Once Savannah and Sebastian kissed for the first time, it's like a switch was flipped within the both of them. Now, that's all they wanted to do. They weren't rough kisses, they weren't kisses that are usually the lead-up to something more. They were gentle, and they involved lots of gripping each other as if they would float away if they weren't being held. Sebastian had obviously been quick to make things sexual with lots of women, but the fact that he was taking his time with Savannah made her feel good. Maybe she was different.

But, the positive mood that came with kissing Sebastian was dampened every time either of their phones would ring, signaling to them that Rachel was calling. He was being persistent about it, not taking the hint that neither Sebastian nor Savannah wanted to talk. Well, perhaps he had taken the hint, but just didn't care. That sounded like a very Rachel thing to do, she supposed.

When her phone rang for the umpteenth time, Sebastian pulled apart and groaned. She had been laying on top of him, and he gently patted her back as a signal to get off.

She did, so he sat up and grabbed her phone off the table. Savannah didn't even care that Sebastian was checking her phone, since she knew him well enough that he didn't have bad intentions, and wouldn't freak out on her if he saw something he didn't like. Besides, she felt so connected to him in that moment that everything that was hers felt like his, too.

His nose wrinkled in distaste at seeing Rachel's contact name written across the screen. He flipped the phone around so that the screen faced Savannah, and she sighed heavily. Clearly, these calls weren't going to stop until she answered him. Plus, they did have a lot to talk about, anyway. She was still pissed at Rachel, of course, but being silent wouldn't solve anything, as much as she wanted it to. As much as she wanted to keep kissing the gorgeous man who sat with her.

"I say I just answer it," she said, holding her hand out in a silent request for her phone.

"I say block him," replied Sebastian bitterly; handing the phone back to her nonetheless.

"Baz." Her tone was almost motherly, and the way she was looking at him made his stony expression soften slightly.

"I don't feel ready to even acknowledge him yet," he said back, crossing his arms. "You remember what he said about you, yeah?"

"Yeah. But, in the end, it's my choice to answer or not. And I may not want to, but I know I should. And so I will."

He sighed, leaning in and pecking her lips. His face was kept close to hers afterward teasingly, and he grinned at the way her face flushed. "Wouldn't you rather more of that than dealing with him?"

"Yes, but again, I need to sort this out at some point. And so do you. You're in a band with the guy."

He sighed again, pulling away. "You're right. I'm just—I'm angry. I don't wanna deal with this when I'm angry. I wanna cool off more."

"I know. But, you don't have to deal with it yet. I'll deal with my end first."

Sebastian nodded, but he seemed unsatisfied. So, she added, "I'll put him on speaker so you can help me respond to whatever he says." Savannah knew he wasn't upset with the fact she was abandoning her pettiness and actually talking to Rachel, but that he was afraid what Rachel would say, and that maybe she would let him off easy. He had been an asshole, and, because of her docile nature, he didn't want her to overthink and to excuse that. Besides, who knew if Rachel was calling to have a friendly chat? Sebastian would want to help her defend herself if things got ugly. And she knew that, and she admired that.

   That's when the phone stopped ringing due to her and Sebastian's lengthy conversation. Sebastian looked at her and grinned, lightly touching her cheek. "Maybe he's given up."

   "Doubt it." She opened Rachel's contact and stared at it, debating if she really wanted to do this. Sebastian's hand came to rest on her back, gently rubbing it. A sign of unspoken comfort and support.

   That was what she had needed to face this. She clicked the call button, put the phone on speaker, and waited.

Almost immediately, Rachel answered. "God, Savannah, finally!" he gasped, sounding relieved.

"Hi," she said quietly in reply; that was all she had. Rachel's voice made her stomach clench painfully as Sebastian continued to rub her back. What Rachel had said about her wasn't exactly unforgivable. But, it just felt so underhanded to say something that disgusting when she wasn't around to defend herself. Not that she even should've had to, since Rachel knew her better than that. Or, she thought he did.

"Why have you been ignoring me?" he asked.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes, the question very obviously offending him. After all, how could Rachel not have known? Even without the whole rant about why Savannah was just a new bitch for Sebastian to fuck, Rachel had still kicked her out of the house and had spoken very rudely to her. All for an almost kiss. To him, and to Savannah, it seemed like a no-brainer.

Rachel must've seen his error, because he began speaking again. "Okay, I know why, and I'm sorry. It's just—even when you're upset at me, you never ignore me. I just. . .feel it was an overreaction. To choose this time to ignore me when I've done worse shit to you and you've been fine."

Sebastian opened his mouth, presumably to interject, causing Savannah to elbow him sharply. He glared at her but stayed silent. She could tell that he was practically boiling behind that stony expression.

"Funny, me overreacting is not how I remember it," she spat, venom dripping from her words. All the initial sadness she felt toward this situation was completely gone, as was the sympathy she had felt for Rachel.

   "Sav—"

   "Don't even try to disagree," she growled. "You know that almost kissing Sebastian was not a reason to kick me out of the house. Your tone scared me, Rach. I thought I was gonna be fired. Or worse! That Baz was gonna be fired! That shouldn't be a concern of mine for an offense like that. It wasn't even an offense, really!" She sighed heavily, the continued. "And I still don't know if we are, you're keeping us in fucking limbo—"

   "Maybe the reason you're being kept in limbo is because you wouldn't pick up the damn phone!" Rachel shot back, and Sebastian stiffened, not liking that attitude. He remained quiet, though, eyeing the phone as if it were a sworn enemy. In that moment, it sort of was.

"Just, answer me this. And be honest. I'm not gonna get mad if you tell the truth," said Rachel.

"Okay," Savannah replied slowly. "What?"

"Is Sebastian with you? Tell me the truth, Sav."

She glanced at Sebastian, eyebrows raised. She wanted his permission before giving up that information to Rachel, especially since Sebastian wasn't exactly hoping to be found. Nonetheless, he gave a nod, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Yes," she told Rachel. "Why?"

"Because I haven't been able to get ahold of him, either, and I just wanted to know that he's safe and not doing something stupid."

Savannah saw Sebastian's expression soften out of the corner of her eye.

"And, I'm assuming I'm on speaker right now, and that he can hear me," Rachel continued. "Am I wrong in that assumption?"

She went to silently ask Sebastian for permission, but he spoke instead. "No."

"Okay. Hi, Baz."

That comment felt so out of place when considering the rest of this conversation, so Sebastian rolled his eyes and responded with a curt "hi" of his own.

"This is actually better. That way I don't have to call each of you separately to say what I wanna say." Rachel paused, sighing. "We all have a lot to talk about, clearly. So, both of you, please come back to the house. Me and the guys wanna talk to you both, and this is a conversation we shouldn't be having over the phone."

"Why, so you can just guilt trip us again?" snapped Sebastian bitterly.

Savannah glared at him. "Sebastian, be mature. He could want to apologize."

"Oh, yeah, 'cause that sounds like Rachel," he replied sarcastically. "You don't wanna apologize, do you? You just wanna convince us that we're wrong."

"I guess the only way to find out is for you to come over," Rachel responded coolly. "I know I wasn't perfect in this situation, so I'm not gonna be putting all of the blame on you guys. Just. . .come over, please. Neither of you are fired, and you won't be if you choose not to come. But, it may be problematic if you stop showing up to work. So, I figure it'd be easier to work with the two of you if we clear this up first."

   "Yeah, you weren't perfect. Pretty far from it," Sebastian commented, crossing his arms. "The whole calling Sav 'a new bitch for me to fuck' was pretty far from fucking perfect."

   Savannah knew that if she was with Rachel, he would've performed one of those exaggerated gestures he usually did when caught off guard. His head whipping around to face Sebastian, then snapping over to her. Wildly waving his arms as he attempted to defend himself. She missed seeing those things, and just him in general. But, the hurt was greater than any feeling of longing she felt.

   "You told her?!" Rachel asked accusingly after a small pause. His tone of voice gave it all away; he knew what he said was fucked up, and that he had seriously wounded a close friend of his.

   "Fuck yeah I told her. What did you expect me to do? Hide it from her? Make her think her friend was respectful behind her back when he was, in fact, a total dick?" Sebastian shook his head for emphasis, as if Rachel could see that. "I had to tell her. You understand why, you're just mad you got caught."

   Rachel sighed heavily, and Savannah could so clearly see the way he ran a hand down his face when he was frustrated or upset. He was doing that now, she was sure of it. "Sav, there was no excuse to say that about you. I didn't mean it. I'll never say anything like that again, I swear. Just. . .please come over. Please. You deserve more than just a phone call, and I deserve to let you guys know how I feel about this whole situation."

   "You don't deserve shit," hissed Sebastian. "You don't deserve anything, not after that foul shit you said. Not after that overreaction. Besides, as if it wasn't fucking clear how you feel. I know how you feel, and so does Sav. What's the point?"

   "To make you feel more heard in your situation, and to make you hear us out. The delivery I had at the time I had it was a recipe for disaster, I'll admit. Let me fix it. Let me and the guys be more open-minded, while calmly explaining what we want to."

   Sebastian looked at Savannah with a wary expression, not commenting further. Just by that gaze, she knew he was leaving it up to her. Just by that gaze, she knew that whatever she chose, he'd be on her side. He would walk into the Skids' place with his head held high, or not. Or, he would continue to sit right on this couch and hold her close, his perfect, soft lips on every inch of her face.

   One definitely did sound more appealing. She wasn't a huge fan of confrontation, and that was all this visit would entail. But, again, she knew she needed to face this problem sometime, so she nodded at Sebastian as a signal for how she would respond. During this exchange, Rachel was completely silent, knowing that the two were deciding on what to say.

"Okay," she said quietly, nerves simmering in her chest as it always did when she had to have serious visits like this. "Do you want us to come now?"

"Yeah, please."

"Okay," she said again. "Bye, Rachel."

"Bye, Sav."

Savannah hung up the phone, putting her head in her hands and groaning into them. She only did this briefly, for she removed her hands shortly after with a pained expression on her face. The look was humorous to both her and Sebastian, so they both giggled.

"Even though I'm not ecstatic about seeing Rachel, I do admire that you said yes to him for us," said Sebastian, squeezing her shoulder. "Shows how mature you are. Without you, I would've been getting wasted at some bar by now. This is less fun, but it's more practical."

"Wow," she laughed, resting her hand on top of his. "Never thought Sebastian Bach would side with the option that's more practical."

"Shut up." He rested his other hand on top of hers, and smiled at the expression of adoration on her face. "We should get going, though, yeah? The bastard is waiting for us."

She wanted to scold him for addressing Rachel so rudely, but she didn't. Something about what little apology he gave didn't satisfy her. Sure, he did good at covering his crude statements about her, but what about the rest of it? Just from that conversation, it seemed as if he was set in his ways. So, she let the insult lie, instead responding with, "Yeah, probably."

The two got up off the couch, walking to the front door. Savannah felt Sebastian's hand on the small of her back, and that made her smile a little. Somehow, that little gesture made her feel protected. Supported. And that no matter what happened, Sebastian would be there for her. Besides, she always had had a thing for his hands, so the fact it was resting on her. . .that wasn't a particular bad thing.

Suddenly, a thought flitted into her mind.

Sebastian was always gonna be there for her, she knew that.

But what she didn't know was. . .

In what form?

She thought it was romantic, and she hoped it was romantic. The two had already had an extensive make-out session, so that showed they were at least interested in each other in the romantic sense. But, would that romantic interest continue, or would it fizzle out? And did Sebastian feel the overwhelming urge to stamp a romantic label on what they were like she did?

She felt sick as the possibility of Rachel being right flashed into her mind. What if she was just a new toy for Sebastian?

She tossed that thought to the back of her mind. She knew Sebastian better than that. If that was all he had wanted, he would've been upfront about that. He would not have led her on.

But, what if Rachel got into Sebastian's head? What if he was going to pursue her, but thought better of it?

The question "what are we?" hovered on the tip of Savannah's tongue, but she let it die as the two approached her car. One thing at a time, she figured. She already had one conflict to solve; she didn't need another at the moment.

But, just because she didn't speak it didn't mean it wasn't on her mind.