EIGHT LETTERS || Liam Dunbar [2]

TWENTY SIX

A/N: I just wanna say that this chapter is a bit angsty, and I wrote it while listening to Someone Else by Beth Crowley, which is linked above, so I recommend listening to that while you read just to catch the proper vibe if that makes any sense. You've been warned. And I'm not gonna lie this is a monster chapter for me, over 3.5k words.

Please don't hate me after this.

Also I meant to post this like four days ago, then went through a midlife crisis where I hated the way it felt and didn't want to post it coz I thought it sucked and rewrote a couple parts of it. Hopefully I fixed it and it doesn't suck??? Idk.

"You know you don't have to actually baby sit me, right?" Theo snorted.

Pulling her gaze away from the window in front of her, Katherine looked over the center console of his truck and met his gaze. "Yeah, I know," she admitted. "I just know that if I stayed at the house with Lydia, I wouldn't be able to help, and I want to."

They had been driving for nearly fifteen minutes, and Katherine hadn't been able to stop her leg from bouncing anxiously. Her bat was rolling across the floor at her feet,

"Waiting for a call or something?"

"Hmm?" Katherine glanced up, brows furrowing as she looked over at Theo. He was staring at her expectantly, like he already knew the answer but just wanted her to confirm his thoughts. "Oh," she mumbled, realizing she was tightly gripping her phone and probably reeked of anxiety. "Nothing in particular, just a...a general call...generally...a general one...you know...it's...it's general."

"I see," he chuckled. "You know it's fine that you're crushing on your best friend though, right? I happens to pretty much everyone at some point."

She scoffed in an unnecessarily dramatic way. "Uh, yeah, I know that." She tried to hide her misery while also wanting to know how the hell he figured it out. Then she remembered chemosignals, and internally sighed. Great. "I just don't like the fact that I have a crush on anyone in general—" generally "—No time for it. Now shut up, I'm babysitting you, remember?"

Theo snorted. "Yeah, okay."

"Shhhhhhhhhhh."

Carefully, to avoid drawing his attention again, Katherine checked her phone. Still nothing. God dammit, Liam...Scott...come on.

Biting down harshly on her bottom lip, Katherine returned to anxiously staring out the window, thumb absentmindedly tapping against the screen of her phone.

Part of her knew that this was exactly why she hadn't ever let herself have a crush on anyone before, this very specific feeling of anxiety. The kind where she would put her trust, and faith, and every piece of herself to one person; let they know every piece of her.

And then she would lose them.

Katherine had seen it happen before, which hadn't helped her talk herself out of it.

Erica and Boyd. Aiden and Lydia. Derek and Paige, whom she had only ever heard about. Scott and Allison.

The very thought process that made her want to throw up out of anxiety had happened more times than she could count, and it terrified her. But now she could understand the massive crush Stiles had been harboring for Lydia since they were in elementary school. Why Scott continued to try and be with Allison, even after her Dad almost killed him. Why Ethan had allowed the false persona of him being a crappy person fall as he got to know Danny; because you can't help who you love.