The road raced away beneath Liam, putting the much needed distance between him and The Bay. He hadn't bothered to say goodbye to anyone, no one would really miss him, he didn't belong there. Maybe he wouldn't go back, it would probably be better for everyone, a fresh start for him certainly would be. The further from Summer Bay he got the better he felt, or so he told himself, and not long into his trip his mind was occupied with new sights and the rush of riding this fast; it was a welcome relief. By the time he pulled into Palm Cove and found a motel he felt good. This town was not unlike Summer Bay, except for one very important difference that involved lots of tattoos and a bad attitude.

Liam went for a walk on the beach, and then while he ate in a quirky little cafe, he studied a map of the area. Just south of here on an unsealed road was marked 'Secret Beach', that sounded perfectly intriguing and deserted.

It was late afternoon when Liam parked his bike at the trail head and climbed down the steep steps to the beach. It was only a small beach but it was beautiful. It was surrounded by jagged rocks on both sides and behind it the cliff that the steps had wound their way down was surprisingly high. The colours were brilliant, from the blue water, to the white sand, even the green of the surrounding trees and the rich red-brown of the rocks. The sky was just beginning to darken. The surf was rough, it crashed up the beach, it reminded him of Heath. The rocks at the north end were steeper than at the south end and he noticed an opening in one. He headed towards it, with no idea whether the tide was coming in or going out, though he should probably be more aware of that kind of thing considering he lived on the coast. The sand was wet in front of the arch but he couldn't resist looking inside. He crouched down to look under the rock, and found to his delight it was a cave, easily big enough for him to stand in. He crawled inside, stood up and looked around, wondering what kind of critters he might find in here. Behind him a wave rushed in under another arch that faced the water. He took a quick step back to avoid his boots getting soaked.

Between the two arches and the splits in the rock, enough light flowed in to allow him to see the graffiti that previous visitors had left. It was the usual inspired stuff, Joel waz 'ere, Shazza has big tits, Damo & Lisa '11. Looking at it Liam didn't feel the need, but he could imagine Heath wanting to scratch his name into the rock. Before Liam knew what he really meant to do, he was searching for a rock. He found one, picked it up and scraped it on the cave wall. Another wave rushed in and this time it got him, soaking the bottom of his jeans. Liam dropped the rock, and realising that the tide was coming in, figured he better leave before he got trapped. He glanced once at the wall before he left, his eyes landing on what he'd written- 'LM was almost here'.

xxx

Twenty-four hours was enough time to cool off wasn't it? Sure it was, besides Heath needed to see Murphy. If he'd figured one thing out in the past day it was that avoiding Murphy was worse than fighting with him. At least when he fought with Murphy he felt a little better for getting at the other man, but avoiding him just made him play on Heath's mind, with nowhere to channel his frustration. But then again Murphy wouldn't even fight with Heath anymore... Heath checked the beach, the Surf Club, Angelo's, even the diner, with a growing sense of...something. Something that chilled him, something that made him anxious, kind of like something was getting away from him. Heath told himself he was being an idiot, and he almost shook the feeling, until he'd checked everywhere, and Murphy was nowhere to be found.

xxx

Liam was at Heath's door, he wanted more pills, and he wanted them now. He bashed on the door, where was Heath?

Heath was telling Casey to go back to bed but Casey wouldn't go.

"Go home Murphy, I'm not giving you anything, you're high," Heath told him.

Liam was angry he was walking away, anywhere, it didn't matter. Then Casey was beside him. "See?" Casey said as though his point should be obvious. Liam had no idea what he was talking about. "No." "But he didn't sell them to you," Casey said, looking perplexed by Liam's lack of understanding. Suddenly Heath was with them. "Don't worry about it Case," Heath said with an easy-going smile on his bruised face, "his eyes are too blue anyway." Heath turned to Liam when he said the last part, their eyes met and...

...Liam woke up. Heath, he'd been dreaming about Heath. As if it wasn't enough that he had to think about him all day, now he had to dream about him too. The last thing Heath had said, his eyes are too blue, it was a strange thing to say, but it was familiar too, though Liam couldn't place it. But what did Casey say in the dream, it seemed more important...but he didn't sell them to you. It was true, Heath could've just made a quick buck and sent Liam on his merry way, but he didn't. He said no and then he followed Liam to make sure he was ok, and then he let Liam kiss him... Gahh, why was Liam doing this to himself? All that had been before...before Heath had said those hateful things... Liam thought back to the last time he'd seen Heath, when Heath had had the perfect opportunity to apologise or at least say something about how he felt, but instead he'd just picked another fight. Bloody hell, Liam had come away so he didn't have to think about Heath, but that was proving impossible, the thought of Heath had followed him. The only thing that could make this harder was if the real Heath did the same.

AN: Just so you know, Palm Cove is a town I made up. Thanks for reading, maybe you could even leave a review…please….