Me and Stiles exchanged concerned glances as we looked at Derek, who was still unconscious on the floor.
"What do we do?" Stiles asked me, his voice tinged with worry.
I crouched down next to Derek and gave him a firm smack to the face, hoping to rouse him.
"Stella!" Stiles yelled, startled by my actions. He quickly moved me out of the way.
"Come on, Derek," Stiles muttered, trying to gently wake him.
Stilinski clenched his fist, seemingly ready to punch Derek, but Derek stopped him. Stiles had to fill Derek in on everything that had happened while he was unconscious.
I rode with Derek in the car, heading towards Allison's location. Stiles had decided to stay behind to delay the police.
"Are you okay?" Derek asked me, his gaze fixed on the road ahead.
"Uh, yeah, just worried about Scott," I replied, my eyes trained on the passing scenery.
"Why are you lying?" Derek questioned, his acute hearing picking up on my racing heartbeat.
"I'm...uh, ever since I got here, Melissa has been like a mother to me, especially since I lost my mom, and I don't even know who my dad is. So really, the only people I have left are Allison and Chris," I explained. I could see a hint of sadness in Derek's eyes as he processed my words.
"Well, you have Lydia, Scott, Isaac, me, and even Stiles," Derek assured me.
"Stiles may be weird, sarcastic, annoying, and loud..." Derek continued, listing Stiles' characteristics.
"Okay, I think I got it," I chuckled.
"Oh yeah, but I know for sure that out of all of them, Stiles is the one with the plan," Derek said, looking at me with a somewhat playful smile.
"Thanks, big wolf," I replied, returning the smile.
We eventually arrived at the location where Allison, Chris and Issac were waiting.
"Help me with Cora," Derek quickly got out of the car.
"Where's Scott and Stiles?" Allison asked Derek, concern etching her face.
I went to the side of Isaac's car, opened the door, and helped Derek lift Cora out. He took her from me, and I quickly walked over to Isaac's car, opening the door so Derek could place Cora inside.
"Stiles is still at the hospital. He's gonna hold off the cops for us. We have to go right now," Derek informed us.
"What about Scott and Melissa?" Chris inquired.
"Jennifer took Melissa," I said, my voice cracking slightly.
"What about Scott? Derek, where's Scott?" Allison asked, her worry palpable. She repeated her question, this time directing it at me.
"With the Alpha pack," I replied, my voice heavy with concern. Confusion and fear rippled through the group as they processed the dire situation.
_____
While I was at school, Allison and Chris were at the bank, specifically the same one where we found Boyd and Cora.
"Why can't I go again?" I asked Allison over the phone.
"Because we want you to be safe," I rolled my eyes at her words.
"Hi, Stella," I heard Isaac's voice.
"What the hell, Isaac? You're there, but not me? This is bull," I complained loudly into the phone.
"Thank you, Isaac," Allison muttered to him. "And he's a werewolf."
"Okay? First question: you're not a werewolf either. Second, where is Derek? I need 'the bit,'" I chuckled.
"Bye, Stella," before I could say anything else, she hung up.
The day dragged on, and it felt like everyone I cared about was scattered and unreachable. Lydia was still in the hospital, Scott was off somewhere with the Alpha pack, and Allison and Isaac were busy assisting Chris. As for Stilinski, I hadn't seen him all day. It occurred to me that he must be under an immense amount of stress with everything that was going on, so he was likely at home, dealing with the chaos in his own way.
I started walking alone until I finally saw Stiles.
"Hey, Stilinski," I greeted him with a smile.
He just nodded in my direction.
"What, no sarcastic comeback? Did you not hear the part when I called you 'Stilinski'?" I teased, laughing a little.
He nodded and then pulled out his phone.
"What?" I asked as we continued walking to our class.
"Oh, God," he muttered.
"What is it now?" I asked again.
"It's from Isaac. Jennifer, she t... she has your uncle. She took him. She's got all three now," he explained.
Jennifer had three of our family members, but I couldn't understand how she managed to take him. There was a werewolf and a hunter, hunters at that, guarding him.
"There's still time," I turned to Stiles, but he wasn't next to me anymore. I looked behind me, and he was just standing there, not moving.
"Stiles? Are you okay? What is it? What's wrong, Stiles?" I grabbed onto him and looked into his eyes, noticing that he was sweating.
"I think I'm having a panic attack," he said between heavy breaths.
"Um, okay, breathe. Come on," I said, leading him to the nearest room, which happened to be the locker room.
"Okay, come on. Come on," I encouraged him.
Stiles started gasping like crazy. "Just try to think about something else, anything else," I suggested.
"Like what?" He looked up at me.
"Uh, happy things. Good things. Friends, family," I said, realizing my mistake.
"Oh, I mean... not family," I sighed. Stiles began breathing even harder, and his panic attack intensified.
"Oh, God," he muttered.
"Okay, uh, just... Try and slow your breathing," I said as I held Stiles' hand.
"I can't. I can't," Stiles began hyperventilating.
"Shh, shh. Stiles, look at me. Shh, look at me. Shh, Stiles." I gently held his face, looking into his eyes filled with fear. Then, I glanced down at his lips.
I leaned in, and our lips met. It was a soft and warm kiss. Stiles seemed surprised at first, so he didn't respond immediately, but soon, he started kissing back. It felt like this was meant to happen, like our lips were drawn to each other.
Have you ever felt like you were perfect with someone, like it was destiny? That's what it felt like in that moment. Stiles gently rubbed my cheeks with his thumb, and I slowly pulled away, opening my eyes. When I looked into his eyes, the fear was gone, and his hazel eyes seemed lighter.
"Ooh. How'd you do that?" Stiles breathed out.
"I, uh... I read once that... holding your breath could stop a panic attack. So when I kissed you... you held your breath," I explained.
"I did?" He asked, still a bit surprised.
I nodded slowly.
"Thanks. Really smart," Stiles said, then chuckled.
"I just... I don't know. I just read it somewhere," I mumbled, nervously playing with the ring on my finger.
"And if she was really smart, she would tell you to sign up for a few sessions with a guidance counselor," Lydia's voice suddenly interrupted us. I turned around to see her smirking at me, and my cheeks began to heat up.
Stiles quickly stood up from the floor and scratched the back of his neck while looking down at the ground.
I was aware of Stiles' feelings for Lydia; Allison had shared that information with me, mainly because she "ships" us.
"Mrs. Morrell," Stiles muttered.
I sighed, realizing that our moment had been interrupted, and it seemed like we were about to dive back into research. It appeared that we didn't have much free time on our hands lately.