Title: Rock and Water
Fandom: Saved by the Bell
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Slater/Jessie, past Renee/Jessie
Rating: PG/K+
Summary: A lot has changed, but Slater still knows her signs.
Word Count: 2,232
Written For: Fan FlashWorks 466: Relax
Date Written: 7 January 2025
Warnings: Spoilers for the reboot
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.








He knew the signs. He had learned them long ago, and never forgotten them. He'd even used them as a mirror for gauging past girlfriends and their reactions, knowing both when to comfort them and when the hammer was about to drop. None of them had lasted. They couldn't, not when he still used her for a guide in all things.

She was where he turned whenever he had a moral dilemma; he always talked to her in his head before he made any important decision, even if he didn't always go with the choice she'd advise. He knew what she would advise too, in all things. She had been his first real love and one of his dearest, lifelong friends. He'd never forgotten her and never would have even if their lives had not eventually brought them back together here at Bayside.

It was strange, Slater thought, how much things changed yet stayed the same. He watched as she made her way through the halls pass the student and other faculty. One of the other teachers tried to get her attention, but she just ignored her, pointedly never allowing her eyes to stray in her direction or look up from the paperwork she was holding. Slater knew she wasn't actually reading the papers. He'd figured out this technique of hers a long time ago, during one of the earliest times he'd broken her heart. She'd had to still go to school with him, still be around him in class and in the halls, and every time he'd gotten close to her, ready to try again to apologize for his foolish behavior, she'd had her nose buried in a book. And then he'd caught her one time with the book upside down and known just how hurt she'd been and that she'd been trying to avoid her emotions and him by keeping her focus on her books.

The woman was a brainiac and a bookworm. Both were as much of her as her long, lean legs whose curves perfectly filled out every pair of jeans she put on. He'd been asked many times over the years what he saw in her -- he was certain she'd been asked the same. He'd even heard a few of the girls and ecogeeks, back when they'd been kids in these very halls, ask her that question. She'd had various answers over the years, ranging from his dimples, bronzed skin, and great hair to the way he made her laugh and how he was always there for her. He liked to think it was a combination of all things and more. He knew as much as he loved her body, it was her mind and personality that had actually held him captive over their years, especially the very, very long years apart.

He'd been so excited when he'd first heard she was coming to work here, wondered how on Earth a place Bayside High could have gained her attention and willingness to be employed by them, and then heard and was crushed by the news that she was married with a kid. Of course she'd married. A woman like Jessie Spano didn't stay single for long, not once she made up her mind she actually wanted -- never needed -- a man.

That same man who she had chosen as a husband, one of the few things he'd never been able to be to her, and now likely never would, was the very reason she was hurting now, he knew. He'd been watching her for days, ever since she'd thanked him for reminding her of who she was and he'd realized she was going to finally gun for a divorce. But no matter who made the final decision, breaking up was never easy to do. Breaking up with any girl he'd ever dated had always been hard; Slater could only imagine what it could be like to break up from a spouse, a person with whom you'd share the ins and outs of your life, the ups and downs and every moment in between, for years. He'd only ever had one person in his life like that, and marriage had never been in the equation.

It couldn't have been, he reasoned, slowly beginning to trail behind Jessie as she made a beeline for her office. It couldn't have been then because Jessie had always deserved better than anything Bayside, or he, had to offer. Yet here she was back again, back at Bayside, back in his life. But it still couldn't be now. She'd been married, and whereas that didn't bother him, he knew it would her. Her trust had never come easily, and she'd never been one to appreciate the sanctity of marriage. Now she'd tried it once, and that idiot Renee had both destroyed her trust and any desire she probably had to ever be married. Sanctity was out of the question, and Slater was sure so, too, was Jessie's interest in marriage. Even if she one day dated again, she would never, ever consider opening herself up to another man to be wounded as deeply as Renee had wounded her.

The bastard needed to be taking out by firing squad. Slater had heard his father, the Major, say that a few times about other men who had especially irritated him. For all his father's many faults, he'd never treated his mother the way Renee had treated Jessie. He'd also never said those words to his son, but Slater was beginning to understand his father in ways he'd never wanted to when he was younger. He still didn't really want to understand him, but if any man, any civilian especially, deserved to be gunned down in front of an entire firing squad, riddled with bullets from head to toe, it was certainly Renee for the way he'd contained, controlled, neglected, and mistreated Jessie.

And their son. Slater thought briefly of Jamie. The boy was no football jock, but he was Jessie's son, and not by him, thus making the lack of football skill make perfect sense. But he was a kind and sensitive soul, not unlike his mother's deepest layers. Jessie hid her sensitivity well in most cases, but he knew how easily she could feel hurt. He'd caught the other jocks picking on her when they were younger, before they'd started dating, and although her tongue could certainly hold its own, he'd intervened a couple of times, making it clear that none of his team was going to tease the girl nerds in such a way. Especially not one who was so beautiful and with such long and sexy legs.

Slater felt his chest tightening as he watched Jessie walk and ducked behind a row of lockers. He shook his head. Only then did he realize that the bell had rang and the halls were clear. He'd been so deep in thought and so accustomed to the sound that he hadn't even heard it. Jessie must have a free period. He was about to be late for his next gym class, but they could wait. Besides, Aisha knew what to do if he didn't show up on time, and right now, he had more important matters to take care of.

More important people to take care of, he thought, emerging from behind the lockers and finding that Jessie was out of his sight. He'd heard a door shut and knew she'd made it to her office. She still wouldn't allow herself to cry. The longer she fought against her tears, the harder her eventual breakdown was going to be. Class could wait, if it happened at all. If Toddman wrote him up, he'd deal with it then, but right now, the most important person in the world to him needed the help of a friend.

And that was all he could be to her, Slater instructed himself sternly. Especially now, when she was hurting so greatly. Now, when she was fresh from the divorce. There'd been a time when he would have pounced on her like a jackal on a fresh lamb joint -- Slater's stomach grumbled, reminding him he'd skipped lunch to watch over her --, but that person was long gone, healed very shortly the moment the impossible had happened and he'd been rewarding with Jessie walking back into his life.

If he never dated again, that was okay. If he never had another woman, it'd hurt, but that was okay too. After all, nobody had ever compared to Jessie, before or after, and he'd been around the world a couple of times. He'd dated them all, had them all, and none of them had ever mattered half as much as Jessie did. And right now she needed him.

Hearing something crash, Slater broke into a run. He popped into her door and saw her chair on its back, Jessie standing before it, her hands pressed tightly against her desk. "You okay?" he asked, giving her one of his trademark smiles and ignoring the trembling within his own body. Again, he reminded himself sternly, he didn't matter; he was here to be here for her, no other reason.

"I -- I -- It -- " She stammered. Her face was red. Those who didn't know her would think she was furious about something and likely duck her to avoid her wrath.

But Slater knew better. He walked into her office and shut and locked her door behind him. The blinds were already drawn. "Jessie -- "

"I've got work to do," she said and grabbed at the papers on her desk.

"Momma." He walked to her and gently closed his fingers around the tops of the stack of papers which were turned every which way. Looking deep into her eyes, over the papers and over her desk, he told her, "This is me. You don't have to lie to me."

Her mouth opened to protest, but his next words stopped her cold, "You don't have to be okay."

"I -- I -- " Again, she stammered, but this time, she shook. The first of many tears to come rolled down her face and splashe donto the papers, which were rustling noisily in her hands. Her tear slid underneath Slater's thumb, where he, too, gripped the papers. She let him take them from her trembling fingers and drop them back onto her desk.

Then he closed the distance between them and wrapped her in a big, tight, bear hug. "It's me," he whispered against the top of her dyed-blonde head. She never would have dyed her hair in high school. "You don't have to keep being strong right now. You can relax. You can -- "

"I'm not okay," she whispered, beginning to shake her head.

"I know," he said, "and that's okay. It's to be expected even. You don't have to be a rock." One time in high school, he'd told her she could be a rock, if she wanted to and if she let him flow around her rock like water. "Your water's here."

A strangled, tearful gasp broke free from her. He held her tighter, silently urging her arms to envelope him. She buried her face in his muscular shoulder and cried the first good, long cry she'd allowed herself since signing the divorce papers. Slater stood as still and strong as a rock as the water of her tears soaked his shoulder and jersey. She didn't have to be strong, and he was thankful that she still trusted him enough to let her wall down. He was thankful she was back in his life, even if they would only ever be friends again.

Her friendship was the most important thing to him -- actually, no, that was a lie. Her happiness was the most important thing to him. He'd protect her, and Jamie too if they let him, and find a way to bring happiness back into their lives. Mother and son had both been so secretly miserable for so long now, because she'd made the wrong decision in marrying her son's father. He hadn't made the wrong decision in letting her go to pursue her dreams, and not only because she'd come back to him. But she was back in his life.

He'd keep her in his life this time, whatever it took. Even if she one day left Bayside again, he'd find a way to keep her in his life, and he'd never let another man hurt her. From now on, any potential dates, when she did eventually get ready to move on, would only think they were answering to a military-style big brother. He'd be worse than any brother or father ever, because his love for her ran deeper for both. She deserved to be happy. She always had, and he would help her find her happiness again, even if only as a friend.

Somewhere in her sobbings, he understood his old name, "Poppa."

"I'm here, Momma," he whispered softly against her hair and chastely kissed the side of her head. She smelled wonderful -- she always had --, but he'd not move on her, especially now. What she needed now as a friend, a friend who could be a rock for her, and that was exactly what he was going to be. It was funny, Slater thought, holding Jessie tight as she sobbed her heart out, how much things changed, yet how much they stayed the same.



The End