"Is everything okay?" Scott of course was the first to provide inquiry when they'd arrived, Stiles was dropped down onto his knees in front of the banshee holding on lightly to both of her hands.
Isaac loitered in the doorway, flicking on the living room light then off again. On, off, on, off.
The banshee couldn't make eye contact with the male in front of her, barely feeling his grip on her heads. It felt more like she was above it all, floating somewhere above them near the ceiling and watching it all play out. This couldn't be her life now.
"Every time I close my eyes, it's like she dies again." She muttered through chattering teeth, she could never seem to get warm now. "I can hear the knife slashing her, slashing him. It's always there."
Scott stood near by, the tip of his shoe rubbing against the wood of the coffee table.
False alert, thank God.
"Look Lydia maybe someone should stay with you for now, I mean clearly you aren't doing so hot." As if the giant dark shadows under her normally bright eyes wasn't clue enough, her clothes she was wearing hung off awkwardly on her body showcasing the weight she'd lost in such a short time. "The rest of us need sleep, and I'd volunteer but I promised my mom I'd wake up early to help with some errands."
"I'll do it." Stiles offered immediately. "I can stay with Lydia."
Isaac yawned, in the middle of flicking on the living room light again. He was truthfully, using its rhythm to ground himself, using it to distract his busy mind.
Frowning Scott let a sigh escape between his lips as he eyed his friend carefully. "Look Stiles I mean I trust you, seriously man but I think maybe you need some rest also so how about I call Peter maybe, or Derek and see if they'd be up for it." He'd ask Isaac but considering he had been pretty close to Allison his friend probably needed a break.
At the sound of Peter's name Lydia looked up quickly, eyes wide with unshed tears and something else she couldn't place. "Not the Hales." She still couldn't stand Peter, old man made her skin crawl and she didn't trust Derek.
Wow.
That was a first, all that emotion.
"Scott-I can-" Stiles began his protest.
"I can do it. I'm probably the only one here who's not about ready to fall over. I'll keep watch tonight." Though, he didn't even know what there was to look out for. Just a girl with terrible nightmares it looked like.
Nightmares about the girl he'd gotten killed. Isaac did feel some sort of obligation and so he'd volunteer himself.
Scott blinked twice before he nodded his head offering Isaac a thankful smile, any other time he would've offered himself up for watch. "Thanks man, I can come by tomorrow afternoon to free you." He says giving Stiles a look and gesturing for him to follow out. "Try and sleep again Lydia, Isaac call if anything happens."
"Yeah, sure." Isaac says, shoving his hands in his pockets. There was a moment's pause then, where Stiles remained rooted to the spot, looking between them all before his brown doe eyes locked onto Lydia's shining greens. "You make sure he calls us okay? Don't let him play hero and get you two hurt."
Leaning forward the banshee placed a chaste kiss against her friends cheek in reassurance. "I'll be alright Stiles, just go get sleep." She says plainly her eyes following the two out before switching to Isaac and then back towards the wall.
There went the ticking of the clock, louder than it should have been in his ears before he broke the silence. "What d'you got in the fridge? "
Shrugging Lydia didn't break eye contact with the walls speckles. "Haven't ate in nearly four days, so no idea."
"I figured. That's why I asked." Taking the time to remove his shoes and rain splattered leather jacket, Isaac hung it up on the hook. "Come on. Let's at least get something into you, even if it's just something warm to drink."
"I'm fin-fine." She responds though her voice stuttered on the last word as her eyes dropped to the floor.
Allison.
Aiden.
"Not hungry."
Isaac stopped a few feet from her, shaking his head. "You're not. And you have to anyway.-She wouldn't want you doing this to yourself."
The mention of a /her/ caused a snap of moment as her head lifted and she practically shot daggers at the wolf. "You don't know anything about /her/." She hisses out, the threat of tears pricking at her eyes. "Don't use past pretenses either, don't act like she isn't coming back."
That's because she wasn't.
This was getting a little closer to the crazy side by the second. "I won't say anything about-..I won't bring it up, if you eat something."
Seconds ticked by as the strawberry blonde only stared blankly at him from her spot on the couch before dragging her legs out from underneath her and standing up quickly ignoring the sway in her steps as she made her way towards the kitchen. "I'll drink some water, Prom's coming up and I wanna drop a size."
"You dropped three, and at this rate-people aren't going to be able to see you if you turn sideways. " Isaac returns. But at least it was a bit of a start.
But it wasn't good enough.
"Water and some an apple or the deals off."
Glaring at him she slammed a cup against the kitchen counter after getting it out of the cardboard. "Thanks for the compliment Lahey but considering all my boyfriends either leave town or die, a hot body is all I have going for me." She retorts. "Deals off."
"I'm just trying to say Dead, isn't going to match your shoes." Deal was off? Huh.
"Okay, then I'm bringing it up." He shot back. "You have two seconds to change your mind. "
"I'm not sure you'd know the difference between Prada and Gucci if it had a neon sign flashing in front of you, and before you ask no I'm not talking about my dog." She shoots back crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest. She wasn't backing down.
"Your two seconds are over. " Isaac said ignoring Lydia's fashionista drama queen act. "Chris gave me Allison's silver bullet-from her initiation. "
Isaac had something of Allison's? What did she have, maybe a jacket she'd borrowed and never gave back. That was all.
"She's coming back, she wouldn't leave me." The girl explains her eyes pleading with the wolf in front of her. "We're best friends and she wouldn't leave me here alone."
"She also-doesn't want you starving yourself." Isaac replies. "So if you're not going to do it for yourself, do it for her." Twisted he knew, but it was easy to see Lydia's delirium was from lack of nutrition, sleep and stress.
If he could get her back into her daily routine, she'd be able to get a grip on just what the word 'dead' meant. And so for now, he'd use it to his advantage.
"I don't have anything of hers but a jacket, we shared everything, I mean she was taller obviously but we had the same shoe size and I could wear most of her shirts." Her voice was getting high now as her hand turned into a fist, the knuckles turning white. "We use to spend all night talking on the phone, watching old movies and just trying to pretend we were normal." Her body was shaking then, blinking repeatedly. "She was the first real friend I ever had, she liked me even when I was a total bitch. Always stayed over when I scared and my parents didn't care enough to stay at home with me." A choked sob then. "I felt it, the life slipping out of her. I knew it was her, my only friend, she left me alone and then Aiden died and now I'm really alone. I never told him that he was a good guy, that it mattered that he was trying. I never gave Allison her jacket back, and now I can't, it was her favorite jacket Isaac, and I can't give it back now."
Is this what he'd done?
Taken away Lydia's only friend, all because he was too weak to defend himself like he'd been promised to be able to. Allison was his friend too-and she'd been yanked out of all of their grasps because of him.
That was why, it both seemed right and horribly wrong to do what he did next. Tugging Lydia into his arms was easy, her frail frame making her even lighter, but he didn't deserve to touch her, but he did it anyways, because she needed it.
Collapsing into his arms Lydia pressed her face against his warm chest, her body shaking from her sobs. "I didn't even get to say goodbye, I told her not to find me." Her hands were fisted into his shirt now as the held in pain for days finally set free. "I told them not to find me."
"Sometimes...there are things you can't control." Isaac muttered, rubbing at Lydia's back with a hand. It alarmed him that hr could very much feel the raises of her spine against the thin material. "Even if we knew-there was no way she would have listened. She loved you, you know. She would have done anything for you, and she did."
A fist collided with his chest then as a agonizing wail came from her lips, limp and quite. "I don't think I can do this without her, I don't know if I want to."
"You have us. And I know we can never replace her-none of us are going to try. But we'll be there...I'll..I'll help you." He'd said it to Allison once, he'd meant it. But now someone else needed him.
"I'm crazy Isaac, I can't sleep, or even eat. All I hear is the voices telling me I can't save them, can't save anyone." Her voice caught in her throat as her legs gave out and her full weight was pressed against his body.
"You're not crazy." Isaac assured, and at the sudden give out of her legs, Isaac chose to lift her instead into his arms. "None of this you're fault."
"I should've known though." And there it was, the deep secret that made Lydia feel guiltier than them all. Each one had their own reason to believe it was their fault but Lydia? She'd chosen to try and block her gift when it hadn't worked the first time, and maybe if she'd tried a little harder, she would've known sooner, been able to warn them. "It's my fault."
Carrying her back into the living room, Isaac dropped down onto the cushions. "What do I need to do?" Isaac mutters. "What can I do to help you?"
Her body for perfectly into his chest, both of them just the right size for the other. "Don't leave." It didn't really matter that it was Isaac, just that it was someone that cared. "Don't leave me."
"Okay. I'll be here." Isaac said, leaning back so he could rest his head on the couch, eyes closed.
"I can hang around until you feel like you can kick me out."
The banshee didn't dare close her eyes though, because even in the safety of someone else's arms her nightmares still felt threatening. "At least until Scott comes?"
"Yeah, until he shows up...you wanna at least lay down? I can take you up to your room and stay with you there." Hopefully, he'd be able to get her to fall into a calm enough sleep that she'd actually be able to get some rest.
"You got a guitar handy by the way?"
"If you promise not to leave, I don't like being up there alone." She says her voice cracking with the painful realization that neither Allison or Aiden would ever go in there again. "In my side closest, I tried it out before I realized I was better at piano."
Scooting forward, Isaac stood with the girl in his arms. Who the hell knew he'd be carrying around a broken Lydia Martin like she was a doll. Climbing up the staircase, Isaac was quick to find her room by scent. It was the one that harbored that sweet smelling vanilla perfume she always worse, and pushed it's door open with his toe.
Sauntering over, Isaac pulled back her covers before placing her gently into bed-then went rummaging for the instrument.
She felt childlike in the bed, the blankets were pulled up to her chin as her head rested against a pillow that was propped up by the head board. "Left side." She muttered when Isaac opened the wrong closest door.
Ah, got it now. Correcting himself, Isaac wrapped his hand around the neck of the guitar. It was a bit dusty but with one blow, the strings were cleaned and ready to use. Padding back over, Isaac gave the strings a stroke, only to find it out of tune, and his worked on adjusting the tabs, cocked a brow at Lydia. "I didn't know that you played piano."
"You also didn't know where I lived." She responds her eyes following his every movement, who would've guessed tall, dark and cock Isaac Lahey was musical. "We don't know anything about the other, so it's not too surprising." Which was true considering they'd barely ever had a conversation lasting more than two minutes. Besides the one where he'd been trying to kill her.
"True." Isaac mutters, chuckling a little, and he gave the instrument another caress. Much better, beautiful actually.
"Close those eyes Lydia, I'll play a little for you okay?"
Careful fingers were already strumming out the introduction to Your Guardian Angel.
Who would've guessed.
It only took Lydia a moment to decide that she'd do as told and slowly her lids fluttered closed and she rolled over on her side. Ears picking up every chord that was strum
Isaac was just a little insecure about his singing voice, but as always, he sucked it up and pushed through his private performance, fingers plucking at the nylon of the acoustic in his lap.
I will never let you fall (let you fall)
I'll stand up with you forever
I'll be there for you through it all, through it all
Even if saving you sends me to heaven
There was a light bobbing to his head as he concentrated on the rhythm and flow of both the music and words in which he weaved for her. He'd sing to her until his voice became hoarse. He'd decided.
It wasn't her intention to fall asleep but sure enough the strawberry blonde felt herself slipping into the darkness.
((AN: Where this is, better late than never yeah?
Sorry if editing is crappy, I didn't read through it so I don't know if there is any errors or what not. If there is my bad.
As always reviews are loved and welcomed, they actually make us wanna write/edit more so the more reviews, the faster we can post stuff!
until next time
-E))