"Can I ask you something?" Danny asks.

It's a few days since Isaac took a day off, and right now, he and Danny are sitting at Danny's kitchen table, taking a study break, and eating scrambled eggs for dinner.

"Um, yeah, sure." Isaac nods.

"Okay, so just a few months ago, you got into trouble for beating Ethan up. Twice. And now you guys are, what, friends?"

"Uh…" Okay, Isaac is really not sure how to combat that, and it's definitely one of those times when he wishes Danny were less intelligent…or at least that he were less observant. "It's more like we tolerate each other. Aiden is sort of with Lydia, and the twins are friends with Scott and Allison, so…"

"Why did you go for him initially?" Danny asks, and that's another thing that Isaac was just sort of hoping magically wouldn't come up.

"I…I was sort of in a bad place then, and I…" Isaac sighs, raking his hand through his curls. "I was angry a lot, and he was just good at pushing my buttons in the exact right way."

This is a tricky situation because he doesn't want to speak ill of Ethan, and he can't tell the truth, so he does his best. He dislikes that that means talking, even slightly, about personal stuff; Isaac likes keeping things bottled up, and he's a master of it, but he likes even less than it means having to lie to Danny. He's not sure when that got to be such a big deal to him, but it is.

Danny looks at Isaac as though there's a question on the tip of his tongue, but he's not saying anything, and Isaac isn't sure what to do. He isn't the sort to just start talking, to volunteer information, but he's pretty sure that right now, Danny is holding back on asking because he wants to have tact, because that's the kind of guy Danny is.

Isaac knows that there are rumors about him, he knows that there are whispers in the halls. He's heard so many versions of the truth about his life and his family, some that are shockingly close to accurate, for how little information was released to the public, and some that are so far-fetched that even Isaac, being a fucking werewolf, doesn't see how people could believe him.

"He's not a bad guy, Ethan," Isaac decides to go with. "He just…I don't know, he was also in a bad place, and pushing my buttons came easily to him, and my reactions were too strong, and I know that now – hell, I knew it then, but it was just hard to keep back."

"I know he's not a bad guy." Danny nods. "He's not a good liar, but he always seemed well meaning, even when he was lying to me. It's strange."

"Yeah, I guess I haven't spent that much time thinking about him." Isaac shrugs, but that's not entirely true. Lately, he's been thinking about Ethan a lot, why Ethan and Danny broke up. It was because Ethan couldn't tell him the truth, and that just tore them apart. He's worried that the same thing is going to happen with him, with his friendship with Danny, and that's upsetting to him, because he really, really doesn't want to lose this.

"You alright?" Danny asks, biting his lip as he looks at him.

"What? Yeah, I was just thinking." He shrugs. "We should get back to studying."

"Okay." Danny starts to clear his dishes, but hesitates, and looks back over at Isaac. "Look, Isaac, if there's ever anything that you want to talk about, anything that you want to get off your chest, or anything that you just want to talk about, I'm here for you. I'm a good listener, and I'm good at keeping people's secrets, if that's what they need. Whether it's about that bad place you were in, or a low school grade, anything at all. I know you've got Scott, but sometimes a second pair of ears helps."

For a moment, Isaac is completely dumbfounded. He's not used to people making that kind of offer to him, hell, he's not used to people being good to him at all, but his life is changing now. He has Scott, he has Melissa, he has Danny, and everything is starting to shape up. Sure, danger still feels like it's lurking around every corner, but at least he's not alone anymore.

"Thanks, Danny."

A slow smile curls on Isaac's lips as he gets up to take his own plate to the sink. The smile stays in place as he rinses the dish, and puts it in the dishwasher. Danny follows suit, and they stand there, cleaning up the kitchen in perfect silence, and there's something just…pleasant about it.

They go back up to Danny's room and get back to work as though this is normal, and what's so great about it is that it's become normal – this is how they are now, and Isaac likes it. It's calming, it's regular, and it's comfortable. For Danny, he needs this. He needs something to take his mind off of Maia, and he knows that if he were here, studying alone, he'd be driving himself crazy trying not to think about her, but with Isaac right there, it's easier. If it starts to come up, he knows that there's another person right there that he can turn to.

About 45 minutes into studying, Isaac closes his book and looks up over at Danny.

"That violent streak, I don't…I don't have that anymore, I mean, it's not…it's not like that. Not anymore." Isaac takes a deep breath, because he feels like he owes Danny more of an explanation than he's given him.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Isaac," Danny says gently, setting his book down, giving the other teen his full attention.

"I know that I don't have to, and maybe that's sort of why I want to?" Isaac shrugs. "I don't even know if that makes sense, but I…you're my friend, and I want you to feel safe around me. I'm not explosive like that, not anymore. That time in my life…I'd just been let off the hook for my father's murder, I mean…that wasn't easy, and with everything else-"

"Isaac." Danny reaches out, putting a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "Isaac, really. I'm not afraid that you're going to lash out at me, I'm not afraid you're going to hit me, okay? I feel safe around you, okay?" Danny squeezes Isaac's shoulder gently, and Isaac doesn't really know how to react to that. How the fuck is it that Danny seems to know exactly what to say all of the god damned time?

"I…you do?" Isaac bites his lip. It's not that he plans on hurting Danny, it's just after what Danny asked at dinner, Isaac is worried that that's how Danny sees him, as violent and hot headed.

"Yeah, Isaac…" Danny looks at him right in the eyes, and Isaac thinks it's the first time he's really paid attention to Danny's eyes.

They're deep, and brown, and it's like looking into two never ending coffee cups. He keeps that thought to himself, though, because he's pretty sure that nothing could make this moment more awkward, or weird, or ruin it better than Isaac mentioning how great Danny's eyes are. Especially when he's never really thought about anyone's eyes before.

"I trust you."

Those words snap Isaac back to reality, and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. He nods his thanks, and goes back to his book, trying not to look at Danny, because all that he can think about now is how Danny trusts him.

And how he's been lying to him since they met.

A/N: Thanks for your patience, it's been a busy few days, and it's going to be a busy week this week, too, so I apologize if the updates aren't as frequent! Please don't be mad! Thanks for reading!