—
The room was silent as all the birds in the room dropped dead in front of them.
Students were hesitant to get from underneath their desks, some having tear filled eyes as they tried to comprehend what had just happened.
"Are you okay?" Austin held Ryder's face in his hands, watching the cuts heal right before his eyes. He hid her face in his chest, using this time to pull any loose feathers from her hair while looking around the classroom.
He locked eyes on Stiles, "You okay?"
"I'm good." The Stilinski nodded, silently asking the same before turning to Lydia.
Ryder pulled away, looking around to ensure everyone she semi cared about was fine before grabbing Austin's wrist and discreetly taking away any sort of hurt he was feeling.
She could feel him try and pull away, whispering how he didn't want her to feel any more pain than she was already feeling.
•••
"Ryder."
"Austin."
The couple turned at the sound of their names, going their separate ways to talk to their mothers.
"Where's dad?" The teen immediately asked as she walked up to Ramona.
The woman scoffed, "He's at work. Are you okay? What happened?"
"We got ambushed." The girl chuckled, smile falling at her moms deadpanned expression, "Sorry, it's not funny. Birds went crazy."
"Supernaturally crazy, or is it just a coincidence?" The woman lowered her voice.
"Your guess is as good as mine." She shrugged, "However, i would like to point out that the new teacher is really weird and i don't trust her."
As soon as she said this, Ramona looked to the woman who looked shaken up, narrowing her eyes at the way she flinched when Stiles pulled a feather from her hair.
Ryder placed her hands on her hips, looking towards her mom with a conflicted face, "She looks innocent now, but when are they ever?"
Meanwhile, Jennifer patted Austin down, spewing out question after question on how he was.
Her hand rubbed the cut on his cheek, making the teen jerk his head back with a hiss.
The woman apologized softly, "Austin."
"I'm okay, mom." He promised her, grabbing her hands, "It's just a scratch."
Jennifer sighed, pulling her son into a short hug, pulling away and holding him at arms length. "How's Ryder?"
"She's okay, she's with her mom." He nodded in their direction, shaking his head in confusion as he watched the girl explain something with her hands.
He followed behind her as the woman ran up to his girlfriend, pulling the girl into a surprise hug.
He smiled as Ramona pulled him into a hug as well, asking him how he was doing. Austin nodded at her, letting her know that everyone was perfectly fine aside from a few scratches.
"Are you all aright?" Sheriff Stilinski walked up to them, smiling comfortingly at the teens.
Austin nodded, "Yes, sir."
"Yeah." Ryder said, eyeing her boyfriend awkwardly at his weird amount of respect. It was nothing new, but it never seized to surprise her. The Miller teen turned to her mom with a smile, "So, seeing as we got attacked, does that mean I have to finished the rest of the day?"
Ramona and Jennifer shared a look, holding back smiles at the way their children bundle up, giving them overly dramatic expressions, "Yeah, okay, you guys can leave."
Austin held his hand back for a high five, Ryder tilted her head, bringing his hand down, "Don't do that."
•••
Austin stared with soft eyes as Ryder giggled.
Her head fell back on his shoulder as she laughed at him.
Most people would be offended to see that someone was laughing their expense, but he couldn't care less, as long as she had a smile on her face.
However, he was a bit embarrassed at why she was laughing.
"It's not that funny."
Ryder's laughs subsided a bit, "That poor old woman."
"I apologized to her." He defended himself, secretly glancing over to the old couple who seemed to be enjoying themselves despite the fact that Austin had spilled his ice cream all over the woman. "She said it was okay."
"A lot of people say that, doesn't mean they mean it." Ryder raised a brow, almost daring him to disagree with her, "You should go apologize again."
"Should I?" He sat up, looking rather anxious.
"Relax." Her hand touched his shoulder, easing the tension, "She looks okay. Just- make sure to apologize before we leave, they don't look like they'll be gone before us."
She turned her full attention to the old couple. The man having bright blue eyes and the woman's being a dark brown color. Her hair was dark red, almost as if she had just dyed it, while his was simply dirty blonde with a few grey streaks.
Ryder hide her smile, looking over to Austin before turned her attention to her ice cream in thought.
That seemed oddly familiar.
•••
"But do we have to go?"
"Isaac's there. I thought you were worried about him?" Austin looked to the girl in the passenger seat.
The Miller teen fiddled with Marco the Monkey's tale, "Well, yeah, but now that I know he's alive, I don't really care."
The couple got out of the car, closing the door behind them before they started up the disintegrating steps of Derek's abandoned childhood home.
Ryder's heart pounded in her chest as all the memories of her and her oldest friend, Cora Hale, began to resurface.
"Hey." Austin greeted the three conscious boys as they walked into the house without announcing their arrival.
Stiles responded back with a small smile, watching as Ryder walked off to where Isaac laid before they started to speak about Scott's tattoo.
"Yeah, I see it. It's two bands, right?" Derek stared at the McCall's arm with his wolf eyes, "What does it mean?"
Scott shrugged, "I don't know. It's just something I traced with my fingers."
"Why is this so important to you? Do you know what the word "tattoo" means?"
"To mark something." Stiles cut in before his friend to respond, sending Austin a dramatic wink.
The George teen hummed, nodding his head in acknowledgment, rolling his eyes a bit.
"Well, that's in tahitian. In samoan, it means "open wound."I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned 18. I always wanted one. I just decided to get it now, to make it kind of a reward."
Derek nodded, "For what?"
"For not calling or texting Allison all summer. Even when I really wanted to, even when it was so hard not to sometimes. I was trying to give her the space she wants. Goin' four months later, it still hurts. It still feels like a, uh..." Scott's explanation trail off.
"—like an open wound."
"Yeah."
The room was silent for a minute, everyone taking in the teens story, "The pain's gonna be worse than anything you've ever felt."
Stiles winced at the flame the Hale pulled out, "Ah, that's great."
Scott nodded, "Do it."
"Dude..." Austin mumbled with wide eyes, thinking of how Ryder would be in the same situation soon.
"Oh, wow. That's a... that's a lot for me. So I'm gonna take that as my cue. I'm just gonna wait outside." Stiles rambled.
"Nope. Both of you guys can help hold him down."
"You guys?!"
Stiles let out breaths to calm himself, "Oh, my God."
"Hold him."
—
A/N: Ryder and Carter would definitely be besties.