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Back to the Future

Guest solaris

By Guest solaris
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solaris

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This is very much a Geoff/Nicole chapter - fluffy it is not. Fasten your seatbelts again, turbulance ahead.

Chapter 19

The day had dragged on, class after class with what seemed to be no end in sight. All she wanted was to get out of there and find somewhere to hide, after talking to her dad this morning school had been the last place she wanted to go – all she'd wanted was time alone. Unfortunately, unless she'd wanted to have to explain her absence to the principle she'd had no choice. Had it not been for the fact that she was still on detention row, there wouldn't have been a problem! She hadn't told her dad everything, not even the worst of it – she'd been too upset and hadn't had enough time – but she knew that their conversation wasn't over...just deferred. The bell sounded, signalling the end of the day's last lesson. Nicole closed her books and put them in her bag, she had to be in the detention room in 10 minutes. As she approached the allotted room, she didn't see Geoff exiting after his last lesson.

“Hey Nic!”

When she didn't respond, Geoff stopped to look at her. She was stood outside the classroom waiting for it to empty, with her head down and her shoulders slumped she was the very picture of unhappiness. Instinct told him that this was about more than being in detention, her behaviour yesterday had also been 'off script' from what he would have expected.

“Nic? What's up?”

Nicole looked up to find Geoff stood directly in front of her, concern was filling his eyes and she had no idea how to respond. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head and rested it against the wall.

“Nothing.”

The word was soft, it was also blatantly untrue. Geoff slid his hand against her jaw, gently but firmly forcing her to lift her head, she opened her eyes and looked at him. The compassion in his expression was her undoing, tears started to fall and there was nothing she could do to stem them. Swiping at the tears, she changed her answer.

“Nothing that anyone can do anything about anyway.”

He handed her a tissue, the thought crossing his mind that it was good she wasn't wearing make-up.

“Nic, believe it or not there are people who care about you. Talk to me, I might not be able to change anything but at least you won't be dealing on your own.”

He dropped his hand as she wiped the tears away, he was a total loss as to how to help her.

“It's all this stuff with Belle and Aden and the guy threatening them, it's brining some bad memories back...it's...”

“Miss Franklin, dare I hope that these tears are a sign that you've realised the error of your ways? Go in to detention right now! Mr Campbell, this is neither the time nor the place for a heart to heart. Unless you want to join your friend in detention, you might want to leave now!”

Geoff turned to leave, but couldn't go without explaining his presence.

“I saw Nic was upset, I only stopped to check on her.”

Principle Bartlett was not impressed by that, as far as he was concerned Nicole Franklin was an ill-disciplined trouble maker.

“Miss Franklin's crocodile tears are of no concern to me.”

With that, he walked into the classroom and closed the door. Geoff stood there for a time, Principle Bartlett's manner didn't sit well with him...but there was nothing he could do here.

As he left the school premises, he decided to swing past the diner on his way home. Nic might not appreciate him interfering, but he had to say something to someone. He walked in and almost changed his mind when he saw Aden working, but this was too important to just walk away.

“Hey Aden, is Roman in the Kitchen?”

“Yep, but he's pretty busy...is it important?”

Geoff hesitated, was it really that important?

“To tell the truth I'm not sure, unless you have any idea why Nic would be seriously upset?”

Aden fought to keep his expression blank, he'd been right...there was a problem.

“I think you'd better talk to Roman, c'mon through.”

Geoff followed him through to the kitchen, he was feeling distinctly awkward about this.

“Roman, Geoff needs to talk to you. It's about Nicole so I figured you'd want me to bring him through.”

Roman turned from the counter where he was cutting veg, he nodded to Aden then inclined his head asking for privacy.

“What's up Geoff?”

Geoff winced. As amiable as Roman sounded, there was no doubting where is attention was. He was not used to being the target of such single minded focus.

“I saw Nic this afternoon, she seemed really upset. When I asked her what was wrong, she initially tried to clam up and say it was nothing. She did start to tell me something but Principle Bartlett interrupted, I think he manage to make her feel worse. I...I probably wouldn't have said anything, but she's been acting a bit strangely for a couple of days. This mess that's going on with Aden and Belle, I think it's really shaken her and I wasn't sure what to do.”

Roman walked over and rested his hand on Geoff's shoulder, he admired the courage it had taken for him to act on his concerns. Nic was fortunate to have a friend that cared about her that much.

“There's something going on...but I don't know just what it is, thank you for coming to talk to me.”

Geoff nodded and turned to leave, but at the last moment turned back.

“I don't know if this is out of line, but Principle Bartlett's manner didn't sit right with me.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Geoff left, but he didn't think that Roman was about to leave matters there.

Belle was on her way home, she'd been in the city all day and was looking forward to the weekend after a difficult week. As she drove the coast road, one of her favourite routes and one she often drove for pleasure, she spotted Nicole. Pulling up just ahead of her, she opened the window.

“Hey Nic, you want a ride?”

Nicole jumped at the sound of her name, it was a relief when she spotted Belle .

“Sure, thanks.”

“Home, diner or back to mine while I change, then go to the diner together?”

Belle's tone was easy and friendly, it was the last straw at the end of an emotional roller-coaster of a day. Nicole curled up in a ball, sobbing uncontrollably. Handing the younger girl a handful of tissues, Belle made the decision herself and drove back to the beach house. Conscious that Nic was still under serious restrictions because of her conduct, she helped her inside and phoned the diner. When Aden answered, she asked to speak to Roman.

“What's up Belle? It's not like you to call, you usually just drop in!”

“This is about Nicole.”

“I seem to be hearing that a lot, what's she done?”

Belle laughed but it was without humour.

“She's with me at the beach house, I called because I know she's still formally grounded. Someone or something has caused her to collapse in tears.”

At that point, Geoff walked in. Taking one look at the girl crying on the couch, he sat down and pulled her into a hug. Nicole wrapped her arms around him, her sobs starting to ease.

“Enough is enough Nic, you're going to tell me what's going on.”

“Er, Roman...Geoff's just walked in. He seems to be managing to calm her down, what do you want me to do?”

Back at the diner, Roman jammed his hand through his hair. Irene would be in to take over in half an hour, but he was stuck until then.

“Let him try and get get her calm, but for Gods sake don't let her leave. I'll come over to collect her. Thanks for looking after her.”

Belle ended the call and picked up the tissues that were on the counter, she took them into the living room and put them next to Geoff. Nicole's tears were gradually slowing, eventually she started talking between the sobs.

“Mom...didn't...didn't want me in the city with h...her any more, s...she couldn't cope with me. I...I was t...t...too much for h...her.

She stopped to blow her nose, then tucked her head back into Geoff's neck before she continued.

“ I wasn't the perfect 'ornament' of a daughter any more, I...I couldn't cope with her social life.”

Geoff was methodically stroking her hair, soothing and protective at the same time. Any pretence about his feelings had been consigned to history, she needed him now.

Roman had walked into the beach house unseen by his daughter, in time to overhear her comments about not coping with city life. She'd told him as much this morning, but she hadn't told him why – other than she'd been the target of some bad stuff that had rocked her confidence.

“C'mon Nic, you're safe here. Tell me what happened.”

Geoff spoke gently, calmly, in voice inviting confidence. What Nicole said next, shocked everyone.

“I was kidnapped, held hostage...f...for a month.”

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