. show off

[isaac mcavoy]

His eyes follow her face, tracking micro expressions to try and tell what she was thinking. She had looked away, but the corner of her lip had also flicked ever so slightly downward... Isaac had become all too familiar with causing pain in others, in making them second guess him and in creating an uneasiness around the future. The first two were things he hoped time would help to heal, but that last one, that was the kicker. It was a scarlet letter he had emblazoned on himself, a fear that he had cultivated in those who loved him by his repeated relapses. The response was always the same: no matter how well he seemed now, that was no guarantee of what tomorrow would bring. But then he supposed that was true for all people and Lily had learned that the hard way with the death of her father. Watching her and Joe fall apart at the seams had repositioned his own grief, made him turn it over until he no longer recognised it. For so long he had held on to the notion that it was the shocking and unexpected death of his father that had made the loss so bitter, and whilst it had certainly provided a sudden jolt of finality, the truth was that knowing was no better than not knowing. Their dad had been sick, they had watched him decline... Zac could see that they hurt just the same way he did, and with it he knew there was no 'worse' grief after all. It was liberating in its way. "I can't tell you it gets better, but it gets different." His hand is still on her leg and it's exhilarating. Funny how such a small gesture could feel so potent when you've bottled up so much yearning. "Their belief was never blind. You think your parents didn't know music well enough to know they had a star on their hands? Anyway, Joey and I would have told you. Would have forced you into using autotune and singing someone else's songs handed to you by a suit, so rest assured that you're good."

[lily mccarthy]

It was still hard to think about, most times. Even with the understanding of a timeframe, of being able to be there and make the most of his last moments, losing her dad would never become easy. Different, maybe, as Zac said, but never easy. Lily still knew the ghost of his phone number across her touch screen, still flipped through old albums late at night in her home. Cherishing what she had, because it was all she going to get. So she chooses to give in return, take risks and gave her career a shot. It's comforting now to hear the unwavering tenor of Isaac's voice when he answers her, knowing that he believed in her just as much as her family did. "So you'd have sold me out instead?" She questions, tilting her head with an amused smirk on her lips even with the weight pushing on her chest, the warmth drifting to where his palm rested against her skin. Her eyes flick down to the radiant source, weighing her next options before uncrossing her legs and throwing them over the arm of the couch. Lily slowly shifts around until her head's resting comfortably on his thigh, pulling his hand within her grasp to study once more. She holds it above her field of vision, half using it as a shield and half tracking the grooves that had built and broken so much. He'd been honest with her, and as murky and unsure as their future remained, even in this moment, she wanted to make sure if it was important to her, that he knew it. "I want to get married," she eventually murmurs, breath ghosting over the hand she still holds hovering above her gaze. She won't meet his eyes, but her voice stays small yet steady. "And I want to have kids. I...think you know that. And if you didn't then...yeah. I do."