"Oh, err... Hey sorry, I-I didn't mean to urm..." Stiles scratched the back of his head nervously, his voice trailing off. Yeah, she was in a towel, but she'd just gotten out of the shower, what did he expect.

He was stood on the landing at the top of the stairs while she stood in the doorway clutching the only thing protecting her dignity at the moment. Sure she wasn't exactly insecure but she did have some self respect left. After Eichen He'd been the first time to offer accommodation. Understandably she didn't want to be around her mother right now. Or ever, in the foreseeable future, but that was another thing. Facing her mother was dangerous right now, she hated her for what she did. Sure in her head she knew her mum did what she thought was best yet every fibre of her being hated her. With her new abilities and those kind of feelings, she couldn't really trust herself.

As soon as she stepped into the house the first thing had been having a shower. The disgusting stench of medication and bleach was just stuck on her body. A shower was the perfect time to wash that off and maybe get a few minutes to herself. She did appreciate the packs concern but honestly there's a point when it just becomes annoying. Kira kept hovering over her, not really sure what to do with herself. She must've offered her like 12 different types of tea. Scott had been asking questions relentlessly, he wanted to know everything, what drugs they gave her, what did she hallucinate, how did they help her powers. She knew he was just trying to help her but...

Then there was Stiles, he had to be the most clingy. He sat impossibly close to her on Kira's couch, constantly reaching to hold her hand, touch her arm, rub her back. It would've been comforting if she didn't know it wasn't for her. She didn't need werewolves senses to know he was just as shaken up as her. She supposed he was still trying to convince himself that she was really there. He'd been through a lot while she was...gone: nearly losing his dad, falling out with Scott, breaking up with Malia. Poor boy had suffered too much for his age. Then again, hadn't they all.

"Is everything okay?" Lydia tried to make her voice sound caring, but with all her screaming it just came out like a pathetic squeak. That was another thing. They'd made her scream in Eichen so many times her voice was awful, you'd think being a banshee she wouldn't have to worry about that, and guaranteed her banshee scream wasn't affected but the voice she was using right now was scratchy and weak.

"Yeah, no, it's fine-I'm fine. I just...you were in there for like an hour...so I just thought maybe you were, err-"

"Crying?" She raised an eyebrow to prove her point. "I'm fine Stiles, okay? You don't have to worry about me." She pulled her towel tighter.

"Actually, I was going to say, I was worried you didn't have a towel." The look on his face was so innocent. It was times like these she was thankful this was one of her friends and not Jackson. Not that Jackson was ever really her friend. That was the difference between Stiles and Jackson. Stiles is her best friend, she can't imagine her life without him, and Jackson was a love, without the sexual attraction, they were nothing. With Stiles she didn't any of that stuff to feel close to him. Their relationship was more than sex. The way Stiles made her feel just by looking at looking at her was much better than any highs Jackson ever gave her. "Right" She didn't sound convinced, but they both know he'd just be digging himself a hole if he commented.

"Do you need anything? I changed the sheets and I've got decaf if you want some coffee."

"Err, actually there is something, but you can totally say no."

"I probably won't" he grinned at her encouragingly.

"You see I don't have any of my make-up, for tomorrow, or any day really, and I know it's late. But maybe you wouldn't mind swinging 'round and picking it up for me." That had to be the first time she'd actually sounded nervous in front of Stiles Stillinski.

"Sure, it's not that late." He shrugged.

"Ugh, thank you, you're the best. It's all in this one pink bag by the sink so you just have to pick up the bag. Oh! And could grab my toothbrush too it's also by the sink. And while you're there there's a purple duffel bag by the vanity in my room, could you pick that up to?" She took a deep breath looking him in eyes with the perfect mix of puppy dog eyes and guilt. It was nearly 12.

"Pink bag, toothbrush and why the duffel?" He looked at her with a confused and extremely tired expression.

"It's my emergency bag, there's clothes and stuff, y'know just for circumstances like these" she smiled sweetly.

He bit the inside of his cheek, clearly weighing something up in his head. "You really think about needing stuff like that?"

She shrugged, clearly refusing to think about what he was thinking right now. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

XxxxX

His hand knocked gently on her big wooden door. He had always appreciated the beauty of Lydia Martin's house. The big old fashioned feel and the natural essence. It would be easy to believe that Lydia had the perfect life here, living like a princess. But years of studying her behaviour, over analysing every expression, made it clear to him, her life had never been perfect. Far from it in fact.

Lydia's mum, Natalie, opened the door with welcome arms. She had a smile on her face, but the bags under her eyes were clearly there.

"I came to pick some stuff up for Lydia if you don't mi-"

"Lydia? Is she with you?" Natalie tried to peer round him and see inside his car parked in the drive. She cut him off again before he could reply. "Did you get her out? Is she better, is she responsive? Where is she? I need to see her, can you take me to her?" Stiles reached his arms out and put them on her shoulders, which did seem to get her to focus on him.

"She's fine, she's with me." He ignored the connotations that came with that. "She's okay for now, but she's been through a lot so I think it's best you just keep your distance...for now." He swallowed after he finished. Natalie had the same unreadable expression Lydia seemed to have when she got bad news. He knows Natalie cares deeply for her daughter, but he also knows Lydia. And he knows when she's angry. She's definitely angry, whether that's with her mum, herself or just life, Lydia's downright pissed. He can tell in the way she squeezes her eyes tightly shut whenever someone mentions Eichen, or when she takes a deep breath as Kira offers her something for the 5th time. She's clearly just directing her anger, and he knows he should probably talk to her about it, but not right now. Not when it's still fresh, an open wound.

"No you don't understand, I need to apologise, I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Natalie's voice was getting more and more panicked.

"I know that, I do. And she knows that, I promise I'll make sure she knows that. But right now the best thing you can do is just give her some space, let her come to you in her own time. Be patient okay?" He looker he dead in the eyes, never breaking eye contact, preying to God she was listening.

She took a deep breath, letting his words sink in before standing a little straighter - in that typical Martin style - and smoothing out her skirt. Then just like that it was like all that panic that was there seconds ago just dissipated. He'd seen Lydia do it before, after Aiden died and she'd clung to him like a lifeline, then after a couple minutes passed, she just gently stepped back, took a deep breath, smoothed her skirt, and she'd been fine. Like nothing even happened. She just seemed to get over things so quickly, or she was just great at pretending. He'd hoped it was the former, but he knew Lydia too well.

"Okay, as long as your taking care of her." Her voice was too even to be natural.

"Always" she gave him a knowing look then, he told himself he had no idea what it was for.

After that he'd told Natalie what Lydia sent him for and she'd gladly fetched them for her. Toothbrush, make-up and duffel bag. She didn't ask anymore about Lydia, just making small talk before he said goodbye.

XxxxxX

Stiles had been longer than she expected. Her mother had probably roped him into some long conversation where she tried to excuse the way she handled everything. Poor, poor boy. She'd changed back into the denim jeans and sweater that Malia lent her. The girl had been wanting to help in any way possible, even just relieving her of the disgusting medical clothes she'd been wearing for weeks.

She was sat on the couch alone when he finally came back, bags an' all. His dad had left just after Stiles, to go to work. He promised he'd be back by the morning but she'd seen the look on Stiles' face so she wouldn't expect to be eating turkey bacon with him in the morning.

"I got everything, but your mum fetched it so I hope she picked up the right stuff." Lydia walked over and took the bags off him.

"She has more of a chance of getting the right stuff than you" he could hear the bitter undertone in her voice. He knew her new attitude was just from Eichen but he really hoped it would wear off soon. He settled for rolling his eyes as she walked upstairs instead of answering back. While Lydia was like this he didn't want to stir the pot.

He followed her into the bathroom as she started going through the small pink bag. She pulled out tube after tube, along with huge pallets and glass jars.

"Jeez, Lyds. Why do you need all this stuff?" She looked up at him then for a second, before answering.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, Stiles." She sighed as she went back to rifling through the...stuff.

"Because I'm a boy?" He challenged. She didn't need to look at him to know he had a playful grin on his face.

"Because you're you."

"Should I be offended"

"Do you feel offended"

"I feel like you were offending me."

"I feel like I would only be offending you if you were offended." Despite them seeming more and more like themselves he begun to notice she wasn't looking at him, like not at all. Not even a smile or a glance, or even just a look in the mirror.

He swallowed loudly then, suddenly feeling slightly out of place. He awkwardly looked around avoiding eye contact, as if she wasn't doing the same. It was like they were great and normal, but as soon as they realised that it went back to uncomfortableness.

"We should probably get some rest." He quickly suggested, desperate to fill the overly long pause.

"Hey, do you mind if I borrow some pjamas?" He must've stared at her for a good 5 minutes. She said it like it was totally, not a big deal. Like she's asked him that a thousand times. She had never worn his clothes before, not even a hoody. Now she wanted to wear his clothes, to sleep in his bed. Sure she'd stayed over before but that was just because they fell asleep studying or researching, they'd never consciously organised for her to stay over. This was weird, right? He should be finding this weird, any normal person should find this weird.

"Just some sweatpants." She commented. It was then he realised he had just been gawking at her like and idiot, instead of answering her completely reasonable question.

"Sure." He tried to make it sound cool and not as if he was freaking out internally, but he was aware that his voice was 2 octaves too high for 'cool'.

He left then to fetch her some clothes, the awkwardness had become palpable.

He found some grey sweatpants in his top draw, they were by far the newest ones he had. After pacing his room a couple times she came back in and took the trousers he offered her with a polite smile. He felt his heart picking up its pace as he begun to get in his own head. Borrowing clothes, that might be something she did with Kira or Malia, her female friends, but guy friends? Would Scott be cool with this? Would she be cool with borrowing Scott's clothes? He was definitely over thinking this.

She came back out of the bathroom, still with the sweater from Malia, and wearing his grey sweatpants. They were too long and she had to tie the strings to keep them on her hips, but as usual she looked flawless. Her face was clean and bright, her hair was lazily bunched up on the top of her head and her clothes were loose and baggy. He smiled brightly, letting his eyes drift over her form. He was still wearing the clothes he had when he broke her out, not really thinking to change until now.

"So...um, are you okay to just-yeah so I'm gonna grab some sheets and sleep on the couch, so if you need anything you know where I am. Not that your gonna need anything in the middle of the night, just-y'know...just incase." He tripped over his words as his hands made wild gestures. She just smiled and walked over to his bed. He took that as a response and with a quick dash to grab a change of clothes rushed out. He only thought halfway down the stairs he never wished her a goodnight.

Lydia didn't know what her problem was. She was just moody, constantly. Stiles seemed to sense her mood and had bolted out as if the place was on fire. Maybe it was that time of the month? Something wasn't right with her. It wasn't Eichen, they'd taken enough from her without trumping her spirit. She wished Allison was still here, she always seemed to know what to say.

The strawberry-blonde dropped onto the bed like a dead weight, she had officially given up on life, well for the rest of the night at least. She was tired and if she didn't get any sleep tonight she was just gonna be grouchy tomorrow. She curled up under the duvet, pulling it right to her chin and hugged her pillow to her head. The sheets smelled of detergent and Stiles, it was comforting. She closed her eyes and tried to relax.

"Lydia, I need you to focus." Dr Valeck's voice drifted through her mind. His eyes were so keen, staring at her as if she held all the secrets.

"Focus...focus on what?" Everything seemed in slow motion.

"Close your eyes and try to see, what's happening?" She complied blankly.

She was watching as a young girl, around 3, walked down a corridor. She couldn't explain how, but she knew it was her. The little patented red shoes tapped on the hard floor making gentle noises. She wasn't walking, or moving, yet she just followed her. The girl reached the end of the corridor, and like in a movie spun around, letting her hair spin round with her. She saw her face, this was not Lydia. Then out of nowhere appeared some mystery werewolf, his eyes were as red as blood. Staring straight into Lydia's head.

"Wait, no! Get away from her, get away. Leave her alone Please!" Lydia screamed and yelled, but he barely took notice. She tried to move forward, but it was like she didn't even know how to move. "Let her go please!" She pleaded and pleaded before he reached his claws around her neck and...

"Nooooooo!" She let out one last scream and watched as the red eyed monster flew back, his back colliding with the wall. She barely acknowledged the girl who seemed to have disappeared.

The werewolf got up after only a few moments but her willpower was gone. She stood staring aimlessly. He started walking towards her. There was so much purpose in his walk. She watched as his hand reached for her arm. As soon as she felt the cold fingers it was like a kickstart.

She screamed and yelled and kicked...? Her eyes flung open to a dark room. Her legs were pushing desperately at the sheets around her. Her nails dug into the fabrics where she sat. She screamed and screamed and screamed as if her life depended on it.

Stiles was almost asleep. His mind had finally run out of energy to think anymore about Lydia. His eyes were drifting closed when the erratic scream echoed through his house. He could've sworn the walls shook. He barely even thought about it, his feet deciding for him as he ran to where he knew she was. His legs couldn't have been quick enough.

He pushed through the door to see Lydia writhing in the bed. Her legs and arms were moving like crazy, it was like watching someone getting attacked by bugs. He grabbed her arms and tried to hold them still as he shouted for her to wake up. He's sure he would've been more upset if he actually had time to think about what was happening. Her eyes were wide and looking into his but he didn't think she actually saw him. He yelled for her to stop and finally the deafening noise subsided. Her jaw was hanging open as she took in deep inhalations. Her eyes scanned the room and she seemed to realise what was happening. Her legs stilled and arms stopped pushing against his. He didn't want to look at her broken face anymore, it was just too heartbreaking, he pulled her into a tight hug, gently smoothing her hair down with his other hand. He immediately felt her bury her face in the crook of his neck and cry. Her hands timidly came out to hold onto his t-shirt as sobs wracked her body, he wasn't really sure what to do so he just held her tighter.

She woke up the next morning first. He face was buried deep into the pillow. Sometime in the night her hair had fallen down and she could feel it irritating her skin, it felt knotty and ratty. She squinted her eyes open to see a familiar face sound asleep next to her. She smiled at the normalcy of it, it was new yet it didn't feel it. His arm was slung over her back and his other one was tucked under his head. She's not sure whether she asked his to stay or he just did anyway, last night was still a little fuzzy and she was in no rush to try and remember it. He didn't wake up for another hour despite having school, she didn't have the heart to wake him. The sheriff hadn't turned up and she was grateful, this would be awkward to explain.

Her eyes were still tired and sore from all the crying, so instead of getting up and doing something productive she closed her eyes and made a content sigh. She felt stiles stir at the sound, but she couldn't be bothered to open her eyes to check he was awake because, for now at least, she was happy to live in her little bubble for a while and pretend she was okay. She was okay, being with Stiles just seemed to make everything okay. It wasn't like she was in love with the guy.