Ethan/Isaac

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When the first full moon of the summer came, Ethan was surprised to receive a call from Isaac asking if he'd come over to hang out. It was a bit of a shock because Isaac almost never took the first step on anything in their relationship. Ethan was always the one who offered and Isaac went along with it. But it was also a shock because he hadn't expected Isaac to want anyone near him who didn't know that he was a werewolf. While Ethan did know, Isaac didn't know that he knew.

Ethan assumed that meant Isaac was in control of himself during the full moon, a fact that made Ethan oddly happy. But he turned Isaac down, as gently as he could, because he wasn't sure if he could stay in control of his bestial urges and hide his scent from Isaac. If he slipped up, it could be very bad for everyone involved. It didn't mean that he didn't feel like an ass when he heard the sadness and disappointment in Isaac's voice.

As soon as he hung up, he knew he had to do something to make it up to Isaac. If it had been any other night, he would've gone along with whatever Isaac had planned for them because it was the first time that Isaac had tried to arrange something. He also knew that there was no small amount of significance to the timing of it, although he sincerely doubted that Isaac was planning on telling him he was a werewolf. It was too soon for that, especially given what he knew about Isaac. He was just grateful that none of his own pack members were nearby during that phone call, explaining his relationship with Isaac would've been … awkward, to put it lightly.

The next day he tried calling Isaac back, but either his phone wasn't with him or Isaac was purposely ignoring him because it just kept ringing. It bothered Ethan to no end because he had no idea what to think about that. His first thought was that Isaac had somehow realized that he wasn't completely human, but he dismissed that thought quickly. Isaac had no reason to suspect that. But Ethan knew he had to find Isaac and talk to him and most likely apologize profusely. Part of him bristled at the thought of apologizing to a beta, he was an alpha after all, but this wasn't about pack dynamics. It was about making his boyfriend happy with him again.

Going to Derek wasn't an option, he honestly wasn't sure as to how well one alpha could hide their scent from another, and he hadn't been introduced to Scott or Stiles or Peter yet, the only other people outside of family that Isaac ever mentioned with any sort of familiarity and feeling, so he knew he'd have to find Isaac on his own. He started by driving his motorcycle over to the building where Isaac lived with Derek Hale and sniffing a bit to find Isaac's scent. Thankfully, it wasn't hard and he set off, stopping every couple of blocks to make sure he was on the right track.

Eventually he realized that Isaac had gone into the woods and parked his motorcycle, hoping he wouldn't forget where he'd parked as he began walking. Getting farther into the woods, he realized that Isaac's sent was hours old. The beta had gone into the woods early in the morning. But before Ethan could begin to seriously worry about where Isaac had gotten to or if Isaac had gone somewhere else already, he caught a strong whiff of Isaac and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Isaac was nearby.

When he finally caught sight of Isaac, the beta was sitting on a large rock and Ethan could just tell from his posture that he was unhappy. And he was surprised to realize that he genuinely felt bad about it. He hadn't canceled a date on Isaac, just let him know that he couldn't go on a date that one time. But he knew about Isaac's past and had heard the emotions in Isaac's voice both while asking him and after he'd turned Isaac down. It was a big deal and Ethan knew it was on him to fix this.

So he very carefully moved toward Isaac, not wanting Isaac to hear him before he got close for fear of Isaac running away from him, but he hadn't gone more than a few steps when Isaac forlornly asked, "What are you doing here, Ethan?"

If he hadn't been feeling guilty already, the pain he saw in Isaac's eyes once he got close would've done him in, as it was he just felt worse, "I came to apologize. For last night."

Isaac shook his head, "Don't."

That had Ethan confused, which didn't go well with the guilt eating away at him, "What? Why not? I know I screwed up and I'm sorry. I heard it in your voice the second I said no. I don't know what I did, but somehow I hurt you. Why else would you be ignoring me every time I call or text?"

Isaac sniffled, but steadfastly kept his gaze forward as Ethan stood next to him, "What exactly am I to you?"

He wasn't sure what had brought that on, but he knew that whatever was going on in Isaac's head was a lot bigger than he'd thought so moved to kneel down in front of Isaac so that they at eye level, "You're my boyfriend and right now you're my boyfriend whose upset at me and honestly you're scaring me a little. What was so bad about turning down one date?"

Isaac looked down at his feet, his next question quieter than the others, "And how long do you see us … together?"

That brought a little bit of clarity for Ethan, although not as much as he would've liked. But it was progress so he'd take what he could get. He knew Isaac hadn't had a large family nor many friends. All he had right now was his pack and the humans that were in the know, not all of whom were close friends of Isaac's.

Ethan reached out and gently put his fingers under Isaac's chin, wanting his boyfriend to see his face as he spoke, "I honestly don't know, its not like I can predict the future. But I can say I'll keep trying to make this work until we agree that we hate each other. I can also say that if this was about me finding an easy place to stick it and moving on, I could've done that without ever talking to you. That's what Aiden likes to do, but not me."

He could see as a glimmer of hope came into Isaac's eyes, but his next words were hard, "You better not be jerking me around."

Ethan shook his head quickly, feeling much more certain what the cause of Isaac's distress was as the conversation continued, "I'm not, I promise. My family's been moving around all my life and I want something … permanent, something that will last."

Isaac let out a long, slow sigh and Ethan got the feeling that he'd said just what Isaac needed to hear. Which was a big relief and, if he was honest with himself, not just because of the desire to get as much information as possible about Derek Hale and his pack. Hoping that he wasn't wrong, Ethan stood up and pulled Isaac to his feet and hugged him tightly. It was another big relief when Isaac's arms came up around him.

After a few seconds, Isaac said, "For someone who isn't interested in sex, you're really physical."

Ethan pulled back just enough so that they could see each other's faces and grinned, "I never said that, just that I'm in for more than the sex. But I can wait. Whenever you're ready, I'm ready. But can I ask what I did to upset you? I know I turned you down for last night, but it wasn't just that."

Isaac looked away, but couldn't hide the slight blush reddening his cheeks as he quietly said, "You'll think I'm being stupid."

"Hey, I wouldn't think that. You're not being stupid, whatever it is."

Isaac let out another sigh before saying, "I was afraid you were going to leave. That you'd find some excuse and leave me like I didn't matter."

The question was coming out of Ethan's mouth before he could think better of it, "Why would you think that?"

Isaac shrugged, still not looking at him, and mumbled, "Everybody does. First my mom, then Camden, then my dad, then Erica and Boyd."

Tentatively, Ethan asked, "Your dad? You still regret him leaving after what he did to you?"

A shake of the head, then, "I meant before. Before my mom and Camden died. He used to be better. It didn't start until they died, then the dad I knew disappeared."

Ethan tried not to dwell on what that must have been like, instead he asked, "And who are Erica and Boyd?"

"They used to be friends, at least I thought they were. Then they ran away together and didn't look back."

"I'm sorry. But at least you've still got a few friends. You've got Scott and Stiles and that guy Derek that took you in after your dad died. And you've got me, as long as you want me."

Isaac finally looked back at him before laying his head on Ethan's shoulder, "Thank you."

Ethan just held Isaac tighter, doing his best to make sure that Isaac couldn't ignore his presence or somehow think he wouldn't be sticking around, but after a few minutes standing there he asked, "You want to catch a movie or something? You know, get your mind off things."

"That sounds great. But can we just stay here for a few more minutes?"

Ethan nodded, "Of course."