Isabella

Chapter 26

A/N - running out of things to say here tbh....

TW - this chapter contains mentions/descriptions of abuse + scenes some may find upsetting

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"Just follow the map, it's literally a straight line for almost an hour Xavier", day two of our cabin trip and we were sending Xav back home for the day for Jake's 18th birthday party. Something told me he would not, in fact, be returning tomorrow- have you seen the guy when he drinks?

"Yeah, yeah, straight line", he waved Zane off and started his engine, "wishing you the best of luck with them in one confined space".

Of course he was referring to Xander and Caleb, I hadn't seen the latter since our hug yesterday evening; he'd been shut away ever since and had only let Scott and Zane into his room. Xander on the other hand was living his best life - I was surprised he hadn't turned into a raisin with the amount of time he'd spent in that pool.

The pair of them hadn't so much as stood in the same room as each other since yesterday at the dinner table, if you asked me I'd say it was for the best right now. They riled each other up like there was no tomorrow.

"I'll see you here tomorrow", Xav saluted us and revved the engine, Scott placed a hand on my shoulder and pulled me back a little, "don't have too much fun without me".

"We won't see you here tomorrow", Scott's voice came from behind me, "drink responsibly please".

"No promises Scotty", he grinned, "later losers". One peace sign later, he was spinning out of the drive and disappearing down the road- he was gonna be shitfaced tonight. Good on him.

"One down, two angry ones to go", Scott whispered into my ear and I chuckled, "you wanna go on a walk bebita? There's a lake not too far from here". How could I say no to that?

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One thing I hadn't really noticed until now, is that Scott was extremely similar to Zane. I mean, minus the fact they looked nothing like each other - on the inside they definitely shared a lot of the same features.

They both enjoyed quiet, I sussed that out as soon as we sat down by the lake in the grass; his eyes closed, his head tipped back, and he actually seemed at ease.

They both didn't talk much either, it was apparent that they just enjoyed someone's physical presence than spending time talking to them; Scott and I had been sitting in a comfortable silence for at least 15 minutes now and I was loving it.

I didn't know about Zane so much with this one, but I could tell Scott loved nature. His face fucking lit up like he'd won a million pounds when a butterfly landed on a leaf in front of us, and I wished I'd snapped a picture of the smile on his face when a ladybird landed on his knee.

I was scared of both of the above so I didn't share his happiness, but seeing him so excited brought me enough joy anyway.

Another thing Scott and Zane had in common was how observant they were. While Zane had those piercing green eyes and their calculating stare, Scott's deep blue ones held just as much concentration- how did I know? Because I could literally feel his eyes burning into the side of my head while I stared out at the lake, talk about being discreet.

"I can see the cogs turning in your head", he commented and I turned to him, his eyes were still on mine and he'd pulled his knees up to his chest, "you've got questions Isabella". No point in sugar coating it now.

"Too many questions", I agreed, gazing back out at the water and copying his sitting position.

"So ask them", my head snapped back to him, "I can't guarantee I'll be able to answer everything right now, but if it puts your mind at ease, ask them".