It felt wrong going to school on Monday morning like nothing happened. After his dad had gone into the hospital, Stiles had hope that it would be the start of things changing for the better. But when his dad came out only a few minutes later, that hope was dashed. He hadn't looked pleased, and when Stiles finally got the full story, he knew why.

Before Isaac could even speak, the lead investigator from the state police and Isaac's dad had come into the room, making him clam up. And that was putting it lightly. Isaac had panicked so much that he had to be sedated, before he did any damage to himself. Everyone had been pushed out of the room and Stiles' dad hadn't been allowed back since. He wasn't in any trouble, much to Stiles' relief, but he wasn't allowed to lead the investigation. If there even was going to be one. Isaac had been found, but Stiles had no idea what he was planning on saying to the authorities.

Derek had been MIA since Stiles picked up Isaac from the motel. He tried calling and texting, taking advantage of the fact he had Derek's number now, but everything had gone unanswered. Stiles even tried swinging by the motel room, but it had been abandoned. And by the peek he got through the curtains of the front window, it hadn't been left in the best condition. Stiles wasn't sure where else to look for the guy and Scott didn't seem too eager to try tracking him again.

When Scott had heard what went down with Derek and Isaac, he hadn't been pleased. Scott was always the sensitive one, wanting everyone to do what was right. And what Derek did was almost unforgivable in his eyes. Stiles could understand, now that a little more time had passed. It felt callous in the moment, but Scott hadn't heard how Derek sounded on the phone. He'd been scared for Isaac and did what he thought was best. Disappearing afterward was a shitty move, but Stiles wouldn't be surprised if he was lurking in the shadows, watching everything going on.

"Has your dad mentioned anything about Isaac?" Scott asked, slamming his locker closed with a little more force than necessary.

"No, nothing," Stiles sighed. "Your mom?"

"No," Scott groaned, hanging his head. "Confidentiality, or whatever."

"Lame."

"Maybe we should just go over there after school and see if we can visit him? I mean, he can have visitors, right?" Scott suggested. Stiles stared at the doors that led out of the school, wondering if they could get away with skipping. They'd done it for less important reasons before. "Or we can sneak into his room?"

"Actually, we won't need to," Stiles mumbled in surprise, pointing toward the exit. He hadn't known him long, but he'd recognize those slump shoulders and curly hair anywhere now. "Isaac?"

"Isaac!" Scott yelled down the hall. All their other classmates got quiet, staring at where he was pointing. Isaac's head popped up and he looked like a deer in headlights, before scurrying away out of sight. "What's he doing here? We need to go talk to him." Stiles was about to agree and start the chase, but the bell for first period cut him off before he could.

"We can find him later. Do you have any classes with him?" Stiles asked, thinking over his own schedule.

"I don't know," Scott replied guiltily. It wasn't their fault that Isaac was so good about staying under the radar, but it didn't help them feel better about themselves right now.

"I'm sure we'll bump into him eventually. Or we'll corner him at lacrosse," Stiles declared, patting Scott on the shoulder before they parted ways. Once Isaac settled back into school, things would calm down. They were sort of friends now, so Isaac would probably want to talk to them too.

Isaac did not want to talk to them. In fact, he was doing all he could to avoid them. They either didn't share any classes before lunch or Isaac didn't go to them, since Stiles hadn't even caught a glimpse of a curl all morning. And when Stiles met up with Scott, he said the same thing. Isaac was very good at being evasive.

It went the same way during lunch and afternoon classes. Wherever they were, Isaac was somewhere else. They needed him around the next time they had to be sneaky, since Isaac was so good at it. Scott tried sniffing him out, but according to him, the whole school smelled like sweaty teens and it was hard to single any one scent out.

Their luck finally changed when it was time for lacrosse practice. Isaac looked to be trying to make a quick escape by giving Finstock a note to get himself out of practice, but the chatty man wasn't letting him get away that easily. Stiles could hear him giving Isaac some sort of speech about being more careful and not making decisions that could jeopardize his future in lacrosse, as if any of them were aiming to go pro. As soon as Coach felt like he'd gotten his point across and let Isaac go, Stiles sprang into action.

"You are a hard man to get to," Stiles said, popping out from around a row of lockers. Isaac jumped in surprise, stumbling back as he grabbed his chest. "Whoa, didn't mean to give you a heart attack. I just want to talk."

"I can't talk," Isaac mumbled, turning on his heel and breaking out into just under a jog to get to the exit behind him.

"But you just did. Those were words!" Stiles called after him, following at a polite distance. He didn't want the guy to feel too crowded. Isaac scurried out toward the parking lot, trying to make his escape once again. But Stiles had been expecting it. This might've been a dick move, but he was desperate.

"Hey Isaac!" Scott greeted brightly, blocking Isaac's way out. The taller boy froze, wrapping his arms around his body as if to protect himself.

"I didn't say anything to anyone, I swear," Isaac whispered, keeping his eyes locked on Scott. "You don't need to do this."

"Do what? We just want to make sure you're okay," Scott replied in confusion.

"I won't tell anyone your secret. Just please let me go."

"Dude, you think we want to talk to threaten you?" Stiles asked incredulously. "We just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine. Everything is fine," Isaac insisted quietly, flicking his eyes between both of them now. "Thank you for what you did before to help me, but you don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm good."

"No offense, but I don't believe you," Stiles said bluntly.

"Stiles!" Scott groaned.

"Should he even be out of the hospital yet?" Stiles argued.

"He is right here," Isaac reminded him, looking more frustrated than nervous now. "And they released me last night."

"A bit premature, if you ask me. I saw how you looked when you went in and it wasn't good," Stiles pointed out. "In fact, you still look awful." Stiles couldn't remember how Isaac looked when he was healthy, but he was sporting some massive eye bags at the moment. And his skin was a sickly pale color. It was better than the version he saw in the motel room, but not by much.

"I'm fine," Isaac protested weakly, losing the battle to be stubborn by the second.

"Are you really?" Stiles pressed. Isaac sighed, rubbing his palms into his eyes. "You can talk to us. We're good at keeping secrets and dealing with complicated things."

"Am I a complicated thing?"

"Kind of. But I think if you talk to us, it might become a little less complicated."

"Talking. Everyone always wants people to talk, but do they listen? They hear what they want to hear," Isaac said bitterly.

"We're listening. Anything you want to tell us," Stiles insisted.

"I was gonna tell your dad, you know? I was laying in that hospital bed and I thought, why not? Things couldn't get worse and it might be my only chance," Isaac admitted, wringing his hands together.

"Why didn't you?" Scott asked. Isaac smiled sadly at him and shrugged.

"I missed my chance."

Waking up from the drug-induced nap was like waking up into a nightmare. The sheriff was gone and a stranger had taken his place. The man Isaac had seen on the TV in the motel room. The man who had burst in with his father in tow, dashing any hopes that Isaac had of never seeing him again. The man who was going to send him back to hell.

"It's good to finally meet you properly, Isaac," he said, nodding politely. "I feel like I already know you though. My name is Detective Hoffman." Isaac wasn't sure if he was supposed to respond to that, so he didn't. He didn't have anything to say to this guy. Anyone connected to his dad was unsafe.

"I know you've had a rough couple of days, but I was hoping we could talk. You seem like a mature kid who can handle tough conversations. Practically a man," Detective Hoffman said. Isaac didn't know where he was going with that, but he had a bad feeling. He wondered if he could get away with hitting the nurse call button. "Do you know that I knew your brother?"

"What?" Isaac mumbled in surprise before he could stop himself.

"I met him right before he deployed with my son, Michael. I met your dad then too. And I saw him again when the government sent back their remains."

"I'm sorry," Isaac whispered.

"Losing a child changes a person. And you can't understand unless you're in that position yourself." Isaac wanted to ask if that justified locking the child you had left in a freezer. If hurting the people who depended on you made the pain go away. But Isaac knew he didn't have an ally here. "People make mistakes, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't forgive them. I'm sure you've made mistakes as well. Like this disappearing act. You wouldn't want to get in trouble, would you?"

Isaac looked away, wishing he could disappear. Wishing that Derek had followed through on his promise and taken him away for good. That his dad was only a distant memory at this point, instead of the future he couldn't escape. But wishes didn't come true for him.

"I have a way to give everyone a clean slate. Go back to the way things were. Doesn't that sound good?" Detective Hoffman asked. Isaac felt a tear roll down his cheek, but he said nothing. His fate had already been decided.

"The official story is that I got sick the day I disappeared and wandered off into the preserve. It explains the bruises and everything. Everyone is happy and no one is guilty," Isaac said, finishing up his recounting of what happened in the hospital. "Now I go back home like nothing happened."

"That's bullshit!" Stiles hissed. That wasn't how things were supposed to go. How did shitty people keep getting into positions of power? No wonder Isaac had never felt like he could go to someone before about what was happening at home.

"My dad came in later and put on a whole show. He even shed a couple tears," Isaac scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"This doesn't mean you can't still tell Stiles' dad the truth, right?" Scott questioned.

"Changing my story now will just discredit me and make me look like a liar. I don't know, maybe this extra attention will force my dad to change?"

"Do you really believe that?" Stiles challenged. Isaac looked away, making the answer obvious. It was only a matter of time before everything returned to the way things were before. And that was unacceptable.

"What are you gonna do now? You look dead on your feet," Scott sighed.

"Go home and stay out of my dad's way? I haven't slept since I woke up from sedation. Couldn't stand the thought of opening my eyes and finding someone sitting there again," Isaac said, running a hand through his hair. "I can't relax around him. Letting my guard down so soon feels like a bad choice."

"Want to come to my house?" Scott offered.

"I can't," Isaac replied, looking surprised at the offer.

"Why not? You could just sleep if you wanted to. I promise this isn't some sort of trick."

"I shouldn't," Isaac mumbled, but Stiles could see his resolve crumbling.

"You missed a week of school, right? We can help you get caught up."

"Do we share any of the same classes?" Stiles asked.

"A couple. I went to the nurse's office to avoid you guys," Isaac admitted sheepishly.

"Nice move," Stiles smirked.

"Really though, just because all this happened, doesn't mean you're stuck with me. It should be easy to forget about me completely."

"No way. You're part of the squad now," Stiles declared.

"The squad?" Scott questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Trying out new names for our group. Gang? Crew?"

"Pack?" Isaac added bitterly. Stiles winced at that particular term. He'd seen the last interaction between Derek and Isaac and it hadn't been pretty. Stiles had hoped that Isaac had been too out of his mind with fever to remember it, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"Have you talked to him since…" Stiles trailed off, waving his hands a bit in lieu of actually having to say more.

"No. And I don't plan on talking to him again," Isaac replied darkly.

"Okay," Stiles agreed without comment. Tensions were high and he wasn't going to push. But he had seen how close they seemed to be after such a short time. Derek wouldn't let just anyone lay on him and sleep. Stiles would let things cool down before broaching that subject again.

"So does that mean you're coming to my house?"

"I-"

"Great!" Stiles exclaimed, clapping his hands to cut off any more arguments from Isaac.

"What about lacrosse?"

"Lacrosse has never been a good excuse for anything. Besides, Scott is co-captain and I never get to play. Who cares if we miss a practice?" Stiles scoffed.

"But-"

"It's settled. One night with us and you'll never be the same."

"What?"

"That came out weird, but the sentiment still stands."

"Fine," Isaac agreed, throwing up his hands in defeat. "But only for a couple hours. Then I have to go back."

"Sure," Stiles replied vaguely, waving for both of them to follow him to his jeep. They'd keep Isaac away from his house for as long as possible, but they couldn't be too obvious about it and make him uncomfortable. And maybe if he started seeing them as friends, he would be more open to talking to Stiles' dad again. They just had to make sure Isaac stayed safe until that happened.