Belle saw the disappointed look on Shawn's face when she told him she was getting married and her heart sunk. She still didn't like to see Shawn unhappy, even after all these years.
She cleared
her throat. "Yeah, I'm getting married on July 23rd. I have an
invitation for you, actually. I was going to mail it, but I didn't have your
address," she added, taking an envelope out of her purse and handing it to
Shawn.
Shawn took
the envelope out of Belle's hand and looked at the invitation. "Hmm. So, you're
getting married. That's-that's-" he took a deep breath and looked down at
Belle. He blinked, trying to clear the tears that had welled up in his eyes.
"That's great, Belle. Congratulations," he told her, hugging her. Inside,
though, he felt like his heart was being ripped in two. 'Belle? My
Belle, engaged? Why? Why not to me? I mean, I still love her. Why aren't we
getting married? Oh, yeah. Because she dumped me. That's right,' he thought to
himself. Shawn's memory went back to that fateful day, the day after
graduation.
***FLASHBACK***
Shawn poked
his head inside the Black's penthouse. "Hello? Anybody home? Hey, Brady," he
greeted Brady, Belle's older brother, as he came out of the kitchen with a bowl
of ice cream.
Brady nodded
his head in Shawn's direction. "Hey, Shawn If you're looking for Belle, which I
assume you are, she's in her room. I have no idea what she's doing, though, so
I'd knock first if I were you," he suggested.
"Thanks,
Brady." Shawn headed up the stairs and stood in front of Belle's door. "Belle?"
he called softly, lightly knocking on the door. "Belle, sweetie, what did you
want to see me about? Belle?" He opened the door just enough to peek inside to
see if she was in there. She was.
Belle looked
up when she heard Shawn open the door. "Hi, Shawn," she greeted her boyfriend
of almost a year, standing up to give him a hug. "Thanks for coming over."
Shawn hugged
her back and kissed her on the cheek. "Anytime, baby, anytime. So, what did you
want to see me about?" he asked, sitting down on her bed.
Belle closed
her bedroom door and turned to face Shawn. "Shawn, after I got home last night
from Mimi's party, I got to thinking. I love you, and there's nothing I want
more than to spend the rest of my life with you. But we just graduated, Shawn.
We're not supposed to know what we want to do with our lives, you know? Like,
the biggest decision we should be making is where to go to school next year or
what to major in. And you already know what you want to do, and I already know
what I want to do, and it all boils down to a choice." She paused to catch her
breath. 'I can't believe I'm actually doing this,' she thought to herself.
Shawn leaned
forward to rest his chin in his hands. "A choice between what?"
Belle sat
down next to Shawn. How much she desperately wanted to run her hands through
his hair, feel his arms around her and his lips against hers…no, she couldn't think
of that. Maybe the bed wasn't the best choice. She moved onto the floor. That's
better. "Well, it's between two things. We both know that I'm going to college
in Florida to be a teacher, and you've been wanting to be a Merchant Marine
since, like, kindergarten. Not really, but you know what I mean."
Shawn
nodded. "Yeah, I do. I've been wanting to go into the Merchant Marines for most
of my life, and teaching's always been your passion. So what's this choice that
must be so devastating that you can't bring yourself to tell me what it is?" he
prompted.
Belle took a
deep breath. "This is so not something I want to say, but I don't have a
choice. Here's the deal. It's me or the marines. That's the choice. If you
choose me, you can't be a Merchant Marine, but if you choose the marines, you
can't be with me, and I'll tell you why. You know I love you, but I can't live
with someone who moves whenever they're assigned someplace halfway around the
world. When I get married and have kids, I want to be rooted, you know? I want
to stay in pretty much one place. I can't have my kids going to six different elementary
schools in their first five grades. I want them going to one, and only one. One
elementary school, one junior high, and hopefully one high school. I know I'm
gonna make some sacrifices as a wife, but that's one thing I'm not, okay? So,
it's me or the marines." She stopped and searched Shawn's face for his
reaction.
Shawn
sighed. 'Belle or the marines? So basically, my lifelong dream or my lifelong
love? What the hell am I gonna choose?'
***END FLASHBACK***