𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙚𝙩𝙝, 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘬𝘪

𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳

Fiddling with the strings of his lacrosse stick, Stiles' head raced with the happenings of that dreaded night. After leaving the building, Matt had been found dead. Floating face down in the lake, as it turned out — drowning was fated to be his cause of death. Besides that, the Kanima had taken off leaving the group of them to wonder where to. Melissa refused to talk to any of the friends, still needing time to come to terms with it. Understandably so. Luckily Noah had been knocked out due to Matt's punch, so he missed the fighting and the shifted supernaturals. Stiles sucked in a breath, something he was still glad he was able to do. "You know when you're drowning, you don't actually inhale until right before you blackout. It's called voluntary apnea." Stiles informed, after finding Matt in the lake Aurelia couldn't sleep, the image of him dead engrained in her memory. Relaying all this information to Stiles before she cried herself to sleep in his arms. Feeling bad enough that another child was affected by her father. "It's like no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct to not let any water in is so strong that you won't open your mouth until you feel like your head's exploding. But then when you finally do let it in, that's when it stops hurting. It's not scary anymore. It's— it's actually kind of peaceful." Stiles spoke, his voice trailing off at the end. Aurelia's panic attack clear in his mind.

The guidance councillor, Ms Morrell nodded. "Are you saying you hope Matt felt some peace in his last moments?" She asked, making Stiles shake his head.

"I don't feel sorry for him."

"Can you feel sorry for the nine-year-old Matt who drowned?" She asked, leaning forwards and placing her forearms on her desk as she analysed the boy before her.

"Just because a bunch of dumbasses dragged him into a pool when he couldn't swim doesn't really give him the right to go off killing them one by one." Stiles blurted, not caring that he was speaking ill of the dead. "And by the way, my dad told me that they found a bunch of pictures of Allison on Matt's computer. And not just of her though. I mean, he photoshopped himself into these pictures. Stuff like them holding hands and kissing. You know, like he had built this whole fake relationship." Stiles spoke, the feeling of disgust dripping from his frame. "So yeah, maybe drowning when he was nine years old was what sent him off the rails, but the dude was definitely riding the crazy train."

"One positive thing came out of this, though. Right?" She asked, leaning onto her elbows and lacing her elegant fingers together.

"Yeah." Stiles nodded, referring to his father returning to his place as Sheriff. "Yeah, but I still feel like there's something wrong between us. I don't know. It's just like tension when we talk. Same thing with Scott." Stiles admitted, having not properly spoken to him.

"Have you talked to him since that night?"

"No, not really. Lia has, I haven't. She's always been better at this sort of stuff than me. But, I mean, he's got his own problems to deal with though." Stiles excused. "I don't think he's talked to Allison either. But that might be more her choice, you know. Her mom dying hit her pretty hard. But I guess it brought her and her dad closer." Finding out about Allison's mother, shocked them all to the core. How they have found out so late, being the lingering question. Aurelia had been to see Allison, the brunette having nothing against her, but she mainly just laid there and let her friend cry. Knowing she needed it. "Jackson hasn't really been himself lately. Actually, the funny thing is, as of right now, Lydia is the one who seems the most normal." Stiles chuckled, the whole town knowing about the naked stunt she pulled — the whole town calling her a 'nutjob' as a result.

Ms Morrell eventually grew tired of Stiles talking about everyone but himself, so she took the approach of asking directly. "And what about you, Stiles? Feeling some anxiety about that championship game tomorrow night?"