She had been suckered into the stakeout by a pair of concerned eyes. You'll be safer with one of us, he had said. Who knows what Kate will try. Lydia, please.
She tried to push out his voice by drumming her fingers against the steering wheel. Two hours had passed since they started this nonsense. Two hours sitting in a car with crappy AC in uncomfortable silence. Two. Fucking. Hours.
When she catches Kira opening her texts immediately after closing them, Lydia pinches the bridge of her nose. Kira's eyes were cemented to screen on her phone. She hadn't gone longer than ten minutes without glancing at it. Oh yeah, she certainly felt safe with the distracted kitsune.
"Sweetheart, you've been staring at your phone the entire time you've been in the car." Lydia said shaking her head.
Kira fiddled with her phone more. "Y-yeah."
"Trouble in paradise?" Lydia grumbled pulling a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"Maybe? I'm not sure. I really don't know." Kira sighed. "Can I ask you something?"
She quickly craved the uncomfortable silence would return.
"He hasn't really been texting me back. Or answering my calls." Kira said biting her lip. "I don't know if it was something that I did or-"
"Oh sweetie." Lydia turned to face her friend. Friend? Is that what Kira was? "Take a deep breath. It doesn't mean he's lost interest. He's been busy. We all have."
The expression on her face said Kira wasn't convinced. "It's been an entire day."
"I'm sure it's nothing. I mean at school-" The image of Scott kissing Kira's nose made her lip twitch. Imean come on, she thought. At school, they'd eventually run out of oxygen from how they limited keeping their lips apart. "What I mean is worrying about it won't make you feel any better. Try to focus on other things."
"Like what?" Kira asked.
"Well, we do have a psycho running around Beacon Hills with berserkers. That should keep your mind occupied."
"You seem pretty calm." Kira smiled. Lydia was happy to see her slip her phone back into her pocket. "I haven't been here long but this sort of stuff seems to be endless."
"Yep." Lydia replied shifting her body to look out the window. "Berserkers, kanimas, banshees, and druids." It had been sprinkling for a while now. She followed the trickling water down the glass. "You start to get used to it. You'll get there eventually."
"It's all new to me you know?" Kira's voice quavered.
Lydia's purse vibrated in her lap. She fumbled through it to find her cell.
Hi. It said.
Scott? She angled the phone so the screen was out of Kira's sight.
"Are you two close?" Kira asked.
Lydia's chest tightened and she dropped her phone into her lap. "Who?" Of course you know who.
"Scott."
"They grew on me." Her eyes drifted toward her lap when she felt her phone vibrate again.
Everything okay?
Dandy, she mused eyeing his girlfriend.
Kira laughed. "They?"
"Him and Stiles. They grow on you like a fungus."
"How did you meet?"
"He was everywhere once he started to date my best friend." Allison. Her voice sounded strangled. She stared at the screen of her phone. She wasn't ready to talk about this. She didn't want to talk about him anymore especially with her.
You've been distant since you know. I'm worried because I care about you. And the other night..
Lydia's eyes widened. Suddenly it was hard to breathe, and she quickly shoved her phone back into her purse. What is he doing? She could see Kira watching her. God, don't look at me.
"Are you okay?" Kira asked setting her hand on Lydia's shoulder.
Her mouth felt dry. "Sweetheart, I really don't want to talk about Scott McCall right now."
"Oh." She tugged her hand back. "Sorry."
Kira didn't say much after that. She pulled her phone out from her pocket and relapsed back to staring at the screen. Why isn't he texting her, Lydia thought. She's his girlfriend. He should worry about her, not me.