Toxic

C17: Sooner Or Later

Chapter17-Sooner Or Later

"This really isn't fair." I mumbled, watching Ava print pictures out from her camera.

She looked at me over her shoulder. "What isn't?"

I sighed. "You get to keep taking pictures yet I can't draw anything cause of this stupid cast."

"You can keep me company. And help me hang pictures up on your walls."

"It's just not the same."

She got to her feet and walked over to me. "I can draw for you."

I couldn't help but laugh. I rested my forehead on her shoulder. "But you can't draw. At all."

"Thanks." She said dryly.

"Just stating a fact." I took her hand and linked our fingers together. "But thanks for offering."

"Let me know if you change your mind."

"Oh, trust me, I will."

She laughed and kissed the top of my head.

"What's going on here?"

Our smiles faded as I looked over at the doorway. At where my mother stood, a frown on her face and her eyes narrowed to slits.

"Mom-"

"I thought you were better than this, Lydia. I thought you understood how I felt."

Before I could get in a word, she was gone, her hair flipping behind her.

Tears filled my eyes but I refused to cry. Not over something I was so sure of, something I wanted. I wasn't going to let mom do that to me.

I got to my feet and started walking out of the room.

Ava, obviously since she was faster than me, caught up to me and stopped me. "Lydia, what are you doing? She's not going to listen to you yell at her."

"I wasn't planning on yelling at her. I just can't let her tell me what to do anymore." I squeezed her hand and pulled her with me out to the living room. Mom was throwing things into her purse, an angry look on her face. I wasn't sure any dad or Larry knew what was going on.

But they would.

"Mom, stop."

She slowed down her packing but didn't stop entirely. She looked over at me. "Don't talk to me. Don't even bother."

"You can't make my decisions for me anymore. I know you want what's best for me but you're clinging too much. And it's hurting me. I need to make my own decisions and my own choices and have my own thoughts, even if it goes against what you believe. Because that's how I'll learn."

"You're choosing wrong, Lydia. This isn't... it's not normal-"

"For me? Or for you?"

She didn't say anything. Neither did dad nor Larry.

"Mom, I know that you're upset. And I finally get it now. You're jealous... but that's okay. You had no control over the situation. But don't hate dad because of what happened. We can't choose who we fall in love with."

She snatched her purse from the table and, without meeting anyone's gaze, she walked out of the house, slamming the front door behind her.

I sighed and sat down on the couch, resting my bad leg on the coffee table.

"Lydia, are you alright?" Dad asked, his eyebrows scrunched together.

"If she kicks me out, can I stay here?"

"She's not going to kick you out." Ava said, sitting down beside me. She wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pulled me against her side.

"How do you know that? Your dad didn't kick you out."

"He loved me too much to do that. Then again, he wasn't against my choices. But I don't think your mom wants to lose you. Not after you've been here all summer. It's probably too hard for her to accept the fact that you don't need her anymore."

"Oh my gosh," I groaned. "She's jealous of you, Ava."

Ava laughed but stifled it quickly. "I wouldn't have put it that way but I suppose you're right."

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Dad asked, getting to his feet.

"Would you?"

He smiled. "Of course, sweetheart."

I nodded.

He slipped outside and went to find mom.

That left Larry, Ava, and I.

"I'm really proud of you, Lydia. You've changed so much since you first came here. I'll miss having you around." Larry said before he left the room, going to the kitchen.

I looked over at Ava. "What if I leave? What happens then?"

"We stay together." She said, linking our fingers together. "You mean too much to me for me to even forget about you for a second."

"No other girls?"

"Just you and me."

I felt my cheeks turn red but I didn't care. "I love you, Ava."

She kissed my cheek, speaking with her lips touching my skin. "I love you too." Her lips moved down to mine, her hand cupping my cheek.

"Lydia, can I talk to you?" Mom, pulling another one of her silent tricks, was standing in the room though I hadn't heard her come in.

I looked at Ava, not sure what to do. I didn't want to fight with mom. Not when I was so close to going home. Not when things were supposed to get better.

She squeezed my hand and gave me a reassuring smile. "I'll be in your room. Holler if you need me."

I watched her go before turning to look at mom. "I don't want to fight with you, mom."

"That isn't why I came to talk to you." She said softly. She came over to the couch and sat down beside me. "Lydia, you were right and it took your words to make me realize it. I have been very resentful and I don't want to hurt you because of my selfishness. I really do want you to be happy, even if it is with another girl."

"It's been a long summer, I'll admit. But she's helping me get myself straightened out. She really cares about me."

She kissed the top of my head. "I'm glad you're happy, sweetheart."

"Mom, I-I was wondering... Would it be okay if I... stayed here, with dad? It'll be too hard to go back home and not go back to how I was before and don't know if I can get better if I do-"

"You're right. And keeping you safe is a big priority for me. But I don't want to impose on your father and Larry."

"Do you really think they'd say no?"

She laughed. "I suppose not."

I hugged her. "Thank you, mom. I'm sorry I'm such a handful sometimes."

"It would have happened sooner or later, sweetheart."

"I love you, mom."

"I love you, too, Lydia."

-

And this is the end of Toxic. I'm currently in the middle of Toxic 2: Lethal. It is currently on Fictionpress.com and may be on here if I ever get any comments on this one. Please let me know what you think! It's really important to me.