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[Addison Sloane]

After the talk with Drew, Addison felt uneasy. He had said some things that Addison had not expected anybody to say about the boy she had spent a bigger part of her adolescence pining over. She supposed she should have seen it coming. She barely knew the guy. Spending a whole year in the same house did nothing to dismiss not actually knowing Isaac.

Where she managed to get hit big time by Lady Luck, Isaac had missed her by a long shot. His life had been miss after miss and then to be 'blessed' with his particular ability...Addison couldn't imagine how she would react if she was dealt the same card.

She was a little buzzed but she also wanted answers. And they could only be found in the man himself. It was late and her party was almost dwindling down but she still needed to go and find Isaac.

She had gone down to his dorm once or twice but it seemed as though her feet just brought her right to where she needed to be. Security was lax for some reason, which made it that much easier for her to just waltz right in.

Not bothering with knocking, she barrelled right into his room and wherever he was in the room didn't even seem to matter as she went on her tirade. "You owe me six years worth of explaining, Isaac. I won't take no for an answer and don't even worry, I won't start kissing you again. I'm over that. Not really, I just need you to tell me what the heck happened from when we last met to now. No detail is too small."

[Isaac Monroe]

The days were growing shorter as fall had nearly shifted into winter. A chill now hung in the air even at midday and the nights were beginning to get frigid. Grey clouds drifted lazily in the sky, shrouding the sun and casting a dull, pale finish across the Bellefonte campus. Isaac didn't mind the changing seasons so much for the weather as for the added pressure he got from his boss. By now he was still technically a student working part time with the Academy maintenence department but he'd largely given up on attending classes in lieu of taking on more hours. As the days ticked by, drawing closer and closer to weather that would be detrimental to many of the projects that hadn't been completed during the warmer months work had become more hectic and tiring. At least when it was all said and done he could retreat to his dorm and relax.

Isaac had barely been in his room for ten minutes when the door flung open and in barged 5'2" of pure angst and frustration. He'd been laying on his bed though he shot up as Addison came charging toward him. In times past Isaac would have responded with aggression. He wasn't one for surprises, especially when they involved someone crashing their way into his room. But this was Addison. He watched her come closer, his jaw dropping slightly as she questioned him. "Addie..." Isaac sputtered the name with an almost cautious tone. "What the hell? Where's this coming from?"

[Addison Sloane]

Addison's frustrations seemed to die down once her eyes actually set properly on her childhood best friend. She knew she said she wasn't going to kiss him but being drunk and already attracted to a very attractive looking guy made it a lot harder to keep to her promise.

"No! Stay focused, Sloane." She said to herself, chopping the air with her hand for emphasis before she steeled her gaze on Isaac.

"I'm drunk and you didn't come to my party and I looked everywhere for you. I thought it was me. I thought you just wanted to distance yourself from me. Because you didn't want me to attack you again or something. And then...and then I found out that...that you were homeless?" There was a missed connection somewhere but for some reason, everything she was saying made perfect sense to Addison. "What, did you think I wouldn't want you to be my friend because you spent a few months on the streets?"

[Isaac Monroe]

Isaac was not ready for this. He was tired and only wanted to come home, take a hot shower and unwind before turning in early. He didn't know where it was along the lines that he'd turned into such a routine oriented person but it had kept him out of trouble the last few months and he liked the feeling of being busy. The way Addie was coming at him it made sense when she admitted to being drunk. He didn't know what, exactly, it was she hoped to accomplish by accosting him like this but here she was, talking to herself and jabbing a knife hand into the air in the process.

"Addie." Isaac's gaze softened a little and he shifted to get to his feet. The least he could do was talk to her like he cared rather than remain sprawled out apathetically on his bed. "You always knew I was homeless. I was homeless before we met and when you left I was again." His eyes narrowed then as the words Addie had spoke sunk in and triggered long dormant feelings. "And who the hell are you to talk to me about looking everywhere?" He shot back. "You and me were friends. We were... special." He admitted that much at least. "And you disappeared. There was no note, no message, nothing. Just one day you were gone. I waited for you, Addie." His eyes flared with the memories of wandering his old neighborhood in hopes of finding the girl he'd grown so close to. "I looked for you for months. I thought you were kidnapped, or dead, or something. I never thought you'd just up and leave without saying goodbye. Then six years later you show up and pull this shit and wonder why it's all kind of a mind fuck?"

[Addison Sloane]

When he made a fair point, Addison's expression softened as well before it hardened again as she tried to go through her tirade. "You know what I mean! You were living on the streets! And...well..." her words faltered when Isaac brought up her deception so many years ago.

Her resolve almost crumbled when he shot back, his voice hard and excusably harsh. A look of surprised flashed through Addison's face when he told her he looked for her. Her mind was reeling when she realised that Isaac didn't give up on her. All this time, she thought he had just let her go. It wasn't his fault, that much she knew from the start. It had been hers. She was the one who left, she was the one who abandoned him. The thought paralysed her. She left someone who tried to look for her. How could she have been so stupid?

"I couldn't say goodbye to you!" She stammered. "I started bleeding everywhere and I panicked! There were these feelings and I... You scared me, man! You made me...you made me feel like I... I didn't know you looked for me." Her voice broke at the end of the sentence and she tried to catch her breath.

[Isaac Monroe]

Isaac could do little save for watch the debacle in front of him. Before his very eyes Addie went from nearly attacking him with a heated passion to crumbling into something much more akin to the little girl he'd known all those years ago. It was an almost fascinating display he found it impossible to pull his gaze from. When her voice cracked he visibly winced. Addie had always been, even through the years of not knowing what had happened to her, the one person he couldn't stand hurting, even if it came from saying the things he'd wished he could have said sooner. "Addie..." Even saying her name again fostered feelings of warmth and a comfortable familiarity.

"Just calm down." Isaac's tone immediately softened as he crossed the small dorm room and drew closer to the small girl who'd suddenly lost so much of the fervor she'd entered with. He reached out to rest a hand upon her shoulder if she'd let him. "Sit and... explain this all to me." He urged. "You're not making any sense."

[Addison Sloane]

Having Isaac call her name in that tone calmed the young woman. She looked at the other mutant, her face discernibly upset. She had run out of steam almost immediately. When Isaac started to move closer, with his hand reaching out to her, she closed her eyes and sighed, letting the only boy she knew place his hand on her shoulder. It still weirded her out, physical contact, but Alex had worn her down over time and this was Isaac.

She placed her own hand over his and pulled it down after awhile so she could climb onto the desk chair. Pulling her legs up, she curled into a small ball on the chair and looked at Isaac for a moment. She wondered if she should tell him everything. Really, everything.

"I don't know, Isaac. I grew up thinking people didn't care about me. And then you...did. I didn't know what to do so I ran. I didn't know you looked for me. But even if I did...I don't even know if I would have reached out." She tightened her hold around her legs and rubbed her eyes against her knee. "I was scared for so long. And then seeing you again...I fucked up. I don't know what to do with all these feelings that cropped up because of you." She sighed before pressing her cheek against her knees.

[Isaac Monroe]

Isaac allowed Addie to move away, turning to watch as she curled up on the chair. He was quiet for a long moment, studying her body language and taking in every word she spoke. His brow furrowed as he lowered his gaze. He wasn't blind or ignorant. He knew what the kids they had been meant to each other. Why, after all this time, if she had been the one who walked away, was she still holding on to everything?

"Of course I did." He said with a hint of defensiveness touching his voice. He lifted his eyes to look at Addie again. "What did you think I'd do? Just sit there after my best friend disappeared? Do you even realize I got to the point where I couldn't think of anything else other than something happening to you. One day you were gone and the cops didn't do much about it. You know how it was for people like us. No one really cares." His head shook and he issued a low sigh. Whatever was going on here it wasn't about the past anymore.

"I don't know what you expected." Isaac threw his hands up in a resigned shrug. Slowly he moved to sit on the edge of his bead, a hand moving through his still mussed hair. He dropped his eyes to the floor, staring at the carpet beneath his bare feet for a long while. "I missed the hell out of you, Addie." He said abruptly.

[Addison Sloane]

Addison jumped slightly in the chair when Isaac replied. It sounded angry to the young woman, but the words that came after didn't sound angry. It sounded...hurt. She could actually feel the hurt. And she had caused part of that hurt. What could she have done? She was a child back then. When she realised what she had done, her life had taken a different route. It had consumed her and for a moment, she was living for herself and nobody else to worry about. She didn't even think much about her mother, the abandonment she had faced, and the boy who gave her undecipherable emotions.

And then she met him again. And everything came flooding back, permeating through the happiness she thought was permanent.

She sniffled, rubbing her nose against her knees before daring to look up at him. "I'm sorry, Isaac." She said softly. The fire that had burned when she arrived was quickly dissipating. She kept quiet when he moved to his bed, her eyes burning when he told her he missed her. A lump formed in her throat and she tried to get rid of it, only for it to turn into a small sob.

Uncurling her leg, she took the few steps between the chair and Isaac before throwing her arms around him for nothing but the comfort of having her best friend near her. "I'm sorry. I'm so...so sorry."

[Isaac Monroe]

Isaac didn't handle 'hurt' well at all. Whether it be physical or emotional pain, Isaac usually responded with anger and aggression. Over the years his temper had become a finely tuned weapon in his ever constant struggle for survival. He'd rarely had time to hurt or let himself be overcome by emotion. his reaction was to lash out at whatever caused the distress and move on. If only this confusing debacle with Addie could have been handled the same way.

His eyes narrowed as Addie slipped off the chair and slowly drew closer. He regarded her cautiously, eye her warily. He visibly tensed when she went to put her arms around him but he quickly relaxed, sighing lightly. He stood there for a moment, hands at his sides, before he followed suit. His arms slid around Addie's waist and he embraced her lovingly. It felt as though in that exact instance he regained one of the few friends he'd ever had. A hand came up to rest against the back of her head as he held her. "It's okay." He said softly. "I understand."

[Addison Sloane]

Part of Addison wanted so badly to just punch it all out of her system and be done with it. She didn't want all these confusing emotions plaguing her. She was envious of people who could shut off their feelings or hide them underneath a mountain of indifference. Or just not have them at all. Instead, she was human. She had to bear the emotions.

As it were, all she could do was bury her face in Isaac's chest as tears started to wet the cloth. When his hands moved around her and one was placed at the back of her head, it just made the tears fall even more. She had missed him. Even though she was the one who left, and she was the one who wanted to leave, she thought about him a lot. She thought about what could have been. And that had made her stupid. Or at least acted stupid. It had been a mindfuck. Isaac was right. That she had caused it, now, felt unforgivable.

And yet, Isaac was telling her that he understood.

For awhile, all she did was cry. Every emotional thought she had about her past kept bubbling to the surface. With Isaac's comforting arms, she managed to somehow purge it out and once she was done, or she thought she was, she pulled back far enough so she could look up at Isaac, her eyes bloodshot and a little puffy. "I need you to be my friend again right now, Isaac. Is that okay?" She asked, the lump still in her throat, making her words a little warbled.

[Isaac Monroe]

Isaac tensed again when Addie's tears began to flow freely. He held her to him even if he immediately felt a sense of awkward tension settled over him. He did his best to hide it as the weight of so many years of guilt and misery came pouring out of the young woman. He swallowed hard and gently ran his fingers through her hair as she cried. He gently kissed the top of her head, letting her take as much time as she needed. He barely even noticed the spreading of the damp, warm spot on his shirt until she was finished.

A thin smile touched Isaac's lips as Addie glanced up to him. He reached up to frame the sides of her face with both hands, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears from her cheeks. "I never stopped looking for you." He admitted, his voice low and soft. If Addie didn't know better she may have noticed the brief flash of sadness touching his features. "I never stopped being your friend."

[Addison Sloane]

His words made her choke a little as she leaned into his touch. A fleeting thought of when they were younger crossed Addison's mind and she smiled. Her hand moved up to close around his and she squeezed lightly.

"Good. Good. I just...I can't afford to lose you again and..." she sniffled before pulling him into a brief hug and got out of his warm embrace. She gave a small bark of laughter and wiped away the stray tears that had fallen. "God, this is so stupid. I came here because I was angry at you and now I'm the one crying."