PRAY FOR ME.

isaiah lets out a sigh of relief, for some reason feeling at ease now that lana wasn’t circling him like an animal.  “  this.  ”  he reveals the key he’s been keeping from her, dangling it like a toy.  “  ness and eli must be tamed this year. you know how overboard they get. it’s kind of annoying.  ”  but in a good way. still, an intervention was definitely needed and isaiah wanted to be the main man in charge of it.  “  not sure what i’m going to do yet, but if you’re willing to help then i’m sure we can come up with something.  ”

“   of course he does,  ”  the lie slips out so fast ––– you can tell he’s so not telling the truth.  “  he sent me in here to get it, actually.  ”  isiaah answers normally, clearing his throat and shifting his posture so that his back is straightened.   “   you know how him and ness get with the whole halloween thing.  ”  he says this in a tone that could swing the conversation one of two ways:  either lana agrees that the key should NOT be giving to the two youngest members of the team  OR  she’s gong to take it from him and narc. he thinks he knows lana well enough to where she’d go with the first scenario but . . . does anyone really know her?   “  what are you doing in here, cruz?  the only times i’ve seen you in here is when daniel forces you to watch over us. and we both know he’s not here today, so . . .   ”   he flips the question on her, raising an eyebrow.

isaiah makes it to the room where beyond the grave is filmed, looking both ways down the hallway before opening the door slowly and peering inside to make sure it was vacant. it was. he enters quietly, switching the light on before rummaging through the room. tomorrow is september first, which means nessa and eli were going to begin with their halloween havoc amongst the group. isaiah doesn’t have a problem with this, per say, but he knows that this time of year is usually very sensitive to the group and those two lovebirds have a tendency of going overboard with the holiday. he remembers seeing eli with the key to the basement  ( i.e, the place that stored all of their decorations )  earlier in the day; so it’s no surprise when he sees it laying on the center table.  “  bingo.  ”  a quiet victory as he scoops it up and shoves it in his pocket, making the turn to leave. however, he jumps back in surprise and lets out a very manly and not squeal-y scream as he sees his friend standing in front of him.  “  jesus–– how and when did you sneak in here. i didn’t even hear the door open.  ”  

he rolls his eyes playfully at her,  “  i don’t have time to decorate. not when i’m too busy carrying the lacrosse team and the mysterybusters.  ”  isaiah only jokes on the latter–– he knows daniel is more than competent to carry the entire team on his shoulders. a very admirable trait, he understands why julian couldn’t fill the role.  “  and to think you were just a really good booty call.  ”  he smirks slyly as he places another kiss on her cheek.

“  how many things could a girl possibly need?  ”  isaiah says with a huff, setting down the last box that contained ashley’s belongings.  “  seriously, how much do you have in here?  ”  he smiles at her, obviously not bothered by how many things she had. he was just happy that they were finally moving in together. really, he had never expected for him and ash to last this long since all they did was fool around when they first started seeing each other. now, he can’t imagine his life without her. walking over to where she was, he wraps his arms around her and places a kiss on her forehead then one on her cheek.  “  can’t believe this is happening, babe.  ”  /  @ashcohens

isaiah is taken back by the sudden hug, yet takes no time to react.  “  zachary prescott? in the flesh? how you been, dude?  ”  his own question is drowned out by zach’s, and he nods his head.  “  yeah, she’s somewhere around here. you know ash, social butterfly.  ”  he smiles at the mention of his girlfriend, subconsciously peeking over zach’s shoulder to see if he could spot that familiar blonde. he doesn’t. returning his attention to his friend, his expression turns more serious,  “  what’s up with you?  haven’t heard from your ass since you walked out on us.  ”

“  then why are you still here? i mean, you’re smart–– you could be doing anything you want and yet...  ”  he vaguely gestures around the office,  “  but hey, we’ve been doing this for so long that anything else just feels weird.  ”

he raises his hands, almost as if saying c’mon dude, really?  “  maxwell money is worth a lot. just ask blair.  ”  he smiles before snorting,  “  right, they sound like zach. he could live off of pb & j’s if he could. you think you could babysit him too?  ”  he eats the pastry in his hand, surprised at how good it was.  “  so are you trying to get all of this cleared out before naomi gets home? speaking of, where is she? i swear, i never see her actually taking care of her kids.  ”  he doesn’t realize how bad those words sound until it’s too late,  “  not that there’s anything wrong, i’m just–– yeah. no offense to her. or you.  ”

“  sometimes you are, yeah.  ”  he replies nonchalantly, taking another bite of the food before leaning against the counter,  “  look, man. we would have paid you good. are you telling me you’re that big of an emo that you hate money? lame.  ”  isaiah can clearly see that living with naomi was having it’s effects on micah, and he raises his hands up in a defense manner.  “  chill out, man. relax. i’ll take some off your hands. quick question though, do these kids even like––  ”  he picks up an odd colored pastry,  “  whatever this is?  ”

“  sounds about right. wait until she hears about this. not that’d she care, but with lana, you never know.  ”  she manages to get a real laugh out of him at the mention of daniel and his inability to be mean. yet somehow, he still managed to be a better leader than julian was.  “  you have a point, if that’s the case then half of us shouldn’t have been here in the first place. daniel’s way too good to us.  ”

isaiah’s greeting gets interrupted by micah and his overdramatic words  (  which he almost doesn’t catch because the toddlers immediately catch his attention.  )   “   traffic, i don’t know ?   ”  he replies with a shrug, following behind the other until they reach the kitchen and the sight makes isaiah’s eyes widen.   “   dude, you did all this ?   ”   he can’t help but laugh, walking around and eyeing everything he’s made.   “   not gonna lie, i’m impressed. you were holding out on us this entire time? we should have you make shit for all the parties we threw. ”  he picks at one of the smaller food items, popping it into his mouth.

“  way to go, kim. did you get any bidders for lana, though?  ”  he asks with a teasing smile, taking in her hungover state. isaiah has to admit that kimberly has definitely changed  (  or,  finally shown who she really was  )  in these last few months.  at this point, he doesn’t really care for it, deciding to start on a clean slate with everyone. he still didn’t trust her, though.   “   if i were you i would have just stayed home. what is dan gonna do? fire you? you’ve seen too much.   ”

isaiah lets out a sigh at the news, already knowing that this conversation was heading down a bad road. he knew the nature of eli and zach’s relationship; and more often then not he was stuck in the middle. it was never easy being friends with both of them.  “  what happened? did it get physical?  ”  isaiah asks, almost praying that it hadn’t. he was slowly trying to befriend elijah again and he did not need a setback like this to ruin the little progress he’s made. besides, zach swears he’s changed from being the asshole jock he was a few years ago.

“  aye, man.  ”  isaiah greets as he enters he and zach’s apartment; setting his lacrosse gear on the kitchen table. he walks over to where his friend was, plopping down on the couch next to him.  “  practice fuckin’ sucked today. i’m tired as hell.  ”  complaining, he kicks his feet up onto the coffee table and pulls out his phone to mindlessly scroll before sighing loudly and turning to look over at zach,  “  how’s your day been goin’? hopefully better than mine.  ”  /  @zprescott