Isaac was leaning back into the headrest, his head turned towards me. Tired and glassy eyes searched my face, a quiet resolve in them as he waited for my answer. I chewed on the corner of my lower lip as I looked over at him, exhaling heavily through my nose before I said, "I don't think that's a good idea, Isaac. I need to get home, and you need some sleep." My eyes flashed between the front of his house, unlit except for two dim porch lamps casting an orange glow across the porch, and Isaac's eyes, still focused intently on my.
"Don't you want to know what's in the box?" He teased, shaking the take-out container in his hands. I laughed lightly, rolling my eyes at his attempt to convince me. When Isaac seemed to realize his first attempt wasn't working, his smile dropped as his expression grew serious again, a desperate look clouding his dark eyes. His eyebrows rose slightly in a pleading manner, the take-out box falling still in his lap.
"Please, Lor?" He asked, "There's something I need to talk to you about." I opened my mouth to say no again, until the comment Andie had made earlier that there was something else going on with Isaac flashed back into my mind, and I hesitated. The warning in the back of my mind was screaming at me that this was a bad idea, but Andie's warning combined with the begging look on his face caved me in.
"Alright," I whispered, reaching forward to turn the keys and pull them, turning away from the small, content smile that pulled Isaac's lips up briefly, dropping down from the Jeep. As I pushed the door shut, Isaac was pushing open his. He was stumbling out from the passenger seat, his take-out box still clutched in his hand as his feet shuffled over the ground beneath him as I rounded the front of his car. I tried not to laugh as he staggered forward, reaching behind him to push the door shut before trying to reach for the box in his hands.
"Let me take that," I said, stumbling forward slightly as my fingers closed around the edge of the box just as Isaac wrenched it away from me. He stepped to the side, holding the box high over box of our heads, staring down at me with a stubborn expression. I rolled my eyes at him again, stepping back and withdrawing my hands. Isaac look smug as he lowered the box and started up the path to the front door. I followed him, absentmindedly twirling my phone around in my hands as Isaac pushed the unlocked door open, and I stepped inside hesitantly.
The lights inside were off, but the two porch lights cast a glow through the windows that framed the door, revealing a massive foyer with half-paneled walls topped with an ornate looking wallpaper. The curved staircase started in front of us to the right, winding gradually up the wall in front of us, set over a large arched hallway that led to the back of the house. A massive chandelier hung from the ceiling of the second story above us, and I found myself staring up at it as I felt Isaac reach for my hand, leading me up the staircase. I pulled my eyes away from the massive light fixture and to Isaac, then our entwined hands as he guided me upstairs. My stomach flipped as I began to question my decision even more.
Upstairs, Isaac led me down the hallway to the left. When we reached what appeared to be his room, I hesitated, pulling my hand away from his as I glanced up and down the dark hallway, multiple rooms hidden behind closed doors.
"Is anyone home?" I asked, grimacing at myself for asking before Isaac glanced back at me as he pushed his door open.
"My dad's working overnight," he answered quietly, reaching forward to flip on the lights inside his bedroom. My eyes flashed behind him, taking in light gray walls, queen-sized bed facing the door, and clean black furniture. "My mom is... not here." I frowned at the back of his head as he stepped inside his room, setting the take-out container on the dresser that against the wall to the side of his bed before he backed up to the mattress, lowering himself first so he was sitting and then falling onto his back. I watched as he reached up and crossed his arms over his head, his chest rising and falling heavily.
"Isaac." I crossed my arms behind my back, leaning against the wall by his door. I watched as Isaac moved his hands and picked his head up, looking down at me. "What do you need to talk to me about?" I watched as Isaac's expression changed, as if he had forgotten the reason I had come inside with him, and a defeated sadness crept into his expression, sagging his shoulders as he sat up, leaning forward with his head in his hands. I pushed myself off of the door, walking over to him.
"Hey," I whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed next to him, concern pulling my eyebrows together and my mouth down into a frown. "Isaac, what's-"
"My parents are separating," he interrupted me, his head still in his hands, his words directed down at the floor beneath his feet, but still reaching my ears with perfect clarity. I shifted slightly on his bed, sitting further back with the sense that I wouldn't be leaving for a while, and looked at Isaac as he ran his hands over his face.
"Isaac, I'm so sorry," I said gently, watching as he sighed heavily and straightened, running his hand back through his curls until they fell back over his forehead. When he looked at me, his eyes still glassy and bloodshot, I wondered if it wasn't just from the drinks he had at dinner. Without thinking, I reached forward and took his hand.
"What happened?"
"Izzy happened," Isaac sighed angrily, hunching over again as he ran his free hand over his eyebrows. "She found out that our parents were still seeing each other, and she got into this huge argument with her dad, insisting that he end the affair. He basically called her an insolent child and she went and acted like one. She told her mom, her mom then came over on Sunday and confronted my mother. My dad was home and heard the whole thing. They fought all night." I wondered if that had any influence on Isaac showing up at my house before sunrise the following morning, the day he took me canoeing on the marsh.
"My mom moved out last night. My dad had a lawyer over this morning to draw up divorce papers. Apparently," Isaac laughed bitterly, throwing his hand up, "Apparently he knew about it the first time it happened, and he forgave my mom with the ultimatum that it had to stop. And, apparently, my mom just didn't give enough of a shit about him, or about me, to remember that when Izzy's dad showed up again!" Isaac pulled his hand roughly from mine as he stood up abruptly, running his hands through his hair again before he rested them on his hips, pacing in front of me, agitation running tension throughout his body.
"I mean, she had a choice, Loren! My dad, her husband, who she's been married to for almost twenty-five years! She could have chosen him, and me. She could have chosen me! And Izzy, Izzy just couldn't mind her own damn business, as usual!" He stalked back and forth across the room, his back rigid, his eyes darkened with more anger than I had seen in him in the six weeks we had known each other. Each word he spoke was filled with more anger and volume than the next, and his cheeks started to flush as he ranted. "Once again, she believed she could just manipulate people into doing whatever the fuck pleases her, only this time, this time she fucked up every one's lives!" As the last words crested through his lips, he whirled around and grabbed a framed photograph of himself and his mother on his dresser from what appeared to be a recent event and, with as much force as he could muster, he pitched the framed through the open doorway. I flinched as the frame slammed into the opposite wall of the dim hallway, the frame shattering and clattering to the hardwood floor.
The action seemed to break Isaac from his trance, and he stared out at the path the picture had taken, his hands relaxing by his side as he heaved in and out, his chest rising and falling sharply. I stood slowly, walking over to him and placing myself in front of him, watching as his eyes lowered to my face. He blinked quickly when I stopped in front of him, and I couldn't help but frown as he attempted to make the trace of tears disappear behind his eyes.
"Hey," I exhaled when his eyes flickered to the mess behind me again. "Why don't you to take a shower? I'll clean up the hallway." Isaac frowned as he looked down at me, confusion working its way into his eyes.
"No, you don't, you don't have to."
"I don't mind," I said quickly, offering him a small smile. "Really. Just point me in the direction of a broom," I tried to joke, watching as Isaac's lips twitched into a brief, half-hearted smile, before informing me that there was a closet off of the kitchen filled with cleaning supplies. I nodded, taking a step back, my gaze lingering on him before I turned and left his room. My eyes glanced down at the glittering shards of glass shattered over the floor as I walked over them, and once I was down the hallway by the top of the stairs, I paused, turning back towards Isaac's room. I waited for a moment, listening, and when I heard the water start to run through the pipes that lead to the bathroom connected to Isaac's bedroom, I retreated down the stairs.