There's no good way to tell Isaac that his father is representing himself, so Clara sits Isaac down on the couch the next morning, deciding to just rip the band-aid off, give Isaac as much time as possible to adjust to the idea, to prepare for it.
She hates doing it. The look on Isaac's face is riddled with pain, and she doesn't want any part of that, even if it wasn't her intention. She's sick of Isaac being hurt and wounded, she wants to help him get better, but how will that ever happen when every time he takes one step forwards, he gets shoved two steps back?
"How can he do that?" Isaac asks, his voice shaky.
"He has the right to a trial, and he's exercised that, and he has the right to an attorney, as well as the right to waive an attorney in favor of representing himself," she explains, her voice soft, even, hoping that that will help to calm him down.
"But he's just doing it to get to me!" Isaac looks at Clara as though he's begging her to fix this, to do something about it, but there's nothing she can do, and that breaks her heart.
"I know, sweetie, and he's using the law to his advantage one last time, but I met with your lawyer - he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell. Isaac, if you don't testify, he would still be found guilty almost definitely."
"What?" Isaac looks up at her.
"There was evidence - the call from the Whittemore boy, the freezer, a lot of people who would be able to attest to the fact that you showed up to school with bruises and bumps...it's a good case, even without you."
"Yeah, but…" Isaac bites his lip. "Is...is it good enough?"
"There is a very slim chance that, if you don't testify, he could walk," she states.
"And if I do testify?"
"That chance turns into almost nothing."
"Okay." Isaac nods. "Well, I have to. I'm not letting him back into my life to torment me. He can have at me one last time if it means that I'll never have to see him again."
"Are you sure about this?" She asks.
"Yes."
It's going to be hard - it's going to be the hardest thing he's ever done, and he knows that, but he has to do it. It's better this than his father being there, lurking in the shadows, for the rest of his life. Maybe he would be found guilty regardless, but Isaac can't take that risk, and Clara understands that.
"Are you okay?" she asks softly.
"No," Isaac admits, because he knows that lying to her would only drive a wedge, and right now, that's the last thing that they need.
"Is there anything I can do? Are you hungry?" she asks.
He just shakes his head, curling up on the couch, pulling his knees to his chest.
"Do you want me to call Dr. Jacobsen?" she asks. It's a Saturday, but he's made it very clear that, if Isaac needs him, he will come into the office at any time.
Isaac shakes his head again, sniffling, trying not to cry. He's scared, he's terrified, but he's so sick of being weak.
"Do you want me to call Stiles?" she tries again. "He said that he's free all weekend, and that he wants you to call if you want to hang out…Why don't you take him to lunch? On me?" she asks.
Again, Isaac shakes his head, but Clara doesn't give up this time.
"Sweetie, you can't just stay inside and let this build up around you all day. Please, give him a call, or let me call him. I think it's good for you to have a friend around."
Isaac hesitates, but then he nods. Clara is probably right, and he doesn't want to be in the house, bothering her all day. Deep down, he knows that's not what she means, but it's not gotten any easier for him to separate her from his father in certain ways, because he got so used to the abuse and the cruelty. It's better here now, but the adjustment is still difficult.
"Okay." She smiles. "Do you want to call him, or do you want me to?"
"I can." Isaac gets off the couch and moves to go upstairs for his phone, but stops. "Thank you," he says to Clara, who just nods, a gentle smile in place on her face, before he disappears upstairs.
"Go for Stiles!" Stiles picks up on the first ring.
"Um, hi, it's...it's Isaac."
"Hey buddy! I was hoping you'd call!"
Stiles sounds genuinely happy that Isaac is on the other line, and Isaac genuinely does not know what to say to that. This is all so new to him, and it feels a little crazy, but definitely good. It's nice to know he's got people in his corner.
"Um, I...I was wondering if you'd had lunch?"
"It's 10:30, so that would be a negative."
Oh god. It was only 10:30, of course he hadn't had lunch yet. Isaac feels stupid, and debates hanging up, before Stiles speaks again.
"Did you want to have lunch later?"
"Oh! Yeah, okay." Isaac lets out a sigh of relief, because now he doesn't have to ask.
"Great. I'll pick you up in like...an hour? Does that work for you?"
"Yeah, yes." Isaac nods. "Thank you."
"Hey, thank you - I was about to be bored all day."
They hang up, and Isaac showers and changes, trying not to look like the mess he is right now. Clara gives him plenty of money, too much for lunch, really, and tells him to call if he'll be home later than five, and then Stiles is at the door, ready to go.
"So, where do you wanna eat?" Stiles asks as they walk to his Jeep.
"Wherever you want." Isaac isn't really hungry, but since he sort of initiated the lunch thing, he doesn't want to welch out and admit it.
"Okay, well there's that diner on 6th. Cheap, kind of disgusting, but in that really good sort of way?" Stiles asks. "Do you know what I'm talking about? My dad says sometimes I don't make any sense."
"Yeah, sounds good." Isaac only really fully got about half of that, but since he's probably just going to have coffee anyways, the diner is fine with him if it's where Stiles wants to go.
The drive to the diner is pretty quiet, and Isaac feels sort of bad about that, because he invited Stiles - or at least he meant to, he would have, if Stiles hadn't beat him to it, and here he was, not saying anything.
Stiles doesn't seem to mind, though, or at least he's patient. They sit down and order - pancakes for Stiles, and coffee for Isaac, before he finally opens up and says something.
"My dad's representing himself," Isaac whispers, looking down at the table, still having trouble processing that all of this is happening to him. "When I testify, he's going to be able to question me."
"Oh...god, Isaac…" Stiles bites his lip. Yes, he already knew this, but he thinks it's for the best if this one time, he plays like he didn't. "That's...that's really fucked up."
"Yeah."
Isaac sighs, shaking his head, because what else is there to do? He has to testify, and this man has his rights. It's the system working against him, hopefully just in this small way, before it starts working for him, saving him from the monster he grew up with.
"Is there anything I can do?" Stiles asks.
"No." Isaac shakes his head. "I mean, we can't stop it, so…" he trails off when the coffee is delivered, waiting for the waitress to be gone before he finishes. "I just have to let it happen. Being prepared for it is the best that I can do...and hope my lawyer shuts him down quickly if he starts pushing the wrong way."
"He will," Stiles asks. "Mr. Whittemore is a good lawyer, he...his son may be a jackass, but he's good at what he does."
"Jackson saved my life," Isaac whispers.
"What?" Stiles frowns.
"Jackson. He's the one that called the cops on my dad. He lives across the street, he heard a fight, and he did something to stop it. He also said he would testify."
"Huh." Stiles nods, looking sort of surprised by this, but not at all upset. "That's a good turn in character for him. He's still a jackasss, but at least he's a jackass with his heart in the right place."
Isaac cracks a small smile, and Stiles counts that as a victory.
"I'm sorry about this," Isaac mutters.
"About what?" Stiles asks, confused.
"About coming to you every time something disastrous happens to me, it's not fair to you. It's always...because something's wrong, and you're there every time. You don't have to be, you know."
"Oh, I know." Stiles nods. "But...I want to be."
Isaac looks up, perplexed by that.
"Why would you want that?" he asks.
"Because apparently contrary to popular high school belief, being nice to people is actually a good way to make friends, and making friends is, well, good for you. It's healthy. I like having friends. These problems that you're dealing with, they will, maybe very slowly, maybe not, start to get better. You know that, right?"
"I'm hoping," he admits. After the trial it has to get better, right? His father is the root of all of these problems, and when he's gone, he's gone. If everything goes according to plan, that is.
"It will. Isaac...life may not always be good, but it can't always be bad, either, and it seems like you've had more than your fair share of the bad." Stiles smiles at him over the pancakes as he starts to wolf them down.
Isaac just nods, and takes a sip of his coffee, waiting patiently for Stiles to eat, not sure what else he has to say.
He's sneaky, and he gets to the check first, despite Stiles putting up an argument about how it's not fair, since Isaac only had coffee...but coffee and pancakes together, the bill is only about 5 dollars, and Isaac reminds himself to give his aunt her change back.
"Okay, come on." Stiles stands up, throwing down a couple of dollars for the tip before Isaac can stop him.
"I can walk home if you have somewhere to be," Isaac says softly.
"Oh, buddy, we're not going home." Stiles smiles at him, walking to towards the car, and Isaac follows.
"Then where are we going?"
"You're just gonna have to try and trust me, okay?" He opens the car door. "Hope in."
"I…" Isaac bites his lip. "I do trust you, Stiles." And it's true. He does. Stiles hasn't lead him astray yet. He's been there when Isaac needed someone more than he ever has in his life. He doesn't know how it's all going to play out, if Stiles will eventually let him down, but right now, he very much trusts him.
"Good." Stiles smiles, starting the car. "You won't regret it."
He starts driving, and Isaac sinks into the passenger's seat. He's comfortable in this car, he's comfortable with Stiles, and being able to have that sort of comfort outside of the safety of his own room, his own bed, is really nice.
A/N Hey guys! First off, thanks so much for reading this, even though I've been slow about posting, and I'm sorry that it's sort of dragging a little - I'm trying to have Isaac and Stiles bond realistically without, you know, rushing them into anything. This is a VERRRRRRRRRRRRY slow build, and will continue to be so, but for those of you who don't know...I'm a happy ending writer, so hopefully it'll be worth the wait.