Ivory Hill had spent the majority of her adult life running. Throughout her twenties and the first part of her thirties it was from bombs and bullets. Now, at thirty six years old Ivory was running from something that she could never truly escape fr...
Grace stood in her room towelling her red curls dry, her mouth set in a straight line.
"Alright?" Ivory asked, walking in with Tigger in her arms. She had seen the way that Grace looked at Parker and it had stung much more than she thought seeing her interested in someone else would. Ivory knew that she had no claim to Grace whatsoever but after the woman's vehement refusal of a relationship of any kind she couldn't understand why there was one rule concerning relationships for Parker and another for her.
"Just brilliant, never been better in fact." Grace said sarcastically.
"Oh." The woman was silent for a moment, putting her cat down on the bed. "Here let me, you're making a mess of that." She pulled the towel out of Grace's hands. "Are you pissed about what Parker said?"
"Well duh." Grace folded her arms, standing still as Ivory dried her hair. "Everything's going tits up."
"There's still time. You said Jake was making progress."
"There isn't enough goddamn time! I just-" The redhead raked a hand through her hair. "I just want to be by myself."
Ivory didn't argue. She gave the towel back, scooped up Tigger and left the room, heading down the narrow corridor to the kitchen.
"Hey, whatcha up to?" Trudy asked, looking up from the complicated many layered sandwich that she was carefully constructing on the worktop.
"Nothing." Ivory deposited Tigger on the tabletop, pressing her hands against her face and breathing out a slow sigh.
"Fancy a game of cards?"
Ivory let her hands drop back to her sides. "You're on."
Trudy cut the sandwich in two and passed half to Ivory. "Come on then."
Ivory pushed a piece of dripping black hair out of her eyes and sat down at the table.
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Ivory was still in the kitchen a while after Trudy had gone to bed, setting out Tigger's bowls. The door swung open, it's hinges screeching. "Jake? You want a coffee?" She asked.
"Do I look like Jake?" Grace asked.
"In a certain light." Ivory said drily.
"You're shivering."
"We're living in a glorified tin can Grace, it isn't exactly insulated." Ivy muttered, pulling her hoodie more tightly around herself.
"You'll get a cold if you're not careful."
"That's an old wives tale Grace."
"Are you calling me old?" The redhead raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe." Ivory smiled faintly.
"You'll be forty in a few years so you can't take the piss for much longer." Grace paused, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "It's warmer in bed."
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"You're still shivering." Grace commented, adjusting the covers so that they covered more of Ivory.
"It isn't on purpose." Ivory said grumpily. She knew she was being unreasonable but she couldn't help it- she was fed up of Grace being emotionally unavailable one second then giving Parker heart eyes the next.
The older woman sighed then shifted across the bed so that the front her body was pressed against Ivory's back. "Is that any better?"
"Yes. Thanks."
Grace reached out apprehensively and slid her arms around Ivory, closing the gap between them.
"Grace?"
"What?"
The dark haired woman reached up and ran a finger over the engravings on her dog tags. "Are you having second thoughts about stopping things with Parker?"
"No."
"But earlier-"
"He's not the person he once was. Today proved that the hope I had was unfounded. I've been over him for a long time."
"Oh."
"Why? Are you jealous?" Amusement tinged Grace's voice.
"Why would I be? It's not like we're dating." Ivory rolled over to face Grace even so, burying her face into the woman's shoulder, breathing in the lavender scent of her hair.
