Chapter 30

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tasha asked. "We totally understand if you want to be alone, or if you want to talk about it?" She suggested. Martha shook her head.

"I'm fine!" Martha insisted, rummaging through the draws for the bottle opener. Her, Tasha and Robbie were now all in Martha and Alf's apartment. She finally opened the beers and sat down on the sofa in-between Tasha and Robbie, handing them a beer each. Martha was trying to keep her mind off Jack, if they left then she knew that she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about him, she needed as many distractions as possible.

"Oh! Let's watch this!" Martha grinned, picking up a DVD and inserting it into the DVD player. She sat back down and pressed play on the remote. The words 'Martha's Ceremony' faded in onto the screen.

"You sure you want to watch this?" Robbie asked. "It's like practically your funeral." Robbie laughed.

"I know! Won't it be funny…" She said, turning up the volume and taking a drink of her beer. But it wasn't as funny as she thought it'd be. All her friends and family were either crying or looking very upset. She watched through the service, as her friends and family each said their little bit about her, shared a few tears, and sat down. She was just about to turn off when the next person stood up. Jack. He walked over to the microphone and took a few deep breaths.

"He looks so nervous." Martha said to Tasha and Robbie, who both looked at her, awaiting her reaction. He talked for about 10 minutes, but not once did the speech sound boring, as he kept everyone involved by slipping in the occasional joke, or funny memory that made people smile. Martha watched in admiration as Jack talked about her.

"She.. She had a way of making you smile, even if you didn't think it was possible that you could. That talent of hers made it practically impossible to hold a grudge, well I know I found it hard."

She paused the DVD after that comment, and looked down at her hands.

"I don't think that's going to fix things now." Martha muttered. "I've ruined it completely." Tasha put an arm around her, embracing her in a friendly hug. During this hug, the DVD began to play again, and Jack's speech continued. It was nearing the end of his speech, and it was clearly visible that he was trying not to cry. Martha stared at his brown eyes welling up with tears, and listened to his shaky voice, trying not to collapse with the sadness he was feeling. She paused it, again.

"I've never seen him cry." Martha said to Robbie and Tasha. "He didn't even cry when he got shot and thought he was going to die. Yet, he was fighting back the tears when he thought I was dead."

"He loved you a lot." Robbie said. "More than you can imagine."

"Exactly." Martha said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"What?" Robbie and Tasha asked in unison.

"Loved."

Jack slammed the door behind him. He walked into the lounge and angrily threw his jacket onto the sofa, making a loud bang as the two leather's collided.

"What the flamin' hell is going off here?" Alf asked, walking away from Tony who was standing in the kitchen, just as bemused as he was.

"I could ask the same question mate?" Tony said, following Alf's steps towards Jack. Jack hadn't seen either of them when he entered, as his mind was too busy on Martha.

"Sorry Alf, Dad. I'm going to bed." Jack apologized, walking to the door.

"Hang on. What's wrong?" Tony asked. Jack looked at Alf. He couldn't tell his dad when Alf was stood there, and anyway, he didn't want to think about Martha, let alone talk about her. He hadn't realised how long he'd been stood there, shooting blank looks at both Alf and Tony.

"It hasn't got anything to do with Martha has it?" Alf enquired. Jack sighed and put his hands in his pockets as he thought of what to say. "That girl!" Alf said, grabbing his jacket.

"No, it's not. It's something to do with…work." Jack lied, he didn't want Alf going home telling Martha off, because then she'd know that he was affected by their argument.

"Oh, ok. Well I best be going." Alf said, he waved goodbye and went, leaving Jack and Tony stood in the living room.

"It's not work, is it?" Tony asked. Jack ignored him.

"I'm going to bed." Jack answered walking off into his room.

"Jack!" Tony called back, but the only response he got was the sound of Jack's door being shut. Tony decided to leave it until the morning, and headed off to bed himself.