10. Teddy

10

teddy

I vy?” I knocked on the door to the bathroom, the shower water still running. She’d been in there a long time, and for whatever reason, I was getting worried. Was she avoiding me?

Fuck . Had I ruined everything between us?

All things considered, there were about a million ways that our conversation could have gone better. I should have known she’d be upset with me. After all, I’d lied to her by not telling her the truth from the beginning. But I hadn’t known the truth of what she was until we arrived at the North Pole. Now, it was clear. How could I have ever thought otherwise?

She was supposed to be here.

A little whisper of something more rippled through my mind, but I ignored it. That wasn’t what this was. It couldn’t be. I’d given up all hope of that a long time ago.

“Dammit.” I smoothed a hand over my face, muttering under my breath. No matter what, I wanted her here. Wanted to give her a perfect Christmas memory. Even if she never chose this life, I’d make it special.

When she came out, I’d take her into town for breakfast. There, she’d see I wasn’t making this up. And then she’d fall in love with the North Pole. How could she not?

When she still didn’t answer after I knocked again, I frowned. Ivy might have been mad at me, but she was never afraid to use her claws. Poison Ivy wouldn’t hide.

Unless… I reached up and grabbed the key on the doorframe, unlocking the door. The steamy bathroom was empty, the shower water running—and the window was open. Her sweats were discarded on the sink, the new pair of clothes she’d taken in with her gone.

“Shit.” This wasn’t good. Looking up at the sky, I winced. It might not have been snowing yet, but it was freezing out. Did she even have a coat? Her phone was still in her bag on my living room floor. “Ivy?” I called out.

No response. I needed to find her—now. How far could she have gotten?

“Ivy!” I shouted. It wasn’t actively snowing, so I could see a trail of footprints in the snow—one that headed out towards the woods.

Throwing the window closed and shutting off the shower, I went to grab my coat from the closet. My mom had left one behind on one of their visits to my house, so I grabbed it too. It might not fit her perfectly, but it would be better than nothing.

Grabbing a blanket, I wrapped a scarf around my neck and pulled on my coat before heading outside. Luckily, I’d left Buddy in the small stable next to my house, so I didn’t have to go far.

Opening the front door, I trudged outside into the snow.

“Wanna go for a little adventure, Bud?” I asked him, smoothing my hand over his snout. He made a noise of affirmation, and I swung onto his back, not bothering with a saddle. “We gotta go find Ivy.”

She didn’t have too much of a head start on me, and luckily, her footprints were easy to track.

“Stubborn girl,” I muttered under my breath. Each step was torture, not knowing how far into the woods she’d gotten.

But then, there she was. A bundle of red and strawberry blonde against a backdrop of green and white. She’d leaned up against a tree, luckily shielding herself from the worst of the cold.

Swinging my leg around and dismounting Buddy, I crouched down over Ivy. My hands wrapped around her upper arms as I looked her over.

“Shit, sweetheart. You’re freezing.” Her teeth were chattering, and I wrapped the blanket I brought around her shoulders, tucking it into her body.

She looked up at me with those big blue eyes. “You came to find me?”

“Of course I did, sweetheart.” I brushed some snow out of her hair.

“I d-didn’t mean to get l-lost,” Ivy said, tugging the soft throw tighter around her. “I-I was just u-upset, and then I-I got all turned a-around. I-I thought maybe if I could find town?—”

“Ivy.” Cupping her chin with my gloved hand, I forced her eyes to meet mine. “It’s okay.” I tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Just let me get you warm, okay?”

She just nodded, not saying anything else, her chattering teeth filling the silence. God, how had I thought she’d acclimate quickly to the freezing temperatures here? To a Floridian, 50 degrees was cold. Of course she wasn’t used to this.

“Come on,” I said, offering her a hand. She took it hesitantly, and I guided her back to where Buddy stood, stomping his hooves into the snow.

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t let go of my hand .

“I’ll make sure you two get a moment to meet properly later,” I promised. “But this is Buddy.”

“Do you expect us both to ride him?” She just stared at me.

I blinked back. “Yes. It’s the fastest way back.”

She eyed me skeptically. “No way am I getting on his back with you.”

“You don’t have a choice, sweetheart. Besides, you already have, you know.” Wrong thing to say. Ivy startled out of my grip. “Please,” I said, voice low. “Let’s get out of the cold.”

She sighed, like she’d finally decided to stop fighting with me.

Placing a hand on her lower back, I had a hard time not thinking about the last time I’d done the same. The night of our date when I’d invited her to come home with me. That gorgeous red dress had left her back exposed. Well, look how that had turned out. I shook away the thought.

“Now, come on. I’ll help you up.”

She grumbled something under her breath but let me guide her onto Buddy’s back. Once she was settled, holding onto his mane, I hopped up behind her.

“Take us home, Buddy,” I said, giving him gentle pressure from my calves.

“Oh!” Ivy exclaimed as we started moving, her back colliding into my chest.

“Woah there, Poison Ivy.” I wrapped my arm around her waist, keeping her pinned against me so she wouldn’t fall off.

The tips of her ears were pink.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “I just… I’ve never even ridden a horse before.”

“Buddy’s a gentle reindeer,” I reassured her. “And he’s carried you once before, remember?” She looked back at me, and I winked .

“Maybe I liked it better when I thought I’d somehow just slept through the entire flight, Theodore .”

“Teddy,” I corrected. Why it was so important to me she called me by my nickname, I couldn’t explain. Maybe it was that Theodore felt like she was putting up walls, and when she called me Teddy, it felt like I was breaking through them.

She sighed, relaxing against me. Thanks to how close together we were, I could smell her hair—like vanilla and sugar cookies—and I did my best not to bury my nose in it and inhale.

“I just can’t wrap my head around all of this… That this place could possibly be real.”

Even though I’d grown up here, it still seemed impossible for a place like this to exist after visiting the human world. “I can’t even imagine how strange all of this is for you.”

“You have no idea,” she muttered.

We got back to the cabin, and I hopped down and helped Ivy off before nodding at her. “You want to go inside and warm up while I get Buddy penned up?”

“His name’s actually Buddy?” Ivy asked, hesitantly peering at him.

I nodded, leading my reindeer over to his stall by his reins. To my surprise, Ivy followed along, not heading into the house. She was all bundled up in my mom’s old red coat, plus my scarf and the blanket I’d wrapped around her shoulders, and even though the tip of her nose was pink, she seemed to be doing okay with the cold.

“He’s mine,” I finally responded. Rubbing down his sides and telling him what a good boy he was, I looked up to find Ivy leaning against the wood, watching me. “Do you want to come say hi?”

“Oh.” She gnawed on her lower lip. “I don’t know.”

“He won’t bite. I promise.”

Ivy gave a slight nod and approached Buddy, her hand reaching out and brushing over his snout. A giggle slipped free from her lips. “He’s fuzzy.”

“Buddy’s basically just like a horse,” I said, ignoring the glare my reindeer gave me as I patted his neck. He might not have been a talking reindeer, but he communicated his moods well enough with his grunts and glares. “He just wants attention. And some snacks.” I pulled a carrot from the treat box hanging on the wall and held it out to Ivy, who was still running her fingertips over his nose. “Want to feed him?”

She looked surprised. “Are you sure?”

I nodded, and she reached over, her fingers brushing my palm as she grabbed the carrot.

“This is amazing.” She looked over at me as Buddy ate out of her hand. “I can’t believe I’m feeding a real reindeer right now.”

“Believe me, sweetheart. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

“I might have overreacted earlier,” she winced, still petting my reindeer. “I really am sorry you had to come searching for me.” She gave me a small smile. No matter how much she wanted to argue with me or demand I take her home, I could tell she was enjoying this. It made just a glimmer of hope spark through my chest. Maybe, just maybe, she would come to love it.

As quickly as that thought came, I tried to brush it aside. My dad’s words from last night popped into my mind, and I shook my head. Ivy wasn’t staying. No matter how much today had given me hope, this wasn’t her home.

And there wasn’t anything I could do about that.

“How old were you when you named him, anyway?” Ivy asked, distracting me. She was still petting Buddy, who seemed thrilled to have a beautiful woman giving him attention.

“I was seven when I got him. And Buddy is a perfectly fine name for a reindeer,” I grumbled .

Ivy giggled. “Sure, sure. Definitely better than Rudolph.”

“I’ll have you know Rudolph was one of the best reindeer of all time.”

A real, genuine laugh broke free from her throat. It was the best sound I’d heard all day. Maybe my entire life. “All time, huh?”

I crossed my arms over my chest, turning to face her. “Yes. Haven’t you heard the legends?”

Her jaw dropped open. “Are you telling me that the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is true?”

A grin split my face. She was just so fun to tease. “I’m just fucking with you, Ivy. Though there was a reindeer named Rudolph, his nose wasn’t red. And it certainly didn’t light up.”

“Oh.” She sounded strangely disappointed.

I turned and suddenly was all too aware of how close our bodies were. I stared down at her, resisting the urge to reach out and brush the strand of hair off her cheek. “You think you can do better?”

Ivy brushed her strawberry-blonde hair back behind her shoulder, giving me a little smirk. Damn, she was cute. “Oh, definitely. I know I could.”

“Let me guess… Brownie? No. Cookie.”

I knew I’d guessed correctly when her brows furrowed, giving me the cutest little scowl. “No.” When she did that, she looked like a little angry kitten, claws and all.

“ Suuure , sweetheart.”

“It would be way better than that.” Her head dipped in a confident nod.

I hummed in response before asking, “Did you have any pets growing up?”

She shook her head, looking lost in thought. “No. But I always wanted a puppy. You know, like a white and black puppy with those little brown eyebrows, wearing a big red bow under the tree on Christmas morning?” Ivy sighed. “But it wasn’t in the cards.”

“What about now?”

“Now?” A snort left her. “Living in that tiny apartment? That’s no place for a dog.” She sighed. “They deserve a big backyard to run around in.”

I had to agree with that. But I could hear the longing in her voice, too. How many things had she missed out on because she denied herself, even now?

What would it be like to make all those dreams come true? To show her what it was like?

A picture-perfect Christmas.

“Ivy.” I stood back, leaving Buddy to munch on his hay.

“Hm?” She looked up at me, clearly distracted.

“Are you hungry?”

Her stomach rumbled as if in answer, and she gave me a sheepish grin. “Starving.”

“Then come on, sweetheart. Let’s go eat.”

“Alright.” She looked down at herself. “Think I can keep the coat?”

“Of course.” She could keep anything she wanted for all I cared.

I couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said earlier. I really am sorry you had to come searching for me. It was clear no one had ever put her first before. There was no world where I wouldn’t come to her rescue if she needed it.

What she didn’t know was that I would have searched the entire world for her.