Bad Girls, a days of our lives fanfic

CH 1 "Shawn, where are you going?" his mom asked him impatiently as he flew down the stairs and towards the door. "Out." He mumbled, pulling on his jacket. "Shawn Brady. Would you stop for a second and tell me where exactly you are going at this time of night? And when you plan on getting back?" she said, glancing at the clock. It was 9:30. "Mom. You guys didn't care what I did for the past four years while I was at boarding school. Why should you start to care now?" he snapped. "Sailor man, do not talk to your mother that way." His father told him as he came in the room. "Whatever. If you must know, I'm going to check out a teen club. Maybe meet some of the people I'm going to have to spend the next year with." "Okay. We expect you back by 12." His dad replied strictly. "I'll try." Was Shawn's only response as he headed out the door.

Belle Black sat at the bar with her friends, laughing as Chloe recounted the story of her date the night before. The guy had been totally lame, he was too much of a goody goody for Chloe's taste. She had just about given him a heart attack when she started fighting with this other girl. "Chloe, you need a wild man!" Belle told her. "So do you, Belle. But little old Salem doesn't have any bad enough for our tastes." "Amen." Belle replied with a smirk. In actuality, she wouldn't mind a sweet guy, but there really didn't seem to be any around. "Are you two going to sit here all day and dish about how lame this town is or actually go out there and dance." Jason complained. He was getting impatient, and bored with their conversation. "Go ahead." Belle said, motioning for him to leave, "find a girl. We're gonna chill here for a bit longer." Jason shrugged but walked off. "My, my, my." Chloe said as he looked at the door, "Belle, are prayers may have been answered. Though we would have to share." "What are you talking about Chloe?" Belle said, confused. "See for yourself." She pointed towards the door. Belle, wanting to be less obvious, turned and looked around the room casually. "Oh. My. God." Belle said, her jaw hanging slack. "Nice, huh?" "Yeah. Excuse me for a sec." Belle got up, striding towards the door. She smiled at the guy. He looked her over. Mentally, Belle reviewed her outfit. She had on a pair of dark denim jeans, stilleto boots and a tight black lace tank top. "Hi. Do I know you from somewhere?" she asked the guy. She already guessed who it was, but she had to confirm, it. "I don't know. What's your name baby?" he asked her with a sexy smile. "Isabella Black." She smiled sweetly. It was his turn to look amazed.

CH 2 "Belle?" he finally managed to choke out. This was not the same girl he had left four years earlier. "Hey Shawn. I thought it was you." She gave him a quick hug. "Oh My God. Since when did you change from little miss innocent?" "Oh, that change came a long time ago. I got sick of being my parents' perfect little angel." "Belle, are you going to introduce me to your friend?" a girl said, coming up behind them. Shawn looked over Belle's shoulder and saw one of the most gorgeous girls he had ever seen. She had long dark brown hair and light blue eyes. Her short denim skirt and red top hugged her curves. In his opinion, she was a knockout. "Shawn Brady." He said, offering his hand. She shook it, letting her fingers linger a second longer than necessary. "Ah, the famous Shawn-D. I've heard Belle talk about you. My name's Chloe." She replied. "Well, it is very nice to meet you. So, Belle, are you the bad girls in town?" "Yeah, and we were looking for some guys to liven up our group." She replied, "So I guess you came at just the right time." "Yeah, guess I did."

Two hours later, Belle was finally on the dance floor with Shawn. It had taken forever to pull him away from Chloe. They seemed to really be hitting it off. But Belle was bored, and she was only willing to share Shawn to a certain extent. They had been best friends for years, so Belle felt that she needed to reinstate that relationship before he fell head over heels with Chloe. But she still had some questions she wanted answered. "So why are you back?" she yelled over the music. "What?" Shawn yelled. He could barely hear what she said. "How about we talk later?" he said. That is, if he could hear later. Chloe liked the pulse of the beat and had forced him to dance by the speakers. He was almost deaf. Belle nodded her agreement, then moved a little closer to him so the crowd didn't crush her. It was extremely crowded that night, more so then usual. Suddenly she got pushed from behind, causing her to stumble and fall against Shawn. He grabbed her waist, balancing her. He was acutely aware of how well her body fit against his as they stood there. But he had to shake it off. Belle and he had known each other for years, and just because they had changed, didn't mean their relationship had. They were still just friends.

"What the hell does she think she is doing?" Chloe said as she saw how close Shawn and Belle were dancing together. Chloe shook her head. There was no way that Belle would win this conquest. Chloe knew she had what Shawn wanted, while Belle was just his old buddy from childhood. Chloe would do whatever possible to keep them apart. After all, she was the first one to complain she needed a new guy, and this was the one for her. All is fair in love and war was her reasoning.

CH 3 Later that night Belle got a ride home with Shawn. She had noted how Chloe had looked slightly miffed when he had offered, but she didn't protest. Belle looked at the clock once in the car, smacking her hand against her forehead. "Oh, Man! Brady is going to kill me!" she moaned. "I was supposed to be home an hour ago." "You are worried about your brother? Not your parents?" "Chances are my parents don't even know that I'm gone. Brady usually covers for me until 12. Then he says I'm on my own." "Well, I was supposed to be home an hour ago too, and my parents know exactly where I am. Though I doubt they care." "Ah. Are you going to go through the whole 'I am a big bad rebel' routine now that you're back?" He gave her a funny look. She was the bad one in town and she was scolding him for being rebellious. "Wouldn't you be mad if your parents took you out of school and plopped you back somewhere else, just for your senior year?" "Yeah, I guess. But you still have me. And Chloe. What do you think about her?" Belle asked. "She is hot." Shawn said with a shrug, "I don't know, we didn't really talk that much." "Eh, so she is like a prize but not girlfriend material?" "Exactly. So, tell me, how are Phillip and Mimi doing? I haven't seen them in forever." Shawn said, changing the conversation. He knew Belle wouldn't enjoy him drooling over her friend. "Phil is okay, he is still the golden boy, his dad buys him whatever he wants and he's captain of the football team. Mimi is as talkative as ever. But I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to them lately. They have decided since I hang out with Chloe and Jason I'm not cool enough for them in public." "Well, their loss. I can picture Phillip though. Once a prep, always a prep. Though, that's what I would have said for you, too." "I was not a prep!" Belle shot back, only to receive a laugh from Shawn, "okay, so maybe I was. But I was definitely not as bad as Phillip." "Sure you weren't. Turn here, right?" "Yeah." She said. He pulled into a parking space in front of her building. "So what are you doing tomorrow?" she asked. "Don't know yet. Probably sleep till noon then get out of the house as soon as possible." "Well, if you don't have anything to do, stop by here. I have to finish some work for Basic Black that dad had me doing, then I'll be free." "Cool. I might just do that."

CH 4 Belle opened the door to the penthouse quietly, hoping that the coast was clear. It partially was. No parents, but an extremely upset Brady on the couch. "Tink! Where the heck were you?" "I went to the club with Chloe. Shawn happened to show up and-" "Belle, you delusional? Shawn has been gone for 4 years." He told her. "No I am not delusional Brady. His parents took him out of boarding school so he is back!" "So was he the owner of the black truck that just pulled up?" Belle had to cover her mouth not to laugh out loud, "Brady, since when have you become such a mother hen?" she asked him. "I am not a mother hen. It just didn't look like Chloe or Jason's car, and I wanted to make sure you hadn't gone off with some biker or something. "If I got picked up by a biker, don't you think I would have been driven home on a motorcycle?" Belle asked him, rolling her eyes. "What about a biker in disguise?" "Um, no. I went to the teen club, remember? There weren't that many rough and burly 30 year old men trying to get hot little girls to date them there." She replied with a smirk. "Now if you are done trying to peg me as a biker chick, I would really like to go to sleep." "Okay. Goodnight."

Shawn thought he was the master of sneaking in late, after staying out past curfew at the boarding school so many times. "Good to see you home." Obviously, he was wrong. "Oh, hi Mom. Didn't realize I was this late." He said sarcastically. "Sure you didn't. So run into anyone you know?" she asked. Shawn decided to play the part of the nice son for a few minutes so he wouldn't have to listen to her complain about him the next day. "Yeah, I saw Belle and met her friend Chloe." "Belle was there? It is amazing how her tastes have changed over the past years. She just hasn't been the same lately."

CH 5 Belle lay across her bed, looking through a fashion catalog. "Does dad actually think people in their right mind would want to wear this stuff?" Belle said. When her dad had started Basic Black, he turned to his daughter on advice for the latest trends. Sometimes she thought she wasn't the right girl for the job, her tastes didn't always run well with other people. But that was one of the advantages of her dad being the president of the company. What she said usually went, or was at least considered. "Belle! Phone!" Brady yelled from the other room. She had heard it ring but was too lazy to pick it up. She turned over on the bed and sat up, grabbing it off the receiver. "I got it!" she yelled back to Brady. "Do you have to yell this early in the morning?" a voice said on the other end. "Hey Chloe." Belle replied, "It isn't early. It is Noon." "We have different definitions of early then. Anyway, what did Shawn have to say about me?" Belle rolled her eyes. She had known that was coming. Chloe wasn't one for small talk; she just plowed through, straight to the point. "Well." Belle curled the phone cord around her finger. Should she be straightforward, or soften the truth. "He thinks you are hot, but he isn't sure if you are girlfriend material." "Well, I have a whole year to prove to him that I'm just what he is looking for in a girl." "Yeah, I guess." Belle could faintly hear the doorbell ring downstairs, "I got to go, someone is at the door and I know Brady is way to lazy to go all the way downstairs to get it." "Alright. I'll talk to you later, okay?" "Yeah." Belle clicked the off button than trudged down the stairs. She surveyed her clothing hastily. She had on a old pair of blue jeans and a blue tank top. Her hair, she knew, was probably messy, she had pulled it back when she had woken up that morning. Shrugging her shoulders, she opened the door. "Hey Belle, rough morning?" Shawn asked her, surveying her outfit. "I've been up looking over stuff for the new line at Basic Black. Dad seems to think that my opinion should be important in his business." She said. "So you aren't as tough as you seem? Doing work for daddy?" "I try to keep what I do in my private life in my private life. My parents still think I'm perfect, most of the time. I just let them go along with that image." "So you have like, multipe personalities?" Shawn joked. "You could say that." She replied, "So are you going to come in or what?"

CH 6 "Yeah. I thought it would be safe to hide here. Dad wanted to do the 'male bonding' thing." "Well, you found a safe house. Come on up, I have to collect all of the stuff for dad and then we can do something." Shawn followed Belle up the stairs to her room. He noted how it had changed over the past years. Three of the walls were painted a light lavender while the other one was painted a deep vibrant violet. Pictures covered the dark wall. As she collected the papers and magazines, Shawn walked over to the wall to see what she had been doing in her life over the past four years. There were pictures of them as children, growing up. A picture of her and Brady when she entered high school. Days at the lake house with Phillip and Mimi. He studied those closely. They looked recent. But hadn't she said that they wouldn't hang out with her in public anymore? "When was this taken?" he asked. Belle squinted at the picture. "Oh, that. It is from last summer. Before." she trailed off. "Before what?" "Nothing. Never mind." "Okay." He continued to look at the pictures, but none really held his interest. He could sense she was hiding something. But what was it?

CH 7 Belle and Shawn sat on the couch, playing with Brady's playstation. Belle had mastered Mario Cart after late night gaming sessions. So, she challenged Shawn to a game. "There is no way you can beat me now." She teased him when she pulled away from the group." "Yeah?" he said. "Well I may just have to play unfair." He reached over and started tickling her. She squirmed under his touch and tried to move away. She kept playing but was having trouble controlling her laughter. "Shawn! Stop. Stop!" she said between laughs. Finally she gave up, dropping the control. "you are gonna pay." She said, launching herself at him. Soon they were in an all out tickle war. Belle fell off the couch and onto the floor, taking Shawn with her. "omf." Belle said as he landed on top of her. She looked up at his face. It was only millimeters above hers. He was staring into her eyes. Oh my god, is he going to kiss me, Belle wondered in her mind. It sure did look like it. She closed her eyes as he tilted his head down slightly. "What are you guys doing?" a voice asked them.

CH 8 Belle and Shawn jumped apart. "Chloe!" Belle exclaimed, "How did you get in here?" "The door was opened. I tried calling and your brother said you were busy but I could come over. "Oh. Okay." Belle said. She could tell be Chloe's look that she was going to be in some serious trouble if she didn't think of something to say, and fast. "So what exactly were you two doing?" Chloe asked again. She eyed them suspiciously. "Well, we were playing Mario Cart-" Shawn started. "And I was winning-" "Not by much." Shawn added. "Whatever. Shawn got mad that I was winning, but not by much." She added sarcastically, "So he tried distracting me by attacking." "And then she gave up and started tickling me back-" "And then we fell off the couch." Belle finished innocently. Hopefully Chloe wouldn't blow the whole thing out of proportion. "Okay." Chloe replied. Belle could tell this wasn't the end of the conversation. It would have been a lot better if she would have shown up about 10 seconds later. That way there would be concrete evidence that something was going on. Or, that something wasn't going on. "So you guys want to go down to dot com?" Chloe asked. She knew Jason was going to be there and he could pull Belle away so she could have some alone time with Shawn. "Actually, I've got to get going. I can only dodge my family for so long. Talk to you two later." Shawn said, heading towards the door. "Oh, and Belle?" "Yeah?" "This game isn't over." "Right Shawn." She replied, he shut the door behind him. "So, Chloe, should we go to dot com then?" "I don't think so." Chloe said. She sat down in a chair, and Belle did the same. Here it comes, she thought. "So what were you and Shawn really doing? Cause that did not look like a video game." CH 9 Chloe stared at her long and hard. Things were not going her way, and she was mad. Shawn was supposed to be hers. Even Belle had suggested she find a new guy. And she had. Belle wasn't going to steal him away. "Well, it was. We were just messing around like we used to when we were kids." Belle replied. She couldn't believe Chloe was overreacting like this. Wait, she could. Chloe was famous for jumping to conclusions. "Right. So you aren't trying to steal him from me?" "Steal him from you?" Belle said. She didn't realize there was anything to steal. "Of course not. I've been friends with him forever, that's all." "Okay." Chloe seemed to accept the explanation. "Well, I better run, I promised Jason I would meet him at dot com." "Let me change and I'll come with you." "Actually, I would rather go alone. See you tomorrow." "Alright. Bye."

Once out in the hall, Chloe pulled out her cell phone. She made sure the door to the Black's Penthouse was shut securely behind her so Belle wouldn't be able to eavesdrop. She dialed in a number that was familiar to her. "Hello?" a male voice answered. "Phillip, I need a favor." "What is it?" "You knew Shawn Brady, right?" she asked sweetly. She had the perfect plan. "Yeah. He hasn't been around for awhile though, how do you know him?" "I met him yesterday. He's back. And Belle told me that he likes me, but she is all over him. I have a plan to stop that." "Fill me in." Phillip replied. Chloe could tell something by his voice. He was smiling.

CH 10

The next day Shawn sat in his bedroom, trying to get his computer to start up. He wanted to look at the high school's web site so he could see something of what was going on. Plus he wanted to know if any of his friends from boarding school missed him, or even noticed that he was gone.

AngelBabe: Hey Shawn ToughGuy: Syd, hey, how you doin? AngelBabe: Alright, it is boring here without you! ToughGuy: You'll manage. AngelBabe: Yeah, I know. So how are things there? ToughGuy: Ok. Belle's friend is all over me. AngelBabe: What about Belle? She hasn't been corrupted by your rugged charm ;) ToughGuy: ha. No, she was already corrupted. Turs out she has changed a lot since I left. AngelBabe: Well, hope you have fun with both the lucky ladies. I gotta get to basketball tryouts. Catch you later.

She signed off and Shawn shook his head. He and Sydney had met in Anatomy and Physiology the year before, and struck up a friendship. Nothing like skinning cats to bring people closer together. His phone rang and he picked it up. "Hello?" he said. He wasn't really paying attention, he was still trying to get to his e-mail. For some reason it wouldn't connect from his computer. "Hey Shawn. It's Chloe." A voice purred on the other end, "I was wondering if you might want to go club hopping tonight." "Um, would Belle be going?" he still wasn't all too sure about this girl. She seemed nice enough, but she was rather bossy. "No. She has a, um, family responsibility. It would be just you and me." "Eh, why not. I can always use an excuse to get out of the house." He said. "What time should I pick you up?"

Chloe told him, and then explained where her house was. Smiling wickedly, she hung up the phone. The plan was going perfectly.

CH 11

Belle sat in her bedroom, staring out the window. She had her stereo blaring, and was racking her brain for something to do. Chloe had to go to a party with her parents at the hospital, and Shawn wasn't picking up the phone. Even Jason had something to do, he was going out on a date, his first real one in months. As much as Belle wanted to tell him to cancel so he could drive her somewhere, she knew that it wasn't fair, girls rarely agreed to go out with him and he deserved the chance when he got one. She sighed. Too bad Brady wasn't home. She could have managed to weasel his keys out of him. But he had mumbled something about a job interview. Right. A job interview on a Saturday night. Even he probably had a date. Belle's phone rang and she picked it up. "Black residence." She said, hoping it was someone for her. "Hey Belle." Belle narrowed her eyes at the sound of his voice. "Phillip." She said curtly, "What do you want?" "Well, I heard Shawn was back and I was wondering if you had seen him yet." "Yes, I have." Belle replied shortly, studying her nails. Where was this conversation going? "I heard he's changed a lot. I don't think you should be hanging out with him, he seems like bad news." "Whatever Phillip. I have never followed your advice before, and I'm not going to now." "Belle, just-" she clicked the off button on the phone before he had the chance to continue. He had some nerve. He and Mimi kept her out of the popular group already, and he thought he could also tell her who she could and could not hang out with? He had no right at all. "I better call someone before he decides to call back." She said to herself. Dialing Chloe's number, she waited for her to answer. It was late enough for whatever thing they were doing to be over. "Hello?" Mrs. Wesley's cheery voice came over the phone. "Hi. It's Belle. Is Chloe around?" "Sorry Belle. She went out with some boy named Shawn about an hour and a half ago and she isn't home yet." Belle brought in a sharp breath. Chloe had lied to her so she could score a date with Shawn. "Um, can you tell her I called please?" "Sure. You take care." "You too. Bye." Belle turned off the phone. She knew she had no right to be upset, Chloe had already told her she was going to make Shawn her next conquest. But, still, it wasn't right for her to lie to get him. That's how everything started the year before. Lies.

CH 12

"You want to dance?" Chloe asked Shawn as she handed him another drink. He shrugged his shoulders. At first he had been a little wary about drinking at the party, but then he decided why not? It wasn't as if he hadn't done it before. They went out to the dance floor. Shawn could tell Chloe was slightly tipsy, but not as bad as he was. He wrapped his arms around her and she moved against him, looking up at him seductively. He hadn't the slightest why he was here. He had only come to get out of the house, and now Chloe was all over him. He wondered if it was that good of an idea to even be dancing with her. He didn't want her. She was hot, sure, but she didn't have any substance. She just stood there, looking pretty, talking about her weekend, not wanting to go any further into her life. She was afraid it would disrupt her image. Shawn knew that for a fact, he had been one of those people. But then he realized how stupid it was and didn't pretend any longer that he was someone he wasn't. The room was getting hot. To many people dancing and moving around. "You want to go outside?" he yelled to her over the music. He didn't wait for an answer but grabbed her hand and drug her outside to the porch. "Aww, you wanted to be alone with me." Chloe said with a smile. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him forcefully. He didn't have time to react. He stood there, motionless as she moved closer to him. What was he going to do to get out of this one without making her hate him?

CH 13 Belle sat in a booth at dotCOM, looking down at her watch. Chloe was supposed to have been there twenty minutes ago for coffee. She tapped her nails on the table impatiently. The bell on the door rang, and turning she saw Chloe rushing in. "Finally!" Belle exclaimed. "What took you so long?" "I got stuck in traffic." Chloe said with a shrug. Belle snorted a laugh. "Please. You live like 5 minutes from here. There is not enough traffic for it to take that long." "Okay, you're right. I was on the phone with someone." "Who?" "Shawn," Chloe replied with a smile. "Oh." Belle narrowed her eyes, "So was your family night canceled yesterday?" "No, why do you ask." "Because when I called your house your mom said you were out with Shawn." Belle replied with a slight edge in her voice. "Oh, yeah, I did go to a party with him later because he begged me too. Is that some sort of a problem." "No, not at all. So are you two dating now?" "Not exactly, but you won't believe what happened last night." Chloe proceeded to tell Belle all the gory details of their first kiss and subsequent makeout session. Belle listened as if she was interested but really wasn't. She just nodded in the right spots and let Chloe go on and on as her mind wandered. Why had Shawn done this? He had told her he wasn't that interested in Chloe, yet there he had gone, hooking up with her at a party. She felt a strange feeling inside her, jealously almost. But that couldn't be it, right? They were just friends. "Belle?" Chloe said, "Are you even listening to me?" "Huh?" Belle looked at her blankly, "Sorry, I must have spaced out." "That's ok. Oh, look, here comes Shawn." She waved him over. Belle couldn't take it. As Shawn neared the table she stood up. "Sorry to run, but I have to get home." She said to chloe. "Talk to you later." "Hey Belle. Why you leaving?" Shawn asked her as she started to walk off. "I have better things to do then stay here." She said, pushing her way out of the door. There was no way she was going to bear witness to a love fest between two of her best friends. As she exited dotCOM, she almost ran straight into Phillip. "Watch it Princess." Phillip said to her. "Whatever. I don't want to talk to you." "Why Belle? Here of Shawn's little betrayal with Chloe?" She whipped around, her eyes wide, "What are you talking about?" she asked cautiously. "Come on Belle. I can see the jealousy in you. And I have some advice to offer." "Whatever Phillip. I don't feel like listening to your advice again." She tried to walk off but he grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him. "Well, I'm going to give it to you anyway. Stay away from Shawn, Belle, you don't need a jerk like him in your life." "Yeah?" Belle said, jerking her arm away from him. "I don't need a jerk like you either."

CH 14 "Why did Belle leave so fast?" Shawn asked as he sat down across from Chloe. "I'm not sure. We were talking about school starting next week, then I said I saw you coming she mumbled something about having to leave." She replied with a shrug. "So you were just talking about school?" Shawn asked cautiously. He was worried that she had told Belle about the night before. Not that he remembered most of it. "Hey look, here comes Phillip!" Chloe said, blatantly ignoring Shawn's last question. Shawn reluctantly gave up the conversation, after all, he hadn't actually talked to Phillip yet and they had been good friends before they left. "Shawn, long time no see!" Phillip said as he neared the table. "Yeah. So you still living in the lap of luxury?" "You know it. Dad just bought me a new Benz for senior year." He replied bragginly. "I'm not sure if I should drive it to school though; I don't want any jealous kids to key it or something." "Yeah, that would be a tragedy." Shawn replied dryly. It would just be an excuse for Phillip to get it a new better and brighter paint job. "So Phillip, I saw you talking to Belle outside. What was that about?" Chloe asked him curiously. She hoped he remembered this part of the plan. For a moment Phillip just stared at her blankly. "Oh, right. Yeah, we got back together. I've been trying to get her to give me another chance since last year, and she finally agreed." "Oh, that is great. I know you have wanted to get back together with her for awhile." Chloe replied. They continued to talk animatedly while Shawn just sat back and listened. Hadn't Belle told him that Phillip and Mimi wouldn't speak to her in public? Why would Phillip want to date her then? Suddenly his cell phone rang, snapping him out of his reverie. "Hello?" he said. "Shawn, where are you?" his mom's angry voice came through. "Um, dotCOM?" he replied. What was her problem? "Did you forget lunch with Gram?" she asked him, "You were supposed to be at her house 15 minutes ago." "Oh, I'll be there in a minute." He replied, getting up. "I'll see you guys later." He told Phillip and Chloe. They said goodbye and he headed out the door.

"Looks like the plan is working rather well." Chloe said to Phillip once Shawn was out of hearing distance. "Yeah, unless he talks to Belle. She would tell him in a heartbeat that she would never date me." "Well, I don't think she'll be talking to him anytime soon." Chloe replied with a devilish smile. "Why?" "I sort of told her that we hooked up last night at a party." "So that is why she left so quickly?" "Exactly. She won't trust him after this, because he told her that he wasn't interested in me." "Well, I can see you thought this one out." "Yeah. Nothing can go wrong."

CH 15

Shawn walked up the stairs to his room after he got back from lunch. Gram had wanted him to stay for dessert as well, but he had weasled out of it, telling her he had an important phone call to make. And he did, he needed to call Belle and see if she was really dating Phillip. "Hello?" he heard a voice say. "Hey Brady. Is Belle there?" "Just a second." He heard muffled talking in the background. "you sure?" he heard Brady say. "Shawn? Belle can't talk right now." "Um, okay. Can you tell her to call me back?" "Yeah." He heard the phone click off.

"Why didn't you want to talk to him?" Brady asked Belle. She was curled up under an afgan on the couch, watching a Friends rerun. "I didn't feel like talking." She replied with a shrug. But Brady knew his sister well enough to know it was more than that. "And why didn't you feel like talking to him?" "I don't know, just because." "Because?" he prompted her. "Because he and Chloe hooked up last night and I don't feel like listening to another account of it." Belle told him. "Ah. Is this going to be the latest catfight? Jealous best friend versus new girlfriend?" Brady teased her. "Shut up Brady. I just.I don't know. It seems weird to me, I guess, because Shawn said he wasn't interested in Chloe. And now." "Well, you know what?" "What?" "The best way to find out why it happened is to ask Shawn about it. It might not be what you think." Belle laughed, "How many ways can you spin a story like this? They went to a party; they made out. Now they are dating." Belle said with a shrug, "Seems pretty simple to me." "You never know how a story can be spun Belle. So just talk to him." He handed her the phone. She took it begruginly and got up off the couch. "I'm going to take this phone upstairs and call him." "Good. And report back to your nosy brother when you're done." "Okay Brady." She said, heading up the stairs.

Belle sat down on her desk chair, phone in hand. She dialed his number. Ring once.ring twice.she resolved to only give it four rings. Ring the third time.the fourth ring had just started when he picked up. She silently wished that she hadn't let Brady talk her into calling him. "Hello?" "Hey, it's Belle." "Oh, hey. Why couldn't you come to the phone earlier?" he asked. "I was watching Friends and didn't want to miss anything." She said. It was partially true. She was watching Friends, but she had seen the episode so many times that it wouldn't have mattered if she missed something. "Oh, well, I was talking to Phillip earlier and he siad you guys were going out." "He wishes. I wouldn't date him if he was the last person on earth." "Why?" "Just because. He's a rich, selfish brat, he only uses people for his own benefit. Anyone with half a brain cell would know to stay away from him." "But, he said that-" "Forget whatever he said. He lied. Anyway, I called to ask you-" "Can I call you back later?" Shawn cut her off, "My parents just got home." "Yeah, I guess so." Belle sighed. The only reason she had called him was to find out the answer to this one question, and now he had to go? This wasn't very fair. "Alright, Bye."

CH 16 Shawn walked through Salem Place the next day. He had forgotten to call Belle the night before, and when he had called that morning Marlena told him she had left an hour earlier. He had checked dotCOM and she wasn't there, so he figured she was somewhere in Salem Place, doing what she did best: shopping. He walked along, looking through the store windows but he didn't see her. He wasn't paying attention and walked flat into someone. "Sorry" he said. He planned on walking on but then he realized who it was. "Mimi?" he said. "Shawn! I heard you were back!" she said with a bring smile. "Yeah, I got back a few days ago. How have you been?" "Great. How are you?" "Alright. You haven't seen Belle around here, have you?" Mimi's eyes darkened at the sound of Belle's name, "No, I haven't seen her." "If you see her can you tell her I was looking for her?" he asked. "Sure. But don't run off so fast, we have some catching up to do." "Okay." He said. Mimi took off talking a mile a minute, filling him in on everything that had happened over the last year. "And then there was the whole fallout-" "Wait, what?" he said. He hadn't even been paying attention. "Belle didn't tell you about what happened?" "No. So tell me, what happened?" "Well, if she didn't tell you she obviously doesn't want you to know." "Mimi, tell me what it is." "Nope. Sorry." She gave him an apologetic smile, "I may be the class gossip but this is one thing you are going to have to find out from someone else." She looked down at her watch, "I've got to go. I was supposed to meet Kevin an half hour ago. See you around." She said, rushing off. Shawn stood there, shaking his head. What was this secret? And why couldn't Mimi just tell him. Now he was resolved more than ever to find Belle.

CH 17

Belle sat at a table in the Brady Pub flipping through a magazine. She had to get out of the house that morning, her family was driving her insane. Her dad wanted to know why she never went to parties with Phillip or Mimi anymore, her mom was questioning her about hanging out with Shawn, Chloe and Jason, and even Brady was annoying her to death. He kept asking if she had talked to Shawn about Chloe or not. She just had to get away from them all. "Here you are Belle." Shawn Sr. said as he brought over a plate of food, "one plate of fries." "Thank you." She grabbed a few and popped them into her mouth. She was starving. That morning when she had left she hadn't even considered getting breakfast. "Belle!" she heard a voice from behind her say, "I have been looking for you everywhere." "Well, you found me." She replied lightly as Shawn took a seat across from her. "Fry?" she offered. He shook his head. "So why were you looking for me?" she asked. "I never called you back last night and felt bad about it." "That's okay. What I wanted to ask wasn't really important anyway." "Well what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" "I just wanted to know why you decided to go out and hook up with Chloe when you told me you thought she was hot but not girlfriend material?" "She told you we hooked up?" Shawn asked. "Well, of course she told me. We are best friends after all." "Well, if you guys are so close I would have expected her to tell you the actual truth." "Which would be?" "She got me drunk and kissed me but I pushed away." "Really?" Belle asked, her eyebrows raised. It did sound like something Chloe would try. "Really. Besides, you could have come to the party but you were busy, remember?" "No I wasn't." Belle argued back. "That's what-" "Chloe told you? She told me she had a family obligation, and that's why she was busy." Belle replied dryly. "So she played us both." "Right. Now what are we going to do about it?"

CH 18 Belle and Shawn sat in the booth for almost an hour, calculating a plan. Shawn forgot completely of his purpose in finding Belle, to ask her about the "fallout" as Mimi had called it. "So when should we do this?" Shawn asked. He watched how excited Belle was, she h "How about at Jason's party tonight?" "Do you think they'll fall for it though?" "I'm not sure. They should." "Well, let's go home and get ready, I'll call you later about it." "Alright," Belle replied, standing up and grabbing her purse, "Don't forget to call Phillip and ask him if he is going." "Remind me why I have to call both of them?" he asked her. "Because." she dragged out the word with a sigh, as if she was impatient that she had to explain it again, "He would get way to suspicious if I called him. I hate him, remember?" "Yeah, and why do you hate him exactly?" he told her, remembering he wanted to ask her that. "Tell you what, you help me pull this off and I'll explain everything to you." She said. "Well, that's an offer I can't refuse." He said. They gave their goodbyes then headed off in their separate directions. Belle mentally went over her closet, trying to figure out what she should wear. She walked into the penthouse building, towards the elevator. Just as she was about to close the doors so it could take her up to the top of the building, she saw her brother running towards them. "Hold it!" he yelled. Quickly she pushed the open button. "Hey Brady. What you been up to all day?" "Not much. I had a date with Tia." "Tia? I haven't seen her in forever. How is she doing?" Belle asked. Tia had been on the cheerleading squad the year before, but was now entering her freshman year of college at Salem U. "She's doing good. Going into business. So what were you up to today?" "Planning some payback." "Uh oh, do I really want to hear this?" "No." she replied lightly, "because if I told you the plan I would have to kill you." "Uh oh, I'm starting to get the feeling that you are planning something insane." "No Brady, it isn't insane. It's just going to cause two people to get really mad at me, but one of them already was, so that's okay." "You know what, you can just explain this too me later. I don't want to be an aide to whatever you are doing."

CH 19

"One down, one to go." Shawn muttered to himself. He had already called Phillip and was told that he was going to the party even though he thought it was going to be a bunch of losers because it was at Jason's house. Now he just had to call Chloe. "Hello?" a cheery voice said on the other line of the phone. "Hi, is Chloe there?" he said. He guessed it was her mom. "Just a moment." She said. He could hear her muffled voice calling, "Chloe dear, you have a phone call." Shawn heard the distinct click of someone else picking up the phone.

"I've got it Nancy." He heard Chloe say, "Hello?" "Hey. It's Shawn." "Oh, hey Shawn. What's up?" "Not much. I was wondering if you were going to Jason's party tonight?" "Depends, are you going?" she replied flirtingly. He cringed. He forgot he was going to have to put up with all of her come ons for the plan to work. "Well, I was planning on it. You want me to give you a ride?" "That would be great. Pick me up at eight?" "Sure. Oh, my mom has to use the phone." He lied quickly, "I'll see you later." "Bye." He quickly hung up the phone and dialed Belle's phone number. He recognized her voice when she picked up. "They are both going." "What? Oh, I get it. Good. So you actually called both of them." "Yeah, I called them. I had to listen to one of Phillip's speaches about how any party that wasn't his was below him. Was that the real reason you didn't want to call him?" he asked. She laughed, "No, I swear it was only because I thought he wouldn't believe me if I asked him to go. So what time are you going to get there?" "About 8:15. I'm picking up Chloe." "Smart move. Make this more believable. I've got to go get ready-" "Belle, you have two hours." He said, looking at the clock. "As I said, I have to go get ready. My hair style is a work of art, it takes time." "If you spend that much time on it why does it still look weird." "Oh shut up. I'll see you later." She said, hanging up the phone before he had time to make another comment.

CH 20 Belle walked into the party at 8:45. She had decided to be fashionably late so she would be sure that everyone was there. She walked through the house to the kitchen where she easily spotted Jason. "Hey Belle." He said as she neared the counter he was leaning on. "Hey Jase. Seen Chloe around yet?" "Yeah, she went outside with Shawn about 15 minutes ago." "Thanks Jase." Belle said as she headed towards the door. "Hey, wait one second." "What?" "Don't I get a proper thank you." He said. "No, you don't. But if you feel like it I'll give you the honor of a dance later." "Sounds good. Now go find those two." "Alright." She replied laughing, then headed out the back door. She immediately spotted them. It couldn't be any more perfect. Phillip was no where in sight. "Chloe!" she said, looking as if she hadn't noticed Shawn. "I didn't know you were coming tonight." "Yeah, Shawn gave me a ride." She said smugly if not somewhat challengingly. She wanted to see how Belle would react. "Oh. Hi Shawn." Belle replied curtly, "didn't see you sitting there." 'Yeah, I'm here. With Chloe." He added. She had to commend him; he was quite good at acting annoyed by her presence. "Well, I would hate to interrupt you two. I'm going back inside." She said, turning around without waiting for an answer. As she left Shawn had to try his best not to laugh. When Chloe had figured out this had all been planed she would be livid. "Now that she's gone, what should we do?" Chloe asked, seemingly pleased that they were alone once again. "Well, I was hoping we could go somewhere a little more private." Shawn started. He wasn't sure how to put this; he didn't want to make her suspicious. "And what, pray tell, would we do when we got somewhere more private?" Chloe asked him teasingly. "Um.talk?" Shawn suggested. "Oh, I'm sure talking is all you have in mind." She replied. Standing up, she took his hand. "Let's go."

Belle walked around the party aimlessly. Despite what Shawn had told her earlier, it didn't look like Phillip was there. She strolled over to the table where all of the drinks were, picking up a coke. Now even Jason seemed to be missing. Shouldn't he be around seeing as how it was his party? Hearing a roar of laughter from the foyer, Belle turned to investigate. There standing amongst his football buddies was Phillip. Belle smirked as she walked over to them. "Hey Phillip." She said when she was only a few feet away, "What is this about you telling people we are dating?"

CH 21 "Um.Belle.why don't we talk about this later." Phillip replied nervously. "No, I actually think we should talk about this now." She told him. Looking around at the group, she noted that all of Phillip's little friends were still there, watching them intently. This couldn't have gone any better. "Well, could we at least go somewhere with less people?" Phillip asked. Belle knew he didn't want to be shut down, especially in front of a crowd. "What, don't feel like bumbling out some excuse in front of your friends?" Belle snapped. Phillip shot a look at his snickering friends before replying. "Actually, I was hoping I could explain the situation to you rationally." "Rationally?" Belle laughed, "What is so rational about you telling people I'm your girlfriend when you know I can't stand you?" "I never told anyone that I was dating you." He lied. "Yeah you did, and you just admitted it by saying you wanted to talk about it somewhere else." Belle told him smugly. "Whatever. If you are so smart who did I tell?" "Shawn and Chloe." "And what makes you think they would tell you the truth?" "Well, why would they lie?"

"Now that we are up here what should we do?" Chloe asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed. Somehow they had stumbled into the guest bedroom. "Actually, we need to talk about something." Shawn told her. "Oh, so you weren't just saying that to get me upstairs?" "No, I wasn't." he could see the look of disappointment in her eyes, "I just wanted to let you know something." "And what's that?" "I just wanted to tell you that I don't date people who lie." "Run that by me again?" "Please Chloe. I know you and Phillip were lying to Belle and I. It was a stupid move, I must say, because you ruined what little chance you had with me." Chloe sat there, staring blankly at him. Was this really happening? Had her little plan really crashed and burned? "Well, we better get downstairs," Shawn said with a smirk as he watched her reaction, "Belle's supposed to be breaking the news that your little plan didn't work to Phillip now, and I highly doubt she'll be as kind as I was."

CH 22 Shawn and Chloe walked down the stairs casually. Shawn scanned the room for Belle and Phillip, immediately noticing them in the entrance of the house. "So now that you don't want me, what are you going to do?" "Oh, I have something in mind." He said, "Some[I]one[/I] in mind to take your place." "After you've had me in your life, no one will live up to your expectations." She told him. "Oh, I beg to differ." He replied, heading towards the crowd that was forming around Belle and Phillip. This was one performance he was not going to miss.

"You know as well as I do that Chloe would do anything to get Shawn." "Hence this pathetic plan." Belle finished for him, "I know it isn't a lie so why don't you just give up and tell me why you said that." "You're still pissed about last year, so that's why you are making a big deal of this now." Belle narrowed her eyes at him, placing her hands on her hips. "No. I'm making a big deal about this because I don't want people associating me with a loser like you. "So that means your no longer mad about last year?" Phillip replied hopefully. "Well duh I'm still mad about that. You lied and said things about me that weren't true. And you still won't admit that either!" "That's because I never said anything!" he yelled back at her. "That's bull, Phil. I [I]hear[/I] you tell Jason that we hooked up at the school lock-in. Which, by the way, I didn't even go to! Not that anyone believes me." She shouted. Suddenly she realized her mistake. How could she bring all of these memories up again? "But Mimi said you were there." "Wouldn't you know if I saw there? After all, we supposedly did it, remember?" "She's got you there Phillip." One of the guys called from the crowd. "Whatever. It-it just came out wrong." "Liar. Just admit you wanted to look macho and say you were seeing me behind Mimi's back. You just wanted an ego boost, and it cost me everything." "What does that mean, cost you everything?" "Let me see? My best friend's trust and the support of all of my friends. People actually believed your pathetic story and ostracized me. Do you know what it feels like to not have any friends? Not have anyone who trusts you?" "You had Chloe to turn to, remember? Not everyone left you." Phillip replied. He could already tell he was loosing this battle though. "Oh yeah, I had Chloe. Who now turned and lied to me again. I'm starting to think I need to pick better friends. First you lying, then Mimi believing you, and then Chloe and you lying. Again." "Well, you already got back at me for the first lie, remember?" "Yeah, revenge was sweet, but not good enough. I want you to tell everyone the truth. Tell them we did not sleep together and you just said that for the hell of it." "But then I would be lying Belle. And you didn't say we slept together when it happened. You called it making love." The corners of Belle's mouth curled up into a snarl. "You're a jackass, you know that? I hope one day someone is able to prove just how pathetic you are." She stalked past him, then turned around quickly and dumped the contents of her drink over his head. Satisfied by the roar of laughter in the room, she opened the door and left.

CH 23 Belle picked up her pace as she exited the house. She couldn't believe she had actually just done that. She hadn't exactly meant to bring up last year, it had just happened. Though, she hadn't meant not to. Realizing she didn't have a way home, because Brady had dropped her off, she sat down on the grass by the sidewalk, considering what to do next. She could call home, but she didn't want her mom to question her on why she was leaving the party so early. Brady was on a date, she knew he would have his cell off. And after what had just happened, she highly doubted returning to the party was a good idea. She walked along the sidewalk for a few more minutes until the sounds of a party were just a faint buzz in the backdrop of noise. Sitting down on a bench by the sidewalk, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was far away from the party now, and, namely, Phillip. Pulling out her cell phone, she realized her batteries were dead. "Grrr!" she said, turning it off violently. Just her luck.

"Need a ride?" A voice called to her from the street. In her anger she hadn't noticed that Shawn had pulled up to the curb.

"Yeah, thanks." She said with a smile, going around the other side of the truck and letting herself in, "So, you catch my big performance?"

"Yeah. I must complement you on that final act. Quite a show. Phillip was damning you to hell back there a bit ago."

"Maybe I should have stuck around to see that show. He is so funny to watch when he gets mad. His eyes look like their about to pop out of his head!" she said with a laugh. But then her face turned sober, "I wonder what he is going to try to do to get back at me." She mused to herself.

"Don't worry." Shawn replied in a mock hero voice, "I'll protect you." Belle laughed at him. He always had a way of lightening the mood.

"You know what?" she said suddenly.

"What?"

"I don't feel like going home yet."

"Really? And where would you like to go?"

CH 24 "I don't know, away from here." She replied with a shrug. "How about we go down to the dock?" she suggested finally. She couldn't think of any other place to go. "Nah. My dad and mom took the Fancy Face out for the day and will probably just be getting back around now." Shawn replied, glancing at the clock, "I don't want to run into them." "Okay, then where do you suggest we go?" Belle asked. "I have an idea." Shawn said as he started to drive down the street. "And that would be?" "You'll see. So you care to explain the whole Phillip thing?" "Why?" she replied annoyed. She didn't want to revisit the ordeal twice in one night. "You heard me talking to Phillip earlier, you know what happened." "Yeah, but I still have a few questions about it." "Like what?" "Why Phillip would even say that stuff for one." "I don't know. He and Meems had been dating for.let's see.2 months at that point. She used to complain to me that he wasn't romantic enough; all he wanted to do was make out. And Phillip used to tell me how all Mimi wanted to do was talk, talk, talk. I just ignored them both. I figured they would figure out they weren't meant for each other and just break up or something." "You still haven't explained why he would say that." Shawn cut in. "I was getting to that." She told him, "see, I don't know exactly why he did decide to say all of that stuff, but my best guess is people were starting to find out that the Big Man on Campus was getting no action whatsoever, and he wanted to solve that problem. So he made up the twisted lie that we slept together so he could seem like a god or something, having a girlfriend and another girl on the side." "And Mimi actually believed that it was true when she found out?" "Obviously, yes. Seems that her popular boyfriend was more important to her than her best friend. He apologized profusely for what we did-or, what he said we did rather-and she forgave him. But they ended up breaking it off about a month after that." "That is unbelievable. Why would Mimi give up so many years of friendship for a jerk like Phillip." "Popularity." Belle replied with a shrug, "Phillip had it, and by dating him, so did she." "That was a stupid reason." "Yeah, it was. But the whole thing ended a year ago. I don't even know why I brought it up tonight." "Because you were upset. And you had every right to be. Friends shouldn't treat each other like that." "True. I've had some awful luck with friends though." She replied. "Yeah, well, you'll always have me." "Right." She replied with a smile, "I'll always have you."

CH 25 "Here we are." Shawn said, surveying the area before him from where they had parked. Belle rolled her eyes as soon as she realized where he had brought her. "Do you premeditate these cute ideas, or do you just come up with them off the top of your head?" she asked him. He opened his door and got out, then went over to her side. Opening the door, he replied, "What can I say? I'm good with these things." "Whatever." She replied, "Now come on, I'll race you to the swings." She said as she took off across the park where they had spent much of their childhood. "Belle." He whined as he tried to catch up, "have you taken up track or something in the past few years?" "Nope. Just cheerleading." She told him as she stopped, waiting for him to get to the swings. "You? A rah-rah girl?" "Shut up!" she said with a laugh, "Cheerleading is not as bad as you think." "Whatever. Actually I would kind of like to see you turning cartwheels in a short skirt." He teased her. She scowled at him, then turned and sat down on one of the swings. "Remember all of the times our parents would take us here?" "Yeah. I used to put sand in your hair and pull your braids." "And then I would run to Brady crying, and he would chase after you because he was such a protective big brother." "Was? He still is." Shawn said, "Didn't he get mad at you when you came home late last week?" "Yeah. But his protectivness comes in handy sometimes." Belle told him. She was spinning around in the swing, slowly winding the swing's ropes together as she did. Throughout her childhood she had loved to do this, wrapping the ropes around each other then pushing off quickly so she would go spinning around in circles. "Yeah? When is it helpful?" "Well, you know how Phillip mentioned the revenge I got on him last year?" "Uh huh. Did you have Brady beat him up or something?" "Well, he wasn't supposed to really beat him up." Belle replied, "He was only supposed to embarrass him in front of his new girlfriend." "Ah. So you wanted to get back using the theory that there is no worse way to hurt a man than by bruising his ego?" "Exactly." Belle said. She stopped winding the ropes and smiled at him quickly before taking off, spinning wildly around in circles. She threw her head back, laughing. It was just like she had remembered it was. Though, because she hadn't done it in so long, she felt dizzier than she had in years past. "Whoa," she said, trying to plant her feet on the ground as she felt herself begin to slip out of the swing. "Umf." She mumbled illegibly, closing her eyes. She expected to hit the sand under the swingset. Instead, she felt two strong arms wrap around her back just before she hit the ground. Opening her eyes, she looked up at Shawn. Yep, this was definitely better than hitting the sand.

CH 26 "You okay?" Shawn asked Belle as he helped her up into a sitting position. "Yeah." She said, placing a hand against her head, "just a little dizzy. That wasn't the same as it used to be." "Well sometimes things change over the years." "Such as?" she asked him. Belle was starting to think he wasn't talking about spinning on the swings any more. "Well, I would have never had the courage do to some things." "What would you do now that you wouldn't have been able to before?" "I would have never had the courage to do this." He said softly as he moved closer to her. Cupping her chin in his hand, he tilted her mouth up to meet his. She was rigid at first, unsure if this was a good or bad thing. After all, they had been friends since they were babies. If they started dating and broke up, what would happen to their friendship? Would it be thrown into the pile with all of her other broken friendships? But as he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, she couldn't help but forget all of her inhibitions. It felt so right to be in his arms, kissing him like she was. After a moment though, she pulled back, smiling. "You know what?" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "What?" "I'm glad you became gained some courage over the past few years." "So am I." He said, kissing her lightly, "So am I." They sat together for a few more minutes on the sand, then Shawn got up slowly, "Come on, we better get going." "Why?" Belle asked, standing also, brushing sand off of her jeans, "No one expects me home yet, I'm supposed to be at the party still." She glanced down at her watch, "It's only ten." "Yeah, but you need your sleep for tomorrow." "Really, and what is tomorrow?" "The day before school starts. The last day of freedom." "Ah. So what are you planning for the last day of freedom? I, for one, need to go shopping." "Well then, shall we meet after you run around trying on clothes?" "What? Don't want to watch me model new outfits?" "Tempting, but no. I know I'll just end up being a bag boy for you as you run around." "Aw, you haven't been shopping with me in years. How do you know that I'm that bad?" "Manly intuition." He intoned as he opened the passenger side door for her. She hoped in and he closed the door after her, walking around to the other side. "So what do you think our parents will say about us?" "I don't know. Do we even need to tell them? I mean, I don't share any more information about my life with them than I have to." "Well, if we don't tell them we won't have to go through all of the 'awww, how cute' crap." Shawn mused. "Whatever.Hey, I do know how some other people will react though." "Who would that be?" "Well, Brady will give you the 'you ever hurt my sister I will personally kill you' talk, and Chloe will be pissed beyond reason." "Let's not discuss this with either of them. For a long long time. Our safety-" "You mean your safety." Belle corrected him. "Right. My safety will depend on it." "Fine. I won't tell Brady. For now. There is only so much a sister can do to dodge a overbearing brother."

CH 27 "So what did you do tonight Belle?" a voice asked as she walked through the door. She jumped, startled. When Shawn had dropped her off he had wanted to walk with her upstairs, but she told him she didn't want Brady to catch them together in the hall-or, even worse, her dad come out. He reluctantly said goodbye to her in the parking lot, giving her one last goodbye kiss, which turned into another, and another. Finally she broke away, reminding him that they still had tomorrow. He let her go, telling her to take her cell with her shopping so she could call him the minute she was done. "Brady!" Belle hissed, placing her hand over her chest, "Thanks for giving me a heart attack! What the heck are you doing skulking around in the dark, anyway?" "I was getting a snack." He said, waving around the bag of chips he was carrying. "So, how was the party? You're home by curfew." "It was alright. I got in a fight with Phillip." "If he hurt you-" "Chill Brady. He just tried saying some stuff like he said last year, and in the end I." "You." he prompted. "I dumped my drink over his head," Belle told him with a smile, "And let me tell you, that was one fun thing to do." "Oh, and did the poor baby whine that you had ruined his favorite shirt?" "Don't know. I ran out afterwards." "Than how did you get home? Why didn't you call me." "My cell phone took that convenient moment to die. And Shawn found me and took me home." "So now you are going to have two protectors." "Sorta. But don't worry Brady, there is no competition, you'll always hold the spot of my number one security guard." "Well, that is a good thing to hear." Brady told her. "Good. Now, I am going to get out of these clothes and go to sleep. Shopping time tomorrow." "Uh oh. You going to max out Dad's credit card again?" Brady teased her. "You bet." She told him as she ascended the stairs. "See you in the morning." "Night."

Belle put on her shorts, nightshirt and fuzzy slippers, then sat down at her desk chair. She knew she needed rest, but she couldn't bring herself to go to sleep. She turned to her computer, booting it up. Maybe after a quick e-mail check she would be ready to go to sleep. As she logged on, she tapped her fingers against the desk. She looked up at her bullitin board, at the pictures that stared back at her. One now seemed almost haunting to her. It had been taken a few months before, at the last blast of her junior year. She, Chloe and a few of their other aquaintances were posing in front of the gym. It had been a wonderful night. Even though Phillip had been there with his crew, they hadn't bothered them much. Belle shook her head. Those times were over. After tonight she and Chloe couldn't be friends. Chloe had lied to her, after all. How was she supposed to trust her again. An IM popped up on the screen. It was from Chloe. "You won't get away with this, you know." Belle read to herself aloud. TinkerBelle: Get away with what? PhantomDiva: You know very well what. Stealing Shawn from me. TinkerBelle: He wasn't yours to begin with, Chloe. Besides, I just think you are mad that you got caught in your own web of lies.

Without waiting for her response, Belle signed off. She had less than no time to deal with Chloe's petty fighting. Though, at that moment, she had a premonition that this was only the beginning of the end.

CH 28 "You are still shopping?" Shawn said into the phone as he sat in a booth at dotCOM. He had gotten there about forty minutes ago, hoping to find a few CDs before Belle showed up. "Yeah. I have to get all new clothes for the school year. That takes time." "Whatever. When are you going to be done." "Just give me 15 more minutes. Even if I'm not done I'll come by, okay?" "Alright. And that means 15 minutes real time, not Belle time." "Belle time?" she questioned him. "You know. It was supposed to be only 15 minutes, but it turned into an hour!" "Whatever. 15 minutes real time. I'll see you then!" she said, hanging up her phone. Shawn turned his on voicemail, then went back to flipping through cds. "Hey! Shawn man, whats up?" Shawn turned to see Brady entering the store with a petite brunette girl. "Hey Brady. Not much, just waiting for your sister to get done shopping" "That could be a while." "Tell me about it." Shawn replied, then, he realized if the line of conversation went any futher, chances are Brady would suspect something. The had to think of something, and fast. "Um, so, who is your friend?" "Tia Ramirez." The girl said, sticking out her hand for him to shake. "And I would hope that Brady considers me as more than a friend." She added, turning her head back to Brady. He smirked, then put on a mask of deep concentration. "I don't know. This relationship is only in the trial stages, and I don't know if I want to claim you as mine yet." He told her with a laugh. "Haha. Cute." She said, smacking him in the chest. "Ow. Hey, I'll claim you as mine if you don't hurt me." He offered to her. Shawn watched the exchange, amused. You could tell who was in charge here. Tia smiled at him, and turned to Shawn, "now, you take notes. This is what girls look for in a guy. Well trained, obedient." "Tee, you are making me sound like a dog that just graduated from obedience class." "Brilliant observation. Now, go get me a café con leche, and while you are up there, get yourself a treat." She said, balancing on her tiptoes and patting his head, "Because you have been such a good boy today," she finished with a smirk. "Shut up." He mumbled, then turned and went to get her drink. She smiled at his back, then turned around to face Shawn again, "So are you Belle's boyfriend?" "Not exactly." "Ah, not gonna say anything so you don't get your butt whipped by Brady?" she said. "Yeah. That and the fact that our parents would go on and on about how cute it is that we are dating." "I understand. And don't worry, your secret is safe with me,"

CH 29 Belle walked into Dot Com, carrying only one bag. She immediately spotted Shawn sitting at one of the booths, but he was suprisingly already with two other people who were facing the other direction. "I'm here, finally!" she said as she approached the table. "Only one bag?" Shawn teased her. "The rest are in the car, duh. I just saw this on the way over here and had to buy it." She shot back to him, rolling her eyes. "Belle Black: Shopping Goddess at it again, I see!" Belle turned around at the sound of the familiar voice. "Tee! I didn't see you sitting there!" Belle said with a smile as she slid into the booth next to Shawn, facing her brother and Tia. "I haven't talked to you in forever! How's college life treating you?" "Two days down, half a zillion to go!" Tia said with a wry smile, "You think high school is hard, just you wait till you are in college!" "I don't hate school, remember? I just detest it with a passion." Belle told her. "Anyways, at least now that you are in college you get to go to all the college parties." "Yeah. You two should come out to my dorm this weekend." She replied, nodding her head to Belle and Shawn, "There is going to be a huge party after the game-" "I don't think so." Brady butted in. "My baby sister is not going to go to a college party." "Brady! I am almost 18, remember? I think I can make my own decisions." "No you can't. Not as long as I'm around." "Whatever. How about I appoint Shawn as my personal guard, that way no big bad college guys will go after me." "We will talk about this later Belle." Brady said, leveling her with a stare. She returned it defiantly. He was not going to run her life. Not by a long shot. Finally he glanced down at his watch. "Shoot, we have to get going. Movie time." "Yeah, and he agreed to buy me popcorn." Tia interjected, "As long as I don't throw it at him again!" "Go for the gummy bears." Belle stage whispered back to her, "They stick in his hair." "Goodbye, children," Brady said in a condesending tone, "Don't stay up to late." "Bye Brady. Don't make an ass of yourself!" Belle quipped back with a smirk. Brady just shook his head and walked off. He didn't even want to dignify that with a respons.

CH 30 "Well, that was a very interesting conversation. Do you and your brother always fight like that?" Shawn said as Brady and Tia walked out of hearing distance. "yup. It is a Black family tradition to yell at your siblings in public. You weren't around for Carrie and Sami's fighting over Austin, were you?" "Nope, but I heard about most of them. At least you and Brady won't have to worry about that. Unless of course Brady turns gay." "Oh, I can see it now, Brady hopping to all the night clubs, telling me which shoes go with my outfit and which guys are the hottest. I think not." Shawn rolled his eyes at her. "So how much damage did you really do to the credit cards, anyway?" "I'll put it this way. You know the little magnetic part they scan?" "Yeah." "Well, I think it has peeled all the way off." Belle said with a satisfied smile, "But don't worry! I didn't max out the card!" "It's one of those unlimited cards, isn't it?' "Rats, how did you guess?" she replied with a laugh, "I really don't think I spent all that much though." "Yeah, we'll just see how long you are grounded when the bills come." "Like dad would even notice. He just pays them and doesn't even look at the expenses. One of the perks of an uncaring father." "I'm sure he cares. He just has too much money to notice all of your spending." "Yeah, well I wished they cared some. I mean, they care when I'm home, how my grades are, blah, blah, blah, but they don't really care about me. They just want me to continue being the perfect daughter I am." "Oh, so is that the other reason for your little rebellion? I mean, besides the whole thing from last year." "Yeah, I figured why not have my own secret life outside of their knowledge." "The secret life of Belle Black? Am I seeing a Lifetime movie in the making?" "Funny, but I don't think so. Anyway, it is getting kinda late, you want a ride home?" "Sure. But how can it be getting late? We have been here for all of 15 minutes." "Shawn, hello? School starts tomorrow! I have tons of stuff to do." "More stuff?" he asked, shocked, "How much does it take to get ready for school?" "For the first day of my senior year, it takes a whole lot. So lets go."

CH 31 "You know what else is good about being in the car instead of dotCOM?' Belle said as she started the engine to her yellow Jeep Wrangler. "What is that? Less people hyped up on Coffee?" Shawn replied jokingly. "No, more private time for us." Belle said, sneaking one of her hands over and grabbing his. "Ah, yes, and that is a very good thing, especially when we know Brady is no where in the vicinity." "Unless, of course, he has set up secret cameras in my car. Which I don't doubt he would do." "Well, he certainly couldn't get a camera in the back." Shawn observed, "There are too many bags for even a spy camera to be squeezed in there. I'm shocked you even have room for me in the car." "Don't worry, Shawn, I'll always have room in the car for you, even after I've gone shopping." She replied with a small smile. Shawn smirked at her, then brought his hand up to her face, brushing her hair away from her cheek. "Well, that is good to hear." He told her, pulling her closer to him for a quick kiss. Belle broke away after a moment. "Shawn!" she whined, "You are trying to keep me from my pre-school rituals!" "Are you saying you aren't enjoying this?" he said, kissing her again. "Oh, that is definitely not what I'm saying." She assured him. "But I really do need to get home." "fine, fine." He said with a small pout. Belle rolled her eyes and pecked him on the cheek quickly before pulling out of the parking lot. "So are you ready for your first day at Salem High?" Belle asked. "Ready in what way?" he replied, "I don't want to go to school, but I'm not freaking out about it like other people. Of course, I don't know what I'm going to wear tomorrow" he said sarcastically. "Shut up. I am not that bad!" she argued back to him. She knew it was a lie though. She had been considering what she was going to wear for weeks now. And not just for the first day. More like for the first few weeks. "Have you seen the back of your car lately? I think that it qualifies as bad." "I'm just well prepared." "You have enough clothes back there to keep a third world country clothed for years." "I can't help it. I'm a shop-a-holic. And I have a credit card. That doesn't help the problem." "Your father hasn't considered putting a limit on the card." "He thinks that he can buy my love with the card. So I'm not going to tell him anything different." She replied indifferently. "Aren't you the loving daughter." "Yeah." She said with a smirk, then pulled into his driveway. "Well, I guess this is your stop. Should I pick ya up in the morning or are you going to take your dad's truck?" "How about you pick me up. That'll give us some time alone together again." "Oh fun." She replied. "And what will we do with that time?" "Hmm.maybe more of this?" he said, giving her a kiss. As he did he opened his door, and he quickly broke it off and stepped out. "No fair. We will definitely have to continue this tomorrow." "Bye Belle." He said, then shut the car door and walked to his house. Belle smiled to herself as she pulled out of his driveway. Who would have thought that when her best friend returned, he would start dating her other so called best friend, and then things would turn out like this? "now if only school will go this good."