LOVELY / LONELY.

               it’s been so long since he last felt like this.     his traitorous heart and his horrendous brain working in cahoots to turn him into a mumbling     ,     love sick teenage boy.     he wants to tell himself to stop being so pathetic     ,     that he needs to pull his shit together     ,     but he doesn’t.     he’s perfectly content to be such a hapless idiot when it comes to scott mccall.     he always is.     he bites his lower lip gently     ,     eyes closing once more.     god     ,     he’s missed him so badly.     it’s like an attack on his senses     :     the relief that scott feels now isaac’s back     ,     the confusion and everything else.     and his scent     ,     it’s driving him insane.     he’d almost forgotten it and he’s incredibly mad at himself for such being such an idiot.     how could he have forgotten that     ?     he looks at him when he speaks     ,     head canting to the side slightly.     “     about france.     “     he mumbles     ,     shaking his head and looking away slightly.     “     nope.     i rarely left the apartment     ,     honestly.     chris was always busy with the family there     ,     i finished school and then i just     --     stayed inside.     then i came back.     “     he mumbles     ,     knuckles brushing lightly against scott’s.     “     what about you     ?     any new     .....     people     ?     “

             “     yeah     ?     “     he questions.     not that he doubts scott will change his mind     ,     because he doesn’t.     but he doubts his hearing     ,     his anxiety attacking him in waves.     it doesn’t knock the smile off of his face     ,     though.     he reaches out tentatively     ,     moving his fingers to fit between scott’s     ,     looking forwards as if he’s embarrassed to look at him.     he’s almost certain he’s blushing     ,     but he’s trying not to pay much attention to that.     he’s trying to focus on how there’s happiness blooming in his chest     :     he wants to remember how that feels.     he hopes this ends differently to all the other times he’s felt this happy.     “     me too.     i mean     ,     i’m fairly sure that was obvious but     ,     me too.     “

                 he raises a brow at scott’s words     ,     pondering exactly what had caused him to say such a thing.     he looks at him     ,     reaching out and running his fingers lightly through scott’s hair     ,     humming softly as he does so.     “     i know.     you’re always there.     “     he mumbles     ,     offering him a small smile.     he supposes scott can smell the anxiety rolling off of him in waves     ,    but he’s been trying to cover it up.     “     you’ll probably be there when i’m old and grey too.     ridiculous.     a sentimental fool     ,     you are.     “

               the look she gives him is nothing short of homicidal.     malia has taken bullets     ,     claws to the stomach     ,     she’s survived car crashes and bear traps and everything any hunter has ever thrown at her.     but she cannot     ,     and refuses     ,     to take this pain like she does that.     she remembers when it had first happened     ,     when she’d been in the middle of maths.     every other wolf in the room had smelled it too and she’d almost died of embarrassment.     thank god for lydia and that bag of crap she carts around with her.     she’s still glaring at him several moments later     ,     as she grits her teeth to speak.     “     my uterus is slowly killing itself and will continue to do so for the next six days.     do not tell me i will be fine.     i’ve already eaten my weight in chocolate     !     “     she frowns     ,     shaking her head as she pouts at him now     ,     flopping down on his bed and putting her head in his lap.     “     play with my hair.     it helps.     please.     “

          he’s very seriously debating whether or not he should take scott up on his offer of a blanket fort.     stiles has always enjoyed blanket forts     ,     he especially enjoys them with scott.     but he is grumpy today     ,     and he definitely doesn’t want to give in far too easily this time.     but god     ,     he’s smiling at him and his eyes look so happy and he’s practically glowing     ,     and he’s so fucking weak.     “     fine     !     jus’ stop looking at me like that.     you’re gonna make me die.     “     he smirks     ,     to show he’s joking     ,     but he isn’t sure he is.     scott’s smile could definitely stop his heart.     he stands     ,     walking over and slipping his fingers through scott’s gently     ,     marvelling at how they fit together so perfectly     ,     like he always does.     “     you got one made already or do i gotta show you how it’s done     ?     “     they don’t call him the blanket fort expert for nothing     ,     you know.

          there’s a small smile on her lips as he compliments her laugh     ,     her head shakes as she reaches out and gives him a light shove on his shoulder.     it’s playful     ,     and a little embarrassed.     “     stop it     ,     i do not.     “     she whines     ,     but the laugh that escapes her is the same as the one before.     she can’t help it     ,     he brings out the best in her.

              he can’t remember how to calm down his heart     ,     he can feel his chest constricting and he’s almost certain that he’s going to have a heart attack.     he swallows the lump in his throat     ,    takes a deep breath through his nose and exhales it through his mouth     ,     parting his lips slightly.     his eyes are closed as he does so     ,     and the way scott’s thumb traces over his vein makes his shoulders sag     ,     as though all the tension in him as been immediately dispersed.     god     ,     he’s missed this.     “     together.     “     he mumbles in response     ,     eyes opening after a moment or so to look at him.     he’s definitely noticed the way scott’s struggling to look anywhere but his lips     ,     and had this been a different time he’d have licked them to gain scott’s attention     :     and also to fluster him a little.     but he’s so close to the edge already and he keeps trying to pull himself back     ,     but he’s teetering     ,     and he can feel himself falling all over again.     “     that’s a good point.     crazy got your scent a long time ago.     “     he chuckles     ,     looking away slightly.     he hums     ,     his fingers twitching     ,     aching to cup scott’s jaw or run through his hair.     “     can you imagine the inhabitants of france just carrying on with their business as we fight monsters in broad daylight like they do here     ?     “     he scoffs     ,     shaking his head a little.     “     no worries     ,     man.     what’re frustratingly attractive pack members for     ?     “     after all this time     ,     he still refers to himself as a member of scott’s pack.     he thinks he could 70 years old and living in a home and he would.

                it’s just     .....     it’s been so long sine he was last this close to him     ,     it’s like he’s lost any ability he had to read scott.     he swallows a little     ,     looking away slightly.     “     ninety two percent is tolerable     ,     i suppose.     “     he mumbles     ,     and he would pout if he weren’t so ridiculously happy.     “     it’s something i guess.     wouldn’t say it’s great.     “     he’s never had this much money and he has no idea what to do with it.     he doesn’t particularly think he’d enjoy a shopping spree with lydia.     he might end up ripping her throat out.     a brow raises as scott speaks     ,     and he finds his breath hitching in his throat     ,     looking away quickly as if not meeting his eyes would hide the way he can feel his heart beating in his throat.     or how it gets faster when scott leans in just a touch     ,    even more so when he touches him again.     “     maybe you should’ve come on vacation to france.     left all the crazy behind.     “     and maybe that’s how he says he missed him     ,     that he’d felt scott’s absence in his day to day life     ,     like it was the only thing that mattered.     “     but hey     ,     “     finally brings his gaze back to his     ,     a smile softer than any he’s worn before     ,     “     i’m here to take on all the crazy with you now.     no need to worry.     “

           a little time isn’t as much as isaac would like.     it would only be a matter of time before the people that’d been chasing him realise that he’d thrown them off.     they’d probably be tracking him again right now.     he tries to take in anything new on the parts of scott he can see     --     before he realises that wolves like them heal and they don’t scar.     part of him wants to reach out and touch him and make sure he’s okay     ,     but the other part of him is conflicted     ,     doesn’t know if scott wants that from him.     he thinks if that were the case     ,     the other wouldn’t be looking so pleased about him being back.     he bites at the inside of his lip     ,     scoffing once again and shaking his head.     “     i don’t want to solve everything with murder.     just     .......     ninety three percent of things.     “     the grin he offers is another one of those reserved for certain people.     he feels hesitant to move away from scott     ,     quite enjoying their close proximity.     he’d almost forgotten how scott smelled of the very sun itself.     “     i’m not wearing anything from the lost and found.     my fathers life insurance money came through while i was in france.     i can buy new clothes.     “

               perhaps he should take scott’s advice and stay here while he goes to see who’s walking around the woods     ,     frustrated that they lost isaac’s tracks.     he’s feeling very jet-lagged.     he shrugs a little at the question     ,     having to resist the urge to force scott to sit down on the couch and tell him absolutely everything he’s missed.     “     we’ve got some time.     “     he affirms     ,     broad shoulders shrugging slightly.     “     oh     ,     sweet.     i mean     --     i’ll still ask her     ,     obviously.     “     he shrugs.     he scoffs     ,     a hand splaying over his chest somewhat dramatically     ,     mouth agape.     “     i don’t need impulse control     ,     mccall.     i’m perfectly able to to keep my impulses to myself.     i just have a habit of following you when you don’t.     remember the mexican food fiasco     ?     “     the one that ended up with derek almost dying and scott being so in his own head he almost bled to death     ?     isaac remembers it very well.     he can feel scott’s reluctance to let go of him and it shakes his bones all the way through.     “     i had a back pack with a few changes of clothes but i dropped it in the preserve.     had to make them think i’d gone elsewhere.     “     he shrugs.     “     please     ,     your shirts wouldn’t fit me.     i’d essentially be wearing a crop top.     “