Saving Belle

Chapter 24

Belle's POV

     The weekend was awful. All I did from sun up to sun down was sit in that lawyers office reviewing everything and being taught how to act in the court room. Clarissa said that the lawyers for Eric will not be nice to me and will try their best to trick me and get me to say things to help keep Eric out of prison.

     To say I am nervous is an understatement. With all of the preparations my lawyer and the detectives have put me through is making it seem like this trial will be terrifying. I am trying my best to keep myself sane.

     It's currently Monday night and Fin is on his way to the house to pick me up and go on a date. My nerves are a mess right now but the fact that I get to see those dark green eyes and that big dimpled smile makes me feel better. He always seems to make me feel better.

     I look in the mirror one last time. My light brown hair is gently curled in waves down my back to rest right above my hips. It has finally grown long and it hasn't been this long since I lived with Nani and she would do these special hair treatments for us both every Sunday evening. When I lived with the Lance's my hair was never allowed to be long, Margo said only whores grew their hair out, so she would grab crafting scissors and cut my hair whenever she felt she saw fit. 

     My clothes consisted of soft yoga tights, a green short sleeve t-shirt, and a black knit sweater. I was dressed for comfort not for pleasure, or whatever that phrase is people use. Fin doesn't make me feel like I need to be all dressed up fancy for him. I did that once and he was the sweetest about it. He could tell how uncomfortable I was in that tight revealing shirt and gave me one of his big shirts to wear instead, it was so soft and felt safe.

     "Belle! Fin is here!" Luca screams from downstairs.

     I take one more look at myself in the mirror before jogging down the stairs and slipping on my shoes. Luca and Olivia are sitting on the couch watching one of her cartoons that I have seen way too many times to not know the lines of it word for word. 

     "Hey Belle," Luca calls, "Let me know if I need to beat him up for you."

     I giggle and shake my head, "Stop being such a goof. You know as well as I do-"

     "Yea yea yea I know sis. Just gotta say it out loud. Even if he is my best friend I will still kick his ass."

     "Language!" Olivia shouts before smacking Luca's arm. We both start laughing and I step out the door and head toward Fin's car.

     He is leaning against the car door when I step close. The medium length black hair is slightly flopping from the wind and his dark green eyes shine as bright as ever. When his eyes catch mine a smile lights up his face and he pushes against the car to stand up straight before walking toward me. 

     "Hey beautiful," Fin leans down and gives me a peck on the cheek making me blush a bright red. 

      "Hi there," I try not to stutter out as he sends butterfly through my stomach yet again. He takes my hand and guides me to the passenger seat before closing the door for me.

     When he hops into the car and we head off to who knows where since Fin decided he wanted it to be a surprise. After a few moments we merge onto the highway and I see his shoulders relax before he takes his right hand off of the wheel to reach for mine. I take his hand in between my two smaller ones and gently caress his palm. Every time my hand grazed over the center of his palm, one of his fingers would lightly twitch making me giggle. His lips curl up into a tiny smile, no big enough to show his dimples but still cute nonetheless. 

     "So where are we going Fin?" I ask hoping I finally get to know.

     He laughs and shakes his head, "Nope. I told you it was a surprise and I am keeping it that way." I pout and slouch down in my chair in defeat. Surprises are never fun for me, I'm too impatient.

     We sit in comfortable silence for a while before Fin takes an exit and we head into a small town. Every shop had beautiful window flower pots and twinkle lights. Fin explained that this is a really small town and everyone loves to decorate the shops and homes for the kids in the neighborhood. 

     Fin pulls the car into a parking spot on the street and shuts the car off. I'm too enchanted by the twinkling store lights to notice that he has walked around to my side of the car and opened the door for me. We both laugh when I jump, realizing I zoned out.

     He takes my hand and we walk down the brick paved sidewalk. It feels like we entered into a parallel universe. I have never seen anything like this in all of the years I moved from city to city for new foster homes. Fin reaches over and gives me a soft kiss on the cheek, making my face heat up again.

     "Come on we are just down the road," Fin says. His excitement is evident now more than ever before, he is practically jumping in place right now.

     We make a left down another road and into a neighborhood of houses. Each house looked like it was own by fairies, so vibrantly colored and florally decorated. Just like a fairytale has come to life. We stop suddenly, right in front of a one story home. The house was made of a gray brick with Ivy going up the sides and wrapped around windows that would push out instead of pull up. The shutters are a light purple and the front door is painted with a variety of different flowers and designs on it. In front of the porch is a whole space dedicated to roses and lilies. 

      "Belle," I can hear the nervousness in his voice now," I brought you here to meet someone really important to me that I believe you will really like her."

     My heart skips a beat for a second. MY nerves start to slowly kick in. "Fin...what are we doing here."

     Fin gives me his thousand dollar smile and says, "Belle, I want you to meet my sister Fiona."

     I tilt my head in confusion, "Fiona?"

     "I know I have never mentioned her before but she has been through a lot. Some things she has went through were similar to you and I thought before you start your trial it could be nice for you to meet her."

     I nod my head in a bit of shock from the new information. Fin has never fully talked about his family. All I really know is that his parents and he are estranged and stopped talking when he was emancipated at sixteen. But a sister? 

     Fin grabs my hand and walks to the door before knocking. I here light foot steps approaching before a loud, "I'm coming!" Is shouted from the other side. The door swings open and there stands a tall woman with raven black hair and dark green eyes, just like Fin. 

     Wow. "Belle, this is my twin sister Fiona. Fiona this is the beautiful girl I have been telling you about."

     Fiona gives me a giant smile and in a cheerful voice, "Belle it is so nice to finally meet you!"