Oliver could see in Lydia's expression that something was bothering her. It was obvious really, how her eyes darted back and forth between him and the paper on the table, how her glove-clad fingers tapped against her thigh, and how she gnawed at her bottom lip. She opened her mouth every now and then, as though she might say something, but closed it just as quickly with a sigh of defeat.
He wanted to ask her if everything was alright and he wanted to be there for her to offer his support and comfort if it wasn't. But he seemed unable to speak with her. He needed her to be the one to break the awkward silence that ensued. Oliver was sure everyone around them could feel the palpable tension just as well as he could.
Thankfully, Lydia managed to gather the confidence to speak just moments later. She offered him a smile that he could tell was forced as she folded her hands in her lap, seemingly forgetting about the chemistry assignment displayed on the table before them.
"Hey, uh, could I ask you something?"
Oliver grinned as he glanced at her, his eyebrows raised. "You kinda just did." he pointed out, chuckling when her cheeks tinged bright pink in embarrassment. "I'm just messing with you. 'Course you can ask me something."
His gaze returned to the assignment and he began writing down notes that he presumed to be right but Lydia would most likely change when he wasn't looking to not make him feel inadequate.
Lydia sucked in a deep breath before speaking, getting right to the point before she was discouraged. "Do you think I'm crazy?"
The pen dropped from his hand and clattered to the desk as he slowly turned his head to peer at her. She seemed genuine in her question and the saddened look on her face was enough for him to know that the stares and laughs that seemed to follow her everywhere she went bothered her more than he'd originally assumed.
His jaw clenched and his fists balled into fists at his sides. How could people be so cruel? Oliver hated how the mere thought of anyone hurting her set a fire ablaze inside him. Claws propelled from his fingers, digging into the palms of his hands. The anger consumed him and he was afraid of how much power it had over him. It scared him to know how easy it was for him to lose control when she was involved.
Slowly the anger subdued and he could face her without the fear of showcasing what he was. The anxious expression on her face instantly made guilt surge through his veins. She must've assumed his silence to be a 'yes'.
"Lydia, you are not crazy." her eyes snapped to meet his, tears threatening to run down her cheeks at any moment. He wiped his hands against his jeans, ridding them of the blood he was sure his claws had caused before grabbing hers in his. The leather material of her gloves was smooth against his palms. "You are a girl who has gone through more than you deserve and it's not weird that it messed a little with your mind. But you are not crazy."
She pursed her lips, interlacing her fingers with his in an attempt to find comfort. "Do you really mean that?" she asked hesitantly, afraid that he was only messing with her once again. She couldn't handle him thinking she was crazy.
Oliver smiled softly as he rubbed calming circles on the back of her hands with his thumb. "Of course I do," he assured her before smirking scarcely. "But if it does turn out that you are slightly out of your mind, that really wouldn't be a problem for me. Normal is boring anyway."
The smirk on his face warranted a flustered reaction from Lydia who resisted the overwhelming urge to bury her face in the crock of his neck to escape the embarrassment she was currently feeling.
She didn't know how he could make her heart almost lurch out of her chest at merely a glance and she didn't know what had happened to the sweet boy she used to know. The Oliver who sat beside her right now with her hands still in his, laughing softly at her flushed cheeks, was nothing like the Oliver that had taken her to the formal. He was confident and bold.
And Lydia really wasn't complaining.
🦎
Allison looked around in a suspicious manner as she sat at one of the outside tables during lunch, scouring the area just in case someone ─like her father or his men─ was watching her. She was acutely aware that one of the reasons her grandfather was now principal was to keep an eye on things at school such as herself.
Oliver wasn't quite as bothered as he sat next to her, snacking on a KitKat bar he'd brought from home as he scrolled on his phone. He didn't care for discretion and chuckled audibly at a meme on his screen, ignoring the look on Allison's face when he showed it to her.
"Heh, get it?" he asked and she shot him a deadpan look. He took her silence as a no. "They put milk before cereal so they're a psychopath..?" When she once more remained silent he whined dramatically and collapsed at the table. "You're no fun when you're paranoid."
Allison rolled her eyes and broke off a piece of his KitKat. "Yeah, well, you're annoying when you're bored." she shot back snidely and returned her gaze to their surroundings.
Oliver raised his eyebrows and propped his chin up on his hand with his elbow leaned against the table. "You know, looking around like you're doing right now actually brings more attention to us than me sitting with my phone. You're acting very suspicious." he pointed out.
Annoyed, Allison pushed his face off his hand with an eye roll. "Oh, shush."
Just then Stiles came running toward them, panting audibly. A thin layer of sweat coated his forehead and he was quick to wipe it away as he collapsed on the bench next to Oliver. Allison and Oliver shared a look of amusement as they waited for him to catch his breath.
"Does your family keep some kind of record of all the things they've hunted?" Stiles blurted through his gasps. Oliver patted his back as he offered a sympathetic smile. Despite having played lacrosse for soon-to-be two years, Stiles was far from athletic. "Like a Bestiary of some sort?"
Oliver scrunched his nose up, a completely different word coming to mind. That couldn't be what Stiles meant... Right? A glance at Allison told him she was thinking the exact same thing as she stifled her giggles.
"I think you mean bestiality, Stiles." she grinned but was instantly shot down by Stiles who dramatically shook his head with narrowed eyes.
"No, I mean Bestiary." he insisted.
Without looking, he slapped the back of Oliver's head, successfully snapping the boy out of his peculiar thoughts. The boy's cheeks flushed bright red and he scratched at the back of his head awkwardly.
"Ugh, you two are just like Scott. I don't even want to know what's going on in your head." Stiles' voice resembled a parent's as he scolded them.
Clearly embarrassed, Allison shook herself out of it. "Okay, um... can you describe this thing?" she queried, leaning her head against her hand.
"Uh, it's probably like a book- old, worn-"
Oliver perked up when he saw realization cross over Allison's features.
"...Like bound in leather?" she finished for him.
Stiles sucked in a breath and prepared to take off running when Oliver put a hand on his chest and forcefully pushed him down into his seat. "Sit," he said firmly, and Stiles, weirdly enough, felt inclined to listen. Oliver reached behind him and pulled his cell phone from his pocket, pressing the necessary buttons to dial Scott's number.
After a few rings, Scott accepted the call and his voice flowed through the phone speakers.
"Ollie?"
Oliver had no trouble imagining the clueless expression that most likely was plastered on his face. "Hi, Scottie. Thought I'd save Stiles from a trip to the ER and just call you on my phone instead," he explained his reasonings for calling briefly and set the phone on the table in front of them.
Scott's eyes widened slightly as he slowly nodded, walking aimlessly down the corridor with his own phone pressed to his ear. He had to admit, that plan was a lot better than using Stiles as their own personal messenger. Why no one had thought of that earlier, he didn't know.
"Right..." he said into the phone and pursed his lips.
Allison butted in to get the conversation started. "I'm pretty sure I've seen Gerard with a book like Stiles described."
The mere thought of the Argents having a book, documenting every creature they've hunted through the years wasn't all that surprising to Oliver. But it was frightening. Oliver could feel the hairs on his neck rise as they spoke about it. He was scared, and rightfully so. Chris was well aware of his recent transitioning after all. Who's to say he's not next on the list to be taken out?
"Where would he keep a book like that?" Stiles' question snapped Oliver out of his spiraling thoughts, but he still couldn't seem to focus fully on the conversation. He pretended to listen, nodding along to what they said despite not being able to hear a word of it. He gnawed on his bottom lip, fingers tapping against his thigh.
Allison shrugged, paying no mind to the unusually quiet Oliver. She figured he was deep in thought, trying to come up with possibilities of where a so called Bestiary could be found.
"His office, probably. I can't imagine he'd leave it at home where someone like me could accidentally stumble upon it."
"Could you get it?" Scott questioned, drawing the words out.
"Not without his keys," she replied.
Stiles clasped his hands together and nodded, a determined expression on his face. "Let's get them, then."
No one seemed to mind that he'd just suggested thievery, and went along with the plan.
🦎
Sofía had an offended expression on her face as she watched her brother run around his room to gather his lacrosse equipment. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her weight evenly distributed between her left leg and the wall she was leaning against.
"What do you mean? Of course, I'm coming to see you play!" she seemed bothered by the insinuation that she wouldn't put work aside to watch him skillfully play a sport he was so passionate about.
Oliver sighed as he rolled his shoulders. "Sof, I love and appreciate that you put time aside to come to my games, but there are important things at stake tonight. We are quite literally attempting to steal from Gerard, the worst Argent of them all." he reasoned, trying to get her to understand where he was coming from. "I won't be able to focus if I'm worried about you or Gabriela at all times."
He'd sat down with his sisters to have a serious conversation when he got home, explaining in detail what was going down and why he didn't want them there.
Gabriela had offered him a thumbs up and a nonchalant 'cool beans' before hurrying up to her room to busy herself with god knows what. She truly couldn't care less about missing one of his games.
Sofía was a lot harder to convince. She figured he was worried about her missing a shift at the station and went directly into defensive mode. When it came to money, Sofía was quick to dismiss her siblings' concerns. Those were her problems to carry, not theirs.
"Missing one shift at the station won't doom us, Ollie. I promise!" she assured, brows furrowed and lips pursed. That was a lie. Sofía couldn't afford to take time off work, but she would do it anyway. Maybe she could ask Noah to take an extra shift on a Saturday instead.
Fed up with her arguing, Oliver sighed in frustration. "It's not about the money, Sofía!" he snapped, throwing his lacrosse stick to the floor. It clattered loudly. The sound, together with his unexpected outburst was enough to shut her up, if only just for a moment.
But that was all he needed. A moment to explain without being interrupted.
"They are ruthless, Sof. They were ready to kill Isaac just a few weeks ago. What do you think they're going to do once they find out you're my sister?" tears welled in Oliver's eyes and his nails dug into his palms painfully. "Please, Sof. I don't want you to get hurt." he was pleading by now, voice trembling and breaking off.
Sofía relented. But only because she could see the mental toll all the worrying was taking on him. She approached and enveloped him in a tight and comforting hug that left both of them at ease.
"Fine. I'll stay home with Gabbi if that's really what you want." Sofía told him in a soft murmur as she leaned her chin on his shoulder. "But I'm not happy about it." she was quick to add, one of her eyebrows arched.
Oliver laughed heartily and put his chin on her head. "Thank you, Sof."
She bit her lip. "Be careful."
"Always am."
🦎
Oliver had been painfully taken out by Eddie Obomowitz, also nicknamed 'The Abomination', early on in the game. He used that to his advantage to get out of playing, claiming he must've 'twisted his ankle or something because it hurt just to put pressure on it'. Coach Finstock wasn't happy to have one of his star players on the bench but there wasn't much he could do, especially since the EMT on stand-by advised him to sit out if it hurt.
His leg bounced up and down as he sat on the bench next to Stiles, who was chewing on a glove he'd found. They grimaced in sync when a player on their team hit the ground hard enough for a 'thud' to be audible. Soon after he was yelling about not being able to feel his legs.
"Oh, come on! Is that thing even a teenager? I wanna see a birth certificate!" Coach Finstock yelled incredulously, watching with a sour expression as player after player was either carried or limped off the field from an injury.
He sat down by Oliver and Stiles with a huff, eyeing the field suspiciously. Eddie wore a proud grin as he jogged back to the goal, having body-slammed a third player to the ground within ten minutes.
"Who or what is that genetic experiment gone wrong?" Coach Finstock asked Stiles, appalled by the number of players Eddie had taken out by now.
Stiles pursed his lips. "Eddie Obomowitz, Coach. They call him 'The Abomination.'" he replied with a sarcastic twinge to his voice.
Coach Finstock scoffed. "Oh, that's cute." he snidely remarked.
🦎
Allison signaled from across the field for Stiles to retrieve the keys she'd successfully gotten into her position when Gerard offered her his coat. The Stilinski boy acted quickly and crossed the field, somehow managing to snatch the keys from her hands without a sound and disappearing out of sight seconds later.
Oliver smirked. The plan was in action.
He stood from the bench and glanced around in a far too suspicious manner before not so discretely slipping away. Somehow, he managed to walk straight into a player limping off the field, sending the both of them plummeting to the ground in an embarrassing heap.
With rosy cheeks that showcased his embarrassment, he reached the parking lot, following the path Stiles had taken mere minutes earlier. His friend's scent still lingered in the air, mixing with a sweet one far too familiar to Oliver's senses. He stopped in his tracks, surprised to find Lydia crying in her car once more.
Time was ticking, Oliver knew that. There wasn't any time for him to stop and check in to make sure she was fine. And yet, Oliver did just that, suppressing the voice in the back of his head that was yelling at him to stop being a lovestruck fool and focus on the task at hand. The very important task that would determine literal life and death.
Lydia Martin often infiltrated Oliver's mind and clouded any ounce of common sense he had left.
He knocked on her window and startled, she jumped in her seat. Lydia wiped under her eyes quickly before rolling down the window, forcing a smile so fake that Oliver could've spotted it from miles away. He found himself grimacing at the sight.
Her puffy and red eyes slightly squinted and her swollen lips - presumably from her biting at them to keep her sobs quiet - awkwardly twitched upwards to resemble a somewhat happy expression that physically pained him to see. Had she not yet learned that she didn't need to conceal her emotions? At least not from him. Oliver would never judge her. He wasn't sure he ever could.
It frightened him to know that Lydia could come to him and say she'd seen flying monkeys in her bedroom wearing cherry red capes and peculiar cowboy hats and he'd believe her in a heartbeat, defending her to anyone who dared to laugh.
God, he truly was whipped, as Gabriela once so condescendingly put it.
"We've got to stop meeting like this," Oliver cringed at his own half-assed attempt of a joke, referencing the day Jackson dumped her over text and the two spent minutes in the car, Lydia crying and Oliver doing his best to comfort her.
Lydia would rather throw herself off a cliff than admit that it was one of her fondest memories. When he called her perfect even with mascara smudged under her eyes and tears dried on her cheeks. The moment that could quite literally not be described as anything but sensational was forever etched into her brain. And Lydia sure wasn't complaining.
She sniffled and bit the inside of her cheek. "Yeah." her voice was hoarse, revealing just how long she'd been upset. Oliver's expression turned sympathetic as he leaned against the car door. Lydia saw the emotion in his eyes but mistook it for pity. "Just go away, Ollie," she said despite wanting him to stay with her forever and mutter words of comfort in her ears as she cried.
Oliver scoffed and shook his head vigorously. "No chance in hell, Lydia." he deadpanned and adjusted his footing to lessen the ache in his back from leaning down uncomfortably. "Now tell me what's wrong. Please," he added the last word when she arched her eyebrow pointedly.
Lydia exhaled as she picked at her cuticles. "You're going to think I'm crazy."
"I thought we established already that me thinking you're crazy is literally impossible," Oliver said with a grin.
In a moment of boldness, he reached in through the window and wiped a tear off her cheek. As soon as his fingertips graced her skin, it flushed bright red. Lydia's eyes remained trained on his hand when he pulled it to his side again and she wished desperately she was brave enough to grab it and interlace their fingers.
Before Lydia could gather herself and find her voice to tell him what was wrong, his phone began buzzing. Oliver spared it a glance and swore under his breath upon catching sight of his best friend's name flashing across the screen repeatedly.
Lydia's mood dampened further. "You need to go, don't you?"
Oliver smiled sadly and nodded. "Yeah..." an idea popped into his head and he was ever so thankful. "How about I call you later tonight and we'll talk about whatever's bothering you?" he suggested, stumbling over his words at how fast he was trying to get it out.
He visibly relaxed when Lydia smiled a genuine smile and nodded as she tucked away a piece of hair that had fallen into her green eyes. "That'd be great."
🦎
Gerard's office was empty when Oliver got there, but the door was open and Stiles' scent lingered in the air. The desk, while not necessarily messy, had clearly been searched and then lazily cleaned up. Oliver figured that was Stiles doing.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked if he'd possibly missed a message from his best friend. Maybe Stiles had already found the book and left? But while his notification curtain was filled with pop-ups from the assortment of games he had downloaded on his phone, the only message he had yet to see was from a nervous Sofía asking if everything was going smoothly.
The sound of distant commotion and the splashing of water drew Oliver's attention from his phone screen. He paused mid-response and pocketed his phone to check it out. Sofía could wait another few minutes, he was sure.
Cautiously, Oliver stepped out of the office and followed the sounds that captured his attention. It led him to the pool, which left him confused. Why on earth would anyone be at the pool at this hour?
The door opened with a creak, alerting everyone in the area of his presence. He grimaced and pressed his lips together. Oliver inched toward the pool and drew his eyebrows into a befuddled frown when voices far too familiar reached his ears.
"Where did it go?" Stiles asked, his voice bouncing off the walls in an echo. He left no room for Derek to answer before he continued. "I can't see it. Can you?"
"No." deadpanned the adult of the two while spitting out some pool water. He had his arm wrapped around Stiles' shoulders, the teen seeming to be keeping him above the surface for the time being.
Oliver spotted Erica's unconscious body on the floor and his eyes widened in alarm. "What the hell is going on and why are you in the pool?" the question poured from his mouth as he took in the strange scene.
Stiles' and Derek's eyes snapped to him simultaneously, their voices overlapping as they tried to warn him about the lizard like creature lurking around.
Their warnings were however ignored as Oliver's attention was completely captured by said creature pouncing from its hiding place to attack him. He screeched and jumped out of the way, his heart rate accelerating as he slid against the wet floor.
The creature's tail whipped around, much like a pestered cat's, as it tilted its head and observed Oliver from afar. The Pérez boy was rightfully terrified and took small steps in the direction of the pool as he swallowed nervously.
"What in the ever loving shit is that thing?" he squeaked as it hissed menacingly and almost tripped over his own feet.
Stiles couldn't let up on his sarcasm even in a situation as severe as this. "Oh, you haven't met my new friend Paul yet?" he sighed in exasperation immediately after. "That's what we're trying to figure out, Oliver! Or have you forgotten why we were stealing Gerard's keys in the first place?"
Oliver didn't appreciate his comments and rolled his eyes before taking the calculated risk of diving head-first into the pool to join Stiles and Derek. His heart lurched when he sprinted toward the edge and caught sight of the creature leaping after him with its claws ready to slice his skin.
He narrowly avoided being hit by slamming his legs down and hitting them against the edge of the pool. Oliver swallowed a mouthful of water when he sucked a breath of pain in just as his head submerged under the surface. He was coughing wildly when he resurfaced, kicking his aching legs to keep him above the water.
Stiles grimaced. "That must've hurt."
Oliver rolled his eyes when he swam. "Thank you, Stiles, for pointing out the obvious." he was ever so grateful for his enhanced healing. Without it, he was sure his shins would be bruised blue from the impact.
He wrapped Derek's other arm around his shoulders evenly distributing the weight between him and Stiles. The human of the three breathed a sigh of relief and rolled his shoulders. They'd been in the water for about fifteen minutes and he was already tired beyond belief.
"Not that I mind holding you above the surface Derek, but can I ask why you're not fit to swim for yourself?" Oliver inquired with an arched eyebrow. His first thought had been that he was hurt, but after looking him over, he realized that there wasn't any sign of an injury.
"That thing," Derek articulated the word with distaste. "seems to have paralyzing toxic."
Oliver nodded slowly, growing frustrated by the amount of bad luck they seemed to have. "Of course it does." he sighed and pushed his wet hair up his forehead. "Just once, I'd like the danger to be like an ant or something. Not a person sized lizard with paralyzing toxic or a rampaging alpha werewolf."
"That would certainly be preferable." agreed Derek.
🦎
Oliver had begun breathing as heavily as Stiles by now. He - additionally to Derek's weight - was weighed down by the lacrosse gear he'd stupidly not forgotten to take off. It was much harder to swim in his uniform than the simple tracksuit Stiles was wearing.
"We need to get out of here," Oliver stated the obvious and the others hummed in agreeance.
"Yeah, I'd rather not drown," Derek remarked and spit out yet another mouthful of water. It was a struggle not to inhale it as he couldn't quite move his head properly to keep his mouth above water level.
Stiles made a face. "You're worried about drowning?" he questioned incredulously, baffled by the mere thought. "Did you notice the thing out there with multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth?"
Derek gritted his teeth. "Did you notice I'm paralyzed from the neck down in eight feet of water?" his voice grew louder and irritable toward the end of his sentence, showcasing his obvious annoyance with the boy.
"That's a stretch," Oliver said. "Pretty sure it's seven feet, actually."
The older werewolf scoffed. "Yeah, 'cause that's what's important right now. Whether the water is seven or eight feet deep."
"It's seven." Stiles deadpanned. He raised a hand and pointed toward the side of the pool where a bold '7 ft' was painted.
It wasn't important to mention at the moment but Oliver was, in fact, right, something he'd be sure to mention later instead.
Derek was fed up with the two boys and decided to bring the focus back to the situation at hand. They were still trapped in a pool that was apparently seven feet deep and he was still paralyzed from the neck down with no sign of being able to move any time soon.
Stiles seemed to have the same train of thought - Oliver was still bearing a grin at the fact that he'd been right and was nowhere near focused - and scoured the area, training his neck to be able to see past Derek's head properly.
The lizard creature seemed to be nowhere to be found.
"I don't see it." he made the others aware, snapping Oliver out of his thoughts. "Do you think it left?"
Oliver made a sound that he didn't even know was possible, something between a squeak and and yelp, and his eyes widened profusely. "Unless there's another one, I don't think it left," he stated and nodded toward the creature that crept closer to the edge of the pool, eyes dead set on the water.
It made no movement, however, to get in the water and instead took a lap around the pool, almost as though it was circling them like they were its prey. Its behavior was especially strange considering it had been adamant about killing them once they were on land. It left them all wondering.
"What's it waiting for?" Stiles queried the question they'd all been thinking and swallowed nervously when the creature's reptilian eyes settled on him for a moment.
Oliver shook his head, just as clueless as the other two.
A couple of more lapses and the lizard thingy had inched as close to the edge as possible without physically getting into the water. It hissed and tilted its head, observing the water as it swooshed around from the boys' movements in it.
Tentatively it raised its hand and lowered it toward the water. Oliver watched intensely, afraid of what might happen should the creature reveal itself to be an Olympic swimmer. But as soon as its scaled-skinned hand was submerged in the water, it withdrew it hastily as though it had been burnt.
It backed away with a loud screech-like hiss that bounced off the walls in an echo, tail whipping back and forth.
"Wait, did you see that?" asked Stiles as he knit his eyebrows together. "I don't think it can swim." he speculated.
Oliver and Derek shared the same thought.
🦎
" Okay, okay... I don't think I can do this much longer..." Stiles panted and Oliver agreed in an instant.
It had been close to an hour now and even he could feel the strain. He assumed it was at least ten times more exhausting for his human friend.
Looking around, Oliver spotted Stiles' phone by the edge of the pool. His own has surely been ruined by the water by now where it lay in his pocket. He nodded toward it, scooping some water into his free hand and splashing it at his best friend to get his attention.
"Your phone, can you get it?"
Stiles looked at him as though he'd grown a second head. "You want me, your human friend, to swim close to the edge where, if you hadn't yet noticed, a paralyzing lizard is hiding somewhere to grab my phone and call someone for help?"
Oliver sighed in exasperation and shot Stiles a look. "I'd be happy to swim and get the phone for you, Stiles, but then you'd be left alone to carry Derek and I'm fairly certain you'd both drown in a second."
He was right, of course. Stiles knew that. He was barely able to keep a third of Derek's weight above the surface, how was he supposed to handle all of it, even for just a minute? But the idea of the possibility of being mauled to death by an overgrown lizard was just as unappealing. Truthfully, he'd rather drown.
Nevertheless, Stiles agreed, but not before making it clear he was not happy about it.
"Fine, but you freaking owe me, Ollie."
Oliver made a face. "I'm fighting this thing when we get out of the pool, Stiles, I owe you nothing. If anything, you owe me."
There was sound logic in his statement but Stiles dismissed it with a grunt and a wave of his hand.
Stiles began the relatively short swim toward the edge and temporarily let go of Derek. Oliver groaned and sank further down at the added weight, spluttering as water surpassed his pursed lips and filled his mouth. He kicked his legs with more force and got them above the surface again, the both of them spitting out the disgusting water.
They observed, holding their breaths, as Stiles neared the edge. The lizard seemed to pick up on the plan and approached at a rapid pace they weren't sure Stiles could outswim. The tension was palpable as the human boy picked up his speed - and swallowed a few mouthfuls of water in the process- to reach the edge before the lizard.
He just barely managed to heave himself out of the water and onto the floor to grab his phone to then use the wall as a kick-off and throw himself back into the pool before the creature reached him. It swiped its clawed hand but got nothing but air as Stiles' head fell under the surface, his hand still visible, raised far above his head to keep the phone intact.
Oliver released a breath of relief once Stiles resurfaced safely out of reach from the lizard creature. He dialed Scott's number and pressed the phone to his ear as he swam back over to Oliver and Derek to help keep the paralyzed man up.
Scott picked up the phone after a few rings, but before Stiles could even get a word out, he hung up, claiming he couldn't talk right now.
"Did he just hang up on you?" Oliver asked incredulously.
Stiles nodded as he pressed his lips together. "Mhm."
Annoyed, Oliver clicked his teeth with his tongue. "I swear- if we die, I am haunting the crap out of him."
🦎
Stiles and Oliver kicked their legs with all of their might, but the exhaustion and the wet clothes they were wearing - and Derek - weighed them down. It was a struggle to keep their heads above the water and Oliver repeatedly swallowed mouthfuls of water.
"I can't stay up any longer. We need something to hold onto."
At his friend's words, Oliver began looking around for something, anything, that could help them stay above water. The diving board caught his attention and he nodded toward it. Stiles caught on quickly and wordlessly they began to swim in that direction, dragging Derek with them.
Stiles raised a shaky hand and attempted to wrap his fingers around the handle. But his hands were wet and his grip slipped. The sudden fall submerged all three of them under water once more and Oliver released the air in his mouth when Stiles' falling arm slammed into his chest.
Thankfully, Scott arrived just in time and pulled them out of the water quite easily with his enhanced strength. He threw them onto the floor without much regard for how they landed and growled menacingly at the lizard creature.
Oliver didn't bother to look as Scoot fought it. He was too busy coughing up a storm and gasping for breath as he lay in a puddle of water that dripped off his drenched clothes. Only when the lizard screeched horrifically and parkoured up the walls toward the ceiling, shattering the glass window to get out, did Oliver raise his head to look.
Stiles wore a befuddled expression and Derek seemed to be able to move again. They both looked at the piece of the shattered mirror in Scott's hand, thoughts swirling around inside their heads.
Oliver was confused and exhausted. His head hurt in ways he didn't even know possible. Thinking seemed tiering and so he closed his eyes and let his head rest on the floor once more.
When Scott asked if he was okay, all Oliver did was shoot him a lazy thumbs up.
🦎
Sofía arrived at the school faster than Oliver had expected after calling her on Scott's phone. She hurried over to him, and despite him looking like a drenched rat, she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Oliver reciprocated the hug without hesitation. He didn't even care that she was trying to crush his ribs. He was just grateful she was there.
She pushed his wet curls further up his forehead as she scoured him for injuries. Only when she deemed him fine did she unleash her wrath in the form of angry slaps to his shoulder.
"When I text you, you reply, mijo! I could've helped." Sofía said sternly before hugging him once more.
Oliver laughed lightly. "No offense, Sof, but what would you have done to a six-foot-tall lizard with paralyzing toxic?"
She arched an eyebrow pointedly. "Me? Not so much. My gun, however, could have inflicted some damage." as she spoke, she tapped the gun that rested on her hip in a holster.
Her brother nodded slowly with his lips pursed. "Fair enough."
While the siblings shared a moment, Stiles and Scott spoke briefly to Derek, who revealed the creature to be a kanima. He called it an abomination and proudly proclaimed that he would kill it, should he get the chance, with no regard for the human kid under the scales.
He spotted Sofía and Oliver when he went to leave. Derek wanted so badly to approach them and speak with the eldest sibling. He wanted to clear the air between them and makeup. He missed his best friend after all.
But the hardened expression that formed on Sofía's face the second she spotted him was enough for him to retreat to his car instead with Erica trailing behind him.
A/N
It's been two months since I last updated and for that, I apologize. Life's been hard these past couple of months and while I don't expect it to get better anytime soon, I will do my best to keep up with writing. Seeing you guys' love and support is so amazing and I'm so thankful to have such kind readers and followers. Just know that I appreciate each and every one of you so incredibly much!
I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter I've ever written, it's around 6k words which is insane. But since I am writing one chapter per episode now, it really isn't that much of a surprise since Oliver has a pretty big part in everything and I love writing separate scenes for Gabriela and Sofía from time to time.
I have no idea when the next chapter will be written, it all depends on how I feel then. But know that I am doing my best! I'll see you all in the next one, love you guys!
-Jazz <3