Hostage

Wide Awake

It was progress.

I drew in a deep breath as I moved towards the house. It had been a long night. A long weird night. I halted when I spotted a figure sitting on the stairs. The outdoor bulb was off so I couldn't see exactly who it was. Not until I got closer. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Isabel."

"Hey you." She was grinning from ear to ear. I finally got to where she was.

"What are you doing here?" I sat down beside her and then frowned. "That's not what I meant. What I meant to say was you have a key,you should have gone in."

That was awkward.

I felt nervous. I never felt nervous around Izzy.....Never.

"I know dummy." She shot me a teasing smile. "I did go in. But Gloria's around. Couldn't deal with her crazy so I thought I'd get some air." She chuckled. I did too.

Silence.....

"What happened yesterday?" I asked after a while. She looked at me and then rose an eyebrow.

"What happened yesterday?"she tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear. She was playing clueless. Well, I was going to remind her.

"You totally freaked out... totally freaked me out."

"Did I ?"she feigned surprise. I studied her for a moment. She was doing it again. That thing she did when she didn't want to tell me something.

"You know something don't you?" I rose an eyebrow, settling down beside her.

"You know," She smiled. "There's still time to call the wedding off. We could leave, go somewhere else. Somewhere without Gloria, where you could finally settle down and get the life that you deserve." She said choosing her words carefully.

I pursed my lip and then exhaled.

"I would love that. " I whispered,meaning it. "But I can't. " I added, remembering Keenans words.

"Okay looser." She offered me a small smile.

Looking closer now, she seemed a little bit tipsy.

"Stop sniffing me creep." She chuckled, bringing a smile to my face too. "How was dinner?"she slouched. I opened my mouth to talk. "If you say 'you're changing the subject,' I will totally kill you." she cut me off. I whined.

"That's totally unfair."

"Life's unfair." She paused. "So?.."

"Believe me, dinner with the Monroes is the last thing you want to hear about this night." I rolled my eyes.

"Then I want to hear all about it." She said. Her eyes wide with enthusiasm.

"You asked for it." I said before I went on to tell her about all that had happened tonight. I told her about how Jase tried to commit suicide and the girl that saved him. I told her about how awfully quiet Andre was and how sweet Roxi was. I went on to tell her about how controlling Keenan was and how Jase had reacted when Keenan announced our engagement and by the time I was done, she was staring into space, her eyes half shut. I sighed.

"Izzy-"

"I'm wide awake." She mumbled. I scoffed.

"No, you're not." I sighed." Come on, let's get you inside." I helped her up.

"And oh Kim?"she muttered as we walked into the house.

"Yeah?"

"That is one killer dress."
I grinned.

"I think breath taking would be the word."

She chuckled, exhaling loudly as her body hit the bed. She tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position until she finally settled for lying on her stomach.

I lay down beside her and then smiled. Glad to have my best friend back. I felt my eyebrows narrow when I caught sight of something on her arm.

A whip mark.

I squinted.

"Izzy?"

"Keep it down Kimmy, my head aches." She murmured. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

Something was going on in her life... Something she wasn't ready to share. Someone was hurting her. Someone she cared about, someone she wanted to protect, else, she would have told me.
Was it someone I knew?

I sighed and then lay down slowly. I would ask her tomorrow.