thank you for all the lovely support guys!!! dedication on the next chapter for anyone who spots isaac's mum's unintentional pun ( i just spotted it reading through the chapter and just, lolololol)
When Isaac's mum answered the door the next day her face turned stony faster than Isaac could say,
"Hey, Mam."
"Where on earth have you been," she hissed, grabbing him and pulling him inside. Jared came in too, quickly before she could shut the door on him.
Isaac said,
"I'm sorry if I- worried you. It's just I haven't been- I haven't been well, Mam. I-"
She shook her head, lips pressed together.
"Not where your brother might hear," she said, and motioned him sharply into the living room. When Jared went to follow them she snapped,
"Is it really necessary to bring a- bodyguard, Isaac? To have a conversation with your own mother?"
Jared thought, er, yes. Isaac shifted slightly then said,
"I'd like him to be here, Mam."
His mother scoffed, but didn't make any further objections. When they were all in the living room she closed the door and said tersely,
"Explain yourself, Isaac Hanly."
Isaac took a deep breath.
"It came back, Mam."
"What did?" she interrupted, before he could continue.
"The depression."
"There's no such thing as depression, Isaac. It's just in your head. I've told you that. I've told you that so many times."
"Mam, it's a mental illness-"
"It's imaginary!" She slapped the side of his head with the upside of her hand. "In here. It's all in here. Putting fancy labels on being sad is just a defence mechanism, Isaac, for when things get too hard. When you're too weak to face it."
Isaac was silent for a few seconds and then he said, quietly,
"You and I both know that's not true."
She folded her arms, defensive.
"So you ran away," she said scathingly.
Isaac swallowed.
"Mam I- I wanted to stop existing."
"Everybody wants to stop existing sometimes," she snapped back, white-faced with arms crossed so tight it looked like it might hurt. Isaac shook his head frustratedly.
"Not like that, Mam. Not to that point where you might actually try to-"
"Everybody feels down once in a while," she interrupted him, forcedly bright like a 60s cleaning product ad. "We all get that. We all manage to snap out of it. That's life, Isaac."
"Mam," he said, voice low and steady. "I almost threw myself off a building."
She paused, staring at him with this unreadable expression and then saying tremblingly,
YOU ARE READING
Invincible
Teen Fiction"I didn't know you had friends like Isaac," Willa said in greeting. "I don't," muttered Jared. Isaac rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you don't. You have //one// friend like Isaac." His voice turned into this stupid mock whisper and he leaned towards Jared c...
