Chapter 34

"I missed you when you left, you know." Jack mumbled.

"I missed you too." Martha smiled. "I couldn't stop thinking about you for months, that's why Claire set me up with dates." Martha explained.

"Yes, same here. Tasha and Robbie did it to try and help me. I wish they hadn't now, because of Jenny." He laughed.

"Yea, I wish I'd never met Dave. I wish I'd never left the bay." Martha sighed.

"Me too." Jack smiled. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle lapping of the waves beneath them, and the sound of the pages of Martha's journal turning over. Jack started to chuckle.

"What?" She asked.

"I was just thinking about when we first saw each other on the first undercover mission. Your face.." He laughed.

"It was a shock!" Martha giggled. "I could say the same thing about you actually, I could tell you were pretty surprised too!"

"At least I didn't cover up with a headache!" Jack teased. Martha playfully punched him.

"Well, it was better than your gorm of an expression." She joked. Her laugh slowly faded away as she collected a more serious tone and expression. "I know I never said it, but I was so pleased it was you." Martha admitted. Jack's puzzled expression forced her to explain. "You have this way of making me feel safe, and that's what I needed when Dave was around. You could see how edgy I was around him when I used that self defence move on him, when he crept behind me." Jack laughed.

"Yea. It's nice to know you still use it, so that session wasn't a complete failure." Jack smiled. "Why didn't you tell someone about Dave?" Jack asked, he'd clearly tormented himself with this question for quite a while. "You could have told me, I would have helped you." Jack said. "You didn't have to suffer for so long, I thought you knew that I was always here for you."

"But I thought you hated me. And I was also angry with you for not saying goodbye. I was close to ringing you once though, when Dave started lashing out. I had the phone dialled in my mobile and everything, but I just couldn't go through with it. I wanted to talk to you so badly. I knew that you'd be able to make everything better, but I couldn't get our argument out of my head, I didn't think you'd want to hear from me." Martha explained. Jack looked down at his hands, his heart full of guilt. If he hadn't of been so mean to her before she left the bay, she would have had more confidence to ring him for help, it would have spared her all the beating, all the bruises, all the pain. Jack suddenly felt something soft and warm on his hand, he refocused to see that Martha was resting her hand on his. He looked up at her and their eyes locked. "Don't feel guilty Jack, it wasn't your fault we fell out." Martha smiled. Jack, who had been in a trance ever since she touched his hand, snapped out of it and brought his hand away from hers. He wasn't ready for this, he couldn't just get over her and Callum. Martha casually drifted her arm back to her side, disappointed that Jack clearly couldn't forgive her. Jack started to flick through the pages of the journal, trying to create as much noise to break the awkward silence. A word suddenly shone out from the pages, reminding him of what Martha had said to Callum, Ryan and Christie.

"You thought I'd slept with Jenny, didn't you?" Jack laughed. Martha looked up at him confused.

"Yea. You were out all night Jack, where else would you have been?"

"In the back garden, trying to sleep." Jack smiled.

"What?" Martha enquired.

"I left my key inside before I left, then when I returned later I couldn't get in. I tried knocking but you mustn't have heard-"

"Because I had my Ipod on loud.." Martha laughed. "So you didn't sleep with her then?" Martha asked excitedly. Jack shook his head.

"Nope." They both laughed.

"Wow. That was a big misunderstanding with a hell of alotta consequences, hey? I got engaged because of that!" She giggled. Jack thought for a moment.

"What did Dave do when you told him the wedding was off?" Jack asked.

"Shouted, lashed out, everything you'd expect from a man like him." Martha explained. "Hey, the bruises and scratches have all gone." Martha bragged. Jack laughed.

"Yea, but look at this beauty." Jack said, slowly pulling up his top to reveal the bullet hole scar in his stomach.

"Nice." She smiled. Jack gleamed.

"Isn't it just." He said, not looking away from the scar. Martha sighed as she stared at the circle imprinted on his skin.

"Thanks for saving me." She smiled. Jack looked up at her, lowering his shirt.

"Anytime." Jack grinned.