Shep whines at the door, tail wagging slightly as he looks from the door to Cam who has her head now laying on the desk, eyes shut and getting much-needed sleep. But, the more Shep whines and the sudden shutting of the door downstairs wakes Cam up, her head shooting up immediately.

She looks at Shep who's still wagging his tail, waiting for her to open the door and she waits, just a few seconds as she hears footsteps from downstairs and suddenly, she's wide awake.

Shit.

With thoughts of how she could have fallen asleep with everything going on between her mom and Lydia missing and her not being allowed in her dad's office run through her head as she frantically grabs her flashdrive from her dad's computer and quickly exits out of everything she had open. She leaves the screen on his desktop wallpaper, a picture of her, him, her mom, and Shep before things got bad, and she clicks the sleep option before getting up from the chair.

Sure, her dad is very good at his job and he knows what he's doing but he's not the most observant, at home at least. Especially with everything going with Cam's mom. So, whle the office is off-limits, he won't notice the chair misplaced from the desk or the notepad moved to the opposite side and he probably won't notice the condensation mark left on the oak.

"Shep, shh." Cam whispers as she creaks open the old door, careful not to move it too slow or to fast to prevent it from creaking too much.

Shep looks at her as if he were smiling before taking off down the down the stairs, giving Cam a few extra seconds to retreat back to her room down the hall. She dumps her things down on her already messy desk before jumping into bed, sliding off her hoodie and shirt, leaving her in a tank top just in case her dad peaks his head in to check on her, which he always does whenever he's out late.

However, that wasn't the case this time.

His footsteps start up the stairs, a pitter patter right behind him. A soft knocks sounds on Cam's door, her back facing the door.

"Cambridge?" He whispers, softly opening the door and peaking inside, blocking Shep's way inside with his leg.

After a few seconds of silence, Cam doing her best to control her breathing and pretend like she's still sleeping, Cam's dad walks in, closing the door behind him to keep Shep out. He moves to her bed before sitting at the end of it and placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking her lightly.

"Cambridge, wake up." He whispers, a little louder than before.

Cam turns to look at him, thankful for the only light coming from the bright moon outside of her window and a random streetlight because she definitely does not look like she's been sleeping. But, with her looking at him, and even in the dull light, she can tell by the absent look on his face.

"Mom?"

He nods. "I'll meet you in the car." He gets up without another word, him still in his uniform, something Cam swears that's the only thing she's seen him in in months.

It's his job and Cam understands that but maybe he's drowning himself too much in his work. And maybe it's hypocritical because Cam seemed to drown herself in avoidance. Everyone has their own way of handling the inevitable worst and for some people that's throwing themselves into work and for others that's just avoiding everything because of the big bang. But, that doesn't make Cam any less resentful because maybe her dad should be home more, with her. He does his best. But it gets to her when he wakes her up in the middle of the night still in his uniform because something bad happened with her mom, she finds the uniform in only shades of distaste.

He only wakes her up when it's something really bad.

The first time was when her mom crashed the car because she thought she was somewhere else. Her mom fractured her wrist and had a concussion. Her dad was in his uniform and was called to the scene as a cop, not her husband. It wasn't even until he showed up that anyone even knew which, to be fair, wasn't anyone's fault because some bystander called for help but nonetheless, he showed up in uniform.

The second time was when she woke up in a fit and started attacking her dad, completely unaware of who he was and where she was. So, okay, that one time he wasn't in uniform because he was actually home and in bed but this is now the third time and that's two for three. Those aren't very good odds, not to Cam.

But as she gets dressed in sweats and makes her way downstairs with her things she just sat down a few minutes and hours ago, she knows she only thinks of any of this because she's tired and the bang is coming. It's just a matter of when and what it'll be.

And as her dad drives to the hospital, the radio just loud enough to be heard over the road noise of the Ford Taurus, she glances at her phone and she questions why she decided that devoting herself to her mom with full force was the right choice.

Of course, she doesn't regret it. She'll never be able to look back at this time and think about the time she could have spent with her mom, whether she's lucid or not but now it's just her and her dad and she wishes she had a friend she could call. She doesn't know what's wrong yet but she knows it's bad and she knows she'll want someone that's not her dad to talk to.

The first time she had Stiles and Scott which was great. She was thirteen, seventh grade, and those two were there for her every step of the way. But, that was the incident that made Cam want to completely cut them off because she had been with them earlier, one of the few times the boys actually saw her since she started originally distancing herself from them and Cam blamed herself because maybe had Cam not been with them, she would have been with her mom earlier and known something was wrong. So, while it was nice having them, she blamed herself because of them.

Not fair to them because it wasn't their fault but that's just how it was in Cam's head but then she went through the second time which lead to her mom being hospitalized alone and now she's doing it alone again. She'll have to deal with the inevitable alone, too. Being alone sucks and her mind should be more on her mom, maybe, but she wishes she had people to talk to. Or maybe that's just because she ran into Stiles and talked to him for the first time in years.

"You and Stiles do anything when you two left?" Cam's dad asks, pulling her from her thoughts, making her lock her phone and raise a brow at him.

After all this time and he still had to double check the two of them didn't get into any trouble.

"Nope. He dropped me off and went home." Cam states and stares out the window, watching the street lights.

"Thought you two might reconnect or something." He says and Cam realizes he isn't necessarily checking to make sure they didn't get into trouble but instead, is trying to have a conversation to distract the two of them which is definitely not going to work.

"Dad," Cam lets out a sigh and looks to him. "Is this your attempt to distract yourself from what happened? Or from not telling me what happened? Or are you really trying to set me up with your boss slash best friend's son?" Cam snarks.

The snippy response wasn't necessary but Cam doesn't want to talk about Stiles. Her dad hasn't told her a thing about her mom and he knows how she feels about talking about Stiles because every so often her dad will bring him up, just conversation thanks to the sheriff and Cam always just nods and doesn't have anything to add. Yes, she, at this moment in time, misses the friendship but she can't tell if that's just because she's lonely and she talked to him today (yesterday)? Or if it's actually been poking and prodding at the back of her mind ever since it all blew up. But, the point, is that her dad knows and while he tries, she doesn't appreciate him bringing up Stiles when she should know what's going on with her mom.

"Sorry." Cam sighs after a few seconds, seeing her dad not even glance at her from the driver's seat. "I just want to know about Mom." She plays the mouthpiece of her waterbottle.

"Alright." He sighs, keeping his eyes on the road. "Stroke." The word falls from his mouth and Cam almost didn't hear him.

"How bad?" Cam asks, not really wanting to know.

"If you want to skip tomorrow, I'll let you." Cam's dad glances at her.

"She's gonna die, isn't she?" Cam looks back to him and she can see the tears burning behind his eyes.

"We knew it was a matter of time." He answers without directly answering the question, it being too hard to actually speak it.

"Yeah, but, that time is now, isn't it?" Cam pushes because while it might be hard for her dad to say, Cam needs to hear it.

"Probably, yeah."

She can tell he wants to look at her and comfort her like a dad should but he can't find it in him. Cam's dad has always been headstrong. He can handle his own without a problem. Things don't get to him. He takes them and brushes them off and hands them right back to the universe as if it didn't just fuck him over but then there's her mom and her. It's like they change that.

He cares because they're his family. They're all he's got and they mean everything to him. Cam remembers a 'fight' her mom and dad were having once when her mom thought it was a different time period. She wanted her dad to quit his job at the station because she was afraid he would be killed on the job.

It makes sense but Cam's dad fought back with being a cop was the one thing he always wanted to do and now that he has her, being a cop and doing his duty to serve and protect, is the best way he can ensure her safety because he didn't know what he would do if she died. Cam never heard him cry before that night. There's something about Cam's mom that brings a softness to him and that softness is only amplified with Cam because she's his daughter and now she's all he's going to have of his wife, his love, his best friend. His biggest fear just came true and there's nothing he can do about it.

They reach the hospital, allowing the rest of the car ride to be silent. There was nothing left to say. Cam's mom was going to be dead soon unless a miracle happened. So silence seemed to be only option for the two of them. And as Cam follows her dad up to her mom's room where she's hooked up to a bunch of machines and a tube is down her throat to help her breathe, her hands shake and her heart races.

Cam could swear seeing her mom out of her mind was bad but this is worse, so much worse. And Cam feels like her entire world is just imploded with just the sight of her mom. Everything feels like it's spinning the only thing she wants to do is scream because it's real. This isn't the "in time" shit, this is the "it's time" shit and it is terrifying and if she could, she'd run and scream right out of that hospital but her body is just paralyzed standing there in the doorway.

"She, uh, can't breathe on her own." Cam's dad takes a seat next to her mom and holds her hand.

"What, um, do you have to...uh, pull treatment or is it up to the doctors?" Cam manages to ask slowly as she forces her feet to move into the room and grab a chair to sit on the other side of her mom. Maybe sitting will help but that is a long shot.

"Me. There," His words falter and his hands shake. "They can't find any brain activity."

"Forty-eight hours." Cam mumbles the phrase as she looks to the bed with her heart wanting to be ripped from her chest because that would be less painful.

"That's right." He nods and the room falls silent.

Forty-eight hours. That's what Cam's mom said on the days she was lucid. If something ever happened and she ended up hooked up to a bunch of machines and there was no chance she would get better, give her forty-eight hours just in case a miracle happens but after that, pull treatment and donate her organs.

And sure, Cam believes in miracles. She thinks they happen. There have been things that happened that people can't explain. They happen and that's where Cam's last bit of hope is laying. Of course, she isn't stupid, a little naïve when it comes to certain things, but she knows the odds of her coming out of this. Even if she does, she'll still have Dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies to be specific. She'll still have hallucinations, her brain with still be shrinking, her personality will continue to deteriorate. A miracle can happen to get her out of this state but she'll just be in another one that'll lead Cam and her dad down this exact same road within the next few months, max. But, she hopes for a miracle anyway. Because that's her mom.

As the next few hours pass by, Cam's dad falls asleep, his hand still locked with her mom's and Cam's found herself drifting in and out of sleep. There's always the drifting in and out of sleep for her at the hospital. It's uncomfortable, the whole place. The chair, the scenario, nurses coming in and out every so often. It's just uncomfortable and the pure anxiety and pain coursing through Cam's blood is keeping her awake more than usual.

"Are you still awake?" Miss McCall asks as she quietly enters the room.

"Yeah." Cam looks down, not wanting to face her.

"Can't sleep?" Cam shakes her head before looking back to her. She comes closer and kneels beside Cam's chair. "You know, you don't have to stay here. You can go home. You can stay at my house with Scott if you don't want to be alone." Her eyebrows are furrowed and it warms Cam's aching heart. She's so caring without even needing to be. Melissa does a good job of being everyone's mom.

"Thanks, but it's okay." Cam tries and smiles but her mouth can't seem to muster the strength.

"Come on. The sheriff is about to leave and I'm sure he can at least take you home. You need to get some sleep. I will come and pick you up, bring you back here tomorrow if I have to." Melissa sticks out her hand while Cam looks to her dad and he doesn't look like he'll be waking up anytime soon. "I'll let your dad know, okay?"

She doesn't want to leave, not now because she should be here for her dad but at the same time she is so tired. Her head hurts, the light from the hallway burns her eyes. Her muscles are weak and even the thought of moving has her heart racing. But, she won't get sleep here. And while she wants to be here, while she doesn't want to spend anymore time away from her mom knowing the end is coming, she knows she needs to go home and she needs to go to school to distract herself because if she doesn't, she'll definitely have a breakdown and what good will she be for her dad if she's exhausted and having a breakdown?

And maybe this is just a little scary and a little too real for her.

"If something-"

"I will call you. I promise."

"Okay." Cam nods and grabs her bag from the floor, allowing her eyes to fall on her mom for a few more seconds before she follows Melissa from the room.

Sheriff Stilinski is standing by the desk, clearly waiting and ready to go home. Melissa ushers Cam to him and he greets her with a soft smile. "Coming along for the ride?"

"Yeah." She chuckles the best she can as he puts a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks, Miss McCall." Cam nods at her before she follows the sheriff to his car.

He opens the passenger door for her and allows her in. After all these years, Cam still finds it a little weird to sit in a cop car. Although, she can say from experience, the front seat is way more comfortable than the back. She doesn't feel guilty up here.

"You okay with camping out in the living room?" He asks as he starts driving.

Cam's brows raise as she very stiffly shakes her head, confused by his words. "Huh?"

He glances at her apologetically and Cam gets it. This was pre-planned. Her dad knew she'd need the sleep and he would not want her home alone with this news and Melissa has to work so, that leaves the sheriff.

"You're not letting me go home, are you?" Cam asks and any other night, her distaste would be evident but with lack of sleep and her mom, her voice is just flat.

"Uh, no." He says shortly. "I wished I'd had have been there properly for Stiles so you don't get to go home and be alone." He pauses just for a moment. "And I promised your dad I'd make sure you weren't there all night."

"Why'd he even wake me then?" Cam asks referring to her dad "waking her up" at home to go to the hospital.

"He knew you'd pitch a fit if he hadn't. He didn't feel right about it." Sheriff explains.

"Well, no offense, Sheriff and thanks for the offer, but I, um, just don't think it's right for me to stay at your house." Cam looks out the window as they grow closer to the residential streets.

"Is it because of Stiles?" He asks and the confusion becomes evident.

"It'd be weird." Cam says, not looking away from the window.

Cam appreciates the offer. She knows it's more than just a security for her dad. Sheriff Stilinski genuinely wants her to be okay and he thinks being at his house is going to make her as okay as she's going to get because at least he'll be at home and Stiles will be there, if worst comes to worst. He knows being alone isn't going to do her or anyone else any favors. He's been through this and he watched Stiles go through it. But, while Cam knows Stiles won't be mean or anything even remotely close to it, she will still feel unwelcome.

Stiles could walk in, offer her food and to watch Star Wars with him and she'd still feel like she was intruding. That's just how it is. Her, wanting to go and find Lydia with him and Scott is different than staying at his house. Cam still wouldn't feel welcomed but at least Scott would be there and they'd be doing something, not locked in a house. Stiles should be asleep but Cam would have to face him in the morning for school. It's just not something she wants to deal with or even can deal with right now.

A soft sigh comes from the driver side. "Since when do you care what Stiles thinks?" Cam feels his eyes fall on her and she knows she's lost.

"I-I don't." Cam mumbles through gritted teeth. "It's-okay. Fine." Cam goes back to looking out of her window and watches as they enter the neighborhood that holds their houses.

They reach the Stilinski home and Cam follows Sheriff inside. And it's warm. Not hot or too warm, it's the homey warm. Cam remembers coming over and staying with Stiles and Scott after Claudia died. The house was frigid, cold. The home before, well, it felt like home. Lived in, full of love and joy. It was happy and warm but when she died, she took that warmth with her and left Sheriff and Stiles with this emptiness that allowed the house to become dispiriting. That's how Cam remembers it but it's not like that anymore.

The warmth is back, like it never left and it's like the two of them have picked up these pieces they never thought they would and put together a home again. Not perfect and not quite like it was, but it's warm and it's home, decorated with pictures of Claudia and Stiles and Sheriff and the three of them but not in that can't let go way, but in the honoring of remembering way. And maybe that's why it's so warm. Claudia is still here, just in pictures and in the way Sheriff cares for others and the way Stiles just is.

Cam hasn't been inside in three years but it feels like home again.

"The bathroom is right down the hall and you can help yourself to whatever's in the kitchen." Sheriff says as they walk into the living room.

"Thanks." Cam nods with a soft smile, not bothering to say she remembered where things were, and places her bag on the couch before Sheriff leaves the room.

It's a little weird even being here but staying on the couch is that much weirder. When Cam stayed here, she always stayed in Stiles's room. Stiles took the floor and gave her the bed. Of course, his parents were constantly coming in and having to tell them to go to bed because neither of them know how to shut up. She'd deny it if anyone ever asked but she would go back to that, have those days back. Take back everything or at the very least, really cherish them. Something. She can't help but think losing someone makes people realize a lot of things, makes them wish they could go back in time and change things and appreciate things more.

"Stiles is asleep but I'll be up awhile so if you need anything, I'll be down the hall." Sheriff says as he hands Cam some blankets and a pillow from a closet just outside the living room.

"I'll be okay but thank you." Cam takes the bedding from him and places everything perfectly on the couch.

"I'll see you in the morning. Your dad said to let you sleep and you can just go in late if you still want to go to school."

"Thank you." Cam hangs her head as Sheriff starts to leave again. "Really, thanks for everything." Cam bites the inside of her cheek as tears start to burn behind her eyes. He nods with a side smile and leaves her to herself.

Cam sniffles a few times and wipes the few stray tears that have managed to leak from her eyes as she takes a seat on the couch. Her mom isn't dead yet but it feels like she is. This is the end and whether it being now or in forty-eight hours, her mom is gone and she's sat in the Stilinski home feeling like she has no one to talk to. She doesn't even have Shep.

Shep.

Cam swallows the hard lump thinking of the sheltie being home alone yet again. He's a good dog, even on his own and he doesn't seem to mind very much but Cam knows it's not fair to be gone so much and now she's gone again when she could be home in her own bed with the dog.

So, Cam pulls herself together and heads down the hall, looking for sheriff who she only plans to talk to to see if they can stop at her house before she goes to school so she can feed Shep. She knows realistically her dad will be home for at least a few minutes at some point and can feed him but she'd prefer to do it. Shep is kind of her safety blanket.

"Oh." Stiles says, voice a little groggy as he bumps into Cam. "What-what, uh, are you doing here?" He raises a brow and Cam gives him an unamused eye-roll.

"Our dads are making me stay here."

"Oh." Stiles looks to the floor, rubbing the back of his neck. "Is everything okay?" He asks, the grogginess slipping away from his voice as his eyes lock with hers, taking notice in the pinkness that tints her eyes.

"Um..." Cam pauses, looking away and to her shoes. "My mom's probably gonna die so...ya know." Cam whispers, shrugging her shoulders and looking back to him.

Stiles nods, just once, very clearly not knowing what to say which even he finds weird. He always has something to say and he should definitely know what to say in this situation given he's been there. But, he just can't find the words because when Claudia died, there was nothing anyone could say because nothing ever helped. They were just words so, instead, despite everything that's happened with them, he offers something better than words.

"Uh, hey, I was just...getting water, couldn't sleep, ya know? Do you wanna watch one of the Spider-Man movies or something?" Stiles asks, putting a hand in one of the pockets of his plaid pajama pants.

The sleepiness and grogginess of his voice when Cam first bumped into him was more than obvious so she knows he was not awake because he couldn't sleep. Maybe he got up for water, sure but he wasn't planning on staying awake. So, should she really keep him awake? Should she be the reason they're both definitely going to be falling asleep in Mr. Harris's class tomorrow?

"You don't like Spider-Man?" Cam quirks a brow, still unsure if she should take up his offer.

Stiles shrugs, his cheeks turning the softest and purest shade of pink. "But you always did."

A warmth spreads through Cam's chest with his words. And yeah, that was a huge thing in their friendship as kids. Cam liked Marvel and Stiles like DC. Scott liked both. But, it's these small but large details Stiles remembers that get Cam feeling warm and makes her want to combust. It's just nice to know that in spite of everything, there's still this impense kindness Stiles has towards her and if he were being honest, despite everything, he almost feels the need to try and protect her. Still. After all this time.

He knows he can't. He knows there is nothing in this world that he can do that can help but he can try and lessen the impact by being there. What happened between them is important and still stings a bit, but Stiles isn't spiteful and he wants Cam to be alright even when he knows she won't be for awhile. This is something big and he knows she only has her dad. He knows she needs someone.

"Uh, yeah, okay, that'd be nice, actually." Cam says, softly, giving Stiles a gentle and thankful smile. "But, I was just looking for your dad to see if we can stop by the house so I can feed Shep when I wake up."

"I can feed him." Stiles offers. "Uh," He quickly says, barely able to comprehend how quickly he made the offer. "I mean, if you wanted to sleep, I can feed him before I go tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Cam raises a brow, narrowing an eye.

"Yeah, right down the road anyway and I always liked the hair ball." Stiles chuckles softly.

"Okay." Cam says, offering the same smile. "Thank you."

"No problem." Stiles rubs the back of his neck. "I'll go grab a laptop and a blanket, meet you in the living room?"

"Yeah, okay." Cam nods, turning around and heading back to the living room.

Within a few minutes, Cam is sat with her knees bent, one on top of the other facing the arm of the couch, a blanket covering her lap while Stiles is sat on the other end of the couch. A blanket covers his lap, all down his legs that are rested on the table. The TV is playing the beginning scene of Spider-Man while the laptop is sat on the floor, plugged into the TV to play the film. Cam and Stiles having not said a word to each other since Stiles sat down.f

It's a bit weird for the both of them. As kids, movie nights were always a lot of fun and involved lots of popcorn, energy drinks, and candy but now it's just kind of quiet and dark and gloomy. There's no popcorn, no drinks, no candy, just the two of them with the TV and separate blankets.

And it is a bit weird given their current state of "barely talking and just existing in the same town with parents who happen to be friends and work together". But, the weirdness doesn't quite over shine the nice gesture of Stiles sitting with Cam into the night watching a movie he's not too fond of just because he knows what it's like to be in her situation.

As for Stiles, it's not so much weird as it is a bit awkward. Sure, it was his idea and he might have gotten up to get a glass of water with the intention of running into Cam but he really underestimated just how awkward the situation would be. She was the reason they weren't friends and now she's sleeping on his couch. She needs someone and she really doesn't have anyone which leaves Stiles. Isn't it kind of his responsibility, friends or not, to make sure she's okay? Or is that just the soft spot that still remains for her speaking?

That soft spot is almost like it's under a layer of thin ice. He can see it and he can feel it, so he reaches for it and is making that effort to step up but there's still ice covering the spot and the bitterness and heartache seeps in. He keeps it to himself, though, to protect her, but being nice almost hurts because that icy part of him wants to know what she did to deserve him being nice to her?

Nevertheless, the boy finds himself glancing over at her time to time, depriving himself of sleep. There's just something about her that keeps him caring and makes him want to protect her. And that's why, even after Cam has fallen asleep, Stiles doesn't move to his room. The movie plays on and he keeps watching, he keeps watching the film he only even has on DVD because of her until he eventually finds himself falling asleep.

By the time Cam wakes up, the sun is shining from under the blinds of the living room and Stiles has been long gone to school. Her eyes burn a bit as she tries to adjust to the soft sunlight seeping in and her heads a little foggy. To say she slept well would be an outright lie. But, she did sleep which is what matters.

And as she tries to wake up, her eyes go to the table in front of her, seeing a Brisk Lemonade Tea on top of a note. Her brows furrow but she leans up and moves the can, grabbing the note.

Ice in the freezer. Just use the water bottle you took yesterday. – Stiles.

Cam hasn't had any Brisk drink in ages. It was one of those where she drank it all the time until she got tired of it and then just never went back to it. But, it was her go-to drink when she'd hang out with Stiles and Scott so it warms her heart a little that Stiles put the effort to make the gesture.

Cam grabs her phone to see the time. If she gets dressed now, she could make it to chemistry and be just a little late. She still doesn't really wanna be at Stiles's house, whether he's here or not and she's really not feeling to hospital. Cam could go home but at the end of the day, she'll just be sitting there with Shep thinking about her mom so school seems to be the right option. So, she digs in her bag for a fresh pair of clothes, something she quickly learned to carry with the nights spent at the hospital.

After heading to bathroom and getting changed, she makes her way to the kitchen where the sheriff is sat at the table with a cup of coffee, looking over paperwork.

"Good morning, Sheriff." Cam's voice is still slightly groggy as she meets him.

"Good morning, Cam. How'd you sleep?" He puts his papers down and looks to Cam.

"Good, thanks." Cam nods and goes to the freezer, water bottle in hand.

"Stiles said you might want your tea." He smirks as he gets up from the table.

Cam huffs trying to suppress her smile as she puts ice cubes into the water bottle. "Yeah, guess I owe him a thank you."

"Well, you are welcome to stay here tonight again." He offers.

"I think," Cam pauses and swallows, realizing she's reaching close to only having thirty-six hours left. "I'm just gonna stay at the hospital tonight if my dad will let me."

"Alright." He nods and she can tell he won't push for anything else for right now.

Stiles was there when Claudia died and it was traumatizing for Stiles, but it's probably a good thing. He got to spend the last few minutes with his mom. Yeah, she died literally in front of him but he got to say goodbye. Cam wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't.

"Hey, Sheriff, can you take me to school, please?"

"Sure," He nods softly. "Need to get to the station anyway."

The drive to the school is silent. A little too silent really but Cam doesn't have much to say and Sheriff doesn't know what to say. Even though he's been through it, he doesn't have any words to try and comfort the teen but maybe that's because there's nothing he can say. Nothing he says is going to prevent anything or make everything better. It's just going to happen so the drive is quiet until they pull into the parking lot.

"Here's your note. If there's a problem, you call me. Got it?" Sheriff rips the note from the pad and hands it to Cam.

"Yep. Thanks again, Sheriff." Cam collects her things as she thanks him.

Cam gets out of the car and quickly heads inside the school to the office to sign in and give them her note. When she walks into the office, they all look at her with sorrow-filled eyes and it just makes Cam uncomfortable.

Do they have to make it so obvious?

Of course, it's sad but it would be much preferred if they pretended like they didn't know. But, nonetheless, Cam hands over the note and after a quick look over by one of the secretaries, a note for Mr. Harris is written up, excusing her from being late to his class.

The walk to Mr. Harris's classroom is longer than usual. Cam's feet drag against the linoleum floors as the fluorescent lights lead her way. She just keeps telling herself it's better than being at the hospital right now. It has to be better. Anything to keep her mind off of her mom and her dad. Maybe Stiles will make some jackass remark and it'll start an argument with Mr. Harris. That would be amazing. That's one hell of a way to keep her mind distracted.

As Cam reaches Mr. Harris's class, she takes a deep breath, preparing herself for a snide remark. One class and then she can move on. She opens the door and all eyes fall on her. The first eyes she sees are Stiles's. He looks relieved that she actually showed. The second was Scott who shot her a sympathetic smile. With Scott's sad smile, Cam knows Stiles likely told Scott about her mom which is fine. It's Scott. Everyone else's eyes fall in line with theirs including Jackson and Danny. Cam rolls her eyes at Jackson as her hatred for him is more than obvious.

But then, Cam looks to the very front and there's Mr. Harris, all smug and ready to throw her a detention.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Miss O'Riley." The arrogance in his voice makes her want to throw a beaker at his head. "I'll see you after school for detention." Cam sets her things by Scott as he attempts to give her a detention.

"I have a note that excuses me." Cam's voice is level but filled with annoyance as she walks up to him and hands him the note.

"Well," He says, looking over the note as Cam makes her way back to her seat beside Scott. "Is that a water bottle?"

"Yeah?" Cam looks to the water bottle on the table and waits for his point.

"No outside food or drinks. Detention."

Cam's eyes widen as she just barely shakes her head in disbelief, immediately feelings her blood to turn to fire. "Are you kidding me?" All eyes have yet to leave her as Cam's voice raises. "When has that been a rule?" Cam looks around and sees two other students with water bottles on their tables.

"What about them? They have water." Stiles pipes in from behind her, his head nodding to others with water bottles.

Mr. Harris chuckles as he looks down before glancing between Stiles and Cam. "You see, thanks to the way your dads treated me during the investigation, I'm going to make sure I give the both of you the same special treatment. I'll be seeing the both of you in detention." He smiles as if he's won some tremendous battle.

What kind of son of a bitch gives kids detention for their parents dying and for what? Speaking and asking a question.

It's not their fault he's a terrible person and their dads see through his façade.

"What? You can't do that!" Stiles fights back and by the tone of his voice, Cam thinks he wants to start throwing beakers at Mr. Harris's face, too.

"Oh, but I can." Mr. Harris's eyebrows raise with a jubilant smile and Cam's done. Cam was raised better but she can't seem to care right now.

"No." Cam says plainly and throws her bag over her shoulder.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Harris looks to her in surprise.

"No. I'm not serving a detention because you were a person of interest, and rightfully so. That's your own fault. You can't take out your anger with Sheriff Stilinski and Deputy O'Riley on their kids. You think you can because you're an authority figure, but you can't." Cam grabs the water bottle from her table and makes her way to the door again before Mr. Harris starts talking.

"Miss O'Riley take your seat right now or I will have you suspended." His face turns red and Cam looks to Stiles and Scott who both look like they're about to walk out with her.

"I'll take the suspension." Cam holds a hard stare, locking eyes with Mr. Harris, just long enough to see his jaw clench with fury before walking out.

Cam's wanted to do that all year. Mr. Harris is, to put it simply, a prick. He can't stand students. It doesn't even matter who they are or who their parents are. He's one of those people who shouldn't be teaching because he simply doesn't like kids. He needs to go into another field.

As Cam walks down the deserted hallway, she hears Mr. Harris scream at Stiles to sit down or he'd have him suspended as well. Without a second thought, Cam knows Stiles would sit right back down because his dad would have his ass but she kind of wishes he wouldn't. She wishes he would come out here and just want to talk but maybe if he came out here, she wouldn't be so mad or maybe, since he'd already be looking at a suspension, he'd be willing to drive her to the hospital or at least the station. Something. But she knows Stiles won't want to get any more trouble because of his dad.

Until Cam hears a door slam followed by quick footsteps.