A/N: There is a warning needed here. The scene you're about to read contains a drunken ass of an ex boyfriend trying to gain entry to Ivy's apartment. It also mentions (vaguely, I tried to approach this particular thing as delicately as possible to not put anyone off) that the ex boyfriend is an ex because he's always trying to push Ivy's comfort zone.

Again, I tried to be vague and keep it as brief as I could. And for a few chapters, Eric will be popping up here and there. You've been warned.

ONE

IVY

The pounding on her apartment door had her pausing mid sip from the amber colored bottle in her hand as she glanced at it in annoyance. "Eric, go the fuck away."

"My key's not workin, babe. C'mon."

"There's a reason for that, asshole." Ivy called out, turning her attention back to the television set across the room. Maybe if she ignored the guy, he'd take a hint at last.

The pounding on her door continued and when it stopped for a second or two, Ivy muttered quietly, "Thank fuck. Maybe he fucked off and away." but then, the whole door shook violently in it's frame as something -or someone, slammed into it from the other side. Ivy scrambled to her feet and rifled through the knife rack next to the stove, picking the biggest and sharpest one, preparing herself.

"This is why you leave crazy alone, Ivy. Everyone tried to warn you but nooo.. You had to think with your pussy this time, huh?" she muttered in disgust at herself as she gazed at the door intently. The door shook again and if Ivy had ever been grateful for anything in her short 19 years of life on this crappy planet, it was that both her grandfather, both her uncles, her aunts and her father had all preached to her the importance of changing out all the hardware on a door the second she moved into a place.

Because if they hadn't, that door would've already budged and been thrown open by now. But it wasn't. It was still holding steady with the 4 inch screws secured deep into the frame of the actual door. "You b-bitch! C'mon! L-lemme i-in. I-I.. I need t-to talk t-to ya."

"What you really need is castration. Keep kicking the door, that's what'll happen." Ivy mumbled as she moved across the room carefully and quietly, flattening herself against the wall right beside the door. She reached out and flipped off the overhead light and outside, Eric chuckled. "I know you're i-in there." he taunted, slamming himself against the door again.

Ivy rolled her eyes and stood there quietly in the darkness.

"W-why isn't m-my key workin? W-what the f-fuck did y-you do, baby doll?"

"Guess, asshole." Ivy taunted before she could stop herself.

He was starting to get angry. Good, Ivy thought to herself, let the mask he's been wearing to fool you come all the way off. You're finally seeing what all your friends and every single member of your family were trying to warn you about with him. Maybe having him scare you shitless tonight will make you think twice come tomorrow when he's sober and he's being a decent guy again. Ivy frowned at the thought and felt herself getting angry all over again at the way he'd forced a kiss on her earlier at the bar when she'd been telling him she wanted to leave and she was leaving him there. If the way he's acting now isn't enough, just remember.. He's constantly trying to push your boundaries and you're sick of the constant pawing at you or having kisses forced on you. Because if he's forcing kisses on you now and getting irrationally angry when you shove him off, what do you logically think is gonna happen next, hm? You're done with the guy. It ends now. Before it escalates to anything worse and you become a statistic. You've already been dumb enough, getting mixed up with him in the first place."

There was shouting out in the hallway now and it wasn't just Eric. Someone was slammed against the front door of her studio apartment and Ivy jumped away at the loudness of it. Her heart was about to beat right out of her chest and she took a few shaky breaths, finally mustering up the nerve to peer through the little peephole in the door.

She found Eric in a brawl with another guy in the hallway. She couldn't see who it was clearly, but whoever it was, they were beating Eric pretty good. The guy fighting her ex got her ex into a headlock and when he did, it gave Ivy a clearer look at him.

Rafe Kovich Jr was the one about to send Eric's head smashing against the hallway wall. It took everything Ivy possessed not to run out and try to break the two apart then because she knew Eric and she knew he probably had his pocket knife on him somewhere and he wouldn't hesitate to use it.

She'd already almost lost Rafe once.

What was he even doing back in town to begin with?

She stood there trying to figure out what the hell was going on in the darkness of her living room and out in the hallway, the fight continued.

Until it was over. Until silence settled back over the corridor and at least two doors on either side of Ivy's door banged shut softly. Neighbors either being nosy or lending Rafe a helping hand, no doubt.

And then, her own door was being knocked on.

RAFE

"Ivy?" Rafe called out through the closed door. The light inside the apartment was off. He was just about to turn and walk away, maybe he'd try again in the morning or something when he heard the door open slowly, with a quiet creak.

Ivy leaned in the doorway, holding a pretty impressive sized and sharp steak knife in her hand. For a few seconds, all either of them could do was stare at each other wordlessly. "Rafe?" she finally spoke, soft.

"Who the hell was that guy just now? Why was he trying to get in your apartment? Are you okay?" Rafe's questions came in a rush as he wandered over to where she stood and stepped as close to her as he could get, gazing down into big blue eyes.

"Eric. Aka, the ex boyfriend that I can't fucking seem to get rid of. He was mad because I ditched him down at the bar. Because I don't fucking like it when a guy tries to shove his tongue down my throat. I'm fine. I got myself into it, I'll get myself out. You… What are you doing here?" Ivy asked as she stepped out of the door to her apartment and motioned him inside, quick to shut and triple lock the door behind her as soon as they were both safely inside.

She could feel him watching her as she moved around the room, gathering what little bit of first aid adjacent stuff she did own. She nodded to an old suede sectional and Rafe sank down, wordlessly. Taking a few long and deep breaths because suddenly, what he'd come all the way back to Port Charles to do was proving itself to be so much harder than it had to be.

All he had to do was open his mouth and finally tell her how he felt.

Ivy settled on his knees and asked quietly, "Can you turn on that lamp on the table by you?"

Rafe reached out and turned on the lamp and Ivy got to work cleaning out the few scrapes he'd gotten in the confrontation between himself and the guy who was apparently her ex boyfriend.

And he found himself thanking whatever God had been responsible that he'd decided to come straight to her place after leaving Molly and TJ in the diner. He'd almost talked himself into waiting, checking into a hotel or that hostel across town instead.

If he'd done that.. He cringed at both the sensation of bubbling peroxide in the wound on his cheekbone and the thought that he shoved out of his head immediately as it formed. Because he couldn't think about what might have happened to Ivy tonight if he hadn't stopped by.

Oh, she'd have put up a fight. She was nothing if not a notorious hellion. But the guy might have done something to hurt her and the thought left Rafe with the realization that maybe Molly was right. Maybe his feelings were deeper than he thought. Maybe it was time to come back and confront them and everything Ivy said to him when she snuck into his hospital room at night back then. Maybe it all needed to be out at last.

He couldn't wait any longer. He'd waited long enough already. He'd taken time to get himself straightened out. To get his head around everything he'd done and the person he'd turned into at the end. To heal and finally realize that he deserved his own chance to be happy too. That everybody made mistakes.

He tensed up when she scooted in closer and started to work on a scrape that was on his forehead. "Ouch, hey.." he grumbled quietly.

"You shouldn't have done that, Rafe."

"What was I supposed to do, Ivy? Let him break in here?"

"Did you miss the big stabby people opener in my hand when I opened the door or..?" Ivy questioned, sighing as she shook her head. "Now he's going to be starting shit with you."

"And I'd rather him focus on me." Rafe butted in, gripping her chin and making her stop and look at him. "You realize you don't have to save yourself every single time something happens, right?"

"Kind of got used to it, Kovich.." Ivy muttered, fidgeting in his lap a little. About to attempt to get up and yet suddenly, not in a real hurry to move, either. He still hadn't answered her last question, when she'd asked him what he was doing here in Port Charles.

"What are you doing here, Rafe?" she repeated the question and fixed her gaze on him, waiting patiently. "I mean, is this permanent or..?" she went quiet. Praying that she'd kept any and all traces of hope that he was back to stay out of her tone.

That awkward silence was creeping in and it was starting to get to her.

"I'm back for good. As far as why, I'd tell you, Ivy, but I don't think you're ready to hear it yet." Rafe answered quietly, taking a shaky breath or two.

Still trying to come down from the adrenaline rush earlier and now, seeing her again. Feeling her body. Seeing her again after two long years.

Ivy studied him quietly for seconds that seemed to stretch and turn to hours. "I'm not ready to know, huh?" she asked, wondering what exactly him being back in Port Charles had to do with her in the first place, because as far as she knew, they'd only barely become friends back before his addiction took over and he had the accident that put him in a coma for nearly a month.

He'd always been into Molly.

,, Except he was starting to get over her before the accident. He'd even befriended TJ." the thought came and Ivy shoved it out again. ,, Either way, he's not back here to sweep you off your clumsy little feet, so don't even get the idea in your head." she reminded herself grimly.

"I'd rather show you anyway." Rafe mumbled, a husky tone creeping into his voice, making her head snap up. She locked eyes with him and held the contact.

She had to force herself to climb out of the guy's lap and get some space between them. "You're all cleaned up. I've uh.. There are some Michelobs in the fridge, I think?" Ivy mumbled, walking backwards into the kitchen in a hurry. Once she was out of sight, she leaned heavily against a wall and let out a ragged breath.

There was this tension between them. Heavy.

Frustrating and not just in the typical way.

She grabbed herself a beer and grabbed another one for Rafe as she twisted the tops off of both bottles and wandered into the living room to find Rafe standing up, eyes roaming around the place as if he were taking it in. His gaze settled on a weight bag in the corner, suspended from a dark wooden ceiling beam and he turned to her. "You're into boxing?"

"I dabble, yeah."

"You got rid of Green Bullet?" he asked, referring to her old motorcycle. The one she'd gotten from her father as a gift during high school and had been her primary mode of transport for a while. She nodded to the sleek black and chrome Harley leaned against the wall. "Yeah. I wanted a Dyna Glide."

"Nice." Rafe muttered, chuckling quietly as he stepped closer and took the Michelob she offered to him, taking a sip. He flopped back down on the couch and nodded to the television. "You know you're gonna have nightmares later, right?" he mentioned when he noticed that the television was stopped on one of the Saw movies.

"Actually, I don't anymore. Ha ha." Ivy taunted, sticking her tongue out at him as she sank down on the couch, careful to keep space between them even if that was the last thing she wanted to do right now. "Thank you.. For just now. Even though I still say you should not have done that. Eric's been a bit unhinged lately.. I.. It's my mess. I would've handled it somehow. You can't do that again, okay? I've seen a switch flip in the guy when he's pissed."

Rafe shrugged off what she said. "Yeah, well.. I'm not going to let him hurt you, alright?" and he had to quickly remind himself to tack on, "You're my friend, I mean.. I wouldn't let him hurt my friend."

Ivy's brow raised for a second or two but she didn't say anything. " And I don't want him to hurt you, either."

"Does your dad know about this asshole?"

"Do you think I told my father, with the same hot temper as me, about him?" Ivy asked, laughing softly as she shook her head. "He's not around much these days. DEA has him working all over. It's deep cover, I barely get to see him, let alone talk to him for five minutes now and then."

Rafe couldn't fight the urge to move a little closer to the space she occupied on the couch. "I know Molly and TJ both hate him. Even Josslyn told me that you needed sense knocked into you or something when I ran into the three of them earlier."

"And they haven't hesitated to tell me that either on a daily basis. I just wish I'd listened. I was dumb. I made a mistake." ,, because you were hurting and alone and the one you've always wanted was gone and probably wouldn't have been an option to begin with." the thought came and Ivy took a deep breath, promptly burying it down deep again. "They'll be happy to hear I broke up with him."

"Yeah, they will." Rafe answered, lost in her eyes. The heavy tension growing heavier and heavier the longer he sat there. But he didn't want to leave now, not after what he'd stumbled into just a few minutes ago.

What if that prick came back?

"So.. what have you been up to?" they both asked the question at the same time and then shared a laugh as they went quiet all over again.

"Are you staying anywhere, Rafe?" Ivy asked the question when the silence was just getting to be too much and she asked it before she could really stop herself.

"Kind of only planned getting here out in my head." Rafe admitted, chuckling again as he fell silent. Ivy swallowed hard and muttered quietly, "You can crash on my couch tonight. I mean, it's the least I can do."

She tried to make it sound casual, but the truth was, she didn't want him to leave. Because one, she was kind of afraid of Eric coming back during the night and two, she just wanted Rafe to be there. Because whether she chose to admit it to anyone or not, she'd missed him. The way he left had been hard to get used to. The things she should've been brave enough to tell him when he was awake and copacetic still applied and she still didn't quite know how to deal with them. But she did know that seeing him again tonight had brought them all rushing right back as if she hadn't spent the better part of two years trying to forget. Trying to make herself work past it.

Trying to convince herself that at least she'd said them at all. That maybe saying them when she knew he couldn't hear -or reject, was better all around.

"You don't mind?" Rafe's question broke through her thoughts, he could tell by the way she jumped a little. He chuckled and gazed at her in concern. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine." Ivy answered without wasting a second. "And yeah, I meant it."

Rafe studied her intently. A replay of every single thing she'd ever confessed to feeling back then repeating in his mind. Trying to convince himself that he needed to take his time, he couldn't rush this. He wanted to get something right for once in his life.

Ivy pulled herself off the couch and wandered out of the room, coming back into the living room a few minutes later with two pillows and a black bandana print comforter. She held out a pillow to him and laughed softly. "Cmon. It'll be like the one or two times you needed a place to crash so Silas didn't see you until you sobered up."

Rafe chuckled and nodded. "Yeah."

They settled into the couch and Ivy glanced at him over her shoulder. "You have room, right?"

"I'm fine." Rafe answered, smiling at her. He reached over her and grabbed the remote.

"Rude."

"It's not rude. I just know exactly what happens when you watch Saw and try to sleep, woman." Rafe argued, the two of them falling into silent laughter and staring at each other a few seconds. Ivy yawned and laughed. "Okay, alright. Fine. You win this time."

And the next thing Rafe knew, she was wiggling closer to him and burrowing beneath the blanket as she started to snore quietly. He chuckled to himself and aimed the remote at the television set, turning it off. And then, despite the overwhelming urge to stay exactly where he was at present, he slipped out from behind her and took one of the pillows, settling in on the opposite end of the couch.

For now, just knowing she was in the same room was enough.

A/N: I always felt Rafe had potential to be an interesting character if they'd kept him on. This is me, kind of giving the guy a chance to have a plot and stuff of his own. The timeline has been played with, btw. I hope you all are enjoying these as I post them.