Shawn and Belle fan fiction.  Section one: Letting Down the Walls
Chapter ten

   In the parking lot, Shawn opened the door and helped his mom and everyone get out.  They started to walk up to a large plaza set next to the bay.  It was filled with little shops and restuarants and things like that. They tried to stay in a group but the crowd kept separating them.  "How about we meet back at the van at 10?" Bo shouted, over the crowd.  Greta and Eric took off instantly and John and Marlena went a separate direction.  Shawn and Belle followed his parents but they lost them when they went across the street. 
     "Looks like it's just you and me, kid" Shawn said, holding out his arm.  Belle looked at him questioningly.  "I just don't want to lose you in the crowd" he said.  "Well, in that case, ok" she said, taking his arm.  They walked around for some time as Belle dragged him into one store after another.  Shawn followed her blindly as she whipped him up and down the streets. They were leaving one store when Shawn stopped her.  "Whoa, Belle, I don't know how you do it in those big shoes but my feet are killing me" he said.  "Can we take a breather?"  "Sure, where?" she asked.  He pointed across the street.  "There's a little ice cream shop right there" he said.  "Come on, my treat".  "Sure" she said.
     They went across and Shawn held the door for her. A belle hanging in the door alerted a small, elderly man sitting in the corner.  "Hello there" he said, walking behind the counter.  "How can I help you?"  I'd like two scoops of mint chocolate chip" Shawn said.  "Belle, what do you want?"  "I'll have a small cone of butter pecan, please" she said.  The man got their ice cream and handed it to them.  Shawn took out his wallet to pay and the man winked at Belle.  They went to sit down.  "Wait, I have to get a picture" the man said.  "A picture?" Shawn asked, turning back around.  The man pointed at the back wall, which was covered with Polaroid pictures.
      "I always take pictures of the young couples who come in my store" the man said, holding up the camera.  "But we're not a couple" Belle said.  The man shook his head.  "Yes you are, I can see it in your eyes" he said.  "But we seriously aren't" Shawn protested.  "Well, you should be" the man said, stubbornly.  "Now get close together".  The two stood next to each other.  "No, closer" he said.  They moved a little closer.  "You're not cooperating" he said, as he put the camera down.  He went over to them and stood Belle in front of Shawn and put his arms around her waist.  He took one picture and then another.  He handed the one copy to Belle and went to hang the other on the wall.  They sat down and Belle put her picture down to finish developing.  They began to eat their ice cream.
     "You're dripping" Shawn said, after a period of silence.  "Where?" she asked, craning her neck.  Shawn pointed and she went to look.  She bent over too close and came up with a drip of ice cream on her nose.  Shawn laughed.  "Here, I got it" he said, taking his napkin and gently wiping it off.  Belle caught a glimpse of his watch while his arm was outstretched.  "Shawn, it's almost 10" she said.  He looked at his watch.  "Five till, finish you're ice cream" he said, hurridly finishing his own.  They finished and told the man good-bye as they ran out the door.  Shawn led her by the hand as they rushed through the crowd to the van.  Everyone was standing outside waiting for them when they came running up.
     "You're a little late, you two" John said, unlocking the door.  "Sorry, we lost track of time" Shawn answered, finally dropping Belle's hand.  They climbed into the van with Shawn and Belle in the seat behind their mothers.  "We got the best ice cream at this little shop on the corner" Eric said.  "The cutest old man worked there, he took a picture of us" Greta added, handing the photo to Marlena.  "How cute" Marlena said, looking at it and passing it to Hope.  "We went there too" Shawn said.  "Where's your picture, dear?" his mom asked.  Belle took it from her purse and handed it to Hope.   "You guys look so cute together" Hope said, handing it to Marlena.  The two women exchanged a secret smile.  "Did you guys have fun?"  "Who wouldn't, with Belle the marathon shopper?" Shawn said.  "I bet we visited every store there.  My feet are killing me".  "Poor baby" Belle said, sarcastically.  Shawn shut his mouth and kept it that way for the rest of the trip.  John pulled into the driveway of the house and shut the van off.  They all got out of the van and went inside.
     "I'm exhausted" Belle said.  "I'm going to bed". "Sounds like a plan" Eric said, as he followed them down the hall to their rooms.  Belle shut herself in her room and took off her shoes.  She heard Shawn go into the bathroom.  "Shawn, can you give me a hand?" she asked.  He walked in.  "What's up?" he asked.  "Can you untie the back of my dress?" she asked. 
     He went over behind her and she pointed to the bow she had made while she held her hair out of the way.  Shawn struggled for a minute and then undid it.  She caught it so the front of her dress wouldnt' fall down.  He leaned in close to her and inhaled, breathing in the smell of her shampoo and her perfume.  She smelled so good and he didn't want to leave her.  He rested his hand on her shoulder and leaned his forehead against her soft hair.  Belle inhaled quickly and her heart started pounding fast, so loud that she was sure he could hear it.  They stood for a minute, not moving, before Shawn moved away and silently walked out the door.  Belle watched him, not sure of what to say or think.  She quickly pulled on her pjs and slid into bed.  She closed her eyes and tried to relax but her mind was racing.  She tossed and turned for sometime before she sat up.
     "Why can't I get him out of my mind?" she thought to herself.  "He's just a good friend, a very good friend.  But he's so cute" she thought.  She threw back the covers and stepped down the ground.  She silently walked through the bathroom and peeked in the crack of the door.  It took a little for her eyes to adjust but then she could see him.  He looked asleep, facing the doorway.  She stared at him, watching his shoulders and chest rise and fall with his breathing.  Suddenly, he started and turned.  Belle pulled away quickly, afraid she had woken him, and went back to her room.  She sat down on her bed and tried to think but nothing was making sense anymore.  She threw herself backwards.  "Just forget about it" she told herself.  "He would never go for someone like me" she said to herself, quietly, as she laid down and tried to ignore the pain that thought had brought her.

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