Cruel || The Banshee and the Beta ➼ TEEN WOLF

Chapter 21 - Sleeping Beauty

"You know you're missing a lot. Stiles has barely been able to breathe without you," I whispered as I held Lexie's hand in mine. I was sat on a stool, my leg folded beneath me as I stared across at her. She hadn't made any movement. She was breathing though, so that was a good sign. I watched the fluids in the IV bag drip and drip and it pained me to think what had happened to her. 

I was curious as hell. I mean did she fight her way out like she did when she escaped from that torturous mental hospital, or was she just being used as a piece of warning from Jennifer. I had no clue, but I was just happy she was back with us, asleep or not. Then, the sound of the door sliding open grabbed my attention and when I looked back worriedly I saw Lydia. 

"Just me." I settled back in my seat and watched her walk around the table and to the head of it. She stood by her sister's side and placed a hand on her forehead, smiling in between. "You know, I lied to my mom." Lydia announced and I looked up at her, confused because I had been AWOL these past 24 hours, "I didn't want her to worry so I told her Lexie was staying at yours. After she came back from that place, she started having nightmares and she'd be screaming in the middle of the night. And when my mom realised how much of an effect it had on her, she started blaming herself. And if she found out about Lexie being taken...I dunno, she'd probably have a breakdown." Lydia laughed slightly, her eyes watering as she stroked her sister's hair. 

Rather than focusing on her mom's reaction, I focused on what Lydia said about Lexie having nightmares, about how she screamed in the middle of the night. How she has never been the same girl who I bonded with at the beginning of the year. "She's changed." my voice cracked as I looked from Lydia to my best friend."You can see it in her eyes, feel it in her touch and hear it in her tone." I listed the many different ways she felt different to me. And I knew Lydia agreed. That place, it messed her up. It changed her. "She's not the same and she's never coming back."

"The old her is never coming back." Lydia admitted before going on to correct me. "But, there's this new version of her. One that has started appreciating life. I mean I don't think she's picked up a textbook in weeks and it makes me happy." lydia smiled down at her genius younger sister. "Before, she lived in her books. And yes, I probably wasn't the best big sister, but she always kept to herself. Her and her own mind. And you changed that." 

My head shot up and she nodded, "You and Stiles. You brought her out of her shell. She told me about how you guys ended up in a gay club and she didn't freak out. Then at my party, I dressed her in this gorgeous dress and she didn't object. Not that I wanted her to change, I just wanted her to be happy. And I think you guys did that."

Tears threatened to fall as I clutched my best friend's hand tighter. "Really?"

"Yeah." I stood up and went over to hug Lydia. Never in a million years did I think at the beginning of the year that I'd be good friends with Lydia Martin. But we share one thing in common, like Deaton said, we both share an emotional tether to Lexie and I think because of our bonds witt her, our relationship will grown and we'll be friends.

Lydia sighed as she let me go and placed her hand on Lexie's shoulder, "You know she loves him...so much."

I nodded, a grin curling onto my lips as I thought about Stiles and Lexie's relationship. They've barely been together a full month and they already seem like a married couple. "I know."

"Honestly, the way they act around each other, it's like they've been together for years. Like they've been in love for years. And, I want what they have. I mean do you see the way he looks at her, like she's-"

"The sun." I finished her sentence. "He looks at her like she's the sun."

"Exactly." Lydia paused before looking at the door, the one that led back into the main exam room where the three of them were still in the ice bath. Still! "I mean what kind of tragedy would it be if these two couldn't be together, if one of them died. I don't want to think how the other would cope."