Fall for me

Chapter eleven

"Wh— What're you doing here?" I choke out. How long exactly has he been here? My heart starts racing and my breathing increases, I don't want to let on that I'm scared of him. Maybe he doesn't know exactly who he saw that night, and is here just to cover his bases. Either way I know he doesn't have good intentions. He looks down at my chest which is now heaving, as I'm trying to hide how terrified I am. I look at him, trying to calm myself. Maybe if I go through his outfit in my head, it'll calm me down; make me less afraid.
He's wearing a white snapback backwards on his head, a few strands of his dark hair sticking out the front and sides, from the angle he's sitting I can't tell what's on the hat. I look into his emerald green eyes, but don't see anything behind them... and that scares me, so I continue down his body. He's wearing a black tshirt and light washed skinny jeans, with white vans. His shoes look brand new, not a spec of dirt on them. I look up to his arms, they're covered in black and white tattoos, I can't tell what most of them are... but from here I can tell that they're done well. I can see his muscles just under the skin contracting as he tenses up, now noticing what I'm looking at. Stiles will be here soon, so he won't be able to hurt me. I have that thought on repeat inside my head to calm my nerves.
He is wearing a skin crawling grin, showing off his perfect pearl white teeth. He stands and lurks toward me, my breathing shakes. "I've heard you've been sticking that pretty little nose, where it doesn't belong." He says while poking my nose. My breath hitches... he definitely knows. "I uh —" He cuts me off before I can give him a half ass excuse. "Shhhh, I didn't say you could speak." He says. He walks away from me and toward my mirror where I have the picture of Stiles and I from that night, when we were kids. "You know, it's a shame he just can't take a fucking hint, huh? All these years watching you throw yourself at him, is actually kind of pathetic really." He says while tapping his finger on his chin. I suck in a sharp breath, if he knows how long I've been in love with Stiles... how doesn't Stiles know? I now notice the neck tattoos he has. On the side is a dead tree, and in the middle of his throat is a bull's skull. I don't know how I find the courage to speak up... but I do. "Actually he's my boyfriend, has been for a few weeks now." "Oh damn, he finally gave in huh? I also don't remember giving you permission to speak... like I just said." He wanders into the living area and I follow him, unsure of what he's trying to do. I open my mouth to speak again and he grabs my shoulders, gripping them tightly, and pushes me onto the couch. "Don't say a fucking word." He says while his face is inches from mine. I can feel myself physically shaking, which means he can too.
His face lights up as if he likes knowing I'm afraid of him. " Look, I didn't come here to hurt you." He says while pushing a fallen hair behind my ear, I feel the first tear fall from my aching eyes. He lowers himself to my ear, "Just stay out of my business and no one will get hurt." he says. The words send chills down my spine and I shiver in fear. He stands up and stalks toward the sliding glass door that I'm just now noticing is slightly open, that must be how he got in. He turns around and looks at me when there's a knock at the door from the stairs. "Hey Erin you down here?" Stiles says. Instantly I feel safe, my entire body relaxes as I hear his voice. I open my mouth to... I don't know if I was going to scream for help, or just respond but again he cuts me off. Raken pushes his finger in front of his pouty lips. "Don't say anything to anyone, I wouldn't want your..." He pauses briefly, "Boyfriend to accidentally get hurt." I hear the door open and Raken softly chuckles and walks out the glass doors, I know I'll be hearing that laugh every time I close my eyes. He is around the corner and gone just as Stiles makes his way to me.
I'm a blubbering mess now as Stiles wraps his arms around me, I don't know how I held myself together as much as I did while Raken was so close to me. I don't know what I'm saying, or if any of it makes sense as I'm word vomiting through my tears. My heart was still beating erratically, acting as if I'd just ran three miles. We sat there with his arms around me for a long time, nothing was said but his quiet "Shhh, baby. It's okay I'm here..." every few minutes. I don't know how long we've been sitting there before I can get up and go to the bathroom. I stand in front of the mirror with my head down looking at my toes. I have both arms leaning on the counter in front of me, but I'm scared to look at my reflection. I don't want to see the mess I know I am... But somehow I work up the courage and I do. My hair looks mostly fine, besides the back of it sticking out in a few different directions. I work my way toward my face and when I finally look into my reflecting eyes, I break. My entire face and neck are beet red and splotchy, I have mascara running down my face leaving streaks of black over the majority of it. I take one deep breath in and then spring into action.
After the quick work I put in to make myself presentable, I look at myself again and I smile at my own reflection. I've been faking it until I made it practically my whole life. I can do it for a little while longer. If Stiles didn't just see all of that he'd have never known it happened. After that whole fiasco he probably thinks I just had a mental breakdown and doesn't want to be anywhere near me, honestly I wouldn't blame him. I probably looked and sounded manic. I can't tell Stiles about Raken being here, I can't handle something happening to him too. Or any of my friends for that matter... I won't put anyone's life in jeopardy, I just won't. Somehow, I have to get Stiles to cool it on the investigation... I don't know how I'm going to do that, but it's my new mission. Well, at least be more discreet about it... I don't want another run in with Raken. Just thinking his name makes all the bones in my body quake.
I walk out the bathroom to find Stiles leaning against the doorframe. His left arm is gripping the top of the frame as he's leaning his body in, I almost ran right into him. If I wasn't a little startled I'd probably be turned on. "Oh thank god. I was about thirty seconds from breaking the door down." He says while pulling me into a tight hug. "It's okay. I'm okay, I just..." Thoughts of the encounter litter my brain. "I just broke, I guess." I say stifling back tears. I'm lying to him to keep him and everyone else safe, I just have to keep repeating that to myself. Even though I want to burst into tears again and tell Stiles everything. What he says next truly stumps me...
"Truth?" He says while looking down at me. I stop breathing all together when the word leaves his mouth. I nod my head and nuzzle into his chest so he can't tell that I'm lying right to his face. This is the first time that I've ever lied during a 'truth' and it makes me queasy thinking about it. For everyone's safety. "Why don't we pause the investigation, okay? We can do something with everyone? Maybe we can have a get together at my place?" He says while pulling me away from him and looking down at me. Wow... that was easier than I thought it was going to be. I nod, "okay... that sounds fun." We haven't all hung out since the night of the party, and if we're at Stiles' house something is less likely to go wrong. He walks away and pulls out his phone, I'm guessing to call Chase to get everyone together. I pull out my phone, it's a quarter to three. Wow, I must have been crying for longer than I thought, he must really think I'm psychotic. I text in the groupchat with all the girls.