Thanks for the reviews! Thanks for sticking with me with the big gap between chapters, I'm glad people are still interested in Savannah and Juice's story. Big thanks to Kupkake for beta-ing and the Sav cameo in Monster. Unfortunately, the desk top I was writing on died as well as my laptop, so it might be a bigger gap between this chapter and the next, but Gemma is making her way to NYC, so I'm hoping the wait will be worth it.

Chapter 33

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Mel sat in her car, looking over her freshly painted nails. It was the end of the month again, meaning it was time to see Juice. She knew she had better things to spend her money on, especially since she wasn't getting anything out of this arrangement anymore. A part of her knew she should turn around and leave. Screw Juice. Let him support himself and his little whore girlfriend.

But then she remembered why she was helping him. Not just because she loved the boy, but because on some level they were friends. He was there when she was at her lowest, and she was there for his. She got him through school. Every time he wanted to give up, she helped him get through it.

Not that little bitch he was living with.

She'd be out of the picture soon enough, she just had to wait her out. Juice would come back to her, he always did. His graduation was coming up, and she couldn't be more proud of him if she tried. Her boy was finally finishing school. He had done it.

Of course, with him finishing, that meant he was almost finished with needing money from her. His tool box payments were just about done and he wouldn't need her. She wasn't going to think about that now though. It was almost time for Juice to come out. He never worked late on Thursdays.

Sitting up straighter, she noticed Juice coming out of the diner. She was about to get out when she noticed he was holding the door open for someone. Her blood boiled at the sight of his little tramp coming out. Both of them were smiling, laughing about something they were saying to the other.

Juice put his arm around her, leading her down the street. He didn't even notice her car sitting here. He didn't remember that today was their day. What was so damn important he couldn't remember he was seeing her today? Putting her car in drive, she pulled out and followed them.

Her stomach was in knots watching them making faces to each other, Juice's smile taking up his entire face. That was a smile she loved. A smile that bitch shouldn't get. Her grip tightened on the steering wheel, her knuckles going white, when she saw him kiss her. It wasn't even a peck she could stomach, it was a real kiss.

Her curiousness peaked when she realized what route he was leading her. There was no way he'd take her there. Taking a right, she pulled into the same direction as them. She stayed far enough away they wouldn't catch onto her following them. He couldn't bring her there, to their place. A place she had shown him a year ago.

He wouldn't be that stupid. He wouldn't bring her there, on their day.

She pulled to a stop when she saw where they'd ended up. It was the little fly on the wall Italian restaurant she had shown him. A place good enough to eat, but private and cheap enough for him to pay. Her blood boiled. Was this where her money was going? She was paying him to take his girlfriend out to dinner? This was not happening.

Without realizing what she was doing, she pressed her foot on the gas and jerked back as her car took off. Squeezing her eyes shut, tears ran down her face. She couldn't believe him. That . . . that bastard. She didn't even seem fazed when she heard a thud, the glass on her windshield now cracked. She just kept driving, her heart racing as she opened her eyes and drove away without a glance back.

Juice felt like the world had stopped as he stared at the motionless body of his girlfriend at his feet. Everything around him was suddenly quiet, like he was the only one there. His eyes were wide, his body frozen as he just stood there.

He wasn't sure what had happened. One second, he was about to cross the street with Savannah to take her out for lunch, and then some car came speeding by and there wasn't enough time to move. There . . . there wasn't enough time to push her out of the way. He couldn't save her . . . he didn't save her.

He was shaken out of his shocked trance from someone standing by. They were saying something to him, pointing to something. It wasn't registering in his head, he couldn't hear him. Confusion crossed his face, why was he yelling at him? He hadn't done anything. Nothing.

Following his pointing finger, the realization really set in. Savannah had been hit by a car. She was on the ground, bleeding to death, and he was standing there. "Oh, shit." He said, his voice raw as tears filled his eyes. His body finally moved as he dropped to her side. Should he move her? What if that just made it worse? Was she breathing? Oh, god. What did he do?

"Sav-Savannah? Baby? Baby, wake up. C-can you hear me? Savannah!" He cried, his shaking hands brushing her hair out of her face.

Her eyes were closed; her face had blood running down the side of it. Blood was everywhere. He couldn't tell where she was hurt and where she wasn't. Her leg was bent in the wrong direction, and he was pretty sure her wrist was bent weirdly too. "God, baby, no." He cried, reaching to touch her but deciding against it at the last second. "Somebody help! H-Help her!" He cried out, suddenly looking around for help.

Everyone was gawking at the sight, a few people on the phone. He wasn't sure if they were on the phone with someone else or 9-1-1. His eyes widened, he needed to call the police. He needed to do something. With shaking hands, he tried to find his phone. His blurred vision was making that harder than it needed to be. His mind was a frantic mess too, which definitely didn't help.

Where the hell was his fucking phone? He scrambled to find it, but it was like it was suddenly gone and nowhere to be found. His search was paused when he heard the sirens. Someone had called, done what he hadn't been able to do.

When the EMTs showed up, Juice was pushed away from Savannah. He needed to be with her. He couldn't leave her alone. The cops who showed up on the scene had to physically pull him away from the EMTs so they could do their job. "Sir, sir, we need you to calm down. We can't help your friend if you're in the way. Can you tell me what your name is?" The cop asked him once they'd gotten him to stop fighting them.

Juice felt his entire body shaking as he watched them work on getting Savannah onto the stretcher. What if they didn't let him go with her? He couldn't leave her alone. He was all she had, and she was all he had out here. "J-Juan Carlos." He answered. "Her name . . . her name's Savannah Teller. Is she gonna be alright?" He asked, his eyes flickering to the cops.

Seeing how much pain was in Juice's eyes, the cop couldn't help but feel for him. It was plain as day how much this guy cared about the brunette. He couldn't lie to him, he didn't know if she'd live or not. It didn't look good, and he didn't want to get this guy's hopes up. "They're bringing her to the hospital, where they have the best doctors. She's got the best chances." He said, hoping he brought at least a little ease for him.

"Can you tell me what happened?" He asked when Juice said nothing.

Did he even know what happened? It'd happened so fast. He tried to explain as best her could. They'd just finished a shift at the diner they both work at, and he'd promised her lunch somewhere different from their usual places. She wanted to see something special, somewhere not a lot of people knew about, and he'd known the perfect spot.

They were crossing the street when this car came out of nowhere and ran Savannah down. All he remembered was the sound of the tires squealing and the color. It'd been a little red . . . sports car. A sports car he'd seen plenty of times, enough to remember the little dent in the bumper from the time he'd accidentally hit it with a shopping cart. Realization hit him as it occurred to him he knew who was behind the wheel. His fingers clenched at his side, anger filling him at the realization.

"Sir, did you see the kind of car? Anything would be useful." The officer asked again, returning him from his thoughts.

He could turn Mel in; send the cops right to her, if he wanted. This was his chance. He could get her out of his life forever. Looking over, he saw them putting Savannah into the back of the ambulance. She deserved to die if Savannah didn't make it. Hell, she deserved to be hit with jail time even if Savannah did make it, and she would make it. She had to.

But if he turned her in, she could bust him just the same. She knew he sold drugs. She knew where he kept his drugs and where they could find him. She could rat on him for turning her in. If he didn't handle this the right way, he could lose Savannah and be sent to jail. Actual jail.

Shaking his head, he decided against turning her in. "Uh, no. I was more focused on my girlfriend on the ground. Can I ride with her?" He asked, pushing himself off of the back of the cop car.

His whole demeanor changed. His walls had gone up, and his expression went cold. He was gonna make Mel pay for running down Savannah, he just had to do it the smart way that wouldn't end up with him going to prison with her.

Juice stared at Savannah's phone, debating what to do. She'd want her mom and brother to know about what was going on, wouldn't she? They only talked about her family when it was necessary, but this would fall under one of the times her family needed to be involved. But if he didn't and something happened to her, he'd never forgive himself for not making sure her family was here.

Taking a deep breath, he needed to do this. He pressed Gemma's number, counting to three before putting the phone to his ear. It rang twice before someone answered. "Hey, baby. I thought you had work tonight." He mom answered.

Clearing his throat, he rubbed his eyes. "Uh, this is Jui-Juan Carlos. Savannah's, um, her boyfriend. She'd probably kill me if she knew I was calling. She doesn't talk about you guys a lot, and when she does . . . uh, look. Savannah was in, um, in an accident. It's pretty bad, but I don't think they'll tell me anything since, you know, I'm not family." He started to ramble.

"You're not making any sense, kid. Slow down and try again." Gemma said, the worry in her voice as clear as day.

"We were walking to this place, and this-this car came outta nowhere. I swear, if I saw it I would have pulled her back." He said, the panic clear in his voice. He wanted her to know he would have done something if he could have. "It hit her head on. They have her in surgery now." He explained.

Fresh tears filled his eyes, but he tried to fight them back. He couldn't break now. Not while he was on the phone with her mom. The line went silent for a few minutes. The only reason he knew she hadn't hung up on him was that there was no dial tone. "Mrs. Teller, I am so sorry. I'm so, so-"

"You run her over?"

Juice was taken aback by the question. How could she think he had done it? Was she serious? She couldn't be. "Um, no, but I-" He tried to say.

"Then it shouldn't be you who's apologizing. They know who did it?"

How she could be so calm about this, he had no idea. He was seconds away from breaking into millions of pieces, yet she was talking like they were discussing the weather. Her question hit something in him, reminding him of the anger he held toward the person responsible for this. A person he couldn't turn in, in fear of getting himself in trouble.

"Uh, no. They don't know anything yet. It happened so quickly, no one saw anything." He said, clearing his throat as he looked down.

There was blood all over him. Savannah's blood. He could feel the lump in his throat again, the need to cry hitting him. She'd lost so much blood, and it was all Mel's fault. It was his entire fault. He'd done this. If he had just cut off all contact with Mel, things would be good. They would have been enjoying a late lunch right now, probably laughing over something stupid he'd done.

"Listen to me, Juan. You listening?" He nodded, even though she couldn't see him. "You are gonna stay there and wait for Jax. He shouldn't be too far out of the city yet. I'm gonna call him and let him know what happened. You need to quit your crying and man the fuck up. Savannah needs you. How long you been together?" She asked, the curiousness getting the best of her.

"Since she got back from Christmas break. Well, we hooked up before that, but it wasn't, you know, official until she came back." He rambled.

He didn't think twice about the question. He always felt proud of his answer. It was almost May and they were still going strong. He'd be graduating soon and he'd be able to really support her. They'd find their own apartment and actually live together. He'd been planning on it for a month now. He'd been working on getting a new job to make up for the loss of his club hours. He was even looking at apartments he thought she might like.

He had this future in the works for them, and now there was a chance they'd never get it because of his past. Running a hand through his hair, he knew he needed to do something about Mel. He couldn't just let her get away from this. There had to be something he could do.

Gemma had gone silent again. He wasn't sure if he had something wrong or not. Maybe telling her about the hook up had been too much, but he really didn't know when to stop talking. Savannah had told him time and time again he had no filter on his mouth. "Mrs. Teller? I, uh, I got to go. I'll call you if anything changes." He said, his hands shaking as he hung up the phone.

He needed to take care of Mel. There was no more going around it. She was a problem he needed to fix, before she could hurt Savannah again. Standing up, he knew he couldn't even let that be an option.

Mel needed to go, like yesterday.

Juice pulled up his hood as he came up to the familiar home. His entire body was relaxed from the joint he'd smoked before getting out of his car. The red car was no where in sight and Juice knew it was because it probably had a few new dents and some blood on it. Savannah's blood, he reminded himself. His fingers twitched around the pocket knife in his pocket. Was he really gonna cross this line? Could he cross this line? He wasn't sure, but it needed to be done.

There was a big difference from selling weed and killing a person. His hands were shaking as he approached the front door. What if the kid was home? He couldn't do that to him. Whether he was pissed at Mel or not, he wouldn't involve the kid in this. Of course, he wasn't sure he could do this even if the kid wasn't there. This was Mel.

Mel, the woman who'd basically saved him from dying on the street. She'd fed him, clothed him, and got him through classes. She'd made it so he had everything he could possibly need to get through school. He was graduating because of her. Mel was like the mother he'd never had. She cared about him, about how he was doing. Yeah, they slept together, but that was his way of helping her get over her ex. He never meant for it to get to this point.

He grabbed the spare key from inside the mailbox and unlocked the front door. Opening the door as quietly as he could, he poked his head inside and looked around. She wasn't in the front hallway or on the stairs. He strained to hear if she was in the shower or watching T.V. He wasn't even sure if she was here, but somehow he knew she would be. It was a gut feeling.

Slipping inside, he closed the door behind him. Where should he look first? What was he even gonna say to her? He couldn't focus long enough to come up with an answer to those. He'd smoked the joint to help his nerves. He felt like he was on a high as he made his way upstairs. It was the only way he'd be able to do this.

As he got to the top of the stairs, he could see a crack of a door open. It was Mel's room, and he could hear feet walking around the room. She was home. He crept closer to the bedroom, hoping to god he didn't alert her of him being there.

He pushed the door open slowly, the creak alerting Mel he was there. She jumped a mile out of her skin, her hair whipping around as she turned. Fear filled her eyes when she saw him. Good, she should be afraid of him. He didn't want this to be over quick. He wanted her to pay for what she did to Savannah, but how did he do that? What would hurt her worse? As the idea came to him, a sadistic smirk appeared on his lips.

"You were right all along, Mel. I shouldn't have left her for you." He said, lying through his teeth as he stood in front of her.

Surprised covered her face, disbelief that he wasn't here to kill her. Juice could never kill her though, she told herself. He was a good kid. He loved her. "You stood me up today. You were with her."

Today was the day they usually met, Juice realized. That was why she'd been there. He'd completely forgotten. If this was gonna work, he couldn't show his anger. This was because he'd missed their meet up to exchange cash? Taking a deep breath, his smirk returned. "I was letting her down over lunch." He lied.

Her mood seemed to lighten at the mention of him breaking up with Savannah, but he could tell she still didn't fully believe him. "You were taking her to our place. I showed you that restaurant. It was our place, Juan. Ours and you were taking her there." She said, her mood already turning against him once more.

He knew he needed to win her over. She had to think he was really over Savannah for this to work. She had to think he was on her side in this. "I know, I know. That was a jerk move on my part. I shouldn't have tried to bring her there, babe. I just . . . I can't be with her and not think about you. You're in my head all the time. I can't stop. I'm sorry for what I-I said." He said, hoping she ate up every word of it.

From the uncertain look on her face, he knew she was conflicted. She wasn't sure if she should trust him, and if he was being honest, she'd be smart not to. Going over to her, he noticed her flinch when he raised his hand. Instead of hitting her, he cupped her face. His thumb stroked her cheek lovingly. "I just want you back. Don't you want me back?"

She leaned in, her mouth hovering under his. Closing his eyes, he prayed that if Savannah ever found out about this she'd understand and forgive him. He closed the distance between them, crashing his lips onto her 's. She surged to life against him, grabbing his shirt as her mouth fought his for control. It was familiar to kiss Mel, but there was no spark.

Her mouth didn't do the same as Savannah's did to him. There was no knot in his stomach; no butterflies that made his toes curl.

In fact, he was disgusted with himself for doing this. He wanted to wash his mouth out and shower before he went back to see Savannah. Feeling her clawing at his shirt, he knew this couldn't go much further. There was no way he was sleeping with this monster. His hands slid up, seeming to cup her face. Instead, his fingers closed around her throat, applying pressure with his thumbs.

The kiss was broken as she gasped for air. She looked up at him in confusion and fear. Her fingers closed around his wrists, trying to pull him off. He was stronger than she was. His taller frame towered over her smaller one, giving him more of an advantage. "J-J-Juan, wh-what are you, ah, doing?" She asked, the panic in her voice clear.

He could end it all here, he realized. His eyes were red, wide, his grip tight on her neck. All he could see was the sight of Savannah bleeding on the side of the road. Savannah was fighting for her life because of her, because Mel couldn't leave him alone. "This is all your fault. She's hurt because of you! You really think I'd ever want you after you just did? You're insane!" He snapped, squeezing her throat tighter with every emphasis.

Mel was gasping for just the smallest amount of air now. Her face was turning red from not breathing. He was going to kill her if he didn't let go soon. Could he really kill her? This was Mel, regardless of how much he hated, could he actually kill her? Could he have that blood on his hands? He was a lot of things, but a killer wasn't one of them.

Holding out another moment, he finally released her. His hands shook as she collapsed to the floor at his feet. She was gasping for breath, holding her neck as she coughed. He'd been so close to killing her, and that terrified him. Taking a deep breath, he tried to stop the shaking. His eyes were cold as hers met them from looking up. "You ever come near me or Savannah again, and I won't stop. Stay the fuck away from us, you got it?" He threatened. Her entire body shook, looking away instead of answering.

"You got it?" He snapped, causing her to flinch.

"Yes! Yes, I got it!" She cried out, a sob following after.

Juice stood there for a moment, the guilt getting to him. If he didn't leave soon, he was going to let the guilt get to him and apologize. He couldn't do that. He needed to be strong for Savannah. Mel could have killed her, she didn't deserve pity. He just needed to remember that. With that, he adjusted his shirt, wiping his lips, before leaving the room.

He'd done it. He just hoped it wasn't too late.