Love

[~Zoe~]

That was good, glad you've updated, its a good chapter

[Laura]

Yay its been unlocked Great update. Looking forward to more

[laura549]

Chapter 8

Geoff was having breakfast at the diner. It’s been 3 months now since Nicole left the bay. He hadn’t been thinking about her that much. He was over her. He had met somebody else. Claudia. She came to live in the bay a couple of days after Geoff found out his girlfriend had left town. When he was sad and grumpy over Nicole, she was the one who had been there for him. She was the one who stood by him, no matter what. And it didn’t take long before they started dating and soon they became more than just good friends. Claudia was the complete opposite of Nicole. And most important, they shared their faith. That’s what brought them together in the first place.

He was happy now. She was exactly what he needed. He had a good girlfriend, and he wasn’t thinking about Nicole anymore…

Who was he kidding?, Geoff thought.

He thought about Nicole every single day. What she was doing, how would she look, was she dating? He had been thinking about her for the last three months, but he was scared to admit it to himself, because he was dating Claudia. She was a nice girl, he didn’t want to hurt her. She had been so good and understanding towards him. He wasn’t allowed to think about Nicole. But why couldn’t he stop thinking about her. Because. School holidays started yesterday and he hadn’t forgotten about the agreement he made with Nicole. About their date. He’s supposed to be over her, but deep down, he hoped she would turn up. But she wouldn’t. No. He had to stop thinking. Claudia. Think about Claudia. Yes, he needed to focus more on his relationship. He needed to see her.

“Hi there”, Claudia said to her boyfriend.

“Hi, I was just thinking about you”, Geoff answered as he kissed his girlfriend.

“I hope that’s a good thing”, she smiled shyly.

“Off course”, Geoff replied fast.

“So, you promised to give me some surfing lessons”, she smiled.

“Oh, yeah, off course, surfing lessons, now?”, he asked nervously.

“Yeah, sure”, she said while noticing he was acting a little strange.

“Is everything okay?”, she asked.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”, he smiled as he kissed her again, before taking off to the beach, where they would spend the while afternoon.

Somewhere else, Nicole got out of her car. She was back in the bay..

“Well, I could use some help here!”, Nicole yelled as she entered her father’s house.

“Nicole?”, she heard a voice from the kitchen.

“Nic, what are you doing back here?”, Roman asked his daughter with confusion.

“Gee, I missed you too daddy, I’ve always liked the way you welcome me into your house”, she said sarcastically.

“Off course I missed you Nic”, he said as he was hugging her. “did you have a fight with your mum?”, he asked.

“No”, she answered.

“So are you staying here or is this just a quick visit?”, he asked.

“I’m staying here”, she smiled “I’m back!”, she laughed as she went up stairs.

Roman was a little bit confused. He honestly thought she was back at living with her mum for good. Maybe he should ring Nathalie. Maybe something happened. That would be a shame, since they had finally patched things up. No, if something had happened, Nicole would have told him. or at least she will tell him, when she’s ready.

Roman was happy Nicole was back in the bay. He really had missed her, even though he wouldn’t admit it, he had been really heartbroken when she announced she was going back to the city living with her mother.

But there was something different about her, he had noticed. She was acting a bit like the city girl when she first came to the bay, with attitude. He only hoped that it was just a first impression..

[jdoddy]

awesome update - can't wait to see the bit when they both meet up again...

[~Zoe~]

Great update

[jdoddy]

How is this fic progressing update wise?

[laura549]

Here's the next chapter I wrote a while ago

but with recent events on the show, I have to say I haven't got a lot of inspiration on the whole Geoff/Nicole relationship

Chapter 9

“Hey, have you settled down yet?”, Roman asked as he entered his daughter’s bedroom.

“Yeah, the room looks pretty much the same as how I left it”, she smiled.

“So, how’s your mum?”, Roman asked curiously.

“Good”, she said uninterested.

“that’s it? Just good?”

“What do you want me to say? Yes, she’s got a new house, new car, a new boyfriend, she’s very happy dad”, Nicole answered defensively.

Roman was surprised at Nicole’s outburst. Obviously she was in a bad mood or she didn’t want to talk about her mum for some reason.

“Okay then”, he said “So.. Irene’s giving a small party tonight, to celebrate her birthday. I would like it if you came”, he told her.

Suddenly Nicole’s phone rang. She got her purse, looked at the callers ID and turned it off, before answering her father’s question.

“Yeah, whatever”, she said before leaving the room and leaving her father worried.

As she went downstairs, Aden entered the house.

“Hey!”, he said surprised “I didn’t know you were back”, he laughed.

“Well, you know now”, she said as she rolled her eyes and left the house, leaving Aden behind all confused.

“Life in the city isn’t doing any good to that girl”, he said as Roman came downstairs.

“Why? Did she say anything?”, he asked.

“No, that’s just it. She didn’t even say hi, I would have thought she would be a little happy to see me back”, he smirked.

“I think something happened in the city. I mean, she’s acting all weird about it, she has changed”, Roman said.

“Honestly, I think this is all about Geoff”, Aden said “I mean, she will have to face him someday”.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right”, he said, not fully convinced.

Nicole was walking down the beach, clearing her head. She thought about the agreement she made with Geoff, three months ago. She wondered if he had forgotten about it. She knew she had to face him soon, but she didn’t wanted to. She was scared. She would have to tell him why she left like that, without saying properly goodbye to him. A question where she didn’t know the answer to herself. Then he would start to ask all these questions about her life in the city, just like Roman. And that’s something she wanted to avoid. She wanted to forget. She wished she had never left the bay, then all of this wouldn’t have happened…

Later, she went to the diner. She thought if some people knew she was back, she didn’t have to go and tell Geoff herself. But then she saw them. Right in front of her was Geoff. He was laughing with this girl she had never seen before. And that wasn’t all she saw. He was holding her hand and kissing her. She wanted to escape, but she was still progressing what she just had seen. And then it was too late, as the couple stood right in front of her.

“Nicole”, Geoff asked surprised.

“What are you doing here? “, he asked nervously.

“Hello to you too.”, she said with a lot of attitude.

“Oh, sorry I just wasn’t expecting to see you here, that’s all”, he apologised.

“So I see”, she said as she turned to look at Claudia and studying her.

“Oh, yeah, sorry, Nicole, this is Claudia. Claudia, Nicole”, he said more and more nervous, because he felt very awkward.

“Hi”, Claudia said sweetly. “So you are Nicole. I’ve heard a lot about you”, she said as she smiled to Geoff.

Nicole didn’t say anything for a long time, she just looked at the girl and after a while she just said “Yeah, well.. Wish I could say the same from you” before leaving the diner.

“That was very… uhm”, Claudia started.

“You just have to get to know her”, Geoff said confused.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea”, she said. “I can’t belief this is the Nicole you were talking about. I can’t imagine you being with somebody like that”, she said.

“No, there’s just something different about her.”, Geoff said.

As soon as Nicole left the diner, she felt sick. She was hurt, but she couldn’t show it to him. She had to be indifferent to him, she wasn’t supposed to care. She was mad at him. But she knew she had no right to be mad at him, she left him. And there had happened some others things in the city she wasn’t proud off……

[jdoddy]

I agree with the inspiration thing - but i'm holding out as much hope as humanly possible

[Red Ranger 1]

Really intrigued by that chapter, Nicole's obviously hiding something and I hope you find the inspiration to tell us what!

[laura549]

Still not sure what her big secret is , but I'm sure I'll come up with something eventually

If you've got any suggestions on that, let me know

Chapter 10

After seeing Geoff and his new girlfriend at the diner, Nicole really wasn’t in the mood to go to a party and especially not Irene’s. He was going to be there for sure and the last thing she felt like doing was having to watch Geoff hanging around that girl.

“Are you almost ready?”, Roman asked his daughter as she entered the kitchen.

“Uhm, yeah, about the party, I think I’m just going to stay home tonight”, she answered.

“Oh, come on Nic. It’s a good opportunity for you to catch up with everyone and let them know you’re back in town”, he said.

“yeah, I bet they all missed me”, she said sarcastically.

“What’s up with the attitude?”, Roman asked seriously, “Ever since you came back, there’s something different about you?”, he said as he waited for an answer.

Instead of answering her father’s question, she avoided his concern by agreeing to go with him to Irene’s.

“Okay, I’ll go to the stupid party, I’m going to get ready”, she said while leaving Roman behind, all confused. But maybe Aden was right and this is all just about Geoff. Yes it had to be, why else wouldn’t she go to Irene’s? She just doesn’t want to face Geoff. Even Roman had to admit he was disappointed that they had broken up. Geoff was exactly what his daughter needed, he had a good influence on her.

When they arrived at Irene’s party, everybody was already present. Including Geoff and Claudia.

She wanted to stay as far away as she could from the pair. So she was happy when she saw Belle and Aden.

“Am I getting at least a hello tonight?”, Aden asked as he saw Nicole and reminded her of their previous meeting when she almost bumped into him.

“yeah, sorry about that”, she smiled.

“I forgive you, welcome back princess”, Aden said as he tried to hug her, but after a brief touch, she pulled back fast, Aden looked puzzled.

“What are you doing?”, she smiled.

“Giving you a warm welcome home”, he said.

“That’s not necessary”, she said, and she smiled at him, trying to cover up the pain she felt inside.

“See, not everybody wants you”, Belle laughed at Aden.

He smiled at her, then looked at Nicole. He didn’t fall for her little act, he saw she was different, he saw her pain.

“Nicole, you’re back!”, Annie interrupted.

Nicole was really annoyed, she didn’t even want to be at this party and after what just happened with Aden, she didn’t feel the need to stay. But she had to. And she had to be nice. She didn’t want everybody to question her behaviour and she didn’t want everybody to start asking questions about the time she spend in the city with her mum.

“Yeah”, she smiled.

“for good? Or are you just visiting your dad?”

“No, I’m staying, I was just visiting my mum”, Nicole said.

“Oh”, she said nervously. She wanted to ask her if she had already talked to Geoff, but she didn’t have the courage. It’s none of her business anyway, she’s just curious and worried about Geoff.

“I’m going to get a drink, can I get you guys anything?”, Nicole asked.

“No, we’re fine”, they answered.

Nicole headed to the kitchen in a hurry, wanting to escape the crowd for a while. But that didn’t go as planned as she crashed into Geoff on her way and he spilled all the drinks he was carrying on himself and Nicole.

“I’m so sorry! I did not see you coming”, Geoff started apologising.

“Oh my God, look at this mess” Irene interrupted.

“Sorry Irene, I’ll clean it up, I didn’t see her coming”, Geoff rattled.

“It’s okay Geoff, I got it, now, you kids get yourself cleaned up in the bathroom”, Irene said.

“Again, I’m really sorry, I wasn’t looking”, Geoff apologised as they entered the bathroom, assuming she was angry with him as she hadn’t said a word to him.

“It doesn’t matter, Geoff”, she said calmly.

She didn’t look at him as she said it, she just wanted to concentrate on getting the stains out of her top. She wanted to avoid the conversation she knew was coming.

“Here let me help you”, Geoff offered as he took a step towards her, but at the same time she took a step backwards, not wanting him to touch her. He saw the fear in her eyes.

“No, I got it”, she said quickly, still avoiding his gaze.

Suddenly Belle entered the bathroom.

“Here, I thought you could use this”, she said as she threw a new shirt at Geoff. “And I got you something too, I know it isn’t your style, but at least it doesn’t smell like orange juice”, she laughed as she gave Nicole a shirt of hers.

“Thanks”, she smiled.

As she turned around, she saw Geoff standing there, with his shirt off, still trying to get the stains out of his other t-shirt. Nicole waited, until he gave up and just changed his shirt.

“Ready?”, he asked, but then realised Nicole hadn’t changed yet.

“Oh, right, I’ll go outside”, he said nervously, realising she wanted some privacy.

It was weird for him seeing her acting like that. He knew they weren’t together anymore, but she had never been shy. Even when they just met, she’s never had a problem undressing herself in front of him. That sounded weird, Geoff thought, he had to stop thinking about her, that’s for sure…

“Are you okay there?”, Roman asked his daughter as he saw her coming out of the bathroom.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be, I got the stains out of my shirt”, she said distracted.

“No, that’s not what I mean. Of all the people here, you bumped into your ex boyfriend”, he said carefully. “Did you two had a chance to talk about things?”

“There’s nothing to talk about”, she said defensively. “He’s got a new girlfriend and I’m over him”, she said.

“Are you sure about that, because honestly Nic, you’ve been acting weird and I think it has to do something with Geoff”, he said.

“Yes I’m sure”, she said annoyed.

“How do you know so sure?”, he tried.

“Because… Because I’m in love with somebody else!”, Nicole yelled at him in annoyance.

She didn’t intend to say it, but she did. She didn’t intend for Geoff to hear her saying it, but he did.