Back at the penthouse, Shawn sat on the couch as Belle
walked into the kitchen. "Do you want anything to drink?" Belle called out.
Shawn leaned back and thought. "No, I'm good."
Belle opened the refrigerator and pulled out a Coke. When she
walked out into the living room, she stopped to gaze at Shawn relaxing on the
couch. He had stretched out his arms on the back of the couch and closed his
eyes. Belle cleared her throat to announce her arrival. "Okay, so did you want
to talk?" she asked.
Shawn opened his eyes and looked at his ex-girlfriend.
'No, and I ain't saying what I wanna do cuz I kiss my momma with this mouth,'
he thought to himself. "Sure, if you wanted to."
Belle sat down on the edge of the couch, as far away from
Shawn as she could get. "You know, Shawn, I really am sorry that you had to go
through what I put you through. I know that the choice must have been really
hard to make," she said, trying to start the conversation.
Shawn rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, you know what?
Let's not talk about that, all right? I really want to talk about something
else."
Belle opened her Coke. "Works for me. So, what do you want
to talk about?" she asked, taking a sip.
"Us."
Belle almost choked on her drink. "Shawn, there is no us,
remember? You chose your job over me, and that broke off the 'us' part of our
lives," she reminded him.
Shawn moved closer to Belle and gently touched her cheek.
"What if I regret that decision?"
Belle pulled her face away from Shawn's feathery touch. "Shawn,
please. I'm engaged, okay? Even if I wanted to be with you, I couldn't. I mean,
I can't. I-" she stood up to try and get away from Shawn. "You should go."
Shawn stood up and walked behind Belle. Putting his arms
around her waist, whispered in her ear, "I don't wanna go, Belle. I want to be
with you forever. I always have, and I always will."
Belle felt Shawn's hard body pressed against her back and
almost melted, but her genetic Black willpower stopped her from giving in right
there. "Shawn-" She stopped when she turned around and made eye contact with
Shawn. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break that eye contact. 'Ooh,
how come you always do that to me? Even after all these years I still want you
more than anything,' she thought.
Shawn locked his gaze with Belle's. He so desperately
wanted to kiss her, but wasn't sure what she would do when he did. Would she
slap him? What about kick him out of the penthouse and never talk to him again?
Or would she melt into his arms and be with him forever like he wanted her to?
With her hands resting against his chest, Belle could feel
Shawn's heart beating faster and faster until she thought it was going to beat
right out of his chest. 'I wonder if he's going to kiss me,' she wondered.
Shawn started debating the pros and cons of kissing Belle.
'Come on, man, just kiss her already. You know you love her and you want to
kiss her,' said the rebellious part of him.
The other, gentleman part wasn't so sure. 'But she's
engaged. She's not yours to play with. Ten years ago, sure, but now? No way.'
Eventually, though, the rebel part won the argument. Shawn
moved his eyes to gaze at Belle's lips, and he leaned toward her.
'Here it comes,' Belle thought. 'He's going to kiss me
now.' She slowly closed the gap between her and Shawn.
Shawn heard a breathy "Shawn" come from Belle's mouth
right before his mouth descended upon hers. He felt Belle melt into his arms,
just like he wanted. He wrapped his arms tightly around Belle's waist as he
deepened the kiss.
Belle wrapped her arms around Shawn's neck and moaned
softly into his mouth. 'How can he still kiss like that? It's not fair. If I
didn't know any better, I'd say Shawn was trying to win me back by his kisses.
If he is, it sure as hell is working.'