by Cara Malone
“Oh,” Victor said, pausing to process everything she’d said. She was at the hospital doors before he managed to say, “That’s good. Do you want to talk to Ma and Pa?”
“No,” Ivy said. “You can let them know I passed, right little brother?”
“You don’t want to-” he started to ask, clearly bewildered, but she interrupted him. The cold night air hit her lungs and she wanted to run to Chloe as fast as she could, which meant she needed to get off the phone.
“Nope,” she said. “You do it. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay,” he said and she hung up, then started running.
He might tell their parents about her relationship with Chloe, or he might not. If Victor didn’t try to use it as ammunition against her, then she’d let them know the next time she went home – hopefully with Chloe on her arm if the next twenty minutes went as she hoped. Either way, Ivy ran as fast as her legs would carry her and felt free of the need to achieve for the sake of her parents, free of the never-ending competition with her brother, and free to pursue her own desires for her life.
When she got to Chloe’s apartment, Ivy took the stairs two at a time. She made it all the way to the landing before she realized that she didn’t have a script in mind, and that scared her. But Chloe was waiting for her, shivering with a knit cardigan pulled around her as the wind whipped under the awning. She was smiling and Ivy’s heart swelled in her chest.
“Did you pass?” she asked. Chloe shook her head and Ivy opened her mouth in shock. “You didn’t?”
“I haven’t looked yet,” Chloe said. “I’m too nervous.”
“I know you passed,” Ivy said.
“Will you come in and look at it for me?” Chloe asked, stepping aside.
“Yes,” Ivy said. “I’d be happy to do that for you.”
She went into the apartment and Chloe shut the door. It was a lot different than the last time Ivy was here – all of the cardboard boxes were gone and even though the room was still pretty empty, it looked cozier. Chloe had done a lot to turn it into a home since Ivy’s last visit.
“The place looks nice,” she said, glancing around. The futon was in its customary place against the wall and Chloe’s laptop was laying at one end of it, the parsons table pushed up against the other side of it. Her desk lamp cast the whole room in an inviting, warm light, and she’d done some decorating with throw pillows and candles.
“I finally ordered a real bed and a few other pieces of furniture,” Chloe said. “It’s being delivered next week, thanks to store credit cards and zero percent interest.”
“I like it,” Ivy said, and then after a slightly awkward pause, she asked, “Should I check your score now?”
“Please,” Chloe said. She pointed to the laptop and said, “It’s already logged in.”
Ivy sat down in and pulled the computer into her lap, then Chloe sat down next to her. It was by far the closest they’d been since Thanksgiving and it was hard to concentrate with the soft smell of honey so nearby. Ivy kept her attention on the laptop, though, and hovered the cursor over the link to Chloe’s score.
“Ready?”
Chloe closed her eyes and took a deep breath while Ivy tried not to let her eyes stray to the rise and fall of her chest. She missed Chloe so much and being here with her – in this apartment, on this futon, close enough to reach out and touch those beautiful, plump lips – only made the longing ache more.
“Yes,” Chloe said, opening her eyes.
Ivy clicked the link and smiled, turning the laptop toward Chloe. “You passed!”
“I did?” Chloe asked, looking at Ivy instead of the computer.
“Don’t be silly,” Ivy said. “Of course you did.”
Chloe threw her arms around Ivy and it felt so good to hug her again. Ivy shut the laptop and let it slide back onto the futon so she could enjoy the embrace. A couple of months ago, she wouldn’t have hesitated to mark this momentous occasion with a kiss. But things were different now, and after Chloe let her go, Ivy scooted a little further away from her to minimize the temptation.
Then she said, “Chloe, I want to apologize to you.”
“It’s okay-” she started to say, but Ivy waved her hand.
“No, it’s not,” she said, and Chloe agreed.
“You’re right,” she said, tears beginning to well in her eyes. “It’s not. It hurt like hell when you left me at that bus depot, and it hurt even more when I realized that I’d lost you as a friend on top of everything else. Ivy, you made me fall in love and then you ran away.”
Ivy nodded. She couldn’t argue with any of that, but she’d have to try to find the words to apologize for it. She looked into those big blue eyes that always made her feel invincible, and they gave her the courage to take Chloe’s hands.
When Chloe didn’t pull away, Ivy did her best to make amends.
“I was afraid of a lot of things,” she said. “I spent my whole life believing that the only way you get love is by proving your worth over and over again. I thought the only way to do that was to be the best student, and then the best doctor. I lost control of my life when I fell for you and that scared the hell out of me so I ran. I was a coward to do what I did to you.”
“You know that’s not true, right?” Chloe asked. She put one hand on top of Ivy’s and she’d forgotten how warm and soft Chloe’s skin was. “Love is not conditional based on how successful you are, or on anything else for that matter.”
“I know that now,” Ivy said. “It took me far too long to realize and I’m afraid I lost you while I was figuring it out.”
“Your parents ask a lot of you and Victor,” Chloe said. “I saw that when I came to Thanksgiving dinner. I also saw that even though they may show it in an unconventional way, they love you and they want the best for you. I don’t believe that they actually love you less based on how well you’re doing in school. I know I don’t.”
Ivy looked up and caught the sparkle in Chloe’s eyes, and the flush of her cheeks. She squeezed Chloe’s hands tighter and said, “I know, and thank you. Chloe, I made the biggest mistake of my life when I let fear convince me to prioritize my education over you. I’m so sorry. If you can forgive me, I promise I’ll never make that mistake again.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” Chloe said, her plump lips turning into a smile that Ivy couldn’t keep her eyes off of. “I love you, Ivy Chan, and loving means forgiving.”
“You do?” Ivy asked. She’d felt that way about Chloe since practically the first moment she’d seen her, but she’d only dared to dream that Chloe loved her back, and they’d never said those words aloud to each other. Ivy felt like her heart might burst with happiness as Chloe nodded.
“Of course,” she said, looking confused that Ivy would even need to ask.
“I love you, Chloe Barnes,” Ivy said. It felt so good to say those words out loud. She leaned in to kiss her, but Chloe leaned back and Ivy felt her pulse jump. “What’s wrong?”
“I just need to know you’re sure about being with me this time,” Chloe said. “I love you and I forgive you without reservation, but if you start your surgical residency and suddenly it becomes too much to be with me and be a surgeon, I don’t think I could take losing you a second time.”
“You won’t,” Ivy said.
“How do you know?” Chloe countered. “How can you be sure I won’t get in the way of your career again?”
“You weren’t in my way in the first place,” Ivy said. “That’s what I realized when we were apart. Being first or best doesn’t matter nearly as much as being with you.”
“You have to be really certain that this is what you want,” Chloe said. She was being hard on Ivy, but she was beginning to warm up, her blue eyes sparkling as she looked at her. “If there’s any doubt at all in your mind, then we can forgive and forget and just go back to being friends.”
“Chloe,” Ivy said, a small smile coming to her lips. “I was really certain that I wanted you fro
m the very first moment that I saw you. I screwed up but from now until the day I die, I will do everything in my power to love you and keep you. Okay?”
Chloe let out a sigh and broke into a broad smile, saying, “Good, because I didn’t think I could go back to just being friends.”
Then she lay back on the futon, pulling Ivy with her. She was laying on top of Chloe, their bodies pressed together, and then Chloe kissed her, their lips meeting and sending a wave of perfect contentment all the way from Ivy’s head down into her toes.
Ivy reciprocated, kissing Chloe passionately while she tangled her fingers in her blonde locks. Chloe pressed her hips against Ivy’s body and wrapped her arm around Ivy’s waist, and when her hand started to creep under the hem of Ivy’s scrub top, she pulled away.
“What?” Chloe asked.
“I want to do it right this time,” Ivy said. She slid off the futon, taking the opportunity to set the laptop on the end table, out of harm’s way, and then pulled Chloe into a sitting position in front of her. She put her hands on Chloe’s thighs, resisting the urge to slide them higher, and said, “Chloe, you’re the most incredible, kind, smart, sexy woman I’ve ever met. Ever since I met you, all I wanted was to get close to you. I may not have gone about it in the right way the first time, and I want to try again now. Chloe Barnes, will you be my girlfriend?”
Chloe broke into a wide smile that lit up her whole face and Ivy wished she could take a snapshot of that moment. It was perfect. Then Chloe pulled Ivy into a kiss, saying the word yes against her lips and making her skin vibrate in the most delicious way before pulling Ivy back onto the futon.
24
Chloe
“I missed you so much,” Chloe whispered as she pulled Ivy on top of her and slid her hands beneath her coat.
“I missed you, too,” Ivy said. “I was going crazy without you.”
She put her hand under Chloe’s sweater, her fingertips brushing over Chloe’s ribs as their lips met again. When Ivy called her out of the blue, this was what Chloe had been hoping for. It had hurt to lose Ivy, but the pain was well worth the reward if Ivy got to free herself from the judgment of her parents and they got to be together in the end. She’d forgiven Ivy the moment she stepped aside and let her back into the apartment, ready to have her best friend and girlfriend back in her life.
Girlfriend.
Now that was a word that Chloe liked to hear coming out of Ivy’s gorgeous little lips.
She pushed Ivy onto her back, somewhat clumsily releasing the back of the futon so that it flopped down and took its bed form, then climbed on top of her. Chloe wasted no time helping her shimmy out of her coat and then pulled her scrub top and bra over her head.
She kissed Ivy’s pert nipples, rolling her tongue over the soft skin of her breasts, and then started to crawl down to the foot of the futon, letting her hair tickle Ivy’s bare skin. But Ivy reached for her and when Chloe looked up, she said, “Stay with me.”
So Chloe lay down next to Ivy, pressing her body against Ivy’s as they kissed again. Ivy undressed her next, peeling away all of the layers that had been keeping the cold winter air at bay. She ran her fingertips gently over Chloe’s skin – over her cheek and down her neck, gracefully down the length of her arm and then over the ridge of her hip. Chloe rolled onto her back as Ivy’s fingers slid between her thighs and suddenly she couldn’t feel the cold anymore. All that existed was Ivy and the heat building between Chloe’s thighs.
She rolled onto her side, throwing one leg over Ivy’s hip. She slid her hand over Ivy’s breast and then down her stomach, hooking her fingers beneath the waistband of Ivy’s scrub bottoms. Chloe yanked them down to Ivy’s thighs, then slid her middle finger through Ivy’s wetness. Ivy arched her back, pressing her lips together as she reacted to Chloe’s touch. Then she kissed Chloe with renewed passion, her tongue flicking over Chloe’s bottom lip and entering her mouth.
Ivy was breathing heavy, getting wetter against Chloe’s hand, and her kisses and the motion of Ivy’s hand between Chloe’s legs were both becoming sloppy as she gave in to the sensation. Soon they were moving their hips together and Ivy was letting out the most shiver-inducing moans each time she bucked her hips against Chloe’s hand, her fingers sliding in and out of her wetness in rhythm.
The movement of her hips became erratic and her breathing intensified as she moved desperately with Chloe. Then Ivy froze, her body clenching and tightening against Chloe as she clung to her and rode out the waves of her orgasm.
When she collapsed onto the futon, panting happily, Chloe kissed her and kept moving her own hips against Ivy’s thigh. She was close, her body aching for release and desperate to be touched by Ivy. She took Ivy’s hand from where it had come to rest on her stomach, kissed it and then put it back between her legs. Ivy got a second wind then, rolling onto her side so Chloe could lay back.
She slid her fingers up and down through Chloe’s wetness, much slower than Chloe wanted – teasing her. Ivy circled her thumb over and over Chloe’s clit, then penetrated her, alternating thrusts and strokes of her clit while Chloe arched her back and allowed herself to give in to the pleasure.
Chloe looked up, tucking a strand of Ivy’s black hair behind her ear and then holding her face in her hand. She was so beautiful, so perfect, and Chloe looked deeply into Ivy’s eyes as she came, her body pulsing and shivering against her. She’d never felt this strongly for anyone before, and in that moment of vulnerability Chloe was ecstatic that she’d fallen in love with her best friend. They were back together, for good this time, and all was right with the world.
Ivy grabbed a blanket from the floor, unfolding it and wrapping them both up while they caught their breaths and reveled in the moment. She put her arms tightly around Chloe and playfully kissed her breast, then said, “I think you should let me take you out on a proper date now that you’re my girlfriend.”
“Now that you’re my girlfriend,” Chloe said, resting her cheek against the top of Ivy’s head, “I think it’s your duty.”
Epilogue
Chloe and Ivy’s work schedules didn’t line up for a couple of days, but when they finally did over the weekend, Ivy showed up on the landing of Chloe’s stairs with a bouquet of flowers and a grin. She was wearing her simple black cocktail dress and modest heels, and her hair was pulled back in an elegant chignon.
“You look incredible,” Chloe said as she opened the door and pulled Ivy inside by the lapel of her coat. She kissed Ivy deeply, then accepted the bouquet of flowers as Ivy laughed.
“Please,” she said. “This is the only dress I own and you’ve seen it on me a dozen times by now at school events.”
“And you always look incredible in it,” Chloe said, kissing Ivy once more before peeling back the tissue paper wrapped around the flowers. “Roses – they’re beautiful. Thank you.”
“You deserve flowers every day,” Ivy said. “Maybe I’ll make a habit of it.”
“Don’t,” Chloe said with a bashful laugh. “Then they wouldn’t be special.”
Ivy shrugged and said, “We’ll see. Should we go? I made reservations for seven o’clock.”
Chloe went into the kitchen and found a tall glass, improvising it into a vase for the vibrant red flowers. Then she rejoined Ivy at the door and slipped her hand into hers.
“You look pretty amazing yourself,” Ivy said, spinning Chloe around to look at her.
She’d chosen a sapphire-blue satin dress to bring out the color of her eyes but she’d been worried as she got dressed that she was overthinking their date. It was February in Illinois, a snowstorm was brewing, and she had nothing to cover her legs except a thin pair of tights. and besides – it wasn’t like she and Ivy didn’t already know each other. They’d been involved with each other for most of the school year in one way or another and Chloe wondered whether she was making too much of their first date.
But when Ivy showed up in her little black dress, Chloe knew that it meant as much to Ivy as it did to
her. Ivy held Chloe’s coat for her, then they went outside to a cab that Ivy had waiting at the bottom of the stairs. It took them across town to a restaurant at the far end of campus – a five-minute drive that would have been close to a thirty-minute walk in the cold. Chloe cuddled up to Ivy in the back seat, their thighs pressed together as she enjoyed Ivy’s warmth. While they rode, Ivy asked Chloe about her latest rotation.
“Psychiatry, right?” Ivy said.
“Yeah,” Chloe answered. “I really like it, actually. It’s a lot of observation because the residents can’t exactly teach me how to psychoanalyze someone in the span of a couple of weeks, but I find it fascinating. I’ve spent so much of my medical education focusing on diagnosing and treating physical disease, it’s been an interesting change of pace to think about mental health and its impact on people’s lives.”
It had resonated with Chloe ever since the first day of the rotation, when she’d observed a mental health evaluation in a suspected schizophrenic patient who had shown up in the ER. Over the past month, Chloe had gotten to do what she liked the most – talk to people, help them understand what was happening to them and reassure them.
She talked all the way to the restaurant, and by the time she and Ivy were settled at their table, she’d detailed all of the cases she’d seen so far and Ivy was grinning at her.
“What?” Chloe asked. “Am I talking too much?”
“No,” Ivy said, the smile not leaving her lips as she asked, “Does this mean you finally found a specialty you’re passionate about?”
Chloe smiled from her seat across from Ivy, thought about it for a second, and said, “I just may have. I’ve already found such a good mentor in Dr. Thomas, though, and I started looking into pediatric residencies. Maybe I found a subspecialty that I can sink my teeth into.”