A/N: Loooong chapter lol xD You probably know what I'm like for filler stuff so getting all this in one chapter just helps things get moving quicker. You don't mind long chapters, do you? If you prefer them shorter I'll cut them down again. Whatever's easiest for my loverly readers ^_^

Edit: Vote on the poll on my page pleasus and thankyous ^_^


Chapter Four

Breaking News

'God damn it!' Elliott roared, snatching her finger back from the devouring kitchen drawer that contained the cutlery. She had only used the drawer about six times since she moved in but every time it had snatched the end of her finger without fail. It had some kind of spring back action on it, so even the slightest nudge sent it whizzing back into place like a guillotine for fingers.

Anger surged through Elliott for a moment while she sucked on her throbbing finger – that kind of raw, unabridged anger that you get when you stub your toe or catch your sleeve on a door handle. She almost pulled the drawer out and stamped on it, but thankfully the blinding anger dissipated before she went all Hulk on the kitchen drawer.

'Frigging carnivorous house...' she muttered, and then tentatively opened the drawer again to check where the springs were. She ducked her head down so it was practically in with the spoons and narrowed her eyes at the corners. Maybe if she just clipped the springs it would help keep her fingers in tact...

'I really doubt you'll fit in there.'

Elliott jumped at the voice, bumping her head off the side of the counter. 'Ow!' she cried, standing up and naively leaving her fingers in the drawer, which then rushed closed. 'OW!' she bellowed as her fingers were crushed between then wood. 'Fucking fudge cakes!'

From the doorway behind her, Gary laughed. 'Fudge cakes?' he sniggered. She turned and glared at him angrily, that same primal fury rising in her once again.

'It's not funny,' she snapped. 'And what the hell are you doing creeping up on people anyway? Whatever happened to knocking?'

Gary pointed back over his shoulder with his thumb but was still smirking at her. 'The door was open,' he told her. 'And anyway, you were the one who said it would be open so I assumed that meant just to come on in. How was I supposed to know you would have your head in the cutlery drawer?'

Elliott gritted her teeth against the stream of profanities that were threatening to pour out of her mouth and breathed in through her nose. Finally she calmed herself down, but she still felt highly irritated by the throbbing in her fingers. 'It's this stupid drawer.' She frowned, turning to shoot it an angry glare. 'Trust me to end up with a frigging carnivorous kitchen.'

Gary crossed the floor and joined her side. 'This drawer?' he asked, taking hold of the handle and pulling it out.

Elliott instinctively backed away, holding her wounded fingers to her chest. 'It's evil.' She confirmed.

Gary went to push it back in but it snapped shut on its own. He blinked, surprised. 'You're lucky you still have them attached.'

Elliott watched as he opened it again and peered inside, similar to what she had been doing when he first arrived. He looked in the corners, then picked up a knife and wedged it in the side so it wouldn't snap shut again. He glanced up at her, ignoring her bemused expression.

'Have you got any pliers or anything?'

She hesitated, then nodded to the drawer. 'There should be some in there.'

Gary looked down and spotted a pair by a bottle opener. 'You keep your pliers in the cutlery drawer?' he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

'Well it's made out of metal.' She shrugged.

Gary just chuckled and went to work on something in the back of the drawer. Elliott just watched, a little disorientated by the way he had just swanned in and gotten to work. But he was like that; he always had been. He wouldn't hang around and exchange pleasantries, or sit and drink coffee – he would rather get straight to the point. In a way Elliott preferred that, mainly because she never knew where to start when making small talk with Gary.

'So Reese was okay?' he asked as he fiddled around with something in the back of the drawer.

'Yeah he was fine,' Elliott replied, leaning against the counter and examining her wounded fingers. 'He seemed pretty keen to get rid of me. Tell you what though, I'm sure the Jocks are getting bigger. Two passed us and they were frigging monsters. Apart from that it's exactly the same as when we were there. It was so weird being back.'

Gary didn't reply. He frowned a little as he felt around, then there was a pinging sound and he pulled his arm out. 'There.' He said, pushing the drawer in and out. 'Shouldn't try and eat you now.'

Elliott hesitated, then tested it. 'Thanks.' She smiled, and then half laughed. 'I was going to do that before you got here.'

'You would have only cut your head off or something,' he replied, handing her the pliers. He glanced around, pushing his hands in his pockets. 'So what else needs doing?'

Elliott eyed him for a moment, wishing that he would just try and make a little conversation. When Reese was around he usually just mucked around with him; play fighting and rough housing. Sometimes he would sit and chat with him, but when it was just Elliott he didn't really say much. It wasn't awkward as such, just... well she wasn't sure what it was. But there was definitely something underlying.

'There's a few boxes in the back porch that need to go to the garage,' she shrugged. 'They're full of Reese's bike tools and stuff and I nearly popped a frigging gasket trying to move them yesterday.'

Gary nodded, already moving away. Elliott hesitated, then moved after him.

'You said you wanted to talk about something,' she reminded, trotting behind him down the empty hall.

'Huh?' Gary frowned vaguely. 'Oh yeah, right.' He stopped and paused. 'Where are the boxes?'

Elliott took the lead and led him to the porch. Gary didn't hesitate to pick the first one up, grunting at the weight. She quickly opened the back door and moved out of the way as he passed her into the garden.

'Nice garden,' he commented, heading for the garage.

Elliott frowned. Okay, so Gary didn't make conversation often, but this was weird even for him. It was weird for him just to turn up and start working like some kind of robot. He set the box down by the garage door and turned back, only to find Elliott blocking his path.

'You're being creepy.' She told him, one eye narrowed.

He laughed. 'Creepy? How am I being creepy?'

'You're acting very... Lurch-like.'

'Lurch-like?'

'You know, Lurch. From the Adam's Family. You've just wandered in and started doing things and not really talking and...' She narrowed her other eye. 'It's creepy.'

He looked like he was going to try and defend himself, but wisely he decided against it. Instead he rubbed the top of his head and glanced away awkwardly. 'Well... I guess there is something I need to talk to you about. And you know I said it wasn't really important? Well... it kind of is.'

Elliott tilted her head curiously. 'Is there something wrong?'

'No,' he replied. 'It's just... well...' He paused, then sighed. 'I might be moving.'

Elliott blinked. 'Oh?'

'Out of Bullworth.' He added.

Elliott frowned. 'Oh.'

'I put in for a docking job about a year ago, before I got the one down at Blue Skies, and I just got a letter this morning saying there's an opening for me. It's just, well, it's better pay and...' He trailed off. 'I just thought with Reese being at the Academy he wouldn't really mind if I was away for a while. I'd come back and see him every other weekend and he could come stay with me during the holidays...'

Elliott was looking down at her hands, biting the inside of her mouth thoughtfully. She realised then that he was checking her reaction and glanced up again, forcing a smile. 'Well that sounds... great.'

He looked at her for a moment, eyebrows lowering slightly. 'It wouldn't be permanent.' He added.

Elliott shrugged and upped the fake smile. 'You're right, Reese probably wouldn't notice anyway, and as long as he still gets to visit you and stuff I can't see him minding. Well um... congratulations, I guess.'

Gary rubbed the back of his neck. 'Thanks.' He paused. 'Is it okay with you?'

She laughed a little louder than she had intended. 'Okay with me? Of course it is. Why would I have a say in it anyway?'

'I guess you wouldn't.' He nodded. He stood for a moment, looking a little awkward.

'So, um... when are you due to leave?'

'Friday. I'll talk to Reese before then.'

'Yeah, of course.'

The pair of them stood silently, looking down at the floor ground between them. Elliott was surprised at how dismayed she felt. It wasn't like she saw him very often, and with Reese at school she probably wouldn't have seen him for weeks anyway. She couldn't explain why she felt so bummed out by the news that he was leaving. She guessed it was because she had thought he would always be around.

'Well I'll finish with these boxes.' Gary said, moving past her.

'Uh, you don't have to...' she started, but he had already picked up another box. She watched him for a moment, lost for words.


'Oh God, I refuse to believe you are that stupid.'

Elliott frowned at the voice on the phone. 'Excuse me?'

The voice belonged to Courtney Meadows, Elliott's only real friend from the place where she worked. Courtney was a thirty-eight year old, heavy smoking, heavy drinking divorcee. She was also the only person in the whole office who stopped to have a conversation with Elliott that didn't involve files or phone calls. She had full, curly brown hair made her slightly weathered face seem longer than it was, but she was still pretty. However she did look like she had passed her prime; her brown eyes were now more like muddy puddles than deep, oaky pools, and if you got close enough you could see the faint smoking wrinkles on her top lip and the deepening crow's feet in the corners of her eyes. Another thing about Courtney was that she was probably the most pessimistic, sarcastic woman that Elliott had ever met in her whole life.

'I sometimes wonder if you've even got a working cognitive system,' Courtney continued, voice slightly venomous. 'Is he still there?'

Elliott peered out of the kitchen window. Sure enough she could still see Gary in the garage, shifting around the heavy boxes. 'He's still here.' She confirmed.

'And it really hasn't occurred to you why he's still there?' Courtney asked, sounding bored.

Elliott frowned slightly, wondering why the hell she had called Courtney in the first place. Gary's news had taken her off guard she guessed, and she just needed to tell someone about it. She should have known better than to call Courtney though, because Courtney saw hidden meanings in absolutely everything. And she was never really polite about it.

'There's no need to be a bitch about it, Courtney. What's the matter with you anyway?'

Courtney sighed. 'It's been a while since I had a cigarette.' She replied.

'What, ten minutes?'

'Something like that. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Think about it, Ellie-dear. He turns up when he knows Reese is not there to tell you something that really would only fully concern Reese. He could have just told you on the phone, couldn't he?'

Elliott shrugged and continued to watch Gary in the garage. 'I suppose so. But he said he wanted to help unpack...'

'I bet he's just moving stuff around that doesn't really need to be moved around.' Courtney replied. By Elliott's silence she knew she was right. 'Look, my naive little brain-dead dumpling,' she continued. 'He came around to tell you because he wants you to tell him not to go. Don't you see?'

Elliott's frown deepened and she moved away from the window. 'What? Why would he want me to tell him that? If he didn't want to go he wouldn't take the job.'

Courtney sighed again. 'You're going to give me an aneurysm, Elliott.'

'But that doesn't make any sense.'

'He wants to make sure that there's nothing worth hanging around for. Understand?'

'Not really.'

'Jesus Christ, Elliott.' Courtney fumed. 'I'd be better off explaining this to a bloody dead possum. He still likes you. Is that clear enough? He wants to check that there's any chance of you two getting together before he leaves. I bet if you went out there right now and made a big girly scene about wanting him to stay he would sweep you into his arms and you could go skipping off into the sunset together. Then this summer there would be you, Gary and Reese in a flashy SUV driving to Florida for your vacation. Or you would be baking pies in the kitchen while Gary and Reese play catch in your luxurious back garden. Reese will have his baseball glove signed by Brian Lara...'

Elliott frowned, brain struggling to understand Courtney's sudden monologue. 'Brian Lara plays cricket.'

'Do I strike you as someone who knows anything about baseball?' Courtney snapped suddenly. 'Well am I right or what?'

'What? No! Of course you're not right. That's ridiculous. He probably just knows that I'll be feeling a bit down because Reese has gone off to school and this is his way of being nice. And maybe he would rather tell me he was leaving to my face rather than on the phone.'

'Oh whatever, Ellie.' Courtney replied impatiently. 'You go back to your weird little ignorant world. But I'm telling you now that that's the one reason he's there. At least kiss him or something before he goes.'

Elliott frowned. 'You're talking crap, Courtney.'

'Come on,' Courtney answered, sounding amused. 'Maybe some goodbye sex. You've got the house to yourself, haven't you? Where did you say he was – the garage? Plenty of things to hold on to in there.'

Elliott felt herself blushing. 'I'm hanging up Courtney.'

Courtney clicked her tongue. 'Young people today,' she muttered. 'So highly strung.'

'I'll see you at work.' Elliott frowned, then hung up. She stood for a moment, tossing the phone from side to side thoughtfully.

'What a load of crap...' she muttered, going back to the window. She peered out at Gary, who had stopped and was standing back and apparently having a break. Elliott watched him for a moment, before heading back outside to join him. On the way she scooped up a pile of mail that had been forwarded from her old address and flipped through it as she walked.

Courtney always made mountains out of molehills. As if that was the real reason Gary was here. And even if it was, what made Courtney so sure that Elliott would want him to stay anyway? Gary has his own mind; if he didn't want to do something he didn't need Elliott to tell him either way. In fact, if she went and told him to say, he would probably just laugh at her.

'You've got far too much junk,' Gary told her as she stepped out of the door. 'If I'd known there was this much stuff I wouldn't have come around.'

Elliott began to answer but a familiar symbol on the corner of one white envelope caught her eye. She stopped and blinked at it. 'Whoa, déjà vu.'

Gary glanced to her, wiping sweat away from his forehead. 'What is it?'

She blinked again, making sure it was what she thought it was, and then showed the envelope to him. Gary moved towards her, taking the envelope to have a closer look.

'They're probably collecting all the owed money for late library books.' Gary shrugged, but his expression showed that it made him uncomfortable. Any mention of Bullworth Academy and Gary got a little fidgety. Safe to say he hadn't been best pleased when he found out that Reese would be attending that school.

Elliott took the envelope back and ran her thumb over the embossed crest for their old school. 'Well if that's the case I don't know why they're sending me a letter. I didn't take a book out in the whole time I was there.'

Gary smirked. 'Explains a lot.'

She ignored him and ripped open the letter. 'It's probably just about Reese's place. Although I don't see why they would be sending me another letter about it... unless he's been expelled already...' She unfolded the letter and read it, while Gary stood by and waitied. 'Oh my God…' she muttered, blue eyes running over the words.

'What is it?' Gary asked, returning from the hall. 'Please tell me someone died.'

Elliott looked back up to him, expression bemused. She held the letter out to him. 'It's a frigging invitation to a reunion.'

Gary snatched it from her and read it over. Then he laughed loudly. 'A reunion? Are they insane? Who in the right mind would want to go back there for a reunion?'

Elliott blinked, contemplating it. She had always wondered what her old classmates had done since graduating. A few of them she still saw of course, like Jimmy, Johnny and Peanut, but nearly everyone else had moved on. It would be interesting to see what life choices people had made…

'Oh no,' Gary said, shaking his head. 'You can't seriously…'

Elliott shrugged defensively and took the letter back. 'What? So I might want to go. Is that such a big deal? It might be interesting.'

Gary just laughed. 'You're insane.' He told her, turning to go back to the garage. 'Well have fun reliving the worst days of your life.'

Elliott frowned and followed him. 'You're not going to come?'

He looked at her incredulously for a moment. 'Seriously?'

'Well why not? Fair enough you weren't exactly a model student, but it was a long time ago…'

'I don't think so Elliott.' Gary shook his head.

She reached out and pushed his arm. 'Oh come on,' she chuckled. 'You're not scared, are you? It'll be funny!'

Gary just continued to shake his head. 'Well if you want to go then that's fine by me, knock yourself out. But you'd have to kill me to get me back into that school.'

Elliott shrugged and fiddled with the letter. 'Well maybe it would be good to spend a bit of time together before you, y'know, left.'

He stopped and looked at her for a moment, one eye narrowing suspiciously. She made a point of not looking at him, because she knew she would blush.

'But if you don't want to then I guess that's okay. I can't imagine many people would turn up for it anyway...'

She glanced up in surprise as Gary plucked the letter from her fingers and scanned over it. 'It's this Saturday,' he said, sounding more like he was talking to himself. He frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then handed it back. 'I guess I could go down on Monday instead of Friday.'

Elliott felt a little bemused by the way things were going. 'So you'll come?'

Gary shrugged and returned to the boxes. 'Why not? Like you said, it would be good to spend a little time together before I left.'

He went back to work without looking at her, which was a good thing really because she was just gawping at him, suddenly realising that Courtney had probably been right. The weirdest part about it was that Elliott was actually a little glad.