Yesterday Isaac had spent most of his lunch break in Professor Hale's office so he'd opted for a quick energy bar and a coffee to go but today he had the time for a real lunch break.

Together with Scott and Allison, he went to that little coffee shop a bit off the campus. It was frequented by students and teachers alike but usually, it was not that crowded and since they were a bit late for the lunch rush, Isaac was optimistic that they would be able to enjoy their break in peace. If he managed to not vomit at the sappiness Scott and Allison were emitting whenever they were together. In Scott's case, he was dripping with sappiness even when he was not with Allison so Isaac had become kind of immune to it by now.

They didn't have classes together, Scott was taking the biological route that would hopefully lead him to become a veterinarian one day and Allison was more into digital art even if she wasn't sure what to do with it in the end, but they had enough other stuff to talk about.

Scott was just talking about a movie trailer he'd seen the other day when somebody came into the coffee shop. Isaac had the door right in his line of view so he did notice the man coming in.

"You have to be kidding me." Isaac sat down his sandwich in disbelief and for a long second, he openly stared at the man.

"What?" Scott stopped with his gushing over the movie and had a confused look around.

"That's the guy." Isaac pointed not too openly at the man. When he'd come in, the man had scanned the room but thankfully he'd glossed over Isaac. Even if they had looked right at each other the other day, Isaac hoped that he would not recognize him. The man had been kind of busy back then. But there was no way that Isaac would ever forget that face.

"Who?" Scott asked.

"The guy from the club," Isaac explained. "The one Stilinski got it on with in the restroom."

That got Scott's attention and Allison had a curious look at the guy as well.

Looked as if the man had found the person he'd been looking for because he turned his back on them and made his way over to a booth in the back of the room.

"Is that …?" Allison leaned to the side to have a better look at him. When he sat down, he was somewhat facing their direction again and they had a good view of his face.

"That's Peter Hale," Allison blurted out, suddenly pale.

"Who?" Scott asked while Isaac repeated: "Hale?"

As if he'd heard his name, the man already sitting in the booth turned his head enough for Isaac to recognize him. Professor Hale. He greeted the other man with a warm smile.

"And that's …" Allison gasped. "Oh my god."

"You mean Professor Hale?" Isaac looked between her and the two men who by now had settled into the booth and were mostly out of sight.

"Derek Hale is your Professor Hale?" Allison asked in clear disbelief but before Isaac could confirm that yes, that was his professor for astrophysics, she gathered her things and was already halfway out of her chair. "I gotta go."

"What?" Scott asked but she just waved him off and hurried towards the door, her sandwich still mostly untouched on her plate.

"Allison!" With that Scott followed her, leaving Isaac alone at the table.

"Guys?" Isaac called after them but they both seemed to have completely forgotten about him. He was tempted to go after Allison himself but he figured that Scott was better suited to calm her down. Besides, he'd paid good money for his lunch, he would not abandon it just like that.

Eating his sandwich Isaac kept an eye on the two Hales. He could only see the face of the one Allison had called Peter but he had some interesting expressions going on. Isaac would have loved to hear what they were talking about but they were too far away. So he just watched them out of the corner of his eye while his mind was racing.

Allison knew both of them and Isaac had some questions for her but for now, he was stuck on the fact that they both went by the name Hale. They were close in age, a few years apart at most, so they were not father and son. They could be related in other ways, sure, but Isaac had too many first-hand experiences where a gay couple had been pegged for anything but a gay couple he kept his mind open. Professor Hale was married, that was a fact. Maybe Isaac had made the same mistake by picturing him with a wife.

When it became clear that Scott and Allison weren't coming back, Isaac finished their food as well.

The men were still talking but that Peter guy looked way more relaxed now than in the beginning. They looked comfortable with each other.

"So how does Stilinski fit in?" Isaac wondered. He had seen him with this Peter guy at the club and he had been flirting with Professor Hale, those were facts.

By the time Isaac had to leave for his next class, the two men were still nursing their coffees seemingly without a care in the world. Isaac threw them one last glance but then he had other things to think about.

He got drowned in homework and there were two assignments due next week so after class, Isaac went straight home and threw himself into work. He only took a break when Scott came home later that evening.

"How's Allison?" He asked to which Scott just shrugged.

"Dunno, man." Scott dropped onto his bed. "She wouldn't tell who that guy was or how she knew him. Just told me to drop it. And to tell you to leave Professor Hale alone."

Chewing on his pencil Isaac thought about it.

"She looked as if she'd seen a ghost," he finally said.

"Yeah," Scott made. "Whatever this is about, it got to her." Scott could be an insensitive bloke with the observing skills of a brick wall but he was a good emotional support puppy. If Allison hadn't opened up to him it had to be bad.

"Do you think …" Some very dark thoughts crept into his mind. "Dunno … something happened to her?"

Scott blinked at him, not getting what he was implying, however, with nothing else than a bad feeling, Isaac didn't want to start any rumors. Most likely his mind was just running wild.

"Nothing." Isaac turned his chair to get back to his work. However, he had trouble focusing. In his mind, he was fiddling with the pieces he had but no matter how he twisted and turned them, they didn't fit. Allison's reaction did add some pretty dark colors to them, though. He'd wanted to ask her about the Hales but now he didn't think it was a good idea to ever bring up the professor or that other guy around her ever again.

He wouldn't solve the mystery tonight, Isaac knew that, but he couldn't put it out of his mind.

The next day he barely made it to his first class on time and even after his third coffee, he didn't feel awake by noon. At least it was Friday, the weekend couldn't arrive fast enough.

Found this online, Danny texted him over lunch followed by a link. Damn, these things are expensive

When Isaac tapped the link it took him to a used telescope for sale.

Did I get you that bad? Isaac wrote back to Danny but he was looking at the telescope with interest. It wasn't a toy, this was higher quality but that meant it came with a higher price as well.

Alone I wouldn't even know where to start, Danny answered, revealing that yes, he had gotten it bad. Besides, I don't have the money for even a used one

Isaac took the moment for a quick research and it turned out that one, this was a pretty good telescope and two, it was a darn good price. Still too expensive for a college student.

You think there's a hatch? Isaac asked. This sounds too good to be true

We could check it out

Are you suggesting buying it together? Isaac asked because it sounded a lot like that was exactly what Danny had in mind.

We could at least have a look at it

Half the price was still a lot of money but who was he kidding? Isaac was already sold on the idea. So later that afternoon, he sat in Danny's car, searching for the address the guy from the ad had given them.

"I'm moving and I have to get rid of some stuff fast." Was the guy's explanation when Isaac asked him why he was giving away his telescope this cheap. "And let's be honest, nobody in New York wants a telescope."

They managed to hassle him down another ten bucks and then Danny and Isaac left as proud co-owners of one telescope. Isaac's face hurt from all the grinning.

"We should give it a test drive over the weekend." Danny was just as eager as him.

"Already checking the weather forecast," Isaac said, nose in his phone. The other day had been fun. Only when he'd been out there, showing Danny the wonders of the night sky, he'd realized how much he'd missed it. Giving back the borrowed telescope had almost hurt but now he had one for himself. Half of one. He could work with that.

Today it had been mostly cloudy but according to the app, they might get lucky tomorrow night.

Since it had been Danny's find, he was the one who got to take the baby home. Isaac couldn't help but remind him to be careful with it. The first two times Danny promised to be careful, after that he just glared at Isaac. Getting the hint, Isaac shut up but he only breathed easier when not much later Danny sent him a picture of the box with the telescope sitting safely under his bed.

You should do something about the dust bunnies, Isaac commented on the picture.

Fuck you

"Why so happy?" Scott asked from his desk.

"Danny and I just bought a telescope," Isaac said, still all giddy over their impulse buy. He'd spent money he didn't have to spare but it did feel good.

"Why?" Scott asked. "Another assignment?"

"No, this is just for fun."

Scott frowned at him, not getting it. Maybe he should drag him out with them tomorrow but this was something between him and Danny. At least the first time out with their very own telescope. Once the novelty had worn off they might be open to other people tagging along but not just yet.

So Isaac just waved him off and with a shrug, Scott returned to his work.

On Saturday Isaac kept an eye on the weather app. It was cloudy but there were sunny periods. Those periods got longer over the day so Isaac was optimistic.

Since he intended to stay up all night and would most likely sleep most of Sunday, he gathered all the adult energy he had and did the reasonable thing and spent the day catching up with his work. He even finished one of his assignments early which was a new one.

Danny picked him up in the evening and drove them over to the park they had used the last time. They should look into better places, maybe even make that weekend trip they had been daydreaming about, but for now, this was good enough.

"Maybe you'll get extra points for this from Professor Hale," Danny said when they set up camp in the same spot again. So far they hadn't stepped into dog poo or cut themselves on broken beer bottles so this had become their stargazing spot.

Isaac had managed to not think about the professor and all that the whole day but now he couldn't help but wonder.

"Maybe my gaydar is broken," he said, maybe Danny could help him at least with this one. "But Professor Hale … I know he's married but do you think it's a guy or a woman?"