I poked my head into my dad's office, biting my lip nervously.
The sheriff had fallen asleep on his desk, his cheek resting on a pile of papers.
I knew he'd spent all afternoon looking for me - but I couldn't face him. I couldn't.
I took a blanket off the couch, silently walking forward to drape it over his shoulders. He grunted in his sleep. "Claudia?" He mumbled, and I felt like I was going to cry.
Claudia Stilinski was Stiles's mom - she had died when I was thirteen.
She'd had a certain kind of dementia that shrank parts of her brain, killing her.
It scared me.
I started towards the door, only to stop at his voice. "Sawyer?"
I slowly turned, gulping. My father was sitting up, his brow furrowed. "Sweetheart, where've you been?" He asked, standing.
I looked down, ashamed. "You should ground me," I mumbled as he pulled me into a hug.
Mr. Stilinski chuckled, kissing my forehead. "Oh, you're grounded, alright - you were out all day," he scolded, smiling softly. "You should apologize to your br- to Stiles."
I sighed, my shoulders slumping. "I-I will. You should ground me for hitting him," I added, blinking away tears.
My father pulled me onto the couch, an arm around my shoulders. "Sawyer, you were angry. You had a right to be angry - at all of us. I mean, you just found out that your brother's alive. You reacted, and Stiles gets that. I mean, he has a pretty nasty bruise on his jaw, but you didn't break anything."
I sniffled, shrugging. "I hurt him," I mumbled, closing my eyes. "Being angry doesn't justify that."
He didn't say anything, but he hugged me, resting his chin on my shoulder.
"I love you, kiddo," he murmured.
I opened my eyes, looking out the window. I saw a flash of blue eyes, but quickly dismissed it.
"I love you, too, Dad."
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