time of death

Stiles Stilinski lay in bed, tossing and turning, the way he had been for hours. He was restless, it wasn't for a lack of trying, he had maneuvered around the bed more times than he could count. He had flipped the pillows in the hopes that the cold side would help put him to sleep, he put his foot in an out of his duvet, wondering if it would make a difference. Every position. Anything. But the prognosis was that he wouldn't be sleeping tonight. 

He turned over once again, and there she was, sleeping soundly. He wasn't surprised that Kinsey had no problem sleeping. She never did. She could lay in the most uncomfortable position in the most uncomfortable bed and still sleep like an Angel. On these nights when he couldn't sleep he often found himself admiring the brunette girl who often snuck in to sleep with him, it reminded him of what he had in his life, something, someone, who he was grateful for, if anything soothed him, it was knowing that he had Kinsey Argent. With a dim smile across his face, watching her, he shifted again, still trying to get comfortable only this time, it woke the girl up as she opened her eyes drowsily, asking him what was wrong. 

He told her softly that I always sleep in the middle of the bed. Not anymore, she deadpanned before turning to face the other way, prepared to sleep soundly once again, intending to not wake up in time for their alarm in the morning, just the way she liked it. She could feel his stare on her back as she faced away from him, waiting for her to turn back around. With a small sigh, she did, with a smile across his face he welcomed her in with open eyes as she lay on his chest. It was peaceful for all of a minute until Stiles sat up with a groan, insisting that he had to be in the middle.

Kinsey groaned again as she proposed that they spoon. That he could do. He quickly settled into the bed again, acting as the big spoon to the brunette girl who curled up, it lasted a little longer than laying on his chest, long enough for her to slowly began falling asleep again, and Stiles was quiet, allowing her to think for a split second that he was finally ready to sleep. That lasted only a second longer before he began wriggling again, his arm moving behind her head as she sighed again. What now? She asked. 

My arm's falling asleep. He told her. The brunette shoved him away, leaving him to flap around his sleeping hand so that she could get back to sleeping, alone. The two flipped, laying back-to-back. Kinsey was happy to stay like this, she was happy to have slept in any of the positions the two of them had tried, it didn't matter to her, when it came to sleeping she wasn't fussy like him. But even this wasn't good enough for Stiles. 

A small sigh came from his mouth. "Well, I don't like this." He mumbled lowly.

"I'm going to kill you." Kinsey deadpanned. 

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." The boy apologized as she turned back to face him. A small grin grew across his face as he scratched his head, waiting for her to take the hint. Kinsey rolled her eyes at him. Fine. She told him. Giddy like a little kid Stiles flipped back over, his back to the brunette as she wrapped him up in her arms, acting as the big spoon. "I think this is good." He insisted as the girl hummed, her hand resting on his back, already drifting away. With a little more adjustments, Stiles settled, content with their arrangement. "Yeah, this is good."

When Stiles awoke he felt an emptiness, a loneliness. A lack of presence in the room, in his bed. He turned over to see that he was alone in bed, Kinsey wasn't here, he was just wishing, hoping, dreaming that she would be. That maybe even despite what had happened she would still end up climbing into his bedroom to sleep with him tonight, that the two of them could wake up and talk about today. But that wasn't the case. He was back to being restless, staring at the ceiling as he was reminded of that stinging feeling inside of him known as guilt. 

He just wanted to sleep, to shut down for a few hours so that he could rid himself of that feeling, so he could forget about the look that he had seen in Kinsey's eyes when she saw him, someone who she was meant to trust, in a whole new light. He could still vision her walking away, leaving him to lie in the bed that he had made. He knew that it would never have gone well when Kinsey finally found out, it was the revelation that she had been lied to once again. Maybe this lie would bring her a sister in a girl that she already loved, but that didn't change that they had all lied, for a long time too. Every time the opportunity to tell her had rose, he backed out, insisting that he would tell her when he thought the time was right, as long as he told her, but now, he saw that it had been left too long. His worst nightmare had become reality, Kinsey had left him. 

Stiles turned his head to the phone sitting on his bedside table. He knew he shouldn't do it, just like how he knew he shouldn't have done it when he had texted her a dozen times earlier, but it had to be done, in the off chance she would pick up the phone and text him back at two o'clock in the morning, he had to text her. He jumped up, reaching for the phone, pulling up the chain of texts that he sent her since she had left him at the school, begging her to talk to him, telling her that he could explain, apologizing. And the symbol that she had read each and every message in the chain. Making it clear that she didn't want to talk to him. He hesitated as he saw that symbol on his phone. And then he sent another one. 

Kins, are you up? She read as her phone illuminated her dark bedroom. She stared at the text as her fingers hovered over the screen, particularly, the send button. It was a simple text that she'd drafted. A simple yes. And still, it took a lot of contemplation, just like it had when she had read a long list of texts that he had sent her today. It wasn't easy ignoring him, but she was infuriated, it was a betrayal like never before. Stiles was the one person she thought would never lie to her. A person she thought would tell her the moment that he knew himself. She had thought wrong. At that moment, she sighed, locking her phone as she put it back on her bedside table. 

"What are you going to do?" A voice asked her, startling her as she turned her head to the coyote who had been sleeping beside her, at least she had thought Malia was sleeping, it appeared that she had just been pretending, watching Kinsey sit up for hours as she tried to figure out what she was supposed to do in this situation. How she really felt. 

Kinsey looked at the coyote with glass eyes, admitting that she didn't quite know. It was rare for Malia to see her like this, it wasn't often that Kinsey didn't know what she was doing, she always had a plan, and if not her, then Stiles. But this time, this time was different. The huntress picked up the phone again as she stared at it for a little while longer, another moment of contemplation as she looked between two names. Unable to decipher which one was best in use for this kind of situation. In any usual circumstance, there might have been three names, that third one couldn't be used in this case, that was for certain. The other two names had lied to her too, she wanted to know why, and from someone who wasn't Stiles, someone who wouldn't beat around the bush in order to preserve her feelings, those were the kinds of things that she needed right now. They couldn't keep worrying about her going off of the rails every time something else came up in her life, something was always going to come up, she was Kinsey Argent, a name that carried trouble without her help. 

Her finger hovered between the two names. Scott was her first option. Her best friend who she'd had no doubt would know Stiles's exact thought process, why he had done this, lied, kept away such a big secret when there had been so many times that he could have told her. But he would also be able to comfort her the way he always had, he made her see things a different way, it was annoying sometimes, because he was usually right, but perhaps that was what she needed. She might have been missing something, maybe her anger was blinding her and there was a viable, a good excuse for them not telling her or Malia that they were sisters. 

And then there was her second option, the more unreasonable one, but still an option. Isaac. He had failed to call her back in the months that she had been gone, yet he still remained there, the wolf remained in the back of her mind at all times, perhaps this would be the one time he would call back, in her time of need. He had to be an option. Sometimes she believed he knew her in a way nobody else did, nobody had known her as well as him, apart from Allison. He could tell her how she felt even when she wasn't quite sure herself. He brought comfort nobody else could, he would know what to do. 

With a sigh the brunette pressed the call button, putting her phone to her ear, waiting for him to pick up. Malia waited patiently beside her as she sat up in bed, waiting to find out who she chose to call, she didn't have to see the names on Kinsey's phone to know the options at hand, the two werewolves were always the choices. She just wasn't sure what would happen if Kinsey chose to call the second option, she didn't know what that would mean for any of them. 

And then the phone finally stopped ringing as they answered. I need you, she spoke softly. 

·❥·

With her head in her hands the brunette sat at the table, zoning in and out of the conversation as she listened to the borderline idiotic plan that they would be following through with this time, it was a plan forged to finally put an end to this dead pool, to finally reveal the identity of whoever called themselves The Benefactor. Of course, Kinsey was more than up to ending all of this, they all wanted to know who it was, and she wanted to avenge Meredith, she had been driven insane, or at least a little more insane by this Benefactor, perhaps her a little too, but his scheming drove her to her death. She didn't want that to happen to anyone else. 

She had already heard this plan once before, at three o'clock this morning after she called Scott, telling him that she needed him. He was the more sensible option between the two, she knew it was, no matter how tempting the second option may have been. Scott was glad to have seen her name on his phone this morning, surprised, but glad. He had wanted to call her himself today, it felt weird knowing that things weren't right with them, but he had expected that he would get a treatment similar to Stiles'. The silent treatment. Clearly, he had underestimated her.

Not only had she reached out to him, but after hearing the plan that he proposed she had been more than willing to become a part of it, a plan that relied on her, if he was honest with himself. It didn't matter how deadly it was, even if involved being in the same room as Stiles after she'd spent the entire night ignoring his text messages. She knew that him being part of the plan was inevitable, they would need a lot of bodies for this plan, people to look out for them while they were... out of commission. 

Now, Scott explained the plan to Kira, Liam, and the boy she had avoided eye contact with since he had stepped into the home, making for quite the awkward silence whenever Scott stopped to hear out someone else's opinion on his plan. It was more awkward than he could have possibly imagined. But he didn't dare to ask the brunette to be civilised for the sake of the plan, both Kira and Liam knew not too also. It was much too soon to ask that of her. 

Stiles knew that too, but it didn't stop him from wishing that she would take even a glance over at him, just so he could show her how guilty he felt, or even how much he disapproved of Scott's plan that would, quite literally, kill her. He didn't agree with Scott doing it either, but if this plan chose to fail them, he didn't have to worry that his best friend would die mad at him. There were no room for negotiations today, this plan was happening. Tonight. 

There was a lot of hesitance between the five of them, uncertainty, but it was undeniable that it was Liam who was most unsure about this plan. He had never done anything like this before, he had to assume that it was dangerous, and he had to ask it too. Scott and Kinsey looked back and forth from each other and the young beta, trying to think of a gentle way to put it, but before the two of them had the chance, Stiles provided a less gentle answer. It was incredibly dangerous, it was borderline idiotic too. Liam nodded, that was the answer he figured, but he wasn't finished with all of his question asking. This time, he asked whether they had done something like this in the past. Stiles questioned whether he meant something dangerous or something idiotic, but it was a yes to both. They were quite experienced in both of those. 

Kinsey turned to the young wolf, for the first time since Stiles's arrival, she spoke, reassuring him that he didn't have to be a part of this if he didn't want to. Liam insisted that he wasn't scared, in their case, that meant that he was borderline idiotic, Stiles gladly declared him of that title with a hand on the boy's shoulder. For the first time since his arrival, when he looked at Kinsey they'd made eye contact, but Kinsey quickly looked away again, shaking it off as she cleared her throat.

Stiles digressed. "If we do this, we don't know what's coming for us. You know that, right?" He'd asked the two of them, Scott nodded before turning to Kinsey who was in agreement. Neither of them cared about that. Not if they ended up successful. 

"How do we even know something's definitely coming?" Kira questioned.

Visual confirmation, Kinsey told her. Scott elaborated on her point, the tape that they'd found in Garrett's bag said that visual confirmation was required, Simon, the man who had almost shot a bullet into Stiles's head yesterday had said the same thing. Though Kinsey hadn't been aware of that until this morning when Scott told her what had happened to him, why Stiles returned in a bloody mess. Their test examiner, Simon, had been the one who infected them all, and when he wanted his visual confirmation, he threatened Stiles, and almost shot him, until Rafael shot him first. Kinsey's first instinct was to ask if Stiles was okay, which clearly, he was as he stood on the opposite side of the table to her, but it wasn't a question she was going to ask herself. Right now, she was too angry to show him that she still cared about him no matter what he did to her. 

The entire crux of their plan was what would happen if you killed someone on the dead pool but couldn't send the visual proof, it was their hope that if someone high on the list died without the confirmation, The Benefactor would come seeking visual proof for himself. Allowing them to see who it was, to end this, for good. And they had two of the people highest on the list. 

As she awaited her turn, the brunette huntress sat in the McCall's kitchen with a glass of water, it was supposed to help her swallow her nerves, but so far, it was failing to do so. Until now the girl had felt prepared for what she was going to do, she knew every detail of the plan, she was ready as ever, she couldn't have been more prepared if she tried, until now. Now, it had hit her what it was that she was really doing, sacrificing herself again, in a sense. She had done it before, with a hesitance similar to the one that she felt now, only then she had had Allison to bring her comfort in her decision. Now, she didn't have that. Nor did she have Stiles who waited upstairs with Scott so that he knew exactly how all of this was going to play out when they did the same to Kinsey a few minutes later. The brunette could feel her hands shaking around the glass tumbler, a tear in her eyes as she thought about it, what would happen if they didn't succeed, it reminded her that she still had that darkness around her heart from the last time, the punishment that they had all received from defying the rules of nature. She wasn't sure if she could survive the consequences again. The hallucinations. The darkness around her heart. Or perhaps, maybe even becoming an entirely new creature, she was still unsure when that would come around, only that it would be her death that caused it. Maybe this was the death Araya referred to.

The tear from her eye seeped, rolling down her cheek before dropping into her glass, a rippling effect as she watched it fall into the water. She sniffled as she placed the tumbler down beside her. She had hesitated to make the call this morning, but now, she needed it more than ever as she jumped down from the countertop, pulling her phone out of her pocket. This time she failed to have a moment of contemplation as she found his name in her contacts, immediately calling him. The ringing sent a shiver down her spine, worsening the lump inside of her throat, she had some doubts that he would answer now of all times, she hoped that somehow he would sense it was an urgent matter, that she needed him. He had always been there when she needed him. He intended on living up to that for as long as either of them should live.

As the ringing stopped she held her breath, ready to hear the voicemail that she'd heard quite a few times in previous months. But for the first time, she didn't hear it. All she could hear was the heavy breathing of someone who had answered the phone before figuring out what to say to her after all these months of dodging her calls.

"Hey, stranger." He finally spoke, a breath of relief escaping the girl, a slight laughter as she took a seat at the dining table. Now she was the one lost for words, she hadn't really thought about a sentence to say when he picked up, despite her hopes, she hadn't truly expected him to pick up. "How's Beacon Hills? How are you?" He asked, helping her out.

"I'm good." She smiled through her words. "Beacon Hills is... as Beacon Hills as ever."

Isaac hummed, just how you like it? He asked her, to which she laughed. He knew she still loved the mystery that this town brought, it was what drew her here when her uncle proposed she join him, Allison, and Victoria in their move here a year ago. Some things didn't change about her, he could hear it in her voice, she was still the same Kinsey that he left behind a few months ago, the relief that he felt in knowing that was incomparable. The wolf took the opportunity to apologize for not answering her calls, admitting that he had purposely dodged some of them, at least he'd dodged the earlier calls, he told her he thought it would be for the best, to help her move on. But her recent calls, he wanted to answer them, he emphasized that, but Argent had kept him busy, back-to-back gun deals that limited his free time. Kinsey couldn't argue with that, she knew that it was good for him, he had a distraction, and more importantly, he had a life outside of this little town. He deserved to have that.

"What are you doing?" He asked, making casual conversation. He avoided the topic of Kate, that was sure to be something she was sick of talking about, Argent had done him the favor of telling him what was going on regarding the woman who had come back from the grave, relieving him of the need to ask Kinsey, because Argent knew them both well, he knew they would be back in contact soon. And the last thing the two of them needed was to get caught up in the trouble that Kate was causing without playing an active part in Kinsey's life "Staying out of trouble, right?"

There was a brief pause as Kinsey thought about the answer, the truth, or a lie that he would see right through because he knew her like no other. She knew that either way, he would find out, it seemed easier to tell him herself, perhaps saving herself from a lecture. "Oh, you know, I'm just preparing to technically die again for the greater good of Beacon Hills. The usual." She casually told him. As silence followed she cringed, waiting for his reaction, perhaps telling him in a way that sounded so casual wasn't her best approach.

She could tell the exact moment that the pin dropped for him, when he truly processed what he had just been told, because she could hear a glass hit off of a glass table, she was sure that it was the table in the dining room of their Parisian apartment, looking out at a beautiful view of Paris. "What?" He asked, in a yell. "What the hell, Kinsey? Chris said that everything was fine, what the hell are you doing ritually sacrificing yourself again?"

"Actually this isn't so much of a sacrifice as it is a-"

"Stiles is letting you do this?" Isaac interrupted her excuse of trying to make a fair point. It hurt him to spit out those words, to think that someone else was supposed to be there to protect her instead of him, and it seemed that Stiles wasn't doing much of a good job if he was willing to let her sacrifice herself, or whatever she wanted to call it.

The brunette cleared her throat. "Stiles and I aren't exactly on speaking terms at the moment." She admitted to him, unaware that the boy himself was lingering at the kitchen door, he caught that snippet of the conversation, unsure who she was talking to as he began hiding behind the door, ready to find out who she was confessing that to. Of course, Isaac had asked why, what he had done that was so bad that she wouldn't even speak to him, or even what she had done for him to not speak to her. "I, uh, I found out about Malia."

"Oh." He mumbled. He didn't need any elaboration, he knew what she meant, and now she had confirmed that he knew too, giving her a rough timeline of just how long this had been a thing. It was before he left, perhaps before Allison died. Meaning that everyone knew. Everyone. She had been lied to more than she thought.

There was a long pause between that mumble and their next words. Kinsey sat in silence, tracing her fingers along the wooden table as she thought about just how many people had known that a coyote they had saved in the woods one day was her sister, she wondered if her father was told about it too, or if he too had been kept out of the loop. During the moment of silence Isaac knew what he had to say to her, he was about to do something he never imagined himself doing, just thinking about it made him sick. Defending Stiles was the last thing he thought he would do. He was always on the offensive side, but he knew that Stiles had good intentions, he had only done what the rest of them had- tried to protect her.

"You know..." He began. "If Stiles kept it from you, it was probably for good reason." He said as a chill ran down his spine, his stomach churning, a little vomit in his mouth.

"Wow," Kinsey mumbled. "Did Isaac Lahey just defend Stiles Stilinski?" She laughed. "Paris has really done a number on you, huh?" The boy hummed in agreement, maybe it had.

The mention of his name had confirmed Stiles's suspicion as he rested his head back on the wall with even more regret than ever, he had pushed her right back into Isaac's arms, the person she believed could do no wrong, compared to him, who had done a lot of wrong in very little time. It was inevitable, he could expect that once she woke up and this dead pool was over that she and Argent would flea to France, this time, she would join him, to reunite with Isaac.

"I just wish someone would have told me sooner." She admitted.

"Would it have made a difference?" Isaac questioned her, she stammered for an answer, unsure what he meant. So he clarified. "If one of us had told you sooner, maybe even before Allison. Do you really think it would have made a difference? Or if Allison had been the one to tell you about it? Or would you have been just as mad about it? Because I think I know the answer to that."

"He lied to me, Isaac. For months."

"And you lied to me. For months. You lied to everyone. Allison, Lydia, your uncle. Stiles." He gave her a list. "I know you're mad at him, and maybe you have the right to be, but he was just trying to protect you like the rest of you were. There was never a good time to tell you, something had always come up. Allison wanted to be the one to tell you but-"

I get it, she told him, stopping him before he could mention her any further. Perhaps there was a little hypocrisy in her reaction, but she needed time to wrap her head around all of this. But she knew now that she would have to talk to Stiles at some point, sooner than she intended to, that perspective she had gotten from Scott wouldn't be good enough. As for today, it was too soon to hear him out, her blood still heated up when she thought about it.

Stiles heard Liam call him from upstairs, faintly enough that he could hear it, but with her phone pressed to her ear, it seemed to go over Kinsey's head, leaving his eavesdropping shenanigans uncovered for the moment. But he knew now he would have to interrupt her call, he was meant to have brought her upstairs by now, the kitsunes were ready for her.

He cleared his throat as he emerged in the doorway, knocking on it to alert her of his presence if coughing wasn't enough. Kinsey looked up at him, for the second time her brown eyes met the guilty ones he wore, he didn't speak a word, nor did he have to, she knew that was her cue to go. I have to go, she told Isaac as she stood up. But before they parted ways for however long they'd take to call each other again, she had one last thing to say to him. Thank you, she told him. Stay safe, Kins, he warned her.

The entire time Kinsey walked behind Stiles she remained quiet, anticipating the worst, she was expecting to find Scotty laying in his bed, technically dead after Kira and her mother managed to successfully slow his heart to almost a complete stop. At least she was hoping for that, maybe it had been so long since she had excused herself to go downstairs that they had decided to go on without her, testing it on Scott before she had her turn. Relieving her of having to watch Scott go through it before she had to. But that dream was shattered as she reached the door.

All heads turned to her as she reached the door, Scott sat up slightly, his shirt unbuttoned as he lay on his bed, very much alive. Kira had told her that they were waiting for her to come back, it seemed best that she and Scott do this together. While Kinsey was grateful that they'd thought of her, she wished they hadn't. She wasn't quite sure she was pumped up enough to do this yet. But the show must go on.

Her breaths were shaky as she pulled off her blue oversized plaid shirt, leaving her in her white tank top where the skin of her chest was revealed, allowing whichever Kitsune who would stop her heart easy access, they would need it from what Noshiko had told them. That had been the reason she had excused herself, she was overwhelmed by the process that she was going to go through, it was much more complicated than an ice bath. She had no idea of what Noshiko had said when she left the room, how she had never done this before, only she had seen it. If Liam's confidence was knocked hearing that Kinsey's would have been obliterated.

Let's do this. She announced, feigning confidence as Scott budged over. As she took the space on the bed beside him the two of them refused to look at one another, scared it would knock an already minuscule amount of confidence. Noshiko told Kira to put her hand over Scott's heart as she did the same to Kinsey, as the brunette girl took another deep breath she grabbed ahold of Scott's hand, hoping it would bring her comfort like it had many times before. While it did bring her comfort it turned out that Scott was the more nerve-wracked between them, as Kira moved to place her hand on his chest he quickly grabbed it, stopping her.

"Hold on." He pleaded, turning to Noshiko. "What happens while we're out? Are we gonna feel anything?" The Alpha questioned, it was something Kinsey hadn't thought about until now, and now she was more concerned for her safety than ever.

"It might feel like you're dreaming," Noshiko told them.

Kinsey sat up slightly as she looked up at the woman, adding a question of her own before she lost her chance. "Good dreams or bad?" She questioned, unsure whether she really wanted to know that information, maybe surprises were good sometimes.

"I suppose that depends on you." The woman proposed.

With a groan, the brunette lay back down. Great, she mumbled. The girl known for paranoia and bad dreams, of course, it would be the latter of the two, it was a stupid question. Feeling a little worse for wear Scott lay back down too, knowing that it was best not to ask any more questions. He took ahold of the huntress's hand again, this time the two looked at one another, giving the other a reassuring nod before turning back to the ceiling. Kira and Noshiko took this as their cue to begin the process as they reached for the hearts of the two teenagers again. As they placed a hand on their bare skins sparks began to fly, electrocuting their hearts as Scott and Kinsey began gasping for air, clinging onto that last bit of life. 

Sirens wailed as two ambulances pulled up to the hospital, paramedics yelling at people to get out of their way as they rushed to bring the patients from the back of the ambulance, both had oxygen masks over their mouths in a desperate attempt to revive them, wires attached to their chests as the heart monitor released a single beep, a flat line. But that didn't stop them, the two patients weren't dead yet, there was still hope. 

Dr. Geyer directed the patients to Trauma 2 and 3, ordering for another set of IV's and EPI's to be pushed as he walked alongside one of the two beds. He followed the first bed to trauma 2 while another doctor handled the second bed. He personally performed the defibrillation process, his own hands pushing down the defibrillator onto his patients chest. He tried it twice, desperate to bring his patient back to life, perhaps more determined than he would be with any other patient that walked through the hospital doors, but the monitor continued to flatline. He had no choice.

He sighed as he looked down from the monitor, announcing that he was calling it. Time of death 2102 hours, he read on his watch. 

A knock sounded on the doors of the trauma room, a nurse waiting patiently as Dr. Geyer gave her a solemn look, he could see it across his face, but he waited for her to say it, to ask for him to give confirmation on the time of death of the other patient. With a bowed head he followed her to Trauma 3, seeing a limp body of a brunette girl laying there. He looked at his watch again, the time of death was 2103 hours. 

Scott McCall and Kinsey Argent were dead. 

Wiping her tears, Melissa McCall walked into the morgue. She had put on the act of her life, she'd convinced the entirety of the hospital her son and Kinsey Argent were dead, her screams echoed through the halls. Her sobs would be a sound burnt into the memory of everyone who'd heard it. They would all remember the moment that Dr. Geyer told her that her son was dead, they would remember the cold chill that washed through the hospital. They would remember the moment a man named Chris Argent burst through the doors with red puffy eyes, shouting, demanding that someone told him where his niece was, what had happened to her. And when he'd been told the same news, he too released a sob that would be remembered by those in the hospital, they had left their mark with their show. Just like the plan entailed. 

Neither of them quite had to act, all they had to do was think about what they would do if their son or their niece really did die, how they would feel if they were called and told that something had happened to them. It shouldn't have been so easy to imagine that possibility, but with the lives that Kinsey and Scott lived, the trouble that infiltrated them, it wasn't hard to imagine the possibility of a call like that. 

Melissa approached the table where everyone crowded around the two "dead" bodies, she had a moment to look at the two of them, seeing how still they were, how corpse-like. There wasn't a single movement in their chests, not a single sign of life inside of their young bodies. She'd never thought she would see such a thing. "I still hate this plan." She deadpanned as she looked at the others around the table, and they agreed. "I mean this is pretty significantly terrifying. They look dead." She mumbled with a croak in her voice, swallowing down the nausea.

"Give me your hand." Noshiko proposed as she held out her own.

Melissa looked at the Stilinski boy who stood beside her, he nodded, telling her it was okay, he'd had the same worry, so Noshiko had done the same thing for him with Kinsey. The nurse gave a hand to Noshiko, allowing her to place it over Scott's heart. Melissa gasped slightly, she couldn't feel a thing. He had no heartbeat. Wait for it, Noshiko urged her. And just like that a slow, steady, but weak heartbeat pulsated onto her palm. A relief to any mother. 

"Is that enough to keep them alive?" Melissa questioned.

Enough for an Alpha, Noshiko agreed. She could see the relief on the nurse's face when she had heard that, but then the penny dropped as Melissa realized she said enough for an Alpha. What about Kinsey? Melissa thought as she looked to Stiles immediately. The boy cleared his throat as he tried to think how to word it, they hadn't actually told Kinsey, it seemed best that this was an experience that surprised her, if they did tell her, she might have backed out, but truly, they'd all agreed that it might be exactly what she needed right now. 

"Because of what she is, an Angel, an anchor of sorts between our world and that of the dead, it will work a little differently for her," Noshiko told the woman, helping Stiles out. "Scott will just feel like he's inside of a dream. But Kinsey... she will go there."

There? Melissa questioned. Where's there? She repeated, needing a little more emphasis on the point, she looked between any of them for an answer, she didn't expect that Stiles would be the one to spit it out, he seemed just as on edge as she was. But he did tell her. The afterlife, he said, at least that was what Kinsey referred to it as. He told her that she had been there before. When they had sacrificed themselves, she saw her aunt Talia there before she was taken to the root of their problems. The Nemeton. They couldn't be sure if that was what would happen this time, it was still such a mystery how she worked, but they were all under the assumption that she would find herself there again, and they all hoped for her sake that she would find the person that she needed to talk to most in her life right now. 

Still slightly confused, Melissa nodded, digressing for now as she asked how much time they had to do this. Forty-five minutes they told her. What happened after that? She asked again. Kira had slightly misunderstood the question as she told the woman that they would bring them back the same way. Melissa shook her head, asking the more gory questions, she wanted to know exactly what would happen if they stayed like this for longer than forty-five minutes. 

The three teenagers all shared a look with one another, they had hoped that neither she nor the huntress's uncle would ask that question, too afraid to tell them the answer. Noshiko looked at the three of them, no one's told her? The woman asked, it was clear what the answer was. They had refrained from mentioning it, they knew that Melissa would never agree if she knew that the chances were so dangerous. Hell, she had barely agreed without knowing that information. She became wearier as she looked around the group, asking once again what happened if Scott and Kinsey were out for longer than forty-five minutes. 

Noshiko put it simply for her. They die.

Kinsey Argent opened her eyes with a sharp breath, startled by a cruel wind that rudely brushed itself against the bare skin of her arms, making her regret removing her beloved plaid shirt when she had agreed to, once again, temporarily kill herself for the sake of the supernatural. Her hand reached for her heart as she waited for it to beat, she waited patiently for it, scared at how long it was taking, whether she would have a heartbeat at all, but it came, a small flicker, somehow that was enough to keep her alive for those forty-five minutes. Though it was clear she was alive, in a sense, she still felt like a ghost floating around, as though she didn't truly exist, perhaps that was how this bad dream began, with her as a ghost, seeing everyone she love pass her by without an incline that she was there.

After confirming that she was truly alive, Kinsey finally thought to look at where her "death" had brought her this time, where exactly did thousands of volts inside of a heart send a person? She hadn't noticed before, but she stood on the edge of cliffs, a sea of twinkling lights before her, an all too familiar sight that warmed her up on the inside, her lips pulling into a smile. Kinsey didn't hesitate to sit down on the edge of the cliffs of Lookout Point like she usually did, it had been so long since she had visited, it felt strange being here without Allison. If her death had brought her here it couldn't be a bad dream, not in a place that felt so much like home to her. She could only remember one time she hadn't been here with Allison, and that was when she brought Stiles to the one place that allowed her to clear her mind and forget about all of the things going on in an otherwise hectic life. He had needed that then. Now, she needed it again. Even her subconscious knew that she needed it, perhaps it was how much she had been thinking about Allison lately, or even Stiles, despite how mad at him she might have been. 

Now that she was here she wished she had said something to him, just one word perhaps, so she didn't feel so bad if this entire plan wasn't successful. She knew the statistics were slim, maybe a little too slim, but as she did every time something like this arose, she told herself that this was what she was supposed to, her duty. To protect people. Whether that be as an Angel or a hunter. Even if it meant temporarily dying a few times. Or even permanently. 

Another cold, harsh wind brushed against her tanned skin, making her shiver as it blew through her air, a feeling that she both loved and hated. She loved the freedom that it allowed her to feel, the serenity of sitting up here alone, staring down at the town she had fallen in love with almost the second that she had driven past the border. It reminded her of all the memories that she had made here, the good, the bad, the ugly, and she didn't regret a single one of them. Without this town, she would be nothing but a confused girl with an interesting future ahead of her, one that she wouldn't understand had it not been for the supernaturals in this town. But the part that she hated was how it could feel lonely sometimes, like now, she would have much rather shared this moment with some. Allison, who would rant about their life perhaps, or listen whole she ranted about it instead. Or the times when the two of them would just sit up here and watch the lights as though it were a movie. Even now she would have taken Stiles sitting beside her, even if that resulted in complete silence, at least she could have the comfort of knowing that she wasn't on her own. There were a few more people that she would have liked to be here, but the fact was it wasn't possible, and perhaps it would never be possible again. That thought kept coming back to her. The thought that she might not go back, somehow, that didn't scare her. 

"Did nobody tell you that it was January?" A voice came from behind her as Kinsey's head slowly turned towards it, a furrowed brow as she did so, wondering how that was possible. Allison wore a smile across her face as she stood with folded arms, a plaid shirt thrown over one of them, she, unlike Kinsey, had come prepared for the cold breeze that was up here. Kinsey stood up, her jaw on the floor, in complete disbelief, what had remained of her heartbeat felt like it had dissipated entirely. "You're gonna catch a cold." Allison mothered her as she tossed the plaid shirt at Kinsey who caught it as though it was second nature to her. Even then, it still didn't seem real. 

Kinsey's lip quivered as she tried to get out the words, perhaps a question of how this was even possible. "Allison." The brunette mumbled with joy as she rushed towards her cousin that stood welcoming her with open arms, tears already streaming down their flushed cheeks, giggling like they were little kids who had finally reunited to spend Christmas together. Their hug was tight, it was comforting, everything that it needed to be. Everything they had been missing. 

Neither of them had imagined this moment would come, at least not so soon, they had thought about it, perhaps more than they should have, but never was Kinsey seventeen and dying for the sake of a dead pool. She was old, grey, and wrinkly after living a long and fulfilling life, when she had a million stories to tell Allison even though there hadn't been a single big moment that the older brunette hadn't watched over. Their reunion would be peaceful, they would be together, it would be the last time they had ever had to part again. It wasn't this soon. 

"I can't believe your here." Allison sobbed as she looked over her cousin, somehow, she seemed so different. Allison had spent the past two months watching her from over here, making sure to not miss a single big moment of her cousin's life, she had seen it all, the small changes that she had been through, or even the big ones. But now that Kinsey was in front of her she had realized just how much Kinsey had changed. It started with the dark brown hair, she could remember the day that happened, she had watched Kinsey dye it with some help from Lydia who cringed while doing it, and she had cringed too, natural hair was something they hadn't seen on her for a very long time. For Lydia- at all. They both knew the red hair would come back one day, this was just Kinsey's easy of trying to bring back parts of her old life, hoping it would heal her. Her hair was a small change in comparison to other things. Like the fact she was slowly becoming a werewolf, a hard thing to watch her go through when she knew how much Kinsey didn't want it. She feared if Kinsey continued to change that they would hardly recognize each other one day in the future when her cousin was supposed to be here. "You and Scott just can't stay out of trouble." Allison laughed with a small, slightly disapproving, shake of her head. 

"You know?" Kinsey questioned, her brow furrowed again.

Allison nodded, everything, she told her with a solemn look, a hint of guilt behind her eyes that she had watched Kinsey go through it all without her and there was nothing she could do about it. There was no need to list off exactly what she had seen happen in the past few months, there wasn't enough time in the world for that, let alone the ticking clock of forty-five minutes. Kinsey didn't need the reminder either, between Kate coming back, dead pools, and all of the loss that she had suffered Kinsey would never need the reminder of her seventeenth year. Allison looked at the cliff of Lookout Point, the place they had sat so many times to talk about their lives, to be at peace with one another. It was time to do that again. Only this time would be nothing like the pastime they were used to, this wouldn't be talking about shared memories, it would be a catch up on how much Kinsey's life had changed in the absence of her best friend. Her sister. 

Without a word spoken, Kinsey knew what Allison was thinking as she held out a hand, ready to spend what remained of her ticking clock with her best friend, perhaps she could shed a light on her hectic life from a perspective that nobody else had. 

>> 𝙺𝙸𝙽𝚂𝙴𝚈 𝙰𝚁𝙶𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝚂𝙲𝙾𝚃𝚃 𝙼𝙲𝙲𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝙳𝙴𝙰𝙳. 𝙿𝙰𝚈𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚁𝙴𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙳.

Stiles Stilinski and Chris Argent stared at those words illuminated on the computer screen, Chris never thought he would have typed such words, not about his niece anyway, Scott on the other hand, he had dreamed about killing over a handful of times. Stiles never thought he would read them either, but it wasn't that that made him stare into those words to The Benefactor with such depth. He was more surprised by the lack of oomph. They had just technically killed the biggest, most expensive, and rare supernatural creatures on the dead pool, in fact, in the world. And that was all Argent had written about it was those two simple sentences. It was... underwhelming, to say the least. He thought there would be more "assassin speak" as he called it, Argent was a big, quite successful hunter after all, he assumed that he would have some better vocabulary for the death of his rare supernatural niece. 

"They're dead." Chris deadpanned with a shrug. "What else do you want?"

"It's just a little dry." The teenager complained. "You could have said something like, Target has been neutralized. The crow flies at midnight. That's always cool."

Argent hummed as he tried to figure out what exactly his niece saw in the boy in front of him, he could be a little strange, a little dramatic. Sometimes, he was convinced that Stiles thought they were all in some big supernatural movie, the kid had definitely watched too much television, he lived in a very unrealistic world, even more so than the actual unrealistic world they lived in. The hunter didn't get time to comment on Stiles's suggestions to announce the death of his niece, he had been interrupted by a beep from the computer that startled both of them.

>> 𝚅𝙸𝚂𝚄𝙰𝙻 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙵𝙸𝚁𝙼𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙸𝚂 𝚁𝙴𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙳.

Stiles rushed to type back on the computer as Argent looked at him with a raised brow, he took a big step back with raised hands, surrendering, hoping that his small step over an extremely thin line wouldn't cost him his life. Argent nodded at the computer, allowing Stiles to live through his little fantasy, with some guidance, telling him what to reply to The Benefactor. 

>> 𝚅𝙸𝚂𝚄𝙰𝙻 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙵𝙸𝚁𝙼𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙸𝚂𝙽'𝚃 𝙿𝙾𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙱𝙻𝙴. 𝙿𝙾𝙻𝙸𝙲𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚃𝙾 𝙲𝙻𝙰𝙸𝙼 𝙱𝙾𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚂 𝙸𝙽 𝟺𝟶 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝚄𝚃𝙴𝚂.

Within a matter of seconds, The Benefactor had replied, eager to get confirmation on the death of Kinsey Argent and Scott McCall. Stiles mumbled as he read the message aloud, the Benefactor repeating that visual confirmation was required for payment. Argent sighed, growing frustrated as he leaned on the bench, planning out their next reply, his response becoming more and more heartless towards his dead niece by the minute. Number one on the list is dead. I killed her. Chris spoke, Stiles' eyes widening. He chose to focus on Kinsey, the more appealing offer, Scott would simply act as a bonus for them. 

Chris continued planning his message. "If the wire transfer is completed in forty minutes..." The hunter told Stiles to type before choosing to do it himself, snatching the computer from Stiles's hands as the boy stepped back, sensing the frustration. It was just like Kinsey when she was mad at him, pushy. The teenager watched as Chris typed the final part of his message. 

>> 𝙸'𝙼 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝙵𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚈𝙾𝚄.

·❥·

Stiles Stilinski frantically paced the morgue, his one hand rubbing his temples, the other holding the phone that was pressed to his ear as he tried to get ahold of Argent. Things had taken a turn for the worst, with less than half an hour until they had to bring back Kinsey and Scott all of their surveillance cameras had stirred up some problems. First, they lost the feed for the cameras that were on the roof, encouraging Kira and Liam to go and investigate, Stiles was willing to be left on his own for that, all he had had to do was continue watching the cameras for anyone who looked suspicious. That he could handle. Not what had happened instead. Shortly after the roof camera had lost feed, so had the camera for the morgue, he couldn't risk leaving it or waiting for another person to check it out, not when that was where Kinsey and Scott were. He had to do it alone, he had no defense mechanism, at least not anything physical, he doubted sarcasm would work on a professional assassin trying to kill two of the rarest supernatural creatures. 

Lights flickered around Stiles as he begged Argent to pick up the phone, he kept his eyes on both of the doors to the refrigerated vaults that his best friend and Kinsey were being kept inside, the two of them were safe for now, but he couldn't determine how long for. He was going stressed, it was rare that Argent didn't answer his phone, at least in times of urgency, he assumed that if he called him on a regular day he would immediately reach the man's voicemail, but tonight Argent knew to be by his phone at all times, his niece's life depended on it. 

The boy shouted at his phone, asking why the man wasn't answering it, within a split second the doors were blown wide open, Argent himself flying through them, landing at his feet. There was his answer. Through his pained groans Argent warned Stiles to run, to get out of here, but Stiles, as per usual, was shaken up, he had just watched a hunter be thrown through the doors like the man weighed no more than a feather. He had seen Argent's physique, he had muscle weight. A kind of thing that he himself had none of. 

Before he could move even a finger the doors opened again, Kate Argent stepped through those flickering lights, standing over her brother's weak body as he looked at the startled teenage boy. Now he knew how Kinsey had felt. That feeling of seeing a ghost. His heart pounded in his chest as she stumbled backward, his hand resting on one of the refrigerated vaults, the one containing the woman's daughter. The girl Kate had admitted to wanting. Argent pulled himself up, placing himself in front of Stiles, prepared to protect him, his niece, and the werewolf in the other vault. 

"Get out of the way, Stiles." Kate deadpanned. "I'm taking her body."

"Why?" He asked. "Visual confirmation?"

Kate shook her head, a slight smirk as she stepped closer to them. "Don't worry, handsome. I'm not The Benefactor."

"Then what do you want with her body?" Chris spat out. 

"I wish I could tell you. But I don't think I need to justify taking my own daughter with me." Kate shrugged, she knew she was getting under her brother's skin, it had never taken much, but there was a weakness that always managed to get him riled up. And that was Kinsey. Her daughter, the girl notorious for having every person in this god-forsaken town willing to fight for her. Though it was slightly impressive, it was extremely annoying too. There was no getting near the girl, Kinsey was her daughter, she had the right to see her, whether that be in life or death, Kinsey was hers. Argent swung for his sister, grabbing her arms as she failed to put up a sufficient fight, soon Chris had a gun pressed to her head, looking straight in the eyes of his little sister, but all he could see was a monster, someone who he didn't recognize as family, but an enemy. "I always forget that you carry two." Kate scoffed. 

"Back off!" Argent yelled in her face, never had she heard so much anger lace his tone. They had had many fights over the years, they were siblings, of course they had. They spent years of their lives living together, at each other's necks, screaming at one another like brother and sisters did but this. This was different. This was anger at its finest. It was riveting seeing her big brother so worked up. It brought joy in a way nothing else could.  

"You sure you can pull the trigger fast enough?" Kate asked calmly.

"I don't want to."

"You're not going to kill me. You know Kinsey would never forgive you for that."

"I'm not going to let you take her body." Chris spat out at her again, his finger lingering over the trigger, so tempted to hurt his sister, she deserved it, that was for sure. 

She had put them through hell. She had hurt, killed. Lied. There was truth in what Kate said, her daughter might not be the biggest fan of her right now, or for a long time, that was true, but Kate was still her mother and it was something that she'd had to live with. Just like she had lived with Peter Hale being her father. Her parents were bad people, sometimes she wished them dead too, and she would admit that. It wasn't as though neither of them had been dead before. Despite all of that, she was still a girl who needed to have parents, part of her who still cared for them, even if it was deeper than it should be. And she truly wouldn't forgive him for being the person who'd taken her mother away from her, bringing back that feeling she had felt the first time. 

Stiles cleared his throat, the tension of a gun being pointed at Kinsey's mother getting to him, he didn't have the best relationships with guns lately. He suggested that the two of them talk about their deep routed problems over some coffee, he was sure he had seen a vending machine in the halls that they could use. Of course, it was a suggestion neither of the Argents were open to. Like Kinsey often did when he suggested something stupid, they ignored him. 

Argent told his sister to listen to him. That they had a plan in motion, she didn't listen to him, of course, she didn't. She took the opportunity to tell her brother that if it involved killing Scott and Kinsey then he was even worse than her, hitting him where it would hurt. Comparing them. That was something that he had always hated. Stiles tried to support the hunter, agreeing that it was the truth, that they were trying to get to The Benefactor.

"If you didn't notice you're on that list too. And worth more than most." Argent snarled.

"That's why I'm here!"

"Then back off and let us do what we planned." Chris urged. Kate turned her brother's arm, the face of his counting down clock looking at them. Just three minutes left. Kate's eyes widened slightly, she too thought they had more time. In three minutes her daughter was dead, gone for good. And that rattled even her. "Take the Berserkers, and go. Kate, please. We have a plan. I'm not going to let her die."

Kinsey Argent sat twiddling her fingers as she looked across the sea of lights again, her and the older brunette shared a calming, comforting silence. After all of the talking about what she had been through in the past three months, she needed the silence. Frankly, she hadn't realized just how much had happened, her life was so fast-paced she never had the time to sit and take it all in, like this. She had gone through so much and had just tossed it aside as though it was nothing because there simply wasn't any time to think about how it made her feel. She had never truly sat and thought about Isaac leaving, how she really felt about their breakup, how he was willing to sacrifice what they had so she could explore what she had clearly always had with Stiles. She had barely processed Allison's death, though that couldn't be blamed on her hectic life as much as it could her avoiding any talk of it. Her mother had come back from the dead, and before she had even had a chance to think about that she was fighting off a dead pool with her name on it. Life was becoming too much for her, she couldn't handle much more of it. 

She wasn't sure how further she could be pushed before she went off of the rails. Everything in her life was a mess right now. Her relationship was in shambles. Her mother running around the town with some kind of bone people. Her father had paid for a bounty over her mother's head. She had a sister that she had spent months around calling a best friend. There wasn't an inch of her life that could be compared to the average teenager. She knew she wasn't supposed to be a normal teenager, she was a death-predicting, voice-hearing Angel who could become a hybrid of an Angel and a wolf any day now, all it took was her death, and there were plenty of chances for it to happen. She nearly died every day. But she just wanted to be normal.

With another sniffle the younger brunette wiped her tears, turning to Allison with the chance to admit something that she felt like she couldn't admit to anyone else, nobody else understood it. Her. "I don't want to do it, Allison." 

"Do what?" The older brunette asked softly.

"I don't want to be me anymore. I don't wanna be there. I don't want to go back." She admitted. "I can't keep waking up wondering if today will be the day I die, whether it will be the day that I lose someone else." The girl explained, her lip quivering as her voice broke. "I can't do it, Allison. I don't want to do it anymore." 

Allison grabbed ahold of the girl's hand, squeezing it tightly. She understood what she meant, it wasn't easy to watch it, let alone go through it. She couldn't understand why Kinsey would want to have it over with, to be freed from the worry that came with their life. But she knew her cousin and she knew that somewhere inside of her, she would never forgive herself if she gave up, if she chose to go back without being able to say goodbye to all of the people that she loved. Allison's hand pulled up the girl, pulling them from the edge of Lookout Point, Kinsey willingly went with her, willing to follow Allison anywhere, like always. Allison knew that their clock was ticking, she knew it was time for them to part, for how long she didn't know, but she hoped a long time, this was good, she missed this, but she didn't want it to happen again. Not for a long time. 

"I know it's hard. But it will get better, Kins. I promise." Allison reassured her.

Kinsey scoffed as tears continued rolling down her cheeks. "Really? You're giving me that cliché? It doesn't apply to us, Allison. Nothing ever gets better."

"It will." Allison remained adamant. "I promise you it will. You just need to stick it out and be the strong person you've always been. It's coming, it will be hard, but it's coming."

"How do you know?" The girl mumbled.

"Because I've seen it. That's why I did what I did. I saw what you could have. I saw the future you have. The same one that Kinsley saw. And you deserve that future, Kinsey. More than anyone." Allison wrapped the brunette in a hug, her own tears dripping onto her cousin's shoulder as they both shared a soft sob. With a smile, the former huntress pulled away. "I love you, Kinsey." 

Kinsey nodded as she continued sobbing, unable to catch her breath as she wiped her tears. The brunette girl closed her eyes for a split second, squeezing out the tears hoping they would stop. A split second. That was all it took. Because when she opened them again, she was alone. Allison was no longer in front of her, she was alone, the blue plaid shirt gone from her arms, leaving that cruel wind to brush against her tanned skin once again as she looked around frantically. This old spot had never felt so lonely. This was the nightmare, the bad dream she had been expecting, to be left alone once again, feeling as empty as ever. She wasn't willing to accept it. She wanted to stay here, for her cruel life to be over with, she didn't care what kind of future she was promised if she stayed alive, if she fought for it. She was sick of fighting. 

Her voice called for Allison as she looked around, expecting to find her lurking in the darkness, hiding, waiting for her to give up and accept her fate. But she wouldn't. Kinsey looked out at the woods that surrounded Lookout Point, determined to find Allison again, determined to stay here with her, prepared to give up the life she had left behind. A fast-paced walk turned into a run, her voice still shouting for Allison as she picked up the pace, brushing past the trees like she'd done a dozen times before. The branches scraped against her. The leaves crunched beneath the set of brown boots that she wore.

The beating of her heart was deafening, drowning out the sound of her own voice calling for her cousin, she felt as though time was running out, as those she was losing her breath, and not in a way all people felt when running. It felt like her life was slipping from her very body. It hurt, she could feel her heart suffocating as it prepared to give up completely. The Angel dropped down to her knees, gripping her chest, trying to catch her breath. Her tears dampened the soil. 

"Allison!" Her voice screamed again, bellowing through her ears, through the morgue, alongside it was the screaming of Scott McCall as both of them jolted upright on the tables, both startled to life, their breaths snatched out of their lungs as they gasped heavily, unable to tell whether this was real or another part of their torture. 

Two pairs of arms wrapped around the girl, stopping her struggling as he began breathing at the normal rate again, her heart steadying as it brought itself back up to a human rate, the calling of Allison's name fading as she looked up at the two people who held on to her. A relieved Stiles, a boy who had thought for a moment that he had lost them both, the time had just been running so slim, the plan had seemed to have collapsed. But she was here. In his arms again. She didn't speak as she averted her gaze to the next person. Her uncle Chris, though relieved, she saw that look on his face. Confusion. Wondering why she had called Allison's name when she woke up. It took only that look for her eyes to fill up again as Kinsey nodded, confirming for him that Allison had been there. That she had seen her again. 

Stiles stepped back as Argent hugged his niece tightly, stroking her head as she sobbed into his chest, still so unsure about how she felt about being back. Unsure whether it was the chance of being back with Allison talking, or whether she truly meant what she had said to her. She didn't want to do any of this anymore.