Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/ works/917349. Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: Underage Category: M/M Fandom: Teen_Wolf_(TV) Relationship: Isaac_Lahey/Scott_McCall Character: Scott_McCall, Isaac_Lahey Additional Tags: i've_been_dying_to_write_something_post_episode, spoilers_for_S03E10, Porn_with_Feelings, started_out_as_feelings_and_descended_very_quickly into_sex Stats: Published: 2013-08-08 Words: 5883 ****** come home to me ****** by incendia Summary "I'm not an alpha, Isaac. I can't even... I can't even keep the people I love safe. I can't even protect them, how does - how does anyone expect me to - " He's silenced, interrupted, by Isaac's lips crashing against his own and everything else flies out of his mind as Isaac's hands clasp at his jaw and his own fingers are tangling through his curls. Scott's kissing him back, just like he was before only this time Isaac can feel it, the thrum of heat and desperation, crackling beneath his skin like electricity. Notes i have an insane amount of ideas for scisaac it's kind of unbelievable. thought i'd just pump this out while i still had the idea fresh in my mind (and very deliberately avoiding studying for my exam tomorrow). i have mixed feelings about this and the amount of porn to angst to fluff ratio it ended up being but i desperately have to go revise now so i'm probably just going to leave it at this. songs i listened to on repeat while i writing it: below my feet by mumford & sons, we must be killers by mikky ekko and new york by snow patrol. See the end of the work for more notes It’s late when Scott stumbles in through the door. There’s a part of him half- hoping that maybe the house is empty, maybe it’s alright because he’s gone home with Stiles or Allison or he’s with Cora and Derek now that alpha pack is officially no longer recruiting. He’s wrong, of course, and when he pads into the living room the shape of Isaac casts a shadow against the floorboards, and the weight that’s been sinking deep inside him, tearing and shredding through him along the way and shackling itself to his feet only grows when he thinks about Isaac sitting in the dark waiting for him to come home. Scott shouldn’t even be here, he shouldn’t have come and this entire thing was a mistake. Deucalion’s generosity can only extend so far and going home with the excuse that he’s grabbing spare clothes and essentials for his prolonged stay on the dark side probably doesn’t cover the accidental slaughter of people Scott cares about. This is a man who killed his own pack without a second of hesitation, who led a pack full of other murderers who had massacred their own just like he had. And now Scott is one of them, and it’s only a matter of time until he’s expected to do the same. He steels himself for what he knows will be plastered across Isaac’s face – hurt and betrayal and disappointment at being let down by yet another person Isaac trusted. But when he moves to stand in front of him the only thing is a hollowness that aches more than Scott could have imagined. Isaac looks… lost. And small, hunched in on himself even with his broad shoulders, like a kid who’s come home to realise his only family’s vanished into thin air and Scott wonders how long he’d been here for, how long he’d waited for Scott to come home. “Stiles said you left with him.” It’s not an even accusation but Scott wishes it is, he’ll take Isaac’s anger and rage boiling beneath his skin and spilling over into his veins crashing recklessly through him when he picks fights and beats up alphas for him – not this subdued and silent Isaac. Not an Isaac who acts as if he already knows why Scott’s here  Scott swallows, glancing away and resisting the urge to turn on his heel and walk right out the door. He can’t do this, he thinks. It was a mistake to come back only to dig himself into a bigger hole than before. “He’s going to help me get my mom and Stiles’ dad back,” he says, as if that’s all Isaac needs to know and it’s not the reason Scott has all but made a pact with the devil just to bring them back. “You were supposed to come back with us.” There it is, the slightest flicker of anger in his tone, rising with his voice and Isaac’s eyes are boring into the side of his face. And if Scott were brave enough to turn and meet his gaze he’d see hard shards of ice glinting like steel. “I wasn’t going to leave without you, did you know that? I waited until the last moment thinking you’d make it in time.” “I’m sorry, Isaac,” Scott murmurs softly, jaw tensing as he glances down, exhaling with a sigh that does nothing to release the tension built up in all of his muscles, constricting in his chest and making it harder to breathe the longer he’s here, struggling to see what he’s even trying to accomplish with the other boy. “You’re okay though, right? They didn’t… you weren’t –” “Shut up, Scott.” Startled, Scott glances up, eyes widening a fraction at the burn of Isaac’s eyes; indecipherable beneath the walls he’s thrown back up against him. He can see him struggling with it, the careful façade of indifference he’s spent so long wearing like armour, and then taking it apart piece by piece only to be left with nothing but disappointment. “Just… just shut up,” Isaac snaps, straightening in a single fluid motion from the couch, lithe muscles stretching taut along his frame, elongating with his towering height. “You left. You didn’t even bother to put up a goddamn fight, you just… you just gave into him, surrendered without even trying to -” “That is not what happened. He offered to help me if I helped him, I didn’t – ” Scott cuts himself off abruptly, his hands curled into fists by his side and realises his own voice has been raised several octaves higher and that’s exactly what Isaac wanted. His expression wipes itself blank in that instant.  “You didn’t what, Scott?” Isaac advances on him, long legs stalking towards him, eyes blazing in a way that would terrify a lesser person but Scott’s not going to back down just because Isaac is a couple of inches taller than him. “You didn’t save the day, ride in on your white horse and rescue everyone just in time for dinner? I can’t believe that I actually thought you were going to get us through that, that Stiles thought you could get us out of it.” His mouth falls open a little, gaping at air, bewildered by where the sudden vitriol has come from, every word like the crack of a whip against concrete. “I’m trying, I’ve been trying, and it’s not that easy, Isaac, I’m just – ” “Just not enough to keep saving everyone. Because it’s not your goddamn job, it’s not your responsibility to save everyone.” Scott flinches, shrinking back at the flood of bitterness in Isaac’s voice.  “I know it’s not my job,” he says slowly, after a moment of struggling to comprehend why Isaac’s doing this, why he’s flinging these insults at him as if he doesn’t already know all of them by heart, doesn’t think about them at night, sleepless and restless and wondering if maybe he’s just doomed to lead all of them to their deaths. “Deucalion… that was my choice, Isaac. I didn’t do it for anyone else, I did it for myself. To get my mom back. Stiles’ dad, too, but this is… what else was I supposed to do?” “You could have come back home with me – you could have stayed and not decided to sell your soul to the freaking devil and martyr yourself for everyone else.” Isaac’s eyes shutter and then slip close for a moment, inhaling against the tide of unrestrained savagery that’s threatening to tear at his control and he can feel the ruthless taste of blood rising in his throat on the heels of more accusations as he tears Scott to pieces.  He’s so goddamn naïve, he’s always been so goddamn naïve. Naïve and optimistic and full of bright, burning hope and that’s exactly what’s gotten them into the mess. Or rather what’s gotten him into this mess because if Scott’s sold his soul for the greater good then where does that leave him?  Scott is silent for even longer this time, and he doesn’t make a move to speak, just stares at Isaac with this unfathomable sadness and that sends another spike of anger flaring up in him because for Christ’s sake, of course Scott would still feel bad for him when he’s the one that’s been turned into Deucalion’s new whipping boy. “Why did you bother coming back, Scott?” He spits, viciousness slicing through his words like a knife, split down the middle and so loaded with venom.  The look of hurt on Scott’s face sends a sickening thrill of pleasure through him. He’s not infallible after all. The shining example of all the goodness in the world can feel pain. Alert the fucking press because maybe Scott McCall’s human after all. “I wanted… I wanted to make sure you were okay, that you’d gotten home safe and – ”  “Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I’m not as helpless and pathetic as you think I am, Scott? That I don’t need you constantly looking over my shoulder and waiting for me to do the next stupid thing that’s going to get me into danger?” “I didn’t – I didn’t say that, Isaac!” Scott’s voice is sharp, and Isaac can almost taste his frustration, harsh and bitter in the air, the scent like metal with the faint, lingering trace of blood. Scott’s blood. “I was worried about you, okay? I didn’t want you to come home to an empty house and not know what had happened because no one bothered to tell you.” Of course he was, Isaac thinks acidly. He almost wants to throw up at how sincere Scott sounds. “But they did, didn’t they? And I’m absolutely fucking fine so I guess you came back for nothing.” Scott falls silent again, a blissful reprieve for Isaac from all his concern and compassion and the sun shining out of his ass at how good he is.   “I’m not leaving until I know you’re okay. This isn't you. This is you acting out and being an asshole just so you can lash out at me.” Isaac almost begins slow clapping at his valiant effort. “Bravo, Scott, you’ve figured out the reason for why I’m so pissed at you. Or maybe I really am just an asshole and I’ve been fooling you this entire time into thinking I was a decent person so you wouldn’t kick me out.” “You are a decent person, Isaac,” Scott retaliates with missing a beat, the irritation in his voice like a siren song to Isaac's ears. “You’re my friend and you trust me - I know that’s not just an act.” Isaac lets loose a snarl this time, ripping and tearing through his throat, another step closer that radiates with the fury burning at his lungs and in his chest, spilling through his ribcage with the hammering beat of his heart. “And look at where trusting you has left me. – In an empty freaking house.” He doesn’t even react to Scott this time when he stiffens, his vision filling with red and rage and there’s hunger rising in him for blood. He wants Scott angry and enraged like he is, not worried and concerned and caring because fuck, fuck, that’s not what Isaac asked for and he’s not ready to face the thought of caring enough about Scott to want to tear apart the alpha pack until they’re all dead and he can come back home.  “I said I was – ”  “I did trust you, Scott,” he says, voice shaking, trembling, a lighting flash of gold searing through his eyes like a sunset set on fire, face inches away from Scott’s. “I trusted you to know the right thing to do, not martyr yourself for the rest of us.” “For the last time, Isaac, I didn’t do it for anyone else.” “But you would have. You would have if it had come down to joining them or hurting one of us.” “Fine," Scott chokes out, and Isaac begins to hate himself just a little more for the helpless look in Scott's eyes. "You got me. I would have done it anyway – but it would’ve still been my choice.” And then something in Isaac just snaps. Splinters through him and breaks through the cage around his self- control, the ugly, untempered anger he has with him, always simmering beneath the surface like dormant magma waiting to erupt.  And then he’s surging forwards, his hands clutching at the sides of Scott’s face as his lips slam against Scott’s with every intent to tear into him and rip him to shreds and devour him whole. And he’s so caught up in the madness, caught up in the abandonment and lust he’d thought was just anger, and the worry and mindless fear that’s been driving everything else he didn’t want to admit to until now churns in his stomach, feeding through his veins and making him desperate to tether himself, chain himself to Scott and never, ever let him go. His fingers clasp tighter at Scott’s jaw, his tongue slipping between Scott’s lips that have parted in stunned silence, licking into his mouth, wild and craving every inch of him that he can reach and god, Scott tastes like everything and nothing he’d imagined, like a car crash of lust and salt and impulse, consuming him from the inside until he’s nothing but shaking desire and – fuck. Fuckfuckfuck.Isaac’s brain takes all of a second to shut down, resorting to auto pilot as he tears away from Scott as if he’s actually been burned, staggering away with him the bitter aftertaste of self-loathing in his mouth. Fuck, he actually just did that. He actually just kissedScott, or attacked his mouth and tried to kiss him and fuck, how could he not have realised Scott wasn’t kissing him back? What fucked-up person does that, what is wrongwith him, five seconds ago he’d been yelling at the guy and then he was – “Isaac.”  "– Fuck. No. No, no, no," Isaac mutters under his breath, stumbling back from Scott, his hand swinging out to stop Scott from reaching for him. "Isaac! Isaac, it's alright. It's fine – " "It's not fucking fine, Scott. It's not fucking fine because I just kissed you and everything is fucked up and I –" Fuck. Isaac swallows, past the lump growing in the base of his throat and the suffocating nausea that's threatening to choke him. He takes another stumbling step back, shaking his head, incoherent mutters slipping from his lips. "I'm... - can't do this. Fuck. I didn't - I wasn't - " He turns, spinning on his heel sharply as the whole world lurches to the side and he's ready to storm up the stairs or out the door, just anywhere but here and away from Scott McCall and his beautiful fucking lips and the taste of his tongue when a hand on his arm stops him. Calloused fingertips close around his wrist, holding him tight in a vice grip and refusing to let go as Isaac traces that arm, along the corded muscles of Scott's neck to his eyes. The revulsion and disgust he's expecting isn't there. Instead, there's something else entirely. Something that Isaac's never seen on Scott's face before. "Please - please... don't go." Scott releases a shaky exhale, curling his fingers tighter around Isaac. "I... you're right. I screwed up. I screwed up big time and I have no idea what I'm doing. I can't - you shouldn't have trusted me because I'm not... I can't do it. I can't be what everyone needs me to be and - " Oh. Oh. Isaac shuts his jaw with a soft click, stilling beneath Scott's touch but not making any move to speak either. "I'm not an alpha, Isaac. I can't even... I can't even keep the people I love safe. I can't even protect them, how does - how does anyone expect me to - " He's silenced, interrupted, by Isaac's lips crashing against his own and everything else flies out of his mind as Isaac's hands clasp at his jaw and his own fingers are tangling through his curls. Scott's kissing him back, just like he was before only this time Isaac can feel it, the thrum of heat and desperation, crackling beneath his skin like electricity. Scott smells like doubt tinged with fear but there's also longing, longing and the smell of wanting that's sweeter and more seductive than Isaac can comprehend. His teeth sink into the flesh of Scott's lower lip, hard enough to draw blood and the moan that comes from both of them at the taste of it has Isaac driven halfway to slow burning insanity. He wonders if Scott can feel his heartbeat it's so fast and loud and pounding against his ribcage like it needs to escape and to explode before he runs out of breath, he tips his head to mouth along Scott's jaw, tracing the uneven line of it with a needy sound in the back of his throat. Scott's lips part in a silent moan, arching back to give him access, fingers tightening in his curls. Isaac moves to suck against his pulse, and when his tongue flicks out to trace across Scott's skin to taste the salt of his sweat Scott makes a sound that sends a heady rush of arousal down to his pants and fuck, Scott must be able to feel how hard he is, it'd be impossible for him not to. "Isaac," Scott breathes, eyes slipping shut as Isaac traces his lips back up to his ear, desperate to find all the places that will make Scott moan again like that and the fingers in his hair tighten again, threading around his curls as Isaac shifts to crush his lips against Scott's again, thrusting his tongue into his mouth and stroking along Scott's tongue with a filthy sound of his own. Isaac kisses him like he's drowning and Scott kisses back like he's gasping for breath, and suddenly his hands are around Isaac's waist, pressing his body along his and slamming him back against the wall behind them hard enough to shake at the foundations with the trembling rattle of some picture frames lined up beside them. "Not here. Upstairs," Isaac manages to gasp when they break apart, fingers curling around Scott's and tugging him in the direction of the staircase and they kiss and fumble their way up the steps, too desperate to keep their hands off each other for even a second. Staggering across the threshold and into the room, Scott presses Isaac back, corners him until they're both tumbling back onto the bed, Scott landing between Isaac's legs that fall open for him and when he leans back in to kiss him again they can both feel the friction. Scott lowers his hips against Isaac's and he's hard enough for it to hurt, straining against the fabric of his jeans and Isaac bucks up against him, impatient as he tugs at the back of Scott's head, fingers sifting through short, dark locks. Scott moans against Isaac's lips, both hands bracketed around Isaac's head and braced against the mattress as he gives another roll of his hips, gasping at the feeling of their erections grinding against each other through the few layers separating them. His t-shirt is bunched up against his stomach where Isaac's fingers are tracing at the skin above his jeans, gliding up along the muscles planes of his abdomen and around his back, the edges of his claws elongated as they scrape down his backwhen Scott sucks a bruise into the side of his jaw. Isaac gasps, pressing his head back and Scott takes that as an encouragement, teeth sinking deeper and harder into his skin to mark him. He wants to mark him, and even if the bruise itself will heal the memory of it will not fade, the memory of tonight won't fade - because they're kissing like two people drowning in each other as if they know what's going to happen come tomorrow. But for now, Isaac thrusts his hips back against Scott, scrambling to help tug Scott's shirt off and then ridding himself of his ownwith determination in his eyes that rake across his naked flesh with hunger and craving that makes Scott shudder. Isaac grasps at Scott's hips to flip them, rolling on top of him as he bends to mouth kisses down the length of Scott's throat, blazing a trail of kisses, open-mouthed and sucking against his skin, down his chest. Scott can only lie back with a stifled groan, fingers threaded through the curls at the top of Isaac's head, so sure the heat traveling along his flesh is going to burn hot enough to set them both alight. The fingers slipping beneath the waistband of his jeans make his eyes snap open with an inhale of breath, seizing at Isaac's curls at tugging him away to meet his gaze. "Isaac - are you... we're really doing this?" Isaac sighs, climbing back up Scott's torso to slam his lips against his in answer, distracting him while his fingers begin to unbutton Scott's jeans and work the zipper down. When he's finished, he breaks away from the kiss, blue eyes feverish and bright with want. He wants to make Scott moan until he's breathless and hear him gasping for air, wants to feel his fingers tugging at his hair and digging into his flesh, wants the teeth sinking into his skin and marking him, wants sweat- slicked skin pressed up against his own and lips that breathe his name like a prayer. "I don't know, Scott, are we?" He mutters teasingly, tugging Scott's jeans off before Scott reacts and begins kicking them off in earnest. This should really terrify Scott, it really should because he's never done this before and the waves of arrogance rolling of Isaac makes him think he's done it before but it doesn't. And even if he weren't aching and splitting apart from the burden he's been carrying on his shoulders and the knowledge of what he has to go back to after this he'd still want it anyway. They've never traded anything more than harmless, chaste kisses, innocent ones easily brushed off as playful teasing but this... this is them crossing a line they can't go back to but Scott doesn't care anymore. He wants this and he'll take it along with whatever consequences come with it. The way Isaac mouths at his boxers, against the wet patch where he's been leaking steadily since they started kissing makes Scott sure Isaac has done this before but he lets himself keen and arch back against it anyway. Isaac licks a stripe straight across the bulge before slipping his fingers beneath them to circle around his cock and fuck, fuck, Scott's eyes close against the pleasure as Isaac drags his fingertips along the length of him. Isaac tugs him slowly out of his boxers, pushing them the rest of the way down and licks tentatively at the leaking tip, savouring the taste with a hungry look before leaning in to suck slowly against the head of his cock. "I - Isaac," Scott stutters, fingers tightening in his hair, hips lifting slightly off the bed, desperate for Isaac to do anything other than tease. "Fuck, Isaac." Isaac circles his fingers at the base, licking along the underside of his cock which is straining and hard and desperate for more of Isaac's hands or mouth or anything, fuck. But he takes his time dragging his lips back down before moving to suck at the tip again, lowering more of Scott into his mouth this time, slow and painfully, torturously arousing. Even more so than he already is. "Fuck - fuck, Isaac, I swear - please, please just - " The keening sound Scott makes sends a hot surge down to his own erection and Isaac moans around him, sending vibrations traveling up along him. Glancing up at Scott through his eyelashes, Isaac relishes in the sight of him laid out before him, wrecked and skin slick with sweat. He withdraws, slipping his tongue into the slit of Scott's cock and earning a breathy tumble of incoherent words before he takes pity on him and sucks down on him again between his lips. This time he takes more, moving past the burn and is pleasantly surprised by how much he manages to take before he can't anymore, his hand strokes at the base he can't quite reach. "Shit, shit - Isaac - oh my god. Fuck," Scott gasps, keeping up a steady rhythm of curses as Isaac draws back, pulling his lips slowly along his cock before moving back down again, tongue sliding along him with every stroke. Isaac's fingers slide lower to stroke along his balls, teasing at them as he pumps at Scott's cock with his other hand, hollowing out his cheeks and sucking harder against Scott's thrusting hips. For a moment, he lets Scott take control, stilling as Scott bucks up into his mouth, thrusting deeper with desperate moans. He can feel the tension in his body, in the arch of his hips, swallowing Scott deeper where he can to feel him thrusting against his mouth. "Isaac, fuck, I'm - I'm close - " Isaac tightens his grip around Scott, pumping harder as he doubles his pace to match Scott's increasingly sloppy thrusts, groaning against him before he feels Scott's balls tighten and the spread of heat in his throat, spilling into his mouth as Scott comes with his name in a ragged gasp, voice completely and utterly wrecked into oblivion. The syllables are shaped on his tongue, escaping from parted lips red and kiss-swollen, head tipped back with pleasure. Isaac swallows until there isn't any left, pulling him out of his mouth gently and wiping the back of his hand across his lips to catch whatever he'd missed. Somehow Scott still has enough energy to seize around his wrist and drag him up for a kiss, the taste of Scott left on both their tongues when Scott tears away for much-needed air. "Fuck," he breathes, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds. When they snap back open, they zone in on Isaac with a feverishness that makes his cock twitch to see and suddenly Scott is on him, tugging at his pants and freeing him from his constraints, hand curling around him and stroking him softly with experimental novelty. It's Isaac's turn to throw his head back and groan against the pleasure and he knows he isn't going to last long. It takes a few strokes and Scott's face still flushed with euphoria to send him toppling over the edge and Scott moves down to lick up the mess he makes across both their stomachs, the obsence motions of his tongue drawing a moan from Isaac as he fists his hands in Scott's hair. Scott cleans him up, slow and steady, patiently, before crawling back up the length of him to collapse beside him. They're both silent for a while, chests heaving as they recover, blissful post- orgasmic haze enveloping them and wrapping their minds in cotton. It's Scott who breaks the silence first, rolling lightly onto his side to face Isaac. "Isaac?" His voice is quiet, deceptively soft, and Isaac bites back the urge to frown. "Yeah, Scott?" "... Just wanted to say... thank you." And there it is again. "Scott, you... don't... why are you thanking me?" If Isaac weren't so boneless from the pleasure he'd have turned around and punched Scott full in the face now. "For - for this, I mean - " "I didn't do it out of some twisted sense of compassion, Scott." When Scott doesn't reply, Isaac restrains the urge to let loose a low growl.  "You really think I'd fuck you just because you were having a bad day? Jesus, I'm not you, Scott." "... I thought you were still mad at me for joining Deucalion - you were still mad at me before we... before we kissed." "I was mad at you." "Then why'd you... what was the sex for?" "Because I fucking wanted to, okay. I wanted it." Fuck. Scott's not really stupid enough to have this conversation with him right now is he? "Okay." "Okay?" Isaac mutters incredulously, eyebrows arching into his hairline. "Yeah. I wanted it, too." Isaac narrows his eyes, turning to glance at Scott who's lying with his face staring up at the ceiling. He doesn't say anything else so Isaac lets out a huff and turns to roll onto his side, away from Scott. "... Isaac?" "– What?" "Can I... can I kiss you?" Is he serious...? Isaac rolls back over to face him with a furrowed brow. "And why would you do that." "Because I want to. And because... because I like kissing you." "This is not a thing, Scott. Don't - don't... No, Scott. No, you can't fucking kiss me." Well, he kind of deserved the way Scott's face crumples at that. "What'd you think this was going to be? You could come home and play the role of wolfkind's savior and I'd throw myself at you with the offer of sex?" Scott's face turns cold, every inch of warmth and satisfaction seeping away in an instant. It happens so fast it almost gives Isaac whip lash, but even that wouldn't have been punishment enough for the look of hurt that flashes through Scott's eyes. "I wasn't going to come back at all." "Then you shouldn't have," Isaac spits out, sitting up now from the bed. "Well, I did. And I'm glad I did - " "So what now, huh? You're just going to go crawling back to Deucalion and his happy band of murderous alphas in the morning? Pretend like this never happened and it was just some stupid lapse of judgement and I don't exist anymore?" "Isaac." "That's what this is, isn't it? You came back to have your last moment with me so you could go back to your alpha without any guilt riding on your conscience. And to top it all of you got free sex out of it, too. I bet I gave you enough material to last you a month's worth of lonely nights fucking your own - " "Shut up, Isaac." "Oh my god, I'm right, aren't I? You thought you could have your perfect farewell so you could join the alphas without regret knowing I was okay. Well, guess what, Scott, life doesn't fucking work that way. You don't get perfect moments or perfect endings and it's going to be a fucking miracle if either of your parents make it out of this alive because god knows you fucking suck at - "  Shit. Shit. He's fucking stepped over a line a mile wide and there's no going back from that. Tensing, every single muscle in his body locks in expectation of the impact that's bound to come, the fist that is going to come sailing through the air to land in his face or the punch to the gut or - Scott doesn't do any of those things. Just crumples inwards as if all of Isaac's words have taken the fight out of him, a mask so painfully fake it hurts Isaac to see because it must be something if Scott's trying so desperately hard to hide it. "Fuck, Scott. I didn't - " "You did," Scott says softly, voice deathly quiet. "You did, and it's okay. You're right. You're always... you're always right." Scott curls in on himself then, tucking his knees up beneath his arms and sinking his head down onto folded hands. "One of them is going to die and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Not even joining the alphas." "Scott..." "I can't save both of them - I can't save anyone. And now... now Deucalion's probably going to make me kill someone just to become a part of his pack." The thought of pure, innocent Scott, everything that is good and right in the world being forced to take someone else's life sends a cold chill down Isaac's spine. "I didn't mean it like that, Scott. I was angry, and I - " "You want to know why I came home today? Even though I shouldn't be here and you didn't even want me to come?" Isaac opens his mouth to argue that last part but clamps it shut again when Scott shakes his head. "I came back because I didn't know what to do. And somehow being near you always makes me feel better. Even when I'm terrified that I'm going to screw everything up and get someone killed again I... I think of you and the fact that you trust me to always do the right thing and make the right choice... Or at least you did before tonight."  Even if Isaac could speak at this moment there's nothing he could say that could possibly match Scott's confession. The look on his face is frozen somewhere between shock and wonder and then he realises Scott's waiting for a reaction of some kind and is scrambling for words and all he can think is yes, Scott, yes you wonderful, perfect idiot, I do trust you, I'd trust you with my life, I'd trust you to be my alpha if you had a real pack, I -  "I do still trust you, Scott," Isaac murmured softly. "You're... you’re like Superman and James Kirk rolled into one and you try so hard to be a fucking hero but the world doesn’t work like that and if you could just see that sometimes no-win situations can’t be won you wouldn’t be so goddamn – ” Scott's lips are crushed against his own before he can make another sound and Isaac all but sinks into the kiss, unravelling at a speed that's terrifying and his pulse is skyrocketing at the taste of Scott on his tongue again. It's wild and reckless and there's sparks shooting through his veins spreading fire through his chest and up his throat. They end up with their foreheads pressed against each other, panting with shared breaths, Isaac's hand lifting to brush his thumb along Scott's jaw like he's afraid even touching him will break the moment between them.  "You're so damn full of hope and light and even though things keep going against us you keep believing that things will turn out alright... and it makes people like me, helpless and broken and fucked-up hope too." You're not any of those things, Scott wants to reply, but Isaac silences him with his fingers grazing over his lips. "I'm fucked-up and screwed-up and everything in between, and I might not believe in anything else in the world but I believe in you, Scott." So don't let me down, don't leave me behind, don't leave me alone, don't -  "Deucalion wants you because he knows that, he knows you're pure and compassionate and you have a heart of fucking gold and that's what makes you a real leader. That's the thing that terrifies the hell out of him."  That's the thing that terrifies the hell out of me, the thing I think I could fall for, have fallen for, am falling for - "So don't give him what he wants and let him screw you up, too, okay? Be the hero. Be Scott McCall, protector of the small and weak. Because I believe in you, and so does everyone else and we're counting on you. Your mom and Stiles' dad are counting on you to do this."  I'm counting on you. I'm counting on to you stay alive. I'm counting on you to come back to me safe and whole and in one piece. "And when it's all over, you'd better come home safe and sound or I swear to god I will kick your ass." Scott chuckles, low and soft, a sound that makes the corners of Isaac's lips curve into a smile. He can feel Scott relaxing into him when he lets go, and they lie back down to sleep. It's not all weird when they end up tangled together, Isaac's body curled around Scott's, an arm slung around his waist and holding him close to his chest. He's pretty sure Scott's almost asleep judging by the steadiness of his breathing but just before he falls asleep himself Scott speaks up.  "Thanks, Isaac." Isaac doesn't reply, just tightens his grip and presses a smile into Scott's hair.  End Notes friendly reminder: I CAN'T. NOT WITHOUT SCOTT (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧ Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!