What's Your Sign?

Ivy followed Nathan to the front desk of the library. She was surprised at the number of students staying after school. The librarians were strict about keeping the area solely for schoolwork, not for hanging out. All of those kids couldn't have been there for history projects like Nathan's.

After Nathan signed himself in he stepped aside to allow Ivy to take her turn. Her stomach dropped to her toes when she discovered her Smartpen was gone.

Nathan smiled at her and flicked his ear with his finger. 

Ivy sighed with a short laugh on the end. She slipped the Smartpen out from behind her ear and signed her name.

"Where would you like to sit?" He asked her.

Ivy scanned the room for an empty table. "Over there?" She pointed to the only one.

"We could go upstairs." Nathan suggested. "Less people means less noise."

Something still felt strange in Ivy's stomach, but she agreed to play duckling and followed Nathan up the rounded staircase.

~oOo~

Nate was anxious after she set her bag down and took the seat across from him. She rubbed her thumbs together and waited patiently for him to pull up the project he was never assigned.

He couldn't look at Ivy without thinking two seperate thoughts that both drove him insane. One was that he was basically responsible for her brother's death, and he had the horoscope to prove it. The other was the way Ivy sat there, completely innocent yet severely beautiful -- so beautiful that he was immediately forced back to that first kiss they shared every time their eyes met.

"So what's it on?"

Nate blinked. "What?"

"The project." She explained. "Did you say it was for History?"

Nate chuckled to himself and leaned further across the table. "About that..."

Ivy frowned. "What is it, Nathan?"

Nate considered making something up on the spot, but quickly decided against it. He used his Smartpen to draw out a rectangular screen on the table between them. "I won't lie to you, Ivy. There is no project."

Ivy's frown began to touch the space between her eyebrows, wrinkling it and emphasizing the freckles on her nose. 

"I just figured you wouldn't talk to me if I asked." He searched through the files in his pen and brought up a map of the Middle East. "If it's alright with you, I have a few questions."

The dull glow of the screen brightened her eyes. "What is this for?"

Just as she spoke, one of the librarian's secretaries mozied by the table in an effort to catch them without a purpose there.

"You see, Syria is located right under Turkey, so the dispute was mainly over the boundary lines." Nate explained to Ivy in his most scholarly tone of voice.

Ivy glanced up as the secretary walked by with an approving smile.

Nate waited until she was out of earshot. "They're like vultures in here."

Ivy didn't laugh at his joke. "If you don't need me, I should really get going." 

Nate anchored her hand to the table before she could grab her bag. "I do need you." He needed her more than he could understand himself.

"Nathan, I'm sure you already know I haven't had the best day." Ivy sighed, dreading that she would have to talk about this.

"I do." He assured her. "We don't have to talk about that, I was just curious about you."

Ivy took offense. "Isn't everyone?"

"No, I didn't mean it that way." Nate bit his tongue.

Ivy slipped her hand out of his as smoothly as butter. "It's fine, today just isn't a good day. Maybe some other time." 

Nate let her go.

~oOo~

When her doorbell rang, Ivy wondered who could imagine visiting her and her mother in the downpouring rain. She opened her door expecting another homemade pie or tray of lasagna.

It was Nathan Rice, with a lovely bouquet of...lollipops?

"I figured you would enjoy these more than flowers." He said, adjusting the few sticking out of the bunch. "It only came with eight, but I added one more for good luck."

Ivy took the bunch from him and ran her fingers over the smooth ribbon and bow. "That's very sweet of you."

He waved his hand as if it weren't a big deal. She spread the door wider for him to come inside and out of the chilly rain.

Ivy suddenly felt guilty. "I'm sorry for running out on you this afternoon."

"You had every right to run. I shouldn't have tricked you that way."

"I still shouldn't have done it." She pinched at the bow. "I haven't been thinking so clearly."

She looked up at him and saw the genuine pain that he felt or her. She didn't expect it. 

Ivy felt that familiar tingle in the back of her throat and nose. "Thank you for bringing me these." She rolled her lips to delay her tears a moment longer. She opened the door, sending the message to Nathan that way.

He didn't leave. He stared down at her, forcing her emotions to break the barrier she had tried to build. He guided her head to tuck under his chin as he held her closely to the warmth of his chest.

Ivy squinted her eyes shut and only let a few heavy tears escape. After that, she gained composure and began to truly enjoy the comfort she felt concealed in Nathan's protective arms.

After a moment she leaned away to really look at his face. Until now, she had seen him as just another heart-breaker with a smile to match. She'd been denying herself the sincerity of his words and actions towards her, but she wasn't going to do it any longer.

Ivy framed his neck with her hands and tickled his hair with her fingers. She reached with her toes and conveyed her newfound feelings through a kiss. He replied in the same way.

Ivy thought of her lucky number of the week as their second kiss lived on, ultimately outliving their first.