Hidden Lies ✧ J. DiLaurentis

05 - closing wounds

"At night when the stars light up my room, I sit by myself, talking to the moon.
Tryin' to get to you. In hopes you're on the other side. Talking to me too. Or am I a fool?
Who sits alone, talking to the moon."
• talking to the moon - bruno mars •

• • •

It was late at night and Ivory was home by herself. Well, she wasn't alone. She had Nolan there with her in her room, peacefully sleeping. She sat on her bed working on some of her school work when she heard her doorbell ring. She stood up slowly, quietly walking down the stairs. She grabbed the baseball bat her mother had in the coat closet, and looked through the peephole. When she saw it was just the girls, she sighed in relief, putting the baseball bat away, and opened the door.

Ivory smiled at the girls in front her, opening the door wider for them, "Hey, come in." The four girls quickly made their way inside, each one with a nervous look on their face.

"So uh, what's up? What are you guys doing here?" Ivory asked.

"Are you alone?" Spencer questioned.

"Well yeah. My mom's out working late and my grandma's out of town with her family, but Nolan is upstairs," Ivory responded. "Why did something happen?"

"We've got something we have to tell you," Aria answered. "And we don't know how you're gonna take it."

"What? What's going on?"

"We should have told you sooner, but we were afraid of how you were going to react. We didn't want to keep it a secret," Emily said.

"Just tell me. What is it?"

"Jason is back in Rosewood," Emily answered.

Ivory went silent. Her lips parted and her eyes widened in shock. The girls all sat, watching her as they tried to make out what she was going to do. But Ivory herself couldn't figure out what to do or what to say. She had no idea what was going to happen. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't form any words. She just stared blankly at them.

"Ivory? Are you okay?" Emily asked.

Ivory's eyes started to tear up. "How long?" She asked. "How long have you known?"

"Before you came back," Spencer responded, causing Ivory to scoff.

"You've known all this time, and you never told me?" Ivory questioned, her voice beginning to raise.

"We didn't want you to freak out and leave again," Emily answered.

"Oh my god! Does he know I'm back?"

"No, but he's getting suspicious. He thought he saw you that day I took you with me to give Mike his keys," Aria told her.

"Oh my god!" Ivory scoffed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "How could you guys not tell me? I had a right to know!"

"We didn't want to add more stress on you. You've already been dealing with A, we didn't want you to worry," Emily said.

"And what would have happened if I ran into him somewhere? This is a small town! What if I was out with Nolan? What would I have done then?" Ivory questioned.