Spray Paint | Stydia & Scisaac [ON HOLD]

37

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Moving Forward

"Lydia, Baby, you have to eat," Stiles softly spoke to her. His arm was reached out and he rubbed her back soothingly as she laid in bed. He felt her body rise and fall as she breathed quietly, but she didn't make any other movements. She didn't respond.

"Come on, it's your favorite," he told her, trying to coax her. "I can even bring it up here if you want, I just want you to put something into your system...But I'd prefer if you came out and eat at the table with me. I cleaned up the kitchen and already did the dishes. It smells nice out there, I bought some new air fresheners."

Lydia sighed and very slowly turned onto her back and looked at him. "Okay," she said, quiet and tiredly. Stiles helped her sit up and he pulled her into a hug. Her arms found their way around his body, too, and she held him tight. 

He kissed the top of her head. "I love you. I love you so much, Baby." 

"I know."

Stiles' dog jumped up onto the bed and Lydia reached out to pet him. He nuzzled into her hand, to which she smiled small. Seeing her smile made Stiles smile, too. He hadn't seen it in a while, and he was afraid that he wouldn't see it for a long time. 

"I'll meet you downstairs, okay?" he told her. She nodded. "Take your time."

Stiles left the room and gently closed the door behind him. Lydia patted the bulldog on the head, to which he stuck his tongue out and showed a toothy grin, and tiredly kicked the blankets from off her legs. 

As she stood to her feet, Lydia huffed a straggly piece of orange hair out of her eyes. She trudged towards the dresser and grabbed her hair brush. Lydia watched herself brush her hair in the mirror and then began to laugh at herself. She looked horrendous. But the harder she laughed the harder she started to cry.

She missed Elias so much. Lydia never pictured the day she'd lose him. It all felt like an everlasting nightmare, but she knew that she couldn't hide away forever and Elias wouldn't want her to. 

Lydia wiped her tears with her thumb and placed the brush back down onto the wooden dresser. She quickly applied some concealer over her puffy eyes with her forefinger until it blended away the redness.

Stiles heard the petite woman open up the bedroom door and the dog running out to his food dish. She appeared under the kitchen archway in less than a few seconds and he stood up from the couch. Turning off the television, he watched her eyes water at the sight in front of her.

Stiles had set the table with a bright white table cloth, a yellow lemon-scented candle in the middle, and two plates. Lydia looked up at him and bit her quivering lip. 

"Hi, baby," he said while pulling out her chair for her. 

"Hi," she said and sat down. He scooched the chair back towards the table and made his way to the stove, where chicken francaise lightly sizzled in a pan under lemon slices. He placed two chicken breasts onto her plate and his. Stiles sat across from her and offered her his hand; she took it. His thumb rubbed the top of her hand soothingly.

"I saw Liam the other day," he told her. She turned her head to the side, confused. "Dunbar. The one with the sandy colored hair. No? Alcoholic."

"Oooh," she said, then chuckled, "That's actually kind of mean. Knowing him for only that characteristic."

"Yeah, jeez Red," he teased her. "But uh, he has a girlfriend named Hayden. They might be married now, God only knows with those two. They fight a lot, nobody can ever keep up with them... so we all just stopped trying.  Which is kind of mean, too-"

"You're rambling."

His cheeks turned pink and he itched the back of his neck. "Sorry. Anyways, Hayden is a contractor. She's built almost every other thing towards Central New York- only a few hours away from here. She recently started a project here, though. It's a museum, actually. An art museum. Liam showed me some of the blue prints for the place they're building. It's beautiful, Lyds."

"That sounds cool," Lydia said as she finally started to eat. 

"Hayden would like to know if you'd like to be a partner of hers," Stiles told her while watching her intently. "She's been looking for someone to do murals on the outside walls of her constructions, but hasn't found anyone she's liked enough. I showed her some of your stuff that's sadly long gone now-"

"Wh-what?" Lydia abruptly asked, confused but excited. "You mean I- What?"

Stiles chuckled. "You'd have to review things with her before spraying her walls, but you'd be able to do whatever you want for the most part. And you'd get paid. A lot."

Lydia sat back in her seat and let go of a big breath of air. She bit the inside of her cheek. "Are you being serious?"

"Of course I am, Baby."

Lydia felt her eyes starting to water. "Can I have her number?"

-

"I'm quitting," Mr. Argent stated as he paced around his daughter's bedroom, distraughtly; his hands were in his tousled hair. "I'm never leaving again. Never, Allison. I mean it."

Allison shifted on her bed, fixing the small white pillow that elevated her casted leg. She shook her head and sighed. Allison looked up at the older man. "Dad?"

He stopped in his tracks, eyes full of tears. "Yes?"

"I'm twenty years old," she told him. "I needed you years ago, not now."

"Allison-"

"No, Dad. You've had this job since I was a child. I only have memories of me and Mom, never of all three of us, and barely of just you. When Mom died, Dad, I thought you'd finally stop going away for months. I had nobody else. I thought you'd stay around, find a job here or somewhere closer. But you didn't. So I grew up and lived on my own in an empty house. Now I'm old enough to leave, but since my leg's busted-"

"You were shot, Allison."

"The point is that I don't live here anymore. You don't need to quit your job because I'm going to be moving out soon."

"I was just trying to make enough money to support us, Allison. It's not my fault that you decided that college wasn't for you."

"I never wanted to go to college to begin with, Dad."

"I'm sorry, Allison," he said and sat down next to her. "I am, I'm so sorry." Mr. Argent dropped his head into his hands. "If I could go back, I really would."

"I know," she said quietly, lying. 

"Where are you going to go, once you heal and all?"

"I don't know yet, Dad. Maybe with Scott, maybe on my own. I haven't thought too much about it yet."

He nodded and slowly stood up. As he walked out of her room, he peered at her over his shoulder. "I'm going to find something closer. So even if you leave, I'll still be around. I promise."

Author's Note:

Hi! 

Ugh, it's so sad to see that many aren't reading the rest of this book. I shouldn't have take a 2 year hiatus, and that's completely my fault. But thank you to those who are either new or have patiently waited for me to return! We're coming down the stretch now! Just about 1-2 chapters left ahhhh! I don't want to do a cliché "Stydia Ending" where they get married have kids and babies and life is great, but I mean I think it'd be well deserved! I just need to reread my chapties and tie up some loose ends! 

Thank you for reading! <3

-Alison