"Everything looks exactly as it did when we left, doesn't it Scott?" Hayley's voice came from the seat beside Scott in the front of the car.
I looked over at Noah; he was the spitting image of Scott at his age, well from the photos I had seen of Scott at his age. At four years old, he hadn't had to cope with the challenges that had come his family's way. His bright blue eyes stared back at me, and a cheesy grin spread across his lips. As much as I wanted to blame him, I couldn't. It wasn't Noah's fault that his parents had decided to move back to Summer Bay, he was still blissfully unaware of the going-ons that had happened in this town.
Three Years Earlier…"See you guys!" I waved goodbye to Cassie and gave my boyfriend a kiss goodnight.
"I'll text you in the morning, okay? We can meet up and do something," Ric said.
"Sure. Goodnight!" I said cheerily. Unable to resist, I gave him one last kiss before seeing Lucas shut the door to separate us. I retaliated very immaturely by sticking my tongue out at him. He laughed at me and began walking off to his bedroom. I walked into the lounge to find Tony sitting on the couch, on the phone.
"Oh hey, Mattie. It's Scott on the phone for you," he said while handing the phone over to me. Something wasn't right. I could feel it. I brought the phone up to my ear and braced myself for what was coming.
"Hi Tilly. How's it going?" Scott said down the line.
"I'm great, Scott. How are you? I replied, not letting on that I knew he needed to tell me something important. He sounded different, almost worried.
"I'm doing fine thanks, Mattie. Listen, there's something I need to talk to you about…." I felt myself tense up and I glanced at my knuckles, which were going white from the tight fist I was making. "… you see, I've been holding off on this for a couple of weeks now, letting you get your head around everything that happened with mum and I think now is a good time to tell you."
"Tell me what Scott?" My voice was full of concern and anxiety.
"Well… since your still only sixteen, someone needs to take care of you. I don't want to burden Tony so, together Hayley and I decided to apply for full custody of you… and we got it! You're finally going to get to come to France, isn't that great?"
I didn't reply, I couldn't reply. In those few seconds my world came crashing down around me. I could feel the blood draining from my face, my legs threatening to give in below me. Instantly, I could taste the salty tears on my lips and I dropped the phone, losing all control of my body.
The next few moments were a blur. Tony picked up the phone and Scott obviously repeated what he had just said to me as I saw Tony go the same shade of pale as I had minutes before. He looked like I felt. Distraught.
Lucas walked into the room, wondering what the noise was. He was met with silence.
So many thoughts were rushing through my mind. How could I leave? I was just getting back to normal again. What would Cassie say? How would I find the strength to tell the man I loved that I was leaving for the other side of the world?
-x-
"You ready to surprise Tony, Matilda?" Scott's voice brought me back to Earth. We hadn't told anyone that I was coming back to the Bay. To be honest I had basically been forced to come back in the first place.
When I first moved to France, the phone calls to Tony were frequent, almost daily. Yes, it cost us both a fortune but we didn't care. Then, slowly but surely the phone calls became less often until they may as well have stopped altogether. I also kept in contact with all of my friends, Cassie, Luc, Martha, Belle, Drew and even Sally. There were emails, postcards and letters, but like Tony and I, we all drifted apart. The one person I still felt close to was Jack. He never gave up on me even though everyone else had. In fact we were closer than ever. He was just like a brother and I'm sure if mum was still alive, he would be by now.
Henry stayed in France, after being taken out of boarding school; just as I was taken out of Summer Bay, he settled in well. He was offered a scholarship in Paris, solely for his tap dancing. I'm proud of him, even if I am a little jealous that he has managed to do something with his life.
"I can't wait to see everyone again," Hayley excitedly said. "Especially Irene! How surprised is she gonna be to see me!"
"I know. I can't wait to catch up with the guys, it's been four years!" Scott replied, he too was getting excited.
Whereas I was dreading the fact that I had to see everyone again. My time in France changed me, changed my perspective on life. What if they hated me for not keeping in touch? Were my friends even still in Summer Bay? Or, more importantly, was he still here?
-x-
A/N: That's the second chapter then guys! Thanks a million to Just A Little Bit Dramatic (Bella) & Matty and Luke Forever! You made my day with your kind reviews and made me want to write this chapter straight away. Just to tell you guys, the next chapters will definitely not all be up this frequently! LOL!