Chapter Text
“She actually accused me of sleeping with Savannah,” Chris said in disbelief as he and Sebastian had lunch the next afternoon.
“Geez,” Sebastian said.
“But what I feel awful about is that I couldn’t admit to her that I have been thinking about Savannah. I know she’s still with that dipshit, but every once in a while, I’ll admit my mind drifted to her,” Chris said.
“She can have that affect on people. But Chris you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re human, you’re allowed to have thoughts. And Jenny was married, so she sure as hell wasn’t committed to your relationship,” Sebastian said. “But hey, now you can put Jenny behind you, we can all work on getting Savannah to ditch Devon and then you can ask her out.”
“I’ve got a bad vibe about Devon,” Chris said. “Did you see the way he grabbed her arm yesterday to drag her away from you and Mackie?”
“I really want to punch him Chris,” Sebastian said.
“And I feel like one of these days, he’s going to give us a reason,” Chris said.
~~~~~
“Okay little nuggets,” Savannah said. “What are we having for lunch today?” “Maccy cheese,” India said.
“Maccy cheese it is,” Savannah said, pulling a pot from the cabinet.
Savannah boiled the water for the pasta while prepping her cheese sauce.
“Do we want to go the park after lunch?” Savannah asked.
“Yay,” the kids cheered together. Savannah settled them in for lunch and helped the twins eat their mac and cheese and carrot sticks with ranch dip, while watching India eat hers without making a total mess. After lunch, she packed up a bag with snacks, water and some toys and gathered the kids to head to the park.
The kids spent the afternoon running around, Savannah occasionally joining them in between writing one of the last chapters in her book. On the ride home, the kids, exhausted had fallen asleep so Savannah carefully carried them in one at a time and put them in bed.
~~~~~
A few days later…
Chris had been home in Boston for two days and he had finally started to relax a bit. Staying at his family home and spending time with his niece and nephews always made him feel the most at peace.
“So how long are you going to be home?” his mom, Lisa, asked.
“At least a few weeks. Definitely until Ethan and Miles start school,” Chris replied. “I do have to film some little stuff for Spiderman, but that will probably be October or November and should only take me a day or two. I think that’ll just be on the soundstage in LA, but I’m not sure yet. I still have a little while before press for Gifted and filming the next Avengers movie.”
“How do you think press for Gifted will be with Jenny?” Lisa asked.
“Well I’d be fine with it, but based on her reaction the other day, I don’t know about her,” Chris admitted honestly. “Most of the press will just be Mckenna and I, and I think some with Octavia. But I’ll talk to her beforehand so there’s no awkwardness. I still feel like we should clear the air soon. As much as I told her I was ending it because of her marriage and the fact that she didn’t want another marriage or kids, I feel guilty that I wasn’t completely honest with her.”
“About what?” Lisa asked, sipping her coffee.
“You remember Savannah Hemsworth?” Chris asked.
“Oh she’s that nice girl who watched Stella the night of the premiere, right?” Lisa asked.
“Yes, she’s Chris’s cousin,” Chris said. “Sebastian is really close friends with her and actually suggested that we would be a good match. And before I met Savannah that first afternoon I insisted that I was going to start something with Jenny. And then I met her, and she was beautiful. And she was so good with Stella. But she had a boyfriend. And even though he seems like an asshole, she’s in a relationship, so I ignored how I was feeling and I asked Jenny out a few days later.”
“Oh Christopher,” Lisa said.
“I know,” Chris said. “But Jenny and I had clicked and had been talking about a date, so I decided to follow through. But since I’m spilling my guts to you here, I should be honest. Even though Savannah has a boyfriend, she popped in my mind every once in a while. Usually when Jenny and I were fighting and I thought that I’d made a mistake getting involved with her. And now I just feel guilty that I didn’t take any responsibility in the breakup because of my thoughts about Savannah.”
“Chris, it’s natural to occasionally feel something for another person, especially when you’re going through difficult times with someone else,” Lisa said. “You didn’t act on those feelings and when it got to the point that you felt it was something that was affecting your relationship with Jenny, you ended it. I don’t really see what telling her is going to accomplish.”
“I guess I just feel guilty because when I was ending it with Jenny, she accused me of sleeping with Savannah and when I said she had a boyfriend, she told me that she was sure the only reason I hadn’t was because Savannah has a boyfriend,” Chris said. “But you know me. I may not have had the best track record in dating in my twenties, I have never cheated.”
“I know that,” Lisa said. “Look, I can’t tell you what to do. If you think you’ll feel better telling Jenny how you were feeling, you should. But whatever you had with Jenny is over and telling her isn’t going to change anything. And if you are going to have to do press with her for Gifted it may just make things difficult.”
“Thanks mom,” Chris said.
“So tell me about Savannah,” Lisa said.
“Mooom,” Chris practically whined.
“I know, I know,” Lisa said. “But if that boyfriend of hers really is awful, maybe she’ll be available soon.”
~~~~~
Two months later…
“Morning Elsa,” Savannah said, coming in from a run.
“Hi,” Elsa replied. “Good run.” “Excellent,” Savannah said, filling a cup of water from the refrigerator.
“What’s your plan for your day off?” Elsa asked.
“I’m supposed to meet Sebastian for lunch. And later I’ll have a FaceTime video date with Devon,” Savannah replied.
“Savvie, he’s been in Chicago filming for a month. I thought that was the perfect opportunity to end it with him,” Elsa said.
“Him being gone because he got a job isn’t a reason to end it,” Savannah reasoned.
“There were a lot of reasons to end it Savvie, and you know that,” Elsa said.
“He’s not a bad guy Els,” she said.
“Who are you trying to convince?” Elsa asked.
Savannah sighed and headed to the guest house to shower and get ready to go out on her day off. She wasn’t completely ready to admit it to herself, but Savannah knew that Elsa was right about Devon. Devon was being better since getting the job on Chicago PD, but they also hadn’t seen each other in person for a few weeks. After about week two, Savannah realized that she didn’t even miss him. But she didn’t feel right about ending things over the phone or on a video call, and she also thought that maybe she’d feel differently when Devon came back.
~~~~~
“Hey,” Sebastian said, standing up to hug Savannah when she arrived.
“Hi,” Savannah replied. “How have you been?”
“Good, finished filming Logan Lucky and gearing up to film I, Tonya,” Sebastian replied.
“Busy, wow,” Savannah said.
“Yeah, and then I’m going right into prep for the next two Avengers films,” Sebastian replied.
“Yeah, Chris was preparing me for that,” Savannah said. “He wants to bring the kids around for filming.”
“Awesome! It’ll be great to have you on set,” Sebastian said. “So how have you been?”
“Great! Busy with the kids, as always,” Savannah replied. “And I just delivered my finished book to my editor. They’re going to review it and then submit it to some publishers. I think it’s going to be a series. I’ve outlined two more books with the same character and I’m going to keep writing.” “That’s incredible,” Sebastian said. “Good luck!”
“Thank you,” Savannah replied.
“And Devon?” Sebastian asked.
“He got a part on Chicago PD, so he’s been out there filming,” Savannah said. “But you’re still with him?” Sebastian questioned.
“Yes, Seb, I am,” Savannah said. “I know you don’t like him, but…”
“Sav, I don’t like the way he treats you,” Sebastian said, cutting her off. “I’ve seen the way he grabbed you when he saw you talking to me, or Chris, or whoever.”
“He won’t hurt me Seb,” Savannah insisted.
“I hope not. I just think you deserve better,” Sebastian said.
“Thank you,” Savannah said.
“So Chris is coming in in a few days to do some filming for Spiderman. Do you want to come out with us?” Sebastian asked.
“Well if Chris and Elsa are going out with you all, I’m going to be home babysitting,” Savannah replied.
“They don’t always come out with us. I’m sure they’ll want you to have a night off too,” Sebastian said.
“Maybe,” Savannah said. “How has Chris been?”
“Good. He’s always better when he’s home in Boston,” Sebastian replied with a laugh.
“Understandable,” Savannah said. “I always feel different when we’re home in Australia.”
“You know he and Jenny broke up, right?” Sebastian asked.
“Yeah, I saw the articles,” Savannah replied. “How’s he doing?”
“Good,” Sebastian said. “He realized it was a mistake to get involved with her in the first place. He felt like she was never actually going to file for divorce.”
“Yeah, that can be rough,” Savannah said. “It must have been hard to be in a relationship where you feel like your partner is still at least emotionally involved in a relationship with someone else.”
“Yeah, but he’s doing okay now,” Sebastian said.
“Isn’t he going to have to do press with her?” Savannah asked.
“Thankfully no,” Sebastian said. “The studio wants the press to mostly be him and McKenna, I think a few interviews might include Octavia, but she didn’t have a huge role in the movie, so other than the premiere, he’s not going to have to see her again.”
“Well that’s good,” Savannah said. “He just seems like such a sweet and sensitive guy. Breakups suck no matter what, but to have them play out in the public eye must suck.”
“It does,” Sebastian said, thinking of his own last breakup.
~~~~~
A few days later…
As it turned out, Chris and Elsa decided not to go out with Chris, Sebastian and the few others, so it freed Savannah up to be able to join them. No one was really in the mood to spend all night bar or club hopping, so they decided to go bowling and had a few pizzas delivered.
“Girls vs. boys,” Lizzie said.
“You sure you want to do that?” Jeremy asked with a laugh.
“Hell yeah,” Scarlett replied.
Savannah smiled as she grabbed a slice of pizza and Jeremy and Lizzie prepared to take their turns. They had gotten two lanes so the teams could bowl side by side.
“You know you can talk to her,” Sebastian said, as he came up next to Chris, watching him watch Savannah.
“I know that,” Chris said, watching as Scarlett took a picture of herself and Savannah.
A little while later, Sebastian noticed that Savannah had gotten quiet and kept looking at her phone.
“What’s up?” Sebastian asked.
“Devon,” Savannah said with a sigh. “He’s been texting me. I guess Lizzie, Scarlett and Jeremy have been posting pictures.”
“Yeah, but you’re not on Twitter or Insta. How could he know if no one can tag you?” Sebastian asked.
“I guess he follows all of you that have accounts,” Savannah said.
“Let me see Sav,” Sebastian said, holding his hand out for Savannah to give him her phone.
Glad to see you having fun without me.
Looks like you really miss me.
And what are you wearing? You know I don’t like you dressing like some whore.
Is that Chris? If you let him touch you…
“Savannah, this is not good,” Sebastian said.
“I don’t understand why he’s like this, Seb,” Savannah said, her eyes filling with tears.
“Savannah, does he say things like this to you a lot?” Sebastian asked.
“He hasn’t in a while, but yeah, he can get really jealous,” Savannah admitted.
“Does he hurt you?” Sebastian asked hesitantly, almost not wanting to hear the answer.
“He’s never hit me,” Savannah said quietly.
“That doesn’t answer my question Sav, and that scares me,” Sebastian said.
“He’s calling,” Savannah said, holding up her phone.
“Do not answer him,” Sebastian said.
Less than two minutes later a voicemail alert popped up.
I thought I made it clear when I left that I didn’t want to see you throwing yourself at other men. You know I don’t like seeing this, especially when I’m not there to put a stop to it. And now you’re not answering your phone? This doesn’t make me happy Savannah. You better answer next time I call and I better not see any more pictures of you whoring it up with anyone. I’ll be home next week for a bit and we will be having a conversation about your behavior.
Sebastian had made her put the playback on speaker, albeit softly, and as the message played on, Sebastian got angrier and angrier, while Savannah let her tears fall.
“I should go,” Savannah said. “No, you are not going to let him control you,” Sebastian said. “That is exactly what he wants. Just calm down, forget about him and go back to having fun.”
“I’m just gonna go wash my face in the bathroom,” Savannah said, hurrying off before anyone else could see her upset.
“What’s up Seb?” Chris asked, watching Sebastian try to relax his face while clenching and unclenching his fists.
“I’m going to kill that little prick,” Sebastian said. “Savannah’s boyfriend?” Chris asked.
“I guess he saw the pictures the girls were posting and sent her a slew of nasty texts and then just left her a voicemail,” Sebastian said. “Chris, she says he doesn’t hit her, but I asked her if he hurts her and she didn’t answer.”
“She really needs to dump that douche,” Chris said.
“I think she’s finally reached the point where she will,” Sebastian said. “At least I hope so. He’ll try to pull her back in, but I hope she doesn’t let him. He’s getting worse Chris. I really think he could hurt her.”
“We won’t let that happen,” Chris said. “Hemsworth won’t let that happen.”
“Hey, you okay?” Sebastian said, as Savannah came back.
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Savannah said with a weak smile.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Sebastian said.
“Your turn Sav,” Lizzie called.
Savannah plastered on a smile and grabbed the ball.
“I really want to punch him Chris,” Sebastian said.
“Right there with you bud,” Chris replied.