Learn To Let Go

[lino]

i am happy that they are on speaking terms. Alex is such a jerk.

Can't wait for the wedding, and loving tascha.

[KaiyaBlake]

Zetti!

You can never get too much twilight! Can you?

[Zetti]

Nooo I cant but I should be revising. Though to be fair. I have cut on my net time so *shrugs*

[Pengzilla]

Anyway, Peng… if things don’t end up panning out for good old JnM in this fic, I will be sure to direct him your way! But then again, there's Barbara. Who is probably a safer choice...

BARBARA!? Seriously? She's rubbish. She has nothing to do with Penguins or Godzilla in her name.

Great chapter. Am I the only one who feels sorry for Tasha? Jack's gone and got his face messed up.. it'll ruin the pictures for her wedding day! I think that's the greatest tragedy of all!

A walk down the aisle. A dance at the wedding. Score.

[Scotcaz22]

Awesome update......Alex...bad, bad, bad!

Tasha's speech - brilliant!

Martha cleaning Jack's wounds up....mmmm...let's hope something good will lead off after that!

Can't wait to read all about the wedding...

Looking forward to the update soon

[Nourtz]

im loving this fic... they're actually really funny!!!!

im actually liking the quick up dates its great...

i hate Alex he needs to be shot, if he was like that over one rumour (which i guess was true) what would he of done to Martha if she had actually told him to his face????

hopefully at the wedding some certain someones have a bit too much to drink!! its getting really exciting please update again soon

[Nourtz]

please up-date again i'm dying for more......

[jack+martha=trooluvv]

Oh. My. Gawd. That was funnay

Tasha's speech was good. Jack got told.

And JnM is as always.

[KaiyaBlake]

Heyyyyyy, I finally finished this chapter *cheers*. Now I’m realllly tired. It's extremely long, so I won't be offended if you get bored and stop reading half way through!

If you haven’t noticed by now… the memories at the start get more and more recent as time goes along. I think I’m running out of time. Ahhhh no. ooops

I lied when I said this was the wedding chapter! I’m sorry that will be next!

So glad you guys are still reading, sorry though this chapters kinda long and boring. As you probably know, I write a lot of dialogue... sorry

Thanks for your commmmmments, I love reading them!

Enjoy

Chapter 19

“Okay. Some rules”, Tony ordered both Jack and Martha to sit down on the couch before him once he had become aware of their current relationship.

“Rules?”, Jack almost yelled.

“Seriously?”, Martha laughed, pressing her forehead into Jack’s cheek.

“No sleep over’s, no closed doors, no canoodling where Luc and I have to witness it. Actually… make that no canoodling at al-”

“Pushing it”, Jack warned him as Martha continued to laugh, whispering torments into his ear.

“I’ll agree to 1 and 3”, Jack tried to bargain.

Tony sighed. “So that leaves you with canoodling behind closed doors? Uh uh”

“No dad, you can’t do this. And please… god, please stop saying canoodling”, he groaned as Tony began to walk away. “We’ll still do 2 and 4”, he raised his eyebrows suggestively at Martha whose chin was rested against his shoulder.

“And have you’re dad walk in on us? No way. This relationship is officially ruined, we might as well break up now”, she leant closer and placed a small kiss to his cheek and teasingly as she shuffled away from him.

Jack yanked her arm back down, pulling her back into his arms. “I don’t think so. I’ll nail my door shut if I have to”

-------------------

Tasha stumbled through the door, her body wrapped around Robbie’s and their lips attached as they laughed their way inside.

She had to stop herself from yelling a hello as she saw Martha, only to realise Jack’s limp body was lying on top of her. His face bruised and she could just make out the three clusters of stitches on the side of his face.

“The idiot fell asleep… and I’m not mean enough to wake him”, Martha looked as guilty as the kid who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Fell asleep? Or you beat him unconscious?”, Robbie laughed, as far as Tasha had told him, they weren’t talking with each other.

Martha smirked as she looked down at Jack. What was she doing? His whole body was laid against hers, his face tucked into her neck as he gently breathed in and out, causing a tickle against her skin.

“Is it enough to say Alex came home early?”, Martha shrugged and they both cringed and sighed in unison, feeling a slight sense of relief that she wasn’t going into details.

“How can he just be asleep like that?”, Robbie mused after a moments silence, no one knowing what to say or do.

Martha laughed, the low sound of a snore suddenly become audible to her. She tried pinching his nose and tickling his chin in an effort to wake him. “That… would be the, I quote, ‘Morphine he didn’t take’”

“Right”, they both replied in unison, leaning closer and observing Jack’s semi comatose state.

“How did you two get close enough that he ended up right on top of you?”, Tasha smirked, feeling a high amount of joy that her two best friends were getting somewhat closer.

Martha’s face dropped with guilt. “Well… Jack might have slowly inched his way down as he was falling asleep”, she feigned innocence, which was pointless in the end, she wasn’t fooling anyone.

“And…”, Tasha grunted, annoyed that she even had to prompt her for further information.

“…and I might have sat back and let him do it”, she blurted out quickly. “Oh my god, I’m horrible”, she quickly added with horror, only now realising what a selfish act that was.

“Martha!”, both Robbie and Tasha called out in unison, however their tones were much different.

She turned to Robbie, her brow knotted in frustration as he continued to laugh at Martha, wedged underneath Jack with an uneasy smile on her face.

“What!?”, Robbie sat back as Tasha glared at him. “She’s smiling too”, he quickly pointed to Martha in an effort to save himself.

“Just when I was starting to like you!’, she scowled at Robbie before letting out a small laugh. “Okay you’re right. Maybe it’s not funny or cute or whatever… who knows. Maybe I might even need some counselling…”, her words drifted off into her mind.

“Please. All you need is a little less stubborn and a much bigger push”

“Anyway”, she raised her voice to drown out Tasha’s argument. “I’m glad you guys are home because… that means I am free to leave and get some sleep”, Martha smiled at just the thought of it.

Tasha tilted her head as she looked at Martha, confused. “Won’t Alex be there?”

“Hopefully not after the very abusive phone conversation we had”, she began to laugh, stopping though as she sensed there uncertainty. “Don’t worry, I did the abusing”

Pulling herself up a small way, she felt Jack stir against her body. She closed her eyes momentarily; cursing the situation she had so stupidly put herself in.

As she tried to free herself further, she felt the hem of her top pull away from her, only to find Jack’s hand clenched securely around it.

She sighed, causing her body to relax further into the couch, not realising the perfect opportunity it gave the ‘unconscious’ Jack to wrap his arms further around her, barricading her from moving anywhere.

“Okay… so who’s up for trading places?”

-------------------------

Tony’s house…

Half an hour had passed and Martha had finally managed to squirm her way out of Jack’s grasp.

She ran as fast as she could to her place, desperately trying to hide the tears that fell down her face. She wasn’t even quite sure why she was crying, so many things were bothering her that she didn’t know which issue the tears represented.

She shoved her key into the lock forcefully, still trying to wipe away her tears as she pushed her way inside. “Why are you still here?”, she pressed her back against the closed door as she saw him. Hoping that he wouldn’t notice her tear strained face. Luckily he didn’t seem to blink an eye lid, selfish or not, she was relieved.

Alex shook his head, eyeing her disapprovingly, all the while keeping an amused smile on his face. “I’m not walking away with you thinking I’m the bad guy in all this”

“Consider yourself lucky, I actually don’t think about you”, Martha said with the roll of her eyes, finally finding enough courage to move away from the door so she could put her stuff down.

“I thought you said there was nothing between you guys. I actually believed you”, he continued, ignoring her attempt to annoy him.

“I meant it”

Alex scoffed. “Oh yeah, the kissing really proved your point hey?”

She didn’t understand why he was doing this. She kissed Jack, he punched Jack… now it was all over, why did he have to dig up the past. “I don’t want to be with you, or anyone… especially Jack. There’s a reason why we’re not together anymore”

“Right”, Alex mocked her. “So can you honestly tell me that the kiss was a mistake?”, he shrugged, moving closer towards her in a hope of breaking her.

“Tell me that it meant nothing. Tell me that you didn’t mean to kiss him!?”, he kept prodding. He could tell by the guilty look on her face that he was hurting her… she didn’t feel comfortable. But he also knew he was right. “Say it”

Martha surrendered with a sigh. It was hopeless. “No… no I meant it”, she confessed as a tear escaped slowly down her cheek.

His eyes widened as she spoke. “And here I was thinking that I’d got drawn the short straw”, he chuckled. “Looks like you’re in deeper than you’re willing to admit”, he reached out to touch her cheek, but she recoiled quickly, slapping away his hand in the process.

“I can’t believe I’m actually listening to this”, she scolded herself before pacing back and forth excessively, her body not knowing what else to do.

Alex looked at her sadly. But he had no sympathy, only pity. And to Martha, they were two completely different things.

She watched as he walked over towards the door, grabbing two suitcases she hadn’t even seen as she had walked in. “Just a word of advice, ne-”

“I don’t want your advice!”, Martha cracked, pushing him out the door harshly, straight into someone else.

“Woah”, Jack couldn’t help but laugh as Alex rammed into his chest, sending him a warning glare before walking away.

“Well Alex certainly came out of his shell quite a bit today”, he joked as Martha let out an exasperated sigh and walked further inside. Leaving the door wide open for Jack.

“That’s not funny”, she stated bluntly as he walked inside.

Jack shrugged, shuffling around the place casually. “Maybe if you just let yourself laugh for once”

“Laugh!? Are you kidding?”, Martha’s voice rose suddenly, causing Jack to stop on the spot and turn his full attention to her. “I’m sorry but I must have missed the part where this was actually funny”, her hands flew out beside her, all her anger and frustration starting to boil over.

Jack stood stunned by her sudden outburst. It wasn’t that long ago that they were getting cosy on the couch. “Gee Martha, cal-”

“No Jack!”, she yelled. “I’m sick of you and how you think this is all just a big joke! Like I should just sit back and laugh at all my problems, right?”, she ridiculed him, flopping herself down onto the couch so she could bury her head deep into her hands and well away from Jack’s battered face.

Jack frowned. “Where the hell is this coming from? I’m sorry but I thought I was the one with the messed up head, not you”, he continued to tease her.

Martha groaned loudly into her hands. “There you go again Jack, seriously do you get paid for this little comedy act or is it all at your free will?”, she looked up at him, raking her fingers roughly through her hair.

“Free will what’s your excuse?”

Martha gritted her teeth. Restraining herself from moving any closer to him. “I will kill you”

He held up his hands in a mock surrender. “Fine. You really want the jokes to stop?”, he made sure, knowing full well she would soon regret it.

“It almost sounds too good”, Martha smiled contently.

Jack leant on the back of the couch, swooping his body down to her level. “You know there was a time when you were as bad as me”, he pointed out. His face merely a centimetre from hers.

“Things change”, her eyes met with his for a moment before surprisingly, Jack tore away.

He couldn’t stand her bright blue eyes gazing so closely into his. Not like this. “You change”

Martha pushed herself up slightly, preparing for an argument. “I’m sorry?”

“Where’s the girl I used to know?”

A long groan escaped over Martha’s lips as she realised where he was taking this. “Please don’t start”

Jack couldn’t believe her attitude. “You don’t start!”, he yelled and for a moment, Martha thought she was headed for a fight with a 3 year old. “Stop turning yourself into this angry, uptight, extremely serious version of the Martha I knew”

She jumped up, his words obviously striking a chord with her as she moved around the couch so they were now face to face. “Stop saying that! I’m right here, okay?”, she grabbed his hands roughly and patted them over her cheeks and shoulders. “Look, I’m sorry I’m not as good as the girl you thought I once was but what do you expect me to do? A lot’s changed Jack… and yeah, maybe I have too”, she dropped his hands as her voice lowered.

Jack allowed a couple of seconds to simply stare at her, his heart so badly telling him to speak everything he felt.

He noticed her eyes become glassy with tears as he stayed silent. An unintentional and quiet laugh spilled over his lips as he watched her mood change dramatically… once again it seemed. “Well you should know, the ‘new you’ doesn’t suit Summerbay. Maybe you are more accustomed to the city than I thought”

Martha sniffled. “Don’t worry, as soon as this wedding’s over… I’m gone”, she reassured him.

Jack stopped, knowing that this would be the right time to give her a reason to stay. But his words failed him. “Just like that?”

“No of course not Jack, why would I want to leave all the fun I’m having?”, she felt her emotions beginning to overtake her.

Jack followed her to the door. “Sarcasm? Nice one. But it’s a two way street, if I can’t, you can’t”

She stopped as she reached the door, pulling it open awaiting Jack’s departure. “Just go okay, I’ve had enough”, she refused to look up at him once more.

He tried placing his hand under her chin so he could raise her head, but she shook him away quickly, returning her eyes straight to the floor. “Yeah. Me too”, he finally said as he left.

----------------------------------

The next night…

“Is the bride to be ready?”, Martha popped on a supportive smile as she ducked her head around the corner to check.

“Yes she is”, Tasha sung back as she grabbed her bag, only stopping to check her appearance once more before making her way out the door and towards her last night of being single.

----

“Come on mate, it’s not like you can make yourself any prettier”, Jack laughed as he stood with the unharmed side of his face leant against the door, tired of waiting.

“You’re just upset because no matter how much time you spend, you’re never going to be able to hide those scars”, Robbie yelled back teasingly.

“Hide them!?”, Jack cried incredulously. “Girls are going to be lining up, asking to hear my war story!”

Robbie emerged solemnly from his bedroom, dressed casually in a pair of jeans and button up shirt. “Oh. But that’s the difference between you and the Australian soldiers… they actually won the war”

Jack remained unfazed by Robbie’s comment. “I’m one step ahead of you on that one mate. I’ll say I didn’t fight back because the girl we were fighting over meant too much to me… but in the end, it turns out she wasn’t who I thought she was. That way, I look like this great, caring guy who would do anything for a girl… just what they want”, he raised his hands to show off his incredible wisdom.

Robbie paused to think for a moment. “Are you sure you made that up?”

Jack shrugged, his lower lip protruded out slightly. “Partly inspired maybe”

“Martha’s not who you thought she was?”

Jack made his way over to the fridge, grabbing out two beers for the walk they had ahead of them. Robbie’s idea of course. “No. She’s still Martha, the girl I once caught eating a whole packet of sparkles. I guess she presumed because they looked so great… you know”, he laughed, presuming that Robbie would catch on.

“Ugh”, Robbie gagged, taking a beer of Jack before they both left the house.

“Mm hmm and I was only 5 at the time so you can imagine what I thought… I didn’t let her near any of my toys for over a week until I was sure. I mean, she ate little specks of plastic, who knew what was next. I wasn’t risking it”, Jack continued with his story, getting caught up in all the little memories that were running back to him.

Robbie chuckled. “So what you’re saying is that Martha’s still the same craft eating girl she was?”

“I was saying that… while she’s still, you know, Martha. She’s not my Martha”, he looked away regrettably, suddenly wishing he hadn’t said a word.

“And you’re fine with that?”, Robbie asked, knowing things were never just that simple.

“I’m actually choosing not to think about it”, Jack suddenly perked up. “Maybe if I pretend it’s not happening than I won’t have to face it”

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

“No”, Jack huffed. “I’m not sure about anything, I’m not thinking about it remember? Were you not listening?”

Robbie simply nodded in compliance, choosing not to argue it further. “Alright but… when you finally decide to ‘think about it’. I’m here”

“Great. So here’s to getting pissed, finding some strippers and waking up in a foreign place”, Jack changed the subject to fit the mood of tonight as he clanked his bottle against Robbie’s.

“I don’t think so”, Robbie disagreed, remembering back to the countless rules both him and Tasha had agreed to obide by.

“Ohhhh. Well then… here’s to taking Robbie out, getting him pissed so he won’t notice when I… sneak out, find some strippers and wake up in a place… hopefully far, far away”, Jack once again collided his bottle with Robbie’s, this time with a long sigh.

“What’s this about strippers anyway? I thought you had something going on with that… ahh…”

Jack grimaced. “Lauren, yeah um let’s just say we can’t go back to that club any time soon”

“Jack! She was nice”

“And wanted a relationship… I don’t”, he cut Robbie off, scuffing his feet loudly in the gravel of the road as he kept walking.

“Liar”, Robbie laughed at him.

“Am not”

He looped an arm around Jack’s shoulder slyly. “Oh. Great then. I’ll be sure to tell Martha”, he offered teasingly.

Jack knew what he was implying so yanked himself away from Robbie’s grasp.“Go ahead. Tell her that I’m done with all relationships”, he smiled, seeing this as an opportunity to bring out the green monster within Martha. “Tell her I’m playing the field, I’m doing any gir-”

“You know what, tell her yourself”

--------------------------------

After countless hours of reckless dancing, harmless flirting and excessive alcohol consumption, Martha and Tasha had decided to make their way home. They were expected to be awake for the wedding after all.

They had all agreed earlier that Robbie and Jack would stay at their house while Tasha stayed with Martha.

“Are you sure you want to get married, I mean… that guy was really cute”, Martha laughed uncontrollably as she pulled Tasha along the path leading to inside.

Martha shivered as unhooked her arm from Tasha’s, fumbling around in her bag and successfully finding her keys to open the door. She moved forward as she kept her eyes tranced on her key ring, searching through the numerous keys that were attached.

Without looking, her foot hooked onto a large object, sending her straight onto the ground.

“Pfffffffffff”, Tasha spat out her laughter as if she had been keeping it in for a lifetime.

“I don’t know what’s worse. The fact that alcohol had nothing to do with that, or that my arse hurts like hell”, Martha sulked from the floor before pulling herself up to observe what had been obstructing her way.

“A box!”, Tasha gasped, her laughter coming to a halt as she skipped over to where Martha was sitting. “Like Pandora’s’ box?”, she whispered, her wide eyes expecting some sort of mythical story from Martha.

Martha shook her head. “Tash I’m pretty sure that’s a jar”, she brushed her off, reaching out to open the box.

“Don’t open it!”, Tasha objected, pushing her hands away from the box forcefully.

“Why!?”, Martha jumped back, thinking Tasha had seen something horrible.

Tasha rolled her eyes, not moving an inch. “Because you have to read the note first stupid. It’s like birthdays… you always read the card before you open the present. Otherwise you’re just rude”

Martha scoffed as she leant forward and grabbed the folded note that she hadn’t until now noticed. “You should know”, she quipped smartly in her defence.

Unfolding the note carefully, she read over the words repetitively before chucking the letter to one side and ripping open the box.

Tasha watched in confusion as Martha began pulling out random photos and objects that looked like her old possessions, before throwing them back down angrily.

Reaching over to the disregarded letter lying on the floor, Tasha opened it quickly and read…

‘You seemed to have the right idea when you did this 2 years ago. I’m sorry I wasn’t as keen to let go’

----------------------------

Next Chapter: Definitely the wedding! Will jnm keep the peace for one day?

[lino]

That was great. I love your style of writing. can't wait for the wedding and to see how it all plays out.