"We're home!" Trent called out into the house once we were back home.
Mom came out from the living room and instantly I could see the difference from when I left; she didn't look as tired, she was more energetic, she was smiling and it looked completely genuine.
She looked like herself again.
"My sweet girl, home again."
Such a shame her hugs were still tight and hugely uncomfortable to be in.
Trent and Jake flashed me sympathetic looks when I glared at them to say 'you never told me she'd be doing this'.
"It's a shame I can't get both of you home like this, but I suppose it is what it is," Mom went on, shaking her head. "Anyway, your favourite spot on the sofa awaits."
For the rest of that day I caught up with T and J, while rewatching Crazy Ex Girlfriend seasons 1-3 because season 4 only has weekly episodes and isn't complete yet for binge watching.
"So it's been pretty uneventful most days, we had somebody come into the shop the other day saying gay people shouldn't be models," T said.
I gasped. "No."
"Yes! But- oh my god, so you know how the boss and her wife run the place, right?"
"Uh huh."
"Well, her wife isn't really known by shoppers, but today the boss was like 'that's nice, honey come listen to this gentleman saying gays shouldn't do modelling' and her wife came over," J explained.
I laughed. "So then what happened?"
"The man- he looked so embarrassed, I could tell he was just thinking 'shit I fucked up'."
"Oh my god." I laughed harder.
"So, what's up with you? Found a girlfriend yet after your breakup with Sasha?" Trent asked, smirking.
"I shouldn't have told you about Sasha," I muttered under my breath, because here we go now.
"Sooooooo......is there anyone?" J asked.
"Maaaaayyyybe," I muttered.
Both of them squealed in excitement.
"My roommate's best friend, Alice. And her best friend, my roommate Porsche, ships us together but I don't know what the heck I'm meant to do now and I don't know what to do when I get back and just-" I groaned and face planted the cushion.
"Ah, romance problems. I remember when we had those," Trent said.
Jake laughed. "Yeah, we were awkward."
"You still are," I said, my voice muffled by the cushion.
For the rest of that weekend, it was basically spilling to my favourite boys all my dilemmas; with writing, Alice, Porsche's incessant nagging, Megan being distant, EVERYTHING.
They listened to it all and, for once, didn't really do much aside from asking the occasional question.
But that was fine by me.
I spent time with Mom, we'd eat out at different fast food places trying to decide which one was better.
It wasn't until after we had been in Burger King that she brought up something.
"I've been talking to your dad," she said.
I knew who my dad was, the man who walked out on his family when his son and daughters were twelve years old because he couldn't handle it.
"Why?" I asked. "Why would you do that?"
"He called me," Mom explained, "and he just wants to sort things out. He wants to get to know you all better."
"Oh no, no way. He walked out on us when we were twelve, figuring ourselves out because he couldn't handle the fact his children were changing already," I snapped back.
"Isa-"
"I'm not talking about this with you."
The drive back home was bad, Trent and Jake driving me back to college and acting like the guy who walked out on the woman he loved and three kids now waned a second chance I was never going to give him was even worse.
I hated every second of it.
