Toxic - Luke Hemmings

Chapter 70

Luke's POV

I started strumming the guitar as best I could with such shaky hands, and I couldn't bring myself to look back up at Izzy once I started. All I could think about was how I wrote this for her, and here I was playing it with such guilt in my heart. It was tearing me apart, and the fact that she just bought me a new guitar was almost enough to make me break down. She was perfect, and I was a piece of shit.

I sang the song with as much enthusiasm as humanly possible, wanting to take myself back to the day where I showed her. No one could get me to start playing again, until she came along and gave me a reason to want to sing from the roof tops. I sang each line and linked it back to when I was writing it, thinking about what made me write it in the first place. Each word had a new meaning to it now, though, and when I finally made it to the final chorus my voice started cracking.

When I take a look at my life

And all of my crimes

You're the only thing that I think I got right

Izzy was the only thing I got right in life, and that still reigned true. It was just too much to think about all the other crimes I've committed since the song was written, and here she was, beaming at me while I played the song I created to tell her how much I loved her. I knew how fucked up this was, but she was so innocent and excited to hear it again and I couldn't bear to watch.

After the last lyrics I played out the guitar solo at the end, and when the last strum faded out everyone clapped. I didn't deserve praise for that, and I didn't deserve to have someone so pure as Izzy standing by my side. She came over and hugged me after I placed the guitar back down, and I looked around the room to see everyone swooning over us.

"Izz, sit on his lap so I can get a picture for you." Sophie said, and Izzy pulled away so she could plop down on my legs. I looked up at her while a massive smile took over her face, and I wrapped my arms around her stomach as I sat there unable to smile. I just kept looking at her while Sophie snapped picture after picture on Izzy's phone.

"I love you." She turned to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, nuzzling her face against mine as I looked at her in awe. I felt another flash go off, but she didn't pull away until Sophie went to hand her phone back.

"The last one is a keeper." Sophie said excitedly, and I watched Izzy pull it up and smile.

I was sitting there drowning in my emotions, and no one even noticed. Izzy's happiness was just too contagious, and it overpowered the negative vibes I was probably emitting like crazy. She hopped off of my lap, and I watched her slip her shattered phone into her pocket and go into the kitchen. The fact that I drove her to the point of smashing her phone broke my heart even more, but when she came back with two bottles of champagne my face lit up a little more. Sophie ran into the kitchen with her and brought out a ton of plastic champagne flutes, and Izzy handed me one of the bottles.

"Do the honors." She said with a smile, and I unwrapped the top and stood up.

I stepped off to the side and away from the guitar, and I popped the bottle so the cork flew god knows where. Everyone cheered and laughed, and I handed it back to Izz so she could pour it. Everyone stood up and put their glasses over the coffee table, toasting to me and my birthday before returning to their seats.

The party fizzled out slowly after that, and Lorenzo had to leave right after he drank his champagne. I thanked him for coming and walked him out, and soon enough Jesse was leaving too. Izzy told us to hang out and play a few games if we wanted while the girls cleaned up, so Mike ran to the console and turned it on. I just sat back and let the rest of them play while I got stuck in my head, thinking about how lucky I was.