Sorry that it has been sooooooo long! I've been super busy with academics and balancing a social life with adequate sleep. But here's the next chapter! Features the song "Fix You" by: Coldplay.
Chapter 17: "Fix You"
"When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you"
When she opened her eyes, there was Melissa walking in the doorway without a worried looking Isaac on her heels. "Let's take a look at your leg, okay Allison?" Shaking her head, the girl tried to sit up but fell back as pain shot through her left leg causing her fall back against the lumpy, paper covered pillow with a sigh. "Where's Isaac?" The nurse glanced behind her with a sigh before turning her attention to Allison's leg and not looking the teen in the eye as she replied, "I sent him to check on Liam and Scott." From her tone, it sounded more like Isaac had gone without her permission to ensure that Scott really had taken care of Liam like he'd promised. When trust was broken, it was hard to put back together again especially for folks like Isaac who had to work hard twice as hard as most to trust at all. That was part of the reason that she had been so surprised at how quickly he had forgiven her when she had lost control and burned him. In hindsight, she supposed it probably had something to do with the difference between infatuation and love. Infatuated couples, like she and Scott had been, couldn't accept the flaws that the other had but someone who loved another person, truly loved them, and accepted them despite the flaws. "I'm going to give you a countdown and then I'm going to set your leg again, okay?" Allison turned and gave her a slight look for interrupting her thoughts before the statement sunk in and she grabbed onto something as she mentally prepared herself.
"Where are they?" Isaac's roar mixed with her yelp and Melissa glared at him as he entered and Allison grabbed her leg in pain. "DAMMIT MELISSA!" She screeched sounding a bit like a bird and at a pitch only a few decibels lower than her banshee friend's usual volume. Rubbing his ears in pain, Isaac looked at them both with barely repressed anger visible in his tightened jaw and the worry crease that would appear between his eyebrows whenever he was stressed. "They're not there Melissa, where are they? Where would he take him?" The nurse looked confused and concerned but she busied her hands; life's problems were always easier to deal with when one had a task to do. Splinting Allison's leg, she wrapped the bandage tightly and got her a walking boot before turning to Isaac and looking at him, really looking at him. He saw the worry crease that appeared between her brows just like his and the wrinkles that stood out in her exhaustion and worry for both her boys. "When I left them he was carrying him downstairs and I told him to put him in that room. I have no idea where he's gone, Isaac, or what's gotten into him. Please find him." Turning to the girl lying in the bed as her leg healed back together supernaturally fast, Melissa spoke directly to her as she finished with, "If you're going to go with him, like I know you will, at least wear this walking boot for the next few hours. That was a bad break, okay?"
Within five minutes flat, the walking boot wearing Allison was hobbling alongside the tall teenage boy and refusing any attempts of his to help her. It seemed to be that when he was trying to help her, he was distracted from his anger so Allison let him continue to offer every so often until he had helped her into the car and was in the driver's seat. By then, the anger was obvious in his every movement and on his features. "You have gotten very good at compartmentalizing haven't you?" The teen wolf glanced over at her and his glare disappeared momentarily to reveal a slight smile before he refocused on the road and his eyes hardened again. "I've had some great teachers." He paused as his eyes flashed yellow and he clenched the steering wheel so tightly, with his completely human hands, that his knuckles turned white. "It doesn't make the anger go away though." She sighed, he was, as per usual, completely right and she wasn't sure what to say as she focused on the dark road in front of them. "No, only focusing on it does that. To let it go, you have to admit to having it." Isaac nodded and sighed as his features relaxed for the first time since getting in the vehicle. He didn't need to respond for her to know that he understood, he was trying his best to let it go but it had always been hard for him. Without thinking about it, the boy drove on autopilot to Scott's house in time to catch sight of Liam running out the door, hurt leg no longer an issue, and straight into the parked car.
Opening the passenger door, Liam dove into the backseat right past her. "Drive, they're freaking insane!" He yelled narrowly missing kicking her in the face, Isaac and Allison looked at each other and then back at the house where they could see Scott and Isaac grabbing each other's feet and carrying on like a bunch of idiots thinking they'd caught the freshman. "I'm on it!" Isaac replied as Allison slammed the door closed and the older teen boy stepped on the gas and sped off down the street. "Where do you live Liam?" Allison asked twisting around to look at him and he gave them both a funny look as the cogs of his brain seemed to whir back into gear. "Are you like Scott?" The teen wolf and the teen huang looked at each other knowing exactly what he meant by the question. Pulling the car over, Isaac twisted around and allowed his wolf half to come forward for just a moment and that was all it took to make his eyes flash yellow, cause his teeth to be bared with a predatorial point to them, and his claws to extend momentarily. Relaxing again, Liam stared at him slack-jawed before looking over at Allison in time to see her eyes flash orange to red as she allowed a flame to dance carefully across her finger tips. "Yeah we may be like him in this sense," She began as her eyes went back to their normal hue and she allowed the flame to snuff out as she looked at him fully, "But Isaac and I are different too." Isaac interrupted her here to continue with his voice taking on an angry edge, "We don't bite people and we control it."
At first the teen looked terrified at the supernatural change that had warped the older teen's features momentarily, but after a bit he relaxed and sighed. "Will that happen to me too?" Allison looked over at Isaac; the teen boy obviously knew more about the werewolf transition than she did. "We'll have to wait to find out I suppose." He replied cryptically as he turned the car back on and pulled back onto the main road. "Now, where do you live again?" Giving him the address mechanically, Isaac started to drive there calmly until he felt Allison's glare and turned to look at her as she jerked her head in Liam's direction. Sighing, Isaac glanced back at the boy's reflection in the rearview mirror and took in his dejected sagging form as he starred out the window with his icy blue eyes swimming. "Whatever happens, we'll be with you every step of the way. I'm not going to lie to you, it will be hard and for awhile you're going to hate Scott. Everything is going to change soon though and you need to prepare for that no matter what." Liam looked up at Isaac and forced a smile, apparently the older teen's blunt honesty had worked better than Scott's usual coddling or Stiles sarcasm. The rest of the drive passed in silence until they pulled up in front of Liam's house and the boy got out. Turning back, he winced as he asked, "What do I tell my dad? My leg is better now and I don't know how to explain that away." Putting the car in park, Allison glanced over at her boyfriend as he stepped out and looped an arm around Liam's shoulders. "I'll explain, okay? The healing is a side effect."
Watching them walk off, Allison was struck by how in a matter of hours, Isaac had gone from an older boy from the lacrosse team to an almost uncle-like figure for the freshman beside him. It made her smile at how far Isaac had come and it simultaneously made her wonder when he had gotten to be such a solid rock. Tuning into the conversation, she heard his familiar deep voice greeting Liam's mother, "Good evening ma'am, just dropping off Liam here." Her panicked response reminded Allison of Melissa and how she was with both Scott and Isaac and even Stiles on some level. "I thought that he was at the hospital with his step-father!" Liam opened his mouth to explain but stopped as Isaac spoke up instead and Allison giggled to herself as her boyfriend allowed his dramatic side to take over. "There was a bit of a confrontation with one of the patients and everyone got called over to handle that. Since his ankle had already been wrapped up tight, we figured that it would be best to get him one home. He's had a few strong pain meds so don't mind anything he says." The freshman glared at the older boy for the last part but he nodded along anyhow and she heard his mother pull him inside after thanking Isaac profusely. Shoving his hands in his pockets as the older teen walked back over to the car, Allison grinned as he smiled at his boots at the idea of a job well done.
As he slipped into the driver's seat, Allison grinned over at him causing him to look confused as to the reason. "What?" He asked as he put the key in the ignition and she shrugged before replying, "Come on cool, Uncle Isaac. Let's go home." Grumbling at the idea of being like the cool young uncle, like Peter had been for Derek before he went into a psychopathic killing spree, Isaac put the car in drive and headed down the road with a small frown on his face as he finally ran out of distractions and thought about Scott and the fact that he was going to have to face his Alpha eventually. "Don't, we'll deal with that tomorrow." Allison decided for him as she practically read his thoughts and he startled at her perceptiveness. "You were getting angry again." She added as she grabbed his free hand tightly in hers as they drove in silence and he decided that she was right. It wasn't like he could fix it until tomorrow anyhow so he boxed it away like Argent had taught him and focused instead on her cool skin and the rough bandage that he could feel starting just before her wrist. "How's the arm?" He asked as he glanced over at her and she sighed as she gently pulled her hand away and tugged at the bandage worriedly. "Can we wait to look at it until we get back to our appartment?" It wasn't actually just theirs, in fact it wasn't really his, but Argent wasn't home and Isaac spent just as much time there as he did at the McCall's so "our" wasn't really so far off.
Climbing out of the car with a grunt of effort when they finally got home, Allison hobbled towards the elevator while Isaac grabbed their respective bags and caught up with her within a few strides. "Damn your long legs." She cursed as she glared down at the boot and Isaac smirked as he fired back quickly, "It's not the only long thing I've got." Groaning as if she was in physical pain at how bad that line was, Allison smacked his shoulder lightly before pressing the up button on the elevator. Deciding that two could play that game, she leaned in close as she prepared to stand on her tiptoes to be eye level with the boy but, having forgotten that she was in the restrictive boot, instead fell forward into his arms. "Easy now Firebird." Leaning back and snorting in annoyance with herself, Allison rolled her eyes at the new nickname and flipped her hair dramatically as she stepped into the elevator that opened at the perfect moment while Isaac shook his head at her Lydia-like antics. "Alright future Oscar nominee, let's go double check on those injuries of yours so that we can get some sleep so I can deal with Scott in the morning." Leaving that one be, after all she already knew where he was going with the rant, she stood quietly as the elevator moved and Isaac steamed beside her.
"I thought that you were going to let it go." She finally grumbled when she couldn't take the anger stench, his accelerated heart rate, or his brooding silence any longer. Glancing over at her, he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in his normal stressed out way. "It's just one thing after another it seems and Scott, Scott just…" He trailed off and Allison let his words settle as he gathered his thoughts and tried to form them into words. "I don't like not trusting him." The huang nodded as she grabbed his free hand and interlocked their fingers together in an effort to ground him. "I know. I'm sorry. We'll figure it out, we always do." Isaac's hands still clenched into fists as he forced out a bark of a laugh and she sighed as he gritted through his teeth, "I still can't compartmentalize, I don't know how." Leaning back against the elevator wall, Allison was unsure what to say. Obviously he couldn't compartmentalize but was that necessarily a bad thing? She and her father had always compartmentalized all their emotions and where had that gotten them? For months he couldn't look at her without uncontrollable pity in his eyes and she couldn't stand to be around him. If it wasn't for the crises that they had faced over the past months, they probably wouldn't have gotten along again after all. "Maybe that's for the best."
Looking at her aghast, he started to stammer excuses about how it was necessary to be a good hunter and she just shushed him with a chaste kiss. Pulling away, she continued, "Hiding emotions like that just leads to more hurt. We can't just box everything up and pretend that it isn't a problem. Channel it, okay?" He shuffled his feet at that one as the elevator door opened and he grabbed their stuff and went inside in a perplexed silence. Following behind him with a slight hobble from the boot, Allison entered the appartment and headed straight for her bathroom in anticipation at the prospect of removing the troublesome boot and bandage. "How do I channel it?" Isaac continued as he trailed behind her and dropped their school bags off in route. Glancing behind her, she stopped walking so suddenly that he walked into her and spent the next few moments apologizing over and over. "Do something with it. Don't just be angry with Scott; use that anger to fix the problem." Was all it took to quiet his mumbling and caused him to look more bemused than ever as he looked around the room with his gray-blue eyes wide as he struggled to think this through. Before he could ask how, she was already gone and sitting on the edge of the shower tugging at the Velcro straps on her walking boot. "How do I do that?" The huntress gave him a pointed look as she glared down at her boot and added, "Later Wolfey, my healed leg is not going to release itself from this thing." She had a point he realized and he stepped forward and knelt down in front of her with a slight chuckle as he helped her undo the straps and release the pressure so that she could remove her functional leg and stretch it once the rest of the tight bandage had been cut off.
Stretching out her leg and sighing in absolute relief as her ankle popped before she grinned at him and added. "Now for the bite marks from hell." Smiling at her, his anger forgotten, he reached for her arm and tugged at the bandage as he tried to undo the knot that he had tied hours before. "Forget Catholic school boy, are you sure you weren't a boy scout at some point?" It was such a Stiles-like sarcastic response that it made Isaac blink at her in confusion like a bewildered owl before he chuckled deeply. Kissing her cheek lightly as he continued to laugh, Isaac stood up to snatch the scissors from the First Aid kit in the medicine cabinet a few feet away. Bending back down to her level, he snipped the gauze wrap away to reveal the bites that had scabbed over and were no longer painful to the touch like they had been before. "Supernatural bites are a bitch to heal." Allison decided aloud before yawning and stretching and standing up on her two, now, functional legs. "Get ready for bed, okay? I'll be in there in a moment." Nodding, she bent down to his level and kissed him lightly on the lips before heading into her bedroom and opening and closing a few drawers before her bedsprings creaked as she fell backwards onto it with a sigh of relief. Within five minutes, her breathing had slowed and regulated as she fell asleep and Isaac allowed himself to smile at that briefly before his thoughts wandered back to the problem he now faced. Leaning back against the cold tile, he sighed and ran a hand through his curly hair as he brainstormed how it was possible to put that kind of broken trust back together. "How? How do I fix it?" He wondered aloud and was answered only by silence, his girlfriend's steady breathing and his own pounding heart rate reverberating in his ears. "How?"
Hope you enjoyed that! I make no promises about upload dates or times because I will not make promises I can't keep. As always, read, enjoy, and review!
