The darkroom at school wasn't something many people went to. In fact, Eli, and one other senior on yearbook were the only ones that actually used it. After an entire month in Sweden, he needed to get the ones from his camera printed out to perfection. With the red light lit above him, he began to poor the chemistry into the trays.

It was good for him, having such a peaceful hobby. He'd always loved photography, ever since he was little and his grandmother gave him a polaroid for his seventh birthday. As he got older, he learned more aspects and importance of how to handle and capture all he needed, all he wanted. Not to mention, it seemed to help him a lot in the anxiety department.

That was a big reason he actually escaped here for his free period. After being packed into small classrooms, moving through crowds of people in the hallway, always having the terrible feeling like they'd been talking about him despite most of them not having a clue who he was, it was safe to say it had his heart racing and body heating up tremendously. So, he'd taken a detour down hallway C, all the way to the back, and entering the room most thought had just been a teachers lounge or janitors closet.

There was a thump.

Eli looked back, trying to see what had fallen. Nothing was on the floor, nothing was on the counters. He concluded it had just been one of the older equipments in here, turning back around and finishing off the solution before screwing the lid back on, pushing it to the side. He reached upwards to grab the focus finder on the top shelf, freezing when he heard it.

A clicking, almost like a twirling of a combination lock.

He turned around quickly, still finding  nothing there. A sigh left the boys lips, shaking his head and looking back to the trays infront of him. Eli did this a lot, overthinking. His mind convinced him something bad was gonna happen when everything was okay, trying to scare him out of every good situation just for him to stay home with noise canceling headphones and biting at his nails.

Eli went to the other side of the room, looking for a thing of Stop Bath when he came time to use it. That's when he saw there had already been pictures hung up, drying. Must have been the senior girl, already taking first day pictures for the soccer team or the students that brought their teachers edible arrangements in hopes of getting special treatment through out the year. His curiously got the best of him, leaning in close to get a better look.

There were no students with teachers. No soccer teams. Instead there were three people with metal mask on, all of which seemed to be staring at him through the photo.

Before the boy had the chance to react, the door swung open. "Jesus christ!"

Malia gave a odd look at his out burst. "Uh, hello to you too."

"Hurry, hurry, get in." Eli insisted quickly, grabbing her arm to pull her into the darkroom before shutting the door quickly. He stayed frozen a second, hands pressing the door with his head down before pushing his hair from his face, turning to look at her. "The light from the hallway could mess it all up."

"I could hear your heart all the way from math class." she looked down at his chest. "It's really distracting so I figured i'd come see what you were doing that was putting you out of breath."

Eli shook his head. "Nothing. Just my anxiety."

"Stiles said it would probably be bad for you on the first day of school." Malia said honestly as Eli circled the counter again, side glancing at the photographs hanging up. He didn't wanna look at them again, it wasn't any of his business what the senior girl was taking pictures of. "All the people?"

"I think so, maybe." Eli nodded his head, looking over toward her. "And you were right. Junior year is a lot."

"If I can get through it, you definitely can." she nodded, staying leaned against the door. "What was that earlier?"

"What was what?" Eli asked with a frown of his eyebrows.

"You completely ran from me in the hallway after first period." she recalled the memory, crossing her arms.

"It looked like you were running from me." he agreed, hands gripping onto the metal table in the middle of the room.

"Yeah because your heart was going crazy and it freaked me out." Malia said honestly, glancing at his chest then back to him. "What is it then? Did I make you mad?"

"No." Eli gave her a shake of his head.

"Was it because I said Theo has great hair? I think you have great hair too." she nodded her head, realizing that's what it was.

"No- well, I mean, thank you. I happen to put a lot of work into my hair and no one ever compliments me on it." he rambled on before bringing himself back to the main cause. "I just- last night through me off some, that's all. What you said."

"What did I say?" Malia walked closer toward the table with a questionable look. "I liked the snow globe."

He hesitated, looking away, because no way could he look her in the eyes right now. "You don't need me on full moons anymore."

Malia straightened up when he said it.

"And now I feel like it feels different between us and like you're kinda pulling away. I mean, if you just needed me for the full moons, I get it but you could have said you were just using me for-" he began to ramble on, getting lost in his own train of thoughts before she could cut in.

"I have you here." Malia stopped him, pointing at her head with an odd look. "I still need you. Just not right infront of me where I can kill you."

His face flooded in embarrassment. "Oh."

"You thought I was using you?" Malia recalled his previous statement.

"No! No! Well, Liam made me th-" he began.

"Liam's thinks I'm using you?" she now asked in a defensive tone of voice.

"Jesus, no, no. That was stupid. I don't think- I just don't want us to not be, like....close anymore just because you have the full moons in control." his eyes casted down to his feet, swaying one while balancing on the other. "Because you're my favorite human, slash coyote, ever."

Malia smiled over, but he couldn't see her from looking down. "I hated when you were gone."

He looked up.

"I missed coming to your house and eating fake deer." she nodded her head, glad he'd met her eye now. "You're my favorite human too."

"Really?" he flushed with a smile.

"Yeah." she nodded with a stupid look. "Why would I say so if I didn't mean it?"

"That's not-" he began to explain before shaking his head with a sigh of relief, a grin across his lips. "Never mind."

"Why's it red?" she looked up at the light.

"It's a safety light, so you can see but it's still dark." Eli nodded his head, looking over at his developer in the tray. "Wanna come see something cool?"

Malia smiled, circling the table to go to his side.

"I can't believe I canceled on Lydia for this." Eli whispered in disbelief as the trio crouched behind a bush, watching Theo take stuff out of his trunk. "She even said she wanted to ride on the skateboard again after she said she hated it. And I canceled on her, for you two."

"This is important, okay?" Stiles waved him off quickly. "And there's no way Lydia wanted back on that skateboard after this morning."

"Do you wanna see the text? She said 'Hey, Eli. I thought about it and maybe I could take another ride if you have time.' And then when I canceled, she made plans with Parrish." the Foxx boy ranted on, keeping low behind the bushes. "Not that I don't enjoy spending time with you, Liam. But Stiles? We're about to have to spend an entire evening together tomorrow."

"Is that when your parents are gonna act like you guys didn't even know they have been dating?" Liam looked his way. "What if he's gonna make you call him dad?"

"Oh, my god, he's not." Stiles cut in. "Both of you, shut up. I told you he was up to something."

"We just spent three hours watching this dude play video games in his bedroom." Liam huffed. "He better be out here covering up a mass murder."

"Let's find out." Stiles nodded, heading off as the pair followed. "You still got his scent?"

"Don't need it." Liam pointed down to the trail of foot prints.

"Nicely sized feet." Eli gave a nod. Liam trialed back a second, causing the two to look back.

"What is it?" Stiles asked.

"I forgot I was suppose to meet Mason at the school gym." Liam sighed with a guilty look.

Eli gapped. "You two were hanging out without me?"

"You said you had plans with Lydia." Liam rose his hands in defense.

"Okay, why didn't you just tell him?" Stiles shrugged his way.

"Tell him what?" Liam gave an odd look.

"Anything." Stiles waved his hands backward.

"I can't just tell him anything." the Dunbar boy looked in disbelief.

"Why not?" Stiles matched his tone.

"Because I haven't- I haven't told him everything." Liam huffed, waving his hands and dropping them to his thighs.

"Still? We said it was okay?" the senior almost laughed.

"Yeah, I know, but it's not that easy." Liam looked down with a sigh. "It's a lot to accept."

"He watched my dad blow up a Berserker with a land mine." Stiles explained with a raise of his eyebrow. "I think the groundwork's been pretty thoroughly laid for acceptance."

"Well, Mason is a man of science though." Eli explained honestly. "We had a huge argument over if aliens were real. He says no, I say yes."

"Scott and I have been through this, okay? More then once. It's always been better when they know." Stiles explained honestly from experience.

As they headed off, Eli began to talk. "Do you and your dad eat meat? Because Mama and I do not eat meat."

"What if he freaks out?"

"I mean, yeah, we eat meat. But we can go without it." Stiles explained with a shrug. "Is she worried he can't cook? Because he can not cook."

"What if he doesn't want to talk to me?"

"She can't cook either, she's making me do it." Eli gave a crazy look. "And I have no clue what will work for all of us. Maybe...sweet potato casserole?"

"What if he tries to stab me with something silver?"

"With marshmallows?" Stiles asked, getting a nod. "Okay, yes, make that and I'll make sure to order back up pizza incase you burn it."

"Are you even cool with this?" Eli asked honestly. "Because i'm not really, completely on board."

"I thought you liked my dad?" Stiles gave an odd look.

"I do. I like your dad a lot. And he's good to my mom." the boy explained with a nod of his head in between each sentence. "But it's only been three months and they're moving really quickly. Which is fine, I mean, I take after my mom. And, like, my parents just got divorced two years ago. It just feels weird, for me."

"Do you think they're super serious then?" Stiles paused with an alarming look.

"Would you take your kid to meet your lover and their son if it wasn't?" Eli rose his eyebrows.

"What if-"

When Liam's sentence came to a pause, the pair turned, seeing he'd disappeared. Eli's mouth fell. "Oh, my god. Theos taken Liam!"

"Eli!" Liam called.

Eli looked upwards.

"Oh my god." Stiles grabbed his shoulder and pulled him toward the hole in the ground. "The hell are you doing?"

"Oh, there you are." Eli looked down at him. "You looks so small."

Stiles slapped a hand over his mouth when he heard footsteps. "There he is. Hurry up. Stop screwing around."

Eli waited as Stiles hurried off. "Okay, reach upwards and I'll-"

He stopped when his own body fell into the hole.

"Eli, what the hell?" Liam asked when the boy landed next to him with a groan.

"Jesus." he held his chest. "I was reaching down for you and took a tumble."

"Mason blew up my phone." Liam frowned as he pulled it from the mud. Eli tried to get as much off himself as he could when he stood up. A rustle heard above them, making Liam look up. "Grab on, i'll jump."

Eli grabbed his shoulders as Liam pushed off the ground, making the pair land before the hole.

•

kylie speaks

sigh.