Birthday's Start Disasters

[tessalove]

I started writing this about 8 months ago, maybe more maybe less.. but my writing style has changed (at least I think so) You might notice it towards the end chapters... Anyway I hope you enjoy it, the chapter lengths are all different, the first one is quite short.. sorry... Let me know what you think!

Story Title: Birthday's Start Disasters (Birthday Then Disasters)

Type of story: Long Fic

Main Characters: Nicole, Geoff, Annie, Romeo.

Other Characters: Aden, Belle and Ruby, Mentions loads more though

Rating: G/T

Genre: Drama, Heartache, Pain, Relationships and Friendships

Does story include spoilers: Nope

Any warnings: Mentions Death in a later chapter

Summary: Nicole's Birthday doesn't go as she planned it too, After that Nothing seems to go well. She's not the same person anymore, until one tragic event happens, Will she get everything back??

All the Summer Bay teens had gathered on the beach, It was Nicole’s Franklins 18th birthday and there was a bit of a party, Everyone was there, Nicole was making her way round the crowd thanking everyone for coming, There were a few drunks there, But Nicole didn’t bother to notice them, She had everyone she wanted there, and there was great music.

Everyone was there apart from Aden and Belle, they were always late Nicole thought, The party had well and truly kicked off, Nicole was getting presents left, right and centre. To be honest she wasn’t expecting many. Ruby had bought her a gorgeous Necklace, It had a heart on it and on the back it said happy 18th, Love Rubes. Nicole put it on straight on, Annie got her a bracelet and a teddy that said Sister on it, over the past few months Annie had become quite close to Nic, She always called her, her sister, Nicole had a great life, an amazing boyfriend and great friends!

About an hour late Aden and Belle arrived “Nic” They called from the path leading onto the beach, Nic turned her head and followed the voice, “happy birthday!” They said in sequence, Aden brought his hands from behind his back and placed gently in one was a puppy, he handed it to Nic.

“Are you serious? A puppy?”

“Yep, Called Princess!” Aden giggled

“Aww, it’s so cute! Thank you! I love you! I always wanted a doggie!” She smiled

“It suits you” Aden laughed as Nic held the tiny celebrity like dog in one hand and the other place on her hip.

“Ha-ha! Well I’m a Celeb so why wouldn’t it! You don’t happen to have a Jimmy Choo or anything to put it in?” Nic laughed

“What are we loaded?” Belle laughed

“Well, you never know!” She giggled! “Come on! The Party’s great!” She said grabbing Belle’s hand and dragging her towards the beach Aden following just behind. They

stepped onto the beach, Ruby came rushing over to Nicole and immediately started petting the cute Chihuahua puppy in her hands.

“Aw, Nic is this yours?”

“Yeah Aden and Belle got me it! How cute is it?” She said and held it up to her face and kissed its tiny cheeks

“I want one!” Ruby said and stomped her foot playfully on the sand “Xavier!” She called and headed towards him.

“Hey Annie! Have you seen Geoff?” Nicole asked the younger girl

“Em, A while ago, he was over by the fire, But he’s not there anymore”

“Oh Ill find him later! Look! Meet Princess!” Nicole held up the dog

“Oh! My gosh! That is the cutest little thing I’ve seen in my life!” She petted the puppy lightly, “Romeo, Get me one” She said quietly as she continued petting it

“Yeah ok” He said laughing form beside her

“If you love me you’ll get me one!”

“I do love you, but do you know how much these things cost?”

“So!” she laughed

“Guy’s I’m going to find Geoff, I’ll catch you later”

“Bye”

[tessalove]

Thank you very much for the lovely comments They make me smile... Please continue to tell me your thoughts!

Here's chapter 2... enjoy!

Nicole spotted Geoff standing at the edge of the water chucking stones out to see, She crept up behind and put on of her hands over his eyes, while holding Princess in the other, “Guess who” She giggled, he pushed her hand away.

“Nic what do you want?”

“Charming! What’s eating you?” she asked, shocked at how he spoke to her

“I just can’t be bothered” He said coldly, with no emotion in his voice

“With what?” she asked with a bit of worry

“All of this! This stupid big party, people getting off the faces, Why do you need it?” he spat

“I don’t! It was Annie and Ruby who threw it for me, what am I supposed to do throw it back in there face? It was a nice thing Geoff!”

“Nic, You’ve changed, lately I’ve noticed your different!”

“I haven’t changed! I think you’ll find it’s you that’s changed” she shouted

“Your different, Look at in that tiny dress with that dog, it’s like you’re trying to be someone you’re not”

“I can’t believe you just said that, what’s up with you, you would never say anything like to me” She said tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

“Maybe that’s it!”

“That’s what?” she yelled

“Why our relationship isn’t working!” he said, looking at her, with no regret in his voice for what he said to her, the way he spoke to her

“Well it was! I don’t understand Geoff, Where has all this come from, I love you, and I thought you loved me!”

“I did, But you really have changed, Or maybe I have either way were not right for each other”

“Please we can get through this! Geoff I need you”

“No Nic you don’t, Or well you never seem too”

“I do, Please we can make this work, We can’t just give up!”

“I don’t think we can, Find someone else Nicole, you deserve it”

“I don’t want anyone else!” she screamed “I want you!”

“I’m sorry Nic, but you can’t have me, Were over. I do love you, just not enough”

“Will there ever be a chance for us?” she asked tears streaming down her facial features

“I don’t think so” he said with the first touch of emotion creeping into his voice

“Well thank you for my bloody great birthday present, You couldn’t have waited? It’s my 18th!”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t live out a lie anymore, Here” he said he reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black box with a pink ribbon

“What? What do I want with this?” she said as she held up the box in her hands.

“It’s yours, I bought it for you”

“As what a pay of a sorry gift? I don’t want it!” She said as she tried to force it back into his hands

“Nic please just take it” he said holding it out to her

“No! I don’t want any reminders of you near me! You can collect your stuff from the house, It will be outside! Don’t come near me again!” She said as she raised her hand and threw the box into the crashing waves

“Ok, I’m sorry”

“Go be sorry somewhere else, I don’t want to see you, I never want to see you again!” she screamed, He turned and walked away, she fell to the knees in the cold sand, she let go of Princess, The tiny dog tried to climb back up into Nicole’s warm loving arms, Nic picked her up and sat in the sand stroking her mall head, “It’s just you and me now Princess” the puppy let out a small squeak, and she laughed “You’ll always love me right?”

“Nic? Nicole?” A voice called, “Nicole Franklin?” Belle said laughing

“Over here” she said sadly

“Is it safe or are you and lover boy celebrating your birthday”

“No, it’s bloody safe! To safe!” She sobbed

“Hey Nic!” Belle said as she ran to the sobbing girls side “What’s wrong?” she asked putting an arm around her the other one keeping her balanced on the sand as

she didn’t want t get her dress dirty

“It’s nothing”

“It’s clearly something”

“I don’t want to talk about it; I just want to go home”

“Are you staying with Geoff tonight? Do you want me to go find him and he can take you home?”

“No I want to go to my home!” she sobbed some more

“Ok, I’ll get Aden and we’ll head home”

They entered the house and Nicole slumped down on the sofa with her head in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably

“Nicole, Tell me what’s wrong, if someone’s hurt you I’ll kill them!”

“Aden it’s nothing like that!”

“Is it your dad? Do you miss him?”

“No it’s not that, although I could do with him at the minute, of course I miss him, But it’s Geoff he dumped me” she sobbed “Take that down!” she shouted pointing

to a picture of her and Geoff

“Nic, he broke up with you? On your birthday? Are you sure you’re not getting things mixed up? It doesn’t seem like Geoff”

“I’m pretty sure, I heard him, his words, they weren’t like Geoff, I wish he didn’t mean it, I love him! I don’t want to lose him”

“Maybe you can go over and tell him, I’m sure it’s all just some stupid miss understanding”

“It’s not, It’s pathetic I begged him not to leave me, like some stupid school girl, I begged him and he turned me down, he said we weren’t right for each other, that I’ve changed, he hurt me so much”

“It’ll be ok Nic, Just go up to bed and get some sleep”

“Ok, Guys thank you for this amazing present, I’ll see you in the morning!” she said as she lifted Princess and climbed the stairs” She entered her room,

everything reminded her of him, she lifted a bag and put everything in it that was a reminder, “Can you guys put that outside?” she said as she threw the bag down the stairs, she climbed into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

Aden collected the bag from the bottom of the stairs, He threw a worried glance at Belle before doing as Nicole had asked, he placed the bag outside the door and closed the door behind him, “I’m worried about her”

“Me too, But there isn’t much we can do, except be here for her”

“I’ll kill Geoff, He’s really hurt her” Aden said angrily

“Maybe that isn’t the best of plan eh? Leave it to them” Belle said, trying to keep Aden from getting more upset

“Belle it’s her birthday, her 18th, would you like it if I had of done that to you? Would you not want someone to kill me?”

“I understand it would hurt, But they need to sort I out themselves”

“Fine, But he causes her anymore pain, And I really will kill him, She doesn’t deserve this! He was supposed to love her and be there for her!”

“They could be back together by tomorrow, They just need time!”

“Ok” he said “Bed?” he asked with a grin

She giggled and grabbed his hand and climbed the stairs, As they passed Nic’s room they heard gentle sobs, Getting louder and louder by the second

“I can’t not do nothing!” Aden opened the door, He could have cried just looking at her, She was laying on her bed letting the tears flood down her face and the

sobs wrecked her small body, “Nic” He sighed

“I’m ok Aden” She barely said,

“No you’re not” He whispered, he crossed the room and sat down beside her, “Come here” He put his arms around her, she continued sobbing

“Aden?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing’s wrong with you princess”

“So why did he break up with me?” she asked sadly, sighing.

“It’ll be ok Nic, You’ll work through it”

“I don’t think we will, He really hurt me Aden, He said some really horrible things, I don’t think I can ever forgive him, But I love him, Loved him” She corrected

“You’ll be okay” he stayed with her for a little while longer, he waited until she fell asleep, he put Princess beside her and went back to Belle

“Is she okay?” Concern clear in Belles voice

“She’s heartbroken; I’ve never seen her like this”

“It’ll take her a while, She just needs friends at the minute, We need to be here for her”

“I’ll always be here for her” Aden slipped into bed beside Belle the pair fell asleep a while later.

[tessalove]

Thank you for the comments!

Enjoy chapter 3!

Nic woke early the next day to Princess snuggling her face, She giggled and lifted her onto her chest “Hey” she said still the sad tone of voice, The dog let out a quiet bark and Nic laughed again. “Time for another day eh?”

She got up and got dressed in her school uniform and sighed, she was going to have to face him, he was in nearly all of her classes, She honestly couldn’t be bothered, but she wanted to show him that he hadn’t hurt her that badly, even though he had, she was crushed. She made her way down stairs where Aden was already making breakfast and Belle was sitting on the sofa flicking through the TV channels, “Hey”

“Hey, Feeling better?” Aden asked from the Kitchen

She placed Princess on the ground and she immediately began running around barking, “Yeah I’m ok, I just need to get on with things, It’s not the end of the world” she half smiled

“Good for you!” Belle smiled

“By the way, you get to look after Princess today while I’m at school!”

“Yay!” Aden said sarcastically

“You bought it! It’s not as if I can take her with me! I think Bartlett will have a fit!” She laughed

“That could be a good thing!” Aden grinned

“I better get going, I’ll be late if I don’t! Bye” She said as she left the house, As she got outside the door, the bag was still there, She sighed and walked past it, she got to the school gates, her eyes began to water and she noticed Annie, the young girl saw her and began to walk towards her.

When she got to her, she noticed Nic didn’t look good, but didn’t say anything, “Where were you last night? I thought you were staying with Geoff”

“He broke up with me” she said and she suddenly found her shoes very interesting, paying close attention to them and the surrounding ground

“What?” Annie asked astonished

“Last night”

“That doesn’t sound like Geoff! On your birthday?”

“Maybe you don’t know him as well as you thought, I know I don’t!”

“Aww Nic I’m so sorry, we can still be friends right?”

“Of course we can Annie!”

“Good, because your still my big sister! You could be back together before you know it!”

“I don’t think so” she sighed “But I still have all my friends, just because your brothers and ass doesn’t mean I still can’t love you!”

She put her arm around the younger girl and continued the walk into the school building

As soon as she entered the doors, she seen him, She walked straight passed him and into her first class, she sat down at her usual seat, where Geoff sits next to her and started talking to Olivia, He came in and sat down, He was quite shocked and a little annoyed when she ignored him, the lesson started and she didn’t bother to look at him once, even though he stared at her the whole way through the lesson.

The next lesson was going to be hard though, it was English and they were partners on the assignment.

They entered the room and took their seats, Nicole got her books out and began the work, She was glad that they had almost finished, There wasn’t much talking needed to be done, Nicole had agreed to so the essay while Geoff did the presentation.

“Are you going to talk to me?”

“I’m working, there’s nothing to talk about just yet”

“You’re never quiet”

“Well maybe I just want to get this done”

“How far have you got?”

“Just shut up! Maybe you haven’t realised but I don’t want to talk to you” She hissed quietly

“You can’t keep this going forever, Were partners in a few classes!”

“If it’s about the work, I’ll talk to you otherwise don’t bother me okay?”

“Okay”

“And I’m nearly done, I’m on the last paragraph”

“Okay” he said again quietly

The Bell rang signalling the end of the period and the beginning of lunch, “Do you want to go to the diner and work on this?”

“No” she said sharply and made her way out of the classroom, Geoff stood there shocked, he hadn’t expected her to take things so badly, In fact he actually expected worse, He didn’t expect her to be so calm.

She made her way to the diner to get lunch, “Hi, how are you?” Belle greeted her as she walked through the door

“I’m fine thanks, How are you?”

“I’m alright, Rushed off my feet in here!” she laughed

“I can see that”

“What can I get you?”

“Can I have a Blueberry muffin and a Flat white to go, thanks”

“Is that all your having for your lunch?”

“Yeah, I’m not too hungry”

“Is everything ok Nic?”

“Yeah, it’s just I have classes with Geoff, Where I actually have to talk to him”

“You’ll get through it”

“I am getting through them, Better than I thought I would”

“That’s good” Nic smiled and collected her order from Belle,

“I think I’ll go down to the beach, Might grab a quick swim before heading back, I have a free period after lunch”

“Enjoy” Belle smiled

“I shall” She grinned and made her way to the beach, it was empty, not many people on it, Just the way she liked it, She took of her school dress to reveal a pink bikini underneath, she put the towel that she collected on the ground and made her way into the clear blue water, It was the perfect temperature.

[tessalove]

Thank you for the comments

Hope you enjoy chapter 4!

She came hobbling out of the water, she stood on a Jelly fish and her foot was red and she could barely stand on it, she tried to walk to were her towel was sitting but she didn’t get that far, she lost balance and fell to the ground.

“Are you ok! Let me help you” She turned to find Geoff rushing to her side

“I don’t need help!”

“Come on Nic, you can’t walk”

“I stood on a Jelly fish what do you expect?”

“I just want to help you”

“I don’t need your help! I can manage”

“Don’t be stupid Nicole! Just let me help you up, then I can go away”

“Just go away now Geoff, I don’t need you! You dumped me remember! I’m not being stupid, I’m being me! And apparently you don’t like that”

“Nic I’m sorry we ended badly! But it wasn’t working!”

“You couldn’t have waited one day? It was my birthday Geoff, And it’s not like I don’t have enough to deal with at the minute!”

“I’m sorry, But I felt like I was cheating you by staying with you!”

“To be honest I would rather have you lie to me, than feel this bad!”

“Sorry” He said again

“Is that all you can say? I don’t need your sympathy!”

“Come on Nic, Let me help you we need to get back to school!”

“No you need to! I won’t be going back! I can’t do this anymore!” She screamed, she got to her feet and hobbled over to where her towel was, Geoff followed straight behind her

“What do you mean, you won’t be going back?”

“I’m done! Done with school, done with you. I might even be done with Summer Bay!”

“How can you be done with school? You need to finish”

“No I don’t! I don’t need to do anything, Why do I need to stay here in this stupid town, that’s brought nothing but hurt to me! I can’t do it anymore, You breaking

up with me was the last straw! Nothing here ever goes well, I should never have come here!” Tears escaped her eyes

“Nic”

“Geoff go, I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t even want to be near you, I’m leaving, this I guess is goodbye! Have a good life” she spat

Geoff didn’t say anything, he walked away speechless, thinking of what he gave up and whether it was the best option

Nicole sat on the sand and continued to cry, Annie saw her from the distance and ran towards her, “Nic are you ok?”

“I stood on a jellyfish” she sobbed

“Ok, Well let’s get you up, Do you think you need to go to the hospital?”

“No, I think I’ll be fine” She didn’t look fine though, tears still violently poured down her face, not stopping, dripping onto the hot sand and creating a small pool

“Are you sure, that’s all?” Annie asked sitting down beside Nicole forgetting about helping her up

“Well no not really, I’m falling apart Annie, I don’t know what to do, I have nothing here, I want to leave but then I’d leave everything behind, I worked so hard to

get this town to like me, To change my ways, But it’s honestly gotten me nowhere!”

“Is this because of Geoff?”

“Partly I guess, Him breaking up with me hurt, And I realised I’ve had nothing but hurt since I moved here, I came here to be with my Dad, And he’s not here

anymore, Maybe it’s my time to leave”

“But what about your friends? Aden, Belle, Ruby? And what about me?”

“I’ll still keep in contact with everyone, Well maybe not everyone, I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, I just need to think about it, Can you help me home?”

“Of course” Annie helped Nicole to her feet and took her home, she left her alone to think.

[tessalove]

Thank you all for the comments! They are really sweet!

Hope you enjoy this!

Chapter 5

“Aden, Belle can I talk to you?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I’m leaving” She said quietly

“Leaving? What do you mean you’re leaving?” Aden asked shocked

“I’m going back to the city, I can’t be here anymore, everything goes badly here”

“Come on Nic, You’ll be fine you just need a few days or so to get yourself sorted”

“No Aden, I don’t I need to get out of here, for good”

“When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow, I’m catching the 4:15 bus”

“Don’t, we’ll drive you” He looked to Belle who nodded

“You don’t have to”

He sighed “It’s the very least we can do, I’d much rather you stayed”

“I can’t” she sighed

“We understand, How long do you think you’ll be away for?”

“Honestly, I don’t. I’m not even sure I’ll be back, Too much has happened in SummerBay, I can’t deal with it all, I need a fresh start, somewhere different were

the past doesn’t matter.”

She went to bed with thoughts of everything going around and around in her head, everything that had ever happened to her in SummerBay, she had to admit,

there was a lot of it that was good.

She remembered when she first arrived, how much of a bitch she was, how much she had changed since then.

She had to admit that she would miss it here, She would miss everything and everyone, Even Geoff, Thoughts of the first time they met settled in her mind, there

first kiss, their first date, how she longed for it back.

Tomorrow would be the start of a new life for Nicole Franklin, one that she would be in charge of, one that she would rule, and one that she would enjoy.

“Nic, Are you ready?” Belle called form the living area

“Yes, Ready” She called carrying the first of her many suitcases down the stairs, Aden following with more of her stuff

“Have you said goodbye to everyone?”

She nodded sadly, “I hope I didn’t miss anyone, but I done the rounds this morning, Of course Annie took the longest, she wouldn’t let go, I’m really gonna miss

her”

“That’s Annie, Did you see Geoff?”

“Nope, And I didn’t plan on it, I told him I was going the last time I talked to him, I don’t want to talk to him ever again”

“Ok, Are you ready to go?”

She nodded tears in her eyes “I think so” she sighed

“Ok, shall we get off then?”

“Yep” They walked out to the car and filled it with Nicole’s belongings. They all got in a started the journey to Nicole’s new life.

The car ride was pretty silent, The low sound of the radio was the only thing that was creating sound, Nicole sat in the back wrapped up in thought, thoughts of

everything about SummerBay again, Aden was driving and Belle was in the passenger’s seat, both of them were silent, to afraid to speak in case they begged

Nicole to stay again, they both new this is what she wanted, even though it wasn’t what they wanted, Nicole had become like a sister to both of them, She was

Aden’s best friend as well as Belle’s.

When they pulled up and Nicole’s destination Belle finally let the tears out, She tried to cry silently but Nic saw her, she wrapped her arm around her and hugged

her tightly, “It’s ok, Were going to keep in contact! I’ll never forget you, you know that”

“I know, But I’m not going to have you in the same house, we can’t talk like we usually do, I can’t come to you when I have any problems, It’s not going to be the

same!”

“I know it won’t, but we have our phones and the internet! Who knows I might not need that much space, I could be back in no time at all!”

“But you said yourself, you don’t know if you’ll be back! You see all the movies were they swear to be friends forever, and after a while they don’t talk anymore,

they lose contact with each other!”

“That’ll never happen with us! I promise, I love you!”

“I love you too” Belle sobbed

“Nic look after yourself!” Aden hugged her, “Call if you ever need anything!”

“I will, And oh don’t you worry I definitely will” She grinned “you better hurry up and get back before it gets really dark! It’ll be another long ride!”

“We’ll be fine! Take care!”

“Thank you guys! You mean the world to me!” She smiled

“Bye!” Belle hugged Nic one last time before getting into the car, she waved as they drove off, tears escaped her eyes once more.

Nicole entered the house and her new life began.

[tessalove]

Thank you all for the comments! You are all so sweet!

I hope you enjoy this!

Chapter 6

“Nic!” Natalie put her arms around her daughter

“Hi mum” She half smiled

“I’m really glad you decided to come back darling, I’ve really missed you! And everything that’s happened between us in the past let’s just put it all behind us eh?”

“Sure, Thank you for letting me come back”

“Of course! Your my only daughter Nic! So what do you want to do?”

“I just want get settled in, go to my room is that okay?”

“Oh yes of course, What about later do you want to go out and get dinner, or we could hit the clubs, your eighteen now, we can celebrate properly!” Natalie grinned

“No thanks, I just want to be by myself for a bit, I need to get my head around everything”

“Ok darling, If you want to talk to me about anything, I’ll be here for you”

“Thanks, I’m just going to go unpack, Is it still the same room?”

“Yes, Just the way you left it”

“See you later”

“Bye darling”

Nicole climbed the stairs and found her old room, Not exactly the way she left it, But it was pretty much the same, the walls were still the same shade of pink,

Natalie had made the bed for her putting new sheets on it and the drawers were empty for Nicole to put her stuff in. She looked at the walls, they were too bare,

she opened one of her bags and took out a photo album, she began to put pictures on the wall and soon enough nearly the whole wall was covered “I need a little bit of Summer Bay and my old life in my life” she sighed

She looked at the wall and smiled, Her dad’s faced smiled back at her and she felt sad, She would have to go and visit him and tell him everything. She lay on top of the bed and before she knew it she was asleep.

**

There as a knock at the door, Belle got up of the sofa and answered it Geoff was standing in the doorway looking nervous “Hi, Umm Is Nic home?”

“Didn’t Annie tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Nicole’s gone”

“Gone?” His face contorted into confusion

“She left this morning, She moved back with her mum, I’m sorry”

“Oh, Umm It’s ok, I guess Annie just forgot to say to me, Thanks for letting me know, Bye” Geoff turned and walked down the path, feeling a little piece of his

heart had been removed, Nicole had been his life once. And now she was gone, He started to doubt himself, had he done the right thing?

**

“Nicole” Natalie’s voice filled the house “Nic honey”

“Yeah?” Nic opened her door and called back to her mother

“Do you want something to eat sweetie?”

Yes please, I’m starved” She said as she left her room and came down that stairs rapidly

“You look happier” Natalie smiled

“I feel happier, I’m settled in and I think I made the right choice now”

“That’s good, We can order pizza if you like?” Natalie grinned “And watch a few DVD’s?”

“Sounds great mum” Nic smiled

“Pepperoni?”

“Of course! Nicole laughed “I texted Aden and Belle and told them I was settled, I hope they think I made the right choice”

“If you’re happy I’m sure they are” She grabbed the phone and ordered the pizza, “Now are you going to tell me everything that happened now? Or do you still

want to wait?”

“No, no it’s okay, I’m ready to tell you.” Nicole told her mother everything that had happened, all the reasons she had put together to leave SummerBay.

[tessalove]

Thank you very, very much for the comments! You are soo nice!

Hope you enjoy chapter 7!

A few weeks had passed, Nicole still hadn’t really come out of the shell she had put up once she arrived, She hadn’t really left the house.

“Nic, I’m going out tonight, you’re welcome to come if you want”

“I’d love to” She smiled

“Really?” Natalie asked slight disbelief in her voice, She had offered Nic the chance for a while now and she usually just said no, “So you’ll wear the dress I bought

you?”

“Yea, I think it’s about time I got out, I can’t sit around and pine any longer!” She smiled

“Good, I’m really glad! You were starting to scare me, I thought you’d changed that you weren’t the same party animal you used to be” Natalie giggled

“I’m still me” Nicole smiled “But I have changed, I have been a party animal for a good while now, But that can change” she grinned

“Well I’m going to go get ready, We’ll be leaving soon”

“Okay, I’ll do the same, Now where did you put that dress?”

“In your wardrobe”

“Thanks” Nic called from her room, The dress was gorgeous, it was a dark purple strapless one, it hugged round her figure and was quite short, she wore it with

black shoes, and some black accessories, she curled her hair and it sat perfectly around her face, she put light make up on and she was ready, she made her way

downstairs to Natalie who was also ready and they made their way to the club, in a taxi of course.

They got to the club and the place was packed, Natalie made her way through the crowd to the dance floor straight away, Nicole went to the bar and sat on a stool,

She looked around her mum was now dancing with some random guy, Nicole just looked at her, Not so long ago Nic would have been up there with her, What had

happened the party girl Nicole had used to be? She didn’t know what to do, she just sat awkwardly in the corner watching everyone have a good time.

She sat there alone for a while before a guy approached her “Do you mind?” he asked indicating to the seat beside her, she shook her head and moved a little

“I’m Christian” He held his hand out and she light shook it

“Nicole” she half smiled

“Are you ok?”

“Fine” She sighed

“You don’t seem fine”

“I am, I’m just a little down I suppose”

“Do you want to dance?” He asked nervously

“No thanks, I’m just getting back into this whole partying thing, I’m taking it slow” She laughed

“I can stay here an talk if you like? You looked lonely before”

“Ok, I’m not really the greatest person to be talking to at the minute, I’m a bit of a mood damper!”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She didn’t know what it was but she felt like she could talk to him, “It’s a bit loud to have a conversation in here”

“We can go outside if you like?”

“If that was one of those stupid chat up lines, you’re out of luck, I’m totally of guys forever!”

“It wasn’t, It’s just a chat, no strings attached?”

“Ok, I suppose it can’t hurt” She smiled

“So outside then?” he asked standing up and holding his hand out, in a friendly way, nothing suggestive

“Isn’t freezing out?”

“You can have my jacket if you want? Or my car is around the corner”

“The car sounds warmer” She smiled

She took his hand and he lead the way, he opened the car door and she slid in, he went around the other side and got into the driver’s seat.

“So Nicole wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, and your Christian?”

“Yep, So where you from?”

“Here originally, and then I moved to SummerBay, but I’m back here now, You?”

“Here, I’m a city guy, never lived anywhere else, Why’d you move to SummerBay?”

“My Dad lived there”

“Why did you come back?”

“Your very nosey aren’t you?”

“I’m just making conversation” He laughed

“My Dad’s in jail and there wasn’t really a point staying there anymore”

“You didn’t have friends or anything?”

“Of course I had friends! It was hard leaving them, but my boyfriend broke up with me, and I couldn’t stick around”

“Rough eh?”

“Well he broke up with me on my birthday! My 18th to be exact! It really hurt me! It was just so out of the blue, I thought Geoff was the one” she sighed

“Did he give you an explanation?”

“Something about me changing or something, and how we weren’t right for each other, I was too busy wallowing in my own self pity and crying to listen to details”

“So your single now?”

“Subtle” she giggled

“I’m Just asking” He laughed

“Yes I am, And I plan to be for quite a while! Guys suck!”

“Hey! Not all of them!”

“Maybe not, But the one’s I’ve been with have!”

“Your only what 18? You couldn’t have that many?”

“You’d be surprised, I had a bit of a rep before, but then I met Geoff and I changed, so he did help me I guess, Most of them have been asses!”

“I haven’t had too much luck myself with girls”

“Did any of them film you sleeping together and show it to the whole town? Or try to blow you up the next week?”

“Your not serious?”

“Very serious! Trey Palmer! He’s a complete physco! He got Jealous when I broke up with him, and I was talking to Geoff who was my ex at the time, This was

before we got back together again.”

“That’s nuts!”

“Yep, That’s the life of Nicole Franklin, I also slept with my best friend, who had broken up with the love of his life and she was in rehab at the time, Am I scaring

you yet?”

“Sort of” he laughed “But you said you changed right?”

“Yeah! I’ve defiantly changed in the last few years, for the better, Anyway you’ve been asking me a lot, what about you?”

“What about me?”

“What age are you?”

“20”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I own a mechanic business”

“Oh a business man eh? Your starting to become more appealing”

“Will the girl your with not be looking for you?”

“She’ll be grand, I’ll just text hr and tell her I’ll meet her at home” she smiled

“Do you want me to take you home?”

“Flip you get right in there don’t you!”

“I don’t mean that, I could drive you if you like”

“Yeah, I’d like that thanks”

The rest of the car ride was pretty silent, “This is me then” She smiled

“Yep, I hope we can get together again”

“Do you want to come in?” she looked at him embarrassed “I didn’t mean it like that!”

“I know”

“I just meant for a coffee or something, Mum will probably not be home for ages, She might not even come home”

“That was your mum?” He asked shocked

“Yep, that’s mummy” She giggled “So you coming in or what?”

“Sure” he got out of the car and the entered the house, “This is nice”

“Thanks, It does, I prefer my house back home, Well in SummerBay”

“Was it nicer than this?”

“No, It was a lot smaller but, it was still mine, and I lived there with my best friends”

“Do you still talk to them?”

“Not really, I text them like every day for the first week or so, but then I stopped, I promised Belle I would keep in touch, I sort of knew it wouldn’t last forever,

but I didn’t think it would stop this soon”

“Would you ever go back?”

“No”

“You must have really been hurt”

“I was” she sighed

“There’s something about you, Your really honest, I feel like I’ve known you for ages” He smiled “That sounded too stupid and corny”

“No it was sweet” She smiled sweetly, She looked into his eyes, and before she knew it she was kissing him, she pulled away “Ok, that was erm, Nice” She smiled

“Yeah” he leaned in and kissed her softly again

[tessalove]

Thank you!! The comments are always so nice!

Enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 8

The next day Nic woke up on the sofa with Christians arms wrapped around her, she remember last night, she kissed him! Was she over Geoff? But surely it was too early? He was the love of her life after all, But Christian was sweet and he knew how to treat her, She’d only met him and she already felt in love, She thought she sounded stupid, but it was true

“Moring” He grumbled as he sat up “Did you sleep well?”

“That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a long time” she grinned, a bark came from upstairs and Princess came running down and jumped up onto Nicole’s lap

“Aww, who’s this?” Christian asked stroking the small dog

“Princess” Nic grinned and played with the dog “She’s my baby” She laughed

“She’s cute” He smiled at her

“I know! I got her for my birthday, she suits my celebrity style” Nic chuckled

“I better get going, I have work today”

“Will I see you again?”

“Of course! I feel something with you Nicole, I’ve never been with a girl I feel like this with, I’ll call back round later if that’s ok?”

“Yeah of course it is, Last night was good, just chatting like that and stuff, I honestly wasn’t expecting to move on so quickly, but how do you feel about being and

us?”

“Like being your boyfriend?”

“If you want”

“I’d love to, It’s weird how things happen to so quick like this” He laughed, “I really have to go” He said and kissed her lips lightly before opening the door and

leaving, As soon as he shut the door a huge grin spread across Nicole’s face, she tickled Princess and let out a quiet scream of joy.

She spent the day cleaning her room, She took down most of the photo’s from SummerBay, she didn’t want anything to get in the way of her new life, Her new city

life with her mum and Christian, she only kept 2 on the wall, one of her and her Dad on the beach, one of Aden, Belle and her at the formal, She looked at the

picture of Aden and Belle and wanted to call them, but it had been 3 weeks since she left and she hadn’t had contact with them after a week, they weren’t bothered

about contacting her, so why should she contact them?

She placed the photos back in the photo album and put it on top of her wardrobe. She got dressed and headed downstairs.

“Oh hey, mum you back” she smiled “Where did you get to last night?”

“I drunk a little too much, I crashed at a friend’s” She said rubbing her forehead “Did you get home ok? Where you alright here on your own?”

“Yes I did, and I wasn’t alone” she grinned

“What?” She gasped happily “Tell me everything” she grinned ready to listen

“His name is Christian, he’s really sweet” she smiled

“What age is he?”

“20”

“Did he stay the night?” Natalie winked

“Yes, but no! I’m not ready for anything more yet, And before you asked were officially dating”

“Your glowing Nic”

“I’m just happy I guess!” She smiled “I’m heading to the shops, do you want to join me?”

“No thanks, I need some painkillers and a good nap”

“Have fun” Nic laughed and left for the shops.

She walked down the street, towards the city centre, she put her hand in her pocket and pulled out her phone and clicked the facebook app, she updated her

relationship status and wrote “Nicole Franklin is happier than ever”

She walked further down the street seeing everyone walking past her, not alone, that’s when she realised she didn’t have any friends, All her old friends would

probably not even remember her, and she wasn’t well very nice to them the last time she was here, How sad was it that she was going shopping alone? This was

the first time in a while she had missed something in SummerBay that wasn’t the beach, her friends, and not going places alone. She sighed and carried on walking.

She spent a long time shopping, deciding what to get and going to the changing rooms numerous times, she finally finished and headed home, not before stopping

for a coffee.

She got home and opened the door dropping all of her bags at the bottom of the stairs, she carried on into the kitchen not even noticing Christian sitting on the

sofa “Mum?” she called

“Here” Natalie called walking in from the back, “Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah, I got a good bit of shopping done” She smiled “What about you?”

“Well I had a good day myself, Got to know Christian a bit” She winked “He’s a lovely guy”

“He was here?”

“Nic, did you just walk past him?”

“What?” she asked walking back out into the living area and seeing him grinning at her from the sofa, she quickly walked over to him and sat down on his lap, she

kissed him passionately “I didn’t walk past you did I?” she laughed

“Yep, you did indeed” he laughed “But it’s ok I forgive you” he kissed her lips slowly

“Good” She smiled, “You have really pretty eyes”

“Thanks” He giggled “You have really pretty everything!” he smiled

“You’re too sweet”

“You’re too perfect”

“Oh believe I’m nowhere near perfect”

“I’ll have to see that for myself” he smirked “How do you fancy dinner tonight? We can go to a restaurant?”

“I’d love it” she kissed him again, “But nowhere expensive”

“Ok, How about an American diner?”

“Diner?” She sighed

“Yeah, they sell the best burgers, It’s called Soda Joes”

“Ok, Sounds good” She smiled weakly, diner just another reminder of SummerBay, but if she was going to do this she would have to deal with these

[tessalove]

Thank you all for the comments! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 9

Nicole had been living in the city for 7 months now, she was dating Christian and had been for about 6 months, everything was going well, she had gotten a part time job at a salon styling hair, she wasn’t trained but apparently she was good, She had made friends and she was back to her old self.

Her life in SummerBay seemed like a distant memory, she had lost contact with everyone and hadn’t heard anything from them basically since she moved to the city, she visited her Dad every now and then and he seemed happy for her.

“Christian?” She called up the stair

“Yeah babe?”

“Are you nearly ready? Were meeting Laura at 7 and it’s almost 20 too”

“I’m coming now” she shouted as he appeared at the top of the stairs “Do you want to take the car or get a taxi?”

“Whatever you want? Do you want to drink?”

“We may as well just get a taxi, I don’t have work in the morning and I haven’t had a good night out in ages”

“Whatever you want baby, you look good by the way” She bit her lip and kissed him passionately

“Right back at you, although you always look amazing!” he grinned

“You always know the right things to say, your just amazing! The bestest boyfriend ever!” she giggled as he put his hands around her waist and kissed her neck

“Come on you! We have to get going”

“Right okay, I’ll ring for a taxi now”

“thanks” She smiled

Christian ordered a taxi “Ten minutes” They sat on the sofa and waited for it to arrive

“Chris?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure what is it?”

“Um, It’s about the sex thing, are you annoyed?”

“Nic, I’ll be here! Whenever your ready is fine with me, I don’t need anything from you, I want you to feel comfortable, I’ll wait forever”

“It’s just I had a guy who wanted nothing but sex, but he pretended he was fine with it, I want you to tell me the truth, even if it hurts me”

“I am telling you the truth, I’d never ask you for more than you can give me, I’d never want to hurt you”

“Thank you, that really means a lot”

“I love you”

“You mean it? We haven’t actually said that yet you know”

“I really mean it, I love you Nic”

“I love you too, More than anything, Your my one in a million, I finally found where I’m supposed to be in life, with you”

The beeped it’s horn from outside, they broke eye contact and opened the door, the climbed into the taxi and made for the club, there they met Nicole’s work

mates and their boyfriends.

They danced and partied the whole night, they didn’t drink too much, Nic never did, she wasn’t one to go too far, she had learnt from her previous mistakes and

she didn’t need it to have a good time.

The left the club and crawled into Christians place, they were so tired the crashed on the sofa, they fell asleep almost as soon as they lay down.

They didn’t awake until late the next day, it was Nicole’s phone ringing that woke them up

“Answer that” Came a mumbled voice from under the cushion,

Christian lifted the phone he looked at the caller Id, there was only a number, he placed the phone to his ear “Hello?”

“Hi, Is Nicole there?” A male voice asked

“Who’s speaking?”

“It’s Aden, this is really urgent, can I speak to Nic?”

“Aden?” Nicole sat right up, Aden? Why is he calling

“Give me” She held her hand out and Christian handed her the phone “Hello Aden?”

“Nic” He sighed

“How are you? I haven’t spoke to you for ages” She smiled

“I’m fine Nicole, Look I have some bad news”

“Is it Geoff?” he heart sank as she thought of something happening to him, she didn’t know why she suddenly thought of him.

“No, It’s Annie”

“Annie? What happened? Is she ok?”

“She’s.... Dead”

“Dead? What Annie? No!” She felt tears sting at her eyes, she let them escape along with loud sobs “But Aden it can’t be”

“I’m sorry Nic”

“How?”

“She drowned”

“Oh god!” she sobbed, she felt Christians arm go around her shoulders, but it didn’t help, “When’s the funeral? How’s Belle? And Irene? They must be crushed?”

“They are, and so is Romeo, he’s blaming himself”

“How’s Geoff?” she dreaded asking but she had to know

“He took it pretty bad, he hasn’t spoke to anyone, and he moved into one of the caravans yesterday, I don’t even think he asked”

“God, I’ll be there as soon as I can, I need to come back for her funeral”

“Do you want me to come and get you?”

“No I’ll be okay, I have my own car and stuff, I’ll leave first thing in the morning, When’s the funeral?” she asked again

“Wednesday, Do you want me to let anyone know your coming?”

“Can you just let Belle know? I’m gonna need a place to crash, Do you still have a spare room or I can ask Miles..”

“No Nic we still have the room”

“Ok, Thank you for letting me know” she sobbed “I’ll see you soon”

“Bye” He glumly replied, SummerBay must be in shock, Annie was so innocent and such a sweet girl she didn’t deserve this

“What’s up?” Chris asked when Nicole hung up the phone

“Annie, she’s dead” she said still a few tears falling down her face

“As in your ex’s little sister?”

Nic nodded, “Oh Nic, Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, you need to be here, you have work and I don’t know how long I’ll stay, Thanks though”

“If there’s anything I can do, just let me know”

“Can you help me pack my things?”

“Sure”

Nicole packed a suitcase, Christian helped her put everything into the car, for her to leave the next morning, she sat on the sofa and stared at the wall, still having tears in her eyes “I can’t sit here like this!” She spoke

“Do you want to go to bed?” Christian asked worried at the state she was in

She shook her head “I need to go now, I’m going to SummerBay, I can’t wait until tomorrow!” she said grabbing her car keys

“Nic, it’s late you can’t go now!”

“It’s fine Chris, It only takes a few hours to get there, I’ll be there no later than 10!” she said “I have to Chris, Annie was like my little sister”

“Ok, Phone me when you get there! Please!” He said

She nodded “I will, Love you” she said before kissing him quickly and leaving quicker

[tessalove]

Thank you very much for the comments!

Chapter 10

She drove fast, but still at a safe speed, she wanted to get there soon. Tears fell down her face as she thought of Annie, the girl she considered to be her sister not being on this earth anymore, How could this happen? Especially to someone as good as Annie, she was always there for everyone when they needed her. She always thought of others and would do anything to help anyone.

But now she was gone, because of what? Having fun in the water? Nicole knew she had been having surf lessons for a while, ever since she met Romeo, why had

this happened now? Romeo must be so devastated, The Bay was probably going to be a lot different than its usual cheery self.

She pulled up outside Aden’s house, the place she used to call home, she wiped the tears from her eyes and opened her door, she shut it as quietly as she could

and walked the path to the door, she knocked it gently, Aden answered a few seconds later “Nic!” he said “What are you doing here? I thought you were coming in

the morning?” he asked

She shook her head “I couldn’t wait, I had to be here” she said and a tear fell down her cheek and landed on the ground.

Aden wrapped his arms around her “Hey” he said, “It’s ok, your here now” He placed his hand on her head and comforted her.

“I can’t believe it” she said pulling away from the hug “It’s not fair, Annie shouldn’t still be here” she cried

“I know, were all pretty much in shock” Aden sighed “Do you need a hand with your bags?” he asked her and she nodded, he walked to her car and carried her

bags in for her

“Where’s Belle?” she asked not seeing her in the house

“She’s round at Irene’s, she took it pretty badly, she’s in a bad way. Belle has been round a lot trying to comfort her” Aden said sadly

“How is everyone else coping?” She asked, thinking of everyone this would affect.

“Romeo is taking it pretty bad, He hasn’t come out much, he won’t go near the beach and he broke his surf board into pieces, He’s not really talking to anyone, I

think Marylyn is the only one getting through to him right now” Aden sighed “Belle and Irene are providing comfort for each other, they usually sit in Irene’s every

night and just cry with each other, I think it will take a few weeks for it really to pass over them.” Aden sighed again, he looked at Nicole will sadness pouring out of

his face

“Geoff is in a really bad way, he’s in one of the vans, he barely comes out and he isn’t talking to anyone, Miles said you can hear him crying all the time or even

screaming sometimes, I think he’s taking it the worst” Aden told Nic, she looked like she was going to cry again, but she kept it in this time

“God that’s awful” she said “I don’t really know what to say, do you think I should go see Romeo?” She asked

Aden shook his head “I think you should go see someone else” He told her “He needs someone right now” Aden said “He won’t let anyone in, but he might let you

in, You need to try”

She looked down “I can’t” she whispered sadly

“You have to Nic, you need to leave the past behind and be there for him, he’s hurting right now and he needs someone to be there for him, go round and see him”

Aden said and Nicole nodded

“Do you know what van he is in?” She asked “I don’t really want to call to Mile’s yet, I want to see him before I do anything, or get distracted or scared”

“Van 12” Aden said as she thanked him and left

She walked quickly to the caravan park, she looked around her taking in the sites, she didn’t think she would ever be back here, and it was even worse because

the reason she was back was because her little sister had passed away.

She gulped and knocked on the door, she stood quietly outside of van 12, “Go away” she heard from inside, she gulped.

She knocked again “Geoff, it’s me” she said looking at the ground, the door opened and Geoff looked at her. His eyes were red and he wasn’t dressed, he had a

pair of shorts on and his hair was ruffled everywhere, he stepped back inside and she followed