Driftwood

[Ludub]

Thanks everyone for all the kind comments  Much appreciated! (And Pembie, maybe I missed an opportunity there and I should have called Alfie 'Wilson', lol! ) Hope you all like this chapter x

 

WARNING: ADULT THEMES

 

Chapter 9

 

 

“Um… so… I wanted to talk to you both about something…” said Maddy, sitting on the edge of the couch with a nervous little smile on her face. “Um so…” she stammered, looking back and forth at them as she tried to find the right words. She was excited and nervous at the same time and wasn’t sure how they were going to react. She hoped that they’d be happy.

“C’mon Maddy, just spit it out…” said Roo, laughing at her a little. Maddy always seemed to get herself really worked up about things and sometimes having her around was a bit like having an over-excited puppy in the house. “…I can see you’re dying to tell us!” she coaxed.

“Well… um… so you know I was supposed to be going back to England next week?” she said, starting to clap her hands together and flashing them a huge white smile, “Well… Dave and I have been talking… and he’s trying to get a visa sorted… Soooo… well… I’m going to stay for a while longer! Maybe a year!” She squealed and started dancing in her seat in an excited sort of way like a small child would, “And he’s coming over!”

“Oh, that’s fantastic!” exclaimed Roo, holding her arms out to her for a hug, “I’m so pleased!”

“Where are you gonna live?” asked Matt, looking at her in concern. He had a feeling that he knew where this was going and he really wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

“Um… well… I was thinking…” she said, letting go of Roo and smiling at Matt with real excitement. “Seeing as you and Roo are getting your own place…” she started to say but Roo interrupted her.

“You were going to ask Dad if you could move in here?!” asked Roo, glancing at Matt a little nervously. They’d been looking at places over the last couple of weeks, but the truth was that she didn’t really want to move out, and she was hoping against hope that Alf would give in when he saw that they were calling his bluff. She wanted desperately for him to see the error of his ways and to beg them to stay. This was the only place that she really felt safe. “Um… we hadn’t fully decided to…”

“Well, actually…” said Maddy, looking a little sheepish, “I already asked Mr Stewart and he said he’d be happy to have us… He said we could take your room when you go but I should speak to you two first.”

Roo turned to look at Matt with fear-filled eyes as the realisation hit her. Her father wasn’t going to fall at their feet and beg them to stay. He didn’t seem to care what they did! Whether they stayed or went. Worse than that, he’d already lined up someone else to take their place when they were gone.

“But we…” Roo started to say, looking at Matt for help, “We hadn’t… we haven’t really…”

“That’s fine, Maddy” said Matt, shrugging his shoulders in a defeated way as he got up from the armchair, “We’ll find somewhere soon… and then I guess this place’ll be all yours.” He couldn’t hide the hurt in his voice as he wondered what all that stuff out in the car had been about. Alf clearly hadn’t really changed his mind about anything and he felt foolish for believing that he had. He obviously wanted them out of there as soon as possible and had even invited Maddy and her boyfriend to take their place. Why couldn’t he have just said so himself?! Getting Maddy to do his dirty work like this seemed surprisingly cowardly for a man that always prided himself on being outspoken. But if that’s what Alf wanted then Matt was going to make sure that they got out of there in the next week or so. They’d go! They’d find somewhere pretty sharpish, even if it was only temporary, until they found somewhere better. Part of him just wanted to pack his bags and leave tonight. He didn’t want to stay where he wasn’t welcome. Even sleeping on the beach would have been better than this! He knew that Roo would never agree to it though, so they’d just have to suck it up for the next few days, and hope that they found somewhere soon.

“But we might not find somewhere we like” said Roo, looking decidedly panicky. “I’m not going anywhere until we find somewhere suitable.”

“We’ll find somewhere” said Matt, failing to pick up on the rising panic in Roo’s voice. He walked over to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. “We slept in a hut with a roof made of twigs and leaves for four years, Roo… Even one of those vans out there is more suitable than that.”

“Well, I’ve come up in the world in the last few weeks!” she snapped, with an angry tone to her voice, “I don’t intend slumming it like that ever again in my life!” She hadn’t meant to sound quite as aggressive about it, but the thought of going back to sleep in that shack just horrified her. In some ways it was comforting at times to imagine the sounds of the ocean and the closeness that she and Matt had shared in their little hut, but then other traumatic memories would come flooding back too and she’d be overcome with fear and anxiety. There was nothing in the world that could have persuaded her to go back there. “Excuse me if I want my creature comforts, Matt… I was denied them for four years!”

“Okay, okay” he laughed, giving her a little smile and a wink, “We’ll find somewhere ‘perfect’ then.” He was sure that they’d find somewhere nice if they just looked hard enough. Brody hadn’t fired him yet and had even agreed to give him another chance. As long as he didn’t blow it again, he was gainfully employed, and he figured that they should be able to afford something relatively comfortable.

“Well, I’m not moving anywhere until we find something I like” said Roo, shaking her head at him in a determined sort of way. If she could delay just long enough, then she was sure that her dad would have a change of heart. She’d get to stay here where she belonged. She looked at Maddy and shrugged her shoulders, “We’ll have to see how long that takes… but I mean, you two can always just stay in the room you’re in now.”

Matt gave a quiet little sigh and rolled his eyes at the ceiling when neither of them were looking. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of.

“Okay, well, we’ll just play it by ear then” said Maddy, throwing her arms around Roo and giving Matt a thumbs up behind Roo’s back. “You two are just going to love Dave! He has the funniest accent… ‘Free Fahs-and!’” she laughed, “That’s how he says ‘three thousand! …He’s a proper Cockney!”

“I’m sure he’s lovely” said Roo, tucking Maddy’s hair behind her ear again and glancing across at Matt. “We’ll look forward to meeting him.”

“I think I might head to bed” said Matt, giving Roo an uneasy little smile. He really didn’t like the idea of some random English man moving into the house. It was just more people that he’d have to make awkward chit chat with. “You coming up too?” he asked Roo as he lifted Alfie out of his cot and onto his hip. Two chubby little arms hooked themselves around his neck and he headed towards the hallway.

“I’ll be up in a minute” said Roo, nodding at him to go on up. Maddy had asked to have a private chat with her before bed but she wasn’t really sure why.

“So, I have an idea for you” grinned Maddy, peering out into the hallway to make sure that Matt was gone. She delved into her handbag and produced a little velvet bag with a drawstring and dangled it in front of Roo. She gave her a very mischievous smile as Roo took the bag from her and opened it.

Roo’s eyes widened as she pulled the object out of the bag and realised what it was. “Why…?” she asked, beginning to grin involuntarily, “Why on earth would you give me these?”

“It’s to help with your sleepwalking” she said, giggling loudly when she saw Roo’s reaction, “…but there’s no reason you two can’t have a little fun with them too!”

 

*****

 

“Maddy gave them to you?!” exclaimed Matt, eyeing the pink fluffy object in Roo’s hands with a certain trepidation, “Why would Maddy…?”

“She got them for a Hen party over in London” smiled Roo, clicking one of the cuffs around Matt’s wrist. “She thought it might spice up our love life.” she said, giving him a little wink and attaching the other cuff to one of the spindles on the headboard above his head.

“Uhhh…. Okay?” he said, looking at the pink furry handcuff around his wrist a little nervously and pulling at it to check whether it really was secure. They might have been pink and furry but they’d have been just as hard to get out of as any pair of handcuffs used by the police. He was definitely secured to the bed. He would have had to break the thick wooden spindle to get out. He felt a sort of flutter in the base of his stomach as he watched Roo place the key on the dresser on the far side of the room. He wasn’t sure if he was scared, or turned on, or both. “So… My ex-girlfriend is giving my current girlfriend kinky gifts to… to what? Spice things up for us in the bedroom?!”

“Not exactly” said Roo, climbing on top of him with a mischievous smile, “She thought it’d help with my sleepwalking… Y’know… So I can’t wander off…”

“Then why am I the one handcuffed to the bed?” he asked, laughing a little nervously as she began to kiss his naked chest. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“Well… we did talk about you being my willing slave, didn’t we?” she giggled, pulling herself up to kiss him on the lips. “We can have a bit of fun first, can’t we?”

 

*****

 

Matt rolled over in the bed and kissed Roo lightly on the shoulder. This had been the first night of proper sleep that he’d had in ages and he felt so much better than he had in weeks. He laughed when he looked at the pink furry handcuff around his wrist, and the other one around Roo’s, and thought how simple a solution it had actually been. How had none of the doctors or sleep specialists suggested it? How had he never thought of it?! They’d slept together side by side, safe in the knowledge that Roo couldn’t go anywhere without him. He’d actually been able to sleep. Seven hours of unbroken and glorious sleep! Other people just took it for granted but he knew how precious it was. He didn’t know how to begin to thank Maddy. Those cuffs had been the best gift that anyone had ever given them, in more ways than one.

“Sleep well?” he asked, pulling in close behind her and leaning in to kiss her neck. He could see that she was pretending to be asleep from the soft smile curling on her lips so he began to tickle her lightly on her side.

“Stop it!” she giggled, rolling onto her back and wriggling a little to get away from him, “Can’t you let a woman get her beauty sleep?!”

“You don’t need it” he said, stroking her hair away from her face and leaning in for a kiss, “You’re beautiful enough as it is.”

“Oh well, aren’t you the charmer?” she said, shaking her head at him and rolling her eyes as she laughed, “Anyone would think you were trying to get into my pants.”

“Didn’t think you were trying to keep me out of them!” he teased, plucking at the waistband of her pyjama bottoms so it snapped back against her tummy.

They both turned to look at the wall behind the headboard when they heard what sounded like a rather deliberate cough on the other side. Matt’s eyes widened and he bit his bottom lip as he looked at Roo with embarrassment. He kept forgetting how thin the walls were. Roo covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to stifle her laughter. “Oh God!” she whispered, “I keep forgetting that Maddy’s next door!”

“She’s the one that gave you those handcuffs…” whispered Matt, blushing bright red. “She wasn’t in there last night though, was she?!”

“No, I think she said she was gonna sit up and watch a movie” said Roo, still keeping her voice low and whispered.

They both lay back on the bed and giggled as quietly as they could manage, glancing at each other every now and then, and setting each other off again every time they thought the other one had stopped.

After a while, Roo rolled onto her side and put her head on Matt’s shoulder. “Did you sleep?” she asked, looking a little more serious all of a sudden, “Tell me you got some sleep?”

“I did” he said, giving a happy sigh and running his fingers through his hair, “I haven’t slept so well in such a long time.”

“This was such a good idea!” exclaimed Roo, lifting both their hands up with the cuffs around their wrists, “I can’t believe we never thought of this!”

“I know” said Matt, shaking his head in wonder, “It seems so obvious when you think about it.”

“Not sure I would have chosen these ones though” she laughed, looking at the illuminous shade of pink, “Blue is more my colour.”

“At least they’re comfy” he said, giving her a little wink, “Especially if we’re gonna be doing this every night.”

“Comfy they might be, but I need to get out now…” she said, sliding to the side of the bed and motioning with her head for him to follow, “I really need to pee.”

They walked, cuffed together, to the dresser and retrieved the key. Roo smiled at him as she unlocked both their wrists and set the cuffs back on the dresser. “I’ll be back in a minute” she said, as she turned to leave the room.

He looked in on Alfie for a moment and smiled down at his sleeping little face. Maybe things would be okay now? Handcuffing themselves together to go to sleep was pretty unusual behaviour, but there were worse things in the world, and if it allowed him to get some sleep then he certainly wasn’t against the idea. He climbed back into bed and lay back with one hand behind his head. Things were starting to feel a little more manageable.

Roo walked back in with a perturbed look on her face and her hand on her tummy. She looked at him with furrowed brows and asked, “Am I getting fat?”

“No, of course not!” said Matt, purely out of reflex. Any man in his right mind knows that the only sane answer to that question is ‘no’ and that any hesitation is likely to cause a fight. As he looked at her now though, he couldn’t deny that she did look a little more roly poly. She did have a little bit of a paunch. But then their diet had changed so much since they’d been home, and their lifestyle too, that it would have been very strange if they’d stayed as lean and thin as they’d been on the island. He'd been piling on the pounds since he’d been back too.

“I think I have a belly” she said, turning sideways and showing him the tummy that had formed where there had been a concave space before. Her ribs had been more than visible when they’d got home and now they were definitely a little more hidden. “Don’t you think I have a belly?” she asked.

Was this a trap, he wondered. Was she looking for him to say that she was fat so that she could be annoyed with him? Or did she just want him to tell her that she didn’t have a belly and give her some reassurance that he still found her attractive? He really wasn’t sure. She’d never been insecure about her looks on the island but then she’d never had any competition or a mirror to look in. There just hadn’t been any place for vanity when every day had been a struggle to survive. “Um… well…” he stammered, sitting up to look at her properly, as she ran her hand over her little round tummy. If anything, he thought that she looked better than she had on the island. The little bit of extra weight gave her a healthier look and it gave her tanned skin a beautiful glow. He thought he’d never seen her look more beautiful. “I don’t really… You look…” he began to say, but she cut him off mid-sentence.

“I need to stop eating so much!” she laughed, hopping into the bed beside him, “I’ve just been eating everything in sight since we got home!” She pinched the skin on her tummy between her fingers and made a funny face at him, “See?! …Squidgy belly!”

“You’re beautiful” he said, taking her face in his hands and giving her a kiss. “I love you… he said, laughing a little as he leaned down to give her a kiss on the tummy, “…and your squidgy belly!”

 

*****

 

“Don’t be silly!” exclaimed Leah, shaking her head at Matt in a scolding sort of way, “I love spending time with Roo! You don’t have to thank me for that!”

“Well… I just wanted to say thank you anyway” said Matt, looking a little embarrassed. He was grateful for all the help and support that their friends had been giving them since they’d been home and he wanted to make sure that they knew that. Leah had a busy life too, with a small child, and a business to run, and her coming over all the time to keep Roo company was no small thing. “We both really appreciate it” he said, forcing her to take the bottle of wine that he’d brought for her.

“Well… okay, thanks Matt” she said, giving him a big white smile, “It’s really kind of you… But I tell you what… How about I come over to yours tonight and keep Roo company so you can have some time with your mates?”

“Um… I uh…” stammered Matt, thinking that it was the last thing that he wanted to do, “I uh…”

“What about Josh?” she asked, motioning with her head towards the door, “Why don’t you see if Josh is up to anything tonight?”

He turned to look. Josh was on his way in, linking on Andy’s arm, and they were both laughing about something. Josh was dressed a lot more casually than Matt had seen him in a while, in a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, so it looked like this was probably his day off. Andy was in his uniform for the gym with a bag slung over his shoulder.

“Hey Matt” said Andy, guiding Josh towards him at the counter at setting the bag down at his feet. He put his hand on Matt’s shoulder and gave him a friendly smile, “Good to see you, mate! How you travelling these days?”

“I’m good” said Matt, making an effort to seem friendly and relaxed, “Haven’t seen you in a while.” He felt a little stupid saying it. He hadn’t really spoken to Andy properly since before the shipwreck, and he’d actively dodged him at the welcome home party that time, so it was a bit of an understatement to say the least. He felt a bit bad that he hadn’t even talked to him about the garage going bust.

“How are you settling back in?” asked Andy, looking genuinely concerned for him, “Josh says you’re working at Salt now?”

“Yeah… It’s um…” he said, glancing at the door and fighting the urge to leave as quickly as possible. Why was it so hard for him to maintain a normal conversation? He could already feel his heart rate rising. “It’s uh… It’s going okay, I guess…” he answered.

“Is it as stuck up a place as it sounds?” asked Andy, wrinkling his nose up a little in distaste. From what he’d heard, it sounded like the stuffy kind of place that would make him feel incredibly uncomfortable. Reading English was hard enough, but trying to make sense of all those fancy food ingredients and French cooking terms seemed like more trouble than it was worth. “Heath said you get like three spoonfuls of food and it costs an arm and a leg?!”

“It’s pretty pricey” nodded Matt, thinking that it really didn’t seem like the kind of food that either Heath or Andy would find appealing. An image of the two of them in their muscle shirts trying to eat Brody’s delicate concoctions with their hands floated into his mind. Like a couple of neanderthals trying to get their heads around a chilled salad fork. He couldn’t help smirking a little at the thought. “I don’t really think it’d be your thing.” he said.

“Nah… didn’t think so.” agreed Andy, “Some people have more money than sense!”

“Actually, Tam and I were thinking of splashing out for our anniversary” said Josh, throwing Matt a little smile, “Thought it’d be nice to do something special.”

“See what I mean?!” teased Andy, elbowing him playfully in the ribs, “You mean Tam is gonna make you take her there for dinner! Mr Money-bags here!”

“Yeah, I guess that is what I meant…” laughed Josh, shoving Andy away from him, “I’d be just as happy with a pizza but Tam likes to do something a bit more… ‘special’.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head at Andy in mock disapproval, “And stop calling me money-bags… you know me and Tam are saving for a house…”

“Then stop throwing your cash away on tiny over-priced portions of food!” laughed Andy, smacking Josh in the back of the head in a playful way. He looked at his watch and nodded to Leah to come back to the counter. “Can I get a flat white to go please, Leah?” he asked, throwing his bag back over his shoulder, “I’d better get a move on or I’ll be late.”

“You having a takeaway coffee too, Josh?” asked Leah as she started to froth the milk for Andy’s coffee.

“Um, thanks Leah” said Josh, unfolding his cane, “But I’ve got the day off so I’m gonna stay for a while… Could I get an Americano?”

 “Y’know, Matt’s at a bit of a loose end this evening too.” said Leah, smiling at Matt and nodding towards Josh in an insistent sort of way, “Aren’t you, Matt? …Why don’t you and Josh do something together?”

“Uhhh” said Matt, glancing at Andy in an embarrassed way, “I’m… I uh… I was just gonna go home.” He didn’t like being put on the spot like this and he especially didn’t like the conspiratorial looks being exchanged between Leah and Andy.

“I think you could do with seeing some mates” said Leah, ignoring the glares that Matt was giving her. “Josh, you wouldn’t mind some company, would you?” she asked in a sickly sweet voice.

“Uhhh, no” said Josh, smiling in Matt’s direction, “Be nice to catch up… If you want, you could come over to mine… We could have a few beers… chill out?”

Matt’s face flushed bright red, and he glanced at Andy for a moment, unable to hide his embarrassment. Having Leah arrange a play-date for him like this was pretty humiliating. He was a grown man with a child and he didn’t need Leah treating him like he was some little kid who was having trouble making friends at school. He didn’t want people’s pity.

“I’m gonna be at work” coaxed Andy, seeing the look on Matt’s face, “The house’ll be empty, you might as well.”

“Go on, Matt!” insisted Leah, giving him a big smile, “I’ll look after Roo, I promise you.”

He turned to look at Josh. “Are you sure you don’t have stuff you need to be doing? …I mean…” he said, glancing at the other two and shaking his head in frustration, “You don’t have to take the local charity case home just because Leah tells you to.”

“How else am I gonna get my free coffee?!” laughed Josh, doing his best to wink in Leah’s direction. “That is still the deal, isn’t it?” he asked, putting on a mock serious expression.

Matt turned to look at Leah who was fighting a losing battle to keep a straight face. “That’s right, Josh… But you only get cake if you sleep with him.”

 

*****

 

“So you guys really just ate fish and seaweed?!” asked Josh, with an incredulous tone, “Like all that time… Four years?!”

“Pretty much” said Matt, nodding as he took a sip of beer. “It’s taking a while to get used to all this… ‘flavour’ again.” He leaned forward and picked up a tortilla chip from the bowl on the table. “Everything tastes really intense… like there’s tons of salt and sugar in it.”

“There probably is!” said Josh, nodding slowly at him, “You were probably better off with your diet on the island.”

“Probably” he said, staring at the chip in his hand in a distant sort of way. “In some ways I kinda miss the way we ate there.” he said, sounding a little wistful, “I’d find something and bring it home and Roo would be so excited about it… I mean, anything different and you’d think it was Christmas or something…” He threw the chip down on the table and took another sip of beer. “I remember this one time” he said, smiling a little sadly, “I found a bird’s nest and there were five little eggs in it. Little pale blue eggs… I brought them home… and I mean, we had no way of knowing if they were rotten, or if there were chicks inside there… but we were both so excited! We boiled them up and we had the tiniest boiled eggs for dinner. So little… But you know what?! …I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything so good in my life!”

Josh nodded slowly. “I guess… I guess we all just take stuff for granted, hey?” he said, thinking about how different the last four years of his life had been from Matt’s. He couldn’t imagine not being able to just go to the shop and buy your food. It was literally like Matt had spent four years living like a cave man.

“Yeah” said Matt, sounding dazed and distant again. “And I’m starting to do that again… I’ve eaten more in the last week than I probably would have in a month… It’s amazing how little you can survive on when you have to.”

“Really just fish and seaweed though?” asked Josh, shaking his head again a little incredulously, “I mean… no carbs at all? I didn’t think you could survive just on protein…”

“Yeah, well… We found this sort of… I guess… I guess you’d call it a root vegetable?” he said, grimacing a little in disgust, “It wasn’t good… but it gave you energy when you needed it.” He popped a tortilla chip in his mouth and chewed it slowly, taking in the saltiness of the seasoning, and the graininess of the chip itself. It still felt so strange in his mouth. He looked across at Josh, as he stared off into the distance with those vacant eyes of his, and he gave a little sigh. “Some things washed up on the rocks for a little while… I think they were from the cruise liner… from their kitchen… The boxes were usually a bit burnt from the explosion and most of the time the stuff inside was all mouldy and we couldn’t use any of it… But sometimes we got lucky and there was something in there that we could eat… We’d try to make it last as long as possible… like rationing… The best was when I found a box of noodles… You know those packets of instant noodles with the little sachets of flavourings?”

“You found those?!” asked Josh, wondering at the idea of boxes of food just bobbing about in the Pacific Ocean and landing up on the rocks from time to time, “And they were still edible?”

“Some of the packets were ruined” he replied, as he took another sip of beer and smiled a little sadly at the memory of it, “…but there were 47 packets that were still okay... You should have seen Roo’s face when I brought those home! 47 packets!”

“How long was that after the shipwreck?” asked Josh, wondering how long it had taken for the box to bob nearly 1000kms and reach them where they were.

“I dunno… maybe a year in… I think…?” he said, furrowing his brow as he tried to remember. “It’s hard to know” he said, shaking his head and shrugging, “We kind of lost track of time after a while… It’s hard to… It hurts to keep reminding yourself how much time has passed… so you stop after a while… You kind of have to.”

“I guess so” said Josh, nodding his head in understanding. He could imagine that it would get to be very depressing to know that you’d been stuck somewhere for years and that no-one was coming to get you. Counting the days would start to seem like a very pointless exercise.

“Things washed up for a long time” said Matt, picturing the boxes perched on rocks down near the water’s edge. They always seemed to find themselves stuck in the most hard to reach places and he’d spend days trying to figure out ways to get to them. “Not really much after Alfie was born so I guess it stopped about two years ago.” he said. He sat back against the sofa cushions and gave a little sigh. Sometimes being here in Summer Bay didn’t seem real and he felt like he’d wake up at any moment and find himself back there scrambling about on the rocks. Maybe this was all just some fantasy?

He glanced at Josh who wasn’t saying much and seemed a little lost in his own thoughts. There was something strangely comforting about talking to someone who couldn’t see him. Almost like a confessional. He didn’t have to force himself to make eye contact or worry about whether he looked nervous and uncomfortable. He could just talk. He could talk to Josh in a way that he couldn’t really talk to anyone else. He decided to tell him what happened. Completely on a whim. It was something that he didn’t really like to talk about so he wasn’t sure why he was bringing it up. He didn’t even like to talk about it with Roo. “There was this one time…” he began, feeling his heartrate pick up momentum and wondering why he was telling him this now, “This one time, I was out foraging… and I was hoping to find some of these little berries that Roo really liked because I thought she needed some… like vitamin C and stuff… with the pregnancy… and I saw one of those boxes washed up on the rocks… and… there hadn’t been one for a while… so…”

Suddenly there was a loud knocking and they both turned towards the door. “Are you expecting someone?” asked Matt, looking a little startled.

“Uhh…No…?” said Josh, getting to his feet and feeling his way to the door. “Hello?” he asked, as he opened it.

“Hey Josh!” said Oscar, glancing past him to a wide-eyed and nervous looking Matt sitting on the couch in the living-room. “Oh, hey Matt.” he said, waving at him from the doorway, “I didn’t know you’d be here too.” He held up a six-pack of beer and a couple of big bags of chips with a smile.

“Hi” said Matt, giving him a little smile but looking decidedly uncomfortable, “How’s things?”

“Come on in” said Josh, walking in careful measured steps back to his seat on the couch. He nodded for Oscar to take the armchair and threw him a smile. “Me and Matt were just having a few beers. D’ya want one?”

“I came prepared” smiled Oscar, setting his pack of beers down on the table, “Like a good boy scout! ...I brought a six pack, and some chips too.”

“So what’s up?” asked Josh, trying to make Oscar feel welcome but mindful at the same time of how uncomfortable Matt was probably feeling. He hadn’t invited Oscar exactly, but he’d mentioned to him that he had the day off, so him calling over like this hadn’t been completely unexpected.

Matt eyed the bags of chips lying on the table and felt his chest begin to tighten. He could hear Oscar and Josh talking about the fact that Callie had wangled some free tickets to Comic Con through her work, but he couldn’t really concentrate on what they were saying. It had all just become white noise. He leaned across, picking the yellow and green bag off the table, and held it in his shaking hands. Chicken flavour Twisties?! Of all the brands and flavours of chips available to buy, why on earth had Oscar chosen those ones?!

“Ever been to Comic Con, Matt?” asked Oscar, trying to bring him into the conversation. “Matt?” he asked again, looking at him with growing concern when he didn’t get an answer. He couldn’t help noticing the pale colour that he’d gone and the tremble in his hands as he clutched the bag of chips in front of him. “You okay, Matt?!” he asked.

“Matt?!” said Josh, reaching over and patting him lightly on the knee, “You okay, mate?!”

[Red Ranger 1]

Ooh, a bit awkward.While it's not a good idea to leave on bad terms with Alf, Roo and Matt getting their own place isn't that bad an idea but they seem to have very different ideas about it.Matt continues to struggle with people, I'm wondering if some memory's been triggered off at the end there.

[Guest]

Great chapter

I had to laugh when Leah forced Josh to have a boys night in with Matt.

Whoa at Oscar turning up and a bit awkward at the end I wonder if Matt was having another panic attack.

Update again soon

 

[KittCatt]

Great Chapter!

Poor Matt  Certainly doesn't seem to like chicken twisties... And Oscar's certainly seen his fair share of Roo and Matt struggling now.. Hope Josh will be able to help Matt. And i wonder what he was about to tell Josh before Oscar arrived?

The Roo and Matt stuff at the beginning was cute. Especially with the handcuffs.. Maddy certainly thought of a brilliant idea! Pity Alf wants to live with her more than his own daughter though..

I also liked Matt talking to Josh about his diet on the Island. But i wonder if Roo's weight gain is more than food?

I look forward to more!  

[pembie]

Had to laugh at Matt thinking Roo looked abit Roly Poly

But what a bummer that Oscar turned up just when Matt was about to tell Josh something juicy..

Oh no not the deadly chicken twisties

As for not naming Alfie Wilson I will forgive you I hadn't thought of it either untill you mentioned Tom Hanks and Castaway in the last chapter

[Ludub]

12 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

While it's not a good idea to leave on bad terms with Alf, Roo and Matt getting their own place isn't that bad an idea but they seem to have very different ideas about it.

Thanks Red  I think you're right there. It probably would be best for them to find somewhere on their own so they can have some sense of family life back again. Living with Alf is like taking a step back to bring kids again and with all of Matt's insecurities that's not a good thing. (And they might like to be able to have sex without Matt's ex girlfriend listening in, however amusing that might be! Lol!)

12 hours ago, Kristen said:

I had to laugh when Leah forced Josh to have a boys nigh in with Matt.

Thanks Kristen! Glad you liked this bit. Pretty embarrassing for Matt alright, and it wasn't like Josh could really say no. She kinda put them both on the spot, haha! 

5 hours ago, KittCatt said:

Poor Matt  Certainly doesn't seem to like chicken twisties...

I also liked Matt talking to Josh about his diet on the Island. But i wonder if Roo's weight gain is more than food?

 

2 minutes ago, pembie said:

Oh no not the deadly chicken twisties

Thanks KittCatt and Pembie!  Haha! Yeah, Oscar chose badly didn't he?! Is it sad that I sat and googled Australian crisps last night?! Lol. Never eaten a Twistie, chicken or otherwise, so I'm not sure how scary they might actually be. Matt might have a point for all I know.

I started thinking about how bland food would be without seasonings and oils if you're used to western processed foods, and how difficult it would be to adjust back to our food once you got used to natural basic food for all those years. Hard either way! 

6 minutes ago, pembie said:

Had to laugh at Matt thinking Roo looked abit Roly Poly

'Roly poly' - not a term I'd use to describe Roo either, so it made me chuckle. Glad you liked it!

Thanks to all of you for commenting!  Really appreciate it. xxx 

[hward]

Great chapter, even though Oscar turned up just when it seemed like we were going to find out what happened to Matt.

I'm thinking Roo is pregnant again?

[Ludub]

3 minutes ago, hward said:

Great chapter, even though Oscar turned up just when it seemed like we were going to find out what happened to Matt.

Thanks hward  Glad you enjoyed it! That was bad timing, wasn't it?  I guess you'll have to wait a little while longer to find out, haha!

[Inactive User]

Great chapter, Ludub

I echo everyone's comments above ^

Wondering what is up with Matt at the end of this chapter....?

Looking forwards to the next chapter Xxx

[Ludub]

57 minutes ago, ~JarlieFanEver~ said:

Great chapter, Ludub

I echo everyone's comments above ^

Wondering what is up with Matt at the end of this chapter....?

Looking forwards to the next chapter Xxx

Thanks Jarlie  Glad you're enjoying it! x