"Is she gone?" Cora asked walking into the main room in the loft where Isaac was currently sitting. He nodded.
"Allison took her home about an hour ago." Cora eyed the clock.
It was midnight now; the meeting had run much later than anybody had imagined. It wasn't even like they managed to solidify anything either. Nobody could decide on a course of action. Cora wanted to go confront the Alpha pack but Derek refused to allow it. Not only would it be putting his only little sister in danger, Derek couldn't imagine a scenario in which the pack would tell them anything about themselves merely through confrontation.
Stiles wanted to go the more practical route. He wanted to look into each member of the Alpha pack's past in hopes that there was some hidden link hidden there that would connect them to Beacon Hills.
Surprisingly for Cora, Allison had actually agreed with her plan to confront them. The girl may look like another priss but Cora was shocked to discover that the real Allison was more of a fighter than a teenage girl. Allison disagreed on one point, however.
Cora's plan was to uncover where the Alphas were staying and surround them, cutting off their link to the world. Eventually they would need supplies and then Derek would confront them and make them tell him what they wanted with him and Beacon Hills. The plan was shaky at best, which Cora could recognize, but it was the best option she saw them having.
Allison may have agreed with the confronting part but she pretty much disagreed with everything else. She wanted to separate them out and do whatever it took to get answers from them. This sprung a debate over how they could possibly get one without alerting the other members of the Alpha pack.
Derek just sat there, refusing to even listen to their ideas. The meeting was finally called off by Derek who began to fear Cora and Allison just going through with their plan without help from anyone else.
"She's tough, right?" Cora asked grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. Isaac considered the question. Lydia was tough sure, but not in an aggressive way. She used her words.
"Yah. She's tough." Isaac said thinking about how easily Lydia got people to do what she wanted and how resilient she was even after her mind was controlled by Peter. Anyone else would be destroyed by what happened to her but she pushed through without acting affected at all. Nobody at school suspected anything was wrong with Lydia Martin other than the occasional broken nail. They couldn't see the cracks that ran through her sanity like those close to her could. "She's very strong."
Cora considered his answer, twirling the bottle cap on the counter. The clock ticked quietly in the background and they could faintly hear Derek snoring from down the hall. Isaac closed his eyes, taking in the peace of the moment.
He tried to remember a time when he felt as safe and comfortable that he did in that moment. It was difficult but he finally found one, buried in the recess of his brain.
It was only a few months before his dad's death. After an unusually calm night Isaac ventured into the kitchen. He had been sent to bed without dinner for getting a B on his English paper, but that was hardly a harsh punishment in his house. His dad had already gone to bed hours before and Isaac was hungry. He was gathering the ingredients to make a turkey sandwich when he heard his dad enter the kitchen. Silently, he walked over to Isaac. He had flinched, he remembered expecting to be punished but instead his dad began to silently make him the sandwich. When it was done, he placed it in front of him and went back to bed without saying a word. Isaac was shaking as he left, but eating that sandwich he remembered the silence in the house and the calm that had set over him.
Cora watched him with a small smile on her face. He looked so peaceful, much more than he normally did. "I don't think I agree with you." She said breaking the silence.
"Hm?" Isaac mumbled opening his eyes to find Cora staring at him.
"I don't think Lydia is strong." Isaac frowned but said nothing. "She certainly doesn't seem to care about these people. Taking a nap throughout the meeting and all." Cora considered out loud, gauging Isaac's reaction.
Nothing more than a tightening of the jaw and in his eyes was there to indicate that he cared at all about Cora's opinion of Lydia. "She's just in a bad place right now." Isaac protested, coming to Lydia's defense.
"Yah, because that boy left her." Cora responded sharply. Isaac quickly stood up from his seat at the counter. Once standing, he didn't know what he was expecting to do. "A boy leaves a girl and she gets to mope for what, a month maybe? Then she has to return to her regular life and get the hell over it." Cora said roughly, crossing her arms.
"You don't understand." Isaac interjected, raising his voice as he got more annoyed.
"That she got her heart broken? I understand that perfectly, thank you very much." She said, her eyes burning.
"It comes down to a lot more than that." He said with an edge to his voice.
"Oh, I'm sure it does. I'm sure they're soul mates. That he was the love of her life." She mocked. Cora couldn't understand how he could be getting this worked up. She had been through so much worse. She lost her whole goddamn family in a fire and he thought that Lydia getting dumped by her stupid boyfriend was tragic?
Isaac stepped forward, his eyes blazing. He had this intense need to defend Lydia. She had been through so much worse than a broken heart. Her head had been tampered with and she had spent months thinking that she was crazy or something. She never deserved that. Peter never should have gotten her involved. But Isaac couldn't explain all that to Cora. It wasn't his place, and this wasn't the time.
"Just stop." He warned her, giving her a glare.
"Oh I don't think I will." She smiled at him, confusing Isaac. They had just been fighting and now she was smiling as if this was all some game? He stepped back from her but she only stepped forward again.
"Wha- what are you doing?" He questioned slowly.
"Nothing." She said smiling again.
Derek's door creaked open down the hall and Cora quickly jumped back. Isaac just stared at her in confusion, completely dumbfounded by the change in the conversation. Derek appeared into the room, glaring in the harsh light above the counter.
"What are you two doing up?" He asked suspiciously walking to the fridge to grab water. They both just shrugged. Derek sighed, shaking his head and leaving with the water bottle.
Isaac relaxed when he heard Derek's door close. He didn't know why he was acting like he did something wrong. He was merely talking to Cora. Derek's beautiful little sister who lived right down the hall from him.
Isaac knew that Derek was suspicious of them. He was protective of his little sister and would never want Isaac to go anywhere near him. Isaac never thought of Cora in that way. Yes, she was pretty but she couldn't begin to compare to Lydia. Plus, Cora wouldn't think of him that way. Although, she had been standing awfully close to him when Derek came out of his room. Isaac shook his head of the thoughts and looked over to Cora who was chewing gently on her bottom lip.
"Night." Isaac mumbled, quickly getting out of the room before he could say anything stupid or focus on her lips too much. He shouldn't be thinking of her like that.
X
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Cora shouted at the insistent knocking on their door. It was ten in the morning and she had just gotten back from her morning run. Isaac stumbled sleepily out of his room having been awoken by the pounding on the door. He was still in his pajamas as he eyed Cora.
In a sports bra and spandex pants it was obvious that she had been up for quite some time. How, Isaac had no idea. He was still exhausted and they had gone to bed at about the same time. Sweat was pouring down her body as she yanked open the door.
"Oh. It's you." Cora said unhappily as she was greeted by the face of Lydia Martin. Cora just flat out didn't like the girl. She was too prissy, too unhelpful. Cora didn't understand Lydia's merit to the group. Sure, she was supposedly a super genius or something but so far the only thing she had done was sleep.
"Yep." Lydia answered, popping the p obnoxiously as she looked around the apartment with a grimace on her face. As she spotted Isaac standing toward the hallway her face lost its grimace but didn't exactly turn into a smile either.
"Isaac." She called out to him unnecessarily as he had already seen her. She pushed past Cora into the apartment to make her way towards Isaac.
Cora rolled her eyes as Lydia pushed past her. "I'm going out for a run." She announced before Lydia reached Isaac.
Isaac looked at Cora with confusion. "Didn't you just go on one?"
"I'm going on another." She said sharply and stalked out of the apartment, slamming the door shut.
"What's her problem?" Lydia asked standing before Isaac. He shrugged, his mind more focused on what Lydia was doing here than why Cora needed to go on two runs. She looked around the apartment awkwardly.
"Derek here?" She asked adjusting the purse on her shoulder as she looked back at him.
"No, he's out with Ms. Blake." Lydia's eyebrows rose as she considered this information but made no comment about it. "So, uh, what's up?" Isaac asked, looking down at her.
"I just wanted to apologize for what I did to you last night." Lydia began. Isaac shot her a confused look but said nothing. "I mean…" She faltered at his look. "You, um, obviously have way more things to be broken up about and well," She looked away from his intense stare, trying to formulate the correct words to use.
"Lydia, don't be ridiculous." Isaac said quietly, cutting her off. "Obviously yes, I have been through more intense things in my life. But that does not mean that people around me need to feel ashamed about being crushed by something in their life. My dad died. I am still trying to get over it. But I cannot even imagine how it is dealing with knowing that Jackson is still alive and running around London." Lydia winced. "I'm sorry!" He said quickly, shutting his mouth.
"No, no, don't be. You're right." She sucked a breath in and paused before continuing. "But it would be a million times worse if he were dead. I know it sounds so awful, such a stupid typical girl thing to do but now at least I can imagine that one day…" She trailed off ashamed of her thoughts.
Isaac wanted to shake her, to tell her that what Jackson had done to her was awful and he didn't deserve her thoughts of a happy ending. Instead he gave her a small sad smile. She saw his smile, but more than that she saw what was behind it.
"Yes, he was awful and he was controlling and all that but Isaac, there are times that people never got to see. When he was caring and gentle and just loving and perfect." She whispered the last word, closing her eyes, holding onto it even as it escaped her lips. As if saying the words would make the good memories more tangible and the bad memories float away.
"Lydia," Isaac began, waiting for her to open her eyes past the images of Jackson which were undoubtedly going through her mind. He wanted to look into her eyes when he talked to her. Her beautiful, captivating eyes. The ones that made him second guess everything he said because he wanted to use the right words and make her light up with happiness or laughter. When she didn't open them immediately, he repeated her name.
"Lydia," More in a whisper this time to lull her out of whatever place she had disappeared into. She slowly opened them, her eyes shining from either tears that had yet to fall, or memories that still stayed trapped behind them. "You deserve so much more than that." Isaac began, speaking earnestly and looking directly into her eyes. "You deserve somebody that is willing to love you wholeheartedly so that you never have to deal with an awful side. You shouldn't have to explain to others how somebody loves you; they should be able to see it every time that you are with him. Every time that he looks at you, you should feel loved and cherished and wanted. Anyone that doesn't make you feel that way isn't worth a second glance."
The water escaped her eyes then, travelling down her cheeks. Isaac instinctively reached out and stroked her cheeks, taking the moisture away with his motion. She closed her eyes again, leaning into his touch as he marveled at the softness of her cheek beneath his hands. Her hands reached up to rest over his and her head got heavier in his hands as she rested it in his hands. She just felt so safe. He didn't even second guess himself when he wanted to pull her into his arms. He just did it. And she came willingly, pressed against his chest as she buried her face in his chest.
"I'm just so lonely without him." She mumbled against him. Isaac said nothing, only pulling her closer to him. Lydia was comforted by his arms around her. She listened to his steady heartbeat and pushed back the tears in her eyes. She had come here to apologize for losing herself in front of him and had only managed to do it again. "I'm sorry." She said pushing back. He let her go reluctantly.
"Don't be. I like holding you." He admitted it shyly, looking away from her as he said it. She smiled a real smile then.
"Thank you." She whispered and Isaac knew that she didn't expect an answer. "I'm gonna go now." She said still smiling as she made her way to the door.
"Bye, Lydia." He said still smiling at her.
"See you, Isaac." She said smiling as she left him alone in the apartment; a smile still plastered on his face as he thought of her in his arms.