Saving Grace. [Alex Gaskarth]

Blinked in Minutes.

IVORY

"Ivory?"

"Hmm?" I replied, snapping out of my daydream. 

"You okay? You haven't blinked in minutes." He laughed. 

I chuckled and lent my head back against his chest, we were still at Hazel's, despite the fact it was almost 9:00pm, and were sat like we usually were - Alex lent against the tree and me in-between his legs, his arms wrapped loosely around my middle. 

"So I did something over the weekend." He grinned. 

"What was that?" I laughed. 

"I read your book." 

"W-What?" I gasped, turning my head to face him. 

"I read Peter Pan, the whole thing, cover to cover." He stated proudly. 

"Thank you." I said seriously. 

"I enjoyed it, believe it or not." He chuckled, kissing the back of my head. 

"It's a timeless classic, I'm not surprised." I smiled excitedly. 

Alex simply chuckled again, continuing to place kisses on the back of my head. Everything fell silent for a few minutes, and I felt my eyes begin to close. 

"Ivory? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." I mumbled. 

I had managed to sleep for 2 hours straight since we'd arrived, even though it had been broad daylight. There was something about Alex's presence that was just calming, and I'd never felt safer. From what I was aware he had just sat and stayed with me, playing with my hair and tracing delicate patterns lightly on my face.

"Why...did you, y'know, freak out...earlier?" He asked cautiously. 

"This is like our little 'confessions' spot." I laughed, trying to ease the tension. 

"Ivory..." He sighed, leaning his head forward and pressing his nose against my cheek. 

"Just don't-- freak out okay?" I said softly. 

"I promise." He smiled, pressing a kiss to my temple. 

"You know when I said, I was busy over the weekend?"

"Yeah..."

"I wasn't, exactly. My sister had a, uh, party." 

"You have a sister?" Alex exclaimed. 

"Uh-huh, um, Chelsea? James's ex-girlfriend..." I trailed off, lowering my head. 

"CHELSEA AS IN GOT SUSPENDED FOR HAVIN-"

"You got it." I laughed humorlessly, pushing myself out of Alex's embrace. 

"Ivory I'm s-"

"It's fine, whatever, I'll just go now, save you finding an excuse." I sighed, standing up and taking a few steps away before Alex scrabbled up and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. 

"I'm not like the rest Ivory-Grace..." He whispered, before gently pressing a kiss below my ear. 

"I-"

"Come back?" He whispered, repeating the action once more. 

"Okay?" I said quietly, surprised he'd even wanted me to come back. 

Alex seemed adamant though, and I followed his lead as he turned us around and started gently pushing me back to the tree. We sat back down, side by side this time, and Alex swung his arm over my shoulder. 

"Continue, why are you tired?" He smiled, kissing the top of my head.

"I spent Saturday morning cleaning as Dad still isn't home, I spent Saturday afternoon party-proofing the whole house, I spend Saturday evening being terrorised in my own house until 4:00am, I spent Sunday morning trying to get my sister awake from the amount of alcohol she had consumed, I spend Sunday afternoon cleaing the house again while my sister slept, that's why I'm tired." I yawned ironically. 

"And you worked too?" He questioned.

"Yup." I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder. 

"No wonder you're tired darling, maybe you should sleep now?" He said, worry laced through his tone.

"I'm okay, honestly, I prefer talking with you anyway." I blushed. 

Alex chuckled and somehow managed to move us so he was sat in front of me. I looked at him puzzled, and just smiled, fumbling in his pocket for something. 

"So Ivory-Grace, how are you with answering questions?" He smiled, a hint of nervousness present in his tone. 

"Awful, seriously I am just a awkward wreck when it comes to on the spot questions I mean I start rambling and just talking and talking and I stumble a lot and rarely actually come to a conc-"

"Ivory? Shh..." Alex laughed, shaking his head in amusement. 

"So, basically you're not very good at just random, unpredictable questions?" 

"Yup." 

"Well, maybe I could help with that..." He smiled, before leaning forward and placing his hand on my cheek, attaching his lips to my own. 

I returned the kiss but had honestly never felt more confused, Alex seemed to sense my discomfort and  pushed us back so I was lent against the tree, Alex knelt with his head ducked to reach my lips. His hand left my cheek and he began fumbling in his pocket again - confused - I pulled back, but Alex (who seemed alarmed by my movements) quickly slammed his lips back on mine. 

"Alex what are y-" I said pulling back and tilting my head. 

"Ivory-Grace, will you please do me the honour, of being my girlfriend?"

I gasped and looked at him wide eyed, he looked anxious and unsure, and was now knelt above me. I realised I'd just been staring at him for a while, so quickly shook my head and smiled. 

"Okay."

He burst into laughter and tackled me to the ground, peppering kisses over every inch of my face. I smiled up at him, a new, warm sensation building inside me. 

I felt happy. 

"So Ivory, I should like to give you, a, kiss." He smiled. I leaned up to give him just that but he raised his head up and shook it, reaching into his back pocket. He sat up and pulled me with him, placing me securely on his lap but facing him still. 

"This kiss, belongs to you, and always will." He smiled softly, revealing what was in his hands. 

"Oh Alex..." I gasped. 

He revealed a necklace, it was gold, and there was a small charm hanging from it. The charm was an intricate acorn, and it was probably the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Alex quickly pressed the charm to his lips before unclasping it and fastening it around my neck. I looked down and admired it, it was stunning. 

"It's so beautiful, thank you Alex, I can't thank you enough," I grinned, leaning up to kiss him, but he turned his face so I kissed his cheek at the last minute. 

"So, I can introduce you to the guys as my girlfriend now?" He questioned seriously. 

"Yes, idiot." I laughed. 

"In that case..." He smirked, leaning down and pressing his lips to mine once more. 

 "Thank you, Ivory-Grace."

"Thank you, Alex."

A/N: There is a picture of the necklace Alex gave Ivory on the side (I own both of them, they're available on www.etsy.com) 

Thanks for all the support, it means the world.