𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚎 | 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚕𝚏 [2]

love sucks

warning: i think y'all might hate me...

—

Ryder broke many rules when she took her mother's car and went over the speed limit to get to the Stilinski house. Multiple emotions flowed through her body as she charged up the steps in search for the youngest Stilinski.

The main one being concern.

"Stiles?"

She could hear his frantic heartbeat and ridiculously heavy breathing before she'd even opened his bedroom door.

"Stiles."

"Ryder." He swallowed harshly, "Ryder, I didn't mean to do it. He was attacking me, he threatened my dad, he was, he— Ryder, I didn't meant to do it, i swear."

She was stationary by the door, not fully entering the room. She wasn't scared of him. Not even a little bit.

Ryder scared of Stiles? Hilarious.

She was just keeping her distance because she didn't want to possibly trigger anything. She wouldn't know personally, but she assumed that killing someone was a big thing to take on, she didn't want to upset him more than he already was.

Ryder had lost any animosity she held for Stiles a while ago. Whatever snide comments and all the eye rolling she did whenever he so much as opened his mouth was all a facade. She cared for him, truthfully.

Maybe not the same way he did her, but Ryder genuinely did care for Stiles. It didn't feel good to see his eyes well up with tears as he practically begged for her to believe him.

And she did.

"Ryder—"

"I believe you." She took slow steps closer, his eyes following her movement, "You're fine, okay? I believe you."

•••

Stiles went into full detail about what happened with Donovan. From him waking up alone in the library, to him walking back in and seeing that his body was completely gone after he'd died.

She was confused. Not because of Donovan's dead body suddenly disappearing, that was a story for another time. She was especially confused as to why Stiles called her instead of someone else. Like, maybe his best friend.

And the minute the question fell from her lips, the relaxation her presence sent to Stiles' body quickly faded away as he tensed up,

"I don't know. I just feel like you're really the only one that would understand, and you did so..."

She hummed, nodding a bit, "Okay."

"I can't tell Scott. He's my best friend, Ryder, but you know how he is. He'd hate me. You can't tell anyone, Ryder."

"They're going to find out eventually, Stiles."

"And I'll tell them. Please, just give me time."

"Okay." She spoke softly, not wanting to rile him up again. Her eyes squinted as the room grew quiet, both teens thinking over the situation.

It was crazy to her how her night went from spending time with her baby brother to promising Stiles that she wouldn't expose his secret.

That wouldn't be hard, she rarely spoke about what Stiles had going on. What he did was far from her business. But the slightest slip up and Austin would immediately know something wasn't right. And if he asked, she certainly wouldn't lie to him.

"Thank you." He whispered to her, his brown eyes locking on hers, "Seriously."

"Yeah, you're welcome." She brushed it off, not knowing what else to say. She sighed softly before glancing away to fiddle with her rings in thought.

Stiles looked at her with pure softness in his eyes, refusing to blink as he was scared he'd miss something change within the .4 seconds that his eyes are closed.

He did a horrible thing. He knew it, she knew it. Whether or not it was self defense and a complete accident didn't change the fact that he killed someone.

He realized that had he told anyone else, they wouldn't have reacted the way Ryder did. They would have freaked out, probably degrade him for not thinking logically in his moment of weakness, and that only made his admiration for her grow.

He knew he shouldn't feel this way. He was with Malia- her sister. Malia might have understood, but he didn't want her view of him to change. He didn't have to worry about that with Ryder.

Stiles felt like he was a bad person. A killer and now an emotional cheater.

He loved Malia, but he wasn't in love with Malia.

It sucked, truly, but he couldn't force his feelings for Ryder away, no matter how crushed his heart was from seeing how in love she was with Austin.

He loved her, and while her actions prior to this current moment showed otherwise, he knew she loved him. But as a friend.

Ryder would never love Stiles the way Stiles loved her.

And that sucked.

Love sucks.

—
A/N: short, short, short chapter :)