"Was it because of something I've done?"

Ivy blinked at first, processing each syllable that was left hanging in the air between them. She was surprised by how much vulnerability he'd allowed to escape with one sentence. And then it hit her. The reason behind why he was acting as if she would shatter to pieces if he weren't handling her with enough delicacy and care. In the midst of this madness he was clandestinely blaming himself for what had happened.

She quickly reached out to grab his hands, her fingers wrapping tightly around his.

"Derek no, no of course not. Whatever choices you've made, they'd been for the show and I understand." Or at least she'd tried to; and even though her attempts were mostly to no avail he didn't need to know that.

"Nothing you've done could have changed my decision," she added. This one was mostly true. Still, there was no point in placing blame on Derek for what she'd done, especially since there'd been so many more contributing factors. It would have been to no avail anyway for he was so strongly convinced that he did the right thing. He actually believed that his actions were resting on what was best for the production, almost blindly neglecting the fact that they had hurt Ivy.

She pushed aside those thoughts, yet again reminding herself that she was in no place to blame him for how she'd acted. She was a grown woman who could make her own decisions.

"Ivy, why are you lying to me," his voice was calm and calculated, though she could easily spot how tired he still sounded. She nearly scoffed at how he acted like he was the only one who was exhausted and irritated by their arguing. And damn him for always being able to see right through her. Though this seemed to be the first time he'd called her out on it; probably because it was the first time he actually cared. Ivy could feel herself getting worked up all over again.

"What? You have no right to call me a liar. Not after what you've done." In an attempt to keep her voice down the words came out in sharp hisses.

"What have I done? I've never lied to you. Every time you asked, I was completely honest with you," he stated so matter-of-factly Ivy would have almost believed it if she hadn't known better. This was the Derek she'd known; the one who'd play mind tricks and twist the truth in his own way just to get the best performance possible out of her. But this wasn't about performing or theatre or even Marilyn, this was real, this was about her life, it was about their lives.

"Oh, so what if I hadn't asked? You just wouldn't have told me that you were trying to sleep with every leading actress in this goddamn production?" A look of bitterness swept across her face and she could feel the anger curling and swirling in her gut at the memory.

"You know, you can go sleeping around with every single person you can get your hands on but whenever the mess you've created is too big for you to fix, you come running back to me." She was done with being the second choice. She was done waiting for him to call her, telling her she was relevant just to be ignored all over again the next day at rehearsal.

"Ivy," he sighed.

"I know you're a smart girl. I didn't need to tell you that for you to know." He decided to ignore the rest of what she'd said, mainly because he knew that she was right. But that would be another discussion for another time.

"Apparently I am or at least I'm smarter than you are," she jeered. It seemed almost hysterical at how – just like that – the tables had turned. She hadn't even planned on bringing it up but her emotions were overruling her brain and they kept on urging her to show him what she'd felt like after finding out about him and Rebecca. When Derek only looked at her in confusion she continued to speak.

"I slept with Karen's fiancé." For the first time in a while, Ivy was glad that she was an actress. She'd managed to sound so confident, almost as if being on stage, where she delivered her line with perfect precision laced with a touch of malice. However, the moment the words escaped her lips she felt a stinging sensation tugging at her chest as though she was crying on the inside.

Ivy had to admit that Derek made a very good attempt at hiding his reaction, whether it was shock, anger or disgust. Possibly all three. But she knew him too well to miss the signs that he was boiling beneath the surface. His knuckles were turning white from being clenched into fists so hard while the frown line between his brows deepened just the slightest bit. His jaw was tightly locked into place as he clenched his teeth together, attempting to keep his irritation solely to himself. So he hadn't known after all.

"I guess I deserved that," he finally said. His statement took her by surprise. Of all the things she'd expected him to say and all the ways he could have reacted, he'd decided to, somewhat, take her side? It left Ivy feeling confused more than anything, her anger slowly but surely dying down. And just like that all her defenses were broken down again and whatever feelings she'd locked in so firmly flooded to the surface.

"No you didn't. It was awful. I shouldn't have done it," she retorted, shaking her head, this time allowing her emotions to genuinely show through. It still was one of her greatest regrets in her career and life.

"So we're even then," he said stone-faced, turning away from her. It was very clear that he was still upset and angered by her statement.

"I'm sorry," Ivy said quietly, ignoring the tightness in her chest. She silently wondered how Derek could've acted so unnerved after sleeping with Rebecca when she'd done nothing but beat herself up for days on end for sleeping with Dev.

"You keep apologizing," Derek noted and Ivy was relieved to find his voice sounding lighter than it had before.

"Well, I keep giving myself reasons to do so," she shrugged, trying to offer him the slightest hint of a smile. Her attempt fell flat as it did nothing to lighten his mood this time and he continued to grimly gaze at her.

"Are you really?" he asked despite his tone making it sound more of an accusation.

"What?" she straight up asked. Ivy was tired of guessing and trying to figure out what he'd thought she had done wrong this time. There always was something that he was unhappy about.

"Sorry." He practically spat out the word, his emotions taking the upper hand this time.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her brows furrowing in a low line.

"You keep saying that you're sorry – but are you really? Do you even understand the extent of your actions? What they put other people through?" He made sure that each word was coated with just enough acidity, cutting her sharp as a knife. It hurt, a lot, but Ivy was done getting hurt by other people.

"Well that's rich coming from someone who never cares about anyone's feelings but his own," Ivy burst out, her face suddenly feeling hot. He had no right talking to her that way, not after what he'd done and how easily he'd gotten away with it.

Derek was silent for a minute. She could almost hear the cogwheels in his head turning as he was thinking of what to say next and an array of possible scenarios kept playing in her head.

"I care about you, Ivy," Derek eventually said with, what she assumed to be, all the sincerity he could muster. That wasn't what she'd expected. Ivy's heart skipped a beat as she let the words sink in. At that moment, it would have been so easy to give in to him and fall back into old patterns. Let him sweep her off her feet again and continue the way they had before. But that was what had led them here in the first place and she was done with being toyed with.

"Is that your version of 'I'm sorry'?" Ivy asked.

His lips turned into the slightest smirk. Then his face fell again as he stayed quiet for a few moments, contemplating what Ivy had said earlier. The feeling of anger and frustration and jealousy that had risen in his chest when she'd mentioned Dev. Was that what she had felt like when he'd slept with Rebecca? Back then he'd thought that everything between them had been casual and merely on a physical level. But that had been proven to be so wrong.

"I am sorry, Ivy," Derek finally said. Ivy stared at him in silence, letting her gaze drift over every single feature of his face. Then her lips turned upwards into a smile as her eyes were sparkling.

"I don't think I've ever heard you say those words before," she remarked happily.

"I don't plan on making a habit of it," Derek said and though he sounded grumpy, he smiled back at her. It was the closest thing to him being content that she'd seen in quite a while. Still, she couldn't help but roll her eyes the tiniest bit at it.

"Apology accepted," she said, unable to ignore the feeling of warmth that was spreading through her chest and rising to her cheeks, tingeing them a deep shade of pink.

"And Derek, I care about you too."