A/N: This isn't beta'ed, because I don't have anyone to beta for me for DAYS. E-mail me if you're interested though, LOL.

Chapter Two

Two weeks passed since Brady moved out of the penthouse, and the three remaining Blacks all felt the change. The tension in the air was lifted, the house was quiet, and there was one less person drinking the orange juice from the refrigerator. For Marlena, she felt like nearly all her problems had been solved, and the relief she felt was tremendous. For John, he felt like he had let down his son, and he missed Brady sorely. He called Brady nearly every day, and made a point to see him as often as was possible without smothering the younger man. But he still held out hope that Marlena and Brady would patch things up.

Belle felt like her family was now officially shredded. Brady was not her only sibling, she had two other siblings from her mother's first marriage. She loved Sami and Eric very much but she had never lived with either of them and was used to not seeing them every day. With Brady gone, the house was too quiet for her and suddenly she was having no fun living there. She still talked with Brady often, and had even gone to lunch with him a few times, but she was resigned to the fact that eventually her relationship with him would be the same as with her other siblings.

So when Brady invited her to come over to his apartment that Saturday night for a movie and popcorn, Belle was naturally ecstatic. Maybe Brady could live away from home and still sustain the same relationship with her. Maybe things did not have to change as drastically as she thought they did.

"Hey invite Shawn to come over too," he said when he invited her. "He's a cool guy." There was a knowing tone in his voice that Belle couldn't help but smile at it.

"Just don't become big-brotherly on me," she warned.

"What's to become big-brotherly about?" Brady asked innocently. "So what if I want to spend some time with my cousin?"

She'd let him off the hook with that, but without knowing it he had reminded her of the very reason she kept herself at bay from Shawn Brady. Shawn was Brady's cousin, and was in fact Sami and Eric's cousin, too. Pure luck had kept Shawn and Belle from being related to each other. They were so close to being related, and just barely weren't. It felt a little awkward to her.

Nevertheless, when she saw him sitting at a table with their friends Philip and Chloe at the Brady Pub that Thursday afternoon, she couldn't repress a smile. There was always something about Shawn that made her heart melt right there in her ribcage. It wasn't his dimples, she thought, because it still happened when he wasn't smiling. She wasn't quite sure what it was. She just wished he felt the same.

"Get a room," Belle said to Philip and Chloe as she sat down at their table. The couple, as usual, were lip-locked and sometimes Belle wished they would get a grip.

"Hey Belle," Philip greeted as he pulled away from Chloe, his face slightly red. "How's it goin'?" She just gave him a knowing smile before he and Shawn started talking.

"Belle, come with me to the bar for a shake," Chloe said, and the two girls went up to the bar. After ordering their shakes, Chloe flashed a smile to the blonde.

"What?"

"Don't give me that look. I saw how you were looking at Shawn," Chloe replied.

"I'm surprised you saw anything," Belle retorted light-heartedly. Chloe smacked her shoulder playfully. "I'm only half-kidding you know. You two were seriously… not in tune with the rest of the world, shall we put it."

Chloe shrugged. "He makes me feel… really good. I think I'm in love with him, Belle. I feel warm inside whenever I just think about him. He's the first person who has ever really made me feel… special."

"You deserve that, Chloe. I'm glad you found it."

"You deserve it too, Belle, and I know just where you can find it."

Belle shot Chloe a look. "Chloe, don't start with me again. Nothing is going to happen between me and Shawn. Look at him. He doesn't exactly look interested does he?"

"Um, Belle. Shawn is talking to Philip right now. Of course he doesn't look interested in a romantic relationship."

The two burst out laughing. "Okay, you're right about that much. But I mean it, I don't think he is interested in hooking up with a girl right now. Or at least, not with me. Nothing is going to happen." That did not mean she didn't want it to, she thought to herself.

As Chloe and Philip started talking about their plans for Friday night, Belle was reminded that she was supposed to invite Shawn over to Brady's on Saturday night. "Oh! That reminds me! I'm going to Brady's house on Saturday to watch some movies, and hang out. He said to invite you, wanna come?"

Shawn looked surprised. He and Brady didn't dislike each other, and they were cousins, but they had never spent much time together and Belle knew Shawn wasn't expecting an invitation to come hang out at his new apartment. "Um, sure, that'd be cool. I'll need to get directions, though, since I haven't been there."

"No problem. Just call me on my cell phone before you leave."

"Great."

Belle grinned. She knew why Brady was inviting Shawn over, even though she was convinced that was only partly a reason. She knew Brady wanted to get to know his other family members better, especially now that he didn't live with his father and sister anymore. Belle wanted that for Brady, too, and she hoped that Shawn and Brady would become more than just acquaintances and actually be friends with each other. This Saturday night would be perfect.

****

"Hey buddy!! How's it going?" Shawn greeted his baby brother as he entered the kitchen of their parents house. Hope, their mother, smiled at her oldest son before turning back to JT.

"Maybe you can get him to eat, he's refusing me right now," she told Shawn as she tried half-heartedly to get JT to eat a spoonful of the turkey baby food.

"Well of course he doesn't want it, do you bud? Because everyone knows that the turkey baby food is disgusting, isn't it?" JT laughed at his brother's tone as Shawn took the spoon from Hope. "I'll get him to eat something. What's for dinner?"

"Your dad's making steak when he gets home from work," Hope replied, heading to the refrigerator and pulling out the pitcher of orange juice. "Would you like some orange juice?" she asked as Shawn headed to a cabinet to get a jar of the carrot baby food.

"Sure, sounds great." He sat down in the seat where Hope had been, dipping the baby spoon into the new food and putting into JT's mouth. Lucky for him, JT seemed to like the carrot baby food much better than the turkey baby food.

"You always know what he likes and what he doesn't," Hope said, amazed. Shawn just gave his brother a grin, and JT grinned back. Hope admired the site of her two sons before her.

"So, uh, Brady is all moved into his new apartment and he invited Belle and me to his house for a movie on Saturday night."

"Oh yeah? Well that should be fun. Belle is a sweet girl, you know."

Shawn chuckled. "Yes, Mom, I know."

"So you wouldn't be interested in her in a way more than friends would you?" Hope asked in a teasing manner.

"Mom!" Shawn exclaimed, his face turning slightly pink.

"Fine! Fine, I won't ask anything more," Hope surrendered, knowing she had struck a chord. "Are you feeling a bit warm? Should I open a window? Because your face is rather pink." Shawn gave her a glare but couldn't keep the smile off his face.

TBC