Breathe Again

07: Ice Cream Makes Everything Better

Isaac isn't quite sure there is any way to make this situation better, but he feels like if there's any situation that can help, it is copious amounts of ice cream.

Ice cream has been proven to be effective in 99% of the cases that Isaac has dealt with previously, granted if these cases were ranked on a 1-10 scale then this particular situation would likely be off the charts. But Isaac figures it can't make anything worse, if it can help to cure Leah's broken arm – her words, not his – then maybe it can cure a broken heart too.

That's why when he's driving – somewhat aimlessly, after all they don't have a hotel for the night – Isaac quickly pulls over and parks when he spots what is advertising itself an ice cream café when he's driving around. The sign above the door promises 24 hours and more than 24 flavours and so Isaac decides they're better than stopping than driving until the car runs out of fuel.

Liam doesn't say anything, doesn't question why they've stopped, he just carries on sitting in silence and staring at his hands. It breaks Isaac's heart to see him like this, Liam is always so bubbly, always the life of the party, sometimes when they spend extended periods of time together Isaac longs for the return of silence, but right now it's so unsettling and it's a sign of just how wrong things are right now.

This is not how their summer was meant to go, Isaac wants to turn the clock back a few days, wishes he'd refused to drive here, wishes he'd known how bad this would be. But is not knowing any better than this heartbreak? Isaac isn't sure, but he doesn't see how anything could be worse.

"Come on," Isaac says, a light tap on Liam's shoulder, "let's go."

Liam doesn't respond and Isaac thinks they're going to have to sit in this car forever, that Liam is going to refuse to move ever again. But eventually Liam undoes his seatbelt, getting out of the car and closing the door behind him with the force of someone who is starting to give.

Ice cream will make everything better, Isaac promises himself, and he hopes that if he says it enough then it will have to come true.

Isaac guides Liam across the street and into the store, Liam's eyes travel across the shop but Isaac gets the feeling he's not really taking anything in. Rather than asking Liam what he wants he sits him down at a table by the window, tucked away in a more secluded corner of the café.

His footsteps are slow as he approaches the counter, it almost feels as if his feet are dragging. He feels weirdly uncomfortable leaving Liam behind, as if he's not quite sure what might happen to him whilst he's gone.

"Can I help you?"

It's not the most cheery welcome Isaac has ever received but the ice cream shop seems to be quite quiet, he supposes the sunny afternoon rush must have already passed, and she looks pretty done. He's reminded of Via and the ice cream shop back home, how she used to say the evening after a sunny day was one of the worst shifts. How during their brief romance he'd made a point of appearing whenever she was in the middle of one, ordering a pot with a single scoop of the flavour of the week and distracting her to make the time pass quicker.

"What's the most sugar filled thing you offer."

If she's surprised by that request she doesn't show it, instead Isaac watches as she slips into thought.

"I'd say one of the sundaes." She points up towards the board above her head which is proudly proclaiming what's on offer, "I'll take two of the Death by Chocolate sundaes please, and two glasses of water."

"How many spoons?"

"Two."

"Per sundae?"

"Nope, just one spoon per sundae please."