It was late whenever they got back home. Well, three in the morning, so it was actually early depending on how you looked at it. I was exhausted and still afraid, but now that there were people home I could sleep. But when I closed my light I couldn’t. So I turned it back on, but that didn't help either. And then my bedroom door opened.
I saw Jake peek into my room and my racing heart slowed. “Jake don’t do that. You scared me,” I hissed.
“Sorry,” he said, looking embarrassed. “I thought you were asleep.”
“Why were you peeking on me then?” I asked, clutching my comforter.
“I wanted to make sure you got home alright…but you’re here…and you look fine…so I’m just gonna go…” he started to leave, but I called him back.
“Jake? I can’t sleep,” I whispered. “I’m…I’m afraid.”
He wavered by the door, not looking like he knew what to do.
“Can you stay the night in here with me? Please?” I asked, hoping he’d say yes because there was no way I could sleep alone tonight. And we needed to talk anyways.
“Ivy I don’t think that’s the best—”
“Jake please,” I begged, getting out of bed to rush across the room. I threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly, “I know I don’t deserve it, but can you please stay with me?” I said into his shirt, face buried in his chest.
“I…um…sure,” he hesitated a bit. I pulled away and led him to bed. Almost right away I was curled up by his side, with his arm over my stomach. I flicked off the light, feeling mildly afraid before Jake pulled me down to him again. “Relax Ivy, no bogeymen are going to get you. Neither are the feet eating socks.”
My lips twitched a bit, “That’s not what I’m afraid of, but thanks for the assurance.”
“What are you afraid of?” he asked softly, his fingers running through my hair.
“Chad,” I said, sobering slightly as I clutched his shirt. “Jake I need your help. I can’t do it alone.”
“Do what?” he asked carefully.
“I can’t do it anymore. I want to break up with Chad. Everything that happened was a lie and I love you, Jake. I am so sorry for not believing you and hurting you so much. I…I need you. I can’t stand not having you around, and you’re the one person in the world who can make me feel loads better without even trying. You know me so well and you actually care about me,” I felt my eyes start to burn, “I know I don’t deserve it after everything, but I just want us to be together again. It was so good to be us. But Chad…Chad scares me now. And even if you don’t want me back—”
“Ivy, don’t be ridiculous,” he cut in, moving his face down to mine, “I would not have gone through all this trouble to turn around and say I didn’t want to be together. I love you too, Ivy. You’re a really big part of my life and I’ve wanted you back from the minute we broke up.” He let out a sigh, “Yeah you made some mistakes, but so did I. But we’re only human; we all make mistakes and we can’t help it. I do want you back Ivy, but I think we need to start fresh.”
“Me too. But Chad…” a shudder ran through me. He reminded me of Liam slightly; seeming like a nice guy in the beginning, but then you realized he was anything but when it was too late.
“I’ll help you take care of him,” he said easily, “But I rather not talk about him right now. I just want to relish the moment.”
I smiled a little, “Can I sleep while you relish?”
“Go right ahead,” his arm flexed, giving my waist a squeeze as he pulled me closer. “But I just want to do something first.”
“What do you want to do?” I asked curiously, but I had a feeling I already knew. He found my lips easily in the dark, pressing against my mouth gently with his. My stomach fluttered and I smiled against his lips, feeling his grin in return.
“Now you can sleep,” he said, settling down more comfortably.
“Goodnight Jake,” I grinned, feeling like I couldn’t stop. And I didn’t want too either. It was like everything just hit me then. Jake never cheated on me. He was true to me because he loved me. He actually loved me. All this time I thought no one would ever truly care about me, but he did. And that was all I ever wanted.
“Sweet dreams, Ivy,” he whispered. His fingers playing with my hair, my dark room, and the thought that I could finally relax because I had the boy I loved here with me, was enough to help me sleep.
But when I woke up the next morning reality hit hard. I had to break up with Chad…somehow.
“Rise and shine guys! Come on, you guys have been in there long enough!”
A long pause.
“Jake if you don’t get your ass out of there in the next five seconds I’m going to kick it right out of my house!” Tyler shouted, pounding on the door.
“Excuse me,” Jake muttered as he slid out of bed and walked to the door while Tyler counted loudly and obnoxiously. I heard the door open while I grabbed a pillow and covered my face with it. Stupid brother.
I couldn’t hear what Jake said to Tyler and frankly I didn’t care. I just wanted to go back to sleep and ignore reality for as long as possible. The door suddenly slammed shut and soon Jake was back, groaning loudly.
“I was enjoying my sleep,” he grumbled.
“So was I,” I muttered. Jake took the pillow off my face and I reached blindly for it. “Jake! The sunlight!”
“What are you? A vampire? You’re not going to die,” he said, sounding amused. “But we should get up soon. I doubt Tyler appreciated me slamming the door in his face.”
“Tyler can go suck an egg for all I care, just give me back my damn pillow,” I said venomously, glowering at him through narrowed slits.
“Come and get it,” he said, holding my pillow and his with a wide, wicked grin. I sat up to reach mine, but he proceeded to hit me in the face with the pillow. My mouth dropped open in shock.
“Pillow fight!” he hollered, hopping off my bed.
“Jake!” I shrieked, jumping off my bed after him. He whipped me with both pillows this time before he ran off to the other side of the room. “Come on!”
“Be a woman Ivy!” he called loudly, tossing a pillow at me. I caught it awkwardly in my hand before I charged forward, wielding it above my shoulder as if it was a baseball bat and whipped him in the face this time.
“Ow!” he cried, “Ivy that hurt!”
“It’s a pillow!” I protested just as he hooked his leg through mine and made me hit the ground.
“OW!” I shouted, clutching my head after it rebounded off the floor.
“Oh my God Ivy! Sorry!” he dropped to his knees beside me, emerald eyes huge.
I smacked him in the face with the pillow again before I sat up, rubbing the back of my head. “Damn it, that really hurt.”
“Sorry. Next time I won’t hurt you, promise,” he hooked his pinky through mine.
“What the devil is going on in there?” Tyler whipped the door open, looking furious until he saw us sitting on the floor.
“Jake tripped me,” I said childishly, pouting.
“Why?” he asked, dumbfounded.
“We were pillow fighting,” Jake shrugged, “She was hitting me.”
“So you tripped her?” he clarified.
“Well I didn’t mean to hurt her. I didn’t think she’d hit the ground that hard,” he said, blushing a little.
“Uh huh, I see how it is. I don’t think I can be in an abusive relationship,” I sniffed, starting to crawl away but he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back.
“I’m very sorry and I promised to never do it again,” he said, looking sincere.
“Hold up! Relationship? You two are back together?” Tyler exclaimed, looking completely baffled.
“Well…not now…” I started awkwardly.
“So you’re dumping Chad?” he asked.
“Whenever I find a way to do it, yes I am,” I said with a sharp nod of my head.
“YES!” he shouted with a fist pump, scaring the bejeezus out of us. “Finally! I thought you were never going to dump him!”
I glared at him, arms folded while Jake cracked up laughing.
“Well seriously, the guy was a total douche bag,” he returned my glare.
“You know who else is a total douche bag? You! You didn’t tell me you were an item with Leena,” I sniffed, bending my legs underneath me.
“Leena? You’re dating Leena?” Shock flashed across Jake’s face.
“Dude, where’ve you been?” Tyler arched an eyebrow. “But anyways, you should come down since it’s time for breakfast. You guys can fight and trip each other later.”
“Food!” I cried excitedly, scrambling to my feet. I was starving. I hadn’t eaten anything since dinner yesterday.
“Wow. Pig much?” Jake remarked as he stood up, tossing the pillows back onto my bed.
“I haven’t eaten in a while, so shut up,” I punched his arm as we filed out of my room downstairs to the kitchen.
“Uh-huh,” he said doubtfully.
“You’re lucky I’m too tired to argue,” I said, yawning as we entered the kitchen.
“Hey guys, what do you want for breakfast?” Dad asked, turning around to look at us with a smile.
We told him what we wanted before we all sat down. After a calm, relaxing breakfast I went upstairs to get dressed, brush my teeth and shower.
When I came out of the bathroom I saw Jake lying across my bed, waiting for me with his eyes closed.
“Hey,” I said quietly, relaxing back into bed next to him.
“What are you going to do about Chad?” he asked, looking at me with a solemn look.
“I don’t know…” I went back under the covers of my bed, wishing I could just skip to a day far into the future so I wouldn’t have to deal with all this. “You got any ideas?”
“A few,” he admitted, “I thought about them last night while I was trying to sleep.”
“How long were you awake?” I asked, frowning.
He shrugged. "Either way, I thought maybe you should do it in a public place, like a restaurant. And someone should be there with you in case he…does something, you know?”
“Yeah, good idea…but whoever comes with me has to hide. I doubt he’d take it too well if he saw someone watching us or sitting with me while I dumped him,” I pulled a face.
“Well duh. But that’s about all I’ve got, besides letting him down easy.”
“I like your ideas, and at least you came up with something. Now shush please, I’m enjoying my bed,” I mumbled, feeling so comfortable in my warm bed.
He turned onto his side, holding himself up on one arm. “Ivy? Do you really think we can actually be together again?”
“I do. It was because of Chad we broke up, we were totally fine before he came into the picture,” I reached across the short distance and curled my fingers around his hand, feeling his warm, rough skin.
“But you know I’d never cheat on you, right?” he asked, looking worried.
“Yeah, I know now…” I grimaced. “I really am sorry about all this. It was kind of my fault too.”
“We’re all to blame. Let’s just not waste time discussing who’s the person most at fault here, please,” he said quickly.
I sat up before I coiled my arms around his neck, pressing my neck against his neck comfortably. “Jake can you come with me?”
“With you?”
“When I break up with Chad…I want you to be there,” I whispered.
“I don’t think it’s the best idea if I go…”
“Please? If I’m going to break up with him I want him to know that I’m with you now too. I don’t want him to find out later. I rather he just know everything one shot.”
“I guess that makes sense, but still…” I could practically feel his grimace. “When will you do it?”
“I was thinking tomorrow. I don’t want to do it right before Christmas, and that’s the best day to do it. I want it over with.”
He got up and picked up my phone before sitting back down, holding it out to me with a grim expression.
I took a breath to steady my nerves, took the phone and dialed. With every unanswered ring my heart rate increased. Please don’t answer, please don’t answer.
“Hello?” Damn it.
“Chad? It’s Ivy.”
“Ivy! Hey babe, what’s up?” he said, suddenly cheery.
“Um…I was just wondering if you wanted to meet up tomorrow…”
********
I twisted my napkin anxiously. Sitting at the table at the pizzeria alone was nerve wracking. Jake was hiding in the men’s room, the direction I was facing with my back to the door. I had my phone sitting in my lap, just in case I needed to send a quick text to Jake for help. Thank God I’d mastered texting without looking.
“Hey babe,” Chad’s voice greeted me as he bent, kissed me and then sat down.
“Hey,” I said, smiling nervously.
“So what’s up? I heard about Tyler and Leena, how’s that going?” he asked, picking up a menu, scanning it quickly.
“It’s going fine. I’m a bit surprised but they really get along,” I said, taking a breath to calm down a bit. “Chad?”
He looked up for a moment before looking back to the menu, “Yeah?”
“Um…” I played with my phone in my lap, already open to a text to Jake, just in case. “I brought you here for a reason.”
“Really? What for?” he asked curiously, folding the menu and setting it back down. He gave me his full attention now, a friendly smile in place.
“I wanted…I wanted to talk to you. About Jake,” I said carefully.
He scowled. “Ugh why? That guy is such a creep.”
I could already tell this was going to end badly. “I was just curious…about that whole cheating on me thing…did you date Shannon on purpose? To be able to blackmail her, I mean.”
“Well, at first it was because I figured you’d never go for a guy like me, so I figured I might as well have some fun with her. But then I decided she was such a waste of space, and she was acting like a real whore by always trying to steal your boyfriend. It was too cruel. I hated that she was trying to hurt you.” He glared at the memory, “So I decided to get back at her and protect you.”
“Protect me? Chad you hurt me. A lot more than Shannon ever did. And she only ‘hurt’ me because you made her. Yeah she was annoying, but she’s never really bothered me,” I said sharply. “You have no idea how it felt to think my best friend had betrayed me in the worst way possible.”
“Yeah, but you’re so much better off without him. Things are so much better with me,” he took leaned forward with a happy grin, “I really love you Ivy.”
“Chad…you don’t.”
“Yes I do,” he laughed.
“No you don’t,” I said firmly. “You’re in love with the idea of me. If you really loved me you wouldn’t have hurt me like that to have me. If you really loved me…you would have let me be happy with someone else. That’s what love is Chad.”
“But you’re happy with me,” he said, sounding confused. “Aren’t you?”
I looked away for a moment, swallowing hard as I tried to choose my words carefully. “I…I was. But so many things have happened since we started dating and I can’t deal with it all. I’m still…I’m still in love with Jake. Being with you, not believing him when he said he’d never cheat on me, hurts him. He’s my best friend and has been since we were little. I can’t keep doing that to him. He deserves so much better than this. That’s why…that’s why I’m ending it.”
“Ending it?” Chad’s jaw dropped. “You’re dumping me?”
“Yes. I’m sorry Chad, but I really can’t be with a guy whose been manipulating people just to have me.”
“No! You can’t dump me! We’re perfect for each other!” he slammed his fist on the table and I jumped in fright. “Jake is the one who’s manipulating you. He’s putting thoughts in your head. He’s crazy!”
“Chad calm down,” I said, heart tripping at the wild look in his eyes. He reminded me exactly of Liam.
“No! I’m not going to calm down! That guy is trying to steal my girlfriend!”
“Chad please,” I said fearfully, fingers fumbling over the buttons on my phone. “Chad you’re scaring me.”
“I don’t care! You are done with that guy. I’m not letting him come anywhere near you. He’s done coming in between us,” he stood up, eyes flying around the pizzeria. “Where is he?”
“Right here,” Jake said roughly. I flew to my feet, standing in front of him. Chad wouldn’t hurt me…I didn’t think anyways.
“Chad relax. Okay? Look I’m sorry for hurting you, but it’d hurt you more if we kept dating when I really didn’t have any feelings for you.” Except revulsion and fear.
“You love me!” he jabbed a finger in my direction, blue eyes wild. “Don’t deny it.”
“I don’t Chad. I really don’t. That’s why I’m breaking up with you,” I said sternly. “And normally I’d say, hey let’s still be friends, but I really don’t think that’s going to happen. Chad we’re done. For good.”
“No. Ivy—” Chad reached out to me but I jerked back, falling back against Jake’s chest.
“Chad just let it go,” Jake said calmly. “Don’t dig yourself deeper.”
“Oh shut up! You’re such an asshole, you don’t even deserve a girl like Ivy,” Chad said, hands curled into fists. I was pretty sure if I hadn’t standing in front of Jake he’d have punched him already.
“Chad would you just stop? He’s right. Let it go. Let me go. It’ll be a lot easier on everyone if you do,” I said, forcing myself to sound soothing even though inside I was fuming. Couldn't he just give up already?
“Fine. I’m leaving,” he said abruptly, yanking his jacket off the seat of the booth before he roughly pulled it on. He stalked past us and stopped right in front of us, glaring straight into my eyes. “You’re going to regret this Ivy. You might think we’re done but we’re not. Not even close.”
With that final word he left, slamming the door of the restaurant on his way out. I flinched.
“You okay?” Jake asked after a moment, rubbing my arms comfortingly.
“No. If anything I feel worse,” I said, shuddering. That look he gave me…he hadn’t been kidding. This wasn’t over. He wasn’t done with me yet.
“So do I,” he said softly. “We should head home.”
I nodded numbly. We left slowly, both of us quiet. I supposed I should have been ecstatic now; I was free of Chad. I could be with Jake again. But Chad’s threat made me uneasy. What was he going to do now?
When we got home Tyler gave me a big bear hug. “I’m so proud of you sis. How did it go? Did he cry?”
“No,” I said quietly, “Just the opposite.”
Tyler’s grin fell as he looked at both of our solemn faces. “Well…what do you mean?”
“He got angry,” I said curtly, hanging my coat up before I kicked off my boots. “He said it’s not over.”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “He’s got another thing coming if he thinks he’s going to try something on you. That ass is going down.”
“Tyler, don’t bother. It could have just been an empty threat. Please don’t start something,” I said hastily. I didn’t need him getting anymore upset than he was.
“Yeah what ever,” he brushed me off, “If he touches you, tell me. He’ll never touch you again when I’m done with him.”
“Fine,” I muttered, walking around him to go upstairs.
I heard Jake and Tyler talking as I went upstairs and after lying on my bed, phone in my hands for a few minutes, Jake came upstairs and knocked on my door. I let him in and he sat next to me.
“I thought things would get better, but I think I just made everything worse,” I leaned my head against his shoulder. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“Absolutely nothing. This isn’t your fault. You got played. We all did. Just forget about him, you don’t have to see him until we go back to school. So just…pretend he doesn’t exist. He’ll have calmed down by the time school starts. And if he hasn’t…then I’ll deal with him,” he rubbed my back, the warmth from his hands seeping through my shirt straight to my skin.
“Still…he broke us up once. What if he does it again or hurts us? Hurts you?”
“We can deal with it when it happens. I, for one, want to make the most of this time. Come on, it’s Christmas vacation. Lighten up,” he lifted my chin and smiled. “You can sleep in, stay up late, you don’t have to go to school…”
“Okay I see the appeal now,” I grinned. “Especially all the food we get to eat!”
“See? There’s a bright side to everything,” he grinned back. “And I don’t know about you, but I think this is going to be a pretty rockin’ Christmas.”
“Well it damn well better be,” I said bluntly, “I’ve been good all year.”
He snorted with laughter and I glared at him. “What’s so funny?”
“You? Good? Yeah right,” he chuckled.
“Ouch. I’ll remember that. I thought boyfriends were supposed to be nice to their girlfriends,” I pouted.
“True. A thousand apologies,” he picked up my hand and kissed it.
“Meh, not good enough.” I tapped my lips and smirked.
His hand cupped the back of my neck and he leaned down to me, tenderly pressing his lips to mine. I sat up, dropping my arms around his shoulders, fingers coiled around his hair.
“I love you, Ivy,” he mumbled against my lips.
I smiled, kissing him more firmly. “I love you too, Jake.”
-------------
One of the disadvantages of editing at midnight-3 AM: I can never remember if I had published a story or not, or if the publishing actually worked or not. I could have sworn I published this, but I guess I had changed my mind or fell asleep xD
So are y'all happy? Everything is going good in Ivy's and Jake's world <3 Be warned though, you still have 7 more chapters so who knows what will happen? Oh yea...I do.
Off topic but like yo I don't like kids and I've never really wanted any...but every time I watch our home movies and see my sisters as babies and I'm just like oh god i want one they're so precious and adorable I want a husband and to be domestic and cute and have a family oh god that sounds os wonderful...but then I flip back to 'oh god children annoy me dear god dont want i jut want someone to love me marriage is terrifying i'll probs throw up all day and skip my own wedding tbh'. I like babies alright, children are annoying as frick and teenagers seem ideal honestly. I feel like I could deal with teenagers better than children or babies. I don't have the attention span or patience like even my sisters puppy is draining to take care of since he has so much energy. I'm a potato. I like to sit quietly drawing or reading or doing solitary activities. Constant energy and jumping around and cheerfullness is just...hard for me oh god.
Anyways, idk if you guys feel the same or if you guys want kids or not but if you have thought about it; what will you name your future children???
Much love and good vibes,
xxLaura