Chapter Twelve

(Back to Belle's)

Belle stood in front of her mirror and frowned at her reflection. She had been left alone in her room with only her thoughts to accompany her, and it made her miserable. As much as she tried to push her thoughts away, they always went back to Shawn. The words of Chloe and her mother kept echoing in her head, and she had tried everything over the past hour to try and drown them out.

She was startled out of her reverie when she heard her mother's voice calling from downstairs. "Belle! Phillip is here!"

Belle shouted back immediately. "I'll be right down!"

She sighed at her own reflection before doing one last check on her hair and makeup. "Come on, Belle. Pull it together. Have fun tonight."

Belle exited her bedroom, saying a quick prayer that Phillip's company would help distract her from her other problems, as he so often did. Belle quickly made her way down the stairs, and all of her worries disappeared when she saw Phillip at the bottom waiting for her. He was dressed to the nines, smiling his infamous Phillip Kiriakis smile, and holding a bouquet of pink roses, colored to match her dress perfectly.

Belle stepped off of the bottom step and smiled at him as he handed her the roses. "Phillip... They're beautiful. And, they're the exact color of my dress. How did you know?"

Phillip shrugged innocently and kept smiling. "I didn't. Weird, huh?"

Belle giggled and nodded in agreement. "Thank you. I love them."

Marlena came and stood next to her daughter offering to take the flowers. "Would you like me to go put them in some water for you?"

Belle nodded and handed the bouquet to her mother. "Yes, please. Thanks mom."

Marlena held the flowers and began to head towards the kitchen. "I'll drag your father out of the kitchen so he can take some pictures. You two stay right where you are."

Marlena went through the door to the kitchen leaving the two friends alone. Phillip grabbed Belle's hand and spoke softly to her. "You look so beautiful tonight. Of course, that's no surprise, you always look beautiful."

Belle couldn't help but blush just a little and she attempted to avert her gaze away from Phillip's. "Thank you... You know, sometimes I forget how handsome you are, Phillip Kiriakis."

Phillip raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You forget? What do you mean?"

"I mean... Well, I don't normally think of you that way. Sometimes I look at you and I see the same eight year old Phillip who used to pull the heads off my Barbie dolls."

Phillip laughed at the memory. "But, you don't see that right now?"

Belle shook her head and smiled. "No, I don't. I see you for the grown-up, very handsome, man that you've become."

"Not so grown-up..."

"No, but you're getting there. And that's what makes me so proud of you."

Phillip smiled and hugged her briefly. "Only with your help."

Belle grinned and slid out of his embrace. "Well, the helping thing goes both ways. You've really stood by me through everything that's happened, and I do appreciate it."

Phillip put an arm around her shoulder and held her closely. "I'm always going to stand by you, Belle. I've failed enough people that I care about, I'm not going to do it to you too."

"Now, now... Don't even bring that up. I made a promise to myself to have fun tonight, and NOT talk about all of my problems. You do the same, please."

John and Marlena entered from the kitchen, preventing Phillip from replying to Belle's request. Marlena held her camcorder in one hand, and John had their still camera ready to go. Belle laughed at the sight of them and shook her head disapprovingly.

"Don't you guys think that two cameras could be considered overkill?"

John shook his head in denial. "Absolutely not. This is a big moment, and we want to capture it in every way possible."

Belle laughed and jokingly struck a pose for the camera to rival any supermodel. "If you insist then..."

The rest of the group laughed and John snapped a quick picture of his daughter hamming it up for the camera. Many, many more pictures followed, until Belle began to wonder how many pictures were left on her father's roll of film. They did one last pose of Belle by herself, when she groaned involuntarily.

"Are we done yet?"

John and Marlena nodded and pulled their daughter into a group hug. Marlena kissed the top of her head and smiled proudly at her. "Have fun tonight."

John nodded in agreement and did the same. "And behave yourself, Izzy B."

Belle laughed at her parents, knowing that no matter how old she got, she would always be their baby girl. "I will. I always do. Don't worry about me. Phillip will take good care of me."

Her parents let her go and John glared at Phillip with his world-famous raised eyebrow. "You better take good care of my daughter, Phillip."

Phillip nodded enthusiastically. "Of course. Of course, I will."

Marlena rolled her eyes at her husband's fatherly overprotectiveness. "I'm sure you will, Phillip. You two have a great time tonight... Now, get going, I don't want you to be late for your dinner reservations."

Belle and Phillip said their final goodbyes to John and Marlena and walked hand in hand towards the elevator. They did not speak as they waited, but silently held on to each other's hand.

The elevator arrived and they entered it together, Phillip pressing the button for the lobby as the doors slid shut. Belle turned to him and smiled.

"I was serious about what I was saying before. No talk about you-know-who, or the other you-know-who."

"I know, and we won't. This night is all about me and you."

Phillip smiled at her and Belle wondered how so many girls weren't rendered completely powerless by his boyish smile. Looking at him tonight, Belle was reminded of how a guy like Phillip could crack through the hard exterior of a girl like Chloe. Despite his flaws, which were many, he had always exuded a special glow that drew people to him like moths to a flame.

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