Beth Hyland - Fall Into Forever

Several bystanders, who I’m pretty sure are on the baseball team, nod their heads in agreement. “Yeah, he’ll be pissed,” one of them says.

“No doubt.”

“Totally.”

“Jesus, Aaron,” a guy says, adjusting his PSU baseball cap. “What a loser. You sure as hell don’t belong here.”

Shoulders sagging, Aaron drops his head in defeat.

Dani leans closer. “There was an incident a few years ago,” she explains. “So they have a zero tolerance policy for that kind of shit.”

“I’ll meet you back at the room, Ivy.” Jon pushes Aaron forward, hustling him down the sidewalk toward the Athletic Department. The crowd follows.

“Bye, asshole,” Dani calls. “Have a nice life.”

Ivy

Early morning sunlight streams in through the dorm window. I shift slightly, trying not to disturb Jon behind me, but it’s hard. It’s a twin bed. And Jon’s not exactly small.

The Athletic Director was very interested to hear about Aaron. They were going to look into the matter and would be in touch with me.

However, as I’ve been lying here, I decide that I might stay at PSU, even if Aaron does get to stay. After yesterday, I don’t feel quite so powerless anymore. I stood up to him and didn’t back down. People believed me…and it felt great. Now that I know the truth about what happened that night, Aaron has nothing over me anymore. I have friends who support me. I wouldn’t be standing up to him on my own.

When I roll over and face Jon, the covers slip down, revealing his tattoo—the one on his ribcage, underneath his left arm. As I’m studying its intricate pattern, I suddenly feel the heat of his stare.

“Like what you see?” he asks, his morning voice extra low and sexy.

I trace my finger lightly over the black ink. “It’s very beautiful. But you’ve never told me the story behind it.”

He brushes my hair behind my ear. At first, he says nothing, and I think he’s going to change the subject again. “I told you my mother had cancer, right?”

I nod.

“She had a mastectomy and was very self-conscious about the scars. I tried to tell her that it didn’t matter, but she was convinced that no one could ever love her looking the way she did. So she decided to have the scars tattooed with vines and roses. She was scared, though, so I offered to go first. This is the tattoo I got.”

The depth of his compassion never fails to amaze me. “And what does it signify?”

“That love comes from inside, but I’m thinking of having some modifications made to it.”

“You are? Like what?”

“I’m going to have the color filled in, change the rose to red, and add some ivy leaves.”

“What for?” I ask, even though I have an idea.

“It means that my love for a girl named Ivy comes from deep inside my soul, where it will remain forever.”

Tears sting behind my eyes as I rub my hand over his chest. I don’t feel broken anymore. “God, I love you. More than I ever thought was possible.”

The breath catches in his throat as he trails a finger over my jaw. “You’re my light in a sea of darkness. You’re the reason I want to become a better person. My heart…it beats only for you.”

My hand stills. “You don’t need to become better, Jon. I love you just the way you are.”

He wraps his arms around me and pulls me even closer. I’m instantly reminded that he doesn’t wear anything to bed. “I’m so sorry for being such an ass.”

“You’ve told me that. Several times. I forgive you, baby. I really do.”

“When I got your text about going backstage, I fucking lost it. That’s how my dad and mom hooked up. He’s been pulling girls back like that for years. I was ready to rip his head off if he touched a hair on your head.”

His body is tense. I snuggle closer, kiss him in the little hollow behind his ear, and he relaxes again.

“And then afterward, when I saw you wearing his shirt, I assumed you were as star-struck by him as everyone else.”

“Shhh. I know, baby, I know. But you need to remember something, okay? The only one I’m star-struck by…is you.”

And then, in my small dorm room bed, he makes love to me again.

Jon

Some people come into your life for a reason. Like a tattoo etched on your skin, their mark ends up lasting a lifetime. You’re forever changed.

Before Ivy, I mistakenly thought I was happy—the parties, the drinking, the girls—but I was just going through the motions, keeping myself numb enough that I didn’t have to think about what I was running from.

Somehow, that beautiful, amazing girl managed to smooth the jagged edges of my heart. I’m not the angry, messed up guy I thought I was. She grounds me. Makes me believe in myself. Because of her, I am…better.

From my perch on the ladder where I’m repairing the gutters on Stella’s house, I hear the sound of Ivy’s laughter. I turn and see the two of them doing a silly dance in the driveway. Guess that means the garage sale was a success.

A powerful pride swells in my chest as I think about how she stood up to Aaron. All by her fucking self. And to think that he and his friends had been harassing her online since Chase died. When I saw him face to face, all I wanted to do was rip his fucking head off. Make him pay for what he’d been doing to her…and for what his brother did. I was on the verge of going completely ballistic, but somehow, her reasoning and logic cut through my anger. How the hell had she talked me off that ledge?

“Thirsty?”

I must’ve been lost in my thoughts for a while, because I didn’t hear Ivy approach. She’s standing at the bottom of the ladder, looking up at me with her gorgeous green eyes and holding a glass of iced tea. The late afternoon sun glints off her hair, making it look more red than brown. My breath catches in my throat.

I know this sounds corny, but I think she really believes I can hang the moon. If I want to do something, no matter how hard or difficult, she’ll assume I can do it.

Ignoring my half-full bottle of water sitting on the roof, I smile. “Yeah, I’m parched.”

I climb down the ladder and wrap an arm around her waist, drawing her body to mine. The vanilla scent of her shampoo fills my lungs, and I sigh.

Ivy McAllister will always be exactly what I need.

Ivy

Three months later

I’m back in Lincoln Falls for the first time since Christmas break.

Coffee Addicts offered me a full-time job for the summer, so I took it. Since Cassidy hadn’t decided if she was coming back next year, when I heard that Reese and Kelly needed someone to rent their extra bedroom, I agreed to take it. Jon has dropped some not-so-subtle hints that he wants to move in with me. Of course I’d love that, but I haven’t told him yet. A girl needs to play hard to get sometimes, you know?

Jon picked up a few more shifts at the radio station and he started teaching guitar lessons at a music store in town. Most of his students are kids and he loves it. Although people do mention who his father is sometimes, most haven’t made a big deal about it. Probably because of how Jon handled himself in the aftermath. He’s got enough charisma and personality of his own. He doesn’t need his father for that. He told his station manager there was no way in hell he was doing an O-Twist feature, so they dropped the subject. And after telling the reporter he wasn’t interested in being interviewed, she stopped calling.