Kidnap My Heart - Chapter Twenty One

Avery had been worried. Teddy Johnson had called him unexpectedly and told him to get Ivy from Silvers Bar that was just 5 minutes from his house. He noticed whenever something had happened to Ivy while she was here, he was called. He didn't know what had happened to her and Teddy himself hadn't added too much detail. It was already mid 9 o'clock at night and he was already in his sleepwear ready for bed. He had pulled on the quickest things he was able to find which were jeans and a t-shirt. He hadn't bothered to find a jacket since it had been an unusually warm winter night. He stopped by Derek's room to tell him he wasn't going to be back and knew his words would have made Derek do something stupid. He ran to his car in the garage and left as quick as he could. His drive through town was uneventful. His mind was drifting towards Ivy and all the possibilities of what had happened to her. He tried to stay as optimistic as he was able to but he couldn't.

That was the downside of being a doctor. He had faced death so many times when it came to his job that he had wondered why he wasn't emotionally scarred. He finally reached the busy bar and noticed Ivy's red convertible parked on the side. He parked his car quickly and ran into the bar. He looked everywhere for Ivy but he couldn't see her. He saw Teddy behind the counter and remembered that he was working there. Teddy had seen him too and motioned Avery towards him with a worried expression. He finally saw Ivy slumped onto the counter and sitting on a stool. He saw her smiling up at Teddy and mumbling useless nothings to him. Of course she was drunk. She was in a bar for goodness sake. The only thing that probably led her there was the alcohol. Avery walked toward her and he sat next to her on a different stool. He had never seen her drunk before. She had left before the drinking legality and he didn't expect her to even look as ditzy as she was.

He had to admit, it was funnier than he thought it was going to be. She looked over at him with a squint and propped herself up with her arm. She looked at him again and frowned before clumsily dropping her arm and her head. She giggled unconsciously and turned back to Avery. "G-go a-away." Ivy said with a hiccup. Avery watched as she stood from her stool and almost tripped. Before she fell he jumped from his seat and caught her. She wriggled in his arms and mumbled incoherently. "You're drunk Ivy. You might hurt yourself." He said sternly. Ivy pulled free from him and stood up shakily. Her legs buckled and she almost fell, but luckily she grabbed onto Avery and he caught her. She giggled again and slumped back onto an open stool. Teddy walked to them and gave Avery a sympathetic look. "She had 6 apple martinis. She is such a lightweight." Teddy said with a good natured snort. Ivy frowned and pursed her lips. "I'm not a-a lightw-weight." She stuttered. Avery shook his head and pulled her out of her seat. He carried her over his shoulder and she shrieked.

She moved around briskly that he became worried that she would fall from his grip. She hit his back with small slaps and protests. When they got out of the bar he walked, with her on his shoulder, toward his car. Her small disputes wore out and she lied on his shoulder silently. When they got to his car, he placed her in the back seat so she was able to lie down if she wanted to. Before he shut the door, she reached out and grabbed his wrist. Her grip tightened around him and she smiled. "You look like someone I know." She said quietly between hiccups. Avery smiled faintly. "Is that good or bad?" Avery said teasingly. Ivy giggled dizzily and released her grip. Avery pulled his arm away and watched as Ivy swayed slowly. "Good. No, bad. Well both." Ivy said with confusion written all over her face. Avery thought she was finally snapping out of her daze, but she obviously wasn't since her voice was still slurred and her giggling was too unlike her. It seemed as though she got worse by the time ticked by. Avery shut the door and entered into the driver's seat.

He drove away from the city and toward his parents' house. The whole drive Ivy had mumbled about random things and he couldn't help but laugh more than once because of her comments. When he had reached his parents' house, he looked into the driveway to see his parents' car gone. Instead there was a blue Toyota parked in the spot. Avery stepped out of his car and went to retrieve Ivy, who had sobered up quite a bit. He carried her wedding style toward the door and knocked on it loudly. He heard Derek laughing behind the door and as he opened it, his face fell. "I thought you said you weren't going to come back here Avery." Derek said hastily. Derek's gaze fell to Ivy's wriggling body and she smiled up at him. "Hey Der-bear." Ivy said with yet another giggle. Derek looked up at Avery and smiled. "Never thought I'd see her drunk." Derek said as Avery walked in. Avery walked toward the living room to set Ivy on the couch but there were 4 teenagers already there. There were two girls who looked more conservative than any teen girls he had seen lately.

Two other boys were sitting as well and held that jock like personality. Avery stood in front of them and their eyes lingered on him. "Uh hey you guys. I'm Derek's brother, Avery." He said kindly. Ivy slapped him on the shoulder and he looked down at her. She frowned at him and wriggled out him has grasp. "I can walk now Avery." Ivy said stoically. She stood up shakily and flattened her skirt as well as her top. Avery reached out and grabbed her waist to make sure she wasn't going to fall. She looked back at him with a dirty look and his hand gripped onto hers. Derek walked in and watched as the tense air between Ivy and Avery affected his friends on the nearby couch. "Don't mind them; they've always been this irrational." Derek said as his friends eyed the couple, confused. Ivy snatched her hand away from Avery and wobbled toward Derek. Derek watched as his guy friends eyed Ivy intensely. He felt that protectiveness he had always had for her kick in and he threw them both a dirty look. "Derek, your brother's being mean." Ivy said with a frown. Avery smiled at this display and crossed his arms. The two girls on the couch watched him intently and he felt their strong gazes. Derek chuckled lightly and pulled her in for a hug.

Her scent was as it always was. Vanilla and a hint of grapefruits. Now she had a small clue of apples. "Ivy you really never stop amazing me." He said loudly. He felt her shiver in his arms and thought her legs were going to give way. As he let go of her, Avery stepped in and took a hold on her. "I'm going to take her for a while Derek. You better stay out of trouble since mom and dad will be back soon." Avery said as he took a hold of Ivy. Luckily she hadn't fought back when he pulled her away from the crowd. As they left, Derek's friends were in frenzy. They were dumbstruck by the two people they had just met and thought were the most gorgeous people. Derek looked as the hopeful duo walked away up the stairs. Both of them should have just confessed to liking the other. Derek had always hoped Ivy would come back and his naïve brother would realize how perfect she was for him. He knew it was more complicated than that. Her heart was super fragile and his brother was meant to be the guy to fix it since he had already broke it in the first place.

Avery practically dragged Ivy to his room since her legs kept giving way. When they had entered the confinement of his room, Ivy fell onto his bed unceremoniously. She mumbled incoherent words and looked up at him confused. "I need a hug." She slurred. He walked over to her slowly and hugged her tightly. She looked up at him and kissed him soundly on the lips. He opened his eyes in shock and groaned silently against her lips. She was softer than he remember. His heart soared and he felt heaven finally knock on his door within a minute. He kissed her back fiercely and she moaned against him. He didn't know what was happening between them. He was on fire with passion he remembered feeling many times before with her. She pulled away quickly and fell back against a pillow. As soon as her head hit his pillow, she fell into a deep sleep. He paced around his room with a small smile and watched as Ivy writhed around on the bed. He heard her small snores and couldn't help but laugh.

Derek was right. How could he have ever let her out of his life? It was obviously a stupid mistake. That brother of his had some good qualities, besides gaining his good looks from Avery. He was trying to make it better but her spirited ways always got the better of their conversations. She knew how to make a conversation be about all his faults. She knew how to make herself the victim to his screw ups. Whether it was how her job changed her or her life itself, he didn't like it at all. She wasn't exactly the girl he had remembered loving once long ago. And then there was that kiss. It was better than he remembered. He started to think of all the other men who had kissed her and frowned knowing he was being irrational. In the morning he knew she wouldn't have known what had happened but he knew he would remember always. Before he forgot, he called Crystal to tell her about Ivy's whereabouts. "Hello?" he heard over the phone. "Sounds like I woke you up. Sorry Blondie." Avery said lightly.

He heard Crystal laugh sleepily. "It's alright. Do you know where Ivy is? I've tried calling her all day and she hasn't called back. I'm worried." Crystal said groggily. "She's with me. She was at a bar and now she's drunk so I brought her back to my house. I bet she'll tell you the whole story when she sobers up, if she remembers." Avery said with a chuckle. "Thank god. I was really worried about her. She barely gets drunk. It's only after a bad case or a break up. Maybe this time she just couldn't take it." Crystal said with a sigh. Avery messed with his hair and groaned. "Alright well I'll let her stay here and in the morning I'll help her get her car. I'll crash in my brother's room since she's already deep asleep and last I checked she was a heavy sleeper." Avery said as he looked over at her. He heard Crystal laugh lightly. "Yeah she is. And I'm pretty sure she snores loudly too." Crystal said sympathetically. Avery held his phone near Ivy and she snored deafeningly into it.

He heard Crystal laugh and Ivy rolled over. "Yeah she does. Night Crystal." He said as he hung up the phone. He tossed his phone onto the bedside table and sat at the foot of the bed. He looked over at Ivy who just happened to be smiling. She must be having a good dream, he thought with a smile, must be about that kiss. She had looked so serene and happy. He wished that he would have been able to see that look on her face when she was awake. Sleep was on his mind but before that was able to happen, he needed to make sure the teens downstairs weren't breaking laws. He walked out of the room and shut the door slowly. Laughter spread throughout the halls and Avery walked to the origin in the living room. He walked down the stairs and noted one of the girls giving Derek a shy look. He smiled as a memory invaded his thoughts. The girl reminded him of Ivy when she was younger. Even if she didn't know, he had always caught her steady smiles and wanting looks.

Now this girl was directly looking at Derek as he talked with a look full of need. Avery walked into the room and their conversation wore out. He knew what they were thinking. He was a teenager once too and he remembered how his friends and he reacted when an adult walked in. "Don't mind me. I just want to be in on the teen gossip. It'll make me feel younger." Avery said as he plopped onto the couch next to the girl who seemed to like Derek. Derek's gaze tightened on Avery as he placed his arm behind the girl, without touching her. They got into a steady conversation about their senior year. Avery contributed to the talk and told them about his experiences. He even added things about Ivy and how he broke her heart. The guys stared at him intently and promised to not make that mistake with a girl. The girls had given him looks of disdain but he had shrugged them off. Avery heard more about his brother's lifestyle since he hadn't talked to him about it in a while. It sounded like he had fun. Time passed quickly and it turned out to be 11 o'clock already. The group of teens had left and Avery was exhausted. That day was a tiring day and surprisingly it revolved around Ivy. Derek had run to his room and passed out quicker than Avery expected. Avery walked to his room and sat on his chair. He turned to face Ivy and heard her soft snores. Even if she was a closed book, he knew she would have been easy to fix within time. His eyes closed unconsciously and within minutes, he was asleep with a smile just as she was.