"No," he disagreed with a weak croak in his voice, and Isaac shook his head as his thumb moved to wipe her cheek dry once more. "I did what I wanted to do. ...People shouldn't be left behind like that, it's not right. Me leaving... it wasn't right." He let his hands fall to her shoulders before slipping down to her arms, giving her another gentle squeeze before finally letting them fall away all together. "Honestly... I thought about heading back." It was the first time he admitted it, eyes falling to the ground with a new found shame. "I felt like maybe I had made the decision too fast, you know? Everything happened all at once, but when I got to France I thought that maybe I should reconsider. I was going to go back with Chris but he told me that it was something he had to do on his own. That I should just wait and watch the loft while he was gone but... he didn't come back. Which meant that he was either ignoring me or dead, and either way it was just another reason to avoid Beacon Hills. It finalized everything for me, I guess.
"Besides," Isaac managed a dry laugh, sarcastic and bitter, and he shook his head in disbelief as if disappointed in himself. "I thought that I was actually making progress. Helping people, finished my GED, got accepted into a university, started courses..." He gave a look of distaste. "I even started seeing women. Taking girls home, spending the night, I really thought that I was doing good. But I was wrong." Isaac ran his hand down his face, and his shoulders slumped a little in defeat. "I realized that last night with Scott. It still bothers me. It never left, I'm never going to be able to move forward, so I don't know why I was even trying to convince myself that I could. I was being stupid. I told myself that I was better of there but I was still alone. Still lost, it's not like it would have been any different in Beacon Hills. And at least then I would have been able to be there for you."