YOUTH || Liam Dunbar [1]

FOURTEEN

"Why'd you punch the wall earlier?" Katherine asked quietly. She sat across from Liam, her legs brought up to her chest while her chin rested on her knees.

Liam was trying to open and close his hand into a fist, but winced in pain each time he did it. He looked up at her in mild surprise. "You scratched your arm," he pointed out, purposefully avoiding her question.

Katherine looked down at the scrape on the inside of her right wrist and sighed. "I know," she mumbled.

She'd tried to climb up the well, and almost made it to the top. But part of the rock she'd been holding onto broke off and she fell, scraping the inside of her wrist. "It's not that bad," Katherine shrugged. "And you don't need to tell me why you punched the wall. I'm just curious."

They sat in silence for a little while, then Liam sighed. "My step dad used to tell me that when kids get angry, they deal with it in two ways," he explained quietly. "They hurt themselves, or they hurt someone else."

"Oh," Katherine realized, her eyes widening fractionally as she processed what he said. "So you didn't want to hurt me."

"Yeah," Liam sighed. It had grown dark now, and the air was colder.

"I swear to god if I get hypothermia I'm going to hunt Garrett down and kill him myself," Katherine grumbled, sitting up straight to rub her arms again.

"I'll help you with that," Liam grimaced, resting a hand over the wound on his chest. He sighed again. "I'm going to try again."

"Alright. But if you splash me one more time, you're dying before Garrett does."

"Would you stop threatening me," Liam grumbled.

Katherine shrugged. "I wouldn't have to threaten you if you would stop splashing me with cold, dirty water."

"Sure," Liam grunted as he hoisted himself off the ground.

Katherine watched him climb silently, wiggling her fingertips in an attempt to get the blood moving again. "Take your time!" Katherine called. "Don't push yourself. We need to get out of here." Liam started coughing, and she closed her eyes. The wolfsbane was getting closer to his heart. "Liam please," Katherine breathed out, forcing tears out of her eyes as she tried not to get her hopes up. "You're so close."

Liam looked up at the opening in the slats covering the well, and let out a loud roar. Katherine immediately covered her ears. She screwed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. The sound echoed around the stone walls of the well and amplified.

After a few moments, when the noise had died down, Katherine opened her eyes. She could see Liam swaying slightly where he stood, and her eyes widened. She stumbled to her feet. "Don't you dare fall!" She yelled. "I swear to god if you fall — Liam no!" His hands slipped off the rocks and he began to fall.

A hand shot out from the top of the well and latched onto his wrist, and Katherine almost cried out in relief. Scott helped Liam out of the well, and got him safely on the ground. "Can you climb up, Kat!" He yelled.

Katherine rubbed her hands together, shook out her arms, and nodded. "I'll try my best, but I can't promise I'll be quick."

It took Katherine three tries to get to out of the well. She was shivering from head to toe, her white shirt was now completely see-through, and her hair was soaked. Scott reached in and easily lifted her over the ledge and onto the ground. She stumbled into his arms and let out a quiet sob.

Katherine sat down on the ground and leaned into him, burying her face into hic chest. "I thought we were going to die," she choked you.

"I promised you we wouldn't," Liam grumbled from where he sat a couple feet away.

Katherine's eyes widened. "Holy shit Liam," she breathed, stumbling over to him. "Are you okay? Scott you need to look at this. Garrett stabbed him while we were out this morning for a run with Mason and—" she froze, her eyes widening "—Oh my god is Mason okay? We left him out there all alone and—"

"—Breathe, Kat," Scott cut her off in a calm tone as he reached out to hold onto her hands. "Deep breaths. Mason is fine, he's just worried about you guys. We didn't know where you were." Katherine slumped down next to him, her whole body trembling. Liam let out a quiet whimper as Scott knelt down in front of them. "You're both okay," he murmured comfortingly. "You're safe now." He pulled them both into his arms like the honorary big brother he was, and Katherine threw an arm around Liam's shoulders as well.

"We need to get him to Deaton," Katherine breathed out.

Scott nodded.

•••

Katherine curled up on Stiles' bed, her semi-wet hair tied up in a messy bun. "Are you going to stay with me tonight, KitKat?" Stiles yawned.

"Yeah," Katherine mumbled. "My nightmares are bad again. Being thrown into a well probably won't help that."

"Fair enough," Stiles nodded understandingly. "I'm just going to change. I'll be back."

"Alright," Katherine nodded. "Take your time." She let out a quiet sigh. "I don't think I'm going to sleep well tonight."

Stiles nodded and grabbed his pajamas, wandering towards the bathroom. Her phone buzzed faintly against her leg. Katherine sighed quietly and pulled it out of the pocket of her sweatpants.

Lydia: Stiles told me what happened. Are you holding up okay?

She let out a shaky breath as she typed her response.

Kat: Not really. Are we still on for the sleepover this weekend?

Lydia: Definitely. You should come over tomorrow, too.

Lydia: While the others are taking their PSAT's

Lydia: Now get some sleep. You need it.

Kat: Will do.

She dropped her phone onto the beside table and let out another shaky breath, grabbing a pillow and holding it tightly in her hands to hide the trembling.

Tears began rolling down her cheeks as Katherine buried her face into the pillow to hide her sobs. Her chest heaved as she cried, and her stomach lurched. She doubled over with the pillow resting between her stomach and thighs, her forehead pressed into the mattress.

Katherine inhaled a short breath as Stiles came back into the room. She tried to hide the fact that she'd been crying and forced a smile, but Stiles simply sat on the bed and pulled her into his chest.

"I'm sorry," Katherine sobbed, grabbing a fistful of the front of his shirt.

"There's nothing to apologize for," Stiles hummed, running a hand through her hair soothingly. "You were kidnapped. You're scared. That's normal."

"But I should be used to things like this by now," Katherine whispered, her forehead pressed into her brothers shoulder.

Stiles pursed his lips and rested his chin on the top of her head. "The day you get used to being kidnapped is the day there is officially no hope left for you," he scoffed, moving one hand to rest between her shoulders while the other stayed in her hair.

"I guess so," Katherine sniffled.

When she'd calmed down, Stiles picked her up — with an extreme amount of effort on his part — and shuffled down the hall to her room, cursing as he periodically stumbled into the wall. He set her down on her bed then moved the bean bag chair in the corner of the room as close to her as he could get it. "I'm not leaving," Stiles promised. "I'll sleep on this thing for as many nights as you want me to."

Katherine nodded and climbed under her old sheets. She reached out and grabbed his hand, then slowly drifted off to sleep.