Book 1: Echoes Of The Past

Chapter 33 - Changes Pt 2

*Later*

Ivy and Shannon had had some breakfast at one of the eateries along the Pavillion and had now gone to the nearby park that Shannon had mentioned about.

So far, he had managed to go about pretty much unnoticed. He was wearing a black baseball cap, sunglasses and had the hood on his black hoodie up to try and detract from himself, and it had been working.

They walked as far as the lake in the centre of the park and found a nice shaded spot there under a Weeping Willow to sit and talk.

Shannon hadn't been able to hold her hand as he hadn't wanted to draw any uncessary attention to himself, or Ivy, as he knew there would probably be Paparazzi lurking nearby; there always was.

He had also noticed how quiet Ivy had been after her talk with Nick that morning and she seemed very distracted. He was worried about her, but didn't want to push her too hard, so decided just to leave it up to her to tell him in her own time. It was probably for the best.

"So what are you planning to do now?" Shannon asked her as they sat in the shade under the tree, listening to the fountain bubbling in the background.

"What do you mean?" Ivy asked him, taking out her sunglasses from her bag and slipping them on.

"This weekend I mean, sorry. Are you going go fly home early, fly back with me to Seattle or just fly back like normal, tomorrow afternoon?"

"Oh. I er-haven't really given it much thought. I'll probably just fly back to LA as planned. It'll cost me to get my ticket changed now and I don't have my stuff with me to fly back to Seattle with you. I'll need to go back to mine. When are you planning to go back?"

"I'm booked to go back tomorrow morning. I'd hoped not to have to stay any longer." He sipped at his takeaway coffee cup.

"Ok. Sure." Ivy replied. Her phone pinged and she looked down at it.

'1 Message-Jay'

Shannon happened to see what had just popped up on her phonescreen.

"Why's my brother messaging you?"

Ivy looked up at Shannon from reading Jared's text. He had sent her a text asking her if she'd like to hang out with him on Tuesday. She hadn't told him as of yet that she was planning on spending the next week with Shannon, because she wasn't sure what Shannon wanted. If he wanted to keep things quiet and under the radar or if he wanted to tell his younger brother.

She also had a fair few things she needed to tell Shannon. The fact that Jared had kissed her the other day being one. The other, being the fact that she had been assaulted in the past.

"Believe it or not Shannon, Jared and I are friends and friends message one another when they can't be there to tell them face to face." Ivy snapped at Shannon.

"Ok. Woah!" Shannon put his hands up at her. "So are you going to tell me what that was just about? Because that was not needed."

Ivy sighed deeply and ran her hand through her hair that she was wearing down today.

"I have a lot going on right now."

"Ok. So talk to me Ivy. Don't bite my head off. I'm here to help you."

"I-I can't right now."

"I'm just worried about you after last night."

"I know I get that...I just need you to back off a little. I will tell you, just...in my own time. I'm still trying to process a lot of things."

"I respect that."

"Thank you. I'm just confused about some stuff." She sipped at her iced tea.

"Confused about what?"