Toxic - Luke Hemmings

Chapter 76

Izzy's POV

The drive home was relatively painless since I blasted music the whole way. I sang along to distract myself, and luckily it worked. I pulled into the driveway at my house to see my mom's car, but not my dad's. I was relieved at that, but the nerves were still firing as I grabbed as much as I could carry and walked up to the front door.

I hadn't been here in five years, but it looked significantly better than when I left. The house was repainted and the porch was redone, and when I pushed the doorbell it actually worked. It was as if my mom was waiting right on the other side of the door, and it flew open immediately to reveal her lunging toward me. I dropped my bags when I realized she was coming to hug me, so I wrapped my arms around her and cried.

She helped me bring the rest of my stuff inside and showed me that my room had gone untouched this whole time. I started crying again when I saw that, since it made me feel like she never stopped loving me all this time. When we went back into the living room she set me up on the couch and ran into the kitchen to make me tea, bringing it back and placing it on the coffee table in front of me. The whole house looked brand new, and I was wondering if they used all the money they saved from not paying for me to re-do all of it.

"Where's dad?" I asked quietly, letting her sit on the other end of the couch. She smiled at me quickly, but it faded away just as fast.

"I wanted to talk to you at the hospital... and he forced me to leave before Luke could come get us." She started, tears forming in her eyes like they were in mine. Hearing his name just stung. "I thought I lost my last chance to get you back." She started crying, and as she wiped all the tears away she continued. "I divorced him after that."

I think my jaw hit the floor as I sat there taking in what she told me. They got a divorce? He was out of the house? I couldn't believe it, and it pained me to say I was happy to hear it. Knowing that it was just me and my mom here was a relief, and I was beyond grateful for making the decision to reach out.

"I'm sorry, mom." I said, reaching out to hold her hand as she got herself together.

"I don't even care." She chuckled as she finished drying her face. "I have you here, that's all that I care about." She smiled at me, taking my hand in both of hers. We sat there appreciating each other for a moment, but the peace I felt quickly disappeared when she addressed the elephant in the room. "Why are you here?" She asked cautiously. I took a deep breath and braced myself for a very long and painful conversation.

I explained everything to her, right from the beginning. The way Luke and I met and the way he treated me at the start. I told her how we started dating and how he bought me the new car. I told her how much it hurt when we were apart after New Year's, but thinking back it was nothing compared to this. When I got around to present day, I let her hold me as I explained what he had done just last night.

It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders, but the pain was still there and in copious amounts. She let me rant for an hour, just listening and letting me cry. It was what I needed, though, my mom to hold me and tell me everything was going to be okay again. We went through three cups of tea each, and by the end of it I asked her if we could order pizza.

She actually started crying when I asked, since the last she saw of me I was still starving myself. I had to explain to her that I was post-recovery because of Luke, and that for the first time in my life I didn't want to let a disaster derail my progress. We cried about that for a while, knowing how important it was. The doorbell ringing was what made us get our shit together, so she ran over to grab the pizza and pay the kid.

It was almost midnight when we started eating, and she made me yet another cup of tea and put on The Heat. She remembered my favorite movie, and I was happy to say it still was my favorite. I was laughing with her before I knew it, which was something I never thought would have been possible today. I missed my mom so much all these years, and there was no better feeling than finally coming home to see her doing so well.