This is more of a filler chapter. I just wrote two chapters loaded with... plenty of things that I won't spoil, so it's normal if the action's kinda slow for now :) Thanks for the reviews and the follows! They all make my day.

Chapter title: 10cc, Hospital Song (okay I don't like the song, I only picked it for the lyrics lol)

Blurryfaces

Chapter five – Nobody brings me flowers (I've been out for hours)

Fortunately the formal took place a Friday, so they don't have to crawl to school the day after seeing as they went to bed around four in the morning.

Charlie told her dad everything when she arrived home after Amy dropped her off quite illegally with Todd's car, promising to look after the knocked out boy. Well, not everything. She didn't mention the vampires because that would lead to the drinking, and they're still underage. Her father wouldn't approve of this kind of behavior. She just explained that he got lost in the woods when he wanted to look for a corner where he could piss. It was far from glamour, but it was the first excuse that popped up in her mind.

That really does not encourage Charlie to get drunk, ever again.

Her dad wakes her up too early for her liking. She stands up with her head pounding mercilessly, and swallows down two after-hangover pills. She feels like her tongue's inflated and she almost can't feel the taste of her morning toasts.

She gets dressed as fast as she can and gets to Amy's by foot, as she unfortunately had to leave her bicycle at the school. The redhead welcomes her with a giant yawn and enormous bags under her eyes.

"Please tell me you feel like hell too." she groans, allowing her inside.

"I'm great, I jogged on my way here."

"Really?"

"No, I almost threw up on my breakfast."

"Thank god."

Amy puts a hand over her mouth to hide an other yawn. Charlie guesses Todd kept her up all night.

"I'm definitely going to murder this bloody shav of Shaun." the pale-skinned girl mumbles as they go up the stairs.

"Not in that state." warns Charlie.

"Alright, I'll murder him when I'm done banging my head on the walls to put myself to sleep. I'm almost certain he drugged my drink too. Sick bastard!"

She drops herself on her bed and Charlie shuts the door behind her.

"Where's Todd?" she asks, her eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room.

"Puking his brains out in my loo. He's been doing that since he woke up, around seven."

"No, I'm done." mumbles the boy as he choses this moment to appear, face as white as a sheet. "No hang on." he hastily locks himself back into Amy's private bathroom. A few seconds later, he reopens the door with a cringe of disgust. "Okay I don't think I'll be able to go to class today."

"It's a shame." Charlie replies passively, arms crossed.

"Today's Saturday." Amy groans, burying her face in her sheets. Todd lets himself drop on the floor, back against the wall. "Your butt's fine."

"Thank you." he murmurs, trying his best not to throw up on Amy's favorite carpet. "Yours is good too."

Charlie bites her lower lip so hard to not laugh that she almost makes it bleed and Amy stares at Todd like he's suddenly grown a second head.

The ex hacker finally realizes his mistake after a good ten seconds of awkward silence. "Holy frick." he says without much meaning. "Sorry. I say whatever finds its way into my brain. Gonna hide my embarrassment and puke bile now."

They watch him go. Glance at each other. Explode in laughter both at the same time.

"Oh my god, I think I really like him hangover. He's so more fun!" Amy says as she wipes a tear.

"Trust me, he's a lot of fun sober too." Charlie replies, smiling still.

"No, he's always so... serious. Seems like he's got a stick up his arse."

Charlie suddenly stops smiling. "You're wrong." she says more harshly than she first intended. "It's just the way he is with you."

Amy's laugh dies in her throat and her happy expression slowly fades. She blinks in confusion. "What?"

"That came out wrong." Charlie quickly says, ashamed of herself for spilling out something so important. "Forget it."

"No." Amy's frown deepens, and she suppresses an other yawn by some kind of miracle. "No, I don't get it. Why does Todd seem so out of himself when he's with me? Why does he seem so sad when I'm around?" She looks so betrayed at that moment, so desperate, and she probably blames herself for something she hasn't done; her best friend has to say something.

Charlie swallows, and fakes a quick smile. "Because you remind him of what he'll never have." she answers quietly.

Before Amy has the time to figure out her words, Todd reopens the door and stumbles in the room. "Okay, I sobered up." he manages to say. When he falls on the bed right next to Amy, he shakes the water off himself like a wet dog. The redhead lets out a yelp of surprise when more than a few droplets land on dry self.

"What did you do?"

He puffs, apparently exhausted and looking for a nap. "I took a quick cold shower. With my clothes on."

"Why by the stars would you do that?"

"I forgot I had them on, it's not my fault!" he cries out, immediately regretting it when his and the Charlie's ears ring painfully.

Amy sighs and gets up. She grabs a shower cloth from her bathroom and starts cleaning Todd's face and shuffle his already messy hair. Once she's done, his cheeks are bright red and he's got a mass of brown cowlicks on his head, which isn't much different from his usual disheveled appearance.

"Okay." she huffs as she covers her head once more with one of her two purple pillows. "What happened yesterday?"

"Huh?"

"Vampires." Charlie reminds him as she stretches on the floor, too tired to get up. They all look like they just had an all nighter: one lying down on the carpet, the other buried behind a pillow and the last on the bed, barely able to keep his spine straight.

"Huh?" he repeats as his back fails him and he lies down, his arm touching Amy's hair.

"You know what." Charlie scolds him. "You got lost in the reserve and found a nest of pissed off vamps."

"I did?" he says, more tired than surprised.

"Yes, you did." mumbles Amy's voice, hidden underneath the feathers. "And we were freezing. One more minute out there and we were gonna turn into Captain America."

He looks at her droggily. "Wait, you could have had enhanced strength?"

Amy kicks the sheets with her foot and Charlie groans outwardly. "I think we can both agree to say that he's really stupid when he's hungover."

"You really don't remember what you saw?" asks the British who finds this situation particularly odd.

"No." he frowns. "Sorry."

Charlie claps her hands. "How convenient. My turn to puke now."

They continue to ask him about the vampires until he can't bear the interrogation anymore.

"I don't remember anything, okay?" he says, exasperated. "I was drunk off my ass. Whose fault is that?"

"Oh don't worry, he's gonna pay." promises Amy with a vicious smirk. "I wonder how Lydia's doing though."

"Why do you suddenly care?" he asks, surprised as they aren't supposed to even know each other. Todd knows Lydia since kindergarten, and even though he's never really paid attention to her, she's always been an ass to him. He was smaller, lighter than the others, easier to pick on, and she wouldn't miss an opportunity to compare him to other boys who were known to be either rich or strong, or both. Jackson's characterization summed up. Amy doesn't know all of that of course, she's only been in Beacon Hills two years.

"She helped us chose our dresses for the formal." Amy explains as she steals the skateboard from his hands and tries to get on it. Charlie takes her hand and helps her balance her body. "Hell, how do you even skate?"

"Years of bruises and stitches." he says, grabbing her other hand.

She manages to stand upright and even rolls a little. Charlie thanks god barely anyone takes this old road, lost inside the forest. Sure it's filled with leaves and mud but it's the quietest and, to be honest, Amy thought that if they got closer from the woods, Todd would remember something, anything.

He doesn't.

"I still worry." Amy spurts out.

Todd nods silently. "That's human." he replies. "Legitimate. You okay Charlie? You're quiet today."

"I'm fine." she says, Amy's grip leaving a red mark on her skin. "Just... thinking about what happened yesterday."

"I'm telling you both, I don't remember anyth-"

"That's not it." She hesitates a few seconds about whether she should tell them or not, but after all they've never mocked her for anything and keeping secrets usually causes damage. "Lydia's blood was all over Jackson and it stained the ground he ran on. She bled out in the parking lot. It's a miracle she's still alive."

"Don't you wonder how that happened?" asks Amy, ever-so-curious.

"What I wonder is if that's going to happen more than once."

"Well I think we should visit her." Charlie and Todd throw her a shocked look. "Y'know, to be polite. And because she's a classmate and a person who nearly got killed. Seeing friendly faces might do her good."

"If she's awake." Charlie points out.

"It doesn't hurt to go there, does it? It's not like we're drowning in homework."

Charlie damns Amy's empathy and social skills.

They end up rolling their way to the hospital, Amy and Todd taking turns, Charlie walking next to them. They present themselves to the information counter, where Melissa McCall, Scott's mother, welcomes them.

She gladly shows them Lydia's room, saying how not many of her friends have come visit her except-

"Stiles?" Charlie gasps.

He's there on the uncomfortable chairs of the waiting room with a 'get well' balloon tied around his wrist. He looks up at their arrival and winces when he sees her.

"Hey... fancy seeing you here." he says with a wave. "How you doin'?"

"Let's not start a war, guys." Amy interrupts, cutting at the foot Charlie's bitter remark.

"I wasn't going to!" she feels the need to say.

Melissa McCall senses that she should barge intp the discussion and scold them. "If you want to fight, please do it outside, but not in front of your friend's room and certainly not in my hospital. I don't want to stitch you kids up for whatever teenage mess you buried yourselves into."

Amy turns to her and smiles. "Do not worry, ma'am, this won't be a problem. Will it?" she adds while giving a death glare at both Stiles and Charlie.

"Definitely won't be a problem." Todd nods with the same smile, patting Stiles's shoulder like he's his best pal. "The situation's handled."

"Absolutely." she says. "If I feel like it's needed, I'll handcuff them to these chairs."

Todd frowns. "You don't have handcuffs."

"Then I'll lock them up in a cupboard." Amy hisses.

"No." Mrs McCall says firmly even though she seems to hold back a laugh. "Not in a cupboard. Out of the hospital."

"Of course. I'll lock them up inside my car. That I don't own. Absolutely. You're a genius, ma'am!"

Melissa had probably expected Amy to be cynical but, to her surprise and her relief, the girl is nothing but honest. The nurse chuckles. "Okay, kiddos. Just don't cause me any problem. There's already enough happening in this damn town."

Charlie waits for her departure to turn around, arms crossed, and faces a wincing Stilinski.

"Please don't hurt me." he begs.

"Charlie." Todd whispers. "Handcuffs."

She rolls her eyes at his reminder. "I'm not gonna hurt you." she replies as Stiles visibly relaxes and lets out the breath he was holding. "Not physically at least. I don't do that. That's Amy's job."

Stiles looks at Amy, who playfully wriggles her eyebrows. He swallows hard.

"Okay." he painfully lets out. "So... how come you guys are here?"

"We're paying Lydia a visit." she replies.

Amy strides over to the tiny window on the room door, and spies inside.

"She isn't awake yet, isn't she?" she understands, visibly pained.

"Nope." replies Stiles as he passes a hand over his tired eyes. "Doctors said she needed time to recover and they have no idea when she'll wake up. But best thing is, she isn't... I mean, she is healing."

Charlie has the feeling he was going to say something entirely different from 'she is healing' but doesn't speak up anyhow. After all, he has the right to own secrets. They all do. Even if secrets end up fucking everyone up.

Todd sits on the chair next to him. "You okay, man?"

Stiles looks surprised by his sudden care. After all, the two don't interact much. "Fine. I just didn't get much sleep last night and- I run on caffeine."

Todd quirks an eyebrow and scoffs. "Wow, be careful, I don't think your metabolism is ready for the caffeine and Adderall mix!"

Charlie sees Stiles's legs bounce up and down more than usual and understands that he's ready to implode with stress.

"What happened to her?" she asks bluntly. "You were the one that took her to the formal, I saw you two dancing together."

"Believe me, I'm not the one she wanted to go with." Stiles sighs. Charlie doesn't have the time to notice he totally avoided her question as Amy is already asking:

"Speaking of whom, where is Jackson? Shouldn't he be waiting with you for his ex girlfriend to wake up?"

Stiles shrugs but they all can see his anger underneath. "No idea."

"Sick bastard." she murmurs, shaking her head. "I hate this kind of guys. Guess I'll have a word with Ken Doll and favorite Traitor."

"Shaun Rodriguez." Todd translates.

"What? What did he do?" asks Stiles, curious and apparently eager to stick his nose into things that aren't his problems to deal.

Amy's nostrils flare, and it's almost as if she could punch the wall. "He poisoned Todd's drink!"

"And my drink too." Charlie adds, just as a reminder that she's still part of the conversation.

"He knowingly tried to get Todd drunk because he genuinely thought he could bring cheer to his evening!"

Stiles nods, impressed. "Wow. I knew the guy was stupid, but that's a whole other level. I mean, getting drunk is my specialty but I also like getting drunk and knowing I'm drunk, y'know?"

"I get what you mean." Amy kindly replies. "He must have felt violated."

"I'm still here." Todd points out, raising a hand.

"Indeed you are, dearie."

He lowers his arm, satisfied.

"So we came here for nothing?" Charlie says.

"Don't be rude." her friend shouts. "We saw Stiles and got to the privilege to talk to him!"

"That's clearly the enlightenment of my day."

"Sarcasm." Todd says with a knowing nod.

"You know, I have a PhD in sarcasm." Stiles says to him. "But I have to say, that girl probably has two."

"She does." he replies with a sigh. "But it's hard to tell when she isn't sarcastic sometimes. She's in drama class and she could tell you that she'd love to turn your pet into a handbag, with a straight face. It's actually very impressive."

"Personally she scares the hell out of me, but you chose her as your friend, dude."

"Let me assure you that she's the perfect shield against bullies. I draw them, she takes them out with word projectiles. Piece of cake."

Stiles does an impressed pout, silently admires Charlie who keeps arguing with Amy, both of them ignorant of what the boys are saying behind their backs.

He points a finger toward the ginger one. "What about her? What's her role in your band?"

Todd scratches his eyebrow, considering Amy as she blows on a strand of her hair that had fallen in front of her freckled nose. "She's the muscles."

Stiles eyes his team comrade. "The muscles, huh? So you're the brain and you two complete each other?"

"No, Charlie's the brain." Todd corrects him. "I'm the hands." He wriggles them in front of the teenager.

Stiles squints. "Okay..." he slowly says. "I think I get it. You're weird."

"Thank you."

"You're very much welcome. You think Charlie's still mad at me for not being there for the English project?"

"Absolutely."

"I'm in trouble."

"When are you not?" Todd laughs.

Stiles looks down and does a half-hearted chuckle. "Yeah." he whispers. "I don't know when it's gonna stop."

"Huh?"

The pale boy straightens his pine and smiles at Todd. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"No you're not." the other boy gently replies, and Stiles freezes. "The love of your life is knocked out from the other side of this door and you can't even see her!"

"Oh yeah! That. Yeah. Well... she'll wake up."

Todd looks out the little window on the door. Lydia Martin's laying there on the little white bed, surrounded by pillows, tubes entering the bigger veins on her arms and a heart monitor at her bedside. She hadn't moved a bit since yesterday, her cheeks were still void of color, her lips were still alarmingly blue and her ever-so-perfect hair was now somehow of a faded strawberry blonde. Her mother, eyes puffy red because of all the tears, is holding her hand, probably hasn't stopped holding her hand since her Lydia's first operation, and soothes it gently with her thumb, staring at the face of her only child with a mix of hope and grief.

"How can you be so sure?"

Stiles pulls on the ballon's string. It bounces happily in mid-air.

"Well she has to, right? Or else there isn't gonna be anyone to lead the school." he jokes humourlessly.

Todd pouts. "I don't know, I think Beacon High can always become a democracy."

Stiles glances at him. "You're kidding, right?"

"How long have you been here?" Charlie suddenly asks, eyebrows narrowed.

Stiles looks at the three of them like he's being interrogated. "Huh, since yesterday night?"

She rolls her eyes at the ceiling. "Explains the smell."

"What?" he shouts, personally offended. "I changed clothes!"

Amy shakes her head with pity. "I don't know what you've been doing yesterday, but you must have sweated a lot." She suddenly frowns, remembering something. "Speaking of which, where were you yesterday?"

Stiles tenses up imperceptibly. "Still in the ball. Saving Scott's ass, and losing the keys to my Jeep."

"Why save Scott's ass?" asks Todd with a sceptical laugh.

"Oh." Charlie does, quickly adding two and two. "You can't remember, you were too drunk last night, but we saw Scott and his damsel slip away from the ball room to... cuddle between the buses."

"They're back together!" says loudly Amy, opening wide eyes. "Oh my god, I always thought those two could last!"

Stiles catches the balloon and bumps the innocent object against his forehead. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that, shit." he winces. "You can't tell that to anyone, okay?"

Amy's jaw falls open. "They're not supposed to be together? But that's amazing! It's just like Romeo and Juliet – oh I wish my love life was just as lively as theirs."

"Yeah, you and me both. But please, keep it a secret, I don't want Scott to decapitate me!"

"Don't worry." she promises with a wink. "I'll keep this secret to the grave, scout's honor."

Stiles doesn't have the time to thank her.

Mrs Martin suddenly opens wide her daughter's room door, and a single tear run down her sharp cheek. "Nurse McCall!" she yells before dashing to the nurse counter of this floor as fast as her high heels allow her. "Nurse!"

Stiles has instantly risen, faster than Todd, Amy and Charlie acted, and rushes to the door window. He turns toward the three, mouth open in a weary awe. He lets out a breath that he probably hasn't realized he was holding since then.

"She's awake." he says, and so he walks back to his chair and drops back on it.

Amy lets out a tiny marvelled laugh and goes to check just to make sure just as Mrs Martin comes back along with Mrs McCall. The redhead steps to the side to let them through but continues to spy as the nurse leans over Lydia with a smile. The Queen, whose face was more dead than anything barely a few minutes before, is now wincing and rubbing her eyes deprived of the usual bright makeup.

"Feeling better, Lydia?"

"What happened?" she replies, voice a little hoarse like after a long scream.

Charlie claps her hands together, unable to restrain a smile from taking over her mouth. "The Bee's finally buzzing back to life."

"Things are going back to normal!" Amy continues, exchanging a cheery glance with her best friend.

Todd taps Stiles' back. "Hey, cheer up! Your lady's awake and well. What's there to mourn?"

Stiles shakes his head, like scaring bad thoughts away. "Yeah." he replies a little too somberly to Todd's liking. "Yeah, you're right. She didn't die!" He forces an incredulous laugh out, and this action goes unnoticed by the three Daydreamers. He pulls out his phone out of his pocket to phone Scott while Todd stands up to observe the Martins and Mrs McCall by the door window. Unfortunately, the nurse sees them.

"C'mon, kids!" she grouses. "This isn't a zoo!" Without a warning, she closes the blinds of the window.

"But-" tries Amy, ever so stubborn.

"Curiosity kills the cat." Charlie chuckles.

The redhead scoffs. "I'm just worried is all."

"We're gonna see her by Monday." Todd says, trying to get her to relax. He lays a hand on her shoulder and she turns to him, a glimmer in her brown eyes. For a split second, she wonders if she should find comfort in his arms, but decides otherwise. "You really have too much empathy, Amy." he says this with a smile, not sounding offensive in the slightest, and she lets out a wet chuckle.

"It's just-" she begins, trying to find the right words. She narrows her eyes, breathes in deeply. "I know I don't know her for as long as you guys. But she isn't a bad person. She's a good person, who bad things have happened to."

A foot away from them and also a thousand miles away, Stiles looks down.

"She'll be up in no time." insists Todd, and he can't help but look at the best friend he's not supposed to love. "You'll see."

"I hate hospitals." Amy confesses abruptly, looking at her shoes. "I've always hated hospitals. I can't imagine how it must feel."

Todd takes her hand without thinking twice about it. He just takes her hand, and doesn't let it go.

"We should head out. We're probably not the ones she wants to see right now." he says to Charlie who nods.

"You'll send me a message to update me on her condition?" the redhead asks Stiles who looks up from his phone.

"Huh, I don't have your number."

"Oh, right. Well I'll send you a message to ask you how she is, I have almost everyone from the school's number in my contacts." she smiles, already walking away, her hand still into Todd's. "See ya!"

"Bye." he replies absently.

Charlie stares at him sending agitated texts to Scott a few more seconds before turning around and walking away.

She doesn't comment on them holding hands, and ignores the little ache in her chest. Instead she focuses on what isn't here.

"Don't you find it strange that Whittemore wasn't there for his ex?"

"He's a wanker." Amy replies like it's obvious. "Shame, I always thought there was some good left in him."

"When he'll die," Charlie decides firmly, "don't expect me to cry at his funeral."