hold me closer

60

"Oh, my God," I breathed out. "Are they okay? It felt like I was stabbed in the heart and that's never a good sign. And then I saw the ambulance and they were more than two cars racing to the hospital- "

"Sweetie, I think that is called a panic attack," said Olivia. "And they are going to be just fine. The surgeries were a success."

"We got lucky," said Stilinski, approaching us.

"They almost died," I said, glancing at Scott beside him. "If this happens again, I'm pretty sure that they aren't gonna leave anyone alive, supernatural or human."

"Look, we're gonna have two deputies posted here around the clock," Stilinski assured. "Nobody steps foot on this floor without my authorization. I got a pretty good idea of how you're feeling right now. But the whole sheriff's department is gonna be on this. I am gonna find out who did this."

"We both know who did this," said Scott. Both Theo and I followed Scott down the hall. "When does Alex arrive?"

"He just landed a couple of minutes ago," I answered. "We're picking him up. We should have told Stiles. He's always the one with plans and his plans usually have backup plans upon backup plans."

"So, what's your plan, Scott?" asked Theo.

As we stopped, Scott went on saying, "We're rallying our army."

:::

"So... how should I address him?" asked Theo. "I mean, who is this guy anyway?"

"He's eighteen so you don't have to treat him like an old man," I responded. "And don't say anything stupid."

"I'm betting Alex already told him all about me," Theo said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, that's a given," I agreed. "Alex likes him a lot more than he likes you."

"Huh? I had no idea your brother hated me," Theo said in a sarcastic tone. "Definitely didn't threaten me before he left."

"Perhaps you need to feel threatened once in a while," I said. "Maybe then will it bring down your ego. Make you feel like you're at the bottom just like the rest of us."

He smiled. "Oh, so I'm egotistic?"

I scoffed. "You only realize that now?"

He shrugged. "Well, good thing I'm hot." I laughed and he raised his eyebrows, amused. "What?"

"Ah, your narcissistic, too," I smiled. "Nice to know."

"Okay, since we're playing this game, you are a very naive person," said Theo. "I mean, you dated a jealous and obsessive guy and you sorta fell for me so... falling for walking red flags? Seems like your thing, is it not?"

I scoffed, shaking my head.

"Can't deny it?" Theo smirked. "And you have, like, no faith in yourself. You gotta trust yourself first if you want to trust other people. You'll just panic one day and- "

"Okay, stop talking," I told him.

He chuckled playfully, then a serious expression appeared, his smile faltering. "What? Hey, I'm just joking around."

"How can we joke around when there is a war and our friends were almost killed," I said back. From out the window, I could see Alex coming out from the crowd. "There they are."

"He hasn't caused any trouble yet, has he?" asked Alex, approaching the car.

"Well, I'm not dead yet, am I?" Theo retorted.

The person behind him cleared his throat. He looked at me and said in a quiet voice, "Hey."

"Not much of a talker, is he?" Theo commented.