Pack Mentality // s. stilinski

Nine ✔️

Cadmus didn't go home after the incident at Scott's house. In fact, he'd driven around Beacon Hills for a good twenty minutes before actually deciding on a decision. He wouldn't have bothered anyone, but he didn't want to be alone, and he needed someone who wasn't part of the unnatural side of the town.

So he showed up at Matt Dahlers house unannounced, looking wrecked and tired and in need of several hugs. He knocked on the door, and when Matt opened it to reveal his best friend, his eyes widened. 

"You look like shit," he observed, glancing the boy over. He might not have any of the cuts or bruises anymore, but anyone could tell he was distressed. When Cadmus didn't answer, Matt pressed a comforting hand to his shoulder and guided him inside, stepping over a cat that had sprawled itself across the entrance hall. 

"I'm sorry," Cadmus found himself muttering, as he caught sight of the clock on Matt's oven. It was nearly midnight. "We have school tomorrow, I should be letting you sleep-"

"Hey, hey," Matt said softly, looking his friend in the eyes. "Who needs fucking sleep? I have a friend who needs me."

Cadmus almost smiled, his shoulders dropping in pure relief. But his head was a swarm of angry wasps, each word like a sting to his brain. He felt swollen inside, like his thoughts were about to poison him out of his body. His felt heavy- so heavy, he just wanted to not have to hold himself up on his own anymore. He let his head fall, and his forehead connected a bit harshly with Matt's right shoulder. That shorter teen was still for a moment, but then Cadmus was pressing his chest against Matt's and his hands were wrapped around his torso and Matt hugged him, letting the taller boy take any comfort in him that he needed. 

"I'm here," Matt assured his friend, pressing his hands into Cadmus' back with a hard pressure that let him know that he was there, embracing him. "I got you."

Cadmus groaned into Matt's shoulder, feeling awful. He didn't want to let go- he realized how long it had been since he had actually touched someone- innocently touched a friend; a hand on a wrist, an elbow against a side, a shoulder pressing into a shoulder. He gripped Matt tighter, and vice versa. He guessed, through his emotional haze, that Matt probably didn't get very many hugs himself. 

Finally, though, the two of them pulled apart, and Cadmus backed up to lean, defeated, against the kitchen counter. He stared at the ugly tiled floor, (maroon, really?) as Matt shuffled around, getting comfortable against the table across from him. The two of them stayed silent, Matt letting Cadmus adjust to whatever it was he needed to adjust to, and Cadmus stuck in a strange place not knowing whether to start talking or let the the silence continue on and wait for Matt to speak.

Matt finally seemed to realize that Cadmus wasn't about to start the conversation, so he pushed himself away from the table and stalked over to one of the cupboards. "You eaten anything recently?" he asked, rummaging through the shelves determinedly. 

Cadmus looked at him confusedly, like he was seeing him through a veil. He had to think about the question for a moment. "No?"

Pausing, Matt seemed to reconsider whatever he was looking for, then muttered "Fuck it" and pulled a glass bottle out of the cupboard, and two cups. He set them on the counter before going over to his fridge.

Cadmus eyes the bottle on the counter. "Is that-?"

"Mexican tequila," Matt finished proudly, taking out a 2 liter bottle of coke and turning around with a grin that was definitely there to diffuse the tension Cadmus had brought into the house. "My mom's got quite the collection. And no lock on the cupboard."

Cadmus blinked at his friend. He hadn't really seen Matt as the type to drink, but he wasn't complaining as the shorter boy brushed past him and headed towards the stairs at the end of the hall. He followed him compliantly, tip-toeing up the stairs behind him until they were going through a doorway and Matt was closing the door behind them and suddenly they were in his room.