Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.
Note: I know I said I wouldn't update just yet, but Tardiscaling had requested that I add the chapter. So okay, I'm giving in. I feel very generous tonight.:) I hope this satisfies all my readers.:)
Present Day (February 22, 2009):
"It's not what you think." Jennifer says in a low voice as she looks down at her feet.
Flashback to the Day Before Graduation Day (June 5, 2000):
Jennifer jumps up and down in front of the mailbox, clutching a letter of acceptance. She runs to the garage and pulls out her bike. She races towards her boyfriend's house to give him the news. It's very early in the morning. Only eight A.M., but he wouldn't mind at all if she woke him up.
When she reaches the Emmagan residence she jumps off her bike and quickly walks to the side of the house. When she reaches the pool house he's occupying, she tiptoes to his bed.
He's still asleep, buried beneath his blanket. She reaches out to shake him but stops when she sees movement in his side. She stands there frozen on the spot, her arm outstretched. His arm shoots out underneath the covers, groping for something on the bedside table. His hand rests on a watch with an out-of-place link. The lump beside him stirs again and Jennifer straightens. Quickly, she walks around the bed and carefully opens the French doors leading to the pool. She slips through the crack but does not leave. She shuts door silently and hides herself behind a potted plant.
Her heart is pounding wildly, blocking any noise, as she peeks through the glass door. The lump on the bed suddenly emerges, revealing perfectly shaped tan legs. Teyla. Jennifer covers her mouth to muffle her whimper.
Teyla sits up on the bed, the sheet falling down to her waist, uncovering her breasts. She scoots down to the edge of the bed and smiles as she spots her underwear on the floor. She extends her leg and picks up her lace panty with her toes. She slips it past her legs ad her thighs, shimmying into it, and then gets up. She stretches like a cat and gracefully walks around the bed to the bathroom.
After a few minutes she emerges and walks to the side of the bed, bending over the form underneath the blanket. An arm shoots out all of a sudden, grabbing her by the waist. She squeals in delight as she is pulled onto the bed, the covers going over her. They tussle underneath the bedcovers for a moment, grunting and giggling. They're both lying horizontally on the bed now, and Teyla has gotten on top. Her back is turned towards Jennifer, obscuring her view of them. Suddenly, Teyla's giggles turn into gasps and moans. Her back arching as she slowly begins to move up and down. They're both panting now as they quicken their pace.
Jennifer cringes and tears up. She quickly wipes her tears away and makes a run for it and races home in her bike.
Back to the Present:
"Oh God!" Teyla exclaims, she quickly turns to John and then back to Jennifer. "Jennifer, oh my – there was nothing between me and Ronon – ever!"
"I know that now." Jennifer says quietly.
Ronon stumbles back and falls onto a chair, his face full of shock and frustration.
"I can't imagine what you have been through. What you must have thought –" Jennifer doesn't even hear what Teyla is saying, her attention is focused on Ronon. "– No wonder you never warmed up to me." She said almost to herself.
Jennifer watches Ronon as he buries his face in his hands, his shoulders slightly shaking.
"Ronon had lent John and I his room, and – oh god!" Teyla says in anguish. John moves to comfort her.
Jennifer walks over to Ronon and kneels down in front of him. But before she touches him, he jerks away from her. Jennifer flinches. She isn't surprised, but she had hoped. "I'm so very sorry." She whispers before she straightens to stand up.
She waits patiently, watching his head, but after ten minutes he still doesn't budge. She chokes back a sob and tears her eyes away from him. She then grabs her things, her head bowed down. When she walks towards the door, she quietly says to Teyla "Could you do me a favor, Teyla? When Evan and Marie look for me, could you tell them I'll call them as soon as I can." And with that she walks through the door, leaving the stunned pair looking back and forth from her to Ronon.
X
"John, you have to stop her – now!" Teyla says to him.
He gives Ronon a last look and then jogs out of the villa.
X
John quickly catches up to Jennifer as she loads her things into the back of a cab. "Jen, what are you doing?"
"Leaving."
"Again." It wasn't a question.
"Did you see him, John?" Jennifer gestures towards the building. "His face? I did that to him!"
"Yeah, and I've seen that look many times. For eight years!"
"Exactly." She says more decidedly. "And that's why I have to leave. I don't deserve him."
"I suggest you leave that decision to him." He tells her.
"I can't hurt him anymore." Jennifer says absently. "I know I hurt him. Marie and I never talked about it, but somehow, she made sure I knew it. I made his life miserable."
"Just come back. Let's go back." He says, holding his hand out to her. "It's not too late."
"His face John." She says with a shake of her head. "He hates me."
"No he doesn't."
"Yes, he does." She replies as she gets in the car. "Coz if he didn't, he'd be the one standing here right now." That shut him up. "I have to go."
"Where?" He asks.
"I dunno."
X
"Ronon!" Teyla yells in front of him. "Snap out of it!"
"Where is she?' He asks when John comes back.
"Gone." He replies. Ronon grunts. "That's all you're gonna say?" John asks in annoyance.
"What do you want me to say?!" Ronon asks in anger, his nose flaring.
"Not say! Do!" John yells. "Go after her?"
"Why?!" Ronon screams. "She already made her choice. She left! Again!" He then gets up and kicks the chair. "Why should it always be me? Huh?" He rakes his fingers through his hair. "Eight years! For eight years I kept tabs on her. Sent her presents. And this week I tried everything to win her over. Aside from last night she was completely indifferent."
"I wouldn't say completely." John puts in.
"What difference does it make?" Ronon asks in frustration. "I've been doing this for so long. I'm tired. I can't do this anymore. What more does she want me to do?"
John snorts. "Didn't you hear her? She saw something that hurt her. She didn't know. What would you have done if you were in her place?"
"She was hurting, too. Maybe not in the same way as you did. But she was hurting." Teyla adds. "You've seen it yourself. She held on to that necklace you gave her. That says something."
"Don't waste anymore time, Ronon." John advises, and then pulls Teyla along with him to leave Ronon in his thoughts.
X
"Do you think he'll come around?" Teyla asks.
"I hope so." John says. "He was so happy today at the wedding. I haven't seen him that happy in forever."
"Maybe I can speak to Jennifer." Teyla says.
John sighs. "Yeah. Maybe you'll get through to her."
X
Ronon paces inside his room and then stops to sit on the bed. Gliding his hand over the sheets, remembering what he and Jennifer had shared. He shakes his head and then gets up to grab his things from the closet, stuffing them in his duffel bag. He crouches down to look underneath the bed to grab his flip flops and finds a cell phone right beside it. He picks it up and recognizes Jennifer's phone. He flops down on the floor, leans back on the side of the bed and stares at the device in his hand.
X
She boarded the plane just in time. After loading her carry-on in the overhead trunk she takes her assigned seat, grabs her purse and rummages in it for her phone. "Shit!" She silently curses to herself.
She tries to remember if she had put it in any of her luggage. No. Her suitcase was packed and ready to go when she got to the villa. She stands up again to get her carry-on overnight case. She had thrown her toiletries in it in a rush to get out of the hotel. She carefully sifts through her things. Nothing.
She sighs in frustration. She traces her steps back to where she might have left it. Underneath the bed. That's where it must be. She had searched for her forgotten bra and underwear and couldn't find it. But she must have left her phone under his bed. "Shit!"
X
Ronon slowly unzips the front pocket of his duffel bag and pulls out her lace underthings. He clutches them in his hands, shuts his eyes and leans his head back against the bed. He looks at her phone again, he clicks it to life and navigates to recently made calls. Claire.
TBC.