By the time Isaac found her outside the lecture hall, Aria had crumpled against the wall.
She sat on the floor, back pressed to the cool concrete, knees drawn up almost to her chest.
Her hands hung loosely for a moment, then clenched into fists against her legs, then loosened again as if she couldn't decide whether to hold on or let go.
Her whole body trembled.
Her breath came in ragged pulls, uneven and sharp.
Every inhale seemed to catch halfway, every exhale sounded like it might break into a sob.
Her shoulders shook with the effort of trying to keep herself together.
Her fingers smeared tears across her face in clumsy swipes, only managing to spread the wetness further.
Isaac slowed as he approached, the sound of his footsteps echoing faintly in the quiet corridor.
For a second, he just stood there, taking in the sight of her like his brain needed an extra heartbeat to process that this was Aria, the same Aria who usually bounced back from everything with a joke or a roll of her eyes.
He crouched down in front of her, lowering himself until his eyes were roughly level with hers.
Up close, she looked worse.
Her eyes were red and glossy, lashes clumped together with tears.
Her lips trembled as she pressed them together, trying and failing to stop the shaking.
He swallowed.
He wasn't the type of person who knew what to do in situations like this.
He could handle late shifts, difficult directors, and awkward social situations, but this… this raw, shaking version of his best friend left him feeling helpless and clumsy in a way he hated.
"Hey," he said softly.
His voice came out more gentle than he expected.
Her head jerked up a little at the sound, but she didn't quite meet his eyes, gaze flickering somewhere past his shoulder.
"Look at me. None of that stuff on the blackboard is true. I'm not an idiot. I know you."
Her head moved in the smallest of shakes.
She hiccupped, trying to force words through the tightness in her throat.
"But they all… they all believe it," she managed.
Her voice was barely louder than a whisper, but the words hit hard.
He let out a slow breath.
"It's messed up. Seriously. So stupid."
He could feel anger simmering in his chest at whoever had done this.
The lazy cruelty of people who didn't bother checking anything before deciding what to believe.
"Whoever did this is an absolute moron," he added, trying to keep his tone even. "And those photos? Zero points for originality. They're so clearly fake. Only an idiot could fall for those."
He let a faint smirk curl one corner of his mouth as he said it, but his eyes stayed on her.
A small, broken laugh escaped Aria's lips.
It was faint, more breath than sound, but it was there.
Isaac latched onto it like a rope.
He raised his hand and placed it gently on her head, fingers sliding through her hair as he ruffled it softly.
The motion was slow, careful.
Reassuring, not patronising.
"I… I can't believe they'd do that," she whispered, voice wavering as she dropped her face closer to her knees again.
"Well, I can," he said matter-of-factly.
She blinked, confused enough to look up for half a second.
"People are idiots," he went on. "But here's what matters: you didn't do anything wrong. None of it. Nothing at all."
She stared at him.
Her tears didn't stop, but something in her gaze shifted, less wild, less lost.
Aria's fingers tightened around the fabric of her pants, bunching it up.
"Do you want me to… stay here?" he asked after a moment. "Sit with you? Or should I, uh… take you home?"
He scratched his cheek lightly with his thumb, clearly unsure how to phrase it without sounding awkward.
"If you ask, I'll carry you anywhere you'd like," he added, trying for a half-joke. "Princess carry included. I can even cook whatever you want."
It was clumsy, but it was honest.
Her shoulders shook once, not from sobbing this time, but from a small, disbelieving laugh.
"You're… ridiculous," she said, her voice faint but more familiar now.
"You're the one who chose to put up with me all this time," Isaac replied with a shrug, pulling his hand away from her head once he was sure she wouldn't immediately fold in on herself again. "Better?"
She sniffed, rubbing at her eyes with the heel of her palm.
"Yeah… kind of," she murmured.
She shifted slightly, leaning into him, her shoulder pressing against his leg. It was a small contact, but deliberate.
He stayed where he was, solid and unmoving.
Isaac bit his thumb lightly, a nervous habit, as he glanced down at her.
"Look…" he began.
He hesitated, searching for words that didn't sound hollow.
"I don't know who did this," he admitted. "I do have a suspicion, but it could be complete bias. It's stupid and weird."
His mind flickered back to bandaged wrists.
A too-bright smile. The way she had said, "If she kicks you out, you can live with me", like she had been waiting for that exact scenario.
He swallowed that image.
"The important thing you need to know is that I'm here for you. I mean it."
Aria blinked up at him, her eyes still wet.
"It's just… What should I do?" she asked, voice cracking slightly.
She felt truly lost.
Her classmates' whispers, the glares she thought she had glimpsed from the back of the lecture hall, the hateful words on the board, they all crashed down at once, tightening her shoulders until they trembled again.
Isaac didn't have an answer.
He wasn't the type who could produce some neat solution on the spot.
Maybe they could file a complaint, gather evidence, and force a confession.
But all of that felt too distant from where they were now, in this hallway with her sitting on the floor trying not to fall apart.
So he did the only thing that felt tangible.
He shifted forward and wrapped his arms around her.
He pulled her against him, gently but firmly, holding her like he might if she were half asleep on the couch, the way he did when he carried her to bed after she passed out watching a movie.
His voice softened further.
"I'm not sure either, but I'm right here. You're not handling it by yourself. Just know that."
For a moment, she stayed stiff, as if her body wasn't sure it was allowed to lean on him like this.
Then slowly, she relaxed.
Her hands moved, gripping his shirt tightly at the sides, fingers twisting in the fabric.
Her trembling eased.
Her breathing didn't fully steady, but the ragged edges smoothed out, just a little.
"Clumsy… but thank you…" she muttered, voice muffled against his chest.
He huffed out a quiet sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh.
"That's me, clumsy and still better than everyone else."
It wasn't much of a joke, but it was enough.
She didn't answer, but she didn't pull away.
And even as she leaned into him, even as her body slowly stopped shaking, Isaac could feel it.
The tension in the way she held his shirt.
The way her fingers refused to let go, like she needed to anchor herself to something solid.
The way her shoulders only loosened in small increments instead of fully relaxing.
He knew.
The spiral hadn't stopped.
The accusations were still on the blackboard in that lecture hall.
The girl with the bandaged wrists was still somewhere on campus, her obsession unresolved.
This moment, here in the quiet corridor with his arms around her, was only a pause.
This was just the beginning.
————「❤︎」————