All That You Can't Leave Behind

[Roccoluver]

Nina and Johnny Poor Rocco, evil Karl. Jack is an officer again... poor Martha.

Update soon

[Tasha]

Is Gordon somehow related to Jake and Nina?

Jacky got his job back

Martha better tell him about the baby, but why am i getting the feeling Jacky will have to work

Ash needs to die

More please

[Adia]

Thanks for the comments you guys!!!

Rachel you are very observant! But that's all I'll say for now...

When I wrote the first part of this I couldn't help but think of a brilliant fic called "Opposites Attract".

ChapterOneHundredFourteen:

Sally sat down at her desk and opened her diary to check her lesson plan for the day. She tried reading over her words, but she couldn’t focus. She straightened the pens and books on her desk, before taking another attempt to decipher her timetable.

“Having fun Teach?” a voice interrupted.

Startled, she swivelled around in her chair and saw Johnny standing in the doorway.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she said turning back to her book.

“It’s a public school isn’t it?” he said walking in. “My tax dollars are payin for this place. I’ve got a right to make sure you’re giving our kids the best education. We certainly don’t want them ending up on the streets and in gangs. Do we now…”

Sally stood up and leaned against the whiteboard. “Leave now, before I call the police.”

Johnny sat on one of the front desks and folded his arms. “You don’t really wanna do that do ya? I’m not that scary am I?” he chuckled.

“Leave now…”

“What’s the problem exactly?” he asked. “I’ve never done anything to you.”

Sally gritted her teeth. “You’re a monster,” she whispered angrily. “You’re a violent and sadistic monster who takes joy out of hurting people. You’re a pathetic excuse for a human being. I’ve seen first hand what you’ve done to your own brother. Your own flesh and blood and you inflicted so much pain on him! I really don’t know what a smart girl like Nina could possibly see in you…”

He smiled, enjoying the fact that he made her angry. “Well I certainly have her undivided attention,” he sneered. “And you know… she is a very talented girl. Not just brains either if you get what I mean…”

“I’m warning you Johnny,” she snapped at him.

“And I’m here to warn you,” he said turning suddenly serious. “You tell anyone about what you saw this morning, and your life will become very difficult. Nobody knows about us and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“You can’t threaten me…” Sally said trying to stand her ground.

He laughed, standing up and edging towards her. “I hate to break it to you Teach, but I just did…”

“I’m not scared of you…”

He laughed again before piercing her with his menacing stare. “Yes you are. You don’t know me, and people are always afraid of what they don’t know. But you’ll see exactly what I’m capable of if you start interfering in my business. There’s a reason I haven’t ever been caught, and that’s because people who go against me don’t live long enough to tell tales.”

She tried not to look at him as he made his way to the door.

“I’m glad we had this quality time,” Johnny told her as he stood under the doorway. “But your for sakes, I better not have to come and see you again…”

Sally let out a huge sigh of relief and wiped away the tears that suddenly streamed out of her eyes as she watched Johnny disappear down the hallway.

“Right, so for homework, I want you all to get through to chapter three and summarise the key points for tomorrow’s class.” Sally collected up all the test papers off the students desk. “Umm, Nina, could I see you before you go please,” she said bluntly.

As the students filed out of the class, Nina lagged behind, waiting calmly to hear what Sally had to say.

“Look if this is about what happened this morning…” Nina started.

“Nina, I’m worried about you…” Sally said tearily. “Getting involved with Johnny…”

“I know he’s not exactly bachelor of the year…”

“This is not a joke Nina. Do you know how dangerous he is?” she pleaded. “I would hate to see you get hurt.”

“Johnny would never hurt me,” she insisted.

“You don’t know him. You haven’t seen what he does to people.”

“I know that you think he’s a bad guy, but…”

“There shouldn’t be any buts about it Nina,” Sally snapped. “I’m only looking out for your safety. I really want you to stop seeing him. Did you know that he came to see me earlier? He threatened me and my family if I told anyone about the two of you being together.”

Her heart sank and she rubbed her forehead. “I told him not to do anything…” she said sorrowfully. “Look I’m really sorry. I can’t justify my relationship with him… I never wanted one in the first place, but it just happened…”

“Nina, for your own safety, please stay away from him…”

Nina shook her head and rolled her eyes. “At the end of the day, my relationship with Johnny is none of your business. You don’t even know me for starters. I am nothing to you. If I were you I’d do what he says… you don’t want him as an enemy.”

“So you are scared of him? What he could do to you?”

“I know what he’s like. It’s not just your safety you have to think of Ms Fletcher. If Johnny wants to hurt you, he’ll go after the people that you care about. You really can’t tell anyone.”

“Please think about what you’re doing…” Sally begged. “Please…”

Nina shook her head again, this time shutting her eyes to barricade her tears in.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered turning to leave. “I truly am sorry…”

Sally reached out to try and hold her, but it was too late. Sally had tried, but Nina was already gone.

[Zetti]

Sally will get through somehow to Nina. She has to.

Love the dialogue between them.

[sazcaz89]

Love the update!!! update soon

[Roccoluver]

When I wrote the first part of this I couldn't help but think of a brilliant fic called "Opposites Attract".

*beams*

Loved this chapter so much (and not just becasue of that) Poor Sally trying to help Nina, Nina and Johnny are meant to be and tough guy Johnny is

updates soon

[Adia]

Awwww, thanks!

I wasn't going to, but I thought I'd post this now, seeing as the computer hog will be home from her trip in about five minutes. So I really don't know when I'll be back... (damn hogger!) AND a J/M chapter is definitely coming up...

Warning: Some drug references in this, so yeah. Just warning ya!

ChapterOneHundredFifteen:

Jake coughed and rubbed his shattered eyes, groaning from being waken so prematurely. It was four in the afternoon, but he’d only just gotten out of bed when Matilda had knocked on the door. As he guided her into the living room, he scratched his stomach and searched around the living for a shirt to make himself a little more presentable.

“She shouldn’t be long,” he said sitting down and rolling a cigarette. “I asked her to grab some food before she came home today.”

Matilda nodded and smiled anxiously. “I’m really sorry to just barge in like this,” she said blushing from seeing him without his shirt on.

There was no doubt that he had an extremely good body. Like his sister, his dark features were flawless and exotic and even as rough as he was, he was still extremely good looking. She could tell that he was the kind of guy who could just flash his smile and have all the girls swooning over him. He ruffled his spiky hair and sighed, still trying to adjust to being awake.

“It’s fine,’ he yawned. He held out his pouch of tobacco towards her. “You smoke?”

“Umm, no,” she said a little embarrassed.

“Didn’t think so,” he laughed. “Thought I’d ask though…”

“So ummm it’s just you and Nina?” she asked.

“Yup. Just me and my sister…”

“Cool,” she nodded. There was no doubt that the air was completely awkward for the both of them. The silence that stirred between them was almost agonizing.

“So…” he sighed.

“Ummm… What happened to your parents?” Matilda asked him finally.

He smiled. But it was a sad and pensive smile like Nina’s which curiously made Matilda feel a little more at ease in his presence.

“They ummm… they’re dead,” he mumbled.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“You want a drink or something?” he said trying to change the subject.

“No. I’m fine.”

“Okay…”

Matilda looked around the room. Everything seemed so homely and perfect, like the houses that she’d seen in magazines. Almost everything was either black or white and there was no clutter or mess to be seen anywhere. White walls, white couch. Black coffee table; black frames on the abstract art that hung on the wall, a black vase. The red cushions on the couch and the roses in the vase stood out strikingly though, matching the art on the walls. She wondered as she looked around, how the two of them managed their perfectness and whether or not it was something that came naturally to them. Did they just wake up every morning like that? Two people so unsolved and yet so naturally perfect in every way.

“My sis told me about what happened between you and your Mum,” he said trying to make conversation. He saw her wriggle nervously in her seat, trying to elude that line of questioning.

“She didn’t say much,” he said apologising. “I kind of filled in the blanks. I think she’s a bit pissed at me actually…”

“Really?” she said surprised. “You guys seem really close. Is that because you were on your own after your parents died?”

“Something like that,” he mumbled. “To be honest, you don’t look like the type of girl that would get involved with a guy like Rocco Cooper.”

“What are you saying?” she said defensively. “There’s nothing wrong with Rocco.”

“No he’s a great kid,” Jake retorted calmly. “Nothing like his brother anyway. You just seem like a real goody good. I’m just wondering how someone like you could get involved with a guy like Rocco…”

“I love him,” she insisted. “He happens to be the most thoughtful and caring person that I’ve ever met. I love him. That’s not against the law is it?”

“Well no… but…”

“Anyway you don’t even know me,” she said firmly. “You don’t know what I’ve been through. What I went through with Ric, with Callan; with Lucas. Being drugged, getting abducted. Thinking that I’d finally found the love of my life and being so devastated when it ended. I thought I was nothing and for a long time I punished myself for thinking that everything was all my fault. That I was responsible for making everyone in my family so miserable. You don’t know what I’ve been through so don’t sit there and judge me on your first impression.”

“Sorry…” he said surprised at her outburst. “Just trying to make conversation…”

“Sorry,” she said calming down. “It’s just… fighting with Mum at the moment… I’ve worked so hard the last few months to feel good about myself. Rocco makes me happy and she can’t see that. And I feel like when she yells at me and looks at me… she hates me, like… she sometimes wishes that I never existed.”

Jake got up and sat down next to her. “I know this guy…” he said empathetically. “All he wanted was to make his parents proud of him, but no matter how hard he tried, he would always stuff things up. Like, they never actually told him that he was failure or a disappointment, but it was that look in their eyes you know. It wasn’t the same look that they gave to their other kids…”

“I always thought that I wasn’t good enough,” Matilda said reflecting on the last few years of her life. “I love my brothers and my sister, but I always felt that they got all the attention. Like I was never good enough for my parents to take notice of me…”

“Really?” he said surprised. “I totally get it… Problem is… when they do finally take notice, it’s because you’ve screwed up some how… right?”

“Exactly,” she said sadly.

“You know… When I look back…” he said lost in the moment. “My biggest regret was pushing them away. Yeah, I’d done an incredibly selfish and stupid thing which tore my family apart, but maybe if I hadn’t isolated myself, I wouldn’t of ended up like this…”

“Do you regret not making up with them before they died?” Matilda asked him.

“I regret a lot of things,” he said carefully choosing his words. “But… they were dead to me a long time before they actually passed… my relationship with them couldn’t be saved. You on the other hand…I think you have a chance. There is the Rocco element, but I’m sure that your Mum will come round on that one. Eventually anyway…”

Matilda bit her lip, pondering everything that Jake had just said to her.

“You really think so?” she asked earnestly. “I mean, I’ve said some pretty nasty things to her…”

“The difference between you and me, is that she’s angry because she loves you. Sometimes you might disagree on things, but that love is unconditional. That’s something worth fighting for isn’t it? You shouldn’t just give up on it…”

“Thanks,” she blushed. “Hearing you say that, I guess it is worth it.”

Jake nodded and smiled kindly at her. “Listen I’m gonna go and change,” he said standing up. “Help yourself to anything okay… Mi casa, tu casa…”

He walked down the hall and into the bathroom, carefully shutting the door. He leant down on the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. Where Matilda had seen perfection, all he saw was pain and repulsiveness. He felt like punching the mirror; shattering the glass into a million pieces to reflect the inners of his soul, but he glanced at the scars on his knuckles and thought of her being just down the hall and thought better of it. He knelt down next to the bathtub and pulled a thin silver case from out of his pocket, setting it down on the flattest surface he could find. He dismantled the lid and used it to shuffle the powder in there. He cut two straight, perfect lines before he leaned down and swiftly breathed it in.

[Tasha]

Im sitting here thinking, Jack doesnt smoke, and then i realise its Jake Great chapter

More please

[Roccoluver]

Breaths in- Breaths out.

I think Im in love with Jake , even if he doesn't exist , your writing is awesome

Matilda needs to realise that Beths loves her (she does right?) and Beth needs to calm down and accept Rocco.

Update soon.

[I love music]

"I’ve got a right to make sure you’re giving our kids the best education. We certainly don’t want them ending up on the streets and in gangs. Do we now…”

Loved the Johnny/Sally scene!

Where Matilda had seen perfection, all he saw was pain and repulsiveness. He felt like punching the mirror; shattering the glass into a million pieces to reflect the inners of his soul...

This writing seriously gets better and bette. It’s very polished. I could totally imagine Jake and Matilda, especially when he offers her a smoke and she’s shocked at the idea. I like the way they sort of reached an understanding and the ending, where he’s doing the drugs, is very dramatic.

ps I’ve read some of Opposites Attract too; it’s very good