Nick sat next to Isabel, trying to walk that fine line that he had to if he wanted to comfort her. Her temper had been getting worse. She could barely look Ellie in the eye anymore the guilt of her actions was so bad. Nick was becoming terrified of what Isabel was going to do if her guilt got any worse.

  He had given Ellie another night off so he could do damage control again. Isabel was sitting at Ellie’s desk, crying again. That was the worst part of her temper. It wasn’t the shouting, or the destruction, but the helpless crying that followed.

  The front door was locked so she could keep her dignity without an unexpected visit. His own chair had been moved so he could sit next to her. He wasn’t touching her, there was still enough temper for a flair-up if he did the wrong thing at that moment.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she was still blathering. Apologies seemed to be the only thing she knew how to do with mistakes. Words negated actions, even if she could explain why they didn’t.

  “It’s okay, Doll,” Nick insisted. “You just screamed a little, no damage done.”

  “Ellie’s going to get tired of this, she’s going to quit, and it’ll be all my fault.”

  Nick wanted to correct her, but he couldn’t. Isabel was making the office hostile. Nick could tell she wasn’t trying to, but that didn’t make things easier on Ellie. There were also the parts that she wasn’t saying. He knew she was following the steps in her head to the point where she was imagining Nick kicking her out of his life. He had no intention to, no matter how bad she got, but it was how she thought.

  “Ellie still cares about you,” he told her. “Things have just been tense since the Brotherhood got here. Neither of us have left the house in days. You’re probably getting tired of staring at my mug.”

  Isabel looked up at him. Her eyes were red from all the crying that followed her latest outburst. Her lips were thin with the quivering and her skin temporarily lost all of its pallor, but she was still beautiful. “I love you,” she said quietly before crying again.

  He took his cue and wrapped his arms around her to let her cry out her emotions. To her, love was another resource that she didn’t deserve. He had come to realize that after she moved in. He knew she was waiting for the moment that he revoked his love and sent her back to the Wasteland. Something that he would rather die than do.

  The problem was that Isabel could be like two people. There was logical Isabel, the one who could be reasoned with. She could talk the most inconsolable client down and even boost their self-esteem. Nick was always impressed by how she could remember the perfect factoid or data point to help reason with someone who was in distress and point out that it was completely reasonable for them to do what they were blaming themselves for.

  Then there was emotional Isabel. She was the creature who needed those factoids and data points but knew all of the counter arguments to them. Instead, she was impossible to reason with, and was more likely to go farther down the hole where everything would lead to the worst possible outcome for her. Nick wondered how many people she cut ties with because she expected them to hate her.

  Her reactions were seemingly unpredictable, but Nick was starting to figure them out. The most important thing about emotional Isabel was she could only be controlled by one emotion at a time. The trick was coaxing her through them until he could get her thinking straight again.

  “I love you too,” he insisted letting her bury her face into his shoulder. “I knew you had a temper when I invited you to live with me.”

  “Everyone gets tired of being yelled at,” Isabel told him.

  He stroked her hair. She had stayed with a short cut, but he was secretly happy to find that she only shaved it because she never knew when the next cut would be. Now he was giving her stability, she was adapting to it, but there were some things that were easier than others.

  “The problem isn’t just that you’re yelling at Ellie,” Nick told her.

  “No, I’m pretty sure me yelling at Ellie is a problem,” Isabel insisted.

  Good, she’s getting her humor back. That meant she was feeling better and logical Isabel was coming back. He gently pressed his check onto the top of her head.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  “I will not argue with that. I don’t know how much longer I can afford to give her the night off because of this. But that’s not where the problem is starting.”

  “It’s starting because I overreact to everything. I need to just deal with the stuff that’s going on, and not get so upset about everything.”

  Nick squeezed Isabel a little tighter, letting her know he still cared about her. “Sweetheart, I’ve been watching you. I’ve noticed that you start showing signs before you lose your temper. The problem isn’t that you’re not dealing with your problems. The problem is you’re trying to suppress your feelings.”

  He wasn’t going to go into all the details. She didn’t need to hear it. It was obvious that instead of problems getting addressed, she would blow up. Ellie was normally her target because Ellie was forgiving. Nick was a little jealous that she felt more secure in her relationship with Ellie, then again, Isabel’s relationship with him was still in a newer phase. A phase that Nick noticed Isabel was still trying to earn the right to be secure in.

  “I don’t know, Nick,” Isabel said readjusting her head so that the side rested against his shoulder. “I try not to be a jerk and focus on small stuff all the time, but it just feels like I’m always angry lately.”

  She felt more comfortable against him like this. She was becoming calm. He wanted to ask what she did when she used to be angry, but he saw that firsthand when she would disappear for weeks.

  “Honey, start talking about the small stuff.”

  Isabel pushed herself away from Nick, making eye contact. Her eyes shifted, showing that she was taking his words in. “I don’t know how to do that. What if I yell again?”

  “Remember, if you need time to think about, do that. We will still be here when you have your words ready. We love you,” he cupped her cheek, thumbing away a stale tear, “I love you.”

  She nodded quietly while putting her cheek farther into his hand. He held her face, watching the pained smile that crossed it and the new wave of tears that fell from her closed eyes. She was calm, and that was important.

  “Nick,” she said, still resting her face on his hand.

  “Yes, dear?”

  Her blue eyes opened. “Give me a case.”

  “You’re already working on one, Doll,” he told her. She was working on her own project. Just because they were hiding from the Brotherhood of Steel didn’t mean they couldn’t catch up on paperwork.

  She lifted her head, making eye contact with him. “No,” she said assertively, “I need out. Give me an easy case that I can leave Diamond City with. Just for a day or two.”

  Nick didn’t like the idea. All the worst possibilities went through his mind. One didn’t become a detective if they didn’t have a good imagination. At least they didn’t become a good detective if they didn’t have a good imagination. The thought of her family kidnapping her, or the Wasteland finally getting her, or she just decided that she loved her freedom more than him, all passed through his mind. Every possibility scared him.

  Then he remembered, he was holding a wild creature in his arms. A deathclaw in human form. She lived in the Wasteland for over a decade, and now he was trying to make her live a domesticated life. He may have her tame, but he couldn’t force her to stay any more than he could force Dogmeat to stay. Doing so would guarantee that he lose her.

  “Okay,” he finally agreed. He gently pushed her back into her chair before he got up and walked to his own desk. He sorted through his “in” box until he found a simple case. He just prayed it was going to stay simple. “I want you to promise me that you will be careful,” he said, handing her the case for a lost heirloom and 100 caps. “I also want you eating while you’re out. If you need more money, come back and I’ll give you some more.”

  Isabel practically beamed. It was going to be her first solo case. She started reaching for the file, then looked up at him. “Aren’t you coming with me?”

  “I don’t like the idea of you leaving at all,” he explained, sitting back down. “But we both know that the Brotherhood will shoot me before asking any questions. I don’t like the idea of what they will do to you, but I figure you probably know how to evade your folks. I’m a little more obvious.”

  She took the file and looked down at it as she laid it on her lap. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m leaving you out. I can wait with you.”

  He touched her arm. “We both know you need the air,” he told her. “Just promise me you’ll be careful and that you’ll come home.”

  She placed the file on Ellie’s desk as she moved forward to straddle Nick’s lap. Her skirt draped around his knees. She pressed her body into his as she kissed him passionately. He returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her to help keep her in place on his lap. When she pulled back, she had an energetic smile on her face. Then it sobered enough for him to know she truly meant what she was about to say.

  Her hands moved to the sides of his face, so that he was forced to make eye contact with her. “Nick, my life is yours,” she told him. “I have to take care of it because of that.”

  He smiled back at her. He didn’t like the idea that she felt like property to him, but whatever it took to help her break bad habits he was willing to accept.

  “My girl,” he said before kissing her again.

  They kissed for a bit before he finally broke the contact. “I have one more request,” he told her.

  Her face went flush, it was obvious she expected him to request something other than what he was about to. “What’s that?”

  He gently moved his hand under her skirt, playing with the bare skin beneath it. “The front door is locked, and Ellie has the rest of the night off,” he hinted as he rubbed her thigh.

  Isabel understood what he was hinting at. She smiled broadly back at him. She kissed him again before sliding off his lap. She reached down and took his hand. He stood quickly as she led him to their bedroom. She can do the case tomorrow, at least he knew a trick to keep her safe for one more night.