( TWO )
parasomnia

Alex followed Stiles into the Sheriff's office, the girl crossing her arms.

"Alright, I know his family left town around the time Theo was nine or ten, his older sister got in an accident when he was eight." Stiles started, closing the door behind Alex.

"Please go to school." Noah exasperatedly sighed.

"Dad, this kid is a werewolf." Stiles whispered.

"Your best friends are werewolves." Noah frowned. "You are dating a werewolf."

Stiles glanced at Alex and then back to his father.

"I still don't know what Kira's supposed to be." Noah continued. "When the flying monkeys come soaring through this station, you will have my undivided attention. Until then, just go to school."

"Trust me Noah, I wanted to go as soon as we woke up, but look where we are." Alex spoke with a sigh.

"What did you do?" Stiles narrowed his eyes at his father, disregarding Alex's comment.

"Wh-" Noah frowned in confusion. "What do you mean 'what did I do'?"

Alex raised her eyebrows as Stiles continued. "There's something different about you."

"What are you talking about?" Noah frowned.

Stiles went closer, the boy frowning. "What is it? What's different?"

"For the love of god, Stiles, just go to school!" Noah exclaimed annoyedly, Stiles hurrying back away from his dad and standing next to Alex.

"I will go to school if you promise to do a full background check on the Raeken's." Stiles spoke with raised eyebrows.

"No." Noah responded simply. "You know what? Just cause I'm the only law enforcement officer who knows anything about this, does not make it my responsibility to do something every time you have a minor suspicion."

"Except you're not the only one." Stiles raised his eyebrows, referring to Parrish.

Noah sighed.

"Parrish!"

••••

"So you ran a background check, and all you got was a speeding ticket?" Malia frowned at Stiles as her and Alex followed Stiles up to the school.

"It was the biggest waste of time." Alex responded, blowing out a breath.

"A speeding ticket signed by Theo's dad eight years ago." Stiles spoke, disregarding his girlfriend's comment.

"Which means what?" Malia frowned.

"Who speeds?" Stiles started, glancing between Alex and Malia, who were both confused. "People trying to get away from something."

"Well, how many tickets do you have?" Malia's frown deepened.

"None." Stiles shrugged.

"How many would you have if your dad didn't get you out of them." Alex clarified as she raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

"Seventeen." Stiles spoke quietly.

"I don't know, Stiles." Malia blew out a breath. "I mean, I see why you're worried, he's very hot, he's got great hair, a great body. You should feel threatened. It's a miracle Alex is still dating you and not him."

Alex and Stiles frowned.

"I do feel threatened, actually. Now, more than ever." Stiles spoke, his frown deepening.

"Stiles, I get it, we haven't seen him for years, and he was a little weird back then, but he seems okay now." Alex changed the subject.

Before Stiles could respond, Malia cut in.

"You want me to torture him?" Malia raised her eyebrows.

"No, I don't want you to torture him." Stiles frowned.

"I'm pretty sure I could take him." Malia responded, gesturing to Alex. "Alex could help too."

"I have a plan, there are steps to doing this right." Stiles sighed.

"What steps?" Alex frowned.

"We get the story." Stiles started. "Verify the facts, we find a piece that doesn't fit, and catch him in the act. That's how you do it."

He glanced behind the two girls, only to find Theo coming out of his car.

Alex and Malia glanced at him too.

Theo turned around to face the three, smiling and waving at them.

"Why are you so suspicious of this guy?" Malia frowned as she turned around to face Stiles again.

"Because I remember Theo from the fourth grade, okay?" Stiles responded. "That's not Theo."

••••

"I was skating in a neighbour's empty pool trying to do a handplat." Theo started, Alex crossing her arms from her position next to Scott. "Nobody was home. I'm not that good of a skateboarder, but I guess I was feeling pretty determined because I completely lost track of time."

Theo's gaze never left Alex as he continued. "I didn't even realise that it was night until the yard lights came on. Like I said, I wasn't very good. On my last try, I went down and hit hard. Really hard. I was sitting there at the bottom of the pool, and I realised something. I never heard the board come back down."

Stiles glanced between Alex and Theo, not liking the way Theo was looking at Alex as he spoke.

"It came at me fast. I barely had a chance to turn around before it bit me." Theo spoke, then gestured to his waist. "Right here." He glanced at Alex to see her reaction.

Alex just frowned.

"It wasn't an accident, he wanted to turn you." Scott spoke, finally casting Theo's gaze off Alex.

"Right, so why aren't you part of his pack then?" Stiles frowned. "Why didn't he come back for you?"

"Because by the time of my first full moon, he was dead." Theo responded, once again glancing at Alex.

Alex's eyebrows furrowed. "How did you know that?"

"I met another one of his pack a couple weeks later." Theo explained, his gaze on Alex never wavering. "He told me the Alpha that bit me was killed by two of his own betas. They were twins."

The trio shared glances at the mention of Ethan and Aiden.

"Scott, Alex, listen to my pulse, I'm telling you the truth." Theo added, glancing between Scott and Alex.

"Right, or you just know how to steady your heart rate while you're lying your ass off." Stiles cut in, Alex and Scott glancing at him with frowns.

"Why would I lie?" Theo frowned.

"Cause maybe you're not who you say you are." Stiles responded.

"Okay..." Theo sighed, glancing at Scott. "In fourth grade, you had an inhaler. I had one too. I remember this day where I ended up in the nurses office with an asthma attack. A bad one. I was waiting to be taken to the ER, you were waiting for the principal."

Stiles narrowed his eyes, still suspicious of Theo.

"You told me what would happen when you go to the ER for asthma, how they give you oxygen, and an IV of prednisone. You made it sound easy." Theo continued, Stiles glancing between Alex and Scott, who were listening intently, the two feeling sorry for Theo. "Like everything would be okay."

"I've been by myself this whole time." Theo continued, Alex's eyes softening at the sentence. She knew how it felt to be alone. "Everybody knows that lone wolves, they don't make it on their own. I swear I'm that same kid from fourth grade. I was hoping you guys are too."

Scott's eyes softened too.

Before anyone could say anything else, the bell went off.

Theo sighed. "I better not be late for class." He then smirked, glancing between the three, his gaze lingering on Alex a little longer. "You three aren't the only ones I need to make a good impression on."

Alex and Scott gave him small smiles as he left, Stiles narrowing his eyes again.

Scott and Alex then raised their eyebrows at Stiles.

"No- don't give me those looks." Stiles shook his head.

"We have to give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes." Scott started.

"Not this time, alright?" Stiles scoffed. "I'm right. There's something off about him, I can feel it."

"Stiles, it's fine." Alex rolled her eyes as she began to walk out of the locker room. "It's not like he's gonna try to kill us."

"Plus, Lydia's the psychic." Scott added, following Alex. "Not you."

"Lydia's not a psychic, she's a banshee, okay?" Stiles called after the two. "There's a difference!"

••••

"So you found something." Scott started as Stiles placed two sheets of paper on the table.

"Another signature." Stiles responded, glancing between Scott, Alex, Kira, and Malia. He pointed to one of the sheets of paper. "This is Theo's dad's signature on a speeding ticket from eight years ago."

He then pointed to the other paper. "Now this is his dad's signature on a transfer form to Beacon Hills High School from just a few days ago."

"How did you get his transfer form?" Kira frowned.

"Did you break into the Administration Office?" Scott asked with raised eyebrows.

"No, I did not break into the Administration Office." Stiles scoffed.

The group glanced at him with raised eyebrows.

"Okay, I might've broken into the Administration Office- can we just focus on the signatures, please?" Stiles sighed.

"Why do they matter, exactly?" Alex frowned as she glanced between the papers and Stiles's face.

"They're different." Stiles responded simply.

"They're...sort of different." Malia nodded, hesitating on the 'sort of'.

"They're completely different, come on, look." Stiles frowned. "The garlands don't even match, the undulations of the sinuous stroke are totally off, and look, look at this." He gestured to a spot on the page. "Perfect example of the Criminal Tremor."

"So now Theo is Theo...but his parents aren't his parents?" Kira frowned.

"Someone's not someone." Stiles responded. "And when I figure out who that 'someone' really is, someone's in big trouble."

"Sti, exactly how much Adderall have you taken today?" Alex raised her eyebrows.

"A lot." Stiles answered, glancing at her. "But that's not the point."

"No one's done anything wrong, though." Scott frowned.

"Yet." Stiles corrected. "If Theo's parents are both psychotic killers, then obviously we should not trust him, right?"

"My parents are Peter and the Desert Wolf." Malia frowned.

The group glanced at Stiles with raised eyebrows, awaiting his response.

The boy sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Okay...that's fine, you know what?" He then picked up all the papers. "I'll just figure this out myself, alright? I don't need you, or you, or you, or you." He gestured to Scott, Alex, Kira, and Malia.

"I don't need anyone!" Stiles exclaimed as he walked out before the group could impose.

••••

"Find anything?" Alex asked as her and Scott approached Stiles and Liam.

They were in the woods, and it was late at night. Stiles and Liam were out trying to find some dirt on Theo.

"Nope." Stiles responded annoyedly.

"I fell in a hole." Liam added with a sheepish smile, Alex raising her eyebrows.

"He was at the bridge where his sister died, wasn't he?" Scott asked Stiles, the boy changing the subject.

"Yes, it was very embarrassing." Stiles blew out a breath. "So, we're gonna leave now."

The boy then tried to start the engine, but it failed, as it sputtered.

"Son of a-" Stiles whispered to himself as he closed his eyes in annoyance. "Liam! Just do me a favour and get in the car, turn the ignition on when I say."

Liam went in the front seat as Stiles went to the hood of the Jeep, Alex and Scott following.

"Stiles?" Alex asked as she crossed her arms.

"Be with you in a sec." Stiles responded as he glanced around the hood of the Jeep. "Try it!" He exclaimed to Liam.

The engine sputtered again. Stiles groaned in annoyance and shook his head.

"Stiles." Alex sighed.

"Yes, okay?! We followed him out here. What do you want me to say?" Stiles blew out an annoyed breath. "That I'm a stalker? That I'm crazy? Totally paranoid? None of this is new information!"

Alex and Scott were taken aback by the outburst, the two frowning.

"Now you're gonna try to at least give him the benefit of the doubt?" Scott raised his eyebrows.

"I give people the benefit of the doubt." Stiles glanced at Scott. "I've given a lot of benefit to a lot of people."

"Like Derek?" Alex asked with raised eyebrows.

"Kira?" Scott added.

Stiles stopped for a second, the boy releasing a sigh.

"Liam?" Alex continued.

"I was right about Peter." Stiles responded after a second, the boy still trying to fix his Jeep. "Try it again!"

Liam tried turning the engine on once more, however, the engine sputtered again.

Stiles took a deep breath, releasing it a second later. He turned to Scott. "You know, I bet you still think there's something about him that can be saved."

"Maybe." Scott responded.

Stiles shook his head, hitting his hand on the Jeep in annoyance. Alex frowned as Stiles became more stressed out. "Try it again!" Stiles yelled.

The engine, once again, sputtered.

"Why can't you trust anyone?" Scott frowned.

"Because you trust everyone!" Stiles yelled, Alex flinching a little at the outburst. Stiles angrily punched his Jeep, the boy yelling in pain.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked softly.

"I'm fine." Stiles released a breath, not looking at his girlfriend.

"You could've broken it." Scott frowned.

"It's not broken." Stiles responded, glancing at his hand, which was trembling a little.

"Let me see it." Alex stepped closer to Stiles.

"I'm fine." Stiles shook his head.

"Let me see it." Alex frowned, repeating her words.

Stiles knew Alex wouldn't stop unless he let her see his hand.

Alex walked closer to him, gently taking Stiles's hand in hers as she started to take his pain.

Stiles glanced between their hands and Alex's face, his gaze flickering between her eyes.

Alex gently released his hands, Stiles not feeling any pain anymore.

Suddenly, the engine turned on.

••••

"Sti?" Alex asked softly, the girl raising her head slightly as she faced Stiles. Her hand was gently resting on Stiles's chest as the two were lying on Stiles's bed.

Stiles took his eyes off the roof as he glanced at Alex, one of his arms around her shoulders, his other hand resting on top of Alex's. Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" Alex asked, her voice still gentle.

"I'm fine." Stiles answered, Alex frowning a little. "My hand doesn't hurt anymore."

"No, are you okay?" Alex raised her eyebrows. She could tell by the way Stiles was acting that he was off. It seemed like something was constantly on his mind.

Stiles didn't say anything as Alex sat up.

"Is it Theo?" Alex added. Stiles then sat up too.

"I just...I know he's planning something." Stiles responded, the boy glancing at her.

Alex didn't think Theo was suspicious. She really wanted to side with Stiles on this one, she really did, but Theo just didn't seem suspicious to her at all.

"I know you don't believe me, but I swear he's planning something." Stiles added, the boy then standing up and approaching his murder board. He wrote Theo's name on it.

Noah walked past the room, the man stopping at the doorway. "Usually we wait until they've done something wrong before we declare them guilty."

"Well, he's guilty of something." Stiles responded, crossing his arms.

"Accusations require proof." Noah replied, Alex glancing between the two. "And proof always trumps instinct."

"I think I'm gonna go." Alex spoke quietly, the girl standing up and approaching Stiles, kissing him on the cheek and walking towards the door, sending Noah a small smile. "Bye, guys. See you tomorrow, Sti."

"Bye." Stiles responded quietly, Noah sending Alex a small smile as the girl left.