Title:
Journey
Rating: PG
Summary: Written for the
1sentence challenge. (Mattie/Drew)
Disclaimer: All Home &
Away related stuff belongs to Channel 7 and/or…whoever else has
rights to them.
Author's notes: It was an intriguing
prospect. And it was a writing exercise. And just because I wanted
to. Also, themes are in chronological order.
Journey
#01 Air
He shakes her,
desperately willing this slight of a girl to breathe, and when she
gasps and chokes on water-filled lungs he almost cries with relief.
#02 Apples
He looks at
the fruit basket in his hands and wonders what the hell he's
supposed to do with it; looks at the woman before him as she says,
'Thank you for saving my daughter.'
#03 Beginning
'Drew,'
he says; 'Matilda,' she replies.
#04 Bugs
He watches
with fascinated amusement as she swats distractedly at the fly.
#05 Coffee
Hot and
sweet; the taste lingers long after the last gulp and, strangely, it
reminds him of her.
#06 Dark
'If you
didn't know already,' they inform him, 'she's in love with
someone else – so stay away from her.'
#07 Despair
Though she
smiles and laughs he hears her silent screams, and all he wants to do
is make her stop.
#08 Doors
'Thanks,'
she says, offering him a small smile as she walks into the building.
#09 Drink
'No, thank
you,' she answers formally at his request to meet him at the
Diner.
#10 Duty
He wonders
when he started seeing himself as her knight in shining armour, and
why.
#11 Earth
She
stumbles, falls, skins her knee; and when she looks up she sees his
hand.
#12 End
'He likes
you, I can tell,' he insists, but she shakes her head and says, 'I
don't know what you're talking about, Luc.'
#13 Fall
He smiles,
and her stomach tumbles into a slow somersault.
#14 Fire
He can't
help himself – he kisses her.
#15 Flexible
'I
can't,' she tells him, and he says, 'Yes, you can.'
#16 Flying
They stand
side by side in front of the plaque, the wind making her hair dance
behind her, and she wishes it would never end.
#17 Food
'Is
something wrong?' he asks as he watches the fork trace random
patterns on her plate, and she looks at him and softly says, 'Lucas,
we need to talk.'
#18 Foot
She runs
towards them, screams for them to stop; but it is too late as she
sees one fall.
#19 Grave
'I wish
you were still here, Dad,' she says softly to the stone tablet,
'because I don't know what to do.'
#20 Green
He clenches
his jaw, clenches his hands, and watches as someone other than him
bends to kiss her lips.
#21 Head
'Can you
please stop being a shrink and just be my uncle!' he yells.
#22 Hollow
She sees
him at the Diner and his smile makes her feel a little less empty.
#23 Honor
'Don't
think I'm going to sit back and do nothing just because this whole
town thinks that you and Lucas should be together,' he vows,
'because I'm not.'
#24 Hope
'I don't
know what I'm doing here,' she confesses, 'but I wanted- I had
to see you.'
#25 Light
He lifts her
easily over the low brick wall, amazed that anyone could weigh so
little.
#26 Lost
'But why
him?' he questions despairingly, and she shakes her head and
whispers, 'Lucas, please…'
#27 Metal
His head
snaps back, and the taste of copper fills his mouth; it is her hand
on his arm that stops him from retaliation.
#28 New
'Just bought
it with the money Dad left me,' he says as she grins at him in his
suit.
#29 Old
He knows he
wants nothing more than this – more than her – for the rest of
his life.
#30 Peace
They linger
a few moments longer, both knowing that a storm awaits them on their
return.
#31 Poison
'They set
me up,' he pleads with her and watches, helpless, as she walks away
with tears in her eyes.
#32 Pretty
'Stop
it,' she commands, 'stop staring at me!'; but he grins at her
and replies, 'Make me.'
#33 Rain
It is cold
and wet and windy, but she is in his arms and wishes to be nowhere
else.
#34 Regret
'I'm
sorry, Luc, I didn't mean-' she starts, but he interrupts and
says bitterly, 'I guess I never really knew you after all.'
#35 Roses
'I wasn't
exactly sure what the colours are supposed to mean,' he admits, 'so
I got one of everything.'
#36 Secret
He shuts
the small box with a snap, enclosing the ring inside, and hides it at
the back of his sock drawer.
#37 Snakes
Hew
newfound confidence has begun to attract attention, none of them
sought; and all he can do is hold her tightly as she shakes.
#38 Snow
'Wouldn't
it be great to experience a white Christmas?' she wonders out loud,
and he silently promises that one day he would grant her wish.
#39 Solid
She watches,
amused, as he extricates himself from a gaggle of girls and hurries
towards her.
#40 Spring
'We're
celebrating the first day of the month and the start of a new
season,' he informs her grandly, and she raises an eyebrow as he
grins and finishes with, 'And, of course, my favourite girl's
sweet sixteenth!'
#41 Stable
'It looks
old and rotting,' he says nervously, but she grips his hand in hers
and says, 'I've got you.'
#42 Strange
'Everything
okay?' he asks, and notices that she surreptitiously slips a letter
in her pocket and nods; the smile that curves her lips doesn't
quite match the apprehension in her eyes.
#43 Summer
She walks
nervously towards him and he chokes on his water as she comes into
full view, and he sputters, 'Have I ever mentioned how much I love
living by the beach?'
#44 Taboo
'He
kissed me!' she cries out, 'I didn't kiss him!'; but her
words only lessen the pain, not eliminate it.
#45 Ugly
He traces the
outline of the scar and for the first time, as she watches his face,
she feels wanted and beautiful.
#46 War
He sees her
with him, and he tenses – he knows that a part of him will
always consider the other as the enemy.
#47 Water
'I wanted
to, you know,' she confesses quietly as he holds her, 'that day
on the beach, I meant to do it, I wanted it all to just…to just
stop.'
#48 Welcome
'Scott
and Henry are visiting so Mum wants everyone for a family dinner,'
she informs him, 'including you.'
#49 Winter
He takes
off his jacket and drapes it over her shoulders, and she smiles at
him and says, 'Things are only going to get better for us from now
on, I know it.'
#50 Wood
Her twin
nudges the heavy baseball bat with his foot and says, 'Just so you
know, we all have one of these,' and grins.