Isaac was released from the hospital two days after he woke up.
Scott had been at his side every moment he could. The only reason he left was because Isaac didn't want him to miss school. Scott had a good thing going and Isaac didn't want him to slip up because of him. Melissa came in often enough to check in on him, making sure he was doing ok.
When they got home, Scott took Isaac up the stairs.
"Be careful with him," Melissa said. "He's still healing. He might be a werewolf but that bullet took a lot out of him."
"I'm ok, Mrs. McCall, really." Isaac said with a small smile.
"Isaac," she said. "You're living with us now, you're eating at our table, and you're sleeping under our roof. Call me Melissa." She smiled back at Isaac.
"Thanks," he said. "Melissa." And they turned and continued up the stairs.
They walked into Scott's room and collapsed, backward, on the bed side-by-side.
Scott turned his head to look at Isaac. "Are you sure you're ok?" Scott asked.
Isaac looked at Scott. "Yeah," he said taking Scott's hand. "I am now."
Scott turned and laid his arm over Isaac's chest, getting into a cuddling position. Isaac loved it when he did this. He liked how close they were.
"We're going to be ok, right?" Isaac asked.
Scott lifted his head to look Isaac in the eye.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "We're gonna be alright." He lifted his hand, caressed Isaac's cheek, and gently kissed him. He smiled and returned his head to his chest.
They had lain there quietly for a few minutes when Isaac said, "This thing with the Alphas," Scott lifted his head. "Will they ever leave us alone?"
"Who knows," Scott said and he paused, looking at Isaac's worried expression. "But what I do know is that, if they do come back, we won't be alone in our fight."
Isaac looked away. "I'm….. scared, Scott." Isaac said quietly.
Scott pulled him closer. "I know," he said. "Me too."
"It's just…" Isaac began to say. He felt the tears welling up in his eyes. His voice was small, slightly more than a whisper. "All I've wanted for the longest time was peace. I wanted to be able to live my life without being afraid."
Scott only looked at Isaac in silence, his eyes becoming red as his own tears began to well.
"I thought I finally got that chance when I was turned. That maybe, just maybe, I didn't have to be afraid anymore, that I was a different person. I wasn't that small, defenseless, scared little boy. But it wasn't enough. I couldn't escape it, that fear, that paranoia. I didn't think I'd ever be happy, that I'd ever know how it felt. My father poisoned me against it. " Isaac paused a few moments. And then he looked down at Scott, "And then I met you." He said with a smile. A tear to fell from his eye but his voice was steady. "I look at you sometimes and all I can think is 'How…?'" Another tear fell. "'How can someone so strong and brave and heroic want someone as….'" The words caught in his throat. "'…as broken as me?'"
Scott got up into a sitting position in front of Isaac and took his hands. His face was wet with tears, also. He looked down at their hands, entangled together, and then looked back up at Isaac. "You… are not… broken," he said slowly. "Do you understand me? You are exactly the man you are supposed to be. You are just as brave and just as strong as I am." He tightened his grip on Isaac's hands. "And I'm here to remind you of that. That's why we are meant to be in each other's lives: to make each other stronger. Ok?"
Isaac looked at Scott's face. My beautiful man. He nodded and they embraced in a hug.
"You're not broken," Scott whispered as he held Isaac closer.
They parted and Scott placed his hands on the sides of Isaac's face and looked him in the eye. "Whatever may happen you will always have me."
Isaac smiled a small smile and leaned in and kissed Scott gently on the lips.
Finally, Isaac felt he could be happy. He could feel safe. He could live his life with Scott and not regret a single second. His entire life was leading up to this boy sitting in front of him. Everything that happened, all the abuse he had to endure, all the pain and death and suffering, all of it, lead Isaac to him.
He had no one for so long, so much time alone.
By now the tears had stained Isaac's face and his eyes were stinging red.
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Scott." Isaac said weakly as all the emotions he'd tried to hold back suddenly let loose.
Scott leaned in and laid his forehead on Isaac's. "You'll never have to," he whispered.
They lay back down on the bed.
They stayed that way, together, entangled in each other's embrace and Isaac found himself wishing, and not for the first time, that they could stay like this forever.
He wondered how long he had left with Scott. As long as he'll have me, he thought and drifted off to sleep.