chap29

Greta watched as Eric joined Shawn out on the porch. He hesitantingly took the seat next to Shawn and Greta waited until they were engaged in a conversation before she walked away. She went down the hall to Belle's room where the door was slightly open. She saw her writing furiously away in a journal on her bed. She knocked lightly on the open door.
"Come in" Belle said, hurridly hiding the book under her pillow.
"Hey there" Greta said gently, sitting on the edge of the bed. "How are you doing?"
"Me?" Belle asked, sounding on the edge of being hysterical. "Me? I'm freaking fine...why wouldn't I be? Maybe because my best friend of my whole life is mysteriously furious at me for no apparent reason and doesn't seem to care if we work it out or not"
"Calm down" Greta said, when Belle paused to take a breath. "You'll work things out"
"And how do you suppose I do that?" Belle asked.
"I'm going to talk to him" Greta said. "But first I wanted to get your permission"
"What are you going to say?" Belle asked, intrigued.
"Regardless of your situation, Shawn and I have a few things we need to work out between the two of us" Greta said.
"Oh" Belle said, her brow furrowed. "Are you going to bring up me?"
"Yeah, I am" Greta said. "You two need to talk and I'm just going to give you a little push to bring you together"
"Greta, why is he mad at me?" Belle asked. "I didn't do anything"
"Well, you did accept that date from that boy next door, didn't you?" Greta asked.
"Yeah, I did" Belle admitted. "But he doesn't care"
"I think he does" Greta said, gently. "He cares a lot, regardless of the face he puts on"
"So are you saying that he likes me...like I like him?" she asked, in a voice just above a whisper.
"I don't know for sure" Greta said. "But you know that I've had my suspicions"
"Then what should I do?" Belle asked. Greta remained silent. "Greta! What should I do? I don't care about Jason! I don't care about any guys...I just want to be with Shawn"
"I know honey" Greta said, watching a few tears glisten at the corner of her eyes. "We'll work this out, ok? Don't worry"
"I hope so" Belle said. "Because I can't sit here in the room next to him for the rest of the trip and have these feelings for him. They'll tear me apart"
"Well, I'm going to go talk to him then" Greta said, standing up and stretching.
"Greta?" Belle asked, as she neared the door.
"Yeah?" she said, turning to face her. Belle fiddled with the edge of her pillow.
"I know I have sisters of my own" she said. "And I love them a lot but they're not really there for me like sisters usually are. And since you've been going out with Eric I feel like I can trust you...a lot. You've been a really good friend to me on this trip and I wanted to thank you for it" Greta smiled and returned to the edge of the bed.
"I've never had a sister" Greta said. "I'd like to think of you as a little one of mine" Belle smiled.
"I'd like that" she answered.
"Belle, everything will work out" she said, as she hugged her. "Don't worry"
"Thanks Greta" she said, as Greta pulled away. She brushed Belle's blonde hair off her face.
"I'll come back here and get you once I talk to him, ok?" she asked. Belle nodded and Greta quietly left her alone.
Greta hurried down to living room and could see that Eric and Shawn were still sitting on the porch. She slid the door open and a warm breeze blew in the door as they both looked up.
"Hey Greta" Shawn said, standing up. "I'll let you guys alone"
"Actually, Shawn, I wanted to talk to you" she said. Eric stood up and silently walked inside as Shawn slouched down in his chair.
"Just like I told everyone else, nothing is wrong" he said, emphasizing the last three words, as he propped his feet up on the wall.
"That's not what I wanted to talk about" she said, quietly, as she sat down in the chair next to him.
"Really?" he asked, defying himself by looking at her.
"Well..." she said, not wanting to lie to him. "Actually, I wanted to talk about us"
"What about us?" he asked, again turning his attention to the pounding waves.
"Shawn, I know last year you really didn't like me..." she said. "I know that what happened between my mom and I...and your dad and you...and everyone basically...well, I know it was hard on you"
"Greta, I'm over it, alright?" he said.
"Well, I'm not Shawn" she said. "I feel like there still is some unfinished business between us" Shawn continued to slouch down in his chair and nervously tug on his cross. "Shawn?"
"I admit that there's still a part of me that has never forgiven you for not telling everyone that it was your mother, not mine, who was back in Salem" Greta sighed.
"Shawn, I'm very sorry" she said. "I didn't know that my mother was capable of such violence. But you have to understand where I was coming from. I never really had the chance to have a mother-daughter relationship with my mom. She was either off traveling or I was away at school. So when she came back and I had the opportunity to be with her...I didn't think, Shawn. I just wanted what I never had as a child"
"I know" Shawn said, quietly. "I probably would do the same thing for my mom"
"So you understand?" she asked, working up the courage to look at him.
"Yeah, I do" he said. "And I accept your apology"
"Thank you Shawn" she said.
"No problem" he answered, grinning at her. She smiled and hopped out of her chair to give him a quick hug. He blushed and ran his hand through his hair as she sat down again.
"So now that we got that out of the way" she continued. "About you and Belle..."
"I don't want to talk about it!" he said, his smile fading, as he stood up to leave.
"Shawn Douglas, sit down right now" she said, sternly. He raised his eyebrows in disbelief but obeyed. "Now if you and I can work through all of our differences AND forgive me for the horrible things I let occur...then why can't you sit down with Belle and listen to her?"
"I don't have to listen to her" he said, tapping his foot. "I know what she's going to say and I don't want to hear it"
"What don't you want to hear?" she challenged.
"I don't want to hear....aww, hell" he said, throwing himself backward in the seat again.
"Shawn" she started, cautiously, after letting him cool down. "I know what you're upset about" He drew in a deep breath and let the news sink in.
"You do?"
"Yeah, I do" she said. "Shawn, you have to tell her how you feel"
"I can't" he said. "I'm not like you girls, I can't just admit my feelings to just anyone"
"This isn't 'just anyone'" Greta said. "This is Belle...your best friend. You guys have grown up together. I'm sure you've shared secrets before and I'm sure she knows things about you that no one else does"
"Yeah, she does" he muttered.
"Then talk to her" Greta said. "I can't promise you that it will be easy but I don't think you'll get hurt"
"What are you saying?" he asked, a gleam of hope in his eyes. "Did Belle say something to you"
"That isn't in my place to say" she said. "But I think you should talk to her"
"Alright...I will" he said, standing up and then pausing. "Do you think she'll want to talk to me?"
"Let's go see" she said, standing up and holding out her hand. He took it smiling and they went into the living room. Eric was sprawled out on the lazy-boy and shot them questioning looks as they walked by. They heard the soft strains of Brandy's "Have You Ever" coming from her room and Shawn felt slightly reassured by her choice of music. After knocking, they both entered. She quickly turned off the music with the remote, embarrassed to be caught.
'Hey Belle" Shawn said, quietly.
"Hey" she said, lowering her face down as she lay on her stomach on the bed.
"Um...can we go somewhere and talk?" he asked, motioning outside.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"For a walk" he said. "We need to work some things out"
"Alright" she said, rolling off of the bed. She slipped into a pair of sandals and grabbed a hoodie from her closet. The three left the room silently ans Greta left them as they started down the stairs. She sat down on the edge of the chair that Eric was occupied and watched through the picture window as the couple appeared walking toward the ocean. Eric silently wrapped his arms around her and kissed the back of her head as they disappeared from view.