Chloe looked out the window and sighed. She didn't know a trip to Florida would turn her and Philip into strangers. Of course, he told her he needed time to himself to think things out. And he said the time for them to work things out together would start once they got back to Salem. But Chloe didn't know he meant she would hardly see him. Philip always headed out to the ocean for some new thing, went about town with Jason sometimes...and he always came in the room at night when Chloe was already in bed. Chloe closed her eyes and began to sing along with the radio.
Philip entered the room, thinking Chloe would be asleep already. He stopped and leaned against the doorway, watching her every moment.
I stood on mountain tops that overlooked the world
I can't find anything except a void inside
I went to places where I could forget your name
I can't find anything except a void inside
I don't have anything
Because I don't have you
I don't have anything
Philip cleared his throat and Chloe spun around. "Philip," she breathed. He immediately closed his eyes...his heart ached for the way she said his name. Chloe turned the radio off and slowly approached him.
"Hi, Chloe," Philip said, staring at his feet.
"Hi." They stood there in silence and the tension was unbearable. Chloe went to hold Philip's hand but stopped when she saw Philip's face tense up. She turned her back to him so he wouldn't see her eyes tear up. Philip sighed and lightly touched her shoulder.
"Time, Chloe. Please. I don't hate you. I'll always love you. I just need--"
"Time," Chloe finished, nodding. Philip hung his head miserably and decided it wouldn't hurt to give her a comforting hug. Before he could reach out for her, they heard Belle scream Brady's name. Philip sighed as Chloe bolted from the room and he eventually followed her out.
The door creaked open slowly and Jason tiptoed his way across the dark bedroom. After Brady left to go downstairs to give Heather a late night call, Jason decided to pay his make-out buddy a little visit. Unfortunately, she was already sleeping...right as he turned to leave, Mimi stirred and mumbled. Interested, Jason blindly tried to find his way to Mimi's bed. He sat down on the edge of her bed and saw her smile blissfully. He brushed back pieces of hair off her forehead and wondered what she was dreaming. She looked like an...angel. Jason looked away from Mimi's face in horror. An angel? God, he was turning into Philip Kirikias. He swallowed nervously. He couldn't be gaining feelings for Mimi Lockhart. He sighed...great, now he was turning into Shawn Brady. No! Shawn denied his actual feelings...Jason didn't have any feelings towards Mimi to deny. He looked down at the girl and smiled...after their "lessons", they would stay up and talk...he had to admit, Mimi always made him laugh. She acted differently than she did in school...more free-spirited. Jason sighed as he tried to clear his thoughts. He just couldn't get feelings for Mimi because...well, because...he just couldn't. "Jason and Mimi"? It never would fit and it never will.
Mimi let out a little moan and Jason froze. She definitely wasn't dreaming about shopping.
"Yes..." she whispered and Jason leaned closer. He wondered who she could--
"Jason..." Jason jumped from the bed and stared at Mimi. He couldn't even think. He shifted his feet nervously and jumped again when Mimi moaned his name louder. Oh, god. He had to get out of this room...he could only imagine what she was dreaming. Only Jason's feet refused to move from the spot on the floor. Jason could definitely take advantage of this situation. He imagined Mimi waking up from a wild dream to find her fantasy staring right at her in her room. Jason grinned to himself when Mimi moaned, practically screamed, his name. Then, he frowned when she burst out laughing. That's not a good sign, he thought.
Jason groaned to himself when Mimi sat up in her bed, hysterically laughing. "Oh, Jase, you're just too easy to fool."
Jason crossed his arms. "How did you--?"
Mimi rolled her eyes. "Oh, it was a very complicated process, let me tell ya. See, my eyes were open when you came in here. When you got close by, I--get this--closed them!" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Then I simply fake-moaned your name to get a rise out of you."
The two of them winced at the same time at her choice of words. Mimi cleared her voice to break the silence. "After all, I have a lot of practice faking when I'm with you, anyway."
Jason gave her a sexy smirk and Mimi gulped. "Honey, I know moans. You ain't faking anything."
Mimi averted her eyes from Jason. A month ago, if anyone told her that she'd be in a dark bedroom alone with Jason Welles talking about moans, she would have laughed in their face.
Jason set himself on Mimi's bed and sat closely next to her. He rubbed his leg against hers slowly. "I think it's time to move on from making out and give you the next lesson."
Mimi looked up at Jason nervously and he gave her a mischievous grin. "The next...?"
"Well, when the time comes, you're gonna have to learn how to take off a guy's clothes."
"What?!"
"Well, you can't very well have sex fully dressed. Didn't you ever get the facts of life talk, Meems?"
"I'm not going to have sex with you, Jason," Mimi yelled angrily.
"I didn't say we were going to have sex! I said, you'll learn the art of sexily stripping off a guy's clothes. Trust me, if I thought you'd be up for a sex lesson, do you think we'd just be kissing every night?" Mimi rolled her eyes in disgust.
"So what do you want from me, Jase?"
"Oh, Mimi, I wouldn't word your question like that...because I want a lot of things.." Jason growled, suddenly rolling ontop of her. Mimi gasped as Jason put his lips to her ear. "And I always get what I want," he whispered before sliding down a little to kiss her neck.
Mimi swallowed nervously. All of a sudden, this didn't feel like a tutorial anymore. "Jason...what...kinda lesson is this supposed to be?" she breathed.
"Going with it. Spontaneity. Surprises," he said in between his kisses.
"What about--?"
Jason looked up. "What, Meems, you're disappointed that I won't be giving the lesson on how to take off a guy's clothes while being sexy about it?", he said smiling.
Mimi sighed in frustration. This whole Jason-Knows-All/Mimi-Knows-Nothing was starting to get to her. "Who said I needed lessons on that?" she blurted out. Jason looked at in her surprise but recovered. This could be very beneficial for him.
"I said so. I doubt you can if you're so inexperienced," Jason said, before going for her neck again with his lips. Mimi was silent and Jason guessed it wasn't a challenge after all. All of a sudden, Mimi roughly rolled herself on top of Jason. She sat up and straddled him with her legs. "Try me," she said lowly. Before Jason could even make sense of what was happening, Mimi started kissing Jason's collarbone and pulled herself slowly down his body. She undid every button on his shirt with her teeth and Jason was in shock. This could not be Mimi Lockhart. She kissed his stomach and worked her way down to his pants. Jason stifled a moan when he realized what she was doing. She undid the easy snap button with her teeth and took the zipper in-between her lips. As Mimi pulled down the zipper with her mouth, Jason swallowed nervously. How far exactly was she going to go?
All of a sudden, they heard Belle scream out Brady's name. Mimi immediately sat up and didn't even look at Jason before bolting out of the room. Jason rebuttoned his shirt and zipped up his pants, panting on the bed. He gave himself time to relax before leaving the room, still in a shock. What had just happened? Who was that person and what had she done to Mimi? Mimi wasn't anywhere to be found in the hallway and Jason worked his way downstairs.
Meanwhile, Mimi stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. She didn't know what came over her. She just wanted to prove to Jason she had some tricks up her own sleeve also. But even Mimi didn't know she had that many tricks. She slowly grinned at herself in the mirror. How many girls could say they shook up Jason Welles' nerves? Mimi walked out of the bathroom to make sure Belle was all right.
Belle jumped off the counter as Shawn stood near her, trying to look brave. Brady crossed his arms with a pissed off look on his face.
"You know, I come downstairs to make a call to Heather. And look what I find instead."
"Brady, I can explain," Shawn said, swallowing. Belle cleared her throat nervously.
"Really? All right, Shawn. I want you to explain why you're just wearing that," he said, pointing to Shawn's swimming trunks. "And why my little sister is just wearing that," pointing to Belle's short towel. "And I want you to explain why you were mauling her on the kitchen counter in the middle of the night. Can you explain all that, Shawn?"
"Uh...um...yes," Shawn stammered.
"All right then. You've got two minutes before I pound in your face."
Shawn gulped. "Brady, I just wanted to let you know that--"
"One minute and fifty-five seconds," Brady said, looking at his watch.
"Ok! Ok. We were at the beach. That's why I'm just wearing my bathing suit. And we lost track of time again, which is why we're down here so late. And, um, a bird pooped on Belle." Brady rose his eyebrows in disbelief and Shawn rushed to the sink to get her bathing suit. Brady wrinkled his nose at the stained suit and Shawn tossed it back in the sink. "So she changed into the towel, which is the only thing she had down here, while I washed her bathing suit."
"Ok. Fair enough," Brady said, nodding his head. Shawn sighed out of relief as Brady walked over to him, placing his hand on Shawn's shoulder. However, Shawn grimaced when Brady tightened his grip threateningly. "But you still have...one minute to explain what you were doing with your hands all over her."
Belle uncomfortably shifted her weight. "Brady, stop--"
"Now, Belle, it's Shawn's turn...he's still got...fifty seconds before he gets acquainted with my fist," Brady said, never taking his eyes off the frantic Shawn. "Well?"
Shawn looked at Belle pleadingly but all she could do was shrug helplessly. Shawn turned back to Brady.
"Hmm...fourty seconds. Clock is ticking, pal."
"Because Belle and I are in love, Brady!" Shawn shouted. Brady immediately dropped his hand from Shawn's shoulder and gaped at him. Belle looked up in surprise when she heard four collective gasps--Mimi, Jason, Chloe and Philip were standing in the kitchen's doorway. Belle herself had to collect her thoughts after hearing Shawn's annoucement. It was definitely bold of him to stand up to Brady like that and Belle inched closer, ready to pull Brady off of Shawn. Belle smiled to herself...because Belle and I are in love! She waited to hear those words forever...hopefully, it wouldn't be ruined by Brady.
Shawn closed his eyes in anticipation of Brady's fist. He knew he put up a good fight himself, but he thought Philip could too. However, he saw Phil's face after Brady was through and it wasn't pretty. Shawn just hoped Brady wouldn't mess him up too bad--Shawn wanted to look as good as possible for his upcoming surprise for Belle. Shawn slowly opened his eyes when he realized Brady's fist never came. Brady was still staring at Shawn in shock...as well as the rest of the gang. Shawn suddenly felt very uncomfortable and he shuffled his feet.
"In...love?" Brady repeated slowly.
Shawn nodded. "I am hopelessly in love with your beautiful, sweet, amazing...perfect...sister." Belle's eyes immediately welled up with tears. Mimi put her hand to her chest and Chloe smiled widely as Philip and Jason gave each other a glance. Was this really Shawn Brady? He actually was admitting what everyone knew all along?
Brady took in a breath and looked over at Belle. She was staring at Shawn and his heart immediately softened. He could see the happiness in her eyes...finally. Belle had been through so much lately, most of what had been Brady's fault. And now something she has been waiting for, wishing for, has finally come true for her. Belle deserved it and Brady would be damned before he took away from Belle's happiness again.
Brady outstretched his hand and Shawn looked down in shock. He then grabbed Brady's hand as they shaked, grinning at each other. Brady then turned to Belle, enwrapping her in a huge bear hug. Belle's tears fell after watching Brady's acceptance and she whole-heartedly returned the hug. "I'm so happy for you, Tink," he whispered. "Now go put some clothes on, okay?" Belle laughed and nodded. But before she could move, Chloe and Mimi ran over to her squealing. The three girls laughed and hugged as the guys shook their heads. Girls. Lovey-dovey stuff made them so silly.
Brady turned back to Shawn. "Listen. I have two rules for you." Shawn nodded, just happy that he made it out of this fiasco unscathed. "One, I'm not stupid. I know your not going to keep your hands off. Obviously, from what I just saw," Shawn frowned when he saw Brady's eyes cloud over in anger again. "But I don't ever want to actually see you touching her again. You won't get off so easily next time." Shawn nodded again, keeping silent. "Two, if you ever hurt her, Shawn, I swear--"
"I'm not going to hurt Belle," Shawn said firmly. Brady smiled and patted him on the back, before walking over to the phone. Shawn rolled his eyes when he saw Brady tell Belle to go change. Philip approached Shawn and nudged him with his elbow.
"Never thought I'd see the day, man," Philip said and Shawn could just laugh in response. He looked over at Belle, who was recounting their first kiss for Chloe and Mimi.
Jason leaned against the doorway and grinned at Shawn. He said what was on the back of everyone's minds.
"It's about damn time."
Chapter 22
Philip dropped the last of the bags down on the floor and plopped down on the couch in exhaustion. "Thanks for the help, guys," he said sarcastically.
Shawn, who's arms were wrapped around Belle's waist from behind, smiled. "Hey, you only had to carry one of Belle's bags. I wasn't so lucky...I'm needing some time to rest my muscles."
Belle rolled her eyes. "What muscles?" she teased.
Shawn gasped mockingly and began to tickle her sides as Belle squealed. Philip couldn't help but smile. Now that Shawn and Belle revealed all, they were almost amazing to watch. The two made the transition from friends to a couple an unbumpy one. Mimi did tell Philip that Belle sometimes felt awkward being intimiate with Shawn, since he was always his her best friend. Now he was her best friend with his tongue down her throat.
Philip looked out the window to see Brady and Jason loading the bags into the rent-a-car. Chloe was talking on the porch with Mimi, who was shaking her head sympathetically. Philip sighed...he knew Chloe was probably talking about their relationship. Philip felt butterflies in his stomach because he still didn't know what to do to make everything perfect again. Shawn had tried to convince him that every relationship has problems, but Philip knew that Chloe was the problem. He loved her so much, but he had enough of her acting like she is the only one that could possibly get hurt in a relationship. Philip hung his head...maybe he was overexaggerating to himself. He knew it was time to talk to Chloe.
"I'll go get the rest from inside," Jason said after putting another bag in the trunk. Brady nodded and stretched his arms over his head. Suddenly, he felt two arms wrap around his waist and he turned around.
"Heather," Brady said, smiling.
Heather threw her arms around Brady's neck and he hugged her waist. "Hiya, Brady."
"I didn't think--"
"What? You didn't think I was going to come and say good-bye?"
"Well, your coming back to Salem tomorrow anyway. And, well, I...I know this week has...well..."
Heather grinned at Brady's loss for words. "Has been utterly confusing."
Brady smiled sadly. "I don't know what's going on with me, Walker. I saw you again...and you make me want to..."
"Be a better man?" Heather teased, using the pick-up line used by millions of guys ever since As Good As It Gets priemered.
Heather felt her throat get dry when Brady didn't smile back. "No. Just be the man I used to be."
Heather sighed. "Which would be a better man, Brady." He grimaced and she stepped away. "For most of this week, I've felt like I've been with a stranger. I mean, come on, Brady. You beat up Phil for no good reason, Belle told me you insult Marlena every day, you hardly ever smile anymore. What the hell happened?"
Brady looked down and Heather saw a flash of sadness in his eyes. "My...my mother..."
Heather held up her hands. "No, it isn't because your mother died when you were so young. I am so sorry it happened but if that's the reason, you would have been like this your entire life."
Brady's eyes clouded over with anger and Heather looked away. Seeing him this way was hard to watch when she knew what used to be there. "Let me finish, Heather," he growled.
Heather looked up and approached him. "Don't even pull that with me, Brady. Don't ever talk to me like that."
Brady sighed. "Your right, I'm sorry, Heather. It's just...Marlena."
"Look, Brady, I know this has all been hard on you. You're thinking your dad replaced Isabella with Marlena, and now your all about taking it out on that poor woman."
"That poor woman?! Her?"
"She's the only Marlena I know! She did nothing to you when you first came back, and niether did your dad. But the day you move back in, all of a sudden, your an ungrateful brat! And this little making-my-father-and-stepmother-guilty routine got old real quick. You wonder why we lost touch? All you wrote about was how your out to make John feel guilty for marrying Marlena and Marlena guilty for 'stealing' Isabella's place. And then you got caught up in your new game and it became, like, your personality."
"You really think that?" Brady asked tensely, his voice rising.
"Yes, Brady. God, I know everyone changes, but you became like a different person."
"You have Marlena to blame for that--"
"Brady, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so harsh. But you have to wake up! Your almost twenty years old now, it's time to stop playing these games with everyone. The only one you spare from your bull is Belle. You live in a beautiful place, you have a dad and a sister who love you to death, you're smart, althetic, gorgeous...and I'm sure if you gave Marlena a chance, she'd accept you, too. You could have everything, Brady. Why are you throwing it all away?" Heather yelled, her eyes stinging with tears. Why did you throw me away, she thought.
Brady took a deep breath. She was too close to getting in. "The Brady that you knew doesn't exist anymore because he always got hurt. He was caring, as you've so often pointed out, and it was never returned to him. So he got the hint. Being nice was highly overrated. I like the way I am now. I don't trust anyone, so I can't get hurt. And I'm never going to let that happen to me again. I'm the one hurting other people now, giving them what they gave me. And I don't plan on changing." He crossed his arms. "For anyone."
Heather's mouth opened in shock and then her eyes filled with rage. Her hand flew up and it made contact with the side of his face. Brady stood there in shock and rubbed his cheek with his hand. "Heather, what the hell?!"
Heather tossed her hair over her shoulder. "If you ever decide to become a man again, you know where to reach me." And with that, Heather turned on her heel and stormed away.