odes to the isolated [on hold]

vi

Isla texted Reid. He was supposed to be coming over soon. She was mindlessly scribbling into her notebook. She had written two dozen poems since she met Reid. And she was proud of every single one of them. Never had she felt this inspired to write.

"Hi," Isla answered the door with a wide smile. One that faded merely seconds later. His face was paler than usual. Cheeks hollowed out. Eyes dead and bloodshot, rimmed with a dark purpley-red color. The sight was haunting. "You look awful, are you alright?" concern dripping from her lips. "Yeah, everything's fine," Reid spoke unconvincingly. Isla knitted her eyebrows together, "Don't lie, what's up?" He let out a loud, shaky sigh. "My, uh, dad died," he told her. On instinct, Isla pulled her hand up to her mouth. "Oh my god, I'm so so sorry, come here," she grabbed Reid's hand and dragged him over to the couch. Her arms wrapped around him without one bit of hesitation. A tear rolled down Reid's porcelain skin.

"What happened, how did he die?" Isla asked out of pure curiousity. "Car crash, the other driver was drunk," Reid said bluntly. "Jesus Christ," her tone was an odd combination of sympathy and anger. "Is there anything I can do to, like, make you feel better?" she wanted to help as much as possible. "I don't know," he spoke lowly. "Have you slept since last night? You look tired," she asked. "No." Isla shook her head, "Come on, follow me, you need to take a nap." Reluctantly, Reid stood up and followed Isla down the hallway, leading to her room. "Get some rest. You'll feel at least a tiny bit better, I promise," Isla suggested. "Thank you."

Reid woke up to his phone buzzing lightly:

from: isla!!
hey i went out to the store
real quick. i left some pizza
in the kitchen if you get
hungry x

He walked into the bathroom. The linoleum floor beneath him was freezing. He took a glance in the mirror, taking in his appearance. He still looked awful. Only slightly better, but still awful. A cold splash of water was the best he could manage to wake himself up from the unreal reality he was being forced to live in. Isla unlocked the apartment door and set down the groceries on the dining table for a moment. "Hey Reid, how're you feeling?" Isla called into the dead silence of the apartment. "A little bit better, I guess," Reid walked down the hallway to meet Isla. He followed Isla into the kitchen like a lost puppy. He seemed so vulnerable. Never once, had Isla seen him like this.

this chapter didn't really go how i was expecting but i don't want to try to rewrite the whole thing so i'm sorry if this chapter is disappointing

jamie x