Chapter 45: Stop hiding, face it with an open heart

After dinner, Ray didn't feel at ease at all as he kept pacing around in the hotel room worrying about Ivy while Jin was studying and Ryu was chilling with his comics. In actual fact, all of her brothers weren't at ease and were trying hard to distract themselves from Ivy's issues as their dad had told them to let her resolve it by herself. 

However, Ray still felt that he had to carry out his duties as Ivy's brother as he paced in the hotel room even more.

"Ray! It's annoying.. Punch it out at the gym, would you?! Stop pacing…" Jin scolded Ray as he couldn't concentrate.

"I feel like I should talk to Jason about their personal matters. I would never let him have another chance to hurt Ivy…" Ray said with conviction while Ryu sat up straight and paid attention to Ray.

"Didn't dad say to stay out of it? After all, it's her personal matters…" Jin sighed at his effort of trying to avoid meddling in Ivy's matters but to no avail. 

"She is my sister now… I can't let anyone bully her…" Ray emphasised as Ryu pondered on whether they should follow Ray's plans or stay low and obey their dad.

"So, what do you plan to do?" Ryu asked curiously. 

"I'm going to find him to talk to now…" Ray said as he sent a text message to Jason to meet at the hotel's garden. He couldn't stand another minute not doing anything for his sister as he walked out of the room. 

Ryu thought it was a good idea too to express all of their thoughts to Jason and make him stay away if he wasn't serious about it.

"Count me in… She is my sister too…" Ryu said to Ray as he stood and walked out of the room with him. Jin pondered a while before joining the duo as he too found it was reasonable to listen to both sides' stories before deciding which end he wanted to side with; his dad or his brothers.

The brothers were waiting by the gazebo when Jason was rushing over from Ivy's grandma house after receiving Ray's text message with the hope that Ivy must have returned to the hotel. He couldn't stop panting heavily when he reached in front of the brothers as his eyes darted around looking for Ivy but there weren't any signs of her.

"Chill bro… take your time catching your breath…" Ryu greeted as he patted Jason's back.

"My sis isn't here if that look in your eyes were searching for her… We are here to talk to you…" Ray said sternly as he shoved Ryu behind him and stood in front of Ryu and Jin like a war chief. 

Instead of feeling intimidated, it was a great sight to Jason who knew he had made the right decision to reveal Ivy's identity and watch her family protect her even if it's from him.

"Alright… talk…" Jason said as he took a couple of quick breathes.

"Let me warn you if you dare to hurt my sister again…" Ray growled as he fisted his right arms while pulling Jason up by holding on to his collar. "I wouldn't hesitate to throw this at you… Anytime… Anywhere…" Ray warned as he put Jason down who panicked a little.

"Other than her brawny brother, I wouldn't hesitate to use my connections and fans to harass you and perhaps tarnish your reputation." Ryu added as Jason chuckled. He finally understood the reason Ivy's brothers called him out. 

Jin had finally made his decision to side with the brothers as he jumped down from the gazebo to join in the fun. He couldn't stand that Jason was still able to chuckle. It took Jin by surprise in fact but he knew Jason must have understood the brothers were protecting Ivy. Jin knew Jason must have prepared himself for any consequences of his decision long ago as he snarled at him.

"And I… Will take things by the law to sue you and your company till you're penniless! If you're not serious about her, don't lead her on anymore! These are our warnings. The next time she is hurt by you, it will be more fiesty and harsher than this." Jin said as he adjusted his glasses and walked off followed by Ryu and Ray.

Jason nodded and laughed to himself. "One brawny, one socialite and one by law… Ivy, you're well protected indeed…" Jason thought to himself as he smiled and yelled back at the brothers who were walking off not too far away from him.

"I know what to do! I hope I don't disappoint!" Jason yelled back at them as the brothers smiled a little hoping he would keep his word. Ryu breathed a sigh of relief knowing he wasn't wrong about his judgment of Jason in his early days when he first knew he was dating Ivy and how he had protected her from the bullies in the college event that night. Ryu lifted his right arm to signal to Jason that they acknowledge his claim without turning around.

Jason reached into his pocket and took out the necklace which he had prepared for Ivy. It was a custom made pendant of the infinity sign with two stars in the middle of the circles which meant she would shine brightly like these stars for eternity. 

He wanted to give her a gift in return for the guppies' surprise but he hasn't gotten a good chance to give it to her and ensure he left good memories with it ever since he collected the order. Instead, he received a second gift from her already. 

"Now, you're a lifesaver gift…" Jason said as he knew he had to use this chance to clear things out with her once and for all.

After Sandra's brief date with Andrew which she purposely cut short to head home and check on Ivy, Sandra had a bad feeling not finding Ivy home. Jason's call made her feel something was amiss as she got more worried when she couldn't reach Ivy by phone but was reminded that Ivy had a family now and she was probably busy bonding with them.

For the past two hours in bed, Sandra has been coaxing herself to sleep only to find herself tossing in bed. She even missed the company of Lucky as she decided to step outside for a breath of fresh air by his kennel.

When she wanted to stretch her arms, a scary figure caught her attention sitting by the stairs with long hair covering the knees. The fact that the figure was sobbing while the head of the bear stuck on the roof in view, added more to the creep. 

It took Sandra awhile to shrug away the jump scare and realised it was Ivy, the root cause to her sleepless night as she walked over and approached her.

"Ivy… What's wrong? What are you doing out here so late? Did your family hurt you?" Sandra asked concernedly as she pulled Ivy into her embrace. Ivy shook her head as she sobbed in Sandra's arms.

"What's wrong? Tell me… You will feel better… Is it about Jason? He called earlier to check if I knew where you were… I couldn't sleep because you didn't even pick up your calls or reply to my messages. I even seriously thought you were treated badly by your family…" Sandra explained worriedly as the name of Jason made Ivy sit up straight and looked at Sandra with her puffy eyes.

"The investor who Jason was looking for is my father's company…" Ivy explained with a choking voice as she wiped away her tears. 

"Huh? That's good news, why are you crying…" Sandra tried to understand the rationale of Ivy's brief explanation. It took her a while to be able to connect the missing pieces as Ivy sob in her arms.

"Oh my gosh… Don't tell me Jason knew your identity all along and he approached you on purpose?" Sandra said shockingly.

"Even you think so?" Ivy hissed in between her sobs. 

"Oh dear… My poor bestie… I'm sorry you had to go through all these friendship betrayals… If those trio weren't enough of torture for you, this is worse…" Sandra patted Ivy's head to comfort her as Ivy slowly calmed down before explaining the details.

"It's not actually that bad…" Ivy sniffed as she sat up straight and Sandra helped her wipe away her tears. 

"How is it not bad when all you get is bullied?" Sandra said as she too couldn't stop her tears which Ivy chuckled and helped her wipe away. 

"Don't cry… You're not the one who got hurt and I would never let anyone do that. If Andrew does that I will ask my brothers to teach him a lesson." Ivy comforted Sandra which sent Sandra giggling. 

"You're silly…" Sandra scorned playfully.

Ivy took a deep breath as she looked up at the glittering sky. "He was willing to give up the business opportunity and restart with Marcel if the business failed because he valued the friendship we had. Although he had the intention of using me at first, this was a good enough reason to let the business dealings fall through as it benefits both companies…" Ivy sighed. 

"However, It's just me who can't accept the fact that the person who saved me at my lowest point was also the one who was using me for an agenda… What if things didn't turn out this way? Am I that useless? Huh? Am I only good to fulfill someone's mission? Even in a fake relationship…" Ivy sighed again as she held onto her forehead while Sandra finally could understand Ivy's frustration was not so much about the betrayal alone but because she might be in denial of her true feelings for Jason.

"Ivy… Tell me honestly, do you think of Jason when your mind wanders?" Sandra asked as Ivy's eyes twinkled looking at Sandra.

"Why do you ask?" Ivy tried to escape from the truth but Sandra was not giving up.

"Fine I will take it as a yes. Let me be direct… You miss him tremendously when you don't see him for a long time and you long to hear from him even if it's just a short message about work perhaps?" Sandra pestered as Ivy felt herself blushing. "Don't lie to me… It's how I was before I confessed everything to Andrew…" Sandra added as both girls couldn't help but to smile at each other.

"Yes I do, I have feelings for him. If that's the point you are trying to get out of me then yes. I have fallen in love with him by accident in all this chaos… I knew this long ago but the deal I had with Nancy has been holding me back. Besides, we are leaving this town already next week." Ivy finally admitted it as she covered her eyes with her hands to absorb the reality.

"Ivy… Perhaps you should let love have a chance and go with the flow… Ignore the promise you made to Nancy… Why bother when he doesn't like her and I think he too has fallen in love with you…" Sandra's words hit Ivy's heart like darts as Ivy leaned on to Sandra's shoulder and thought of the times Jason saved her over and over from danger of Nancy's schemes and also her mishaps.

Ivy sighed as she let the truth she had been denying and escaped from to finally slip into her as she surrendered herself for once to face them.

"My friend, you're diving in too deep this time and let me warn you… It will hurt badly when you want to pull yourself back out… But you know what? I will always be there for you when you need me… Whether I am single or taken, I will still be there for you." Sandra said assuringly as Ivy smiled and nodded as they both sat in silence enjoying the sight of the pretty night sky. 

Ivy for once felt relief as she could finally let herself be this vulnerable and only with Sandra was she comfortable to be this way. The sight of the night sky eventually coaxed them both slowly drifting asleep next to each other. 

The next morning Ivy and Sandra woke up to the morning chills as they quickly rushed to prepare for their camping trip. They both arrived nearly late to ride the bus to their camping trip while Andrew, who was told by Sandra to head to the college directly to wait for them, had a great time laughing at both girls' eye bags.

Ivy felt terrible as her whole body was sore but she didn't want to disappoint Andrew, who had looked forward to this camping trip the most. Besides, it would be the last chance they would all hang out with their college mates. Ivy decided to push herself to endure as she dragged herself to the bus behind the lovebirds while secretly envying them.

"Always the trouble makers… Any minute later, we shall all leave you!" Scolded their Chinese lecturer, Mr. Dong at the entrance of the bus as the trio quickly rushed their way up the bus. As the trio scanned the bus, the only seats left were right behind the bus. Ivy's eyes immediately twinkled as they spotted Jason sitting in front of the empty seats.

"What are you all doing standing here? Who asked you to be late! Sit wherever it's empty. Hurry!" Mr. Dong roared as Andrew quickly led them to the back seats but he noticed there were only two empty seats. The third empty seat was next to Jason.

The bus began to move slowly and picking up speed which threw the lovebirds to the back seats leaving Ivy nearly lose her balance but Jason managed to catch her by her waist and pulled her into the window seat next to him.

"You're alright? Were you injured?" Jason asked concernedly as Ivy shook her head and quickly took her ear piece to plug into her left ear.

Sandra and Andrew couldn't help but to smile to themselves at their little move to match make Ivy as Sandra quickly fell asleep on Andrew's shoulder. 

Ivy couldn't help but to feel her heart skip a beat each time Jason turned to look at her. Jason's heart ached a little watching her groggy self struggling to endure the trip. He knew she must have not had a good sleep the night before. He was a little worried that the camping trip agenda could be a little too harsh for her later as he watched her yawn many times with her arms folded in front of her, trying to ignore him.

When the bus began to move at constant speed on the highway, Ivy began to drift asleep as her dizziness was spinning her consciousness. Jason felt a little more at ease watching her falling asleep as he gently pulled her closer to him and supported her head on his shoulder. 

He couldn't help but to beam at the sight of her being this close as he took out the necklace he had prepared for her from his pocket. The two stars in between the circles twinkled under the sunlight as he attempted to unhook it to put on Ivy but he noticed his magnetic bracelet was stuck to hers leaving him with one hand free. 

This time, he didn't bother to untangle their bracelets but was glad they did for once as it ensured Ivy was stuck next to him and if she did move, he would know to catch her back on to his shoulder and let her get all the rest she needed comfortably. 

With that, he decided to find a better time instead to give the necklace to her as after her brothers' confrontation last night, he knew the weekend away was his best chance for them both to face their hidden feelings with an open heart.