Derek was a little startled at the sudden hug and rush of emotion, though he caught her and tentatively patted her back soothingly, still a tad bit stunned at the force of her gratitude but glad he could help and make someone feel so thankful.
Breathing sharply, she clutched the pen more tightly and wrote Derek’s name, and Isaac’s, close together. Putting a circle around them, she put her name as far away on the page as she could. With their names she put ‘pack’, and added ‘not pack’ to hers. Then she shoved it at him and bolted for the stairs.
Derek had the paper shoved at him and then her little body was running up the stairs, hair whipping behind her. He looked down at it and then at Isaac. Isaac took the paper gently and looked at it, frowning softly. He knew what it was like to feel on the outside like that. “Maybe I should try talking to her,” he asked Derek in a soft voice, eyes slowly turning to look up the stairs.
Why she’d run upstairs instead of out the door, she wasn’t sure. Going into the little room with the books, she found a corner behind the couch and burrowed into it.