I just wanted to thank you guys for being so patient and cheering me on! It means a lot. 3 So, as my thank you, a happy, uplifting chapter with fluff and story progression! Yay! :D Enjoy~

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Izzy tried to take deep breaths, but it felt like her throat was collapsing in on her. Her heart was beating even faster than when she first met Fitz, which was already much faster than should be healthy. She could hear the blood rushing through her head as panic ran through her veins. Once again everything was moving way too fast, but there was nothing she could do to change it. No, she could, but it was her choice. For what felt like the hundredth time she reached up to pull out another eyelash.

A large, very warm hand wrapped around hers, causing her to jump.

"Sorry." Fitz whispered back. Could he feel the silence crushing the room too? He pulled her hand down, interlacing his fingers with hers as he rested his hand on the bed. "It's going to be ok. I promise."

She bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to break through. "I- you can't promise that." She squeaked.

He smiled empathetically. "No, you're right. I can't promise everything's going to be ok. But I can promise they are going to be so happy to see you."

"But what if they're not." She choked out as hot tears began to run down her ice cold cheeks. "What if they don't want a defective daughter who doesn't even remember them?"

She tried to fight back the sobs that threatened to escape from her lips, but it was useless. She was tired of fighting, tired of just surviving. Why couldn't she just be normal for once? To actually live? Instead she felt like crawling into a hole and never coming out.

Fitz didn't seem to know what to do at first, and she didn't blame him. He helped her, brought her here, had his mom arrange for her parents to come to his house, and yet here she was, doubled over on a bed sobbing. But he still pulled her back up, wrapped his arms around her, and muttered that it would be alright this time, whatever that meant. She buried her head into his chest, wishing it would silence the stupid sobs that kept coming and kept coming. But she couldn't stop crying. The biggest dream she had ever had, the one thing she had always wanted, was probably downstairs in Fitz's living room. How could she even face them? It was like meeting a dragon for the first time and finding out it was really just a tiny gecko all along. Once she stepped past that line, watched the dream shatter, it could never be put back together again. And all she would be left with is cold, harsh, broken reality.

Was is worth it?

After she had "hailed them on their imparter," or whatever that meant, Della had told her all about them, and they sounded amazing. But still…

"Izzy." Fitz leaned back slightly, meeting her blotchy red, tear stained eyes. "You know you don't have to do this right now. It can wait. They'll understand, but I know they want you in their lives, just like you want them in yours."

Izzy pulled out another eyelash, flicking it off the bed. She tried to form words, but the tears blurred her vision and thoughts. She opened her mouth, but ended up closing it again, only to repeat the action.

"They will wait for you if that's what you want." He whispered, his eyes extra intense, sending her already queasy stomach into unwanted somersaults.

She closed her eyes, his eyes only muddling her mind further. She went to nod, but something stopped her, this small nagging voice in the back of her head telling her that it was time to take control of her situation and be brave; to stop running.

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes. He was still staring right back at her, waiting patiently for her answer like he had forever.

"No." She quietly breathed before strengthening her voice. "No. I, I want to meet them."

He nodded his head, concern evident in her eyes. "Do you want me to come with you?"

She nodded a bit too rapidly.

He smiled a small, yet incredibly charming smile back at her before standing up. He offered her his hand, smiling even brighter.

"I think you'll be glad you did this Izzy."

She shook her head again, though it was absentmindedly. The doubts eating at her heart and brain like a cancer were getting strong, and if she was going to do it, it needed to be now. She took Fitz's hand and he pulled her onto her feet.

As he led her to the door of her bedroom, she was tempted to worry about the fact that her face was undoubtedly covered in red splotches, or that her clothes were the same old, winkled, human clothing she had fallen asleep in in an alleyway next to trash, or that she was covered in sweat like a sticky cold blanket. But the images from the past two days filled her brain, and after all she had been through, everything she had survived and overcome, it somehow didn't matter. Only one thing stuck to her head as she crossed the doorway.

"Do you think they will hug me?"

Fitz turned around, smiling the biggest, brightest smile she had ever seen. "Now that I can promise."

"I'll hold you to it." Izzy smiled back, a weight lifting off her heart.