Theking-mustdie - Becca - Tumblr Blog

Cramped

pairing: background Scott McCall x Isaac Lahey

warnings: claustrophobia, panic attacks, mentions of feeling nauseous, PTSD, child abuse, mentioned scratching at own skin

a/n: i am on a mission to bring back claustrophobic isaac. this is my first work ever im open to constructive criticism!! ooc? maybe? i have no idea.

word count: 2,040

Isaac has coasted through his time in the pack without his claustrophobia, or its symptoms, being discussed at all. To be fair, there was hardly a lull in monsters-of-the-week to ever walk up to someone like Scott or Stiles and randomly throw out: ‘Hey! Did you know that my father locking me in a freezer in our basement did irreversible and unspeakable damage to my mental and physical health?’ So he wouldn’t say he minded the lack of communication. He preferred no one pry into his weaknesses or his business that they had no interest in knowing about.

However, there were some times where his panic was simply unavoidable.

From experience, Isaac consciously made sure to avoid his claustrophobia getting the best of him, usually stood next to exits or windows in any room he’s in. He’s not too fond of the unknown.

So when Scott suggested taking a day-trip somewhere after the insane, durach-filled month they had, Isaac reveled in the idea of a break and eagerly agreed.

“Where do you want to go?” Scott asked Isaac one afternoon, spread out on the couch.

“I haven’t exactly ventured outside of Beacon Hills so I wouldn’t even begin to know where to go,” Isaac replied from the other couch, half-asleep. With no threat looming overhead, Isaac hadn’t been as distracted, meaning that his nightmares had come back full force. He tried to keep himself awake to avoid the flashbacks he’d rather forget, but it was only delaying the inevitable. He’d rather not have indulged anyone else with his issues because it’s his burden to bear, and he’s almost positive that Scott couldn’t care less about his personal problems when he had a whole town to protect.

“We could always borrow Roscoe and drive down to the beach. I could use some time outside,” Scott replied after a beat, thinking.

“How far away is the beach?” Isaac asked, unfamiliar with any nearby beaches.

“Um probably about an hour and a half?” Scott guessed.

“That’s fine with me, but don’t expect me to go splashing around in the water like a dog.” Isaac crossed his arms and glanced over to Scott.

Scott laughed, rolled his eyes, and said “we’ll leave tomorrow morning” definitively.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

That night Isaac was able to catch thirty minutes of sleep until he was plagued with images of bleeding nails, metal chains, and impeding darkness before he startled awake. He decided it was a lost cause and tiptoed downstairs to grab himself a glass of water as he tried not to disturb Scott or Melissa. He returned to the McCall guest bedroom and settled on chipping away at his mountain of late work for school.

The night prior Isaac and Scott agreed on leaving at nine o’clock in the morning, so as the clock struck eight Isaac packed up his school work, hopped in the shower, and threw on some athletic shorts that could pass as swim trunks. As he left his room to head to the kitchen and find breakfast, Scott stepped out into the hallway and gave Isaac a small smile in greeting.

If Isaac’s gaze lingered on Scott’s bare chest, no one was there to witness it.

They both ate breakfast while talking about their plans for the day. Scott wanted float in the ocean and relax while Isaac wanted nothing more than to lay on the sand and read whatever crappy books the McCall’s had tucked away in their guest bedroom bookshelf. He needed a good distraction.

As they gathered the needed towels, sunscreen, and other beach items, Isaac began packing Stiles’ jeep that he had left outside Scott’s house the night before. But not without an intimidating threat of death if anything were to happen to it.

After a heated argument about who should get the aux, Scott was playing his music and they were off.

Isaac loved scenic car rides. He loved looking at the trees, houses, people, and anything that caught his eye. He leaned his head against the window and silently tried to fight sleep but eventually dozed off with the roaring of the engine and the rocking of the car acting as a lullaby.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Isaac slowly regained consciousness, unaware of his surroundings nor how long he had been out for. The first thing he had registered when he woke up was the car right in front of them. He tried to put the confusing, weird feeling that washed over him aside and turned to ask Scott how long he had been asleep.

"About half an hour. We were driving pretty smoothly until we hit the morning rush." he answered. He spared a glance at Isaac and saw the confused look adorning his face. "What's wrong, dude?"

Isaac whipped his head up to look at Scott and offered him a tight smile. "Nothing, just a little tired. I'm fine."

Isaac knew Scott could tell he was lying, but dropped in favor of looking at the road.

As he got a hold of his bearings, Isaac realized that they were sitting in the middle of bumper-to-bumper traffic. He tried to discreetly glance behind the Jeep, to the left, to the right, and ahead without alerting Scott, but a feeling of panic rose in his chest. There was maybe five feet of space between Stiles' car and others at all times.

Isaac began to understand what was wrong with him.

His heart started beating faster and his breathing started to quicken. He attempted to focus on anything else, the radio, the honking in the distance, even Scott, but nothing was working. His anxiety began to rise, and with it, the desperation to get the hell out of the car and off the highway.

Scott let out a frustrated groan, unaware of what was happening in the seat next to him. "We're stuck in here. The people ahead of us won't move," he said, his hand came down on the top of the steering wheel to emphasize his point. Scott turned to look at Isaac and saw that he was slumped over in his seat. Isaac yanked at his seatbelt with one hand, fully shifted, and clawed at the door of the Jeep with the other.

He was officially freaking out.

His exhaustion, bottled up emotions, and PTSD were all fighting a losing battle in his head. Usually simple things like traffic wouldn't set him into a panic attack, but it seemed all forces were working against him. His seatbelt felt like it was suffocating him, the walls of the Jeep were smaller than he remembered, and his werewolf senses were dialed up to ten.

Isaac stopped clawing at the door and frantically looked around the car to find anything that could help put him at ease, but came up short. The cars that surrounded the Jeep started getting closer and closer and Isaac started to use his free hand to claw at his chest, willing his heart and lungs to slow down.

However, before he could do any real damage, he felt his wrist being yanked away from his skin. More terror coursed through him at the confining grip until he realized that it was Scott holding him. His eyes found Scott's and Isaac let out a small, barely audible whimper.

Scott, however, heard it and jumped to do something to help Isaac. They wouldn't get anywhere if they stayed on the highway where Scott had to split his attention between Isaac and the road, so Scott shifted his hand to hold Isaac's as he moved to pull off the closest exit. In about five minutes, they were parked in the nearest diner and the driver's side door was thrown open.

Isaac's state had not improved in those five minutes. He was in dizzying state between reality and that damn freezer. His surroundings were disorienting and he couldn't make out what was real and what his panic-ridden brain was feeding to him. The only thing he could feel was the cold hand that once held Scott's.

He distantly heard the sound of the passenger door being thrown open and his seatbelt unbuckled. Suddenly, someone's hands were on his face as they said his name over and over again.

Isaac's brain cleared enough to register that Scott kneeled in front of him, hands on his cheeks, and repeated his name in hopes of garnering his attention.

Isaac locked eyes with Scott. Before Scott could acknowledge what was happening, Isaac threw himself out of the car and ran to the middle of the deserted parking lot. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the bile creeping up his throat to return from where it came. The next time he opened his eyes he took a deep, albeit stuttered, breath and looked around. The only person he could see was Scott and the closest object to him was at least fifty feet away.

He collapsed on the concrete and spread his arms and legs out as far as they went. Scott slowly made his way to Isaac, sitting on the ground next to him, but allowing him space.

The pair sat in silence for a while, the seconds ticking by as Isaac closed his eyes and focused on taking deep breaths.

Isaac was the first one to break the silence and turned his head towards Scott.

"I used to be in that freezer until I no longer knew what day it was." Isaac closed his eyes and took another steadying breath. "It didn't matter what I did, because to him, I always deserved it. I thought that by becoming a werewolf all these stupid feelings in me would have stopped. It only made it worse." Isaac talked slowly as he came to terms with his situation alongside Scott. "I don't remember how it started, but I remember every single time. I remember the bandages I wore on my fingernails because I pried them all off at some point or another. I remember the hours convincing myself that I deserved every second I spent in that fucking freezer. I remember the sound of my Dad coming down the basement steps, praying that he was going to let me out before he turned around and went right back up the stairs. I remember him letting me out of that box and hugging me tight, convincing me that he loved me and only wanted the best for me. Sometimes it worked. Most of the time it worked. I didn't know how to run away. I didn't know how to leave because he was all I had. I stayed because I was scared he was all I'd ever have. I didn't want to take the chance that he was right. That I'd be nothing without him."

After Isaac's confession they sat in silence. Isaac eventually sat up to match Scott's position.

"I- I don't know what to say." Scott confessed.

"It's alright," Isaac reassured, "I thought you deserved an explanation in exchange for dealing with me," he breathed out.

"God, Isaac, you don't owe me anything. Why didn't you tell me about this earlier, I could have helped you!"

"It didn't matter earlier. What were you going to do, add my shit on top of the shit you already had to deal with?"

"Of course it matters that you're dealing with this! And alone?" Scott emphasized before taking a deep breath, "I'm not really good at giving words of wisdom, or any advice really, but I'm here, always. I know it sounds hollow, but I'm around whenever you need to talk or rant or, who knows, punch. You don't have to keep going through this alone. That's what a pack is for." Scott reached his hand over to the boy's and clasped it around Isaac's.

Isaac lifted his eyes to meet Scott's and squeezed the his hand in lieu of thanking him, not knowing if he had the capacity to talk yet.

"You hungry?" Scott asked after a while. He released Isaac's hand and got up off the cement, reaching his hand out to help the other boy up.

"Is this place even running?" Isaac asked disgusted, looking at the not-so-nice exterior of the run-down diner.

"Only one way to find out!" Scott shouted, already on his way inside.

isaac lahey you will always be famous

the fact that isaac lahey took the bite to be able to "defend himself" and gained all of these new abilities that in theory should have helped him do exactly that, only to continue to disproportionately oscillate between freeze and flight reactions when put in violent situations, the fact that he gained this facade of confidence at the start of season 2, but that confidence really only existed when he was being ordered around, when he had an authority figure expecting obedience and telling him what to do, and the second he was left to his own devices and forced to deal with uncertainty that facade crumbled, the fact that when he was met with any kind of genuine kindness he always reacted with the sort of awkwardness and surprise of someone who hadn't experienced that in years, the fact that kindness was never the first thing he expected to be given from others, the fact that his most reckless actions were consistently taken on the behalf of the people he cared about, not in defense of himself, the fact that when he did fight for himself, there was hardly ever clear thinking behind it, it was the kind of violence you get only after backing someone into a corner, all of the things that carried over from his human life, from the loss and abuse and fear he lived with, all of these qualities that the bite couldn't magically "fix" despite how hard he leaned into it and tried to adapt to his new life, because the bite was never and will never be the cure-all it's cut out to be (both in universe, at times, and by a hell of a lot of people in the tw fandom) all of this is incredibly important to me.

isaac was the og sassfest but some of you just don’t want to admit it😒

i apologize for my ignorance! i’ll edit the og post and make sure i don’t misuse the word again!

for reference, i don’t read too many gambit comics where his shirt is off and im really only familiar with like these versions of him

but i’ll make sure to fix what i say next time i try and use the word!!

unpopular opinion, but gambit is a twink and needs to be played by a twink. channing tatum does NOT have the gambit look whatsoever

this

theo going from exploiting liams anger issues to being one of the only ones that doesnt judge him for said anger issues and actually helps him calm down and control himself? theo going from intentionally poking liam where it hurts to the show implying that theo is liams anchor?

im losing my mind over this like what do you MEAN... "that's cute, liam. is that what they told you in anger management?" "there he is, thats the IED i remember." "great, you gave super powers to a walking time bomb!" "whats gonna take it for you to explode, liam?" and thats his supposed friends talking to him???

meanwhile theo doesnt ever comment negatively on liams anger, he literally just helps him control himself again. and like yeah stiles wasnt liams friend quite yet when he made that comment and bretts and liams relationship is.. complicated but yk? so is theos and liams relationship. like theo did way worse stuff to liam than brett and he still never was an asshole about liams IED... idk just. i think about this a lot.

especially with the theo and liam both thinking of themselves as monsters thing.. like they can see each others darkness. obviously they have different issues and everything, they have like, control issues in opposite directions (liam struggling to control himself & his emotions/anger, theo always wanting to be in control of everything & everyone and not willing to let go of control) but i still think that when they look at each other they can kinda see a kindred spirit. especially when you take into consideration when liam said that he thought he WANTED to hurt scott. like yeah that was just theos manipulation but you cant tell me he hasnt had that thought before.

theo would be so good for him bc he takes it in stride & hes liams anchor anyway so he automatically helps. and liam could help theo learn how to relax.

if there’s one aspect i could criticize about the writing of teen wolf it’s the in depth backstories of each character only to never talk about it again or develop it any further.

liam’s ied and past school? only used as a prop to further the plot and create conflict (angry man go punch!)

isaac’s abuse and claustrophobia? only mentioned/showed how it effects him one time outside flashbacks (motel california)

theo’s growing up and manipulation with the dread doctors? never mentioned, only lightly brushed over in incoherent flashbacks (yes it shows him being guilty for taking tara’s heart, but not the dread doctors effect on him and torture for him to get where he was)

stiles’ nogitsune trauma? only brought up as a joke after the fact (“i once had a demon living in my head LOL”)

derek hale’s past with grooming by kate? only used to show they know each other, not why what she did was wrong or harmful (doesn’t show the harmful nature of grooming and how derek’s trust would be forever altered because of kate’s abuse of his)

malia living like a coyote for the first ?17? years of her life because she “killed” her own family? “omg you can’t take her anywhere! she likes to eat deer🤣🤣”

allison’s mom killing herself cause she’d rather be anything but a werewolf? mentioned maybe a couple times afterwords

it seems as though they attempt to make the characters deep and thought-out but toss aside the trauma they have given them in order to further the new villian of the week and constant conflict. sometimes i wish that the characters made decisions in conjunction with their prior trauma or showed symptoms of how these events effected them because it’s no secret that they would. i understand that it’s a lot to ask for a super precise and detailed description of how every character is feeling, but with 24 episodes a season, tossing in a couple reflective scenes couldn’t have hurt. i fear that their constant need to one-up their villains took away from the personality and characterization of the show as it kept running.

(this is why i love this fandom so much, because yall do! thank you to the writers who write realistic ptsd or lingering effects of major events)

ok i’m done now thank you @thiamsxbitch for inspiring this rant

no cause it’s the way theo knew something was wrong at the zoo without liam needing to tell him…

you can not convince me that man was not falling head first

unpopular opinion, but gambit is a twunk and needs to be played by a twunk. channing tatum does NOT have the gambit look whatsoever

me: i’m not a multishipper, never have been, never will be

deadpool: wellllll….

this genuinely makes my whole week so much better. so a reminder to always interact with posts you like cause at the end of the day, praise is all we’re running on

theo trying to give liam a good, emotional birthday gift but is too minimalistic to get liam anything else other than what he needs and is insecure about it.

a pair of socks cause liam’s been complaining his feet are cold

a new toothbrush cause he notices that liam’s has been used to all hell

new lacrosse gloves cause liam keeps ripping through his

and a gift card to the local coffee shop so liam can get his “sugary, coked up barely-coffee” as theo puts it

but liam doesn’t care because all liam cares about is the fact that theo knew what he needed and found solutions to all his problems. in more ways than one.

theo trying to give liam a good, emotional birthday gift but is too minimalistic to get liam anything else other than what he needs and is insecure about it.

a pair of socks cause liam’s been complaining his feet are cold

a new toothbrush cause he notices that liam’s has been used to all hell

new lacrosse gloves cause liam keeps ripping through his

and a gift card to the local coffee shop so liam can get his “sugary, coked up barely-coffee” as theo puts it

but liam doesn’t care because all liam cares about is the fact that theo knew what he needed and found solutions to all his problems. in more ways than one.

“every Deadpool has a Peter”

what’d you mean by that

Liam: Theo, what would you do if I started tickling you right now :D

Theo: I’d kill you.

Liam: Oh.

Liam: *does it anyway*

this may be too niche but

we need a roy & jamie spin-off series cause I KNOW jamie didn’t get all that bi-coding for nothing

me watching the movie directors give malia ANOTHER pointless romance plot to make SURE she doesn’t pass the bechdel test

THISSSSSSS LOOK AT THE LOOKS

the way theo looks at liam and the way liam looks at theo are so distinctly different because theo knows he's in love with liam and has given up on ever pursuing it but liam doesn't even know that he's in love with theo but keeps chasing whatever feeling it is inside of him that keeps telling him to stick around theo and see what happens

formally thanking all of the plus-size!reader writers for building my confidence up brick by brick, word by word

need a theo/thiam edit to “bring me to life” by evanescence i feel it just fits too well

definitely! there’s so much content out there i read all the time! i just meant from the pure source material standpoint they’re not continuing the show and the movie wasn’t any good! definitely interact w the people making tw content on here and other platforms cause it’s all amazing!

how it feels to be a teen wolf fan in the year of our lord 2024

one thing ab cod writers is that they WILL put kinky smut in between chapters of characters getting violently decapitated and tortured

colin is a canonical tiddys man so…

titfucking fics when?

“there is so much in society that is unnatural. but a feeling between two people, whatever their sex, is the most natural thing in the world.”

plus-size sex scenes are so important in media thank you nicola all hail our queen🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

“i want to be worthy of you, pen”

WALK HIM LIKE A DOGGGGG PENELOPE