Contingency~TW/TO~ Lahey

Chapter 15: To New Beginnings

"Go straight for the heart," I demand to Allison during our lesson in the woods. "You don't want to prolong a fight you cannot win. End it and swiftly move on to the next. Picture me as someone you despise. Possibly Scott?"

Allison nods with a roll of her eyes at the mention of her ex. I know she doesn't despise him, I simply mentioned him to try and rile her up. I need more energy from her and what better way to get under her skin a little by using her ex.

She grips her fingers around the skinny stake in her right hand tighter, her knuckles practically turning white from her hold, and the muscles around her throat flex as she thinks through her next move. Her left-hand swings out towards me, but I never leave sight of the hand that holds the non-intimidating weapon. Dodging her punch, I grab her arm and pull her close enough to me to grip the other. Before I can wrap my fingers completely around her, she connects her foot with my right knee with a grunt. My leg gives out and I end up kneeling on the fractured bone with a hiss leaving my lips. Her arm flies up quickly, not wanting to give me a chance to collect myself, however, it takes more than that to bring my guard down. Again grabbing her hand, I stand back up and twist her around to force her chest against the closest tree with both hands behind her back. I yank the stake from her and place the pointed end along her upper spine, "Dead."

I release her and take a few steps back as she turns around and forcefully hits her back against the tree, "That was better, Allison. You're a quick learner."

She scoffs while rubbing at her wrists, "I failed." I can read the disappointment in her eyes.

"If you want to call it failing, fine," I say unsympathetically with a shrug. "But I see it as an improvement. We both screwed up during the brawl. I left an opening for you and you took advantage of it. That is what I am training you for. If that had been Scott, he would have been dead in less than two seconds."

"I don't despise Scott," she clarifies with a huff. "It's just...complicated."

"It doesn't have to be complicated," I reason. "I see the way he looks at you. He still loves you." I purposefully overlook the fact that she looks at him with the same amount of admiration in her eyes. It's not hard to decipher that she misses him deeply. I know that there is more to this situation, which is what makes it complicated for her, but if she is able to be with Scott and be as happy with him as I am with Isaac, I want to help push her in that direction.

After Scott came to retrieve us the night of the lunar eclipse, I noticed the way she watched him walk away with his mother. He had kept a bit of a distance after checking on her, but I know she wants more. As does he. She wants him, but something is holding her back.

"I know," she says after a moment of silence, her eyes staring intently at the ground. "He said he would wait for me when I broke up with him, but I don't believe in fate."

"If there is one thing Isaac has taught me while being in a relationship with him, it's that fate exists." Isaac has taught me many things, but that is the one thing that has truly stuck with me. I never imagined that I could feel the things I do with Isaac. It was fate that brought me to him when I lost my brother. He changed me into who I am today because if it wasn't for him I would be piling up bodies left and right trying to find the one brother that I loathe more than anything. I owe everything to Isaac for helping me find my true self.

"I do miss the days where he would leave secret messages on my car window and everything, but I'm just wanting to focus on myself for now," she explains. "Is that bad?"

"No, Allison," I answer softly. "It's not."

"But...?" she drawls out connecting her eyes with mine.