august 19, spencer

[seveninches]

When she'd arrived in this city, Isabelle hadn't expected that things would go the way they have. She's always had Alec, but she never expected that she would end up with a sort of makeshift family, including a mundane. A year ago she would have scoffed, but now Isabelle's not sure what she would do without them.

She gets Spencer's text mid-morning, asking her for coffee and that he has some kind of news. News, it seems, is far from in short supply at the moment. Isabelle has already had her plate full with the mess between Alec and Magnus, and her own relationship with Billy, but she's curious as to what Spencer could have to say. For a moment she considers if it's anything to do with Luke's full moon adventure the other night, but Isabelle is pleased that they'd wrapped that up considerably neatly.

Spencer is family so Isabelle doesn't bother to dress up too fancy, though she does slip into tight jeans and a bright top before she leaves. The coffee shop isn't far from her apartment so she figures she'll walk, enjoying the sun on her face. She sends Reid a quick text to let him know that she's on her way, and it only takes her about ten minutes to reach the place they'd agreed on.

It doesn't look like he's arrived yet, so Isabelle finds a corner table and orders two coffees, anticipating that he won't be far behind her.

Comments

[youfeelluckypunk]

Reid is exhausted to the point that he'd decided it the best thing to call in sick to work.

The morning had been relatively quiet, aside from Reid occasional reassuring Luke that nobody had gotten hurt from what had happened the night of the full moon, that he shouldn't let this be a weight on his shoulders, but that's easier said than done. Luke isn't going to let this go easily, Reid knows that. As much as he'd like to do something about it, though, it seems more prudent to give Luke just a little bit of space for now. Derek is supposed to be coming to the store to help sort out what'd happened with the locking mechanism to the basement and how to improve it so what had happened last night never happens again so it seems like the perfect opportunity to excuse himself from the apartment for a bit.

The first person he texts is Isabelle. He doesn't know why she's the first name that pops into his head, not that he doesn't care to see her because he does; but Reid thinks he just needs to be around someone he trusts, someone he considers important to him and frankly, someone he can talk to about all that's been on his mind. Alec and Magnus could have been options, of course, but they have enough to worry about on their own. T.J. is a newlywed, he's likely still riding that wedding high, and Reid does need to tell them all about the engagement but right now, the plan is to tell Isabelle.

She'll be the first to know, at least of those closest to them, and Reid can't help but smile to himself as he walks into the coffee shop and scans the room until he spots her in a corner.

"Hi," he says, slipping into the seat beside her and giving her a grateful look for the coffee. "You're a step ahead, thank you. For the coffee, for meeting me here. I just... I needed to be around a friendly face after what happened with Luke."