A Hale of a Teacher

Chapter Ten

Tori's POV
--

It was seven o'clock pm on Saturday and I was finishing my homework for the weekend. All day there have been frequent thunderstorms, so I decided to stay inside all day. I was finishing my last math problem, when I heard a knock on the door.

"Coming!" I yelled running down the stairs.

I opened the door, surprised to see Isaac. He had tears streaming down his face and was completely soaked. He had a huge slice over his jaw that seemed to be bleeding profusely.

"Oh my gosh! What happened, Isaac?" I said as I pulled him into my house, out of the rain.

He stuttered, "My dad... he made me show him my grades... he got mad and... he threw a plate at me..." He said self-consciously touching the cut on his face. "He tried to put me in the freezer again. I-I ran away. I have nowhere to go... and I checked with Stiles, but he didn't have an extra room... Can I stay here for a while?"

I smiled faintly, "Fortunately for you, my family is in Wisconsin at a national cheese convention for the next 2 weeks."

I led him into my older brother's room and went through his dresser and got Isaac a clean shirt and sweatpants.

"Here, go change," I said handing him the clothes and showing him where the bathroom was.

"Thank you, Tori," he said sincerely.

"You want to watch a movie? You know, to get your mind off things," I asked.

"Yeah, That'd be nice," He said as he walked out of the bathroom, holding a wet paper towel to his cut.

My brother's clothing fit him reasonably well, though they were a little big.

We walked downstairs and I started making popcorn.

"You can pick the movie," I said pointing to the pile of videos.

"Pitch Perfect,
Sharknado,
Maze Runner,
Deadpool, " He listed

"Really? These are awful, and Sharknado? Seriously?" He complained.

"Sharknado is Claire's favorite movie, okay?" I laughed. "Alright then why don't you take a look in the cabinet, there's more movies in there." I said pointing.

He looked through the other movies for a while, "Oh, Insidious, lets watch that!" He said excited.

"But that's creepy," I whined.

"It's okay, I'll protect you from the evil spirits," he said with a chuckle as I brought the popcorn.

I popped the movie into the DVD player and started it.

He pulled me into his lap, and chuckled, "This'll be fun."

I rolled my eyes and laughed.

After about ten minutes of the movie, I was already pretty scared.

"Ahhh!" I squealed.

"It'll be okay, love," he said pulling me closer.

"Will it though?" I questioned.

"For us yes, not so much for them," he pointed to the screen.

Later after the movie and 3 batches of popcorn, we headed upstairs and I showed him to my room. He walked around looking at all the artwork and sketches, once in a while pointing out specific ones that he really liked.

"You get the sofa over there. It folds into a bed," I said pointing to it.

"Okay," he said in agreement as he took off his shirt.

"Uh... why?" I questioned.

"Why what?" he said confused.

"The shirt..." I stated.

"Cause' that's how I sleep" He said with a smirk, flexing.

I blushed, "Mmmmmkay"

"And plus, remember when we were in the woods? I told you that you could admire my muscles later," he laughed as my face flushed and turned into an even more crimson shade of blush.

He fixed up the sofa and laid down. He popped his back, yawned and stretched, before falling asleep.

Twenty minutes later, he awoke.

Isaac gasped and sat up quickly.

"What's wrong?" I said worried as I rushed over to the sofa to comfort him.

"I-I had the worst dream," he said breathing heavily and resting his head on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"No... not really," he stuttered, looking at his hands.

"Can I do anything for you?" I asked politely.

"Can I sleep with you?" he whispered quietly, not making eye contact with me.

"Of course," I said, kissing his cheek..

"Thank you," he blushed.

--

We laid on my bed for a while, but I couldn't seem to fall asleep.

"Isaac?" I whispered.

"Yes, love?" He answered.

"I can't sleep."

"What's wrong?"

I looked at him, "How long has your dad been like this...?"

Isaac turned over and laid on his back, "It's been a couple years now." He sighed.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" I asked.

"I didn't want people to look at me like I was weak... like a kicked puppy." He glanced away from me and started fiddling with my blanket.

I took his hand, "Isaac, It'll be okay. Stay here as long as you like."

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to him, "Thank you, Tori."

He closed his eyes and his breathing slowed a little.

"Hey Isaac?" I whispered.

"Yes?" He murmured half asleep.

"I love you." I said with a smile.

He opened his eyes and looked at me, "I love you too, Tori."

After a while, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.