Isaac Lahey

Even in his darkest moments, Isaac rose like the brightest star. The unfortunate thread that unraveled the solid path beneath his feet never soured his vision. He lead with his heart; all ill will and malice washed from his skin with the glamorous golden hue of the rising sun. God, or whomever was up there, knew that he deserved a second chance. 

Yellowed eyes or not. 

Allison leaned forward, her callused fingertips gently brushed over his beautiful eyes. She never believed that they were the gateway to the soul; yet in the brisk twilight she swore she could see him to the very core. “Isaac Lahey,” her voice timid but sure. “You are not the monster they believe you to be. You are good.  Golden eyes couldn’t tell me otherwise nor should they tell you.” Allison sucked in a breath. “You’re not safe here. Not with me,” her fingers lingered along his jaw before falling back to the curve of her knee. 

“I’m not good and nothing’s ever going to change that.” 

He closed his eyes and allowed himself to r e s t as her fingers traced his eyes gingerly, leaning into her touch as if he had yearned for it for days. And he had as they had shared such a small space and yet the distance was so massive and growing by the day almost. One again he was grateful for his heightened hearing as her words were sure but very soft. He had longed to hear these very words from her, that she didn’t see him as the monster that she once did, but the following words of warning quickly ruined it.

His eyes snapped opened once she warned him he wasn’t safe with her, his clear blue eyes studying her quizzically. He seized her hand once it was free on her lap, holding onto it in case she suddenly decided to leave. “What are you talking about? Where is this coming from Allison?”

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There was something about the bursts of colored flashes from the firework and the closeness of their skin that felt magical. Allison firmed stopped believing in fate and fairytales. All the twisted creatures that plagued the little prince and princess were real and there was no happy ending at the end of the strife. All that was left after the carnage was death and darkness. Yet, here she was feeling like she’d been touched by some potent fairy dust. The hours that spanned between his reentry into her life backfilled the voids in her with rekindled hope. In the same breath, her defense worked feveriously to stomp out the flames. She wished selfishly that she could wrap up in him and fade into the sunset.

“It’s a big may. I don’t be in definite anything except my aim.” Allison released a humorless chuckle.  Her training had completed at the mid of the year. An unending arsenal of trades coiled into the grooves of her marksmanship. It was the only sure fire thing in her life. “Because you’re good, Isaac.” Allison placed her mug on the sill to allow her hands to hang limp in her lap. 

“A fresh start is something you’ve been owed. Some of us aren’t as lucky or deserving and that’s okay.”

Isaac turned his gaze back towards the sky as a couple dazzling fireworks lit up the sky consecutively, his blue eyes flickering golden with each reflective flash. Everything seemed a little more fascinating ever since he got back - the subtle rise of the sun that warmed the earth each morning, the cool crisp breeze that brought goose bumps to his skin, the slightest contact from her that warmed him all over...

“I come back from the dead and you suddenly think so highly of me? Allison, I have these eyes for a reason.” he reminded her quietly, blinking a couple of times to readjust his sight before looking back over to her.

Allison wondered when it all shifted. When had she morphed into slayer of the innocent. Darkness crowded over her shoulders to consume the light that cast off the people she cared about. It’s why she moved so far from those who tethered her to brighter side of things. The shattered pieces of her former self splintered deeper into her armor, hardening the new warrior that stepped into her shoes. Yet, beneath the obsidian sky with him in tow, she felt more and more like the curious girl who just wanted to be strong and go to prom. She watched him from beneath her lashes, stealing lingering glances before peering back out into the darkness. 

“2019 may be a good one,” she mumbled with an overarching sense of doubt. Allison knew bad things were rising but tonight she wanted to forgo the thoughts that harkened back to her mission in life. Blood soaked her fingers; stains that forever would mark her. “I’m looking forward to starting fresh, I guess. Although, in this town, no one starts fresh but maybe we can pretend for a little while.” Allison pulled her feet in closer, opening the space for him to sit beside her to enjoy the view.

He thought things had changed. He thought they had moved past their differences but maybe he had something in his sleep? Or she had caught the reflection of his eyes? She just seemed closed off, not as she had been before, but there still seemed to be something keeping her from him and he couldn’t pinpoint it. He kept his eyes on the sparkling night sky but he was aware of her stolen glances, his skin prickling as he tried not to notice. It was growing more difficult not to just kiss her then and there.

“May be a good one?” Isaac repeated, finally turning his gaze back to her as she moved over to make room for him. He did his best to fit his tall frame into the space without overcrowding her. “I dunno about that. I think I’ve gotten a chance to start fresh,” he grinned.

Distance.

 A numerical concept that mapped the radial space between two objects. Allison grew to adapt to the spatial distance between her and the rest of the world. Emotions and their implications offered the sweetest incentive for her to hold everyone at arm’s length. That included Isaac; no matter how deeply her heart yearned for the walls to dissipate. Although, she comfortably accepted the silence between them, so long as she could see him alive. Protecting him from the outside forces that wished to bring nothing but harm to him was enough to sate the huntress’s desire for closeness. 

There were moments that Allison craved to peel back the film of her apprehension and wrap her arms around him. To remember the sweeping feeling that rushed her that night in the club. His lips were a gateway to the imagined garden of Eden. Hope was a dangerous thing for a women like her. Too much time spent dreaming meant there were spaces for the world to erode her what was left of her faith. Allison peeled her gaze from the window, taking in the man who stood before her. Isaac stood there like some perfectly chiseled Adonis. It was like he wasn’t real. No flaws and a kind heart; that wasn’t normal. 

A shiver ran down her spine at the pass of his fingers that lingered as he reached for her mug. Her other hand curled around his wrist to still him. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m finished with it anyway,” her gaze wandered down to his lips before meeting his eyes curiously. “So, are you ready for the new year?” Allison squeezed gently before curling her fingers around the mug. 

His intention of a short and simple exchange was quickly dissolved by her hand on his wrist that brought his tall frame to a halt. He’d be the first to admit that the smallest touch from her had so much control over him - more than it probably should but the boy couldn’t help it. Strange to think how far they had come from knives and claws to gentle brushes and soft words. His fingers dropped from the cup as she reassured him she didn’t need anything and he exchanged a warm smile as he gingerly withdrew his hand back and folded his arms across his chest.

The distant popping of fireworks slipped beneath the static skip of the record player. Allison perched on the windowsill, the once piping hot tea sat lukewarm and placid at the bottom of her mug, watching the colors explode vibrantly along the indigo horizon. The days since his return bled into weeks and the two fell into a comfortable routine. Skating dangerously around the white elephant in the room; the obvious connection bore from fated attraction. She chewed on her bottom lip in thought. The last couple of nights were filled with low rumblings of the new year and the incoming darkness. 

The guild didn’t forfeit any real details about the groups that filtered in slowly but their energy spoke to their dismay. Caution and low whispers peppered her skin with the skating terror and light sheen of her self depreciation.  Was she ready to plunge into her destiny whilst flirting with the other side? Isaac’s life had been used as leverage once before. There was a fair chance that getting mixed up with an Argent would put him back on the chopping block.  Allison’s knees tucked closer to her body, fighting the tension that built with each careless pop. Tonight was for celebration to the year’s end. 

Thank god it’s over. 

Happily, she’d send the remnants of this year off with the last bits of the old her.

@isaac–lahey

It wasn’t that Isaac wasn’t grateful to be back, don’t get him wrong, being alive and safe was a great improvement to how his luck had been going. His color had returned quickly and he was already back to hid old self, before the Harvest and all. But when Allison had invited him in not so long ago and the kiss they had shared, not only then but at the club many months ago, he figured...well he didn’t think it was going to be like it had been when he had been living with Bonnie. Sparse exchanges here and there but nothing too personally shared. And the d i s t a n c e. He longed to close spaces between them, whether it be a couple inches or five feet apart, but was it his place?

He didn’t think he imagined the sparks between them all this time, the tension, but maybe...? Regardless, he loved being around her and he didn’t want to do anything that would disrupt it - they even shared the bedroom unless one of them fell asleep on the bed. Nothing except sleeping of course. He waited a moment, watching her silhouette in the window for a moment before walking over to her.

Her heart beat wildly at the t u g g i n g need that ebbed from him. Isaac didn’t ask much from anyone; all that the man needed was for someone to support him. Allison wished that she had been able to better at supporting the people she loved before they fled from her. Served the wicked huntress right. Cruelty wouldn’t change the scars nor would it dull the pain that rattled up in her chest. Allison was just a collection of marred scars and doubt. Yet, in this light, she felt redeemable. His forgiveness for her transgressions were enough to clip her shackles. 

Allison looked down at his outstretched fingers that lingered on her skin; like an anchor. She breathed out the prickling tension of fear and accepted the tenderness of his request. “Yeah of course,” she perched on the edge of the bed. She cradled his hand in her own two. Even after their trek through the bitter tundra, he still managed to retain his warmth. “I know it’ll hard to believe but I am glad you came back to me, Isaac. This place hasn’t been the same without you.” I haven’t been. Her thumb passed lazily over his knuckles. 

For a moment he was worried she would pull away. That she was helping him just because she felt sorry for him, not because there was any true feelings there. He didn’t want handouts and he didn’t want sympathy. Honestly he just wanted her - he had since the night in the night club when she had trusted him to back her up when she needed someone most.

The crimson blush settled on her cheeks at his admission. Allison didn’t really have any confirmation that her forbidden feelings for him were reciprocated. They were hot blooded teenagers tangled up in the tragedies of their fate and the burden of choice. There wasn’t much downtime between each horrible event; it was hard to miss the innocence of true connection. “You’re right partly. Just like you didn’t have a choice in my assertiveness, I didn’t have a choice in your charm.” Allison allowed one single glimpse at the crack he’d created in her air tight defense. He’d seen the ugly pieces of her and didn’t turn away in disgust. Isaac didn’t leave her for her violence or lack of faith. 

For that, she was grateful. 

“No. The couch isn’t as comfortable as it is stylish. You will be sleeping in my bed while I work on some stuff.” Allison had a paper due and knives to be sharpened. Her gaze lingered on his features, taking in the sleeplessness that lied there. Despite being “dead”, it must have been one hell of a fight to regain control of his body. Allison guided him to the lavender colored duvet, laying him back into the pillows. 

“You’re safe here, Isaac. I won’t let anything happen to you.” 

He liked that he could still make her blush after all this time. Isaac couldn’t help but grin at her admitting she actually liked his charm - she couldn’t act annoyed all the time now because now he knew the truth. There was already so much about her that attracted him but when she allowed him to see these vulnerable pieces, he just wanted to be around her more because those pieces were rare and even more beautiful.

“What you find bossy is really me being assertive.” Allison countered. The smile tugged at the corner of her lips naturally. She couldn’t recall the last time she didn’t have to f a k e it for an audience. “And last time I checked, you liked it when I bossed you around.” It amazed her deeply how the two could be estranged for so long but fall comfortably back into step with one another. The thoughts of her father’s discovery of Isaac survival fleeted to the back of her mind. She didn’t care what happened next so long as he wasn’t in the line of fire. Allison wasn’t a little girl anymore. She didn’t anyone to shelter her. These days, it seemed more like the universe needed to find someone to shelter the world from her. A raging eye of a storm that had been years in the making. 

A shiver ran down her spine at the tantalizing feeling of his breath on her neck. His lips just barely grazed the cuff of her ear and she felt like she had been set ablaze. Every nerve ending firing all at the same time; completely out of sync with the unwavering sense of control that guided her. “Good,” suddenly her throat went dry at the implications of his words. Allison gently guided him into her apartment, dropping her bag at the foot of the door, kicking it closed with the heel of her boot. 

“My room isn’t far from here,” her palm rested over his chest for a lingering moment before falling back to his side. Allison was determined to protect him; she had failed once before. “Are you hungry?” 

Isaac laughed, a very tired but real sound that seemed to take his whole body to accomplish it or else it wouldn’t make it past his lips. “I don’t think I ever had a choice to your “assertiveness” but that’s true, it’s what I like about you.” They had butt heads quite a bit before but he always summed it up to the fact they both felt something neither could act on in the moment because he trusted her to guide him on whichever plan she had within in reason - it was just fun to give her a bit of a hard time to make it fun.

He shuffled inside, taking the tidy and well put together place she called home. Not too much clutter or extra things. His eyes closed momentarily as she placed a hand on his chest, breathing deeply and relishing her touch. “I think I just need sleep. I can take the couch if you prefer...”

“I’m glad that your dirt nap didn’t rattle your rationale. This wasn’t a plan up for debate. I just thought it would be polite to give that false sense of choice.” Allison j u s t got him back; she wasn’t going to leave him out to be devoured by the wolves–no pun intended. Despite her unfurling suspicion, she focused on restoring Isaac back to his former glory; or at least some semblance of the clumsily cocky dope. “Yes and no. It’s not like they could tell me who I can and can’t sleep with but it’s the fact that you were dead. It’s more complex than they’ll see and they’ll run to him. I don’t think you want him burst in and hold a knife to your throat, right?” 

Allison mostly feared that he’d find out about her nightly activities. It was far harder to walk away from the hunt. She held Isaac steady, her body pinned his against the jam of the door to counter his weight. Allison plucked the key from his palm to insert it into the first lock. “And you should wipe that smug look for your face. Secrets aren’t sexy…sometimes.” Breathing in the comfort his company, she nudged the door open with her toe. 

“Ready?” 

“Well it’s good to know that our time apart hasn’t quelled your bossiness.” he replied back with a playful grin as he leaned back against the door frame to make sure he wasn’t in her way. The grin faded into a troubled frown as he considered the scenario of meeting her father in such a manner, not that he was great with parents to begin with but with Mr. Argent being a hunter and him staying with his daughter and he was a werewolf....he didn’t like his odds at a good first impression.

He took a deep breath of the familiar scent of her shampoo as she unlocked the door, letting it ease his concerns and wash away any stress building up in his body. “I’ll be your secret any day,” he teased in her ear before nodding for her to lead the way into her apartment. That bed was sounding nicer and nicer by the second.

Allison rolled at his immediate departure from her grasp. In the grand scheme of things, she was lucky to have someone so tender with her callused being. Isaac deserved someone less broken. Even less jaded than the huntress who could no longer see the pointed light dancing along the horizon. “Fine. I’ll make sure you use it enough to the point that you can never use it again.” She slipped back beside him, hooking his arm around her shoulders once the steel doors of the elevator pulled together. 

She grimaced at the thought of Kol parading around the city being the little man slut that he was. “Yeah. I was going to be late anyway when I found you. I can get more done here and you can sleep in my room. I’ll work from the kitchen.” Allison pressed her key into his hand to hold once they reached her floor. “My neighbors shouldn’t be home so this won’t work its way back to my father. The only condition of my independence was that one of his hunter buddies lived on the same floor to keep an eye on me. Not that I need it but so it goes.” 

Isaac gratefully took her support once inside the elevator, because while he didn’t want to weigh her down he also couldn’t hold himself up much longer. Seemed that being a host to multiple souls had put a great deal of strain on his body. “If you’re sure, then I won’t fight it. Might sleep better knowing you’re just in the other room.”

Curling his fingers around the key, his blue eyes flickered to her to make sure she was certain. “Ah, so you need to keep me secret, is that what you’re telling me?”

“I know, I know.” Allison still couldn’t believe that it was him who inhabited this body. The last time she stood face to face with him, the interloper stared down the end of an arrow. Her affection for Isaac blurred the line between her duty and the bottom line. Kai swindled his way out of a death sentence and rose a blade to her throat. All things considered, it was easier to forget about everything that followed after the harvest. “You can’t use that part of you as a cop out but I’ll let it slide today.” Her heart fluttered at his words but was soured by the impending return to reality.

Allison fished her keys from her pocket while buzzing up to whomever would graciously grant them access into the lobby. “Well it’s good to know the crypt hasn’t killed your libido.” She couldn’t say the last six months had been easy. Detaching herself from the rest of world was the best and worst decision. Sleepless nights and meaningless sex didn’t fill the void that hollowed her out. 

 “Seven months today. We’ll take the elevator because my shoulder is going numb.” She muttered with a faux smirk. “Class can wait.”

As soon as she mentioned her shoulder hurting, he shrugged himself out of her grip and moved to use the wall and the inside of the elevator once it opened up on their floor. He didn’t want to weigh her down with any of his problems, physically or otherwise. “Well remind me to use that excuse as much as possible today then, make it count.” He knew the whole werewolf subject was always a touchy subject between the two of them, so he wasn’t how to address it going forward, but he seemed to be able to get away with quite a bit today due to the whole coming back from the dead trait.

“Pretty sure it all still works, though I can’t speak for what was done while the other was, well, me.” It was odd talking about himself when he wasn’t himself, but it seemed to fit how things functioned in this town. “Oh you have class...are you sure? I will probably just sleep anyway, I don’t want to hold you up.”