Isaac didn’t know what was going on with Liz. Even on a good day he couldn’t explain how her brain worked, making leaps of logic that he’d never be able to comprehend, but even this was too odd for him to make a guess. As far as he knew, everything between them had been going well. Since Italy, there’d been no explosive arguments and hardly any hiccups along the way. They’d managed to make plans for a dinner date. They weren’t in the middle of a fight -- were they? There had to be something that he was missing, because why else would he be on the receiving end of a brutally unexplained silent treatment? Why else would she have bailed on their dinner reservation after specifically making time for it?

He sighed, finally finding himself at Liz’s apartment building. He’d held off for a while, trying to text Liz and even calling once over the last week to find out what was going on, but neither tactic had worked. Isaac had showed up at her place unannounced dozens of times before, but given the circumstances, he felt almost guilty as he took the last few steps up to her floor. He hovered outside her door, waiting a few lingering seconds before he reached out to knock. Isaac simultaneously glanced at his phone, double-checking again to see that he had no unread texts or missed calls from Liz. He hated feeling this clueless.

Isaac didn’t quite know how he’d managed to have such a perfect birthday. Just the fact that they were in Italy alone was enough to make it good without even trying, but only having to do things that he wanted to put it over the top. Isaac had gotten to sleep in and have a lazy morning with Liz -- which was a rare and magnificent occurence on its own -- before they spent time exploring and shopping around the city. And now, finally, they were sitting down to have dinner out, giving the kitchen in their rented villa a break for the night. “Thank you,” Isaac said to the waitress, menu closed and handed over as the woman scurried off to put in their orders, leaving him and Liz with their drinks. He reached out to take his wine glass by the slim stem, shooting Liz a lazy smile. “I’m still trying to decide if we should’ve just started with dessert,” he mused, taking a quick sip. “Since it is a special occasion and all.” And Isaac hadn’t missed a single chance all day to remind her of the fact that it was his birthday.

"I think... that you may have been right.” Isaac hated to say it, but Liz really had been more knowledgeable in this instance -- going straight to the beach from the airport had not been a good plan in the slightest. Taking an uneven step forward on the sand, Isaac tugged down at the sleeves of his sweater, trying to make up for the brisk wind that was rolling in with the waves every so often. “But,” he started to amend, his smile obvious when he glanced back to the blonde. “We’re already here, so might as well enjoy it, right?” He was pretty sure that Liz would argue with him, especially when considering that they’d only been in California for less than an hour and their bags were back in the rental car, but Isaac still held out his hand to her. “Come on.” He wiggled his fingers in an invitation, eyebrows beginning to raise as his gaze turned back to the shoreline. It wasn’t necessarily a picture-perfect day, but the sun was still shining above to compensate for the cool breeze. “I haven’t been to California in years, I don’t wanna miss out.”

Isaac, as usual, didn’t know what he was doing. He was home alone, still half-dressed from a night out with friends, and he was now collapsed back on his bed with one leg dangling over the edge of the mattress. Oh, and yeah -- he was absolutely drunk. If he hadn’t bought everyone so many rounds tonight, he certainly wouldn’t have been blinking up at his phone, squinting against the bright glare in the otherwise dark bedroom while his thumb hovered over one contact in particular. It was a touch past midnight, so calling anyone would be an automatic inconvenience, but calling her... Isaac knew it was a bad decision. There was a voice already warning him of that at the back of his mind (his conscience, maybe?), but his thumb slipped and within a second, his phone was dialing Liz. Liz, who he hadn’t spoke to in at least a month. Liz, who was pregnant -- with their baby. “Fuck...” Isaac sighed, tapping the screen again to put the call on speakerphone. With that, he dropped his cell face-up beside him on the bed, listening as the shrill ringing filled up the empty space around him.