All Again For You

"W-what about d-dad?" I stammered. My mother knew how much I hated talking about him, regardless the situation.

"He called me earlier," She blew out a breath of air, the way she did when she was upset, but tried not to show it.

"What happened?" I asked, sitting down on the couch across from her. "What's going on?"

Just as my mother opened her mouth to respond, the telephone rang, shocking us both so much that we jumped in our seats.

Perfect timing, I thought, rolling my eyes as my mother talked on the line in the other room. I heard something about Aspen, Colorado, where my dad was currently living. My stomach flipped, and not in the good way.

"Alright, we'll call you later. Bye, Keith." My mother said harshly before ending the call.

"Savannah?" She called, coming back into the living room. "There's something I- I need to tell you."

"I'm listening," I gulped, trying to swallow my doubts and hoping that whatever was going on would turn out to be good instead of bad.

"Your father wants you to spend the rest of the summer with him and his family in Colorado." She said quietly, looking down at her hands folded in her lap. I was speechless. "The plane tickets have already been bought, and he's not backing down on this. He really wants to see you, Sav."

"I'm not going." I spat, standing up.

"Savannah Claire, sit down this instant," My mother raised her voice and rubbed her forehead in frustration.

"I'm not going," I repeated, trying to get my point across. No way in Hell was I ever going to spend the next month and a half with my father before I had to go back to school. I would rather walk on burning coals from a fire pit than go to Colorado.

"Savannah, please. This is for the best. You might actually end up liking it there. Just... just give it a shot. For me." Her voice was barely audible, causing me to strain my ears, just so I could hear the main part of what she was saying. "You have to go."

"So just as things get better than ever for me, you need to take it away and ship me off to fucking Colorado without my consent?" I shouted, not caring if I was yelling at my mother. I never yelled at her, but this was one of those circumstances that it was hard not to.

"What on earth do you mean, Savannah?"

"Because I finally have someone that makes me happy, mom." I said dryly before pushing back the chair I was sitting in and pounded up the stairs to my room.

I slammed my door shut, and flung myself down onto my bed. I let out a scream, muffled by my pillow I had buried my face into moments before. Tears pricked my eyes- I had never left Tempe for the summer, unless if I was going somewhere with Charlotte's family for a few days. I didn't want to leave. At all.

And then there was Garrett. Garrett, Garrett, Garrett, Garrett I thought. He would be heartbroken if I told him I had to leave for the whole summer. And Charlotte, as well.

There was a small knock at my door, then the click of it opening. I lifted my face from my pillow to see who entered, only to see my mom standing there meekly.

"You leave Saturday night, Savannah." Was all she said. Her eyes looked red and sunken in, like she had been crying as well. She knew I didn't want to go, and she didn't want me to go. But knowing my dad, he must have offered something she couldn't refuse. Money, or a new car that she must have been looking at. She turned slowly and shut my door as she exited my room, then made her way down the hall to her room.

This was not going to be my night, I could tell.

&&

After hours of packing and unpacking literally my entire closet, I opened the window and swung my legs over the sill, letting the dry air hit them. Shivers were sent down my spine from the instant contact from hot to cold, and I wrapped my arms around my middle.

I sat there for a few minutes, taking in the Arizona air. I debated on swinging the rest of my body out of the window and onto the branch that was up against the side of my house, but decided against it. My mom would know I had snuck out.

I picked up my phone and called Garrett, who answered on the third ring.

"'Ello?" He answered, his voice lively.

"Garrett," I began, holding my breath. "I need you to come over."

I could see the little red flag going up in Garrett's head as he agreed to come over, and the distress was evident in his voice when he spoke next.

"I'll see you in a few, Savannah. Hang tight," He hung up. I curled my legs up to my chest and leaned back against the wall. I saw Garrett's sweatshirt hanging on the chair next to me, then reached over and grabbed it. It still smelled of Old Spice and the scent of his shampoo. I tugged my arms through its sleeves and buried my head again. I didn't look up when I heard Garrett coming up the tree, or in through my window.

"Savannah?" He asked. From where I could tell, he was standing right in front of me. He must have worn a worried expression, the one where his eyebrows knit together and his lips pressed to form a straight line. "Savannah, answer me please." He was closer now. When I didn't answer, he took his spot next to me. I bit my lip, trying my best not to let the tears I was holding in slip.

When he put his arms around me, that was when I lost it. He pulled me close so that I was sitting in his lap, both legs swung over him. I didn't care at that point if my hair was a mess or if I had make up streaming down my face, I just wanted to hold on to him and never let go.

"G-Garrett," I hiccuped, but it was only followed by more tears and sobs.

"Shh, it's okay, Savannah. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's okay." He pressed his lips to my temple, and kept them there. He shifted so that he was lying down, me on top of him. I moved, so instead I was next to him and had my head buried in his chest. He wrapped his arms around me again and held me close, breathing softly.

I'm not quite sure when, but some point between me crying and Garrett telling me everything was going to be okay, I fell asleep. I dreamt that I was in Colorado, and that my dad was with me. His new family, wife and three kids. One of them looked to be about my age, maybe a year or two younger. They began to drag me towards the house when I started to scream, but I wasn't making any sound.

"Savannah!" I felt someone shake my shoulders. I fought them back, squeezing my eyes shut tightly. "Savannah, wake up!" I reluctantly opened my eyes and saw Garrett hovering over me.

"Oh, thank God." He breathed, running a couple fingers through his already messy hair. "You had a nightmare, I'm guessing, from all the screaming."

I nodded meekly, "Yeah, I-I did." My voice cracked. Oh, that's attractive, Sav.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked gently, laying back down next to me. I turned to face him as he took a piece of hair that was in my face and put it behind my ear.

"I don't know," I began, closing my eyes as I nestled closer to him. "It wasn't even that bad, I guess. It was my dad-" I felt Garrett tense up as soon as I mentioned him.

"It was my dad, and he was at his new house in Colorado, his new wife and three kids. They started dragging me towards the house and I guess I just began screaming."

"You were screaming my name," He smirked. I hit him playfully in the chest. "Oh, ow, Savannah." He took his free hand and placed it over his heart.

"But there's... there's something I've gotta tell you, Gar." I bit my lip and dug myself deeper into the sheets and his side. "I'm going to Colorado." I prepared for the worst- screaming, yelling, things being thrown about. But none of that happened.

He hung his head low and let out a sigh. He pressed his lips to my forehead and kept them there, holding me tightly.

"I know. Your mom told my mom yesterday, then she told me- I acted like I didn't know anything because she told me to." He whispered, his voice cracking.

"I don't want to go, Gar." I sniffled, tugging gently on his shirt.

"I don't want you to go either, Sav. Believe me, I don't."

&&

Garrett left around four that morning, then came back around twelve in the afternoon to help me pack. Or at least attempt to pack, that is.

"I'm going to miss you, you know." He wrapped an arm around my waist and intertwined his fingers with mine to make it seem as if we were ballroom dancing.

"I'm going to miss you more," I said, kissing his lips softly.

"Please, this is too mushy for me," He pulled away dramatically and collapsed into my desk chair.

I rolled my eyes at him and continued to put various articles of clothing into my suitcase. "C'mon, Gar, you're supposed to help me pack."

With that being said, he got up out of the chair and placed himself in my suitcase, curling up his legs to his chest and tried to close it on himself.

"There! All done," He grinned. "Now, off to Colorado we go!"

"You're insane, you know that?" I tried to pull him out, but failed miserably and ended up toppling over him so that we were face to face, pressed up against each other.

"Woah! I didn't know you guys were getting friendly with each other already," The one voice we both hated and loved rang out as clear as a bell through my room. "It's been like what, four days?"

"A week and three days, to be precise." Garrett corrected her.

"Whatever," Charlotte took a seat in the chair next to my desk. "So, you leave tomorrow." I could see tears forming in Charlotte's eyes.

"Yeah," I whispered softly as I removed myself from Garrett. I sat indian-style on my rug and leaned back against my bed.

"I'll be right back, I'm gonna go get a water bottle." Garrett said, shooting up from his spot in the suitcase and exiting my room without another word.

"I guess he couldn't handle the estrogen," Charlotte joked, doing her best not to break down and cry.

It felt like hours had passed before Charlotte spoke again, her voice this time lower and drowned in tears. "Why are you going?"

"I have no choice, Char." I bit my lip, avoiding eye contact with her.

"You turn eighteen next week, Savannah. That's bullshit."

"My dad wants me to stay with him."

"For the rest of the fucking summer?!" She shouted. I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes.

"Charlotte it's not like I have a god damn choice in this. My dad bribed my mom to make me go. If you want to yell and bitch and scream at anyone, do it to her, not me." I spat back, standing up and turning to my closet and began throwing random assortments of clothes in to my suitcase.

"I hope you have some sort of plan of escaping from your dad's, you know." She muttered.

"You don't even know what I have up my sleeve, Charlotte. You don't even know."