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.