Title: Long Distance
Author: UnOriginalOne
Rating: M
Disclaimer: Anything you recognise doesn't belong to me.
Summary: Total AU. MK. A muldy challenge fic
Authors Notes: This fic was inspired by a challenge set for me on the forums. Had to include the following elements:
A beach bonfire
MK
A bottle of rum
This is the result. Enjoy!
Long Distance
Chapter 1
The humid night caused Mike to wipe the sweat from his brow, the salty liquid dampening his arm as he strode up the sand. A plastic bottle was firmly clutched in one hand and a small backpack was slung over one shoulder, the bottles banging against his backside with each step he took. At sixteen, he was well built, tall and muscular, and, having grown up in a farming family, his hands were already calloused from years of manual labour. He'd escaped the monotony of the family farm this New Years however, taking up a mates offer to spend the holiday with them on the coast. Growing up inland, Mike had little opportunity to spend time near the salty ocean, but he'd always been mesmerised by it, watching its unrelenting nature on many news reels over the years, being in awe of those who dared attempt to conquer it. Now, he was plodding slowly up the sand towards the mass of teenagers who had gathered around a large, albeit illegal, bonfire.
'Hey Mike!' his friend yelled, seeing his mate approach the group.
'Bruno!' Mike responded, scanning the crowd, his eyes perusing the female teens, most of whom were grouped together, swigging on their "lolly water" drinks. One young girl, however, sat off to one side, her long blonde hair draped over her shoulders. Her pale skin stood out in contrast to the tanned bodies of the other girls. Focusing his gaze on her, he tried to place where he'd seen her before. Unable to conjure up the memory, for the time being at least, he left Bruno to socialise with the other guys around the fire.
Sometime later, Mike approached the blonde.
'Hi, I'm Mike,' he said, offering her his hand.
'Kate,' she replied, accepting his hand nervously.
At fifteen, Kate had little experience with those of the opposite sex. Her mother had possessed a long string of boyfriends since they'd arrived in Australia six years ago, and most didn't enjoy having a young girl around. Thankfully, this Christmas her best, and only, friend Cass had invited her to spend the holidays with them at the beach, an offer which she'd gratefully accepted. Now her friend had seemingly abandoned her, flocking to the girls who she usually spent the holidays with leaving Kate alone on the beach, staring into the blackness.
Taking a swig from his bottle, Mike sat down, offering it to the young girl, who had identified herself as Kate. Giving him a small smile, she took it, taking a sip, her face screwing up at the sweet taste, 'What is that?' she asked, gagging as the liquid burned its way down her throat.
'Bundy and coke, what else?'
'Country bogan,' she muttered under her breath, taking another drink, trying to get her tastebuds used to the sickly sweet taste.
'Excuse me?' he said, taking the bottle back from her.
'I said, country bogan. And an unoriginal one at that. I suppose you drive a hotted up ute as well?'
Her question seemed to hit a nerve and he spoke back forcefully in retaliation, 'Not yet, but I'm working on one.'
'See, unoriginal. You country blokes are all the same.'
'Typical city snob.'
'What?' she scoffed, 'I may be a lot of things, but a city snob is not one of them!'
'Well you sure as hell act like one.'
'Whatever,' Kate responded angrily, getting up and heading towards the water. Wiping at the tears that had begun to slip down her face she kept her back to the mass of people on the shore, hoping they wouldn't notice her standing alone. The water sloshed behind her, indicating another person approaching, 'Go away,' she said, her voice shaky.
'Kate, I'm sorry,' Mike said, reaching his hand out to touch her shoulder gently.
She shrugged him off, 'Piss off mate, I'm not interested.'
She strode off, water lapping around her ankles. Turning around to make sure she was alone, she was suitably unimpressed to find the annoying boy following her through the shallows.
Turning around again, she saw red, 'I thought I told you to piss off?' Cautious of the seething anger radiating from the girl in front of him, Mike took another cautious step towards her sensing that his next actions weren't going to go down well at all. Her head dipped down to look at the water while she attempted to get her emotions under control.
Carefully, he reached out to place his fingers under her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his, 'Kate, I'm sorry,' he whispered, his lips inches from hers.
Inexplicably, he felt drawn to her and, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, he leaned down, gently pressing his lips to hers. He pulled away cautiously moments later, clearing a stray piece of hair that had blown across her face.
'I'm sorry too…' Kate whispered, resting her forehead against his, 'It's just…where I live, the guys, they're all the same. And so are the one's I've met here.'
'But I'm not,' he told her quietly, 'I'm nothing like that.'
'I wish I could believe that. But I don't.'
'Why?'
'We've met before.' His brow crinkled in confusion,
'When?'
'A couple of days ago, you were too busy chatting up my friend to notice,' she began, watching as his eyes flashed confusion, trying to place the events she was referring to.
'You know, the one you practically screwed on the sand in front of hundreds of people? Well you might as well have from what I saw. You didn't even notice I was there.'
Her voice was increasing in pitch now, anger rising as she continued, her hands thrashing around as she spoke, 'What's wrong? Did she reject you and you thought you'd try it on with her friend instead? 'Cause let me tell you something mister, I'm not that easy.'
Kate huffed then and turning on her heels she stalked off, feet sinking slightly in the sand as she tried desperately to rush through the shallow water.
'Shit,' Mike swore as his mind spun back to a few days prior. The memory was crystal clear now. Kate must've been the petite blonde who'd stormed off as his hands had started wandering over the body of the buxom brunette, who been sunning herself on the golden sand. Kate was right, he'd very nearly had sex with someone, whose name he didn't remember, on a beach towel with hundreds of witnesses. Fortunately, the logical side of his brain had kicked in just in time, and he'd jumped up, leaving the brunette stunned on the beach. In hindsight, his actions were rather stupid, especially given the very public location, but at the time he'd let his teenage hormones get the better of him.
'Kate,' he yelled, chasing after her again, his backpack slapping on his backside as he ran. Suddenly, he found his body colliding into the suddenly stationary teenager in front of him.
'What?' she snapped, her eyes darkened in anger, 'What can I possibly do for you? I'm not going to screw you, so piss off.'
'I don't want you to screw me.'
'Good, glad we agree on something, now f**k off,' the fiery woman spat angrily. His next words only served to infuriate her more,
'I want to get to know you Kate. You're the most amazing girl I've ever met.'
Confusion came over her face, this guy wanted to…get to know her? Didn't want to get in her skirt? She blinked disbelievingly. 'Whatever,' she scoffed.
'It's true Kate,' he said, taking her hand and caressing it lovingly. She had no intentions of believing him, but his soothing touch on her palm rendered her completely mesmerised by him. She was somewhat unaware that she was being captivated by him to the very depths of her being. Lifting her head to meet his gaze, she saw sincerity reflected in his beautiful blue eyes, and her resolve softened a little. Nodding her head, she took his offered hand and together, the pair walked off to a quiet part of the beach.
Hours later, under the cover of darkness, the pair sat side by side on the sand, taking turns swigging from the many bottles that Mike had in his backpack. As midnight approached, they drank the last dregs of Mike's bottle of rum, laughing as they eagerly exchanged stories about their lives. A commotion from the mass of people, who were still gathered further down the beach, distracted the pair from their conversation, the voices drunkenly counting down from ten to see in the New Year. Mike and Kate joined in the countdown, repeating the numbers with the distant crowd. 'Happy New Year,' they whispered in unison, as their lips were drawn together once again.