You Belong To Me

Chapter Twelve

The group of four made it to the island not long before dusk and found a small but sturdy dock as they arrived. Shawn made sure their boat was secure and the group stood on the dock doing inventory on their supplies that they were taking off the boat.

Belle shoved a bottle of water into her backpack and looked around curiously. "Shawn, how come there's a dock here if this island is uninhabited?"

Mimi hefted her backpack up and bit her lip in confusion. "Yeah, no kidding. It looks like it's about a hundred years old too."

Shawn nodded in agreement. "It looks pretty beat up, but it's definitely safe. I heard that they're used to be a center here for environmental studies. But, it's been abandoned since the early 90's. So the island has been deserted for at least 15 years."

Belle paused and looked up at Shawn. "Uhm, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That Brady and Chloe would head there for shelter or first aid supplies?"

"Exactly. Maybe that's where we should head."

Phillip interjected with a note of hesitation in his voice. "Except that they probably have no idea it's there, since they don't have their maps with them. I think we should check the beach and the outlying areas first, myself."

Shawn helped Belle lift her backpack on to her shoulders and nodded in agreement, "I think you're right, Phil. If we don't find any signs of life on the beach, we'll camp out and head into the forest and towards the center in the morning."

Belle groaned under the weight of her backpack and plodded forward. "Alright, let's go then. There's no time to waste."

The rest of the group muttered in agreement and trudged forward towards the pale sandy beach ahead of them.

***

(Over an hour later...)

Somehow Belle's inner drive to help her family had propelled her to walk faster than the rest of the group. She had always been athletic, but this time her fears had given her more energy than she thought she had in her. She was a short distance ahead of the rest of the group when she spotted something strange on the flat beach ahead of her. Belle came closer and paused to examine it further.

"Guys! COME OVER HERE! YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!"

The rest of the group caught up with her and found Belle staring at what looked like some rocks scattered across the sand. Mimi paused in confusion and raised her eyebrows at her blonde friend.

"Uhm, Belle... I don't get it. It looks like all of the other rocks we've seen since we got here."

Belle shook her head slowly and motioned for everyone to step backwards a couple of feet. "No, Meems... it's not just rocks. Somebody was using them to spell out 'help'. You can clearly see the 'P' and part of the 'E'. But, the rest was destroyed."

Phillip looked at the formation thoughtfully. "And, you think it was Brady and Chloe? Leaving a signal? But, why would they destroy their help signal?"

Belle shrugged slightly. "I don't know, but it had to be them. It's not like people get washed up on this island every day. Besides, there are tracks leading into the forest and they look fresh."

Shawn examined the tracks that Belle pointed out and nodded. "Then that's a good sign, a sign that they are here somewhere."

"And we're going to follow those tracks until we find them."

"I don't think that's a very good idea, Belle."

Belle crinkled her forehead in confusion. "Why not?"

"Because, it's already getting dark and I don't think we should be wandering those woods at night time. It's a little too dangerous."

"We've got a map and flashlights. We're going."

Shawn sighed and shook his head. "Belle, if one of us gets hurt it's not going to help Brady and Chloe any."

Belle's eyes flashed with anger and she threw the map she was holding to the ground. "And it's not going to help them if we waste time by having a little sleepover on the beach. They could be hurt, or hungry or worse..." Belle paused as hot tears began to well up in her eyes. "They need us now, not tomorrow. I have to find them now, Shawn. I have to do this. Now, you can either come with me or you can stay here. I don't care, but I'm going no matter what."

Belle's three friends were stunned into an awkward silence by her sudden burst of emotion. Finally, Mimi stepped forward and put her arm around Belle's shoulder. "I'm going with you, Belle... I can't let you go alone."

Phillip nodded solemnly. "Me too... I'll go."

Shawn looked downward and sighed. "I'm not going to let you go anywhere without me. Just promise me one thing..."

Belle rubbed a few tears off of her cheeks and nodded. "What is it?"

"If we get too tired, we'll stop for rest. I already told you once that we weren't going to lose Brady and Chloe, but we're not going to lose you either."

Belle smiled weakly. "It's a promise."

Shawn smiled in return and put his arm around her other shoulder. "Good, because if I don't bring you home in one piece, your father will kill me."

Phillip, feeling left out, joined in the group hug and grinned at his friends. "Plus, we kind of like having you around Belle. Sometimes."

Belle managed a slight grin at Phillip's remark. "Gee, thanks... Anyway, I hate to ruin our kodak moment here, but I think it's time we forward march."

The group broke free of each other as Belle grabbed the map off the ground and brushed the sand off. They followed her in silence towards the forest, following the footsteps that they hope would lead them to their lost friends.

****

(Four hours later. My, that's a lot of walking.)

The small group negotiated the paths with ease, but their pace was slowing from minute to minute. There seemed to be trees in all directions for miles, but the brush and dirt underneath had recently been trampled. This is what they followed, hoping that those previous steps had been taken by Brady and Chloe Black.

Belle stayed in the lead the entire time, despite Shawn's constant offers to take the lead so he could watch out for hazards. Mimi trailed in the back, she had done her share of high school sports, but had never been a fan of nature hikes.

She groaned out towards the front of the pack, "Heeeey, are we tired yet?"

Belle shook her head and kept moving forward, "Not yet, Meems."

Belle heard Mimi groan again and stifled a laugh. She hated making her friends suffer like this, but deep down she knew they had to get as far as they could before they could take time to rest. She had just finished taking a sip of water when her right foot got tangled in a stray piece of brush and she lunged forward. The weight of her backpack only propelled her harder into the ground below and she landed flat on her stomach, her hands attempting to break her fall, and preventing her from eating a face full of pebbles and tree branches.

Her friends rushed to her side immediately and Shawn helped roll her over on to her back. "Jesus, Belle... are you alright?"

Belle blinked at him in confusion, still a little shocked from her sudden fall. "Yeah, uh-huh...." She glanced at her arms, which were dirty and scraped but mostly undamaged. "I think I'll be picking rocks out of my skin for the next 10 years though."

Shawn helped lift her up to sit on a nearby log as she dusted her clothes off with her hands. Mimi cringed slightly as she looked at her fallen friend. "Sorry, Belle... but you scared the hell out of me. I thought maybe I had accidentally willed it to happen so we could stop and rest."

Belle shook her head. "No, you didn't. I'm just a klutz, I guess. Or, maybe it was a sign from God telling me to stop and rest."

Mimi sighed in relief and let her backpack fall off of her shoulders. "Well, remind me to thank him later then. Not, because I wanted you to fall or anything... I just wanted to take a break."

"I know, Meems... it's not your fault."

Phillip winced as he pointed at Belle's knee where a bloody gash had appeared. "Uhm, Belle... you may want to take a look at your knee."

Belle looked at it closely and groaned, "Well, as long as it's still there that's all that matters."

Shawn opened his own pack and took out their first aid supplies. "Here, let me clean it up for you. Phillip, do you mind getting on the satellite phone? I want to let Belle's parents know that we're alright."

Phillip nodded and pulled the phone out of his own bag. "Not a problem. I just hope we can get some reception out here."

Mimi nodded, memories of her own problems with phone service in Puerto Rico filling her head, "Well, the good news is that technology has come a long way since we were stranded in Puerto Rico."

Phillip pulled the antenna out and began dialing as Shawn was starting to clean Belle's wound. Belle groaned slightly as Shawn swabbed her wound gently. "Ouch... Ouch... Ouch... Is it bad?"

Shawn looked up at her and winked, "Nope, you're just a wimp. Like always. It doesn't even need stitches."

Belle pouted slightly at him. "Hey, I'm not as big of a wimp as I used to be."

Shawn nodded as he applied the last piece of tape to the bandage on her knee. "You do walk faster than all of us, I'll give you that."

"Damn right, I do. Thanks for the first aid, Doctor."

Shawn stood and lent a head to help Belle up. "No problem, just don't have any more falls like that, Speedy."

Belle grabbed his hand and stood. "Believe me, I won't."

Phillip turned towards her and held out the phone. "Belle, your mom wants to talk to you."

Belle grabbed the phone from Phillip's hand and held it up to her ear. "Hey mom..."

Her mother's voice came through the phone slightly crackled, but still clear enough to hear. "Isabella... Are you alright? Phillip said you fell."

"I'm fine, Mom. I just tripped, scraped my knee. It's nothing to worry about."

"Belle, please don't push yourself too hard. Get some rest, I'm begging you."

Belle smiled slightly. Most kids, even in their early 20's, thought of their parents as nothing but naggers, but Belle couldn't be more grateful for how watchful and caring her parents were. "I know, I know... We're going to stop and rest for the night right now. But, I do have some good news. We found an abandoned help signal and we've been following footsteps all evening. I think it has to be Brady and Chloe."

"Oh, that is wonderful news. Promise me you'll be careful though, and remember that your father and I love you."

"I promise, we will. And, I love you guys too."

"Okay, give our love to the others. Bye sweetie."

"Bye, Mom." Belle sighed and ended the call. "Mom and Dad send their love."

Mimi smiled weakly. "That was an awfully short call."

Belle shrugged and stuffed the phone back into Phillip's bag. "Hey, these satellite calls aren't cheap. Plus, I don't want to waste our battery power. We may need it later."

Phillip bent over and zipped the pocket for the phone shut. "Good point. By the way, there's a clearing to the east there, right past these trees. Perfect for camping."

Shawn looked towards the east and nodded affirmatively. "Sounds like a good plan. Here, Belle, let me help you with your bag..."

Belle chuckled as Shawn carried his bag and hers towards the clearing. She quietly muttered to herself, "I should trip all the time. Gets me the royal treatment."

***

(A couple of hours later...)

Belle walked slowly down the long white hallway with doors on each side of her. She squinted to see if she could see where the hall ended, but all she saw was soft white light and no end in sight. She tried to turn the knob on the door closest to her, but it wouldn't budge. As she moved down the hallway, she noticed that there were no markings anywhere, no signs and no colors. The doors all looked the same, and they were all shut. She walked further, until she found one that was slightly cracked open. Nervously, she pushed the door further open and tiptoed inside.

She saw Chloe sitting in a white wicker rocking chair, she was slowly rocking and singing softly to a tiny bundle in her arms.

"Chloe? You're alright?"

Chloe glanced at her and smiled sweetly. "Yes, and the baby is fine. But, Belle... something terrible has happened..."

Belle edged closer as Chloe spoke, and peered at the tiny child in Chloe's arms. Soft dark hair covered her head, and a pair of sparkling blue eyes just like Brady's shone up at her. "Terrible? Chloe, what do you mean?"

Chloe's face suddenly turned to expression of sadness and fear. "It's Brady... you have to help him, Belle. He needs you."

"What happened? Where can I find him? You have to tell me." Belle's voice rose in volume as she spoke, and she felt fear fill her from head to toe.

Chloe shook her head sadly and a solitary tear fell from one of her eyes. "I can't, I can't tell you."

Belle shook her head in frustration. "No, you have to. I can't do this all by myself. I can't."

Chloe kissed the baby on the forehead and shook her head once more. Belle felt a sudden rush of air as she was thrown backwards and out of the room. The door shut and Belle felt tears welling up in her eyes. She rolled her knees into her chest and began to sob, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.

When she opened her eyes again, she was suddenly jolted back into reality. She awoke with a yawn and looked around her at her surroundings. She was camped out beside a small fire underneath the stars with Mimi and Phillip nearby. She sat up slowly, and scanned for Shawn, but he was nowhere to be found.

Belle glanced at her two sleeping friends, both of them looked like they were having more peaceful dreams than she had just had. Mimi was snoring softly and Phillip had his mouth wide open. Belle stood from her makeshift bed and walked towards the path they had been on earlier. She trudged up the hill slowly and saw Shawn sitting against a tree staring up at the stars. Her footsteps must have been noisy, because he broke his gaze and looked in her direction.

"Belle? Is that you?"

Belle walked closer to him and smiled weakly. "Yeah, it's me. What are you doing up here?"

"Couldn't sleep, thought I'd keep watch for awhile. You?"

"Same. Not really having the best dreams lately."

Shawn nodded and brushed a space on the ground for her to sit next to him. "Well, pull up a piece of ground. Make yourself at home."

Belle sat down next to Shawn and leaned her back against the tree. "So, how come Mimi and Phillip can sleep like a couple of babies, but we're up here staring at the stars?"

"I don't know, but at least somebody is getting some sleep tonight."

"Yeah, I'm just afraid something is going to fly into Phillip's mouth. He really needs to start sleeping with it closed."

Shawn chuckled softly and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he's done that since we were kids. So, what were you dreaming about?"

Belle cringed and pulled her knees to her chest. "Do we have to talk about it?"

"Nope. Not if you don't want to."

"Okay, good... You been up here having deep thoughts all by your lonesome?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"What about?"

Shawn paused hesitantly, and muttered quietly, "You."

Belle looked at him curiously. "What? Me? What about me?"

"Lots of things. I guess I've been kind of curious since you told me about Tom."

Belle grinned and nodded. "Tim... And why would you be curious?"

Shawn shrugged, reluctant to answer truthfully. "Well, one week all I hear about is how happy you are and how wonderful this Tim Tom character is, and the next thing I know, it's over. So, what happened? He didn't do something to hurt you, did he?"

Belle shook her head and sighed. "No, he didn't. He's a great person, but he wanted to get married, and I just wasn't ready for that. It was pretty painless, I guess... I've been lucky so far, I haven't gotten hurt by guys as much as other girls my age."


"I guess you only got hurt by me, then..."

"Shawn..." Belle spoke with a tone of warning in her voice, hoping that they wouldn't have to bring up this subject right now.

"It's true. I guess you only hurt the ones you love, right? I never wanted to hurt you. I thought you'd be better off, but I was an idiot."

Belle nodded sadly. "Yeah, you were."

Shawn looked at her with surprise, but Belle continued, "And, so was I. I was so convinced that you stopped loving me that I didn't even bother to find out whether you really did."

Shawn looked downwards sadly and replied softly, "I didn't. I couldn't have even if I wanted to. I never stopped loving you, not even for a moment."

Belle furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion and laid one hand on his arm. "Shawn, what are you trying to say?"

Shawn looked up and stared into her blue eyes filled with the reflection of the moonlight. "I'm trying to say that I've always loved you, and I still love you. That's never changed. And whether you feel the same or you don't, it doesn't matter. I just thought that you should know. I never wanted to make you feel like there was something wrong with you, it wasn't you, it was me and my own problems that screwed everything up in the first place."

Belle bit her lip nervously, her words caught in her throat. She had waited so long to hear those words from Shawn, and now that she had she didn't know what to do with them. They just hung there in the cool air between them, and Belle had been rendered speechless by them. "I... I... I don't know what to say..."

Shawn waved a hand to silence her. "You don't have to say anything. I'm sorry, Belle... for everything. For the past 5 years, for saying all of this right now when you have so many other things on your mind. I just felt like... here we are, out on this deserted island, not sure if we're going to find Brady and Chloe, putting our own lives at risk... I had to tell you. I had to make sure you knew in case something happened to one of us."

Belle sighed and moved her hand that was on Shawn's arm down to clasp his hand. "Thank you... I'm glad you told me. I really, really am. It makes what I have to say, what I promised Mimi I would tell you, so much easier."

Shawn tilted his head and looked at her curiously. "Well, what is it?"

"You wanted to know the truth about Tim, and I didn't really give it to you a hundred percent straight. Tim is a great person, and I was very much in love with him. In fact, I didn't know I could love anyone besides you for a long time. But, when he proposed... I didn't even hesitate, I had to say no."

"Why? If you loved him, and he loved you... I don't get it."

Belle licked her lips nervously and continued, "Because he wasn't you. I did love him, but it wasn't even close to how I felt... how I feel about you. It's not even in the same ballpark. And, I knew it wouldn't be fair to him if I just married him and spent the rest of my life wondering if I should really be having a future with you."

"So, what you're trying to say is..."

"I love you too. Five years apart couldn't stop that. All the pain and hurt never changed that one thing. I love you, Shawn, and I can't change that."

Shawn smiled sweetly at her and brushed her cheek with his hand. "You don't know how long I've waited to hear you say that again."

Belle smiled back at him and gazed into his dark brown eyes. "How about five years? It's the same amount of time I've wanted to say it."

Shawn leaned forward and gently kissed her lips. The kiss only lasted a short time, but it was enough to make Belle want to melt into a puddle. She had kissed by others since her last kiss with Shawn, but none of them ever compared to the way he made her feel. One glance or one kiss from Shawn Brady had always made her feel like the only woman on earth, and this one was no exception.

Shawn broke away from her and sighed as he brushed a piece of hair away from her face. "So, what happens now?"

Belle averted her eyes downward and shrugged slightly, "I don't know. I mean, I'm glad we got that out in the open, but that doesn't mean it's going to be all puppy dogs and roses from here on out. We still have a lot more air to clear before we decide what direction to take this in."

Shawn nodded in agreement. "I know... and it's not really what we should be concentrating on right now anyway. It's not like we're here for some romantic island vacation. We have more important things to worry about."

"You're right. Brady and Chloe should be our first priorities. The rest... I don't know... we'll just work it out when we get home, right?"

Shawn wrapped his strong arms around her and nodded. "Right. Everything will come together eventually, I'm sure."

Belle sighed and laid her head on his chest. Part of her was suddenly uneasy. She was glad that Shawn had revealed his feelings, and that she had done the same. But, she felt a sense of foreboding because deep down she knew that just because you love someone it doesn't mean that you belong together. Shawn began gently stroking her hair, and Belle tried to shake off her fears and just enjoy the bliss of having him near her again as she drifted off to sleep.

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