Chapter 6 Help Me Dry The Tears That I've Cried
Chris opened one eye slowly, and winced as the light hurt her. "Shawn?"
"Yeah?" the voice came from across the room and to her left.
She sat up slowly. "Do you remember what happened last night?"
"Don't you?" He sounded tired, and more than a little drunk still.
"Not all of it," Chris put a hand to her head. "Mark, you there?"
"No," Shawn answered, "he didn't get arrested."
"We've been arrested?" Shawn wanted to laugh at her surprise, but his head hurt.
"Yep," he felt around in the pockets of his leather jacket and found the small tequila bottle he had secreted there.
Chris groaned. "What for?"
Shawn couldn't help laughing then. "You don't remember?"
"Just tell me," she heard him take a sip of tequila and added, "and give me a damn drink while you're at it."
"Brawling and disturbance of the peace." Shawn quoted, "but you're going to have to come over here if you want your drink."
"Why?" Chris looked up, her eyes finally adjusting to the level of light in the room. "Oh."
Shawn was on the other side of the bars. They were both in cells, separated by an iron grille, and both were seated on prison bunks.
"Where's the bitch?" she asked, standing up hesitantly and walking over to him slowly.
"Not in here," Shawn took another sip of tequila before handing Chris the bottle. "She managed to convince the cops that she was the injured party, so they let her out on bail. A classic Chloe move. Always the victim."
Chris took the bottle, and without wiping the top, sipped at it, finally taking in the barrenness of her surroundings and the tone of her friend's voice. "You sound bitter, has she done this kind of thing before?"
Shawn turned his head so it rested against the bars and his dark hair was smoothed along them. "Making herself into a victim? Constantly. That way she could not only play the 'poor me and my terrible childhood' card, as if anyone in Salem had ever had a good childhood without something terrible happening at some point, but also get all the guys flocking to her rescue."
Chris looked at him meditatively, "But not you?"
"Even me, at one point," he laughed slightly. "Even Belle once. Then Chloe fell in love, or claimed she did, with both my Uncle Philip-"
"The one who's actually younger than you?" Chris interrupted.
"Yep, and my cousin Brady." Shawn finished.
"The one who is also Belle's half brother but on through their father, so she's not a blood relation to you?" Chris's face expressed her depth of concentration. She didn't know how they kept it all straight. Computers probably were needed to tell any engaged couple in Salem if they could legally be married, or if it was some kind of incest.
Shawn nodded sadly. "Yeah, so Chloe claimed she loved both of them."
Flashback
"I love you, Chloe, I always have." Philip touched that beautiful hair of hers, letting the strands run through his fingers, knowing that he was losing her but unable to let go.
"I know, Philip," Chloe let tears come into her big blue eyes, "but we've changed, I've changed. When I first came to Salem, and I'd only just found my mother after my long and terrible childhood, I needed someone to be there for me. After my Ghoul Girl phase, you were there for me, Philip, and for that I will always be grateful, but can't you see that we don't need each other anymore?"
"I need you, Chloe," Philip was practically begging now.
"Oh, God, Philip," Chloe pulled away slightly, and put a hand to her forehead. "I love you, but I can't be with you. It's too hard. Too much has happened. Philip, I love you, but this is goodbye."
Philip's head dropped, then he raised it slowly, his blue eyes more sad than angry. "Is it because of Brady?"
Chloe nodded slowly. "I love him too, and I have to give that love a chance. Philip, Brady understands my singing, he can help me. I don't think we're helping each other any more, Philip. We're just hurting each other."
"I can't let you walk away from me, Chloe. I love you." Philip was desperate now, and he took her hand in his, begging her to stay, not to break his heart.
"I'm sorry, Philip," Chloe allowed a single tear to roll down her cheek, and Philip caught it on his finger before it fell. "It's over."
She walked away from him then, and into Brady's open arms. "Brady, take me home. Please. I'm tired."
End of flashback
Chris looked unimpressed. "So boy lost girl to other boy, where's the tragedy in that? Happens all the time."
"That wasn't the end." Shawn put out a hand. "Give me back the bottle and I'll tell you the rest."
"So tell me." She looked down at the face of her watch. "It's at least an hour until sun up anyway."
"That was how Philip lost Chloe to Brady, but Chloe wasn't satisfied with just having my uncle and cousin, oh no, she wanted all the boys in Salem High as well."
Flashback
"Brady," his hand was in her hair, his lips on her neck, his earthy smell surrounded her and her own fingers were locked in his short blond curls. "I love you."
He pulled back for a moment and blue eyes stared into blue eyes. "I love you too, Chloe."
End of flashback
"Sounds nice to me," Chris tried to remember the last time she'd been in that position with a guy, realised it was Eddie and reached for the tequila bottle once more.
Shawn's brown eyes were clouded with sarcasm. "Real nice, except two days later."
Flashback
"Hi Henry," Chloe's top was short and low cut, so low cut that Shawn could have sworn that Jan Spears had refused to wear it as it would look too slutty.
The boy was focused on Belle's backside as she walked away, not realising Shawn was watching him watch his girlfriend. "Hi, Chloe."
"Henry," Chloe purred seductively, "I was wondering if you could help me."
"Huh?" His eyes flicked back, first to her face, then down, then after a long moment, back to her face, his lips now bearing a wide smirk.
"Yeah, uh," she shifted her arms to in front of her, so her already revealed cleavage became even more accentuated. "Just follow me."
End of flashback
Chris sighed. "Let me guess, she didn't want help with her homework?"
"More like removing her bra straps," Shawn sounded bleak. To his disgust, Chloe had attempted to go through most of their senior year. Some had resisted, but others had fallen into her honeyed trap, and Brady had been hurt.
"Bitch," his new friend handed him back the tequila bottle. "How long until we get the hell out of here?"
"Forty-five minutes after sunrise, which is in," he stared at her watch through the gloom. "Ten minutes."
"So finish you story," Chris urged. "What happened? Did Brady find out?"
"Did he ever!" Shawn snorted, remembering that last day, when, in front of every regular of Dot Com, Brady had had his blue eyes opened. "Poor Brady."
Chris was on edge, the alcohol raising her spirits rather than dampening them. "So what the hell happened?"
"You really want to know? It's sordid, nasty and doesn't reflect well on the human race," Shawn teased.
"Just tell me," Chris sighed, settling back down and staring out of the small window that showed a sky just beginning to lighten as the dawn came.
Flashback
"Hi guys," Henry was grinning like a well fed tom cat.
"Henry," Shawn remembered all too well what he had seen in the Salem High halls, and was none, but unwilling to interfere in any business between lovers.
"Hey," Belle murmured, settling more closely than ever into her boyfriend's side. Shawn kissed her temple, and worried.
Brady didn't notice his girlfriend's extra toothy smile as Henry came closer to her in the booth from where he was standing or his grin that told Shawn everything he needed to know.
"Hi Henry," Chloe purred, and leaned forwards a little to show her front off to its best advantage. "How's life treating you today?"
"Mighty fine," Henry replied in a fake Southern accent. "And you, little missy?"
"Just perfect," Chloe's smile widened further. "Would you care to join me?"
Belle noted the singular case, and felt a reassuring squeeze on her hand. Shawn had to, but it wasn't their place to get in the middle of this.
"I sure would," Henry slid into the seat next to Chloe, the seat that Brady usually occupied, and, ignoring the couple opposite, started flirting more heavily with the brunette by his side.
Feeling more and more uncomfortable with Chloe's behaviour, Shawn pulled Belle out of her seat and over to the CD rack, pretending to ask her advice about what to buy for his cousin Abby's birthday, but in reality trying to get away from the adulterous pair in their usual booth.
Brady, just as Belle was suggesting that her boyfriend should give his cousin the Goo Goo Dolls' album rather than that of Four Star Mary, walked back to their shared table, and found his girlfriend with her hand high up on Henry's thigh, and Henry with his hands hidden somewhere under her coat.
"What the hell are you doing?" Their always volatile relationship was due for another volcanic explosion. Brady slammed the cups of coffee down, spilling the contents over his hands and not noticing the pain as Henry shifted guiltily away from Chloe, and she attempted to look innocent. "Answer me, damn it!" He barked, sounding uncannily like his father.
"Nothing, Brady," Chloe cooed trying to soothe him, "just talking."
Brady counted to ten before answering, remembering all of his anger management classes and what his therapist had said after he had been shot. It wasn't helping much. His blue eyes burned with sapphire coloured fire. "It didn't look like talking to me!"
"Is he your boyfriend?" Henry whispered to the panting Chloe and edgily eyeing Brady's bulging muscles. "Chloe, you didn't tell me you were involved with someone!"
"Chloe!" Brady was starting to see red. Nothing he had done in therapy had prepared him for a cheating girlfriend or her lies. "I'll ask you again, what the hell have you been doing?"
"Just messing around," Henry babbled, "I swear, Brady, nothing serious. Just a little over the panties action."
"What?" Brady had been yelling, drawing the attention of the whole of Dot Com, but now his voice was dangerously low, and it sent shivers down Belle's spine even though she knew her brother wasn't dangerous, only occasionally misunderstood.
"Um, Henry, man," Shawn had come over as soon as Brady had begun to yell, and now jerked his head at his peer. Now, though understandably furious at Chloe, hurt for Brady, and ashamed "You'd better leave."
"Sure," Henry scooted as fast as he could past Brady, leaving Chloe by herself in the booth. "I swear man, I didn't know!"
"Go!" Brady growled, fists clenched, colour rising up his neck into his cheeks and a vein throbbing in his temple. "Now Chloe," he started with admirable restraint, "are you going to tell me what the hell is going on or do I have to work it out for myself?"
Chloe stood up and tossed her hair over her shoulders. "I don't have to take this from you!"
"That's where you're wrong, Chloe," Brady didn't move, but his very presence was a threat. "You owe me an explanation, and I want to hear it now!"
End of flashback
Chris wondered if she could get a bowl of ice cream in the heat of the jail, but decided that she would never get service, so reached out for the bottle instead. "What did the bitch have to say for herself?"
"Not a whole lot that was interesting," Shawn was staring into the distance, watching his cousin's heart break again and again as Chloe's lies unravelled. "Everything came out then, about how she'd been chasing various boys at school behind Brady's back, how she'd lied about where she'd been and what she'd been doing, and how she was still playing Brady and Philip off of each other. The usual stuff."
"Messy," Chris wondered what else to say. "So is Brady OK now? No longer heartbroken I mean."
"He's dating again," Shawn thought about his cousin and then added, "The whole story about JT kind of hit him hard. He could accept that Marlena had clay feet, but not my mother and not John. They were meant to be perfect. Grams wrote last that he was dating a different girl every week since Penny left him to go to college. None last, but I guess that's healthy for a guy barely out of his teens. So are you going to tell me about Edward?"
Chris laughed. "Oh, how he hates that name. I call him that just to irritate him. What is it about wannabe opera singers and messy relationship endings? They just seem to go together."
"That wasn't an answer." Shawn put on his best psychiatrist voice, "Now tell me, what's the story?"
Chris remembered an American quote she'd heard once. "Boy meets girl. Boy says he loves girl. Boy takes girl to bed. Boy gets drunk one night and hits girl. Girl walks out immediately. Boy sobers up and begs girl to come back to him. Girl refuses. Boy starts another fight. Both end up screwed up and miserable."
"You're not screwed up," Shawn's heart throbbed in sympathy. "Eddie was a git."
She considered this, and wrinkled her nose in disagreement. "You really think he was a pregnant camel? I mean, could anyone be that horrible?"
Shawn grinned, then made Chris laugh. "I don't know, but I've met some pretty mean camels."
"I did not say 'loving', Brady," Belle tried to be angry, but could only feel hurt. It was a bad hurt too, not a gentle one she could dismiss like a bad word said to her, but the feeling her soul was being torn into two pieces and she had only half left in her. It was like having the worst physical cut ever combined with the most hurt she had ever felt, and then multiplied until it was a thousand times worse than either.
"I know what I heard, Belle," her brother wouldn't let go yet. He didn't trust her not to keep running away from her feelings. "Tink, this isn't healthy. None of these guys will make you forget Shawn."
She felt the tears in her eyes, making them look even bigger than usual, but refused to let them fall. "What makes you think I'm trying to forget him?"
"Because you haven't any photos of him anywhere in our Loft, though all your other friends are on the walls, on the fridge," Brady chuckled, "heck, you even have a picture of Mimi and Philip on the bathroom mirror. Damn thing gives me a fright every time I start shaving."
"So maybe I am trying to forget him, he's done a good job forgetting me." Belle felt the anger come at last, and used it to push down the pain. "He's gone, and he left me here all alone. He wouldn't do that if he still cared about me."
"Tink," Brady couldn't believe his little sister really thought Shawn didn't care about her anymore. Their parents encouraged it though, telling her that she couldn't have a relationship with a man that was her half brother's half brother, not caring that she and Shawn already shared a host of relations including Brady and her twin siblings. "He loves you. Damn it," he ran his long fingers through his blond hair in another helpless gesture of anger and misery, "you two were in love from diapers to dances. He hasn't forgotten you, he could never forget you. He loves you, Belle, can't you see that?"
"Then why did he leave?" Finally she let the tears come and in them found release at last. "Why did he leave me, Brady? Am I really so completely unlovable?"
He wept then too. How could she think she was unlovable? Everyone who knew her loved her, and because Stefano Dimera had messed with their father and Hope's brains, his baby sister couldn't believe she was worthy of love. "Tink." He hugged her tightly to him, unable to say more for a moment.
"Oh, Brady," Belle held him tighter than ever, finding consolation in her brother's warmth. "What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing's wrong with you," Brady kissed the top of her head, then bent a little, his blue eyes seeking for hers. "Shawn just couldn't stay here, Tink. He just couldn't. You were."
How could he say it? How could he tell his little sister that she had behaved horribly, and had worried him more than ever before with her wild behaviour.
"You were gone, Tink," he said at last, feeling another sob pass from her chest into his. "Shawn couldn't stay when you were gone, Belle. There was nothing here for him, and it was hurting him too much. God, you only had to look at him to know that. It was killing him, Tink, being here, watching you, knowing that he couldn't reach out for you the way he once had. He was losing weight, not sleeping," Brady remembered the terrible way his cousin had left before leaving. Haunted, empty, and, worst of all, completely lost. He had never seen anyone so lost. It was as if his leading light had gone out, and all he could see was the darkness that enveloped him. Choking back a sob, he went on, "You made it clear you wanted nothing more to do with him, Tink, and now he's just obeying your wishes."
"But I want him back, Brady!" Belle wailed into her brother's chest. "I can't live without him!"
"I know, Tink," Brady's tears mingled with hers. "I know."
"How do I get him to come back to me, Braid?" Belle was desperate, her tears had stopped and her little body quivered with fear and remorse.
Brady hated doing this to her, but she had pushed Shawn away again and again, and now he was gone, no longer at her beck and call. "I don't know that you can, Tink."
"What?" Belle was shocked into disbelief. "I have to, I just have to!"
"Isabella," she knew he was being deadly serious as he used her full name, "it isn't up to you anymore. It's up to Shawn. You can beg and you can plead, but if he doesn't forgive you there's nothing more you can do."
"I can wait," Belle pushed out her chin, and with a grim determination in her heart, let her gaze meet her brother's. "I can wait until time runs out and eternity ends and the seas turn to dust, but he will come back to me. He has to."
Brady shook his head. He could only hope she was right. He couldn't bear to see her like this.
"You need to see a therapist, Tink," he sighed, "and not your mother. You never grieved for your baby."
The chin quivered, but became firm again. "Not yet," she answered him, "but I will soon, very soon."
Shawn leaned his head on his hand and stared up through the small window to the fading stars of the night sky. It was almost dawn. Chris was on the brink of a sleep induced by alcohol. The stars were brighter than ever, calling to him as the horizon began to turn a yellow grey as the sun slowly rose. Chris settled more comfortably, and slept.
"Are you listening, Belle?" he whispered, "Can you hear me, love?"
A slow smile spread across his handsome face, one tinged with bitterness and regret. "If you're listening, Isabella, hear me tonight. IWhoa! My love, my darling,
I hunger for your touch,
Alone. Lonely time.
And time goes by, so slowly,
And time can do so much,
Are you still mine?
I need your love.
I need your love.
God speed your love to me.
Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea,
To the open arms of the sea.
Lonely rivers sigh, wait for me, wait for me,
I'll be coming home, wait for me.
Whoa. My love, my darling,
I hunger, hunger!, for your love,
For love. Lonely time.
And time goes by, so slowly,
And time can do so much,
Are you still mine?
I need your love.
I need your love.
God speed your love to me."I
Shawn Douglas Brady watched as the sun rose over Cadiz and felt pain insufferable in his heart, and wept.
At the same moment in time, though in a different country and in the middle of the night for her, Belle's heart thumped louder in her chest in response, and tears, bitter and regretful tears, flowed down her beautiful cheeks.
"Come back to me Shawn," she whispered into the loneliness of the night. "I need your love."
Song credit: Righteous Brothers, 'Unchained Melody', and if you haven't heard it, you won't realise how beautiful it really is.
Chris opened one eye slowly, and winced as the light hurt her. "Shawn?"
"Yeah?" the voice came from across the room and to her left.
She sat up slowly. "Do you remember what happened last night?"
"Don't you?" He sounded tired, and more than a little drunk still.
"Not all of it," Chris put a hand to her head. "Mark, you there?"
"No," Shawn answered, "he didn't get arrested."
"We've been arrested?" Shawn wanted to laugh at her surprise, but his head hurt.
"Yep," he felt around in the pockets of his leather jacket and found the small tequila bottle he had secreted there.
Chris groaned. "What for?"
Shawn couldn't help laughing then. "You don't remember?"
"Just tell me," she heard him take a sip of tequila and added, "and give me a damn drink while you're at it."
"Brawling and disturbance of the peace." Shawn quoted, "but you're going to have to come over here if you want your drink."
"Why?" Chris looked up, her eyes finally adjusting to the level of light in the room. "Oh."
Shawn was on the other side of the bars. They were both in cells, separated by an iron grille, and both were seated on prison bunks.
"Where's the bitch?" she asked, standing up hesitantly and walking over to him slowly.
"Not in here," Shawn took another sip of tequila before handing Chris the bottle. "She managed to convince the cops that she was the injured party, so they let her out on bail. A classic Chloe move. Always the victim."
Chris took the bottle, and without wiping the top, sipped at it, finally taking in the barrenness of her surroundings and the tone of her friend's voice. "You sound bitter, has she done this kind of thing before?"
Shawn turned his head so it rested against the bars and his dark hair was smoothed along them. "Making herself into a victim? Constantly. That way she could not only play the 'poor me and my terrible childhood' card, as if anyone in Salem had ever had a good childhood without something terrible happening at some point, but also get all the guys flocking to her rescue."
Chris looked at him meditatively, "But not you?"
"Even me, at one point," he laughed slightly. "Even Belle once. Then Chloe fell in love, or claimed she did, with both my Uncle Philip-"
"The one who's actually younger than you?" Chris interrupted.
"Yep, and my cousin Brady." Shawn finished.
"The one who is also Belle's half brother but on through their father, so she's not a blood relation to you?" Chris's face expressed her depth of concentration. She didn't know how they kept it all straight. Computers probably were needed to tell any engaged couple in Salem if they could legally be married, or if it was some kind of incest.
Shawn nodded sadly. "Yeah, so Chloe claimed she loved both of them."
Flashback
"I love you, Chloe, I always have." Philip touched that beautiful hair of hers, letting the strands run through his fingers, knowing that he was losing her but unable to let go.
"I know, Philip," Chloe let tears come into her big blue eyes, "but we've changed, I've changed. When I first came to Salem, and I'd only just found my mother after my long and terrible childhood, I needed someone to be there for me. After my Ghoul Girl phase, you were there for me, Philip, and for that I will always be grateful, but can't you see that we don't need each other anymore?"
"I need you, Chloe," Philip was practically begging now.
"Oh, God, Philip," Chloe pulled away slightly, and put a hand to her forehead. "I love you, but I can't be with you. It's too hard. Too much has happened. Philip, I love you, but this is goodbye."
Philip's head dropped, then he raised it slowly, his blue eyes more sad than angry. "Is it because of Brady?"
Chloe nodded slowly. "I love him too, and I have to give that love a chance. Philip, Brady understands my singing, he can help me. I don't think we're helping each other any more, Philip. We're just hurting each other."
"I can't let you walk away from me, Chloe. I love you." Philip was desperate now, and he took her hand in his, begging her to stay, not to break his heart.
"I'm sorry, Philip," Chloe allowed a single tear to roll down her cheek, and Philip caught it on his finger before it fell. "It's over."
She walked away from him then, and into Brady's open arms. "Brady, take me home. Please. I'm tired."
End of flashback
Chris looked unimpressed. "So boy lost girl to other boy, where's the tragedy in that? Happens all the time."
"That wasn't the end." Shawn put out a hand. "Give me back the bottle and I'll tell you the rest."
"So tell me." She looked down at the face of her watch. "It's at least an hour until sun up anyway."
"That was how Philip lost Chloe to Brady, but Chloe wasn't satisfied with just having my uncle and cousin, oh no, she wanted all the boys in Salem High as well."
Flashback
"Brady," his hand was in her hair, his lips on her neck, his earthy smell surrounded her and her own fingers were locked in his short blond curls. "I love you."
He pulled back for a moment and blue eyes stared into blue eyes. "I love you too, Chloe."
End of flashback
"Sounds nice to me," Chris tried to remember the last time she'd been in that position with a guy, realised it was Eddie and reached for the tequila bottle once more.
Shawn's brown eyes were clouded with sarcasm. "Real nice, except two days later."
Flashback
"Hi Henry," Chloe's top was short and low cut, so low cut that Shawn could have sworn that Jan Spears had refused to wear it as it would look too slutty.
The boy was focused on Belle's backside as she walked away, not realising Shawn was watching him watch his girlfriend. "Hi, Chloe."
"Henry," Chloe purred seductively, "I was wondering if you could help me."
"Huh?" His eyes flicked back, first to her face, then down, then after a long moment, back to her face, his lips now bearing a wide smirk.
"Yeah, uh," she shifted her arms to in front of her, so her already revealed cleavage became even more accentuated. "Just follow me."
End of flashback
Chris sighed. "Let me guess, she didn't want help with her homework?"
"More like removing her bra straps," Shawn sounded bleak. To his disgust, Chloe had attempted to go through most of their senior year. Some had resisted, but others had fallen into her honeyed trap, and Brady had been hurt.
"Bitch," his new friend handed him back the tequila bottle. "How long until we get the hell out of here?"
"Forty-five minutes after sunrise, which is in," he stared at her watch through the gloom. "Ten minutes."
"So finish you story," Chris urged. "What happened? Did Brady find out?"
"Did he ever!" Shawn snorted, remembering that last day, when, in front of every regular of Dot Com, Brady had had his blue eyes opened. "Poor Brady."
Chris was on edge, the alcohol raising her spirits rather than dampening them. "So what the hell happened?"
"You really want to know? It's sordid, nasty and doesn't reflect well on the human race," Shawn teased.
"Just tell me," Chris sighed, settling back down and staring out of the small window that showed a sky just beginning to lighten as the dawn came.
Flashback
"Hi guys," Henry was grinning like a well fed tom cat.
"Henry," Shawn remembered all too well what he had seen in the Salem High halls, and was none, but unwilling to interfere in any business between lovers.
"Hey," Belle murmured, settling more closely than ever into her boyfriend's side. Shawn kissed her temple, and worried.
Brady didn't notice his girlfriend's extra toothy smile as Henry came closer to her in the booth from where he was standing or his grin that told Shawn everything he needed to know.
"Hi Henry," Chloe purred, and leaned forwards a little to show her front off to its best advantage. "How's life treating you today?"
"Mighty fine," Henry replied in a fake Southern accent. "And you, little missy?"
"Just perfect," Chloe's smile widened further. "Would you care to join me?"
Belle noted the singular case, and felt a reassuring squeeze on her hand. Shawn had to, but it wasn't their place to get in the middle of this.
"I sure would," Henry slid into the seat next to Chloe, the seat that Brady usually occupied, and, ignoring the couple opposite, started flirting more heavily with the brunette by his side.
Feeling more and more uncomfortable with Chloe's behaviour, Shawn pulled Belle out of her seat and over to the CD rack, pretending to ask her advice about what to buy for his cousin Abby's birthday, but in reality trying to get away from the adulterous pair in their usual booth.
Brady, just as Belle was suggesting that her boyfriend should give his cousin the Goo Goo Dolls' album rather than that of Four Star Mary, walked back to their shared table, and found his girlfriend with her hand high up on Henry's thigh, and Henry with his hands hidden somewhere under her coat.
"What the hell are you doing?" Their always volatile relationship was due for another volcanic explosion. Brady slammed the cups of coffee down, spilling the contents over his hands and not noticing the pain as Henry shifted guiltily away from Chloe, and she attempted to look innocent. "Answer me, damn it!" He barked, sounding uncannily like his father.
"Nothing, Brady," Chloe cooed trying to soothe him, "just talking."
Brady counted to ten before answering, remembering all of his anger management classes and what his therapist had said after he had been shot. It wasn't helping much. His blue eyes burned with sapphire coloured fire. "It didn't look like talking to me!"
"Is he your boyfriend?" Henry whispered to the panting Chloe and edgily eyeing Brady's bulging muscles. "Chloe, you didn't tell me you were involved with someone!"
"Chloe!" Brady was starting to see red. Nothing he had done in therapy had prepared him for a cheating girlfriend or her lies. "I'll ask you again, what the hell have you been doing?"
"Just messing around," Henry babbled, "I swear, Brady, nothing serious. Just a little over the panties action."
"What?" Brady had been yelling, drawing the attention of the whole of Dot Com, but now his voice was dangerously low, and it sent shivers down Belle's spine even though she knew her brother wasn't dangerous, only occasionally misunderstood.
"Um, Henry, man," Shawn had come over as soon as Brady had begun to yell, and now jerked his head at his peer. Now, though understandably furious at Chloe, hurt for Brady, and ashamed "You'd better leave."
"Sure," Henry scooted as fast as he could past Brady, leaving Chloe by herself in the booth. "I swear man, I didn't know!"
"Go!" Brady growled, fists clenched, colour rising up his neck into his cheeks and a vein throbbing in his temple. "Now Chloe," he started with admirable restraint, "are you going to tell me what the hell is going on or do I have to work it out for myself?"
Chloe stood up and tossed her hair over her shoulders. "I don't have to take this from you!"
"That's where you're wrong, Chloe," Brady didn't move, but his very presence was a threat. "You owe me an explanation, and I want to hear it now!"
End of flashback
Chris wondered if she could get a bowl of ice cream in the heat of the jail, but decided that she would never get service, so reached out for the bottle instead. "What did the bitch have to say for herself?"
"Not a whole lot that was interesting," Shawn was staring into the distance, watching his cousin's heart break again and again as Chloe's lies unravelled. "Everything came out then, about how she'd been chasing various boys at school behind Brady's back, how she'd lied about where she'd been and what she'd been doing, and how she was still playing Brady and Philip off of each other. The usual stuff."
"Messy," Chris wondered what else to say. "So is Brady OK now? No longer heartbroken I mean."
"He's dating again," Shawn thought about his cousin and then added, "The whole story about JT kind of hit him hard. He could accept that Marlena had clay feet, but not my mother and not John. They were meant to be perfect. Grams wrote last that he was dating a different girl every week since Penny left him to go to college. None last, but I guess that's healthy for a guy barely out of his teens. So are you going to tell me about Edward?"
Chris laughed. "Oh, how he hates that name. I call him that just to irritate him. What is it about wannabe opera singers and messy relationship endings? They just seem to go together."
"That wasn't an answer." Shawn put on his best psychiatrist voice, "Now tell me, what's the story?"
Chris remembered an American quote she'd heard once. "Boy meets girl. Boy says he loves girl. Boy takes girl to bed. Boy gets drunk one night and hits girl. Girl walks out immediately. Boy sobers up and begs girl to come back to him. Girl refuses. Boy starts another fight. Both end up screwed up and miserable."
"You're not screwed up," Shawn's heart throbbed in sympathy. "Eddie was a git."
She considered this, and wrinkled her nose in disagreement. "You really think he was a pregnant camel? I mean, could anyone be that horrible?"
Shawn grinned, then made Chris laugh. "I don't know, but I've met some pretty mean camels."
"I did not say 'loving', Brady," Belle tried to be angry, but could only feel hurt. It was a bad hurt too, not a gentle one she could dismiss like a bad word said to her, but the feeling her soul was being torn into two pieces and she had only half left in her. It was like having the worst physical cut ever combined with the most hurt she had ever felt, and then multiplied until it was a thousand times worse than either.
"I know what I heard, Belle," her brother wouldn't let go yet. He didn't trust her not to keep running away from her feelings. "Tink, this isn't healthy. None of these guys will make you forget Shawn."
She felt the tears in her eyes, making them look even bigger than usual, but refused to let them fall. "What makes you think I'm trying to forget him?"
"Because you haven't any photos of him anywhere in our Loft, though all your other friends are on the walls, on the fridge," Brady chuckled, "heck, you even have a picture of Mimi and Philip on the bathroom mirror. Damn thing gives me a fright every time I start shaving."
"So maybe I am trying to forget him, he's done a good job forgetting me." Belle felt the anger come at last, and used it to push down the pain. "He's gone, and he left me here all alone. He wouldn't do that if he still cared about me."
"Tink," Brady couldn't believe his little sister really thought Shawn didn't care about her anymore. Their parents encouraged it though, telling her that she couldn't have a relationship with a man that was her half brother's half brother, not caring that she and Shawn already shared a host of relations including Brady and her twin siblings. "He loves you. Damn it," he ran his long fingers through his blond hair in another helpless gesture of anger and misery, "you two were in love from diapers to dances. He hasn't forgotten you, he could never forget you. He loves you, Belle, can't you see that?"
"Then why did he leave?" Finally she let the tears come and in them found release at last. "Why did he leave me, Brady? Am I really so completely unlovable?"
He wept then too. How could she think she was unlovable? Everyone who knew her loved her, and because Stefano Dimera had messed with their father and Hope's brains, his baby sister couldn't believe she was worthy of love. "Tink." He hugged her tightly to him, unable to say more for a moment.
"Oh, Brady," Belle held him tighter than ever, finding consolation in her brother's warmth. "What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing's wrong with you," Brady kissed the top of her head, then bent a little, his blue eyes seeking for hers. "Shawn just couldn't stay here, Tink. He just couldn't. You were."
How could he say it? How could he tell his little sister that she had behaved horribly, and had worried him more than ever before with her wild behaviour.
"You were gone, Tink," he said at last, feeling another sob pass from her chest into his. "Shawn couldn't stay when you were gone, Belle. There was nothing here for him, and it was hurting him too much. God, you only had to look at him to know that. It was killing him, Tink, being here, watching you, knowing that he couldn't reach out for you the way he once had. He was losing weight, not sleeping," Brady remembered the terrible way his cousin had left before leaving. Haunted, empty, and, worst of all, completely lost. He had never seen anyone so lost. It was as if his leading light had gone out, and all he could see was the darkness that enveloped him. Choking back a sob, he went on, "You made it clear you wanted nothing more to do with him, Tink, and now he's just obeying your wishes."
"But I want him back, Brady!" Belle wailed into her brother's chest. "I can't live without him!"
"I know, Tink," Brady's tears mingled with hers. "I know."
"How do I get him to come back to me, Braid?" Belle was desperate, her tears had stopped and her little body quivered with fear and remorse.
Brady hated doing this to her, but she had pushed Shawn away again and again, and now he was gone, no longer at her beck and call. "I don't know that you can, Tink."
"What?" Belle was shocked into disbelief. "I have to, I just have to!"
"Isabella," she knew he was being deadly serious as he used her full name, "it isn't up to you anymore. It's up to Shawn. You can beg and you can plead, but if he doesn't forgive you there's nothing more you can do."
"I can wait," Belle pushed out her chin, and with a grim determination in her heart, let her gaze meet her brother's. "I can wait until time runs out and eternity ends and the seas turn to dust, but he will come back to me. He has to."
Brady shook his head. He could only hope she was right. He couldn't bear to see her like this.
"You need to see a therapist, Tink," he sighed, "and not your mother. You never grieved for your baby."
The chin quivered, but became firm again. "Not yet," she answered him, "but I will soon, very soon."
Shawn leaned his head on his hand and stared up through the small window to the fading stars of the night sky. It was almost dawn. Chris was on the brink of a sleep induced by alcohol. The stars were brighter than ever, calling to him as the horizon began to turn a yellow grey as the sun slowly rose. Chris settled more comfortably, and slept.
"Are you listening, Belle?" he whispered, "Can you hear me, love?"
A slow smile spread across his handsome face, one tinged with bitterness and regret. "If you're listening, Isabella, hear me tonight. IWhoa! My love, my darling,
I hunger for your touch,
Alone. Lonely time.
And time goes by, so slowly,
And time can do so much,
Are you still mine?
I need your love.
I need your love.
God speed your love to me.
Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea,
To the open arms of the sea.
Lonely rivers sigh, wait for me, wait for me,
I'll be coming home, wait for me.
Whoa. My love, my darling,
I hunger, hunger!, for your love,
For love. Lonely time.
And time goes by, so slowly,
And time can do so much,
Are you still mine?
I need your love.
I need your love.
God speed your love to me."I
Shawn Douglas Brady watched as the sun rose over Cadiz and felt pain insufferable in his heart, and wept.
At the same moment in time, though in a different country and in the middle of the night for her, Belle's heart thumped louder in her chest in response, and tears, bitter and regretful tears, flowed down her beautiful cheeks.
"Come back to me Shawn," she whispered into the loneliness of the night. "I need your love."
Song credit: Righteous Brothers, 'Unchained Melody', and if you haven't heard it, you won't realise how beautiful it really is.