Chapter 28: "Walking the Wire"

It's been awhile but I'm back, talk about the longest time taken to write a story ever, hope you readers still enjoy it even after all these years. The song is by Imagine Dragons and this is mostly fluff but it will help the story move along, or so I hope. Writer's block is the worst. As always please read, enjoy, and review!

"Do you feel the same when I'm away from you?

Do you know the line that I'd walk for you?

We could turn around or we could give it up

But we'll take what comes, take what comes

Oh the storm is raging against us now

If you're afraid of falling then don't look down

But we took the step oh we took the leap

And we'll take what comes, take what comes"

Running back quietly, both their eyes lit up with yellow supernatural light, Isaac glanced over at Allison, eyes reverting to blue-gray, and frowned slightly with worry. "I can feel you worrying." She broke the silence with a frown of her own, glancing over at him with once again brown eyes and a quick come back. "I'm not." Isaac slowed and Allison slowed with him until they both came to a stop in front of a big old tree several feet ahead. "Can't we talk later? Forests are dangerous at night." She managed with a forced grin and Isaac's eyes flashed back at her bright gold and beautiful. "I think we can scare off most anything that tries to interrupt." He fired back and Allison returned it with an unwitting smile, everything about what Kate had told them had such lasting consequences and they terrified her; terrified them both in fact if his quicker heart beat was anything to go by.

"Then I guess we're talking here." She replied as she sat down on a stump and looked up at him and his big blue-gray eyes that were startled by how easy she'd agreed to his suggestion. She never agreed that easily to anything, she was born stubborn and the two of them butt heads naturally. However, Allison always knew when to take a step back and let him have his way when it was better for all involved. There were times when he did the same, push and pull always to keep the balance; it was the way to make a relationship work. "I guess so." He finally managed with a grin and plopped down loudly beside her and she smiled over at him. "Equals?"

"Always." She fired back and the two laughed for a second before everything got serious and they looked at each other scared to start, scared to speak the words aloud because that made it real. "Rock, paper, scissors?" Isaac offered and Allison grinned back before starting off, "So which skeleton from the closet do we want to bring out first?" He frowned at that and sighed, there were so many to deal with and it was so much weight for them both. "Where can we? It's impossible to find a place to start when there's so much." She reached out a hand and found his in the dark and squeezed it tight. "Let's start with Kate. Why would she warn us if she was planning on killing of us all?" Isaac frowned and cocked his head like a confused puppy, it wasn't an easy question and those never had easy answers. "What if she still wants to protect you?"

It wasn't the worst possibility in the world but Allison didn't like the implications of it; how could you make yourself fight someone who still loves you. The answer was that you cannot. "Not to mention that there's a pack of hired killers out there and they are all after us and our friends and half the town that may not even know what they are yet." She wanted to get out of the subject of Kate, even though they really needed to talk about it she hated it. "I'm sure by now that Lydia has been able to find the second list and we need to protect them. How many have been lost already?" Isaac worried aloud as he further realized that they may not even know why they were being killed and that was somehow worse. Thinking that that was going a little too far down the rabbit hole for this conversation, there was too much to handle and too little time to solve it all by going deep enough.

"And what about Derek? Something's changed in him and I don't think it's healthy. He seems weaker." Allison continued bringing him out of his thoughts and back on topic of at least voicing their issues rather than holding it all in and pent up until explosion. "And do we trust Braedon now that they're together…in whatever way they are?" Leaning into his side, she sighed as she finished and he stayed silent just enjoying the moment and knowing that no one knew the answers, least of all them. Turning his head slightly he kissed her forehead gently and she snuggled into him closer and breathed in his scent in relief that she had him to go through this with. "I think we're coming up with more questions than getting answers." The boy whispered into her dark curls and she felt her skin flush at the feel of his warm breath on her cooler skin. "So maybe talking didn't help?" She snarked back and felt him tense in response before she shifted herself slightly so that they were facing each other. "I'm only kidding Isaac, even if we solved nothing, it's better to get it out in the open." She paused before continuing looking at his worn gray shirt before she steeled her nerves, this was her best friend and her anchor, and met his blue-gray eyes. "It reminded me that I couldn't do this, any of this, without you."

Just like that his lips were on hers and she sighed into the kiss in relief, no matter what happened in the coming weeks she couldn't lose this. He was soft and gentle and loving and strong while simultaneously stubborn, scarred, and righteously angry. But she wasn't perfect either, she too was scarred in her own way, even though he seemed to love every part of her imperfections from her anger and stubbornness to her fear and past failures that hurt him. Pulling away to breathe, she grinned at him and whispered in a soft voice, "I love you." In response, he pressed feather light kisses on her forehead and cheeks and whispered her words back against her skin like a mantra, "I love you. I love you. I love you."

Placing a hand on his cheek, she gently directed him to look at her and as brown met blue-gray she couldn't stop the smile from gracing her lips. "Can we put the skeletons on hold for a little while longer until we get home?" Isaac nodded back and kissed her back with slightly more fire behind it and the fire in her own veins responded by burning hotter for him. Pausing for a second, they leaned their foreheads together and he cupped her cheek gently with a worn pale hand and caressed it with his thumb. "But I'm not ready to leave the woods just yet." Allison agreed nodding with a real smile on her face before the couples' lips crashed back together, hands tangling in respective dark and light curls and eyes closed with pure happiness. A wolf and firebird coming together in their own little ephemeral paradise where, for a moment, they could be blissfully unaware of the danger that was coming.