EIGHT LETTERS || Liam Dunbar [2]

ELEVEN

"Thanks for dropping me off," Katherine mumbled to her brother, briefly punching his shoulder through the jeep window before walking up to Liam's front door.

"Text me if you need anything!" Stiles called.

Katherine nodded and waved before turning back to the door. Before she could even knock, Liam was swinging the door open. "I heard you walking up the stairs," he smiled sheepishly.

After offering him a weak smile, Katherine toed her shoes off and left them at the front door, then said a quick hello to his parents before going upstairs to Liams room. Then she flopped down on his bed face first and buried her face in his comforter.

She could hear him laugh at her as he shut the door, and Katherine couldn't help but smile too.

"Alright, now what's up," Liam asked, giving her back a light poke.

Katherine grumbled quietly for a moment, then rolled over so she was staring up at the ceiling, and she sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it right now," she mumbled, running a hand through her loose and tangled hair.

"Are you sure?" Liam murmured, giving her stomach a gentle and brief poke. "As your bestest friend in the whole world — I got the job the same day you gave me that Star Wars charm bracelet , so don't even give me that look Kat— it's my job to sit here and listen to whatever you have to say."

Katherine couldn't help but smile at that. "I'm sure," she promised him softly. "Like, really sure. And you had that job the day of the party. You should know that."

"You mean the day I tried to kill you, Scott and Kira?" Liam asked, raising a brow skeptically.

"Yes, that day, you nerd," Katherine rolled her eyes. "And I still don't want to talk about it. I'd rather just play Mario Cart or something like that for a little while."

Liam silently raised an eyebrow. "Mario Cart," he repeated.

Katherine grinned as she nodded. "Yeah, let's see if we're still 'besties' after I win."

"I don't appreciate the air quotations," he scoffed as he began to set everything up. "And if you ever win at Mario Cart,9 it's because I let you."

"Or because you're awful," Katherine countered in a sickly sweet tone.

Liam turned to look at her with his lips pursed and a crease in his brows for a moment before he flopped down on the bed next to her, holding out a controller. "I guess we'll just have to see about that."

•••

"Hah!" Katherine beamed, reaching an arm out and shoving Liam off the bed. "I told you you're terrible at this!"

"I already told you, Kat, I let you win," Liam rolled his eyes dramatically.

"You've been telling me that all night, Dunbar," Katherine snickered. "But sure, whatever helps you sleep at night."

There was a faint knock on the door as Liam shut the game off, and Doctor Dunbar peaked his head inside. "Time to go to sleep, you two," he murmured with a small grin. "And congratulations on beating him at Mario Cart. Fairly, of course."

Katherine stuck her tongue out at Liam childishly, causing his step dad to laugh before saying goodnight and closing the door.

"I'll grab you something that's probably more comfortable than jeans," Liam yawned as he stretched, wandering over to his dresser and pulling out an old tee shirt, then wandered out of the room and came back with a pair of loose leggings with a pink stripe down the side. "The pants are mums, so they should fit. I'll change in the bathroom and wait outside. Just let me know when you're done."

"Aye aye, Captain," Katherine muttered as he closed the door.

"Don't start quoting SpongeBob at me, you little geek," Liam yelled back through the closed door.

She just grinned.

It didn't take her long to change. By the time Liam knocked on the bedroom door, Katherine was rolling up the ankles of the sweatpants he'd given her and had tied her hair up into a messy bun to keep it out of her face while she slept.

"Alright, which side to you want?" Liam asked, gesturing to his rather small bed.

Katherine shrugged lightly, ignoring the anxiety growing in the pit of her stomach. "Don't really care, you pick." She knew she was going to have a nightmare, and judging by how anxious she already was, it was going to be a bad one.

Liam opened his mouth to repeat his question, knowing that she absolutely did care, but stopped to sniff the air. Then he frowned, his beautiful blue eyes focused on her.

"It's anxiety," Katherine told him quietly as she sat on the end of the bed and folded her legs beneath her. "I always get like this before one of my nightmares."

Liam nodded slowly, his frown deepening.

Once the two of them were comfortably under the covers, he switched off the bedside lamp. Katherine would be lying if she said she wasn't comforted by the feeling of his back against hers. She knew he wouldn't let anything happen to her; nightmares or real life.

She'd always have him.

And it wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep.

•••

Katherine stood there, unable to move as she watched the Oni close in on her friends.

Her family.

Her honorary big sister.

She wanted to scream at Allison — tell her to run, drop to the ground, anything — but it was as if her mouth had been glued shut.

And there she stood, forced to watch as the katana slid through Allison's abdomen. To see the look of pure shock on her face before she collapsed to the ground.

Isaac threw his arms around her and hid her face in his shoulder, but she felt an anguished cry bubble up her throat as her eyes fill with tears.

Katherine bolted up, a hand clamped over her mouth to keep from screaming. Her brown eyes were wide as she stared at the wall of Liam's bedroom, trying to muffle her sobs in hopes of not waking him up.

Tears spilled from her eyes as she tried to regain her composure, but when she felt Liam wrap his arms around her, his chest against her back and chin on her right shoulder, she broke down.

Her hands clamped around the arm holding her against him, and Katherine tried desperately to smother her panic. Her mouth stayed open as silent sobs fell from her lips, and her throat and chest began to ache.

No matter how much time had passed, that is always going to be a moment she knew she would never be free of.

The moment that would always haunt her.

A/N:
Sad bit kind of cute???