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Lydia
She finally sends the text at 1:13am.
<Can you check on them?>
She had deleted a number of drafts since 12:41, when she first accepted that sleep wasn’t going to work out until she had some sort of confirmation.
<What’s up?> to Scott had been ditched almost immediately. The others were to Stiles. <Do you have Isaac & Boyd’s numbers?> was pointless, because if she wasn’t going to text Scott, she certainly wasn’t going to text the others. <Have you talked to Scott recently?> necessitated the additions of: <Or Boyd? Or Isaac?> and then it was unwieldy and awkward and Lydia Martin did not sent awkward text messages. <Can you call Scott?> was just too weird. <I can’t sleep because I’m afraid they’ll> was deleted before she even finished typing it.
Really, she thinks Stiles will understand her message. She’s not the only one who kept getting twitchy when one of them was out of her sight.
Stiles
He sends four text messages; 1:22, 1:24, 1:27, and 1:33am.
<Hey can you text me back. Just checking in.> The one to Scott should be the easiest, but it’s actually the hardest. He goes through a dozen variations of “what’s up” before realizing that Scott will see through it and it there’s no point in trying to not be transparent. If anyone will get why he’s texting him in the middle of the night, it’ll be Scott.
Isaac is easier: <What’s up?> will suffice. Isaac can draw his own conclusions, and he’ll probably be correct, but the pretense is fine.
<Hey, how’s it going? -Stiles> Texting Boyd feels stupid because, like Boyd said, they aren’t really friends. He thinks Boyd doesn’t even have his number in his phone, but he can’t not text him. Not after being so sure, when they couldn’t lift that – he hits send.
The last one doesn’t really need to be sent the same way the others do, not rationally anyway, but he still needs to send it. <Hey I just texted the guys because Lydia texted me and I wanted to anyway and anyway I just want to make sure you’re ok too so text me back ok?> He thinks maybe Allison will get it, too.
Boyd
He sends a reply at 1:28am, and another at 1:35.
<Fine until my phone went off at 130> is the first one, typed and sent before he’s fully awake. He has no illusions about why Stiles is texting him at weird-ass hours. That thought leads to the thoughts that had kept him awake so late in the first place. Boyd groans and pulls the pillow over his head, but it doesn’t change anything. He’s fully awake again, and thinking about that night, the awful bus ride back, and coming home to his family once again with even more pain and anger in his eyes and even fewer answers that he can give them. He needs to be awake in five hours and he needs to not be dwelling on this any more, and he needs Stiles to stop pestering him.
<How did you even get my number>
Isaac
He finally hits send at 1:27am.
<im sleeping>
It had followed half a dozen different variations on a couple themes. His initial response had been <i’m fine>, but that’s not what Stiles had asked. Except that he’s pretty sure it’s what he meant to ask. <ok> made even less sense. <nothing> was a weird answer, so he’d added <why are you even texting me?> which just made it weirder and opened it up for Stiles to keep texting him. Isaac did not want to have this kind of talk over text message. Or at all. He did not want Stiles or anyone to try to make that night seem okay.
Maybe it wasn’t about that. There could be something going on. <I’m good, is something wrong?> was too much, and <whats wrong?> felt like he was just inviting trouble. <nm, u?> was tempting, but no.
Just plain ignoring it seemed like too much of a dick move.
<look you don’t need to check on me you don’t even like me what the fuck i’m not about to ki>
He deleted that one. Better just to send something that proved he was alive without inviting further discussion.
Allison
She responds at 1:34am.
<I’m ok. Lydia texted me too. Will you let me know when everyone’s replied?>
Allison doesn’t send the second message <I know it was the motel that did that to them, but it’s freaking me out, too. I just keep thinking about it and what could have happened. I guess I should try to tell you it’s okay and don’t let it get to you, but I don’t think that will actually help, will it?> It was too long, and a little too truthful. She isn’t sure she really wants to share how helpless she felt in the face of that. Because at least Stiles did something, fixed it. She doesn’t think she could have done what he did. She doesn’t want to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t been there.
She can hold her own in a fight; she can take down an enemy. Slowly, but surely, she’s been eradicating the things that make her feel helpless from her life. Except when the fight for a friend’s life is being fought against that friend, she doesn’t know what weapons to use; despair isn’t an enemy she knows how to take down.
It’s the echoes of that helplessness that are keeping her awake.
Scott
He sends two messages, one immediately at 1:22am, and another at 1:23.
<I’m here.> He doesn’t even have to think about it, just sends it, because he knows that most of all Stiles needs to know that he’s alive.
Just like he’s glad for the confirmation that Stiles is alive. That his best friend - his brother - is still there, still looking out for him. He can’t really let himself think about the what-ifs, because, yeah, they’ve faced death before, but Scott doesn’t think he’d be able to live with himself - even in death - if Stiles hadn’t made it through that night. He hates himself a little for what he did to Stiles, and to Allison. He hates the Darach more, but that doesn’t make the rest of it ok.
He owes it to Stiles, now, to really be there when Stiles asks for him.
<Im fine. Really. Are you? You should get some sleep. But call if you need to or want to ok?>
Stiles
He sends two more messages. The first at 1:34am. The second at 1:40.
The confirmation goes to Lydia, but he cc’s Allison. <Everyone responded. Varying levels of annoyance at having their phones chime at this hour. Goodnight.> He wants to say that everyone’s alright, but he doesn’t really know that. He kind of doubts it, to be honest. But they’re all alive, and okay enough to be irritably or supportively replying to his text messages. That’s really all he can ask for, given the givens.
<Been better. But yeah. I texted everyone. Mostly because lydia asked. But everyone replied so im going to sleep now. And thanks.> There’s a white lie in there, but Stiles hits send anyway, and finally turns out the light. He has a feeling his dreams won’t be pleasant, but at least now he’ll be able to sleep.
His phone chimes a moment later with a <goodnight>.
Lydia
She sends one last message after her 31-minute wait.
There are a lot of things she wants to say. <I feel like it’s on me - on us - now. Like we’re the ones who have to know just when things are about to go wrong. Like the blind luck we had has to stick with us or everything> It gets deleted. <Are you okay? I’m not sure I am. I mean I’m not. So you’re probably not. It seems like there should be something we can do to make it better. But I don’t> That one gets deleted, too. <I’m really impressed by what you did> isn’t something she’s comfortable sending. <They’re gonna be ok> is a lie. <We’re gonna be ok> seems like even more of a lie, and when she puts a question mark on the end, she realizes she doesn’t want an answer. <Good. Glad they’re all alive> seems too blase, too callous, like she isn’t sincere. But damn is she sincere about this.
<Thank you.>