He told me he would review it and then let me know what he found. He told me that Ivy had called in sick, so it definitely matched up with the situation, and that he knew Mrs. Connors on a personal level, and then… he left it at that. I wasn’t sure if that meant he knew her enough to know she wouldn’t do something this insane or the opposite.
When he’d called me, after six o’clock the following evening, he’d told me to come pick up the tape because it was all there. Every last word.
I was so elated that I told myself I’d go to the security company after all this was over and thank them for such fucking amazing technology.
Fucking yes.
The dean was absolutely appalled and Mia’s face told me that she knew nothing of the situation, not even that Ivy was paying for the other half of her tuition.
I left the office, giving them time to speak, before rushing to my truck to tell Ivy that it was all over. That it would be okay, and that also, she needed to fucking learn to lean on me when things got hairy, because she wasn’t alone anymore.
She didn’t have to fight her battles by herself any longer.
She had me.
And I wasn’t going anywhere.
Once I got to her house, I realized her car wasn’t there. I sighed. I felt like I had been chasing her all over town the last few days. Not that I was literally chasing her, but more like chasing her demons away. One in particular: Mrs. Connors.
I threw my truck into park and got out, walking up her porch steps, and took a seat. Much like I had done a couple days ago when she’d never returned home.
I finally let out the long breath I’d been holding, feeling a little at ease; almost everything was settled. But there was still that little bit of ambivalence lingering in the back of my mind, because I still didn’t have Ivy back. Not yet, so the tension in my neck continued to strengthen.
Squealing tires rang in the distance, which almost had my head snapping off my shoulders. It sounded like a car crash had been mere seconds from occurring. I stood quickly, inching my head towards the street, and then I saw Ivy’s car quickly approaching.
As soon as she was in front of her house, the car came to a screeching stop, her small body jolting in the driver’s seat, brown hair flying past her face.
I would have chastised her for driving like a maniac, but I was too damn relieved to see her and her rushing body, falling out the driver’s side door.
“Dawson!” she yelled, taking off into a full sprint, except she only made it a few feet because her jacket was caught in the door she’d not so subtly slammed. Her body flew backwards as confusion fell over her face.
I chuckled, unable to keep a straight face. I would never get sick of her clumsiness. Never.
Finally, I started to walk towards her as she freed herself from the car door/jacket debacle.
“Dawson!” she shouted again, full on running and jumping into my arms.
I wrapped my arms around her waist, squeezing her just as hard as she was squeezing me. My head went into the crook of her neck, inhaling the smell of her shampoo.
“I’m so so so so so so so so sorry!” she mumbled, burying her face into my shirt.
I held on a little tighter, basking in her touch, and then slowly released her. Ivy pulled her body away from mine and peeped up at my face. Her forest green eyes were wide and full of fear. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t know what to do.”
A sad smile covered my face. “The only thing you have to be sorry about is the fact that you thought you had to handle this on your own.”
She looked down, taking those vivid green eyes away. “I just…don’t really know how to not handle things on my own. I felt…stuck. Like I was drowning.”
“Ivy,” I said, bringing my hand upward and placing it under her chin. I tipped her face towards mine so I could look down into her eyes. “You’re gonna have to learn to let me help you, because I’m not going anywhere.”
Tears quickly appeared before she crushed her body back on mine. “Good, because I don’t want you to.”
We held onto one another for a little while longer, the chilly fall air causing her hair to whip around us like we were in some type of tornado, together, holding on for dear life.
“So, what happened? What’s going to happen with Breanna’s mom? What did the dean say? Mia told me you were there in a meeting with him. How did you do it? How did you even know? How did you get him to believe you?”
I laughed, rubbing my hands up and down her arms to warm her up. “Let’s just talk about it later. I just want to hold you right now.”
Her shoulders relaxed into mine, once again smooshing her face onto my chest. I was about to pull us up onto the porch and inside the comfort of her home when a sleek, black car pulled up behind hers.