Stiles doesn't know why he cuts though the pool, but he regrets it as Derek and Erica come into view. He wishes he had the keys to grip in his hand as he sighs.
Derek looks like he did a few weeks ago when he saw him, just with a bit more scruff. Stiles' arm is now in a splint, and by the end of next week, he'll be in the clear. Too bad that's not what he needs to be focusing on. This is one of those times Stiles wishes he was a normal teenager; wanting to only worry about a broken arm and not about possibly getting paralyzed by a giant man-sized lizard-thing.
He hates to admit what Derek popping the basketball does to him. (So he won't admit it. Too difficult to think about anyway. It's not fair.) But as he describes the lizard-thing to them, he feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Stiles also doesn't want to admit that it might've been his fault Derek got paralyzed. (Half was, half wasn't. Derek's a goddamn werewolf. Seriously.) He helps drag Derek away from the lizard-thing, but then someone's calling his phone and ends up dropping Derek in the pool trying to answer it. (He's allowed to get away with that. He's only human, after all.)
Abandoning his still-ringing phone, he jumps into the pool, grabbing Derek by the shirt and pulling him to the surface. Shit's difficult considering his arm's still in a splint.
"I hate you," Stiles says, spitting water out of his mouth.
"What's new?" Derek says, trying to keep his head above the waves.
Stiles groans. "You're such a baby." The lizard thing circles around the pool, and then Stiles loses sight of it. "Where'd it go? Can you hear anything?"
Derek looks around (without moving his head) and listens. "I can't. There's water in my ear."
"Oh my God, of course you do. The only one out of the two of us who can has super werewolf hearing has water in their ears!" Stiles shouts.
"Yes, because yelling in my ear is really helping right now."
"I swear to God, when we get out of this pool..."
"You'll what? Talk me to death? You've done that plenty of times already."
Stiles honestly considers dropping him, but then remembers that his dad would have to deal with the fact that his son would be at the sight of another dead body. He puts too much stress on him, so Stiles tries to keep them afloat.
"I'm going to get my phone," Stiles announces after two hours of silence.
"Don't you dare," Derek says.
"I have to try," Stiles responds. "I need to get Scott down here. I can't keep doing this much longer."
"I'm the only thing keeping you alive."
Stiles chuckles. "No, the water is." Then Stiles gasps. "The thing can't swim. That's why it hasn't attacked us." Stiles whoops, splashing the water with his good hand. "Figured it out."
"You figured nothing out." Derek sighs. Stiles stays silent. He has to try for the phone. "Don't do it."
Stiles throws him. He hears Derek yell "Stiles!" before he descends. Stiles hopes he can get to him in time. He's almost there when he hears hissing. The lizard thing is off to the right, so Stiles swims faster, aiming for his phone. He grabs it, and backs up before the lizard thing claws him.
He taps Scott's name, and calls. He gets hung up on, and gapes. He glances at Derek at the bottom, and has no choice but to throw his phone and dive down. Stiles grabs Derek by the shirt and pulls him back up.
"Did you get Scott?"
Stiles doesn't answer, a reply all in itself. His phone's at the bottom of the pool by now, and Stiles is already dreading having to buy a new one without letting his dad know. He'll have to lie. Again. Stiles sighs.
They spend another half hour in silence, until Stiles realizes he's losing feeling in his arms. He tells Derek to keep an eye out for the lizard thing, and starts pulling him towards the ends of the pool.
Stiles grabs it, but his wet and numb fingers lose it, and they're both under the water, slowly going down. Stiles doesn't know if he's really about to die, but all he can do is close his eyes-
And get pulled out of the water. He lands on concrete, and kisses it once. He's relieved he didn't have time to start thinking about everything before Scott pulled him out. Scott, by the way, roars at the lizard thing, and Scott grabs a piece of the mirror that broke when the lizard thing threw him into the mirror. The lizard thing takes one look at the reflection and launches itself through the glass roof.
While Derek's off doing whatever ten minutes later, Stiles and Scott search the USB, which is apparently the bestiary. It's not written in a language either of the know, and Stiles isn't even sure if it is a language.
"It's a kanima," Derek says, appearing behind the two of them.
Stiles glares at him. "You knew the entire time?"
"Only when it didn't recognize it's own reflection."
"It doesn't know what it is," Scott concludes.
"Or who," Derek adds.
"What else do you know?" Stiles asks, sick of the secrets the two of them keep from each other.
"Just stories, rumors."
Stiles immediately wants to know what stories, but Scott interrupts. "But it's like us?"
"A shape-shifter, yes. But it's- it's not right. It's like a-"
"An abomination," Stiles completes. He sighs, and shakes the arm in a splint. He turns his back, unable to look at anyone right now, and closes his eyes.
He wants one night of peace. No werewolves, no kanimas, no lies, and especially no "soul mate". He almost wants to go back to being ignorant, but he know he would miss out on all this "fun".
Stiles just doesn't think one night would kill anyone.
(He, of course, never gets it.)
Lydia's party doesn't get started until Stiles calls his friends from the gay club. That's, of course, when everything goes to hell. It's not fair, really, that Scott and Stiles try so hard to keep this town from being destroyed pretty much every week, but when the universe keeps throwing them curve balls, well Stiles gets a little pissed.
So he drinks Lydia's "special" punch. (Very strong. Stiles feels it almost immediately.) He gets wasted. And then his dad storms in, bottle in hand (much more strong than what's in Stiles' cup), eyes red, dressed in black.
Something about a funeral. (It's hard to remember now. Most of this night passes with a hard-hitting blur.) Stiles listens as his dad, his only family member left and his father, talks about how Stiles was the one to kill Claudia. And how Stiles was now killing his own dad, and in Stiles' head, he believed him.
And when his dad throws the bottle at his head, Stiles ducks, tears falling down his face. But when he looks back up, no one's there. No father yelling at him, no one staring at him besides a few wandering eyes.
He sits at the edge of the pool, and lets his mind blank out. It's refreshing, until he thinks about his father.
Stiles has been lying to him all year. Even before that, with all the "soul mate" stuff. He's never told his dad where all the mysterious cuts and bruises come from. Hell, his dad didn't even know most of what happened to him. And then there's the whole werewolf thing.
His head bangs back against the pillar.
He thinks he should just sit here until the end of time as punishment for being a shitty son, and refuses Scott's assistance. He doesn't exactly know what Scott's saying until some girl dunks his head under water. (He remembers the rest of the night after that.)
Stiles actually wishes he didn't. But then he wouldn't know that Matt's the kanima's master.
Or that his dad didn't trust him.
Stiles figures now that Scott's mom knows that Scott's a werewolf, he should tell her about the whole "soul mate" thing. She never questioned him before, not with the broken arm, twisted ankle, or cut hand. He just hopes that she will understand that yes he's clumsy, but it's not always him.
It's when it feels like he's been shot that he thinks it's time. A massive bruise appears on his side, and one of his ribs might be cracked. He tries not to take deep breaths as he drives to the hospital. It still doesn't help.
Melissa's not at the desk when he arrives. Stiles asks for her, and one of the other nurses calls for her. "She'll be here in a few minutes. Take a seat."
He does, slowly and carefully. He rests his head against the wall, and keeps his hand on his ribs, trying to keep his breathing even a shallow so the pain won't overwhelm him. He can't pass out right now.
"Stiles?" Melissa calls out. He looks up as she puts down the clipboard she was holding. "What's wrong? What happened?"
Stiles lifts up his shirt, and Melissa gasps. "Just," Stiles says, but can't say anything more. The pain is making his head swirl, and black spots dance in front of him.
Melissa helps him stand up, and Stiles groans. She gets him to the nearest room, and lays him down. She lifts his shirt again, and prods his side. "Stiles, I need you to tell me what happened."
"I don't know," Stiles says truthfully. "I need to tell you something."
She takes her stethoscope and places the end of it on the skin above the bruise. She listens to his breathing, and sighs. "Stiles, you have two cracked ribs. How did it happen?"
"I don't know," he says again. "Remember when I came in a while ago with a split palm. You had to put in seven stitches."
"Yeah," she says, wrapping the stethoscope around the back her neck. "Your dad said you cut it with a knife by accident."
Stiles smirks. "Not exactly. I didn't cut myself. I also didn't twist my ankle back when we were all inside the school."
"So, what happened then?"
Stiles shrugs. "It's been happening since I was a kid. I would get randomly hurt and it wasn't me. A bruise on me leg, paper cut on my hands, broken limbs."
"Someone hurt you? Who?"
"No," Stiles quickly reassures. "No, no, no. Nothing like that. No." He rubs his hands together. "I didn't know what was happening for so long, and then Deaton-"
"Scott's boss?"
"Yeah. I had dropped Scott off, but I went inside for something, and I got a paper cut. Well, Deaton saw, realized it wasn't me and told me I had a 'soul mate'."
Melissa raises an eyebrow. She's silent for a while, until she shakes her head, and says, "A soul mate?"
Stiles nods. "Yeah. I didn't want to believe it, but it was the only other explanation for it. Plus, it kept happening."
"Do you know who it is?"
He smiles. "No idea."
"Okay." She claps her hands once, and turns around. "Awesome. Let's get you X-rayed." She heads out of the door to a phone. Stiles sighs, and closes his eyes until she comes back in, this time with a wheelchair. "They're ready for you." She helps him into it, and wheels him out and into the radiography room. Melissa helps him sit on the table, and smiles at the doctor in charge.
She leaves with a small wave and an smaller smile.
Stiles is overjoyed that he didn't just make a huge mistake.