"So what happened? Why did you take so long?"
"Sorry, I had to deal with something," Isaac said, taking his eyes off of the mirror.
"Oh? What's up?"
"Nothing, just a strange girl I met."
"Ohoh-! Did you get another confession?"
He rolled his eyes, pointing towards the traffic light that had just turned green.
"Just drive."
Aria glanced at him thoughtfully, her brows furrowed.
"You know, if you want to, you can date someone. You don't need to worry about me."
"Nah, I'm fine. Not interested."
Isaac had already had his fill of dating before they moved in together; every experience had been awkward, messy, or shallow.
Compared to the easy companionship he had with Aria, the idea of romance felt exhausting.
"Well… if you ever find someone, you can tell me, and we can stop… whatever this is," she said softly.
"I doubt that'll happen. I prefer this," He placed his hand lightly on her thigh.
"Not while I'm driving…" she teased, swatting his hand away.
It was the kind of easy intimacy they shared: no labels, no expectations, just familiarity.
At first, they were purely friends.
They had moved in together with completely innocent intentions, both needing stability, companionship, and someone they could trust.
However, over time, living together led to a different dynamic.
Whether it was due to people outside labelling them together or simply inevitable from a man and woman living together, the atmosphere they shared changed at some point.
Isaac remembered their sophomore year, the night of a campus party.
Both had drunk more than they should have, laughter spilling into reckless territory, and something had happened between them that was entirely unplanned, but not unwelcome.
It was never romantic; it was a product of proximity, trust, and the alcohol that had loosened their inhibitions.
Despite the occasional repeat, their friendship never changed.
"I'll make your favourite tonight," Isaac said with a faint smile, already shifting his mind away from the strange girl.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Aria POV
It had been a few weeks since Isaac had been confessed to, and life was continuing as usual, right up until today.
"Ugh…" She groaned, pressing her hand against her abdomen as she sank onto the bench outside the lecture hall.
"Want me to carry you?" Isaac asked, smirking as he crouched beside her.
"It's fine…" She shot him a glare, though a faint smile tugged at her lips.
He laughed, holding up his hands in mock surrender.
"I'm just trying to help. Go wait in the lecture hall, I'll bring you some coffee."
Aria watched as Isaac winked as he walked toward the campus cafe.
As she started towards the door of the lecture hall, Aria noticed someone standing just outside, a girl with a sharp, jittery presence.
Her wrists were wrapped in bandages, and her eyes, wide and fixated, flicked up the moment she noticed Aria's presence.
"You–!" the girl hisses, her voice tight with anger, "It's all because of you!"
"What are you on about?" Aria asked, keeping her tone calm but wary.
The girl was someone whom Aria had never seen before, never mind spoken to, so she had no idea what the girl could have been on about.
The girl's lips trembled as she spat out her accusations.
"It's your fault that Isaac won't look at me… He should be mine, he should be looking at me, only me!"
Aria pinched the bridge of her nose, repeating the action she had picked up from Isaac, exhaling slowly.
'So this is the girl Isaac mentioned.'
"How is it my fault? He's an adult, he can make his own choices, isn't it your own fault for jumping at him like that?"
The girl's hands trembled, her voice rising in desperation.
"No, no, no! It's your fault! You're forcing him to stay with you. I already know that you live together."
Aria scoffed.
"So what? So does half the campus. Isaac's just a bit dense."
"Don't insult him! Do they know that you cover his part of the rent? That you're using that to keep him with you."
Aria felt a hot flare of anger, but she pushed it down, letting out a deep breath.
"You're… really unstable, huh?" She brushed past the girl, who muttered something under her breath.
"If only you weren't in the way…"
Aria froze, her stomach twisting at the words, but she didn't respond.
'Fucking crazy.'
That was all she could think.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Isaac POV
"What the fuck?"
The two of them stood frozen, staring at the ruined car in front of them.
The paint had been scratched along the side panels, and the windows were smeared with white letters spelling "whore" and "slut."
Isaac slowly scanned the surrounding area; most people knew they lived together, but few had reason to behave in this manner.
The girl from before flickered in his memory, briefly, the one who had confessed to him behind the building, the strange intensity in her eyes.
The memory was like a shadow at the edge of his thoughts, too quick to linger.
Isaac shook it off, forcing his attention back to the mess in front of him.
"Seriously though, what the fuck? Why would anyone do this?" he muttered again.
It made no sense.
It was a comment that didn't make any sense in the first place.
Why would someone write those words on their car?
As far as their sex lives went, they had hardly interacted with anyone else.
There were the occasional flings here and there from their own private lives, but they all ended after their drunken night together all those months ago, and even then, they had been precisely that: private.
Aria's hands brushed against his as she leaned over his shoulder.
"Let's… get the bus," she said in a quiet voice.
There was no accusation in her tone, but the slight hesitation, the way she avoided looking at him directly, they all added up to make his chest tighten slightly.
Isaac could sense it, the almost imperceptible crack in her usual composure.
She had an idea who might be responsible, Isaac could tell, but she didn't say it aloud, neither did he, and neither wanted to be wrong.
It was just a fleeting thought that they had both had, one they shook off almost immediately.
"Fine, but let me clean this first," Isaac said, already grabbing a bottle of cleaning solution and a rag from the trunk.
"...We'll be late," Aria murmured, though her voice carried a subtle softness that made him glance at her.
"So what, not like either of us needs to stay in college anyway, I've already got a job and you're loaded," he teased, hoping to break the tension.
A light chuckle escaped her lips, but it sounded hollow.
"Aren't you the one who's always saying we need to go?" she replied, her voice flat.
"Whatever, smartass, I just have my priorities straight," he said, smiling faintly at her monotone sarcasm.
"Fineee." She said, collapsing onto the sidewalk with an exaggerated sigh, though her eyes lingered on the vandalised car longer than necessary.
There was tension in the way she held herself, a faint trembling in her fingers as she clasped them together in her lap.
Isaac noticed but didn't comment; instead, he shifted his attention back to the task at hand, scrubbing the paint.
"What a pain though… It's gonna cost a shitton, should I just repaint it myself?" he asked, half-jokingly as the wait paint streaked across his hands.
"I'll pay for it, don't worry," she murmured, still watching, her voice strangely empty.
"Isn't that a waste, though?"
"Didn't you literally just comment on how I was loaded?"
"...Fine, let's take it after I finish this. We can just skip today."
"Yayyy." She said, barely moving her lips, the cheer forced and empty.
As he scrubbed, he kept sneaking glances at her, catching the way her hands flexed slightly on her knees, the slight tightening of her jaw.
He knew that Aria's composure had always been ironclad, but something was shifting ever so slightly, and a subtle unease began to creep under his skin.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Inside the lecture hall, the atmosphere was tense; the public speaking class had gone silent after Aria entered, eyes tracking her every move.
""...""
The two of them stood side by side in complete silence.
On the blackboard were words, accusations scrawled with a mix of spite and obsession:
– Aria's a filthy slut who sleeps with anyone.
– She uses money to manipulate Isaac so he won't leave her.
The contents of the blackboard were disturbing.
It was a list of accusations against Aria, from simple ones that she slept around frequently, to her even using her money to stop Isaac from speaking against her.
If it were just that, then it would've been easy to deny the accusations, but the problem was the pictures hanging around the list.
Pinned alongside were photos: some blurry, some clear, showing her in casual settings; at bars, walking on the street, sitting in cafes, each photo showing her with different men.
Isaac felt his chest tighten.
He wanted to say something immediately to shield her, but when he glanced at Aria, he froze.
Her face had drained of all colour, her lips parted slightly, and for the first time since he'd known her, she looked small.
Fragile even.
Like the walls she'd carefully built around herself had been ripped away in an instant.
Her hands shook violently; she clutched her bag so tightly that it looked like her fingers might tear the fabric.
Her breathing hitched, short and shallow, with every inhale a struggle.
"I-I didn't do it…" She whispered.
Isaac stepped closer, his voice steady even though his stomach twisted.
"I know," he said quietly. "Don't worry."
Isaac wasn't stupid enough to fall for the things on the blackboard.
Sure, the pictures looked incriminating, but outside of the time he was at work, they had almost always been together.
And in his mind, even if it were true, it wouldn't matter.
There was no thought in his mind of slut shaming her.
Aria and he were friends; she was the person who saved him.
They weren't dating and had no plans to; if she decided to do such a thing, then all he would wish was for her to stay safe.
But she didn't hear him, or maybe she just couldn't.
The words on the blackboard swarmed her mind, the photos burned into her vision.
Each whisper in the room, real or imagined, pressed down harder and harder, feeding the spiral that had started ever since she had met that strange girl.
– Wow… I never would've thought her to be the type.
– Even old men? Damn, she must've been desperate.
– I feel bad for Isaac, poor guy.
In that moment, her breakdown wasn't dramatic or sudden; it was slow and suffocating.
Her chest tightened, and words caught in her throat.
The whispers and glances of her classmates felt like a weight pressing on every part of her body.
Her tears rolled silently at first, then spilt over as she tried desperately to defend herself.
"I didn't… do any of this…"
The murmurs around her were harsh, some questioning, some rational, but none cared to listen to her explanation.
Her mind jumped back, scratched paint, ugly words smeared on her car.
Now the same words sat, scrawled across the blackboard, only louder, crueller, leaving her no way to escape.
Someone was watching her, someone wanted to see her fall.
Her knees gave way.
Isaac caught her arm, but she shook free and ran, tears spilling down her cheeks.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
By the time Isaac found her outside of the lecture hall, Aria was pressed against the wall and trembling; she looked like she might shatter if he touched her.
Her breath was ragged, her shoulders tightening with each sob she tried to swallow, and her hands trembled, smudging tears across her face.
Isaac crouched before her, trying to match her level, but it only made him feel more awkward.
He wasn't the type to know what to do in situations like these.
"Hey," he said, his voice gentle. "Look at me. None of that stuff on the blackboard is true. I'm not an idiot, I know you."
She shook her head slightly, hiccupping through quiet sobs, not able to form a response.
"But they all… they all believe it."
"It's messed up. Seriously, so stupid. Whoever did this is an absolute moron. And those photos? Zero points for originality, they're so clearly fake, only an idiot could fall for those," he added with a faint smirk, though his eyes never left hers.
A small, broken laugh escaped Aria's lips.
Isaac caught it, holding it as if it were a lifeline.
He raised his hand and placed it onto her head, moving it back and forth gently.
"I… I can't believe they'd do that," she whispered, pressing her face closer to her knees.
"Well, I can believe it," he said, speaking matter-of-factly. "People are idiots, but here's what matters, you didn't do anything wrong. None of it. Nothing at all."
Aria's tears continued to flow, but she shifted slightly, just enough to meet his eyes.
"Do you want me to… stay here? Sit with you? Or should I uh… take you home? If you ask, I'll carry you anywhere you'd like. I can even cook whatever you want," he added, his tone half-joking, half-serious.
Her shaking slowed, though the chaos of earlier still lingered; she felt a small anchor in Isaac's presence, the reassurance that friendship could hold when everything else seemed to crumble.
She gave a faint laugh. "You're… ridiculous."
"You're the one who chose to put up with me all this time," Isaac said with a shrug as he took his hand from her head. "Better?"
"Yeah… kind of," she murmured, leaning against him slightly.
Isaac bit his thumb slightly as he turned his gaze towards Aria.
"Look… I don't know who did this. I do have a suspicion, but it could be complete bias. It's stupid and weird, but the important thing that you need to know is that I'm here for you. I mean it."
Aria blinked up at him, the tears on her cheeks still wet.
"It's just… What should I do?"
She felt truly lost; the whispers and glares of her classmates came to mind, causing her shoulder to tremble slightly.
Isaac wrapped his arms around her, speaking gently, his voice softening.
"I'm not sure either, but I'm right here. You're not handling it by yourself. Just know that."
Her trembling calmed down as she gripped his shirt tightly.
"Clumsy… but thank you…"
And though she leaned into him, Isaac could feel it.
The spiral hadn't stopped; this was just the beginning.
————「❤︎」————