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Susan "Belle" Taylor is a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away, portrayed by actress Jessica Tovey since early 2006.

Background

Belle first arrived in the Bay at sixteen years of age, having just found out she was adopted and on a mission to locate her birth mother.

Her adopted parents, the strictly religious David and Judith Taylor, had brought her up in a very controlled and over-disciplined manner and as a teenager Belle had rebelled against their conservative lifestyle, getting in with the wrong crowd, busking on the streets and rejecting Susan, the name they gave her.

Storylines

Arrival in Summer Bay

Belle was first seen in Summer Bay when Ric Dalby found her living rough in the bush and befriended her, bringing her food and even hiding her out in his bedroom. Her presence in the house was unearthed by Ric's foster mother Sally Fletcher who insisted that with her husband Flynn Saunders being terminally ill they couldn't let her stay with them at present. Belle continued to turn up though, much to the disgust of Ric's girlfriend Cassie Turner. Things came to a head when Belle accidentally knocked Flynn down the stairs, weakening him and bringing forward his death and a horrified Belle took off when she heard Alf Stewart (Ric's grandfather) approaching.

Caught breaking into Irene Roberts' car on her return to the Bay and on realising that her adoptive parents really didn't care for her, a sympathetic Irene offered her a room in her house and Belle still lives with Irene to this day.

Belle and Ric get together

Belle was quick to pick up where she had left off with Ric, spending time with him and eventually planting a kiss on him in front of his girlfriend Cassie. Her scheming paid off with Ric and Cassie splitting and Ric and Belle getting together soon after.

Discovering the truth

Belle quickly befriended Lucas Holden, causing him to split from his girlfriend Matilda Hunter, Cassie's best friend. However behind the scenes was an insecure girl desperate to track down her birth mother in the hope that she would finally get the love and attention she craved. Confiding in Ric they set about locating her birth mother and the trail led to Katherine (Kitty) Lansdowne, revealed to be Belle's grandmother. Kitty devastated Belle with the revelation that her mother had died but the viewers knew differently however as Belle's mother was revealed to be Amanda Vale. Neither of them was aware of this and when Amanda returned to the Bay and began clashing with Irene and other residents Belle quickly took against her.

A new mother

A few weeks later Belle was surprised to see Kitty in the Bay and when it was revealed that Amanda was Kitty's daughter Belle finally came to the realisation that her mother was the woman she despised. The explosion at Jack and Martha's wedding and the subsequent chopper crash that left Belle, amongst others, lost in the Bush led to Amanda miraculously 'feeling' Belle being bitten by a spider and leading the rescue teams to them.

Belle and Ric break up

With Belle devastated by Ric's decision to get back with his ex Cassie and desperate to win him back, Amanda came up with elaborate schemes to help and caught up on the idea of having a 'cool' mum relations thawed between the two and Belle moved in with Amanda.

A new love interest, Drew Curtis

Eventually realising that Ric was not going to be won round Belle got together with Drew Curtis until Drew suddenly dumped her, seemingly for another woman. Turning to Amanda, Belles mother for support Belle was devastated and angry when her own mother confided that she was in fact the other woman and Belle ran straight back to Irene and her friend Lucas, eventually getting together with him.

Back together with Drew

When Lucas and Belle briefly split up, Drew told her he still had feelings for her. Even though she and Lucas had patched up their differences Belle still felt conflicted. In order to avoid Drew, Belle accepted a lift home only to be kidnapped as part of her Aunt Kelli's revenge plan against Amanda. Found safe and well by her stepfather Peter Baker, relations between Belle and Amanda began to thaw once more and Belle continued to stand by Lucas, fighting her feelings for Drew. Pushing Drew into the arms of new girl Lisa Duffy, Belle was devastated to think that they'd slept together so slept with Lucas, only to realise that Drew and Lisa hadn't slept together after all. With Lisa increasingly suspicious that Drew and Belle had feelings for each other and receiving confirmation from Drew, she announced the news to a devastated Lucas.

A break-up and a reunited couple

Ironically Belle and Drew split up again almost immediately when it appeared that Amanda had cheated on Peter and both of the youngsters sided with their parents. There then followed several months when the pair seemed to be on and off on a virtually weekly basis, as Belle disapproved of the antics of Drew's troublesome friend Jules Munro and got him kicked out of school by stealing one of his essays. In the end they reunited.

Two new foster-siblings

Belle seemed to have a problem with Geoff Campbell at first, but are now friends, probably because of his ongoing feud with Lucas, and when he briefly came to stay with Irene she did her best to make him feel uncomfortable, wandering around wearing as few clothes as possible. (They both got more than they bargained for however when he accidentally walked in on her in the shower). Conversely she seemed to get on well with his sister Annie, developing a big sister relationship with her.

Dom and Belle; stalking, kidnapping and a car accident

Belle found herself once again encountering Dom Moran, who had previously caused problems for her and her ex-boyfriend Ric, when Drew began buying car parts from him. The parts turned out to be stolen and Dom, who seemed to have a thing for Belle, agreed to take responsibility in return for Belle kissing him. When he was released from jail, he effectively kidnapped Belle and when Drew rescued her he ended up running Dom down. When Dom turned up injured at the Diner, Belle took him to hospital and, much to Drew's consternation, started visiting him there.

Working at Coastal News

Belle enjoys photography and earned an internship at the local paper "Coastal News" after leaving school.

Dan's memorial

After Dan's death Belle tried to support Drew, who was grieving for his uncle. However Belle chose to focus on her new job with Coastal News, and at Dan's memorial (who was also father to her half-brother Ryan), Belle arrived with her boss Gavin to take some photos for the paper. When some of the students of Summer Bay High lead by Aden Jefferies decided to go to the beach to hold their own memorial for Dan as the surf club was packed out, Gavin thought it would make a much better story for the paper than the actual memorial that was being held inside the Surf Club. Belle was then forced to follow the students on to the beach and take pictures, instead of participating in the memorial at the Surf Club. Drew was very disappointed that his girlfriend wasn't there, but Belle thought Drew was being hard and selfish. Belle and Drew continued to fight over the next few weeks about Belle's new job, leading to a big fight on the 11th of March, when they officially broke up for good. Drew moved to the city to live with his dad and stepmother. Belle realised it was really over between them, she spent the next few days forgetting Drew, and even though she was furious with him, she still missed him. Days later, after not talking for a while, Drew returned for a proper goodbye on the 21st of March. They agreed that they have had a great time together, they kissed for the very last time then Drew walked out of her life.

A new job

After Sam Holden was found dead on the beach, Belle quit her job at the Coastal News after constantly having to have to go against her beliefs. She then started working at the Den with her step-aunt Leah Patterson Baker.

Relationship with Aden Jefferies

It wasnt love at first sight for Belle and Aden, but the romance began to blossom when Aden began working at the diner. After weeks of Belle denying her attraction towards Aden, it was finally confirmed when she was seen taking pictures of a topless Aden on the beach in the morning after Nicole's party, in which the new found attitude of Aden had made Belle even more attracted, and her attraction to him could then not be doubted. They clashed when Aden assaulted Axel Hay for sexually abusing Melody Jones - an act which Belle did not understand at the time, but would later. The two were brought closer together after Aden's father was taken to hospital, where Belle began showing genuine signs of affection after opting to remain with Aden at the hospital to provide her support. After this, Aden got drunk and climbed through the window of Belle's bedroom. Previously, Belle would have thrown him out but her growing feelings for him meant that she could not reject him. The two kissed the next day after Aden found out that Belle had taken photos of him - and he was now sure that she felt the same way. Then followed a period of denial for Belle, who was ashamed to accept her true feelings for the bad boy Aden. Once she embraced her affection, the two embarked on a relationship. Everything ran smoothly until Aden was unwilling to sleep with Belle, which prompted her to think that he may of gone off her. Then, in order to stop Belle finding out about the sexual abuse he had at the hands of his grandfather, Aden called Belle a skank and broke up with her. After they broke up, Belle went out on a date with Angelo - which she had previously been uneasy to do but when she spotted Aden watching her talking to Angelo - she went on a date with Angelo to spite Aden. Aden's jealousy upon seeing Belle with another man caused him to reveal all to Belle about the abuse suffered at the hands of his grandfather - Belle took him back to the displeasure of Irene. On August 1, after having many failed attempts (because of Aden's issues), Belle and Aden had sex after he secretly went to counseling sessions.

Belle and Angelo

In order to take her mind off the trouble with Aden, Irene encouraged Belle to get back into her passion, photography. While out and about with her camera she bumped into a man named Murray. They soon got chatting and Murray let her in on a secret - there is supposedly toxic waste buried under a nearby development site. Murray knew this because he worked for the council, but when he tried to object to building they fired him. He told Belle that all this was true and he needed her help to stop the development. Belle then became involved in protests around the development site with other environmentalists, but was arrested by Angelo for trespassing. Angelo decided to drop the charges because she is his girlfriend. Later, Murray disappeared. Belle tracked him down and he told her that it was all a mistake, there was no toxic waste. Belle was suspicious of his sudden change of attitude and asked Angelo for help. Risking his job, Angelo looked into Murray's accounts and discovered thousands of dollars had been put in there by the council, this led Belle to believe that they payed Murray off.

Is the development site a toxic waste dump?

Meanwhile, after Aden was let out of the rehab and found not guilty by the court, he got a job at the diner, however there was tension between him and Belle working alongside each other so Aden quit and began working at the development site. Belle, still convinced the development site was a toxic waste dump, turned to Alf Stewart, who had previously worked for the council. He said he didn't believe it but told her to meet with an old friend who also worked for the council in the 60s. The man in question was on his death bed in the hospital. He told Belle the whole story but died shortly afterwards. In a last ditched attempt, Belle confronted Aden and pleaded with him to help her, he agreed and snuck into the office at the development site to steal a copy of the plans which listed where the toxic waste was buried. His boss, however, discovered that the plan was missing, and knew instantly that it was Aden. Aden gave Belle the plan and she left it in her room, she then received a phone call telling her Aden had been hurt at work, she panicked and went straight there. When she got there she saw that Aden was fine, and realized that it was a prank phonecall. When she got back home, she discovered the plans were gone, someone had snuck in and stolen them back.

At this point she had already rekinkled her romance with Aden, while still seeing Angelo. Aden was fired, his bosses reasons was because there were too many workers, but Aden became suspicious when he found that that no one else had been laid off. While researching the toxic waste, she discovered that it contains chemicals that can cause cancer. She put 2 and 2 togather and realized this must be the reason so many residents of Summer Bay have suffered from cancer - Flynn, Sally, Alf, Vinnie, Martha and the recently deceased toddler Joe - to name a few. Frantic, she begged Rachel to give her the medical records of residents who have had cancer, but Rachel refused, saying it would be a breach of confidentiality and would put her job on the line. But later, Rachel gave her a list of residents who have had cancer, but told her that she would need to get their/family members consent before taking the medical records to the police. Belle went door to door of the people who had lost family members to cancer but all refused to talk to her. Rachel then persuaded Dane, the guardian of the toddler Joe, to talk to Belle. He agreed to sign the consent form.

Belle and Aden's romance

Belle realized that she still loved Aden. He told her that she had to tell Angelo about the 2 of them. But when Angelo was attacked and had to go to hospital for treatment she told Aden that now was not the right time to break it off with him.

The evidence is gone

Murray came back into town, and told Belle he had a change of heart and was willing to help her. But Belle wasn't sure whether she could trust Murray after what happened before, so she shunned his offer. Viewers saw that Murray was being payed by the council to throw Belle off. While Belle was driving with the list of cancer patients and the evidence that the toxic waste caused cancer, a car came out of nowhere and made Belle crash into a tree. When Belle was at the hospital she realized she had left the sheets in the car, and begged Angelo to go and get them for her. He obliged, but before he got to the scene of the crash, Muray was there, he told the police who were around that Belle had asked him to get something from the car so he was looking for them. By the time Angelo had got there the sheets were gone. He asked Murray why he took them, but Murray said they weren't in the car when he was looking for them.

New job

Belle got offered a new job as a journalist at The Coastal News again by the new editor, after her article about the development site was published which she had dedicated to Jack. On her first day however her car broke down and she missed an interview so she called Aden who doesn't have time to talk as it was his first day at his new job too, and he didn't want to get caught chatting on the phone. So then Belle took a tablet from the drawer in her car to calm her down, and began to resort to drugs to calm her down. After her acting boss Paula finds the drugs in Belle's drawer, she get fired from the job. She lied Aden and Irene telling them that she quit her job after harassment from Paula.

Drug addiction

Since she nearly got run over by a car and got taken to hospital Belle has started to take painkillers as part of her medicine. one time she over dosed on non-prescribed drugs and Rachel told her that she has been over medicating herself and said that she should start to use paracietamol. But Belle still takes the painkillers as she is addicted to them. Freya gave Belle some 'pick me ups' (drugs) and so nobody would suspect she was a drug addict when Belle told the police about Freya, she claimed to have purchased the drugs from Freya for an under-cover investigation for the newspaper. However, Nicole realises Belle is using drugs, but is persuaded by Belle not tell anyone especially Aden as she wasn't going to take them anymore. However Aden finds out and this leaves their relationship rocky.

Overdose

At Rachel and Tony's wedding, Belle finds some old drugs in her bag, Aden finds them too when he was looking for a pen. Aden and Belle have a fight and because Belle is upset she starts takings the drugs again and washes them down with a glass of champagne. She leans up against a tree and collapses and her heart stops its a race against time to save her life. Rachel ends up performing CPR to save her.

Rehab and the After-math

After the overdose, Belle goes to rehab. She receives a letter from Aden breaking up with her until she can beat her problem. Belle's old boss came to visit and offers her a sum of money to take pictures of Liam (the rock star) but Belle refuses. Later on, Liam asks Belle to take a picture of him and his son, Belle agrees but is unsure whether to give them to the papers or not. Annie visits her and Belle asks Annie to develop pictures for her. Alf found the picture that Annie had left in the bar and finds Aden to give them to Annie. Aden looks at the pictures and finds a picture of Belle hugging the rockstar which Aden assumes theres something going on. Annie finds Aden and takes the pictures to Belle. However the next day they end up in the papers. Belle denies it to Liam and Liam feels betrayed. Belle asks for a day pass where she goes to visit Aden and sees him with Nicole. Belle is devastated and later confronts Aden; Aden told her that he knows Belle and Liam are together but Belle says they are just friends and Belle shouts "next time you want to have sex with Nicole close the door". Roman overhears and kicks Aden out. Belle returns to rehab where Liam finds out that someone else copied the pictures and it was not Belle. She helps Liam after rehab leaving Aden not very happy. Although Belle tells Liam she can't be in a relationship at the current time he continues to pursue her and they eventually become a couple which pushes Aden further from Belle and when Aden tells Belle he saw Liam buying drugs she doesn't beleive him, calling him jealous. When Belle finds out that Aden was right and Liam is back on drugs she gets angry and walks out. She returns later to check on him and convinces him to go to hospital. When they get outside Belle's old workmate is there trying to get photos of Liam while he's high. Liam escapes by climbing a tree and getting onto the roof of his motel. Aden arrives and goes onto the roof to get Liam down and Aden falls off the edge and is left clutching for life. Aden eventually pulls himself up and convinces Liam to go down. With Liam in hospital and their relationship over, Aden consoles Belle and they begin to be friendly again. Belle and Aden eventually reunite. Aden, plans on proposing to Belle but his plans hit a snag when he ends up unemployed and can't afford the money to but a ring.

References

1. http://www.backtothebay.net/episodes/2009/4881.php

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• Home and Away characters
• Fictional adoptees