Isaac stayed with Allison until Scott came home and took over. He didn't know why one of his girlfriends needed comfort but Scott was a comforter by nature so he had one look at Allison and went into full mother-hen mode.
Isaac extracted himself from the situation before Scott could put him on tea-making duty.
He tried to get some work done in the library but couldn't stop glancing around in case the guy he'd seen at Professor Hale's office was still around but he didn't spot a familiar face. Not even Peter, Isaac counted that as a win.
When it was time to meet Professor Hale in the parking lot, Isaac was almost glad that he could pack up and leave. He would feel more at ease at the professor's place.
Hale was quiet over the ride and seemed lost in thoughts but asked if Allison was okay.
"She's a bit rattled," Isaac said. "Her boyfriend is taking care of her. He doesn't know what all this is about but he's a giant puppy, he doesn't care. He just wants her to feel better. But she wants to come with us this weekend."
Hale nodded to that, not surprised. Allison must have told him earlier.
"Are you okay with that?" Isaac dared to ask. It was probably not his place to ask but the professor looked torn.
"Seeing her brought back some memories," the professor admitted. "But she's not her aunt. It's okay."
Isaac didn't try to pry more and retreated to the guest room to give the professor some space. He still felt like an intruder but going back to the dorms wasn't an option. Not yet. Especially since he'd seen that guy from the club earlier today. Isaac was still not sure if it had been the same guy but he wasn't taking any chances. He just wondered if the professor had told his husband about that. He might have forgotten about it so Isaac made a mental note to mention it to Professor Stilinski once he got home.
When it was time to start dinner, Professor Hale knocked at his door and asked if Isaac wanted to help with the preparations.
The first few minutes were awkward but they had a trip to plan. The most important topic was the weather and they spent most of the time discussing if that weather front heading their way would miss them.
"Even with some clouds we should get at least a few hours with a good view," Isaac commented on what he was seeing on the weather app on his phone. "And the clouds are a big if. We might get lucky and get a clear sky the whole weekend."
"We'll see." Professor Hale didn't seem to be that worried but it was his spot, he probably was familiar with the local weather conditions.
Professor Stilinski made it home on time for dinner. He must have dressed in a haste to make it. His hair was more tousled than usual, his shirt wasn't buttoned up all the way, and Isaac was pretty sure that he had his undershirt on inside out but he was more distracted by the bite mark on the professor's collarbone, though.
The professor, however, dismissed Isaac completely and went straight for his husband. With a slight limp, Isaac couldn't help but notice.
"Hey," Stilinski said but it came out raspy. Professor Hale leaned into him when he slung an arm around his middle, looked as if he needed some comfort after all. The moment felt intimate and Isaac was already on the retreat to give them some privacy when Hale said: "I take that Peter is doing well?"
"He did do me well, that's for sure," Stilinski answered without letting go of him. If anything he snuggled even deeper into his husband's side. Hale just shook his head and kept stirring the fried rice he had in the pan.
"How is he doing?" Hale asked in earnest after a long moment.
This was getting too personal. Isaac mumbled an excuse neither of them seemed to hear, they had forgotten that he was there as well, and hurried back to the guest room. For good measure, he turned on some music to tune out their voices.
Lydia had taken over their group chat and was organizing their trip like a general. It made Isaac's life easier, he didn't have the mind to think about logistics. He asked if he should bring something special aside from the telescope he was co-owning with Danny but otherwise Lydia had already assigned tasks. She even had made lists for everybody what to pack. Isaac tried to not feel insulted by the reminder to bring clean underwear. But he had to admit that he probably would have forgotten his toothbrush if she hadn't listed it.
Lydia had also planned when and where they would meet on Friday and which cars to take. The girls would ride in Lydia's car while Isaac, Danny, and Professor Hale would take Danny's. Isaac had seen the sports car Hale was driving as well as Professor Stilinski's jeep, both cars were not suitable for three people plus luggage.
With Allison coming along Boyd finally decided to not join them. Somebody had to keep Scott company, he wrote to which Erica answered: You're just glad that with Lydia and Allison around I don't need you to keep me company.
From there the conversation diverted into fun banter between the two of them until Lydia cut in and reminded them that this was not their private chat.
Isaac let himself get fully absorbed in the discussion. He was hyped for their trip and with any luck he would return to his life back to normal afterward. Plus, that internship. He still wasn't sure what to think about that gift from Peter but he would call them on Monday and see from there.
Isaac managed to not think about the other stuff until Professor Stilinski knocked at his door to tell him that dinner was ready,
"I didn't intend for you to see …" The professor's voice was still hoarse and when he gestured over his now buttoned-up shirt Isaac knew that he was talking about the hickey Peter had left there.
"I've seen worse." The image of Peter and Professor Stilinski in the restroom of the Jungle came to mind and Isaac tried hard to keep that picture out of his mind. "Did you at least get things done or …?" Isaac bit back the pun on his lips.
"Or did only I got done?" The professor finished the sentence for him with a chuckle.
"That's not …" Blushing Isaac rubbed the back of his head. How the hell did he get into this mess now?
"But yes, things are in motion." Stilinski sobered up. "By the time you'll come back Deucalion's going to have other things on his mind than you. Or Peter for that matter."
"If you say so." Isaac was not convinced. The universe liked to throw him one curve ball after the other lately, he kind of doubted that he would get out of this just because his math professor set some things in motion.
"Derek said that you saw one of the twins on campus?" Stilinski came fully into the room and closed the door behind him.
"Twins?"
"From what you and Braeden told me I think that it was one of the twins who came after you at the Jungle. They look young enough to not stick out on campus either," the professor explained.
"Did they take those pictures of me?" Isaac asked, not sure how to feel about the fact that there were two of them.
"Quite possible." Stilinski nodded but then he had a closer look at Isaac. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Isaac let out a sigh. "I just want this to be over."
"I'm working on it."
"I can see that." Isaac had a pointed look at his tousled hair. He could almost see Peter's fingers running through it.
Sheepishly the professor tried to pat down his hair.
Isaac fully expected things go to south but the rest of the week went by without any incidents. They all were looking forward to the trip and Isaac let himself get infected by that as well.
On Thursday he went shopping with Danny, they were on duty for food supplies. They would be out camping the whole weekend and six people needed a lot of food. Nobody had mentioned it but it was common sense that they did not buy beer or anything alcoholic. This was not an official field trip but Professor Hale would be with them the whole time, it felt wrong to bring beer to that trip. Besides, they had scientific observations to make.
Ironically enough, when Isaac returned to the professor's place with Danny, both loaded with bags of food, they found that the professor had done some shopping on his own. Among other things, he'd bought beer.
"You're all over twenty-one," the professor defended himself when he noticed the way Isaac and Danny shared a glance.
"Just don't get drunk." The professor was looking at Isaac. "And don't bring anything you shouldn't." Now he was including Danny who nodded solemnly.
"I think that's him trying to bond with his students," Danny whispered once Hale was busy putting the food in the fridge.
"Awkward." Isaac couldn't help a grin.
Friday morning went by in a blur and then Isaac was standing with the others in the parking lot, trying to tetris everything into the trunk of two cars. They were traveling light and one didn't need much for one weekend but six people equaled six bags plus tents, sleeping bags, food, and whatever else Lydia had deemed necessary. They had three telescopes with additional equipment and Allison had borrowed a professional camera from somebody. It came with its own bag of stuff and had to be handled with care.
They were on the road half an hour later than intended and then they were stuck in New York's traffic for almost an hour but they were on their way. They were using Danny's car but since Hale knew the way, they had agreed that he would be the one behind the wheel while Danny was riding shotgun. It was easier than constantly giving directions. That left Isaac with the backseat for himself, he only had to share it with his backpack and one of the telescopes in the foot room.
Isaac lost sight of the other car only minutes into their trip but Lydia knew where to go and GPS should do the rest. She most likely would beat them to their destination.
By now Isaac had gotten used to being around Professor Hale, he almost considered him a friend, but to Danny, he was still one of his professors who was suddenly sitting next to him in his car. And driving said car. The conversation was as awkward and stilted as expected in such a situation.
By the time they left New York, fucking finally, Danny was more relaxed, though. He and Hale had interacted on that website quite a bit but this was the first time they spent some actual time together so naturally the professor wanted to get to know him better. So he asked about his majors and what he wanted to do after college, the usual stuff.
Danny on the other hand, tried to sneak in a question here and there about Professor Stilinski which reminded Isaac that Danny had been looking into the professor's background. Danny hadn't said much about that which could either mean that he hadn't found anything worth mentioning or that it was beyond their worst expectations. Isaac didn't know which one he preferred but he decided that he didn't want to think about that over the weekend. So when the professor dodged those questions, Isaac helped him out and threw in some questions about the spot they were heading to.
Through the rearview mirror, Danny gave him a questioning look but he got the hint and dropped the topic.
They were just leaving the last outskirts of New York when another car came up behind them.
"What's his problem?" Hale asked and kept more to the right to let the car pass that was riding his trunk.
The car did overtake them but instead of speeding away, it slowed down once it was in front of them.
"What the …?" Hale slowed down as well to not run into the car in front of him.
"Don't stop," Isaac told him but a second car was suddenly next to them, boxing them in.
