Izzy's POV
I had profanities being flown at me now, instead of the bouncer. A still clearly battered Casey was screaming through the doorway at me as I stood there watching him. The fact that he attacked me last week was enough to scare the shit out of me, but seeing his face still bruised and a little swollen was another story.
I was one of the only people who knew how that happened, and the reason being Luke gave me chills. He told me that he left him barely conscious on the ground, but it was another thing to see it. I only scampered away when he shouted that he'd be waiting for us. I didn't know what to do, and I just kept speed walking through the sea of college kids until I reached the back door.
I approached the firepit to find Calum and Michael joined the group again, taking up two of the other empty seats. I must have walked up to them looking like a hot mess, because they all looked at me with concerned faces. Having all the eyes on me was only making it worse. Luke stood up and rushed the few steps over to me, placing his hands on my cheeks and making me look up at him.
"What happened?" He asked in a panic, searching my face for an explanation.
"Casey was-" Saying his name was all it took for Luke to drop his hold and storm passed me.
"Luke! Stop!" I shouted, pulling him back by his arm. "He didn't touch me, he was just at the door the guy didn't let him in." I told him, trying to get him to calm down and think about what he was doing.
"Then why do you look like you're about to pass out." He said, nearly through gritted teeth.
"He was yelling at me and told me he was waiting for us." I said, rushing out the words. "He got his ass thrown to the curb the second he started coming after me." I felt the relief flood his body and he immediately pulled me into his chest. I heard Sophie ask what happened to me from around the fire pit, once Luke and I stopped talking all their words were clear.
"He watches out for her." Ashton told her, trying to leave it at that.
"Did something happen at a party or something? Is that how she got that bruise?" Luke felt me tense up, only making him hold me tighter.
"Leave it alone." He shouted over to the firepit. I pulled away from him, noticing everyone's faces were guilty. When everyone went silent I felt my blood boil. This tip toeing bullshit needed to end, I just couldn't take it anymore.
"I got attacked last week at a house party! It doesn't have to be a secret, and it doesn't have to mean you speak for me! I'm not fragile, I don't need the hovering, and I don't have to wear your fucking shirt so guys stay away from me!" I practically screamed, watching as all the eyebrows raised. The last part of the outburst was clearly directed at Luke, and when I motioned to him as I said 'your fucking shirt', his eyebrows furrowed in hurt.
"I'm going back to my room. Apparently, it's too difficult for me to have an easy fucking night." I said, bringing my volume down just so they could all hear me. I started walking back to the house, only to have Luke grab me by the arm, giving me a stern look. I pushed him off, trying to keep walking away.
"I'm trying to protect you, Izzy!" He shouted as I turned around.
"Branding me is not protecting me!" I shouted right back, taking my flannel off in the process. His featured softened when he realized what I was doing.
"Izzy." He said, his tone a lot less harsh, but still urgent. I took the shirt off and threw it at him, quickly grabbing my flannel off the ground and putting my arms in the sleeves. "Izzy!" He said louder, throwing the shirt down and grabbing me by my shoulders.
"Just leave me alone." I pushed him off again, turning around and buttoning up the top as I walked back into the house.
I couldn't get back to my building fast enough. If I weren't such an emotional mess I would have cared that Casey was on the hunt for Luke and me, but luckily, I didn't run into him on my walk back. I went straight into my room, taking off the stupid flannel and replacing it with a sweatshirt. After tonight, I was done with all this social bullshit. I was doing just fine on my own, not talking to people and definitely not getting assaulted. I couldn't sit around and take all the hushed talking and dodging questions anymore.
I definitely couldn't take any more of the pity friendship Luke and I suddenly had. He felt bad for me, that's all it was. He felt guilty that he made my life shit for the two weeks leading up to that night. I got carried away since he was the one who helped me, but the more I thought about the more I wondered why he even helped. It was his way of apologizing without having to say sorry, and though I can never repay him for that service, I can't forget the hell he put me through.
It was only the third week of the semester and I already needed a break. I didn't want to be in class with any of them, and I especially didn't want to spend 5 hours every Wednesday with Luke. He should take this as an easy way out. He didn't have to put on this act anymore, he could finally brush me off and call it even.
It was past midnight, but I put another bag together with what I had left. The one I packed earlier was still in Michael and Ashton's dorm so I gathered whatever I could and pulled my car keys off the hook on the wall. It was only a 20 minute drive to my friend's house, and I knew she would take me in an instant. I didn't bother calling to let her know, I just turned off all the lights and walked out the door, making my way down the hall and out of the building.
Luke's POV
I watched as she walked away. Once she disappeared into the house I grabbed the shirt off the ground and just stared at it. All I was trying to do was help. I didn't want anything else to happen to her, so much already had and it'd only been a few weeks. A huge portion of it being my fault.
"Luke." I heard Calum call out to me from his seat around the firepit. "Let her go. We'll check on her when we get back." I turned to face the group again, giving them all empty stares.
"She just needs to cool off, you know she has a short fuse." Michael assured me, trying to get me to relax and get back to our night.
I sat down without a word, watching as everyone slowly started getting back into conversation. The last thing I wanted was to let her walk off like that, but they were probably right. If I went after her now we'd get back into again. We spent another couple of hours here, going back into the house a little after that outburst. They tried to get me involved in the fun, but I would zone right back out.
By the time it was 2 am I was itching to leave. We'd given her plenty of time to calm down, and now I was more concerned to see if she was okay than getting another drink. We walked back to our building where I grabbed Izzy's bag from Michael and Ashton's room to bring up to her. I knocked on her door, not getting an answer like I already expected. I called out to her, knowing she'd hear me and hopefully open up to talk this through. When I had been waiting for 10 minutes, I got fed up and went to jam on the door handle to get her attention more.
To my surprise, it was unlocked. I walked in to a pitch-black room, the light from the hallway illuminating enough for me to see her bed was empty. I flicked the lights on and confirmed that I was the only one in there. I pulled my phone out and called her, but she declined it almost immediately. I tried a couple more times, but it was more of the same.
Her keys were gone from the hook they usually hung from, and I knew she left campus. I didn't know where she would go or who she would see, and I doubt Michael did either. She never talked about home, and she gave off the vibe that she didn't really want to. I threw her bag on her bed and walked out, hoping she'd be back in the morning. When I got back into my room I figured I'd let Michael know.
Me:
She's gone. Took her keys and left idk where
Mike:
She probably went home or something. Leave it alone dude she's a big girl she can do what she wants
I left the text without a reply, crawling into bed and trying to sleep it off.
The whole weekend went by with me either sitting readily near my door to hear if Izzy came back, or looking out the window at the entrance to the building. There was nothing for days, and I was beginning to worry about if she would come back at all this week. Tuesday came along before I knew it. We were planning on doing our pre-lab together at 5, and it was 3 now.
I stopped trying to call her after Sunday passed, knowing that it wouldn't get anywhere. I watched the clock above my bed for what felt like days, waiting for 5 to come. I had this small hope that she would knock on my door with her backpack and sit right down with me. I knew that probably wasn't going to happen, though.
Having classes on Tuesday helped it go by faster, but after she didn't show for our homework session I decided to just go to bed early. I was sick of waiting around like a creep. The next stage of worrying started to cross my mind when I thought about class tomorrow. If she didn't walk into chemistry I didn't know what I would do. And then that started to freak me out, the fact that I was so scared of losing whatever friendship we did manage to build.
Izzy's POV
I spent the last 4 days with my friend from high school, Bri. We did a whole lot of nothing the entire time, except for the night I showed up to her door. I sat and cried to her for hours, telling her about everything from the last few weeks. I didn't want to come back, but I was paying for college by myself and there was no way I was letting this bullshit affect it.
I told her I'd call her when I got back to campus and started my car up. I hopped out again to give her a quick hug before starting my drive back to school. I still hadn't answered the texts or calls from everyone, not wanting to deal with it at all. I knew I'd have to deal with it tomorrow in class regardless, so I was buying myself time.
I snuck into my room, trying my best not to make a sound. I didn't know if Luke was in his room or not, but I didn't want him to hear me come back. The bag I left in Mike and Ash's dorm was thrown on my bed, which meant someone came in here looking for me. By the time I realized I forgot to do my pre-lab it was past midnight. I had forgotten I planned on doing it with Luke, making my heart sink a little. It was 3 am when I finished everything, and I had to be up by 7.
I rolled out of bed at the sound of my alarm, forcing myself up to take a shower. It was either sleeping the extra half hour, or showering to wake myself up. I figured the latter would do it, but when I walked out of my dorm still exhausted beyond belief, I knew today would be a horrible one.
When I got to my first class, Michael was waiting at the door for me. I saw him right when I turned the corner, meeting his eyes as I slowly made my way over to him. I stopped when I was a foot away and leaned against the wall.
"Where were you all weekend?" He asked me, not treating me like a crumbling building anymore which I appreciated.
"My friend's house." I told him carefully. "I'm sorry I flipped out on you. I just didn't want to think about it anymore, and Sophie just kept asking questions. And Casey showing up-" He cut me off before I could continue my lengthy apology.
"Wait, Casey was there?" He asked me. Obviously, Luke hadn't filled them in on what I had told him that night.
"Yeah, that's not the point, though, Mikey. I shouldn't have snapped." I said, not letting him derail my attempt at saying sorry.
"Izz, just shut up." He said, pulling me into a hug. "It didn't help that we didn't let you forget about it. I'm sorry." I pulled away from him enough to look at his face, and we stood there smiling like idiots at each other.
After pre-calculus with Michael, I finished my next two classes easily. Michael told me to sit with them for lunch so I figured it'd be a good time to apologize to everyone. I got in line to grab my sushi and made my way out into the dining area to find everyone. They didn't notice me at first, it wasn't until I went to take a seat on the end next to Michael. They all looked at me about to say something, but I didn't want to hear apologies from them when it was me that was an asshole.
"Before you say anything, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come at you guys. I know apologies are shit but I don't want you all to give up on me or-" I couldn't stop my rambling, once it started it never really stopped until someone made it stop. Luckily Ashton was the one to do it.
"Jesus it's okay, Izzy. We won't give up on you." He laughed at how intense I was being.
"We weren't mad, just worried." Calum said. "And rightfully so, you look horrible." He said, concern laced in his voice. I glanced up at him quickly, meeting his raised eyebrows. I guess they were waiting for some kind of explanation.
"I didn't sleep much last night. I had to finish homework when I got back." I sighed. Luke appeared from around the corner, taking the seat across from me. We looked at each other, and for a sheer moment I thought he was going to welcome me with open arms.
"You can't help yourself, can you?" He said, his expression dropping to the same cold ones he used to give me.
"What do you mean?" I asked him, searching his face for any sort of explanation as to what he was trying to say.
"Everything has to be about you. We can't get through one night without you taking the stage." He dug into me, looking at his sandwich in front of him right after to start opening it.
I'd like to say I was surprised, but I knew deep down that this would happen. I already thought this over, wondering how the dust would settle. He got his out, he brushed himself clean of his guilt. I got my composure back as best I could, trying to figure out how to react. Michael tried to fight back for me, but I really just wanted everyone to ignore what Luke said.
"It's fine. I knew he'd come back aroundeventually. You can only put up a front for so long." I said, refusing to lookin Luke's direction.