fifty-four
Elyna Benston never knew how incredibly awkward it could be to be in a car with her crush who she was currently not talking to and was yet to apologise for his comment in front of her friend’s mom.
Especially when the very mom forced her crush to drive her home and won’t even acknowledge that she was one of the strongest supernaturals with super speed.
Stiles was driving, his eyes focused on the road and his jaw clenched shut.
He was gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were turning white.
He was pissed at Elyna for giving mixed signals since the ending of the last academic year and then bashing his move in front of his friends and blaming him for messing up things between them.
He was pissed at himself for getting angry on Elyna so much, yet being unable to actually hate her, like he actually should.
He still liked her and she was still his weakness. He was pissed for raising his voice at her tonight.
“Stiles... Do you wanna talk about it?” Elyna asked hesitantly.
Stiles blinked and gritted his teeth and shook his head. He didn’t glance at the girl sitting beside him for once.
“We do have to. We-uh-we have to.. you know, get rid of this toxic air between us.” Elyna fiddled with her amethyst ring.
“I didn’t do anything to make things weird and ‘toxic’ between us.” Stiles raised his hand to make quotations in the air. “It’s all on you.”
“Excuse me?” Elyna was taken aback.
Surely, she was the one at fault for getting way too much attached to Stiles but that doesn’t mean that all the uncomfortable things between Stiles and Elyna was completely Elyna’s fault.
“Why? Did I say something wrong?” Stiles almost yelled. “You are the one who had been giving me mixed signals since the summer, you’ve been leading me and I was there, all confused if I liked you or not because, I’ve been in love with Lydia since the third grade and I didn’t expect to fall for you too and when I finally had the courage to admit it to myself that, I liked you; that I liked you more that I like Lydia, I started to be so anxious.”
Stiles had thankfully stopped the jeep on the side of the road and had turned completely to face Elyna, who stared at Stiles, her hazel eyes wide.
“I-I-I am not like other guys, I-I don’t get girls; they don’t even look at me. I’m the nerdy, spazzy, hyperactive, ADHD boy, who is disliked by everyone so naturally, I was so scared to tell you how I felt. But I thought that hey, if Elyna likes me, then maybe I’m likable, maybe I can also have a girlfriend. Scott knows it, how hard I’ve tried, how many times I researched about the best way to ask you out and when I finally had the courage....” Stiles broke off when his voice broke.
His whiskey eyes welled up with tears. “I don’t feel bad that you don’t feel the same way about me. What I feel bad that you blame me for making things awkward and uncomfortable between us. What I feel bad is... start ignoring me in school and when I was trying to talk to you in the telepathy and then you just put all the blame on me. Then, all the bad things and negative things that I’ve always thought about me.. it keeps coming back to me now.”
Elyna sniffles and bits her lips harshly, trying not to cry. She didn’t realize how much she had hurt Stiles this much. Her chest hurt and she had clenched her fists so hard that her palms were beginning to sting.
The air in the jeep was so stuffy and heavy that it was making both uncomfortable. They both wanted to escape from this sticky situation but they didn’t want to be the first one to run.
“I like you, Stiles.” Elyna whispered. It was so feeble that Stiles almost didn’t hear her.
“What?”
“I like you. A lot actually.” Elyna looked down to her lap and didn’t look up to the boy who was staring at her, his whiskey eyes wide and jaw hanging out.
“I was so happy when you kissed me in the store, I didn’t actually realize that the guy I like would like me back.”
“Then what went wrong? Why-why you are so afraid to love me back?” Stiles frowned.
Elyna looked into Stiles’ eyes as she took his words into consideration. Stiles could feel Elyna’s hesitation. He wondered if he should comfort her- if he should hold her hand of something but quickly discarded the idea.
“There are lot of reasons.” Elyna said. “Obviously, there’s heartbreak involved. Love and heartbreak kind of go hand in hand. There’s also the reason that I..um, I don’t want to depend on anyone, because the only person you can really trust in yourself.”
Elyna lied so perfectly that Stiles believed everything she said. “Still that doesn’t really explain everything.” Stiles said, sighing.
“Well,” Elyna sighs. She could tell him the truth- the real reason why she can’t allow herself to fall in love with any human and she could also tell him what the Sanchez witch told her about their telepathic connection.
“Well, maybe it’s because I don’t really believe that anyone really could love me.” She lied again. She knew that someone could love her. She had been loved before but the thing is, she can’t fall in love for anyone.
“I do.” Stiles wanted to say, but he didn’t really think that Elyna would really hear him.