*it may be a tad boring but it's kinda a filler and to explain some of the legal stuff. Which also is very hard to research because the internet is afraid of the word sexual assault. 

Anyway enjoy this and i believe it really highlights how important Jayden's friendship to Ivy will be in her recovery and so i kinda love this chapter.

 even though Jackson's not in it and i miss him.

 But dw another update coming soon and i promise he will be in it. :))*

I run and slam the door shut and slide down it my hands clutched to my chest.

"Jesus Christ Ivy, I thought you called them?" Jayden says and I look up at him in confusion... them? Who?

Oh shit.

Slowly getting to my feet I look out our blinds and see two men stood in uniform. I should have been relieved but I think my body is in a permanent state of fear because I was still afraid to open the doors.

"Ivy James? Mr and Mrs James? We have come here in regards to your daughter's protection against Layton Wright." The officer says through the door and Jayden frowns in confusion.

"Lotta said that Layton was spotted in the area." I explain to Jay my voice weak to my own ears.

He nods towards the front door. "Ives" he says sympathetically" let's let the police in then."

Oh, shit yeah.

I nod and walk back towards my front room letting Jayden greet the police and introduce himself. Sitting on my couch and hiding my face in my hands. What does this mean now?

The two officers sit opposite and I can hear them explaining how there's another patrol car outside monitoring the area but they're going to stay with us, or at least outside the building until they catch him. Apparently from my statement they have reason to believe he would seek me out again and that if he does I may be in danger. 

It honestly feels as if I'm listening to them talk to me underwater. Their voices muffled by a bubble of my own anxiety.

"Jayden can you get my parents' home." I hope I don't need to give him more direction than that. I feel so mentally drained I can't even comprehend this. This is what I've been so scared about. That if Layton did manage to get to me, I couldn't go through that again.

"Yeah of course." He gently takes his hand out of mine, which I hadn't realised I'd been holding and goes and gets my own phone. He has my parents' numbers or well he used to. But they will definitely answer if it's a call from me and I guess he knows that. He puts in my password and excuses himself from the room, making his way into the back garden to tell my parents the news.

"Ivy, how are you doing? Your parents are coming but Lotta also gave us permission to contact your support worker or your psychiatrist if needed." The guy across from me says, his name badge reading Geoffrey. What a name.

"where is Lotta?" I ask, I would feel a lot more comfortable if she was here. I'm not going to try and make Mrs Granger or Dr Halpin come to my rescue right now. I had learned how to deal with these feelings, pretty much at least.

"She's at the station. She will be on her way over as soon as she cements everything in place for your protection and for Layton's warrant for arrest."

"You really think you'll get him today?" I ask

The second guy Neil speaks up "This guy has really challenged us in the sense he just seems to disappear. But he is top priority today like there's nothing bigger going on than trying to get him."

"So, is that a yes or a no?" Jayden's strong voice surprises me, thinking he was still outside.

"Your parents are on their way home." He says to me as he sits back down next to me. I am so grateful that he stuck around, like I feel bad that he's been dragged headfirst into this shit but I do need the support right now. Plus he owes me the support.

"It's a, I'm not making any promises but we won't be stopping until we find him." Officer Neil says and I honestly just want to curl up into a ball. 

I can deal with this, I know I can. I've dealt with everything up to this point. If you can say what I've been doing as dealing anyway.

"Okay." Jayden nods and Officer Geoffrey clears his throat to get my attention again.

"Ivy did you want me to contact..." He looks down at his notes and reads the name "Charlotte Granger for you? To offer the support that we sadly aren't trained to do." He says kindly but I shake my head. I don't want to bother her on a Sunday.

"You see Jackson's mum?" Jay says to me quietly and I nod, thinking about all the ways Layton could get into this house. There's so many. Have they even checked he's not here?

"Have you guys checked like the area? There're so many ways he could have gotten in. I just got back in myself I don't... you don't think he's upstairs or anything do you?" My fear evident in my voice as I question the officers.

They both look at each other and Geoffrey nods at Neil who stands and goes I'm guessing to do a sweep of the house.

"You're safe Ivy." Jayden says and Geoffrey nods in agreement.

"I don't feel safe, not when I know he's near." I whisper to Jay and he goes to pull me into a hug but I retract.

"Do you want me to call Jackson Ivy? I know you're mad at him but he will want to know. I would want to know." Jayden offers but I shake my head fiercely.

"I just want my mum." I laugh painfully, the child in me yearning for her comfort.

"She'll be here soon." He says and starts a conversation about what the plan is to get Layton in custody with Geoffrey. And I just sit my leg jumping with anxiety. Not long after Neil gets back from his sweep of the house i hear two cars pull up outside. 

Thankfully Lotta and my parents were home and as soon as they step through the front door my anxiety levels decrease a little. It is going to be fine right?

My mum walks straight to me and offers a hug to which I don't think twice about the comfort. Sorry Jayden. But we've been working on getting me comfortable with physical contact with them two the last month and right now I just need a hug from my mum.

"How are you feeling?" She whispers in my ear.

"Scared." I say honestly.

"You're safe." She says and squeezes me tighter.

Everyone keeps saying that I'm safe but I haven't fully felt safe in a while. I don't know how on earth I am going to be able to sleep tonight.

My mum sits down next to me on the sofa nudging Jayden away from me which I can't help but feel amused at. They never really liked Jayden, they knew he was important to me but they never got to know him to be fair. But both are very accustomed to him being at home, like he used to spend a lot of time here, we just didn't really talk to my parents much.

My dad and Lotta are talking in the kitchen. And Jayden stands and says to everyone that he'll make some tea. There's currently quite a lot of people in my house, as Lotta had brought with her another detective and so I look at him admirably. I'd never offer to make tea for eight people, that's a lot.

He goes and take's everyone's tea orders and neither he or my parents mention anything about him having to leave. So, I decide it's not my problem today and just let him be around if he wants to be.

"Ivy, come over here." My dad calls to me and I stand a little shakily and walk over. I am drained. Today, last night, this morning, has been a lot.

"I was just telling your father about what will happen if Layton is arrested today." Lotta says

"Ok." I nod. Prompting her to go on.

"So most of these cases get dealt with a plea bargain. Which means if Layton pleads guilty to the crimes against you he may be sentenced to a lesser time or punishment. Like instead of jail time he might get community service."

"So he'll be able to just like walk free?" I ask, looking at my dad to check I understood.

"That is a possibility. That's why we want him plead not guilty." Lotta informs me.

"What, why?"

"Well because then it will go to trial. And he will get the full sentence." He says.

"But only if they find him guilty." I shake my head. "only if I testify against him."

"Yeah, although we can get ways around that, or get ways to prepare you for that. Ivy I know it seems backwards but Layton pleading not guilty could actually help you the most. If you want him behind bars." Lotta says bluntly.

"That's what we want isn't it Ivy?" My dad asks and smiles at me sympathetically, understanding how difficult this all it.

"So, what if you arrest him today what happens?" I ask.

"When we arrest Layton, we will give him the opportunity to talk with representatives and his parents. We will then interview him about the events of Friday 14th and we will also need you to come back to the station to do a recorded interview. Which the questions will be a lot harder than before because my officers will have to ask you challenging questions that question your statements. Does that make sense? If we do that then we can probably use those statements in court rather than you physically being there. Unless of course you want to do a victim statement."

"What's a victim statement?" My dad asks.

"Well it's literally a statement you write about how Layton's actions have impacted your life. You can read it yourself in court or someone else can read it for you. Its so the jury get the full extent of how the victim has been affected. Otherwise cases like these may lose their human nature. We want to remind the jury you're an 17 year old girl."

"Ok." I say. "When will you know about all of this?"

"A trial will take months to come around most likely but because we believe Layton is a danger to you and because he is an obvious flight risk he most likely be held in remand until the day of the trial. Which means after initial custody and questioning he will be kept in prison until he is found guilty or not guilty."

"So, he won't be given bail?"

"Most likely not because of the risks, but that's not down to me I'm afraid so we will have to wait and see. But even if he does, his passport will be taken from him and I'm sure we can get a restraining order so he can't come near you."

"But what does that even actually do?" I ask and I can feel my mum's presence behind me.

"Let's let ivy rest. We can talk about all this when it happens. Sweet, do you wanna go upstairs and get some rest?" She asks me but I can tell she's highly suggesting I leave. I guess she is in tune to my stress, because yeah I don't really want to be thinking about all of this.

But I don't want to be kept out of the loop. Like I need to know these things. It's my case after all.

Jayden moves next to my mum and he nods at me, "Come on, I'll carry up your tea and we'll let the adults chat." He scrunches his nose up at the 'adults' and I smile gently at him. He has been so kind to me today.

"Yeah ok." I say, smiling at everyone and leaving the room. I know they all think of me as fragile and as a victim but ive learnt that sometimes I have to accept that yeah, out of everyone in a room I might be considered the more fragile one. But that doesn't make me weaker.

Jayden opens the bedroom door for me using his elbows as he is carrying our hot drinks and lets me walk in front of him into my room. I can't believe it's already mid-day it was like 5am two seconds ago.

"Did Jackson stay then?" Jayden asks and I frown at him. "Look you need to talk about something other than Layton so let's chat."

"About Jackson?" I question.

"Sure. I'm easy peasy." He says. Jayden has never been easy peasy in his life.

I sigh dramatically and sit back against my bed frame nursing my cup of tea. Needing the caffeine.

Jay sits on my little window seat, I gather partially giving me space but also, he always used to love sitting there. I have no idea why, it's not even that comfy to be brutally honestly.

"I don't wanna talk about him." I admit, my mind too full of Layton to even let in something else to worry about.

"Why? Have ya kissed?" He cheeks and I send him a glare.

"Shut up."

"Oh my god you have. That's a bit weird like he's my best mate and you're my ex-girlfriend. Not that it's a problem it is a bit weird though in it." He says and I dramatically drag my hands down my face in exhaustion.

"Ok. Ok. No Jackson talk, I got it." He chuckles at my relieved face and gets up from his seat. "Your room is never this much of a mess."

 He looks over my clothes that are on the floor and begins to pick them up.

"Jay don't clean my room for me, its fine."

"Come on it'll be fun. Let's clear up a little, we can go back through all those pictures you have." He nods towards my pin board that was covered in photos but most of them had been taken down because they had Layton in.

"I just wanna rest honestly." I say

"You rest then, direct me. Come on Ivy you would have begged for me to help clean your room before. Let me help, it's the least I can do."

"Ok. Well to start those clothes you just hung back up? Um they're dirty."

He scrunches his nose up a little and laughs. "Right ok." He pulls them back down and chucks them into my laundry basket.

He goes on a like this for a little while, me directing where things go, whether these clothes are clean or whether they're dirty. He hands me my little notebook and I make a mental note to read it for myself later today. I need to work on the thing's Dr Halpin said because I want to get better and I might as well trust the professionals to help me get there.

Not that I think I will recover from this, I've stopped thinking like that for now. I just want everyday life to seem a little less impossible yanoe?

About an hour later we're listening to a little bit of music and sitting on my bed going through photos. I have the pin board and Jayden's handing me photos that don't have Layton in.

"Oh god." He says and hands me a picture of us, full on making out. It seems so weird now that I thought we were such a good match at the time. Not that me and Jayden didn't have chemistry, it's just our chemistry was more down to teenage hormones rather than connection. If that makes sense.

"I'm not gunna pin that one." I laugh but hold up one that's just an innocent selfie. "I'll pin this one." I smile and he cringes a little at the photo.

"We were so young when this started." He gestures between us and I shrug.

"Yeah, it's shit that it went so dark and twisty." I say, referencing Grey's anatomy a little. It's something they always say on the show when things get a little fucked up.

"I know." He smiles at me and were both lost in a little bit of nostalgia. "Look, this photo is of you, but Jackson's in the background. It's probably your first picture together." He wiggles his eyebrows at me and I slap his arm lightly but take the picture in my fingers.

"He's looking at me." I say.

"Yeah I know. He used to find you so annoying." He laughs and I frown a little, my frown eventually morphing into a smile.

"I was pretty annoying." I say and laugh at Jackson's expression in the photo. I was looking directly at the camera smiling and Jackson was a little off in the distance staring weirdly at the back of my head. I don't remember this photo at all. I pin it to my little board and Jay smiles at me.

"So much for being mad at him then huh?"

"I am mad at him, but I also want his picture on my board. Let me live." I say and pout at Jay's teasing.

Jayden's phone starts ringing and he immediately shuts it off. Which I cock my head towards him slightly.

"It's Grace." He explains and locks his phone.

"Why aren't you answering?" I ask.

"Um, we had plans and I cancelled them and so she's mad."

"Oh god, Jayden go, you don't have to be here."

"I do have to be here Ivy, plus when I explain the situation she'll understand." He says.

"You're going to tell her?" I ask shocked at the fact nobody seems to understand this is a secret.

"No?" He questions realising I really didn't want that.

"Jayden, I don't know her, she hates me. I don't want her to know anything about me. I'm sure she's lovely and I'm sure she great or whatever but she literally insinuated I deserved this when I first talked to her."

"Ivy calm down I won't say a word. I wasn't thinking."

"Are you going to tell the boys? Oh god will Jackson? I didn't tell him not to tell anyone, and he has already told you." I say panicking thinking about how quickly this will get spread about school.

"Ivy, I won't tell anyone I promise and I can talk to Jackson if you want me to. Like I swear he knows that he fucked up by telling me so I doubt he will ever open his mouth about it again but I can make sure he knows you're worried about it."

"Ok." I whisper. I know I should get over the whole everyone can't know thing. Especially if Layton is arrested soon, but I just still feel so scared about everyone knowing. It's like everyone knowing your darkest deepest secret yanoe?

"So stop stressing and lets decorate your bloody board." He says and smiles,  passing me another picture of Nora and Me.

"But what about Grace? What are you going to say?" I ask.

"That I fell down a hole? Don't worry about it Ivy, I'll figure it out."

"Jayden please don't feel like you have to be here, I will be ok."

He shakes his head at me "Of course you'll be ok Ives, I know that. But I have missed you and I'm not trying to do anything that Grace would be mad at me about. I'm trying to support my friend through something really shitty. Will you let me do that?" He asks and for the first time I regret not telling people sooner. This sort of support would have been so damn helpful for me in the beginning.

But then, if I had told people I wouldn't have gotten to know Jackson and I can't begin to think about not having Jackson in my life now.

Then why are you pushing him away?

Because he hurt me and he needs to understand that trust and keeping promises are actually the most important thing to me.

Am I being fair? I don't even know.

"Jay?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell Grace I had a family emergency and that I needed you. Explain to her what you did for me today, explain how you made us all tea and held my hand, explain to her how you cleaned my room and how you helped me sort my life out." I say gesturing to my organised room and the photos surrounding me. "And if she's still mad at you then she's not worth it. Because how can she be mad at that."

"Thanks." He half smiles and texts her something quickly. Probably a 'I will explain everything later' text.

"Just tell her I swore you to secrecy like please don't tell her everything."

"I fucked up once Ivy, I'm not trying to do it again." He smiles and I smile back. 

Being friends with Jayden feels good, it feel familiar. 

Familiarity being a rare feeling for me at the moment. 

A/N: No cliff hanger this time! im sorry i did that to yous ahahha. But i will let you know that Jackson doesnt just let Ivy ignore him for long:)

Also do we like the name of the book? At first this was called The Bad Boy's Ex. Which i didnt really like but also kinda did. But then i thought Confessions of a Queen Bee was more unique and fit better but idk what you guys think lmao. 

Anyway do you's like Jay