Love Hurts

Jon ended up at Richie’s house after riding around for a while trying to clear his head. But what came back to him was that she had talked to Richie about their problems and he didn’t understand why. He knocked on the Sambora’s door and Joan Richie’s Mom answered the door. “Jon how are you dear? Please come in.” she told him.

“Hi Mama Joan is Richie here?” he asked her.

“Why yes he is. He’s down in his room why don’t you just go down there.” She told him. Jon told her thanks and a kiss on the cheek. Jon walked down the stairs to the basement where Richie had his bedroom in one part of it.

“Yeah Rich you there?” Jon yelled out making sure he was alone.

“Kidd? Is that you?” Richie asked as he walked out to see if it was Jon.

“Yeah do you have a few minutes or hours for me?” Jon asked him as he walked up and gave Rich a hug.

“Yeah sure you know I always do. Come on in and sit. You want a beer?” Richie asked him.

“Yeah.” Jon said as Richie handed him one.

“So you want to tell me why you’re here. You have a beautiful woman at home and you decided to come see me? I guess she told you that she talked to me huh?” Richie asked him squarely.

Jon took a slug of his beer and then played with it in his hands. “Yeah she did. Can I ask why you guys talked? I mean I don’t get it Rich why is it easier to talk to you than me?” he asked his best friend.

Richie laughed. “I’m glad my misery is funny to you.” Jon said to him making a face.

“You know you are dumber than I thought. First of all I asked her the question which opened her up to talk dumbass. I know you, you close right up when you don’t want to talk or change the subject. So you guys had a fight right?” he asked him.

“Yeah we did. I’m so stupid Rich. But she’s been thru so fucking much I don’t think she needs anything else on her plate what’s so damn bad about that?” he asked him taking another gulp.

“Nothing and I told her that. I even told her that I’ve known you longer and that you’re a schmuck basically.” Richie laughed.

“Oh thank you.” Jon said giving him the middle finger.

“Look she loves you very much and you love her. You two should be able to talk to each other with no problem right? All she wants you to do is to be honest with her and talk about everything in your life which includes our business which just happens to be our music. She wants you to share it with her so she can help you with the stress of the day. Now if I could have a woman like that believe me I would keep her under lock and key so nobody would steal her away because if you don’t want her I can tell you there will be a line of guys waiting in the shadows just ready to take her from you. I know bad choice of words but so true. And to tell you brother I’ll be at the head of the line. Because if you let her go well I’m not going to be stupid.” He told Jon upfront.

“I have no intention of letting her go Rich so keep it in your fucking pants!” Jon told him pissed.

“Hey calm the hell down I’m just telling you what would happen ok I don’t think she’s attractive to me anyway. But I’m just saying she won’t be on the market for long.” Richie said trying to scare him.

“Well she told me she dated other guys and they didn’t stay because of Jimmy. Then Michael only wanted her and beat the crap out her because she didn’t do what he wanted her to do. Then I came back into her life and told me not to hurt her again and here I am hurting her, again. God Rich I don’t know what to do. I’m afraid if I do tell her everything and vent to her she’ll get sick of it and leave me. Dotty did.” He said as he put down his head in his hands.

Richie just shooked his head and said. “For crying out loud Jon she’s not Dotty. Everytime you offered her money she declined it correct?” Jon said yes as Richie continued, “Alright then, she never wanted anything from you even when it came to Jimmy and still hasn’t asked for anything has she?” again Jon said yes as Richie continued, “Then what the hell is your problem? Is it that your name isn’t on the birth certificate because I did mention that to her also. I told her that if anything ever happen to her would you get Jimmy or even get to see him? You need to get this taken care of and soon.” He told Jon as he went to get himself another beer. “You want another?” he asked him.

“Yeah sure, she talked to you about that? How long was I in there? What did she say by the way?” Jon wanted to know.

Laughing, “She said that even thou your name isn’t on the birth certificate that she would never keep you away from your son. And if for some reason things didn’t work out she would be glad to work out some kind of arrangement with you to see him and for me not to worry about her hurting you about Jimmy. I’m telling you Jon she’s a keeper.” He said taking a sip of his beer and lying back on his bed. “Look you don’t want to lose her then just talk to her tell her what’s going on it’s really no big secret Jon.” He said to him grabbing his guitar and strumming.

“Yeah I guess so but you know I’m not good at this kind of stuff Rich. I suck at it. I’ll say something stupid I just know it.” He said as he laid back in the chair looking up at the ceiling.

“Just relax and talk like you’re talking to me that’s all I mean how do you talk to her now? I mean you get along but you must talk or do you two just screw all the time?” he asked him laughing his head off.

“Oh fuck you Sambora. No we talk, talk just well you know I just don’t like to talk about Bon Jovi business ok. Maybe I want to relax when I get home and not talk about it.” He told him.

“Ok then tell her that. Explain to her why otherwise you’re going to lose her how many times do I have to tell you this. You want one of my guitars it’s over in the corner there.” Richie told him.

They played for a few hours and even tried to write. They put down what they thought was the beginning of something so they continued until about two-thirty in the morning when they realized the time. Jon told Richie that he better get going because he never meant to be gone this long.

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

Ellie found out that there were two flights out to Boston in the next three days. Depending on how things go when Jon gets home she’ll see which flight she’ll take back to Boston. It was getting real late nearing midnight and Jon still wasn’t home. She was wondering if he does this a lot. She didn’t know because everytime she was with him they were on tour and they were out with the guys most of the time. She’s going to have to ask him about that because running away from their problems everytime they have a fight is not going to work for her. She decided that she was finally going to bed and if he felt like coming home fine. But his bed time rule was out the window tonight. She could play that game too. Putting on her sweats she climbed into the bed and fell asleep.

It was finally around three a.m. when Jon walked in to his apartment. All the lights were out so he went to the side table to turn the lamp on there. When he did there was a note pad sitting there with Ellie’s handwriting, so he picked it up to read it and when he saw that it was times and days for tickets to Boston his heart dropped. ‘Shit’ he said to himself. Putting it back he took off his coat and boots and headed to the bedroom. Looking in he saw her fast asleep. He went over by the chair and stripped off his clothes and climbed into their bed. When he got closer he frowned when he realized the she was dressed in her sweats. ‘Yep she’s mad at me. Damn it.’ He said to himself. So he turned over to his side and tried to fall asleep. Before he knew it was morning. He turned around and felt for Ellie but she wasn’t there. He shot up and looked around the bedroom. “Ellie. Ellie. Ellie!” he yelled.

Getting up from the bed he grabbed his jeans which was the first thing he saw and went to the bathroom and opened the door. Still no Ellie. Then he went thru the living room to get to the kitchen and she wasn’t there either. He started to panic because there wasn’t a note.  He looked at the clock and it was a little past eleven o’clock, where the hell did she go. He went back into the bedroom to grab a shirt and then he went and put his boots and coat on and went outside to talk to the guys in security but when he didn’t see them he remember that he let them go when Michael was arrested. Going back inside he took off his coat and started to pace. Where the hell could she be? Did she go to the airport to check on flights? No she already called so there was no need for that. This was going to drive him crazy. So he made himself his coffee and decided just to wait for her to get home to find out. It was about forty-five minutes later that she walked into the apartment with a couple of bags in her arms as Jon jumped up from the couch and started to drill her.

“Where the hell have you been?” Jon demanded.

Looking at him like he lost his head she went into the kitchen to put down the bags. “Excuse me? I should be asking you the same thing Mister. What time did you come in last night?” she shot back at him.

“What? I don’t know sometime around three I think why?” he wanted to know.

“Because I went to bed around midnight and I didn’t hear you come in so I just wanted to know that’s all. Where were you til then?” she asked him curious as she walked over to the chair and sat down.

“So now you’re checking up on me?” he asked her standing there with his arms crossed.

“Weren’t you just doing that to me a second ago?” she asked him calmly.

Now putting his hands in his pockets and shuffling from one foot to the other and looking around the room Jon knew he was caught doing the same thing. Finally he said something totally stupid. “Well that’s different you’re a girl. Plus you don’t know your way around here by yourself. You could have gotten yourself hurt or even worse.” He told her trying very hard not to make this worse by yelling at her.

She on the other hand was trying not to laugh in his face. “Really now. All I did was go down to the local market in your car. Bought a few things that we were out of and came right back. I thought you would be still sleeping when I got back. And seeing that you didn’t have the curtesy to tell me where you went last night why should I tell you where I was going when I was only going to be gone about an hour. Oh and I am a big girl so I think I can go food shopping by myself.” She told him smiling.

Looking at her he was feeling a little bit uneasy about this. “You know you’re being a little too calm about this. What’s up?” he asked her.   

“Nothing why? You were being an ass and ran away like a little boy last night. And I assume you don’t want to tell me where you were. That’s fine so your frig is stocked. I wanted to talk to you about a few things but I see you would rather not. So fine by me.” She told him when he asked her about the tickets.

“So did you buy your plane tickets home yet? Yeah I saw the pad of paper over by the phone. It seems you weren’t hiding it.” He said upset.

“No I wasn’t hiding it and no I haven’t bought them yet. I’m on stand by for Thursday. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about or one of the things but you wanted to take off instead. So while you make up your mind what you want to do you have til Wednesday night to decided what you want to do. The only thing is if I still want the same thing. Because I can’t have you flip flopping on me and Jimmy like you have on your other girlfriends Jon. If you’re with me then it’s forever not when you feel like it.” She explained to him.

Jon just started to chuckle. “Michael really got to you didn’t he? You believe everything he said to you about me.” He told her angrily.

“Oh for crying out loud Jon. No I’m not. You left me last night. Who did you do see Jon? Richie? Because I hope to God it was because if it wasn’t well I won’t be this calm next time you see me.” she told him outright.

“Of course it was Richie. First I had an errand to do then I went to see him. Then I came straight here. Ellie I’m sorry but I really needed to clear my head. And I needed to talk to Richie about a few things so I could understand why he talked to you about our problems. I’m still a little vulnerable on what happened with him and Diane so I guess I just had to make sure that he wasn’t trying to do the same with you that’s all.” He told her as he felt kind of foolish as he heard himself say it.

Ellie smiled as she got up from the chair and walked over to him. She took his hands and said, “Jon do you really think I would do that to you?”

Sliding hers around his waist then his around hers, “No but I never thought they would either and I’m being totally stupid.” He said smiling.

“No you’re only being human. That’s why we need to talk to each other like we used to. Then we won’t get pissy we each other.” She told him as she nibbled on his ear.

“You know you keep doing that and I’m going to think that you’re not mad at me anymore.” He told her squeezing her tight.

“No I’m still mad but you look so damn cute when you sulk.” She told him giggling.

“So are you still leaving Thursday?” he hoped not.

“Well I think I’m going to have to, Jimmy’s there remember? And we have to make a decision on what we’re going to do with him and me?” she told him.

“Oh so that’s what you wanted to talk to me about.” He asked her.

“That’s right. We can’t have him living with my parents and me living here Jon. That’s not fair to anyone now is it? I mean it’s convenient because my folks can take care of him but if you go on tour are we constantly going to drop him off with them especially if he’s in school? I mean we can’t do that and I won’t have him go on tour with you no freaking way. So first we need to make a decision about that.” She said.

“Ok we can work something out. I have a strong suspicion that if we go on tour and if you want to come for say like a couple of weeks I think Mama and Papa Sambora would be glad to look after him. They seem to have a soft spot for him they couldn’t stop talking about last night.” He told her proudly.

“Really? Well I guess that would be ok as long as they promise not to let your parents near him then that would be fine. But I want a body guard on duty also because I don’t trust your mother for one second.” She told him with a look in her eyes that could kill.

“OK, ok we can take care of that when the time comes ok Babe I promise. But first are we ok?” he asked her hoping.

“Jon all we did was have a fight. Of course we’re ok why wouldn’t we?” she asked him.

“Because lately when I screw up or if the person I’m with screws up well either I dump them or they dump me. I’m not use to someone forgiving me for all my crap.” He told her.

“Jon I’ve been in love with you since I’ve been sixteen and I already know all about your crap. Well most of it anyway. The only thing I won’t put up with is you lying to me or cheating on me. And there better be very good reasons for both mister. Like I’m dying!” she told him grinning.

“Ha Ha very funny. Same goes for you. Look I’ll try and be more open ok? But we’re not the same as we were when we were sixteen. We both been thru a lot and yes I’m closed off to certain things but the funny thing is you came back into my life and I feel myself falling back to that boy that I was. So just give me some time ok?” he asked her as he caressed her face.

Staring into those blue blue eyes of his she knew she could get lost in those. “Ok I won’t press anymore. Just know that I love you so very much. But I still need an answer to what I’m going to tell my parents. Do I just go home and let Jimmy go to school there or do I bring him back with me and register him here?” she asked him.

“Well why don’t you call them and tell them that we’re going to look for a house how does that sound?” he asked her smiling.

“A house? Are you serious Jon?” she asked him not wanting to look too excited.

“Yeah I’m serious why wouldn’t I?” he asked her concerned.

“Well because I want to do this because you want to and not because I’m telling you and that you feel guilty that you knocked me up.” She told him feeling guilty herself.

Sighing, “First of all you never asked me to buy you a house. I’m offering. This place is too small for us here. It’s a bachelor’s pad and it’s out grown me anyway seeing that the group is gaining in popularity.  I’m going to need real security and this place just doesn’t have it. And second I don’t feel guilty about knocking you up. Because if I did buying you a house wouldn’t make up for it now would it. You’re going to see even with me in the picture that I’m not going to be around that much Babe when I’m on tour. I mean I’ll get home when I can but until the tour is over or unless you bring him out to see me I won’t really see you two for a while and that’s something else we need to talk about. Do you think you can handle that?” he asked her.

She thought about it for a few minutes. Then looked at him and said to him, “Well if it means you in my life guess I can. Like you said we can come out to visit you or I can get the Sambora’s to take care of him and come visit you for a little while. We’ll see what happens. And if in the future we ever have any other kids we can think of some other arrangements.” She told him.

“So you think we might have more kids?” he asked her smiling.

“Depends how potent you are Bongiovi.” She told him as she started giggling.

“Oh you think that’s funny well I’ll just show you how fucking potent I am.” And he grabbed her over his shoulder and brought her into the bedroom.

They made love all afternoon. They couldn’t get enough of each other and neither of them wanted this time to stop not even for food. So he made the decision that he was just going to continue to cherish her all night and that they would come up for air when they needed it. They took naps off and on thru out the night but in-between stayed in a state of ecstasy the rest. By the time late morning came the phone was ringing and they both were awaken by the ringing.

“I’ll get it Babe.” He told her as he reached over and grabbed the phone. “Hello? Yes she is who is calling? Oh well could you hold on a sec? ‘Honey it’s the airport they want to know if you want to reschedule your flight?’ Jon asked her.

“I’m on standby did a seat open up?” she asked him.

Giving her the one finger gesture he got back on the phone, “Um she’s on standby did a seat open up?” he asked them.

“No sir it didn’t. And the next flight well we don’t know when that will be because we’re snowed in. So there won’t be any flights out for the next twelve hours at least.” She told him.

Jon lied there and couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Um sure why don’t you cancel her flight or standby and we’ll get back to you thank you” and he hung up. Ellie in the meantime was trying to get his attention. “Babe calm down will you I see you.” He told her as he sat up a little straighter.

“Well if you saw me then why the hell didn’t you acknowledge me?” she wanted to know.

“Because it wouldn’t have done any good. You can’t fly out of here and into Boston for the next twelve hours at least so you’re stuck with me.” He told her as he waggled his eyes.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she asked him curiously as she grinned at him suspiciously.

“Look out the window Babe.” He told her smiling. She thought he was nuts but she got out of bed and walked over to the window and raised the shade when she saw everything covered in snow.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me. It’s almost the middle of March for cry out loud.” She told him.

“So you never seen snow in March before?” he asked her.

“Of course I have but I didn’t hear anything that it was going to snow did you?” she asked him as she got back into bed.

“No but we were kinda wrapped up in ourselves remember. So in a little while call your folks and explain to them why you’ll be late in picking up Jimmy. But for right now just stay naked with me Baby because we’re not going anywhere.” He told her again waggling his eyes at her as he went in for the kill. Ellie let out a yelp as she heard him growl and she knew she was in trouble.

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

Finally the late afternoon came and Ellie dragged herself out of bed. She threw on her panties and a t-shirt and went into the kitchen to see what she could make for dinner. She knew she was hungry and if she was hungry then she knew when he woke up he would be starving. She looked in the frig to see what she could make for dinner. She pulled out the steaks and got a couple of potatoes and threw on some veggies. She wrapped the potatoes in tin foil and threw them in the oven too. Simple she thought. She liked that. She was just reaching up to get the glasses when she felt these arms wrap around her waist and someone nuzzling on her ear.

“Oh crap Rick not now Jon’s sleeping you need to come back later.” She said as dead pan as she could.

Well Jon wasn’t going to let that comment go without a little consequence so he grabbed her and turned her to her side and slapped her good on her ass as she yelped. “Owe! That’s not nice Jon!” she screamed.

“Well that wasn’t nice to say to me either now was it when I was trying to be all romantic was it?” he told her kissing her on top of her head he said laughing. “And I even may forgive you since your making dinner.” As he sat down and watched her again so when she reached up he could see her panties when her t-shirt rose up.

Turning around with the glasses, “Here make yourself useful and put these on the table.” She told him seeing that was the only thing left to do then rubbing her butt.  

“I’m sorry Baby does that hurt?” he asked her smiling.

“No I always rub my ass like this Smartass.” She told him as she stuck out her tongue at him.

“Hey come here and I’ll show you what you can do with that tongue of yours.” He smiled.

“Oh yeah well you already know what you can do with yours you nearly killed me with it.” She told him as she got between his legs and he held her butt cheeks in his hands as he squeezed them.

“Oh I know you squealed enough and that other thing that I love so much. You sure you’re not dehydrated because you did lose an awful lot of water Baby.” He said chuckling.

“Jon stop!” she giggled.

After dinner they were curled up on the couch seeing they needed a rest and were again talking about their future. They agreed as soon as the storm was over Jon would contact a realtor so they could start looking for a house. Ellie’s parents said they wouldn’t mind keeping Jimmy until they got things settled and they did know that this was going to come. Jon was thinking that now was probably the best time to do this seeing that Ellie wanted to move her whole life in with him. After the night and day they just had she showed him just how much she did love him. And she was willing now to uproot herself and Jimmy.

“Ellie I’ll be right back I just need to go into the bedroom for a sec ok?” he told her.

“Why you cold? You going to put on a shirt?” she asked him pouting.

“Just…I’ll be right back ok.” He told her as he went in to the bedroom.

Yelling out to him, “Well then bring out an extra blanket will ya!” she said shaking her head.

A few minutes later he came back out with his hand behind his back. He walked over to her as she looked at him strangely and then he knelt down on one knee. Ellie sat straight up now and her eyes nearly jumped out of her sockets.

Jon’s mouth was a little dry but he knew he could do this. Bringing his hand to his front and opening the little black box was this beautiful diamond ring. “Ellie from the time I saw you at your Aunt and Uncle’s I just knew that there was something about you that was special. We might have been young but we knew that we belong together. Unfortunately we were torn apart and I thought I would die without you to never find you again, so I was just going to go thru life never to find real love again. But then God had other ideas and brought you back to me and with a special gift in tow and even thou it’s been rocky we’ve proved that we can get thru anything. So with that said (he slides the ring on her finger) Elinore Cecelia will you do me the Honor of becoming my Wife?