Her small smile twitched a bit and Ivy almost looked amused. Seeing John was good. A part of her wanted to hug him, though she wasn't really the hugging type. But John was normal and safe and right then, Ivy needed normal and safe. There weren't many people she trusted without pause and John was one of them.
Which was incredible, really. She didn't deserve a friend like John. No matter how bitchy she was to him, how outright mean and dismissive she could be, he never failed her.
"I never... I never said congratulations, did I? For the promotion. It's brilliant, you know. And you deserve it. Sorry I haven't been the best of friend lately. It's been..." Ivy trailed off, not able to explain how she'd been feeling the last few weeks. Hell didn't seem strong enough of a word. "Sorry," she said again with a small shrug of her shoulders.
Her eyes moved the the box in his hand and she took a step back, almost as though she was scared. He held her in his hands, quite literally. And while Ivy wanted to know, was desperate to know, she was also terrified. This version people told her that she had become seemed so.. outlandish. Happiness and friends and love? None of those things had been a part of her life before. It seemed impossible they could be now.