The Other Whittemore // Stiles Stilinski [Completed]

Chapter 23: Battlefield

Stiles

"You know when you're drowning, you don't actually inhale until right before you black out. It's called voluntary apnea. It's like no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct to not let any water in is so strong that you won't open your mouth until you feel like your head's exploding. But then when you finally do let it in, that's when it stops hurting. It's not scary anymore. It's - it's actually kind of peaceful."

Ms. Morrell looks at him closely, "Are you saying you hope Matt felt some peace in his last moments?"

"I don't feel sorry for him." Stiles states, flat out.

Ms. Morrell cocks her head to the right, "Can you feel sorry for the nine - year - old Matt who drowned?"

His hands fidget and he looks down at them, "Just because a bunch of dumbasses dragged him into a pool when he couldn't swim doesn't really give him the right to go off killing them one by one. And by the way, my dad told me that they found a bunch of pictures of Clarey on Matt's computer. And not just of her though. I mean, he photoshopped himself into these pictures. Stuff like them holding hands and kissing. You know, like he had built this whole fake relationship. So yeah, maybe drowning when he was nine years old was what sent him off the rails, but the dude was definitely riding the crazy train."

"One positive thing came out of this, though. Right?"

He nods slightly, "Yeah. Yeah, but I still feel like there's something wrong between us. I don't know. It's just like tension when we talk. Same thing with Scott."

Ms. Morrell then asks, "Have you talked to him since that night?"

Stiles replies with a shake of his head, "No, not really. I mean, he's got his own problems to deal with though."

Scott

"Mom. Mom, we're gonna have to talk about this eventually. Okay. I'm going. I love you." He leans his head against the door, listening to her heavy breathing and clenches his eyes shut before leaving.

Stiles

"I don't think he's talked to Allison either. But that might be more her choice, you know. Her mom dying hit her pretty hard. But I guess it brought her and her dad closer. Jackson? Jackson hasn't really been himself lately. Clarey, she's dealing with a lot. She actually went on a date with Matt once and with her brother acting so different lately, she hasn't talked to anyone. Actually the funny thing is, as of right now, Lydia is the one who seems the most normal." Stiles laughs darkly, running his fingers through his messy hair.

The caramel skinned women squints at him, "And what about you, Stiles? Feeling some anxiety about that championship game tomorrow night?"

Stiles hands begin to shake,"Why would you ask me that? Ah. Uh, no. I - I never actually play. But hey, since one of my teammates is dead and another one's missing, who knows, right?"

Ms. Morrell nods slowly, "You mean, Isaac. One of the three runaways. You haven't heard from any of them, have you?"

"How come you're not taking any notes on this?" Stiles questions.

"I do my notes after the session." Stiles studies her, "Your memory's that good?"

Ms. Morrell changes the subject, sitting back in her chair and crossing her legs. "How about we get back to you?"  When he doesn't answer she calls his name, "Stiles?"

Stiles furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head, "I'm fine. Yeah, aside from the not sleeping, the jumpiness, the constant, overwhelming, crushing fear that something terrible's about to happen."