thelxiepeia | s.stilinski (SLOW UPDATES)

chapter twenty three

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*2.11 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

'isaac? stay safe. don't do anything stupid. oh, and one more thing, tell stiles i'll watch gossip girl with him if he makes a shot. love you dude, don't get killed'

✧༺♥༻✧

Stiles was sat in the guidance counsellors office, having a meeting with Ms. Morrell, the school's new guidance counsellor. Lottie had advised him to make the visit as he'd been struggling the past few days since the night of Matt's death. So she sat in wait outside whilst he vented.

"You know, when you're drowning, you don't actually inhale until right before you're about to black out. It's called voluntary apnea." He said to Ms Morrell as he tightened the knots on his lacrosse stick. His hands were fiddling non-stop at the minute, if he wasn't holding Lottie's hand, his hands weren't still. "It's like no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct to not let water in is so strong, you won't open your mouth until you feel like your head's exploding."

What he hadn't mentioned was, since learning about the true nature of Matt's death, he'd done copious amounts of research whilst Lottie was asleep next to him. And he wasn't thinking about the trauma Matt went through... no, he was thinking of the hours of torture Lottie went through, all alone.

"But when you finally do let it in, that's when it stops hurting. It's not scary anymore. It's actually kind of peaceful." He finished. It's the only thing that brought him peace when he began to panic about Lottie drowning over and over again. It's like the whole situation had reminded him of how scary Lottie's situation actually was. And how nobody ever spoke about it. Not even Lottie.

"Are you saying you hope Matt felt some peace in his last moments?" Morrell asked.

"I don't feel sorry for him. If that's what you're asking." He answered, glancing up at the window, before returning his gaze to the window, seeing Lottie sat outside waiting for him.

"Can you feel sorry for the nine year-old Matt who drowned?" Morrell continued her questions.

"Just because a bunch of dumbasses dragged him into a pool when he couldn't swim doesn't mean he's allowed to kill them off one-by one. And, by the way, did you know his favourite pastime was taking pictures of Lottie? She told my dad she saw some on his camera and when they searched his computer, they found hundreds, if not thousands of pictures. And not just of her. Matt Photoshopped himself into them. Stuff like them holding hands and kissing. Like he'd built this whole fake relationship. So drowning might have sent him off the rails, but the dude was definitely riding the crazy train." Stiles rambled. The fury he had felt when he found out was incomparable, however the fury his dad felt almost matched.

"One positive thing came out of it, though. Right?" Morrell tried, reminding Stiles that his father had been given his job and badge back, officially reinstated as Sheriff.

"Yeah, but it still feels like there's something wrong between us. Like there's this tension whenever we talk. Same thing with Scott."

"Not Lottie?"

"Never Lottie. She's been staying with us since that night. She's the uh- the only one that can help me get to sleep." Stiles admitted bashfully. He just felt at ease around the girl and what he needed right now was ease.

"Have you talked to Scott since that night?"

"Not really. He's got his own problems to deal with..." Stiles admitted cautiously. Since Melissa had found out about Scott being a werewolf, tensions were running high in the McCall household, with the older woman ignoring her son who was desperate to explain and talk it through with her. He had replied to one of Lottie's texts saying he'd speak to her soon but other than that? Nothing. "No, I'm pretty sure he hasn't talked to Allison either. But that's more her choice, I think."