Breaking Ice

73

Amelia:

Hayden and I finished talking and she headed back up to work on her winter assignments. It was well past eleven so I called Isaac. 

"Hey Ice" I smiled when he picked up.

"Hey, I'm sorry about yesterday," He said, sounding sad.

"No I'm sorry, I should have handled it better and we should have talked it out instead of yelling" I explained

"I should have let you explain before running out like that," He said

"We both messed up but as the adult, in this, I messed up. I want you to come home and work this out between the three of us. You and Hades will always be my number one priority"

"Did Josh read the note?" He asked

"He did and cried."

"Good. I'll come home in a little bit. I just need to talk to Corey some more. I'm sorry for making you worry"

"It's my job to worry about you no matter how small or big it is" I laughed

 I was in the same clothes and makeup from yesterday.  While I waited for Isaac to get home I took a shower and changed my clothes. I started looking through my planner for this week. Isaac's birthday was just a few days away and I had a few clients coming into the salon. Since the Travis fiasco, my planner was pretty empty since I wasn't working at his shop anymore. These two weeks are usually my slowest since everyone gets their hair done before the holidays which works out perfectly with Isaac's new year's birthday. I can't believe he's going to be sixteen. My baby is getting his license soon, though he has been driving with just his permit lately. 

Isaac showed up but had gauze wrapped around his hand.

"Ice what happened to your hand" I frantically asked when he came in.

"I punched through the ice at the rink." He said with a sad smile. "Corey's dad cleaned it up for me though. It doesn't hurt that bad anymore."

"Haha Ice punched ice" Hayden laughed coming down the stairs.

"Wow thanks, Hayden" He laughed. 

The three of us talked a bit longer before Josh came back. Hayden caught the mood and went back upstairs. Josh, Isaac and I sat down at the dining room table. I didn't know how to start this conversation, Josh seemed uncomfortable, and Isaac was playing with the gauze on his hand. 

"I'm sorry I've been a dick lately. There is still so much you don't know about my past and what lead me to leave and I know it's not an excuse but coming back and seeing how everyone moved on it hurt me and caused me to lash out on everyone." Josh started "but your mom and I have talked and I'm here to answer any questions you have. You've proven that you're old enough to understand it. No filter whole truth whatever it is you want."

"Why did you leave? Yeah, you said you got stuck in a sketchy situation but what does that even mean." Isaac asked.

Josh looked over at me and nodded. The story had to do with Ronnie and even though Josh hates him didn't want to taint Isaac's perception of him.

"You know how Ronnie had a bit of a drug problem and that's why he moved to Baltimore when you were little. With that, he got involved with a crime family that Skylar's dad was a part of. There are so many twists and odd connections in it but when Ronnie came back the guys followed him and Ronnie in an act of self-defense killed the big crime boss's son and do you remember when that guy came to Uncle Jordan's house and scared you and Jacki?" Josh asked

I had completely forgotten about that. Isaac nodded.

"Well to keep you safe I started being like a mediator for Ronnie in trying to get him out of it. That put a target on my back which put you guys in even more danger which led Travis to show up at Jordan's house that night"

"Wait a second it was Travis? That's why you didn't want Isaac to talk to that cop." I asked.  I didn't know that.

"Now you know why I was so pissed about you two dating. Anyways Ronnie and I had started digging deeper into their whole operation and put a ton of stress on me. I was already depressed because of my dad dying and all the garbage and darkness of their whole operation got to me and Ronnie came up with the idea of faking my death to clear the risk of you all being targets. It would be believable enough since I was already suicidal that it wouldn't be a huge shock to anyone. Ronnie got set up with the doctor at the hospital and got these pills that slow your heart rate just enough and kind of knock you out so it seemed real and I got on a plane to Arizona to stay with Grandma Ellie's son"

"You're fucking kidding me" I chimed in "You were staying with Brandon"

"Yeah, he wasn't close with anyone and barely talked or saw Hogan so he was the safest option. I went by a different name there, shaved my hair and started boxing. Somehow Mr.D, Danny Craig's dad found me and I got the shit kicked out of me so I got out of Arizona and flew to Portland, I didn't know anyone who lived there so it was the newest safe option for me. I was able to come back here a few times. I saw Hade's dance recitals and a few of your soccer games. Even though you didn't see me I still cared about you guys."

"Why did you come back now then if it was so dangerous before?"

"Mr.D died back in July. His operation kind of crumpled after that. I got the all-clear to come back from someone who was helping Ron and me out. I waited a little bit just to make sure and to cut all my ties back in Portland and I came back here. I felt like my life was stolen from me because no matter how hard I tried getting out of it Ronnie kept talking me in to staying and pushing me farther into it. I never got beat up more in my life than in those six-ish months I was wrapped up in that, every day I came home and lied to your mom and it killed me. So when I came back and found out she dated Travis even for a brief amount of time it made me mad." Josh explained

"This is fucking crazy. " Isaac said shaking his head "This sounds like a movie"

"I know it's a lot to take in Ice but I'm so sorry for how I've been acting. I hope that me explaining all this helps make sense of it"

"It does and I'm sorry you had to go through all that, it sounds terrifying. Though there could have been a better way to react than being a dick but it all makes more sense now." Isaac said with a smile

This was all so surreal. This was the first time I was getting the full story. I can't believe Ronnie pushed him this hard or how much it hurt him too. 

"I'd love to be apart of your life Isaac, I know I have a lot of making up to do but if you let me I'd love to be your dad," Josh said with an unsure smile.

"Yeah now that I know everything and that it was for our safety and not just you being selfish." Isaac said. "but I want everyone to get together so we can work it out and go back to normal and how it should have been the past thirteen years. That's all I want for my birthday" 

"Isaac honey I don't know," I said 

Getting everyone together would be nice but I don't think everyone has recovered. Sky has been gone for years. I've seen Ronnie quite a bit but after knowing everything I don't know if I could look him in the eye again. It would be one fight after another.

"I don't know Ahme it could be good for all of us to air everything out and work through it," Josh said rubbing his neck

"We'll talk about it okay Ice," I told him 

The rest of the day was spent talking about and discussing Isaac's birthday. We decided to put off a huge gathering and just have a small get together with his friends, Steve and Luke. We would find a way to bring it up to everyone else that we want to work things out for Isaac's sake. The next few weeks are going to be painful having to relive all these past emotions but it's worth it if it makes these kids happier.

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