Home & Away Celebration Dinner

This is my first foray into the world of Home and Away fanfiction. Other than this, I have also written fics for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alias. This is also my first attempt at all-out fluff. I generally like to mix in a bit of fluff with angst. But I thought that poor Dani deserved a break, and well, she and Scott are just too cute for words. :)

I'm in the UK, so we're quite a bit behind you lot in Australia. At the moment, Dani has just found out that the charges have been dropped, and Brodie's just come back and all that stuff. This is set in the episode where Dani finds out she's free. We never did get to see the celebration dinner she and Scott had. I felt cheated. I just had to write it! ;)

Please, please review and tell me what you think, even if it's to tell me that you hated it. At least then I'll know that someone actually read it!

Dani Sutherland was giddy with happiness. She was ecstatic. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she felt liberated. Earlier that day, she had received the wonderful news that the charges against her had been dropped; she was finally, blissfully, free, and she and Scott were preparing a celebration meal. At least, they had been. As soon as they had realised that they had the house to themselves for the entire night, the vegetables and other food had been forgotten and for the last ten minutes they had been standing in the middle of the tiny kitchen just kissing and holding each other.

"Mmm, I'm so glad it's just the two of us tonight," Dani murmured between kisses.

Scott pulled back from her slightly and raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really? Why would that be?" he asked her suggestively before resuming the kissing and walking her backwards towards the table.

"Well, I can't really imagine having a romantic dinner with Alex and Noah, can you?" she teased.

"No," he laughed, kissing her again. He lifted her onto the table, just narrowly missing the vegetables she had been chopping, and moved to stand between her legs. She pushed the chopping board away from her, to the other end of the table. "You're the only person in Summer Bay I want to have a romantic dinner with."

"You're the only person in the world I want to have a romantic dinner with," she told him pointedly.

"Oh, I don't know about the world – you might make the top five," he grinned.

"Hey!" she protested indignantly, playfully hitting him. "You'll pay for that comment later, Scott Hunter."

"I'd like to see you try, Danielle Sutherland," he smirked, while she pulled him closer. He leaned in to kiss her, and just as he got close enough, she hopped down from the table, gently pushing past him to continue chopping the vegetables. "Dani," he groaned, coming to stand behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. She leaned back into him and smiled innocently. "Fine," he smiled, and kissed her on the cheek before going over to check on the rice that was cooking.

"So where is Noah, anyway?" she asked

"He's gone for a walk with Kit. He said he won't be back until late tonight."

"Those two seem pretty close lately, don't they?"

"Yeah, but they're just friends. I know you'd love for them to get together, and so would I, but it's just not going to happen. Noah doesn't feel that way about her."

"I know," she sighed. "Kit knows it too, and she's accepted it, I think. But that doesn't change the way she feels about him."

"Do you really think she has accepted it?" he asked, stopping what he was doing and turning to face her.

"Yeah, I do," she looked down at the potato she was peeling and blushed as she thought about how she knew. "She said that she sees the way you look at me, and she knows that Noah won't ever look at her that way." She couldn't help smiling as she said it. Though she was sad for her friends that their relationship could not work out, she had secretly been pleased when Kit had commented on Scott's love for her; she loved the fact that it was as obvious to everyone else as it was to her.

"The way I look at you, huh? What way would that be?" he teased, understanding her smile.

She put the knife down and turned to face him. "Oh, I don't know. The 'Oh my God, Dani's so gorgeous and I'm the luckiest guy on Earth' look?"

"Oh, that one," he nodded, taking the opportunity while she was facing him to pull her close to him for a hug, swaying her slightly as he spoke. "You'll let me know when that one gets boring, right?"

She pulled back slightly in feigned shock. "You mean you're actually capable of having a different expression on your face?"

He smiled adoringly at her, enjoying her playful sense of humour and happy that she was able to laugh and joke so easily now that the weight of the trial and the threat of prison were gone. "Of course," he said, and kissed the tip of her nose. "There's always the 'Oh my God, Dani's so gorgeous and I can't wait to get her alone tonight' look – not to be used around either of our parents – and my personal favourite, the 'I love Dani so much that I'd do absolutely anything for her' look."

"I think that one's my favourite too," she giggled. She kissed him sweetly and then turned back to the table where she was determined to finish the vegetables. They worked in silence for a while, until Dani could no longer resist saying what she was thinking. "So Noah won't be back for a long time? Must be a really long walk."

Scott laughed at the note of singsong innocence in her voice. "I think he knew that we wanted to be alone tonight."

It took them a lot longer than it should have done to prepare the meal; they laughed and talked the whole time, dancing together whenever they had a second to spare, laughingly twirling each other around the small space and bumping into things at every turn. Eventually there was nothing for them to do but wait for the meal to be ready.

"I'm gonna go get changed," Dani said, looking down at her clothes. Tonight was a celebration, and she wanted to look perfect. "But I need to go home, cause I left the stuff that I want to wear in my room. I won't be long – about twenty minutes." Scott raised his eyebrows and smiled. There was no way she would be ready that quickly; he knew from experience. "Half an hour!" she laughed. "I won't be longer, I promise."

"Okay," he smiled, shaking his head as she left, knowing that she would be longer. He had just turned to start clearing the table when she ran back into the room to kiss him goodbye.

Twenty minutes later, Dani had washed and dried her hair and was engaged in choosing an outfit. She had decided on a black top with short, black chiffon sleeves, casual, yet also elegant, and was currently pulling out every skirt she owned in an attempt to find one that went with it. Finding nothing that looked right, she opened her bedroom door and called downstairs for her sister, Jade.

"Jade, can I borrow one of your skirts?" she asked urgently, looking worriedly at her watch to see how much time she had left.

"Sure," Jade nodded. "What's the occasion?"

"Scott and I are having dinner to celebrate. Have you got anything that will go with this top?"

Jade wrinkled up her nose, trying to think. "I don't know. Come and have a look anyway."

The sisters went quickly into Jade and Kirsty's room to look for a skirt. Finally, after Jade had taken out almost everything she owned to show her older sister, they found something that was perfect. It was a plain white skirt made from a light and summery material, with lace around the hem. Dani tried it on and looked in the mirror. It came down to just above her knees and fitted perfectly with her theme of casual but nice. She then borrowed Jade's makeup, having left her own at Scott's place, and slipped her feet into a pair of comfortable, summery shoes. Looking in the mirror one final time, she was pleased. Her hair was slightly curled in places, framing the pretty, almost child-like features of her face, and the freedom and happiness she felt gave her cheeks an excited flush, which contrasted with her beautiful green eyes. Scott always told her that she would look beautiful no matter what she wore, and a part of her knew that it was true; she had a natural beauty that enabled her to pull off almost anything. But she wanted tonight to be perfect, and though she knew that it didn't matter to Scott if she put makeup on, or what she was wearing, she wanted to look perfect.

"You look amazing, Dan," Jade told her enthusiastically.

"Thanks," she grinned. It had taken her forty minutes to get ready – ten minutes longer than she'd promised – but it was worth it. The look on Scott's face when he saw her would make it all worthwhile.

"Sorry I took so long!" she called over her shoulder as she shut the door. She came into the kitchen and her breath caught in her throat when she saw what Scott had done. The table was set, complete with candles, and the room was dark, apart from the candles which stood all around the work surfaces, showing the room in a romantic light. Hearing the door shut, Scott came back into the kitchen from his room where he had been getting ready, though, unlike his girlfriend, it had taken him only a few minutes to change into a shirt and jeans.

"Wow," he said, when he saw her standing staring around her.

"I was about to say the same thing," she breathed.

He came towards her and held out a bouquet of roses coloured the deepest red she had ever seen. "Dani...you're the most amazing person. I can't tell you how much you deserve this freedom."

"They're beautiful," she gasped, taking the roses. "Thank you," she whispered, looking up at him tearfully. Gently, he took the roses and put them on the table so they wouldn't be crushed between them. Then he took her in his arms and hugged her tightly, comforting himself just as much as he comforted her. She was safe from prison. Their nightmare was over.

"Just so you know, I won't be hassling you about taking too long to get ready anymore. If it takes you forty minutes to look like this, then it was time well spent, I say," he told her, and she laughed through her tears.

While they ate, they talked about anything and everything; their friends, their families, Rhys and Beth's upcoming wedding, Dani's course at Uni, and their plans for the rest of the holidays.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Scott said excitedly.

"Yeah?" Dani looked up enquiringly.

"We should go away for a few days. The boat's free for the next week - we could go somewhere relaxing, spend some real time alone together."

"Get away from our crazy families," Dani continued with a smile.

"That's the idea," he agreed.

"It sounds great." She leaned back in her chair, still smiling. It seemed that the smile would be permanently present from now on, at least, it seemed that way now, while she was having a wonderfully romantic evening with Scott without having to think about the insanity of her family. She watched him curiously as he cleared the table of their empty plates and set out another plate each. He felt her eyes on him when he went to the fridge and took out a box, knowing that his surprise was driving her crazy with suspense.

"Mum came by while you were gone. She made this for us." He took the lid off the box and set it on the table. Inside was a chocolate cake adorned with strawberries.

"Aw, that was so sweet of her!" exclaimed Dani, her smile growing impossibly wider. She knew that Scott's mother, soon to be her own stepmother when she married Rhys, was a great cook, but she had no idea when Beth had found the time to do this. Scott cut them both a piece and for a while they ate in a comfortable silence.

"Dan?" Scott called to get her attention, picking a strawberry off the top of the cake. She looked up and he leant across the table and popped it into her mouth, laughing when she appreciatively licked the chocolate icing from his fingers. "You're such a kid sometimes," he joked affectionately.

"Mmm," she agreed casually, leaning across to offer him a forkful of her cake. "It's why you love me." An innocent smile danced across her face, as if she wasn't aware that she could charm him into doing anything with just one glance in his direction.

Later, while they washed up together, occasionally flicking each other with bubbles, they reflected on the lovely evening they had spent. Scott handed Dani a plate to dry, and she gazed up at him with a look of such love that he actually felt his heart speed up.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"For what?" he asked, the plate still held by both of them.

"For everything."

THE END


End file.

Home & Away, Romance