Disclaimer: I own nothing. Enjoy.
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That Endless Summer
Chapter Ten: The Return
"And now you're back
from outer space"
- I will survive.
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"How do I look?" I said, as I finished the light layer of make-up I'd put on.
"White is so your colour" Cass gushed from beside me.
"Yours too" I said happily as I stood back and admired my handiwork.
We were dressed in white bikinis with sorongs attached to our bodies. Cassie, always the brave one, had simply tied hers at the hip, letting it flow over her long legs, not even attempting to cover the top half of her body. Sometimes I was envious of how natural she felt in her skin. Not that I had body issues, I just didn't like other people critising my body.
I'd thrown mine over my shoulder and tied it toga style. You could still see my white bikini underneath but I felt better all the same.
"Are you sure about tonight?" I said, as I looked towards Cassie, who had masked her true feelings beneath a cheery exterior.
She sighed, before sitting down on the toilet seat and looking up at me.
"No, I'm not. But then again, I'm not sure of much any more." She said contemplatively.
"True dat." I said, which made Cassie giggle a little.
"We can't be ourselves because we know. But we can't not be ourselves because then the boys will realise that something is up. And we want them to tell us ourselves, not the other way around." She rambled, getting lost in her own words.
"I just wish everything was simple again." She finished miserably.
I let out a short laugh before sitting down next to her.
"When has life ever been simple for us Cass? Let's face it, we're doomed to be drama queens for the rest of our lives." I said, which brought a wry smile to Cassie's face.
"Do you think I'd be allowed to wipe that smirk of Parkers face then?" She asked.
"I think if they make another move on our men, then we're allowed to beat them down." I laughed, before adding "But I think a simple, hot, sexy make out session infront of the witches would have the same effect."
"I haven't kissed Ric in twenty four hours." Cassie sighed from next to me.
"I miss them." I added before I heard a gentle rapping on the door.
"We spoke too soon." Cassie laughed as we opened the door and came face to face with Ric and Luke.
Before I could even speak I'd been scooped up into Luke's arms and pulled close against him. My arms wrapped around his neck holding on tight to him. My feet touched the ground but I was held in place by Luke's strong grip.
"Missed me?" I laughed against his chest, as I looked up to see him grinning down at me whilst nodding.
"Don't ever do that to me again. It was like an alternate universe." Luke said seriously.
"You don't have to worry. Early mornings don't agree with Cassie and I. We fell asleep for a could of hours to catch up." I said, as Ric and Luke began to laugh.
"But if you're going to be mean," I continued as I stepped away from Luke "You could find it happening a lot more."
They shared a look. I knew that look. Before I could retaliate, I'd been thrown over Luke's shoulder and carried out into the hallway. Similarly, Cassie had been slung over Ric's shoulder, leaving us both completely helpless.
"You aren't being nice Lucas," I said a little angrily.
"That's okay, at least this way I know I'll get to spend some time alone with you." He replied, looking briefly up at me then focusing once again on the hallway to the elevator.
"Well if you boys didn't go surfing every single minute of every single day we wouldn't have that problem would we?" I hissed angrily at him.
"So this is about Ric and I ditching you and Cassie all the time is it? Funny that, you never had a problem before we came here… and met…"
He put me down before he finished the sentence. "You're not worried about Parker and Lily are you?" He asked me gently as he rubbed his hands softly up and down my arms.
"No" I answered truthfully. "I'm sorry Luke. I think I'm just a little tired. I really didn't mean to snap at you like that."
He kissed my forehead softly and pulled me against him gently, wrapping his arm around my shoulder as my own arm fell around his waist.
"It's okay" He whispered as we caught up to Cassie and Ric who looked to be sharing a moment like Luke and I had just done.
"So can we please get this show on the road?" Ric said loudly as Luke and I reached them "I'm dying to check out the surf at this 'paradise' you girls found."
Luke and I laughed while Cassie rolled her eyes "One track mind this boy has" she said, as Ric pulled her close and said in a hushed tone.
"Yep, and right now it involves you minus that outfit."
Luke groaned as I quickly covered my ears.
"Okay okay, enough of that Ric. Wait till we're in the cover of darkness and then you can have your dirty little way with her." Luke said as he and Ric laughed even more, leaving Cassie to blush and me to groan.
"Leaving right about now. If you want a ride Lucas, you'll be wise and stop the conversation right there and come too." I said as I began to walk away.
"The little missus has spoken. See you guys there." Luke said as he jogged to catch up with me.
His hand caught mine as he entwined our fingers and gave me a small squeeze that filled my heart with love and adoration.
Maybe some things never changed.
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Maddie and I shared sidelong glances occasionally during the drive over, but no words were spoken. Normally I wouldn't be able to shut her up, so the silence began to scare me.
We pulled up ahead of Ric and Cassie and sat in silence for a few moments before I had enough.
"There's something you're not telling me Maddie." I said, taking her hand which caused her to look at me.
"Look Luke…" She began, "I just… the other night…" she began, not quite finding the right words.
She opened her mouth once more, and looked as if she'd finally made up her mind on telling me when another car pulled up and two figures jumped out, as Maddie let out a groan followed by short mumbles.
"Okay, whats going on?" I asked as I raised an eyebrow.
"Promise not to be mad, but today these two guys started taking to Cassie and I…" She began, as my face began to feel hot, and I curled my hands into balls to contain the anger.
"Calm Luke, remember? Anyway, they just couldn't take a hint. Even after I showed them every photo of us that I have stored in my phone. Anyway, as we were trying to leave I let it accidentally slip about tonight and they heard and now I think they are here." She rambled, looking down as she finished, as if she were worried about my reaction.
"Well" I said finally "We'd better show them that we really are in love… and that they shouldn't even try." I finished, as Maddie looked up with a huge grin on her face and leant over to give me a huge kiss on the cheek.
Cassie and Ric arrived as Maddie and I stepped out of the car, and Maddie shared an eye roll with Cassie before wandering down onto the sand.
"Imagine seeing you here." Kaden gasped, running up to Maddie and pulling her into a tight hug.
"Yeah, what are the odds" She groaned sarcastically as she pushed him away from her and searched for my familiar hand.
"This," she said, pulling me forward "Is Luke."
"Don't recall you mentioning a boyfriend." Kaden replied, smirking at me. I clenched my jaw in anger and balled up my fists.
"Of course you do." Maddie replied happily "It was in between me telling you to get lost and that you have no chance in hell." She finished sweetly; smirking at him as she pulled me closer to her.
"And that's Ric with Cassie." She pointed out to Josh.
"Nice to meet you two" I said extending my hand towards Kaden, who shook it warily.
"Ready to go guys?" Cassie said, as she and Ric joined Maddie and I on the beach.
"We'd love to stay and chat," I said, smirking at Kaden, as Ric eyed Josh up and down "But we're needed elsewhere. Have a good night." I finished, giving them a short wave before taking Maddies hand and leading her towards the beach.
"Starting the party without us?" A familiar voice said from behind us.
I turned around quickly to come face to face with Parker and Lily, who were standing on the beach with an esky and a CD Player.
"Who the hell invited you?" Maddie spat angrily, glaring at them both.
"And here I was thinking we'd get a warm welcome." Lily said to Parker, before replying to Maddie "I thought this was an open party. At least, that's what Ric told us."
"Is that so?" Cassie said, raising an eyebrow at Ric, who smiled sheepishly at her.
Why did you do this to us Ric? I thought as I watched Cassie become angrier by the second.
"Yep. Didn't think you guys would mind, we'd already made plans for tonight, and I thought you girls would be wanting an early night, considering how early you left this morning, and how hard you obviously worked during the day." Ric replied, a little spitefully, as he glared at Josh.
This was going downhill… fast.
"Well maybe we wouldn't of felt as though we had to get out of there if you hadn't of totally ignored us last night." Cassie snapped before walking off.
Very fast.
"Maddie, can I talk to you for a moment?" I said not so subtly, pulling her a little way away while Ric and Cassie continued to glare at one another. Josh, Kaden, Lily and Parker however, were getting to know one another by the keg… while watching the action.
"This is not good." I said to Maddie as she bit her lip, nodding.
"Why is Cassie so pissed about last night? I thought you girls were cool with last night." I asked, raising an eyebrow as Maddie's face twisted a little.
"Maddie… Maddie tell me what's going on. Why is Cassie so pissed at Ric… why did you two leave so early this morning?"
"I… Luke…" She began, turning away from me.
"Maddie…" I warned.
"Luke, Cassie and I…." She began finally, turning around and looking into my eyes.
"Where's the party at guys?" A voice said from behind us.
Maddie and I spun on our heels.
"What they hell are you doing here?"
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"What, no love?" Henry smirked at us, as our jaws fell open in shock.
What the hell is he doing here? I thought to myself. Trying to ruin this holiday even more for me.
"Hey hey girls." A voice said sweetly from next to him "Who's up for a game of truth or dare?"
"Hilary?" Maddie asked from behind me, completely shocked by the evil wench's reappearance.
"The one and only. Didn't think we'd let you kiddies have all the fun, did you?" She smirked at us.
"Mum rang me up and offered me two tickets. She didn't want me missing out on anything." Henry said, walking towards Hilary and taking her hand. "And why would I pass up such a generous offer… especially if it meant having this little reunion?"
"Because you realised you'd get your ass kicked if you came within ten feet of them." Ric said angrily, pulling Cassie next to him protectively.
"Woah, no need to get all agro on us dude." Henry said, sitting down on the sand and opening his beer "Come have a drink. We can chat, air all our dirty laundry, apologise for any… mis-happenings that went on last year, and all will be well."
"And pigs might fly." Maddie snorted, shaking her head before walking away.
"Like we'd actually want to be anywhere near you." I said, before following Maddie quickly.
I finally caught up with her about thirty meters down the beach.
"Hey, hey" I said, putting my arm around her shoulder and spinning her around "What's wrong? We can deal with those two. We're stronger than last year. We can beat them."
She sniffed beside me. "Its not them Cassie. It's everything. This was supposed to be our holiday, and already its been threatened by those two… skanks. And dumb and dumber, who just can't take a friggen hint." Maddie said, her voice becoming strained.
"And already…" She said, her voice barely there "We're being torn apart."
She let out a gentle sob before collapsing into my arms. We fell to the sand, my arms holding her as she cried and cried.
"Shh Maddie. You were the one that said it. We're in this together. Best friends till the end. And right now we're letting them win. So you need to pull yourself together girlfriend, so we can bring those witches down a notch or two." I said enthusiastically.
I heard a muffled laugh come from her hidden face, and knew that in a moment or two she'd be fine. She just needed her spirits rallied… we both did. But hell would have to freeze over before I lost Ric to a stupid surf skank like that… or before I let my holiday be ruined by idiots like Henry or Hilary… who, appeared to be… in some kind of twisted relationship.
"Hey" I said, as something suddenly occurred to me "Last summer, when Hilary and Henry… well, you know?" I said, as Maddie looked up at me, wiping the tears off her cheeks. "Were they together? And in some twisted game to ruin our lives?"
As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted it. Maddie had stopped looking forlorn and lost, and become the epitome of rage and anger.
"They… they… my own twin brother, he plotted to ruin my life." She screamed, standing up.
"We don't know that for sure Maddie" I said to her retreating back.
This could not be good.
I ran to catch up to her, finally reaching her when she was about ten meters away from the group.
"Maddie lets not do anything…" I began, as Maddie punched Hilary square in the jaw, sending her into the sand hard.
"…rash" I finished, looking at Hilary's crumpled figure groaning in agony.
"Oh get up you little fake." Maddie said aggressively, "You know I haven't even started with you yet."
"Ohhh cat fight" Parker said from beside Ric.
"Not helping much Parker" Ric said subtly from next to her.
He didn't really just go there, did he?
"And bringing her along to what was supposed to be OUR night is?" I screamed at him, knowing that Maddie would be able to handle Hilary on her own, and besides, she had Luke on her side.
"What is your problem?" Parker said, walking from beside Ric to face me.
"As if you couldn't already tell." I snapped at her "This doesn't concern you."
"Like hell it doesn't" She snapped back, walking closer to me "All I've ever done is be nice to you, and all you've ever done is be a bitch to me, and a bitch to Ric because he's my friend. Why?"
"And you can tell this in the whole, what, twenty-four hours you've known us?" I asked disbelievingly. "As if. You know nothing about me. You don't want to know anything about me." I spat at her.
"And why wouldn't I want to get to know you?" Parker asked, hemming up the 'innocent little girl' act she'd got down.
"Because you want him." I cried loudly, pointing to Ric.
And for the first time in the last twenty-four hours, she didn't even attempt a retort.
"Huh." I said, tears prickling at the corner of my eyes as I realised Ric had said or done nothing.
"You know what?" I said, trying to be strong "You two deserve one another."
I didn't want to have to deal with this any more.
As I turned to run, I heard Ric call out my name.
Too little, too late.
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"Aren't you going to go after her?" I heard Maddie ask from behind me, obviously taking a break from her beat on Hilary session.
"Would you just stay out of this?" I snapped at her.
She looked shocked momentarily before glaring daggers at me.
"Fine. You and Luke go back. Or go out with them. Or spend time with Hilary and Henry. Rot in hell for all I care. But I'm going after my best friend." She yelled at me before running off in the same direction Cassie had headed in.
"Maddie…" Luke yelled out at her retreating back but she was long gone.
"Well, this has certainly been dramatic. Then again, those two are drama queens, always getting their panties in a twist over nothing, like last summer." Henry said, smirking, from behind me.
"Like hell they are. You screwed with us last summer, you almost ruined our lives. And I'm sure as hell not going to let you do that again." I yelled at Henry.
"How are you going to stop me?" Henry replied bitingly.
"By making you stay the hell away from us." I said harshly.
"But didn't I tell you? Mummy dearest rented the room next to yours for us. There's no escaping us." He smirked, as Hilary laughed manically from behind him.
"No" I replied hauntingly "Well how about this?" I said, before punching him with everything I had.
He fell to the ground withering in pain, gripping the side of his face, as Hilary shrieked and ran to his side.
"Nice" Parker said, as those stupid boys, they high-fived one another.
Idiot. Stupid. Fool.
I turned away from them, shaking my head, trudging in the direction of the girls.
"Where are you going?" Luke yelled out over the chaos.
"Away from them. To get my girl back." I said shortly, sharing a half smile with him as he jogged to catch up with me.
We walked in silence for a few moments before I spoke to him.
"I really thought Maddie and Cassie would be okay with Parker and Lily coming." I said softly.
"I know" He replied reassuringly.
"And if I knew it would cause this much drama I never would have invited them." I continued.
"I know." Came his steady reply.
"I don't want the mistakes of last summer," I said, slowly "I don't want to make them again. But I thought Cassie, I thought she was so sure in our relationship. I thought we both were. That we were on the same page, that we understood where we were at… and that it was a good place to be."
"Sometimes they need to be told that." Luke answered.
"Do you tell Maddie?" I asked, looking towards him.
"Not enough." He said firmly "But I'm going to change all that." He finished, as two figures huddled together came into view.
I sucked in a deep breath of air as Luke and I walked quickly over to the girls.
"Maddie" Luke said softly, as Matilda's head shot up from next to Cassie. She smiled a little, before whispering something in Cassie's ear and standing up, walking over to Luke and taking his hand.
She gave me an encouraging smile before returning her gaze to Luke.
I looked at Cassie's huddled form, and it almost broke my heart. Because I'd done that to her, with a few stupid sentences, I'd made her feel like she wasn't as important to me as making new friends was. Or as surfing was.
And that wasn't anywhere near the truth.
I slowly sat down next to her, being sure to keep some distance between the two of us.
Silence overwhelmed us, until I couldn't stand it any more.
"Cassie I'm sorry. I didn't mean for everything to get this bad." I said finally, hoping that would be enough to start a conversation at least.
"Again" She said softly from beside me.
"Huh?" I said, completely confused.
"Again." She repeated, before sighing deeply. "Last summer, ring any bells?" She said, slightly sardonically.
"Last summer was completely different Cass." I said, moving closer to her.
"Yeah, but when you push all the bullshit aside, the same problems are there." She replied, looking at me.
"I love you Cass. I'll always love you." I said, taking her stiff hand in my own "You're my world. Take away surfing, this holiday, anything else, and I'll still be me. But I can't be me without you. Without you, I'm nothing."
"God Ric, does it feel as though you're in a Hollywood movie, because that's what I'm feeling. You're spitting out all the right words, but not making me feel any better." Cassie said, taking her hand from mine.
"Well what do you want me to say Cass?" I asked harshly "Tell me what to say to make it right."
She turned to glare at me, before speaking.
"Tell me about the job offer Ric. Oh no wait, you'd rather tell Parker, the girl you've known for what, twelve hours? My bad." She said sarcastically, standing up and walking away.
"I got this amazing job offer Cass." I yelled after her, as she stopped in her tracks and turned to face me. "Its crappy pay and long hours, but at the end, I'll be doing the one job that I think I could actually love." I continued, walking towards her slowly. "But I'd have to stay in the Bay. Without you. And I don't know if I can handle not being with you, not living with you." I said finally as I reached her.
"It would be easier if you told me these things." She sniffed, as tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Why?" I asked, pulling her close to me and wiping away the tears with the pad of my thumb.
"Because then I wouldn't get angry at you for stupid reasons."
"Yeah" I said, smiling, wrapping my arms around her and holding her close. "Easier."
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AN: Thank you to Jade, my awesome proof reader, whose advice on this story never seems to falter. Its back guys, and now my main focus! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, plenty of drama and angst, and even more to come.