Stydia | oneshots

Safety

Stiles slammed the front door, leaning his head against it. Frustrated, he banged his fist on the door-jam.

Why did he have to pusher her? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"You wanna tell me what just happened?" his dad asked from behind him.

"I'm a complete idiot," Stiles replied, turning around and leaning back against the door.

"You always have been when it comes to her," his dad shrugged, crossing his arms. "That's what happens with girls. What's different this time?"

He looked down at his feet, reluctant to tell his dad what just happened. Not when he barely understood it himself.

He pushed off the door and made his way to the kitchen to grab some water.

"Stiles," his dad said. "What's different this time?"

He followed Stiles into the kitchen, watching as Stiles filled a glass with water and drank deeply.

Finally, Stiles put the cup down. "Apparently, I'm not safe."

"What do you mean, 'not safe'?" his dad asked with narrow eyes. "Stiles, if there's a threat, I need to know-"

"No, not like that!" Stiles interrupted. "I'm not safe...for her."

The older man's brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"Yeah," Stiles replied, leaning his hand on the counter. "Aiden's safer than I am. Like...emotionally."

His dad's brow smoothed as he nodded slowly. "I see."

"You do?" Stiles asked. "Then can you tell me? Because I'm completely clueless here."

Sighing, his dad settled against the counter. "Do you know what being 'emotionally safe' means?"

"Feeling safe emotionally," he replied. "Kind of self-explanatory, Dad."

"Then why don't you understand?" his dad countered with a raised.

"Okay," Stiles nodded, admitting defeat. "What does it mean?"

"It could mean a couple of things, his dad started. "It can mean feeling safe with someone because you know they're not going to toy with your emotions-"

"But I've never toyed with her emotions!" Stiles interjected.

"Then that leaves the other one," his dad said.

"Which is...?"

"Some people get...scared when they feel strongly for someone," his dad explained. "They feel that if they get too attached, and something bad happens..." he sighed. "They're afraid of getting hurt."

"So the less you feel about someone, the safer you feel,' Stiles said.

"Basically," his dad nodded.

"That still doesn't make any sense," he mused. "I mean, sure she cares for me, but not like that. I mean, we're friends. We do research together, we're there for each other, but she doesn't feel like-"

Every time I kiss Aiden, I think of you

"Oh my God, I am an idiot." He ran his hands through his hair. He had forgotten she said that with all the 'emotionally safe' talk. How could he forget that? Wasn't that what started that whole conversation?

"Stiles, what?" his dad asked.

"I, uh..." he couldn't form a coherent sentence. "I...She, uh...she said...something. I – I need to – I need to go."

He went for the door, but was stopped by his dad's hand on his arm.

"You can't go now," the man said.