No matter how you look at it, the truth is always the best. Sometimes the truth hurts, but so does a lie when it's discovered down the road. Lies cause trust to be questioned, and rightfully so. With every lie, another has to follow to keep the truth from being found out. Eventually the truth comes out anyway.
A lot of people get hurt from the truth, but ask yourself, which way would you want it? I'd rather deal with the truth now, than find out it had all been a lie. A lot of times, a person feels that they can tell a little "fib" so that no one gets hurt. There is no such thing as a little "fib." That person will eventually get hurt anyway, whether now or later. How do you explain to a friend that you told a lie to protect them?
Can you live with the fact that you have lied. Lying is a sin. Bearing false witness is breaking one of God's commandments. You to will be hurt from it. It will gnaw at you like a cancer if you are a moral person. You didn't really want to lie, it just seemed like the best thing to do at the time.
The time of reckoning will come when the real truth comes out, and you have to either admit or deny what you've done. How do you get out of a lie. You need to tell the truth and deal with the consequences. You could loose a good friend. You could loose your job. You can loose yourself in a sin against God. You still have to fix what's broke.
The longer it takes for you to tell the truth, the longer you have to live with what you've done. Someone may be in great pain because of what was said, or done. Someone may be living a lie they don't even know about. Putting something off only delays the inevitable.
What a person does to make it right, is up to the individual, but I'd say, don't put it off too long. Pain hurts whether now or later. Tell the truth and set it right. Then you'd better pray that the one that was lied to has it in their heart to forgive you for whatever reason you felt compelled to lie.
It's hard to live with your own conscience when you know that you have wronged someone that you care about. It can cause you to doubt yourself because you know that you have broken a trust. Without trust, what do you have?
In making things right, most people in time will come to understand that you were only trying to protect them from something that would hurt them. Still, honesty is the best policy, and you don't have to live with the consequences or the guilt. It is always wiser to tell the truth.