Who: Adam Vasic and Savannah Levine What: He's back Where: Savannah & Paige's house When: Sunday afternoon Warnings: nope Status: complete
The only thing Adam wanted to do when he found himself back in Madison Valley was find Savannah and throw himself at her mercy. As soon as he determined that he’d only been gone a few days according to the time here, despite being home for nearly a year, he made a beeline for Paige’s house, knocking on the door and hoping that Savannah would be there.
He was angry with himself for screwing up their relationship, both here and at home, and hoped that a real conversation like the one they had at home would potentially mend things here as well. The one major benefit to his time at home was that he was technically thirty-two again, which meant the age gap between them wasn’t double what it was supposed to be.
Of course, he also knew there was a chance that Savannah wasn’t ready yet for their commitment and he would live with that if he had to. He would let it be her decision though.
* Savannah heard a knock and considered not answering. She currently found herself enjoying being lazy with a cup of coffee, and a fashion magazine. Answering the door meant people. But, she needed to go outside and put another bottle of empty apple juice into the recycling.
She should fucking buy stock in it at this point, given how much juice she drank. Or, at the very least, get Kol to compel the grocery store clerk to give her an occasional bottle for free.
“I’ll be right there.” She needed to put on actual clothes to answer the door. Once she had on pants and not just underwear and a tank top, she opened the door.
“You’re back then?” Savannah held open the door for Adam.
*
Adam couldn’t help himself, the moment he laid eyes on her, he pulled her into a hug. “I’m back,” he said. “And I am so sorry for what I put you through.”
There was so much he wanted to tell her about the past year, so much he felt like she needed her to know. He managed to refrain from blurting it all out though, at least for the moment. “Are you okay? Did I miss anything crazy around here?” he asked. That would give him a better idea of what kind of headspace she was in.
* Savannah hadn’t expected the hug. At all. Or the heartfelt apology. And so she maybe ended up more truthful than if she’d had a moment to collect her thoughts. But it was Savannah too, so she couldn’t be sure she would have phrased things differently.
“No. I’m your friend, but I’m not going to be left to pick up the pieces every time you realize you treated me badly, Adam.” Because he’d done it to her the last time.
She looked at his face and backed away from the hug. Savannah walked away, with a hand to indicate he should sit on the couch. She returned a moment later with cookies from the freezer.
For a moment Savannah considered what she’d done the last bit. “I went on a double date, because Allison mentioned it, but I should have known better. I know Kol. I even like Kol, but it was basically throwing Q to the wolves. Even I realize the Original Vampire is an acquired taste.” Savannah knew if she’d been with Adam the night would have gone differently and it made her feel disloyal to Quentin.
Her admonishment was deserved and Adam didn’t refute it or attempt to make any excuses for himself. At least she wasn’t kicking him out, so he went and sat on the couch, smiling when she returned with some of Paige’s cookies.
His smile faltered a little when she admitted she’d gone on a date, even though he knew she was seeing someone. It turned into a frown when he mentioned Kol. While he hadn’t had any direct interactions with any of the Mikaelsons, he was aware of what happened between Klaus and Lydia and didn’t particularly like the idea of Savannah hanging out with anyone from that family. It wasn’t his place to say anything though.
“If you wanted to literally throw him to the wolves, you could take him by the Pack house,” he said, opting to make a joke instead.
Of course she brought out cookies for the two of them. Savannah wasn’t a monster after all. She watched Adam’s facial expressions. Obviously she hadn’t stopped seeing Quentin. If Adam didn’t want Savannah dating someone he should have gotten his shit together.
“Yeah, I know how you feel. But Kol is funny and I really like his girlfriend.” Kol possessed a violent streak that Savannah appreciated. Plus he drank from her on a regular basis.
She laughed. Savannah missed this with Adam. “Fifty fifty if Kate ties him to a tree. Or a chair.”
“Better hope she approves of him,” Adam said. “Otherwise who knows what she might do. She once signed up Clay’s girlfriend for speed dating.” There had been a lot of Pack shenanigans during his time in Madison Valley, most of them involving Kate in some capacity.
He nibbled on a cookie as he considered if he should bring up what happened at home. Remembering that he promised not to make decisions for her, he said, “Do you want me to tell you anything about what happened back home?”
“It’s Kate. I put nothing past her.” She snorted. “I guess it’s good she likes Elena’s boyfriend then.”
At the question, she looked at Adam. “If you want to tell me, sure.” Savannah appreciated he gave her a choice. “How long were you home?” She reached for a pillow on the couch and hugged it to her midsection. Not very Savannah like, but she had a feeling this conversation might take a turn she didn’t want.
Adam did want to tell her, mostly so he could apologize again for his stupidity. It had almost cost him their relationship at home and he really didn’t want it to happen here, though he knew it might be too late. “A little less than a year,” he said. “Shortly after our ski trip, you decided to move into my building. Separate apartments, a couple floors apart, but we spent a lot of time together.” Which was something they’d already done long before they started dating.
“I don’t know how much you want me to share about that though,” he said, after a pause.
“So, I actually moved out of Paige’s andLucas’s? Fascinating.” She took another cookie and gestured for him to continue. “Just rip off the Band-Aid, Adam. You obviously have something to tell me.” And, Savannah, for all her annoyance with Adam, didn’t want more hiding between them.
Subtle wasn’t really in Adam’s wheelhouse so he wasn’t surprised that she called him out on dancing around the subject. “I fucked up at home,” he said. “Same way I did here. I got in my head about things and almost lost you.” Even though he was older, he certainly wasn’t wiser.
“We finally had an honest conversation about where we wanted our relationship to go. I told you that you’re it for me, Savannah.” Adam paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Here’s not home though, so it’s entirely up to you if you want that here or not.”
Savannah wanted to scream and release every single fucking feeling inside her. A part of her wanted to scream at him for putting her through all of this. And she planned on it. She really really did. But, no, her body betrayed her and she found herself pulling him in for a deep kiss.
Then she remembered everything that happened since her arrival. And remembered Quentin and so she backed away quickly, still without saying anything to Adam.
The kiss was completely unexpected, but Adam reacted instinctively, his arms wrapping around her waist. When she suddenly pulled back, he felt the loss keenly, though he made no move to touch her again. No matter how much it pained him, he needed to let this all be on her terms.
“I’m sorry,” he said after a few moments. “I’m an idiot.” There was a pause and then a faint smirk spread. “Pretty sure you’ve known that for a long time though.”
Savannah looked at Adam, head tilted, considering him and this situation. She felt terrible about kissing Adam, given the whole still seeing Q thing.
“I shouldn’t have kissed you.” Even if part of her felt on fire from it. And that damn smirk. Shit. Savannah actually shook her head to hopefully clear her brain.
“Look, Adam, I get you were home for a while. But for me? Fucking hell dude. What makes this time different? Like from any other conversation we’ve had in this place?”
“I know it doesn’t change how I acted before,” Adam said. “You only have my word that things would be different.” He hoped that she would trust his word by now, but he was determined not to push, so he didn’t say it. It would crush him to watch her be happy with someone else and he hoped it wouldn’t come to that, though he was well aware if it did, he only had himself to blame.
He ran his hand through his hair. “One good thing about going home is that I’m technically 32 again.” Yes, he had all those extra memories, but physically he hadn’t aged that much.
Savannah regretted opening the door in some ways. She’d been happy, although she missed Adam. Maybe she found it a little easier without him.
She couldn’t deny she still loved him. But Savannah honestly didn’t know what that meant at this point.
“Okay.” Did he expect her to stand up and cheer now that he found the age difference acceptable?
“I don’t know what I want.”
Adam held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m not asking you to decide now,” he assured her. “I just wanted to be transparent with you about where I am. Take as much time as you need. I won’t bring it up again. The ball is entirely in your court.”
Needing a distraction to break the tension, he reached for another cookie and took a big bite, getting crumbs all over his face.
“Okay.” This time, she at least smiled and nodded at the reassurance. “Thank you. And for what it’s worth, I am glad you got through some of your shit at home.” Maybe it would make their friendship easier if nothing else.
She burst out laughing. “Hot Adam. Well done.” Savannah felt all the tension leave her body. Nobody needed her to make a decision right now and she could figure out what she wanted before she hurt anyone too badly.
“Nick may have freaked out a bit when you left. Poor guy.”
Making her laugh has been his goal and he grinned at his success. As he brushed off the crumbs, he realized that Nick wasn’t the only person he needed to inform of his return. “I’ll send him and Paige a message,” he said. “I should probably just post on the network.” Luckily, his phone was in his pocket upon his return, so he didn’t have to deal with the welcoming committee again. He was also grateful that he was more appropriately dressed this time in jeans and a t-shirt instead of ski gear.
“I wasn’t gone long enough to miss a fight night, was I?” he asked. If he was, Paige might never forgive him.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes at the grin. “Yeah, you probably should. I know a few people will be happy.”
At his concern, Savannah shook her head. “You managed to not miss a fight night at least. I would have done my best to help Paige.” Although, Savannah probably wouldn’t be that much help.
“I am glad you’re back.” Anything besides these words felt too serious for her right now.
“So am I,” Adam said. He was also glad that he’d been able to talk to her. Whatever happened from here on in, he could accept, knowing that he’d done his best. And no matter what happened here, he’d still have Savannah when he eventually went home again.
He leaned back against the sofa, kicking off his shoes so he could put his feet on the coffee table. “Wanna watch a movie?”
Savannah honestly didn’t know what might happen with the two of them, but right now she felt glad her friend returned.
“Yeah, pick something out while I go top up my coffee.”