Author's Note:
WickedlyMinx: It's going to get so much more intense soon! Thank you for your guess and review and please stay tuned!
poorxbrokexcollegexkid: Sydney's story ties in with Stiles on such a deeper level still. I'm so glad you enjoyed Isaac's nickname!
AeydenOrion: Creepy yet exciting, yes, I like that! I hope you continue to enjoy!
RayBrown1998: Things are happening! Everything will come out soon and you'll get to find out what the heck is going on with Sydney!
justwonderingwhoiam: Oh it'll hit the fan most definitely! She's a big role in Stiles' plotline
kinky-kitsune: Thank you for the rave review! I'm so glad you like the relationships and interactions!
Guest: I haven't really given it too much thought but who knows, if inspiration strikes, it could happen!
The Last of Us
Summary: Sydney didn't know what was in store for her when she knocked on his door but she knew why she was there. With no one left to turn to, would he be her hero or would she ultimately become the villain she could only dream about.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Teen Wolf, Sydney however is all mine.
Chapter 29:
When she was left in the bed alone, Sydney wasn't by any means a graceful sleeper, not in the slightest. Peter often found her sprawled across the bed on her stomach, one of her legs hitched upwards as high as it could go, her butt sticking up in the air the slightest little bit but none of that seemed to matter. When he was right next to her, she was the epitome of perfection; curled into him, on her side, a peaceful look on her face. Peter knew she was something special; she hadn't given up on loving him yet. The only other woman to have loved him as long as she did had been his late wife and even now he was starting to wonder if maybe Sydney meant more to him than Eden ever did.
It never ceased to amaze him how similar the two were, but then again, it probably took a certain kind of woman to actually stick with Peter. He was well aware that he wasn't making things easy for Sydney, in fact he had tried very hard to get away with not actually becoming her mate. He still wasn't entirely sure how he felt about it, being connected to someone on such a deep level. She wasn't intimidated by him, she didn't back down in an argument and she certainly didn't take any of his shit.
The constant worrying about her, sure maybe that had more to do with her lack of fear but he knew that the bond between them played a larger role that he'd originally believed. As for the jealousy, well, he didn't seem to care where that came from, or why, all he knew was that Sydney was his and Stiles Stilinski should not play such an important role in her life, not when Peter was standing right next to her, facing everything by her side. It didn't help that every time she ran off after the human boy, she seemed to come back to him worse for repair.
The bruising on her abdomen concerned him greatly. Werewolves rarely bruised and if they did end up with a contusion, it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared, but Sydney's bruises, hell they were going on two days now and the colour of the injuries didn't seem to be getting any less prominent. Then there was the issue of the quarter sized hole in her skin, right behind her ear where she had been marked. Her voice had been so pleading when she asked him to cut it off, he couldn't exactly say no, plus the mark worried him too. Something wasn't right with her, there was no reason that he could think of for her to not be healing, yet here she was, bruised and battered, with something different about her that he just could not figure out.
It wasn't a hard decision to make, leaving her in the bed alone to sleep some more. She was clearly having a rough few days, and the nightmares that plagued her while she was asleep weren't any better. He understood her reluctance to voice her concerns over the nightmares involving her parents, he had been there before, had watched his entire family burn, he knew it wasn't something he ever wanted to talk about, at least not on the level of how he really felt about it.
Taking the lives of those that had been responsible for the fire had helped him get over it the slightest little bit. It didn't bring his family back, it would never bring his family back but at least they had what was coming to them. He knew how upset it had made Sydney feel to know that she'd never get any payback on the people who slaughtered her parents, he knew it would take a long time for her to get used to that fact too. The entire situation was unpleasant at best but Peter hoped that Sydney would escape relatively unscathed.
She was a competent individual, strong and fearless for the most part. It wasn't that he was constantly worried about her getting injured, no, his fear was much deeper, he was afraid that she'd end up jumping into a situation with such recklessness that she'd get herself killed. Maybe Peter would pick himself up from her death and move on but he knew that he didn't want to watch another woman he loved die, not if there was something he could have done to prevent it.
So yes, maybe he was smothering her a little bit, maybe he worried too much but he was well aware of what she was capable of and he knew how her mind worked. For the longest time she had nothing to lose, what with her family all gone and few friends who survived, but now, now she had another family, she had Peter, and Derek, hell even Cora, even if she was on a different continent. Sydney had people in her life now, people who cared and to Peter that was everything, Sydney now had everything to lose but she still acted like she had nothing.
He sat on the couch, staring blankly at the guide channel on the television, waiting for Sydney to get up. It had taken her quite a while to calm down after waking up from the horrendous nightmare, not to mention the firefly in her palm. If Peter hadn't been thinking something was off before, he certainly was now. There was no possible way she should have woken up with a dead bug in her hand, especially not one such as a firefly.
He perked up at the sound of her movements in the bedroom, leaning forward on the couch and slowly making his way to his feet. Peter wandered across the apartment and glanced into the bedroom, smiling as he caught her rolling off the edge of the bed and landing on her feet. She hauled herself upwards and stretched her arms above her head, feeling her muscles strain. Peter shook his head at her and moved away from the door, heading now for the kitchen and sitting down at the island.
His eyes never left her body as she sauntered out of the bedroom, one of his t-shirts covering her top half and her short shorts covering her bottom half. She ran her hands through her hair, gathering it at the back of her head and tucking it into the collar of the shirt before closing the distance between her and the vacant stool. Peter couldn't help but admire her flawless body, her fluid movements; hell everything about her was reason to be proud.
"Hey look," she motioned to the window in the kitchen, "I didn't miss daylight today."
"No you didn't." He replied with an amused tone to his voice.
"Well if that's not enough cause for celebration, check this out." Sydney announced and grabbed the bottom hem of her shirt, sliding it upwards and stopping just below her breasts.
His hands moved forward and he brushed his fingers against her unblemished skin, the bruising completely gone. She squirmed slightly against his touch, the soft bits of contact from his fingers tickling her stomach.
"What about your-"
Before he could even get the words out, she turned her head and leaned backwards a little bit, showing him the spot on her neck where the mark had been not too long ago. There wasn't even the slightest hint that something had been there, or cut away, instead, all that was visible was more smooth, flawless skin.
"All better now." She grinned, turning her head back to face him, a grin present on her lips. She brushed his hands away from her torso and let the shirt drop back down, the hem falling against the middle of her thighs.
"I can see that."
"And I feel like a million bucks too!" She exclaimed, rolling her shoulders back, forcing the bones to crack slightly, relieving her arms of the heaviness caused by sleep. "I could go for a run."
"You want to go for a run?"
"Uh, no I don't I want to but I feel like I could. I told you I'd take you to my house; I thought we could go today."
"If you're sure?"
"Why do you keep doing that lately?" She asked, dropping the grin and narrowing her eyes in on him.
"Doing what?"
"It's like you're asking for consent. You're worried about me, aren't you?"
Peter dropped his gaze away from her and let out a sigh. He wasn't exactly proud of the fact that he so openly cared about her, in fact, he wasn't entirely sure he was ready for anyone to know about them, much less Derek and Stiles. It wasn't that he was embarrassed by her, that was the farthest thing from the truth. Peter simply knew that if anyone had it out for him, the easiest way to hit home was to go right for Sydney.
"I know how hard it can be to face your past."
"Then you should also know that it's easier to do that when you have someone by your side." She countered. "If you don't want me to go then just say so but you and I know damn well that you want to see my house."
"Sydney." He chided.
"You don't have to baby me okay. Yes I'm pissed off at those people for slaughtering my parents, yes I'm upset because I can't shift into a full wolf and maybe I'm scared but who wouldn't after waking up with a dead bug clenched in their fist? I get it, I'd be worried to but there's nothing you can do about it."
"That we know of."
"That we know of? You're telling me you, Peter Hale, manipulative, self-absorbed, crazy person that you are, would help me if you knew how?"
"I didn't say that."
"So you wouldn't help me?" She asked, flashing her alpha eyes at him.
"Unless-"
"It somehow benefitted you right?"
"Sydney you have to understand-"
"I get it, I do, and honestly, I wouldn't expect anything less from you, so why are you being all cautious of hurting my feelings now when there was a time that you crushed every finger on my hand because I said something you didn't like?"
"I thought the answer was obvious." He countered, slightly offended that Sydney didn't already know.
She took her bottom lip between her teeth and studied his stoic expression. Loving him, being with him, was never easy, it would never be easy but the girl sitting in front of him now was trying her hardest. He'd never fault her for the way she reacted to him, especially when he was acting somewhat out of character as she so nicely pointed out. Something was different now though, there was something about her, having had to watch her tortured like him and Derek when she knew absolutely nothing. It was as though she got mixed in with the wrong crowd and there was no denying it was Peter's fault.
"Are you scared of me?" She questioned, careful of her tone. She was genuinely curious if that was the reason he was treating her almost like fine china.
"Not exactly."
"Are you scared of me becoming angry, so angry that I end up like you when you killed everyone responsible for the fire?"
"I just don't think anger suits you."
"Yet you badger me on things like hanging out with Stiles."
"At least if you're angry with me then I know I can keep you distracted."
"Distracted from being consumed by it right? Do you think if I went off the deep end like you did before, that I would make it back out unscathed?"
"I ended up dead because of it. Not to offend you but there's no way to resurrect you, at least none that I know of."
"Right." She nodded, not entirely sure how to react to his statement.
"Sydney I'm not trying to be the bad guy this time."
"Okay but I never saw you as the bad guy before!" She argued, nearing the point of desperation. Whatever was going on in his head was something she'd never be able to understand.
"I stand by my proclamation that I will never play the role of controlling mate, but I can't sit by and watch you run off into a potentially deadly situation."
"God just handcuff me to the bed then." She snarled and rolled her eyes at him.
"That's actually the complete opposite of what I'm trying to do right now."
Sydney let out a frustrated sigh but watched him intently as he twisted on the stool and reached across the top of the island. She hadn't exactly noticed it when she sat down, and even if she had, she would have assumed that it was his.
"Peter?" She questioned his actions but he twisted back around to face her, the device in his hand now as he extended it towards her.
"If you're not going to take it upon yourself, I will." He said, his voice firm and confident.
Sydney hesitated but reached out and took hold of the cell phone in his grasp. When it was securely in her hand, he let go of it, watching her as she stared at the screen. It wasn't much different from his phone, in fact if he hadn't handed it to her, she would have just assumed that it was his phone. Now, looking at it in detail, she knew it wasn't his, it was a phone for her.
"You know a gun might have been a bit more useful in an event where I'd need to protect myself." She stated with a teasing smile.
"I just want to be able to contact you."
"If you had promised to do naughty things to me, I wouldn't have been super opposed to being handcuffed to the bed." She baited.
"I don't doubt it."
"Thanks." She nodded and held the phone in the air a bit, glancing from the device to his face. "You're not a bad boyfriend at all."
"Is that what I am?" He asked, an offended look on his face.
"What, my boyfriend? Yeah, why?"
"I was under the impression that boyfriends could be broken up with, you Sydney, can't simply break up with me."
"Well there isn't a ring on my finger so you can't be my fiancé or husband for that matter, I don't really want to call you my mate to normal people either-"
"Significant other?"
"You want me to call you my significant other? How about you just be my Peter?"
"Come on then my Sydney, we have the whole day ahead of us and you are not even dressed."
Sydney hopped off the stool and gently set the phone on the island. She glanced back at the bathroom door and her lips broke out into a smirk before reaching her hand out towards him and latching it onto his forearm. He looked up at her and noticed the smug smirk on her face now, wondering what she was going to do. Before he knew it, she was walking towards the bathroom, dragging Peter behind her, laughing as she went.
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
Sydney's childhood home was located near the outskirts of Beacon Hills. It wasn't too far from the Hale house but it was far enough to warrant a fifteen minute walk through the woods to get there, if they had walked that is. When she pulled her car into the driveway, the sight in front of her wasn't exactly what she was expecting to see, in a good way of course.
It had been nearly fifteen years since she had been in the house and nearly as long since she had seen it. The fact that it was still standing in one piece amazed her. The only blemishes to the outside of the house were the overgrown vines snaking up the sides of the house as well as the too long grass of the bright green yard. The white siding had faded to a dull gray colour and the windows, from what she could see, were covered in dirt and dust.
Slowly making her way out of the car, Sydney's eyes were glued to the structure which stood unscathed exactly where it had been built. All of the window panes were still in one piece; the wood deck around the front door hadn't rotted away like she pictured it might have. Overall, her house looked amazing, considering it had been abandoned for nearly fifteen years.
"I recall seeing this house before." Peter offered as he stepped around the front of her car, waiting for Sydney to fall in step beside him.
"My parents were pretty well known in the werewolf community." She whispered back, still amazed that the house wasn't completely dilapidated.
"I was never inside."
"Huh, yeah, it wasn't anything special."
Upon finishing her sentence, Sydney took a deep inhale and scrunched her nose at what she smelled. Peter looked at her but followed her lead, easily picking up the scent of blood, stale blood of course. He didn't have to ask her to know who the blood had belonged to, in fact it vaguely smelled similar to her, and obviously whoever the blood belonged to was related to Sydney, he didn't need to know that her parents were slaughtered in the house to pick up on that.
She shifted on the balls of her feet and reached out for his hand, taking it in a firm hold. Peter gave in to her grasp, going even further to intertwine his fingers with hers, knowing that she'd be upset at the sight inside the house. It didn't matter, it wouldn't have mattered if it were fifty years since her parents died, he knew how hard it was to face death, especially when a person bared witness to it.
"God you smell that right?" She murmured and took a step towards the front deck, stopping again to look around. She shoved the car keys into the front pocket on her jeans before letting out a sigh.
"You mean the blood?"
"Yeah. Fuck. The only thing left of my parents that smells like them and it's their god damn blood."
She shut her eyes and remembered happier times, times when she would be running around in the front yard, her mother perched on a chair on the deck, a book in her hand. Sydney new her mother wasn't actually reading it, not in the slightest. Her mother was always too busy watching Sydney, proud of her little girl, even when she got into trouble. It wasn't that she was overprotective, her mother just never wanted to miss anything when it came to Sydney, her superb little girl.
"We don't have to go in." Peter's voice broke into her thoughts, bringing her back to reality. She opened her eyes and shook her head, brushing off his offer. She was going to go into the house, she was going to face her past.
"I'm fine, just give me a second."
She took another couple of steps forward, stopping just at the bottom of the wooden deck stairs. She glanced upwards and felt her heartbeat pick up in pace. She was nervous, scared of what she would find, what she would see behind the door of her house. Peter took the first step onto the wooden stairs, Sydney following closely behind him. In no time the two had made it to the deck, up the three steps, and now stood a few feet in front of the door.
Sydney reached out with her free hand and set her hand on the dirt covered handle, pushing the lever down and shoving the door forward. She wasn't surprised to find it locked, in fact she assumed it would be but she figured she'd give the door a try, maybe the lock had been broken sometime in the last fifteen years.
"Do you have a key?" Peter asked, leaning in closer to her. There was a slight breeze and a chill had come with it, whether it was from the actual temperature or simply because the two of them were now standing on the front deck to the house where Sydney's parents had been murdered.
"Yeah." She breathed out and dug into her pocket, pulling out her keys. She fumbled with them in her hand but grabbed hold of the once silver, now a tarnished pewter colour, key and shoved it into the deadbolt above the door handle.
Taking a deep breath and praying that it would turn, Sydney forced the key to the side and let out a squeal of excitement at the familiar sound of the lock clicking into the door. The house was theirs for the taking now.
Sydney pulled her key free from the lock and dropped them into the pocket on her leather jacket. She took a step forward, grabbed the handle, squeezed the lever down and pushed against the door gently, opening it with ease.
The stench of blood was much stronger now that the door was open and they were so close to the source. Hesitating for a split second, Sydney stepped forward, untangling her fingers from Peter's and leading him into the house now. He extended his hand out and rested it against her hip, following closely behind her.
Sydney veered to the right and took a few more steps into the room. Peter came to a stop behind her when she did and he looked around, his head swimming in the foul odour of fifteen year old blood. She covered her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the emotions to remain at bay for the time being. They weren't even ten feet into the house and already she was threatening to break down.
She rushed forward and moved deeper into the kitchen, coming to a stop only when she reached the counter. Pressing her palms against the edge of the cool granite countertop, she took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before letting it out. She jerked at the unexpected pressure of his hand on her back, hoping she'd calm down before she started hyperventilating.
"I can see it, I can feel it all happening again." She whispered and dropped down into a squatting position, her arms closing around her knees now as she tried to make herself as small as possible.
"We can go back to the apartment-"
"No, no just, hold on."
Sydney slowly rose to her full height and turned around, her eyes immediately locking on the bloodstains covering the walls. She held her breath and inched closer to them, her arm extending out in front of her. Peter followed right behind her as she closed in on the walls, her fingertips brushing against the blood spattered on what was once a nice, crisp, clean, sky blue wall.
"Can't you feel it too?" She asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper now.
"Yes. The fear, the pain, I can feel it all."
She ran her hands along the wall for a few more seconds before pulling them away, as if the blood had burned her. She turned around and faced Peter, searching his expression for any sort of judgment. What would he think of her if he had been there too? Would he have run out the door like she had or would he have stayed and tried to protect her family? She knew she wasn't exactly proud of what she had done that day but what was a ten-year-old girl supposed to do against hunters, who had already ended the life of her father?
"Next room?" Peter asked quietly, fearing that she'd break at any second. He wouldn't blame her either, the feelings of pain and fear in the room were nearly overwhelming to him and it wasn't even his house, his family.
"Upstairs." She nodded and headed towards the stairs just a few feet away from where the bloodstains were.
Slowly and cautiously she mounted each step, pausing on each one. Once again Peter's hand found its way to her hip as he followed behind her closely. It had taken them a little bit of time to finally make it to the second floor, Sydney fighting off the urge to rush back down the stairs and outside where the air wasn't as awful as inside. When she hit the landing though, her face lit up a little bit. Mounted on the walls in dust ridden picture frames were photos of her and her family, something she hadn't seen in years.
She rushed forward and leaned in to look closely at the first photo, rubbing her palm across the glass in the frame as she did so. Looking back at her were her parents; her mother dressed in a very elegant and elaborate wedding gown, her father looking very dapper in a formal tuxedo. She could no longer contain the smile threatening to take over her face. The sight of her parents so happy and together made her heart swell.
"I miss them." She murmured and fought off the urge to cry.
"I know."
She didn't tense or jerk at his touch now, instead she melted against him as he came up beside her, also taking in the sight of her parents forever captured in a state of bliss inside the frame.
Sydney slipped her arm around his waist and moved on to the next photo, this time Peter reach out and brushed away the dust, jumping at the unexpected sound coming from Sydney. Was she really laughing?
He let out a chuckle of his own, enjoying the sight of Sydney as a toddler, leaning against the banister of the stairs with the smuggest look he'd ever seen. On top of her head was a perfectly placed hat containing none other than Barney the purple dinosaur. The hat was twisted slightly on her head, giving her even more to the punk look she must have been going for.
"Even as a baby I had swagger." She remarked and tossed him a grin.
He rolled his eyes at her and shoved her sideways, hinting that he was ready to look at the next photo. Sydney brushed the dust off and studied the picture carefully. It wasn't funny like the last one and it wasn't exactly beautiful like the first one but there was definitely a genuine happiness surrounding the people forever stuck inside the photograph.
Her dad stood sideways, his arms outstretched into the air slightly, a small Sydney dangling from his arms. Her mom stood in front of her father, grabbing hold of Sydney's dangling feet as the sun sparkled high in the bright blue sky. She could just barely make out her own look of pure joy at being played with by her parents, her mother was smiling and laughing, her dad's eyes glimmering with what she could only assume was pride, pride at how happy his young daughter could be in such a terrifying world.
"That wasn't too long before they died." She stated softly, remembering that day almost in perfect detail. They had been in the backyard and she had demanded that her dad make her fly like he had done so often before. She had run at him, leaping into his arms and he lifted her up, high into the air. She wasn't completely sure who had taken the picture but she vaguely remembered Derek's parents having been over to visit.
"You were an adorable child."
"Thanks."
"Your parents would be proud of the woman you've become."
"Yeah." She sighed and backed away from the pictures. Peter followed suit and watched her carefully. Sydney wandered to the end of the hall where there were two doors across from each other; she glanced backwards to the opposite side of the hall from the pictures and scoffed at the sight of the bathroom.
Everything seemed to be intact, she figured there'd be water stains in the sink and toilet but the further she delved into the house, the more she found herself surprised at how well the old structure had held up over the last fifteen years. It would have had to face super strong wind, raging storms, drastic changes in temperature, yet it still looked exactly how she had remembered it when she walked out the front door for the very last time, except with a lot more dust.
Focusing on the two doors, one on either side of the hall now, she took a deep breath and stepped onto the threshold of her parents' room. She held her breath and just looked around, wondering who had been the very last person in the room and why they had left everything exactly the same as she remembered.
The bedding was covered in a thick layer of dust but the covers were the same as she remembered; a deep navy blue with lighter blue accents, the pillow cases matched the lighter hue as well. The headboard was a deep chestnut colour, faded from the years but still in excellent shape. She couldn't bring herself to enter the room, an air of sacredness took over and she knew that if she went into her parents' room, she would only find more memories that she'd rather keep buried in the back of her mind.
Peter stepped up behind her and set his hand on her shoulder, glancing in the room now as well. He figured it was her parents' room, it was decorated in a way that was too mature to belong to a child.
"I thought it would be harder coming back here." Sydney remarked, crossing her hands over her chest in an attempt to comfort herself. She hated the horrific memories that plagued her but she always figured that going back to where it had all happened would break her, shatter her into a millions pieces that she'd never be able to get back together. Standing in the doorframe to her parents' room though, she felt almost at peace.
It wasn't her fault for what had happened to her family, hell she still didn't know why her parents had been slaughtered, all she knew was that they weren't with her anymore and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.
"You're not doing it alone."
"Yeah, I know." She looked up at him and flashed him a somber smile, really quite thankful that he was with her now.
"You don't have to do anything alone anymore."
She turned into him and pressed her cheek against his chest, tuning into his familiar heartbeat. She felt his arms slip around her, hugging her tighter to his body as he tried desperately to provide her with warmth and comfort. He gently rested his chin on the top of her head and let her revel in the moment, waiting patiently as she let whatever memories she had take over for just a few more seconds.
Without any signs of warning, she ripped herself away from his body and maneuvered around him, rushing into the room across the hall. Peter let out a sigh and twisted around too now, letting her lead him right into the middle of where Sydney's life had completely changed.
She stopped just inside the doorway and looked around in complete awe. The walls were painted a light lavender colour with white crown molding framing the ceiling. Peter was amazed at the artistic flare of her ceiling, the vibrant blue rivaled that of the real sky just outside the window and the white clouds there could easily be confused with the actual things. He tore his eyes off the ceiling and spotted a bed tucked into the corner of her room and he could easily picture the young Sydney from the picture laying there on her back, staring up at the sky above her.
"My mom hid glow in the dark star stickers in the white parts of the clouds so when she turned the light off, I had a night sky too." Sydney explained, her voice filled with wonder and nostalgia.
"You were lucky to have her." Peter replied, silently praising her mother's creativeness. Any child would have loved a sky above them and her mother had made it happen.
"No moon though." Sydney continued, an amused tone to her voice now. "She said she didn't want the moon on my ceiling to affect my shifting."
"Your mother sounds charming."
"I loved her."
He didn't have to see it in her eyes to know that she was fighting back tears now. Everything that he had seen inside the house just made him appreciate her more. Her parents seemed like wonderful people, raising Sydney the best way they knew how. He couldn't even begin to praise them enough for how well their daughter had turned out. Sydney was a gorgeous young woman.
The woman in front of Peter wandered further into the room, moving towards a bookshelf that spanned from the floor to the ceiling. There were a bunch of books residing there but what caught Peter's attention was the shelf dedicated to stuffed animals and figurines. He slowly moved behind Sydney and pressed his chest against her back as she came to a halt in front of the shelf, her hands reaching out and grabbing hold of the most prominent stuffed animal there: a faded, old, worn out, brown sock monkey.
"His name is Socky Boots. I named him Socky Boots. He's a fucking sock monkey and I named him Socky." She stated, the sadness growing progressively more prominent with each word.
"You were a child."
"Not a very creative one." She grumbled and held the sock monkey against her chest, hugging it like a little lost girl.
"Derek once had a teddy bear that he named-"
"Teddy, yeah, we've met." She cut him off and continued to just hold the sock monkey.
"Socky Boots is a good name, nice and strong if you ask me."
"Thanks for humouring me." She sighed and reached back to set the sock monkey on the shelf where it belonged. "I bet your stuffed animals had fucking amazing names."
"Don't be so sure of yourself."
"I can't even picture you with stuffed animals, you were probably born with a fucking book in your hand."
He was well aware that she was more than just a little bit angry but the laugh that erupted from his throat wasn't exactly appreciated by her. At the sound of his laughter, she turned her head and glared at him but as soon as she laid her sights on his amused face, she couldn't help but give him the faintest of smiles.
Sydney set her palm on the head of stuffed bunny rabbit next to the monkey, "I named him Martin."
"Now that's creative. What about this one?" Peter asked and poked a maroon coloured, stuffed tyrannosaurus.
"Rexus." She answered sheepishly.
"This one?" Peter moved his finger to the left and poked an elegant looking stuffed wolf.
"Derek." She nodded. "He fucking hated it."
"You named your stuffed wolf Derek?"
"Yeah, okay I was maybe four or five, my mom gave him to me for a full moon present and Derek was making fun of me saying only babies had stuffed animals so I just, I called him Derek."
"Why didn't you take any of them with you when you left?"
"Well that would've involved coming back into the house to get them and I was having none of that." She stated with a firm nod. "My grandpa bought me a new sock monkey for me when I got to Colorado, it wasn't the same though."
"Let me guess, Socky Boots the Second?"
"Don't be stupid, try Claude."
"And here you believed you weren't a very creative child."
Sydney pressed her lips together and studied the shelf a little bit longer. She took roll call of the remaining few plushies before turning around and taking a look at the rest of her room. Her feet carried her across the floor and Sydney flopped onto her bed, a small cloud of dust puffing up and surrounding her.
Peter cocked his head at her but slowly crossed the room too, only he stopped right next to her bed and brushed the dust off the window before looking out into the backyard of her childhood home.
"Peter, can I ask you to do something for me?" Her voice broke the blanket of silence between them.
"That depends."
"I just want you to do this one little thing for me and you're going to think it's lame but I didn't really have much of a life when I was a teenager-"
"Where are you going with this?" He asked, shifting on his feet and settling his hip against the window sill.
"When I was a little girl I always dreamed that my prince would come through my window while I was sleeping and, well, you know, I'd get my happily ever after."
"And what are you suggesting I do?"
"Can you go outside and sneak in through my bedroom window?"
"Sydney-"
"I'll pretend I'm sleeping and everything, just, please?"
"Can't I just climb out here and come right back in?"
"That's not very romantic."
Without arguing anymore with her, Peter pushed himself away from the windowsill and began walking to the door of her room. He glanced back at her, a smile on her face now, as she curled into her childhood bed, shoving one of the pillows left there under her head.
He seized the opportunity and upon entering the hallway, he looked around, peeking into the bathroom as he passed. He made his way down the stairs, studying the horrifying blood stains on the walls before finally wandering out onto the wooden deck at the front of the house, pulling the door shut behind him.
He quickly made work of the stairs and wandered around the side of the house, looking for the window that he figured was Sydney's. He knew that her room was at the back of the house, he realized that when he glanced out the window, now all he had to do was figure out how to get up to it.
When he rounded the corner and came to the back of the house, Peter immediately looked upwards and caught sight of the bright blue sky ceiling peeking through the window. With little effort, he jumped up and grabbed hold of the eaves trough, hauling himself up onto the decently sized, low sloping roof near her window. When he was securely on the patch of roof, he peeked inside the window and let out a sigh. Sydney was certainly one of a kind and it would never cease to amaze him that she turned out so well with no parents.
Slowly and as quietly as he could, Peter jimmied the window upwards, creating a gap just big enough for him to slip through. With the grace of an experienced werewolf, he climbed through her window, barely making a sound as his feet hit the floor. A low growl rumbled in his chest at the noises emanating from the girl in the bed.
"Pretend to sleep." Peter muttered with a roll of his eyes. Sydney was out cold and the peaceful look etched on her face meant that he wasn't going to bother waking her up.
Instead of disturbing her, Peter bent down and cautiously leaned over her, inhaling her scent. Without another second of hesitation, he climbed onto the bed behind her and settled into the covers, after the sleepless nights over the last few days, he knew she'd be glad to finally get some more decent rest.
And what did you all think?
