Brandy stood in the middle of the room, looking at the boxes that contained everything she owned. The moving company was due in two hours, leaving her staring at her life stored away in cartons. Tears of anger and frustration ran down her cheeks as she spitefully grabbed the last picture of her and Sav off the mantle. She wasn’t about to leave him anything that was remotely connected to her. After five years together, she’d walked in and found him with a little twenty year old girl hanging all over him. He’d announced that he needed some space, maybe they should separate for a while. He’d go and stay at Joe’s house until he’d thought about what to do. He wasn’t even sure he still wanted to be married to her any longer.

She’d flown out of the house in a rage. There was a fresh hole in the kitchen wall from where she’d thrown a chair into it that night when she’d gotten home. Let him pay for it, serves him right, she thought. Joe had come over the next morning to get some of Sav’s things, because Sav suddenly couldn’t even face her. She’d ranted and raved at Joe for close to an hour as he tried to calm her down, saying they’d all gone through it before. Joe claimed Sav still loved her, he was just having doubts because they’d started talking about having a family. He’d seen all the others go through the same thing when their spouses had gotten pregnant, she should be glad it hit Sav before there was a baby on the way. She’d finally grabbed Sav’s stuff and thrown it in the car herself. Then she told Joe that Sav didn’t need to worry, she’d take care of everything.

She’d packed everything up and made arrangements to go back home to the States. At that point in time, it seemed the further she got from her husband, the better. Sav had tried to call a few times, asking her to call him, but she’d just ignored his messages. She simply didn’t want to hear how he needed space, time and whatever other bullshit he could think of.

The movers arrived, promising her things would make it to the house in the States in three weeks. She didn’t really have much to go because she’d refused to take any of the things for the house that they’d bought together over the years. She was heading to her grandmother’s house in Ohio until she could find another job as a photographer, then she planned on finding her own place. She’d sent out a few resumes the day before, hoping someone would be interested.

Calling a cab, she sat out front with her suitcases beside her to wait. She’d even left her house key inside, knowing she would no longer need it. There was no note, nothing to let Sav know she’d ever lived there. As soon as she got into the cab, she called her lawyer on her cell phone, telling him it was time to end this. Then she got to the airport and boarded her flight, her headphones on. She fell asleep to Vixen’s “Edge of a Broken Heart” playing on her Walkman.

Sav pulled into the driveway a few minutes after she’d left, determined to tell her what a mistake he’d made. He looked around and found little things missing, pictures and knick-knacks she’d always loved. He ran into their bedroom and pulled her closet open, staring in dismay at the empty rack inside. Then he sat down on the bed and cried, wondering how he could have thrown away the best thing that had ever happened to him. After a while, he called Joe and said, “She’s gone, Joe.”

“What?” Joe asked. “She left?”

“Yeah, all her stuff is gone,” Sav said, tears running down his face. There was a knock on Joe’s door, so Joe laid the phone down and answered it, then rushed back to the phone. “Sav, there’s someone here looking for you!”

“Who?” Sav asked hopefully.

“I don’t know, but it looks like he’s here to serve court papers,” Joe said cautiously. “You’d better get your ass back here now!”

“I’m on my way,” Sav said hurriedly. As he drove, he wondered who could possibly be sending legal papers to him. Then he thought about what he’d have to do to get Brandy to come home. Suddenly, the two thoughts came together and Sav started to dread what he would find when he got back to Joe’s house.

His worst fears were realized. The courier had waited for Sav to get to Joe’s and handed him the legal documents he carried. Then he’d left without another word. Sav tore open the envelope and scanned over the papers, then let them fall to the floor as he slumped into a chair. He looked up at Joe with tear-filled eyes and said, “She wants a divorce.”

“Jesus, mate, I’m sorry,” Joe said quietly. “I tried to tell her to wait you out, but you know Brandy as well as I do. This little separation idea was the wrong way to go about it with her.”

“All I wanted was some time to think,” Sav cried. “I didn’t want to lose her!”

“Well, that girl on your arm the night she showed up was probably what tore it for Brandy,” Joe stated calmly. “You should have known better, mate.”

“I know, it was stupid. God, shoot me if I ever drink that much again!”

“I won’t, but Brandy just might,” Joe said softly. “I think you really hurt her, Sav.”

“I know,” he sighed. “It was just a huge mistake, one I’ll probably never get to live down. I’ve got to find out where she is, Joe. Maybe I can still convince her not to go through with this.” He picked up the divorce papers and set them on the table. Joe grabbed them and started reading them over, then he whistled, saying, “Oh, man, you must’ve really pissed her off.”

“Why, what’s she asking for?” Sav asked uninterestedly.

“Absolutely nothing,” Joe said in a low voice. “States that she forfeits all claim on the house you shared, any joint moneys, everything. And she’s planning on going back to her maiden name, claiming she doesn’t wish to have any ties to you. Fuck, I should have been so lucky when Karla left me!”

The look on Sav’s face told Joe he felt anything but lucky.

Brandy spent the next two weeks wandering around her grandmother’s home like she was lost. She just didn’t know what to do now, because so much of her life had revolved around her husband. She alternated between ranting how much she hated him to crying about how much she missed him.

She hadn’t told any of her friends she was back in the States, not ready yet to deal with their sympathy. Her family had been told she wasn’t there, they hadn’t heard from her, hope she’s okay. That was all the information Sav was to be given. And she found out he’d called every one of them, telling them all he wanted was to just wanted to talk to her, could they pass on that message when they talked to her?

A few studios called, interested in her resume. She’d got to an interview at a Cleveland shop and gotten hired as soon as the owner saw her portfolio. She started her third week away from Sav and decided to take a small apartment in town so she wouldn’t have to travel much. Her things arrived at her grandmother’s three days later, so Brandy packed them into her car and headed to her new home. To insure no one could suddenly feel sorry for Sav and told him where she was, she didn’t give her number or address to anyone in the family just yet.

All her lawyer could tell her was that Mr. Savage was refusing to sign the divorce papers. If he continued to refuse, things were going to get messy. Brandy stared out the window as she told him she didn’t care how messy they got, she just wanted to get on with her life. She sighed, wondering if she should have waited until she’d gotten home to file. Laws in the States went much easier in divorce cases than they did in Britain.

Sav was getting frantic. His lawyer had told him that it was only a matter of time before refusing to sign wasn’t going to be enough to delay the divorce. He’d held out for nearly three months, still constantly trying to contact her with no luck. Finally, during a phone call with her mother, the woman had slipped up.

“Rick, you’re the one who started this, why won’t you just sign the papers and let it end,” her mother said.

“I thought you hadn’t spoken to her,” he said triumphantly. “Please, I’ve got to see her! Just tell me where she is!”

“Oh, dear!” she gasped, realizing her mistake. “Oh, she’s been miserable without you, maybe you should talk to her. All I know is she took a place in Cleveland. She’s gone to work in a studio there.”

“Thank you!” Sav said excitedly. “I promise, you won't regret this!” As soon as he got off the phone, he called and booked a flight into Cleveland Hopkins airport, then called Joe to tell him he’d found out where she was. He was on the next flight to Ohio a few hours later.

The other photographer Brandy worked with had been asking her out constantly, so she’d finally agreed to go out to dinner with him. She’d sat quietly through out the meal, wishing she could just go home and head for bed. Instead, she listened as Josh droned on and on about doing team photos three years before for the Cleveland Indians. He couldn’t believe she wasn’t totally impressed by him doing pictures for their local celebrities.

She’d never told anyone at work who her husband was. Not wanting to deal with the disbelief that she would actually turn her back on a rock star, she’d kept silent about even knowing the band. But somehow, team members seemed tame compared to the people she’d met during her years with Sav.

Josh drove her home and walked her to her apartment, pausing on her porch and talking to her for a moment. Then he made his move, pulling her into his arms and kissing her gently. Then Brandy heard an all too familiar voice growl, “Get your hands off my wife!”

Josh sprang away from her, staring into the shadows for the source of that voice. Brandy could see Sav standing off to the side, just out of the light. She hissed, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Trying to get my wife to come home,” he said, stepping into the light.

Josh got a good look at him and stammered, “Did anyone ever tell you that you look a whole lot like Rick Savage from Def Leppard?”

“I am Rick Savage,” he said in a low voice. “And I’d advise you to leave right now! You really don‘t want to be in the middle of this, mate.”

“Jesus, Brandy, you never told us who you were married to!” Josh exclaimed. “Why not?”

“You know, Josh, I don’t think this is a good time to talk about it,” she said, her voice matching Sav’s. “Let’s just say I didn’t want anyone to find out who the bastard I married was. Now, he’s right, you really don’t want any of this. You’d better go!”

Josh turned, got one last look at a suddenly dangerous looking Rick Savage and fled, leaving Brandy to her own devices. She ignored Sav and opened the door to her place, then tried to scoot in before Sav could make in inside. But just as the door was about to close, he threw it back open and slammed it shut behind him.

“Get out of my home,” she said flatly.

“Your HOME is on the other side of the Atlantic,” Sav answered.

“Not anymore!” she said turning away from him. “I distinctly remember being told you needed to get away from me, that you didn’t know if you wanted our marriage to continue. Well, you know me, I’m no good at waiting for the axe to fall, Sav. So I went ahead and started the divorce without you!”

“So what’s this mean, you wanted out all along?” Sav said quietly.

Brandy’s anger blew up and she grabbed the nearest thing she could and threw it at him hard. He ducked just as the figurine flew past his head and smashed into the wall. “You son of a bitch! I never wanted this shit to happen. How fucking dare you even suggest it!”

“Then why’d you file for divorce, Brandy,” he asked softly.

“You think I haven’t seen a dozen rock marriages break up in the past five years? It’s always, “oh, I need my time, I need some space to clear my head” while some little bitch is in the background to help with it,” she screamed, angry tears rolling down her face. “And what do I find now, but my husband using the same words with some little girl hanging all over him. I never figured you for that type, Sav, but I guess I was wrong.”

He crossed the room, getting closer to her and started to say, “It wasn’t like that. She was just some...” Then Brandy slapped him full on across the face, making his head snap around in her fury.

“I don’t need any more of your fucking lies, Sav. Get out of my house!” she screamed. Then there was a loud knock on the door. Brandy threw the door open to find two police officers standing there.

“Are you okay, ma’am? We heard there was a domestic dispute going on here and I just heard what sounded like a slap through the window,” the first officer said as the second one came in and headed for Sav. Sav put his hands up, saying, “Officer, nothing was happening, we were only having a verbal fight.”

“Sir, why don’t you come with us, just til things cool down,” the second officer said, starting to reach for his handcuffs.

“He didn’t hit me, I hit him,” Brandy said, staring at Sav.

“Ah, shit, then I guess we’ll have to take you in,” the first officer said. “What’s your name, ma’am?”

“Brandy Savage,” she said quietly. “This is my place, he’s just visiting.”

“Sounds like he’s from out of town, too,” said the second cop, still waiting to see if he needed to cuff Sav.

“You could say that,” Brandy said, smiling for the first time since Sav had shown up at her door. She felt the handcuffs, cold and metallic, as they snapped closed on her wrist. Then, with her arms held behind her, the first officer led her out to the cruiser. She turned to Sav and said, “Grab my keys, luv, otherwise they’ll get me for breaking and entering when I get home.”

Sav grabbed the key ring and let the other officer lead him to the cruiser as well. Before they got into the car, the officer asked Sav for his name.

“Rick Savage,” he said quietly.

“Oh, just like the guy from Def Leppard, right?” the officer asked.

“Yeah, exactly like that,” Sav said with a humorless chuckle. He looked over and saw Brandy giggle as they helped her into the car. Sav slid in beside her and whispered, “Wonderful, nice to know at least the name is still making the rounds.”

As the cops got into the car, Brandy was saying, “Why didn’t you just tell him who you are? Maybe you wouldn’t need to go to the station then.”

The second officer turned around and asked, “Um, who are you?”

“Rick Savage, just like I said, mate,” Sav laughed.

“Wait, are you the guy from Def Leppard?” he asked.

“At your service, officer,” Sav smiled. Brandy just laughed, wondering how much the cop was going to squirm now that he knew he had a celebrity in the car. She heard him mutter, “Ah, shit” then turn around.

When they reached the station, Sav told them over and over he was refusing to press charges against her. Finally, after two hours of this, the police released her with a stern warning that they’d better not be called back to her residence.

They caught a cab back to her place and Sav unlocked the door for them. As soon as they crossed the threshold, he grabbed her and kissed her hard. For a moment, her body responded to him as it always had. Then she pushed away from him and said softly, “You’d better leave, Rick.”

“Please, luv, don’t tear us apart like this,” he whispered, trying to take her back into his arms. She shoved him away and hissed softly, “I didn’t, YOU did.”

“Don’t do this, Brandy,” he said, still trying to convince her not to send him away. But she wouldn’t budge. She walked slowly over to her small stereo and turned it on, the same Vixen song she’d listened to as she’d left him pouring out of the speakers.

“Listen to the lyrics, Richard, and maybe you’ll start to understand,” she said as the music started. “This is what I’ve gone through since the night you told me you were staying at Joe’s.”

“I can't believe I could've been so blind, but love is strange--I thought about it for a long long time, but the truth remains--I don't need another lonely night to dry my tears--The answer's plain as black and white, and I can see the picture very clear,” the words rang out in the silence between them. Sav sat down slowly in a chair, just staring at her as the chorus played. “I been living on the edge of a broken heart--I don't wanna fall, I don't wanna crawl--I been living on the edge of a broken heart--Don't you wonder why I gotta say goodbye.”

He could only stare at her, watching the tears roll down her beautiful face as she stared out the window. The song continued, “It isn't like you never had the chance to change your tune--Did you think that I'm a dime a dance, well the dance is through--I been doing things your way too long, but baby that's over It won't be easy, but I gotta be strong--And if I wanna cry I don't need your shoulder.” The chorus played again, then he heard Brandy sing roughly along with the next bit through her tears, “I'll find someone else who's nothing like you--And who can play the game as well--And you're gonna be sorry baby - when it's over.”

She’d sat down, curling into a ball in the chair next to the window as she sang, never looking at him. He crossed the room and said quietly, “I’m already sorry, don’t you see that?”

She turned to look at him with eyes gone lifeless. “It’s over, Sav. Just sign the papers and let me go, because I can’t stand getting hurt like that again.”

“But I wouldn’t, I swear it!” he said emphatically as he heard the song playing again. He was on his knees, begging her to forgive him, but she just couldn’t hear it. Her heart was too wounded to let his words get through. She hugged her knees to her chest and wept, pulling away as he tried to touch her.

Finally, after trying to reach her for over a half an hour, Sav got up and left, giving in to defeat. Brandy moved over to the couch and cried herself to sleep, wishing she could have just held him one last time before he’d left for good.

She walked in to work the following morning and realized that Josh had spread his news through the whole studio. One after another, her colleagues came up, asking her questions about her past now. A few were Def Leppard fans and one even asked if Brandy didn’t want Sav, could she have his number? That broke it for her. She threw a stack of photos across the room and said, “Find him your fucking self and better luck with him than I had!”

She turned to storm out of the room, only to find a delivery person from a local florist standing there, a huge bouquet of Brandy’s favorite red roses in his arms. She couldn’t even look at the card as one of her co-workers pulled it from the flowers. The girl tore it open and read its contents out loud, “Brandy, my love, please, don’t tear us both apart. I love you and I know you still love me. Please, come home! All my love, Sav.”

“Jesus, that’s sweet!” one of the other girls said.

“How can you turn your back on a man like that?” someone asked.

Brandy couldn’t take any more. She feel to her knees, sobbing and not caring who saw her. She covered her face with her hands and wept, not knowing what else to do.

No one knew how to handle this. They milled around, wondering what they should do to calm her down. Then the girl who’d asked for Sav’s number gasped as Sav walked in the door. As soon as he saw Brandy on the floor, he rushed over and took her in his arms, letting her cry herself out.

The rational part of her mind screamed out against it as she clung to him. This was the man who’d caused her so much pain, so much heartache, how could she possibly let him comfort her now? Yet her heart was home again in his arms. He lifted her off the floor and held her close, never wanting to let go again. Then she pulled away slowly and said, “Sav, you can’t do this to me!”

“Please, just come home, luv,” he whispered. “I promise you, I’ll never let you down again.”

She turned to the others in the room and said, “I’ve got to go back to my house.” She carefully avoided the word home, knowing what Sav might think. “I’ll be in tomorrow, okay?”

The office manager simply nodded his head, giving her his approval. Brandy walked out quietly, Sav following behind her. They went out to her car and she looked at Sav, asking, “Where do you think you’re going?”

“With you,” he said softly. “I’m not leaving again until you decide to come home.”

She sighed at her folly and unlocked the door to let him into the car. The drive home was quiet, neither of them knowing quite what to say. When they got back to her apartment, she headed straight for her bedroom and changed out of her work clothes. She was just about to slip into her jeans when she turned and found Sav watching her from the doorway.

“Get out, Sav,” she said quickly.

“Why?” he asked with a smile. “It’s not like I haven’t seen you like that for the last five years, luv.”

“Just get in the other room, Sav,” she said slowly. Reluctantly, he walked back into the living room and sat on the couch while she finished getting dressed. Brandy walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of white wine, then figured she’d best get him a drink while she was at it. So she came into the living room and handed him his wine, then sat down as far from him as she could get.

“Why are you doing this, Rick?” she asked slowly.

“Because I realized I didn’t want to have to live without you anymore. I knew that two weeks after I’d gone to Joe’s, but when I tried to stop by the house to talk to you, you’d already left. Then Joe called and said there was someone there to serve me with legal papers, so I had to go back to his place.”

“That was the day I left then,” she said quietly. “I told my lawyer to wait til I was gone before he sent you those.”

“Why didn’t you wait for me, luv?” he asked softly.

“I figured there was nothing to wait for but for you to announce you wanted a divorce. I wasn’t sitting around to wait for that,” she said, staring off out the window. “You were the one with all the doubts, Rick, not me. I thought we had forever, til you told me we didn’t.” Tears came back into her eyes as she said those words.

“We do!” he said, leaning forward and trying to get her to look at him. “Just give me another chance, please!”

“Sorry, Sav, but that girl looked a bit too comfortable on your arm for me to just forget all about her,” Brandy whispered.

He threw his head back and said, “I’m sorry, I was really drunk that night. I know it was inexcusable, but she was...”

“I don’t want to hear it, Rick,” she said, anger returning to her voice. “You’ve got your freedom again, so go have fun with your little girls.”

Sav got up and crossed the room, pulling Brandy to her feet roughly. He looked down at her and said, “I don’t want my fucking freedom, Brandy! I want you and I want us to start a family together! I just got scared, please, don’t make me pay for that anymore!”

She stared up at him, not sure what to think. His hand came up, wiping away her tears gently as he pleaded, “Please, don’t make me go away again.”

He leaned down and kissed her gently, his mouth still begging her to forgive him. And try as she might to stiffen her back against him, she melted into his body, her arms wrapping slowly around his neck. Then she pulled back and turned away from him, whispering, “You can’t just come in here and expect a kiss to heal it all up for you, Sav. You hurt me too fucking bad for that.”

“What can I do, then?” he asked.

“Now I’m the one who needs some time, okay?” she answered. “I can’t let myself just come and go at your whim. I’m not a toy you can put on a shelf til you want it.”

She headed for the door and said, “I’ll be back later, I need to get out and do some thinking.” And before he could say another word, she was gone.

Brandy got in her car and drove around for several hours, not wanting to make the wrong decision. The only things she was sure of was that she loved him and she’d been miserable without him. Did he still love her? And was he going to pull this same shit again in a few months or maybe a year? What if she did get pregnant, would he get scared and run then?

Sav wandered around her apartment all day. When he’d found her CD’s, he laughed as he saw all the Def Leppard CD’s there. But when he checked through them, he realized one was missing. Euphoria. And he knew why. She’d loved the song ‘Goodbye’ so much when he’d written it, she’d started crying as she listened to it. It had to have been too painful of a memory for her to deal with.

Going over to her computer, he booted it up and waited to use it. He went into the kitchen and got another glass of wine while the computer started up, then stopped dead when he saw the picture on the wallpaper of Windows. His own face stared back at him. Stunned, he decided to shut the PC down so she wouldn’t know he’d seen that, but it gave him some measure of hope.

She’d been gone for hours when Sav finally came up with a plan he hoped would bring her home. He knew that she loved hard rock, so it wasn’t difficult to look up and call every hard rock station in town.

It had been dark for more than an hour as Brandy drove through Cleveland, still trying to make up her mind what she was going to do. The wind in her hair and a blaring stereo were helping her feel a bit better. Then the DJ came on and said, “Now, we don’t do this very often, but I’ve got a special dedication here. The guy called in, desperate to make sure his wife heard this song. So this one goes out to Brandy, from Rick. He wants you to come home.”

As soon as she heard the first chord of ‘Goodbye’, tears started streaming down her face. She pulled over and wept as the song played. Sav always had known just how to get to her, she thought with a smile. As the song ended, she started the car and headed back to the apartment.

She let herself in quietly and found Sav asleep on the couch. Rather than wake him, she headed to her bedroom and got undressed, crawling under the covers and staring at the ceiling until she finally fell asleep.

Sav woke with a start and looked around, trying to find out what time it was. Two in the morning, where the hell was she? He started to get worried, wondering what had happened to her. He switched on the light and turned the television off and that’s when he heard her soft breathing coming from the bedroom. There she lay, sleeping like a baby. He padded silently into the room and knelt beside her, looking at her beautiful face. Brushing back her long dark curls, he leaned down and kissed her gently. Her arms went around his neck as she slowly woke up, forgetting all their problems with his touch. He slid under the covers with her, though he was still fully dressed. As he held her naked form to him, he heard her murmur, “You don’t play fair!”

“Why’s that, luv?” he whispered with a chuckle.

“Playing ‘Goodbye’ for me, that was cruel,” she said softly. “You know how much I love that song.”

“I had to get you home somehow,” he said, leaning down to kiss her again. His hands moved slowly over her as he said, “I’ve missed you, luv.”

“You’re not playing fair again, Rick,” she mumbled as his hand made its way down her back. She shivered under his touch, so long forgotten.

“What’s the old saying? All’s fair in love and war,” he laughed. “Let’s make love, not war, okay?” She giggled at the old seventies slogan as his hand pulled her into his body. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, undoing them quickly and stripping the fabric off his shoulders. Then she helped him out of his jeans and pulled him down to her, holding on for all she was worth.

His breath tickled her ear as he whispered, “Maybe I’m greedy, but I want it all now. My wife, our life together, our family...”

“Are you sure, Sav? No more running away?” she asked quietly as he nibbled gently at her throat.

“Never again, luv,” he answered. “And I want it all to start here, tonight.” He looked deep into her eyes as she murmured, “I want that too, luv.”

She felt his hips parting her thighs, his body begging for entrance into hers. Her legs wrapped around him as he pushed slowly into her, their bodies becoming one again after so long apart. His gentle loving touch sent her up to heaven as she held him to her. He could see the tears in her eyes as her climax claimed her. And she saw his love for her in his eyes as his body poured its seed into her.

He settled her body against his as they readied for sleep. Then Brandy looked up at him and whispered, “I love you, Mr. Savage.”

Sav held her close as he said quietly, “I love you, too, Mrs. Savage.”