HELPLINE

twenty-seven; isaac

T W E N T Y - S E V E N

I S A A C

pretty much the last thing i had been expecting was a call from my sister, but that's what i got.

"lydia?" i echoed, after she'd greeted me with her usual 'hey, kiddo.' "is that actually you? it's not a hologram?"

i heard her sigh on the other end of the phone. "of course it's me, isaac. there's no need to sound so surprised."

"well, there kind of is," i mumbled, frowning, and then raised my voice. "what did you want?"

(i mean, she had to want something. lydia was never one for sentiment or, like, ringing just to chat.)

"i wanted to chat," she said, clearly enunciating her ts like she always did. "catch up. y'know - brother and sister type things."

"lyds," i said seriously. "what's wrong?"

then she started crying.

"i'm so a-alooone," she wailed, probably flinging her hands in the air. "no-one ever talks to me. the kids hate me because i only by gluten-free chocolate biscuits. my friends are out all day at charity dinners, and edward just i-ignore meeee -"

"oh, shit," i whispered. lydia's breakdowns didn't happen often - it didn't really go with her whole strong-invincible-woman image - but when they did, they were full of shouting, swearing and crying. a bit like henry.

don't think about henry.

"come on, i'm sure not everything's as bad as you think," i told her, in what i hoped was a calming and responsible voice. "why don't you tell me all about it?"

then i padded to the kitchen and got a beer.

(don't look at me like that. i was going to be there for at least forty minutes, and possibly more.)

"okay," lydia sniffled. "thanks, isaac."

❄

it took forty-seven minutes (not that i'm counting, or anything) to calm lydia down, and a lot of slagging off her neighbours. and, by the sound of it, throwing the venetian vase our parents bought her for her tenth wedding anniversary really helped, as well.

"anyway," lydia said, still slightly shakily. "how've you been, isaac?"

"oh, you know," i sad, reflecting over the past couple of months, in which i managed to find and lose the love of my life. "pretty basic stuff, really."

"no," lydia prompted. "you must have had one exciting thing happen to you. hey - did you meet anyone special?"

"yeah," i sighed. "his name's henry."

lydia laughed. "great. great! where does he live? what's he like? are you married yet? you can do that now, you know -"

i cut her off before she could start planning our wedding. "he lives pretty close by, actually. and he's great. but we broke up after his father disowned him," i said casually. "mariah carey almost helped us get back together at christmas, but it didn't work out."

"oh," lydia said, actually sounding pretty sad. then she slipped back into her strong-invincible-woman voice. "well, that's no good. why don't you try one last time?"

"well, i don't know," i said, tilting my head to the side and taking a sip of my beer (which had sat largely forgotten as i listened to lydia rant about her fellow housewives. she was kind of funny, actually.)

"isaac," she said sternly, "do you love him?"

"well, yeah," i said, "but i wouldn't know what to do. like, i've tried everything -"

"think about it, isaac," lydia said. "what do you do best?"

and then, out of the corner of my eye, i saw my easel, some watercolours, and a picture of henry. and all of a sudden, i knew what to do.

❄

a.n: im soooo sorry this took so long like school has been keeping me so busy but im back now also sry this is all getting a bit overdramatic but everything should b back to normal soon meanwhile vote + comment to ur hearts content and happy christmas o wait its not actually christmas never mind bye ilu all and c u soon

(HEY HI HELLO ITS NOW BEEN EDITED thank u to every1 who pointed out the mistake)

lucy xox