Belle felt the light wind blow against her face as she looked out at the water. Bradin's surprise turned out to be a late-night picnic by the beach. It wasn't anything too original, but Belle didn't expect too much. She was happy just watching moon reflected off the sparkling blue ocean water, making the waves look as though they were glowing, so happy to greet the shore.

Bradin, returning from clearing away what was left of their picnic, sat behind Belle and wrapped a blanket around the both of them. The entire night had been so calming, so wonderful. Belle felt so incredibly lucky to have a guy such as Bradin.

But there was a part of her that had been wanting to confront him about Erika the entire night. No matter how incredibly great Bradin was to her throughout everything, Belle had to fight the urge to yell at him, to scream at him, to break down into tears.

"I love you, Belle," Bradin whispered into her ear. And that made it that much harder for her to confront him, but Belle knew that if she wanted any type of closure with Bradin's past, she needed to know what exactly went on between the two of them so she could learn to get over it.

"I need to ask you something." Belle said softly. Even though she asked, part of her hoped that he hadn't heard her.

"About what?"

Belle closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "You and Erika."

Bradin was taken by surprise. "What about me and Erika?"

There was no point in stopping now. "I mean, you and Erika. Together. In a relationship."

Bradin sighed. "Who told you about that?"

Not wanting Jay to get in trouble, Belle said, "That doesn't matter. I just wanna know why you never bothered to bring up the fact that I seem to be housing your ex-girlfriend who left Playa Linda for what I thought was no reason."

"I didn't think it mattered." Bradin replied quietly.

"How could it not?" Belle yelled, trying to keep her voice somewhat calm. "Doesn't it bother you that you've lied to me all this time?"

"What did you want me to say?" Bradin asked calmly. "'This is Erika, who, by the way, broke my heart and left me to wonder what the hell I had done to drive her away'? I am so much happier with you than I ever was with Erika, and I just didn't think it was that big of a thing."

"Except for the fact that she was your first love."

Bradin looked at Belle. "Who told you that?"

"Nobody."

Bradin laughed. "So, nobody told you all this stuff? You're just psychic and figured it all out?"

"Don't try and twist this onto me!" Belle yelled. She was so furious she didn't realize she had stood up.

Bradin tried to tug her back down to sit but Belle pushed his hand away. "Belle, just calm down."

Belle tried her best to calm herself down. She lowered her voice. "I just wanna know what exactly your relationship with Erika was."

Bradin knew he couldn't lie to Belle. He could see the hurt in her eyes and the way she was fighting back tears. There was no way he could lie to her. Finally getting Belle to sit down with him, the story of him and Erika poured out of his mouth: how she was one of the first people he'd met when he moved to Playa Linda after the accident, how she taught him to surf, how he was heartbroken when he found out Erika and Jay had a thing together, the way their friendship grew stronger and the next thing he knew he and Erika were a thing; things heated up between the two of them, the only problem was that she, at that point, was his surf coach for Playa Linda High School's surf team. Their relationship was exposed and they were forced to give it up. They tried to stay friends but Bradin didn't want that whatsoever, and things kept getting in the way. Once they were finally able to be together, Erika left him, alone and heartbroken.

That is, until he met Belle. She made him forget everything about Erika and he loved it. And he knew that he had to let her know that.

"You have made me the happiest I've ever been, Belle," Bradin said, taking Belle's hand in his, "and there is nothing that Erika could do to ever pull me away from you."

There was a very long pause before Belle said anything, and Bradin felt nervous. He wasn't sure what to expect from the situation.

"I just don't understand why you didn't tell me in the first place," Belle said finally, "You've been lying to me all this time?"

"I wasn't lying," Bradin tried to explain, "I was--"

"--keeping the truth from me?"

It didn't matter what way he tried to put it, the point was that he did lie to Belle and he felt horrible. There wasn't anything he could've said to her to make the situation any better.

"I'm sorry, Belle," Bradin apologized once again, "I really am, but there's nothing I can do to change the past. But this doesn't change the way I feel about you."

"Yes, it does!" Belle's temper started to rise once again. "You've been lying to me ever since Erika came back to town! I don't know what to believe anymore, Bradin!"

"Belle," Bradin said, trying to calm her down once more, "please--"

"Take me home." Belle demanded as she stood up.

"Why?" Bradin asked.

"I don't want to be around your right now."

Bradin shook his head. "I am not taking you home, Belle. Why can't we talk about this?"

Belle laughed. "What more can we really talk about? The fact that you've lied to me ever since Erika came back?"

"What does it matter?!" Bradin shouted, jumping to his feet. "Why does it matter whether or not I tell you about my past relationships? I don't hear you telling me anything about guys you've dated before?!"

"They haven't mysteriously disappeared and reappeared into my life, Bradin! And besides, the only boyfriend of mine worth mentioning to anyone is you because I never loved any of them! I've never told anyone I love them, not even my parents! Do you know how much it means to me to have someone like you in my life, to love you so much, to think you loved me just as much--"

"I do love you, Belle!"

"--then to find out you've been lying to me all this time about Erika? Do you know what it's like finding out that the one person you trust the most has been lying to you?" Belle sighed, then lowered her voice again then looked at Bradin square in the eye. "Do you wanna know why I put up walls around people? Do you wanna know why I don't trust anyone? It's because of people like you. It's like… the moment I think I can trust someone, they always take advantage of me. It hurts, Bradin. It hurts not having a best friend to talk to, to share secrets with… then you find out she's been sleeping with your boyfriend behind your back, stealing money from your wallet to buy him gifts… and all the while, I overlooked everything because I trusted the both of them."

Bradin finally understood why Belle was taking everything so hard. She had experienced something similar to this before and it was bringing back those memories.

"But Erika and I are over." Bradin said.

Belle shook her head. "No you're not," she replied, looking away from him, "I've seen the way she looks at you. She still loves you, Bradin."

"That's too bad! Because I love you, Belle!"

She shook her head again. "But you're still in love with Erika."

Bradin felt his blood boil. "How can you tell me that I'm still in love with Erika? Don't you think I would know my own feelings?"

Belle felt tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't look at her boyfriend without bursting into tears, so instead she focused on the ground. "Then why didn't you tell me about the two of you?"

Bradin had never actually answered the question and he still didn't have one.

"If it didn't matter… then why didn't you tell me?" Belle asked softly. "If you were really over Erika, why would you keep your relationship from me?" Finally mustering up the courage, Belle looked up at Bradin, tears filling her eyes. "If you loved me, why didn't you tell me the truth from the beginning?"

Bradin didn't have an answer. He knew that he should have told Belle from the start, but he didn't. As much as he wanted to, he didn't want her knowing about his secret relationship with Erika.

And it was Bradin's silence that gave Belle her answer.

"Please take me home." Belle said as a tear fell down her cheek. Before Bradin could wipe it away, Belle moved around him and headed toward the car.

Author's Note: Yes, it's been a while! But, school is a priority!! I hope you enjoyed chapter 35! I had fun writing it, lol. It went in a totally different direction while I was writing it... but I like this a lot better. Reviews are greatly appreciated! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Anjo Mac