Off Limits

Chapter 17 - Rejection Hurts

Stiles woke up suddenly in the dark, his head pounding and his neck ached from being in an uncomfortable position. The room was cold and dark around him as he remembered where he had fallen asleep. He stretched out his legs one by one before running his hands over his face and through his hair. He felt like shit. He stood up unsteadily on his feet before grabbing his phone out his pocket to see the time. The bright screen shone like a lighthouse in the darkness, making his eyes burn as they struggled to adjust. The time read 5:03am and he groaned internally. He'd barely been asleep a few hours and he was already awake again. He plodded to the kitchen to get a glass of water, taking deep breaths as he chugged the refreshingly cold liquid down.

He paused for a moment as he stared at the now empty glass, the kitchen had a strange glow to it as the outside world appeared to be still asleep. He sighed as he leant against the counter top, placing his glass down as he thought about the previous night. He and Lydia had nearly kissed. Fuck. And god did he want to kiss her, ever since it had happened he needed to talk to her, but from the way she acted when Allison was there, it appeared that she was embarrassed. Maybe it was just a one-sided thing. Maybe she didn't want to kiss him at all. He closed his eyes for a brief second before deciding that he needed the toilet. He slowly but quietly made his way up the stairs, stopping briefly in front of Lydia's door, but thinking against it, rushing to the toilet instead. In the bathroom, he quickly noticed how gross he looked. His hair was stuck up in odd places and surprisingly messier than usual as the hair gel he'd put in it the day before was now a distant memory. His T-shirt was crumbled and his jeans uncomfortable, he had dark bags under his eyes and he looked pale. He wasn't surprised that Lydia didn't want him, girls usually didn't show any interest in him, it wasn't a new thing to him.

He was dragged from his thoughts as he heard a creaking floorboard from the hallway. Was someone else awake? He slowly and cautiously moved towards the door, opening it carefully before peeking around it. The hallway looked empty so he stepped out gingerly. He must be just imagining things. He headed back down stairs quickly, but stealthily, before flopping onto the sofa once more. He was exhausted and things were going to be complicated when everyone woke up in a few hours so he might as well rest while he can.

3 hours later...

Stiles woke to a push in his shoulder from Allison behind the sofa. His eyes strained in the now bright light that shone through the windows, it was a completely different room than he'd seen this morning. Stiles rubbed his eyes sleepily as he struggled to wake himself up fully. He'd barely slept. "C'mon sleepy head I've made coffee!" Allison's cheery voice sang through as she wondered off to the kitchen. Stiles groaned loudly as he rose from his makeshift bed and placed his hands up high as he stretched, making him feel euphoric. He shuffled lazily to the kitchen, grabbing some water from the fridge as he took a seat at the breakfast bar next to a hungover Scott. As soon as he took the seat, Scott let out a groan as he collapsed his head into the table.

"Oh god you look rough bud!" Stiles chuckled at him as he patted him on the back which just enticed another moan out of him. Allison smiled at him as she poured out some coffee, resting against the unit top as she sipped from her cup. "Go easy on him Stiles he drunk enough for all us last night." She chuckled lightly as she smiled at her boyfriend. "Yeah that's Scotty's thing, he either goes big or not at all." Stiles joked as he sipped his drink, taking a look around, like he half expected someone to turn up, he had no idea who. "Well you didn't see him last night, by the end of it he was dancing on top of the tables to Shakira and was crying into his cup!" Allison explained as Stiles eyes widened, "wow i'm gutted seems like I've missed a spectacle!" Stiles responded with a laugh as he looked around again not so subtly.

Allison noticed again as she tilted her head in question at him before realising. "Ughh guys can you keep it down? I feel like I've been sucking through a sewer pipe all night!" Scott moaned once more as he covered his head with his arms some more, making Stiles and Allison laugh. "Hey this is just the consequence of your own actions party boy!" Allison replied, clearly hoping tough love would work on him but Scott didn't respond. Allison rested her gaze on Stiles as she moved her head towards the door, indicating that he step out with her cause she wanted to talk to him. Stiles nodded discreetly as he rose from his seat carefully, following her into the hallway.