Work Text:
Isaac had been gone for the better part of a year. Scott was still pretending it didn't hurt. Like he didn't dream of Isaac every night and only to wake up to reality, his heart clenching in his chest and his lungs forgetting how to work for a few seconds. He had never heard of anyone dying from heartbreak but every morning he felt like his heart wouldn't make it another day. He did his best to keep his heartache to himself, doing everything he could to keep the smell of it from reaching the noses of his pack. They never had the heart to tell him that it was a smell so strong he couldn't hide it even if he wanted to. Stiles and Lydia couldn't smell it of course, but they didn't have to. Both of them were observant and had known Scott longer than anyone. Stiles being his best friend and Lydia being someone they had shared classes with since they were all little.
Scott made sure his pack never suffered from his own emotions. He knew how to prioritize safety over hurt. His job was to protect the entire town and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if his negligence caused the death of so many people. No one in the pack wanted to rock the boat, to possibly create waves so big they caused it to capsize. Scott would succumb to the waves, to the pull. They knew that from the smell he gave off. If he had to finally, truly feel the things he kept bottled up, he'd let himself drown. So no one said anything, not to his face at least. Nothing was said if they knew he was in ear shot. They had a group chat that he wasn't a part of, and it got discussed in there. Even the adults were a part of it, Melissa, the sheriff, Argent, and even fucking Peter!
Actually Peter had been added as an accident by Malia but they let him stay because he didn't say much. Every now and again he'd toss out something snarky but it wasn't often enough to truly annoy them. So Peter stayed and ironically, it was Peter that finally said 'fuck it' and told them it was time to rock the boat. Even he was tired of smelling the Alpha. Of course they all shot his idea down. At first at least. That was four months ago and now they were starting to wonder if he was on to something.
So yeah, it was Peter's idea that Lydia eventually set in to motion. She had Argent call up Isaac one day. Okay so she had him push the call button and then snatched the phone from him.
"Mr. Argent?" Isaac asked. It wasn't often that the older man called him.
"Unfortunately for you, it's not. " Lydia responded.
"Why do you have his phone? Is he okay?"
"Oh he's fine but there's someone else here that is not fine. " she did her best to keep her tone even.
Truthfully she wanted to reach through the phone and strangle him. Scott had become her friend, someone she felt safe with over the years. To witness him put others before himself day after day had slowly begun to bring her protective side out. How dare this twerp leave him like this.
"Look Lydia, I don't ---" he started but he got cut off before he could finish what he was going to say.
"No you look!" she snapped. Lydia took a deep breath so she could control her tone before continuing. "Scott doesn't laugh anymore. Sure he has a fake laugh but he hasn't genuinely laughed in almost a year. Not the kind of laugh that makes his eyes squint so much you can barely see them. Not the one that turn his cheeks red and comes from deep in his belly. He hasn't laughed since Stiles had to be the one to break the news to him. "
Isaac was quiet for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. Scott didn't laugh anymore? Happy Scott? Scott that gave golden retriever energy and was always happy? That Scott? "I'm sure that's not true." he said finally, his voice weak.
The fact that Lydia didn't immediately start yelling at him was a testament to her patience and growth. Just two years ago she would have snapped. But that would only make him hang up the phone and she couldn't have that.
"Oh I assure you it's very true. You know the other wolves are saying they can smell his hurt? Do you know how many times Derek tried to remove the pain he was sensing only to realize it's not a physical kind of pain?" she asked, but she didn't give him a chance to respond. "No, you don't know. Because you left without even telling him."
"I had to Lydia, you don't understand. I couldn't stay there any longer. I lost everyone that cared about me. I had no one and I needed to leave for my own sanity. "
"You're right, I don't understand." she agreed. "I don't understand how you can be this stupid! What the hell do you think a pack is for? Decoration? A fancy title for acquaintances?" she asked.
Why couldn't it have been Stiles or Derek that took the phone? Why was it Lydia of all people? She was the one person that could tell Isaac exactly what he didn't want to hear because she knew that he wouldn't hang up on her like he would them. Now he had to hear every thought that haunted his mind in the dead silence of night.
"We all care about you, you had all of us. Most of all though, you had Scott." she paused as she tried to think of a way to get him to see. "When's the last time you thought of him?"
Fuck that was not a fair question. Not when the answer was everyday. Isaac tried dating at first but it never worked out. Their hands didn't fit together, they didn't smell right, they didn't have the most endearing crooked smile thanks to a crooked jaw. Isaac dreamed of him whether he was awake or asleep. There was never a moment when Scott wasn't existing in the back of his mind.
"That's what I thought."
"I didn't even answer you!" he huffed.
"You're silence was the answer. So when are you going to stop torturing the both of you and come back?"
Why would he come back? Scott would hate him now. That's why Isaac hadn't come back yet. He had packed his bag at least a dozen times over the last year, even gotten so far as to take a cab to the airport. He just never could make it all the way through. He wouldn't be able to handle it if he showed up and Scott rejected him. If he looked at him as if he were just another one of the bad guys. He wanted to go back home and into the safety of his Alphas arms so much. But he was still just the same cowardly boy that had left the country without telling the one person he truly ever loved. You can't come back from that.
"I can't come back. "
"And just why the hell not?"
"Because he probably hates me. He will just look at me like I'm another monster in Beacon Hills."
Lydia truly wanted to scream at this point. There was no way he could truly be this stupid. She refused to believe it. Even Stiles wasn't this dumb.
"Isaac I say this with all the love in the world but you are so fucking stupid. I could seriously reach through this phone and choke you if it were possible. " she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to keep herself from talking to him like he was the dumbest person to exist. Which right now he was cutting it close. "This is Scott McCall we are talking about. Scott that wants to try and save innocent people and bad guys alike. Scott that wears his heart on his sleeve and hurts when other people hurt. Scott that loves everyone without conditions. The same Scott that misses you. He wasn't even this upset when Allison died. Do you know what it means to die? It means you can't come back. You no longer exist. You live across the ocean and the way he looks would make anyone believe that you were the one that died."
"Are you sure he misses me?" Isaac asked, his voice quiet, almost unsure.
Her growth was impressive and no one was going to ever convince her otherwise. This whole conversation was proof of it.
"Yes I am sure. Now will you come back? We can make it a surprise that way you can see for yourself just how much he has missed you."
Isaac sighed and she knew that she had once again gotten what she wanted. No surprise there. Ariana might sing about having the hair she wanted and got, but Lydia was the one that got everything she wanted.
"Okay okay. But if he glares at me I'm leaving immediately."
"Fine whatever. Now listen."
--------------------------------------------
Scott hated the airport. He hated it with every fiber of his being because it was the last place Isaac had been before he left. Obviously because he had to take a plane to get to Europe. Why did he have to go with his mom to wish her boyfriend off on a good trip? Sure Argent and him had grown close over time but he could tell him bye at home. This was stupid. Still, he followed his mom all the way through, until they couldn't go any further. It wasn't until he heard the final boarding call over the loud speaker that he looked up.
His breath caught in his throat and his eyes went wide. No. It couldn't be. Isaac wouldn't be back in Beacon Hills, there's no way. His delusions were getting out of hand and he probably needed to call Deaton and discuss this.
"Scott?" the imaginary Isaac said his name and it sounded so real.
But this Isaac looked so unsure, like he didn't know where he stood in his life. His Isaac would never look at him like that. Scott's Isaac knew that he fell in line right behind Scott's mother and Stiles. Even though he knew this was his imagination, he still took a step closer, then another. Eventually he was reaching out and gently grazing the delusion's cheek. Only the cheek was warm and soft, like it was a real person and not his sanity snapping. He sucked in a breath through his nose and his knees nearly buckled when that familiar scent hit filled his senses.
"Isaac? Isaac!" he tried to swallow around the lump forming in his throat.
Those blues eyes started to water up like he was going to cry. Scott had never liked the sight of Isaac crying, especially over him. He moved his fingers from the other boys cheek and wiped the first stray tear. This was real. This was really Isaac. His Isaac. The person that had found a place in Scott's heart that no one else ever had, and made himself at home there.
"You're here." he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Isaac sniffed and nodded his head, another tear running down his cheek. That's all it took for Scott to reach out with his other hand and pull Isaac into him for a hug. It was probably more like a vice grip, the tightest hug he'd ever given anyone. He's not sure whose knees officially gave out first but he could just barely feel the cold tile through his jeans. The other wolf was shaking in his arms, crying into his neck, his own arms wrapped tightly around him. Scott shushed him quietly, rubbing his hands on his back to calm him down.
"It's okay. Don't cry love, it's okay. " he spoke quietly into Isaac's ear.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. " Isaac managed to choke out around sobs. "I don't know why I left you. I'm sorry."
Scott pulled back just enough so that he could look directly at Isaac.
"Don't be sorry. You did what you had to do and now you're back. You came back and that's all that matters. We can talk about the rest later." he said, his voice gentle.
Scott didn't care that he didn't tell him, he didn't care that he hadn't heard from him in a year. He didn't care about any of it because now he was here. He was real and he was here. He was still everything Scott had ever wanted. Without a second though, he moved his hands back up to Isaac's face, cupping it gently, and then leaned in. It was less of a kiss and more so a small graze of the lips. But it was enough to embolden one, or even both of them. He's not sure who reconnected their lips the second time, maybe it was him, or maybe it was the blue eyed wolf in front of him. Either way he found himself kissing the man he'd dreamed of for year now. The one he thought he'd never get back.
He pulled back just to pepper kisses all across the blonde's face. A watery giggle, that sounded more like music than a laugh if you asked him, could be heard. A shy call of his name followed by another sniff.
"I missed you." he said. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too. "
"Next time you want to go somewhere, take me with you. Please don't leave me behind again."
Isaac nodded his head, a small smile on his face. "Okay." he said, as he reached up to wipe a tear from his own cheek. "Can we go home now? People are staring."
Scott looked around to notice that yes, people were staring. Was his mom trying video them? And when did Lydia and Stiles show up? Why did she look so smug? Stiles was pretending to gag behind her back and Scott could feel all his love and adoration for all of them, blooming out in his chest. His pack, his family. He looked back at Isaac with an almost shy smile now. How embarrassing. He loved them all so much.
He stood up and reached a hand out for the blond to take. "Yeah let's go home."