Drive By

Chapter One: The Realization

Ivy was out running errands. Rufus was stuck at home with nothing to do. He had just gotten back from the gallery, and everything was taken care of for the night. Ivy said she'd be back by seven thirty for their dinner reservations at eight. It was currently seven, and he was already ready for dinner, giving him a half hour left to do nothing but twiddle his thumbs.

He eyed the trashcan which still held his box of memories with Lily. He hadn't wanted to look at them. It wasn't worth looking back on the past. She had Bart, and he had Ivy now. They had both moved on.

He headed over to the couch to see if there was anything good on TV that he could watch until Ivy arrived back. He found the remote, kicked up his feet on the coffee table, lay back, and clicked on the television.

There were repeats of shows he didn't watch, repeats of shows he did watch but he'd already seen the episodes more times than he cared to see them, and of course pointless, clearly scripted talk shows that discussed paternities, and troubled children who abused their parents when they didn't get their way.

With a sigh, Rufus clicked off the television, and tossed the remote aside. "There's nothing but junk on TV today," he grumbled to himself.

He sighed again, and his eyes once again fell upon the box in the trash. He got up, and slowly made his way over to it. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to look through it. He would look, he decided, but only because he had nothing else to do. Also, curiosity was getting the best of him. He hadn't really looked to see what was inside it before.

So, he took the box out of the trash, sat down on the floor with it in his lap, and took off the lid.

He set the lid aside, and peered in. The first thing he saw was a letter. He picked it up and saw that it was Lily's handwriting. He began to read the letter. He had only meant to read the first line, but couldn't get himself to stop reading until he had read the whole way through. It was written when she had left him to marry Bart.

I'll always love you. But Bart is whom I belong with. Staying with him is the right thing to do. Bart and I come from the same world. We go together better. You and I are just so different... I know you'll find someone one day who will be yours and only yours. You deserve better than me anyway, Rufus. You deserve someone who will make you happier than you've ever been. Goodbye, My Love. -Lily

Rufus set the letter aside. Did't she know that she was the only woman who had ever made him truly happy? He hadn't even loved Alison as much as he loved Lily. Claire? She was barely worth mentioning. As for Ivy... Who was he kidding? He knew deep down he didn't love Ivy. Not even a little bit. She was a nice girl, but the truth was, he was just using her. He was dating her to hurt Lily the way Lily had hurt him when she chose Bart over him for the second time.

He set the letter aside to see a stack of photos. He picked up the stack, and searched through them.

The first one was of him hugging Lily from behind. Lily was smiling her beautiful smile that shined like the sun. The next was of them on their wedding day, looking at each other with such love in their eyes. It was as if they only saw each other. The third was of Lily laughing at something he had said, and him grinning like the Cheshire Cat at her. The fourth was of them on Halloween. He was wearing the Joey Ramone wig and all. Lily was rolling her eyes at him as he gave his best Joey Ramone pose. However, the grin on her face gave her away. The fifth and final photo was of them on the couch together. Lily's hair was messed up, and her dress was rumpled. As for him, he had a small red welt on his neck. Rufus remembered how they had been kissing, and he thought she looked so cute with her hair messy and her dress rumpled.

"That's because of me! I think I made you even sexier," he teased.

She had rolled her eyes and grinned. "All you did was rumple my hair and dress. I, for one, left my mark!" She licked the hickey she had left on his neck.

Rufus grinned. "We're 'hot messes' as the kids would say. We have to take a picture!"

Lily raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Of us looking a mess? You're a strange one, Rufus."

He nuzzled his nose against hers. "Ah, but you love me anyway."

She smiled, and gently stroked his cheek. "Yes, I love you anyway."

They kissed, then Rufus snapped the picture of them, proudly displaying his hickey.

Rufus sighed. He didn't know what was wrong with him. No matter what Lily had done to him, or whom she had chosen over him, she still made his heart race like there was no tomorrow.

But she was with Bart now, and there was nothing he could do about it. Or was there?

He didn't bother finishing looking through the box. He put the letter and the pictures back in the box, then shut the lid, and stood up, picking up the box as he did so.

He carried the box over to his bedroom, and slid it under the bed to look at later. Right now, he knew Ivy should be arriving at any minute.

He looked at his watch, and was surprised to see it was seven thirty-five. Ivy was late, which surprised him, for Ivy was never late. If anything, she was usually early.

Just then, as if on cue, his cell phone rang. He looked to see who it was. It was Ivy of course. He clicked the answer button, and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Gorgeous!" came Ivy's cherry voice on the other end of the line. "I'm sorry, but I have to cancel our reservations. I ran into a friend who is really upset. Her boyfriend just dumped her, and she really thought he was the one. She's absolutely crushed. I promised her we could get Chinese takeout in, and watch anti-romance movies at her place. I'll probably just spend the night at her place since she lives alone. I don't want her feeling even more lonely."

"It's all right. I understand. I never heard you mention any friends before. Do I know her?" Rufus was surprised. He didn't think Ivy had any friends. She wasn't exactly the most adored girl in the city. At least not by anyone he knew.

"She's a dear friend from school. Her name is Bella, and she is a year older than me. I never talk about her much, because, well, it never comes up! No one ever asks me. Everyone just assumes I don't have any friends. Like you assumed, apparently." There was a playfulness to Ivy's tone, telling Rufus she wasn't angry.

"I didn't say that. I just never heard you mention her before," Rufus said calmly. "Well, anyway, I'll take care of canceling the reservations. You just go be there for your friend."

"Actually, I already cancelled them, so you don't have to," Ivy said quickly. "I'll make it up to you. We can go some place special tomorrow, or I can even cook for you if you'd like."

"You cooking for me? You can cook?" Rufus asked.

"Of course! I even took a few cooking classes a couple years ago," Ivy explained.

"Hm. I never knew that," Rufus said.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Rufus, but I can't wait to show you everything I can do." Her tone had taken on a seductive tone to it.

Rufus moaned. "Mm, I can't wait either. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Ivy said, the seduction still in her voice. "Goodbye, Sexy."

"Goodbye, Gorgeous!" Rufus clicked off the phone. Well, that sucked. Not only for Ivy's friend, but for himself as well. He was hungry, and had been looking forward to trying that restaurant out. He wondered if he could call the restaurant, and get the reservations back. Maybe they hadn't booked anyone else at his and Ivy's table yet. He could invite Dan to go with him, and if not Dan, well, then he'd go by himself. After all, there was no rule saying a person had to go to dinner with someone, and couldn't go alone, was there? No.

He headed over to where he had the restaurant's number written down. He then dialed.

"Hello," he said when they answered. "This is Rufus Humphrey. My girlfriend Ivy just called and cancelled out reservation. She had something come up, but I decided I wanted to use it anyway. Is there any chance I can re-reserve, or do you already have someone in our place?"

"Hold on just a second," the lady on the other line said. Judging from the clicking sounds he was hearing, she was looking it up on the computer. "Hm, it says here the reservations were never cancelled. Are you sure your girlfriend cancelled them?"

"That's what she said. Hm, that's strange. Well, keep them then. I'll still show up even if she doesn't!" Rufus said.

"All right. We'll see you soon then!" the lady on the other line said cheerily.

"See you soon," Rufus agreed before hanging up the phone. He sighed. That was really odd. Ivy had said she had already cancelled them. Did the hostess accidentally cancel someone else's reservation?

He grabbed his keys, slipped on his jacket and shoes, and headed out, intent on heading to the restaurant and finding out what was going on. And, if it had just been a mistake, well, then he'd at least still get to eat there.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

When Rufus arrived at the restaurant, he was about to head in when he saw Ivy heading toward him with some man.

He quickly ducked around the corner of the restaurant, and peered around. His mouth dropped open when he saw Ivy walking toward the restaurant hand-in-hand with William. They were talking about something, and laughing together. They then paused, and kissed passionately. The kiss lasted for a good half a minute before they broke the kiss.

Ivy licked her lips, and smiled at William. She muttered something in William's ear.

William nodded with a look in his eyes that was clearly hungry for more than food. The pair then walked into the restaurant together, hand-in-hand again.

"What the hell?" Rufus muttered. He waited a few minutes, then headed into the restaurant. "Hi," he said to the hostess. "I just have to talk to my girlfriend quickly. She's already seated. Do you mind if I just go in quick and talk to her?"

"Not at all. Will you be dining in as well?" the hostess asked.

"No, she already has a dinner partner, apparently. I'll be back in a few." Rufus then headed to find Ivy's table, not even waiting for the hostess' response.

Ivy and William were holding hands across the table when he found them. They were talking low, their eyes locked on each other's, and smiles planted on each other's faces. Since they were so busy making googly eyes at each other, they didn't even see him until he was right at their table.

He placed his hands on the table top, and loudly cleared his throat. "So, Ivy, let me guess, Bella had a sex change, and then had plastic surgery to make her look just like William, and then got over her ex super quickly so that she could turn gay for you, and start a relationship with you to get over her ex."

Ivy's eyes got big. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally managed to stammer out, "Rufus! What are you doing here?"

Rufus crossed his arms over his chest. "We had reservations. After you lied to me and said you cancelled them, I called the restaurant back to see if I could re-reserve. I wanted to maybe take Dan here and eat here anyway since I was hungry, and was looking forward to eating here. Boy was I surprised when the hostess said you never cancelled. I was even more surprised to see you not at your poor, distressed friend Bella's house, but outside of the restaurant we had dinner reservations for with another man. Kissing him, mind you. Care to explain?"

Ivy looked for a moment like she was going to make up an excuse, then her eyes narrowed, and her expression turned cold. She shrugged. "What can I say, Rufus? You got boring. Seriously, you have no personality. William and I have been hanging out a lot lately, and getting close. You know, when I have supposedly been running all those errands? He's a lot more exciting than you are, and frankly, a whole lot better in bed. To be honest with you, I only ever slept with you to get back at Lily. I mean, what better way to get back at her than by sleeping with the love of her life, right? Because, let's face it, the love of her life certainly isn't Bart, or any of her other many husbands." She glanced at William. "No offense."

William put his hands up. "None taken."

Ivy reached across the table, and squeezed William's hands again. "William and I are in love."

Rufus snorted. "In love? You don't know what love is, Ivy. All you like to do is use people, and take what you can from them before you toss them to the curb. Lily was right about you all along."

Ivy smirked. "Rufus, if you don't mind, I'd like to enjoy a nice dinner with my new boyfriend—alone."

Rufus glanced at William. "You know she's using you too, don't you? Sleeping with another one of Lily's exes just to get back at her? Maybe getting some of your money in the process?"

William shrugged. "Maybe so, but she's hot, she's young, and I'm not complaining. Plus, I get to hurt you in the process. It's a win-win situation." He winked at Rufus.

Rufus laughed bitterly. "That's where you're wrong, William. You're not hurting me. You're helping me." He glanced at Ivy, and nodded at her. "You're helping me by taking this lying, conniving, bitch off my hands." He turned his full attention to Ivy then. "I'll be at the gallery from nine until two tomorrow. Come by my place and pick up your things. I expect to see the key on the counter, and you gone by the time I get home. If you don't leave my place exactly the way it was before you arrived aside from your stuff being gone, or if you're still there when I get back, I will call the cops, and have them arrest you for trespassing. Do I make myself clear?"

Ivy grinned sweetly at him. "Crystal clear."

Rufus nodded. "Have a nice dinner. I hope you two enjoy making each other miserable." He then took off out of the restaurant without even a goodbye to the hostess who had wished him a good night. How he could have been so stupid for letting Ivy fool him, he had no idea. All he knew was that he was never going to let himself be fooled again by anyone let alone Ivy Dickens.

~Xoxo, Gossip Girl~

That night, Rufus lie in bed with a pizza, and his box of Lily memories. Underneath the pictures has been Lily's engagement and wedding rings. She had given them back to him, including the wristband ring he had made for her before buying her a real engagement ring. It made him sad as he held them in his hands. He had remembered how happy she had been the day he had given them to her. Now, she was giving them back, and wearing another man's ring. To top it all off, his marriage to Lily had never even been valid. It didn't matter to him though. You can't just say a wedding never happened when it did. That wedding had meant something to him. He had married the woman of his dreams, and he knew the wedding had meant just as much to Lily has it had to him.

Under the rings were pictures from their wedding. There was a picture of their first kiss as husband and wife. There was a picture of their first dance as husband and wife. There was even a picture of them cutting the wedding cake together.

Finally, there was a picture of them holding each other, still in their wedding attire, and smiling at the camera.

Rufus was instantly taken back to Lily's vows.

"And Rufus, I know that our future will be just like us: flawed and fragmented. And full of more love than I ever thought possible. I am so excited for you to be my husband. And for our children—all of them—to be my family."

That was the rest of what was in the box. Rufus put everything back in the box, closed the lid, then set the box on his nightstand. He then pulled out something from the nightstand drawer that he had put in there the night Lily had ended things between them. He hadn't been able to get rid of it, but he didn't want to see it either, so he had tucked it away in the drawer. It was a framed picture of Lily, smiling so beautifully in the way that only Lily could. It was from her birthday last year. She had on a stunning purple dress, and he had taken a picture of her, for she just looked so beautiful and happy. He was immediately taken back to the day he took it. It felt like yesterday.

"It's you that's making me happy—not the dress," she told him.

"Well, if it's me, and not the dress, then why don't you replace that dress with my body?" he had murmured into her ear, after taking the picture.

She laughed. "We have dinner reservations! We can't!"

"According to my watch, we still have a half hour before we have to leave. I can work with that!" he said, picking her up, and carrying her up the stairs.

She laughed. "Or, we could forget about our reservations, and order a pizza in," she purred, her eyes locked on his.

His eyes lowered. "I like the way you think!"

They grinned at each other, and kissed.

He gently ran his thumb over her lips on the picture.

"Who am I kidding? You belong with me, and I belong with you no matter what I try to tell myself, and no matter what you try to tell yourself," he said to photo Lily.

He sighed, and set the picture down, this time back on top of the nightstand where it belonged. He took a long swig of his soda, then recapped the bottle, and set that back on the nightstand as well.

He took out another slice of pizza, and chewed it thoughtfully as Ivy's earlier words echoed in his head.

"I mean, what better way to get back at her than by sleeping with the love of her life, right? Because, let's face it, the love of her life certainly isn't Bart, or any of her other many husbands."

Even a bitch like Ivy could see that he was the only one for Lily.

It was getting late, so he wouldn't do it tonight, but tomorrow, he was going to start his plan to win Lily back. Not that he had a plan, but he'd think of something. He wasn't about to Let Bart Bass steal his woman. True, she and Bart were married, but that could change. He'd make Lily see that Bart Bass was and always would be nothing but a lying, conniving ass just like Ivy was. It shouldn't be that hard to do. Then again Lily was stubborn. Still, he was going to win Lily back, and he didn't care how long it took. Heck, even if it took years, he would win his wife back, and when he did, this time, he was never going to let her go.