Chapter 5: Home
The pack spent their time on high alert, no one was allowed to be alone and everyone had to check in with Scott every hour. Stiles was finally released from the hospital against doctor's orders. Melissa and Scott wanted him to come home with them but he had refused. He had spent so much time away; all he wanted was to go home. Home. He wanted to go home so badly. He had dreamt about home every night he had been allowed to sleep.
Pulling up to the house felt like one of those dreams. He couldn't remember leaving the house when he was taken. He was inside one second and then there was darkness the next, there had been darkness ever since. It was a relief but it was also a nightmare. He watched his dad die in there. The thought that there would most likely be a bloodstain on the kitchen floor entered his mind for the first time. He wasn't so sure he could take that. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, maybe he should just stay with Scott at his house. But then there was a hand reaching over, gripping his hand tight. Stiles looked up to see Scott giving him a reassuring smile. "You don't have to do this, Stiles. But I'm here."
With that Stiles took a deep breath. "No, I need to go home." He waited for Scott and Melissa to come around to his side of the car to help him out of the car and into a wheelchair. He hated that he couldn't walk on his own. He hated how weak he felt even though he was free now. He wanted to walk into his house with his own two feet. "Can't I walk?" He stared up at his make-shift mother.
Melissa gave Stiles a concerned look. "Stiles you shouldn't even be out of the hospital let alone out of bed…"
Scott held up his hand to stop his mom's rant. "Yeah, but Stiles isn't like most people. Others don't have a werewolf best friend who can do most of the walking for them." He held out his arm. "Come on, I'll let you pretend you're the one doing all of the walking the whole way there." He smile his sweet Scott smile. The kid was a born saint.
Ignoring the protests and concerns from the worried nurse, Stiles let his brother hold him up and practically carry him up to the house. "The key…" He looked to his friend who held out the ring of keys Stiles had always kept on him. It seemed like such a long time ago those keys sat in his pocket. He took them in his shaking hand and unlocked the door, taking longer than it should have. Even with the door open he didn't show any sign of wanting to move. "Scott. I don't know…" He caught himself before he could start crying. He was so tired of crying. "I can't go in the kitchen."
With a tighter grip Scott nodded. "It's okay buddy. We will only go to your room. I'll stay. You won't have to go anywhere you don't want to go and if you ever want to leave, we'll go." He waited for Stiles to nod before walking into the house feeling as though he was dragging Stiles. He made sure to avoid the kitchen, moving fast to the stairs and up to Stiles' room. He gently put his friend on his bed. "I hope you don't mind, mom kind of went a little crazy and came by to clean up your room. She changed the sheets too." He wasn't sure how Stiles would react but he feared for the worse.
However Stiles just nodded, looking around the room. He couldn't believe how normal it felt. It was just his normal room. He could almost trick his mind into thinking he had only just come home from a weekend away if it hadn't been for how neat everything was put away. He ran his hand over the clean sheets. "I'm home." It was still just so weird. He had doubted that he would ever be here again. But it also felt so weird to be home without his dad. Was it is still home without his dad? "How is it even possible? Shouldn't the bank have taken the house by now or something?" The real world sank into Stiles' thought process.
"Parrish said that it was still a crime scene and managed to keep it around. I'm not sure how much longer but…" Scott stopped himself. He couldn't let his friend think about something like this. "But you don't need to think about that, Stiles just get better. You're home and you're safe. That's all that matters. We will figure everything else out later."
Before anything else could be said Melissa made her way into the room. "Okay, you got your moment, now you're going to lie down and listen to what I have to say." She moved the sheets down and had her son lay Stiles down. "You are still pretty malnourished, if you don't drink enough water or eat enough I'll have to put an IV in again or even a feeding tube if you aren't careful." She set a bottle of water down on the stand next to the bed. "And I've set alarms for medication, Scott or I will make sure you keep up with them. I have to go to work but I'll be available if anything happens. Oh, and we have to keep checking your temperature. I'm still worried about infection. And Scott, remember what I told you about changing his bandages?" She gave the dark haired boy a stern look.
"Yes mom, I remember every word. And you gave me this." He pulled out the list of instruction for taking care of Stiles that looked like a mini-book. "I think I've got it. And Derek is outside making sure everything is safe too. We'll be okay. Right Stiles?" He turned to his friend who was trying to reach for the water. Scott leaned over and gave it to the thirsty boy. "Just go mom, we've got this."
She sighed looking back and forth between the boys. "Okay…I'll call during my break." She gave each boy a kiss on the top of the head before leaving, lingering slightly at the door, watching Scott laugh lightly at his friend who couldn't open the water bottle. She missed the days when her biggest concern was the boys getting hurt in lacrosse. When she turned to leave she was faced with a picture of her old friend, the dead sheriff, hanging on the wall. She wanted him back more than ever. Only he understood that feeling she just had looking at their boys. Only he understood those two boys and what they had been through.
Whenever she thought her life had finally fallen out of orbit the night her ex-husband shoved Scott there was only one person she could think to call: Stilinski. Now he was gone. Now the boys only had her. They needed her. She had promised the Sheriff she would take care of Stiles if anything ever happened and he had promised the same. So she wiped away the tear that had fallen and went to work.
Scott shook his head as he watched Stiles struggle to open the bottle of water. "Dude, maybe you shouldn't have left the hospital if you can't even open a simple bottle of water." He laughed a little, choosing not to be worried about it. Stiles didn't need his worry or pity, he needed to get better, and he needed to get back to normal as possible. So he took the bottle and turned it enough to break the seal before giving it back.
"I loosened it." Stiles removed the cap and brought the bottle to his lips, taking a sip as some fell down his chin. He coughed a little and winced. "My throat is still so raw."
Scott took the bottle of water and put it back on the nightstand. "Well maybe having something warm would help. I could make soup. Mom said you needed food anyways." He tried to give his friend an encouraging smile. The last time he saw Stiles eat anything he only threw it back up after two bites.
Stiles remembered the last time he tried to eat too. It wasn't so much that his stomach didn't want the food but every time he tried to eat his mind went to when his captor let him eat. Every meal was filled with the thought of killing and hurting his friends. The thought made him sick. How could he eat when food brought those thoughts to mind? How could he ever be okay with that? "I don't think I could keep it down right now." It wasn't a complete lie but he didn't want to tell Scott why food scared him now.
Even though the response was a little disappointing, Scott didn't let it show. "I could make some tea or…" He stopped, his head cocking to the side a little. "Someone is walking up the steps outside." He took a step towards the door and Stiles tensed. "Oh, it's just Derek." Scott relaxed. "Come on in Derek." He listened to the door open and the werewolf breeze up the stairs. "Did you see anything?"
Derek shook his head. "No. I've patrolled the whole neighborhood and there isn't a sign or scent of anyone who isn't supposed to be here. I'll keep up a regular patrol just case but no one has sensed anything." He turned to the boy in the bed reaching for the bottle of water on the nightstand.
Scott unscrewed the lid and gave his friend the water without glancing at him, keeping his focus on Derek. "So, you don't think we have anything worry about?"
"There is always something to worry about. This is Beacon Hills after all." Derek looked back at Stiles trying to take a drink of water. "If Stiles thinks there is trouble then we shouldn't take it lightly." He looked at the boy in the bed again with a hint of worry in his face. "Are you sure you shouldn't still be in the hospital? You look terrible." Just looking at the kid made Derek cringe; he might look better than before but he still looked horrible.
Again they were interrupted, both werewolves turning towards the door. Stiles barely had time to tense before Scott smiled. "Lydia is here. I think she brought food."
The strawberry blonde pulled out some soup once she had ordered the boys around after entering and sat herself on the side of the bed. "For a smart boy Stiles, you're very stupid. You never should have left the hospital." She held a spoon up to his mouth but he just stared at her. This was the first time he had seen her since he was rescued. He couldn't believe she was acting like she had just seen him yesterday and he hadn't been taken and tortured. "Come on Stiles, you have to eat." She held the spoon stubbornly.
"Your hair got even longer." He didn't know what made him say it. It must have been the fact that he didn't want to eat or talk about why he didn't want to eat.
She sighed but didn't move the spoon. "So did yours. Now eat."
He looked at the spoon then up at Lydia. "I don't think I can Lydia." Stiles fell back into his pillows and closed his eyes. "I just…" Before he could say anything else there was a spoon in his mouth filling it with a warm liquid. His eyes flew open in shock and he swallowed, unbelieving what his friend had just done. The shock kept the bloody images from filling his mind.
"That's a good boy." Lydia gave a condescending smile as Scott laughed in the corner of the room and even Derek let a smile slip. "Only a few more spoonful's left to go." She held up another spoon filled with soup. "Open Stiles."
He just stared at her with tired, but thankful eyes. "Do I really have a choice?"
"No. But if you refused I could always try making the spoon an airplane." She simply stated, as he let her feed him. It wasn't the whole bowl, his stomach couldn't handle all of it yet but it was just over half and that was a major improvement. With that bowl Stiles never once thought about hurting his friends or family. He thought of those in front of him, those helping him. They talked about school, about what he'd missed, how everyone was asking about him, and dying to see him again.
Five years ago Stiles would have only had Scott to come see him. Then there was Alison (until there wasn't), Derek, Lydia, Danny, Kira, Malia, and now Liam (of course there were others who had left but it was too painful to think about at the moment). Still, even with his dad gone, there were plenty of people there to help him, take care of him when there hadn't been at one time in his life.
Once Stiles had eaten, taken his medicine, had his temperature checked, and his bandages changed he fell asleep with comfort. Comfort knowing that he wouldn't be alone. There would always been someone there with him: Scott, Derek, Lydia, someone… Even if his dad was no longer in the house with him, this place could still be a home as long as there were still people who loved him hanging around.
But even if he fell asleep with comfort, Stiles woke with terror and screams…
/Hey, I said I would update really soon! Let me know what you think. Next chapter there will be more flashbacks to Stiles torture and we will see more of his captor's plan. Thanks for reading, please review, and have a great day! :)