Stiles shifted awkwardly on the cold metal table, legs swinging back in forth. He couldn't even begin to pretend that getting a check up in a vet's office wasn't the least bit weird. Even if Deaton was some kind of weird well travelled expert on the supernatural, there was the fact that Stiles wasn't supernatural.

Whiles Stiles had gotten a slight bit of smug pleasure out of the fact that Deaton had confirmed for them that vampires did, in fact, exist, and he was therefore able to tell Scott that he told him so. Still, at this point he was definitely ready to leave.

Stiles tried his best to sit still as Deaton began to examine the small bite mark on Stiles' neck that he had been concealing throughout the day. He found himself getting extremely pissed off as Deaton made the stereotypical "hmmmm" sound that doctors make.

"Well, you can't be turned by a bite alone. You would have also had to have ingested vampire blood," Deaton explained.

Stiles shrugged.

"Okay, then, so it's confirmed. I'm not turning into a vamp," Stiles stated.

Just has he began to shift his position to begin to get up, he was interrupted by Scott.

"Wait, you don't know that for sure. You said that you don't remember what happened when you were attacked," Scott pointed out.

Stiles sighed. He assumed that this meant more poking, prodding, and questioning.

"Are you displaying any signs of turning? Any unusual sensations, symptoms or behaviors?" Deaton asked.

Stiles said "no" at the same time that Scott said "yes", causing the two to glare at each other.

"Alright, then, I️ should probably ask some more specific questions. Any aversion to sunlight?" Deaton asked.

The same thing happened again where Scott and Stiles answered simultaneously, Scott saying "yes" and Stiles saying "no."

Scott rolled his eyes before turning to Deaton.

"Today was the first time that I️ ever saw him wear sunglasses, and he said that it was unusually sunny. He also said he felt like he was going to burn," Scott explained.

"We live in California!" Stiles argued.

Deaton nodded.

"Okay, so aversion to sunlight. Any sensitivity to sound or light in general?" he asked.

The same thing happened with Scott and Stiles again, and both were finding themselves growing slightly pissed off at one another.

"You were super distracted all day, today," Scott said.

"Um, hello? ADHD!" Stiles argued.

Scott sighed.

"Okay, true, but that doesn't explain you freaking out at the bell ringing," Scott remarked.

Deaton furrowed his brows pensively. He made that "hmmm" sound again, and Stiles wanted to punch him in the throat.

"How would you describe the sound of the bell today? Was it different from how it normally sounds to you?" he asked.

With that, Stiles thought back to the painfully loud sound of the bell as well as all of the other noises, like what had seemed like a million different persistent "ba-BUMP, ba-BUMP, ba-BUMP," sounds happening in different rhythms. He tried to formulate an answer, distracted by the two current drumming noises he was hearing.

"I don't know it was just so loud. Everything is so loud," Stiles explained.

Deaton nodded.

"And, are you hearing anything out of the ordinary?" he asked.

Stiles pressed his lips together, looking down as to not face Scott or Deaton. Reluctantly, he nodded.

"And, what, exactly, are you hearing?" Deaton asked.

Stiles swallowed. At first he thought that maybe if he just didn't say anything it would go away.

"Heartbeats," he replied, his voice low.

He then looked back up. Deaton's pensive expression was now tainted with a slight look of concern, while Scott didn't even conceal his look of horror. He also took note of how Scott's heartbeat jumped.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Scott asked.

Stiles shrugged.

"I don't know! I️ guess I️ didn't want you to freak out. I️ just...I️ feel like I'm losing my mind," Stiles said.

Deaton shook his head.

"Stiles, you aren't losing your mind. You're becoming a vampire," Deaton said.

Stiles exhaled. He took a few deep breaths and nodded before looking at Deaton.

"Okay, okay. So, how do we fix me?" Stiles asked.

There was no fixing him. No way out of this. Deaton's face said it all.

Slowly, Deaton shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Stiles bit down on his lower lip, fighting back tears. He looked down toward the ground.

"So, what's gonna happen to me? How long before I️...you know," Stiles asked, his voice small.

"It's not quite that simple," Deaton explained. "Probably within the next few days you'll need to ingest some form of humanoid blood in order to complete your transition."

Stiles looked back up.

"And if I️ don't?" Stiles asked.

Deaton sighed.

"The longer you abstain from feeding, the weaker your body will become until it becomes no longer able to sustain life," he said.

Stiles nodded.

"So, I'll die," he said.

Deaton nodded solemnly.

Stiles balled his fists up tightly at his sides as he had to listen to a long explanation about transitioning to a vampire. He listened to the other speak about needing blood to survive and having to fight the urge to kill. It was all just too much.

Stiles had to make a choice: feed or die.

—

The walk to the jeep was excruciatingly silent. When the two got in, Stiles didn't begin driving. Instead, he just sat there, staring forward with a blank expression on his face.

A long moment of silence stretched into another, neither knowing exactly what to say before Stiles broke it.

"Scott, can you uh...can you do me a favor?" he asked, furrowing his brows.

Scott nodded.

"Yeah, of course. Whatever you need," Scott replied.

Stiles hit the side of his leg, trying to fight tears.

"Can you uh...can you look after my dad for me? When I️, when I'm gone, I️ mean," Stiles said. It was his way of telling Scott that he'd already made up his mind.

Scott shook his head.

"No, Stiles, you're not gonna die like this," he said.

Stiles turned to face Scott, eyes filled with tears.

"What Deaton described...I️ can't live like that. And I️ can't risk putting you or my dad or anyone else in danger, okay? I️ won't," he explained.

Scott shook his head.

"No, no, no! We'll find another way. There's always another way. There has to be another way," Scott said.

"There is no other way!" Stiles shouted.

He exhaled.

"There's no other way," he reiterated much quieter.

"I️-I️ can help you through this. The transition, I️ mean. I️ can help you to learn control and-" Scott began.

"No," Stiles interrupted. "You can't. It's not gonna be the same thing as becoming a werewolf. Look, I've made up my mind, okay?"

Scott shook his head.

"No, it's not okay," Scott said, choking up.

Stiles nodded, turning his key into the ignition.

"I know."