Fear Can Break ↠ Liam Dunbar [Book 2]

✧Gone But Not Forgotten✧

Chapter Twenty - Three ✧Gone But Not Forgotten✧

Melissa McCall and I sat silently on the front steps of the house. 

After discovering the body inside with Melissa, I'd told Mason he should leave. He didn't argue, but he did make me promise that we would talk about the things that were going on with me. Then, it was my turn not to argue with him. 

Once it was just the two of us, Melissa and I decided to wait outside. She had called the sheriff, but neither of us wanted to wait for him inside with a dead body. We were mostly quiet as we sat outside, which was fine with me as I still was recovering from the emotional rollercoaster I had already gone through that night. Between having my hideous secret uncovered and then my maybe-boyfriend kidnapped, along with a girl I was really starting to consider a new friend, my mind was just a little bit too hazy to carry a usual conversation. 

Melissa seemed exhausted, too. It probably didn't help that she had discovered a body after pulling a late shift, but then again I guess there really was no good time to find a dead body, either. But even as she sat silently next to me, she treated me like the daughter she never had by loosely wrapping an arm over my shoulder and hugging me to her body. At some point she decided to lean her head against mine which I wasn't going to object to. 

It had probably only taken Sheriff Stilinski five minutes to get to us, but it felt closer to five hours. Maybe it was the fact that it was very late at night, or maybe it was the fact that it felt like the entire world was falling a part, but either way time seemed to be moving extra slow in Beacon Hills. 

Sheriff Stilinski gave us both a tired nod by way of greeting as he got out of his car. Slowly and tiredly, both Melissa and I uncurled our bodies and stood up. I don't know about Melissa, but it took me a few moments to mentally prepare myself for what was about to come next. 

"I haven't been able to reach the boys, either," Stilinski informed us. 

I thoroughly wished that Scott and Stiles not picking up their phones was the height of our current issues. 

Melissa didn't say anything to the Sheriff but instead was visibly trying to collect herself. It was a task I couldn't imagine trying to make myself do and proved for the billionth time that Melissa McCall was one of the strongest women in the world. Sheriff Stilinski seemed to note the pain in her eyes as she did so, because he gave her a concerned frown. 

"I, uh, thought you said you had a situation?" The Sheriff asked. His eyes glanced over to me as if to see if I could be of any help, but I was pretty sure I couldn't form a coherent sentence at the moment. His eyes fell back on to Melissa. 

"Yes, but complicated," Melissa agreed. She once again hesitated before continuing. "If you come in, I need you to leave your badge at the door." 

Sheriff's expression was ninety-eight percent confused and two percent amused. "Uh, literally, or figuratively?" He questioned as he motioned to the sheriff's badge that he had pinned to his jacket. 

"Both would be preferable," Melissa answered flatly.  

The sheriff sighed. "Melissa... I, uh, set my badge a few too many times these past few weeks," He explained. Any hint of amusement before was as dead as the girl in our kitchen that he had yet to learn about. 

"Well, you may need to do it a few more considering what our kids get into during their free time," Melissa responded. "So do you want to come in or not?" 

At her words, I wondered how much more trouble we'd get in if Stiles' dad wasn't the sheriff. Then again, if any one else had been the Sheriff these past few years, I'm pretty sure they would've left town a while ago.