𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

"I don't believe it" Lydia states "Scott can't really be with them. He can't be"

"You didn't see the look on his face though. It was..." Stiles drawls off, not being able to find a word to describe he hopelessness my brother expressed.

"Then what can I do? I mean, I get that I'm some kind of, like, human Geiger counter for death. But I don't know how to turn it on and off yet. All I know is that she tried to kill me because of-" Lydia cuts herself off, looking deep in thought.

"Because of what, Lyds?" I ask curiously.

"Hey, Lydia, what?" Stiles asks.

"When she called me a Banshee, she was surprised by it. What if that's not why she tried to kill me?" Lydia suggests.

"Then why did she?" Stiles asks in confusion.

"That's what we need to find out" Lydia answers.

❦ ❦ ❦

"Aiden isn't texting me back" I huff as we walk through the school halls.

Stiles stops still and I turn to him, sighing.

"Okay, well, maybe we could just- We could go over there and-" Lydia cuts her suggestion short as Stiles pulls out his phone.

The Stilinski boy's face pales and he looks as if he's about to faint, worrying me.

"What? Oh my God. Stiles, what's happened now?" I ask worriedly.

"It's from Isaac" He answers shakily "Jennifer, she- She has Allison's father. She took him. She's got all three now"

My heart drops to my stomach and my eyes water in fear for my mother.

"There's still time" Lydia says optimistically "We still have time, right?"

"Stiles? Are you okay?" I hear her ask and I look at the boy in concern.

He starts to hyperventilate, his face turning chalk white and he stumbles a little.

"Stiles?" I speak, my tears disappearing as I watch the boy struggle for a breath "Hey, talk to me"

"I think I'm having a panic attack" He chokes out.

Lydia looks at me in cluelessness and I nod, letting her know I've got this handled.

"Stiles, come on" I sigh, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the crowded hallways "Come on, dork. I got you"

We reach the locker room and drop our bags to the floor, Stiles stumbling against the lockers. He makes it to the second set of lockers before sliding down them and I drop to my knees in front of him.

"Just try and think about something else" I advise him "Anything else"

"Like what?" He pants out.

"Uh, happy things. Good things. Uh, friends, family-" He looks at me in disbelief and I choke on the word, realising my mistake "Okay, maybe not family. Fuck. Just try and slow down your breathing"

He tries to do what I said but fails, letting out a cry as he hyperventilates.

"I can't- I can't" He sobs.

I grab his face in my hands, making him look at me and my heart breaks as a tear slides down his cheek.

"Shh, shh. Stiles, look at me" I tell him and he looks right at me "Just look at me, Stiles"

I jump forward, slamming my lips onto his and he freezes. After a second I feel him kiss me back and I slowly pull back, my eyes fluttering open. We sit, our faces only centimetres apart and stare at each other in silence.

"How'd you do that?" He breathes out.

"I- Uh, I used to get panic attacks a lot after the crash, and I used to hold my breath" I explain "So when I kissed you, you held your breath"

"I did?" Stiles asks.

"Yeah, you did" I reply, my heart hammering against my chest as he stares at me with an intensity I've never felt before.

"Thanks" He says, glancing quickly at my lips before looking back at my eyes "It was really smart"

I giggle, relaxing as I sit back onto the concrete ground.

"I just happened to know how to help. If I was really smart, I'd tell you to sign up for a few sessions with the guidance counsellor" I state and he chuckles, nodding.

"Morrell" Stiles suddenly says perking up and my eyes widen.

We scramble to our feet and grab our bags, rushing out the room. I see Lydia by her locker, grabbing her and dragging her along with us. Stiles swings the office door open, Lydia and I following him inside to see the only person inside is a student.

"Are you here for Ms Morrell?" Stiles asks the girl.

"No, I thought this was gym class" The girl retorts sarcastically.

I open my mouth to snap at her but Stiles grabs my arm and Lydia puts a hand on my chest, telling me to let her.

"Sweetheart, we're not in the mood for funny" Lydia snaps in annoyance "Do you know where she is?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be waiting here for 20 minutes. So how about you three back out the door and wait your turn" The girl sasses us.

"We're not here for a session" Lydia says matter of factly.

"Well, I am. And I've got some serious issues to work on" The girl declares.

"It shows, honey" I retort and she glares at me.

"Hey, wait, wait. You're Danielle. You're Heather's best friend" Stiles realises.

"I was Heather's best friend" Danielle corrects "We've been working on that issue three times a week"

"Hold on. Did you say Ms Morrell was 20 minutes late?" Lydia asks.

"And I don't know why either. She's always on time" Danielle nods.

"I was seeing her at the beginning of the semester. She was never late" Lydia tells us.

"Then she's not late" Stiles replies.

"She's missing" I finish for him.

"What if we're not the only ones who think she knows something?" Lydia suggests.

"Then I wanna know what she knows" Stiles states, walking over to the desk.

"What are you doing?" Danielle asks.

"Trying to find her" Stiles answers.

"Those files are private" Danielle snaps

"Yeah, she's kind of right" Lydia nods.

"That one's yours" Stiles chirps, handing Lydia a manila file.

"Let me see that" She says, snatching it from him.

I watch over Lydia's shoulder as she goes through her file and I furrow my brows in confusion when I realise a pattern.

"Wait, Lydia, that's your drawing" Stiles speaks up, noticing the same thing as I do.

"Yeah, I know. It's a tree" Lydia shrugs.

"Yeah. It's good too" Danielle comments.

"Thank you" Lydia smiles.

"No, but that's the same one though" Stiles argues.

"Same as what?" Lydia asks in confusion.

"It's the same as the one your always drawing in class, Lyds" I answer.

"It's a tree. I like drawing trees" She declares.

"No, but it's the exact same one. Don't you see?" Stiles asks, looking down at the drawing.

"Lydia, let me see your bag" I say and she hands me the bag.

I pull out one of her notebooks and hand it to Stiles who quickly skims through it before slamming it down onto the table to show the tree drawing.

"There, see?" He says.

He then begins flicking through the pages which reveal drawing after drawing, different sizes but the exact same tree.

"Okay, you can have my session. You've got bigger issues" Danielle states, grabbing her bag.

"Thanks a bunch, Danielle" I say, sounding a little distracted and she waves me off, rushing out the room.

"What is this?" Lydia gasps out, Stiles still flicking through the notebook.

He stops at one of them and pauses, looking at it in deep thought. I watch curiously as he picks up the notebook and slowly turns it around so that the tree is upside down.

"I know where they are" Stiles says in realisation and I perk up, coming to the same realisation.