Both Broken } Isaac Lahey x OC

? ANCHORS ?

There was a pause as Isaac thought about what to say. "You've just been off lately."

"How?" Marley asked, unsure of any change to her behaviour.

"Well, you're not sleeping as much and you're always tired. You seem paranoid when we hang out and like you feel like someone's watching you," Isaac said. "And don't think I haven't noticed you going to ballet again."

When Marley has anger issues, it has stopped around the age that Liam was now, she would go to ballet to take her mind off of things. She hated dancing but it worked. It was like her anchor. Marley tried painting when she got anger outbursts, or talking to Isaac, but it never worked. Her mum put her in ballet when she was little because 'it's what all little girls do' she would say. Marley was kicked out after snapping another girls point shoe when she was nine.

"I... like ballet," Marley lied, squinting her face and pulling the phone away from her ear for a second.

"You hate ballet. You always have," Isaac said. "Look, Marley you can talk to me. Remember we had that conversation about talking to people?"

"Yeah I know. Honestly Isaac, I'm fine. I'm just behind on sleep. And for the ballet thing, it's good for my report," Marley said. This wasn't a lie. The school liked it when Marley went to ballet because it meant one less person who had to go to their therapy. And it also looked good on job applications.

"Okay," Isaac said. "But you tell me if something is happening, yeah?"

"Yep," Marley said, smiling.

"Okay, goodnight. I love you," Isaac said.

"I love you too," Marley replied, signing off by ending the phone call. She didn't exactly lie to Isaac, she just didn't tell him the whole truth. She would tell him if this got really bad, though? Right?

Right?

...

"Come in," Marley said from her desk. It was dark outside and the only light was her table lamp and fairly lights that hung on her ladder bookshelf. "Oh, hey."

"Hey," Liam said as he opened the door slowly.

"You okay? You had something to eat?" Marley asked, turning her chair to face him. Their mum was on another date with David, so the kids were left at home. She wasn't back yet which meant that she was probably staying the night at David's. This was a usual routine.

"Yeah, yeah. Um, I just wanted to talk to you," Liam said, in a softer voice than usual. Normally, he would be screaming at the top of his lungs or making rude snarky comments about Marley's new haircut (which was short and wavier).

"Okay," Marley said, standing up and sitting on the end of the bed. Liam sat next to her. He never really let down his guard, so when he did, Marley made sure to give Liam her time. No one talked for a few seconds. "Y'know you usually have to say something to have a conversation."

"It's- I've just been really stressed lately at school," Liam said. "I'm not naturally smart like you, and it takes time to study. I need that time to practice lacrosse."

"Are you failing you classes?" Marley asked.

"No, almost. It's just, all these other guys come from really rich and respected families. They pay for private tutors, and they're all so smart," Liam explained. "And the school curriculum is ten times harder than public schools."

"Well, that's why you don't go to a grammar school. I did tell you not to," Marley said, nudging his arm and hoping for a laugh. But he didn't and kept his head down. "You might not have respected relatives or rich parents. But what you do have is an insanely smart older sister that has some free time on the weekends to tutor you."