It's been 3 months since they broke up. 3 months since he got to kiss her soft lips and hold her in his arms. 3 months he's had to live without hearing her tell her that she loved him. 3 months he has had to live with a broken heart.

Shawn Brady walked through Salem Place. It was the beginning of Spring and it was the first pretty day that Salem had seen in months. He needed to get out of his apartment for some fresh air, to clear his head. The only time he left his apartment that he shared with his best friend, Rex Dimera, was when he went to work. Besides that, he stayed home. He had no reason to go anywhere with anyone, anymore. There was no purpose to do so without her. Without Belle.

He couldn't believe he had been so stupid. They had gotten into an argument. A big argument at that. It was rare for them to fight, but when they did, it usually didn't last long. They both got over it pretty quickly. They were never afraid to swallow their stupid pride and say, "I'm sorry." They would take 15 minutes to themselves and calm down and then they would kiss and make up. That would be the end of whatever the hell it was that they were arguing about.

Of course, Shawn and his damn Irish temper eventually got the best of him. One minute, him and Belle were joking around and laughing. Then he blinked and they were fighting. What they were fighting about he couldn't remember. Not that it was important. All Shawn Brady knew was because he let his temper take control of his brain and his mouth, he lost the best thing to ever happen to him.

There they stood in the middle of her loft, arguing, and then the next minute he was shouting, "IT'S OVER!" and then he walked out her door.

Belle had followed him, she tried to get him to change his mind. But, he was too stubborn, too much of an ass to listen. And, now he was here.

Walking around Salem Place, feeling sorry for himself and missing Belle. He had to find a way to get her back. He had to find a way to make things right with her. If he had to spend the next 50 years dedicating his life to doing just that, he would. He would do anything in the world for her.

As he rounded a corner, not paying attention where he was going, he ran directly into someone.

"I'm so sorry," he said, grabbing the person's shoulders to keep them from falling to the grown.

"I'm sorry," the person said the exact same time as he did.

Shawn looked up and his breath was instantly knocked out of him. He stood there staring into the most beautiful pare of blue eyes.

"Belle," he whispered.

"Sh-Shawn. Hi," Belle Black said nervously.

Shawn's hand still rested on her shoulders. He didn't want to lose contact with her. She was wearing a tank top so his hand rested on smooth and soft skin. He continued to stare into her eyes. He didn't ever want to look away. It's been so long since he has got to touch her and look at her. He knew he had missed her but he didn't realize just how much until now.

"So, how have you been?" Shawn asked nervously, breaking the silence between them.

"I've been alright. Just busy with school and work. How about you?"

"I've been better," Shawn said honestly, shrugging his shoulders.

Just as Belle was going to speak, someone walked up and cut her off.

"Hey, Belle. Are you ready to go?"

Shawn quickly removed his hands from her shoulders and eyed the guy up and down. He wanted to ask Belle who the guy was but knew he no longer had the right to.

"Here in a few minutes. I was just catching up with a friend of mine," she said as she smiled up at Shawn.

The use of the word 'friend' made Shawn cringe internally but he smiled back at her. He guess being her friend was better than being nothing to her at all. And, it was also a step towards getting her back.

""Are you going to introduce us?" the guy asked.

"Uh, Dillon Smelcer this is Shawn Brady. Shawn this is Dillon," Belle said quietly.

Shawn held out his hand and shook Dillon's while at the same time watching as Belle stared down at the grown. Something was off, he just didn't know exactly what. He had heard from people around town that she had taken the breakup just as hard as he did, if not harder, so maybe seeing him was upsetting her? Shawn highly doubted that. If she was out with some guy then that could only mean Belle was over him.

"Well, I'm thirsty so I'm going to go grab something to drink real quick. You have until I get back to talk to him but when I get back, we're leaving," Dillon said as he walked off.

Shawn watched the guy as he walked in the opposite direction of where they stood. He raised a questioning eyebrow at Belle.

"Uhm, well, he seems really nice," Shawn said, sarcasm dripping off every word.

"Yeah," Belle said quietly, still looking down, rubbing one of her arms as if she was cold.

It was getting dark and the temperature was starting to drop. Even though it had been a pretty day, Shawn still wore a light jacket over his short sleeve shirt. He quickly removed it and placed it over her.

"Thank you," Belle said sweetly. She pulled her hair out of the jacket and that's when Shawn saw it. His heart stopped and he felt sick to his stomach.

He was going to kill someone.

TBC...