Stay with Me (Stalia)

Chapter 27

The next memory the Sheriff and Scott entered was dark. It took a little bit for their eyes to adjust. Scott's eyes were better in the dark so he realized where they were first. They were standing in the upstairs hallway of the Stilinski house, right outside of Stiles' bedroom door. The door creaked and they both jumped a little. A young Stiles came padding out yawning and rubbing his eyes. His hair was messy and he was in his pajamas. He made a beeline for the light switch, but when he got to it he froze with his hand on the switch. Scott realized immediately what had made him stop. Coming from the master bedroom down the hall was the horrific sounds of sobbing. They were the type of whole body, soul-wracking sobs that only came with great loss. Scott felt the Sheriff tense up beside him.

"This must be just after Claudia died. I didn't want to cry in front of Stiles, so I would keep it all in until he was asleep. I cried myself to sleep for months." The Sheriff said softly. Scott found himself at a complete loss of any words of comfort. Luckily he was saved when the Sheriff continued talking. "Stiles hated the dark after his mom died. He had a nightlight, but he also liked me to keep the hallway light on with his door cracked open. I usually would turn it off when he was asleep to save energy. He must've woken up and noticed it was off." The Sheriff trailed off as young Stiles took a few steps towards his dad's door. Scott noticed there were a few tears sliding down his cheeks, but he was crying silently. Stiles moved to open his dad's door but changed his mind. Instead he slid down to the floor and brought his knees up to his chest. He wrapped his arms around his legs and put his head on his knees. Scott saw young Stiles' shoulders shaking, but he still did not make any noise. The Sheriff and Scott stood and watched the heartbreaking scene for a few moments before something occurred to Scott.

"This is a bad memory." He said a little too excitedly. The Sheriff turned to look at him like he was crazy. Scott rushed to explain himself, "The last time we went through, every memory was positive because in the false reality Stiles had built everything was perfect and had always been perfect. The fact that we are in a bad memory could mean that we got through to Stiles last time. This could be a crack in his reality."

"You are right. This is a memory of his mom dying, do you think the fact that we are seeing it means he remembers what happened to Claudia?"

"I'm not sure, he could still be in denial. He might remember this but not know why you were crying or is not willing to admit to himself the reason why you were crying."

"If his reality is starting to crack he is probably scared and confused." The Sheriff said quietly and Scott realized in horror what he was saying.

" We have to get to him before it comes crashing down. If we aren't there to explain this to him and help bring him out of it he might end up trapped in his mind forever." Scott didn't add the part that the two of them might end up trapped as well. The Sheriff was smart enough to know what would happen. They had both known the risks going in and had decided that it was worth it. They were just going to have to make sure that all three of them made it out safe and sound.

*****

Malia put her cold had against Stiles' forehead.

"He's really hot." She said to no one in particular.

"His pulse is elevated and he is running a fever." Melissa responded. Malia looked up to see the worry in the woman's face.

"That doesn't sound good."

"It's not ideal. His health is slowly deteriorating. I'm not sure we are going to be able to bring him back again if he crashes." Melissa said as she glanced over at her son and the Sheriff. Malia saw the stress on both of their faces. She just hoped they could get through to Stiles. They were his last hope.