EIGHT LETTERS || Liam Dunbar [2]

SEVENTEEN

Katherine stared blankly at the ceiling of her bedroom, curled tightly into the blankets on her bed. After making sure Brett was okay, Scott had given her a ride home because Stiles wouldn't answer his phone. Knowing she was freaked out and scared — and with Stiles still busy researching at the school library, probably asleep — Scott had stayed at the house for over an hour and watched multiple Tinker Bell movies with her for a distraction, then made her promise to call if she needed him when he left to go spend time with Kira.

After that, she'd sat downstairs and talked to her Dad to see how his day had been, because he'd gotten the evening off, and had helped him make his lunch for the next day. He'd taught her how to make spaghetti — Katherine had never been good at cooking, but she did like to try — and then had told her to go to bed. She'd listened to what he'd told her to do, but found that ever time she closed her eyes, all she could see was the strange robotic creatures from Sinema staring back at her, whirring and clicking each time they moved.

She'd given up on sleep after that.

She spent an hour picking out and trying on different outfits she could wear to school, sending pictures of some to Lydia to see what she thought. After a while she wound up back in her pajamas, and sitting with her legs cross in the middle of the bed, staring blankly at the wall in front of her.

After laying in bed for nearly two hours, and knowing that Stiles still wasn't home, Katherine found her mind wandering to all the horrible things that could happen, have happened, and will happen. But for the most part, all she could think of was Allison.

She felt her heart stop in her chest as she watched the blade pierce Allison's stomach.

Katherine squeezed her eyes shut and chewed anxiously on her bottom lip, trying to force the horrible memories out of her mind.

Katherine stepped forwards once before her legs moved for her. She was running up to Allison and Scott, only to have Isaac pull her down into his arms, preventing her from seeing anything else. She let out a loud sob and buried her face in his chest, her hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt.

She clenched her hands into fists and bit down harder on her lip.

"It's my fault," she choked out, tears spilling from her eyes. "If I hadn't distracted her — it's all my fault."

Katherine visibly flinched back as she felt her phone vibrate on her bedside table a few feet away, pulling her out of her thoughts. Then she breathed in shakily as she recognized the all-too-familiar vibration patterns.

Liam.

She reached her arm over and grabbed her phone, running a hand down the side of her face as she did so. Her hands were shaking, and she found it difficult do read the message that was blurred by her tears, so she wiped her eyes with the sleeves of her sweater and clenched her hands into fists. Then she inhaled what was supposed to be a calming breath, and tried reading it again.

LIAM
I meant to text you
earlier but it took me
a while to explain the
blood all over to me to
the parents soooo yeah

how are you holding up?

Katherine sniffled and wiped her eyes again, glancing at the door. She brought her legs up to her chest and set her chin down on her knees.

KATHERINE
I'm really scared.

LIAM
do you want me to
come over?

I can sneak out or
something

She smiled faintly.

KATHERINE
that's okay, I'm just
waiting for Stiles to
come home

thanks, though

LIAM
anything for my
best friend

Ignoring the way the words best friend sent a sharp pang through her chest, and sadness settled itself in the pit of her stomach, Katherine answered.

KATHERINE
don't be so cheesy,
you dork

LIAM
but you love me
being cheesy!

especially my cheesy
jokes

KATHERINE
I like **some** of your
cheesy jokes, Liam

most of them suck

LIAM
oh yeah?

what does a nosy
pepper do?

KATHERINE
what

LIAM
it gets jalapeno business

Letting out a small snort, Katherine wiped her eyes again and threw her hair up into a messy bun. She tucked the loose strands behind her ears and shifted in her bed so she was laying on her side, legs loosely curled up to her chest.

KATHERINE
that was awful

LIAM
but it made you laugh,
didn't it?

KATHERINE
...
maybe

LIAM
then that's all that matters

She continued texting Liam for another half hour, only putting her phone down when her bedroom door creaked open.

Stiles slowly walked in, his hands shaking at his sides with a small amount of blood splattered across his throat. His hair was sticking up in odd directions, more than usual, as if he'd been anxiously pulling at it. He didn't move from where he stood in the doorway, his familiar brown eyes unfocused and misted over with tears.

"I, um, would it be okay if I stayed here?" Stiles whispered, pulling anxiously at his shaking fingers. "I mean, um, slept in here. Tonight."

"Yeah, of course," Katherine nodded softly, pulling back the blankets on the other side of her bed. "What happened?" He didn't say anything as he move slowly across the room, and all but threw himself under the blankets. Then he wordlessly rolled onto his side and buried his face in the front of her shoulder. "Stiles?" Katherine whispered, carefully wrapping her arms around his much larger frame.

She had never seen him look this scared and upset before.

Not in the high school when Peter Hale was trying to kill them, not when they were in Scott's house trying to protect Lydia from Derek and his pack; not even when he submerged himself in the icy tub of water so him, Scott and Allison could find their parents at the Nemeton to prevent them from being ritually sacrificed. "What happened, are you okay? What's going on?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he croaked, and Katherine felt her shirt grow damp with tears.

Rather than pushing him like she really wanted to, Katherine simply pulled him tightly against her and allowed herself to hide her face in his hair. She gripped the back of his shirt tightly and allowed a few tears to fall from her eyes as well, shuddery breaths drifting past her lips as she tried to keep herself calm.

For his sake.

"That's okay," she whispered, tightening her grip on him. "We don't have to talk about anything. How about we just lay here, yeah?" She shuffled quietly and wiped her nose. "We'll just lay here until we fall asleep, okay?"

"Okay," Stiles nodded, his voice weak and thick with tears. "Thank you, KitKat."

Smiling faintly, Katherine lightly patted the area between his shoulder blades and kissed the top of his head. "Don't thank me, it's what sisters are for; it's what I'm here for."

A/N:
SO "YOUTH" HAS OVER 200k READS AND I'M KINDA LOSING MY SHIT OVER THAT A LITTLE BECAUSE I ONLY EVER THOUGHT IT WOULD MAX HIS 5K AND WOW I APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU SO DAMN MUCH HOLY FFFFFFFFFFF THANK YOU