[Nine; Secrets That Ruin Us]

    "No, Noah, I can't tell them yet, they trust me, if I tell them that I'm basically dead and am following them around because I have to because I'm linked to Stiles-"

    "You kind of just did," I whirled around and saw Scott stood in the doorway of the kitchen, holding up my keys.

    "Oh my-"

    "Sky!" I sat up in bed and saw Noah right beside me, holding a drink of water and watching me with a cautious look. "Are you all right? It looked like you were having a nightmare, a pretty horrible one at that," he told me, pulling my desk chair over and sitting on it.

    "I just- I hate knowing I'm going to have to tell them. I hate that they're gonna look at me differently," I told him, sighing out and accepting the water that he offered.

    "I know it's scary and just outright ridiculous that you even have to tell them, but it's how we face tough situations that define us. You're going to do it because you're strong. And you're going to do it alone, face to face, telling them both. And then you're going breathe a sigh of relief because they will not treat you any different. I think you knew that though, there's just a small monster that's telling you otherwise in the back of your head. A small monster called your past," he told me, only his serious words seeping in, his eyes holding no ounce of amusement as he leaned forward and I crossed my legs under me in a pretzel shape as I let his words whirl around in my head.

    "I just don't want them to judge me because of it," I told him quietly.

    "Your secret isn't Scott's to Allison. It's not like you're a different person-"

    "But it is," I looked up at him. "I've told them the background Christopher taught me, but that's not me. They don't know how I came to be like this, they don't know anything," I said.

   "Then let them. You've been shutting them out."

    "But-"

    "Don't make this harder for yourself Sky," he cut me off, making me swallow my words before I nodded slowly, agreeing that he was right. Like always.

-

    "Scott?" I grabbed his arm in the corridor and pulled him back from his class. "Can we talk after school?" I asked quietly, trying to be out of sight of others, and especially Stiles for now.

    "Yeah, sure, is it-"

    "Yeah, you guys need to know, but I need to tell you first," I told him, making him nod before I did the same and then just left him. "After school, the car park, I'll drive you," I told him and he replied with an okay before I left for my own lesson.

    Once last period was over, I saw Scott standing by my car already and I let him in before I got into the driver's seat. "Yours or mine?" I asked.

    "Mine, I think. Better you tell me alone, and Stiles would probably go to yours than mine, he'd want to pick you up first," he said as I nodded and turned the right way before driving to his. "Why were you so hesitant?"

    "Because while you know about werewolves, it's a little weirder," I shrugged, stopping at a red light.

    "What could be weirder?" he asked with a small smile.

    I looked over at him and I think he got the message, smiling lightly anyway, "Trust me, it's not what you'd expect," I scoffed as I started the car up again and kept driving towards his house. "Plus, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna lose any trust you'd had towards me," I shrugged my shoulders as I turned onto his street.

    "You won't, trust me. If it's anything like werewolves, I know why you wanted to hold it back," he told me and undid his seatbelt once I pulled up at his house, the two of us getting out.

    "Well, something like that," I admitted, following him up to the front door and thanking him once he opened the front door and I went in. We put our stuff down in the living room and sat on the sofa, turning sideways and facing each other as I started. I told him about my life back in England, how Jena was just like him, how she was bitten and how we'd battled through an alpha as well, how I'd helped with other supernaturals and how I knew about hunters. How Derek and Laura were related to one of my best friends and how Stiles and I were quite similar, in more ways than he knew. I told him everything, even how I saved Jena's life and how my sacrifice got me here, how I fought to try to get them to accept me, to help me settle in so I could help with their supernatural problems.

    "I mean, I guess the easiest way to describe it is that I'm a bit like a guardian angel? I don't know, that's what Noah told me about how to describe it," I shrugged, my hair down since I messed with it so much.

    "How are you linked to Stiles?" he asked.

    "When my heart was restarted, I guess, Christopher tied me to someone who was like another half. It's like soulmates, except we're only tied because of the amount of similarities in our timeline and because his heart keeps me alive. I mean, I don't know the future, and nothing is written in permanent ink, because we all make our own futures, but there are certain parts that are incredibly similar. So my soul is kind of tied to his, to keep me alive. My sacrifice was apparently something they couldn't let go of. So I feel as he does, sometimes I can put myself in his place and see as he does, like the first day after you were bitten and he was sitting on the bench, I saw you play from his perspective. That's usually if his emotions heighten, and his heartbeat accelerates, if adrenaline kicks in because he's scared, maybe. It's just so it makes it easier for me to find him and help save him. I can't control it well yet, but I can link myself to him. If I'm worried about him, I can just link myself to him see if he's feeling okay or if he's in pain or something, and if necessary I can see life from his eyes and see where he is, something like that," I tried to explain, but when I started talking about linking, Scott's eyes drifted behind me, so my voice started getting quieter before I turned, but all I saw was the doorway before the front door slammed.

    "You-"

    "He heard me, didn't he?" I asked.

    "You might want to go after him," he advised and I grabbed my bag before I rushed out of the house, closing the door behind me as I saw his jeep pulling out and I let out a groan before I went back inside.

"How much did he hear?" I asked Scott as he was getting up.

    "Enough to know you had a pretty big secret, involving weird things with him. I think you might want to talk to him, go after him," Scott told me as I nodded, already feeling tears starting to collect before I rushed out and got into my own jeep and drove right to Stiles', thinking it was the logical place to go. And it was; Roscoe was parked right outside.

    Parking the car, I locked it behind me before I took my spare key and opened the front door to the house, closing it behind me before I walked upstairs, trying to calm down.

    I knocked on his door before opening it, knowing he was just sitting on the bed, staring at the floor. I felt his worry and I was immediately overwhelmed with guilt. I never wanted to break any trust we had between us, the trust that took me a year to build up.

    "Hey," I almost whispered before walking over to him and sitting beside him on the bed, resting my elbows on my legs. "Listen, I'm really sorry you found out like that-"

    "You can feel what I feel, right?" he asked, staring at the floor, which was littered with papers.

    "Right," I nodded, looking over at him, but he didn't look up.

    "Then you know I'm not feeling things like betrayal, don't you?"

    "Well, yeah, but I never feel all that you do. I'm still a person, I still feel my own emotions. Which I guess you do sometimes too. I'm sorry, it really wasn't my choice. But at the same time, I feel kind of privileged for getting you as a so-called project. I started looking at you guys as friends months ago, but I was afraid what you would say, really, because it sounds so absurd, and it's just messed up, isn't it?" I told him with a small smile, staring at my hands. Neither of us was going to look each other in the eyes, and I knew it.

    "No, I think I get it. I really shouldn't be that surprised, should I," he let out a halfhearted chuckle before looking up at me for the first time, but I didn't meet his gaze. "I mean, our best friend is a werewolf, and you're tying your soul to mine? I don't even know."

    "To be honest, in your future, there are going to be a lot more things that anyone would be surprised about, but I have a feeling you won't be," I told with a small smile and then looked up at him also. "It's kind of my job to help you through whatever happens with that stuff. Treat me as a Yoda. A weird, too clingy, guardian."

    "That's what Noah called you, right? Guardian Angel? That's what you said? Do those even exist?" he asked, now both of us looking at each other, though he had a smile on his face since I used a Star Wars reference.

    "Apparently, but I'm not sure about it. When I basically died, I kind of met Christopher, I guess. He's dead too. It was like in limbo I think, he was just hanging out, and I arrived there once I entered a coma. Then he told me these things, and suddenly I'm told that me giving my life up is a good sign, apparently. He told me that you guys - you and Scott - would need me around, for guidance, technically just because I had lived through similar things, but elsewhere. So I could help a bit. And I was linked with you, because Scott's abilities would have prevented it, and you were the important one. The help, the rock, the glue, however you want to put it. You're a lot more important than you'd think; than you'll ever think. I'm glad you wished to have someone to look over you, and I'm sorry I'm not your mom, but, I guess I'm the best you'll get, at least for now," I shrugged with a soft smile, remembering my first time out of life. What Christopher told me really touched me. I wished he could have gotten his mother instead of me. "That's one of the main reasons as well, we seemed to wish for something like this at the same time. I guess I got a good friend I wished for, you got someone to watch over you."

    "So how old are you really?" he asked.

    "I'm your age" I chuckled.

    "So your friends, your old life, everyone is still alive? Your parents? Everyone?"

    "Yeah," I smiled, masking my hurt. "They think I'm dead. I'm in a coma, really. At least, that's what they think. I was assigned to you because I practically had the same role as you; the human sidekick. But I saved my friend's life. And I don't regret that at all. What I do regret, is not being able to see them now. They're probably already mourning and moving on without me, but I'm here, on the other side of the ocean, helping you. I don't mind, but it hurts that I'm hurting them, you know?" I asked him, pulling my sleeves over my hands for protection. It was comforting. I carried that with me.

    "Yeah, of course," he nodded, reaching over and taking my hand, lacing our fingers together, like he did when Noah was in the hospital for just a check up for blood pressure the previous year. It gave me goosebumps up my arm, and I knew then, that my Lydia - Tom - well let's just say he wasn't the only one to make my heart jump. He gave my hand a squeeze before jumping up and sitting in his chair, opening up his laptop. "I have an idea," he said and started typing as I furrowed my eyebrows from the jolt of excitement, and then got up, standing behind him and watching over what he was searching.

    "You want to search all of them up on social media?" I asked as he did just that and found Jena's profile. The last thing she posted was a picture of her in the hospital, next to my bed with Tom and the others, all of them posing for a happy picture, my hospital bed littered with flowers and cards. The moment I saw the balloons in the background, I put a hand to my mouth, feeling extremely touched and homesick from seeing all of my friends in one place, with me. Well- oh you know what I mean.

    "I don't think they're over you yet," Stiles said with a small smile, scrolling down to see other posts from my friends and Jenna, all of them wishing me a happy birthday from long ago, talking about how much they missed me, but also adding in plans about how they'll welcome me when I'll return. When, not if.

    "Oh my God," I mumbled as I saw a post from Tom a day after I was shot. It was heartbreaking, but he poured his heart out. Stiles held my other hand as a way of comfort and I looked back at him as he shot me a soft smile, full of understanding, though he really couldn't know what it felt like. "Please take it off," I shook my head as he minimised the window and pulled me into his lap, letting me curl up as possible while I finally let loose and cried, clutching onto his shirts for dear life, feeling like I was slipping away from the one person who kept me grounded to this half life.

    "I'm sorry," he told me as I managed to calm down a bit, my sobs now just silent cries and occasional hiccups.

    "It's okay. It's just-"

    "The homesickness," he nodded into my hair, smiling a little. I think it's because he was already used to having foreign feelings, but I know it really did help him understand.

    "Yeah, I guess. I mean, you guys are my home now, but it's just different, you know? They're family. But so are you," I told him quietly as he smiled wider and nodded again. I let out a small sniffle before chuckling a little at myself. "I'm sorry," I pulled away and wiped my eyes, which were rimmed a little with black from my usual make up.

    "Don't worry about it," he said with a small smile, wiping my other eye once he realised I was struggling. "Look, you've been there for me, and I'm the best you've got right now, so- sorry," he said with a wider smile as I chuckled through my tears.

    "Thank you," I smiled as he returned it and connected his forehead with mine, which was a very comforting gesture, and I think he knew it, because suddenly, I was overwhelmed with a sense of calm and also happiness. "Thank you."

[they're so cute and care for each other so much and ugh]