Lexi's In A New City

Chapter 19

Isaac was not in a good mood as he sat at the table with his parents, Cassie, and her father. While he had no problem sharing Thanksgiving dinner with his parents, he wasn't exactly keen on spending the occasion with his girlfriend and her father. It wasn't that he was a terrible man; he'd always been good to Isaac since the two met. He just didn't want to have anything to do with Cassie after their last fight. But this dinner had been planned earlier that month, so there hadn't been a way to predict that their fight would've taken place. This meant that Isaac and Cassie were stuck spending Thanksgiving together with their families while trying desperately to keep their respective emotions in check.

"So, Isaac," his mother piped up as everyone began digging into delicious Thanksgiving food, "how's school?"

"It's good," he lied with a fake smile. "My grades are still strong, but I have a few papers due this coming week."

Cassie's father nodded before looking at his daughter. "And how about you?"

"It's all good," Cassie insisted. She also faked a smile to keep him at ease.

Isaac could feel the tension between him and his girlfriend mounting as dinner dragged on. He needed a valid excuse to distance himself from Cassie for the rest of the evening without seeming like he was purposely ignoring her. Fortunately, his father's request to help do dishes was the perfect solution. He hated doing dishes, but he hated having to be around Cassie more.

Speaking of, Cassie had resumed sitting in the living room with her father and Isaac's mother after dinner. She tried to relax, but that task proved impossible. Her mind was clouded by the stupid fight that had taken place a few weeks ago. While her dislike for Lexi was still present, she couldn't help but regret her over-the-top behaviour from their last confrontation. Granted, she was still ticked that Isaac had bought that girl coffee, but it was arguably the most harmless gesture he could've done. It's not like he had kissed her or groped her in public.

Cassie abruptly excused herself from everyone without giving a reason for doing so; not that anyone seemed to notice. She crept up to Isaac's bedroom, and saw his door closed with no sound coming from the other side. She knew he probably didn't want to see or talk to her, but she went inside room anyways. Isaac whipped his head towards the door, only to deflate when he saw who had entered.

"Hi," Cassie squeaked out.

"Hey," Isaac replied in a monotone voice.

An apprehensive Cassie inched towards her boyfriend, who was lying on his bed. She sat beside him while leaving plenty of space between them.

"I know you're still mad at me, but...can we please talk?"

Isaac scoffed. "What is there to talk about?"

"Please don't be difficult. I'm sorry for freaking out."

"You always apologize and say you'll change, but you don't. I'm getting really sick of it."

Cassie sighed with a heavy nod. "I don't mean to get angry. It's like I couldn't help but react that way. I love you so much, and-"

"You need to stop reacting automatically," Isaac interjected. "It's upsetting to me, and to Lexi. She did nothing wrong— that was all me. If you were to get upset with anyone, it should've been me. But instead, you lost your shit on her. You still need to apologize to her for that— oh, and for what happened at the Halloween party, by the way."

Isaac sat up and picked himself off the bed. He was about to leave when Cassie grabbed his wrist to stop him from leaving. Tears filled her eyes as he gave her a pitiful look. As much as she hated being looked at that way, she knew that she kind of deserved it. She felt tears slowly stain her cheeks, and a sob soon escaped her. She let go of Isaac to wipe her tears away with shaky hands.

At first, Isaac thought that Cassie's breakdown was a ploy to gain his sympathy. But he knew that her remorse was real when she continued weeping after several minutes. Guilt crept under his skin, forcing him to comfort his girlfriend. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his chest. He kissed her head and tried to calm her down.

"Baby, I'm sorry," Cassie finally said once she'd stopped crying. "I really am sorry."

While it wasn't what Isaac wanted to do, he decided to drop the issue altogether. He hated fighting with Cassie, so he just wanted to get over what had occurred.

"I know," he replied. "Please don't cry."

Cassie dried whatever tears lingered on her face before smiling. "I love you, you know?"

"I love you too, babe."

***

Isaac found himself awake early the next morning. He wasn't thrilled about being unable to sleep in, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he thought about his last conversation with Cassie. Her and her father had left a couple hours after they'd talked last night, with Cassie in a far better mood than she had been earlier. But despite their talk, Isaac's mood hadn't changed too much. He was still upset about what Cassie had done, and how she refused to want to make things right between her and Lexi. He'd only dropped the issue because he was sick of talking about it.

I'll forgive her, but I'm sure as hell not gonna forget what she did, he thought as he headed downstairs.

Isaac entered the living room to find his father sitting on a recliner, watching the morning news. This wasn't unusual; his father seemed to be incapable of sleeping in whatsoever. He noticed his son enter the living room, and did a double take.

"I thought for sure you'd be in bed 'til noon. What's wrong?"

"I just have a lot on my mind."

"Ah, I see," his father said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Not really, Isaac thought. However, he did feel the need to vent to someone outside of school about what had recently happened. He decided to open up and be honest about his feelings for a change.

"Well," he said after thinking for a moment, "Cassie and I got in a fight recently."

His father muted the TV and gave Isaac a concerned look. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah...it was kinda dumb, to be honest. I was chatting with a new friend of mine— Nikita's roommate— and Cassie thought she was trying to hit on me or something. She lost it on this girl, and I had to intervene before things got physical."

"Yikes."

Isaac chuckled. "It's fine, though. I just dropped the issue last night 'cause like I said, it's really dumb."

"It is, but it isn't. Cassie shouldn't have done that."

"I know, and I told her so when I spoke to her afterwards. But I dropped it last night after we talked about it at length. I could tell that Cassie felt really bad about us fighting 'cause neither of us enjoy that."

His father mused this as he sipped his coffee. "I'm glad you two are okay again. But I want you to understand that your happiness is just as important as Cassie's. I know you want to make her happy and that you don't wanna fight. Just understand that she should also make you happy, okay?"

"Yeah, I won't forget," Isaac said.

"Good," his father replied with a newfound grin. "Go grab some breakfast if you want. I know you must be hungry."

Isaac promptly excused himself to the kitchen to make himself a large breakfast. But he kept his father's wise words tucked inside a corner of his brain. He had a feeling that he'd need to keep them in mind for the future.