Stowaway, Montauk

"I'll come by tomorrow morning and visit you, okay? Take care, Emily!" Ava ended the phone call and then walked behind the counter and began to polish the glasses, lost in thought, as she did every night just before she opened the bar. Jack was out with Carl, so she was alone at the Stowaway today and couldn't just leave. Emily's call had caused mixed feelings inside her. She was relieved that they had arrested Julia's psychopathic husband and that she could be saved without getting seriously hurt, but she was also worried about her friend. Even when Emily had assured her she and the baby were all right, an uneasy feeling remained. She looked at the clock and went to the door then. It was a normal day in the week and she didn't expect too many guests this night, but she felt the duty to always open in time. Once she had unlocked the door, the first guest already entered. It was Jon. "Hey," she welcomed him and frowned then. "What are you doing here?" She ran her eyes over him and noticed the travel bag in his hand.

"I wanted to say goodbye," he answered her question, clearing his throat then. "I go back to Rebun Island."

She looked at him in surprise. "You go back?" she asked confused. "But… you just came here."

"I know." He ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "But I think my work here is done now." He put down the travel bag. "Emily called me. They caught Ray. He's taken Julia and Nolan hostage. But Daniel…"

"I know," Ava cut off his babbling. "I just talked to Emily on the phone. She told me everything."

"Then you also know that I'm not needed here anymore." He plunged his hands in the pockets of his jeans, grinning askew. "That's it for me here. I go back where I belong."

"Nobody actually belongs to Rebun Island," Ava disagreed. "We learned things there that are important to survive, but the island could never really replace a real home."

"Whatever. I made my decision." He picked up his bag and was about to turn.

"Jon?"

"What?" He slowly turned to her.

"What about Charlotte?"

He closed his eyes, for he didn't want Ava to see how much that topic bothered him. Actually he had hoped to avoid this discussion with her. "What about her?" he played the indifferent.

"You do know that she's in love with you?"

"We had sex, so?" he downplayed the whole thing, although he knew that it had been so much more - for them both.

"You may be able to lie to me, but not to yourself." Ava raised her eyebrows meaningfully. "You really want to deny that you feel more for her?"

He struggled whether to tell her the truth; the truth that had surprised him as well. "The… the life I live," he began hesitantly, "… it's not hers. There are worlds between us. I could never give her what she has now." He made an excessive wave of his hand. "Look how and where she lives," he exclaimed. "She lives in a damn villa with servants! She's surrounded by luxury and things I could never give to her."

"Maybe she doesn't want all that," Ava threw in, before he was able to continue. "Charlotte was heartbroken after she lost Declan, Jack's younger brother. After that she never showed interest in any man, until you showed up in the picture. The only thing she wants is to be happy."

He considered her words for a moment and then went to the door.

"Damn it, Jon!" Ava was by him in a few steps and held him back at his arm. "If you go now, it will destroy her!"

"She'll get over it." He wasn't too sure, though, if that was really true, but he had to justify his leaving somehow.

"No, she won't," Ava said quietly. "I do know her that well by now." With a sigh she shoved back her long hair. "Will you at least say goodbye to her, before you leave?" she asked, as she realized that it was pointless to encourage Jon to stay.

He slowly shook his head. "It's better if I just leave," he said calmly.

"For you or for her?" she asked, not without irony in her voice.

"For both of us."

He left the bar without looking back again and Ava looked after him helplessly. She couldn't believe he wanted to disappear just like that. But wasn't that exactly his style? Just like he had appeared, he disappeared again. It was what he had learned over years; when things got too complicated in his life, he rather ran away than to face it. And falling in love with Charlotte was a complication he surely hadn't expected, when he had come here. She planned to visit Emily at the hospital the next morning. Maybe she could as well talk to Charlotte, who was in the same hospital in another ward. A task she didn't really look forward to; for she knew how Charlotte would react. She hadn't exaggerated as she had told Jon that it would destroy the young woman. She had had to go through too many losses during the past years; Declan, her unborn baby, her father and now Jon. As the door of the bar opened, for a moment Ava thought it was Jon, who had changed his mind. But it was only a guest. Ava shoved a strand of hair behind her ear and mentally switched to barkeeper mode. "Hello! What can I get you?" she welcomed the guest friendly, smiling at him.