Martha felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders when she saw her grandad alive and well.
"Grandad," she started while walking up to his bed and giving him a big hug and kiss. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
Alf smiled up at Martha. "I feel a lot better than I did earlier. Remind me later to buy Tony a beer. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably be dead," he replied.
Martha started crying. "I was so scared grandad. I thought that I had lost you and Ric forever," she said while taking her grandfathers hand.
Alf sighed. "Me too. The thought of you being left alone really scared me," he told Martha. "How are Ric, Tony and Lucas?" he asked.
"All three of them are fine. Just a few cuts and bruises," Martha replied.
"Speaking of cuts, what happened to you?" Alf said, while pointing up to her very own cut.
Martha laughed. "It's a long story. I'll tell you when you get home," she said.
Martha looked up at the clock and noticed that it was 3:30 am. "I'm gonna let you get some rest. You definitely need it. Plus Jack's waiting outside for me and I don't want to keep him waiting too long," Martha told Alf.
Alf looked up at Martha in surprise. "Jack's waiting for you? Does this mean you two are talking again?" Alf curiously asked.
Martha nodded. "Yeah. We had a bit of a chat earlier and sorted things out," she said with a smile on her face.
Alf smiled. "Good. See, I told you he would come around eventually," he stated.
"What would I ever do without you?" Martha laughed while playfully giving him a bit of a shove. Alf chuckled.
"Does this mean you've told Jack about your feelings towards him?" Alf questioned her; turning the conversation serious again.
Martha looked away from Alf. "No, not yet," she said in a low voice.
Alf sighed. He grabbed a hold of Martha's hand and forced her to look at him. "You listen to me girl," he began. "I know how it feels to lose people you care very deeply about, and I don't want that for you. I know how much you care about Jack, so there is no use in trying to deny it anymore. Life is too precious to waste. The last 24 hours is proof of that," Alf continued.
Martha didn't know what to say. She knew that her grandad was right; he always is.
"Martha, you need to tell that boy how you feel. You already know that he feels the same way, so there's no need to be scared," Alf said.
Martha smiled down at him and nodded. "You're right grandad. But the truth is; I am scared. I've never felt like this about anyone, ever. And that's what scares me," she told him. She couldn't believe how honest she was being right now.
"Why does it scare you?" Alf asked her.
Martha shrugged. "I don't know," she sighed.
"I want you to promise me that you'll tell him how you feel," Alf urged.
Martha looked down at him. "I promise," she said.
Martha knew she couldn't back out now; because there was no way that she would break a promise to her grandad.
Martha and Jack drove most of the way home in silence. They had taken Martha's car to the hospital, so she had to drive Jack back to her place so he could pick up his car.
"Talk about a long night," Jack said, breaking the silence.
Martha took her eyes off the road so she could look at him. 'Definitely," she said back to him.
He smiled at her. It was one of those Trademark Jack Holden smiles. And she loved it. She would never get sick of that smile; it made her melt every time. Not that she would ever admit it.
She snapped her eyes back onto the road; if she kept looking at him while driving, she would probably crash the car.
She couldn't help but think back to the conversation she had just had with her grandad. He was right; she needed to tell Jack how she felt. She couldn't hide it from him any longer. But how do I tell him? She thought to herself.
Martha drove the car into a park and her and Jack got out and walked up onto the grass. It had stopped raining now, but it was still a bit windy.
"So I guess I'll see you at the hospital later when you pick up Ric," Jack asked her.
Martha smiled and nodded her head. "Yep," was all she could say.
Jack smiled back at her and turned to leave. "Ok, I'll see you later then," he said.
"Bye," Martha turned and started to walk away. She could sense a nagging feeling inside her and there was a voice inside her head telling her to call Jack back. You made a promise to tell him, call him back and tell him now, she kept telling herself
She turned around and could see that Jack had nearly reached his car. "JACK," she called out.
He whipped around as soon as he heard her voice. "Yeah," he said while stepping back up onto the grass.
Martha started walking down to where he was standing. "Um, I need to talk to you about something," she said. She was standing right in front of him now.
Jack looked at her. He was curious as to what she wanted to talk about, and at the 4:00 am in the morning nonetheless. "Okay. What's up?" he asked her.
She opened her mouth to say something but then stopped herself. She seems nervous, Jack thought to himself. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
"Yep," was her fast reply.
"Are you sure you want to talk now. If you want we can talk about it, whatever it is, later," Jack said.
"No," Martha shook her head. "I need to talk now," she told him. Inside Martha was freaking out. But she had gotten this far; there was no turning back now.
"Alright. Did you want to go inside and talk?" Jack suggested. He was surprised by her response.
"NO!" She all but yelled. Martha knew if they went inside there wouldn't be much talking. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep her hands to herself. And if Jack was like most guys; he wouldn't either.
Although, I wouldn't mind if his hands were on me, she thought. Geez women, get your mind out of the gutter, she told herself.
"Okay. Talk on," he laughed at her sudden outburst.
"Look, I usually find it easy to talk to guys about things like this. But with you, It's not so easy," she stammered. "But there's no easy way to say it than to just say it," she kept on.
It was so clear to Jack now that she was nervous. She was starting to blush and Jack could tell that her breathing was starting to get heavy. "Go on," he smiled at her.
"You love the fact that I'm freaking out right now, don't you?" Martha accused him.
Jack laughed. "Hell yes," he replied. Jack was pretty sure he knew what Martha was going to tell him, but he wanted to hear it come from her mouth.
"You know what I'm trying to tell you, don't you?" she questioned him.
Jack gave her a smirk. "Maybe. But I'd like to hear you say it," he answered with a cheeky grin. He loved the fact that he was making her squirm.
"You know what? Let's just forget that I even said anything. I'll see you later," Martha snapped at him and spun around to walk away.
She could not believe that Jack was using this opportunity to make her squirm. Here she was trying to let him know how she felt and all Jack could do was be smart about it. Stupid Jerk.
Jack reached out a hand to stop her. "Hey. There's no need to act like a princess," he said while grabbing onto her arm.
Martha whipped around to face him. "Princess? Oh no, she's yet to be unleashed. But if you keep it up with the smart ass comments, I'm sure that you'll meet her," she spat back at him. How dare he call her a princess, she thought to herself.
Jack grinned at her. "I love it when you get angry with me," he told her. Jack couldn't help but niggle at her. He knew he was pissing her off, but he couldn't help it. He loved to annoy her.
Martha shoved Jack, hard in the chest. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you, and all you seem to want to do is make jokes," Martha started. "So I'm going to give you two options. One; you can be a good boy and listen to what I have to say. Or Two; I can go inside and you can spend the rest of your days pining over me. So, why don't you tell me how I can help you?" Martha continued.
"Okay okay. I choose option one. I'll be a good boy," he smiled at her. "I'm sorry. Please continue with what I'm sure is going to sound so good coming from your lips," Jack said.
"You're really cheeky, you know that?" Martha smiled at him.
Jack laughed. "Of course," he started. "Now, didn't you want to tell me something?" he continued.
"Right," Martha answered, giving him an evil look.
Martha all of a sudden felt a surge of confidence. "You know what? Screw it. I'm just gonna say it. There's no use in beating around the bush any longer," she began. "I have feelings for you. I always have, I just didn't want to admit it. But I'm sick of hiding it and I'm sick of playing these stupid games," she blurted out.
Wow, that wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. It feels so good to finally have it off my chest, Martha thought to herself.
"There, I said it. Are you happy now?" she asked Jack.
Jack gave her a sweet smile. "You know that I'm happy you said it. It feels like I've been waiting forever to hear you say it," he answered.
Jack felt like the luckiest guy on earth. The girl that he was fast falling in love with had finally admitted that she felt the same about him. Finally something good was happening to him.
Jack took a step forward, so that he was standing right in front of her; nearly touching.
Martha looked up into Jack's eyes. "What happens now?" she asked him in a low voice.
"Do you want to be with me?" Jack questioned her. Martha didn't speak; just nodded her yes.
Jack brought one of his hands up to cup her face; caressing it with his thumb. "Does this mean that I get to kiss you anytime I want?" he asked.
Martha smiled up at him. "No," she started while wrapping one of her arms around his waist and pulling him closer. "It means that I get to kiss you anytime I want," she whispered.
Jack placed his other hand on her back, trying to get as close to her as possible.
Martha ran her spare hand up Jack's arm, feeling the muscles under the material of his shirt. Once her hand reached his shoulder she slid it around to caress the back of his neck.
During this time their eyes stayed locked together. Both of them had bolts of pleasure running threw their bodies.
"You know, I could get used to this feeling," Jack whispered while lowering his face closer to hers.
"Me too," Martha agreed as their noses touched.
A second later and their lips met finally for the first time. Martha felt a hot spark course threw her body, She'd never felt anything like it before. It was breathtaking.
The kiss was soft and gentle; exactly the way Martha had expected and wanted it to be.
Jack rubbed his lips over hers. Martha responded by letting her own lips part. She couldn't help but let out a small whimper as Jack pulled her body closer to his; melding them tightly together.
Jack let out a low groan as his tongue delved into the warm interior of her mouth. Her lips tasted sweet, like raspberries. His favourite. He guessed it was her lip-gloss. He angled his head; she tilted hers in a corresponding movement. Their mouths were sealed.
Jack continued stroking the inside of her mouth with his tongue until Martha gasped breathlessly. She wanted more.
Jack pulled away, desperate for air. They looked into each others eyes for a few seconds; both of them trying to catch their breath.
Jack then gathered her to him again, his head dipping so his mouth could capture hers. She opened for him; feeling his lips, his tongue, even his teeth. His caresses were like sweet ecstasy to her.
Martha's hands roamed over his back; as he did the same. Martha couldn't seem to get enough. This kiss was amazing. Jack definitely knew how to make her feel good. She just hoped she was doing the same for him.
Jack never wanted this moment to end. He wanted to spend the rest of his life kissing Martha. He'd never felt anything like this before. Martha's kisses were like a drug and he couldn't get enough of her.
Jack soon began to feel himself losing control. He wanted her so bad, but he wasn't about to push her into doing something she wasn't ready for.
So he did the only thing he could do. He pulled away from her. "We have to stop. I need to go home and so do you," he said while trying to catch his breath.
Martha understood; they needed sleep. They both knew that if they kept going now, they wouldn't be able to stop.
Martha smiled up at him. "You're right. We both need to get some rest. And besides we'll be seeing each other again in a few hours," she said.
Jack lowered his head and gave her a fast, hard kiss on the lips. "Bye, see you soon," he said before turning fast and running to his car. If he didn't leave now, he never would.
Martha watched as Jack's car disappeared down the road. Her body was still tingling from his caresses. She turned and started walking back towards her apartment. She would be counting down the hours until she could see him again.