Chapter 11 || Stay With Me

Chapter 11

“I never want to do that ever again,” Malia said as she and Scott exited the Sheriff’s station. Seeing the Sheriff reaction to their news had almost broken her, especially since she was barely holding it together in the first place.

“Let’s hope that was the last time,” Scott said with a grimace. Parrish had offered to give them a ride back to the Loft, but they decided they both could use some fresh air. So they were walking to Scott’s house to get his bike. They walked without talking for a while, both immersed in their own thoughts. Finally, Malia broke the silence,

“How did you meet Stiles?

“He never told you?”

“Nope."

“He’s probably embarrassed. We met in the sandbox when we were around 3. I had built this incredible sand castle that I was extremely proud of. Enter Stiles, he comes racing into the sandbox, not even noticing as he runs right through my castle. Needless to say, I got upset and started yelling and crying which made Stiles start yelling and crying back. A typical 3-year-old meltdown where we both thought the world was ending. Our mothers came rushing over and quickly figured out what had happened. Trying not to laugh they encouraged us to build a castle together that was even better than the one Stiles had trampled. They even sat down in the sand with us and helped us. Stiles and I became instant friends and our moms also hit it off.” Scott told the story with a smile.

“You remember all of that?”

“No, not really, but goodness knows our mothers loved telling that story. I’ve heard it enough that it’s almost like I remember it.”

“Did you know her well? Stiles’ mom? He never talks about her.”

“Yeah, she was like a second mom to me. She was beautiful, Stiles gets his brown eyes from her. She also was one of the kindest persons I have ever met. She never got mad at us when we did something stupid, but she would give us this disappointed look that had us scrambling to make up for what we did wrong.”

“She sounds amazing.”

“She was, and she would’ve really liked you Malia.” Malia felt a sudden feeling of loss for the woman whom she had never gotten the chance to meet.

“I wish I could’ve met her.” She said quietly

“Losing her was one of the hardest things I had ever experienced, but my pain was nothing compared to what Stiles and his dad went through. They sort of lost her before she died you know.”

“Because of the Dementia?” Malia had researched it in length as it was one of the few things she knew about Claudia Stilinski.

“Yes, Frontotemporal Dementia caused Mrs. Stilinski to change a lot. The main way that it affects people is in their personality and behavior. At first the changes were not as noticeable, it almost just seemed like she had depression, but as she grew worse and worse it was a lot harder to watch. Mrs. Stilinski had always been such an incredibly kind and caring and compassionate person, but her disease took that away from her."

"It can cause lack of judgment and inhibition, apathy, lack of awareness of thinking or behaviors, which all contribute to overall increasingly inappropriate actions." Malia recited slightly mechanically remembering what she had read online.

"Yes, the hardest for Stiles was the apathy. He suddenly found himself with a mother that no longer had the patience or kindness to deal with her hyper young son."

"Poor Stiles" Malia had thought about all of this when she looked up the disease, but hearing Scott's first-hand account made it all the more real.

"He stayed with her though, even when she said something cruel or made fun of him. He made sure to go to the hospital as much as he possibly could. I would often walk in and see tears running down his face and Mrs. Stilinski obliviously watching TV. He wasn't crying because the words hurt him, but because they meant that he was losing his mother, more and more every day."

"Why does he blame himself?" Malia had sensed it a few different times, guilt washing over him when he brought up his mother, but she could never figure out why.

"I think he thinks he made it worse by staying with her. I think he thinks that he only antagonized the situation and caused her to regress faster. He thinks it was selfish of him to have forced his presence on her up until the end when it only made things worse."

"But that can't be true!"

"It's not, my mom says that he probably helped her stay herself for longer. She has told him that over and over, but even though his brain knows it to be true, his heart will not let go of the guilt. He refuses to talk about it." Scott shrugged his shoulders and gave her a helpless look that reflected her feelings. When they got Stiles back safe and sound she vowed to try to help him deal with his guilt, she had no idea how to go about it, but she was going to try.

*****

When they released Stiles from the shackles on the wall he fell to the floor in a heap. They didn't even bother tying him back to the chair because they knew he wasn't going anywhere. He slowly shifted onto his back to try to relieve the pain from the four new cuts across his chest. He took what remained of his tattered shirt and pressed it against them, crying out in pain as he did it.

He had once again ended up telling her what she wanted to know, explaining all of the relationships in the pack, even his and Malia's. He wanted to throw up at the thought of betraying them. He had no idea what he was going to do when they started asking him real questions. But right now he was too tired to care, every part of him burned and all he wanted to do was take a break from the pain for a while.

His eyes drifted shut and he fell into a fitful sleep.

"Good luck Stiles" Malia came up and kissed him on the lips "I know you'll do amazing tonight." She gave him a tight hug and whispered into his ear what her personal reward would be after the game. Stiles felt his face grow hot and was glad he had a helmet to put on. He sent her one last smile and ran over to join the team. Scott and Liam clapped him on the back when he got there. He looked at Kira to find her staring at him with a horrified expression on his face.

"Kira...what's wrong?" He asked nervously. He looked around to find the rest of his teammates including Scott and Liam looking at him with the same horrified expression. "Guys what's up?" He backed a few steps back from them. He looked towards the stands trying to find Malia, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Malia?" He asked trying to divert attention away from himself as they were all just looking at him. Finally, Scott lifted up his arm and pointed at Stiles.

"Stiles, I think you should lie down."

"What? What are you tal-" Stiles stopped when he looked down. His cuts on his chest were all bleeding, leaving a red X shape on his jersey. As soon as he saw the blood he began to feel the pain. The pain felt a thousand times worse now than it did when he had gotten the cuts. He fell to his knees and started screaming.

He woke up screaming and panicked when he couldn't move. He could see a few shapes above him. His chest was burning.

"Damn, I was hoping he'd be asleep for longer. I don’t have any left...Cooper if you wouldn't mind?" Stiles heard a voice say, but it sounded murky and far away, he didn't really understand what was happening. Then he saw a shape get closer, he had just managed to recognize him as his first torturer before his head was lifted up and slammed back onto the ground.

*****

"Why doesn't Stiles ever let his father help? I get that he's being protective, but he is the Sheriff and he can protect himself more than Stiles can." Malia said in a frustrated voice. Letting the Sheriff in on the plan would have saved them that awful experience, plus maybe the Sheriff could've helped save Stiles.

"Stiles was the only one with his mother when he died you know" Malia stopped in her tracks when Scott spoke. She hadn't known that and this was not the answer she had anticipated getting.

"Where was his father?"

"There was a motor vehicle accident at the same time and he was away dealing with that. My mom forced me to go home for the night, but she knew Stiles would not leave until his dad arrived. They had made a promise that every night the would both come to say goodnight to Mrs. Stilinski. They knew their time was limited and wanted to make the most of what they had left. My mom was doing rounds in the children's ward when she heard the call. She rushed to Mrs. Stilinski room as fast as she could. The doctors and nurses were already doing what needed to be done so she focused on Stiles. He was standing next to his overturned chair staring at his mom. He wasn't doing anything, not crying, not screaming, my mom wasn't even sure he was breathing."

"Oh my god," Malia whispered, she could not even fathom going through what he went through.

"He was small for his age so she picked him up and took him into the hall. For a couple terrifying seconds he just stood there staring at her. Then he dissolved into hysterics and had his first ever panic attack. My mom eventually managed to calm him down and while she was calling my father to tell what happened, Stiles' father arrived. My mom told me that she had never seen a hug that broke her heart more than the one they shared, both of them clinging on to each other as tightly as possible." Malia could almost see it in her mind's eye. She had certainly seen her fair share of Stilinski hugs, some filled with a certain amount of desperation and worry. Their hugs took on more meaning with what Scott had told her.

"No wonder he's so protective of his dad."

"His dad is his only remaining family member and he can't watch both of his parents die. That's why he will go to great lengths to keep his father out of harms way. He could never live with himself if his father got hurt because Stiles got him involved in a plan. He knows its irrational and he knows his father can protect himself, but he also knows the danger that goes along with our lives and he can't take the risk of bringing in his father."

"I understand," Malia said, and she did. She may not have fully understood before but after hearing Stiles' story from Scott she definitely understood now. "Thank you, Scott." She hooked her arm in his and they finished their journey in companionable silence.

- N x