Toxic - Luke Hemmings

Chapter 36

Izzy's POV

After that night, we convened in the guys' room to talk about ending the trip early. I felt horrible to be the reason for it, but we all agreed it would be best to get out of this confined space. Luke didn't come back until following afternoon, but he just ignored everyone who tried to talk to him. I was too scared to approach him, especially when he was shooting daggers through me whenever I even thought about trying to talk to him.

Sophie went all 'boomer' on the hotel manager, saying that the guys got jumped upstairs. When the manager saw their faces, she freaked out and gave us a refund for the nights we were leaving before. Sophie said we weren't going to make anything out of it, as long as they gave us our money back. They agreed immediately, and we were on our way out an hour later.

Michael called his mom before we left, making sure she was good to come get him, Calum, and Ashton when we got back to campus. They were going to drop Ashton back off at his house on their way to Michael's. Sophie said that her parents were totally fine with me staying with them until school started up again. We just needed to go to Brett's house first so I could get the rest of my stuff. Sophie agreed to come along for the ride, just to be there for me in case anything went down.

Luke drove all the way back, the entire five hours straight. I sat in the third row with Sophie, and all I could think was how lucky I was to have her here for me. I hadn't even talked to Luke yet, but I had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that things between us would never be the same. I could tell it was weighing on him, not only being betrayed twice by his brother, but now being betrayed by his best friend. I knew he clumped me into that group, too, just because of the way he looked at me. It was like he hated me all over again.

Michael's mom was waiting in the parking lot when we got back. We said short good byes to the three of them, knowing we'd see them this coming weekend when we moved back on campus. Sophie and I talked the whole drive, so we decided to take my car to her parents' house. I jumped in the passenger seat with her right behind me, letting Luke get back to driving.

"I'm staying with Sophie and her parents until school starts back up." I said quietly, not looking for a response from Luke. I just wanted him to know what my plans were. "I just need to grab the rest of my stuff."

We didn't say anything else the whole 30-minute drive to Brett's. I looked over to him a few times to see his white knuckles gripping the steering wheel. When we parked in the drive way, he jumped out of the car and went straight for the front door. I told Sophie to go wait in my car, so she pulled the key I gave her out of her bag and went to unlock it.

Luke was already in the house by the time I threw all my bags in the trunk of my car. When I walked in, his bags were thrown on the floor next to the door and he was getting a beer out of the fridge. I stopped to watch him while he opened a random drawer on the island. When he pulled out a vile of coke, I just gave up and went upstairs.

I threw everything laying around into my last bag as quickly as I could. The last thing I wanted was to confront a coked-out Luke while he was still this angry. I left the new MacBook from Brett on the bed, knowing that all my stuff was in iCloud so I could put it all back on my old one. I couldn't take anything from these people after this, it just didn't feel right.

I swung the strap over my shoulder and headed out the bedroom door. By the time I got downstairs, Luke was just finishing another line. He looked up at me when I stopped in front of the kitchen. As much as he scared me right now, I couldn't just leave like this. I didn't know what I was going to say, but saying something is better than saying nothing.

"I didn't instigate it." That was all I managed to get out while he stood there fuming. I've never seen such rage in his eyes before, and that was probably because the drugs were making his temper even worse. He gripped the counter tightly, dropping his head so he wasn't looking at me anymore.