Attempting to call Belle for the fourth time in an hour, Bradin sighed exasperatedly as he hung up his cell phone. She hadn't bothered to call him back, and Bradin had left two messages earlier. Feeling a bit clingy, he decided not to leave a message the last two times she didn't pick up her phone.

Bradin didn't know what it was, but he felt the need to see Belle. It was probably because he hadn't seen her all day, but he also knew it was because of Erika. He wished he hadn't met with her at all, since nothing seemed to be going right since she came back. A part of him wanted to hate Erika, but the other part was just glad she was back.

Frustrated, he climbed onto his bed to lie down. Why he was frustrated? Bradin didn't know. The past few days had been so hectic, so crazy, he wasn't sure about much anymore. All he wanted right at that moment was to see Belle; but since he couldn't because he didn't know where she was, he wanted to talk to her. He felt like he needed reassurance--that he was still in love with Belle. But how could he even question something like that? Belle had been the center of his world since he met her!

But things seemed to change once Erika returned. Suddenly, he was questioning his relationship with Belle, feeling as though he needed to prove to himself he was actually over Erika, although he thought that'd been done a while ago.

All he wanted was to see Belle. He wanted to kiss her again and again and again, to run his fingers through her soft brown hair, just to hold her hand and be with her. To just watch her as she did her everyday routines, wait for her while she got ready. He loved just seeing her and how she always seemed to look stunning, even in sweats; how she looked when she was angry about something, the faces she made were so cute. He had to see her.

Picking up his cell phone again, he dialed Belle's cell number and waited for it to ring.

"Hey, Bradin!" Belle said when she finally picked up after the fourth ring.

"Belle!" Bradin said, spirits rising. "I've been trying to get a hold of you all day."

"I'm sorry, I've been helping Erika move her stuff out."

Surprised, Bradin asked "Erika found a place to stay already? How?"

"She's staying with me,"

Bradin shot up in his bed. "She's staying with you?"

"Yeah," Belle replied, "I figured she needed a place to stay and that hotel she's at is outrageously expensive, especially for her salary at Mona's. And besides, we have more than enough room in our house."

"Are you sure your parents won't mind?" Bradin asked.

"Not at all," Belle replied, "they're flying out to New York or something this afternoon, and they won't even notice she's here. But I did talk to them and they thought I could use the company. I swear, ever since that night at the hospital they're trying to be more like parents, but they don't know how."

Bradin wasn't quite sure how to respond. "I could've came over,"

Belle laughed. "Yeah, considering my parents have never met you, Bradin, I don't think they'll be too keen on that."

"I need to see you, Belle," Bradin said honestly, "Can I come over?"

There was a pause. "Is this good or bad that you need to see me?" Belle asked.

It was Bradin's turn to laugh. "It's good. I just wanna see you."

"Aww," Belle gushed, "you're so sweet."

"Can I come over?" Bradin asked again, getting a bit impatient.

"We're still unpacking Erika's things,"

"I can come help." Bradin suggested.

Belle laughed melodically. "That's all I need, a distraction. You lifting heavy boxes, me dropping them." She laughed again. "I'll call you once we're done, okay?"

Bradin paused. "I miss you." He said suddenly.

"I miss you, too," Bradin could tell she was smiling--he could hear it in her voice. "Look, I'll give you a call when we're all settled down, okay?"

"Why can't I just come over?" Bradin asked impatiently.

"Because," Belle sighed, "I'd rather spend actual time with you. I don't want our time together to be just us unpacking Erika's things."

Bradin sighed heavily. He wanted to see her so badly, but knew that Belle would get mad if he came over with anyway, after she told him not to.

"Fine," Bradin replied. "Just don't take too long."

Belle laughed. "We won't. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Hanging up the phone, Bradin slumped back down onto his bed. He didn't want to wait to see Belle. It was only a matter of days before he would return to doing comps again and he wanted to spend it with Belle.

Still, there was that nagging part in the back of his head that told him the only reason he wanted to see Belle so badly was because he needed to prove to himself that he loved her and Erika hadn't messed anything up. With everything that had happened during his meeting with Erika, he'd totally forgotten to ask her not to tell Belle about their elaborate past.

Panic struck Bradin as this thought occurred. He'd forgotten to tell Erika! Erika was sure to tell Belle, and if not now, later, especially since the two were housemates! And Belle would get extremely angry because Bradin had tried to keep the truth from hurting her… and that was the last thing he wanted to do.


Author's Notes: Hello again my fellow readers! I seem to be getting less and less reviews each time I put up a chapter, but I'm glad to see that some people are still reading! And again, I understand school is getting in the way of reading, but if you do get the chance to read, drop a review because then I'll know! And I like to know who's reading! It's been so nice hearing from a lot of you again, I was feeling a bit fanfic deprived... but I totally blew off my homework to do this! I'm such a procrastinator... but you know what? It was worth it. Actually, I had the first 2/3 of this done on Wednesday but I had writer's block, so I couldn't finish it. The ending isn't the best... but hopefully I'll be able to get everything resolved soon so I can start up the next story that's been burning in my notebook of ideas!
... okay, confession: I haven't been writing lately because 1) I really do have writer's block, and it's hard to write when that happens... ideas just WON'T COME! and 2) I've been obsessively going back and forth between my email, facebook, Xanga, and MuggleNet! I don't know what's wrong with me... I check my email about 40 times a day, I check facebook almost every hour to see if anyone's "requested me as a friend", I write loooonnnnngggggg summaries of my day on Xanga (and if anybody's interested in reading it, my SN is becauseyoulive87), and I am obsessed with reading the latest news about Harry Potter on MuggleNet! I am uber excited for the release of Goblet of Fire! But chances are I won't see it until I go home for Thanksgiving break... which is only about a week after the release date!
Okay, I'm babbling again... oh, just recently got AIM (becauseulive87) if anybody wants to add me on (I can't for the life of me figure out how to do it... computers just don't like me!). Thanks to the people who reviewed, and pleasseeeee do it again:D Peace!
Anjo Mac