invisible string ━━ stiles stilinski ?

9| dire disease

Juliette tore her eyes off of Stiles to look at Lydia in bewilderment. Was there really a point of denying it at this point? "Does it matter? He's with Malia."

"You haven't heard, have you?" Lydia pried, taking Juliette's dumbfounded reaction as a no. "They broke up a couple days ago. God, Jules, have you been living under a rock?"

"I've been studying the past three days, I barely left the animal clinic— why didn't they tell me?"

Lydia's bottom lip stuck forward and combined the gesture with a shrug. "I don't think they want anyone to know yet. And honestly? I don't get why they broke up. Or, I don't get why they broke up now. Just a few days ago, Malia practically admitted that she loves him."

"She told you that?"

"Not exactly." Lydia shifted in her place to stare at the line of juniors outside of the classroom, anxious about the test they were lined up for. "She asked me how you tell if you love someone. I told her it's... not being able to function without them, or something like that. Then she said something about not being able to sleep without them, and if that means she loves them."

Juliette's mouth opened agape at the realisation of what Malia was truly asking. "And what did you say?"

"I told her that's exactly what it is." The banshee took out her phone to check the time, then lifted her chin only to see a puzzled look on her friends face. "If she really felt that way about him, I can't think of why they'd mutually break up. Unless that's code for him dumping her. But then again, you broke up with Stiles while you were still in love with him too. Can you remind me again, why you did that?"

The brunette suspired. "Because, when you lose everyone you love, you start thinking you're the reason." Juliette said pointedly. "I only act like I know everything, Lyds. And I can't believe i'm saying this, but I think I might've been wrong."

"When Malia asked me about the sleeping thing, she wasn't asking to find out if she was in love with Stiles, was she?" Lydia gave her a knowing look. Juliette figured that she would've found out at some point, nothing seemed to get past Lydia. "She was asking to find out if you still loved him." Lydia took Juliette's silence as an answer.

    The supervisor stepped out of the classroom, signalling for the students to line up. "Got to go."

    "Can you do something for me? Before you leave..."

     Mrs. Martin blew the whistle, and the students lined up against the wall. "You want a boost, right?" Juliette asked, waiting for Lydia's nod of confirmation— and clutched her friend's wrist, amplifying her banshee abilities. "Wish me luck."

Lydia braced herself, feeling the kick from Juliette's amplifying like it was meth, and muttered a thank you as she left the hallway before Coach had a chance to kick her out. Juliette made her way to the rest of the pack, shifting her focus back on her notes. After time spent reviewing the material, which she knew most likely would be more puzzling than reassuring, she closed the notebook and turned back to her friends.

     "You're doing this." Scott spoke once he observed the agitated look on Malia's face, like she doesn't want to be here. "Because while we're trying not to die, we still need to live. I mean, if I survive high school, I want to get into a good college."

     Juliette glanced at her friends. "I get why i'm doing this. And I get why Stiles is doing this. But I don't get why you three are doing this." She pointed at the two werewolves and the kitsune. "Isn't there a monthly salary for a true alpha? Because there should be."