The most peculiar thing about the coma of Ryan Summers was that her mother, Evelyn, seemed to be the calmest anyone had ever seen her.

   Even when the sixteen year old red head had been brought into the emergency room, with what most thought was an animal bite on the top of her shoulder,Evelyn was still in a state of calmness. No screaming, no sobbing, no outbursts. She seemed to be entirely in control and not stressed in the slightest.

   And that confused most people. Her only daughter, and only kid for that matter, was in a coma that nobody could wake her out of—no matter how many different surgeons and specialists tried. She had a animal bite that probably should have killed her, and wasn't responding to any treatment.

   Most people would react to that, even if it was just a single tear. But not Evelyn Summers. She continued to tell everyone that Ryan would be fine, and kept paying the stacking up hospital bills.

   Jonathan Summers had a much more emotional reaction to the news of his daughter's accident. Despite not living with Evelyn and Ryan, upon finding out about Ryan's condition he continually visited the hospital every day. Without fail. It was around six pm that Jonathan would make his appearance at his daughter's bedside, staying for what could be up to a few hours before heading in for the night.

   Evelyn only visited on occasion once every few weeks.

   Not one person in the town of Beacon Hills thought Evelyn's behaviour was normal, yet somehow it didn't exactly surprise some of the people who had known her for a long time. She had a history of mental health problems—starting when she was a teen, and peaking at the divorce from Jonathan when Ryan was a mere two years old. Being absent due to her mind wasn't uncommon for Evelyn.

   Ryan's friends ended up visiting the girl a whole lot more than her mother, and everyone knew Ryan would have been crushed if she knew how much her mother didn't seem to care.

   That's why it surprised many to see the appearance of Evelyn right after the awakening of Ryan—which nobody could explain. It seemed her brain simply decided to wake up, and that was all the surgeons could put it down too—Ryan didn't really care what had happened, she was simply thankful to not only be awake but to be free from the stupid repetitive tests her doctors had been doing.

   Evelyn had been at her daughter's side for the past two days, now that she had awoken. And Ryan was grateful for it—it was a weird scenario considering she had no memory of her six month long coma, the last thing she could recall was finding Lydia out on the lacrosse field and Peter biting them both.

   She also remembered the sound of Stiles' screams before everything went black, the shrill sound sent shivers down her spine.

   Ryan was grateful for her mother, yet she found it odd that she was hovering. She never used to do that. Ryan had gotten away with so much in her life and Evelyn never batted an eyelash, it was when she was at her dad's place that she ever actually got disciplined.

   She figured it was her mother's way of coping. Evelyn wouldn't let her out of her sight due to missing her for half a year, Ryan didn't want to think what it would have been like for the people she loved. She didn't know what she would have done if the roles were reversed.

   But Ryan had convinced her mom to let her go over to Allison's place. She had obviously seen all her friends before her discharge only a few hours ago, each of whom came into her ward and gave her hugs that nearly knocked the breath out of her.

   Although Ryan didn't essentially miss any of them due to the fact it didn't feel like she had been absent at all, she understood why they were all treating her with such care. Six months was a long time—and Ryan knew it must have been hell for them. Once again she thought about how shit it would have been if the roles were reversed—she would much rather herself be the one hurt than witness Stiles, Lydia, Allison or Scott in a coma that seemed permanent.

   The thought of not seeing any of them again made her stomach churn uncomfortably.

   It was in Ryan's visit to Allison's house that both her and Lydia caught her up on what had happened in the time that had flown by.

   Supernaturally so much had happened that Ryan had to worry slightly for not only her friends sanity for going through it, but also her own since it sounded impossible. Derek was now an alpha since he killed Peter, and he had turned three teenagers at their school to make himself a pack. He tried recruiting Scott which Ryan knew wouldn't have worked before Lydia even finished her sentence. If there was one person Ryan believed was good to the core, it was Scott Mccall. Derek had also bitten Jackson which didn't go to plan. He didn't turn into a werewolf, but instead morphed into a kanima—which Allison had to explain was a lizard type monster with paralytic tendencies. A guy at their school, Matt, controlled the kanima into killing people he hated from his past. Then when he died, Allison's grandfather took control of Jackson and planned on getting the bite from Derek to cure his cancer. It was this man that also caused Allison to get misguided after the death of her mother and join the opposing side to her friends. And then to top it all off, Lydia ended up resurrecting Peter and realised that she was part of the supernatural world—but no one had any clue what she was yet.

   "I have no doubt that you're telling the truth," Ryan stated as she sat on Allison's bed. She looked between both Allison and Lydia, who had just finished spouting off the list of many things that had happened while she was unconscious. "But this sounds like it's out of some stupid, unrealistic tv show. How in the hell did we get ourselves into this mess?"

   Allison and Lydia both seemed to shrug in agreement. They couldn't argue that this all wasn't crazy, because they would easily lose.

   Ryan seemed to shake off the multitude of facts she just gained—one in particular that she would have to come back to at some point. Peter was the man that did this to her, the evil son of a bitch that not only harmed her, but Lydia as well. Ryan would take much joy in socking him one. Her smile widened as she looked between her friends. "Moving on from the supernatural mess we're in—tell me what has happened with you guys. Like personal stuff. I need details."

   And Lydia couldn't help but smile then because this was the Ryan she had missed. The girl that could talk for hours on end, but also listen whenever it was needed. The girl that would take your secrets to the grave. The girl that she could tell anything and everything too without any fear of judgement.

   Allison looked increasingly interested in her bed cover all of a sudden. Her fingers traced the light flowers on the sheets.

   Ryan noticed this change in the brunette quickly. "Allison. What's up?"

   Allison had always admired that Ryan could get information out of any person she wanted, whether she knew them for ten days or ten years. It was a combination of her kind eyes and the obvious big heart she had, which everyone was aware of whether she tried to hide it or not. It was for this reason that Allison wasn't surprised when she spoke exactly what she was thinking, much like she used to do. "Scott and I broke up—which is for the best. But we didn't speak all summer, which was all well and good when I was in France but now I'm back and I'm terrified about seeing him."

   "Terrified about what exactly?" Ryan asked, not knowing whether it was obvious or not. She tried not to stumble on the fact that she and Scott had broken up—Ryan had seen both him and Stiles yesterday to catch up and he hadn't mentioned it. It wasn't an action she had seen coming, it was Scott and Allison for christ's sake. They were meant to be.

   "That I'll have an urge to get back with him."

   Ryan furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. If she was having second thoughts then why the hell did they break up in the first place?

   It was her similarly hair coloured friend that spoke up to the confusion that was plastered on Ryan's face. "She broke up with Scott because she needs time to herself—to get her head back on straight after everything that happened. Getting back with him so soon would be a million steps back."

   Ryan nodded in understanding, although her stomach bubbled with insecurity. She hated being out of the loop, and she had never felt more out than right now. It wasn't Allison or Lydia's fault, they were trying to catch her up as best they could but they could only do so much. Ryan had missed a lot, she had missed things that changed and made her friends grow. And she was left behind in it all.

   "You'll be fine, Allison," Lydia spoke to the brunette now. "Ryan and I will be there to help, you can do it."

   Allison smiled widely at the mention of both her red haired friends being there for her. It had been a long time since the thought of Ryan being able to even awaken had been close to coming true, but now here she sat. On her bed, with the same gentle smile on her lips.

   "What about you, Lydia?" Ryan turned to ask the girl opposite her now. Lydia looked slightly cornered by the change in conversation. "Personal details, please."

   Lydia paused slightly before clearing her throat. Her body straightened up taller as she addressed Ryan. "Jackson and I broke up—and he moved to London. He's over there, alone, going through his transition from kanima to werewolf. And that's the last we speak of him, please and thank you."

   "Dually noted," Ryan winked at Lydia, who only scowled in response. "He who shall not be named is wiped from my thoughts, and vocabulary."

   Ryan had never been that close to Jackson, she only really tolerated him for the sake of Lydia. She was happy for him in a way though, and hoped that he was successful in whatever he wanted to do in London. She was also happy that it removed Jackson from Lydia, because he wasn't good for. He never had been and never would be.

   And that meant Lydia was single again, which excited Ryan more than anything. Especially since they all were now. It meant for fun times ahead, the red head could tell.

   "You're both okay though, right? About everything—the breakups, the psycho lizard and everything else in between."

   Ryan's words made both Lydia and Allison gape slightly, before looking at each other to see they both had the same reaction.

   "You just got out of a six month long coma and you're more concerned with if we're okay?" Allison asked, slightly confused but then again not entirely surprised. Ryan Summers seemed scary to some for she held so much power in the social hierachy of Beacon Hills High, yet she was a big softie under it all. She cared about people—especially those she loved.

   "You're crazy, Summers." Lydia shook her head with slight laughter.

   Ryan smirked in Lydia's direction. "I'm not the one who ran through the woods for days naked."

    "Fair point."

   And all three of the girls laughed then, letting a light hearted moment take over for once in their world full of medical mysteries, supernatural creatures, and so much loss.

   Ryan realised then that her friends were okay despite everything that had happened, or at least they were coping—much like she was herself. She just hoped that would last.

---

   Another time of the day that Ryan got freedom from her mother's now protective gaze was at night.

   Evelyn couldn't watch her at all hours of the night, which meant that Ryan could finally be alone.

   But that was also scary, because it meant Ryan had nothing to distract her. She couldn't avoid the events she missed, or the pain she caused everyone around her. Ryan had to think about her life, and with her current situation it was something she would rather avoid.

   With the pounding headache she had it was hard to think anyway, so the pain could be seen as both a blessing and a curse. But mainly a curse because Ryan didn't think she had ever felt a pain quite like it.

   Her entire skull throbbed and every time the pain came back it seemed to intensify by a small amount. Ryan's mind wouldn't stop thinking and her head pounding—an awful combination.

   So, when her phone vibrated on her night stand, it didn't wake Ryan Summers up. For she was already wide awake with no hope of sleep even in sight.

   Ryan squinted at the brightness of her phone and grunted slightly at how it caused a sharp pinch in her head, making the pain even worse. She didn't think that was possible. The clock on her mobile read 2:09 am, and below that was the text that had caused her phone to act up in the first place.

   Ryan smiled instantly at the sight of Stiles' contact.

   Are you awake?

   Ryan replied with a simple yes. As soon as her message delivered the typing bubble came up from Stiles' side of the conversation. Ryan tapped her fingers on the top of her phone, eager to wait for his reply as it easily distracted her from the pain throbbing in her head.

   Great, because I'm outside your house.

   Ryan wasn't expecting that reply. She quickly rose to leave the covers of her bed and walked to the window that she could see the road from. And Stiles wasn't joking, his jeep was parked on the side of the road—but the boy was nowhere to be seen. Ryan figured he was already at her front door.

   The red head moved quietly out of her bedroom and briefly glanced at the door that lead to her mother's room. Ryan didn't think she would have cared about inviting Stiles in, but then again she had been acting so differently in the past few days.

   With that in mind, Ryan creeped down her hallway as silently as she could possibly manage.

   And she opened her front door with the same cautiousness. Stiles was indeed standing on her doorstep and his eyes instantly caught Ryan's when she opened the door for him.

   Ryan rose her finger to her lips to tell the boy he needed to be as quiet as he could, to which Stiles nodded in understanding. She lead him through her house until they were in the kitchen—the furthest room from her mother's.

   Ryan didn't find the visit from Stiles Stilinski too odd—her father lives in the house right next to Stiles and the pair would often hang out to all hours of the morning whenever Ryan stayed there.

   But what Ryan did find odd was how Stiles looked now. Not odd in a bad way, definitely a good kind of odd. In the six months that she had been out, Stiles' hair had grown—logically. Ryan hadn't ever imagined her friend with anything other than the buzzcut she had known for so long—especially since it didn't feel like so long had passed for her.

   It looked good on him, she couldn't deny that. It made him look older.

   "What brings you to the Summer's residence at approximately two in the morning?" Ryan asked Stiles, who had already taken up a position of leaning up against the counter. The red head moved around the kitchen to grab a cup of water and the pain killers her doctor had prescribed her.

   Stiles watched Ryan cautiously, his eyes followed her wherever she moved. He couldn't help but be totally in awe that his best friend was awake, he had been without her for six months and hated that it had become his new normal. But now here she was—with her vibrant red hair and usual large smile—and he almost couldn't quite believe it. "Couldn't sleep."

   "How did you know I'd be awake?"

   "I didn't—but you would wake up if I needed something. I know that much."

   And Stiles left so much unsaid with that response—like how he hoped that she was awake for he felt like he needed to see her in the flesh, like she would dematerialise and be gone if he didn't. A world without Ryan Summers was hell for Stiles Stilinski, yet it was a world that had become his reality.

   Stiles never wanted that again. He didn't want to waste the miracle that had happened when Ryan opened her eyes a few days ago. He would spend every waking moment with her if he could. Her presence had always made Stiles' life better—now more than ever.

   Ryan hummed in approval of the answer, knowing it to be true. If Stiles' designated ringtone rung at all when she was asleep the red head knew her brain wouldn't falter, that she would wake up instantly.

   But that hadn't been the case earlier, since the incessant pounding in her head wouldn't let her sleep. It was this throbbing that made Ryan remember the pills and water in her hand, the very tools that she hoped might lessen the pain in her head. Although they hadn't worked all day.

   As she swallowed two of the pills easily, Stiles didn't take his eyes off her. Those brown eyes—with hints of gold hidden within them—that Ryan had known for over ten years now narrowed slightly at her actions.

   "What?" Ryan asked in confusion, not knowing what swallowing prescribed pills would do to anger her best friend. She knew the narrowing of his eyes only meant one thing, anger or annoyance—which she had discovered during their first argument over which cartoon to watch after school in third grade.

   She rolled her eyes as a memory flew into her mind. "They're prescribed—I can even show you the bottle. This isn't another Jared Tyde's party moment."

   Jared Tyde's party—where Ryan and Lydia both took pills that they have now come to know as ecstasy. It was Stiles that had to take Ryan back to his house to ride out the awful low that came with the intoxicating high of the drug. His eyes had definitely narrowed then, and for the week after when he pointedly ignored Ryan for doing something so stereotypically high school popular girl.

   Ryan hadn't touched anything like it since. Stiles' disappointment had been punishment enough.

   Stiles seemed to ignore the memory that Ryan had briefly mentioned, although it was something he wouldn't easily forget. He gestured to the glass of water in Ryan's hand. "What's wrong? Why are you taking pain killers?"

   "Headache," Ryan answered easily as her head throbbed to remind her once again that it was still there. "I've had one since I woke up."

   "How bad is it?" Ryan didn't even know when Stiles had moved to stand in front of her. The teenager had grasped the water from her hand and placed it on the counter top.

   Ryan huffed slightly at the close proximity of the two. Stiles knew that she found it a million times harder to lie when he was closer to her, what the science was behind it she didn't know. All Ryan was aware of was that lying to Stiles was almost impossible when he was near her, especially about as close as they were now—where Ryan could smell the cologne he always wore that she got him for his sixteenth birthday, and could feel his light breath fanning out on her cheeks.

   "How much it hurts doesn't matter at this point. What are you going to do? Take me into the ER at 2 in the morning, Stiles?"

   "Yes. If it hurts that bad then I'll take you right now."

   Ryan shook her head then, although her heart swelled at the sentiment. "It's fine. It hurts, my doctor doesn't know why and they're still working on it. For now, the pain killers are enough."

   But with a new permanent crease on her forehead, Stiles could only guess that the pain was straining her that much. And that meant it was hurting a whole lot more that Ryan was letting on.

   The red head could tell that Stiles didn't believe her, and that no matter how many times she pressed her point that it would remain that way. So, Ryan did what she did best and avoided. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

   Stiles narrowed his eyes—once again—in slight annoyance at the topic change. He didn't seem to press the issue however, which was probably in his best interest. It would only make Ryan refuse to answer more. "I don't know. It's been a crazy a few days—I haven't slept well in a while."

   Ryan let her hand find his, which didn't take long considering how close the two remained. She squeezed Stiles' hand lightly. She hated that it was her that was keeping him up—in both senses. Both when she was in her coma, due to worry. And now when she was awake with a different kind of worry, one that wasn't sure how long it would last. "I'm here, Stiles. And I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me."

   And Stiles looked at her then, with a look that Ryan didn't know whether she could decipher. Maybe he was just simply looking—as if to save her being there in memory. Just incase. But Ryan couldn't understand it more than that. "I'm more than happy to be stuck with you, Summers."

   "Even if I make you watch re-runs of the Office constantly?"

   "Even then—let me guess, though. That was a hint to what we're about to do right now."

   Ryan smiled at Stiles as she let go of the grip she had on his hand. She rose her eyebrows playfully at him. "Indeed it is. Remember you chose to come here, you knew what you were getting yourself into."

   Which was true, Stiles knew exactly what coming to Ryan Summer's house in the middle of the night included. And he still chose to come, and he would do it again. And again.

---

   the purest, most innocent, cute ship in the world is stiles/ryan. i don't make the rules.

   also holy hell do i have a crazy storyline set up for ry, her family are nuts lmfao.