A/N: woot! Bam belam. I finally updated this story. I blame my lack of activity on my lack of involvement in the footy this season. I never get to see the matches anymore, on account of my working when they're played. I didn't even get to see State of Origin cause I was at debating. So sorry about that. I think I'll probably finish this one soon.

But on another note, to those of you who are reading my other stories, I'm going away again soon, and I need to know, would you rather have Mirrabooka or Whenever it rains updated before I leave?

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The next morning Rabbit was up before everyone in the house. Trying his hardest not to make any noise, he tiptoed down the stairs and into the kitchen. "James, no!" he screeched, lunging at his brother. James laughed like a maniac and quickly stuffed the last crumpet into his mouth. Rabbit grabbed him in a headlock and bashed him against the kitchen counter. James kept laughing. "You're too slow." He gasped, just as Karen walked into the kitchen. "James ate the last crumpet." She said, making a statement rather than asking a question. James laughed so hard he started to choke. "I even got up early." Rabbit muttered, giving his brother a swift kick to the back of the knees. "That was my crumpet!" he yelled. Karen sighed, reached into the pantry and pulled out another packet. "I brought more yesterday." She said, handing the packet to her third youngest son. Rabbit grabbed the packet gleefully. "You know that crumpet had mould on it James?"

James choked again, but this time not from laughter. Rabbit snickered to himself and stuck two crumpets in the toaster as Savannah walked into the kitchen. "Morning." She said, leaning over to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "See you later."

"Where are you going?" Rabbit asked in surprise, scratching his chest.

"Out. There's a few things I have to do." She replied, grabbing an apple from the bowl on the table. "When will you be home?"

"Later." She said, waving to James and walking out of the kitchen again. Rabbit followed her. "Don't forget your mother is coming over for dinner." He called.

Savannah just waved at him and shut the front door behind her. Rabbit shook his head and turned back to his crumpets with a strangled yell. James had just eaten them.

"James!"

**

Savannah rolled her eyes and smiled to herself as she set off down the street. She loved staying with the Warren's. Even though they fought like anything, she could tell that they would do anything for each other. And they treated her like part of the family as well, but Savannah thought it was time to move on. As much as they made her feel welcome, she didn't really feel like she belonged. The family needed their own space, and she didn't want to outstay her welcome. She'd found another apartment advertised at Indooroopilly that she was going to check out. Forty-five minutes and two buses later, Savannah was standing on the doorstep of number 4. Raising her hand and checking she had the right apartment, she knocked lightly on the door. A second later it swung open. The blonde girl stared at her in amazement. "Savannah? Savannah Mitchell?"

Savannah blinked. She hadn't called ahead, so how did this girl know her name. "Yes?"

The girl laughed. "Oh my god! I knew it was you! I could never forget those eyes."

Savannah stared blankly.

"You don't remember me do you?"

"Laura?" Savannah asked curiously. The girl laughed again.

"Yeah!"

Savannah's eyes widened. She'd met Laura while she'd been on the street. The beautiful blonde girl was only a year older than her, and had been dancing at a sleazy club when she'd met Savannah. Laura was the one who'd helped Savannah clean herself up. Tears suddenly filled her eyes. "I looked for you everywhere." Savannah cried. "Where have you been?"

Laura laughed. "Here! You found me." she replied, pulling Savannah inside.

"No." Savannah said impatiently, waving the newspaper around. "I saw your ad for the apartment!"

"Oh! You're here for that?"

Savannah nodded. Laura offered her a seat on the couch. "Great!"

"Laura, who cares about the stupid apartment! Where did you go?" Savannah demanded.

**

Laura laughed. "I see you haven't changed. At all.  Ok. It's a long story. Just after you started at the Tyler house Johnny offered me work in the back room."

Savannah nodded. The back room of the club Laura had been working in was another step up from dancing. For another two hundred dollars punters could do whatever they wanted, as long as the dancer was willing. "I'd only been there one night when this guy came in. He didn't look like the regular type. He was dressed really well, for starters. He asked for me especially. So I go over there, and he tells me he's a modelling agent. At first I didn't believe him. I mean, I've heard every line in the book. But he hands me this card, tells me to call him, gives me the two hundred and leaves without anything. That's weird right? Who gives $200 to a prostitute for nothing? So I called him the next day. He had me come down to this fancy studio in the city and they took a couple of shots of me. Then Greg, that's his name, takes me into his office and he tells me that he wants me to model for him. He runs this huge agency and provides models to all the top fashion shows in the country. I might be common but I'm not stupid." Laura said.

**

 Savannah smiled. "So he gets his lawyer to come in. A real fucking lawyer, brief case and everything 'Vannah. And he goes over everything with me. By then I was positive that everything was legit. So I say yes. And I ask Greg how he found me. He tells me that he met his wife at the same club when he was at a buck's party a couple of years ago. That was when I'd just started working there." Laura raised an eyebrow. "Remember Cheryl?"

"No fucking way! She's married to Greg?"

Laura nodded. "Yep. They got married last year. She told him about me." Laura shook her head. "She saved me Savannah. Remember how sweet she was to us? She left two years ago, and I never knew where she went. I thought she might even be dead." She looked at the ground. "She wouldn't be the first one to go that way. But anyway. She's totally fine. She saved me 'Vannah. I would be gone if it wasn't for her. I was smoking more crack that Whitey Houston, and I was rapidly losing interest in being alive."

"I know how that feel." Savannah muttered. "But what are you doing here?"

"Oh! I'm working for the agency now. They pay for it."

"If they pay for it, why do you need a flat mate?"

Laura rolled her eyes. "It gets awful boring here by myself. You know, I looked for you too. I rang the house and they told me you'd gone to live somewhere else. They wouldn't tell me where."

Savannah nodded and gave a sheepish smile. "I met a boy."

Laura's jaw dropped. "A boy? You?" she went into peals of laughter. "No way."

Savannah nodded. "I know. Unbelievable right. And get this – he's a footballer."

Laura laughed harder. "I don't believe you."

"It's true!" Savannah insisted. "He turned up at the house one day with his team. They were there to 'dedicate their time to a worthy cause.' He was the only one stupid enough to talk to me."

"You bit his head off didn't you?"

"More than once." Savannah admitted. "But it just rolls off his thick skin. I was constantly making jokes at his expense and he didn't even care. He even came back again – on his own."

"Oh my god." Laura gushed. "That's so romantic."

Savannah smiled. "He's the Cheryl in my story. He saved me. I was going nowhere at that place. They were ready to kick me out when I turned 18. So, he offered me a place to stay."

"Oh my god. Is he hot?"

"Gorgeous."

"What's his name?" Laura asked curiously.

"Luke."

"Luke what?" she asked impatiently.

"Luke Warren."

"Luke Warren!" Laura shrieked. "From the Logan Crocs?"

Savannah laughed. "I'd forgotten what a huge football nut you are."

"Well, I didn't exactly have much of a chance to watch it standing on a street corner in the Valley did I? But since I've been here I watch it religiously. Logan are my team. Check this out."

Laura stood up and pulled Savannah towards her bedroom. She threw open the door and stood back to let Savannah through. "Oh. My. God."

The walls were completely green and black – Logan's colours.  There were posters of several players, including Rabbit, and a giant Crocs flag across the top of the bed. Laura laughed. "Gross isn't it? The guys I bring home freak out. Especially when they're lying on their backs with me on top of them, staring at the giant team poster on the roof."

Savannah burst out laughing. "So do you want to see the rest of the place?" Laura asked.

Savannah nodded. "Great." Laura yanked her hand. "This is the bathroom. I know, it's huge. It's the only one though. This is the other room. It's pretty huge too. This is the kitchen, laundry, study and living room. But you've already seen it. There's a balcony attached to each bedroom and the living room as well."

**

Savannah looked around in awe. "Wow."

"So what do you think?" Laura asked urgently. "I'd love you to live here with me. I've checked with the agency and it's totally cool. You don't need to worry about rent, only food and electricity and all that shit."

"Oh, god…um…"

"Say yes." Laura begged. "You can move in whenever you want. I'm so lonely here."

Savannah shook her head in bewilderment. She couldn't believe how bizarre the entire situation was. Normally, a place like this would have been way out of her price range. But for some reason she'd decided to check it out anyway, and had found Laura. What were the odds? She knew she couldn't pass it up. She couldn't impose on the Warren's any longer, and she had nowhere else to go… "Ok"

"Ok?"

Savannah nodded and laughed. "I'll move in!"

Laura grabbed her in a bone-crushing hug. "yay!"

****************************************************

Rabbit watched Dan's grass stained shoes as he paced around the locker room anxiously. "Right. Finals start two weeks tomorrow. And you all know what that means?"

The team groaned. "Right. Two three-hour training sessions a day. Three of those every week will be weight training, and two will be at the pool." Dan told them. "If we win this weekend against Souths, which we will," he added, "we'll be third on the ladder behind Brisbane and Sydney and we'll meet Melbourne in the first final. If we're on top of our game we'll beat them easily. I'm not taking anyway chances." Dan looked every player in the eye sternly in turn. "If any one of you fucks up between now and then, you won't have a chance to get to the judiciary. I'll kill you myself." He said fiercely. "No woman, no brothels, no drunken scenes, no night club brawls. A few certain idiots who shouldn't be playing football in the first place have disgraced the code. I will personally make sure that no one from Logan does the same. For starters, you won't be playing for this club ever again. We don't give any leniency to fools. Remember that." he cleared his throat.

"Stick to your diets. I don't want any fat, unfit players on the field. That means no more doughnuts Johnson!" Dan barked at Aaron. Aaron rolled his eyes. "No late nights, no overdoing the booze. Am I making myself clear?"

Rabbit nodded mutely. No fun.

"Good. Alright. Well done today. I'll see you all tomorrow morning."

Rabbit stood up wearily and shouldered his bag and boots. "Home," he muttered, yanking open the rusty car door and throwing his kit onto the backseat. Rabbit wrinkled his nose as he slid into the drivers seat. "This car smells like arse."

Putting the car into reverse, Rabbit zoomed backwards out of his parking space, cutting Jason Monier off and earning himself a few curse words from the captain. "ha ha." Rabbit chuckled, gave Jason the finger out the window and turned the radio up.

**

Fifteen minutes later he arrived home. "Bastard took my space." Rabbit muttered, glaring at Andrew's white Holden. With six cars in the house, two belonging to James, it was often war when it came to parking spaces. Rabbit parked down the street a little way and pulled his kit out of the back seat. "Here Kaz." He said, chucking the kit into the laundry as he walked through the front door. Karen put her hands on her hips and glared at her son. "Why can't you wash your own kit?"

Rabbit wrinkled his nose. "Gross. No way." He looked up the stairs. "Is Savannah home?"

Karen waved her hand and sighed. "Upstairs."

Rabbit placed a smacking kiss on his mother's cheek and took the stairs two at a time. He pushed open his bedroom door and found Savannah standing over the bed, folding some clothes. "Hey."

Rabbit smiled at her and kicked the door shut. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing much. Cleaning."

"Good. If you're doing nothing much, then you won't mind stopping for a second." He told her, tackling her to the bed and wrapping an arm around her waist. "You're all dirty." Savannah complained, settling onto her back. "Do I look like I care?" Rabbit asked, nuzzling her neck. "You're getting the bed all dirty."

"Karen will wash it." he replied, kissing along her jaw.

"If you're trying to get me to forget that you invited my mother over for dinner tonight, you're not going to succeed."

Rabbit groaned and dropped his head onto the pillow. "Where did you go today?" he asked in interest. Savannah's eyes flickered to the ceiling. Crap. She still hadn't worked out how to tell him she was moving out. "Um, well…"

"Um, well…" Rabbit mocked. Savannah looked at him sideways. Alright then. She cut right to the chase.

"I'm moving out." she said bluntly. Rabbit didn't respond right away. After a couple of seconds he gave a little laugh. "Oh."

Savannah didn't say anything. "So that's it? You're just going to move out?" he asked calmly.

Savannah raised an eyebrow. "Well yeah. I mean, you knew this wasn't forever right? I thought you'd like having your room back to yourself."

"Where you going to even tell me if I hadn't brought it up?"

Savannah looked at him in surprise. "Yeah, I was ok? I don't see the big deal. I always said to you this was just a short-term thing. You even helped me look for a place."

"But I also thought that you might tell me before you settled on somewhere!" Rabbit replied in anger.

"Why do I have to clear everything with you?" Savannah asked, feeling her famous temper begin to flair.

"You don't have to clear anything with me! But I was expecting to at least discuss it."

"Why?"

"Because that's what couples do?"

"So because you think we're a couple suddenly I have to explain everything I do to you?" Savannah asked irritably. Rabbit went red. "I'm not asking you to answer to me. But I thought we could at least discuss it. Because this is a decision that will effect me too." He said quietly. Savannah bit down on her lip in anger.

"I've been on my own for years and I don't respond well to people expecting things of me. You know that. I needed your help. You helped me. I thanked you for that. I like you. But I'm fucked up, I've told you that, and you can't blame me for being the way I am and the way I feel. I am who I am. That's not going to change. I can't be the perfect little girlfriend that you want me to be. And I thought you accepted that."

Rabbit just stared. "I thought we cared about each other."

Savannah looked away and said bitterly, "I don't care about anyone but myself. And no one cares about me. You know that."

"I care about you." He choked. "Does that count for anything?" he clutched his head in his hands, shaking it. "Where is this coming from? Yesterday you were making me orgasm in my own backyard and telling me you were lucky to have me. This morning you kissed me and said you'd see me later.  Five minutes ago we were fine. You've been here a couple of weeks now and we've been fine. What's up with this?"

Savannah sat bolt upright and glared at him. "Look. Don't tell me how I should behave. I'm my own person Luke and I don't owe anything to anyone ok? I've managed to be on my own for years and I don't need your permission to do anything."

Rabbit looked at her in disbelief. "Is that what this is about? You think I think I own you or something? That is fucked up."

"I have issues Warren. You knew that. You took the risk." She said coldly. She felt the old Savannah returning and the real Savannah slipping away. The real Savannah got nothing but heartache. Nothing ever worked out for her. Her dad, her mother, her grandma…now Luke. The old Savannah didn't give two fucks about anyone but herself. And she didn't get hurt. Rabbit just stared at her again. "You're such a bitch." He said in disbelief.

Savannah was furious with herself. It was her own fault she was in this situation. She'd set herself up for the fall when she'd allowed him into her life. "Why are you so upset Luke? It's not like you're in love with me or anything…"

**

Rabbit didn't say anything and Savannah's stomach suddenly plummeted. Her anger was replaced by a new feeling – guilt. Neither of them said anything for at least a minute. Rabbit was staring at the bed, his face bright red. "Luke…"

He smacked her hand away. "Just don't. I want you to go."

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

"You were going to anyway, so just leave. Get out of here."

Savannah stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and guilt. "Fine." She said in a low voice, suddenly grabbing the pile of clothes she'd been folding earlier. Moving furiously through the room, she grabbed her bag and stuffed everything in it. Rabbit just stared at the ceiling.

**

Then she left. Everything she owned crammed into one little bag; she opened the bedroom door and slammed it behind her. Rabbit lay perfectly still until he heard the front door open and close, then he scrambled off the bed and raced to the window. He watched her as she walked down the driveway and out onto the street. He stood there for minutes. A single tear streaked down his cheek. He wiped it away in embarrassment. Good riddance, he thought, turning away from the window. It was only after he was sure that she wasn't coming back, that he realised he had no idea where was going – or how to find her.