Stiles and Lydia took a step back to examine the now complete chalkboard. Both noticing that the letters spell out a name.
Kira.
They were wrapped in silence for a moment, no one daring to say the thought out loud. As Lydia looked on, trying to find anymore clues, she couldn't help but feel like she had seen the handwriting before. As she intently stared at the written numbers, hoping it would ring a bell, she felt a growing pit in her stomach. Lydia turned to Stiles, immediately noticing the nervous sweat on his forehead. No, it couldn't be him. It can NOT be Stiles', she thought.
"It's your handwriting, isn't it?" Lydia sighed. Please say no, please say no, please say no, she pleaded in her head.
"I-I don't know. It looks exactly like it, b-but I would never write a message to kill Kira," Stiles stammered. He reluctantly made his way toward the board. He picked up a piece of chalk with his violently shaking hands. He froze for a second, trying to steady his breathing, then began to replicate the numbers already written. Once he finished, he set the chalk down and took a step back.
All at once, a gasp and a thud rang throughout the room. Lydia couldn't help the sharp gasp that erupted through her lips almost immediately after Stiles put the chalk down. It was him. Stiles couldn't help falling straight to the ground, he felt like he was drowning.
Breath, just breath Stiles, come on! Stiles kept on repeating it to himself over and over, a powerful mantra, trying to keep the attack at bay. Lydia immediately noticed his jagged breathing and plopped right down next to him in a heartbeat. She kneeled in front of him, Stiles' wide honeydew eyes already glancing upon her. His eyes were filled to the brim with panic.
You've done this before, Lydia, you can do it again! Lydia thought to herself, then began to help Stiles' calm down.
"Hey, Stiles, it's gonna be alright. I just need you to breath with me, okay? Can you do that for me?" She gently asked. He instantly nodded. "Okay, great. Now, deep breath in … and deep breath out." Lydia watched as Stiles kept doing the breaths, regaining some stability. "You're doing great Stiles, just focus on me and breath."
Lydia could see the panic in his eyes fading and his breaths becoming less shallow. Before they knew it, Stiles' breaths were back to normal. Lydia shifted from her knees to her bottom, as Stiles sat cross-legged staring at the floor. They sat in silence for awhile, the shock settling back in from their new discovery.
Stiles doesn't even know where to start. How could he have done something like that, yet not remember? He was the one to break the silence.
"I'm losing my mind," Stiles gulped, looking back up at Lydia. "How could I have done something like that? I helped a psychotic killer." A tear fell down his cheek. He raised his hand to wipe it, but Lydia beat him to it.
She caressed his face, steadying him and making sure he won't turn away from her. "You're gonna be okay, Stiles. We'll find out what's going on before something else happens, alright? I won't let anything bad happen to you," Lydia vowed, a few tears of her own rushing down her cheeks. She wasn't used to seeing Stiles this vulnerable, and it hurt her to see him like this.
"What if it's already too late?"
"Hey, stop. Don't think like that."
"What if I did something terrible, but I can't remember it?" Stiles whimpered.
Lydia immediately took Stiles' into her arms, hoping she could hold him tight enough to keep him together. "We'll figure something out. Like we always do," she quavered. Lydia felt Stiles nod into her shoulder.
"Can we figure it out later?" Stiles mumbled. "I just want to go home."
Lydia held him tighter. "Yeah, of course we can," She nodded. "Now, let's get you home."Lydia rose to her feet, tugging Stiles up with her.
Stiles held on to Lydia the entire way home. He held on to her waist as she erased the board and as they walked to the car, he clutched her hand the entire drive home, and all the way up into his bedroom.
Stiles held on to Lydia like she was his lifeline, the one thing keeping him together. Of course, Lydia didn't have a problem with it. She was holding onto him just as tightly.