Heart of Darkness • Stilinski [02]

Chapet Five - Strength

  My feet carried my determined legs, every step crunching dead leaves beneath the sole of my worn out trainers. My breath was shallow, but I pressed on through the crisp morning air as I jogged my usual trail through the preserve. My mind was blank from overthinking and not sleeping through the night, the words of Deaton weighing heavily on my mind and fuelling a determination I didn't know I possessed. I was past the point of thinking, I knew I just had to run.

I knew that what I was doing was wrong. Pushing everything to the back of my mind to deal with later on. However, pushing everything to the back of my mind is the only way I knew how to deal with things. It isn't healthy, but for right now it's all I could do. My brain just seems to shut down whenever everything gets too overwhelming. That's how I found myself standing outside of Stiles' house right now. It had just hit six A.M.

I pushed my tired legs up to Stiles' front porch and let myself in through the front door, I looked around, knowing that the Sheriff would be awake due to the fact the front door was open and I'm sure his shift at the station started pretty soon. "Hello?"

I heard some movement coming from the room to the left of me and I watched as the Sheriff walked out of the kitchen, dressed in his uniform and holding a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. A look of surprise flashed across his face. "Criss? What are you doing here so early? Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?"

I nodded, swallowing the lump that began to form in my throat. "Yeah. I was out for a run. I just came to talk to Stiles for a bit before school... I hope you don't mind me being here so early."

The Sheriff waved it off, "don't be silly. You know you're welcome any time. Coffee?"

For the first time in twenty four hours, I smiled. "That would be great. Thank you."

Wordlessly, the Sheriff motioned for me to come into the kitchen and I followed behind, only noticing just then now how dry my throat was. I walked in just as The Sheriff poured a fresh cup of black coffee into a Batman mug, which I assumed to be Stiles'. I smiled softly and grabbed the warm mug from his outstretched hands as he watched me with concerned eyes.

"Is everything okay, Criss? You seem a little quiet and it's not like you to show up this early in the morning." Spoke the Sheriff. I sighed as I took a sip from the coffee, feeling a little more calm as the warm liquid slid down my throat began to heat up my chest.

Nodding, I said the first thing that came to mind. "I'm doing okay, I just have a lot on my mind right now to be honest."

A look of understanding washed over his face and his gaze settled on the floor before looking back up at me. "I get that. You've been through a lot. Probably a lot more than a seventeen year old girl should need to endure. You're all good kids. You all look after one another."

A soft smile made its way on to my face. The Sheriff continued, "you and Stiles. You both remind me of Claudia and I when we were your age. You take care of one another."

I placed my hot mug on the kitchen counter. "He's one of the few people I have left." I admitted, my arms coming up to cross themselves across my chest. I swallowed the lump in my throat, all of the emotions that I've been burying all night fighting their way to the surface. A stray tear fell down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away, not daring to look at Stiles' dad.

"You have me, kiddo."

A wave of emotion swept over me and before I knew it, the Sheriff was bringing me into a hug and I couldn't stop the tears from running down my warm cheeks. I needed to let this out. I felt the Sheriff rub my back comfortingly and in that moment I felt like I had my dad back. For a moment, I pretended that I did as I hugged him back.