From The Fall / Bailey Zimmerman

PROLOGUE

2015

"Ivy, come here."

"I can't, it's too high."

"Give me your hand."

Bailey took Ivy's hand in his and pulled her up into the rusty old bed of his father's black '02 Ford Ranger he was borrowing for the night. She put one foot up on the tailgate and climbed up into the truck's bed before stumbling over a tiny block of splintered wood his dad had left there hours prior. She fell right into Bailey's lap, narrowly avoiding smacking her forehead against his.

Her hand landed on his new belt buckle, making the fall hurt more as she lands on his old, stained Wranglers.

"Sorry.." she doesn't bother meeting his eyes, knowing that if she did he'd most likely laugh at her—a thing he did often just to simply lighten the mood, or just to piss her off and get a laugh back from her—, and instead she shuffled and moved to sit beside him instead of on his lap. Her cheeks were flushed, but she kept her eyes trained on the wheat field around them so he couldn't see her reddened face.

"It's alright." His shoulders tensed up when she leaned slightly against him. They sat there like that for a moment, engulfed in uncomfortable silence that only the chirping of surrounding birds filled. Ivy rested her hand on the truck bed, palm flat against the cool, unlined metal. The bitterness of the cold thing bit into her skin, but it was oddly grounding after that suspicious trip. It was something to focus on beside the boy beside her.

Five more minutes passed before Ivy shivered and pulled her thick coat tight around her and tugged the sleeves down over her hands so only the tips of her fingers peeked out, the fresh blue polish standing out against the dark background of her black coat.

"You cold?"

She glared at him. "Does it look like it?"

"Technically speaking, yes, you're shaking and your cheeks are so red from sittin' out here that you look like a tomato." Bailey slipped a twiggy arm out of one of the sleeves and scooted closer to her before wrapping a side of his coat around the ball that was Ivy bundled up inside of hers. The warmth from his Carhartt coat bled through hers and straight to her. She leaned further into him and inhaled his cologne. His arm was behind her back, but didn't go to wrap around her.

"Thank you." Absentmindedly, she let her head fall to rest on his shoulder ever so lightly. She always loved being around Bailey, even if it was colder than a welldigger's ass in Idaho outside and Bailey, her best friend was doing not "just friends" things while they spent time together in his dad's run down farm truck.

"You're welcome dar—" he cut himself off before he could finish. His eyes darted away from her and he pulled his arm away from her, taking his comforting warmth with him. His coat stayed wrapped around both their shoulders.
He almost let it slip. Almost.

They're just friends.

They've always just been friends and nothing more. Neither dared to move towards more. Ivy always pretended she wasn't interested in him that way and he never protested, even if it hurt him more than he cared to admit when she showed interest in another guy.

Friends don't do what they do. At least, normal ones don't.

"Bailey?" Ivy whispered, her hand landing on the truck bed close to where Bailey put his. He looked down at her. "Yeah?"

The sun started to bleed from blue to beautiful shades of pink, a pale purple so light it was almost white, hues of red, yellow and orange. Trees shined underneath the glowing light while the sun switched places with the moon, creating an enchanting sunset that was undoubtedly photo-worthy. An auburn colored leaf fell down from a nearby tree and somehow got caught up in the gentle fall breeze. It crinkled in the wind before falling on top of Ivy's hair in a crumpled up state.