Red Lights

Chapter 2

Sunday afternoon, 3 o'clock probably, Izzie went to the woods like she always did. She liked the quiet and the breeze, it was a nice place where it became easy to study and focus. Something she had always struggled with. But when she sat down on a tree and played some music on her earphones everything was easier. And noticing her surroundings was harder. So when a noise made her look up to find a black wolf a few steps away from her, her heart stopped for a moment. Izzie knew very little about what to do when seeing a wild animal, but she knew she shouldn't look into his eyes. His beautiful eyes that glowed briefly the moment she looked. And, to her, it felt like she was under a spell. The most beautiful and majestic creature stood infront of her looking straight into her eyes, bowing slightly. She didn't notice when her hand started to reach out, maybe if she had she wouldn't have done it, but before she realized it he was smelling the tip of her finger slowly, later going up her arm till he reached her face.
The wolf licked her cheek causing her to laugh and pet him gently. Izzie knew this was probably very dangerous, but she felt a conexion with him, so she didn't fear him anymore. She looked straight into his eyes and all she saw was a wounded animal in search for a friend. She didn't mind being that friend, no matter how dangerous that would be, she knew now he wouldn't hurt her.
Soon the sun had settled and it became harder to see, so she knew she had to go back. Thankfully her appartment was very closed to the woods so it wasn't a long walk. Not that it mattered since the wolf followed her very closely from behind. Izzie worried that he might want to follow her to her door and she wouldn't know what to do, but the moment they reached street he stayed behind. When she was about to go up the stairs she looked back to look at him sitting on the last line of trees before the cement. The moment she got inside her house she heard the howl of a wolf. It felt like a goodbye, so she smiled.
Next day, waking up early at 6 am, Izzie went to work. An hour in she saw Theo walking in the diner and sitting in the same booth as last time. Oh how much she wished him to be there regularly, she wished to smile to him every morning. Deep down she wished he would fall for her, Izzie longed for love so much since it was taken away from her years ago. And the warm body and kind soul Theo had made her hopeful. With a pounding heart she went to him to get his order. She waited for the coffee to be done and she grabbed a cupcake, something he didn't ask for, but she wanted to give to him. Izzie gave him his breakfast and sat down infront of him, the diner was empty and she was bored, so she kept him company while he was there.
- How's the city treating you? - Izzie asked when que sat down. Theo looked at her confused for a moment but then he smiled before answering.
- Not so bad, how's university treating you? - Theo couldn't deny that even though it was hard to trust her completely, he liked her company.
- Ugh... terrible, but thankfully I was able to get some time to go study in the woods and I got some work done. - Izzie said while covering her face out of tiredness.
- The woods? That's not very safe Iz. - the nickname slipped out without him realizing, but the awkwardness faded away when she smiled at him happily.
- Nothing ever happens in our woods, this isn't Beacon Hills.
- What?
- You know, everyone always says that if you go there you dont come back. It's dumb superstition, but many do actually believe in it. - a group of teenagers, who were probably skipping school, stepped into the diner and Izzie went to greet them - Hello, what can I get you? - leaving Theo thinking about what she said and how much truth that mith had. People dont tend to come back from there, and if they do, they are drawn back in. It felt like a curse.
Theo hoped it didn't apply to him, he never wanted to go back unless Liam needed him to. He wasnt much for hoping, but he found himself wishing he would grow old in this town, coming every morning to this diner to find her beautiful smile greeting him again. He had never meet a more outstanding girl, with red hair this long and eyes with a stare as sweet. He had never felt so enraptured as when he watched her smile at him, feeling as if he didn't deserve it, but unwilling to refuse it either way. Theo knew still that happiness wasn't for him, and he would never let his past taint her the way it did to him. But there was something that made him trust, made him know that falling for her would safe for both of them. It felt like magic, she felt magical.
Soon it was 7:45 and he had to go, and just seeing her in the morning stopped being enough for him. So he wrote his phone number down and gave it to her, hoping he could see her again out of this walls.
Izzie felt like in a fairytale and Theo was this beautiful prince with a charming smile and glowing eyes. She felt dazzled by it. She also feared falling and breaking, but it became meaningless when the loneliness had been so tough and neverending that it didn't matter anymore. No fall would stop her leap. She was going to fall, even if no one would catch her, because she saw the truthful stare of devotion in his eyes. She only hoped that the winds blow wouldn't make them part ways.
Izzie watched him leave for work with a small smile on her lips and then she kept on working. It was a busy busy day. She was lucky that Jack let her study in the diner when no one was there and there was nothing else to do. She wouldn't get bored, her brain was about to explode for sure, but that was another story. She looked at Theo's number again and started typing in her phone, and erasing over and over again. Wanting to see him, but not knowing how to ask. The story of her life. Finally she invited him to the movies, some marvel movie was about to come out and she was a big fan. Fights, superheroes and characters with questionable morals, what was there not to like? She used to think that the real world was boring, and it was easy for her to escape to fictional worlds where the pain wasn't real enough to reach her.
Soon Theo answered saying yes even though those weren't the kind of movies he enjoyed. He knew the truth about the world, for what other would call fiction he could just look at his own life. But popcorn never harmed anyone, let alone a night with a beautiful and sweet girl like her. Shang Chi and the ten rings it is then.
Both of them were sure that nothing could ever happen between them, she thought she was too damaged for anyone to handle.
He thought his life was too dangerous and it scared him how unreadable Izzie was. No matter how may times he tried to catch her chemosignals, he smelled nothing. He felt he might me out of practice, but never in his life did he have a difficulty reading someone. It was what he was good at, that was the reason why he was such a manipulative person. But with her, he felt human. Where his wounds healed slowly and his heartbeat rebelled, refusing to be controlled. It scared him how little control he had over his werewolf self, it scared him the blackouts after shifting and the inability to hide his emotions. He almost felt like a freshly bitten werewolf and that was terrifying.