From Being Gone - Chapter 3
Title: From Being Gone
Author(s): Lynders11
Fandom: The Hollows
Summary: Rachel leaves for two weeks to attend her brothers wedding and see her mom settled at her new place. What happens when she gets back after spending more time away from Ivy than ever before? This takes place after WWBC, so some spoilers are included
Disclaimer: All characters, and the world they are set in belong to Kim Harrison. I just wanted to write.
Notes: Thanks to Ablatedcrayon for the Beta and all your help. You’re awesome!!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
CHAPTER 3
Waking up in my own bed for the first time in two weeks was nothing short of spectacular. The first thing I registered upon waking was the feel of my own sheets against my skin. The familiar and comforting sounds and smells of my church came next. I was home. There would be no more waking up to Robbie telling me what was best for me. No more avoiding situations with Mom and Donald. Walking in on them kissing in Robbie’s kitchen had been more than enough to make me want to just hide in my room for the rest of the visit. I mean really, that’s just .....Eww.
Laying there in my room I slowly allowed myself to drift closer to consciousness, reveling in the small experiences that I hadn’t realized I had so badly missed while I was away. Once I was completely awake I was still reluctant to leave the comfort of my bed. Instead I tried to define the sounds and smells that were responsible for the near blissful state of familiarity that I was in. There was the sound of the pixies high musical chatter outside. God only knows what they were up to but at least their obvious joy was making me smile instead of causing anxiety. This was a marked improvement over the time when they moved in over the winter and Ivy and I had lived in fear that the next crash was going to be very expensive. I could hear Rex as her claws tapped their way down the hallway outside my door, her bell jingling out a faint melody all the way. The scratching sound coming from above was familiar already even though it was a fairly recent addition to life in the church; I knew it was Bis moving around in the attic.
Through the open window - a desperate attempt to get some air movement to relieve the suffocating heat - I could smell the garden and even make out a few of the more recognizable plants. The medley of perfumes on my dresser combined to give off an ever-changing yet somehow always familiar scent. My mouth started watering at the smell of the coffee brewing in the kitchen. Coffee. Just like that the relaxation I had been enjoying came crashing down around me. Crap. Coffee brewing meant Ivy was home.
Groaning into my pillow, I rolled over and tried to find the edge of the sheet so I could pull it over my head despite the heat that had already caused an uncomfortable and sticky sweat to break out all over my body. Maybe we can go back to our pattern of pretending nothing happened. Hey, one can hope. With her vampire senses Ivy probably knew I was waking up before I had. Laying there was just postponing the inevitable. Dammit Rachel why couldn’t you just leave well enough alone? You know, just be a normal friend and gossip with her about Glen instead of suddenly getting all possessive. And what the hell was with me anyway? Why did it bother me that Ivy may have been seeing Glen? Cripes woman you have some thinking to do.
Self-realization would have to wait however. The most pressing need was apologizing to Ivy and hoping that this wasn’t the thing that finally made her snap and give up on our friendship. No, it couldn’t have been, I reasoned. Even as mad as Ivy had been she had been careful to assure me that she would be back, before storming out earlier. She just had to blow off some steam. I hope.
Pushing the sheet to the bottom of the bed with my feet I laid there and tried to decide what to wear. As cool as it would keep me, going naked was out of the question. Not only would it set Ivy off but also Jenks would be unbearable with his taunts. Deciding on the shorts and tank top I had picked up during my trip I got up to rummage through my bags. Earlier, before stripping naked and climbing into bed, I had thrown everything into a heap on the floor. If Ivy hadn’t known I was awake before she definitely would now with all the noise I was making.
Running fingers through my hair I stepped through my door and into the hallway. Rex padded up and rubbed against my leg on her way back into the kitchen. “Yeah, it’s nice to see you too, Rex,” I muttered as I followed her. Stopping in the doorway, I took in the scene before me. Ivy was sitting in her chair, sipping from a still-steaming mug. She was checking her emails...again. Seriously, who gets that much email? Looking closer I saw that she wasn’t actually checking her mail; she was simply sitting there trying to look busy. Apparently if we were going to talk about what happened I was going to have to be the one to bring it up. Maybe we can just keep to our old patterns of ignoring the issue at hand. “Ivy, I’m really sorry about earlier.” Or we could talk about it now I guess. “It’s none of my business who you do what with.”
Stiffening ever so slightly at my apology Ivy replied, “Forgiven, let’s just forget about it, ok?”
“But Ivy I-”
“Rachel, I mean it, just drop it, ok? Please?”
Eyes downcast I agreed, “Ok.” I knew full well that she had let me off too easily. She usually did and every time I felt like more and more of an ass.
“Ok,” she sighed. I regarded her as the word tumbled from her lips and could see some of the tension in her shoulders melt away. I realized that she had been as stressed out about this encounter as I had been. Imagine that.
Giving her a shy grin, I walked past her to retrieve some of the coffee that had pulled me from my slumber. Once I had the coffee safely in hand with some of it warming its way down my throat I asked, “So do you still want to watch a movie with me and the,” I waved a hand in the general direction of the kitchen screen, “pixie horde tonight?”
“Yeah, I’d like that. If the kids are coming to watch it will have to be a cartoon, I suppose.” Her beautiful voice took on a tone of resignation that showed her obvious lack of enthusiasm at the prospect. I had to agree. As beautiful as Jenks’ kids were when they were happy, watching a cartoon with them was...trying. However, I did want to immerse myself back into my home and the excited, fast, ear-shatteringly high-pitched chatter of happy pixie children was part of that home. They absolutely loved Disney cartoons. Dammit, we would have to get a cartoon.
Sighing at the realization, I muttered, “I suppose we will. Maybe we can get two movies. One for all of us and then one for after the kids go to sleep?” I was still unsure if Ivy would want to spend that much time alone with me so I just left the question hanging there.
Not wanting to pressure her for an immediate response I turned to look through the kitchen screen into the churchyard beyond. I could see the pixies darting around back and forth. I couldn’t tell if they were playing some sort of game or if Jenks had set them a task to do. It all looked like chaos to me. I should really get out there and check in on my garden. I knew that it was in great hands with Jenks and his family but nothing beat the feel of earth under my nails as I tended to the plants. I was an earth witch after all, and as such I found it indescribably peaceful to tend to almost anything that grew from the soil.
“I think I would like that too.” She had taken so much time to answer that she startled me out of my reverie. When her words finally sank in, I felt the ball of tension in my stomach release and my shoulders relax. Despite my earlier reassurances to myself I had still been afraid that I had pushed her too far this time. Having her agree to spend time with just me gave me hope that maybe, just maybe I hadn’t stepped too far past my boundaries to come back from. She was my best friend and I didn’t know what I would do without her.
“Good, I’m glad,” I said, and I couldn’t help the goofy grin that was spreading across my face.
She looked over at me and smiled. Though it was a hopeful smile, I could still see the sadness that remained in her eyes. “It will be nice to spend some time with you again.” She said softly. I was determined to not make an ass of myself tonight. As much as I wanted to just relax and immerse myself in the church I owed it to Ivy to fix this. I needed to make her smile.
“Yeah, I really missed hanging out with you while I was gone,” I said seriously then brightened when an idea struck me, “Hey, when we go to get the movies do you want to take your bike?” Ivy was always happy when she was on her bike. She was terrifying to ride with, but it would make her happy.
She looked up at that, an almost evil grin spreading across her porcelain features. “You are willingly offering to ride on my bike? With me?” The chuckle that escaped her smiling lips as she shook her head gently back and forth made me wonder if I had just made a huge mistake.
“Um, yes? Maybe? As long as you were actually serious when you said I was forgiven anyway.” I couldn’t stop the nervous half chuckle that followed.
“No, no. You can’t go putting stipulations on it now. I think taking my bike is a great idea, Rachel.” She practically purred my name, and I felt my knees go a little weak; the way she had stressed the word ‘great’ wasn’t helping either. She was just trying to scare the crap out of me about the ride, right? Probably. Ah well, if this is her revenge so be it. I couldn’t stifle the shudder that ran through me at the thought that maybe she wasn’t bluffing. Getting onto a bike with Ivy was scary enough, getting onto a bike with Ivy when she felt like a dishing out a little revenge? Goddess protect me.
I gave what I was sure was a sickly looking smile in response which just made her evil grin even bigger. I was becoming more and more certain that I was going to pay for my earlier idiocy on that ride. “Well, I’m going to, uh, play in the dirt for a bit.” Despite my less than eloquent wording, I knew Ivy would know what I meant. “Shall we say…an hour and then we’ll go?” That’s right Rache, buy yourself some time before climbing onto the death machine.
“Sounds good to me,” she said, never losing the scary smile.
I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm and groaned aloud. My theatrics had the desired effect; the grin on Ivy’s face doubled in size and the gleam in her beautiful chocolate eyes brightened. The cool, unruffled, and confident Ivy was back, and that was exactly what I wanted. Shooting a smirk in her direction I headed down the hall to the back door, bypassing my shoes on the way.
As soon as I stepped foot in my garden the last of the tension that I hadn’t even realized I had been holding onto, released. The last of the suns rays warmed my face as I made my way through the plot of tilled earth, carefully checking over the plants growing there. The feel of the soil between my toes and under my feet was glorious. It was warm on the top layer but the farther in I dug my toes the cooler and more refreshing it felt.
Reaching the center of the plot I knelt down and started pulling out the few weeds that had just started to sprout. I could feel the slight vibrations in the ground from passing cars and see the heat rippling off the statues and headstones. After some indeterminate amount of time I became aware of stiffness in my shoulders and lower back that signaled I had managed to lose myself in the garden for much longer than I had intended. Straightening up and brushing the dirt from my hands and knees I realized I still needed to talk to Jenks about the weird look he had shot me earlier.
“Didn’t trust me to look after everything for you or what?”
Jumping slightly at the unexpected intrusion on my tranquility I said, “Turn it, Jenks, you know it’s not like that at all.” Turning my head to face him I saw a look on his face that belied the tone of his words and I smiled to soften my own words. He and his family were more skilled and competent gardeners than me or any witch I knew or had ever heard of.
“I know Rache. You’ve been out here for nearly two hours; I know it wasn’t really for the sake of the plants.” He said with a knowing look on his face. That’s Jenks for you. One minute he was the biggest pain in the ass, and the next he was the loving father figure to us all. He always seemed to know what was going on inside my head, sometimes even before I did. Jenks was a constant in my life. I loved him dearly. I will never admit it, though, he would just make some crude comment and pretend to barf. Besides, he already knows how much he means to us.
“So uh, when did you have any preferences for the movie tonight?” I asked, trying to change the topic. “Wait, did you say two hours!? Shit, I gotta get cleaned up. So, any preferences?” walking hurriedly towards the back door I looked over my shoulder to see if Jenks was going to give a response or not. I had told Ivy that I would be ready in an hour. Dammit, so much for not being an ass tonight. When I saw him deep in thought I quickly added, “Do you want us to just look for a new cartoon?”
Relief flooded his features when he realized he wasn’t going to have to be the one to suggest it. “Yeah, that would be great Rache. The kids love ‘em.”
Smiling I replied “Yeah, I know. Ok, we are headed out in a few minutes. When we get back just round everyone up and bring them in.”
“Sounds good, see you soon.” With a wave, he flew off, leaving a trail of sparkling pixy dust in his wake.