Chapter 3

Martha's eyes fluttered open. The smell of the salty, fresh sea swept in her face, refreshing her tired skin. She looked up at Jack who was awake, stroking her hair.
"Morning." He smiled. Martha looked around.
"This isn't your room…" She said slowly, inhaling the cool air.
"Aren't you observant." Jack laughed, busying himself with wrapping her hair around his finger. Martha ignored him and began to sit up.
"What time is it?" She asked groggily.
"6 o'clock." He answered, watching as she slowly awoke to the day. Martha rubbed her eyes, yawning as she looked around the beach. They were alone apart from the man jogging away in the distance, kept company by his iPod. Martha spun back around to Jack.
"6? Why the hell am I up?" She exclaimed, falling back down to her original spot and leaning her head on his chest.
"I bet you haven't seen what the bay looks at this time before." He teased. "Is it strange being up before 11?" He joked. Martha stuck her tongue out.
"Leave me alone." She smiled, snuggling into Jack's chest again. Jack lifted the blanket over their bodies, tucking it in either side.
"Come here." He said, adjusting his body. He lifted his arm and allowed her further in, so he could hold her with both arms.
"I bet we look stupid." Martha laughed.
"Yea… well Alf seemed to think so." Jack muttered.
"What?" Martha asked, shocked. "Granddad's seen us?" She panicked. Jack laughed.
"Nah.." He smiled cheekily. "He was over there but he didn't notice us." He said, pointing to further up the beach. Martha nodded.
"Good. I don't think he'd approve." She giggled. "How long have you been awake?"
"About an hour." He said honestly. Martha looked concerned.
"Why, couldn't you sleep?" She asked.
"I was thinking about Ben." He answered. Martha nodded.
"What about him?" She asked.
"Just how short life can be, especially when you're in the force. It is a very dangerous job and I should start thinking of the risks." He said.
"So you're going to quit!" Martha asked hopefully. Her eyes widened and her mouth was smiling, she was even holding her breath. Jack looked at her; he watched her hoping for an answer that unfortunately wasn't going to be given.
"No.. I'm not." He said quietly. Martha looked down, deflated.
"There are so many other jobs Jack. So many that you could like, and then you'd be in no harm!" She reasoned. "I'm sure you could get a job at Noah's." She suggested. Jack chuckled at the vision of him and Martha working behind that counter, some how he could only imagine them bickering, spun off by another of Jack's teasing sessions.
"But Martha, I don't want a job at Noah's. I want my job. I love my job." He eventually answered.
"But I love you." She said quietly. Jack paused, then sent his eyes to the sky as he let out a long sigh.
"Don't make it like that…" He muttered.
"Like what?"
"You know, between you and my job."
"Why can't I make it between me and your job? It's always going to be between me and your job! You know how I feel about it, I don't want you to go." She argued.
"Why does it have to be between you and my job? Why can't I just have both?" Jack asked frustrated.
"Because it could kill you! Then you'd have nothing, and neither would I." She said simply. Jack shook his head.
"Nothing is going to happen to me Martha!" He exclaimed.
"I'm sure Ben didn't think it would either, but look what happened to him." She said. "What if you did die Jack? What if you got shot? That'd be it. The end of you, the end of us, the end of me."
"Why the end of you?" He asked, confused. Martha laughed, shaking her head as if it was obvious.
"I can't do it without you Jack. I can barely get through a day without talking to you at one point." She said.
"Martha, you'd have to. You'd find a way; you're strong and resistant. I'd want you to find another guy." He said, picking up her hand and holding it tight. Martha let out a long sigh.
"This is what you were thinking about when I was asleep, wasn't it?" She asked, rolling her eyes.
"Yes. If it anything does happen today, tomorrow, next week, next year – I wouldn't want to leave you totally unprepared."
"So now you're saying that you might leave me.." Martha said, laughing slightly with anger.
"No! Well… maybe. I don't know. It is a possibility Martha, a very slight one, but I want you to be happy if I go. I need you to know that I want you to continue with your life, and find a nice new guy." He said. Martha laughed.
"We've been dating for 6 months Jack, shouldn't we be having this conversation when we're married?"
"WHEN we're married?" Jack repeated, a grin appearing on his face. Martha looked down, fiddling with the blanket. The repetition of her dialogue seemed to send the previous conversation out of their minds, bringing new happy, embarrassed and excited feelings in.
"Well.. yea. I thought that's where we'd end up one day." She said, unable to stop a smile creeping on her face. Jack looked down at her, a happy laugh sneaking from his throat.
"Really?" He squeaked, tilting his head. He felt so excited, so happy.
"Yea. I don't know when I thought it… it's just always been at the back of my brain. I want to grow old with you, I want to get married and have your kids." She smiled. "Not tomorrow of course." She added quickly, hoping not to freak him out. But there was no chance of that; Jack was completely thrilled. He too hadn't really thought about their future in depth, but he always knew it would happen.
"So… how many kids?" He asked curiously. Martha giggled.
"I don't know… 2, 3?" She suggested.
"You're boring. What about 5?" He exclaimed. Martha's jaw dropped.
"Easy for you to say, you don't have to go through the 45 months!" She laughed.
"Wow… quick math. Well done." He joked. "Don't you dare think that you'll be helping them with maths homework! That's my turf." He warned, raising his finger. Martha laughed.
"Fine, but I get science." She reasoned.
"Science? God, you weren't a geek were you?" Jack teased. Martha nudged him playfully.
"So, you're not freaked out about the marriage thing then?" She ensured. Jack smiled.
"No. I want to get married to you, and nothing will get in my way-" Jack was disturbed by his phone ringing beside him. He felt down beneath the blanket, and withdrew the vibrating, noisy device. He lifted it up and looked at the caller display. He slowly turned to Martha regretfully.
"-Apart from work." She finished his sentence with a frustrated moan. The previous conversation swam up from the sea, returning their angry, frustrated minds. Jack looked at her.
"Sorry, I have to answer it." He apologized.
"Of course you do." She sighed, sitting up and looking out to sea, sighing with frustration.

"Jack Holden." He answered reluctantly. "But it's my day off. I stressed to Fitzy that I was having this weekend off." He complained, shaking his head. "What?" He exclaimed, causing Martha to spin around to him. He had changed his appearance since the last time his mouth opened, he looked shocked and disturbed, making Martha worried.
'What is it?' She mouthed out. Jack shook his head and looked away, pretending it was nothing.
"I'll be there as soon as I can." He finished, hanging up. Martha stared at him, confused.
"What's going off?" She asked.
"I've got to go to work." He told her, standing up.
"No you don't. Just say no, it's your day off." She argued. Jack sighed.
"They want me to come in." He said.
"And I want you to stay!" She exclaimed. Jack sighed, rubbing his face.
"What do you expect me to do Martha?" He asked.
"It's slightly obvious. Quit." She said sternly. Jack groaned angrily.
"Martha, I'm not going to quit." He snapped. "I can see why you want me to, but I can't see why you're so persistent when you know it's not what I want!"
"And I can't see why you're so persistent when you know it's what I want!" She said in the same volume. Jack looked down at her, reading her face. There was no sign of any chance of backing away from the topic, she meant it. She wanted him to quit. After 6 months of relationship, she wanted him to change the basis of his life for the past 6 years.
"Martha, this isn't fair." He stated.
"THIS isn't fair! You have to go to work on your day off. I thought we were going to spend the day together? I actually thought you wanted to." She exclaimed angrily, throwing the blanket off her body and standing up.
"I do, but I have to go into work." He said, standing up with her. Martha shrugged.
"Why, what's so important?" She asked. Jack hesitated, his eyes flickering around the background as he thought. "Your job." She answered. "Your stupid job." She grunted, shoving the blankets into the picnic basket.
"No… Martha. Please, don't be like this. I can't tell you why I need to go in." He said. "Just don't fall out with me." He pleaded. Martha gave out a short cackle.
"Why not? It's not like we're going to get anywhere…" She muttered. Jack grabbed her hand, getting her attention.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked.
"Jack, I want you to quit and you don't want to. You know how strongly I feel about it, but you still won't even consider the option. It's obvious we're going to keep arguing about this so we could just save ourselves the frustration and hurt by ending it now." She told him. Jack laughed.
"Now you're being stupid. You don't think you'll hurt if we break up?" He asked, bending down to her eye level.
"Well.. yes. But if we keep arguing then it's just going to get annoying." She said.
"So you're ready to give up, just like that, on one little problem?" He asked, slightly patronising.
"One little problem? You know what, ask Ben's family whether it's one little problem! Jerk." She shouted with tears filling her eyes. She picked up the picnic basket and turned on her heel, storming up the beach. Jack hit his head.
"Martha. Martha!" He called, jogging up. "I'm sorry, I could have worded that better." He apologized. "We can compromise something." He suggested.
"How Jack? You can't compromise death." She argued.
"But I'm not going to die!" He said, laughing out of frustration. Martha shook her head and continued storming up the beach.
"Just leave me Jack. Go have a fun shift. You can collect the basket tomorrow." She said, walking quicker. Jack gave up, taking his orders. He sighed as he watched her charge up the beach, her hair swinging from side to side. He turned around slowly, giving a long sigh as he traced back up the beach towards his house.
"Keep a clear head Jack. You'll make it up to her later, but for now you need to think about Henry." He said to himself, pushing his hands into his pockets