ELEANOR ERIKSON kept her promise to stiles stilinski. she didn't leave him that night. and while she went through surgery, and was in a hospital bed for over a month, he was by her side every single day. even when she wouldn't wake up to talk to him again.
"stiles. go home, kid. i'll call you if anything changes." dean erikson rested a strong hand on the boy's shoulder, waking him from his small nap. his hand was clamped in elle's as the girl's father looked down at him. he wasn't prepared to leave.
"with all due respect, sir, i'm not going anywhere." dean only smiled, before pulling a small chocolate bar from his pocket, and handing it to the boy. stiles smiled sadly as he looked at the bar. it was hershey's cookies and cream, elle's favourite.
"try waving it under her nose. might pull her out of there." stiles chuckled quietly, before unwrapping the bar and taking a small bite from it. her father sat on the other side of her bed, resting his head in his hands. he never thought he'd see his daughter fighting for her life in a hospital bed. but he did.
"i hope you're going to share that." there came a groggy voice in the room. a soft one, far too soft to have cone from either of the men in the room. while others had been to see her, some more than others, like isaac, stiles and her father were the two to stay by her side.
"oh my god. took you long enough, sunshine." she smiled softly as she heard the nickname, lifting a hand to rub the top of stiles' head gently. her father ran out to get a doctor, as stiles stayed with elle. she could see the colour had drained from his face, and the light had gone from his eyes. and it was her fault.
"aiden...?" she said quietly, looking to her boyfriend with a tear in her eye. she and aiden held each other as they slowly began dying, and she was the one to survive. call it survivor's guilt, but it hurt her. it hurt her more than anyone would ever know. she loved that little psycho more than she cared to say.
"oh! lydia told me to tell you, she rented out the notebook for you. she's bringing it over later." in the time that elle had been awake, stiles had sent a text to the group chat, which was almost silent. two of the seven people in that group were dead, and they would've cared the most for when she woke up.
she smiled softly, continuing to run a hand through his hair. "kiss me." she'd gone over a month without kissing stiles, and she was so used to doing it every day. she was so in love with him, and even being in a coma couldn't stop them. and so he leaned over, and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
they smiled into the kiss, cupping the back of each other's heads gently. as they pulled away with grins, they held each other's hands in a comfortable silence. it was ironic how the fresh prince of bel air played on the small tv in her room. that was their show. "hey, elle?" she hummed as a response, looking to stiles gently.
