Chapter 44 - Survivor's Guilt (3)
When they got ho that night, Isaac kept his word; he made her favourite al, 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 t his for long.
He told himself to keep it light, to give her sothing steady to hold onto, but the silence between them was heavier than any words.
By the ti 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 apartnt.
That beca the rhythm of the days that followed.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Aria began locking herself away for progressively more prolonged stretches of ti, first hours, then days.
Each ti he knocked, hoping she’d answer, only silence ca back.
Each hour she stayed hidden, Isaac’s chest grew tighter.
It was only on the fifth day that she finally erged.
“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 mont.
Vrrrrrr… Vrrrrrr… Vrrrrrr…
“...”
She froze, her body stiffening.
“Do you want to answer?” Isaac asked softly.
“...Please.”
He reached into her pocket and glanced at the screen.
.
[Dad
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