Part Twelve

Two more years went by. Belle graduated from college and started her career as an interior designer. She and Drew became a lot closer, and it became apparent to everyone that they were falling in love with each other.

That was when Shawn moved back to Salem, his wife with him. Belle wanted to go to the pub to say hello, but for something held her back. Three days after he'd moved back, he showed up at the apartment she was sharing with Brady.

"Shawn!" Belle exclaimed, surprised. "Hey I heard you were back."

"Yeah, I am. I ran into Brady earlier, and he said you guys were rooming together here, so I thought I'd come say hi."

"Oh, right." She stepped aside as he walked in. Neither of them said anything as she shut the door behind them. They hadn't talked to each other in so long, and now things were slightly awkward. "Well I was just sitting outside, do you want to go out on the balcony?" Belle suggested after a minute.

"Sure. It's a nice night outside."

"You want something to drink?"

"A beer would be great."

"All right, go on and get settled out there."

Shawn walked out on the balcony and smiled at the music on the radio. Country music. He and Belle used to listen to it together all the time.

"Okay, here you go," Belle said, joining him on the balcony. She handed him a Bud light and reached for her glass of lemonade. They took a seat on the chairs. "So," Belle said when Shawn didn't speak. "I hear you're married now."

"Yeah, I am. Jessica's great. She's at the pub with my mom right now. They wanted some time to get to know each other."

"Oh. Well I'd love to meet her sometime," Belle said.

"Oh definitely. So tell me about yourself."

"Well, I'm an interior designer, and I am with this guy, his name is Drew. He's great."

"That's good to know."

Belle nodded. "So that's my life." There was an awkward pause. "Um, Shawn... I don't know if I have the right to be asking you this, but... when you moved away... well, you did all right, didn't you?"

"Oh, yeah. At first it was hard, I missed everyone... especially you... like crazy. But I met Jessica, and she helped me adjust and get over what happened between us, and move on. I couldn't love her more."

"So she knows?" Belle asked, slightly intimidated.

"Yeah, she knows. Don't worry, she doesn't think you're a bitch or anything."

"Good. So you didn't spend that time dwelling on what might have happened between us."

"Nope."

"Good. I'm glad. I used to worry… I mean I felt so bad for hurting you how I did." Inwardly, Belle felt slightly disappointed that Shawn didn't wonder about if they hadn't broken up. She didn't know what she had expected; after all he was in love with someone else and married to her. She knew she loved Drew, but sometimes she couldn't help but wonder how things might have been if she hadn't said no to Shawn's proposal. She would be the one he was married to.

She looked up and caught Shawn staring at her. She panicked a little bit, wondering if he could read her mind. "I have to go," Shawn said abruptly. He made a quick move for the door, but Belle grabbed his arm.

"Remember when you stopped me?" Belle asked, remembering back to when he was in the hospital after the fire.

"Yeah, but things were different then. I'm not in love with you, Belle, I'm in love with Jessica. These old feelings... I don't know where they came from."

"Because you've been pushing them aside ever since you left for college."

"No, I dealt with them, got over them. They don't exist anymore, Belle. Even now, looking into YOUR eyes, I still think about how JESSICA is the one I want to be with, how JESSICA is the one who makes me happy. I'm sorry if it hurts to hear me say that, but you sat there and told me not ten minutes ago about this great guy named Drew."

"I do love Drew, okay?" Belle snapped. "But you just have this special place in my heart, and I would hate to see you walk out that door and never come back."

"Hey, I live in Salem again. I would not put up with us not being friends."

"So friends we are. Now give me a hug right this instant."

Shawn laughed and gave Belle a hug. "Gotta go see my wife now."

"Bye." After Shawn left, Belle turned off the radio and then sat down on the couch. A smile crept up on her face. She was happy Shawn was back.

The End

Author's Note: I feel that I should note that the only reason I wrote this fic was to spite the people on an old Shelle board I used to go to. They always FREAKED out if you didn't have Shawn and Belle together happily in the end. Seriously. So I wrote this with the intent of them NOT being together at the end. I'm sorry, but it's the truth.