Protect || Stiles Stilinski DISCONTINUED

Protect || Chapter Six

          If there was one thing Katarina hated more than anything in the world, it was rock-climbing.  Combine that and Annie bugging her about her and Stiles, and Kat was most definitely going to be in an agitated state most of the day.  More than usual, anymore.

          The girls were barely six feet off of the ground before Annie started in on her daily rant about the "non-couple". "All I'm saying is that this is getting completely ridiculous."

          "I'm not listening to this again.  You are getting completely ridiculous.  We have bigger things to worry about, not whether or not Stiles and I are getting together." Kat huffed, pulling herself further up on the wall.

          Annie groaned, "You just don't want to be happy, is that it?"

          "Oh, my god, Annie, you're obsessed." Kat scoffed, glancing at her friend as they continued to climb.  She couldn't help the giggle that left her lips at her friend's words.  Even with Annie's nagging, she felt the tension and agitation slowly slipping away at the idea of her and Stiles.

          Shrugging, Annie said, "Everyone needs a cheerleader for love.  I'm currently rooting for three different couples right now, it's what's been keeping me sane lately."

          Kat shook her head, "Me and Stiles, and Scott and Allison, right?  Who's the third couple?"

          "Lydia and Jackson, duh," Annie said. "Just because they broke up doesn't mean I'm giving up on them.  And I'm not giving up on you and Stiles."

          "Yeah, okay, this conversation is over," Kat chuckled, letting go of the colorful rocks on the wall and slowly descending down, leaving Annie by herself near the top.  Annie landed beside Kat as she unhooked herself from the harness, barely listening as Coach Finstock chose Scott and Allison to go next.  The girls moved to stand beside Stiles in the group of students at the bottom of the wall as Scott and Allison started climbing the wall, joking about Scott growing a tail.

          Kat stood on her tiptoes, quietly speaking to Stiles as they watched Scott and Allison. "Hey, you're talking to Boyd about the ice rink, right?"

          Stiles glanced down at her, his signature smirk toying on his lips, "I'm getting the keys at lunch tomorrow."

          "Good," Kat hummed, "I'm ready for a night of careless skating.  Who all are we inviting?"

          "Besides the obvious, I was thinking just Lydia.  She's been acting weird lately, could use a night out."

          Kat scoffed, keeping her voice low so Lydia wouldn't hear her, "More than weird.  She's been acting downright insane since her "fugue state" in the woods and permanent breakup with Jackson."

          Suddenly, Scott plummeted from the top of the wall and hovered above the mat slightly before the harness gave and he plopped onto it like he would his bed.  Except, less comfortably.  The whole class burst into laughter, and Coach Finstock sat on the mat next to Scott as he said, "McCall, I don't know why, but your pain gives me a special kind of joy."

          Still laughing, Coach stood up and shouted, "Alright, next two!  Stilinski, Erica, let's go.  The wall."

          Stiles looked at Erica and his face split into a grin.  It'd be easy for him to beat her time.  Very eagerly, he stepped up to the wall while Erica stared up at it, shaking.  Kat studied Erica, the way she walked with hunched shoulders and hid her face behind her tangled and frizzy blond hair.  Her hands were always fidgeting, picking at her nails or messing with a loose string on her sweater.  A mess of anxiety-ridden chemosignals hugged her body, making it easy for Kat to tell she did not want to climb the wall.