A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action

[Miranda]

This is the penultimate chapter. I dedicate it with thanks to Lozlovesh&a and the mysterious fans reading this but not leaving comments. The last chapter will be dedicated to another two loyal fans, you should know who you are

Chapter Eleven

Casey and Romeo hurried back into the christening party, hoping desperately that the River Boys would stay downstairs.

“Romeo!” Mink flung her arms around his neck. “I’ve got so much to tell you!”

“Yeah, I’ve got stuff to tell you too.”

He looked round frantically for Angelo to warn him about the situation but he was the other side of the room.

“Angelo!” he yelled, but it was too late.

Brax appeared at the door of the restaurant, followed by Heath, stumbling as if he’d been pushed. The other River Boys were jostling and jeering behind him.

Angelo strode across.

“Get out! This is a private party.”

“Yeah right, Rosetta! You can’t push us around now,” snarled Heath, who’d been followed by the rest of his gang, pushing and shoving.

“It’s me they want,” said Casey.

“You can’t just let them take you!” said Romeo, standing in front of him and glaring at Heath, who avoided his eyes.

The River Boys wandered around the party, leering and mocking the guests. Ruby watched in fascination. She hadn’t joined in the dancing, she’d sat quietly watching, drinking, eating, talking to no one. Why should she? No one seemed to like her, so why bother with them? Her eyes followed Heath around the room.

He thrust his face into Marilyn’s. She was holding baby Heather, so was terrified and stepped back.

“Don’t threaten her!” shouted Dex. There was silence.

“Who’s gonna stop me?” he jeered. “Not you, sweetheart.” He pushed Dex back into Xavier, who glared at him.

The gang continued their harassment, drinking out of people’s glasses, taking food from their plates, knocking things off tables.

Charlie stepped up to them. “If you don’t leave now, I’ll call for backup.”

“Yeah?” said one of the gang, looking her up and down. In her peacock blue evening dress, he didn’t feel threatened by her. None of them did and she couldn’t control the whole gang by herself.

Heath was still circulating, assessing who would threaten him. Not many of the men, and none of the women, he reckoned. He stopped when he came to Ruby. She didn’t cower away so he gave her a second look, then moved on.

Romeo watched this exchange grimly. He wanted to hurt Heath for what he’d done to Casey, but he wasn’t going to be the first to stir up trouble. Maybe the gang would find nothing of interest and move on.

“This is my baby’s christening. Please can you just go, and leave us to enjoy it. What has my baby ever done to you?” Marilyn begged Brax, who was standing away from the other River Boys.

He hesitated.

“You need to be a lot more forceful with these animals,” John was saying to Charlie, wagging his finger at her. “Punishment is all they understand.”

“She can punish me any day,” muttered one of the gang.

“See what I mean?” John said. “That’s disrespectful and you should apologise!”

“Nah, don’t think so.”

“Apologise at once.” John had drunk more than usual, and prodded the offender in the chest with his finger.

“Get lost, old man.”

“Who are you calling old man?” John bristled, stepped right up to him and was pushed away. John fell back but Xavier was close by and punched

wildly at his tormentor, who responded.

“Uh oh,” whispered Casey in Romeo’s ear. “That’s done it.”

He was right. The River Boys took their cue and began fighting with the guests. As well as Xavier, Dex, Liam, Sid, Angelo and Eduardo, there were other male guests who weren’t prepared to have their afternoon party wrecked.

Punches were thrown, plates, glasses, cutlery went everywhere. Angelo was torn between saving his possessions and defending his territory.

Romeo and Casey hesitated, not sure what to do, but then one of the gang grabbed Nicole by the wrist and pressed her to him, whispering something suggestive in her ear. She recoiled, with an expression of terror.

Romeo leapt forward and pushed him away from her. He wouldn’t stand for his favourite ‘sister’ being assaulted by one of the gang who had hurt Casey. And they were spoiling the baby’s christening. Nicole’s attacker hit back, Romeo’s anger boiled over and he got into a fight with him.

One of the hoons started mumbling ‘queer’ but soon shut up when Romeo punched him. He felt like he was releasing long suppressed aggression, which he’d denied for years as he hadn’t wanted to be controlled by it. But these men had to be fought. As well as Nicole, they were also terrorising the other female guests, who were cowering in the corner.

Apart from when they could help out of course. Bianca smashed a bottle over the head of Liam’s opponent, knocking him out at once. And Mink punched another, who was so surprised he fell over and hit his head on a table.

Casey didn’t want to fight, so he tried to stop the River Boys doing too much damage. Even though he knew all of them well, they had never been his friends but his tormenters. He intervened many times when they started wrecking Angelo’s fixtures and fittings.

To his surprise none of them pushed him around or tried to bully him.

“Come back to us, Case,” they all said. “You’re one of us.” But he shook his head every time.

Taking a break, he suddenly found himself being lifted up and dragged away. He struggled, then realised it was Brax carrying him, in the way big brothers do to little brothers. Annoying how he could still do that.

Brax took him to sit down away from the fight.

“Why don’t you just come back and live with us? We’re your family, not Romeo. Romeo! What a name.”

“He can’t help his name!”

“Living with me and Heath can’t be so bad, can it?”

“Well it is! Romeo’s nice, his family are kind to me and I’m not scared all the time. I hate living with you and your friends, they’re thugs and I’m frightened of them!” He blinked back tears.

Brax was shocked.

“But you will come and see us sometimes, won’t you? We’ll look after you, I told them not to hurt you tonight.”

“So they’re not hurting me just cos you told them?” He shook his head. “That won’t last.”

“But we miss you, little bro.”

“You miss having someone to push around you mean. I’m happier where I am thanks.”

“But it’s not normal living with Romeo.”

“I’m not normal then, sorry!” He walked away, giving up on his brother. Brax was part of his old life, he didn’t want to go back to that.

The fight was dying down now though. The River Boys hadn’t anticipated the strength of the guests’ anger and were retreating, all wounded.

Heath had managed to avoid severe injury, being the best at fighting. He grabbed Ruby by the hand and pulled her into a quiet corner.

She didn’t resist. Her life couldn’t get any worse, so why bother resisting?

“You’re the one who slept with my brother and his boyfriend, aren’t you?”

Was he laughing at her? Probably, but she nodded anyway.

“Can’t understand why they didn’t like you better, you’re a hot chick.”

Ruby blushed. She’d noticed how hot Heath was ages ago, but never thought he’d think the same about her.

“Wanna get out of here?” He was still holding her hand and gazing into her eyes, and she could feel herself going all quivery inside.

“Yes, please. There’s nothing left for me in Summer Bay now.”

“Maybe Mangrove River’ll be better for you.”

She walked hand in hand with him out to his car and got in.

At Angelo’s the River Boys had all left. The male guests were having their wounds attended to by the female ones. Dex had a black eye, Xavier a bloody nose, Romeo a cut eyebrow. Mink was dabbing at Xavier’s nose with a paper napkin while April did the same to Dex’s eye. She glared at Mink, who seemed unaware, but was even so making a huge fuss over Xavier. Nicole was mopping up Romeo’s eyebrow with another paper napkin. Gina was bandaging John’s head. It was carnage.

Casey, who hadn’t been too injured, was helping Angelo move furniture back into place, while Bianca gingerly picked up broken crockery.

But their ordeal was not over. Two mysterious strangers were on their way. They had met on the bus from the city, bearing gifts from faraway lands and headed to the Bay for different purposes.

[Miranda]

Okay. (deep breath) I was going to torture you for longer but can't. This episode is dedicated to Red Ranger and Carina, two of my staunchest supporters, and Jarliefanever, who snuck in at the last minute with a lovely comment.

Chapter Twelve.

The two strangers reached the Bay and strolled towards the Juice Bar, wondering why local hoons were staggering away from it, bleeding and broken. They went up the stairs to Angelo’s and stood in the doorway, unobserved.

The scene which met their eyes was shocking. Injured people all over the place, chairs and tables strewn everywhere, crockery and food wrecked.

The Summer Bay House party were sitting with the Walker and Palmer families, Charlie, Leah, April and Bianca.

The younger stranger sighed with relief to see the beautiful girl sitting at the edge of the group. Her demure, gentle expression was new to him, and it made his heart beat faster.

The older stranger’s eyes widened. Why was there a young man sitting on Romeo’s lap with his arms round him?

“Strike me roan!” he said aloud.

Everyone turned.

“Mr Stewart!” called Marilyn in delight. “We missed you! Come in!” She hurried up to him. “There’s so much to tell you!”

“I can see that. What the flamin’ hell’s been going on here while I’ve been on walkabout?”

“Aden Jefferies! Well I live and breathe!” exclaimed Colleen, glancing from him to Nicole, whose eyes had filled with tears.

Marilyn led Alf to her group, while Colleen hastened to usher Aden over too. He could not take his eyes off Nicole.

“Come and sit down over here.” Colleen took charge, helping the speechless Nicole up from her chair and directing her and Aden to a table away from the main group. Then she hurried away, leaving the couple alone. Sometimes, she thought, no- one in Summer Bay would ever get together if it wasn’t for her.

While Marilyn chattered on about the christening, Alf was puzzled. He could have sworn he’d seen young Romeo with another bloke sitting on his lap, but neither of them were there now. He must have been seeing things. It had, after all, been a long journey home.

“What have you come back for?” Nicole demanded. “I get a text message saying goodbye, then you suddenly turn up now. What do you want?”

Aden paused, gazing at her, all the things he’d thought of saying evaporating. She was almost luminous, more beautiful than he remembered. Her blue eyes sparkled, her skin was flawless, her pale pink dress softly draped her womanly curves. Perhaps having a baby suited her.

“I’m sorry about that, it was rude. And stupid. I’ve done a lot of thinking since then. I know I did the wrong thing leaving you.”

She shrugged.

“Why should I believe you?”

“My-my life’s no fun without you,” he blurted. “I’m just getting through the days, wondering what to do, while Justin gets on with his life.”

He’d said exactly what she’d been feeling for months, but she didn’t trust him, however hot he looked in his casual clothes, tousled hair, dusty from travelling. He seemed to have somehow filled out and slimmed down at the same time. Any traces of puppy fat had definitely left the grown up Aden Jefferies. She just wanted to run her fingers through his hair, and-

But she mustn’t think like that.

“I hear you’ve had a bad time recently.”

“Y-yes. Did Mr Stewart tell you about the baby and-“

“Yeah. It’s okay, you don’t have to go over it again. I know all of it.”

She paused, then blurted: “If the baby had been yours I’d have kept it, I wouldn’t have given it away- if you didn’t mind, I mean- if you wanted-“

“Nic. Stop blathering. I don’t blame you.”

She watched him, pain in her eyes.

“You weren’t there for me. I wanted to talk to you so many times and tell you what was going on. You always knew what to say and what to do about everything. I wouldn’t have got into this mess if you’d been here or at least on the other end of a phone!”

“I’m really sorry. I’m an idiot. I was so mixed up after Belle died, but my head’s cleared now. I wanted to come back and see if you’d talk to me again.”

“And then go away again, feeling like you’d done the right thing, your conscience all better. And I’d be left in a mess.” Her sapphire eyes blazed.

“No! No, I don’t want to go away again. I won’t feel like I’ve done the right thing unless I’m with you. Come to the city with me, please Nic.” He edged his hand across the table closer to hers. “You’ve finished with school now, Alf told me. You could still go to uni from the city.”

She felt tears forming in her eyes.

“Where do you live? In a flat with Justin? How would I fit in there? As your on- off girlfriend for when you felt like it?”

“No, I bought my own house. Justin’s in the army, remember? I’ve got a job in a seafood restaurant, how ironic is that?”

She giggled despite her uneasiness.

“So your diner and trawler jobs paid off in the end?”

He laughed too.

“Yeah, I’m the head waiter and I advise people which is the best fish of the day. Leah and Irene would be proud.”

He gazed at her, still smiling, then took her hand, trying to hide the fact that he was trembling.

“My house is really nice, you’d love it. Only thing is, I can’t afford a car as well, so I walk or bus everywhere. You don’t need a car in the city, everywhere is accessible by foot, or you can get a taxi-“

“It’s your turn to stop blathering now.” She smiled. “Can I come and stay for a while and see how we get on?”

“That’s a good idea. A very good idea.”

“I’ll stay for two weeks and it’ll be your final chance to prove you really want me and no one else.”

He smiled, thinking how wise she was.

“So no ‘maybe you love me, maybe you don’t’ anymore?”

“No. I do love you.” He was surprised to feel tears in his eyes. Standing up, he moved to crouch by her chair. “I can’t be happy without you.”

She smiled, and slapped him gently on the arm.

“You big sook.”

But she leant forward to kiss him anyway. His kiss felt so familiar, yet different because he wasn’t holding back anymore. She wasn’t going to make it easy for him though, he’d have to prove his love this time. Trying not to giggle, she imagined all the ways she could tease him about that.

Outside, the sun was beginning to set. The sky was a shade between pink and orange, with lacy white clouds scattered over it. The sea was darkening to ink and lights beginning to sparkle around the Bay.

After their hasty exit from Angelo’s, Romeo and Casey were walking towards Summer Bay House, slowly due to Romeo’s injuries. There was no one around, as the River Boys had been defeated and everyone else was at the christening party, so they walked hand in hand.

“That was an… er…unusual christening, wasn’t it?” said Romeo.

“Yeah, never been to one like that before.”

“Been an intense day generally though, hasn’t it? With the love thing and all.”

Casey blushed.

“You don’t really have to think I love you, I just got carried away in the storeroom, I-”

“Yeah, I think I did too. That’s what happens when you’re in the dark. You say things you wouldn’t usually.”

“Guess so.”

“Oh, don’t make that sad face.” Romeo stopped walking to hug him, then winced and sat down on a convenient wall, pulling him down next to him.

“I just had so many endless discussions with Indy about did I love her, did she love me, where was our relationship going, should we sleep together or not. We just went round and round in circles talking about ourselves and I don’t want to do that anymore.”

Casey paused to think, looking out to sea.

“Okay, we won’t do that then. We’ll just… summarise.”

He turned to Romeo, formally. “So, I might love you, or I might not. You might love me, or you might not. This relationship might be going somewhere, or it might not-“ He had to stop because he was laughing.

“Yeah, that’s a good summary.” Romeo was relieved as well as amused.

“So we don’t have to talk about that again.”

“No. We can just…do whatever.”

They exchanged shy smiles and resumed walking, feeling like a weight had been lifted.

“I’m glad to get out of that party,” said Romeo after a few minutes. “I’m knackered after all the fighting.”

“So, you’ll want to go to sleep when we get home?” Casey gave him a look from under those fine black lashes.

“Maybe.” Romeo returned the look. “Actually, I need a shower. You probably do too.”

“You saying I stink?”

“Only in a good way.” He grinned. “I bet Nic and the rest of them won’t be home for hours. If you wanted to… do whatever. Or not. I mean, y’know, whatever.”

Casey smiled, took his hand and they started walking a bit faster towards the house, as the fiery sun set over the horizon.

THE END

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