Izzy stood in the hospital waiting room alongside Eric, waiting to pick up Kitty and Red and to finally head home. They had spent enough days there to last a lifetime, and now that Red got the okay to leave, no one was more excited to get the hell out of there than he was.

When the twins saw their parents walk into the room, they stood up, heading over to them. Kitty greeted them with a quick "Hello," but Red just sighed.

"C'mon, let's get the hell out of this weird place," he said as his doctor joined them. "I think some of these nurses are stealing drugs."

"Red, I am a nurse here!" Kitty said, turning to the doctor and laughing nervously.

Red paused. "I stand by my statement."

The doctor pulled out his clipboard, which instantly made Izzy respect him a little more. Clipboards equal officiality, at least in her mind. "Okay, Mr. Forman," he said, "just to be clear. No going to work, no chores, no driving for three months. And let's not forget the root cause of the problem."

Eric grinned. "Too much rage, right? Yeah, so he probably shouldn't, like, yell at anyone anymore, right?"

"Actually, the reason he ran into trouble is because he was holding stuff in."

Red turned to Eric, a malicious glint in his eye as he grinned. Eric instantly paled.

"Holding stuff in?" Izzy asked. "Eric weighs, like, forty-two pounds because of what he let out, and you're telling us there's more in there?!"

Kitty laughed, and then turned to where the doctor couldn't see her face and shot Izzy a warning look. "No no no. Eric does not weigh forty-two pounds! And he and his father are the best of buddies!" She mimicked the two, as though they were having a conversation. "'Hey, Dad, wanna go fishing?' 'Sure, son! Let's hug!'" She laughed again. "That's what it's like at our house!"

Izzy turned to her father. "Daddy, I think you're right. The nurses here are stealing drugs."

-

"Okay!" Kitty said, opening the sliding glass door. "Let's get you upstairs for your nap, Red. And Eric, Isabelle, he needs quiet. So no shenanigans!"

Eric sighed. "Mom, please. We haven't shenaniganed in about six years."

"Yeah," Izzy said. "We've hooliganed-"

"We've no-good-nicked-"

"We've ne'er-done-welled-"

"That's very true, Izzy. Why, just yesterday, when we were rabblerousing-"

Red held his hands up. "Will you two shut up?"

They all walked into the living room, where Fez was standing, waiting with a balloon and chocolates in hand. He grinned widely. "Welcome home, Dad!"

Red's face went red. "You. You got a lot of nerve! Showin' your face around here after what you did to my daughter!"

Fez scowled. "Hey, I did you a favor! Why, that girl's been passed around this town more than a-"

"No!" Izzy and Kitty yelled.

"Fez, no." Eric said in a low voice.

"Okay, you have already given him one heart attack," Kitty said. "That's enough. Now hush."

Eric grinned and pulled a little box out his pocket. "Hey look, buddy! Raisinettes!"

Fez's eyes went wide. "Ooh."

"Okay, okay!" Kitty said, watching as Fez left the room. "Naptime! Oh, and Eric, Isabelle, your father has a checkup next week. I need you two to take him."

Eric groaned. "Why do I have to go?"

"For morale!"

Izzy paused. "Wait, next week? Mama, Eric and I have to register for college. H- He's gonna be moved into his apartment by then..."

Kitty's smile dropped. "So... you two are still going?"

Eric looked appalled. "Wh- Yes, we're still going, it's college!"

"Fine."

"Mama," Izzy breathed, "come on."

"Oh, Kitty!" Red said. "Let them go. Odds are, Eric won't amount to anything and Isabelle will be homesick within a week, and I don't want them blaming me!"

Eric gestured wildly. "See?! That is exactly the kind of thing I have to get away from!"

"Fine." Kitty huffed.

Izzy shrugged. "Good."

"Great." Eric said.

There was an awkward silence, then Red reached up and clutched his chest. "Ohh," he moaned. "My heart! It-"

"Dad!" Eric said, as the three others rushed to him.

He paused for a moment, then dropped his hands. "Just thought I'd ease the tension! That's gonna come in handy."

Kitty sighed and began to march Red up the stairs. "Okay, no more fake heart attacks! The next time you clutch your chest, you'd better see a bright light and some dead relatives!"

-

"Oh, my god. Izzy." Eric said, sitting on the couch. They were each reading lists of courses at their school and periodically telling the other about an interesting one. "Madison has a course called The Social Significance of Jedi Culture!"

Izzy's eyes widened as she leaned forward in Hyde's chair. "No way!"

"Way!"

The twins looked over when they heard footsteps down the basement stairs. Kitty came rushing down, wearing her nurse's uniform and holding a laundry basket tightly.

Eric knit his brow. "Mom, why're you doing laundry?"

"Yeah, it's almost midnight." Izzy said.

Kitty sighed and set the basket atop the washer, hurriedly loading the clothes from the dryer into the basket. "Well, with your dad not working, I had to pick up a double shift at the hospital. This is the only time I have to do it."

Eric paused. He bit his lip, thinking hard, and stood up. "Here. Let me help."

"Mama," Izzy said quietly. "Don't do that, please."

"Do what?" Kitty asked.

"Come down here, in the middle of the night, doing laundry and looking exhausted... You're trying to make us feel guilty for going away to college. We can help you out right now, b- but it's not gonna work, we're still going."

She paused, waiting for Kitty to respond, but there was nothing.

"Look," Izzy continued. "I know you don't think I can be an artist, a- and maybe what happened with college and everything just reflects that, but I- I... I know I can. I deserve a real chance at this, Mom!"

Kitty stopped, but Eric kept loading the laundry, desperate to avoid the conflict.

"Okay, okay," She said. "I understand that you two have to leave. I have bigger things to worry about than making you feel guilty!" She took the basket and headed back upstairs.

Eric turned around. "Do you think we should stay? I'm sure Donna-"

"No. No, Eric. You need to go to college and be with Donna. I need to start my art career. If we don't do this now, we never will."

He paused. "Does she really think you can't make it?"

Izzy looked down at the floor, suddenly very interested in her shoelaces. "I've heard her tell Dad." She looked up. "But I need to prove her wrong."

-

Izzy opened the basement door the following evening, after having been out all day with Hyde. The two were surprised, to say the least, when they saw Kitty sitting upright on the couch, her head down. She was fast asleep, and she was surrounded by laundry.

"Mom?" Izzy asked slowly.

"I'm up!"

Hyde slowly closed the door behind the two. "Mrs. Forman, are you okay?" He asked cautiously.

"Oh, sure, I'm-" she looked down at her watch. "Oh, god. I'm late for work." She stood up, hurriedly putting all the laundry into the basket.

Izzy furrowed her brow. "Late for work? You're working tonight?"

"Well, honey, nights can be our busiest time! Lots of people stoke out after a big, salty dinner!"

"But... you worked all day."

Kitty took a deep breath, calming herself down slightly. "I know. I- I gotta go. Okay, there's food in the- oh, who am I kidding? There's no food!" She rushed up the stairs. "Dinner's on you tonight, Isabelle!"

There was a silence in the room, where Izzy stood in the middle of the basement, watching the empty stairs. Hyde stood behind her, not sure if he should say anything.

Izzy looked at the empty stairs for a few moments, then sat on the couch shakily. "I'm going to college, Steven."

He sighed and sat in his chair, leaning forward and setting a hand on her knee. "I know."

"I - I mean..." She trailed off, searching for the right words. "They can't- They can't do this- I know my mom wants me to stay but..."

Hyde took in a slow breath. "Izzy Bee, I want you to stay, too. Why aren't you mad at me over it?"

Izzy swallowed thickly. "I- I don't know," she paused. "You don't guilt me about wanting to leave. You support me, a- and-"

"Hey, your mom supports you too. I mean, damn, she and Red are payin' for your tuition-"

"Steven, if I don't leave this town now, I'm never getting out."

He paused, then his gaze fell. "You really want to leave Point Place? Like forever?"

She shook her head hastily. "Not forever! Never forever. I just need to know what it's like outside, you know? Live in a big city, o- or paint the countryside-"

"Izzy Bee, you know I'm the first person who wants to see you do that," he said softly, taking her hand in his. "But your folks need you right now."

Without saying anything, the gears turning in her head, Izzy squeezed his hand lightly. He understood and got up, moving to sit next to her on the couch, and instantly Izzy curled into his side.

He put his arms around her and looked down at her, feeling his heart beating just a little faster. They sat there a few minutes, neither wanting to move and disturb the silence.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He mumbled after a while, then kissed the top of her head.

She took a deep breath, refusing to meet his eyes. "You're right," she said weakly. "I need to stay. I'm sorry, Steven."

"Don't apologize," He said, pressing a kiss to her head. "You know I want you to stay, why're you sorry about that?"

"I just... you always have to deal with my family shit, and I'm sorry."

He chuckled and lifted her chin with his finger. "Your family shit? Doll, my own family shit stinks worse than you can imagine. I'm your boyfriend," he paused. "Family shit's just in the deal, baby."

Izzy let out a small laugh, but her smile quickly faded. "Steven?"

"Mhm?"

"Do you think I think I should give up art?"

Hyde stopped, pulling away from her slightly so he could meet her eyes better. "What?" He could feel his heartbeat. "Why would you do that? You're fucking good at that, Iz-"

"It's too difficult," She looked down at her hands, which were trembling. "Especially right now. I'm never gonna be a great artist, and I- I've always known that, I just never wanted to admit it to myself. I mean, god, Steven. None of the schools I got into wanted me for my art. They wanted me for boring... mathematical shit. Or science, o- or..." She sighed, seeming to have already made up her mind. "Yeah."

She looked up at him and saw that his brow was furrowed. He started to say something, but she just smiled sadly. "I'm gonna go upstairs."

She stood up, and he held onto her hand. "Iz, wait. I think we should talk about this-"

"Can we talk later? I- I gotta talk to Eric about college shit, and then I just want to go to sleep." She looked at him with pleading eyes, and he just nodded, kissed her hand, and watched as she went up the basement stairs.

-

Izzy made it to Eric's door, knocking softly and waiting for the quiet "Come in," before she entered. She closed the door behind her, but stood with her back against it, her hand still fiddling with the knob.

"Eric, we gotta talk about next year."

He looked up from where he was, reading a comic book on his bed. "Yeah? What about it?"

She took in a breath. "We can't go."

Eric's face dropped. "Wh- What?"

"You saw Mom today," Izzy went and sat on the foot of his bed. "She went back to the hospital about an hour ago-"

"Why's she working this late?"

"Exactly! We need to be here to help them out, a- and... I've already made up my mind. I'm taking a gap year; I'll go back to school next fall. If you don't want to, if you want to go with Donna, then I get that, but I really think-"

He set his comic down. "I'll stay. I already have a job here, I can sign over my paychecks to them until you get a job too."

A smile of relief found its way to Izzy's face. "Thank you, Eric."

"Course, you doofus." He sighed. "I just gotta tell Donna."

-

"Hey, guys?" Eric asked,his hands shoved into his pockets. Izzy stood alongside him, wringing her hands nervously as she stood in front of their parents, who were at the kitchen table "We have something we wanna tell you."

He looked at Izzy, who didn't take the queue. He elbowed her in the ribs, making her jump. "Ow!" She whined, rubbing the spot where he hit. A look of realization dawned on her face. "Oh. My turn. Uh, Mom, Dad, we've decided not to go away. Um... Eric's not moving."

Red's head snapped up from his paper. "What?!"

"Yeah, we've decided to stay and put off college for a little while."

"Or at least you're well enough to go back to work," Izzy added.

Kitty's face broke into a grin and she jumped to her feet. "My babies!" She cheered, pulling them into a bone-crushing hug.

"Okay, Mom," Eric mumbled, patting her awkwardly on the back. "This is kind of embarrassing."

Izzy nodded. "You're actually really hurting me- ow! Mama, please!" Kitty broke away from the hug, her eyes shining with tears.

"You mean to tell me that I've waited eighteen years for you two to get your butts out of this house, and now you're staying?!" Red asked.

Eric pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. "Look, Mom, I sighed over my paycheck to you. I, uh, I want you to go buy yourself something pretty-"

"Or electricity." Izzy mumbled.

"Or electricity!"

Izzy nodded. "I'm gonna look for a job so I can start contributing some money, too."

Kitty took the paper, laughing. "Oh, thank you!" She turned to her husband. "Red, it wouldn't kill you to thank them."

"It might, I just had a heart attack."

Kitty sighed and went over to the counter, pulling another piece of paper from a drawer. "Speaking of..." She went and sat back down at the table. "I found this in the garbage, why would you throw away the list of food the doctor said we couldn't have in the house?"

Red sighed. "Kitty, did you look at that list? If I had known what I was coming home to after my heart attack, I would've walked straight into that bright light and never looked back."

"Oh, come on!" Izzy laughed, leaning against the counter. "It can't be that bad. I'll do it with you, Daddy."

"Me too." Kitty said, patting him on the arm. "Cause what's good for the goose, is good for the gander!"

Eric held up a finger. "Actually, Mom, Dad's the gander." He paused. "A male goose? So, y'know, it'd actually be what's good for the gander, is good for the goose. Well, geese."

The others stared at him and his cocky grin. After a moment of silence, Izzy grabbed the list of food and pushed it into Eric's chest. "Fine. Take a gander, you gander."

He rolled his eyes and took the list. "Okay. Potato chips, other salty snacks-"

"Good advice," Kitty said. "The doctor obviously knows what he's talking about."

"Butter, heavy cream, cheese-"

"Gone. Makes a lot of sense."

"Alcoholic beverages-"

At the same time, Kitty and Izzy said, "Oh hell no!"

Kitty and Red's heads snapped over to look at Izzy, who's cheeks were bright red. "I- I mean... yay, health and sobriety!" She paused. "I've never... tasted... an alcoholic beverage before."

Eric gave a snort of laughter.

-

"So it turns out," Eric said, stuffing his face with chips the following day, "that going-away sex is even hotter than makeup sex!"

Donna was going to leave for Madison the very next day, resulting in Eric trying to spend every second with her he could. Except for this moment, when he chose to gloat about his sex life and eat salty snacks.

Hyde nudged Izzy, who was sitting on the ground by his chair. "You sure you don't wanna go to college this year? Then we can try that thing, y'know where you-"

"La la la!" She said, jumping up to hold a hand over his mouth. "Not when Eric's in the room!"

"It's like these chips," he said, ignoring his sister and holding up the chip bag. "They say Now, even crunchier! and you're thinking that oh man, there's no way! But then, you take a bite... and it is crunchy."

Kelso scrunched up his nose. "Dude, if something's crunchy, you should really have that looked at."

"There's no time, my friend! I have a distraught neighbor girl to attend to!" Eric handed Fez the bag and headed over to the basement door, throwing it open. "Dry your eyes baby, the lovin's on it's way!"

When the door closed behind him, Hyde turned to Izzy. "How's that painting comin' along? Last I saw, you were still figuring out the shadows on that tree, but-"

"Steven, I told you. I'm taking a break from that stuff."

Kelso, Jackie, and Fez all turned to Izzy in horror.

"You what?!" Jackie asked.

"You're not." Said Kelso.

Fez's eyes were wide. "You are?!"

Izzy shrugged, sitting back down on the ground and pulling her knees to her chest. "It's not a big deal. I need to focus on getting a job right now-"

"Screw working! Keep doing the pretty things, Izzy," Jackie said. "Like my mom always said, if you do what makes you pretty, you'll never have to work a day in your life."

Kelso paused. "Isn't it, if you do what you love-"

"That's not gonna keep you pretty, Michael!"

"But-"

Jackie waved her hand in his direction. "You know what keeps you pretty? Tanning, makeup, and jewelry. Not... what do you wanna do, Michael? Astronauting?"

Fez shook his head. "I would think that the anti-glavity would help the fine lines and wrinkles."

Jackie scowled. "Do you mean antigravity?"

"No way, man!" Kelso said. "It's moon dust that helps with that."

Hyde sighed and leaned down to Izzy's level. "These morons aren't helping, but I do wanna talk to you about-"

"Shoot, I told my mom I'd clean the kitchen before she got home," said quickly, getting up.

He stared at her, then sighed. "Fine, I'll help you. Then we can talk about the whole art-"

"Ooh, Forwoman, I'll help too!" Kelso said, jumping to his feet.

Izzy laughed. "Thanks, Jughead."

Hyde sunk in his seat, chewing on his thumbnail anxiously.

-

Izzy sat at the kitchen counter, reading the comic that Hyde was holding as he stood behind her stool. His arms were on either side of her and he was leaning down so his chin was resting on her shoulder.

"Okay, the doctor wins." Kitty said, coming into the kitchen and holding a bag full of jingling bottles. "Eric and I boxed up all the liquor!"

Eric set his bag on the counter. "Man, look at this. It's like Dean Martin exploded. Bottles in the liquor cabinet, the dining room hutch... Mom's nightstand."

Kitty looked at the bottle that was in Eric's hand. "Oh, no no. That's for polishing furniture."