Saving Grace. [Alex Gaskarth]

To Hazel's.

ALEX

"Alex? Hellooooo?"

I snapped out of my daydream and turned my attention back to Ivory. We were at Mike's again, this time after school, and Ivory was trying to show me how to fix the brake pad on a car. Honestly, I had zoned out pretty quickly, this stuff was hard and I'd rather be staring at Ivory. 

She was so beautiful.

Every part of her interested me, from her bright blue eyes to her white, pale skin. I had thought she was pretty before we had spoken, and I guess that's what encouraged me to take her bag that first day. But I never thought she would ever had liked me back. 

"You're not listening." She pouted. 

"I'm sorry sweetie..." I smirked, leaning down and kissing her pout.

Add that to the list of amazing things: her height. She was short, compared to me anyway. Her head fit perfectly into my shoulder when we hugged, making her the perfect height for kissing her forehead. 

"Alex...not here..." She mumbled shyly. 

"Why not Ivory-Grace?" I smiled, looping my arms around her waist and pulling her up against me. 

"Cuz people..." She said into my chest, burying her head and lightly placing a kiss against my heart. 

"I'll protect you." I smiled, kissing the top of her head.

"Ivory-G! Detach yourself from Gaskarth and do your job!" Taylor yelled. 

Ivory sighed and pulled away, continuing with what she was doing before. I couldn't help but smile as she worked, it was rare to see a girl so comfortable in overalls and covered in black oil, around here anyway.

It had got to the point where I was confused on what we were, what 'defined' us. I wanted her to be my girlfriend, more than anything, but I didn't how how she felt about it. 

"IVORY! CUSTOMERS!" Matt called from his station. Ivory sighed and stood up slowly, using my arm for support. This was the first time I'd seen her in 2 days because of the weekend, she claimed to be 'too busy with work' which is why I hadn't seen her. The dark circles under her eyes would support her claim, however, the shop didn't look too busy. 

"You okay?" I asked her as she lent against my chest. 

"Fine..." She sighed, blinking her eyes to wake up. 

"You look tired beautiful." I said, running my thumb under her eyes and holding her cheek. 

"I'm fine..." She said, fiddling with her bracelet. 

"I think you shou-"

"IVORY CUSTOMER." Taylor yelled. She sighed and slowly walked over to the open door, shaking her head a little and plastering a smile on her face. 

James Smith walked into the shop behind her, they walked into the office with Taylor and began to talk about car type things. I could see Ivory through the window, she was leaning on her hand to get herself awake and kept staring at odd things for long periods of time - suggesting she was spacing out a lot. I wanted to take her out of here, but I was already stealing most of her time. Taylor was mad at her for not working like she used too - all day everyday bar school - whereas Matt didn't seem that fussed. My eyes wandered to Ivory again where she was now struggling to keep her eyes open. 

"Enough." I mumbled. Their little 'meeting' finished and Ivory stumbled out, walking over to me looking half dead. 

"Come on, you're going home." I stated. 

"I can't Lex, Taylor will get mad."

"Ivory you can barely keep your eyes open, it's time to go." I said softly. 

"Okay." She sighed, un-clipping her overalls and stepping out of them to reveal skinny jeans and a baggy shirt. 

"Where do you think you're going?" Taylor sighed, emerging from the office. 

"I need to sleep Tay, you know what happened..." She whispered. His face softened and he nodded, pulling her into a hug. 

"Alex taking you home?"

"Yeah, I am." I cut in, before she could answer. He smiled at me and released Ivory who happily padded over and lent against me. 

"Come on you." I chuckled, holding her waist and helping her out. 

"To Hazel's?" I questioned. 

"To Hazel's." 

~~

"Why are so tired?" I asked her. She was led down with her head in my lap, my fingers were threaded through her hair and her eyes were lightly closed. 

"Doesn't matter." She mumbled. 

"Ivory..." I sighed, gently flicking her forehead.

"Alex..." She mocked, opening her eyes. 

"Tell me!" I laughed. 

"Chill, I'm just a little tired, no big deal." She smiled, closing her eyes. 

Taking a last resort - or so I called it - I lent down and attached my lips to her own. Ivory let out a sound of surprise before settling and kissing me back. It was soft, it was gentle, but the minute Ivory's fingers laced into my hair I found myself deepening the kiss. I shuffled so I was led over Ivory, my arms resting either side of her face. Our movements sped up slightly and soon I had trailed off from her lips and began placing kisses along her jawline and down her neck. 

"A-Alex stop." Ivory said quietly. Immediately I pulled away but remained hovering above her. She opened her eyes and the look of sadness took over her expression. 

"What's wrong darling?" I questioned worriedly. 

"I'm s-sorry." She whimpered, closing her eyes. 

"Ivory stop, it's okay, it's okay!" I said desperately, I didn't want to see her cry, it hurt. 

"I-I just...i-it just...I--" She stopped talking and took a deep breath. I shuffled off her and sat up, placing a hand behind her back and pushing her upwards. She sat up and I pulled her into my lap, letting her bury her head in my neck. I gently rocked her back and fourth, kissing the top of her head and tracing patterns into her knee's. She took a deep breath and gently began placing butterfly kisses in my neck.

"Ivory!" I giggled. She smiled into my neck and repeated the action, I closed my eyes and lent us back against the tree. 

"Thank's Alex." She whispered. 

"No worries, Ivory-Grace."

A/N: Thank you so much for the lovely comments again, you guys never fail to make me smile(: