Hope you weren't all expecting me to write out Tasha and Robbie's wedding. Totally couldn't be stuffed. So it's starting at the reception.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
"Ladies and gentleman, it's time for the bridalwaltz," Tony called into a microphone.
Martha watched as her two bestfriends made their way onto the dance floor. She raised her fingers to her lips and let out a loud wolfwhistle; which led to loud cheers and applause from everybody else.
Martha looked around the room; it looked amazing. Tasha and Robbie had decided to have the reception at the banquet room at the 'Sands Resort'. It was a great decision. The ceremony had been beautiful; it had been held down by the wharf, over looking the water; and Tasha had insisted that the whole bridal party go bare-foot.
Martha smiled as she watched Tasha and Robbie dance together. They were so in love, and Martha was so happy for them; they looked beautiful together.
After a few minutes a lot more people started to join them on the dancefloor. Martha wasn't really in the mood for dancing, she was more worried about the food sitting in front of her. Her stomach was grumbling; she was starving. And so was the baby.
Jack was sitting next to her, but she didn't dare look at him. But her prayers were answered when Beth came and waltzed him off for a dance. She was just about to take a bite of a delicious looking sandwich when she was interuppted by Robbie.
"What ya doin?" he smiled at her.
"Eating. What does it look like?" Martha smirked at him.
"It looks like you're about to get up and have a dance," Robbie told her.
"Like I said, I'm eating," she tried to fob him off.
"Come on Mac. I want to have a dance with the pregnant girl," he pleaded.
"Pregnant girl? How did you come up with that one?" Martha smiled.
"Well, you're pregnant and a girl. Hence, pregnant girl," Robbie explained.
Martha couldn't help but laugh. "Ok, I'm coming," she agreed, standing up.
"Let's boogie," Robbie spun Martha as they made their way into the crowd.
"So you and Jack haven't really spoken yet?" Lucas asked Martha as they danced together to a slow song.
"We had a bit of an argument last night at Noah's. And we've only said a few words to each other today," Martha sighed.
She cursed Tasha for pairing them up for the wedding. They'd had to walk into the reception together; which meant that they'd had to touch. And Martha knew that Tasha had purposely sat them together at the table. It wasn't that she didn't like to touch him or be close to him; because honestly she loved being around him. But she was still feeling anger towards him, and being around him and touching him, made her feel things that she didn't want to feel. She loved the feeling that overcame her whenever they were close together; but things were tense and very different between them now, and she didn't need her feelings for him confusing things more.
"He might not have said it to anyone, but he missed you alot while you were gone," Lucas told her.
Martha went to speak again but stopped when Jack walked up to them. "Mind if I cut in?" he asked.
"Nope," Lucas replied quickly. He smiled at Martha and then walked off.
I can't believe Lucas just left me here with him, Martha thought to herself. He's so dead.
"Don't you just hate that?" Jack smiled as he pulled Martha closer towards him; and swayed to the music.
"What do you mean?" Martha was confused.
"When somebody leaves you alone with someone you don't want to be left alone with," Jack smirked.
Martha groaned. "If you're going to be smart, I'm going," she said, and tried to pull away from him.
"Hey, not so fast," Jack held on to her tighter. "I'm sorry, I was just messing around," he apologised.
"Whatever," Martha sounded uninterested.
"So, it looks like Kim and Kit decided to come clean with everyone," Jack started speaking again.
Martha looked over to where Kim and Kit were dancing together. Martha smiled. She was happy for them.
"Yeah, well, it's good to see Kim get something that he wants for a change," Martha began. "The last year has been pretty rough on him. Kit deserves some happiness aswell," she finished.
"Tasha and Robbie look happy too," Jack commented.
Martha swung her head around so she could get a look at the happy couple. Tasha and Robbie were dancing close together and kissing; completely oblivious to the world around them. She didn't think she'd ever seen them look so happy.
"Maybe that will be us someday," Jack confessed.
Martha paused; shocked at what she had just heard Jack say. She didn't know what the hell she was supposed to say back. Of course she wished that they could be happy like everyone else around them. But there were so many things in their way. Things that were stopping them, and people like Megan.
She looked into his eyes, and felt a shiver run down her spine when she felt his soft fingers run across her cheek. "Don't," Martha whispered, as she moved away from his touch. Martha knew that she had just hurt him. She could tell by the look in his eyes. She could see sadness, and hurt.
"Um, I'm going to go outside and get some air," she shot out. She pulled away quickly and walked off towards the door.
Good one idiot, Jack muttered to himself.
Martha sat down by the pool; hanging her legs into the cool water. She had gone for a quick walk around the resort and had found herself by the pool.
The sun had set about half an hour ago and the first stars of the night were starting to twinkle in the sky.
She was still feeling weird after what had happened with Jack inside before. After what he had said and the way he had touched her; she just freaked out. She didn't know what to say or do. So she just left him standing there. Now he probably thought that she didn't want to be with him anymore.
She was just about to stand up so she could go back inside and join the party, when she realised that somebody was just about to sit down beside her. It was Jack.
"Are you following me?" Martha asked him.
"Obviously," Jack replied as he sat down. "So, look what I just caught," he said, as he twirled Tasha's garter around his finger.
"Who caught the bouquet?" Martha wanted to know.
"Colleen," Jack laughed. "You should have seen her. She wanted those flowers like they were the last thing on the planet. Kit's gonna have a good bruise in the morning, that's for sure," he continued to laugh.
Martha couldn't help but giggle. She could imagine Colleen storming her way through. She would have loved to have seen it.
"So, Colleen caught the bouquet? And you caught the garter. You do know what that means, dont you?" Martha smiled at him.
"I have to marry Colleen," he replied.
"Yep," Martha laughed when she saw Jack shudder at the thought. "You're a very lucky man," she said sarcastically.
They continued to laugh and make jokes for a few more minutes, but then Jack turned the conversation serious.
"Inside before, I hope I didn't upset you or anything," he said.
Martha sighed. "No, you didn't. I just wasn't expecting it, that's all," she started. "I haven't been around you in like three weeks, and to have you touch me like that again, it felt strange. It kinda freaked me out," she finished honestly.
"Are you saying that my touch doesn't feel right anymore? That you don't like me touching you," Jack asked. He sounded a bit upset.
"No, it's not that at all," Martha tried to reassure him. "Of course I like you tou...," she trailed off; feeling slightly embarrassed that she was about to admit that she liked him touching her. She felt a blush creeping up into her cheeks, and quickly looked away from him.
"What do you mean then?" Jack wanted to know.
"I was expecting to come back to some guy who was furious with me. Someone who couldn't stand the sight of me. I guess I just expected you to yell and scream at me," Martha started again. "I thought you'd never want to touch me again".
"I may not be yelling and screaming at you, but I am still angry with you," Jack told her honestly. "I still can't believe that you hid something like that from me. We always talked about trust, and how we'd never lie to each other. And you broke that trust. But just because I'm angry, doesn't mean I don't still love you. Because I do love you, and we can get through this. We can still be together," Jack finished.
"But that's the thing Jack. As much as I hate to say it, and as hard as it is to say; we can't be together. Not right now anyway," Martha told him.
"I don't understand," he said softly.
"I need time alone, and so do you. We need to build our trust up again. If we don't have that trust, it's going to eat away at us until it drives us crazy," Martha started to explain to him. "Sometimes love isn't enough," she said in a hushed tone.
Jack was quiet. He wasn't saying anything. She could tell that he was upset. She was too. It was hard having to do this. But she had been thinking about it for a while now, and she thought it was the best thing to do. Until they could trust each other completely, they couldn't be together.
"There's also Megan. She doesn't want us to be together Jack. And she'll do anything to make sure that we're apart, even if it means using Grace as a way to do it," Martha began. "I know you're probably thinking that she wouldn't do that, but she would. Things have been said, things that you don't know about. And don't ask me what exactly, because I won't tell you. I'm not about to stoop as low as she has," Martha finished.
"I know what Megan's like. And you're right, she would use Grace as a means of getting what she wants. I've known her for a long time, and I've seen what kind of person she can be," Jack started to take his turn. "She actually tried to make a move on me the other week. But I told her that it would never happen. She knows that I love you," he told Martha.
"This is where the trust issues come into it. But just so you know; I trust you, but I don't trust her," Martha exclaimed.
"So, we're not getting back together?" Jack asked.
"Not right now, no," Martha shook her head. "But, if things run smoothly, then I would like to eventually. That's if you still want to of course. I love you, and that will never change," she told him.
"I'll wait for you," he declared.
Martha smiled, and nodded. "You wanna head back inside? It's getting a bit cold," she suggested.
"Yep, lets go," Jack replied, helping her to her feet.
"So, do you think you'll be able to resist me?" Jack started to tease.
"Of course I will. I'm Martha MacKenzie; Queen of self control," she stated.
"We'll see," Jack smirked back at her.
NEXT CHAPTER: Who's back in town?
PLEASE REVEIW