Belle Taylor

Infobox soap character
colour=Television colour|Home and Away
name = Susan Taylor
other_names = Belle
nicknames = Taylor (By Drew)


image_size =
caption = Jessica Tovey as Belle Taylor
portrayer = Jessica Tovey
creator =
species =
gender = Female
first = February 3, 2006
Episode 4115
last =
last cause =
age = 18
occupation = Waitress| parents = Amanda Vale (Mother) Peter Baker (Step-Father)
siblings = Ryan Baker (Half-Brother)
Drew Curtis (Step-Brother)
grandparents = Kitty Lansdowne
aunts/uncles = Kelli Vale (Aunt)
Dan Baker (Step-Uncle)
Leah Patterson-Baker (Step-Aunt)
spouse =
romances = Ric Dalby (2006)
Drew Curtis (2006-2008)
Lucas Holden (2006–2007)
Aden Jefferies (2008)
Angelo Rosetta (2008-)
children =
residence = The Beach House
footnotes =

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

Character history

Belle first arrived in the Bay at sixteen years old 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.

torylines

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 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 still lives with Irene to this day.

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.

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 Dalby 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 (Holly Brisley). 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 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.

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.

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 for support Belle was devastated when Amanda 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Belle enjoys photography and earned an internship at the local paper "Coastal News" after leaving school. After Dan's death Belle tries to Support Drew, who just lost 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 Jeffries decides to go to the beach to hold their own memorial for Dan, 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 at 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 forever. In all reality this is highly improbable, as Belle's mother is married to Drew's father... and as Drew is living with them at the moment, it is highly likely that if Belle visits her mother and stepfather, then she will see Drew.

Just recently, one of Belle's best friends, Cassie left the bay with her foster mother Sally and her foster sister Pippa to travel the world. 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 now works at the Den with her step-aunt Leah Patterson Baker.

She is currently dating Aden Jefferies but their relationship has been and will continue to be rocky. The romance began to blossom as Aden Jefferies began to work at the diner with Belle. After weeks of Belle denying her attraction towards Aden, it was finally seen during her taking pictures of a topless Aden on the beach in the aftermath of a party, in which the new found attitide of Aden had made Belle even more attracted, and her attraction to him could then not be doubted. Belle and Aden then 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 hosptial, 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 there was mutual attraction. 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 1st, after having many failed attempts (because of Aden's issues), Belle and Aden had sex.

Aden revealed to Belle that he had been going to councilling sessions to show her how much she meant to him. After Aden received a call from the Bank who informed him that if the mortgage payments were not made up to date, the Bank would re-posses it and sell it. Belle offered her life savings of $4000 for Aden to use to pay off the mortgage so he could keep the house and sell it on his own terms. After going to the bank and showing Aden the money at Roman's house, the two headed upstairs and had sex again. Belle told him that they could slow down if he wanted to, but he told her that he wanted to continue to be intimate with her, claiming he felt 'so close' to her. When the two headed back down stairs, the $4000 was gone. It turned out that Larry, Aden's fugitive father had stolen the money. Belle did not blame Aden for the loss of her life savings.