Empathy ⌯ Stiles Stilinski

[07] the wolfsbane

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍
the wolfsbane

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( second chance at first line; pt.ii )

SO, Maddie has a tendency to displace her stress onto other things when it gets too much for her to handle. Ignoring it has never worked for her——it always finds some way to push through the locked doors——so instead she distracts herself, hoping that alleviating the problems in other parts of her life will solve the underlying issue with her anxiety. It never does, but that doesn't stop her from doing it. And it helps. Especially when she dives into schoolwork; she's managed to keep up her grades by doing that.

But it's also why she's recruited Stiles to accompany her to the library to get one of the History textbooks they need for one of the upcoming topics. Couldn't she be displacing onto the current topic they're doing? Yes, she could. But she won't. Doing more work for something she's already doing work for just makes it worse. Yes, confusing, she's very well aware. No one ever said anxiety made sense.

She would have forced Scott to tag along as well but he's doing what he's been procrastinating for the last few days——get out of playing the game tomorrow.

The two teens walk side by side, arms looped together as Maddie purposefully puts extra pressure on Stiles' arm simply to annoy him. She's surprised that they haven't fallen to the ground considering every time she adds more pressure, he does the same. Maddie's just glad she can still feel like a teenager sometimes through this whole mess.

As Maddie turns the corner, Stiles quickly stalls, quickly taking a few steps backwards to hide behind the wall. Unprepared, Maddie ends up pushed against the wall as Stiles stumbles to stand right in front of her, quickly stamping a hand on her waist to balance himself. She looks up at him and she freezes, and all he can do is blink at their close proximity, bodies nearly pressed together with both of them avidly aware of the hand on her waist. Noticing their compromising position, Stiles clears his throat and steps away from her. Maddie adjusts her jacket, hoping her voice doesn't stall or falter. "What was that for?"

"My dad's there," he replies, his voice a little strained, poking his head around the corner.

Maddie sighs, leaning against the wall. After a moment or two, her curiosity gets the better of her and she pushes away, looking around the corner to see the Sheriff talking to the principal, a deputy by his side. "What d'you think they're saying?" she asks in a hushed tone as if they'd be able to hear her.

Stiles shrugs, his eyes squinting slightly. Maddie looks over to him and gives him an odd look. "Are you—" she cuts herself off, thinking if the question is worth asking before just deciding to go for it. "Are you trying to lip read? Do I have to remind you how badly that went last time?"

"I've gotten better, shut up," he retorts, not taking his eyes off his dad.

Maddie crosses her arms, moving around to lean against the wall again. "You can barely make out a word, let alone a whole conversation, Stiles."

And almost like a Godsend, Scott walks down the corridor, heading to his locker. Maddie looks over to Stiles, the boy still distracted, and quickly heads over to the shaggy—haired werewolf. She grabs him by the shoulders with a "Heya!" and drags him over to the wall. "Stiles, lookie what I found."