Ivy tightened her plush pink robe around her waist, padding back to the bed where Derek lay sleeping. Sitting on the edge, she felt his body stir under the covers. "Hey," Ivy called out gently, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Good morning."

Derek let out a low moan his eyes blinking open. "Morning," he called back.

"Breakfast is in half an hour. My grandparents go all out with pancakes and bacon and fruit – if you're hungry," she added quickly.

"Starving," Derek responded, reaching for Ivy's fingers.

Ivy giggled, pulling away teasingly, flicking droplets of water at him in the process. "Then we'd better hurry."

Derek sat up blotting the water with the duvet. "Of course."

Ivy rubbed her hair with a towel. "I almost thought about asking you to join me in there this morning."

"That would have made us very late for breakfast," Derek smirked.

Ivy smiled back. "And you looked so peaceful sleeping there; I didn't have the heart to wake you. I could have sworn you were watching me in my sleep."

"I was. I wanted to make sure you were alright."

Ivy sent a nod of gratitude his way. "When did I go to sleep?"

"Around eleven. I'm sure I drifted off after that."

"As long as you got some rest."

"I did," Derek promised.

"I left you some hot water for the shower," Ivy said, pulling a dress out of her suitcase.

Derek crossed over to her. "That was very generous of you, but I believe I will be taking a cold shower," he clarified.

Ivy patted Derek's chest. "I bet I could find a way to warm you up when we get back to the city."

Derek placed his hand on Ivy's. "I'll take you up on that offer anytime." He walked to the private bathroom, leaving Ivy to get dressed for the day.

Ivy thumbed her rose print dress and looked for a pair of shoes that would go with it. Being away from the city, she chose a pair of sensible flats. Ivy slid into her shoes, wiggling her toes in comfort as she zipped the back of her dress. Her attention drifted to the pinging of a phone on the nightstand. "Derek, I think that's your phone!" Ivy picked up the device to silence it, only to be drawn to the message flashing across the screen – one that wasn't meant for her.

Daisy: Maybe you're playing hard to get, but you can't play forever – I'm going to catch up to you eventually, and you know that I tend to get what I want.

Ivy sat down on the bed, knowing that the smart thing to do would be to put the phone down and pretend she never saw the message. But there wasn't a lock on the phone, and Ivy had never been the type to shy away from dishy news. She read through more notification chains, all from the past week, and found herself unable to look away.

"Darling, did you say something?"

Ivy felt the phone slip between her fingers at the sound of Derek's voice. She fumbled on the ground to pick up the device. "Someone's trying to reach you." Her voice was cold and distant, the warmth from earlier in the morning all gone.

Derek knelt down to meet her on the floor. "It's not important," he said quickly.

Ivy met him in the eye. "Don't you want to know who it is? Or maybe you already know."

Derek felt his body stiffen as he picked up the phone, placing it back on the table. "Ivy, were you reading my phone?"

"Sounds like you found your new 'Karen," Ivy responded. "Always someone new right?"

Derek pulled Ivy's arm, down, keeping her on the floor with him. "We are not close, and you shouldn't have been looking."

Ivy lifted a finger, pointing it at his chest. "That is not the main issue here and you know it."

Derek sighed, grasping Ivy's finger. "I don't have any 'Karens' in my life."

Ivy didn't pull away from Derek's grasp. "She's been in touch with you all weekend, and even before then."

Derek released Ivy's finger. "From what you've told me, we aren't together, and I don't owe you any explanations."

Ivy pushed herself away in one graceful motion. "You're right. We aren't together, and you don't owe me any explanations. Come down to breakfast if you want."

Derek sat on the floor, watching Ivy walk out the door. Grabbing his phone, he punched out a reply to Daisy.

"Where's Derek?" Stacie asked as Ivy slid into her seat at the kitchen table.

"He had a late start this morning," Ivy muttered, reaching for the carafe of coffee.

"There's plenty when he comes down," Alyson said looking at her daughter. "As long as someone doesn't pig out on pancakes," she added.

Stacie shot her mother a 'who me' look in between bites.

"I hope you had a good night's rest, Ivy," Lynn said, passing her granddaughter the apple butter.

Ivy brushed the plate away. "I'll stick with coffee for now. My diet has been a bit crazy lately what with all of the long hours."

"Ivy, you need to eat," Robert insisted.

"Daddy if it will make you happy," Ivy said grabbing a small muffin. "I will eat some fruit with my muffin."

Derek slid in next to Ivy at the table. "Sorry I'm late," Derek apologized to the table. "Overslept I guess." Derek reached behind Ivy's chair to put his arm around her, only for her to flinch away.

Leigh narrowed her eyes at Derek.

Ivy passed Derek a coffee without looking him in the eye. "I fixed it the way you like it."

Derek accepted her gesture. "Thank you."

"How long are you two able to stay," Harold asked.

"Well Grandpa, Derek is heading back to the city today," Ivy began, keeping her eyes forward.

"I've got a show that will be set to open pretty soon, it takes up a bit of my time," Derek seconded.

"But I'm hoping to stay this week," Ivy finished. "I'll call Tom this week and see if I can stay a few more days."

Leigh put down her fork. "I've already spoken with Eileen Rand; she is expecting you to be ready to work by Monday morning."

Ivy felt her body tense up. "Mom! You shouldn't have done that."

"And you shouldn't be missing shows during Tony nomination season, and the show is still barely open – you need the exposure and so does the show."

"So you're heading back too?"

"Being a supporting player, it's easier for me to stay here," Leigh reasoned.

"You're going to drive me back home and then come back?" Ivy asked dubiously.

"Of course not," Leigh said, her mouth curling at the side. "You and Derek can go back today together."

Ivy shot her mother an exasperated look.

"We can leave whenever you're ready," Derek said gently, sliding his arm around Ivy's shoulder.

Lynn noticed Ivy pull away from Derek's touch once more. "You have no reason to worry, Honey. Your father and I have a great team here working with us, and before you know it, I'll be back to my normal self."

"Nothing in my life stays normal for long," Ivy muttered under her breath.

"What's that, sis?" Alyson asked.

"We'll leave after breakfast," Ivy said finally. "Get everything over with." Ivy pushed her plate away. "I'm going to go pack."

Ivy pulled her pink suitcase out and began throwing her items back inside, not caring if everything fit as nicely as it did before.

"There's no rush," Derek said gently, placing his hand on the handle of the suitcase. "I'll bring it down for you when you're ready."

"I'll just need to say goodbye to everyone before we go," Ivy said quickly. She finally met Derek's gaze. "I, I hope I'm not imposing on you."

Derek shook his head. "Never once have you ever imposed on me," he promised. "If anyone's gotten in the way of anything…"

Ivy lifted her hand. "There's no need to explain, like you said earlier. We weren't together at the time, and your business with Daisy is exactly that." Derek opened his mouth to speak but Ivy cut him off. "I'll let you know when I'm ready, thanks for the ride back." Derek watched Ivy go once more, physically so close, yet they felt so far apart.

Ivy ventured into the downstairs sitting room, which held a large cabinet filled with Lynn's memorabilia and items collected over the years.

"Wanting to take anything with you?" Lynn asked, wheeling into the room.

"I wish I could take you with me, Grandma," Ivy laughed.

"Just you wait till I'm out of this wheelchair; I will be in New York before you know it. Is there room for me in that apartment of yours?" she smirked.

"I am going to put you and Grandpa in the best New York hotel," Ivy promised.

"I am sorry you have to cut the visit short, but this is a busy season for you."

"It shouldn't be that way forever." Ivy thumbed a leather clutch. "Eileen Rand keeps saying the show will run itself once we get all of the kinks out."

"Well at least you have Derek to keep you company."

"I think he has other company besides me," Ivy mused.

"Something tells me you may be his favorite." Ivy looked at her grandmother to continue. "You don't just drop everything for just anyone."

"No you don't," Ivy agreed.

"Promise me you'll take care of yourself."

"Only if you do the same," Ivy added, hugging her grandmother goodbye. Ivy eyed Derek in the hallway, her things and his stacked neatly beside him. "Thanks so much," she said, touching his arm lightly. "I'm going to say goodbye to the others."

Derek nodded watching her go.

"You've been watching her all weekend," Lynn noted.

"It's hard not to," Derek admitted.

"Everything okay with you two?" Lynn asked. Derek hesitated in response. "Ivy may have told you, but I tend to speak my mind," she laughed. "I saw you last night and at breakfast this morning."

"It's complicated," Derek said slowly. "It seems that every time we get close, something happens."

"Well don't give up on her," Lynn encouraged. "She's worth fighting for."

Derek nodded, thanking Lynn once more for her hospitality.

Ivy offered her family final hugs as she joined Derek in the rental car to head back to the city.

"Eileen has been getting after me about getting you back home," Derek teased.

"She knows you're with me?" Ivy asked, buckling in.

Derek nodded. "Small town, people talk."

"Some do more than talk," Ivy added.

"I'm being blackmailed by Daisy," Derek cut in.

Ivy gripped the door handle for support.

"Don't tell me you're going to jump out of the car?" Derek scoffed.

Ivy shook her head. "Just holding on for support," she said quietly, waiting for him to continue.

"Those texts, everything that you saw on the phone this morning, she's got something on me."

"How?" Ivy asked. "You two haven't really spoken since last fall and the allegations against you. Wait, is this all from last fall?"

"I wish," Derek grumbled. "We saw each other again this spring, not too long ago."

"We were together last spring, not too long ago," Ivy echoed, suddenly feeling claustrophobic. "But we weren't exclusive, so I guess I can't blame you for that," she said in a low voice, cursing herself for insisting that they stay 'casual', all done in an effort to prevent hurt feelings and attachment. She became attached and hurt anyway.

"Do you remember the night of the premiere of your show?"

Ivy's eyes widened. That night had been in the first in a string of nearly three weeks that they hadn't stayed over together.

"I'm trying to tell you everything," Derek insisted.

"Why, why are you telling me now?"

"Because I care about you, and because I'm in over my head, and you're one of the few people that I can talk to."

Ivy nodded. "I care about you too, even if we aren't…together," her voice dropped again. "You were saying about the premiere night?"

"Right. You had…well it does not matter what happened between us that night, we were both going home alone – and I do not exactly do well alone. So I was walking home, minding my own business, and then out of the blue Daisy Parker approaches me – to apologize for last fall and tell me how great the show was."

"So you slept with her? There's nothing new there."

Derek stiffened at Ivy's phrasing. "I suppose you're going to judge me the same way everyone else does."

"We're all judged by our past actions, I still catch flak for what happened with Heaven on Earth. One drug fueled performance and I'm now 'unreliable' in many circles."

"I guess I never thought you saw me that way, as someone who sleeps with everyone." Derek kept his eyes on the road, unable to look at her.

Ivy reached out to touch Derek's shoulder, only for him to scoot away. "It's not how I see you. I shouldn't have made that remark about you."

"But you were thinking it," Derek pointed out. "Everyone else in the community does too apparently."

Ivy quoted Derek's speech to her last fall. "Prove everyone wrong, prove me wrong."

"They weren't wrong. I invited her back to my place, asked if she wanted a role in my new show, and she showed me she did. And then she filmed everything. Combine all of that with the allegations from last fall and she's got me over a barrel."

"She taped you?"

"I found out after the fact. Her insurance policy to make sure I deliver her a role, and not just one in the chorus."

Ivy shook her head, not knowing who to be angrier with. "You invited her home and propositioned her after your entire history and then she films you?"

"I wasn't exactly feeling great that night! I was going home dejected and alone, or don't you remember that part?"

Ivy felt the hairs on her arm go up. "You're blaming this on me? I remember asking Karen about you, and how you asked her out the day of my birthday and then settled for me when she turned you down. I wasn't in the mood to be with you that night."

"You and your paranoia about Karen Cartwright," Derek grumbled. "You could have asked me about it then."

"And what would you have told me?" Ivy challenged.

"The same thing I told you the night of the performance honoring Kyle Bishop – that there was nothing going on between us because of you. I may have asked her out first, but that doesn't mean that we would have worked out together or become something serious."

"Were we 'something serious'?" Ivy asked. "That morning you all but insisted that we not say anything to anyone about seeing each other."

Derek shook his head. "Your memory is very selective. I was taking cues from you that morning. I asked you what 'our story' was and you essentially told me there was nothing to tell, that you had not 'thought about it."

"I lied," Ivy said, echoing the same answer she gave Derek after he called her out blurting out that he was bad in bed (in front of the entire cast of Bombshell). Last year, she admitted with a playful smirk, but this time she was wistful, near tears.

"Well you weren't the only one," Derek said slowly, taking in her words.

"I figured as much, what with Boston and everything," Ivy shrugged, her index finger brushing over her eyelashes.

"Boston wasn't a lie – it was a truth that I wasn't ready to admit." Derek looked at her once more. "I tell you I love you, I blurt it out after you inspire me out of a blocked moment with the lighting, and to prove myself wrong I sleep with Rebecca Duvall."

"Then it was true? That you…."

"You were my biggest relationship of the entire past year – I couldn't commit to anyone else. I didn't even have as many usual one-night-stands because my mind is full of you."

Ivy was speechless, letting Derek's declaration sink in. "Then you've loved me for a year?"

"Loved you, denied it, pushed you away, tried things with other women, but nothing stuck, nothing fulfilled me – except you. The only woman who I would spend an entire night waiting by the phone for."

"You waited by the phone the night of the invited dress?" Ivy blurted, trying not to laugh.

"Well I wasn't exactly invited to the performance, and I wanted to hear details, and see you."

"You saw me, and still never told me how you felt till now."

"You weren't exactly forthcoming either."

"Maybe that's because I've been gaslighted the past year." Derek shot Ivy a dubious look. "One minute, you're singing my praises, the next you're criticizing everything. One minute you're my date to a party, the next you're flirting with someone else at the same party."

"Okay!" Derek cut in. "So I haven't always been the perfect boyfriend."

"Ha," Ivy laughed. "I fell for you so hard last year, I told myself I couldn't fall in love with you again, I wouldn't let it get that far. So I suggested that we keep things 'casual', I thought it would be easier for both of us."

"Then you loved me too?" Derek asked.

"I did," Ivy admitted. "I was full of blind love for you, right up until the end of Boston." Ivy stopped herself, not admitting how much love she felt for him now.

Derek nodded, knowing that he only had himself to blame for losing her affection.

Ivy slumped her head on the car window. "I'm so confused now, I can barely see straight, I swear sometimes I see double: my family, the show, you, the whole situation with Daisy."

"Why don't you close your eyes?" Derek suggested. "You probably haven't gotten much sleep lately."

"No I haven't," Ivy sighed, closing her eyes, grateful for the suggestion.

Ivy slowly opened her eyes, surprised to be draped in Derek's leather jacket. Turning her head slightly, Ivy was disappointed to see that she was alone in the car. "Derek," Ivy mumbled, craning her neck.

As if on command, Derek walked back to the driver's side. "I stopped for gas and some food – I know you didn't eat a lot at breakfast today."

"What's in the bag?" Ivy asked, her interest piqued.

"I couldn't resist these," Derek said, pulling out two hot dogs from the sack. "There's chips and soda as well."

"Well hot dogs are my favorite," Ivy admitted, greedily taking one.

Derek could not help but laugh as Ivy devoured her lunch. "You want part of mine?" he offered generously.

Ivy lifted her hand in protest. "Not necessary," she mumbled between bites. "This will get me through till dinner." Ivy paused. "There aren't paparazzi or anything here are they?" she asked, slinking down in her seat.

"I'm keeping a good watch," Derek promised.

"It's just hard to be normal and do things like eat, when everyone is watching me."

"I get it," Derek agreed. "Life under a microscope makes everything hard."

"No one ever said being a star was easy or safe. Someone once told me 'if I wanted safe to go back to the chorus'". Ivy smirked, quoting Derek's exact words from Lyle West's birthday party last year.

"Not one of my finer moments, out of so many to choose from," Derek mumbled.

"Is that your way of saying you were wrong?"

"I don't think I was wrong about that particularly, there's nothing easy about our profession."

"No there isn't," Ivy agreed.

"But I want you to feel safe," Derek encouraged. "I was wrong to say that to you, and I'm sorry, for that and so many other things."

"Derek…"

"And now you know how I feel about you. My punishment will be losing my chance with you."

"I just need time," Ivy pleaded. "There's so much going on right now with my family, and the show, and your show, and the Daisy Parker of it all. Are you going to give in to her?"

Derek started down the highway again. "I haven't decided yet. She holds all of the cards, and if all she needs is a part to shut her up…"

"That won't be the end of this," Ivy warned.

"Well it isn't your problem to solve, now is it?" Derek shot back, harsher than he intended.

"No it isn't," Ivy said quietly. "If it's alright with you, I'll sleep the rest of the way home. Wake me when we get back to the city." Ivy reclined in the seat, her mind full of thoughts.

Derek pulled into the area known as Hell's Kitchen. "Ivy, darling, we're back," Derek said, jostling her awake.

"Umm," Ivy murmured.

"I took the scenic route to give you more rest. I would recommend letting Eileen know you're back in the city."

"Right." Ivy righted her body as Derek grabbed her things from the back of the car.

"If you need anything, I want you to call," he instructed, standing with her on the steps. "Anything, anytime."

Ivy nodded. "Thank you again for this weekend." Ivy stood on her toes and placed a kiss on Derek's cheek. Ivy found herself pulling away as Derek's phone went off. "I think you should check your phone," she suggested, heading inside. Lugging her things up the stairs, Ivy pulled out her cell phone. There was work to do.