IVORY
"Ivory wake up!"
I groaned and stuffed my face into my pillow violently, ignoring the person poking my side repeatedly.
"Ivory love, get up." Someone murmured softly, pressing their lips to my temple.
"Alex." I breathed, tilting my head to see him.
"Happy birthday baby." He smiled, lying down next to me and pressing his nose against my own.
"Thank you." I whispered, grinning at the pretty boy in front of me.
He lent in and gently brushed his lips past mine, enough for them to curve up into a wicked smile. Alex noticed and kissed my nose, chuckling as I blushed a deep red.
"I'm not leaving this bed today." I stated, shuffling and cuddling into Alex's chest.
"We have plans I'm afraid love." He chuckled.
"Noooo." I complained, pulling the duvet tighter around us.
Alex laughed, tugging the cover away from us and pulling me on top of him. He gently brushed his fingertips through my hair, allowing my eyes to flutter closed again. He continued his addicting action, occasionally pressing his lips against my forehead.
"Let the surprises begin."
~~
"Why the hell am I blindfolded?"
"Ivory stop talking."
"I can see literally nothing."
"That's the point sweetie."
"Are we here yet?"
"No love, or we would have stopped walking."
I laughed and crossed my arms over my chest, portraying my annoyance. Alex sighed and placed his hands over my hips, forcefully pushing me in the right direction. I giggled and went limp, falling back into his chest. He growled playfully, lifting me up and throwing me over his shoulder.
"It's like you've lost a year not become a year older." He chuckled.
"Says the guy who blinded folded me!" I pointed out, beginning to feel the affects of being upside down.
We walked in silence for a bit longer, until Alex carefully placed me down and pressed a kiss to my nose. His hands found my hips again and he steered me inside a venue, it smelt of alcohol and sweat, so my first thoughts were Jack's house. But the minutes we stepped into a room, I realized exactly where we were.
"SURPRISE!"
The blindfold was untied and the lights were flicked on as everyone screamed. I grinned and waved at the mass of people surrounding me. We were at Rams Head Live. Everyone was here: Taylor, Matt, Chelsea, my Dad, Jack, Zack, Rian, Uncle A and many other faces I knew. Alex tapped my shoulder from behind, reminding me he was there. I immediately jumped on him, peppering his face with kisses and mumbling 'thank you' over and over.
"Told you I'd make it special." He whispered, supporting my legs that were wrapped around his waist.
"You didn't lie." I smiled, closing my lips over his own, making everyone surrounding us cheer.
"Go talk to people." He smiled, ushering me away after dropping me.
I hurried over to Matt, Taylor and Uncle A, holding them in my embrace and thanking them repeatedly. They all kissed my cheek and pointed to my Dad who was sat smiling with Chelsea. I approached them slowly, amazed they were both here.
"My babygirl is 17, amazing." My Dad smiled, cupping my cheek fondly.
"Thanks Dad." I blushed, astounded from the contact.
"Happy Birthday Ivory, you look beautiful." Chelsea complimented.
"T-Thanks Chels, you too, as always." I replied in shock, a permanent smile etched on my face.
"Um, excuse me everyone."
We all whipped round to see Alex stood on stage, nervously fiddling with his fingers as he waited for silence. I smiled encouragingly, raising an eyebrow to hurry him along.
"So, as you all know we're gathered here for Ivory's 17th birthday, so I just wanted to say a few words about her..." He started.
"Me and Ivory met around 10 months ago, and in that time, I've learnt more about life than I had ever learnt before. Ivory puts perspective on everything, she makes you realize how great something is, or how something isn't all that great. She makes you smile without doing anything, she makes you worry about the littlest things, she makes you do extravagant things you'd deem anyone crazy for, she makes you learn to love the little things, but most of all, she makes you fall in love with her every single day, in a million different ways. From the light in her eyes to her sleepy voice in the morning, there's just something about her, that just makes life better."
I grinned from my spot on the ground, my eyes swimming in pools of tears, threatening to leak any moment. I walked up to the stage slowly, never losing eye contact with the pretty brown eyes that stared at me.
"This is for you, angel."
I gasped as Jack, Rian and Zack walked onstage, each taking there usual positions as if they were playing a gig. The audience behind me cheered as they realized they were going to perform, as many of them were school students. My eyes darted between Alex and Jack, waiting for the hurtful stare, harsh comment, innocent push, but it never came. Alex smiled and nodded at Jack as the intro to a song I'd never heard before echoed throughout the venue.
My eyes didn't leave Alex's as he sang; the song was beautiful, and soon enough I realised it was lullabies, the song he was so reluctant to play before. With one hand clutching my necklace and the other clasped over my mouth, I watched as the final piece of Alex was unlocked.
Everyone cheered as it came to an end, and I refrained from launching myself on stage, instead settling for blowing him a kiss and mouthing 'thank you' over and over. He gave a teary smile in return, before they continued to play through a set of my favourite songs, included a new one entitled 'Ginge's Couch'.
"Happy birthday Ivory!" They cheered before exiting the stage.
I ran backstage to where they were toweling themselves off from the sweat gathered from performing, I pulled them all into a group hug and held them there, the only thing being heard was our breathing.
"Thank you, so so much guys!" I squealed happily.
"Glad you liked it." Jack smirked, pulling me into a side hug.
"So you guys are....?" I questioned.
"Fine, we talked it out for you, we're over the petty arguments now, you forgave us, so we forgave each other." Jack smiled, Alex nodding along and throwing an arm over his should in the process.
"That's amazing!" I grinned, launching myself at them all again.
"Now come on Ives, you've got a party to have."
~~
"This has been the best night ever Lex." I gushed, leaning back against him.
"I was hoping you'd say that." He chuckled.
We were sat at Hazel's now, just us two. The party had ended not long ago, so Alex had taken me away while the rest of them cleaned up. It was dark out, just the fire going and some LED fairy lights dangling from the overhanging tree branch. It was a beautiful setting really, unconventionally beautiful.
"I can't thank you enough Alex." I said, smiling up at him.
"The smile on your face was enough--"
"No Alex, for everything, for taking my backpack the first day, for inviting me to lunch, for running after me, for reading my book, for the bracelets, for the necklace, for England, for the party, for...for being there, all the time." I gushed, turning in his lap to face him.
"I love you." Alex chuckled, his eyes watery too.
"I love you too Lex." I choked out, cupping his face in my hands.
"I have one last present for you babygirl." He said, pushing me off his lap subtly.
"But Alex--"
"Shh." He chuckled, sitting up and clearing his throat.
"All we have is what's left today,
Hearts so pure in this broken place,
Cause we are, we are, we are,
Who we are, we are, we are,
Lovers lost in space,
We're searching for our Saving Grace."
"I'm not searching anymore Alex, I found mine, just like you promised."
A/N: It's finished! That's it guys, Saving Grace is over. There's a million people I want to thank but that could be another chapter all together, so I'll stick to saying thank you so so so much to everyone for reading this. You have no idea how much every vote, every comment and every read means to me, I love and appreciate all of you.
I hope you enjoyed this book as much as I loved writing it, Ivory will forever be a part of me and hopefully we'll see her again soon. To answer the question before you all go mad in the comments: no, there won't be a sequel I'm afraid. I'll leave you to make up you're own future for Ivory and Alex, however if you guys want an epilogue I'd be happy to write one, just to give you a snippet into how I picture their future:)
(The song Alex sang at the end was Saving Grace - The Maine, a.k.a the song that inspired this story.)
Thank you all endlessly again, I love you so much,
Thank you.<3