SUCCUMB

CHAPTER XI - STILES

Stiles shifted and churned in his sleep, feeling unnaturally cold and he knew that he shouldn't be that way so despite his heavy eyelids and aching body, he rose from the soft mattress only to see that Lydia's side was empty. Thoughts ran through his head and he knew that something was troubling his girlfriend, something about being a banshee and the powers it came with.

Reaching out for the nightstand, his hand eventually found his phone. Pressing the button on the side, Stiles squinted when the bright light illuminated the room for a bit as he tried to get a good look at the time. The screen read 3:21 and that particular time felt oddly familiar, like he had woke up to that time before before he pocketed his phone.

As much as he wanted to stay in bed, Stiles couldn't stomach the thought of his girlfriend—of anyone he cares about, for that matter—troubled at night and even though his eye lids felt as heavy as a quarter pound, he had this need, this urge that made him gravitate towards the hallway outside his room leading up to the small balcony where, sure enough, the door was left ajar and wide enough to let him see his girlfriend's back as she watched the night sky.

"Hey, you."

Lydia's head whipped around, a small but tired smile gracing her lips and Stiles had to pinch his arm to convince himself that this wasn't a dream, that Lydia Martin, the greatest mind in all of Beacon Hill, was his girlfriend and that she's wearing his favorite S.T.A.R. Labs sweatshirt as she rubbed the sleepiness off of her eyes, her hands falling to her side like it was some sort of silent invitation for him to join her.

Stiles stifled a yawn but it did not go unnoticed. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep? Resting and all?" Lydia pointed to the cast but he just shrugged, walking towards his girlfriend and enveloping her in an embrace, feeling comfortable in the familiar warmth that her body gave off.

"Huh," Stiles muttered under his breath but said it loud enough for her to hear. "And you're not supposed to be asleep during this fine, ungodly hour of 3 in the morning?" he just closed his eyes and enjoyed the cold wind blow against his face when there was a soft sigh from Lydia, the sound he knew well enough to figure out that whatever was troubling her, it was banshee related and it was something really big so he faced her, and despite his confusion, offered a comforting smile. "Come on, you can tell me what's bothering you."

Beside him, Lydia gave out a frustrated groan before wiggling free from his embrace, her eyes still fixed on the ink-black sky lit up by the twinkling stars. "I just. . .ugh! I just don't know what to do!" she threw her hands up in the air and even though Stiles knew that his girlfriend was going through something really heavy, like the-weight-of-the-world-on-your-shoulders heavy, he couldn't help but smile because she's absolutely adorable.

Stiles fought the urge to smile silly because it wasn't the time or the place or the situation to but he's in love with Lydia Martin for the longest time and he's finally with her.

Lydia, of course, eventually caught to his small smile and somewhat adoring gaze. "Stiles Stilinski," her voice had this sharp edge to it, like she was daring him something he should definitely not do. "Are you seriously laughing right now?" just as she had said the word 'laughing', Stiles couldn't help but release a small chuckle.

Lydia's gaze on him hardened and that was when Stiles knew that he should just stop. Taking a moment to recompose himself, Stiles raised a brow and wrapped his arms around her once again, settling in another comfortable position even with his brace. "How about," he began seriously, looking in the distance to trace the constellations that graced the sky. "You tell me how it all began." Despite the look of disbelief on Lydia's face, Stiles' serious expression remained. "Come on, you can tell me."

Lydia just sighed and he knew that he was one step closer to cracking the outer shell, this wall she's built around her whenever her banshee powers would come and plague her, leaving her with a series of sleepless nights. Stiles could see the exhaustion in her eyes as he took his phone from his pocket and turned his flashlight on and dimmed it a bit, giving some sense of openness and privacy to them. Lydia glanced at the screen of his phone, though. "How did Scott's date with Kira and her family go?"

Stiles' face lit up with familiarity as he remembered the text Melissa sent him hours ago, telling him of how she picked Scott up from the dinner. "He was laughing with Kira on the sidewalk. Melissa told me that it's been a long time since she's heard Scott laugh like that." A sad smile occupied Lydia's face and immediately, Stiles was conflicted on whether or not he should be happy for Scott that he's finally moving on with Kira or that he should be sad that Allison was yet again losing someone she loves.

The look on Lydia's face was something Stiles couldn't really decipher. "That's good. Scott's moving on." The tone rang in a way Stiles knew wasn't sincere, but it wasn't like she was faking or pretending that it was fine. It was more like Lydia couldn't find it in her heart to give out any other reaction than that, than disappointment.

Feeling somewhat guilty for weighing his girlfriend even more, Stiles tightened his arm around Lydia, giving her a warmer and more supportive embrace. "I know that it's a good thing and all for Scott to move on, but trust me, I know what it feels like." Stiles thought back then to Freshman year just when Scott was starting to get attention because of his over-night werewolf abilities. "He'd smile the brightest when he's with Allison. I know Scott, Lydia, and I know him enough to say that he'll be his happiest with her. With Allison."

Lydia gave him a look, a pained look that he knew would eventually burst. "Ugh! I just. . .I just don't think that I can do this, deal with this feeling that's been tugging at my stomach, yelling at me for the past few days and it's been driving me insane!" Lydia stopped, looking at him for some sort of support, searching his eyes for something that he couldn't quite give. "I just can't do this anymore, knowing that someone's about to die and all I can think about is how I'll have to tangle you in front of danger's way when you, Scott, and Allison have barely spent a week in school!"

Stiles froze when he heard the word in Lydia's fairly rushed outburst. "Wait, what did you say? Who's dying?" the thought of someone dying obviously surprised him, this dread pooling in his stomach but compared to his girlfriend's reaction, the look of shock that hung on her face, Stiles knew that something was terribly wrong and recalling who he was just talking about, horror dawned on him, too. "Oh. God! Don't. . .it's not Scott, is it?"

Lydia shook her head and pursed her lips, her expression telling him how much it pained her to keep a secret. Stiles felt himself sigh in relief, knowing that it wasn't his best friend but the victory was short-lived because his girlfriend still had this pinched look on her face that looked like she was left in a situation where she was asked to give up either her life or her soul. It was in hat moment when Stiles knew that something was still wrong, and while it may not have been his brother, it was still someone important in his girlfriend's life.

"Who is it, Lydia?" Stiles gently took both of her hands into his, feeling her cold skin collide against his warm and somewhat clammy palm. "Please, Lydia," his eyes searched for some kind of clue; a give-away of some sorts of on who he needed to save. "I need to know."

There was silence, for a short moment before Lydia looked up to him. Stiles only realized that she had blood-shot eyes, that she had been crying the whole time she'd been staying in the terrace. "I saw Aiden." Under normal circumstances, Stiles would have been a little jealous and mocked anger but that wasn't the case. He saw the gravity of the situation much like how the grasp of death would hang in the air. "I saw Aiden die, Stiles." Lydia was crying.

Stiles was never fond of the Stein twins especially Aiden because he had been with Lydia but that fact only made Stiles more determined to save the testosterone-filled werewolf. It's obvious to anyone, Stiles thought to himself as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, soothing her gently and as calmly as he possibly could. Aiden means a lot to Lydia and while it may not be romantic, Stiles needed to save his girlfriend's ex.

"Hey hey, it's okay." Stiles tried to soothe his girlfriend by whispering silent, comforting words. Cupping her face with both his hands, Stiles lifted her face up gently so that she could meet his eyes. "You already told me what's going to happen and we're going to do the same for everyone else. We're going to tell them about Aiden and we're going to do everything we can to save him." Stiles expected Lydia to smile up at him or to at least give a small and somewhat playful banter but he didn't expect the teary eyes and Lydia shaking her head.

"No! No, Stiles, don't you understand?" Stiles didn't need a mirror to tell him that confusion was written well into his face. "A banshee—telling someone's death, spreading around the premonition will never end good because no one can know too much about the future, no man can know too much about his future." Lydia looked concerned, worried as she stared into the distance, the pitch black darkness enveloping Beacon Hills. "I've done some research, Stiles, I've looked into the Bestiary and the one thing I've always come across was the fact that telling a person his or her fate will end badly."

Then, an idea clicked in Stiles' mind, the thought and images of secrecy and discrepancy inspiring him. "Then we don't tell him." Stiles said simply. "If Aiden knowing about his fate in the future would mean bad things, then let's keep him in the dark while we work on the sideline trying to prevent whatever may happen to him." Stiles pressed a soft kiss on Lydia's forehead, taking her once again into his arms. "Lydia, the future isn't written; nothing's set in stone yet." Looking into her eyes, Stiles assured her. "What you saw is merely a possibility, a future that could happen."

There was doubt and hesitation in Lydia's eyes, reluctance to believe but eventually she caved in, melting back into his arms as he lead her back inside the house and into his room.

Laying beside his girlfriend on his bed, Stiles watched her as she looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "I'm sorry that I dumped all of this on your shoulders." Stiles opened his mouth to protest, to tell her that she's wrong. She didn't dump anything on his shoulders. If ever someone had the weight of the world on his shoulders, it would surely be Scott with his hero mentality but not him. No, his self-preservation skills far outweighed any heroic bone in his body. "I mean, you should be resting after the whole incident with the Nemeton. I mean it's just Thursday—barely four days after you guys went back to school and here you are, thrust back into the madness of all things supernatural."

While Stiles wanted to tell Lydia that it wasn't her fault, reality dawned on him that everything was just moving too damn fast for him when a smile crept up on his face, nudging his girlfriend's shoulder with a mischievous smile playing on his lips. "Hey, come on, think about it—only one more day before everything turns into heaven with the magic of the Weekend!" Lydia couldn't help but chuckle and Stiles felt like he had succeeded in his job in being a good boyfriend.

Morning came by far too fast and soon, Stiles found himself alone on his bed as Lydia stood in front of him, all dressed and ready for another day at Beacon Hills High School, munching on a green apple with a small, leather backpack hanging over her shoulders.

"Well, since Dr. Geyer cleared you to go to leave as per your insistence, you, mister, are going to school." All of a sudden, clothes went flying in his direction and, for a moment, had covered his face and blocked his vision, still shocked and somewhat dumbfounded at what had just happened. "So, Stiles, take a shower, eat your cereal, and brush your teeth." Lydia gave him this tight smile that told him he should do whatever it was that was asked of him.

Although Stiles knew that there was nothing he wanted more than staying in bed all day, he stood up and kissed his girlfriend's cheek who left shortly after. "Give me five minutes," was all he muttered before grabbing the clothes Lydia had prepared for him to head into the shower and take a long-deserved bath when he spotted his phone sitting on the night stand. Reaching out to grab the cellular device with his good arm, Stiles pressed on a power button so that the screen would light up.

3:21 AM.

Stiles sucked a breath in when he saw the familiar time. Turning it off, he restarted the device and when it finished booting up, Stiles sighed in relief when a more updated time was displayed on the screen and yet there was this horrible gut feeling that kept tugging at his stomach, telling him that there was something terribly wrong with 3:21 AM. He tried thinking that maybe it's when Aiden will die but there was something more to it, something more ominous and dark that hing like a shadow.

But he had no solid proof other than a gut feeling. So Stiles grabbed his phone and the clothes Lydia gave him before heading into the bathroom, showering for a good amount of time, admittedly taking more than the initial five minutes he'd promise Lydia as he walked down the stairs, all dressed and ready for school when he spotted his father comfortably chilling inside the dining room, sipping on what seemed like black coffee.

"Hey, Dad." Stiles raised his brow and realized something wrong—his father wasn't wearing his uniform. "Anything happened?"

Stiles moved in, his eyes casually landing around the room, once meeting with his new backpack that was safely placed on the couch. The aroma of juicy yet crispy bacon filled the air. "Stiles," his father's voice greeted him, a small smile eventually reaching his gaze. "Aren't you supposed to be at school by now?" his father raised a brow, causing him to mirror his Dad and retaliate the same exact way that he was most familiar to: sarcasm.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the Sheriff's Office?" the look on his father's face, the shock written was borderline amusing but there was something else hidden. Stiles wanted to say something more, to pry and find out what exactly what was going on with his father when his phone vibrated against his leg. Fishing it out, Stiles stared at the screen of his phone and narrowed his eyes down at the message of the screen before looking back at his father with a pointed look. "We'll continue this later when I get back home." He said pointedly at his father with a determined look to find out once and for all what was happening to his father.

After making sure that his father understood the fact that he wasn't going to let the sudden change slide, Stiles grabbed a snack from the cupboard and a bottle of water before heading outside only to see a note taped to the window of his Jeep. The familiar twirl and loops of Lydia's neat handwriting stood out as he made out the message of how she went ahead, grabbing a few stuff at her house before going to school and that she'd meet him at the parking lot.

Unscrewing the bottle cap, Stiles took a big gulp from the water bottle and nodded. "Figures." He muttered under his breath as he got inside his Jeep, struggling for a minute because of his broken arm when he saw the time, his body froze and air left his lungs. The clock was stuck and it read 3:21, and his heart beat raced like a horse before he briefly blacked out, like a cape or a shadow swallowing him whole. His thoughts ran rampant and Stiles felt beads of sweat cover his forehead before he felt like he could move again.

Blinking, Stiles stared at the built-in clock and realized that it wasn't at all like 3:21, in fact, he realized that if he'd stay for another thirty minutes in the driveway wasting gasoline, he'd have to run to Beacon Hills High School. It was that option or steal his father's stock police cruiser that sat inside the garage untouched for the past three weeks.

Shaking off the horrible gut feeling he had, Stiles pressed on the pedal and the Jeep surged forward, the familiar hum of the engine reaching his ears as he cruised down the neighborhood, passing down Scott's house and noticed that the bike was missing and no-where to be found. Snickering, he felt sorry for his best friend when he imagine the suddenly overprotective beta, Isaac, because he was going to hound on Scott the whole day for riding the motorcycle.

Realizing the potential talk-down from Isaac, Stiles made a mental note to follow the alpha and beta around to see if there would be anyone on the receiving end of a lecture.

It would make for good entertainment, Stiles thought to himself as he took a familiar turn at the end of the street almost automatically, peering over his backpack that sat beside him on the passenger seat knowing that he'd arrive at Beacon Hills High School in a few minutes.

And soon enough, Stiles pulled over at an empty spot near the entrance of his school, Lydia's red Mazda was parked right beside his Jeep with Allison's silver Prius parked a few spaces over with a handful of cars in between.

Stepping out of his Jeep, Stiles grabbed his bag and squinted at the bright light before his eyes was fixed on the image of his girlfriend talking to one of his closest friends, Allison Argent. Walking over, Stiles kissed his girlfriend's cheek and while he enjoyed the fact that Lydia Martin is finally his girlfriend, he couldn't help but mentally chide himself for doing so in front of Allison, whose not-so discreet pained expression told him everything he needed to know.

Following her Allison's gaze had landed was the parking space for the motorcycles and bikes where Scott had dismounted off the deathtrap his best friend calls his ride. Though that wasn't the upsetting part for Allison, it was the passenger his best friend had brought along—the woman who clung to Scott's waist as they rode through the parking lot was Kira Yukimura, the girl his best friend had been on a date with.

And a good one at that, Stiles thought to himself when he remembered the text he received of how Melissa picked him up from the date, laughing his ass off with Kira talking and spouting every kind of nonsense. Stiles was genuinely happy for his best friend, he really was and he's really trying his best not to be biased about the new budding relationship but he couldn't help it. Looking beside him, Stiles sighed audibly because looking at Allison hide her pain through that obvious longing expression, that Kira isn't the one for Scott.

But he swallowed the words before they even left his mouth. Stiles smiled and started walking towards Scott, who grinned at him, giving a small wave at his direction. Stiles opened his mouth to say something, probably about the last episode from the third season of Black Mirror when Scott stopped walking towards him, his best friend's attention was diverted to the side.

To others, it might look like Scott was a sightseeing tourist but then, Aiden and Ethan Stein appeared out of nowhere, Kira's mouth hung open and he knew that the girl was told about the existence of werewolves and banshees and Sparks.

Walking a bit closer, Stiles found out that it was useless because soon, the small group disbanded, Scott and Kira ended up walking towards him, Allison, and Lydia again.

Scott gave them all a tight smile and somehow, Stiles knew that there was something going on with his best friend. "Hey, guys," the unsettling smile combined with the wary look Kira kept giving Scott gave him the feeling that his best friend was worried about something, that whatever it was the werewolves talked about, it had something to do with his girlfriend's premonition of her ex-boyfriend's death and he would have asked something if it weren't for Isaac walking over to their spot.

Isaac looked a bit haggard, like he had this massive hangover and if Stiles didn't know about the beta being whammied by shadow ninjas, he'd think that werewolves would have a pretty underwhelming and somewhat disappointing metabolism. But he knew better, Stiles knew what happened to Isaac and the grumpy look on his friend's face told him that he was going to be on the receiving end of a very long lecture.

Surprisingly though, Isaac didn't say anything apart from the tired gaze from his friend's face. Looking to his side, Stiles saw a probable reason why—Scott, who stood beside Kira, looked calm and just generally better, his skin tone didn't resemble a cold corpse, and he didn't look tired or sleep deprived even though he'd been sporting this anorexic, Lily Collin's To the Bone look. In fact, Stiles had to admit that Scott looked healthy as a race horse.

"Thank you." Isaac breathed out. He offered a small smile while Allison beside him nodded. "So, Scott," Isaac began, all of a sudden, his expression changed into a more serious one. "You were about to say something, weren't you?" looking back at his best friend, Stiles saw Scott's expression, the pursed lips that confirmed that was about to say something.

Scott had a distant gaze, he cupped his chin before fixing his look at them and gestured at the doors and Stiles knew immediately what it meant—whatever it was that his best friend wanted to say wasn't for for anyone who's unaware of the supernatural to hear. "How about we go to our spot, I'll tell you guys everything there." The serious and somewhat grim voice was something Stiles couldn't really imagine his best friend using and yet here Scott was, all alpha-y.

Walking along the halls of the school, Stiles heard whispers ranging from shock and disbelief about him and Lydia to what could have been the party of the year Danny was about to throw this Friday if it weren't for the double-booking at the venue he had planned to use.

The heavy atmosphere prevented Stiles from cracking a witty joke and he just nodded at his best friend, following Scott towards a table by the court outside. It was like their pack's meeting place, their group's hang-out and go-to spot.

Plopping down on the bench, Stiles inched closer towards Lydia so that he wouldn't fall off the edge as he listened to whatever it was his best friend was about to say. "Stiles," Scott looked at him. "Do you remember the day when we took Kira to the preserve to take pictures?" Stiles nodded, remembering the day when his bag was mercilessly torn apart by the human-turned-coyote-turned-human-again, Malia Tate.

"How could I when I've got this as a solid souvenir?" Stiles pointed to his blue arm sling and turned to show the cast that covered his skin from his elbow up to the wrist. "I don't know about you guys but I'm not going to forget about trying—and failing—to impersonate Bear Grylls." His quip earned a few reluctant and strained chuckles, even a smile from his best friend but the heavy atmosphere still hung around, the feeling of something big was coming for them.

"Stiles," Scott had this soft and tired voice that immediately told him that whatever it was, whatever his best friend had to say, it was far too grim even to kid around. "I'm serious. Do you remember that day?"

Stiles breathed in deep and raised both of his hands in defeat as a form of surrender. "Yeah, yeah. I remember, I mean, seriously, how could I forget about the time I almost became a coyote's mid-day snack?" Scott threw him another look and this time, he responded with a sheepish smile that earned him a nudge from Lydia. "Sorry."

Scott shrugged, nodding at his apology, and continued. "Anyways, before we went to the preserve, when I was finding you," Scott turned to his side, facing Isaac. "I bumped into Ethan and Aiden. . .well, it's more like they found me." Stiles followed Scott's gaze that was fixed at the building as if he was reminiscing, remembering the day. "They told me that their apartment was ransacked, that there were numerous symbols traced on the walls, hundreds of Spirals were clawed."

Isaac's mood changed drastically. "Wait, you mean the Spiral? The Revenge Spiral, as in the one Ennis clawed into the metal wall back at the abandoned distillery?" Scott nodded and Stiles felt his stomach drop and he fought the urge to look at his girlfriend, whose hand he held under the table and gave a gentle squeeze. He could actually hear her saying not to give it away, to keep her premonition a secret. Thankfully, both Isaac and Scott seemed too immersed in their conversation/stare-off about the Revenge Spiral.

For a few seconds, Stiles managed to block out everything and there was this peaceful but heavy silence that came with a ringing in his ear when he felt like he was being watched. Looking back at Scott, he realized that his best friend had asked him a question earlier. Jarred back from his trance, Stiles blinked twice at his best friend who looked at him weirdly. "Huh, sorry, what was the question?" brushing off the look, Stiles fixed his eyes on Scott, tried to look attentive and for a second, he thought that Scott found out him keeping a secret.

"I told you that day, Stiles, that I didn't want them in the pack because you didn't trust them." Scott looked at Isaac, too. "The both of you didn't trust them so I didn't but now, they're in danger and even though they've hurt us in the past, I can't just not help them." Stiles almost sighed at his best friend. His whole life, Stiles has seen Scott risk life and limb just to help others, even when he was a lanky, asthmatic kid when he decided that he was Superman and save a kitten stuck up in a tree. "I can't let anything bad happen to them knowing well that I could have prevented it."

Near Scott, Stiles saw Isaac squirm uncomfortably. "Okay, hero complex aside, what do you want us to do with that?" as much as Stiles hated the somewhat snappy and constantly negative questions and wise-cracks, he couldn't help but agree with the beta.

Looking up, Scott looked at everyone around him, his best friend's gaze eventually stopping at him. "I need to know if you guys are on board with this, if I have your support." Stiles' chest grew heavy and he was conflicted. He never did like Aiden, but with Lydia's premonition and the whole revenge thing going on that seemed like a bad sequel to Jennifer Blake aka the Darach, he knew that they shouldn't sit out on this.

"Whatever it is, I'm in. Aiden might be a testosterone-filled Sasquatch and his brother may have banged Danny, but they don't deserve to die." With each word he said, Stiles felt his determination grow stronger and firmer. "Scott's right," he looked at his best friend and nodded at him, earning a small but solid smile. "Man, you're right. We can't let anything bad happen to them knowing that we could have prevented it. I mean saving people, that's kind of like our thing now, right?" Lydia squeezed his hand and Allison beside her nodded, muttering something in French. "And if we didn't, how are we better than the bad guys?"

Although there was a smile on Scott's face, there was something that worried him. "But do you trust them? Ethan and Aiden, do you trust them enough to welcome them into the pack?" Stiles realized that his heartbeat may have been off. Calming himself down, Stiles breathed in deep, knowing too well what is answer it.

"No." Scott frowned at his answer but he didn't say anything. "Frankly, there is nothing they can do that will ever make me trust them enough to bring them into the pack but I don't want them die." He looked at everyone at the table, a pang of guilt and pain spreading through his chest. "I mean, guys, we're just teenagers. We never wanted any of this," Isaac looked like he wanted to say something, remained silent and mum. "And in the end of each and every day, Ethan and Aiden? They're just kids, too."

Scott nodded. "Okay. If you don't want them in the pack, then we won't." Stiles gave his best friend a grateful nod, letting out a breath of air he didn't know he was holding in.

Isaac cleared his throat, coughing out loud enough to get everyone's attention. "So, let me get this straight; we're going to protect the Wonder Twins from werewolf packs they've pissed off in the past but we're not going to take them in because we don't trust them, is that it?" there was silence and nobody made a sound. Huffing, Isaac, fixed the loose and messy scarf over his shoulder. "Brilliant."

Suddenly, there was this cough from beside Lydia and all heads turned to Allison. "So, now that we've decided to help them, how are we going to do that exactly? We don't know where they live and the most we know from them are their phone numbers." There was a resounding groan from Isaac, muttering something about a wild goose chase and how tiring it to run after people who need their help. "And when will we start exactly?"

Isaac let out another groan. "Fan-fucking-tastic! We've become a security agency." Looking sarcastically at Lydia, Isaac stared at his finger nails as if he couldn't wait for something to claw. "Who are we going to protect next, huh? The President's son?"

Stiles saw the internal struggle in Scott's eyes, how much his best friend wanted to call out on his beta but he stopped himself. "Well, have you guys heard of the party Danny's throwing?" Stiles nodded, remembering the people whispering around in the halls when they passed by. "Well, for what I know, Derek and Peter are going out searching for something this Friday, I didn't ask them what it was, but it looked like it was pretty important and that they'd be out all night searching for it. I'll tell Derek about Aiden and Ethan so I borrow the loft, keep an eye on them."

In the corner of his eyes, Stiles saw a small smile build up on Kira's lips. "Yeah, we could do something like a black light party with glow sticks and neon paint!" for a moment there, Scott looked over at Kira and smiled at her widely. Stiles wasn't sure if his best friend heard Allison take in a sharp breath of air.

Stiles was about to say something, something to keep the topic off the party for Allison's sake when something went beeping. Looking around, he tried to find the source when he realized how familiar it was to him. Looking down at his hand beneath the table, the hand he held Lydia's with, was his watch beeping. "Oh, shit." Stiles grabbed his bag and put it in front of him, going through the smaller pockets first as he struggled to snooze the alarm because it might hurt his werewolf friends' sensitive hearing. "Sorry, guys," Stiles fished out a small white bottle of pills. "Got to take my meds."

Popping the cap open, Stiles took two pills and swallowed them whole, taking the water bottle Lydia took out of his bag for him. Across the table, Scott and Kira exchanged weird looks with each other. "Stiles, you're still sick?" while drinking his water, he took his bottle of pills and flashed it in front of his best friend, letting his stuff speak for him.

There was this nervous smile from Scott and this unreadable look on Kira that he couldn't quite understand what it meant but the exchange of wary looks and meaningful nudges may seem something like couples would do. For Allison, it may look like Scott moving on because her feelings for him could have been clouding her judgement but Stiles had nothing to blur his perspective on what's happening and the moment Scott gave a small nod in Kira's direction, Stiles knew that they were hiding something.

Something all of them should know about. And they were hiding it and whatever it is, it's pretty damn important.