Howling to the Heart (1)

15.

   "PAUL, let's get this area locked up." From hearing Mr. Stilinski's voice, I looked up from the medic tending to me to see him walking around his car. "Where's Neriah? Is she okay?"

"I'm here!" I called out, standing up and ignoring the medic who warned me not to move around too much.

Spotting me, Mr. Stilinski nodded to one of his officers as he made his way over to me. "You okay, kid?" he asked me with a concerned expression.

Nodding my head, I pulled a medical blanket tighter around my shoulders. "A little shaken up, but I'm okay."

He sighed before pulling me into a hug. "I thought you were dying over the phone," he quietly admitted. "You gave me a heart attack."

Weakly laughing, I hugged him back. "I promise, I'm okay."

Pulling away, he held my shoulders as I dropped my arms. "How come you were on your own? I thought Scott was with you tonight."

"We were planning to watch movies, but I didn't want to watch Iron Man again, so I came here," I explained with a sheepish smile in hopes that he wouldn't get mad at me. "Speaking of boys, did your son come with you or did you drop him home first?"

"Nope," he said, looking over his shoulder at his cruiser. "He's with me, but he's currently calling your phone nonstop."

"You didn't tell him?" I asked when he turned back to me.

"I did, but I don't think he heard me with the amount of rambling and typing he was doing," he admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You should go see him before he has a stroke or a breakdown."

Laughing, I nodded my head, walking away.

As soon as I was close to the cruiser, the passenger door was already being thrown open, and Stiles was scrambling out.

"Riah! Oh my god! I've been calling you!" he rambled, not even bothering to close the car door before throwing his arms around me and pulling me into a hug. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did someone attack you? Did you attack someone? Do I take you to the hos—"

"Stiles," I cut him off, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my head against his chest, where I could hear his rapidly beating heart. "I'm okay, and I'm not hurt."

"Damn it, Riah," he breathed, resting his chin on the top of my head as I melted against him. "I think you gave me a heart attack."

"By the sound of your heart, I wouldn't be surprised," I laughed, squeezing him tighter as he laughed too.

"What part of 'I'm fine' are you having a problem grasping?" Jackson's raised voice said from behind me, and I slowly pulled away from Stiles, turning around to see him with Mr. Stilinski. "Okay, I wanna go home."

"You were with him?" Stiles asked me.

I sent him an annoyed look. "He came into the store while I was already looking for a movie."

"And I understand that," Stiles's dad said, and I focused back on them.

"No, you don't understand, which kind of blows my mind, since it should be a pretty basic concept to grasp for a minimum-wage rent-a-cop like you!" Jackson snapped. "Okay, now, I wanna go home!"

"I'm gonna break his arm again," I grumbled, heading straight toward him, only for Stiles to grab my arm and pull me back. "Stiles, let me—"

"Is that a dead body?" Stiles asked loudly, pointing behind his father, where two paramedics rolled out a body on a bed with a sheet covering the man Jackson, and I found.

Mr. Stilinski sent Stiles a disappointed look, and I cringed, taking a step back toward the cruiser with Stiles.

"Maybe we should wait in the car," I suggested, turning around to face Stiles. But when I looked up at him, he was focused on Lydia sitting in an ambulance. My heart ached as it dropped, but I said to him anyway, "Go check on her, if you want."

He turned his attention to me and then looked back at her for a few seconds. "No," he decided, grabbing my hand and pulling me away. "We've got a movie night to start."

I felt my face heat up and my heart race, making me more disappointed with myself than ever.

I was completely and utterly in love with my best friend, who loved someone else.