Mended

19

Izzy's POV

I watched Ethan walk out of my room, my heart aching for my brother. I wished he didn't see the world in such a terrible way. I wished our circumstances hadn't forced him to.

Letting out a long breath, I reached for my phone. Scrolling through my notifications, I quickly answered Kaiden's message first. Tonight, he and Sophia would bring Alastair over for a quick visit since we hadn't seen him in a while. Exiting out of that text, I paused at the reminder from Mariam about therapy.

Today, Caleb would come with me for my first family session.

Dread settled in the pit of my stomach, and the nausea from earlier returned. I took a deep breath through my nose, mentally reminding myself that it was for my benefit and everything would be alright.

When I'd calmed down enough, I slipped out of Caleb's bed and walked over to the mirror, cringing at what I saw staring back at me. I'd fallen asleep with my makeup on, so there were streaks of black around my eyes. My hair was a mess and I was still in my dress.

After a quick shower, I realized I didn't have my clothes here so I quickly pulled on a pair of Caleb's sweatpants and one of Ethan's hoodies, before I made my way to the kitchen where I could hear voices.

Unfortunately for me, Chase was the first person to notice me enter.

I froze as our eyes locked. We'd barely made eye contact, before he looked away, turning his attention back to his phone without a word spoken to me.

My heart dropped.

Yesterday had been tense and awkward, and I was sure this morning it had been bad with Ethan for him, but I didn't want this. He was my friend; I didn't want to lose that relationship.

That's why I would try my best to make things return to normal again.

"Hey," I smiled brightly, treading over to take a seat next to him. I felt my brothers watching me, but they stayed silent. Chase looked at me, his dark gaze filled with caution that he'd never held before when he looked at me. "Sorry for being crazy yesterday. I remember you trying to take Sydney's shots away from me."

Every second that passed before he spoke was painfully suffocating. "It's all good," he murmured, reaching for his phone once more as if he couldn't stand to look at me. He must've seen my smile drop at his lack of effort before he looked away because he spoke again. "You're not hungover?"

"I was, but I'm fine now," I replied, fiddling with the bracelets around my wrist underneath the table. My pulse hammered mercilessly against the base of my throat, and I snuck a glance over at my brothers. Caleb looked like he was trying not to cringe, but Ethan's face was completely blank.

Suddenly, I felt the urge to cry again. Why did I have to run my stupid mouth? This could've all been avoided if I hadn't drank so much. Chase and I could have easily pretended that the whole thing with Julian hadn't happened, but now that my brothers knew, everything was ruined.

The tense silence continued. I was on the verge of breaking down, but thankfully, Caleb must've seen that because he acted fast.

"Izzy, you want a ride back to your place?" He spoke quickly. "I'll stay with you until our appointment."

Ethan straightened, his eyes jumping towards me. "You have therapy today?" He asked quietly.

I nodded. "It's the first with one of you. Caleb's coming today," I muttered, glancing at Caleb. "Can we leave now?"

He nodded and threw his keys over to me. "Let me change first. You can go wait in the car."

I was going to give him the biggest hug afterward. Not wasting a second, I stood up and started for the front door. I heard Ethan call my name, but I ignored him as I hurtled out of their apartment. I was panting as I stepped out into the parking lot, my heart pounding from all the stairs I'd just run down. Bending over, I placed my hands on my knees, trying to control my breathing as I slumped against Caleb's car.