Oblivion (A Stiles Stilinski/Teen Wolf Fanfiction) [3]

Epilogue

 He misses the smell of her in his sheets, the warmth of her skin between his fingers. If he tries hard enough, he can actually remember what her touch felt like. Not a single moment passes by where he doesn't think of her, where he doesn't miss her like hell.

 Nothing seems right to him anymore, or anyone really. It just seems like the gaping hole of Emma's absence is too large to fill. There's an emptiness in the passenger seat of Stiles' jeep, and at the table she shared with Lydia in AP Physics. Everyone can feel it. They know it's there, they just don't quite know what to do with it. So, it just sort of hangs there, like a fog.

 Stiles can hardly drive the jeep anymore without breaking down. He's just too aware of who used to occupy his right side, and it wasn't Scott. Even though Emma had her own car, there was always something about riding with Stiles. The jeep had a charm to it she never could explain. Maybe it's also just the fact that that's where they shared their first kiss. Sentimental value.

 Even though they don't show it, for Stiles' sake, the rest of the pack is having just as hard a time accepting Emma's death. She was always just...there, whenever you needed her. Now she's not. She's gone and it still doesn't seem real. It doesn't feel right to them that they're still on this earth and she's not, especially after the sacrifice she made. For the rest of their lives, they'll know it's the bravest thing anyone ever did.

 And in twenty years, when Stiles' future children point to Emma's picture in the photo album and ask their father who she was, he'll tell them that she was the most selfless, courageous, and beautiful person he'd ever met.

 Stiles never thought it was possible for anyone to flip him around and turn his entire world inside out as Emma had done. Since the third grade he had one goal in mind and one goal only: Lydia Martin. He'd even told Emma that he wasn't going to give up on Lydia until he had found a reason to. He never told her, but she was that reason.

 She understood him in a way that no one else did, even Scott. Scott was his best friend, his brother, but he never completely got the way Stiles' brain worked, the way he just liked to have someone there to listen to him talk about whatever was on his mind. 

 Most people told him he was better off keeping his mouth shut, but Emma knew that the consistent jabbering and fidgeting in his seat when he got too bored was just a part of what made Stiles, Stiles.

 He hates this. He hates it so damn much. He hates that he wasn't ready for this, that he didn't see it coming. She was always so afraid of losing him, but he should have been the one afraid of losing her. He just never expected it, believing that her abilities could keep her far safer than he ever could. In the end, they were what took her from him.

 He knows that no matter how many years pass by, or how many people come and go through his life, part of him will always love her. Part of him will always be yearning for her return, to hold her in his arms again. The desperation and grief he feels now will always be there. He may not always know it, but it's there.

 And even though he may not always know it, Emma will be watching over him, protecting him. All she ever wanted was for him to be safe; that's the entire reason she got herself involved in this mess in the first place. She just wishes there was a way for her to do it in person again. But, she made her choice, and even though it may have been the most drastic one, she doesn't regret it.

 Allison deserved to live, and Emma was ready to let go. Maybe she just wasn't ready to be let go.

 Stiles doesn't really know what he's supposed to do, how he's supposed to feel. He tells his friends that he'll be okay, but they know he's lying. There's no way for him to be okay after all of this, at least not completely. Emma was his soul mate, and now his soul is broken just like the rest of him.

 In the back pocket of his jeans, Stiles pulls out a slip of paper. Emma had left it with her letter, and he's not entirely sure why, but he's glad she did. It's crumpled a little bit, wrinkled in circles from Emma's tears.

 It was the same note Emma's mother had left with her necklace. Stiles had been with her when she found it. He held her to his chest as she cried even though they hardly knew each other at the time. If only he'd known what that moment would lead to.

 He re-reads one paragraph in particular over and over again until he had it memorized. He knows it was the philosophy that Emma lived by, and he loves her so much for that.

 Sometimes beautiful things come into our lives out of nowhere. We can't always understand them, but we have to trust in them. I know you want to question everything, but sometimes it pays to just have a little faith.

 Emma came into his life out of nowhere. He didn't understand it then, the kind of power she had to change him in all the best ways. She was the best thing that ever happened to him, and he cannot wait until the day comes when he gets to see her again.

 And so, as they say, all good things must end. It's not the end of a story that could have been, that could have been, but a beautiful story that was. This time, there is no forever, only oblivion.

THE END

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Thank you so much for reading!

There's too much to be said about all of this, so please read the Author's Note that follows. I'll explain everything there.

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-Alyssa