All Summer Long
Chapter 13: This River is Wild

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed!

I'm rapidly running out of material for this story so I really need poking into writing more of this!


Things between Andrea and Neil had been frosty after the call she had intercepted. Nothing else had been mentioned on the subject, but Andrea could tell that Neil was still bitter about it. The spent the evening together as planned but the sex was different; Neil was different. He fell asleep soon after leaving Andrea feeling hollow. She got out of bed to go to the toilet and suddenly realised that with all the upset and having to get up ridiculously early that morning, she had forgotten to take her pill. She felt a wave of panic wash over her and fought to keep her breathing regular and deep. She gripped the edge of the washbasin and tried to relax. The worse thing possible for her and Neil now would be for her to fall pregnant, she knew that. Neil would feel obligated to choose her because she was pregnant and Philippa would believe she had been careless with her contraception because she wanted to steal Neil away. Andrea wanted Neil to choose her because he loved her, not because he felt it was the proper thing to do.


Diane returned to her room just before dawn was breaking, hoping that Nikki wouldn't notice she had been gone. She wondered again why it mattered what Nikki thought about her liaisons with Callum, but that was a road she didn't want to go down. Nikki was asleep when Diane returned and she gratefully climbed into bed and feel straight into a deep sleep but when she awoke a few hours later it became clear that Nikki knew she had been gone most of the night. Nikki was actually in the shower when Diane awoke, giving her time to drink some coffee and come to life before the other woman emerged from the bathroom. With the dull thud of too many night's spent drinking echoing in her temples, Diane vowed not to drink anything tonight. Perhaps, had she been sober, she would not have slept with Callum on either of the two occasions.

"Morning Nik," She greeted as sunnily as possible when the bathroom door opened. Nikki didn't look surprised to see her, in fact her expression was completely expressionless.

"Morning," Nikki returned the greeting, belting her dressing gown tightly at the waist. "Did you have a good night?" She asked, realising how much this conversation was replicating the one they had the first night Diane had slept with Callum.

"I guess," Diane replied, rinsing out her coffee cup and putting it back on the tray.

"I'm assuming you were with Callum." She turned away to towel her wet hair.

Diane's initial reaction was to demand whether, and why, Nikki would have a problem with that but she held back, not wanting to confront what the answer might be. Instead she replied. "Yes, I was."

Nikki made a noise in the back of her throat, it was a mixture between a sniff of disapproval and a grunt of acceptance. Diane sighed, conflicted by her emotions.

"I know you don't approve of us Nikki, but you don't need to worry. It's friends with benefits stuff, just sex, that's all."

Nikki wasn't sure if that made her feel better about the situation or not. "If it makes you happy." She said, before disappearing back into the bathroom with her clean clothes and leaving Diane as confused as ever.

While Nikki dressed she thought about what Diane had just told her and reconsidered phoning Doug, at least for the meantime.


Nate was on the way back from the gym when he spotted a familiar face in the small coffee shop by reception. Despite his sweaty appearance he decided that it would be impolite not to go over and say hello.

"Hi Jessica," Nate smiled, touching the brunette lightly on the shoulder. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, hey there." She returned his smile. "I've got the morning off so I thought I'd stop by to see how you're getting on with the surfing."

Ignoring the slightly disgusted look of the barista, Nate slid into the chair opposite Jessica.

"We've haven't had much of a chance," He admitted. "We've been quite busy with our teambuilding activities, but I do know that Smithy has a surfing lesson with the instructor here this afternoon. Callum and I are gonna give it a go eventually." He grinned.

Jessica smiled too. "If there's anything else you need..." She tailed off and Nate realised that they weren't talking about surfing anymore. He looked around for an excuse to leave that wouldn't sound rude or fake. He was saved by Callum walking into the coffee shop.

"Oh look, here's Callum now." His voice was filled with faux enthusiasm. "I've just been to the gym so I really should shower, I'll leave you with Callum. Bye Jessica."

"Oh, bye." She replied, clearly disappointed to see Nate leaving but she smiled warmly at Callum all the same.


By mid-morning most of the team were out on the beach and Sam found herself sitting with Libby. Neither of them fancied a swim or to learn to surf so they laid side by side on towels. Sam had brought a novel down to the beach with her, but felt rude reading it and ignoring Libby. It was still a little awkward between the two of them, not because they didn't like each other but because of Sam's history with Stuart. They talked inanely about the work Sam did and what Libby did for a living before finally coming to more personal topics.

"Stu tells me that you and Phil sort of have a thing going on..." She hunted for the right word. "A frisson?"

Sam was surprised that Stuart had talked to his current partner about something concerning his ex girlfriend but didn't say anything on the subject. "I..."

"Sorry, was that too forward?" Libby interrupted, reddening. "I was just mentioned it because I'd noticed it too, and I think you'd be cute together."

Sam smiled, not able to imagine her and Phil being anything resembling 'cute'. "We're good friends, but I couldn't see us being lovers. I think I'd like us to be, but Phil has a history you don't know about and I really don't want to be just another notch on his bedpost."

Libby looked shocked. "You surprise me, Sam! Yes, he is a stud but I'd never pegged him as manwhore, but then I don't know him." She shrugged. "If you ask my opinion, which you're probably not, I think he loves you."

"Really?" Sam couldn't hold back the question or the slightly hopeful tone of voice she seemed to have adopted. If Libby picked up on it, she had the grace not to say anything. "But, I might like someone else, it's difficult."

"Nate?" Libby suggested softly. Making Sam almost jump up off her towel, was Libby a psychic or did she just have a natural talent for reading people.

Sam blushed. "Maybe. Anyway, whoever I was with, I'd have to work with them and that's not easy."

"No, I can imagine. It must have been hard for you after your relationship with Stuart."

Sam nodded. "It was, but things are okay now. I think we're almost friends with makes working together easier."

"I'm glad." Libby smiled. "I love him Sam, I really do."

Sam smiled too, glad that Stuart had finally found someone could love him in a way she hadn't been able to.


While Millie was in the shower Jo had made the bed, letting her mind wander while she carried out the mundane everyday task. She knew that a maid would be along in a little while to clean the room but the simple ritual gave her something to do. She was beginning to wonder if she made the right decision by moving into Millie's room. It sounded like a hasty decision but when they only had ten days left here, it hadn't seemed such a bad idea. Now, Jo was seriously considering moving back to the room she had been sharing with Honey. If it wasn't for the fact that they were going away on a camping trip overnight the following day, she would probably have packed her things there and then but she was sure she could cope with another night. Especially if things progressed the way they had the night before.


Much to Honey's annoyance, Dan had decided to share her early morning shower. She had woken up early on purpose to have a shower before he woke up, but her plan hadn't worked. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy sharing a shower with her boyfriend but sometimes she just wanted some privacy and to be able to wash all of the shampoo out of her hair without being distracted. When they were towelling off afterwards Dan could tell that something was wrong, and wondered what he had done to upset her.

"Honey are you okay? Are we okay?" He asked, stepping into swimming trunks and rubbing his spiky hair with his towel.

Honey shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know Dan." She sighed, concentrating on dressing instead.

"Why? What's gone so wrong?" He sounded genuinely hurt and Honey turned around immediately.

"Nothing." She soothed, reaching for him. "Things are moving too fast, we've got from being friends to a serious couple too quickly."

Dan nodded, he had been feeling that too. "Let's slow it down then." He suggested and Honey nodded too, slipping her arms around him. She suddenly realised that she did have feelings for him and even after all she had just said, she wanted him more than anything.


Kayla and Zain sat on the beach under a sun umbrella, the sunlight bringing the glow back to Kayla's cheeks. Zain had suggested that they stay back in their room today but Kayla had wanted to be outside.

"We've got a lot to talk about." She said, eyeing him cautiously. She wasn't sure if he really wanted to have this baby or if he had just been supportive for her sake.

"We do?" Zain looked surprised, moving his hand to rest on Kayla's bare stomach. She wasn't quite far along enough yet to be showing. "Like what?"

"Having a baby isn't going to be easy, Zain."

"I know that, but we'll be doing this together Kay. I'm so happy about you being pregnant, I really am."

Kayla gave a scrutinising look and saw that he was telling the truth. She leaned towards him, resting her chin against his chest. "Me too." She smiled into his skin.


At four o'clock Smithy and Kerry were waiting on the beach, dressed in wetsuits with their surfboards in hand. Their instructor, Zac, approached and introduced himself, shaking hands with his two new students. They went through the basics for a while before Zac invited them to join him in the sea. He taught them how to catch the smaller waves, telling them that today was the perfect kind of day for beginner's surfing, not too many big waves and not too many people in the sea. Kerry found herself picking up the skills quickly and really enjoying herself. She looked across at Smithy who was grinning at her while he tried to stand up on his board. Zac helped, supporting the board.

"Do you want to go deeper?" He asked, to which both Kerry and Smithy nodded.

Soon they were attempting some larger waves and learning how to handle the boards without falling off quite so much. They were about to head back onto the beach when a jet ski sped by, the driver not able to control the vehicle.

"Dale!" Kerry screamed as it headed towards Smithy, hitting his board out from under him and making him connect with the side of the jet ski. It was as if everything went into slow motion but Zac was alert, supporting Smithy's body and guiding him back onto the board. Kerry tried not to panic when she saw Smithy's blood mingling with turquoise sea water. She bit her lip and focused on helping Zac to bring Smithy back to the shore. If something happened to him...no, she couldn't bear to think of that.

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