Breathe Again

08: Big Spoon, Little Spoon

Authors Note: omg this chapter is not good and was meant to be up two days ago but my boyfriend of a year and a half just broke up with me so I am straight up not having a good time right now. If anyone has any advice for getting over a breakup during lockdown I would LOVE to hear it pls

This time when Isaac and Liam pull up to a hotel, it is Liam that is complaining.

"We should just go home," he says, "this was a waste of both of our time."

Isaac can't help but smile when he sees that the roles are reversed but it soon falls from his face when he realises Liam looks a petulant child and is refusing to get out of the car.

"Liam what were your plans for this summer?"

"Hang out with you guys, I thought maybe I could reconnect with Dad, I don't know, chill."

"And what are your plans now?"

"Sit in my room and think about my lack of a future?"

"What if I have a better plan."

Liam raises an eyebrow and it doesn't take a genius to tell that he is unimpressed. Isaac's not surprised, Liam may occasionally refer to him as a genius but Liam-worthy plans are hardly something Isaac is known for coming up with. Liam is the social butterfly, the life of the party, and usually, Isaac just tags along. Sometimes happy to be a part of it all, sometimes preferring to hang back.

"I doubt you have a better plan," Liam says bluntly, and Isaac can't help but feel hurt a little by the cold tone, "your plan for the summer is to work in the shop, babysit the twins, and study your little heart out so you stop panicking about whether you deserve your university place."

Isaac doesn't really have anything to say to that, after all, it's hardly like it's not true. But there's something about Liam's tone, and the way that Isaac's life is apparently so predictable that makes him desperate to prove Liam wrong. To give Liam a summer he won't forget easily.

"Well there's been a change of plans." Isaac can feel the frustrating leaking into his voice. "We're going somewhere different, somewhere new, somewhere random. And you're going to stop acting like a toddler and complaining, and we're going to have fun. But for tonight we need to stay in a hotel and make plans, because I'm tired Liam, and I refuse to just drive when I feel as if I'm constantly about to fall asleep at the wheel."

Liam doesn't reply, but his not saying anything Isaac takes as a good sign. Liam always has a retort to everything, and it's very rare that Isaac has seen him quiet. So while unusual Isaac figures it's a sign that he's thinking things over, processing, and that means Isaac can use this opportunity to steer him gently towards the reception of the hotel.

Unsurprisingly the hotel has very few rooms left for such a last-minute booking, and Isaac is happy at this point to just take what he can get. This day has felt very much like the longest day of his life, and it feels like much more than 24 hours since the pair of them were at the leaver's ball. Isaac finally thinks to look at his phone and check what's going on.

Daniel: Hey dude, you and Liam okay? Your mum called to ask where you were by the way, you might want to let her know you're alright

Jonah: Are you with Liam? He's not replying to any of my messages

Mum: 4 Missed Calls

Issac isn't sure he can face a conversation with his mum, so as he waits for the receptionist to bring him the key to the room he sends her a brief message saying he's going to be away for at least a night, maybe longer.

He figures he has at least a week, the twins are in school for another fortnight, and he knows his mum wasn't expecting him back in the shop straight away. He still thinks a week might be pushing his luck though, this is the longest Isaac has been away from the family in a long time. He's stayed over at Daniel's or been on school trips but it was usually just one night, his mum afraid of him drifting too far away, his Dad there to remind him that they needed him to help out around the house. Isaac doesn't mind, but it's a strange feeling, how you can miss your family so much after only a day apart.