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“Quiet,” I cut him off. “We’re nearly there.”
Reeve obediently falls silent – for all of one more mile. “I wasn’t sleeping a peaceful, relaxing slumber,” he speaks up. “If that’s what you’re thinking. I thought about calling you a hundred times, then drank two glasses of whiskey and fell asleep watchingBefore Sunriseto drown my sorrows. I’m kind of a lightweight,” he adds, and when I glance over, he’s got a bashful, apologetic smile.
Dammit.
I make a vague grumbling noise, and grip the wheel tightly.
“I nearly came over,” he adds. “You know, holding a boombox up outside your window playing Peter Gabriel, like John Cusack inSay Anything. Except, all I could find was a tiny wireless Bluetooth speaker, and if you haven’t seen the movie, it would just be weird.”
“I haven’t seen it.” I crack a smile despite myself, just picturing Reeve outside the house waving a tennis-ball sized speaker around. “And who’s Peter Gabriel, anyway?”
Reeve sounds a tortured groan. “Are you for real? My god, if we weren’t off to dig up a stash of hidden gold, I would make you turn the car around right now and stage an 80’s teen movie marathon intervention.Pretty in Pink?” he asks. “St Elmo’s Fire.The Breakfast Club?!”
“Relax,” I smirk. “I’ve seenThe Breakfast Club.”
“Thank God.” Reeve exhales. “I can’t go falling in love with a woman who doesn’t appreciate the classics.”
Love.
I flush, heat spreading not just on my cheeks, but through my entire body; glowing warm and bright at the word. Still, I’m not ready just yet to talk about the mess of his movie pitch, and my sense of ownership over Earl and Madeline’s story, so I focus on the dark road ahead, driving a few miles out of town to where the old copper mine sits, looking creepy and deserted in the moonlight.
I pull over, and park beside the massive tire scars from the TV production’s trucks. They would never leave anything valuable here overnight, but I can see evidence of their search all around: the caution tape, old rigging, and empty equipment crates littered around the mine entrance.
I get out, retrieving my own backpack from the trunk of the car as Reeve stretches, looking around. “The mines?” he asks, sounding confused. “I thought you said that they’d never find the treasure here.”
“Not here,” I say, turning to point up at the hills above us, dense with trees. “Up there.”
It’s still pitch black out, with nothing but moonlight to light our way, so I click on my headlamp, fasten it around my head, and gesture for Reeve to do the same. Then I zip up my jacket against the cold night breeze, hoist my pack, and start walking.
Reeve falls into step beside me, our lamplights bobbing on the trail. It’s a well-worn path, winding up through the undergrowth, but I’ve never hiked it at night– the forest filled with eerie hoots and rustling sounds. Still, I’m on a mission here, and I don’t want to wait until dawn. “Do I need to worry about bears?” Reeve asks, glancing around nervously.
“That depends, how good at fighting are you?”
“Terrible,” he replies immediately. “I’m a film nerd, remember? I didn’t learn to fight in school, I was too busy watching Schwarzenegger and Statham kick ass on-screen.”
I smirk. “Well, then you might not do so well, but at least I have a chance to get away.”
Reeve chuckles, the sound carrying. “Good to know at least one of us has a plan.”
“You know me.”
“Yes. I do.” Reeve’s reply is quiet, and when I look over, he’s watching me with a fierce sincerity in his eyes. “Ivy, I’m so sorry.”
I look away. “I said I didn’t want to talk about it yet.”
“I know, but please, you have to believe, I would never try and steal this story,” Reeve insists, easily keeping pace as I walk faster. “You’re right, it’syourstory. You’ve done all the research and work. I didn’t mean to tread on that, it all happened so quickly. One minute, he’s asking if there’s any idea that’s really stuck with me, and then next, I’m telling him about Earl and Madeline. I didn’t plan it, or go behind your back,” he adds, his voice urgent. “You have to believe me.”
I keep walking, emotions roiling in my chest. “I do believe you,” I admit, finally slowing as the trail gets steeper, winding up through the dense undergrowth. “I know you didn’t mean to take my research, but that’s still how it worked out. And I know what happens next,” I add, feeling an ache. “The movie will turn out amazing, because you’re a huge talent, and it’ll be a massive success, but no matter what it says in the credits at the end, it’ll beyours.”
“Ivy—” Reeve starts to argue, but I need to finish.
“No, listen,” I come to a stop on the trail, turning to face him. “It’s how this works,” I say, feeling sad and frustrated all at once. “You’ll be the one out there giving interviews, and getting glowing profiles, and accepting awards – and you’ll deserve them, too. Of course you will. And I’m sure you’ll always try and give me credit, and say I contributed, but we both know, nobody will care.” I give a helpless shrug. Even Jake tried to give me credit in the beginning, before the fame went to his head. “Because you’re the charismatic, handsome man with a microphone in his face, and I’m just … me.”
“There’s no ‘just’ about you,” Reeve says fiercely, and his faith in me is heartening … but won’t change the way the world works.
“Please, Reeve, listen. I don’t want to always be keeping score!” I exclaim. “Not with you. And maybe I should be a bigger person, and a team player. Not care so much about being recognized, and having my work be known, but Idocare. I’m proud of it. And if I have to stand by and watch my work slip away from me, while I stay invisible all over again … it’s going to kill us. Whatever this is between us, whatever it could be, it’s going to get suffocated before we even have a chance to breathe.” I finish, my heart aching. Because I couldn’t bear it, finding Reeve like this, and falling for him, only to watch history repeat itself in the worst possible way.
Reeve exhales. “Well, shit,” he says quietly, face shadowed in the dark.
