Vacation: All He Ever Wanted

A/N: Yes, yes, I know. This chapter disappeared for a while. And while the reviews still show up under number of reviews, the ones posted for this chapter are lost, which is aggravating because I hadn't read some of them yet.

And yes, this is the final chapter.

~*~ Jason’s POV ~*~

Mrs. Haisley herself couldn't stop me right then. I bolted past her into the room, knocking her down in the process. It'd taken us far too long to realize Savannah was even gone, I should've been paying more attention, damnit, and then when we realized Richard was gone too…

"I told you not to touch her!" I hissed. I grabbed his shoulders and spun him around, forcing him to let go of the plastic sword currently lodged in Savvy's pussy. His dark eyes bugged out for a second; I made sure they closed by ramming my fist into his cheek. He stumbled backwards into the wall. My hand stung, but not enough to make me stop. The Haisleys just stood in the doorway and watched in grim silence.

I deserved this.

I warned you, I thought, punching him in the face again. Blood started to come out of his nose; I'd probably broken it. Good. I warned you, you miserable son of a bitch! I told you not to touch her! My thoughts were coming too hot and fast for me to think of a fighting strategy, not that Rich was putting up any struggle. Coward.

A well-aimed punch to the ribs made him sink to the floor. I was blind for a full minute, unaware of my exact attacks. I felt my hands aching and my leg twisting, though, I knew I was giving him hell. I warned him, I told him to stay away from her, I told him I'd come after him if he hurt her, and he'd hurt her bad, I was going to kill him!

That miserable son of a bitch! That fucking bastard! That asshole! I'd kill him! I'd kill him!

Mrs. Haisley touched my shoulder.

I jerked out of my rage and glared at her, my chest aching with the force of my breath. "Enough, Jason," she whispered softly, cupping my chin in her hand. With black contacts in, her stare made it impossible to refuse. My fingers slowly let go of Rich's neck, and he gasped and spluttered, the blue going out of his face. Mrs. Haisley stroked the side of my face and gently kissed my cheek. I stood up, stared down at her for a minute, and stepped off of Richard. He was gripping his sides; hopefully I'd broken some ribs.

But that still wasn't enough. I could've kept going. It would be easy to beat him into a coma. But Mrs. Haisley and Jack were giving me looks, so I reluctantly satisfied myself with spitting in the bastard's face. "Burn in Hell," I muttered, meaning every word.

He twitched slightly. Blood covered his face, and his breathing was shallow and jerky. If he died, I wouldn't be that upset. Honestly, I would've risked jail time to be able to finish him off. What jury would convict me? He'd been in the middle of hurting Savvy. I stopped him. He'd been struggling, I'd needed to keep hitting him. Right.

I turned around and stumbled over to the table where Savannah was laying. She'd curled up into the fetal position. The skirt of her dress was bunched up around her waist. Her thighs were covered in globs of thick white cum. I gently wiped the globs off with my thumb. She didn't respond to my touch at all, not even when I smoothly pulled the sword out of her. "Savvy? Are you okay?" I asked, helping her sit up. Her eyes were glazed over, she wasn't even blinking. I kissed her cheek. "Please, Savvy, say something," I begged her, helping her to her feet.

She just stared ahead, not moving. I pulled her skirt down and smoothed out the fabric. There was a little blood on the inside of her thighs, and there was blood on the hilt of the plastic sword. Rich had really, really hurt her. I clenched my fists and took a deep breath. It was an effort not to walk back over and smash his skull in. But right then, taking Savvy someplace safe was most important. I scooped her up, bridal-style.

Cradled in my arms, she finally closed her eyes. "Let's get her out of here," I whispered, anxiety taking hold of me. If he'd done anything that would, say, put her in the hospital, I couldn't be held responsible for my actions. I stared down at her, knowing I was shaking, and hoping she couldn't tell how scared I was. She didn't need to have any reason to doubt me right then.

Jack kicked the rapist's leg. "Get up, Rich," he snarled. He'd thought of Rich as his friend; and when you betrayed Jack's trust things got ugly quick. The older man tried to climb to his feet, but he was too exhausted and bruised from our encounter to get beyond his knees. I looked down at Savannah to see her reaction to this. Nothing. Her face was totally blank, not a trace of emotion or physical pain.

"Baby," I murmured, nuzzling her. She blinked at me. "You're safe now, see?" I hugged her and took a few steps away from Rich. It was amazing, how light she was, how easy it was to hold her.

Jack scowled at his former-friend. "What're we going to do with him?" he asked. His posture and voice were strained; it was obvious he was holding himself back. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up knocking Rich out cold. I wouldn't be too upset, either.

Mrs. Haisley ran her fingers through her short hair, and twisted a dark lock around her thumb. It was the only nervous habit she seemed to have. "…I think we have to call the police," she said, sighing. I tensed up, and Savvy turned her face into my chest. Police meant an investigation. Police meant we'd have to tell people what happened. Police meant admitting this wouldn't have happened if I'd just kept an eye on my girl.

I didn't want to call the police. My heart started to speed up, and I tried to think of a way out of this. "But I had sex with her earlier…" I said, swallowing hard. This possibility was sick, but my racing mind kept insisting it was true and dangerous. "Won't Rich try and say that I raped her too? And he's got some power and influence in town…" Unfortunately, like Jack, not everyone had seen the monster behind Rich's money and reputation. I glared at the bald man. He knew how to promote himself, alright.

Mrs. H turned towards the table and picked up the chains. The metal clinked, making me shudder. Savvy's wrists had been rubbed raw, there were circular cuts that matched the width of the wrist-clamps on the chains, no doubt she'd been tied up for a while.

Our gracious hostess carried the dark metal over to Rich and quickly locked him into the chains. He struggled slightly, and she hit him in the side of the head, hard. "We're calling the police," she said grimly. "Jack, go upstairs. Get an ambulance too."

My head swum. "An… a-ambulance?"

Mrs. Haisley yanked on the chains, forcing Rich to stand, and I was sickly pleased to see how wobbly his legs were. He was naked from the waist down, and he tried to angle his legs to hide his flaccid cock. "Savannah needs to see a doctor, Jason," Mrs. H said, dragging Rich out of the room.

I stood there for a minute, staring at Savvy. She didn't seem to register any of this. "Doctor. Right," I mumbled, carrying her out of the basement and upstairs.

~*~

Six years. It'd been six years since the night Savannah was raped. That was over two thousand days, over three million hours, over … well, you get the point.

I tugged my baseball cap down and stared at the screen of my laptop. Six years. Two months in the hospital, three years and ten months in the mental place, and … two more years, somewhere I couldn't find her. I guess that somewhere was here, or maybe she'd just moved here. I wouldn't know. She never once asked to see me.

Not once.

Even Mike didn't know what happened to her when she left the mental place. And we used my family's money to try and find her, too. But even with that… nothing. It was like she'd disappeared off the face of the earth. She didn't come to see Richard sentenced, even though he'd plead guilty to avoid the trial. I hadn't seen her since the paramedics wheeled her into the emergency room. The nurses wouldn't let anyone but immediate family inside, or at least that's what they told me… but I overheard them say Savannah just didn't want to see me. She didn't even want to see Mike.

I tugged on my baseball cap again. It kept my face in shadow, it would keep anyone from recognizing me if they just happened to glance in my direction. Especially if they hadn't seen me in six years, hadn't seen me since I was stupid and twenty-one and almost as bad as Richard Abernathy. I hoped that I'd changed in those six years, I hoped that I deserved to take off my hat and walk up to the coffee shop counter, but I still wasn't sure. I didn't feel like I'd taken advantage of anyone since Savannah… except for a few moments of weakness, when both a strange woman and I were drunk and lonely, it had taken me forever to want to date again.

Maybe I was waiting for Savannah. But when she disappeared from that place… I… I gave up hope of ever calling her 'Savvy' again. She wasn’t mine anymore, she made that loud and clear by cutting me out from her life. I looked up at the coffee store counter.

She was beautiful. She was confidently walking around, supervising the store she owned now, the store she ran now. She was meeting men's eyes and smiling and flirting, casually, and she didn't flinch when the teenage workers tapped her shoulders to get her attention. She'd grown her hair out, though I couldn't tell how long, since she had it up in a ponytail. She smiled, and it wasn't fake. She was wearing a knee-length skirt and a v-necked sweater and, of all things, cowboy boots.

And all I wanted to do was make love to her.

My palms were sweaty as I typed on my laptop, trying to look busy, trying to give myself purpose. If I looked like I shouldn't be there Savannah would come over, and then she would recognize me for sure, and she'd either scream at me to get out or… or she'd cry. And… I promised myself I wouldn't ever make her cry again, not after she'd cried all the way to the hospital that night.

I tugged on my hat again. It was nearly tight enough to hurt, and it was pushing my bangs into my eyes. I needed to get my hair cut, but Savannah knew me with short hair and I wasn't ready for her to recognize me. It was sick. I had a girlfriend, I'd had a girlfriend for three months and we hadn't even had sex yet -- I really must've changed -- and here I was in my ex's store, sitting in front a laptop and trying to blend into the crowd of wannabe sophisticates and shoppers from the bookstore next door.

Her sweater showed off the curve of her neck, and all I could think about was kissing her throat, making her shiver, hearing those sweet little moans she'd made just for me. All I could wonder about was if she let people massage her neck now, if she'd gotten over that little phobia. I wanted to know if she'd part her lips for me -- she was wearing sultry red lipstick -- and whether or not she'd kiss back.

I wanted to know if she'd been with anyone else.

I had no right to know any of that, of course. It wasn't my business anymore. She could sleep with who she wanted to sleep with, she could kiss who she wanted to kiss, she could ignore me if she wanted to. And since this was her shop, she could probably have me arrested for disturbing the peace if I tried anything she didn't want me to try. After the beating I'd given Richard and the light fine I'd been let off with, I really didn't need any more trouble with the police.

Some guy leaned over and whispered in her ear, making her giggle and her face light up. My fists clenched above my keyboard. I simmered, shut my eyes, and counted to ten. They were still talking. I took a deep breath and forced myself to look down at my computer, forced myself to calm down. There was no reason to get angry. She… if she wanted to hang around another man, it was fine. Hell, of course it was fine. It'd been so long, I'd be 'another man' now, not this guy who practically had his tongue in her ear.

Cracking my knuckles, I started writing an e-mail to my brother. He'd adopted a kid, William, and seeing them together made me want kids… even though I was scared of dooming them to the family curse -- brother still hadn't married, hadn't dated in years, had no intention of dating and making William an orphan again. Maybe I'd have daughters and I wouldn't have to worry about that… no, I'd just to have to worry about men like me. Like I used to be, I corrected myself.

My cell phone rang. I picked it up and glanced at the caller ID. Shit, it was Hilary… my girlfriend.

"Hilary…" I murmured, pressing the phone tight against my ear. I wasn't in the mood to talk to her. I couldn't really stand up and leave just then if she needed to see me, I… well… I'd been thinking about Savannah, and about how gently I'd treat her if she let me in her bed again and… let's just say there were too many kids in the coffee store for me to leave just then.

"Jason," she whined, and I rolled my eyes, feeling guilty about it. Truth be told, Hilary got on my nerves pretty often, and I asked myself a lot why in the world I was dating her. "Do you know what today is?" she asked.

I was watching Savannah nibble on a biscotti out of the corner of my eye. "Uh… no," I said, not really hearing my girlfriend speak. I was thinking of Savannah with her hair down. "What day is it?" I asked, distracted.

"My mother is coming today…" she whined. "We're having dinner with her, in a couple hours? You said you were coming by soon? I just wanted to remind you… you've been acting kinda weird over the past couple days, Jase," she said, smacking gum. Ugh, did she have to chew gum and talk on the phone at the same time? She was twenty-three, honestly, she should know better.

Savannah was twenty-four.

Today was her birthday. I had a present for her, in case I worked up the nerve to go and talk to her. I'd wrapped it in special gold paper and everything.

It was the bottle of perfume from so long ago -- though I'd filled it with new perfume, it looked just the same. The fairy was still in there, but when I looked at her face now, she didn't looked trapped. She looked… like she was just watching the outside world, that she didn't care about being within some glass walls for a while. She looked like she was sure she'd get out of the bottle one day.

"Jase? Are you listening to me?" Hilary asked.

I jumped a little. "Um, sorry. It's… it's kinda loud in here," I lied. People were talking but the overall tone of the place was subdued. I could hear Hilary just fine, if I bothered paying attention to her.

She sighed heavily. She sighed a lot. Why had I asked her out again? I think I'd been drunk. "She's coming over tonight, and you're supposed to be here in two hours. You know, so we can pick out your clothes for dinner?" Oh, great, she was in my apartment. I tried to remember if I'd shut my computer down, or if I was still logged into my account. I wouldn't put it past her to go snooping through my computer. "I'm looking in your closet right now and I'm thinking you might wanna put on a suit…"

Alright, so I wasn't a khakis and polo kind of guy, so I had a lot of t-shirts and jeans. She knew that I didn't dress up that often, at least outside of costume parties. That made me think of Jack and Mrs. Haisley… I really needed to call them and see how my godchild was doing. She'd had a ballet recital the other day. "Um, suit, yeah," I said reluctantly, dreading the entire thing. I still found it hard to believe I was meeting her mother before I'd had sex with the girl.

That guy kissed Savannah on the cheek and left. Good riddance, I thought, scowling for a second.

"You're so … you're impossible, Jase!" Hilary moaned. "You had better be here on time. My mom has high standards, and we need to make you presentable before she gets here." Maybe if I bombed the interview I would have a legitimate reason to break up with Hilary, I thought. Maybe I needed to date someone more mature, someone closer to my age, someone older than Hilary…

Twenty-four was older than twenty-three…

"Um, yeah," I said, staring at my computer screen. All I had in my e-mail was Dear Daryl. "I'll be there."

"You had better," Hilary warned, hanging up.

"Goodbye to you too," I muttered, flipping my phone shut. I looked at my laptop and sighed. I might as well get some errands done today, I couldn't sit in this store until it was time to go see Hilary. What the hell was she going to do in my apartment for two hours, anyway? I'd have to steal back the key I'd given her when she wasn't looking.

Sighing, I packed up my stuff. While my laptop powered down I adjusted my baseball cap. Alright, it was now or never. I couldn't come back to the coffee shop every day, this was getting insane. It wasn't like I didn't have a flexible work schedule, I made websites and basically just worked whenever I felt like it. Most of my money was interest collected on all the stuff I'd made as a kid, and with my family's stock in hotel chains, well, I could afford not to work that often. But even with my occupation, well… if I was content to just come here and sit everyday, I would never work up the nerve to talk to Savannah.

The laptop monitor went dark. I shut it, took a deep breath, and slipped it into my bag. Throwing the strap over my shoulder and picking up the gold-wrapped present, I shook myself and stood up. It was now or never.

Savannah wasn't at the counter anymore, but I walked over there anyway. The door to her office was who knew where. I needed to just ask where she was and get her to come out, or I'd chicken out and leave. I set the present down on the counter and a worker came up to me, a teenage redhead whose green uniform strained over her breasts. She'd left her shirt unbuttoned to the neckline of the vest so some of her cleavage was showing off.

She smiled at me and clenched her hands behind her back, arching her breasts towards me. I smiled half-heartedly, deciding I had to humor her. "Can I help you, sir?" she asked, titling her head to one side so her red hair bobbed up and down in its ponytail. Her teeth were sparking white. She'd combed her bangs down to hide a pimple.

"May I speak to Savannah Johnson?" I asked, keeping a tight hold on the gift. My heart was pounding. It was now or never, she had to be curious at the very least, she had to come out and just see me, just for a minute.

Redhead girl sighed and rocked back and forth on her heels. "She's in her office," she said. "Is it a question about the store? I've worked her for a year, I might be able to answer it."

I held back a sigh. "I'd like to speak with Ms. Johnson, if at all possible. It… it is Ms, isn't it?" I hadn't seen a ring on Savannah's finger but I hadn't been looking for one, either. I hadn't really been looking at her hands, period.

"Yes, it's Ms," the redhead said, sighing. "I'll go get her." She turned sharply on her heel and walked over to a slightly hidden door, her skirt swirling around her thighs. She'd obviously rolled it off to display her legs.

It took three minutes before Savannah came out. Redhead followed closely behind, this time going over to the cash register. I stood stock still as Savannah came over to me. She was so… she looked great. She put her hands on the counter and smiled at me, a question in her eyes. "Can I help you, sir?" she asked.

Hesitantly, I reached up and took my cap off, running my fingers through my hair. What was I supposed to say? I lowered my hand and smiled madly at her, panicking. Had I planned this far? I had no idea what to say now that we were standing face to face. "Hey… Savannah. It's… Jason."

That was nice and simple, right?

We stared at each other for a minute, her eyes sweeping over me, inspecting my clothes before looking back up at my face, studying my features to make sure I wasn't playing a joke on her. I inhaled. "I just… you look great," I said, knowing I looked like an idiot with that goofy grin on my face. I pushed the gift towards her. The blank look on her face was making my smile fade. "This… this is for you… I meant to give it you years ago but… yeah."

She was just staring at me. Her face was totally expressionless.

I felt sick. This had been a mistake. I scratched the back of my head and stuttered. "Um, yeah. I guess I should… I'll… just leave," I said, shaking my head. I turned around and walked out of the store as calmly as I could, trying not to let my hands shake, trying to keep my steps even.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could I have been so stupid? Of course she wouldn't throw herself at me the second I introduced myself. It'd been six years and she hadn't made an attempt to contact me, I should've taken the hint. I should've walked out of the coffee shop the first time I saw her there.

I stood on the sidewalk for a minute, eyes shut. This was really it. This was really the last time I would ever see her.

I felt like I was going to throw up.

Weak-kneed, I turned and started walking down the sidewalk, my feet dragging. I might as well go straight home, talk to Hilary. I might as well start putting some effort into our relationship, or break it off and find someone else to be serious about. I was twenty-seven, I wasn't getting any younger. And hadn't I been sure I'd break the family curse? I could find someone to settle down with and… not end up dead because of it. I was stronger than that.

But was I strong enough to face this rejection?

I wasn't sure.

My feet slid over the concrete, collecting dust and dirt. I tried to stay out of the crowd's way, close to the walls of the shops. I didn't want to get run over, did I? Maybe I did. No, no. I wasn't going to get depressed over this. Savannah and I were over, we'd been over for years, I'd been fantasizing over nothing for the past few days.

I put my baseball cap back on. I was only a couple of feet away from the corner, a couple of feet away from pressing the crosswalk button and stepping away from Savannah's shop for the last time. My legs felt like they were made out of lead. If I was this upset, I thought, how could I possibly stay with Hilary? She was nice but… not that nice. I needed someone… better. I'd just have to tell her that. But maybe later. Her mom had come all this way to meet me.

"Jason!"

I froze and looked over my shoulder. Savannah was standing outside her shop, breathing hard, still holding the door open like she wasn't sure what to do. I turned around all the way so we were facing each other, and she bolted towards me, letting the door swing shut. I braced myself but still stumbled backwards when she flung herself at me.

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pressed herself up against me. "I should've kept in touch," she said, shaking her head. She hugged me and kept us pressed together, refusing to let any space come between us.

"It's alright," I said, my arms around her waist. My heart was racing. She felt so soft and warm. "We found each other again," I said, my face buried in her hair. It smelt like jasmine.

"Like you promised," she murmured, hugging me again. I took a deep breath. I didn't want to let go of her. "Back… at the hospital. You promised you'd be there for me when I… when I came out," she said, water coming to her eyes. Her voice was trembling. She let go of me only to wipe the drops away. She sniffed and laughed half-heartedly, shaking her head. "And here you are."

"Here I am," I chorused, staring at her. Then, quietly… "I love you, Savvy."

Neither of us said anything for a minute.

We were too busy kissing.

A/N: Someone suggested the "I love you line", so I figured as long as I had to repost I might as well add it, since that actually tied in with the story.

And since I'm reposting, I might as well ask: Would anyone care about reading the story of Princess Carmen and Lord Ralston? I'm considering writing it.