Lahey || Teen Wolf

twentyeight

"You mean Isaac, one of the three runaways. You haven't, heard from any of them. Have you?"

I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep from crying. Listening to Stiles' counseling session was painful. I had to wait out here, I told Stiles I would.

The morning after the whole fiasco at the police station, I woke up in the warehouse only to find out that Isaac, Erica, and Boyd had run away. They were no where to be found. Just when I thought Isaac and I were getting somewhere, he abandoned me.

"How come you're not taking any notes on this?" my brother asked.

"I do my notes after the session."

"Your memory's that good?"

"How about we get back to you?"

It was silent for a little bit. Neither one of them saying anything.

"Stiles..." the counselor spoke up.

"I'm fine."

I knew he was lying and I'm pretty sure the counselor did too. The night at the police station messed up all of us, Stiles in particular though. Having his best friend and twin both get shot was a little much for him, especially since he couldn't find me afterwards.

"Yeah, aside from the not sleeping... the jumpiness... the constant overwhelming crushing fear that something terrible's about to happen..." he finally admitted.

To be honest, I was struggling with those exact same things. I guess twins are just that alike.

"It's called hypervigilance. The persistent feeling of being under threat."

"It's not just the feeling though." he breathed out, "Its like it's a panic attack. You know? Like I can't even breath."

That's exactly how it feels like. That's how I felt when I ran to Isaac.

"Like you're drowning?"

"Yeah."

"So, if you're drowning, and you're trying to keep your mouth closed until that very last moment. What if you choose to not open your mouth? To not let the water in."

"You do anyway... it's a reflex."

"But, if you hold off until that reflex kicks in... you have more time, right?"

"Not much time."

"But more time to fight your way to the surface."

"I guess."

"More time to be rescued."

"More time to be in agonizing pain. Did you forget about the part that you feel like your head's exploding?"

"If it's about survival... isn't a little agony worth it?"

"I mean... what if it just gets worse?" Stiles questioned the counselor, "What if it's agony now? And it's just hell later on?"

"Then think about something Winston Churchill once said - 'If you're going through hell, keep going.'"

•••••

"Why are we here?" I groaned, following my Dad to an open spot on the bleachers.

He narrowed his eyes at me, "Because we're here to support your brother."

"But he's not even gonna play!"

Dad opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when Melissa sat down next to me.