Christmas break came faster than ever, and Isaac worried over it. He had no way of going Christmas shopping, unless Jackson took him, and even then, he had no money. He knew Jackson would be getting him something again, and he wanted to be able to return the favour.

Jackson had given him a phone, and he couldn't even afford to buy the guy a candy bar in return.

Of course, Christmas came, just like it always did. Isaac sat in his room, staying out of his father's way as best he could, Christmas was his roughest time. But as hard as he tried, he still managed to mess things up, and he was once again in the basement, being locked in the freezer.

And he thought to himself, 'this time, I'll be okay, I'll be able to stay calm,' but just like every other time, he lost his cool after an expansive five minutes. He started to kick, and claw, and punch his way through, to no avail. He used all of his force, all of his willpower, but he was trapped.

He passed out eventually, and reawakened a few hours later, but it might as well been a few seconds. He tried pushing up again, and the top flew open. He threw himself out, struggling to catch a breath. He lay on the ground for a few minutes, breathing deeply, and trying to gather his wits.

He made his way back upstairs, praying his dad had left. With the coast clear, he made his way back to his bedroom to retrieve his phone. He had three texts from Jackson.

Received from Jackson 9.34:

Happy Christmas! Can u come over today?

Received from Jackson 10.57

Did u get my last text? Come over when u can.

Received from Jackson 1.24

Are u ok? I will come over if u don't reply soon.

Isaac quickly checked the time, it was five to two, he hoped Jackson hadn't come over while his dad was still home. He pulled on some jeans and grabbed his coat before running over to Jackson's.

He knocked on the door, hoping one of Jackson's relatives wouldn't answer. He realised it would have been smart to actually text Jackson back.

To Jackson 2.03

Sorry. I am okay. At your house right now.

The door flew open, and Jackson was standing behind it, wearing shorts and an oversized red Christmas sweater.

"I seriously thought you were dead!" Isaac rolled his eyes.

"Happy Christmas?" Jackson smiled.

"Whatever, come upstairs." He grabbed Isaac's wrist, leading him upstairs. Jackson's touch spread warmth throughout Isaac's whole body, something he couldn't understand. He knew how to get to Jackson's room, he didn't understand why he had to be led there every time he came over.

Jackson sat him down on the bed, and then told him to close his eyes, to which he obliged. Jackson grabbed his hand, to which he slightly jumped. Then he placed a small object on Isaac's palm. Isaac opened his eyes to look at it, he scrunched his eyebrows.

"It's a sim card," Jackson explained. "So you have your own number…my parents are cancelling my old one- the one you're using- so now you have one to keep."

"But…who's paying for it?"

"I am, I have a bank account I linked it to," Jackson shrugged, focusing on an object on the opposite side of the room. Isaac shook his head.

"No way, no, Jackson. I can't let you do that, I don't need a phone, alright?" Isaac tried to give the chip back to Jackson, but he wouldn't accept it.

"No, it's a present, you can't reject it."

"I can't even afford to get you something Jackson, it's not fair!" Isaac was on the verge of tears, he couldn't cry about this. Jackson sat down next to him.

"Isaac, I don't expect anything, alright? Do you think I need anything? I don't want anything, but you need a phone, I need to be able to stay in contact with you, alright? It's just like last time, you don't have to use it for anything other than texting me, but you're taking it." Isaac shook his head, he couldn't accept it, but Jackson was definitely not taking no for an answer.

"I can't ever repay you enough for this, Jackson…" Jackson smiled.

"You don't need to, it's a gift."

"So why isn't your house exploding with relatives this year?" Isaac changed the subject.

"It's not our year to host, it's my aunts, and she's having the party tomorrow," Jackson explained, gritting his teeth.

"Not looking forward to it?"

"I know you love Christmas, but it's literally worse than hell." Isaac smiled, imagining Jackson having to take care of a bunch of screaming kids. "Do you wanna see the tree?" Isaac jumped at that, nodding eagerly.

They walked downstairs together, and into the dining room where the tree sat. Jackson ran to turn on the lights, and it glowed magnificently. Like the previous year, there were many different coloured lights, all complementing each other perfectly. And of course, the angel on top.

Isaac smiled widely, and he noticed Jackson was smiling too, not at the tree, but at him.

"As good as last years?"

"Just as," Isaac replied.

—-

Christmas break sped by, and soon they were back at school. Jackson seemed to be ignoring him more than ever while at school, but he made up for it after. He had forced Isaac to binge watch the first five season of Lost, so he could be up-to-date for the sixth season premiere, so they were literally together every time Jackson didn't have practise.

Isaac didn't care much for the show, he actually didn't understand half of it, but if it meant he was spending everyday with Jackson, he didn't really care. After a while, the fact that being with Jackson made him happy stopped worrying him, because it was normal to like being with someone so much, right?

Isaac also spent a lot more time with Erica, he even ended up getting invited over to her house, which he was completely unsure about. In the end, he agreed.

After school one Friday, he took the bus home to Erica's house. She was slightly nervous the whole time, which made Isaac even more nervous, but he tried not to show it.

After being at Erica's for two hours, Isaac wondered why she was ever okay. Erica was the oldest of five, the other four all being under the age of seven. Her mom, while trying to be cheery for Isaac, had obviously never had time to herself in well over five years. Her dad wasn't there the whole visit, Isaac assumed he was working, and Erica had to constantly leave Isaac to deal with her little siblings.

He was ashamed to say he was glad to get out of there, but he couldn't understand how someone could live in such chaos. Erica's mom drove him home, having to bring all the kids with her, and he thanked her an immense amount of times.

He wanted to go over to Jackson's, and tell him everything, but he decided against it. He couldn't be sure that Jackson may say something to his other friends. Isaac trusted Jackson with his life, but he wasn't sure about trusting him with anyone else's. It was like Jackson only cared about Isaac, and what directly affected Isaac, nothing else.

—

Lacrosse season started, and Isaac was unable to see Jackson a lot after school, but they were still able to meet weekly for the new episodes of Lost. And that was all Isaac really had to look forward to for the spring. He honestly didn't even care about the show, they were six episodes in to the season and he still couldn't figure out what was happening. That may have been due to the fact that half the show he was concentrating on Jackson, but he disregarded that fact. It wasn't like he was trying to stare at the guy, but the way Jackson was so invested in the show, how he reacted to every little thing, and freaked out over one plot twist, it was mesmerising to Isaac.

The days grew warmer, Isaac slowly got taller, and suddenly it was spring break. Isaac was only fourteen, so he didn't assume he would actually be doing anything for spring break, and it's not like his dad would let him.

Erica was the first to ask him, she was going down to the beach with her family and asked Isaac to join; he politely declined the offer.

Jackson was rapidly talking of his plans, he and Danny were also going down to the beach to surf, which Jackson was ecstatic about. Of course he didn't invite Isaac, and Isaac didn't expect him to.

Spring break was boring, which in Isaac's case, was good. Boring meant normal, boring meant nothing exciting happened, but it also meant nothing traumatising happened, and Isaac didn't know how he could cope without Jackson. It was starting to worry Isaac, that he basically relied on Jackson to be there to catch him, but he couldn't cope on his own anymore.

Jackson texted him everyday of the break, not entirely long messages, but just to check up on him. In the past, Isaac would have been annoyed by such gestures, claiming he didn't need help, or to be treated like a baby, but now it just filled him with a strange warmth, something he couldn't quite explain.