Sunday, April 1, 2012

Finale - Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore

 

Author's Note: Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure. This piece is my most emotionally trying, and I'd like to think it's helped me improve my writing skills. I hope you were able to take a journey into both Jon and Giselle. Perhaps this story has even helped someone. It's helped me. This was a long time in the making, and there will be a short epilogue soon if you'd like to stay tuned. Enjoy!

He was right, she thought as she lay there with her flushed chest heaving. Giselle fiddled with Jon's longer than usual hair, a smile coming unbidden to her face. 

“When are you going to cut this?” The sun finally cut through the clouds as she looked up through the weather beaten slats of the lifeguard’s chair. 

“You used to love my long hair,” Jon grumbled good-naturedly.  

“I still do, but you don’t anymore, right? Not half as rebellious as it used to be?” Giselle's hand stopped on Jon’s head as he looked up at her through rumpled, shaggy locks.

“I will keep my hair any way you want it.”

“You can stop kissing ass, you know.” Her clear eyes studied his face, a rebellious lock of titian hair covering one orb halfway. His slow chuckle warmed her, spreading through her veins and wrapping itself around her.  

“I love you, Giselle Bon- Spring.”

“I know. I love you, too, Jon Bongiovi.” A hot, calloused hand slid up beneath her slowly drying shirt. Jade eyes surveyed Jon, unnerving in their focus. He massaged her still flat stomach, a wondrous smile illuminating his face.

“You’re happy,” she observed.

“What’s not to be happy about?” His face was nearly ingenuous, scraped clean of bristles and bright. Jon’s smile faded as he realized her always sparkling grin was not reflecting back at him. “Sel, a baby and a new start. Smile.” He chucked her with his index finger, her lips parting reluctantly. “That’s it. Smile, baby.”

Jon skimmed his lips over hers, barely making contact but electrifying her. 

“Take me home.”

That I can do.” Jon stood, wincing when his knees creaked like an old door hinge. Giselle flopped back onto the sand, a bolt of laughter wracking her. 

“You’re getting old!” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Hefting your ass around isn’t easy either.” Jon yanked her up, and she brushed sand off of the two of them.

“Gee, sorry I’m not eighteen anymore!” 

“We weren’t even together then.”

“However, you liked me.”

“I can’t deny that. Your father wanted to kill me for even looking at you.” 

“I know, and when you proposed...”

“He went through the roof though you were in your 30s.”

“He couldn’t reconcile the timeline with his values. There was Romeo and then you were marrying me.”

“He told me he wouldn’t have his daughter be a mistress then have me ‘try to pretty it up by slapping my name on you.’” Giselle threw her head back and laughed, her hair again catching rays. 

“After I rejected you for twelve years running,” she teased.

“That sure hurt my pride, but it was worth it. I got to see you walking down that aisle like a dream.” Jon looked over at her with a sharp, direct gaze designed to connect.

“We have good times on the beach, don’t we?” A wistful smile 
graced her face as her eyes dropped to study their matching strides. 

“Plenty.” He stared down at their entwined arms and hands.

“Jon?”

“Hmm?”

“It’s Bongiovi now.”

“What?”

“My last name. Bongiovi.” 

Wordlessly, he thanked whatever deity was bringing her back. He squeezed her hand while the other pushed his hair away from his face frustratedly. Giselle let out a quiet giggle. 

“That’s really getting to you, isn’t it?” She glanced at him sideways, green eyes shining with mirth.

“Yeah, a little,” Jon conceded, releasing her arm then reeling her in to wrap his arm around her shoulders. Her toes wriggled into the sand as she rooted to the spot, looking from the upcoming house to the horizon. He walked a few more steps, kicking sand like she had earlier.

“It’s squishy.” Giselle’s eyes drifted closed and a sweet smile flitted over her face. Her red hair and flawless skin was made more vivid by the waning sunlight, a brighter glow settling upon her.

“Yeah, wet sand generally is,” Jon declared jokingly. He moved closer when she didn’t budge, curious why she’d paused. 

“Ara used to go on and on about the sand being ‘squishy.’” 

“That’s what sold me on this one. You liked the porch, and Ara liked the squishy sand.” His eyes clouded momentarily as he remembered.

“Jon, I never paid attention.” Giselle’s eyes flashed open, the smile fading as if it never existed.

“Yes, you did.” He took a step in her direction.

“No, I didn’t.” A tear rolled down an unblemished cheek.

“What’d Ara like to watch on Saturday mornings?” 

“‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’. She liked to watch it with Romeo and Jake.”

“See? I don’t know half of the things like that about her. You paid more attention than I did, or to different things than I did, at least, and I should have, but what I do know is that she loved you. I mean, really loved you, and she worried about you. That girl was the second coming of Josephine.” Giselle’s eyelids fluttered with the mention of her mother, blinking back sudden moisture. 

“She’d tell me when you weren’t getting enough sleep, or when you were losing weight. I was never that attuned to others and I sure as hell don’t know many six year olds that perceptive.” Jon placed his hands heavily on her shoulders. 
“Sel, you did what you could, and I did what I did, but it’s time to start over. Tabula rasa. I’m going to have to deal with my guilt, and you’re going to have to be confident that you were the best mother to her while you had her. We can’t fix this if your foot is in the past. Weren’t you the one who was telling me to pull myself together? Because it’s time for you to do the same.” 

“I tried.” Giselle was deluged by a sensation of peace as she stepped forward into the circle of Jon’s arms. “God, I tried.” Hot tears wet his shirt, and Jon held her tightly, his hand smoothing over copper waves. 

“I know, Sel.” He peppered the top of her head with kisses and clung to her in a desperate attempt to pacify her and keep her with him. Her nails dug into his back, leaving little half moons through the fabric of his shirt. Giselle’s little hitches had abated. Suddenly, she was rising onto her toes and kissing him eagerly, her arms looping around his neck. Her legs were next, and he tucked his arms under her bottom while she stole his air.

“I’m not doing this here,” he rumbled against her mouth. 

“Then take me to bed and make love to me,” she ordered simply.

Jon walked up the lonely beach straight to the house, setting a direct course for their bedroom. He laid Giselle’s unresisting body onto the unruffled bedspread. He blackened the room with a flick of a finger, shut the door with a quieted click, then reappeared at her side, turning on a dim sconce before perching on the edge of the bed. Giselle rose onto her knees behind him, palms smoothing over his shoulders as her lips traversed the back of his neck. Jon’s hands covered hers as she fumbled with his buttons from behind. He grazed the underside of her wrist with his teeth then sucked at her pulse before turning and easing her back down. 

“I want to savor you. Let me.” His mouth over hers was a salve for her shattered but healing heart. Jon kissed Giselle with purpose, intent on touching her shadowed soul and banishing whatever darkness remained. He knew the exact moment she began to slide and settled in for the fight. “Open your eyes.” Verdant pools met azure with the impact of a blow. “See me.”      
______________________
All things will heal, we’ll feel it lifted and kissed from this curse

Open your eyes, see what’s in front of your face, and save me*

Fistful of Tears - Maxwell

5 comments:

  1. Aww this chapter was kind of bittersweet for me cause I know there is only one more installment left. Glad to see Sel and Jon working things out between them. It will take some time but I think they will get there as long as they continue to talk. This chapter was beautifully written, it had hope for the future, regret for past issues, very emotional. Great job Summer.

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  2. *tears streaming down my face* That was beautiful. I am happy to see Jon and Sel starting to move forward. Thanks for giving us closure Summer.

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  3. Great chapter, thanks for continuing this story. I'm glad that they are able to forgive each other and move forwards together, really beautiful.

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    1. waaaaaa. I didn't want this one to end so soon. Great ending though, I must say. Very sweet.

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