I walked slowly through Isaac's massive house, my eyes taking in the expensive wallpapering, glittering gold light fixtures, and luxury artwork and furniture that took up space in the large rooms. Through the archway underneath the stairs I entered an open space consisting of many rooms. Directly in front of me at the end of the hallway was a sunroom, entirely enclosed in massive clean windows, delicate furniture in warm pastel colors sitting in the dark space. Beside it to the left was an informal eating area at the end of a neatly-organized, high-end kitchen that seemed almost out of place in such a small town.
There were a few different doors to choose from. The first one, nearest to the arched hallway I had just passed through, opened to a walk-through pantry that connected to the formal dining room on the other side. One door off of the kitchen led to a small powder room, the third finally leading to a massive closet, precisely organized with dozens of cleaning supplies and other kitchen necessities. I pulled my eyes around until I found a broom and dustpan and a towel to pick up some of the larger pieces. With my finds in tow, I made my way back up the stairs, turning off the lights I had flicked on for guidance on my way.
The water was still running when I reached Isaac's bedroom again. I entered only place the shattered frame back on his dresser and to grab the small trashcan sitting by his desk on the other side of his bed, and crouched down in the hallway, holding the towel in my hands as I started picking up some of the larger pieces of glass, dropping them into the trashcan. I had started to sweep the smaller pieces into a pile away from the path of the doorway and was crouching down to sweep them into the dustbin when I heard a door open slowly behind me, I glanced over my shoulder. My eyes landed on Isaac as he walked into view, heading towards his dresser, with only a thick, white towel wrapped low around his waist. Beads of water still glistened against his skin, dripping from the curls of his hair down his back and chest, and I forced myself to turn away before he realized I was watching him. My fingers stayed still in their task, however, and I found myself holding my breath slightly, listening. There was light shuffling, opening and closing of drawers, and then footsteps. When I glanced up, Isaac was walking out of his room, sweatpants now covering his legs, pulling a t-shirt over his torso.
I was about to warn him to be careful, that I may have missed some of the pieces, but Isaac dismissed me, his voice low and raspy, the puffiness around his eyes a giveaway.
"Leave it," Isaac ordered, and when he neared me, he reached down and closed a hand around my upper arm, pulling me up. Instead of just bringing me to a standing position, however, Isaac stepped backwards until we were standing just inside his bedroom, pulling me with him until my back brushed against the wall just beside the doorway, my chest flush against Isaac's.
"Isaac." The word was barely a breath on my lips, brought forward by the part of me that swore I wasn't going to get involved with anyone this summer, the part of me that knew we were about to cross a line that would be impossible to step back over, but it was enough. Isaac hesitated, his hand loosening marginally around my upper arm, his eyes intense and focused as they swam over my face.
"Tell me to stop and I will," he offered. I couldn't bring myself to say so.
Isaac's hand, still warm from the shower, sent my own skin tingling as his palm landed against the back of my jaw, his fingers curling firmly around the back of my neck, his thumb brushing against my cheek. I bent my head back against his hand, closing my eyes as Isaac leaned towards me. With the urgency with which Isaac had pulled me from the floor and into his room, I had expected his kiss to match, but when his lips finally brushed against mine, his urgency was transferred into slow, deliberate movements. From the way he pulled away again slightly, his eyes still heavy and cautious as they flickered between my own, fluttering open and unfocused, and my lips, to the way he leaned back in again, raising his other hand from my arm to my neck to mirror the other, I was captivated.
When Isaac started to pull away, I was breathless, a blush had worked its way into my cheeks. My hands, one of which had curled around the hem of Isaac's t-shirt, the other resting on Isaac's forearm, tightened slightly with the desire not to let him pull away. I didn't realize I was doing it at first, until my eyes opened to the slightest triumphant smirk pulling at the corner of Isaac's lips. I inhaled heavily, forcing my thoughts away from the kiss to what I really wanted to say, when one of Isaac's thumbs moved and brushed lightly against my lower lip, causing my breath to hitch lightly, before both of his hands moved away from my face, traveling down my shoulders and arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake until they found both of my hands.
"Stay with me tonight."
That was it. As Isaac took a step backwards, tugging on my hands so I would move with him, I pulled back, resisting. The look that started to work its way through Isaac's expression, hurt and confusion pulling at his brows and darkening his eyes, made me want to give in once again. Instead, I pulled my hands out of his, crossing them behind my back.
"We can't do this, Isaac," I said gently, my heart finally calming in my chest enough for my words to come out steadily. "We can't be anything more than-"
"Friends, I know," Isaac finished for me, his words heavy with a hurt and bitterness that made me press my lips together to keep myself from taking back my own words. "You keep saying that, but why did you let me kiss you?" He took another step back from me, but his eyes never left my face. "You wanted me to, right?" A flash of confusion crossed his face.
"Yes" I answered immediately, my mouth moving before my brain could catch up with what I was saying. "Yes," I repeated, calmer. "But-" Isaac crossed the space between us in two easy strides, wrapping one of his hands through my hair around the base of my head, pulling me towards him as he kissed me again. I got lost in it for a moment, falling into the urgency with which his lips moved against mine, the desperate way his hands clung to me, but when my hands reached for him, I found myself pushing at him until he stumbled away from me.
"Isaac," I exhaled heavily, breathless again.
"But what? I was having a hard enough time just being your friend already. After that, how are we supposed to go back?"
"I don't know," I whispered, closing my eyes tightly as I reached up to run my hands back through my hair, letting them falter at the back of my neck for a moment before I dropped them heavily to my sides. When I opened my eyes, Isaac had taken a step forwards. If I could have, I would have melted into the wall behind me to keep the distance between us, knowing that I wouldn't be able to think straight if he kept kissing me.
"Is this still about that Nolan guy? Whatever it is that you won't tell me?" At the sound of his name, I didn't just want to melt into the wall, I wanted to run away entirely, to avoid having to think about him or talk about him, to ruin this night with his memories, but my back was still flat against the wall of Isaac's bedroom, and I felt stuck there.
"It's about so many things, Isaac. About him, about me, my family. They're things that I'm still just not ready to talk about. And things that I really, really don't want to talk about tonight, especially tonight." I looked up at Isaac, pleading that he would just drop the subject, hoping that he would just let me go, and that once I was out of his presence, I could think clearly.
"Alright," he finally conceded after a moment, turning away from me as he ran a hand through his hair, reaching for the take out box still sitting on his dresser. When he had it in his hands, he turned back to me and held it out. "If you're going to go, at least take this with you." I glanced between the box and his eyes, the excited expression he had when he first appeared with it at the restaurant replaced with a sort of wistful remorse and dejected hope, and I couldn't help but feel the own weight in my shoulders as I pushed myself off of the wall to take the box from his hands. Once it was out of Isaac's grip, he backed up until he was sitting on the edge of his bed again, watching me, waiting for my next steps. I stared at the box in my hands, leaving it unopened for a moment as I debated whether or not I should take it and leave, before I crossed the space to the end of Isaac's bed, lifting the lid as I settled onto the mattress beside him.
A half-snort, half-laugh escaped through my lips, causing my hand to fly up to cover my mouth in embarrassment as my eyes took in what was in the Styrofoam box.
"What the hell is this?" I laughed, looking between what appeared to be about a dozen bright, uniquely patterned rubber ducks from the game at the restaurant, and Isaac's face, the light returning to his eyes as a sheepish, yet pleased, look started to morph his expression. I picked up one of the rubber ducks, bright yellow with a flower crown around its head, studying it as I laughed to myself.
"They made you happy." I placed the duck back with the others, looking up at the passionate, concentrated gaze of Isaac's eyes, the firm set of his jaw as he confirmed just how deep in I was with him.
"I won't kiss you again, if that's what you want," he started, speaking quietly even though it was only the two of us in the house, "But I don't want to be alone tonight. Stay, please? We can talk about all of this in the morning." His words came out as almost more of a demand than a question, but I knew there was only one option that I wanted anyways. I nodded quickly a few times, swallowing any doubts I had as Isaac reached over slowly, taking the box from my hands and setting it back on the dresser. I bent over, pulling my shoes off of my feet before shifting further back onto Isaac's bed, keeping my eyes on him as he walked towards the door, closing it before turning off the lights. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I watched Isaac's figure near the bed, shifted as he tugged the covers from underneath me, felt the mattress shift as he lowered himself onto it.
"You gonna lie down, kid?" Isaac's voice broke through the silence and the darkness as I stayed where I was, still sitting with my legs crossed in front of me, pulling at the hem of my dress.
"Isaac-" I tried to start, my fears trying to worm their way back into my head and out of my lips as the night started to settle around us. Before I could continue, Isaac was sitting up next to me, his hand covering me.
"We'll talk about it in the morning."
I looked at him, my eyes finding the outlines of his features, the line of his jaw, the curls of his hair, the faint light reflecting in his eyes. I held my words back again, and this time when Isaac laid down on the bed, I laid down with him.
******
A/N: Updated a bunch the last two days to make up for not updating for a week, oops! I'll be returning to my regularly scheduled programming this coming week. :) A lot of intense chapters coming up, and then not many left until our story ends!
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