❝In which two people call up a helpline in order to find someone just as broken as they are. ❞
"Does...does it bother you that my dad's in prison for murder?"
"Well, judging by the fact that I moved away from America to get away from the memory of a...
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Elliot's head had been obsessed all week, hardly able to focus on anything as he scraped his brain for possible solutions. For some reason, the trivial matter of choosing an activity to entertain both him and Isabella that coming Saturday took priority over everything else. And it wasn't something that he could control either, he simply found his mind wondering towards the subject at times that it really shouldn't. Like in the middle of a-probably-crucial-for-his-education lesson. Or in the middle of a-probably-crucial-for-his-exam-results study session.
He just couldn't seem to stop thinking about it. The intrusive thoughts invading his head like a sort of very much weird, very much welcome virus. It was a surprisingly pleasant distraction from the stressful student life he usually led. All of the small things that constantly made him want to punch a wall were temporarily forgotten, replaced by a more...refreshing sort of problem.
By the time he had come up with a solution, he was so excited to put his plan into action that he knocked on Isabella's door early on that Saturday morning, determined to allow his stroke of genius to unfold. But what he did not expect to see, however, was a bouncy twenty nine year old who seemed more than estatic to discover that Isabella had 'finally found a friend'. She had then proceeded to drag him into the apartment, babbling on about how excited she was that her niece was actually talking to people outside of the apartment.
Leading Elliot to a small bedroom at the back, she hadn't hesitated to usher him in and attempt to shake Isabella awake, talking animatedly that surely she would be so happy he was here.
But what she hadn't realised was Isabella's trembling body, tossing and turning in the bed as she let out small whimpers so silent that they were almost lost in the sheets. And, when she lurched up from the bed into her aunt's arms, that's when Elliot knew.
That's when it clicked.
This was more than just introducing Isabella to the world again. It was getting her to trust the world as she had before. Not to see it as beautiful, because it wasn't. But to trust the good to balance out the bad. Even by just a small percentage. To have faith in that small percentage.
He supposed that he would also have to find that trust and faith himself.
