Lost Girls

Letters

It's my first day out of the hospital. Thank god it's all over with. I'm packing up my things and putting on the spare change of clothes, when my phone rings. It's my mother.

"Hello?"

"Hey baby! How are you?"

"I'm doing alright."

"Well that's good to hear!"

"Yup. How are you and dad doing?"

"Oh were just peachy. We paid for the surgery to help us get better, but this lousy hospital can't prioritize people who aren't in "urgent care". Ridiculous, isn't it?"

"Yep. That crazy mom."

"Well, you had better go get caught up on all your missed schoolwork. Talk again soon?"

"Sure mom. Love you. Bye."

I hang up the phone and continue to gather up my belongings. I haven't spoken to anyone in a couple days, but a phonecall from my mother isn't exactly what I wanted. I decide to text Ivy.

TheDelilahLyrics
Hey Ivy. I'm leaving the hospital now. Wanna hang out?

IvyTheLover
Yeah! We should have a sleepover

TheDelilahLyrics
Alright seeya soon

I finish packing up my stuff and zip my duffle bag closed. I head out of my room and find the front desk, where I fill out some release papers. After I sign them all, I'm free to go. I walk out of the hospital and text Ivy to come pick me up.

I wait for about 10 minutes before I see her truck pull into the parking lot. I throw my duffle bag into the backseat and climb into the truck. I barely hear her say hi, because she's got country music blaring on the speakers.

She drops me off at my house, and says she'll be back soon, she's just gotta pack her stuff. I wave goodbye as her pickup backs out of my driveway. My porch is littered with wilted flowers and bouquets, and my mailbox is overflowing with letters. I haven't been gone from school that long, can my adoring followers not live without me?

I kick the flowers to the side so I can reach my door. Thumbing in my pin to unlock the door, I grab all the letters and stuff them into my duffle bag. I'll read them later. I enter the house and toss my duffle bag into the floor, and slip off my shoes. The house is pretty clean, just some nasty dishes from the day I got hurt. Better go do them.

As I'm cleaning the dishes, I hear the doorbell ring. My hands are covered in soap so I rinse them off and dry them on a clean towel folded on the island. I open the door and Ivy is standing there. Once she sees me she smiles wide and steps into the house.

"Hey! Just put your bag anywhere, and your shoes and coat can go in the closet." I point in the direction of our closet, and then turn and walk back to my dishes.

"We should build a fort!" Ivy says, sizing up my couch.

"I haven't built a fort since I was 9. I've got some spare sheets upstairs, let me go grab them." I dry off my hands and head upstairs to grab the sheets.

Time Skip: 30 minutes later

The fort is tall enough for us to sit upright in, and big enough for all my pillows to fit in. Ivy lays in the fort whilst I move the couch cushions into place, to perfect the fort. I climb in beside her and we turn on the TV. We're looking through Netflix for something to watch when I realize Ivy is being quieter than usual.

"Hey what's up?" I question, putting my hand on her arm.

"My S/O isn't talking to me..." She says, staring down at her hands as she picks at her nails.

"Girl if they're still treating you that bad, then they aren't worth it. How long has it been since you two spoke?" I wait for her response, but it only comes after she's taken a couple deep breaths to compose herself.

"A month. Maybe longer... I'm not sure anymore... It feels like we aren't even dating anymore Dee... I don't know what to do." I watch tears well up in her eyes as she tries to take deep breaths.

I pull her into a big bear hug, and she takes more deep breaths. She lays down and cuddles a pillow. I position myself beside her, and pull her into a cuddle.

"Maybe then, it's time you stopped putting your heart out there to get hurt." I feel her sigh and nuzzle up into my neck.

Ivy's breaths gradually get slower and longer. After a couple minutes I look down to see she's fallen asleep in my arms. She looks so snug. I carefully pull off her glasses and place them on the coffee table, and pull the blanket resting at our feet all the way up to her chest and tuck her in.

She makes a little squeaking noise before falling back asleep, and I get comfy, making sure not to remove my arm from around her. I take off my glasses and turn off the TV, her sleeping next to me has made me feel drowsy and I feel my eyelids flutter.

I pull her in closer to my chest, and stroke her hair softly. Before I know it, I'm out cold and I sleep the whole night through. When I wake up it's to the sound of rustling papers. I rub my eyes and find my glasses, and realize Ivy isn't in the fort anymore.

I yawn and stumble out from the fort, and find Ivy sitting at the dining room table, with the letters from my duffle bag opened and scattered across the surface. She's holding up a letter, and when she looks at me she meets my eyes with a heavy expression. Her eyes scream "I'm sorry", but I don't think it's about her invasion of privacy.

It has to be about the letter she's holding.