Ivy's alarm buzzed early in the morning, and she nearly groaned. She dragged her legs over the side of the bed, shutting the alarm off. She changed into the clothes she had laid out the previous day, forgoing heels and instead settling for flats. Remembering that, even though Maggie should be up soon, Lenan was still sleeping, Ivy moved quietly into the kitchen, taking her lunch out of the fridge.

"Good morning."

Ivy jumped, whirling around to see Lenan awake, with an open book in his hand. She relaxed, and Lenan smiled. "Didn't mean to startle you."

Ivy gave a weak smile in return. "It's fine. I just thought you were still sleeping."

Lenan shook his head. "I like to get up early on earth to see the sunrises."

"They are beautiful." Ivy turned around again, picking her purse up from where it was on the floor and putting her sandwich and chips into it. After taking her waterbottle in one hand and purse in the other, she went over to Maggie's room, knocking gently on the door.

"I'm awake," came the mournful reply.

Ivy laughed. "Can I come in?"

"In a sec." There was a pause, and then: "Okay, you can come in."

Ivy opened the door, seeing Maggie fully dressed for school, if not looking a bit sleepy.

"I'm impressed," Ivy teased, "Usually you're not up until noon."

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "If I wasn't up until noon, then I would have missed the bus about five times over."

Ivy rolled her eyes. "It's called a joke." She smiled, giving her sister a quick hug. "Call me if you need anything, alright?"

"I got it the first time you told me, mother goose."

"Just want to make sure you're safe."

Maggie's playful demeanor settled into seriousness. "I will be."

"Have a good day at school." Ivy smiled again, trying to lighten the mood. She left the room and grabbed her keys from off the counter.

"What are you going to tell them?" Lenan asked, looking up from his book.

Ivy stopped. She hadn't even thought about it. Her boss didn't know that she hadn't been at the conference. He didn't know that she had been on an alien planet for those days, instead. Ironically, that was the type of stuff that he would be most interested in, actually.

"I'll answer him honestly." She opened the door and slipped out of it, not waiting for Lenan's response. She didn't want to lie. If he asked her a direct question about it, she would answer truthfully. But she hadn't decided yet whether she would bring it up herself.

What happened? One minute I have no secrets, the next I have about thirty of them. She sighed. And by thirty, I mean two. That I was at an alien planet, and that an alien is in my house. It was weird when she thought about it that way. Lenan was, really, an alien.

She turned the keys in the ignition, opening the garage and leaving, shutting it after herself. Her thoughts kept her completely occupied until she reached her work, where she parked as normal, and went inside as normal.

"Ivy!" She tensed as she heard one of her team's voice.

"Hey, Bryan." Ivy relaxed as he smiled. She didn't really know what she had expected coming back to work to feel like. Different, somehow? Or like someone knew where she had actually been?

"How was the conference?" Bryan's eyes met hers for a couple seconds.

"Good." She gave a quick smile before going to her cubical. It wasn't a lie. The bit of conference she had been to was good. Before she had been kidnapped, questioned, tortured, and then returned.

Her hands trembled slightly, and even though she tried to will them to stop, they wouldn't. When Jake came over, she put them on her lap, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"I heard Bryan asking you about the conference. Everything went okay, then?" For a moment, Ivy felt like it was a loaded question. Everything did not go okay. Everything at the conference went okay... besides the part where someone kidnapped you.

Ivy nodded. "Yes."

"Good. Hopefully your head isn't too stuffed full of new knowledge." He smiled. "Good to have you back. These slackers here don't get much work done."

There were several playful protests that arose from around the area, and Jake laughed before returning to his desk.

Ivy took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She should tell him what happened, really. A new thought occurred to her: Would he actually believe her if she did? She didn't have anything to back her story up, besides Lenan, and she doubted he would want to reveal his presence on earth.

The day passed infinitely slower than Ivy would have liked. She got almost no work done, and found herself staring at the screen of the computer more than actually doing anything. Late afternoon came and went before Ivy finally made a decision.

I need to tell him the truth. Even if he doesn't believe me. She was just about to stand up when she noticed Bryan standing by Jake's desk. Had he noticed something online?

She clicked open bing, and it was splayed across the screen. A live feed, with dozens, and dozens of meteorites falling from the sky. Meteorites, though? She studied the screen, her eyes widening. Those weren't meteorites.

Those were Stellas.