Toxic - Luke Hemmings

Chapter 77

Izzy's POV

After two weeks of isolation, it was getting easier to think about Luke without crying. I kept contact with Sophie, Mike, and Ashton, but it wasn't all that often. My mom tried keeping me busy whenever she wasn't working, which I was thankful for. It helped to get out of the house and move around, so even when we didn't know what to do we would go to the pond down the street to just sit and talk.

That's where we were now, the Friday exactly two weeks after leaving Luke. We were sitting on one of the benches on the path that went along the perimeter of the pond, and when the conversation about how her day was at work ended, we found ourselves in a peaceful silence. I had been thinking a lot about school the last few days, and I was pretty sure I had come to a conclusion on what I wanted to do.

"I think I'm gonna take this semester off." I sighed, staring at a duck as it paddled by us on the water.

"If that's what you need to do, then you should. You could use a break, you've been working hard for three years." She said, smiling at me as if to say she was proud of how much I've accomplished.

"I just don't have a dorm, and I can't commute that far every day. And I don't think I'm ready to see him again." I said, my voice dropping slightly at the end.

"It took me five years to get my degree. There's nothing wrong with taking a little extra time." She assured me, and I felt a little better about my decision. I didn't want to risk ruining my chances of getting into a good medical school, but even thinking about that was stressing me out.

"I don't know if medical school is even what I want, if I'm being honest. I've been thinking about doing research instead." I admitted, and instead of discouraging that and trying to keep me on the path to 'greatness', my mom just nodded her head.

"Do what you want. I'd love nothing more than to brag that my daughter's a doctor, but if you want to work in a lab, by all means. You can still save lives." She smiled, and I chuckled at how she managed to dismiss all my worries. I don't know what kind of voodoo shit happened while I was gone, but she literally had all the right things to say now.

"Have you been rehearsing all these years? For your big come back as a mom?" I laughed, and she laughed along with me.

"I think I've failed you enough to know how not to do it again." She chuckled, and I smiled as I turned back to see the same duck swimming by us again.

"Thank you for taking me back." I told her, and she inched toward me on the bench and wrapped her arm around my shoulders, letting me head fall on hers.

"Thank you for coming back." She said, kissing the top of my head as we sat in another comfortable silence.

It was incredible to see how quickly how relationship improved in just two weeks, but it was long overdue. I cherished every minute I had with her again, and even though my dad didn't change like she did I was content with having at least one parent back. We stayed for a little while longer, but when the sun started setting we headed off to make the five-minute walk home.

"I like what you've done to your hair, by the way." Mom said as we walked, picking up a piece of it as the sun lit up how bright the purple still was. It wasn't until then that I realized whose idea it was to go purple.

"I was actually thinking about changing it." I told her, and she raised her eyebrows at the thought.

"What do you want to do?" She asked, dropping the strand she was holding.

"I don't know, maybe all of it a lighter brown...?" I said, not really sure myself yet.

"That'd look good on you." She smiled, and I started to think the same thing.