. “I guess that’s enough for one day.”

“’For one day’?” Belle laughed wryly. “I’m never playing this game again!”

Aden shook his head in amusement as he switched the games console off, leaving the two controllers onto the side before placing his arms around her shoulders as she leaned on him. They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying each others company.

“Aden?” Belle spoke, tapping him on the arm.

“Hm…?”

“Change the channel.” She instructed, knowing that they both were not interested in the least in the news channel.

“Uh…“ Aden looked around for the remote control, before spying it on the arm rest of the other couch by the door. “Remote’s over there.” He groaned, resting his chin on top of her head.

“Then go get it.” Belle said sweetly.

“No, I’m too comfy here. You go get it.”

“I asked you first.”

“You didn’t ask; you commanded.” Aden scoffed.

“And as your commander, you should do as I say.” Belle giggled, knowing that her teasing was just plain stupid.

“You don’t own me.”

“Fine. We’ll just sit here watching the news.” She told him. “Lazy.”

“Look who’s speaking.”

They fell into another bout of silence after Aden’s last comment. This one lasted for several minutes, both of them watching the TV, stuck with the news. After 15 minutes, many of the headlines were repeated and Belle sighed in despair.

“This is depressing.” She claimed.

“I know.”

“We should seriously move.”

“I know.” Aden repeated, having no desire to do so, however. With Belle in his arms, her pressed up to him so tightly that not even light could pass through, he couldn’t think of anything better.

“What time is it?”

“Uh…” He removed his left arm from around her shoulder, holding it out for her read.

“Huh! Half 8 already. Shouldn’t you get studying?” Belle asked him pointedly, tilting her head to the side to look back at him.

“Maybe.” Aden admitted. “But it’s late, and I’m hungry. Let’s go have dinner first, yeah?”

“You won’t get up for the remote, but you get up for food?” Belle said incredulously.

“Always.” He grinned at her unwound his arms from her shoulders as she shimmied down the couch, allowing him to stand up. He turned to face her, who hadn’t made one move to get up. “Up!” He commanded like she had done before, rolling his eyes when she held out her hands for him to pull her up.

Using more force than necessary, Aden had to catch her as she came tumbling at him, grabbing her by the waist. As Belle got her bearings, he pushed the hair away from her face, gently stroking her cheeks with is thumbs as she looked up at him. Carefully, he leaned down, brushing his lips against hers before she tightened her hold on his waist and deepened the kiss. It remained slow, but just as loving and passionate as always, breaking apart only when they were interrupted.

“Geez, people! Do you two have no sense of privacy?” Nicole remarked as she stepped down the stairs causally. “Have you never heard of the phrase ‘get a room’?”

“Well, we had one before you came in.” Aden quipped, looking over his shoulder at her as Belle rested her head against his chest for a minute just to get her brain working again while his arms instinctively wrapped themselves around her. She didn’t know how he could speak, let alone make a witty remark, after a kiss like that.

“You’re in the living room. Doesn’t count as somewhere private.” Nicole huffed, walking past them and into the kitchen.

“You’re just jealous.”

“Am not!” She called from the kitchen. “Why would I be jealous for? What did you think I was doing today after school?”

“Ok, let’s not go there. Please?” Belle interjected, pushing away from Aden. “There are some things about your relationship that I don’t need to know.”

The other two simply laughed, dissolving any tension that could have arisen from that conversation as Aden guided Belle into the kitchen by her hand.

“What’s for dinner?” Nicole asked, going through the fridge.

“Whatever you want.” Aden told her. “Is there anything in there?”

“Nope.” She shut the door and twirled around, eyes landing on the phone next to where Belle leaned against the counter. “Oooh, let’s order pizza.” Nicole said with too much enthusiasm, taking the phone off it’s stand and going into the living room.

“She’s way too excited about pizza.”

“Hmm…” Belle replied, distractedly, just looking at him.

“What?” She bit her bottom lip innocently, holding out a hand for him to take again. This time, he approached her slowly, smiling knowingly at just what was going through her head. As Belle pulled him closer by his T-shirt, Aden could see the desire in her eyes, which fluttered close the moment his lips pressed against hers again.

The interruption this time which made them pull apart was the front door slamming shut and hearing Charlie ask Nicole if Aden was in. Both sighing in frustration, he mouthed ‘later’ to her, making her laugh, just as Charlie entered the kitchen.

“Hey.” She greeted them awkwardly. They knew it wasn’t because of what they had just been doing, because they were know a viable distance apart so not to look intimate, and because Charlie had walked in on them making out plenty of times before.

“Hey.” Aden replied, looking at her in suspicion. “What’s up?”

“Uh… just something off the record?” Charlie started, making sure that they both understood what she was trying to say.

“Sure.” He said, sharing a weird look with Belle.

“I thought you’d might like to know that your dad’s being transferred to the hospital tomorrow for-”

“Why? Is he ok?” Aden cut her off, hurriedly. Belle placed a hand on his arm to calm him down. She realised that, just as much as he had been saying that he didn’t care about his father anymore and how it‘s all in the past, it wasn’t true.

“He’s fine.” She reassured him. “They just want to do some final check ups. He’s almost back to perfect health.”

“Alright.” Aden had lost his eagerness now, retreating back to the cold tone he usually used when it came to his dad.

“Ok. Like I said, off the record, yeah?”

“I understand.” He said while Belle nodded when Charlie gave her a look before she walked out again. They heard her footsteps on the stairs, and the mute button on the TV being released. There was no surprise there.

“Aden?” Belle asked carefully, rubbing his arm soothingly. He let go of a breath that he had held before turning to face her, raising an eyebrow in question. She could see that he was still processing it all. They both knew why Charlie had told them that, but after what happened the last time she tried to push him to go see Larry, Belle decided to leave it for a bit first. “Never mind.”

---

Before you all complain, just remembre that after 3 chapters or so of fluff, I had to put some drama into it again! It's no good otherwise!

I didn't say it, but in case anyone's interested, the game that they're playing is Halo 3 [which is actually an awesome game if you're as bad as me!]

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Seeing as I'm still so excited about the whole Adelle thing... here's an update! Sorry it's not as fluffly as the previous chapter!

Chapter 40:

“… like she’s so innocent. You know she only ran for the council so that she could get close to Geoff.” Nicole blabbered on with her one-sided conversation, not noticing the uninterested look on Aden’s face as they sat in the Diner the next evening.

“Of course.” He supplied when she took a breather, not looking up from his books.

“And look at her! It’s been half a year already! You’d think she would get the message. But, no. She’s practically on his lap.” Nicole spat, ripping up another tissue, making Aden pull his notes to a side just in case she started on that.

“Mel’s had a rough time. Just leave her alone a bit.”

“Huh! Whatever.” Nicole crossed her arms, not tearing her eyes off the two of them. From where they were sitting and where the other two were, she could spy on them with no problem.

“Here’s an idea.” Aden said sarcastically. “Why don’t you just go over there and talk to him? He is your boyfriend.”

“I can’t. Cos then I’d be intruding.” Her voice pitched higher than usual at the last word, making Aden laugh. “Not to mention that I’m not allowed to ‘socialise’ because I’m grounded.”

“But you’re sitting in the diner.” He said, confused.

“Hey, don’t ask me how it works. Roman’s rules.” She put her hands up in the air in a defensive manner.

“Look, aren’t they doing school council stuff?” He tried.

“Yeah. So?”

“That’s not socialising; it’s working.” Aden pointed out as Nicole finally looked at him, even if it was for just throwing him a dirty look.

“Like Dad would fall for that!” She huffed. “God, Aden! You’re pathetic at this stuff!”

“What stuff?” He asked her, exasperated, giving up on his study for the moment.

“Making me feel better! Giving me excuses that would work! I thought you’d be good at this, seeing as you and Belle used to sneak around all the time. Seriously!” Nicole explained, getting more and more agitated with each word. “Not to mention you’re a guy!”

“Well observed, Princess.”

“What I meant,” She said pointedly. “Was that you should know what I should do! Tell me, if Belle was me and you were Geoff, what would you want her to do?”

“Are you seriously asking me this?”

“Yes! Now answer!”

“Fine. Well, firstly, I’m nothing like Geoff and Belle’s certainly nothing like you.” Aden stated before carrying on. “But, hypothetically… That means-”

“I know what ‘hypothetically means‘, you jerk!” She snapped as Aden chuckled, loving how easy it was to tease her at times.

“Alright, alright. Hypothetically, we would probably, even then, never be in that situation, so there is no answer to that question.” He laughed as she just blinked at him, then frowning.

“You know what?” Nicole retorted. “Listening to you is just a waste of my precious life!”

“Hey! I resent that!” He was still laughing at her outburst, loving her change of moods. “Ok, you really want to know?”

“Yes!” She said in a clipped tone, slumping back against her chair.

“I think you should just tell him that you’re jealous that he’s spending too much time with Melody.”

“I’m not jealous. Just… wary.” Nicole told him in a tone that anyone else would not have argued with. But Aden wasn’t just ‘anyone’.

“Wait, hold on…” He reached out a hand, pushing her fringe out of her eyes, staring hard into her eyes as she wondered what he was doing. “Yup, there’s the green eyed monster.”

“Get lost!” She growled, batting his hand away. “Nicole Franklin doesn’t get jealous.”

“Then why do you hate Melody so much?”

“Because she’s trying to steal my boyfriend!”

“And you’re jealous because you think she’s winning! See?”

“You’re supposed to be making me feel better.” Nicole hissed. “And I’m not jealous! He knows they’re just friends. Geoff wouldn’t cheat.”

“But she might try something on.” Aden pointed out to her, mentally telling himself off for saying something like that about Melody, who was sort of like a friend to him.

“Who’s side are you on, Aden?”

“I’m just showing you the outsider’s point of view.” He defended himself, turning back to his book with a smirk.

“So I should talk to him? That’s what you would want Belle to do?” Nicole asked him, almost fearfully, as soon as he had returned to studying.

“Yes.”

“And then what?” She leaned in, resting her arms on the table as Aden glanced up at her, sighing.

“I dunno. I’ve never had that conversation before.” He shrugged.

“She’s never been jealous?”

“Nope. But then again, I don’t really hang around with my exes, now do I?” Aden laughed as Nicole pursed her lips. “Except for you, that is.”

“Uh, when did we ever go out?” She asked him in disgust.

“Maybe not go out, but you wanted me so badly when you first got here. Damn, you were ready to jump my bones at any second!” Aden chortled at the memory and the flushed looked on her face. “Aw, don’t get embarrassed. It’s ok. I know I’m irresistible.”

“Please.” She scoffed. “You were just some eye candy before I found the real stuff.”

“Ok, gross.” Aden stated, flipping a page in his book, trying to get focused once again.

“Right, so-”

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” She asked, tiredly.

“Every time I get back to studying, you start talking about something new, or ask me questions.”

“Sheesh, sorry for trying to keep you company. You shouldn‘t have came to the Diner if you wanted to study so badly.”

“Nicole,” Aden said slowly. “You begged me to bring you here. Remember? And I can leave at any time. But that would either leave you here alone, or Roman would force you to work. And seeing as I’m a nice person, I’m not going to do that.”

“You’re in a bad mood.” Nicole commented, paying no attention to everything that he had just said. “Is it because you and Belle are ignoring each other?”

“We aren’t ignoring each other.” His tone showed boredom, although Nicole knew it was all an act.

“Yeah? Then how come you’ve only exchanged about 5 words in the past hour that we’ve been here?” She questioned, looking over to where Belle was tending the till with a couple of customers hanging around nearby.

“Because she’s working.”

“Oh, so that’s how you want to play it?” Nicole sniggered almost evilly. “Ok then.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Aden snapped, eyebrows scrunching together.

“Come on. We both know that this is about your father and-”

“Leave it, Nic.” He told her, warningly.

“I’m just saying… To be honest, I think she has a point. And it‘s only at the hospital.” She tried to reason even if she knew that if Belle couldn’t get him to budge on this, there was no way she would be able to either.

Aden just shook his head, returning to his studies. This time, Nicole stayed quiet, knowing that he wasn’t in the mood to mess around anymore. Sighing, she debated on what to do. Glancing over at Geoff’s table, she scowled when she saw Melody saying something that made him laugh. Suddenly she stood up, making Aden’s head snap up too, not that she noticed. Walking in the direction of their table, Nicole saw Geoff smile at her when he saw her, her scowl now gone and a fake smile plastered on her face.

“Nicole.” Roman’s voice rang out and she froze. Closing her eyes, she spun on her heel to face him, the smile still shining bright.

“Yes, Dad?”

“You know the rules.” He said with an underlying meaning from his place by the fridge.

“But Aden’s being an idiot!” She whined.

“Doesn’t stop you from being grounded.” Roman informed her, lips twitching at her words. “You can help out in here.”

“But-”

“Either in here or go sit with Aden.” He offered her a choice, but the look on her face told him that it didn’t change anything.

“I don’t know why Aden’s my stupid keeper all of a sudden. It’s not like he hasn’t done crazy things in the past.” Nicole muttered the last line as she entered the kitchen, leaning against the counter. As mad as she was with her father, and even at Aden for snapping at her, she wouldn’t rat him out about the drinking.

“Because you obviously need someone to watch you and stop you from breaking your grounding rules.”

“And Aden was your first choice?” She asked him in disbelief. “Are you completely insane?”

Belle held back a laugh as she passed Nicole on her way out of the kitchen, finished for that day. When she made it past the front counter, she paused, fighting with herself. Finally, she gave in to her wishes and headed to where Aden sat, reading.

“Hey.” She greeted him, taking a seat opposite him where Nicole had been previously sitting.

“Hey.” Aden replied, looking up at her for a brief second before writing something down with a pencil that he then stuck in his mouth out of habit.

“Don’t.” She automatically reached out, pulling it out of his mouth. “It’s bad for you.”

“Uh-huh.” He simply said, a subtle smile on his face as she spoke. “Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

“Done for the night.”

“Right.” Aden took the pencil out of her hand before writing something else down.

“How’s the studying going?” Belle asked him attentively.

“It’s alright.” Aden shrugged. “Loads of distractions but getting Nicole off my back helps.”

“You can always head home. I think Roman’s making her work until closing now.” She knew that by ‘distractions’ he didn’t just mean Nicole, but she didn’t want to get into an argument right then.

“Yeah, I might just do that.” He gathered his papers and shut his book, shoving them into his bag carelessly. “You going back to yours?”

“Uh…” Glancing over to where Geoff and Melody sat, she made up her mind, knowing that he could, and probably would, stay longer and make his own way home. It was barely after 9, anyway. “Yeah.”

“Cool. I’ll drop you off.” He stood up just as she did, letting her walk out in front of him as Roman acknowledged them leaving with a slight nod.

The cool breeze from the sea hit Belle the second she stepped out. Not pausing, she continued to walk along the pier, towards the path that led them to the beach house. She could feel Aden walking a step behind her, a hand protectively placed on her lower back. Apart from there, they had no contact, and it remained that way as they walked in silence.

Belle pulled on the long sleeves of her top to get them to cover her hands. She wasn’t cold, but the distance between the two of them made her uneasy, especially at night. Summer Bay wasn‘t a scary place to walk around, but the tension between her and Aden, not having his arm around her, made her lose her sense of security.

Slowing down a bit, Belle waited until he fell in step with her, ignoring everything that her mind was screaming at her about how she didn’t need a guy to feel safe, before carefully slipping an arm around Aden’s waist. She could feel him hesitate for a moment until instinct overruled him, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

“Are we just going to walk in silence?” Belle finally spoke, half way on their route to home. Aden hadn’t looked at her once, and she knew it was more because he was thinking things through rather than not wanting to speak.

“Depends what you want to talk about.” He replied tonelessly, indicating just what he was getting at.

“I’m sorry for leaving early this morning.” She whispered, looking up at him. “I just thought that I’d leave you to think on your own and that if you did decide to go see your father…” Belle trailed off, knowing that this was exactly what he didn’t want to talk about.

“I thought about it all night, and no, my answer hasn’t changed.” He told her, words clipped. Sighing, Belle nodded. She knew that he had thought about it all night; either awake or in his broken dreams. When she had woken up, at around 9, she had waited for a while to see if Aden was getting up soon. After 20 minutes, Belle had climbed out of his bed, pressing a kiss to his forehead before getting ready for the day and hurrying out of the house as quick as she could without causing any suspicion. “And I would have told you if I was going to go see him.”

Although she knew that he didn’t intentionally mean it, they both heard the accusation in that last line about her going to see his father. She was aware of him squeezing her shoulder in a silent apology, his body loosening up from it’s rigid, defensive posture as they walked up to the beach house.

They approached the kitchen door slowly, the lights shining through the window guiding them. When they finally got there, Belle stopped, turning to face him with a soft smile.

“This is as far as you go tonight.” She informed him coyly, watching him frown at her.

“Why?”

“Because you’ve got to study.” Belle meant what she was saying, but she knew, deep down, that she half lied.

“I can study here.” He replied earnestly, making her laugh.

“You know that you won’t study here.”

“I’ve been working all day. Even if I go home, I doubt I’m going to go back to the books.” Aden pointed out, using a hand to push her hair back repeatedly.

“I know. But at least this way you won’t have me distracting you.” Belle heard him sigh in defeat, glad that he was accepting her pathetic excuses and reasons.

“You sure that’s it?” Aden asked her carefully, searching her eyes for a hint of a lie.

“What else would there be?” Her tone was so genuinely innocent that he had no reason but to accept it.

“Ok. I just don’t want you to think that I’m pushing you away. Because I’m not.” He added hurriedly at the end. Belle leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips.

“I know. You just need to think right now. And study.” She said in a calming voice, before smirking. “And I need to sleep.”

“You slept all last night.” He told her in disbelief, arms dropping to her waist to pull her to him.

“Yeah, but you can’t get enough sleep.” Belle laughed, accepting his kiss as he dipped his head to meet her lips. They stood like that for a couple of minutes, his hands moving up to her face and hair, caressing her so gently that she almost gave in to him and dragged him inside. It was only as her own hands curled up tightly on his chest that she snapped back to reality, gasping in slight pain as they parted. Thankfully, either Aden didn’t hear her, or he thought there was another reason for her gasp.

“Still not going to let me in?” He murmured, twisting her hair around a finger.

“Nope. Sorry.” At her reply, Aden pressed his lips against hers once again, hands holding onto her hips, but she backed off just as he was about to deepen it. “Not going to work.”

“Damn.” He breathed.

“Alright, let go.” Belle lightly slapped his hands as he reluctantly released her, a pout forming on his face. She rolled her eyes, giggling. “Look, come around tomorrow, and we’ll do lunch.”

“’We’ll do lunch‘?” Aden repeated teasingly.

“Yes, we’ll do lunch.”

“Ok, then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yup.”

“For lunch.”

“For lunch.” Belle confirmed as he gave her his smile, making her bite on her bottom lip before she said anything else to make him stay.

“Right, well I’ll just go then.”

“Yeah.” She sighed, watching him still smile as he made no move to leave. “Go!” Aden laughed at her tone, almost pleading with him to leave. Dropping one final kiss on her lips, he did as she said, still chuckling, knowing just how close he had gotten her to let him stay.

If only she was a pushover.

---

With her camera bag slung over her shoulder, Belle laughed at the text that Mattie had just sent to her, complaining about her nails. She paused in her typing up a reply when she got to the back kitchen door of the beach house, ready to dig into her bag for the key. However, once she was close enough, she was surprised to see that it was open.

Sure that she had locked the door when she had left, Belle could only conclude that either Geoff or Annie had been home since then. She knew that they weren’t currently there after seeing them on the beach on the glorious Saturday afternoon just minutes before.

Pushing on the door, she walked through the kitchen and right over to the dining table, where she momentarily dumped her camera and bag so that she could finish off her reply to Mattie. She had just pressed the ‘send’ button when a sound from her bedroom caught her attention.

Going back to the main menu on her phone, Belle saw that the time was 12:03pm. Shaking her head, she shoved it into her pocket before heading towards her room.

“You know, it’s a bit early for lunch, Aden.” She joked, pushing her door open. Stepping inside, her smile died when she didn’t immediately see anyone. “Aden?”

Automatically peering at the window, which was still shut, Belle jumped when the door behind her slammed shut. Twirling around on impulse, she took a staggering step back to distance herself from the person in front of her as shock overcame her. She couldn’t think clearly. Her mind was telling her one thing, but her body was doing another. Finally, she found the ability to speak.

“What are you doing here?”

---

Hmm... who could that be?

Hope you enjoyed it.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

This chapter just ran away with me. I've been working on it all day, rewrote parts of it twice and editted many times. I dunno if it's as good as I wanted it to be, but I wasn't going to make it any better. So here it is.

Enjoy!

Chapter 41:

’When are you coming over? Could you come now?’

Aden frowned at Belle’s text that he had just received. They were simple words; just two questions, but something about them was off. He didn’t know how he knew, he just did. There was no greeting, no smiley faces and no ‘love you’ or ‘x’ at the end like she could normally put in when asking him a favour.

No, instead this text was forthright, just like something he would send. It gave him an unsettled feeling as he pressed the call button, listening to it ring and ring before it went to her voicemail. Sighing, Aden returned to her text once again before replying, telling her he was leaving right then and if everything was ok.

’All good. I’ll be here.’ was the reply that he got just as he had slipped on his shoes. It was so short and plain that it didn’t help his nervousness. Bounding down the stairs, he ignored Nicole’s questions, walking straight out of the door, letting it slam behind him with only Belle on his mind.

---

Belle sat on her bed, eyes transfixed on the figure that lurked by her door. He was leaning against it, keeping her only way out blocked indefinitely. She had thought about the window, but that was more effort than it was worth, although she began to wonder if she should start trying to plan an escape.

They hadn’t spoken much. Anything Belle asked was either ignored or brushed aside. The only thing that she had found out was that he wanted to see Aden, and that he had wanted her phone. Now, as it rang in his hand, Belle bit back a sniding remark about how suspicious it was that she wasn’t answering her phone.

Instead, she tightened her hold onto the cloth that she had wrapped around her right arm. When she hadn’t been willing to give up her phone, he had grabbed her by the wrist, twisting her arm, making her drop it. Unfortunately, he had caught her bracelet in his grip, dragging it against her skin along her forearm as he threw her backwards towards the bed, leaving a gaping wound that didn’t seem to want to stop bleeding.

“Aden will call the cops if he thinks there’s something wrong.” Belle finally spoke after a 5 minute silence. She needed something to get her mind off the pain and being trapped in her room, almost held hostage like Dom had done to her. “You can’t keep me here, Larry.”

“I just want to talk to him.”

“He won’t want to talk to you like this.” She replied, glad that he was talking, finally. They had been stuck in there for 20 minutes now, and this was the first time she had calmed herself down enough to perhaps have a conversation with him, in hope to distract him so she could make her move.

“I’ve done so much to get him to come talk to me. This is the last chance.” He sounded like a broken man, but Belle pushed her sympathy for him to a side, remembering everything else she knew about him.

“Do you really think he’ll want to talk now?” The house phone began to ring, and they both knew that it was most probably Aden. Belle watched Larry as he held his breath until the phone stopped ringing, slumping against the door in relief that there was no-one else home.

“I just want him to understand.”

“After everything that’s happened, can you honestly believe that he will understand anything now?”

“Maybe.”

“He has changed so much since you went to jail, Larry. He’s rebuilt his life for the better.” Belle informed him. “If you really love him, then you would just leave it alone and let him continue with his own life.”

“He has to know, Belle! What I told you… I need to tell him!” He was anxious now, the reality of what he was doing finally hitting him, Belle realised.

“I told him, and it didn’t change a thing,” She explained. “He wants you out of his life. I’ve tried to make him go see you, but he wouldn’t budge on his decision.” Larry’s face contorted in hurt and slight anger, making Belle sit up straighter in a manner of defence, even from the distance.

“I can try.” He whispered before gaining some unknown strength. “You don’t understand, Belle. Look, I’m sorry to get you caught up in all this, but it’s the only way that I knew that he would listen to me. You mean too much to my son.” Larry took a breath before adding in a lower voice. “Anyway, none of this would have happened if you had kept quiet in the first place.”

“Excuse me?” She replied incredulously. How could he be blaming all of this on her?!

“If you hadn’t told him about my drinking when you had come around that-”

“You really think this all started from then?” Belle retorted.

“Aden would never have moved out if you hadn’t told him.” He informed her.

“It wouldn’t have been long before he found out himself! You put yourself into that mess. You knew exactly what your drinking had done to him!” She yelled at him, letting out everything that she could about her frustration of being stuck there. “You would have been out of his life either way. It’s just a shame that it took someone else’s life for you to realise how much you had hurt him. Destroyed him.”

Larry didn’t respond to that. He stood in silence, looking off into the distance. She knew that he was seeing Aden’s hurt face when he had confessed about his secret that day in the old house. There were plenty of pictures of her and Aden around her room; there was no escaping from him for Larry in there.

The silence helped Belle get a grip of herself. Her automatic reflex to defend Aden had overcame her fear of ticking Larry off. He may not be a murderer of sorts, but he was in jail for a reason, and that unnerved her.

“How did you get out?” She asked him the one question that had been playing around in her mind ever since she first saw him. “The police said that you were being admitted into the hospital yesterday.”

“I was.” Larry said gruffly. “I was supposed to be going back today.”

“So how did you get out? There must have been security around.” Belle was genuinely interested. This man had tried to take his life around 2 weeks ago, and now he had escaped from hospital under police escort, and he didn’t seem to be out of it at all. In fact, Larry looked better than she had ever seen him, Belle realised. And he had gotten his strength back, being able to stop her from running back out the door the first time she saw him, and twist her arm.

“They can’t keep an eye on me all the time.” He told her. “There was a little commotion down the hall, so I took my chance.”

“But surely one of the nurses or the doctors would have seen you.”

“I got lucky.” Larry’s answer, she noticed, was a way to end that conversation. When she thought about it, the fact that Larry was dressed up in normal clothes, Belle started to wonder whether that ‘commotion’ was as lucky as he said it was.

“What if Aden doesn’t come?”

“He will.”

---

Aden growled in annoyance as he got to Belle’s voicemail once again. He had rang the house phone, but no-one had picked up. He wanted to call someone, but he didn’t know who. Calling the police would be a mistake. He had no proof. Nothing except for a sinking feeling inside of him.

Glancing at his phone as he turned the corner that led to the walkway for the beach house, Aden was surprised to see 3 missed calls from Charlie. Knowing that she was working that day, he’s sinking feeling churned, turning into fear, redialling Charlie’s number to find out what was so important.

”Aden.” She almost sighed in relief, and he could hear another male’s voice, probably Angelo he figured, ask her questions in the background. ”Where are you?”

“I’m heading to Belle’s. Why?” Her agitation didn’t help him.

”I‘ve been trying to get in contact with you for the past 10 minutes. We need to talk to you.”

“What’s it about?” He stopped walking for a second, confusion seeping into his voice, diluting his fear.

”I‘d rather tell you face to face.” Charlie replied. ”Listen, go to Belle‘s and stay there. We‘ll be there in about 10.”

“What’s going on?” Aden asked her worriedly.

”It‘s about your father. Just… be careful, ok Aden?”

“My father…? Charlie-”

”Aden, please. You know that I can‘t tell you over the phone.” Aden wondered whether that was because of their close, personal relationship, or because of the rules. He was fairly certain it was the previous, seeing as it had been Angelo who had came to talk to him about his father’s suicide attempt.

“Ok. Right outside her door. I’ll be here.”

”Good. I‘ll see you in 10.” Charlie repeated, hanging up. Aden brought his phone down as he walked up to the double doors that led into the living room. He hardly ever used these doors, preferring the kitchen door, or even just her window. Now, as he stepped through, the sinking feeling just overtook him. He just knew there was something wrong.

---

Belle looked around her room, seeing the mess for the first time. Her drawers were half open, the cupboard doors not shut properly, objects scattered all over. Taking it all in, she prayed that nothing was broken. That nothing that Aden had given her was damaged.

“What were you looking for?” She hadn’t asked how long he had been there, scared of provoking any kind of rage, but she asked this anyway. There was no logic in her thoughts right then. All she wanted was to get out.

“Nothing.” He snapped.

“Must have been something. You’ve tipped the place upside down.”

“Nothing.” Larry repeated, giving her a dark look. Belle returned the glare until he looked away. Sighing, she contemplated what to do. He wasn’t moving from the door anytime soon, and she didn’t want to force Aden to see or speak to his father if he didn’t want to.

Hissing in pain as she shifted slightly, Belle removed the cloth from her arm. She hadn’t realised that it was one of her scarves that was now dotted all over with blood. As she pulled the cloth away from her cut, the charms tinkled before falling into her lap. Her arm felt much better now without her bracelet stuck to it, but her heart tightened when she saw the blood on her most precious possession, knowing that it must have been broken if it just fell off her arm. Wrapping her arm up once again, she managed to put a knot on it to stop it from unravelling as she stood up.

“Where are you going? Sit down.” Larry commanded, but Belle ignored him, walking to her dresser and replacing her bracelet into the box that it came in. It was where it lived whenever she took it off, usually at night.

She could feel his eyes bore into her as she stood there, taking her time to make sure that every charm was in pristine condition, although with her shaking hands and adrenalin pumping through her body, she couldn’t see straight. Larry had instinctively moved slightly away from the door and to the side so that he could see her better, but still an obstacle in her way.

The sound of a door being shut caught both their attentions. Belle’s head shot up, knowing exactly who it was. Without even thinking, she snapped the bracelet box shut and rushed to her door only to be stopped be Larry, who grabbed her right arm, exactly on the injury, and spun her around, causing her to bang her head against the door.

---

Aden’s suspicions were confirmed when he heard a thud coming from Belle’s room. He had already spotted her bag and camera on the table, indicating that she was home. Walking straight to her door, he pushed on the handle, trying to open the door, only for it to jam. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time that door was locked when he was on this side of it.

“Belle?” Aden called out gently, trying to control himself from barging in there. When he got no response, he tried the handle again, only for it to be stopped once again. “Babe, you in there?”

“Aden!” He could hear pain in the word she gasped out, sending everything that he had been using to keep calm into chaos.

“Belle?” Aden said once again, taking a breath. “What’s wrong?” Not receiving a reply, he hit the door with his palm, the other hand still on the handle. He had sensed that it was Belle who was stopping him from getting in, so he couldn’t use too much force against her in risk of hurting her. “Open the door, Belle. Otherwise I’m coming in the other way.”

“No!” It was a frantic, single word that made everything seem so much more real for him. There was definitely something wrong.

“Belle-” Aden began before he hard the creaking of her door, indicating weight being lifted off of it. He felt the handle being turned under his hand as he took a step back, waiting for the door to open inwards so that he could enter.

“Aden.” He froze as he heard his name again. It wasn’t Belle who had said it, but rather someone else whose voice was just as familiar, though not anywhere close as comforting. As the door opened, he didn’t know why he wasn’t entirely surprised to see his father standing in his girlfriend’s room.

‘It‘s about your father. Just… be careful…’, Charlie had told him over the phone. The texts that he had gotten were so like the ones he would send, like his dad would send too. To the point and nothing else. Something inside of Aden was finally letting him think what he had been pushing out of his mind ever since hanging up on Charlie. Now that he saw Larry in the flesh, it all connected perfectly.

His eyes shifted over to where Belle stood, her petit frame hidden behind his fathers, a grip still on her hand. Aden could tell that she was trying to be strong; her steely eyes let nothing through until they met his, showing him her fear and pain, mixed with relief and worry. She gave him a single nod, letting him know that she was ok, even if he knew that it was just a front.

“What are you doing here?” Aden’s words replicated Belle’s, except his were cold whereas hers had been inquisitive.

“I need to talk to you.” Larry replied, still standing inside the threshold of Belle’s room.

“You escaped from jail for that?” He asked dryly. “Shouldn’t have bothered. I don’t want to hear anything. Now, let go of Belle.”

“Aden, listen-”

“No.” He interrupted him tonelessly, eyes fixed on Belles trying to pry herself out of his father’s grip. “Let her go.”

When Larry made no move to do as he said, but instead just opened his mouth to speak once more, Aden got fed up. He knew that Charlie should be there in about 5 minutes, and that it was just a matter of keeping him there until she came, but first he needed to get Belle away from him. Like Aden had said before, it was him who was supposed to protect her and help her, not put her in danger, just as his life had done again.

Pushing Larry out of his way, Aden tried to reach for Belle as she fought his hold on her, causing her more pain than good, especially as he tightened his hand around her arm, still standing in between Aden and her.

“Aden-” He began, pleading showing clearly in his tone. But Aden wasn’t listening. All he saw was Belle, her eyes on her arm, blinking rapidly to keep any tears of pain at bay, he guessed. Before he knew what he was doing, and before Larry could say another word, Aden’s fist had connected with his jaw, effectively stopping him from speaking and letting go of Belle as he stumbled backwards into the door.

He heard her gasp in surprise, not moving even though she now had the chance. Hurriedly, Aden stepped into the room, clasping her upper arm and pulling her to him easily as she came back to her senses.

“Aden.” Belle breathed as they stood just outside her room, her left hand clutching onto the back of his T-shirt as she held her right arm against her protectively.

“Are you ok?” He asked, looking deep into her eyes as he placed his hands on either side of her neck, thumbs stroking her cheeks. “Did he hurt you?”

“I’m ok.” She knew that he didn’t just mean it physically as it was clear for anyone to see that she was injured. “I-”

“Belle, I’m sorry.” Larry cut her off. His words were slightly thick and slurred, and as Aden brought her to stand behind him protectively, Belle could see the area shining red exactly where he had been hit.

“Don’t talk to her.” She heard Aden reply gruffly. It sounded in the distance to her. Now that she knew that she was safe, her mind was focused on other stuff. Such as calling the police. Letting go of Aden’s top, she patted her jeans to realise that Larry must still have her phone.

“I didn’t want to hurt her. We need to talk.” Larry was back to pleading now, his attention fixed on his son rather than Belle, who had stepped down from the step in front of her room.

“You held her against her will!” Aden growled. “And I don’t want to talk to you.” He glanced at the time on the clock that laid on Belle’s bedside table, seeing that Charlie had called approximately 7 minutes ago. He knew that the guess of getting there in 10 minutes was just that, a guess, but right then, he was swearing by it. He didn’t want to spend any more time than was necessary with this man.

“It was the only way I knew you would listen.”

“I don’t want to listen. Stay out of my life!” Their close proximity made Aden’s rage flare, using everything inside of him to stop himself from attacking his dad like he wanted to. He knew that moving away from Belle’s room would help too, but this way put a distance between her and Larry, and he would rather keep it like that. “How did you get out, anyway?”

Belle could hear Larry’s words, the same as what he had told her as she headed for the phone in the living room. Without the adrenalin pumping through her anymore, pain from all over her body came at her in full force. Her arm started to itch, and she could feel the blood seeping into the scarf wrapped around it. Her left foot was throbbing in pain from the amount of pressure she had put on it suddenly earlier when Larry had jerked her away from the door.

But the main thing that was taking over her system was her head. As Belle grabbed the cordless landline telephone, her head began to pound, a reminder of him stopping her for the second time. She could almost hear the rhythmic pulsing of the pain together with Aden’s wry laugh in the background. Pressing ’000’ with ease, she swallowed as her sight started to get watery. Taking a step towards the couch, her head punished her for moving.

She hadn’t dialled the number yet, she vaguely remembered as she took two more steps towards her destination before her legs gave in, sliding down the back of the sofa. The pain vibrating through her head was increasing in speed. Dropping the phone to her side, Belle used her uninjured hand to press against the affected area at the back of her head, urging herself to stop feeling the pain, even for a moment.

“You’re pathetic.” Aden said matter-of-factly to his father. “I told you I didn’t want to see you ever again.”

“I know after everything, you might never be able to forgive me-”

“There’s no ‘might’ about it.” Aden’s tone was emotionless and it cut like a knife right through Larry.

“Aden, mate, we’re family.” The begging was back in his words but Aden just shrugged it off, looking away in disinterest. Turning his thoughts to Belle, he began to wonder where she had gone. At first, he had thought that she was going to call the police, like he would have done, but he couldn’t hear her talking.

Moving back a step even as his dad continued to speak, Aden saw her on the floor, leaning against the back of the sofa, head tilted up, pain etched onto her face. Without thinking, he left his father standing mid-sentence, rushing over to Belle in an instant.

“Belle?” Aden questioned as he crouched down in front of her, watching as her eyes found his, hand dropping to downplay her pain. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Belle managed to say in between her steady breaths. It was helping with the pain, dying down with each breath she took.

“What’s wrong?” Aden asked her again, more forcefully, grabbing onto her left hand to make her look at him.

“I’m ok.” She tried to assure him, but the frown on his face told her that she was no where close in convincing anyone.

“What did you do to her?” He threw the question over his shoulder to Larry, who was now standing by the counter, looking scared and guilty. Not replying to his question, Aden sighed in annoyance, turning back to the girl in question. “How badly does it hurt?” He used his free hand to weave it into her hair, gently trying to find the source of her pain.

“Aden-” Belle finally spoke as he pulled his hand out of her hair.

“I know.” He whispered back, knowing that she had heard the car approaching the house.

“But I didn’t-” She didn’t get to finished her sentence. Just as they had, Larry had probably heard vehicle too.

Knowing that he had now lost the chance to ever make it up with Aden, there were only two options left for him; stay and go back to jail for a longer sentence, or run. Staying meant that there was a reason for wanting to spend probably the rest of his life in jail. It meant that there was hope of someone caring. But Larry knew that he had lost all 3 sons now.

Belle had stop halfway through her sentence when she heard the scuffling in the kitchen. For a moment, she had forgotten about how she had gotten into that position, and who the cause of it was. But now she remembered, seeing Larry making his way to the back door in a rush, hitting almost everything that he could.

Aden jumped up the moment he pieced together where his father was heading. He had made it to the kitchen table, fists curled, when Belle called him back. She had pushed herself up, leaning heavily against the couch now, looking at him with worry. He knew exactly what she was thinking. That he wouldn’t be able to handle his anger.

Torn between the two choices, he ran a hand through his hair, debating what to do. On the one hand, he didn’t want to leave Belle in the condition that she was in, but on the other hand, he couldn’t let his dad get away.

“Are you really ok?” Aden asked her quickly, holding her face gently between his hands. She nodded carefully. “I’ll be right back. I promise.” Belle didn’t seem convinced, about to say something else when they heard a car rev up. It didn’t take a genius to know what that meant.

“Go.” She told him, her voice hoarse from the various levels of pain she was feeling.

Aden didn’t need to be told twice, racing straight out of the back door to where he knew Belle’s car was parked. Well, had been parked. Just as he got to the spot, he could see it at the end of the road. Slowing down to a jog, pulled out his phone reaching the road when Charlie picked up.

”Aden-?”

“He took the car.” Aden said breathlessly.

”What? Who?”

“My dad!” He kicked at the ground in fury. “He’s got Belle’s car and he took the road to the city.”

”Ok. We‘re almost there-”

“No! Go after him!” Aden yelled down the phone.

”Angelo‘s calling it in. There‘ll be squad cars out there, on the road, in minutes.”

“Charlie-!”

”Aden, don‘t argue with me on this! I‘m doing my job, ok?” He didn’t bother to give her a reply, giving the ground another pointless kick. It didn’t do much to make him feel any better. ”Ok, I can see you. Be there in a second.”

Charlie hung up on him when he turned around to see the police car driving up the other side of the house. Sighing, he walked back, getting through the door just as Charlie and Angelo walked in through the front doors.

“What happened?” Belle questioned Aden immediately from where she stood next to the stools by the counter.

“He got away.” His growl of anger was matched by the cold look on his face, primarily aimed at the two police officers.

“We’ve got cars out there right now. He won’t get far.” Charlie reassured them before nodding at what Belle held in her left hand. “Keys?”

“Uh… yeah.” She replied, turning to face her. In her hand were her car keys with her house keys and many other key chains. She was just glad that they had been in her bag. “Larry must have found the spare for my car in my drawers. He said that he hadn’t been looking for anything but…”

“… he obviously was.” Aden finished off her sentence in a murmur.

“You spoke to him?” Angelo asked her in surprise as she nodded, slowly, not wanting the pain that had now calmed down to erupt.

“Yeah, he… uh, he must have broken in or something.” Belle began before retelling the events of the past 30 minutes to the three of them. Her eyes kept darting from one officer to the other, seeing Aden standing out of the corner of her eyes in a defensive position. She knew that he was in a world of his own, taking in everything she said, but probably making it worse in his mind.

“How bad is the arm?” Charlie pointed at her wrapped up forearm at the end of her recollection, wanting to focus on something else before taking Aden’s statement.

“It’s ok.” Belle shrugged. It seemed like it had stopped bleeding, but the cloth around it was covered in blood in that specific area that she wouldn’t have been able to tell.

“Your head.” Aden snapped out of his thoughts to look at her, unfolding his arms to soften his posture. “How’s that?”

“Better.”

“Head injuries can be bad.” Angelo supplied as Charlie nodded.

“Alright, here’s what we’ll do.” She took charge of the situation like she was trained to do. “I’ll take the two of you to the hospital, and I’ll get Aden’s statement there. Angelo,” she turned to face him, “Get Jack and Fitzy up to date with everything and then come to the hospital.”

“Got it.” He replied, already moving to the side to get in touch with the station.

“You two good to go?” Aden merely nodded but Belle hesitated.

“Do Irene and Roman know? I don’t want them getting worried if they find out from someone else.” She pointed out.

“We’ll call them from the hospital.” Charlie assured her. Belle nodded, not in the mood to fight with anything right then. “Ok.” She turned and walked towards the door, Belle following slowly until she reached the middle of the room, noticing that Aden hadn’t moved. Instead, his eyes were focused in the direction of her room, although she was sure that he didn’t see anything inside.

“Aden?” Her soft voice brought him back to the present, head snapping over to her, She held out her unhurt hand, Charlie at already at the opened door. Looking back at Belle, he pushed himself off the counter that he had slumped against, not able to deny her that little comfort that he might be able to give her right then.

Aden’s eyes skimmed past the DVD player by the TV as they walked out of the door, noticing the time. Even with everything that had happened that day, more to Belle than to him, he reminded himself, it wasn’t even past 1 in the afternoon.

---

I am never writing a chapter like that ever again! Sorry if it got boring.

As you can tell, Beate and Sam27# guessed right! Well done!

Hope you like it.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thanks for the comments guys! Loved each and every one of them!

This is more of a calmer chapter. Not much happening, just thought we all needed a breather.

Enjoy.

Chapter 42:

“There’s no bleeding or swelling. You sure there’s nothing else?“ Rachel asked Belle carefully as she sat on one of the hospital beds in a closed examining room, getting check over.

“Nothing more than I told you.“ Belle confirmed.

“Alright, then. It looks like a mild concussion. I’m going to have to keep you in overnight for that, just to be on the safe side, ok?” The doctor informed her, taking off her gloves to write something else down onto her notes, mainly for the police.

“If I have to.” She sighed. They had been at the hospital for over an hour now. Aden had been with Charlie and Angelo, giving them his statement, for the past 15 minutes now. He had been very reluctant to leave her there, and even though she had wanted him to stay, Belle had urged him to go for his own sake. The last thing she wanted for him to hear everything that Rachel said, so that when it came to it, she could tell him in her own words, watering it all down so he would feel less bad.

“Ok, lets take care of your arm now.” Rachel snapped her out of her thoughts as she pulled on another pair of gloves. Her arm had been stripped of the cloth she had wrapped around it first, her scarf going into the medical waste basket without a second thought. After making sure that there was nothing inside the wound, it had been wrapped up carefully, prioritising her head injury before it.

Now, Rachel unwound the bandages from around it, elevating the cotton dressing that had been placed on top of it to stop the bleeding, making Belle hiss in pain due to the loss of pressure.

“Sorry.” Rachel told her while peeling back the dressing, throwing it all in the bin. “It’s stopped bleeding, which is a good sign. I think it might just need a couple of stitches here,” she pointed to the nearest part of the cut, which did look like a deep cut even to Belle. “but other than that, it should be ok.”

“Are you going to do that now?” There was a bit of fear in her tone, and Rachel smiled gently at her.

“It won’t take more than a minute, and I promise you that you won’t feel a thing.”

“You’re going to sew my arm and you say it won’t hurt? How, exactly?” Belle’s tone was sarcastic, but there was amusement in it too.

“The magic of modern medicine, Belle.” She laughed. “I’ll give you a shot of local anaesthetic. It’ll numb it for about 2 or 3 hours.”

“So I’ll feel the injection, but not the stitches?” Belle questioned as Rachel moved towards the cupboards, already getting the syringe filled.

“It won’t be that bad.” She turned her head away as the doctor took her arm, holding her breath, just awaiting the pain. It wasn’t until she heard Rachel walk away that she relaxed a bit.

“Done?” The surprise was evident in her tone.

“Told you it wouldn’t be so bad.” Rachel teased, returning back to her side with a tray that, Belle spied, contained more instruments than she was sure was necessary for suturing. She pulled up a chair and a lamp, flicking it on so that there were no shadows cast upon the affected area. “Can you feel this?” She poked the upper part of her cut with a small needle, and Belle was amazed that all she felt was pressure.

“Nope.”

“Good.” Rachel picked up a pair of blunt, striated scissors, or so it seemed to Belle, and opened a pack with a curved needle with a thread already fixed onto it. Just as Rachel brought it to touch her skin, Belle averted her eyes to the ceiling, opposite to where her arm was being sewn.

“Have Irene and Roman been called?” She asked, trying her best to keep her mind off her arm.

“Not that I know of.” Rachel replied. “I know Aden was saying to wait until everything had been sorted and you had been checked out. Did you want them to be called?”

“No, it’s ok.” Belle was biting her bottom lip now. Even though she wasn’t looking at it, she could feeling the pressure points of where the needle was going in and out of her skin, hearing the little squelching sound it made at times. “I’m just curious.”

“There you are.” Rachel sighed happily as she placed her instruments back, using a cotton wool soaked in what looked like iodine to Belle to wipe over the area gently before putting that into the tray and taking it over to the waste bin, while peeling off her gloves. “Not as bad as it looks, right?”

“I’ll let you know in a minute.” Belle replied, still staring off into the distance. She heard Rachel chuckle to herself, a smile gracing her own lips as she realised just how childish she was being.

As Rachel came back to her seat, a new roll of bandages and a pack of dressing and tape with her, Belle allowed her eyes to finally look a her arm, exhaling deeply when she saw that it didn’t look as bad as she thought it would. There were about 6 stitches, but they were pretty small.

Her thoughts took her away as Rachel laid the dressing on her wound, wrapping it up with expertise. She was glad that there was nothing wrong with her head, or her arm for that matter, but she knew that even the slightest scratch on her would drive Aden crazy with guilt. She started of thinking of ways to downplay it all, but a night in hospital was a night in hospital, and that was going to be hard.

A sudden feeling of heat on her hand and wrist made her snap out of her thoughts. Belle glanced down at her hand as Rachel turned it in the light that she had switched back on, pulling it closer to her skin so she could see clearly. She had placed a single pin in Belle’s bandage, the tape still uncut.

“How did this happen, Belle?” Rachel enquired, pointedly.

“I dunno.” She replied as quickly as she could. “Larry had me by my wrist. It must have been then.” She had tried to sound convincing, but as the doctor shook her head, she knew that it hadn’t worked.

“These bruises are more than a couple of hours old.” She pointed out, splaying Belle’s fingers to see the hidden marks in between them. “These look like nail impressions.” Rachel looked up at the teenager, who’s eye were now on the floor, a look of reservation on her face. “Belle?”

“It’s nothing.” She whispered, silently begging her to leave it alone.

“It’s not ‘nothing’.” Rachel turned her arm around, bringing the light in closer. “I’ve seen these kind of bruising on people before, Belle. Now, I know that it wasn’t from Larry, and I can tell that it’s a couple of days or so old. Who are you trying to protect?”

“No-one!”

“Belle,” Rachel began gently, her over defensiveness giving her a major clue as to who it might have been. “if it’s Aden that you’re trying-”

“Aden would never hurt me.” Belle cut her off immediately, knowing that she was lying, but Rachel didn’t need to know that.

“Then who else could it have been?” She tried, voice still soft as she held onto her hands carefully. “Belle, you have nothing to be scared of.”

“You don’t understand.”

“So it is Aden?” Rachel asked her, shock in her words even if she was the one who had brought him up. Belle nodded slowly before shrugging.

“He has nightmares.” She said casually as a way of explanation. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“Are you saying that Aden had no idea about this?”

“Do you really think I would tell him?” Belle shot back rhetorically, looking at Rachel as she tried to understand what Belle had just told her.

“How long has it been going on for?”

“I dunno.” Belle shrugged once again, leaning backwards, using her left hand to support her. “Since the beginning.”

“You been keeping this from him since then?” Rachel asked incredulously, getting back to finishing up wrapping Belle’s right arm.

“Well, I can’t tell him. Aden has it bad enough, with the dreams and all. I can’t add this to list. He’ll just constantly feel bad.” Belle told her, justifying her reason for keeping it quiet verbally for the first time.

“And what about when he does find out? How do you think he’s going to feel then?”

“He won’t find out.”

“Belle,” Rachel said, exasperatedly as she finished up with the bandages. “Look at this.” Bringing the light closer once again, she showed Belle the marks in between her fingers. “Do you have any idea just how much pressure it take to leave marks like that? It’s close to piercing the skin.”

“That’s the extreme. And it’s never gotten that far.” Belle pulled her hand out of Rachel’s grip as soon as she could, holding it to her body protectively.

“It will one day. Aden‘s strong. He could very easily break your fingers.”

“You don’t know that.” Belle tone had gotten colder and colder throughout the whole interrogation of sorts, defensive walls put up at every question.

“And neither do you.” Rachel countered. “I am telling you this as a doctor and a friend. You need to let him know. I know you think you’re protecting him from the guilt and helping him, but the pain you are putting yourself through-”

“- is nowhere near as close as what he goes through.” Each word clipped, she interrupted her, not wanting to hear the rest of it, knowing that Rachel made sense in every single way.

“Belle, you’ve got to think about yourself too. What if someone else sees these marks? They won’t be as understanding. Not if they don’t know his past.” Rachel’s words were soft and Belle felt guilty for being so stubborn about it, but it wasn’t going to change anything. Tilting her head upwards to keep the tears at bay, she swallowed.

“There’s usually never any marks. And I can handle it.”

“You shouldn’t have to handle it.” Rachel stood up from the chair, taking off her gloves once again, and grabbing her file to write in what she had just done.

“I’m not going to tell him. The guilt would kill him.” Belle sat up straight once again now that she was further away from Rachel and her tears were hidden. “And you can’t tell him either. Doctor-patient confidentiality, right?”

“Of course.” Rachel murmured, looking up at her from the file. “But I’m not supporting you decision at all. It will come out, Belle.”

“Until that day…” Belle shrugged once again, falling into the tense silence, the only sound being made by the pens scratching against the paper until there was a knock on the door. Rachel walked over to it and opened it, allowing Aden to re-enter the room, along with Charlie.

“Everything ok?” Aden asked as soon as he saw her on the bed, heading straight over.

“Yeah. Just a mild concussion. No biggie.” Belle smiled gently, taking his hand with hers. “What about Larry? Any news?”

“Nope.” He replied roughly.

“We’re still patrolling the streets. Every station in the state has been informed. He‘s not going to get far.” Charlie assured them, offering them the little comfort that she could.

“I guess that’s good news.” Belle said, trying to sound optimistic, although it failed on Aden.

“Belle?” Rachel started, stepping up to her side before handing her a little white cup with 2 pills in it and a glass of water. “Painkillers for the head and arm. They might make you drowsy, but I’ll go sort out a room for you so we can get you moved soon.”

Belle nodded, swallowing the two pills with ease before both Rachel and Charlie left her with Aden in the room; Charlie making the excuse to go call Roman and Irene.

“You sure you’re ok?” Aden asked as soon as they were alone, moving to stand right in front of her.

“Yeah. Everything just sounds and looks worse than it is.”

“Stitches?” He skimmed his fingers over her covered forearm. Belle nodded silently, memories coming back to her. Aden’s eyes went up to hers when she stayed quiet, surprised to see them rimming with tears. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong?”

“It’s stupid.” She sniffed, using her left hand to wipe at her eyes at the threatened to spill.

“Belle?” Aden said carefully, letting go of her other hand and pushing her hair back from her face. “What is it? Are you in pain?”

“No. I told you; it’s stupid.” She shook her head dismissively, but he wasn’t going to let it go that easily.

“Why don’t you just tell me and I’ll let you know if it’s stupid or not, yeah?”

“It’s just… the bracelet.” Belle told him. Seeing the slight confusion on his face, she carried one. “It broke when Larry grabbed it by accident. I put it back into the box, and I don‘t think any of the charm were broken, but I think that the bracelet itself was and- and-” She faltered as she looked at him. “And you’re laughing at me.”

“I’m not!” Aden tried to hide his grin as she tried to push him away from her. He didn’t mean to make it seem like he was laughing at her; he just found it cute that after everything that had happened the first thing on her mind that was worrying her was his gift to her. “I’m not.” He repeated in a much more serious tone.

“Whatever. I know I’m being ridiculous.” Belle tried to get rid of her tears once again, but he pulled her hand down, pressing kisses just below her eyes before pulling her into hug by wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

“You’re not. But it’s ok. We’ll get it fixed, alright?” Aden could feel her tears seep into his shirt as she tried to stop them, pressing her face into his shoulder. “It’s ok.” He murmured into her hair, using one hand to smooth it down as he felt one of hers curl itself into his top. “It’s ok. I’ll get it fixed.”

They remained like that for a while, Belle turning her face outwards when her tears dried, just letting him hold her for a bit as she gathered her thoughts, knowing he was doing the same as he had stopped his efforts of trying to comfort her with words.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, not moving. From where she laid her head, Belle could hear the steady beat of his heart, loving the feeling of normalcy it gave her.

“What for?” Aden hadn’t lifted his head up from where it rested on top of hers, keeping her as close as he could.

“Trying to make you go see your dad all that time.” Belle told him, and she felt him shift, gently letting his arms go lax from around her shoulders, indicating for her to move back.

“What?”

“You know,” She said as she looked up at him, her hand still holding onto his shirt, though not as tightly. “Before and just yesterday… I think I get why you didn’t want to see him now. Why you wanted him out of your life.”

“Go on.” He prompted, wondering where she was going with this.

“You’ve gotten so far since he’s been put away. Your life now is entirely different from the one that you had before, and if you went to see him-” Belle paused for a moment, her eyes wandering down to her hand as she concentrated on what she had been thinking about back in her room. “If you went to see him, it would be like mixing the two worlds together, and it would just be better to leave it be. The past in the past, right?” She glanced up at him, worried that he might just deny everything that she had said. But instead, there was a look of awe in his eyes.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” Aden asked her earnestly, pressing his lips to her forehead before gazing down at her. He didn’t know how she did it, capturing his precise thoughts and wording it probably better than he would have been able to. And with everything else that had happened today, she was thinking of him first. Well, second after the bracelet.

“Yeah.” Belle smiled softly, shuffling forwards on the edge of the bed so that she could tilt her head up to kiss him tenderly for several seconds before Aden pulled back. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry.” He now whispered.

“What are you sorry for?”

“You shouldn’t be in this state, in hospital. This is all my mess that you’re having to deal with. I just wish there was a way to keep you out of it all. I hate seeing you get hurt because of me.” His words were husky as he struggled to keep the anger at his father, and probably himself, inside. Belle could see the tears lining his eyes as she lifted both her hands to his face while standing up, pulling it down so she could rest her forehead against his.

“I want you to listen to me, because I’m not going to say this again.” She said determinedly as his hands wrapped themselves around her waist to steady her. The medication was coming into effect. “None of this is because of you, and it’s not your fault. Your father’s the one to blame here, no-one else, and most definitely not you. As for your ‘mess’,” Belle ran her hands through his hair before claiming his lips with hers for a quick, passionate kiss. “Your mess is my mess. I love you, Aden. Nothing’s going to stop me from that. We‘re in this together.”

“I just… I don’t like seeing you get caught up in all that. I wish you didn’t have to get hurt because it.” Aden replied, carefully guiding her back to sit down before she collapsed from the medicine over taking her system.

“You can’t protect me from everything. Anyway, I’m a klutz, remember?” Belle added, light-heartedly, wanting to ease up the conversation.

“Hmm, that’s true.” He grinned at her attempts to make him feel better. Aden was just about to add something about not being able to protect her when there was a knock on the door, opening straight after.

“Hey, I just thought I’d let you know that I’ve called Roman and Irene, and they’ll be here anytime now.” Charlie informed them politely, smiling at the young couple. “And Rachel’s got a room sorted. We’ll keep a plain clothed officer outside, just in case, although I doubt there’s any chance of Larry returning.”

“It’s not the same officer that let him escape in the first place, is it? Because that’s gonna do a whole lot of good.”

“Aden!” Belle hissed warningly at him, although she had to admit, that did concern her too.

“It’s not the same person.” Charlie assured them.

“Is there any news? Any spotting or anything?”

“No, I‘m sorry. It looks like he might have taken some dirt roads or something. We‘re checking everything we can, though.” She told them as they took it all in.

“Well, Belle‘s car isn‘t really the best for the back roads.” Aden said, distractedly.

“Yeah. Might come in handy for once, right?” Belle replied, amusedly. In all honesty, she wasn‘t too worried about the fact the he had taken her car. She assumed that it might bother her later on, but right then, she wouldn’t care if it was set alight, as long as this living nightmare was over and Larry was caught.

“Listen, Belle, I’m going to have to take another statement from you. Just in case you’ve remembered something or any-”

“Oh, sorry to interrupt.” Rachel exclaimed as she opened the door to the room, seeing Charlie in there with the other two.

“That’s alright. Something important?”

“Uh, yeah. Roman and Irene are here. I don’t know if you want to see them now, or if you want to get moved to your room first…” She trailed off, letting them make up their mind.

Belle looked over at Aden, who just shrugged casually, rubbing just above his eyebrow with his right hand, which she finally saw was slightly grazed on his knuckles. She silently wondered how much pain Larry would be in before realising that she hoped it was more than Aden was in right then.

“I think we should see them first.” Aden answered for the two of them when Belle caught up in her thoughts and forgot to do so.

“Yeah.” She quickly recovered. “I’ve got a feeling they’ll go mad otherwise.”

“I’ve got a feeling they’re gonna go mad either way.” Aden jested as Rachel left the room to get them, Charlie following after slight hesitation.

“Hmm… maybe. But I’m the one falling asleep here, which means that you get the brunt of it all.” Belle informed him, as he came to stand in front of her again.

“I don‘t think so.” Aden smiled a little, fatigue and guilt still playing in everything he did even if he refused to try and show it. “In this together, remember?”

“Damn.”

---

Once again, Sam27# got it right about Belle's pain

Just thought I'd add some humor and light fluff with the seriousness. Hope it seemed realistic.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Sorry for the late update today. All I can say is that it's Friday and we had a pool comp going on in the SU Bar. That, obviously, sucked.

Hope you enjoy this!

Chapter 43:

Blinking, it took Belle a couple of moments to get her bearings as she woke up. Taking in a breath, she smiled, closing her eyes momentarily as she realised that she was exactly where she wanted to be. It was the unmistakable scent of something slightly musky and spicy, mixed with something that reminded her of the cleanliness and freshness of the ocean. The scent was masculine, and it fit in perfectly with how she felt right then; safe.

Shuffling gently, she managed to moved back a little bit, looking up at Aden’s face as he slept peacefully. A dark tint still ringed his eyes, but Belle guessed they would vanish with every extra minute of sleep he got. Smiling, she wondered how they had ended up in the position that they were in, facing each other with her head tucked under his chin. They had both been so tired last night that it was amazing that they had the energy to move during the night.

Belle gazed over Aden’s shoulder as well as she could to see the time. Just past 9 on the Monday morning. She felt Aden’s arm tighten around her waist as she moved a bit too far out of his embrace for his liking, one of his feet rubbing against hers subconsciously. Watching him for a moment, Belle prayed that he would just fall back into sleep instead of waking up. Although he had exams starting the following day, she knew that he needed the rest, seeing as he probably hadn’t slept for a while now.

After Roman and Irene had left the hospital on Saturday, Belle had fallen asleep almost instantly. Aden stayed right by her side all night, giving her more security than any amount of armed police officers outside her door ever could.

The first time that she had been woken up by the nurse, she begged Aden to sleep. He had said that he would, coercing to go back to sleep herself so that he would feel better. When she had woken up the second time, Aden was still sitting on the chair by her side, hand clasping hers, wide awake. Once the nurse had left this time, she practically forced him to get onto the bed with her, telling him that she needed the feel of his arms around her to make her feel safe. She hadn’t been lying, and was glad when he accepted this reason and climbed onto the bed, carefully holding her. The third and final time that Belle was woken up by the nurse, Aden was given an unimpressed look by her, making him slip off the bed as she got about doing her job. As she left, he took his place by her side, interlacing their hands while telling her to go back to sleep and stop worrying about him. Belle had finally given up on trying to convince him, pulling up the hand that she held his in to rest under her cheek, falling asleep with the feel of him stroking her face lovingly.

The following afternoon, Belle had been discharged from hospital with strict instructions to take things easy for a couple of days and not to get her stitches or dressing wet. Charlie and Angelo had came in first thing to tell them that there had been no more news on Larry. They all knew that with more time, the less likely it was going to be that he was going to be caught. Letting them know that they would keep the both of them in the loop, and after Belle had profusely refused any kind of police protection, the two officers had left, allowing them to go home with Irene.

Her room, it had seemed when she laid her eyes on it for the first time since the previous day’s events, was a mess. Irene and Annie had said they tried to tidy up a bit, mainly the cupboards and the drawers, but they hadn’t wanted to go invading her privacy or misplacing something.

When they had left her and Aden alone, she went over to her dresser, picking up her bracelet to see what the extent of the damage had been. At first, all she could take in was the amount of blood on it, rushing to the bathroom to wash it all off without a word. Aden had leaned against the door jamb, just watching her do so before she patted it dry and silently handed it to him. He had nodded, telling her that it would be easy to get fixed and that it would be done by the time her stitches came out at the most.

They had spent the rest of Sunday clearing up Belle’s room, finding her mobile among the things scattered everywhere. It had looked fine except for some minor scratched on the back of it, but it didn’t bother her much.

By 10 that night, Aden and Belle were both in bed, exhausted by the events of that weekend. She had reminded him about his upcoming exams, and he joked that this was why he had revised 2 months earlier. They had fallen asleep in minutes, with no more news from the police about Larry.

Now, Belle cautiously slid her leg out from under Aden’s keeping an eye on his face at all time to make sure she didn’t wake him. Biting on her lip, she distanced herself from him, taking every precaution she could to not nudge him or anything of the like. When she got far enough, Belle turned onto her back, reaching over to her bedside table for her phone, switching it on while yawning and pushing herself into a slouching position against her headrest. Aden’s arms relaxed from around her waist and shoulders and Belle was grateful for that.

A knock on her door stole her attention from the phone in her hand, vibrating from receiving the texts that had been sent since it was last on. Quickly, she slipped out of bed, praying that her motions wouldn’t wake Aden up. She held her breath as he shifted slightly, another knock on her door worrying her that it would pull him out of his sleep. But as she rounded the bed, she let out her breath, glad that he hadn’t seemed to have heard.

“Belle-?” Irene called out just as she got to the door, pulling it open in one quick move.

“Shhh…” Belle shut the door without making a sound, looking at Aden until the door was fully closed.

“Sorry, love.” Irene lowered her voice as she stood opposite her eldest foster daughter, who still held onto the handle of her door, back pressed again it. “Aden still asleep?”

“Yeah, thank God.” She breathed, pushing her hair away from her face. Due to the bruise at the back of her head, she couldn’t tie her hair up, annoying the Hell out of her.

“How are you feeling?”

“Good.” Belle simply replied.

“Hmm… well, that might change.” At Belle’s curious look, she continued. “There’s someone here to see you.”

Irene stepped down from where she stood, going back into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee as Belle stood perplexed before entering the living room herself. She paused the second she saw the other person. Even from the back, the blonde hair, the tall, slender body and the immaculate clothes weren’t hard to recognise.

“Mum! What’re you doing here?” Was all that Belle could say as Amanda turned around, tucking her PDA away in her purse.

“Belle, God, I was so worried about you!” She exclaimed, walking right up to her and pulling her into a hug. Belle was still in shock, vaguely being able to feel the tingling of the pain in her arm as her mother still embraced her before she used her other arm to hug her back.

“What’re you doing here?” She repeated, moving away slightly from her.

“Well, darling, it’s good to see you too.” Amanda rolled her eyes before turning into a serious mother once again. “I heard about what happened and just had to come see you.”

“Uh…” Belle shot a look over her shoulder to Irene, who shrugged.

“It wasn’t me, girly.” She told her, knowing what she was wondering. “I’m just going to give you two some space.” Irene patted Belle on the shoulder as she walked past her and headed up the stairs.

“I- If-” It was way too early in the morning for Belle to figure this out. Not to mention she wasn’t allowed caffeine when on her painkillers, so that didn’t help either. “How did you find out?”

“Peter told me! I’ve got to say, I didn’t expect to find out like that. Why didn’t you tell me?” Amanda explained, and Belle remembered how Charlie had told them that every station in the state had been informed. Not to mention, that Peter should already have known, seeing as he was stationed in the city now.

“I didn’t want you to worry.” Belle lied. Guilt came over her as she realised that she had honestly forgotten about informing her mother. She knew now that she should have, but she had never came to mind.

“Yes, because that worked so well.” She said sarcastically. “How are you?”

“I’m fine.” Belle replied almost immediately.

“You sure? You looked tired. Have you been sleeping well?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She repeated, eyebrows scrunching up in thought. “Why did you come down here? You could have easily called.”

“Because I wanted to see for myself how you were.” Amanda rolled her eyes, not taking her daughter’s questions that could seem like rejection to heart. “We all know what you’re like, Belle. Trying to act like everything’s ok-”

“Everything is ok.” She cut her mother off, crossing her arms protectively. “Just a couple of scratches.”

“That doesn’t look like a scratch.” Amanda countered, nodding towards her arm. “And you were held against your will, Belle. I doubt you can be ‘ok’.” Belle winced, both at the memory and at her voice growing louder and louder.

“Mum, I know you’re worried and all, but honestly; I’m fine.” She grabbed her mother’s arm with her good hand, guiding her away from where they stood near to her bedroom door. “What?” She asked at her pointed look.

“Don’t tell me that he’s sleeping in there.”

“Mum…”

“I’ve got a right mind to give him a earful-” Amanda began as Belle groaned.

“What? Mum, no. Come on, you’re overreacting.” She sighed heavily, rubbing her temple as it threatened to start aching.

“I am not!” Amanda defended herself, the volume of her words still rising. “After what he’s put you through-”

“Aden hasn’t put me through anything.” Belle hissed before closing her eyes momentarily. “If this is all you’re going to talk about, then I don’t want to hear it.”

“Belle.” Amanda said in a tone of defeat. “Ok. There was another reason why I’m here.”

“Yeah? What’s that?” Her interest peaked, although from her tired words, it wouldn’t seem like it.

“I was hoping that you would come back with me to the city.” She said easily as Belle’s jaw dropped.

“What?”

“I know it’s short notice and all, but it’s not like you have school or work to worry about right now.” Amanda shrugged good-naturedly, a subtle smile gracing her face.

“Yeah, a little bit of warning might have been nice.” Belle replied slowly as she wrapped her head around what her mother had proposed. “Nevertheless, I’m not coming.”

“Darling, you haven’t even thought about it.” She shook her head minutely.

“I don’t have to think about it.” Belle retorted, running a hand through her hair, biting back a gasp of pain as she accidentally pulled on the injury at the back of her head. “I’m not just going to come with you to the city without any mention of it beforehand.”

“Well, none of this had happened ‘beforehand’, had it?” Belle raised an eyebrow at her response, clearly not happy. “I just want you nearby where I know you’re safe.”

“I’m perfectly safe here.”

“Are you?” Amanda asked, rhetorically. “Look, at home, you won’t have to keep on looking over your shoulder. And our place is extremely safe.”

“I am at home.” She told her. “I know you’re only doing this because you care, Mum, but I can’t just up and leave right now so to make you worry less. If you want, you can stay here in the Bay. I’m not coming to the city.”

“Is this because of Aden?” Her mother questioned her in a dry tone, making Belle grit her teeth to stop herself from shouting as she pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead for a moment.

“Not everything is about Aden.” She replied slowly. “But yes, right now, I don’t want to leave him. He has exams starting tomorrow, and after all this crap, I’m not going to abandon him and let him cope with it all himself.”

“You need to think about yourself too, Belle.” Amanda almost reprimanded, giving Belle an uneasy feeling as she was reminded of Rachel’s words from Saturday. “Anyway, after everything that’s happened, I think you should start to put yourself first.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She instantly snapped, doing her best to keep her words at the normal volume.

“I just think that you should distance yourself from the pain right now.”

“You mean break up with Aden?” Belle asked her incredulously.

“Not entirely.”

“You’re unbelievable! This coming from Drew, I’d understand, but not you. I thought you liked Aden, Mum!”

“I do, Belle, but I don’t like seeing you hurt. And right now, being with him is hurting you.” Amanda’s tone was begging her to listen, but she couldn’t. this was just a repeat of the argument that she had had with Drew, except this time her mother wasn’t doing this because she hated Aden, but rather because she loved Belle so much. “Darling, I know it’s not what you want to hear, but I don’t like you being around him at this moment. With his father on the run, he could do anything.”

“Larry wouldn’t be stupid enough to come back again.” Belle said dismissively.

“He did once, didn’t he? And I know you’ve refused police protection.” A frown came upon the teenager’s face, wondering how much of this Peter was allowed to tell Amanda without her consent. “Just come and stay for a little while. You can come right back when he’s back where he belongs.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry, Mum, but I just can’t.” She shrugged casually, letting her know that she wasn’t going to be budged from her decision. Of course, that didn’t stop Amanda from trying.

“Belle, try and be reasonable. With Aden in exams all the time, he’s not going to be able to protect you from anything-”

“I can take care of myself, thank you very much.” Belle cut her off, offended. “And I am being reasonable. Moving to the city for a bit won’t make the problems go away. They’ll still be here when I get back. Probably even worse than when I left them.” She thought about how hurt Aden would be if she actually went. Although she knew that he would readily agree and let her go if it meant keeping her ‘safe’, as Amanda put it, at the end of the day, Belle was sure that he would see it as rejection, and feel guiltier than ever.

“Darling, I’d rather be your mother about this and keep you safe rather than be your friend and risk you getting hurt again.” Even thought her words were soft, there was a undertone of commanding in them, and when she crossed her arms, it infuriated Belle more.

“Then be my mother and let me do what‘s best for me and stay here! You can’t make me go to the city so don’t even think about making me feel bad about it. Like I said, you can stay in the Bay if you really want, but I am not leaving.” She replied forcefully, copying her stance by crossing her own arms.

“You know I can’t stay here.” Amanda sighed.

“And you know I can’t leave.” Belle countered.

“You do understand that I’m not trying to split you and Aden up, right? That I’m just trying to look out for you?” She added, giving it one last try.

“I know, but I have a lot of people here looking out for the both of us. We’ll be fine. I’ll be fine.” Belle informed her, letting her arms drop down to release her defensive posture.

“Alright, but next time, I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer.”

“’Next time’?” Belle asked in disbelief. “You that confident about it, are you?”

“I’m just saying that it’s only a matter of time before there’s something else going wrong.” Although she meant it light-heartedly, the dark look on Belle’s face told her that it had not came across that way.

“Gee, thanks, Mum. Nice to know what you really think!” Belle responded sharply before turning to head back to her room.

“Belle!” Amanda called after, despair colouring her words. “I didn’t mean-” She stopped when she heard the door shut with more force than was necessary. Almost immediately, the door upstairs opened and footsteps could be heard coming down.

“That sounded like it went well.” Irene said with a mock cheerful tone as she walked into the kitchen.

“It did. Until I stuck my foot into it in the end.” Amanda grumbled, coming to sit on one of the stools.

For the first time in God knows how long, Irene felt bad for her. Making up a cup of tea for her, she decided to put their differences aside and focus on the one thing they have in common; Belle.

“What did you say to making her shake the whole house?” She asked casually, grabbing the milk from the fridge.

“I asked her to come back to the city. Just for a couple of days.” Amanda added hurriedly, not wanted to sound like the bad person here.

“Hmm…”

“What?”

“Look, darl, I know that your heart was probably in the right place, but did you think about it from her point of view?” Irene commented as she stirred in some sugar, back towards the other woman.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” She turned around and placed the cup in front of the perplexed lady, “she just got out of hospital yesterday, and you’re already trying to ship her off to the city. You know what Belle is like, Amanda. She doesn’t want anyone to think that this has effected her, has made her weak or anything like that. She is your daughter.”

“I know she’s my daughter, Irene!” Amanda replied, words clipped. “Which is why I’m trying to help.”

“To her it seems like you’re treating her like a child. And to be brutally honest, it seems like that to me too. Belle’s almost 19. You’ve got to remember what it was like being that age.” She pointed out as Amanda slumped back against her seat, defeated. “She’s more like you than you could ever imagine.”

“I never had the problem of a convict holding me hostage in my room at 18, Irene.” She mumbled, taking a sip of the tea.

“I think it’s more of the fact that it was Aden’s father rather than the fact it was someone holding her hostage. These events don’t effect her much because she’s more worried about him.” Irene leaned against the counter by the sink as she watched her words sink into the other lady. She, herself, had been going through this the whole night when Belle had been in hospital. When she had gotten there, Belle had repeated assured her she was fine, and from the way she had said it, over and over again, Irene had no other choice but to believe it. Because she really was fine. Her terror was over whereas Aden’s was still going on.

“I wish she would stop thinking about him all the time. I know that Belle loves him, but she’s not thinking straight at times!” Amanda exclaimed as Irene let out a short laugh.

“Trust me when I say that there’s nothing to change that.” She shook her head good-naturedly. “Belle and Aden are very protective of each other. We’ve all learnt that the hard way, love. I think it’s time you did too. It will make life a lot more easier if you don’t try and come in between them.”

“I’m just trying to look after my own here, Irene.” Amanda sighed heavily once again.

“I know.” Irene said sympathetically. “But so is Belle.”

---

Belle felt bad almost as soon as she shut the door. Not only because she had snapped at her mother for no reason, but because she saw Aden start to awake, turning onto his back, from her slamming of the door.

She had been pleasantly surprised that he had slept through the whole night peacefully. For some reason, she was certain that he would have nightmares. If he had suffered them when Charlie had told them about his father being moved to the hospital, then she assumed seeing him would make it worse. However it hadn’t at all, and she was glad. Belle had no intention in ever doing as Rachel had told her to, but she knew that if Aden had had a nightmare that night, she might have been the unlucky one if he had caught her stitches.

“Hey…” Aden’s groggy voice brought her back to the real world. Silently, she climbed under the covers, snuggling up to him as she laid her head on his chest. “What’s wrong?”

“Mum’s here.” She murmured as one of his arms came around her waist while the other smoothed the hair away from her face repeatedly.

“I see.” He whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “What does she want?”

“She wants me to go to the city with her for a couple of days.” Belle told him matter-of-factly, the frown on her face clear in her tone. “I said no and she’s not happy.”

“Want me to go talk to her?” Aden offered as her left hand skimmed along his bare torso.

“No.” She sighed, the frown turning into a smile. She knew that that was going to be the first words out of his mouth. “I just want to stay here. And sleep.”

“We can do that.” He chuckled, tightening his arm around her as she got herself more comfortable. Just as she had closed her eyes, her phone from behind her on her pillow vibrated. She felt Aden remove his hand from her hair, reaching out for it before handing it to her. “Text.”

“From Drew.” Belle muttered as she opened the message. She noted that the time stamp on it was from 7 that morning, when her phone was off. “Great.”

“What’s it say?” She passed it over to him as she settled herself once again, not amused in the least by the message, even though Aden laughed soundlessly when he read it.

’Thought I’d let you know - Amanda’s visiting you this morning. Just a head’s up. Good luck.’

---

I've just realised that if I keep going at a chapter a night,, in a week, this should be finished!

Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Sorry! I know I said before 6.30, but I just couldn't get to the end of this chapter [which is why it's so bloody long!]

Hope it's ok. I haven't proof read it yet, so apologies!

Chapter 44:

Will you go already? Belle laughed, pushing Aden with a hand on his chest towards the door. Youre going to be late for your first exam!

Ive got plenty of time. He protested, stopping just as he crossed the threshold of the kitchen and the outside.

It starts in 30 minutes, and you need to be there 15 minutes before it starts. She pointed out. Go! Ill be fine. Im hanging out with Ric all day, remember?

That doesnt make me feel any better. Aden shook his head, making Belle roll her eyes.

Ill be fine. She repeated before taking his face in her hands and pressing a kiss to his lips. I love you, she breathed as she took his lips with hers once again, and Ill miss you, Belle smiled as he pulled her into a kiss this time, and you need to go ace this exam!

Im a genius, babe. Aden informed her as they broke apart. Im going to ace this exam either way.

You wont if you dont turn up! She playfully slapped him on the shoulder while pushing him away, although he didnt get far with his hands on her hips. Now, go!

Ok, ok! Adens laughter died down as he gave her his typical grin. Just one more. For good luck. He said, capturing her lips before she got the chance to reply.

Aden! Belle managed to get out as she pried herself away from his kiss. Seriously. Youre going to be late!

Alright, Im going. He sighed, a smile still on his face although it was now a soft one. He lifted a hand to play with the tendril of hair that framed her face. Youll be ok?

Ill be fine.

Youll call if you need to?

I promise. She nodded strictly, before adding. Please dont take your phone into the exam with you. After everything youve put into your studies, you dont need to be kicked out!

I wont, I wont. Dont worry about me.

Good. And you dont worry about me! She accepted the final kiss Aden placed on her lips before she manually got rid of his hands from her body. Go!

Going! He gave her a peck on the cheek, murmuring Love you, into her ear before actually leaving.

Belle returned to the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of juice to get her mind off the fact that this was the first time she had been left alone in the house. Or alone at all, for that matter. Shaking the uneasy feeling off, she sipped her juice as she made her way to her room. She tried not to hurry, or take her time, as she pulled out some clothes.

There had been no more news about Larrys whereabouts, or any sightings of her car. Basically, it seemed like he had fallen off the face of the Earth, but they all knew that wasnt true. Larry had done this once before; he could do it again.

Choosing a pair of black jeans and a long top, Belle threw it onto her bed, walking to the bathroom, still trying to get rid of any uncertainty in her mind. She had convinced everyone else that she was safe and fine, that nothing would happen to her. Everyone including Amanda, in the end. Now she just wished she could convince herself that too.

---

Are you sure about this?

What are you so scared of? Belle replied, a small smirk playing on her lips as she brought the camera up to snap some shots.

Im just worried that your boyfriend might get the wrong idea. Rics word were light-hearted, but there was a bit of truth in them too.

Youre not scared of Aden, are you? She asked him sweetly, the smirk never dying as she made him pose for her. In all honesty, she was merely just using Ric to make him feel uncomfortable just for the fun of it. It helped take her mind of other things.

Course not. He scoffed as she indicated to him to take his top off. Are you serious?

Im always serious when it comes to my job. Belle told him earnestly. If it makes you feel better She trailed off trying to think of something to say before shrugging. Sorry, cant think of anything. Guess youll just have to deal with it.

You do know that you have a guy who would do this for free.

Yeah, but wheres the fun in that? She laughed. He doesnt get embarrassed like you do

What?! Belle had been waiting for his reaction. Youve been doing this on purpose?

Im sorry. She smiled sheepishly at him.

For the past 3 hours? Ric added, pulling on his top. Thats just mean, Belle.

Sorry. She giggled once again. If its any consolation, these pictures are quite great. There must have been about a hundred, starting from when he had met her at the house to now on the beach.

Yes, I feel so much better. He grumbled as they walked up the beach.

Cmon, you cant moan. It could have been worse! I could do a Nicole on you. She jokes, referring to what she had done to Drew on the day that she had had with him.

Thats true Ric nodded. So how you doing then?

Im good. Why wouldnt I be? She shot back, almost too defensive.

Just, you know He rubbed his forehead, a sign to show her that he wasnt going at this the way he wanted. Belle knew that he wasnt a snoop, so this just seemed a bit off.

Did Mattie ask you to find out? Cos if she did-

No, no, no! Ric hurriedly cut her off.

Ric. Belle simply said.

Yeah, alright. But its only because we both care. After what happened, its ok if you feel like you need a breather or something.

Whats that supposed to mean? Belle questioned, amusement colouring her words.

Oh, cmon! Dont make this harder for me! He growled, a red tint coming to his face. I know that youre trying to go on like nothing happened, but if you want to talk or anything, Im here. We both are.

Aw Ric, dont get all emotional on me! She laughed, shoving him to the side with her good arm as they climbed up the sand dunes towards the Diner. And I know you guys are there. But Im ok. I cant change anything now and Ive spoken about it.

You sure?

Yeah. What happened, happened, and with Adens exams, and my stuff, theres not point dwelling on the past. I know its only been a couple of days, but its in the past now.

It wont be off your mind until Larrys caught. Ric said casually. Belle stopped walking and gave him a perplexed looked. I know you too well.

Whatever. She huffed.

Hey! I was the first person you got to know when you came here, remember? I gave you food, a place to stay- He started to list braggingly before Belle cut in, walking out in front of him.

Yeah, yeah. I get it.

Good. So, now what? Ric caught up with her with ease.

Now you buy me lunch while I think of other fun things for the two of us to do!

---

Look at your face! Belle chortled as Ric scowled at her. She was showing him the pictures that they had taken so far as they sat at a table in the Diner, sharing a big plate of nachos.

If youd give a guy a bit of warning before you start snapping pictures He muttered, munching almost angrily on the food.

But you should have learnt at this one. She laughed while turning the camera around so that he could see it. Rics eyes widened as he went to grab it out of her hands. Hey! Injured here, remember?

You cant say youre fine one moment, and then play the injury card the next! He moaned even as he retracted his hands. Belle opened her mouth to argue, but was saved from more remarks as Mattie walked into the Diner, heading straight over to them.

Hey! She greeted the two of them.

Hi. How did the exam go? Ric replied as Mattie sat down next to him.

Yeah, it was good. She nodded slowly.

Dont sound too enthusiastic. Belle replied dryly as Mattie and Ric both smiled.

Sorry. Im just trying to not get my hopes up.

Im sure you did great, Mattie. Ric told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to give it a slight squeeze.

Yeah, me too. Belle added. Anyway, how come youre out so early? Adens in until 4.

Thats cos Ive got a paper tomorrow, and he doesnt, Not to mention the revision class hes got. She informed them.

Why arent you staying for the class?

Because I didnt take that subject. The other two both laughed as she spoke in a duh tone. What you two been up to today, then?

Oh, nothing much. Ric answered as Belle smirked evilly.

Dont lie, Ric. She tutted while handing her camera over to Mattie. Hes quite photogenic, dont you think?

Oh, yeah. Mattie readily agreed, going through the pictures with a big grin on her face. I think Im going to need some copies of these.

Mattie Ric moaned as the girls laughed at his awkwardness.

Aw, Rics getting all shy. Belle mocked as they continued to laugh.

Im going to get a drink. Do any of you want anything? He said, desperate to get away. They both shook their heads as he walked up to the counter as slowly as he could.

So Im guessing you two have had a fun day? Mattie questioned as she carried on looking at the photos.

Oh, Mattie. The day hasnt even begun yet!

Yeah? And whats that supposed to mean?

I dont know. But Ive got the day to make Ric do whatever I want. Im not going to waste it at all. She laughed as she watched Mattie use the zoom button on her camera. You like the photos that much, huh?

What? Mattie glanced up at her, all signs of amusement gone. No. Well, I do, but Im just looking at something.

What kind of something? Belle asked, curiosity piquing, leaning over the table to try a get a look when Mattie didnt reply. Mattie?

Its just this picture. She got up and sat down next to Belle so she could show her. It was one of the photos that Belle had taken of Ric while he wasnt paying attention, so they were either funny, or him out of the main part of the frame if he found out at the last minute. This particular picture had half of his hand covering his face, which only took up the left side of the photo. On the right, there was full view of the background, which in this case was the Surf Club.

What about it?

Look here. Mattie pointed to the building and Belle squinted.

I dont know what Im looking at, Mattie.

Here, look! She zoomed in several times before searching for the right place in the picture. Do you see that?

Its just a figure in the background, Mattie. Belle shrugged as Mattie sighed, exasperatedly.

I know! But theyre in about the next 6 pictures too.

Yeah, because I probably took the pictures in the space of about 10 seconds! She replied as Mattie found the others and zoomed in just like she had with the other picture.

Belle, this is kind of creepy. I dunno why, but just look. Reluctantly taking her camera out of her hands, Belle did as she asked, going through the photos one by one. Even though as first she did it to keep her amused, with every second that she stared at the little screen, an icy feeling came upon her.

The figure was merely just a person caught in a picture. It happened all the time. But there was something about this figure that had intrigued Mattie and now Belle too. And she suddenly knew why. The way they were dressed, baggy clothes with a hood pulled up, was out of place on a hot summers day like that day.

Frowning, Belle carried on with more pictures, zooming in as much as she could. Her mind was trying to tell her something, but she pushed it aside, even as she saw this figure in the background of one of her photos move from its position from the previous picture. They had their head looking down, staying in the shadows of the big building.

Belle? Mattie broke her out of her thoughts, but she couldnt speak. She had reached the 5th picture, and the figure had casually turn their head to look around. Even though she was fairly certain no one had seen it when the action had actually occurred, her camera had caught it.

I need to get to a computer. Belle gasped out hurriedly, switching off her camera and grabbing her bag off the floor.

Therere computers here. Mattie pointed out.

Yes, but I need a link. I need to see these pictures properly.

I was right, wasnt I? Theres something off with them. Belle merely nodded, swallowing slowly. You think its Larry, dont you?

I didnt say that. Belle snapped back. She hadnt want to think about that fact, but now that Mattie had said it out loud, she couldnt push it out of her mind anymore. I need to see Aden. Would his exam be over by now?

Yeah, he was in class where I left. Belle nodded, looking at her watch, which showed the time as 2:45pm. Belle, dont you think that you should go to the police with this first?

We dont know anything at the moment. She hissed back, not wanting anyone to overhear them.

But even if youve got an inkling-

I just want to make sure, Mattie. Standing up, Mattie had no choice but to follow her, while Ric did the same from where he was standing at the counter, drinking his water.

Whats going on? He asked the two girls as they stood on the pier now. They both looked at each other; Belle in anxiety, Mattie in worry.

I need to get to the school. Belle told him, a frown now settling on her face, telling him not to push her right then.

Alright He replied, confused. Why? Belle had started to walk of before he got the question out. Mattie smiled sympathetically, holding his hand as they followed the determined girl ahead of them.

Ill explain on the way.

---

Walking as quietly as she could, Belle approached the first classroom, listening intently to see if there was anyone in there. She had tried to call Aden already, but he hadnt picked up, or text back to her later texts.

Belle? A voice behind her made her jump, spinning around in a flash.

Miles. She breathed out, relived. You scared me.

Sorry, I didnt mean to. What are you doing here? He asked her in an informal manner, as if non-students walked into Summer Bay High everyday.

I, uh A sudden bout of embarrassment hit her a she realised what she was doing. I need to see Aden.

Hes in lesson at the moment, Belle.

I know, but its an emergency. She replied hastily, watching Miles face as it contorted while he fought with himself. Belle guessed that he knew about Larry escaping from the hospital and now being on the run. She guessed that everyone in the Bay knew about it. Please?

Alright. Just go stand over there. He waved his hand in the general direction of where the lockers were. Ill get him out of class.

Thank you.

Youre welcome. He turned to the classroom where Belle had been trying to spy in on before facing her again. If Principle Bartlett comes, run like mad, ok?

Belle smiled softly at his joke, nodding as she went to stand off on the side. She focused on the noises around her rather than her own thoughts, hearing Miles knock on the door. There was a moments pause before he opened the door, apologizing for interrupting the class and then asked to see Aden.

While she waited for him to get out of the class, uncertainty came upon her. Suddenly, Belle started to doubt whether this was the right thing to do. She had nothing except for a bad feeling that the person in her photos was Larry. And if she was wrong, then not only would she be causing a major fuss, then everyone else would think that she wasnt over the whole incident and take pity on her.

Belle? Adens soft, yet mystified, voice brought her back to reality. Whats going on?

Ill leave you to it. Remember what I said. Miles said as he walked off, not bothered by the fact that he was helping them break the school rules.

Thanks, Miles. Belle finally called out after him, although her words were so low she didnt know if he heard them or not.

Belle, whats going on? Are you ok? Aden asked her anxiously, grabbing a hold of her hand.

Yeah, Im ok. She reassured him, giving his hand a squeeze. Theres something I need to show you.

What is it? His eyebrows drew together as he wondered what it could have been that couldnt have waited until after school.

Um Belle faltered, not sure how to do this. At the moment, they were stood in the school corridors, with the chances of someone coming along at any moment. I need a computer.

Uh Aden took in the request slowly, not missing the pleading look in her eyes to just go along with it for the moment. Ok, I think theres a computer room free.

Gently, he tugged on her hand, letting her walk in front of him as he guided her with a hand on her lower back. They entered the second computer room that was rarely used because of its small size. It was mainly a study area rather than a classroom.

Im going to need a USB link. Belle informed him as she walked over to one of the computers, switching it on with ease. Aden watched her carefully as she pulled out her camera from her bag before going to one of the cupboards on the side and grabbing a wire that he knew were kept there for the school cameras.

Here. He handed it over to her as she perched on the edge of the chair, silently plugging in her camera to the computer.

You need to log on. Aden did as she said, leaning over her shoulder while doing so. Just as he pressed the enter button, he heard her take in a deep breathe. Whats going on, Belle? Youre starting to scare me.

You know how I was spending the day with Ric? Belle asked him in reply, not taking her eyes off the computer as she started to load up the photos. Aden watched her face carefully as he spoke.

Yeah, and?

We were taking photos on the beach and Belle trailed off, finally looking up at him. Its better if you just look for yourself, Aden. She saw his jaw tighten, a sign telling her that he was trying his best to hold back what he wanted to say or do.

Show me, then. He muttered, sitting down on the side of the same chair as Belle, leaning against the back of it while she still sat on the edge of it.

Aden kept an eye on her as she went through all the pictures on that memory card, wondering what it could be that had her so worked up. He knew that it was something big. Belle wasnt one to come barging into the school on the first day of his exams if it wasnt something big. She had been more worried about his exams that morning than anything else, and now she hadnt even asked him how it had gone.

He saw her lift up a hand to adjust the monitor. As Belles hand came back down, Aden frowned when he saw it shake slightly. Slowly, he placed his left hand on top of hers as it rested on the desk next to the keyboard, waiting until she let it relax to intertwine their fingers.

Alright. She whispered, her voice now stronger and more confident than it had been previously. Mattie pointed this out to me.

Belle had opened the 7 photos in PhotoShop, cropping and zooming in with ease and practice in a matter of seconds. She felt him sit up straighter, peering over her shoulder at what she had managed to end up with. The resolution was that great, but she put that down more to the screen than the picture, however it didnt hinder the image of the figure much.

What is that? He asked her as she flicked to the next picture. Aden started to get the message, about how this figure lurking in the background was looking pretty dodgy. It wasnt until Belle got to the 5th photo that she spoke again.

This is the one that caught my attention. Belle pulled her hand out of his, trying to clear up the image even more while making the figure the focus point of the screen.

You can see the face. Aden commented. Barely.

I know. She whispered. But look closely, Aden. He shuffled in his seat, doing as she said once again. It took a moment, but Belle could pinpoint the exact moment that he gave in to what his instincts where telling him, feeling him stiffen and breathe in deeply.

It cant be.

It is, isnt it? She questioned him worriedly, turning to face him. It was the first time that she saw him so clearly since that morning.

I- I- Aden stuttered as he started at the computer screen. When did you take this?

About 2 hours ago. As the words settled in, another thought hit him.

How did you get here? You didnt come alone, did you?

No, no. Belle quickly assured him, a soft smile on her face at the fact that he was more worried about her when she had just shown him proof that his father was still in the Bay area. Ric and Mattie are outside. We came together.

You didnt call the cops? He asked her in disbelief.

I wasnt sure. I thought that I was just going crazy. Belle told him. I mean, look at it. Its such a small bit of the photo. It could be anyone.

Its not. Aden replied roughly. Its him.

Now what?

We call the police. They need to know that hes here. Aden pulled out his phone from his pocket, seeing that there were 5 miss calls from Belle and a text too. Phone was on silent. He replied sheepishly, and Belle knew that it meant that he had taken it into the exam. She was going to open her mouth to reprimand him when her own phone interrupted her.

Its Angelo. Belle informed him in surprise before answering it. Hello? Aden watched as she listened to whatever the officer was telling her. What!? Her eyes widened at his words, a hand coming up to cover her mouth. Are you sure? Aden tried to listen to what Angelo was telling her, but he couldnt hear it at all. Yeah, of course. Um, actually, Belle took a breath while looking at Aden quickly. Theres something I need to show you. Im at the school right now.

Adens attention moved back to the picture in front of him. For some reason, seeing his father like that, dark clothes and like the runaway convict he was, disgusted him more. But the main thing that scared him was the fact that he had been there, so close to Belle, and no-one had been any wiser.

Theyre coming here. Belle informed him as she hung up. And they found my car.

Where?

Near the bush. She said tonelessly. Apparently, someone called it in when they saw the smoke.

Realisation hit Aden as he made sense of her words. Larry had done to her car what he had done to his own just to save his own skin and get away. And like last time, he hadnt been too successful. Guilt washed over Aden once more for getting her involved in all of this.

Im so sorry, Belle. His words were filled with such raw emotions that it made her heart constrict. She should have known better than to have came here first. She should have gone home and made sure first, even if it meant that Aden would have been mad at her in the end. He wouldnt have had to deal with it all at once that way.

Its not your fault, Aden. She sighed, printing out the images so that she could show the cops. We were just being ignorant thinking that he would leave in the first place.

I shouldnt have let you get involved.

We cant change things now.

I know. But I just wish you didnt have to be a part of this. Aden slumped back against he seat once again, hurt and anger all over his face. Belle reached out a hand for his, holding it tightly in between them.

I would have been a part of it either way. She told him strictly. In this together, remember?

Yeah, together. He murmured as he ran a hand through his hair.

Together. Belle repeated as she recalled her words to Mattie from just under an hour ago. The day truly hadn't begun yet.

---

Hope you enjoyed.

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

I'm not too sure about this chapter. I didn't get to the ending that I wanted, but I knew that if I didn't post this now, I wouldn't have updated at all. Hope it's ok.

Chapter 44:

Belle woke up with a start. It took her a moment to get her bearings, breathing heavily as she pushed herself up onto her elbows. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she had had a nightmare, or even a slightly bad dream. They just weren’t something that happened to Belle.

Glancing over at the time, she was amazed to see that it was 9:30am, mentally realizing that Aden was half an hour into his exam right then. Collapsing back onto her bed, Belle was glad that Irene had insisted that she take the rest of the week off from work as she curled right back up, prepared to go back to sleep. It was Thursday morning, and after everything that had happened, or rather had not happened, over the last few days, Belle just wanted to forget.

After Charlie and Jack arrived at the school to see what it was that Belle wanted to show them, everything got hectic. They were both taken back to the beach house, while police swarmed the small town of Summer Bay for anymore sightings of Larry Jeffries. But, as predicted, there were none. Even people who had been on the beach, in the Surf Club or just out side it at the time that Belle had taken those pictures, no-one had seen anything conclusive.

The two of them were practically put on lockdown on Wednesday. Although everyone else went about with their daily rituals; Geoff, Annie and Nicole to school, Roman and Irene to work, Belle and Aden had been stuck at home with a cop checking up on them every hour or so. They had spent most of the time in her room, either just talking or sleeping, seeing as neither one of them had gotten any the night before. As the day wore on, Belle had pushed Aden to do some studying, even if it was just to get their minds off what was going on. He had stayed over that night too, and Belle had made sure that he had fallen asleep before she did. Being sleep-deprived the night before an exam wouldn’t have helped anyone.

With the police patrolling almost every main road in and out of town, and all stations in the state on alert, there was no reason why not to believe that Larry was still in the Bay after there was no more news on him. Now with no car, so they assumed, the cops were sure that he was somewhere inland, near the bushes, or hiding out in a particular place. They tried to search the main places, but there was obviously somewhere they had missed.

When Jack had explained that to them last night, Aden had later urged Belle to reconsider Amanda’s offer of going to the city for a couple of days. She had flat out refused, telling him everything that she had told her mother. They had argued that for a while until Belle turned it on Aden and asked him if he would leave her if they were in each other shoes. His silence was her point proven, and the subject was dropped, although he didn’t approve.

Now, Belle rolled over in her bed, trying to coerce herself into sleep although with no avail. After about 20 minutes, she sighed, giving up, knowing that there was no way that she was ever going to fall back into sleep that morning.

Tossing aside her covers, she got out of bed, running a hand through her hair to settle it down after a whole night’s ordeal. Still yawning, Belle opened her bedroom door, mindful of the step that sometimes got her when it was too early to function properly. As she placed one foot down, she froze in shock and slight fear. There was someone sitting in the living room.

“Hey.” Angelo greeted her as he turned in his seat. Belle was just glad that he was dressed in his uniform as she recognised him.

“Hey… What are you doing here?” She walked over to the dining table, arms crossed loosely in a defensive manner.

“Just here to make sure everything’s ok.” He assured her.

“I didn’t hear you arrive…” She trailed off, indicating just how uneasy she was finding to have someone else in the house with her without her prior knowledge.

“Sorry. I’ve been here for about an hour. I guess you were still asleep.” Angelo nodded slowly as he stood up. “Irene said that you knew.”

“I had no idea.” Belle told him. “An hour? Why were you here so early?”

“Charlie told me to come, so I did. She outranks me, you know?” He laughed. “Not that that makes me any less of a super cop or anything.”

Belle gave a small smile, not really listening as she thought about it. An hour ago, it would have been almost 9, when everyone would have been either heading to school or work. Except for her. Leaving her all alone in the house.

Connections from that were made easily, a frown coming onto her face when she came to the most valid conclusion. Yes, she had been worried to be alone for the first time since finding out that Larry was nearby somewhere, but she was so sure that she hadn’t portrayed that fear to anyone, especially not Aden. But it seems like it didn’t matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t hide a thing from him.

“How long are you going to be here for?” Belle asked him finally as she turned and entered the kitchen to pour herself something to drink.

“Until I get called back.”

“Great.” She muttered to herself, before speaking up. “Do you want something to drink?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Who did you say told you to come here?” Belle enquired as she leaned against the sink to face him, putting distance between them.

“Charlie.”

“And who told her?” Belle was fairly certain of the answer to that.

“I don’t know. I thought you would have accepted police protection after what happened.” Angelo admitted, shrugging slowly.

“I didn’t. Because I don’t need it.” She said through gritted teeth, hating the fact that somebody obviously thought she did.

“Sorry.” He said sheepishly.

“Any chance that you can just… go?” Belle asked him hopefully, placing the empty glass in the sink behind her.

“Sorry, but like I said; I’m here until Charlie says so.”

“What if I call her and say that I don’t want any protection?”

“Don’t think it’ll work.” He informed her. “It’s for the best, anyway. What’s the worst that could happen? You won’t even know I’m here. Promise!”

“Yeah, alright.” Belle sighed at his chirpy tone, hoping that he wouldn’t be so happy all day. Right now, she was extremely pissed off and his mood wasn’t fitting in with her at all.

Silently, she nodded while heading back to her room, heading straight for her phone. She had promised to text Aden when she woke up.

’I’m up. Let me know when you get home. I need to get out of the house. x’. Belle realised that he wouldn’t get the text until after he got out of his exam, which would be in about another hour. That gave her 90 minutes to kill before she could head over to Roman’s to talk to him.

Sighing again, Belle threw her mobile onto her unmade bed and decided to get ready for the day, knowing that it was probably going to be another long one.

---

“What you doing?” Nicole asked Aden sweetly as she trotted down the stairs.

“Having a party. What does it look like I’m doing?” He replied dryly as she came and sat down right next to him, lifting up the book he had been writing from and placed it onto the table in front of them. “Thanks, Nicole. Don‘t need that at all.”

“I want to talk to you.” She told him as he reached out for the book and laid it on the armrest of the couch, away from the blonde.

“Uh-huh. About?” His tone was distracted as he tried to focus on his studies.

“You know how it’s my birthday soon?”

“You mean in like 5 months?” Aden remarked, a smirk appearing as he glanced over at her face. “Didn’t think I knew that, did ya?”

“So you know it’s my birthday soon?” Nicole carried on, ignoring his gibes at her.

“Yes, Nicole, it’s your birthday soon. You gonna get to the point anytime soon?” He questioned, making a couple of more notes from the text book.

“Well, I was thinking… that maybe you could get me an early birthday present.” She said in a hopeful tone that made Aden pause in his actions.

“Why would I do that for?” He turned to look at her as she handed him a magazine. “What do I do with this?”

“Here, look.” Nicole unrolled it to show him the page that she wanted him to see.

“It’s a dress.”

“Very clever. You might just end up passing this year!” She mocked as he raised an eyebrow at her.

“Ok, no early birthday present for you then.”

“No! I didn’t mean that!” Nicole hastily said and Aden couldn’t stop the amused smile breaking out on his face. He had never seen her this desperate for something before.

“Alright, so what? You want me to…”

“… buy this dress for me? Please?” She flashed him her million-dollar smile that unfazed him after getting used to it for so long.

“Why?”

“Because it’s the prom soon, and I need a new dress.” Nicole said very matter-of-factly.

“Isn’t it the year 12 prom? I don’t know if you’ve realised, but you’re year 11, Princess.”

“Thank you for pointing that out, Aden. But, as School Captain, I’m invited too.”

“Ok, so why don’t you buy the dress yourself? I’m sure you could afford it.” He informed her.

“Because I’m grounded, and that means no shopping trips and certainly no buying of clothes.” Nicole’s tone was one of disdain, making Aden laugh.

“What makes you think that Roman would let you keep it if I get it for you? As a present, of course?”

“He can’t make me give back a present. That would be rude.” Nicole told him politely as he shook his head.

“Right. Wouldn’t want to be rude, now would you?”

“Course not.” She brushed aside his sarcasm. “So, what do you say?”

“Why can’t you ask Bible Boy? He is your boyfriend, after all.” Aden suggested as she pouted slightly.

“Because I just can’t.”

“Ah… you still jealous? I thought you were going to talk to him.”

“I’m not jealous, and I can’t just ask him to buy me a dress for my birthday. He has to think about what to buy me.” She nodded at the end while Aden just looked at her in confusion before turning back to his books.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Aden…!” Nicole whined.

“What?” He replied, exasperatedly.

“The prom’s only a month away.” She said pointedly.

“So?”

“So, I need it by then!”

“Have you thought about the possibility that in a month, you might still be grounded?” Aden asked her slowly as her face contorted in thought.

“I won’t be!” Nicole responded quickly.

“Well, until you know that you’re not going to be grounded, I’m not buying you anything.”

“That’s not fair! It’s my birthday!”

“No, it’s not.” Aden laughed. Nicole scowled at him while rolling up the magazine that she had handed him, allowing them to fall into silence as he carried on with his work.

“Are you going?”

“Going where?” He mumbled.

“To the prom. You’re year 12.” Nicole rolled her eyes, even though he didn’t see it.

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“Cos.”

“Cos…?” She prompted him.

“Prom’s not my thing. Anyway, it’s so last year.”

“Right…” Nicole shuffled on the sofa. “So how’s everything? You know, with your dad and all…?”

“It’s fine.”

“Uh-huh.” She said coolly. “How’re the exams going?” Aden froze midway in his sentence, tilting his head to look at her worriedly. “What?”

“Why are you being nice? It’s scary.”

“I’m trying to be supportive here! It’s called being empathic.” She informed him as he grinned slowly.

“Never knew you had it in you.” He remarked. “Looks like good old Geoffy’s rubbing off on you.”

Nicole was just about to reply, insistent that it wasn’t true, when a knock at the door interrupted her. She stared at Aden who sighed heavily before getting up to answer the door.

“Alright, alright,” He chuckled as the person on the other side of the door knocked continuously, him taking his time unlocking it driving them mad. “Calm down, would- Belle! What was that about?”

“We need to talk.” She said tonelessly as the door finally opened. Aden peered over her quickly, seeing the cop car out on the road where, he guessed, Belle had made him wait. “Now!”

When Aden had made no sign to move, she grabbed onto his arm, dragging him into the kitchen with her, ignoring Nicole’s eyes as they followed them, obviously interested in the gossip that she’ll probably get out of this.

“What’s going on?” He asked her as they came to a stop by the door that led out to the back.

“What gives you the right to tell Charlie to give me police protection?” Belle snapped at him, letting of his arm to cross her own arms.

“Belle…” Aden sighed. He had known that she wouldn’t take this lightly. “It’s for your own good.”

“I don’t need protection, Aden. I can look after myself!”

“Look, it’s not for long-”

“Yeah, you got that right.” She retorted. “You’re going to tell her to call him back right now.”

“No, I’m not.” Aden crossed his arms too, now, not wanting to back down from his point this time. “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. Just pick up the phone. That’s all you’ve got to do.” Her words were dangerously calm as her eyes bored into his.

“I’m sorry, Belle. But I’m not going to do it. It’s for your own safety.”

“Aden, I don’t like having someone following me all the time! It’s uncomfortable and invasive!” She admitted, using one hand to brush the hair out of her eyes. “I’m not in any danger. I can be on my own for a while!”

“Actually, yeah, you are.” Aden countered. “Until he’s no longer out there, you will be in danger.”

“He’s not going to do anything!”

“He did once, didn’t he?” Belle pursed her lips, holding back all the things that she had been thinking about throwing at him on the drive over.

“It’s been two days. There’s no sight of him. If he had wanted to do something, he would have.”

“Or maybe he’s just waiting for the right time.” He told her through gritted teeth. Belle could see just how much talking about his father like this was irritating him, and she felt a pang of guilt overcome her.

“Aden, please? Call them off. I’m trying to go about my normal life, and I can’t do that with all this.” Her stance softened a bit, relaxing her arms.

“No.” He simply said in a cold tone.

“He is not dangerous!” Her voice raised in anger at his attempt of ending their conversation.

“How can you say that?” Aden’s eyes snapped up from where they had wandered to the floor. “Look at your arm, Belle. Look at him! He’s in jail for a reason! He is dangerous.”

“This was an accident!” Belle informed him. When she thought about it, the bruise at the back of her head was an accident too. “Aden-”

“You wanna know what gives me the right?” He asked as he cut her off, referring to her original rhetorical question. “I love you, and that’s what gives me a right. I don’t care if there is a next to nothing chance that he might come back here, to you. Because if there’s even the littlest chance, I’m going to do everything that I can to make sure that you’re safe.”

“Aden,” Belle breathed as she took inhaled deeply while moving backwards slightly to lean against the table, taking in what he had just said. If she hadn‘t been so mad, and if the circumstances weren‘t so dire, she would have smiled. “Ok, I get it, but you can’t protect me from everything.”

“I can try.” He shrugged dismissively as she shook her head.

“Even if it means suffocating me? Cos that’s what it feels like right now.”

“If it means you’re safe…” Aden shrugged once again. “You told me not to worry about you when I’m in exams. Well, unless I know for sure that you’re ok, I’m going to worry. And if you’re not with me, then the next best thing are the cops to keep you safe.”

“And what about what I want, Aden?” Belle asked him. Inside, she was truly touched that he was so concerned about her and, weirdly, over protective, but it didn’t stop her from feeling so enclosed and trapped. “I can’t deal with this. I need to be on my own at times!”

“You will be. When he’s back in jail.”

“Oh yeah? And how long will it be until that, exactly?” Her tone had turned hostile now, not liking the fact that he wouldn’t listen to her. When he didn’t reply, she carried on. “Right, cos you don’t know, do you?”

“It’ll be soon.”

“You don’t know that!” Belle argued. “And I’m not going to have someone being my babysitter until then!”

“Belle,” Aden’s voice softened as she grew angrier and angrier. “Just try and understand this from my point of view.”

“I am, but you’re not seeing this from my point of view.” She replied through her teeth. “How would you like it if I made all these decisions for you, Aden?”

“Look,” he reached out for her, but Belle pulled away, stepping out of his personal space as soon as he had entered hers. “Belle, don’t do this.”

“Call them off.” Belle tried to negotiate.

“No.” He whispered, watching her as she sighed heavily before crossing her arms once again. Aden saw her walls go up, defence was her strategy right now, and that meant keeping everyone out. “Belle, let‘s just talk about this.”

“Why? There doesn’t seem like there’s anything to talk about here. All seems one-sided to me.” She said roughly as she neared the door.

“Belle-”

“I don’t want to hear it.” She told him. “I’m going to go before I say something I regret. Oh, and don’t worry; I’ll be with that cop out there. Nothing’s going to happen to me now.”

Aden heard the front door slam shut as he let out a breath, collapsing into a chair at the table. He knew he was doing the right thing, even if she wanted to fight it. He would rather have her hate him right now than to leave her alone somewhere when his dad was out there, roaming around free as anyone else.

Crossing his arms on top of the table, Aden laid his head against them, trying to convince himself what he had been telling himself, and Belle, was true. He barely registered someone locking the front door like they had been instructed to do, or when they joined him in the kitchen.

“Never mind,” An airy voice spoke as he heard the fridge door shut and a hand stroke his hair like a child. “I still love you.”

“I’m not getting you that dress, Nicole.” Aden didn’t even have to bother to look up to know that her face was now screwed up in disgust as she retracted her hand.

“Sheesh. Fine then!”

Sitting up straight as the she retreated upstairs to her room, Aden wondered how he had been made out to be the bad guy to both his girlfriend and his best friend in a matter of an hour.

---

I promise that there'll be some answers in the next chapter. Well, maybe. And I'm not going to say what the answers are about!

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

Thank you, all you guys for being understanding. Hopefully, a day like that never happens ever again! I got home at close to midnight, went straight to bed and had 9 o'clock lectures so back to uni! Should had just slept there!

Anyway, here's a mega-long update. Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 45:

Growling in frustration, Belle slumped back against the head of her bed as she gave up. Nothing was going her way today. First her fight with Aden, then Charlie refusing to tell Angelo to go back, and now she couldn’t even edit pictures properly on her laptop. She didn’t know why; she just couldn’t.

The sound of a door shutting broke Belle out of her self-pity, staying silent to see who it was. It didn’t take long before Angelo had struck up a conversation with Irene, who she had been able to identify with ease.

Sitting in her position for a moment long, Belle debated with herself what to do. Picking up her mobile, her thumb hovered over the button ‘2’, wondering whether Aden would want to speak to her or not. Sighing, she turned the phone over, letting it fall into her lap.

She tilted her head upwards, staring at the ceiling so hard that she was sure, any moment now, she would be able to see through it and see the stars. Smiling, she remembered that one night that her and Aden had gone for a stroll on the beach and he had tried to convince her that he knew the names of the constellations. It had been a hilarious night, laying on the high rocks later on, not getting back until about 3 in the morning.

Making up her mind, Belle jumped up from her bed, switching off her laptop while grabbing her bag and phone.

“Hey, darl. I was just going to come see how you were.” Irene greeted her before seeing the bag slung over shoulder and frowning. “And where do you think you’re going?”

“I was heading over to Aden’s.” Belle replied easily.

“Belle, love. It’s half 9 in the evening. Don’t you think it would be better to leave it until tomorrow?” She asked her, concern colouring her words.

“I can take her.” Angelo offered just as Belle opened her mouth to plead with her. “I was about to head off, so if you want…”

“Yes, thank you!” For the first time all day, she genuinely smiled as she turned back to Irene. “Can I go now?”

“Hmm… alright.” She grumbled. “But be careful!”

“I will. I promise!” Belle called out behind her, halfway out of the door. Things were starting to look up.

---

“What do you want?” Nicole huffed as she opened the door, looking at her with narrowed eyes.

“I want to see Aden.” Belle told her.

“And…?”

“Can I come in?” She asked her in a voice that she reserved for kids. Nicole just glared at her for a second before opening the door wider, allowing her to walk in past her.

“He’s in his room. Being all reclusive.” She said in a monotone while sitting back down to do her nails.

“What’s up with you?” Belle enquired curiously as she placed one foot onto the first stair.

“What makes you think there’s something ‘up’?” The blonde snapped back quickly.

“Ok, then. Forget I said anything.” She shook her head as she continued up the stairs. Turning around the corner that led to the hallway where the bedrooms were, Belle paused. Aden’s room was the last one on the left. Sighing, she walked up to it slowly, knocking on the door with a gentle force.

“Yeah?” There was a bit of scuffling before he had replied and Belle wondered what he was doing. She had spied his books on the table downstairs, which was odd seeing as he had an exam the next morning.

Pressing down on the handle, Belle gently opened the door. She didn’t look up until she shut the door behind her, willing herself to stay and talk this time.

“I didn’t think you’d want to see me tonight.” Aden admitted from where he sat on the floor, leaning back against the side of his bed. Belle didn’t reply, instead crossing her arms loosely as she thought about what to say. She had been so focused on accepting his views that she hadn’t thought about how she was going to talk to him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She reassured him, a soft smile on her face. Aden always tended to jump to the worst conclusions when she stayed silent. “I just wanted to see you. And talk.”

“About?”

“Before.” Belle sighed, walking over to where the chair stood in his room and perching on the back of it so that she could face him. “I shouldn’t have ran out like that.”

“That’s ok.” Aden replied carefully, eyeing her to make sure everything was truly ok. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong? How did you get here?”

“Angelo dropped me off.” She informed him before going silent, which he took as a cue to speak.

“Belle, I know that I was a bit… full on before, but I haven’t, and I’m not going to, change my mind.” He said softly.

“I know. I wasn’t expecting you to.” She fiddled with the pin that secured her bandage around her arm. “But I still don’t like it. It’s like having a constant reminder of what’s out there.”

“Yeah, but look where being ignorant has gotten us.” Aden pointed out as she nodded, acceptingly.

“True.”

“So now what?”

“How about we compromise?” Belle suggest as he raised an eyebrow at her. “I was thinking, that seeing as its Friday tomorrow, that on the weekend, you can tell Charlie to get rid of them.”

“Belle-”

“Hear me out.” She hurriedly interrupted him. When he nodded reluctantly, she carried on. “You said that you only did this so that you don’t have to worry in the exams. Well, you’re not going to have exams then, are you?”

“You know that’s not what I literally meant.” Aden sighed.

“Yeah, so, I’ll spend every second of the day with you, if I have to.” Belle grinned a little. “It’s a win-win situation for the both of us.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be ‘suffocated’ by someone following you all day. No, wait, ‘babysitting’ you.” There was a ghost of a smile on his face now to show that his words weren’t meant to be cruel, just observant and caring.

“I don’t. I would prefer to get own with my own life, but if I have to be around someone at all times, I’d rather it be you than anyone else.” Belle watched as he smiled at her, almost shyly averting his eyes to the floor. “Anyway, I know I’d be safe here with you, and this way I don’t have to worry about you either.”

“Right.” He said, his smile now turning into his typical cheeky, heart melting, grin. “Alright then. But on Monday-”

“We’ll talk about Monday when it gets to Monday.” She cut him off. In her mind, she had already planned out what to say to get him off her back about next week, but she didn’t want to get into that right then and cause another argument that could be avoided if Larry was back in jail by then, like they all hoped.

“Ok.”

“Good.” Belle replied, nodding once before they both fell quiet, just looking at each other. It took a moment for her to tear her eyes away from his and onto the object next to him. She realised that the sound that she had heard before was from him covering up the object with his discarded school shirt. “What were you doing, then?”

“Uh…” Aden glanced sideward’s to where the object laid before looking back at her.

“I mean, I saw your books downstairs, and I just thought that you would be studying… which you’re obviously not.”

“No, I’m not.” He said before smiling and holding out a hand for her. “Come here. I want to show you something.”

Belle pushed herself off the chair, dropping her bag onto the floor before walking over to his cautiously. Taking his hand, she allowed him to pull her into his lap, sitting facing the object next to his bedside table. As she settled, leaning against him lightly, Belle began to recognise what it was that Aden had covered up.

Aden let his left arm weave its way around Belle’s waist, placing his hand on her upper leg to keep her close to him while using the other hand to throw off the shirt of the box, pulling it closer to the both of them.

“This is stuff that belong to my mum. It’s the only things left that ever belong to my mum.” He told her as he tilted the box slightly to rest against his thigh.

“Aden-” Belle began before stopping as he pulled out the picture of his mother that she had seen before .”She’s beautiful.”

“I know.”

“Do you remember her?” She whispered as he replaced the picture back into the box.

“A bit. Just snippets of this and that, you know? Early memories that I don’t know whether they’re real or just dreamt up. I like to think they’re real.” He added at the end, determinedly.

“I’ve, uh-” Belle paused, letting her right hand graze along his left for moment before leaving there. “I’ve got a confession to make.”

“What?” Aden asked her, stopping from rooting through the box to look at her, seeing her bite her bottom lip, looking guilty.

“I kind of found this box before. And I might have snooped and found that picture.” There was a fair tint to her cheeks as she avoided his eyes. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok.” He sighed heavily. “I thought you might have.”

“How so?”

“Well, I didn’t do a good job at replacing it that day when…” He left the sentence unfinished as his eyes bounced around the room and finally back to the box by his side.

“Yeah… But I didn’t see anything else.” Belle hurriedly told him. Aden nodded, bringing out a black pouch from the box. There was a look of slight confusion on his face as he removed his hand from her leg, but still kept his arm wrapped around her, and used both hands to open it up.

From the jingling sound it made, Belle had guessed that it contained jewellery, which was confirmed when Aden tipped out the items into his hands. There were three rings, a plain bracelet and a pair of diamond earrings, all of them gold.

“I don’t know what happened to her wedding ring.” Aden admitted. “I always thought that one of these were it, but they’re not.”

“Maybe your father kept it.” Belle said in a low voice as she used a finger to pushed the jewellery around on his hand. Frowning, she pulled the framed picture back out of the box to compare what Aden’s mother was wearing in there to what he now held. Like she had thought, Aden had a ring that she didn’t have on.

“I think she got that afterwards. Dad must have brought it. See? A ring for each of us.” Aden told her, smiling gently. Belle let out a little laugh; she hadn’t thought of that.

“That’s you.”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“You’re so cute!” Belle skimmed her fingers over the image, as Aden laughed, slightly embarrassed. “I noticed last time… you have your mother’s eyes.”

“Yup. All three of us.” He informed her. “At least I got something from her.”

“Hey,” She gently reprimanded him, carefully placing the photo back. “I’m sure you’re more like your mother than you think.”

“You can’t know that.” Aden murmured while sliding the jewellery back into the pouch and putting it into the box while pulling out another picture, this one not framed.

“Well, I know that you got all this goodness in you from somewhere, and I’m guessing that most of it isn’t from your father, so that only leaves your mother.”

“That’s your logic?” He laughed softly, as she took the photo that he handed to her.

“Yes, and don’t argue with it!”

“Alright, alright.”

“When was this taken?” Belle asked. The woman was the focus of the picture. Actually, she was the only thing in the picture except for the blue skies and the rocks behind her.

“About a couple of months before she died. We were at the beach. Mum always liked taking pictures for the fun of it. Until it got turned on her, of course.”

“Something else you remember or…?”

“Nah, that my brother told me.”

“You guys spoke about her?” She was shocked.

“Only a couple of times. Usually just the off days, like when one of us were extremely upset or something.” He told her .”This was years ago, though.”

Belle merely nodded, watching Aden’s fingers as they played around the image before just dropping his hand onto her leg.

“Where did you get this stuff from?”

“The house. I’ve had it for years.” He shrugged, using his free hand to tucked the hair that fell across her cheek behind her ear. “Just never really looked at it much before.”

They collapsed into another bout of silence as Belle stared at the picture in her hands, while Aden stared at her. She could feel his eyes on her, but didn’t do anything about it until she felt him move slightly. Looking up, she saw him opening the middle drawer of his bedside table, rummaging through it blindly, clearly searching for something.

“What’re you-?” Belle started just as he pulled his hand out, a small rectangular box in his hand. She didn’t finish off her sentence as he closed the drawer and brought the object in his hand closer to them.

“See that necklace?” Aden pointed it out on the photo that she still held.

“Yeah.” Her voice was raspy for some reason unknown to her. The necklace that hung from the woman’s neck was of either silver or white gold, with a small, star shaped, clear crystal pedant.

“Me and my brothers bought it for her the birthday before. We had to beg our dad to give us the money for it.” There was tone of amusement underlying his words. “It was way more than we could afford. But it was for her birthday, and Dad was a decent human being back then, so he gave it to us. I don’t think that she ever took it off after that.”

“I don’t blame her. It’s gorgeous.” Aden didn’t say anything in response to her words, just opened the box to show her what was in it. “You have it.”

“I took this into the city a month ago or so.” He nodded before speaking. “Here.” Carefully, he shifted so that he could hold the box in one hand and pick up the necklace in the other. However, as Aden picked up the pendent with his forefinger and thumb, Belle was surprised to see that it was no longer attached to the chain. From where it laid inside, it seemed as if it had been one item, but now she saw that that wasn’t true. “For you.”

Belle sat in silence as he took her hand and placed it right in the middle of her palm. Slowly, she put the photo down onto her lap, using her other hand to poke the pendent around on her hand. It was the exact same as it was in the picture. If anything, it was even more beautiful. She could see the light glinting off of it, splitting the white light into a set of rainbow colours for a brief moment. It was still in the same precise shape of a true star, and now she could see the just how 3D it was.

But there was one thing about it that was different. Belle guessed that it was why Aden had taken it to the city. The pendent was no longer a pendant. Instead, it now had a hook where the loop for threading the chain through had been before. Now, it was a charm.

“I can’t.” She finally spoke, placing the star back into his hand. “It’s your mother’s.”

“Which is why I want you to have it.”

“But she loved it. I can’t take it. You bought it for her.” Belle shook her head determinedly at him while he smiled at her stubbornness.

“I know she loved it. And I know that she wouldn’t want it to be stuffed in this box for the rest of time, too.” Aden explained to her, holding onto her hand so that he could press it back into her palm. “I want you to have it.”

“Aden-” Belle tried to pull her hand away, but he was too strong for her.

“Belle, I got this made so that I could add it to your bracelet, ok? If you don’t take it, it will just be a waste of my money and time.” He said pointedly, letting her know that there was no space for her to argue with him. Sighing, Belle didn’t accept it, but they both knew that he had won.

“Where is my bracelet, anyway?”

“I’ve still got it. Haven’t had the time to get it fixed yet.” His tone was apologetic and Belle just smiled.

“Don’t worry about it. But you should take this back.” She slid the charm into his hand as he frowned, so she added to reassure him. “Just for now. I don’t want to lose it.”

“Alright.” Aden was placing it back into the jewellery box when he got an idea. Hooking the charm onto the chain, he lifted the whole thing up. “Hold on.”

“What?”

“Wear this for now. Just so I don’t lose it.” When Belle frowned at him, he gave her a sweet smile. “Please? For me?” Sighing, Belle lifted up her hair, allowing him to clasp it around her neck, not being able to resist his pleading and that smile. “Perfect.” He whispered into her ear when he was done before trailing kisses along her jaw to reach her mouth, where she obligatorily turned to kiss him back tenderly.

“You know,” She breathed as they pulled apart after a moment, a hand coming up to touch the crystal charm that now hung an inch below the hollow of her throat, “I was thinking earlier about that night when we were up on those rocks looking at the stars.”

“Really?” Aden laughed lightly as he replaced everything back into the box before shutting the lid to it. “Funny that. That’s where I got the idea for this.”

“Really?” Belle repeated, twisting her whole body towards him and lacing her arms around his shoulders. Aden’s arm from her waist came back a bit, placing the hand on her back as the other came up to her face as she leaned in to claim his lips with her own. It started of sweet and gentle, a kiss filled with love and promise, before it ultimately grew hungrier with time, passion and lust growing between them as they fought to bury the fear they both had somewhere inside of them.

---

“You nervous?” Nicole asked him as he finished off his breakfast.

“Nope.”

“Then why are you doing some last minute revision?”

“Because I want to.” Aden simply said, getting up from the table while closing the English book.

“Maybe if you had studied last night instead of having fun…” Nicole replied in a cool yet suggestive tone that just made him roll his eyes.

“Jealous, are we?” He smirked as he returned to the table, leaning over her shoulder to pick up his book.

“Please. I can have fun whenever I want.” She retorted.

“Hmm… I’m sure you could. With being grounded and everything, I bet you have all sorts of fun!” Aden laughed while stuffing the book into his bag.

“Well, at least I’m not going to be late for my exams.” Her words made him look at his watch, mentally cursing himself when he saw that he had about 7 minutes to get to school.

Picking up his bag, he quickly walked into the living room where most of this school stuff still laid from the previous night. As he continued to place whatever he needed into his bag, Aden gave a glance over his shoulder when he heard Belle walk down, pausing on the bottom stair.

“You’re going to be late.” She informed him.

“I know!” Aden finally zipped up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder as he picked up his keys and mobile. “You’re gonna be ok?”

“I’ll be fine.” Belle said strictly as he headed towards the door. “Aden?” He turned to face her with one hand holding the door open, only to see her with his school tie hanging from one finger.

“Right.” He swiped it off her, letting it hang undone on his upturned collar before pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “Thank you. Love you.”

“You too. Good luck!” Belle just about managed to tell him as he rushed out the door, a smile on her face.

Walking into the kitchen, Belle tried to ignore the stare that she could feel Nicole giving her as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

“What?” She asked her, paranoid, when the blonde’s eyes still remained on her as she leant against the counter, sipping the warm drink. Now that she didn’t need her painkillers, she could have her favourite drink.

“Bet he would buy you a dress.” Belle heard her mumbled as she got up from her seat and crossed her as she dropped her bowl and spoon into the sink before exiting the room, leaving behind one very confused Belle.

---

”I did wonder what that meant.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. She’ll get over it soon.” Aden replied. It was 8 in the evening and after a day of exams and revision, he got his well deserved break and was on the phone to Belle, to whom he was explaining what Nicole had meant by her earlier comment.

”Uh… Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don‘t think she will.” Belle laughed as Aden groaned.

“She’s been giving me the silent treatment for the past 3 hours. Before that it was just one remark after another before Roman told her to shut up.” He informed her with a smirk on his face. “It was quite funny actually.”

”Yeah, I‘m sure.”

“Gee, don’t sound too enthusiastic.” His tone was dry as he rolled his eyes, even if no-one could see it as he sat in his room.

”Sorry, didn‘t realise that it was a big deal.” Belle said sarcastically.

“Alright, alright. What’s up with you?”

”What do you mean? I‘m fine.” Those two last words were almost becoming a mantra for her with the amount of times she had to say it a day nowadays.

“You’re being grouchy.”

”Am not! And even if I was, which I am not, I‘m tired, so leave me alone.” Belle moaned and Aden couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Hey, I got the same amount of sleep as you and I’m good.”

”That‘s cos you went to sleep after you came home from school.” She reminded him, recalling when she had called him earlier only for her to wake him up. She had promptly told him to go back to sleep and hung up, feeling bad.

“So? You could’ve slept all day if you wanted to.” Aden argued.

”Didn‘t I tell you that I was helping out at the Diner today?” She retorted. Irene had called her in after Leah had gotten stuck in traffic as she came back from Yabbie Creek. Apparently there was a road shut or something.

“Oh, yeah. Right.” He said sheepishly. “No need to yell.”

”I wasn‘t yelling.” Belle replied quickly, words still clipped that just made him laugh. He was about to reply when he heard Roman call his name.

“Hold up one second, babe.” Aden spoke into the phone before covering it up as he got off the bed and opened the door. “Yeah?”

“You wanna come down here, mate?” Roman called up the stairs. The words were sombre with an underlying tone of anxiousness. Sighing, he removed his hand from over his phone.

“I’ll have to call you later, yeah? Roman wants to talk.” He told Belle with subtle worry that she picked up on immediately.

”Everything ok?”

“Yeah, of course.” Aden added lightly. “Why don’t you go to sleep? You sound like you could do with some.”

”Thanks, Aden. Exactly what every girl wants to hear.” Her mocking words made him chuckle. ”Ok, you go. Night.”

“Night.” Aden replied, waiting until she hung up a second later before he left his room, tucking his phone deep into his pocket.

Continuing to walk down the hallway, Aden couldn’t help but to pick up on the tension vibrating from downstairs even as he just started on the stairs. As he got halfway, he began to realise why he was able to sense such a mood from so far. There were more people in the front room that he had expected.

“What’s going on?” Aden asked carefully as he got to the bottom, eyes going from Charlie to Jack to Roman and Nicole and finally back to Charlie, who was still in uniform. “Is there something wrong?”

“We’ve got some news about your father, Aden.” She said in a soft voice that gave him a sinking feeling.

“Aden, maybe you should sit down first?” Roman’s words echoed the ones that Angelo had told him when this whole nightmare had began. They might not have been exact but they had the same effect.

“What about my father?” He was getting more agitated with every passing second. Seeing the look that the two cops shared before Charlie gazed over her shoulder to Roman, Aden knew that it wasn’t going to be good at all. “Charlie?”

---

*runs and hides*

Oh, in case anyone's wondering, no that wasn't the present that Aden and Mattie having talkig about. So, I guess not many answers in that chapter. Matbe some in the next! *goes an hides again*

xoxo

[Taniya_K]

I wish I could make this day from Helle better and give you fluff... but I can't.

Anyway, I hope you all like this.

Chapter 46:

“Roman’s right. Aden, sit down for a moment.” Charlie instructed before mending her orders when she saw a glint of anger flicker through in his eyes. “Please?”

When she walked over a couch, sitting down, Aden felt like he had no choice but to do the same. Going to the one by the wall where Nicole sat right at the end, he took his place on the edge of the seat, not looking over at her. There was something about her stillness and steady, shallow breathing that unnerved him.

Roman stood for a moment longer before perching on the arm rest of the couch on the end nearer to Aden rather than his daughter. With only Jack remaining standing, Aden looked at the two police officers pointedly.

“You going to tell me then?” He questioned roughly.

“Aden, did you hear about the road to Yabbie Creek being closed today?” Charlie started off gently. Thinking back, Aden could vaguely remember it being mentioned.

“Yeah, Belle said something about it. Why?” His forehead crinkled in confusion as she took a breath. Jack, taking pity on her although he knew that she would hate it if she found out, answered these more impersonal questions. Charlie had wanted to be the one who told him about his father, but this wasn’t something that extremely mattered.

“We had that road cautioned off while we searched the bush for your father. Like we had been for the past couple of days.” Jack explained.

“’Cautioned off’?” Aden’s eyes bounced from Jack’s to Charlie’s. “I don’t get it.” He said while shaking his head. “Can’t you just get to the point?”

“Aden.” The single word that Roman spoke was filled with warning yet care. “Let them explain.”

“Explain what exactly?” He growled in frustration.

“Just tell him, will you?” Nicole spoke up for the first time, her voice barely there, but still strong and emotional. Aden still didn’t look back at her. “Cos if you don’t, I sure as Hell will.”

“Nicole-” Roman began.

“No, it’s ok.” Charlie interrupted, knowing just how hard it probably was on the young blonde right then. “Aden, we had to caution off that section of the road because we found something. Because we found your father.”

There was moment of silence as her words sunk in to everyone. Aden nodded slowly at first before his mind began to put everything together. Everything that he had been collection information about from the second Roman had called him down, but had left alone, came to him like pieces of a puzzle. Now, he joined them all up. Their tones, their careful words, their posture… it was all pointing to one thing that he finally let himself think about. A second passed between that and before he understood what his mind was telling him.

But he still wasn’t sure. Looking up from where his eyes had averted to the floor by the chair opposite him, he tried to seek denial in someone’s eyes when they all saw that he had finally understood.

“Aden,” Charlie’s voice, once again soft, broke him out of his thoughts before confirming everything his was thinking about. “I’m so sorry, but we found your father’s body.”

“His-” Aden faltered, barely feeling the pressure on his shoulders as both Roman and Nicole placed a hand on him to give him their support. Slowly, he was able to control his hands, curling one into a tight fist while the other ran through his hair as he contemplated what this all meant. He knew that it sounded stupid, but he really needed to hear someone say it. “He’s… dead?”

“I’m sorry.” Charlie repeated.

“How?” He rasped out, doing everything he could to keep all his emotions on the inside. Aden knew that they saw through his icy exterior, especially as Roman squeezed his shoulder.

“I don’t think that’s import-”

“I want to know.” He cut her off gruffly. There was no conflict in his words, just determinism.

“We’re not entirely sure at the moment.” Jack spoke up as he saw Charlie hesitate. “A full post-mortem will let us know.”

“When?”

“When…?” Jack was confused by his single word question.

“…will you know?” Aden finished the sentence off.

“About a day or so.” Swallowing, he nodded at Jack’s words as they all fell into silence. Too caught up in his thoughts, Aden could vaguely hear Jack saying that he was leaving and apologizing to him. He didn’t care for empty words, to be honest, as he thought everything over.

“Aden?” Nicole said quietly and cautiously. Her hand had slipped down to his upper arm whereas Roman’s had be removed altogether as he had stood up to shut the door behind Jack.

Aden sat, elbows on his legs as he still sat on the edge of the sofa, eyes stuck onto a point on the carpet than no-one else could see. There was nothing going through his head. It was either that or everything.

“Aden.” Roman’s more stronger voice broke him out of it as he blinked, breaking the state of mindlessness that he had created along with it. The thoughts were back now. The emotions and the confusion joining it.

Standing up abruptly, he brushed aside Nicole’s worried murmur of his name whilst trying to ignore everyone’s sympathetic looks. He made a bee line to the door, only stopping with the door already open when Roman told him to just wait a minute.

“I can’t- I just-” With so much whirling around in his mind, he couldn’t even string one line together. Put that with the many emotions threatening to burst at the first mention of it, Aden couldn’t say another word as he shook his head and left, letting the door slam behind him.

“Dad…” Nicole was the first to speak after he left the three of them. “Now what?”

“Hey.” Roman immediately moved to his daughter’s side, seeing how she was about to lose her battle to hold back her tears. He knew that they were more for Aden rather than Larry. Over the past year, they two of them had become so close, almost like siblings, and even if she didn’t show it, Roman knew that his daughter cared tremendously for Aden. “He just needs some space right now.”

“But shouldn’t we do something? I mean, he just found out his dad’s died. I don’t think he’s gonna be thinking straight right now.” Nicole’s rarely shown words of wisdom gave him a warm feeling.

“Aden will only pull further away, Nic. We’ve just got to respect his wishes for now.”

“How long’s, ‘for now’?”

“Let’s give him an hour or so.” Roman told her, thinking that it would be enough time for Aden to sort through stuff, yet not do anything stupid.

“We should let Belle know.” She sniffed, sitting up straighter. “He might be heading over there, anyway.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Roman replied, distractedly as he turned to Charlie. Deep down, he knew that Aden was certainly not heading to over to the beach house, not if he wanted to be alone. “Does Belle know?”

“Not yet.” She shook her head, sighing. “We were hoping that she would be here. But Jack should have headed over there by now…” Charlie trailed off as she stood up, knowing that they both go what she was trying to say and decided that that was a good as time as any to leave father and daughter be for the moment. Giving Roman a small smile, she headed upstairs.

“Poor Aden.” Nicole murmured as she rested her head on Roman’s shoulder. Although they hadn’t had the best start to their relationship, Nicole now felt as if her father really was her father, even making up for the 16 years of the non-existent father role he played. A year ago, if she had been in Aden’s place and someone had told her that, she would probably have just felt bad for herself. But now… she couldn’t even fathom it. Her world would probably fall apart without her dad, she realised.

The shrill ringing of the phone broke her out of her dark thoughts, pushing herself away from Roman as they looked at each other. Closest to the phone that lay on the arm rest as she had been using it before Charlie had came home, Nicole answered it.

“Hello?” Her voice was hoarse as she cleared it quickly, Roman getting up to head into the kitchen.

”Nicole, where‘s Aden?” An anxious voice came through and there was no doubt in her mind that Belle now knew. ”He‘s not answering his mobile.”

“We don’t know.” Nicole told her tonelessly.

”What do you mean-?”

“He just left, ok?” She snapped down the phone at her angry tone. She didn’t know why she had become so defensive, and when she heard Belle sigh heavily, guilt washed over her. After all, she had just found out that her boyfriend’s father had passed away; of course she was going to be frantic when she couldn’t find him. “Sorry. But we don’t know. Dad said to let him think for an hour or something.”

”How was he?”

“Emotionless. What else would you expect from him?” Nicole asked her rhetorically before another thought came to mind. Leaning forward carefully, she saw that Roman was out of earshot, but still lowered her voice as she spoke to be on the safe side. “Belle, you don’t think he would do something… stupid, do you?”

”I don‘t know, Nic.” Belle said tiredly. ”I honestly don‘t know. Which is why I want to find him.”

“He might be heading over there.” She suggested, hopefully.

”Yeah, maybe.” The tone of her voice told the younger teen that she didn’t really believe that at all. ”Listen, I‘m going to try calling him again. Let me know about… anything.”

“Sure.” Nicole responded before hanging up on her and slumping back against the sofa, just as her father returned with two mugs of steaming liquid, which, seeing as it was now past half 8 in the evening, she assumed to be hot chocolate. “Belle knows.”

“Has she heard from Aden?” He hurriedly asked her.

“Nope.”

“Look, if he’s not back by 9:30, then we’ll go and make sure he’s ok.” Roman tried to reassure his daughter.

“How do we do that if we don’t know where he is?” Nicole retorted, gulping down a mouthful of the boiling liquid, not caring that it burnt everything it passed over until it reached her stomach.

“Don’t worry.” He replied, determinedly. “We’ll find him.”

---

She had been everywhere that she could think of that Aden might go. The beach, the pier, the Surf Club and the Diner. She had even gone to the old house, disappointed that her assumptions had been wrong.

“Nothing, love?” Irene asked her as she walked into the kitchen, shaking her head. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

“His father just died. I doubt he’s ‘fine’, Irene.” Belle replied irritably, leaning against the counter as the elder woman finished off the drying. Sighing, she rubbed her forehead with her left hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.”

“Don’t worry about it, darl.” Irene told her easily. “Listen, maybe you’d be better off waiting for him to contact you.”

“I can’t not do anything.” She said hastily. “It’s been over an hour.”

“He probably just wants to be alone.” Irene tried to reason, but Belle still called his mobile from hers.

“I don’t care.” Bringing her phone down again as it went straight to voice mail, Belle resisted the urge to throw it to the floor. “I just want to see how he is. If he still wants to be alone after that, I’ll leave him alone.”

“If he’s trying this hard not to be found-” Irene never got to finish her sentence as Belle’s phone rang in her hand. Her excitement deteriorated when she saw that it was just Roman’s landline, although she still hoped for good news.

“Hello?”

”Belle, have you heard from Aden yet?” Nicole got straight to the point, not that she was complaining.

“No. I’m guessing he isn’t at home either.” She exhaled deeply as the last of her hope vanished.

”Nope. It‘s been an hour though, so Dad and I are going to go out and see if we can find him.” The blonde informed her. Her words were soft and caring that Belle found it hard to believe that it was the same girl who had been in the kitchen that morning staring at her.

“I just came back.” Belle quickly said. “The beach, Diner, pier… he wasn’t there.”

”He might be now.”

“I doubt it.” She scoffed.

”Well, I‘m going to go anyway.” Nicole snapped. ”You can sit at home and wait if you wish, but I‘m going to go make sure that he‘s ok.” Belle could just about hear Roman reprimanding her for being so sharp before she hung up.

“Well, screw you, too.” She mumbled as while replacing her phone into her pocket, looking up to see Irene’s disapproving look. “What?”

“She’s only trying to help.”

“She doesn’t have to act like a cow about it.”

“Belle!” Irene sighed exasperatedly, giving her a pointed look.

“Ok, sorry, that was rude. I know Nicole cares. I’m just worried.” All her anger at the younger teenager had disappeared already. She knew that it was only her displacing her own anger at herself for not being to find Aden onto her.

“Worried about what?” The two ladies in the kitchen turned around immediately to see Annie and Geoff waking through the front doors and towards them. Belle and Irene both shared a look that the other two didn’t miss. They were both protective of the younger ones in their family; Irene as a mother and Belle as a sister. Neither one of them wanted to talk to them about something as depressing as death, but they didn’t want to lie either.

Taking a breath, Belle glanced at Irene once again, who just smiled softly telling her that it was her choice. Of course, it wasn’t her secret to tell, but Belle had a feeling that Larry’s death would be gossip around the town by daybreak the next morning and that these two should hear it from home first. Plus, she was sure that Aden wouldn’t mind. At least, she hoped she was right thinking that.

“Um… you know how the road to Yabbie Creek was closed off for a bit today?” When they both nodded, she continued. “The police had it shut off because they found Larry.”

“They did?” Geoff questioned in shock. “That’s good though, isn’t it?”

“No.” Belle corrected him as he frowned. “They found his body.”

“Oh.” He said simply in return, not knowing what else there was to say.

“How’s Aden?” Annie piped up for the first time since walking in through the door, sitting down at one of the stools facing her elder foster sister.

“I dunno. We haven’t been able to find him since he was told.” Belle shrugged, leaning heavily against the counter in front of her.

“It can’t be easy for him, even if he and his father-” Geoff stopped suddenly, knowing that the last thing to be doing right then is digging up the past. “You can’t find him?” He asked instead, hoping to cover up his mistake.

“Nope. And I’m running out of ideas as to where to look.”

“Where have you been?” Belle listed the places that she had visited in a worn out voice. She had already been tired to begin with. Her eyes flickered to Annie as she spoke. She seemed to be in deep thought, watching her fingers and Belle guessed that she was silently taking in the information that she had just been told.

“That’s all the places that I could think of. Nicole and Roman are out there too, but I doubt that they’ll find him.” Inside of her, there was something nagging her, telling her that maybe Irene was right and it would be better to leave him alone right then, scared that if they did find him, he would pull away more. But the other part of her, the bigger, louder part, told her that Aden had a reputation of doing stupid things when he something bad happened, and she just wanted to make sure he was ok.

“Actually,” Annie’s quiet voice broke her out of her thoughts. “There might be somewhere that you haven’t looked.”

---

It was calming, he decided. The sea was calming. It took away his problems and brought peace. There was rhythm to the waves, to the water. The tide was constantly low, but the full moon bounced off of it and he could see the water as it inched closer before retreating.

Aden kept staring ahead, matching his breathing with the water’s flow. There were no other sounds around, or at least, he couldn’t hear anything. The quietness gave him the perfect opportunity to think and sort everything out in his head, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to think about it. To even start to make sense of it.

Hearing Charlie’s words in his head, even his own, Aden listened harder to the water, closing his eyes to do so. A big mistake, he found out, as memories and images of the past crept up behind his eyes.

Eyes snapping open, Aden realised that he had lost his synchronisation with the water. He tried again to get it back, hands coiling up as they hung off his legs which were brought up to his chest, but to no avail. It was lost now as the images burnt his eyes, the darkness of the night making them so much more visible.

Losing the water to focus on, Aden searched for something else, anything else to put his mind to. A busy mind would stop him from thinking. A busy mind would take him away. But the reason why he had came here was now his enemy. He had wanted the quietness, but now it drove him crazy. He had wanted the isolation from the world, but now there was nothing to take him away from his mind. He had wanted to sort through his thoughts, but now they confused him even more. He had wanted to find closure, but like everything else, it wasn’t going that way.

Sighing, Aden took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he held it. His lungs started to burn, making him feel more alive than anything else around. It was only when he forced himself to see the ocean in his mind that he breathed out, once again getting that synchronisation perfect with the waves.

The sea was calming, he reminded himself as more and more walls went up inside his head, blocking everything to do with his past and shoving it into a corner to stop it from rearing its ugly head again. He was calm.

---

“There.” Belle’s word was a sigh of relief as she and Geoff approached the rocks that Annie had told them about.

“Should we go over?” He asked her, whispering in the dark. The area they were in was really quiet and almost eerie.

“No.” She replied, never tearing her eyes away from the boy who sat alone on the beach. They had followed Annie‘s directions to this spot. Belle got the feeling that she was going to be in trouble once her big brother got home and realised where she had ran off to all those weeks back, and just how dangerous the area look. “I’ll go. You go home and let Roman know we found him.”

“Belle-”

“Don’t argue with me on this, Geoff.” She told him in a strict voice, before turning to look at him and softening her tone a bit. “Look, I know Aden, and trust me when I say that seeing you will not be a help to anyone.”

“I don’t want to leave you alone here at this time of the night.” He informed her, crossing his arms to show that he was being serious. Belle was touched by his protectiveness, but with everything that was going on, she couldn’t smile or mock him,

“I’ll be ok. I’m not alone.” She tilted her head in the direction to where Aden sat.

“And if he decides he wants to be alone?”

“Then I’ll call.” Belle rolled her eyes, glad that she had looked away before doing so. “You should go and let them know. Otherwise they’ll just worry.” Geoff reluctantly nodded just as she turned and headed down a nearby path towards the sand.

In the night, the sand that washed over her feet as they dug themselves into the ground was cooler than she liked. Trudging her way closer, Belle started to slow down. What was she supposed to say? Or do? What if he really didn’t want her there? Does she leave? Or should she stay just in case he’s saying it to push her out? Questions went around her head as she got nearer and nearer.

When she was almost directly behind him, although many feet away, Belle paused. His posture was one of defence; keeping everyone else out. Irene’s words came back to her, and she realised just how quiet this place was. It was the perfect place to get away and stay away from people. Not to go to and wait for someone to come after them. That was what the main part of the beach was for, or the pier, or any other part of the town.

Sighing, Belle pushed all that to the back of her mind. One hand coming up to touch the pendent that still hung from her neck, she made her way towards her boyfriend. Coming up right beside him, Belle sat down, staring out at the sea just like he did. She copied his posture; legs pulled up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them instead of letting them hang off the top of her knees.

She continued to look at the sea, but her senses were all focused on Aden. There was about an inch between the two of them, and she could feel the heat radiating off him. She could smell his scent, giving her that warmth and security that she prayed he was gaining from her right then. She could hear his breathing, slowing down with time, she realised, to match hers.

They stayed like that for a while. Belle glanced at her watch subtly every now and again along with tilting her head to look at him. She had tried to survey his feelings and thoughts, but his jaw was tight and his eyes were steely. There were no tears on his face or in threatening to fall, and Belle guessed that he was far away from this beach.

“Do you want to talk?” She finally asked him, voice hushed. It started off weak but became confident towards the end. Waiting for his answer, Belle watched him carefully.

“No.” He replied. One simple word with no emotion or tone. It was just a word. His lips had barely moved, she saw, as she turned away from him, facing the water once again. A sinking feeling wash over her as she spoke again.

“Do you want me to leave?” Her words were soft to show no pressure, but as she saw him swallow out of the corner of her eye, fear overcame her. Aden blinked a couple of times, and she heard him take in a raspy breath as he gently shook his head.

“No.”

---

H&A_Diehard and Beate, you were both right.

Sam27#, I wanted to get this done in 50 chapters, but I don't know if I'll make it. I will try to get it done in 50, but if not then maybe about 55?

Hope you enjoyed it.

xoxo