She found herself taken pleasantly aback by his admission, whether he had meant to make it or not. Derek was staying with Malia. Isaac had a night off. Rather than getting to know new people at the bonfire or sleeping for an entire day in peace...he was here with her. “Dere’s with Malia and it’s your first night where you don’t have anywhere to run...so you want to spend it with the other pregnant girl?” she asked with a playful sort of incredulity. “Like, really, you hit your head pretty freaking hard on that doorway, honey...you sure we shouldn’t just take you to see one of the doctors and make sure you didn’t rattle anything important up there?” she joked, reaching up to tousle his curls. Which he’d cut. Yes, she’d noticed.
Lydia managed to bring a grin to Isaac’s face and he playfully pulled his head away from her when she teased his hair, the hand that was holding hers swinging back and forth a little as he guided her out of the jungle and onto the beach in the general direction of the camp. “Yeah, I get a day off and I spend it with the other pregnant girl,” he repeated with a roll of his eyes, glancing at Lydia for a second before shrugging and looking up at the sky. “In my defense, though, the other pregnant girl, she’s pretty hot. Have you seen her lately? Damn.” Before she could comment he held up a finger. “One. That was only one, I got one in there. I’m telling you Lydia, you’re going to be suffering through these all night, just watch.” He laughed a little, and his eyes were lingering on her for a moment before he brought them back to the ground before him. It was true, he knew. He must have been crazy to want to spend his free time with Lydia after spending so much time checking in on her, but there was something about her that he drawn to, and that was a part of the reason that Isaac didn’t let him think about. He didn’t want to linger on the fact that he meant every word when he told Lydia she looked amazing. He didn’t want to hash through why he was so attracted to her when she wore nothing but his t-shirt when she walked around. He just wanted to be near her. Thinking about that too deeply could undoubtedly lead to problems.
“I like being around you,” he admitted aloud, giving her an actual reason. “I can talk to you. And you understand it, I don’t have to… I don’t know. I can talk to you.” And that was a much bigger deal to Isaac then he let on. Lydia understood the pain of losing Allison, in his opinion, just as much as he did if not more. Isaac and Chris didn’t talk about Allison. He hadn’t said her name for two years until he showed up in this place. Lydia was the first person. She was the only person, and that was just one minor aspect. It didn’t take her brilliance into consideration, or the fact that she wasn’t afraid to put him in his place. She was grateful, and tender.