"Ow" he said incredulously at her. Chloe let out the breath she'd been holding and grabbed both sides of his face
"I'm so sorry Stiles! I didn't know what else to do! I didn't mean to hit you so hard! Are you ok?! I saw them do that in the movies so I figured I'd give it a shot. Oh God I am SO sorry! Please tell me you believe me right now?!" she said rambling looking at him and his reddening cheek from where she hit him. She hated that she caused him physical harm and in her frantic state of worrying over him, she turned his face and kissed his cheek trying to get rid of the pain.
Stiles was not complaining at the attention he was receiving from Chloe as he snapped out of it…I'm awake, this is real, Chloe just slapped the shit out of me, damn she's got an arm… She's back and safe now. OMG the girl who is one of my best friends and whom I'm definitely in-love with is kissing my cheek! Holy shit this has been a weird morning! This has to stop otherwise it could lead to me doing something involuntarily… Stiles grabbed Chloe's hands that were holding his face and squeezed them as he wiggled his head away from Chloe
"Chloe! I'm fine…" he told her and she stopped and pulled away to look at him skeptically worried. "…well, I'm better than I was, thank you for breaking me out of it… I was freaking out" he told her looking into her eyes. Their gazes locked and Stiles couldn't look away from her shining green orbs that held the answer to everything in the world to him.
"Are you sure?" she asked. Chloe was also having a hard time staring at Stiles while he was this close to her, his honey brown eyes making her feel warm inside. Stiles slowly dropped her hands from the sides of his face and broke the spell as Chloe leaned back and looked down at her now empty hands.
"What… what happened to you?" she asked him looking back up at him. Stiles let out a breath and looked anywhere but at her.
"I think that the ritual Scott, Allison, and I performed in order to find our parents and you is still affecting us" he said gazing out the window down the long stretch of forest road.
"What ritual?" she asked her curiosity piqued as well as her worry for what she was about to hear.
"In order to hone in on where you, and our parents', energy was…like where you were being held. We had to become stand-in sacrifices to find the Nemeton… to find you" he said hitting his hand on the steering wheel in frustration not looking at her. Chloe lost all the breath in her lungs as she took in all the information Stiles had given her.
"And by 'become sacrifices' you mean…" she questioned him looking at his eyes as hers filled with tears.
"We…we had to die –briefly" he added as he finally looked over at her. Chloe finally fought for her breath and gripped the scarf around her neck in nervousness. Tears began to slip down her cheeks
"You killed yourself to find us?" she asked in a quiet voice. Staring at the dash board. Stiles turned his body completely to face her
"It was the only option we had left in finding you Chloe! I know it was very risky and I knew the consequence's but I had to get my Dad back… he's all I have left. I had to find you Chloe, ok? You are the last piece of normal that I've got, you're my best friend and I couldn't stop it… I died every day that you were gone Chloe. Deaton told us there would be a sort of darkness left around our souls or hearts or whatever, but I did it anyway because I will always find you" he said finally grabbing her hand that was in her lap she chose to look at instead of him. Chloe looked up at him now crying but angry, I had went out of my way to visit everyone yesterday to make sure they were all ok, and so I could say thank you… and none of them could've told me this important piece of info?!
"I fought to stay alive in that hole, for days without food or water, no one to talk to, I fought to stay alive for YOU Stiles… only to have you kill yourself. I felt so bad thinking about the turmoil you were put through with all the stress of figuring everything out, plus saving Scott and his mom, saving Allison's dad, saving your Dad… and most likely looking for my dead body in the woods somewhere… I felt terrible as I thought of you to stay alive. And you killed yourself!?" she said through her frustrated tears
"Yeah but to find you Chloe! I never once looked for a body, I looked for YOU. I can't lose you ok? You are the only thing sometimes that keeps me from completely falling apart" he told her. Chloe caught her breath and wiped her eyes irritated at him and her tears, she was so SICK of crying.
"Really?" she asked searching his eyes, she wasn't completely letting go of how upset she was with her friends for committing suicide to save all the captives. Her heart rate quickened for a different reason now, after what he just said she let herself hope that his feelings went deeper than that.
"Yeah…" Stiles said sitting back down in his seat looking forward, realizing he almost just spilled his guts to her. The car was awkwardly silent as Chloe realized there was a chance that Stiles might like her and Stiles realized that Chloe thought of him to stay alive… wait, so do I actually have a chance with her? He questioned himself.
"Um…" Chloe said breaking the silence "-we should probably be getting to school" Chloe said. Stiles nodded and put the jeep in drive once again taking off down the road; this time with no near-death experiences.
"So…" Chloe said and Stiles was hoping she'd say something about liking him but was disappointed "-you, Scott, and Allison all sacrificed your selves right?" she asked and Stiles nodded
"Yeah" he confirmed.
"So are these same things happening to them too?" she asked him.
"That… is a good question, we should find them when we get to school and try to figure out what's going on. Maybe go to Deaton after school and see what he knows?" Stiles asked thinking up a plan. Chloe was about to agree but then remembered her Dad's company dinner-benefit-thing.
"Oh, sorry I can't after school…" she gave him an apologetic look.
"Why not?" he asked her looking over at her quizzically. I give her a ride home anyway? It would only be a 15-20 minute stop?
"No… it's just, my dad has this big company dinner tonight and I'm his stand-in date for my mom since she left this morning. I have to go… I promised" she explained
"Oh, well yeah that's cool, that's fine… are you sure that this isn't too much for your first day back and all?" Chloe cocked her brow at him daring him to test her, after the day she had already had, about what she could handle. Stiles nodded and looked around before continuing "I'll just drop you off at home first then I'll meet up with Scott and Allison at Deaton's" he told her. Chloe smiled appreciatively then faced forward again watching the School come into view. Memories of that night began to flash across her vision as she saw the stairs where she was attacked.
"Hey…" Stiles said to catch her attention so she looked at him "-if you're not feeling up to this I can take you back home right now and you can try this again tomorrow" he reassured her, while also trying to get her to take it slower since it was high school AND a fancy social event so no pressure there. Chloe shook her head and looked back at the school as they parked.
"No… I'm behind enough as it is in homework… let's just rip the band aid off and get this over with" she said giving him a small smile. Stiles nodded and gave her a half grin back thinking of how proud he was of her being so strong. GOD he was so attractive when he did that! Chloe thought as her smile grew. She got out of the jeep with Stiles and they decided to split up to find their friends.
Chloe was inside the halls looking for Allison or Lydia when she realized that this was her first day back since being presumed dead… she had almost forgotten. She began to notice all the stares mixed with warm smiles and greetings sent her way. She smiled politely back but kept up her search for her friends. She finally gave up when she came to her locker and decided to just grab her stuff while she was here. She tried opening it but was stopped by the principal
"Oh Miss Turner, we are so glad you're back with us and safe. Please feel free to talk to our guidance counselor Ms. Morrell or see me if you feel the need, my door is always open" he told her, again like he was reading off a script that was tattooed on her forehead or something. She nodded and gave a small "thank you" before he left.
She turned back to her locker and opened it this time grabbing her things for her first hour English class with a new teacher, Thank God! She closed her locker to finally realize there were notes and envelopes and flowers taped to the outside. She began to pick them off and put them in her bag so she wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb in the hallway… she just wanted things to return to how they were, minus the whole serial killer thing. She grabbed the last one off when she heard a voice behind her
"Hey, glad your back." Chloe whipped around and pressed herself to her locker. Aiden was standing behind her acting like he had done nothing wrong.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she whispered harshly at him. Aiden smiled cockily
"Same thing as you, learning… plus I legally have to be here" he tried joking but Chloe didn't laugh with him.
"Well whatever it is that you're really doing here, stay away from ME and my friends" she warned him. Taking a step away from him and the lockers towards her class.
"Chloe, my brother and I don't have an ulterior motive we just-" he said trying to reach out for her. She took a quick step back
"Don't touch me" she said quickly glaring at him. Before Aiden could get another word in edgewise she felt a warm arm wrap around her shoulders protectively
"What's going on here?" Stiles asked.
"Nothing Stilinski, I was telling Chloe I was happy she was back" Aiden said while glaring at him.
"Well you've told her, so why don't you get your hairy ass to where ever you need to be." Stiles warned, causing a shocked eyebrow raise from Chloe who looked at him honestly impressed. Aiden shot Stiles a dirty look as Stiles just gave back a cocky smile before turning them both away from the werewolf and walking away towards their class. Chloe couldn't help but blush as she liked the fact that Stiles was so protective over her, but slightly objectified as she remembered a similar encounter not too long ago between the two.
"Now who's marking their territory?" Chloe said to him smirking. Stiles took his arm from around her shoulders and Chloe felt instantly cold
"No, no, no, no, no, no, I didn't mean it like that. It's just he's… he's just such a dick. Like ALL THE TIME!" he exclaimed waving an arm around for emphasis. Chloe just chuckled at him and continued walking towards his and Scott's lockers.
"Did you find Allison and Scott?" she asked changing the subject which Stiles was grateful for.
"Yeah, we're all seeing things. Allison and I are having dreams, she keeps seeing her dead aunt and I can't seem to wake up until I scream myself awake." He said glaring to the side for a second, almost as if he was ashamed to admit he was weak in front of her. Chloe just put a comforting hand on his shoulder
"Hey, you're all gonna be fine… can't Scott's boss-druid-guy help you?" she said offering him a reassuring smile. Stiles looked at her and gave her a half-hearted one back.
"Scott's trying to call him but no luck yet… but we'll see him after school" he told her trying to convince both of them. They made it to class and as she sat behind Stiles she saw Lydia with a triumphant look on her face
"Why are you so happy today?" Chloe asked with a small chuckle.
"Oh there are a lot of reasons to be happy today Chloe, I've got my friend back-" Lydia gave her a genuine smile and reached over to squeeze her hand before taking it back "- the sun is shining, and for once I'm not the crazy one with in our friend group" she giggled. Chloe looked at her almost disbelieving at how tactless she was being with Stiles right next to her. She had known about Lydia being able to find the dead bodies and now possibly being a 'banshee' but still.
"Lydia stop enjoying this so much" She heard Stiles say back to her while Chloe could see his shoulder muscles tensing. Chloe leaned forward and placed a hand on Stiles' right shoulder as she leaned towards his left
"Text me to keep me updated on what happens throughout the day, and what happens at Deaton's" she said into his ear. Stiles shivered again and then turned to look at her
"I will…" he told her. She smiled and gave him a closed lipped smile and squeezing his shoulder once before leaning back to pay attention.
All of her classes were basically the same: the teacher started out with welcoming her back and that they were glad she was safe or something, then she would zone out throughout the lecture, get all the assignments she had missed from her teacher before moving on to the next. Finally, lunch came and she was actually pretty nervous to be around a lot of her peers without her protective bubble of friends or teachers. Everyone looked at her as she entered, she knew they were talking about her and there was nothing she could do about it. She simply walked to the lunch line and grabbed her food before heading towards her usual table with Danny. Surprisingly Danny actually stood up to meet her and have her a hug
"So glad you're ok Chloe, I've missed you" they pulled away and she smiled back at Danny.
"I'm glad you are too" she said referring to the mistletoe poisoning that happened right before she was taken by the Darach. She shook the memory from her mind as she sat down at the table to have everyone give her their greetings and well wishes. No one asked her about what it was like or about the incident at all which she was over joyed about. Eventually, she remembered the notes in her back pack and turned to Danny
"I have all the letters and notes from my locker, do you wanna go through them with me?" she asked him with a smile. Danny smiled back
"If you want me to? I mean they're all private messages to you from the school" he told her
"Yeah… but I trust you" she told him and he smiled warmly back at her before she dug into her bag and pulled out all the scraps of paper. She and Danny finished their lunch period going over the notes of those who really didn't know her and the overly zealous ones that made her laugh. She decided to save a few that were from her cross-country teammates that told her they missed her and that she was strong and stuff like that and one that. Danny had found one quickly scribbled on a post it saying 'I wish I could've told you what you really mean to me'. She smiled warmly at it while Danny teased her about a secret admirer. She threw the rest of them away to forget the awkwardness the school was creating for her right now and the incident. She put the few notes she wanted to keep in her back pack to take home. Chloe went to her next class the boring process repeated until she saw Allison in her 6th hour class who looked spooked.
"Allison are you ok? Is it affecting you right now?" she whispered the last part so no one around them could hear. Allison looked over at her with fear and worry in her eyes
"In Lydia and I's free period we went out to the woods to try and steady my hands that had been shaking since the… incident… and I somehow got lost in a vision or something with my aunt and almost shot Lydia in the head" she ended in a strained whimper. Chloe's eyes grew in shock and worry as she covered her mouth to hold back the colorful language that almost slipped out.
"But she's fine though right? You didn't hurt her?" she asked. Allison looked down at her desk and shook her head 'no'. Chloe let out a breath a relaxed slightly
"Isaac was there and stopped my arrow from hitting her just in time…" Chloe nodded and leaned back
"Thank god for Isaac" she said and leaned back in her desk. "You should go with Scott and Stiles to Deaton's after school and maybe he can help you solve what's going on" Chloe reassured her and grabbed Allison's trembling hand. "Everything is going to be alright, I promise. We're gonna fix you and Stile's "few-screws-that-are-lose", you probably will come out better than Stiles but still…" she earned a small chuckle from her scared friend. "You will be fine, we are all gonna make it through this" Chloe told her in finality before letting her hand go. She saw Allison's hand stop shaking and look over at Chloe and smile
"Thanks… I missed you." Chloe smiled back and then the two girls faced forward in class to pay attention as Chloe's pattern of zoning out repeated again through the end of the day. Right before her last class she received a text update from Stiles that she read quickly
The ritual is affecting Scott too… he can't seem to control his werewolf powers, they're going haywire
Chloe bit her lip as she typed her worried response
Is he alright though? Did he hurt anyone?
Stiles' reply was quick
No, everyone is ok here. Scott got it under control
Chloe sighed and put her phone away, she was glad she was in the loop again but still uneasy that they did what they had to, to find her. It's not like she was unappreciative or anything, it's just that it now seems like it's causing more trouble than it was worth.
*She just loves and interesting first day doesn't she?!*
