When they got home that night, Isaac kept his word; he made her favourite meal, tried to talk about simple, ordinary things, tried to make her laugh, but every smile Aria gave him looked borrowed.
Aria sat at the table, watching with tired eyes.
When he finally set the plates down, she offered him a faint thank you.
Her voice was thin and brittle, like glass ready to shatter.
She wasn't okay; she was just pretending.
Isaac noticed the way her hands clenched around her fork, the way she startled at small noises, the way her eyes never quite met his for long.
He told himself to keep it light, to give her something steady to hold onto, but the silence between them was heavier than any words.
By the time they finished eating, Aria excused herself quietly.
Isaac followed her with his eyes as she walked down the short hall, her shoulders hunched in on themselves, until the sound of her door shutting and the sharp click of the lock sliding into place cut through the apartment.
That became the rhythm of the days that followed.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Aria began locking herself away for progressively more prolonged stretches of time, first hours, then days.
Each time he knocked, hoping she'd answer, only silence came back.
Each hour she stayed hidden, Isaac's chest grew tighter.
It was only on the fifth day that she finally emerged.
"Isaac…" Her voice was barely audible.
Isaac shot up from the sofa.
"Aria?"
When she stepped closer into the light, his chest tightened.
Her cheeks were hollow, and her eyes red and swollen.
"I didn't do it," she whispered, trembling. "I really didn't…"
He was at her side in an instant, wrapping her in his arms.
"I know. I know, don't worry."
Her tears bled into his shirt.
"What should I do?" she asked in between sobs.
Isaac swallowed, helpless.
"I'm not sure… but I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
She nodded faintly, clinging to him as though he were the last solid thing in the world.
Then the sound of her phone cut through their quiet moment.
Vrrrrrr… Vrrrrrr… Vrrrrrr…
"..."
She froze, her body stiffening.
"Do you want me to answer?" Isaac asked softly.
"...Please."
He reached into her pocket and glanced at the screen.
.
[Dad <3]
[Accept] [Deny]
.
He hesitated, then answered.
"Hello, sir."
[Isaac? Where's my daughter?]
"She's with me, don't worry."
[Put her on.]
Isaac glanced at Aria, who shook her head violently, tears streaming faster, seeing that his grip on the phone tightened.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Aria isn't feeling well at the moment. I'll tell her to call you later."
Silence. Then a sharp sigh was heard.
[...If she doesn't call by tonight, I'm coming over myself.]
"Understood, have a good day."
Click
Isaac slipped the phone back into her pocket, and she looked at him, her eyes wide with fear.
"What do I do…?"
He hugged her tighter.
"We'll call him together, I'll be there, okay?"
"Okay…"
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
The call went about as expected.
– [Why did you do such a thing? Just why? I thought I raised you better… Your mother and I don't even know what to do…]
– I didn't do it! I didn't…!
– [Then what were those photos! Why can't you just be honest? If you just told us the truth, we could figure this out, but you won't!]
Isaac tried to step in.
– There's no way she did all of that. We're together most of the time—
– [You're part of the problem, boy!]
The words struck Isaac like a whip.
Isaac froze, silenced, unable to protect her.
Unable to convince her father, they both ended up sitting in silence, on the receiving end of a one-sided scolding.
By the time the call had ended, Aria was sobbing into her hands.
"I'm sorry," Isaac said, wishing he could've done more, but she didn't respond.
She didn't even look at him when she stumbled back to her room, locking the door behind her.
Isaac sat alone at the table, head in his hands, guilt pressing down until it hurt to breathe.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
The days after were blurred.
Aria barely emerged, sometimes muttering through the door, sometimes silent altogether, but when she did come out, she avoided his gaze, her voice hollow.
"I didn't do it," she repeated whenever the subject neared, panic flickering in her eyes, as though even Isaac might turn against her if she didn't insist hard enough.
That left him in his current situation.
Knock knock
"Breakfast is out here. Leave the dishes in the sink when you're done. I'll wash them when I'm back."
There was no response.
"Message me if you need anything…"
He wasn't sure how to navigate the current situation; he had never seen Aria in such a state.
As far as he could remember, she had always been as radiant as a sunflower, a smile always plastered on her face; it was considered an extremely rare occurrence for her to even so much as frown, and yet here she was, in a state so bad that she refused to leave the apartment.
Isaac had told her again and again that he believed her, but his reassurances felt clumsy, flimsy compared to the weight she carried.
He'd sit outside her door at night, talking through the wood, trying to fill the silence with anything; memories, jokes, promises, whatever he could think of.
Some nights, he thought he heard her crying. Others, nothing at all.
He told himself that she would be fine, that this was temporary, that she was too strong to break, but the silence gnawed away at him all the same.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
When Isaac finally returned to college for the first time in over a week, the air felt different.
Stares lingered, whispers following him down hallways as he walked.
– That's him…
– Wow, I can't believe she'd do that?
'Is this seriously all it took?'
He was frustrated that all it took to destroy Aria's reputation was some random accusations and blurry photos.
Each word cut him deeply, but he gritted his teeth, forcing his focus on one thing: answers.
Knock knock
"Professor, It's Isaac."
– Come in.
Creaakkk
"Hello, Isaac, glad to see you're back. Did you have something you wanted to talk about?" The professor said while scribbling on some paper, not even bothering to raise his head.
"Yes…" He took a deep breath. "Do you have any idea who wrote those things about Aria before your lecture?"
"No, I'm sorry. By the time I got there, it was already done."
"I see…"
"Will Aria be with us today? The Dean of Student Affairs wants to have a word with her."
Isaac shook his head and turned to leave the office, frustration boiling beneath his skin.
'What a waste of time,'
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
"Isaac–!" A girl called out to him, but he didn't stop; he had to get home and check on Aria.
She hadn't left her room in two weeks at this point, and he was worried.
It was so bad that she hardly even ate anymore, never mind leaving her room to shower.
'What can I do?' He thought to himself.
She was his saviour, the person who helped him escape from his family and yet, now that she needed help, he was useless.
"Isaac! Don't you dare ignore me! Look at me!"
He stopped, annoyance sharp on his tongue.
"What?"
She smiled widely.
It was the girl who had confessed to him only weeks ago.
"Isaac… won't you look at me now? The nuisance is gone, so we can finally be together, can't we?"
Isaac froze.
The look in her eyes was crazed, as if they saw nothing but Isaac, but he picked something up from her words.
"'The nuisance'…? Was it you?"
She finally had his attention, and her face lit up.
"Yes! I did it all for you, Isaac! Everything, every little thing. I'm so glad you've finally noticed, but now we can be together, right?"
Something in him snapped.
Isaacs's fist moved faster than his thoughts, connecting with her face.
Thud!
It was an action he would've never done if he were in his right mind.
There was no justification for throwing the punch; he hated himself for doing such a thing, as he didn't want to stoop to the girl's level, and yet he had already done so.
He should have ignored the girl and just walked away, yet he couldn't.
She wiped the blood from her nose with a trembling hand and smiled.
"Hehe~ Even when you hurt me, it feels like love. It means you're finally seeing me, right, Isaac?~"
Isaac staggered back, bile rising in his throat.
The girl before him had ruined Aria's life; it was all her fault.
"Why? Just… Why?"
"Ehehe~ I did it all for you. I did it so we could be happy! Everything was for you…"
"Why would you do such a thing? Are you fucking sick?"
"You're all I ever think about… every single second… ever since the first moment I saw you in that magazine, Isaac."
The girl looked up at Isaac with eyes filled with madness; she terrified him.
"I can't stop… I can't get you out of my head, you're my everything… I love you…"
The girl was lying on the floor, giggling, her face covered in mud and blood pouring from her nose, the bandages slipped, revealing scarred flesh, a grotesque show of her obsession.
He glared at the girl who was grabbing his leg with a disgusted expression.
"You're fucking insane."
He just wanted to leave; being around her made him feel ill.
"Isaac, you need me… I will always love you, no matter what you do… I'll never let you go…"
He tore his leg away, his chest heaving.
All he wanted was to get home, to see Aria, to protect what little they had left.
But the stalker's words clung to him like rot.
————「❤︎」————