traded my life [TWD]

『17』

-Four Years Later-

"You be good over there. I will swim to Korea and whoop your ass if I have to," Shane advises.

I make a gibberish sound mockingly as I wrap my arms around his waist. "Just don't get injured while I'm gone or else no one will patch you up."

"And tell your mom to come visit sometime. Maybe we can have Christmas together."

"Noted," I assure, walking to the boarding area. "Don't let Lori be a bitch to Rick. They had a big fight yesterday and Carl is upset."

"Another fight?" Shane huffs.

"Carl said it was in fron of him. Just a heads up." 

"Be safe!" Shane calls.

I send him a thumbs up as the woman scans my ticket.

I finally get onto the plane and collapse in the seat tiredly.

I haven't been to Korea in a few months. I was kind of excited to go back. I pop a sleeping pill and lay down, hoping that the trip would seem faster if I slept through the ride there.

--

God, I really love Seoul.

It was so lively and easy going. I walk down the streets and feel at home. in a way, I was. I had to deal with the constant reminder that I was split between two countries. But, it was nice to visit every so often.

I made it to mom's apartment with ease.

"Wah, look how pretty you are!" she greets.

"And how old you are!" I tease as we hug.

Mom scoffs and grabs my bag, helping me into her apartment.

"How long are you staying?" she asks as we walk to the kitchen. "Hopefully longer than last time."

"I'm here all month," I answer. "My boss gave me a big vacation."

"That's sweet. I'm so excited you're here, sweetie."

We sit at the kitchen table and she makes sure I have something to drink before settling.

"How is Shane?"

"He's good. He wants you to visit, actually. He thinks it would be nice to have Christmas together."

"I.. might be able to. No promises."

I lean forward with a smile. "You never make promises."

"It isn't fair to make promises. You know that."

I shrug a little. "I know you're waiting on it.. So, has there been any leads?"

Mom sighs. "I'd rather not let you know until there's a full breakthrough. You safely got out of the life.. I don't want anything to make you relapse."

"Safely?" I repeat.

"Shane has done more than good by you. You've worked hard to clean yourself up. I would feel awful if I was the reason you fell back into the mess."

This was the only bad part about visiting mom.

It'd been years since the Q fiasco. 

Since then, I made the complete 180 degrees turn around. I studied super hard to become an EMT like I told Shane I wanted to do. I was here now. I had the job.

I still lived with Shane. We split all the bills and payments.

Mom hadn't grown up since then, though. Even before. She was still looking for dad's killer. She was still acting like a twenty-something girl.