Please, Stay- A Stydia AU

Safe Place to Land

"You can't leave me! You can't! I'm not ready." His voice was shaking. But his everything was shaking, why shouldn't his voice?

"You won't be alone. You're never alone. You can do it. You're strong."

"No I can't." Stiles fell to his knees. "Don't go. Please," he choked out. "Stay."

"I'm sorry, son..." The hand that was holding his slowly slipped from his grasp.

Stiles sat bolt up right in bed and gave a horrified cry, shaking and twisting in his sheets, trying to get away from whatever was holding him. "No! No! Don't! You can't go! Come back!" His screams were choked and constricted by sobs.

The door opened and his father barreled in, sliding easily into bed with him and wrapping his arms around him. Stiles grabbed his father's arms and gave another sob, this one more out of relief. His parent. He'd lost one of the but he had one. He wasn't alone.

"I know," whispered his father. "I have you. I have you."

"It's not fair," Stiles choked out after a few minutes. "It's not fair."

"I know..."

Stiles leaned into his father and closed his eyes. They stayed like that until his breathing was slower, more even. Then his father slowly moved his arms. Stiles felt panicked tears prick his eyes again. Don't go, he wanted to say. But instead he croaked out, "Goodnight..."

Sheriff ruffled his hair before going to the door. "Go ahead and let Lydia in now." He gave his son a wink before slipping out the door. Stiles barely had time to turn to the window before Lydia slid inside.

He got to his feet and the moment her arms slid around him, he did something he had sworn he wouldn't do with her. He started crying. She held him without asking any questions. She didn't have to.

They'd been comforting each other after nightmares for about a month now. They pretty much had a routine but, this time, it was different.

Lydia stayed.

-~-~

The first thing Stiles felt in the morning was complete confusion. There was beautiful, strawberry blonde hair on his pillow. That hair was not his for sure. The first thought that jumped to his head was impossible, completely impossible. Because she was gone. She'd been taken away from him.

She stirred in her sleep and it suddenly clicked. Lydia. Was she really here? He slowly reached out, his knuckles drifting across her shoulder. She stirred and he froze, hand still touching her skin just barely. She was here, and she was real.

"Stiles," she murmured in her sleep. He stared at her, feeling a soft smile weave its way onto his face.

Slowly, reluctantly, he pulled himself out of bed and crept out the door. The minute that he rounded into the kitchen, his dad said, "So, she stayed the night."

Stiles jumped and took a deep breath. "That wasn't frightening at all, thanks dad. Hey, I've got an idea. Always sit in dark rooms and talk when I walk in."

Sheriff chuckled and took a drink of his coffee. "She stayed."

"She stayed," Stiles repeated. "We didn't do anything."

"I know."

Stiles thought about this for a minute. "That almost insults me."

His dad laughed. "I trust you." He was quiet for a minute then asked, "So is it helping? Having her?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah. She's helping a lot. And I like to think that I'm helping her."

"Then I have something for you." His dad slid a folded paper across the table to him. Stiles eyed him for a moment and then unfolded it. There, on the paper, were plans to build a tree house. "Your mom would have loved it. It's simple plans but we could probably have it done in no time."