odes to the isolated [on hold]

iv

Isla grabbed Reid's hand and headed quickly out of the park and down the street. "Slow down, slow down," Reid let out a loud laugh that echoed through the air. She slowed down to give him a break. "Sorry," she giggled. They continued to walk side by side towards her apartment. And then it started raining, just as Isla had said. "Damn," she mumbled. But, Reid still managed to catch it. He slipped off the jacket he was wearing and draped it over her shoulders, pulling the hood over her head. She looked up at him and smiled, "Thank you." "Mhm, no problem," he smiled back.

Isla unlocked the door to her apartment swiftly. She walked in, followed by Reid. her apartment was dull. Full of monochromatic walls; a muted, mid-tone blue color. "You can sit down if you want," Isla said, motioning towards the small black couch in her living room. She hung up Reid's jacket to let it dry and joined him on the couch. She looked around, trying to think of something they could do. An idea came to her and her eyes lit up. "Do you want to make a blanket fort?" she asked excitedly, much like a young child. Reid laughed, "Sure."

Reid grabbed chairs from the dining table while Isla rummaged her closet for blankets and fairy lights to hang up. They met back up in the living room and began to set up the fort. It took a few tries but they finally made it. Isla grabbed the pillows from the couch and laid them down on the floor for them to sit on. The gloomy weather outside shadowed the entirety of the apartment, but the fort was dimly lit with the dying fairy lights. It was nice and cozy."This is really cute," Reid spoke as they sat down facing each other. "Yeah, it is," Isla smiled.

After a couple minutes, Isla got up from her spot in the fort. She walked over to the record player in the corner of the room and picked out a record from her collection. She placed it on the player. The sound of music soon echoed through the quiet apartment. Isla returned to her spot in the fort; adjacent to Reid. He smiled at her, "I love this album." They just sat there and uttered whatever came to their pretty little minds. Whether it be their favorite foods or fond childhood memories.

Neither Reid nor Isla know how or why, but they started talking about Arabella. "When did you guys meet?" Reid asked. "We were sat next to each other in our third grade class and the rest was history," Isla answered, plain and simple. "What was she like?" he asked yet another question. "She was a beautiful person, both inside and out. She would always listening to me when I ranted and she helped me so much. I would tell her all of my secrets and she always kept them. I loved her so much," she started tearing up.

"She always helped me but, I guess I didn't help her as much as I thought I did," her tears grew more abundant. Her breathing was unsteady. Reid pulled Isla into a hug, "It's okay, everything's alright, Isla shh." She wiped her tears but chose not to leave Reid's arms. All she wanted was comfort. And Reid was there to provide it. So, they laid there, listening to the same Oasis record on repeat until they fell asleep.

i lowkey almost cried while writing the end of this chapter okay
also im writing chapter five rn :-)

jamie x