Still ▸ Teen Wolf [Book Two]

forty seven ; the catalyst

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FORTY SEVEN;

THE CATALYST

Sheriff Stilinski stared at his son, watching as the boy picked around at his food all while his foot tapped on the ground at a fast-paced rhythm. It was, once again, another night that the two of them were sitting down in the office that belonged to the man himself, trying to figure out a way to create a conversation when there weren't any words that needed to be said. It had been a constant repeat of the situation where Stiles would come to the station without warning carrying dinner, place himself into the chair across from his father, and stay silent. It was up to Sheriff Stilinski to figure out the cause of his hyperactive son's silence, and wonder how he could help.

The older man pursed his lips, watching his son. "Stiles."

The teenage boy looked up at the sound of his name, his eyes slightly wide as he glanced around, unknown to the world around him. The contorted expression had become familiar in the past few weeks, something that he didn't know how to fix. There was obviously something wrong with his son, something that Stiles didn't know how to explain, and he was growing exhausted trying to help a cause when he didn't know what it was.

"Yeah?" Stiles asked, frowning at his dad before glancing down at the untouched salad of his father, knowing that he wasn't the most enthusiastic when it came to healthy food. He noticed the look that the man was giving him and his lips tugged even further down. "I'm fine. Just tired, that's all. I didn't get much sleep last night."

The sheriff, however, didn't believe him. "Have you talked to Sage lately?"

"Uh, no," the boy denied, his cell phone being tossed in his hands as he swallowed hard. "Scott and I have been trying to get a hold of her for the entire week, but she hasn't been picking up her phone. He wanted to go to her loft, but I figured it was best if we just gave her space. You know, after her old house burned down and Cora left."

"She's a strong girl," Sheriff admitted, watching as his son continued to play with his phone.

Stiles couldn't help but let out a small snort, running his hands through his hair as a nervous gesture, not excited with how the conversation led to the girl that had broke up with him a week ago. "Yeah, she is."

"Do you remember when you first met her?" Sheriff asked, crossing his arms over his chest to lean back in his chair, knowing that this wasn't ending any time soon. His son glanced up, eyebrows raising at the question all while he gave a small head shake. "It was when I was still a deputy, and your mother started going to the hospital for her treatments. You decided to come that time, and there was a little girl that was running through the hospital, and you wanted to find out who she was. Her father, Hal, had started calling out her name, and soon enough, I was calling out your's too. You went after her."

Stiles didn't seem to have a reaction, his eyes gazing off as his father told the story. Sheriff Stilinski realized that there was something missing in the teenage boy's eyes, that there was a light that had been dimmed ever since Stiles came home and told him that he was no longer dating Sage. There was something in Stiles that had been replaced with a bleeding wound, and Sheriff didn't know how he was going to be able to fix his son's first heartache. It had been Claudia's job, not his own. She was supposed to be the one to comfort him when his heart was broken.

"When I was a kid, I asked Mom what being in love meant," Stiles began, his broken stare on the wall behind his father never once leaving as tears nearly shed his eyes. "She told me that it was when you lose control of your heart, when it physically hurts to breathe without them, and I can remember thinking in my head how completely idiotic it sounded to love someone. I wondered how someone could be fine hurting so much just for one single person."