Summer's Darling

• Chapter Two •

Isaac can't shut up about the heat. He is literally incapable of doing so and complains about Scott hogging space in front of the small window AC unit until he moves to sit in front of a box fan on the floor. The boys are down to their swim trunks and Lydia has her bathing suit on as well but it's Saturday and the beach is too crowded to truly enjoy this day. Lydia is wedged between Scott and Stiles in front of the small window Air Conditioner Noah has set up in the master bedroom. It does wonders up close but barely manages to keep the room cool no matter how long it runs. In fact, they're not allowed to keep it on for more than thirty minute intervals because the thing is so old it could catch fire any moment.

"Let's just go into town." Isaac sighs.
"Town's overrun by tourists." Stiles says to him.
Multiple groans sound out.
"I don't give a fuck about tourists, I'm baked, and not in the good way."
"Isaac!" Scott scolds and they all steal a glance at their female companion but she's so caught up in the cool air that she's tuned everything else out.
"Fuck tourists: I need air conditioning."
"Isaac, shut up."
"We can hit up a diner, we can stand in the freezer section at a gas station, we can drive an hour to the nearest pool. . ." Isaac continues to murmur options and the teens sigh just thinking about it. To make matters worse, a timer from someone's phone goes off, signaling the end of their thirty minutes. Stiles clicks off the unit and now they're all crowded around the box fan, sweaty limbs sticking to the floor and to each other and begging to be cooled.
Isaac starts up again, "it's so fucking hot, Stilinski."
"Shut up."
"You know who would make this better?" He sighs and Stiles' eyes go wide when he starts to say the name.
"Shut up, Shut up! Fine, you win, I'll beg my dad for the keys! Geesh, tone it down a goddamn notch, we're all dying." Stiles leaps up and storms out of the master bedroom, Lydia pattering softly behind like a puppy eagerly awaiting its next command. Noah Stilinski has a similar idea to the kids, a small fan in front of where he sits near the open back screen door.
"Dad, I need the keys." Stiles cuts right to it.
"I heard."
"So you'll let me borrow them?"
"And leave me here miserable? You'd do that to your old man?" Noah asks.
Lydia is quick to interject, "our Air Conditioner works just fine, Mr. Stilinski. I'm sure my parents would love the visit if you wanted to cool off."
"Thank you but I wouldn't want to intrude."
"They might actually enjoy the friendly face. . .we don't get too many people around anymore."
And Mr. Stilinski's expression softens, like he feels guilty he hasn't seen her parents any sooner. Or maybe it's that of a fond memory from when everything was mostly okay. But it's something and it startles both teens when he says, "Does Natalie still like Claudia's blueberry pie?"
"I'm almost positive we have all the ingredients in our kitchen." Lydia says while the Sheriff collects himself from off of the floor. And though the sound of their mothers names together makes both Stiles and Lydia a little uneasy, they're both grinning upon hearing the melodic jingle of keys.

They scramble out to the car wearing nothing but sandals and swimsuits because when it's this hot out, no one on the pier is going to give them a second glance. Scott has a textbook cradled into his side that Isaac is already teasing him for and Lydia is eyeing it's title when Stiles grabs a hold of her hand, asking, "how is your mom? Really?"
She sighs and they slow their pace so their friends don't hear, "She's no better but everyone's hanging in there. Chemo has her in bed most of the day and in the hospital any other time."
He doesn't say anything, just holds her hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze before opening up the passenger door of the car for her. As soon as they are buckled in, his hand is back in hers though.

Stiles desperately longed for his Jeep. But, making do with what he has, he rolls down all the windows (despite Isaac's whining) and relishes in the breeze it provides. He's so head over heels for this specific time of day. The sun is casting perfect shadows from the trees overhead and onto Lydia's arm as it hangs out the window. Someone, he doesn't know who, has plugged their phone into the aux and is playing music that consists mostly of low strumming guitars and lyrics about stunning girls and love. The world is a dream and Stiles never wants to wake up. Ever.
"Smell that?" Stiles shouts over the music and the wind.
"The ocean?" Lydia asks. She's right: air blows through the car from the west, bringing sea foam and salt with it.
Still, Stiles shakes his head, "Freedom. That is the scent of our youth."
"Yeah, yeah, God bless America." Isaac mutters from the back and scoffs. Stiles is really really beginning to regret bringing him.

It takes twenty seven minutes to drive from the beloved Stilinski home, down the coast to a secluded cove that only the locals knew about.
The cove consisted of a beautiful rock beach, where Lydia spent her childhood sifting through pebbles for sea glass and baby crabs, and a long strip of worn out looking bait shops. But, hidden at the end of a thin alleyway, was a candy store called Lolly's. It had been there since the fifty's, before more modern buildings nearly covered it up and Lolly's survived solely on devoted customers like Lydia and Stiles. They buy chocolate turtles and popsicles and a lot of salt water taffy for Stiles. He's a little too desperate to try all the flavors they provide. Once all their money is wasted on sugar, they hike down to the beach, mumbling incoherently and laughing when Isaac nearly falls and ignoring the painful look on Scott's face when he mentions his book back in the car. The sun is high in the sky and Lydia is wishing she brought her sunglasses but the thought quickly gets thrown away when Stiles scoops her up and runs towards the ocean. She's screaming for him to drop her for no real reason other than it seems appropriate, because she is completely okay with being flung into the water. She wants to be a part of the shells and the fish and she wants to be the sunsets that Stiles loves so much and the sea glass she was fascinated with all those years ago. Scott is stacking pebbles and rocks into a tower and Isaac watches patiently, trying his best to ignore the temptation of knocking it over, they're completely oblivious to Stiles and Lydia chasing each other like a game of tag and jumping over the waves.

Isaac isn't complaining about the heat anymore. He's thinking about what Stiles said in the car, how young they really are. He starts to make his own tower of rocks and hums to himself. "I wish I had a camera." He says, suddenly.
Scott asks, "why?" But doesn't look away from what he's doing until he's nudged. Isaac raises his hands and arranged them as if he is holding a camera and frames Stiles and Lydia in the middle. "Click" He presses the button. The boys smile oddly at each other, as if this notion is ridiculous. Isaac frames their towers and says, "click" again before laying back and taking a few imaginary photos of the cloudless sky, then of the beach, and more of his friends. He goes on 'clicking' until the sound becomes mundane to Scott and he begins stacking rocks again.
"Uh oh," a few minutes have passed, the clicking ceases.
"What?"
"I've ran out of film."
"Already?"
"Too many things to capture, the camera couldn't handle it."