the one where Eleanor is drowning

or

the one where Isaac needs advice

[ S2 0.7 ]

stood outside Ms. Morell's office, curled up on the seat beside the door as she waited patiently for her session. After Matt had passed away, the school forced session upon session on the two teenagers they thought had needed it most. Stiles and Eleanor.

The werewolf wasn't so sure about why they thought Stiles could use the therapy, but she knew for certain why they had chosen her. After the attack on the Sheriff station, and the investigation of Matt, Noah found thousands of pictures of Eleanor on his computer. Some were just of Eleanor, and some were of the both of them - ones he had edited into the pair holding hands or even kissing. Truly disturbing.

After that discovery, everyone had been treading on egg shells around her. She hated it. Of course, it was deeply disturbing and made Eleanor feel nauseous, but Matt was dead and the past was the past.

The door to the guidance counsellor's office opened, and Eleanor stood up from the uncomfortable chair she had previously been using, smiling half heartedly at Stiles as he left the room. He gave her a comforting arm rub, and a promise to talk at lunch before he was ushered to his lesson.

Ms. Morell beckoned Eleanor follow her, and shut the door behind the teenager as she took a seat in front of the desk. The room wasn't big, but merely had a desk, several filing cabinets, and a coffee machine in the corner.

"Anything on your mind, Eleanor?"

The young Hale shook her head, biting her nail nervously as she leant back in the chair she had been given. "No - not really?"

"What do you mean, 'not really'?"

Eleanor almost scoffed. "Well, uh - everything that would normally be on a teenager girl who had a stalker's mind. That's what's on mine."

"How do you feel about Matt?" Ms Morell questioned, her voice low and monotonous.

"A lot of things," Eleanor sighed, rubbing a hand over her forehead as she elaborated. "He - I don't - I didn't think he was a bad kid, I used to be his friend. Then, so much happened in the space of a couple of weeks. He drowned and died. How fucked up is that? - that for his entire life he had been scared of drowning again, and that's how he died."

"Do you hope that Matt felt some peace in his last moments?"

Eleanor shook her head and continued to bite her nail. "I can't feel sorry for him."

"But you do feel sorry for the nine year old Matt that drowned?"

Eleanor shifted in her seat, looking at Ms Morell's name plaque as she answered. "It's hard not to. He was a nine year old kid that drowned because he didn't know how to swim. But - but that doesn't mean he can go around killing people, or stalking them.

"Stiles' dad found all those pictures of me on his computer. Wasn't just of me though. I mean, he - he photoshopped himself into the pictures he'd taken. Stuff like us holding hands or - or kissing, like he'd built this whole fake relationship. And - and now everyone's always treading on egg shells, waiting for me to explode and scream - or cry, or both?"

Ms Morell nodded, staring intently at Eleanor's facial expression as she pressed further. "And have you talked to anyone about this? Stiles? Scott? Jaden?"

Eleanor shook her head bitterly. "Stiles, he - he's always worried about me. If I tell him, it will just make it worse and I don't want him to worry after - after everything that's already happened. I've touched on the subject with Jaden, but he - he has his own life and he went through it too, you know? And Scott - I mean he's got his own problems to deal with, I haven't spoken much to him.

"Haven't spoke with Allison either. But - but that might be more her choice than mine, her mom dying hit her pretty hard."

The counsellor nodded her head, raising her eyebrows. "And Jackson?"

"Jackson, Jackson hasn't been himself lately. Actually, the funny thing is that - that Lydia is the one that seems the most normal right now."

"And what about you, Eleanor?"

Eleanor just stared at the wall behind Ms Morell blankly. "Eleanor?"

"I'm fine," She started, her eyes moving to the right to make eye contact with the woman in front of her, her face almost blank of emotion. "Yeah, aside from the not sleeping, the nightmares, the jumpiness, the constant overwhelming fear that something terrible is about to happen."

"It's called hyper - vigilance, the persistent feeling of being under threat."

Eleanor shook her head. "But it's not just a feeling, though. It's - it's like a panic attack. You know? Like I can't even breathe."

"Like you're drowning?" Morell raised an eyebrow, leaning on to the desk and closer to Eleanor.

"Yeah."

"Can you swim?" The question seemed to be a metaphor.

"Uh - I guess? I just - just have that feeling, before the reflex to let the water in, like I don't have much time. And sometimes - I just want to let the water in."

"What if you hold on a little longer? Because if you hold off until that reflex kicks in, you'll have time to survive, right?" The question only made Eleanor shake her head.

"Not much time."

Morell raised an eyebrow and leaned back in her seat. "But more time to fight your way to the surface? More time to be rescued?"

"More time to be on agonising pain. I mean, you feel like you're heads exploding."

The counsellor crossed her arms over her chest and smiled. "If it's about survival, isn't a little agony worth it?"

"But, what if it just gets worse?" The young Hale questioned almost desperately. "What if it's agony now, and just - just hell later on?"

"Then think about something Winston Churchill once said-"

The woman leant forward, her eyes boring into Eleanor's as she firmly recited, "If you're going through hell, keep going."

[ S2 0.7 ]

[ S2 0.8 ]

and Isaac were stood, side by side in the veterinarian clinic, watching as Scott and Deaton examined a long haired dog that had just been taken in from the streets. The young Hale had wanted to speak to Scott about something, but it seemed that he was busy, and had brought Isaac with him.

And as the night drew to a close, Eleanor was certain that the curly haired boy wasn't going to utter a word to her. That was until his gaze changed from Scott to Eleanor, and he decided that the best person to ask for advice was the person he used to be friends with.

"They're leaving tonight, Boyd and Erica," Isaac mentioned, causing Eleanor to look up from where she had been staring and into his eye. "They're going during the game."

Her eyes were soft, but confused. "And, uh - why are you telling me?"

"I'm not telling you. I'm asking you - I'm asking for your advice."

Eleanor raised her eyebrow, pointing to herself. "From me? Why?"

"Because I trust you."

The air thickened, and Eleanor could almost taste the guilt pouring from his mouth. She knew he was sorry for all the things he had done since Derek had bitten him, and he was entirely grateful for Eleanor being his friend before those turn of events.

"Why?"

He smiled, nudging her softly. "Because you always seem to want to do the right thing."

Eleanor scoffed at his words, fiddling with her fingers as she looked to the ground. It was very sweet of Isaac to say it, and it was the truth, but Eleanor wasn't so sure that her intentions were the key to staying alive. Just because she wanted to do the right thing, didn't mean that it would automatically help her survive.

"I usually have no idea what I'm doing," Eleanor spoke, laughing and shaking her head. "Actually, I always have no idea what I'm doing."

"Do you - do you want to let me know what you're doing right now."

Eleanor looked up sparingly and then glanced at Scott, sighing as she bit her lip. "Well I'm not going anywhere if that's what you mean. I have too many people here that I need."

"Well I guess that makes me lucky, 'cause uh - 'cause I don't have anyone."

Eleanor's heart dropped into her stomach, and she so desperately wanted to scream at him that he was wrong. That he had her, that he had Scott, that he wasn't alone, that he was cared for but he had heard it all before. He didn't want to be proved wrong.

"Are," Eleanor cleared her throat with a cough, trying to get rid of the bitter taste of guilt from her mouth, "Are you going to go with them?"

"Yeah, yeah I think I will."

[ S2 0.8 ]