A New Beginning

Part 1:

"Rachel, are you ready?" Angus smiled. He placed his bag on the table and turned to face her. His eyes lit up when they fell on her, the wonderful girl, no, young woman, who was giving up everything for him.

"Sure am," she replied after a moment of pause, and not all that convincingly. She smiled softly at him; as though she were trying to convince them both that this was what she truly wanted. Tears of joy filled his eyes and he tenderly reached out a hand and caressed her cheek. Sometimes he couldn't believe how lucky he was. Yes, he may have lost his career and spent time in jail, but he did it for love, and it really was worth it. How many twenty-three year olds could say they had found their one true love?

"Thank you for doing this for me," he said softly, the love he had for her evident in his voice.

"I'm doing it for us, and don't you forget it," she laughed sadly. She placed a hand on his chest and he pulled her into a loving embrace. It wasn't going to be easy for either of them to start their lives anew, harder for her than him though. She was leaving behind her entire family. Aside from him, everyone she loved lived in Erinsborough, and to ask her to leave them all was a hard thing to do, but for them to live here was slowly tearing them apart. It wasn't fair for him to expect her to have to defend their relationship and to put up with all the cruel comments. He could handle it, hell he probably even deserved it, but she didn't. It wasn't an easy decision to make, but when he saw how upset she was about everything, he realised that there were only two options. They could either break-up (which really didn't appeal to him) or they could move away. Either way he was going to need employment and considering his reputation here, that wasn't exactly possible, so he had to search elsewhere.

When he had found the job in South Australia he felt as though all his prayers had been answered. Not only could he keep his promise to Rachel, they could stay together and he could prove to everyone that he could look after her. When he had first told her about the job she was hesitant but after a while he convinced her that it was a great opportunity.

They pulled out of the embrace and Angus picked up his bag, placed it on the box on the table and grabbed them both along with his keys. Rachel pulled her bag over her shoulder and held the door open. She took one last glance around the flat before following Angus out to the car.

They drove down the road in silence, neither daring to speak, Rachel for fear that if she spoke she would change her mind, Angus for fear that he would upset her when she was already distraught. As they approached Ramsay Street he turned and smiled at her, hoping with all his heart that she would smile back. To his relief she did. He was so happy that she smiled that he didn't notice the tears in her eyes.

She turned away from him, her smile falling. Silent tears fell down her cheeks. She chastised herself for crying when she should be excited about this new adventure. Ahead of her lay a new town and a whole new group of people who had no idea as to the history of her and Angus, and that fact alone made her want to get there faster. The thought of leaving her family though, made her want to stay.

She looked out the window at the houses as they drove passed. The houses that were so familiar and would soon become a memory. She imagined returning in four years time and not knowing anyone. The mere thought made her heart ache. She gripped the hand rest on the door as they approached Ramsay Street. Her heart began to race; she couldn't do this, she wasn't ready.

"Angus stop, please, stop the car!" she cried. Startled he pulled the car over. Before the vehicle had come to a complete stop Rachel was out of the car.

"Hey!" Angus called concern evident in his voice. Hurriedly he climbed out of the car and ran after her.

"Hey, hey!" his voice grew softer as he caught up to her.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I lied to you, I didn't tell Susan, I didn't tell Karl, I didn't even tell Zeke. I just left a note like some gutless cow!" she cried. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she began to sob. Angus wrapped his arms around her, running his hands up and down her back in a soothing motion.

"Let's go back and tell them," he suggested. He hated seeing her so upset and would do anything to make her happy again, even if it meant facing the real possibility of losing her to her family.

"No, I can't, I can't do this," she sobbed. Tears filled Angus' eyes; he knew where this was going.

"Don't you want us to be together?" he asked feeling hurt. He really didn't want to lose her. After all he went through to be with her; to lose her when they were so close to having a life together would be unbearable.

"More than anything," she replied, her heart going into her words. She really did want to be with him, she just wasn't sure if she could handle everything.

"Then come with me," he encouraged. He ran his hands up and down her arms. His eyes pleaded with her. He knew he couldn't force her to go with him, he wouldn't even dream about it, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't fight to keep her. Her sobbing eased and she pulled back so that she could see his face. She couldn't bring herself to speak so she simply nodded. He smiled at her and pulled her into a warm hug.

A/N: Ok this is the first part of my story. I know that it follows closely with the show but that's how I wanted it to start. I promise that after this chapter it'll be all mine. I would really love some feedback on this as I know that the pairing was very controversial. I'll try to update soon, but I want to get ahead with the chapters before I post them.

Disclaimer: Not mine, never was, never will be. We all know that I don't own the characters so this will be my first and only disclaimer.

The rating of the story may change.