Releasing a deep breath to calm himself, Shawn ran his fingers over the
soft velvet box that rested in his coat pocket. Anticipation filled him
each and every time he thought about making his lovely girlfriend Belle
Black his lifelong wife.
As he surveyed his apartment and the romantic decorations that filled it, Shawn felt a warm smile engulf his face. After all the time he had spent finding a ring, practicing his proposal, and adding romantic touches to the decor, it was finally time to ask Belle the question he had wanted to ask her for a lifetime.
Glancing at his wristwatch, Shawn realized that he still had ten minutes before Belle was scheduled to arrive. Of course, Shawn understood that meant he had fifteen minutes before his perfect girl actually showed up at the apartment.
Sitting down on the couch, Shawn allowed his body to relax and his mind to drift. It seemed that it had taken a lifetime to actually get to this part of the journey. And, what a journey it had been.
The drama known as Shawn and Belle's romance began when they were children and had proven to be timeless. Through countless obstacles and dilemmas, their love had not only survived, but triumphed.
There had been the painful mess involving John and Hope's affair. That had surely dented Shawn and Belle's relationship, but it had not even come close to causing any permanent damage. However, Shawn's misguided attempt to help Jan and her baby was another story.
Even years after the messy affair, Shawn felt himself sickened with regret by his own gentlemanly actions. He thanked God every day that Belle had eventually learned the truth and forgiven him for lying to her about being the father of Jan's child.
College had proven to be a new and better chapter in the happy couple's book of romance. After a great amount of deliberation, Shawn and Belle had both decided to attend Salem University with Jason, Mimi, Philip, and Chloe.
Freshman year had gone amazingly well for the gang. Well, other than that incident involving Mimi backing into Jason's brand new car. Of course, that was merely the beginning of another Salem romance that's another story entirely.
During that first year of college, Shawn and Belle would often double date with Philip and Chloe. It was an idyllic arrangement for all involved. It provided the four young adults with the perfect blend of romance and friendship.
By the end of their sophomore year, things were changing for Shawn and Belle's friends. Jason and Mimi were beginning to have some sort of odd romantic relationship while Philip and Chloe's fell apart once again. Yet, Shawn and Belle remained as in love as ever.
It was that same year that Shawn and Brady had the ingenious idea of getting an apartment together. The first time Belle came over to visit, Shawn realized that things were going to be just a little more complicated than expected. Somehow, he had failed to think about Brady's response to Belle having an overnight visit.
The next year, just a few months before Philip left for London, Shawn and Belle took their first official vacation alone as a couple. It was late March when Shawn and Belle boarded that plane to the Big Apple.
There was not a moment of that trip that Shawn could ever forget. From the way Belle's hair blew in the cool spring wind as they stood atop the Empire State Building to the feel of her skin as they made love in their expensive hotel room.
It had truly been the spring break to end all spring breaks.
Time had flown by as the friends went through their senior year of college. To Shawn's relief, Brady made new living arrangements - he moved into a studio apartment with Chloe.
Now, graduation had passed and Shawn knew that it was finally time to take the proverbial plunge. He was going to propose to Belle.
Shawn jumped as he heard a light knock on the door. He carefully straightened the jacket of his tuxedo as he approached the door to grant his guest entrance. His heart fluttered uncontrollably as he opened the door and found Belle standing in the hallway.
Covering her creamy skin was a pale blue spaghetti strap gown. Her hair was loosely piled atop her head, and Shawn found himself with the desire to remove the pins in her blonde locks so her hair could fall around her eternally beautiful face.
Still standing in the hallway, Belle said, "When you called you only said that I needed to dress formally for dinner. So, Shawn-Douglas Brady, where are you taking me?"
Shawn gave his girlfriend a sly smile and replied, "My apartment." Opening the door wider to reveal the candlelit table, Shawn added, "Please, enter."
With a faint blush appearing on her cheeks, Belle entered the apartment and felt her eyes mist as she took in all the beautiful and romantic decorations. Her voice erupting in a tender whisper, she said, "Oh, Shawn. I can't believe you did all this."
Wrapping his arms around Belle's waist, Shawn replied, "I'd do anything for you, Belle. You should know that."
Belle leaned against Shawn's firm body and answered, "I do know that, Shawn. I do."
Taking hold of Belle's delicate hand, Shawn led her to the table and sweetly pulled her chair out for her. After making certain that his beloved was comfortable in her seat, Shawn walked around the table and sat down across from Belle.
The couple had hardly started eating their delicious meal when there was a loud knock on the door. Offering Belle a smile, Shawn whispered, "I'm sure whoever it is will go away if we just keep quiet."
As though to purposely contradict Shawn, the person outside the door bellowed, "Come on, Shawn. I know you're in there. Just open up!"
For a brief moment, Shawn considered ignoring Jason's yelling. However, he knew that his friend would merely stand in the hall screaming until the door was opened. Shawn only hoped he could quickly get rid of Jason so he could get through dinner and finally propose to the love of his life.
Shawn offered Belle a weak smile before rising from his chair and approaching the door where the knocking continued to originate. Swinging the door open, Shawn hurriedly said, "Not now, Jase. Whatever it is will have to wait."
As Shawn began to shut the door, Jason quickly raised his hand and forced the door to stay open. His eyes holding true twinges of panic, Jason responded, "It's an emergency, Shawn."
With an immense amount of reluctance, Shawn stepped aside and let Jason enter the apartment. His pal began to immediately pace around the couch after giving Belle a quick wave. Watching Jason's nervous behavior, Shawn could only wonder what had happened to upset his normally self-assured friend.
Still seated at the table, Belle asked, "Jason, do you want to tell us what happened?"
"What happened?" Jason echoed. "This is what happened," he continued as he displayed a simple toothbrush.
Shawn and Belle exchanged a baffled look as Jason began to once again pace around the room, waving the blue and white toothbrush the entire time.
Positioning himself in front of Jason so he would be forced to stop pacing, Shawn stated, "You said you had an emergency. I fail to see how some toothbrush counts as an emergency."
Jason glared at his friend as though he were ridiculously stupid and inept as he replied, "I found it in my bathroom!"
Shawn gave a mock gasp before sarcastically responding, "Oh, no! There was a toothbrush in your bathroom! Yes, Jason, that's definitely an emergency."
Rolling his green eyes, Jason loudly grumbled, "It's not my toothbrush - it's Mimi's!"
While Belle used her hand to muffle her own laughter, Shawn patted his friend's shoulder and said, "I'm sure you'll survive, Jason."
"No, Shawn, you don't understand! I'm not like you! I can't handle a commitment like this!"
"It's a toothbrush!" Shawn exclaimed as he yearned to be alone with Belle once more.
"Oh, sure, it's starts out with a toothbrush. But, I'm telling you, this is only the beginning. Soon, she'll start leaving other stuff at my place. Oh, I can see it now. It won't be long before she's clearing out half the closet for her own clothes, moving in that fish tank of hers, and filling my bathroom cabinets with all that girly bathroom junk. I can already feel the noose of commitment choking me!"
Shawn threw his hands in the air and exclaimed, "Enough! Would you just get over it, please?" Forcefully pulling Jason to the door, Shawn opened it and gave Jason a friendly shove out of the apartment. "We'll talk about it tomorrow, Masters."
Shutting the door on Jason's agape mouth, Shawn smoothly asked his girlfriend, "Now, where were we?"
The rest of the meal progressed quite nicely as Shawn and Belle enjoyed one another's pleasant company in the soft candlelight.
Discreetly placing his hand in his inner jacket pocket, Shawn closed his fingers around the velvet box that housed Belle's engagement ring. Feeling more nervous than he had anticipated, Shawn struggled to recall all the sweet words he had planned to use while giving his heartfelt proposal.
All moisture vanished from Shawn's lips as the moment of action drew near. Never in his life had he been so anxious to ask a question.
After taking a deep breath, he began, "Belle, I've . . . well, um, you know that I've always loved you - only you."
"I know that, Shawn. And, I feel the exact same way about you," responded Belle as Shawn wrapped his hand around hers. Her eyes kept darting to where Shawn's hand lay hidden in his jacket pocket. Belle said a silent prayer that she was correct and that her boyfriend would momentarily be offering her the title of Mrs. Shawn Brady.
"Anyway," Shawn began once more as his words continued to evade him. "I never want you to doubt my love and that it will last forever - that we will always be together. And . . . well, you see, that's sorta why I invited you over here tonight . . . "
"Yes, Shawn?"Belle softly prompted as her heart fluttered with anticipation.
"Belle Black . . ."
Shawn stopped speaking as the front door of the apartment was unexpectedly flung open. He remained seated and watched with shock and horror as a familiar blonde male used his foot to hold the door open while carrying a huge cardboard box in his arms.
Quickly crossing the room, the man tossed the box onto the sofa. When he turned around, he first noticed Belle and the romantic dinner. He casually asked, "I'm not interrupting or anything, am I?"
Shawn completely ignored the stupid question and responded, "Brady, what are you doing here? And, why did you bring that box of stuff with you?"
"Come on, Shawn. You can't expect me to move back in without bringing all my stuff home with me."
"Move back in?" Shawn echoed with a wrinkled brow.
"Yep," declared Brady with a grin. "Welcome me home, because we are gonna be roomies again."
Hurriedly moving from her seat at the table to her brother's side, Belle asked, "Brady, why would you be moving? What happened?"
Brady gave his younger sister a reassuring smile and replied, "Tink, don't worry about it. I promise that things aren't as bad as you're probably imagining."
"So something did happen?" Belle wondered aloud.
Knowing that it was only a matter of time before Belle learned what had happened, Brady answered, "Chloe and I broke up."
Almost instantly, Belle was throwing her arms around Brady as a sign of support. Brady could only chuckle as Belle began, "Oh, Brady, I'm so sorry. I know that you're in so much . . . Brady, why are you laughing?"
"Because, you my sweet sister, are overreacting."
Shawn's curiosity reaching it's peak, he asked, "Brady, would you mind explaining why exactly you and Chloe broke up and why you're not a little more upset.?"
"I'm not upset because I didn't lose Chloe, not really. It took us a while, but we finally realized that we were the world's greatest friends. However, we really suck at the whole relationship thing. As for the exact reason why we broke up, it's simple - Chloe has no taste."
Her face a mask of perplexity, Belle questioned, "Huh?"
"For some unknown reason, Chloe wanted us to put green towels in the bathroom. Can you believe it? Green towels? It's a bathroom, not a forest. Next thing you know, she'd be wanting to add Jungle Book character wallpaper. She just couldn't see that I was right and that the bathroom towels should be blue. You know, water, blue, they go together."
Shawn found himself unable to think of a suitable response. Asking the one question that had flown to the front of his mind, he responded, "Brady, you don't really think your relationship with Chloe is over because of a couple of towels, do you?"
"It wasn't really about the towels, Shawn. It was about Chloe and me both needing an excuse to state the things we've been thinking for a while now. The problem is that we get along and agree too much to usually get into an argument. So, when the towel situation arose, we both used it as our chance to clear the air. I love Chloe, but she and I just aren't meant to be together in some romantic way. I see that now."
Frustration took control of Shawn as he rubbed his hands over his face and attempted to think of any way to quickly get rid of Brady so he could propose to Belle. It seemed as if everyone else and their problems were becoming an unforeseen obstacle that Shawn truly didn't want to deal with. All he wanted was to hear Belle accept his proposal.
Just as Shawn was about to spill out an excuse to get rid of Brady, there was a soft knock at the door. Moaning rather loudly, Shawn answered the door.
"Chloe?"
"Hey, Shawn," greeted the brunette as she entered the apartment with a cardboard box. "Hi, Belle." Dropping the box next to the other one on the couch, Chloe said, "Here you go, Brady. If you want, I can help you bring the rest of your stuff over tomorrow."
"Sound great," replied Brady.
Meanwhile, Shawn and Belle could only stare at the couple with an odd fascination. Shawn was incredibly grateful that he and Belle had a relationship with more normalcy than the relationships of their closest pals.
Hoping to rid himself of both Brady and Chloe at the same time, Shawn suggested, "I bet the two of you still have a lot of things to settle. Belle and I would completely understand if you wanted to go grab dinner somewhere and resolve things."
"Actually," Chloe answered, "Brady and I have already settled things. There honestly isn't anything that needs to be resolved."
As if life was purposely trying to frustrate Shawn, a loud knock on the door boomed. Almost to the point of wanting to strangle someone, Shawn stalked across the room, flung open the door, and loudly demanded, "What?"
Barging into the apartment, Jason answered, "I was almost . . . what's she doing here?"
Chloe glared unhappily at Jason and responded, "Hello to you, too."
Shawn reached out and grabbed Jason's shoulder. Turning his pal to face him, Shawn grouchily demanded, "Ignore her and just finish whatever you were going to say."
Jason tossed Chloe a quick dirty look before saying, "Fine. I was almost back to my apartment when I realized that I couldn't go back yet. I mean, how am I suppose to face Mimi after I found her toothbrush in my bathroom? How do you act after something that huge happens?"
Adding her own two cents to the conversation, Chloe remarked, "I don't exactly see anything huge about a toothbrush, Jason."
"That's what I said," grumbled Shawn while Jason and Chloe yet again tossed one another dirty looks.
Belle, the group's eternal voice of reason, suggested, "Jason, maybe you should just let the toothbrush thing go and not make a big deal out of it. I'm sure Mimi wouldn't want you worrying yourself over it."
"Belle's right," added Brady. "You should just return the toothbrush to your bathroom and not get bothered by it. After all, it's not like Mimi's trying to propose to you by leaving a toothbrush at your place."
At the mention of a proposal, Shawn grumpily threw himself onto the couch. Leaning over to his left, he rested his head atop one of the cardboard boxes. Though he loved his friends dearly, he just wanted them to leave.
"How could I not be bothered?" Jason bellowed. "You guys might not believe me, but I'm telling you that this is just the beginning of the end. It won't be long before Mimi and I turn into a couple of sappy losers like the two of you, Belle."
Belle did her best to not be offended by Jason's comment. However, she didn't exactly enjoy being referred to as a loser.
Smirking almost evilly, Chloe commented, "Actually, Jason, I can't wait for the day when you are ready to commit to Mimi. Because, by then, she's probably going to be so tired of you. And, I really, really hope that she makes it hard for you. To be honest, if I can ever find a way to really make you work for her love, I'll do it. After being such a wimp about committing to someone you say you love, you deserve a little punishment."
"Whatever, Chloe. You may be spewing that crap about my future, but if I looked into a crystal ball, I doubt I'd see you fulfilling your dreams - especially the one about singing at the Met. In fact, I bet you'll end up working as a showgirl at some tacky Vegas casino."
"There's no way I'll ever end up in Vegas, not for employment or any other reason."
While Jason and Chloe threw themselves into another argument over practically nothing and Brady refereed, Shawn rose from the couch and grabbed Belle's hand. He placed his finger over her lips to indicate a request for silence.
Carefully stealing a flower from the table's vase, Shawn silently led Belle out of the apartment.
As Shawn led her up the stairs that led to the roof, Belle asked, "Shawn, what are you doing?"
"Getting away from the three stooges so I can have a few minutes alone with you."
"On the roof?"
Shawn laughed weakly and answered, "Yes, Belle, on the roof."
Reaching the top of the stairs, Shawn threw open the door and led his girlfriend out onto the roof. He slowly led her closer to the edge so they could have a breathtaking view of the city lights. Handing Belle the pink carnation, Shawn softly said, "This wasn't exactly the way I had planned for tonight to go, but I should have known that life would interfere with my plans."
Belle reached up and gently brushed her hand along Shawn's strong jaw line. "Shawn, I love you, and a few friends interrupting a dinner won't change that."
"I know, Belle, but I really wanted tonight to be special." Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Shawn continued, "I sorta had something planned, but I really didn't want to have Brady, Chloe, and Jason being a part of it."
"A part of what?"
"This," responded Shawn as he dropped down on one knee and pulled the velvet box from his inner jacket pocket. Popping open the top to reveal a dazzling ring, Shawn asked, "Belle Black. I've loved you since the beginning of time and I want to have you by my side for the rest of time. Will you marry me?"
For a few seconds, Belle honestly forgot to breathe. Her eyes were focused uncontrollably on the engagement ring Shawn was offering. Lifting her eyes from the beautiful diamond, Belle looked at Shawn and squealed with delight, "Yes! Yes, Shawn Brady, I'll marry you!"
The moment Shawn slipped the ring onto her finger, Belle threw her arms around his neck and began to laugh and scream with joy. As the stars twinkled just for them, Belle and Shawn stood alone on the enchanting rooftop and simply reveled in their timeless love.
As he surveyed his apartment and the romantic decorations that filled it, Shawn felt a warm smile engulf his face. After all the time he had spent finding a ring, practicing his proposal, and adding romantic touches to the decor, it was finally time to ask Belle the question he had wanted to ask her for a lifetime.
Glancing at his wristwatch, Shawn realized that he still had ten minutes before Belle was scheduled to arrive. Of course, Shawn understood that meant he had fifteen minutes before his perfect girl actually showed up at the apartment.
Sitting down on the couch, Shawn allowed his body to relax and his mind to drift. It seemed that it had taken a lifetime to actually get to this part of the journey. And, what a journey it had been.
The drama known as Shawn and Belle's romance began when they were children and had proven to be timeless. Through countless obstacles and dilemmas, their love had not only survived, but triumphed.
There had been the painful mess involving John and Hope's affair. That had surely dented Shawn and Belle's relationship, but it had not even come close to causing any permanent damage. However, Shawn's misguided attempt to help Jan and her baby was another story.
Even years after the messy affair, Shawn felt himself sickened with regret by his own gentlemanly actions. He thanked God every day that Belle had eventually learned the truth and forgiven him for lying to her about being the father of Jan's child.
College had proven to be a new and better chapter in the happy couple's book of romance. After a great amount of deliberation, Shawn and Belle had both decided to attend Salem University with Jason, Mimi, Philip, and Chloe.
Freshman year had gone amazingly well for the gang. Well, other than that incident involving Mimi backing into Jason's brand new car. Of course, that was merely the beginning of another Salem romance that's another story entirely.
During that first year of college, Shawn and Belle would often double date with Philip and Chloe. It was an idyllic arrangement for all involved. It provided the four young adults with the perfect blend of romance and friendship.
By the end of their sophomore year, things were changing for Shawn and Belle's friends. Jason and Mimi were beginning to have some sort of odd romantic relationship while Philip and Chloe's fell apart once again. Yet, Shawn and Belle remained as in love as ever.
It was that same year that Shawn and Brady had the ingenious idea of getting an apartment together. The first time Belle came over to visit, Shawn realized that things were going to be just a little more complicated than expected. Somehow, he had failed to think about Brady's response to Belle having an overnight visit.
The next year, just a few months before Philip left for London, Shawn and Belle took their first official vacation alone as a couple. It was late March when Shawn and Belle boarded that plane to the Big Apple.
There was not a moment of that trip that Shawn could ever forget. From the way Belle's hair blew in the cool spring wind as they stood atop the Empire State Building to the feel of her skin as they made love in their expensive hotel room.
It had truly been the spring break to end all spring breaks.
Time had flown by as the friends went through their senior year of college. To Shawn's relief, Brady made new living arrangements - he moved into a studio apartment with Chloe.
Now, graduation had passed and Shawn knew that it was finally time to take the proverbial plunge. He was going to propose to Belle.
Shawn jumped as he heard a light knock on the door. He carefully straightened the jacket of his tuxedo as he approached the door to grant his guest entrance. His heart fluttered uncontrollably as he opened the door and found Belle standing in the hallway.
Covering her creamy skin was a pale blue spaghetti strap gown. Her hair was loosely piled atop her head, and Shawn found himself with the desire to remove the pins in her blonde locks so her hair could fall around her eternally beautiful face.
Still standing in the hallway, Belle said, "When you called you only said that I needed to dress formally for dinner. So, Shawn-Douglas Brady, where are you taking me?"
Shawn gave his girlfriend a sly smile and replied, "My apartment." Opening the door wider to reveal the candlelit table, Shawn added, "Please, enter."
With a faint blush appearing on her cheeks, Belle entered the apartment and felt her eyes mist as she took in all the beautiful and romantic decorations. Her voice erupting in a tender whisper, she said, "Oh, Shawn. I can't believe you did all this."
Wrapping his arms around Belle's waist, Shawn replied, "I'd do anything for you, Belle. You should know that."
Belle leaned against Shawn's firm body and answered, "I do know that, Shawn. I do."
Taking hold of Belle's delicate hand, Shawn led her to the table and sweetly pulled her chair out for her. After making certain that his beloved was comfortable in her seat, Shawn walked around the table and sat down across from Belle.
The couple had hardly started eating their delicious meal when there was a loud knock on the door. Offering Belle a smile, Shawn whispered, "I'm sure whoever it is will go away if we just keep quiet."
As though to purposely contradict Shawn, the person outside the door bellowed, "Come on, Shawn. I know you're in there. Just open up!"
For a brief moment, Shawn considered ignoring Jason's yelling. However, he knew that his friend would merely stand in the hall screaming until the door was opened. Shawn only hoped he could quickly get rid of Jason so he could get through dinner and finally propose to the love of his life.
Shawn offered Belle a weak smile before rising from his chair and approaching the door where the knocking continued to originate. Swinging the door open, Shawn hurriedly said, "Not now, Jase. Whatever it is will have to wait."
As Shawn began to shut the door, Jason quickly raised his hand and forced the door to stay open. His eyes holding true twinges of panic, Jason responded, "It's an emergency, Shawn."
With an immense amount of reluctance, Shawn stepped aside and let Jason enter the apartment. His pal began to immediately pace around the couch after giving Belle a quick wave. Watching Jason's nervous behavior, Shawn could only wonder what had happened to upset his normally self-assured friend.
Still seated at the table, Belle asked, "Jason, do you want to tell us what happened?"
"What happened?" Jason echoed. "This is what happened," he continued as he displayed a simple toothbrush.
Shawn and Belle exchanged a baffled look as Jason began to once again pace around the room, waving the blue and white toothbrush the entire time.
Positioning himself in front of Jason so he would be forced to stop pacing, Shawn stated, "You said you had an emergency. I fail to see how some toothbrush counts as an emergency."
Jason glared at his friend as though he were ridiculously stupid and inept as he replied, "I found it in my bathroom!"
Shawn gave a mock gasp before sarcastically responding, "Oh, no! There was a toothbrush in your bathroom! Yes, Jason, that's definitely an emergency."
Rolling his green eyes, Jason loudly grumbled, "It's not my toothbrush - it's Mimi's!"
While Belle used her hand to muffle her own laughter, Shawn patted his friend's shoulder and said, "I'm sure you'll survive, Jason."
"No, Shawn, you don't understand! I'm not like you! I can't handle a commitment like this!"
"It's a toothbrush!" Shawn exclaimed as he yearned to be alone with Belle once more.
"Oh, sure, it's starts out with a toothbrush. But, I'm telling you, this is only the beginning. Soon, she'll start leaving other stuff at my place. Oh, I can see it now. It won't be long before she's clearing out half the closet for her own clothes, moving in that fish tank of hers, and filling my bathroom cabinets with all that girly bathroom junk. I can already feel the noose of commitment choking me!"
Shawn threw his hands in the air and exclaimed, "Enough! Would you just get over it, please?" Forcefully pulling Jason to the door, Shawn opened it and gave Jason a friendly shove out of the apartment. "We'll talk about it tomorrow, Masters."
Shutting the door on Jason's agape mouth, Shawn smoothly asked his girlfriend, "Now, where were we?"
The rest of the meal progressed quite nicely as Shawn and Belle enjoyed one another's pleasant company in the soft candlelight.
Discreetly placing his hand in his inner jacket pocket, Shawn closed his fingers around the velvet box that housed Belle's engagement ring. Feeling more nervous than he had anticipated, Shawn struggled to recall all the sweet words he had planned to use while giving his heartfelt proposal.
All moisture vanished from Shawn's lips as the moment of action drew near. Never in his life had he been so anxious to ask a question.
After taking a deep breath, he began, "Belle, I've . . . well, um, you know that I've always loved you - only you."
"I know that, Shawn. And, I feel the exact same way about you," responded Belle as Shawn wrapped his hand around hers. Her eyes kept darting to where Shawn's hand lay hidden in his jacket pocket. Belle said a silent prayer that she was correct and that her boyfriend would momentarily be offering her the title of Mrs. Shawn Brady.
"Anyway," Shawn began once more as his words continued to evade him. "I never want you to doubt my love and that it will last forever - that we will always be together. And . . . well, you see, that's sorta why I invited you over here tonight . . . "
"Yes, Shawn?"Belle softly prompted as her heart fluttered with anticipation.
"Belle Black . . ."
Shawn stopped speaking as the front door of the apartment was unexpectedly flung open. He remained seated and watched with shock and horror as a familiar blonde male used his foot to hold the door open while carrying a huge cardboard box in his arms.
Quickly crossing the room, the man tossed the box onto the sofa. When he turned around, he first noticed Belle and the romantic dinner. He casually asked, "I'm not interrupting or anything, am I?"
Shawn completely ignored the stupid question and responded, "Brady, what are you doing here? And, why did you bring that box of stuff with you?"
"Come on, Shawn. You can't expect me to move back in without bringing all my stuff home with me."
"Move back in?" Shawn echoed with a wrinkled brow.
"Yep," declared Brady with a grin. "Welcome me home, because we are gonna be roomies again."
Hurriedly moving from her seat at the table to her brother's side, Belle asked, "Brady, why would you be moving? What happened?"
Brady gave his younger sister a reassuring smile and replied, "Tink, don't worry about it. I promise that things aren't as bad as you're probably imagining."
"So something did happen?" Belle wondered aloud.
Knowing that it was only a matter of time before Belle learned what had happened, Brady answered, "Chloe and I broke up."
Almost instantly, Belle was throwing her arms around Brady as a sign of support. Brady could only chuckle as Belle began, "Oh, Brady, I'm so sorry. I know that you're in so much . . . Brady, why are you laughing?"
"Because, you my sweet sister, are overreacting."
Shawn's curiosity reaching it's peak, he asked, "Brady, would you mind explaining why exactly you and Chloe broke up and why you're not a little more upset.?"
"I'm not upset because I didn't lose Chloe, not really. It took us a while, but we finally realized that we were the world's greatest friends. However, we really suck at the whole relationship thing. As for the exact reason why we broke up, it's simple - Chloe has no taste."
Her face a mask of perplexity, Belle questioned, "Huh?"
"For some unknown reason, Chloe wanted us to put green towels in the bathroom. Can you believe it? Green towels? It's a bathroom, not a forest. Next thing you know, she'd be wanting to add Jungle Book character wallpaper. She just couldn't see that I was right and that the bathroom towels should be blue. You know, water, blue, they go together."
Shawn found himself unable to think of a suitable response. Asking the one question that had flown to the front of his mind, he responded, "Brady, you don't really think your relationship with Chloe is over because of a couple of towels, do you?"
"It wasn't really about the towels, Shawn. It was about Chloe and me both needing an excuse to state the things we've been thinking for a while now. The problem is that we get along and agree too much to usually get into an argument. So, when the towel situation arose, we both used it as our chance to clear the air. I love Chloe, but she and I just aren't meant to be together in some romantic way. I see that now."
Frustration took control of Shawn as he rubbed his hands over his face and attempted to think of any way to quickly get rid of Brady so he could propose to Belle. It seemed as if everyone else and their problems were becoming an unforeseen obstacle that Shawn truly didn't want to deal with. All he wanted was to hear Belle accept his proposal.
Just as Shawn was about to spill out an excuse to get rid of Brady, there was a soft knock at the door. Moaning rather loudly, Shawn answered the door.
"Chloe?"
"Hey, Shawn," greeted the brunette as she entered the apartment with a cardboard box. "Hi, Belle." Dropping the box next to the other one on the couch, Chloe said, "Here you go, Brady. If you want, I can help you bring the rest of your stuff over tomorrow."
"Sound great," replied Brady.
Meanwhile, Shawn and Belle could only stare at the couple with an odd fascination. Shawn was incredibly grateful that he and Belle had a relationship with more normalcy than the relationships of their closest pals.
Hoping to rid himself of both Brady and Chloe at the same time, Shawn suggested, "I bet the two of you still have a lot of things to settle. Belle and I would completely understand if you wanted to go grab dinner somewhere and resolve things."
"Actually," Chloe answered, "Brady and I have already settled things. There honestly isn't anything that needs to be resolved."
As if life was purposely trying to frustrate Shawn, a loud knock on the door boomed. Almost to the point of wanting to strangle someone, Shawn stalked across the room, flung open the door, and loudly demanded, "What?"
Barging into the apartment, Jason answered, "I was almost . . . what's she doing here?"
Chloe glared unhappily at Jason and responded, "Hello to you, too."
Shawn reached out and grabbed Jason's shoulder. Turning his pal to face him, Shawn grouchily demanded, "Ignore her and just finish whatever you were going to say."
Jason tossed Chloe a quick dirty look before saying, "Fine. I was almost back to my apartment when I realized that I couldn't go back yet. I mean, how am I suppose to face Mimi after I found her toothbrush in my bathroom? How do you act after something that huge happens?"
Adding her own two cents to the conversation, Chloe remarked, "I don't exactly see anything huge about a toothbrush, Jason."
"That's what I said," grumbled Shawn while Jason and Chloe yet again tossed one another dirty looks.
Belle, the group's eternal voice of reason, suggested, "Jason, maybe you should just let the toothbrush thing go and not make a big deal out of it. I'm sure Mimi wouldn't want you worrying yourself over it."
"Belle's right," added Brady. "You should just return the toothbrush to your bathroom and not get bothered by it. After all, it's not like Mimi's trying to propose to you by leaving a toothbrush at your place."
At the mention of a proposal, Shawn grumpily threw himself onto the couch. Leaning over to his left, he rested his head atop one of the cardboard boxes. Though he loved his friends dearly, he just wanted them to leave.
"How could I not be bothered?" Jason bellowed. "You guys might not believe me, but I'm telling you that this is just the beginning of the end. It won't be long before Mimi and I turn into a couple of sappy losers like the two of you, Belle."
Belle did her best to not be offended by Jason's comment. However, she didn't exactly enjoy being referred to as a loser.
Smirking almost evilly, Chloe commented, "Actually, Jason, I can't wait for the day when you are ready to commit to Mimi. Because, by then, she's probably going to be so tired of you. And, I really, really hope that she makes it hard for you. To be honest, if I can ever find a way to really make you work for her love, I'll do it. After being such a wimp about committing to someone you say you love, you deserve a little punishment."
"Whatever, Chloe. You may be spewing that crap about my future, but if I looked into a crystal ball, I doubt I'd see you fulfilling your dreams - especially the one about singing at the Met. In fact, I bet you'll end up working as a showgirl at some tacky Vegas casino."
"There's no way I'll ever end up in Vegas, not for employment or any other reason."
While Jason and Chloe threw themselves into another argument over practically nothing and Brady refereed, Shawn rose from the couch and grabbed Belle's hand. He placed his finger over her lips to indicate a request for silence.
Carefully stealing a flower from the table's vase, Shawn silently led Belle out of the apartment.
As Shawn led her up the stairs that led to the roof, Belle asked, "Shawn, what are you doing?"
"Getting away from the three stooges so I can have a few minutes alone with you."
"On the roof?"
Shawn laughed weakly and answered, "Yes, Belle, on the roof."
Reaching the top of the stairs, Shawn threw open the door and led his girlfriend out onto the roof. He slowly led her closer to the edge so they could have a breathtaking view of the city lights. Handing Belle the pink carnation, Shawn softly said, "This wasn't exactly the way I had planned for tonight to go, but I should have known that life would interfere with my plans."
Belle reached up and gently brushed her hand along Shawn's strong jaw line. "Shawn, I love you, and a few friends interrupting a dinner won't change that."
"I know, Belle, but I really wanted tonight to be special." Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Shawn continued, "I sorta had something planned, but I really didn't want to have Brady, Chloe, and Jason being a part of it."
"A part of what?"
"This," responded Shawn as he dropped down on one knee and pulled the velvet box from his inner jacket pocket. Popping open the top to reveal a dazzling ring, Shawn asked, "Belle Black. I've loved you since the beginning of time and I want to have you by my side for the rest of time. Will you marry me?"
For a few seconds, Belle honestly forgot to breathe. Her eyes were focused uncontrollably on the engagement ring Shawn was offering. Lifting her eyes from the beautiful diamond, Belle looked at Shawn and squealed with delight, "Yes! Yes, Shawn Brady, I'll marry you!"
The moment Shawn slipped the ring onto her finger, Belle threw her arms around his neck and began to laugh and scream with joy. As the stars twinkled just for them, Belle and Shawn stood alone on the enchanting rooftop and simply reveled in their timeless love.