Toxic Waste

9. Just Some Backstory

"Dad! I'm home!" Stiles closes the front door with his foot, struggling to carry all five of the large brown paper grocery bags. There was no response as he set everything down in the kitchen. It was a mess; pans and dishes in the sink and his sneakers sticking to the tiled floor from something like spilled soda. The rest of the house wasn't any better but we won't linger on that.

"Did you get the whiskey?" The man coughs, shuffling into the kitchen as Stiles starts to put away the cold food.
"Nope." Stiles sighs, pulling out a gallon of milk and presenting it to his father.
"Why not?" Mr.Stilinski growls. It was hard to believe this was a once well respected man, the Sherriff of this small town in fact. He'd slipped away years ago. Eight years ago to be exact, right after the incident.
"Do me a favor and put these away. I'm working late tonight. Again."

As if serving his father alcohol wasn't enough, he served strangers too. Stiles' nightly job was bartending at a club downtown. Specifically the club he would later get fired from and meet Lydia at. But we're jumping too far ahead. Occasionally he actually hoped to get fired. He thought maybe if he didn't have a job, no other way to support him and his father, then the man would get off his ass and go get his old job back.

"I'm nineteen." He would lie when people questioned his appearance, a mere boy of sixteen at the time. Seventeen in a week but no one would remember. The men would give him a look as though they would turn him in, clearly not old enough to serve alcohol, but more often than not the customer would shrug and walk off with his beer. His shift ended at two in the morning, the boy tiredly dragging himself home to get three hours of sleep.

He woke at 5:24 AM with a yawn, throwing his backpack over his shoulder while slipping past his father fast asleep on the couch. The groceries remained on the kitchen counter and Stiles quietly put them in their rightful places before heading out the door and down the street. He strolled into the small restaurant with a yawned hello towards his boss and she gave him a sympathetic smile as he did his homework in wait for the place to open. Waiter was a slightly better job than a bartender, right? And yes, this is how everyday was for the boy. He left around eight o'clock, a five minute run to school and just enough time to be late for class around eight ten.

"I can't have a D, I studied for weeks!" He begged his math teacher to change the grade because it was true. He'd given up what little sleep he had in order to get good grades.

There'd been a change his senior year though. "We're sorry to say....there's been an accident with your father." He didn't even cry. Not one tear for that man. By then, Stiles had saved up enough money for a rugged blue jeep his neighbor down the road had promised to keep for him and things were looking slightly better. Stiles lived on his own in the house he had shared with his father, had a girlfriend  (Aubree) and even a best friend who worked at the bar with him.

He found himself smiling more often than he used to despite the financial troubles he seemed to fall into every month. Don't get me wrong, he was smart; only bought things he needed, didn't watch tv more than twice a week and definitely did not own any video games. Wastes too much electricity.

It was the night of his two month anniversary with Aubree and shit he was more excited than he should've been. Her parents were out of town and she would just be getting back from visiting her Aunt upstate so he decided to surprise her. Using the spare key hidden in a potted plant outside of her house, he entered but something was wrong. He could hear movement upstairs but surely she wasn't home. But as he climbed the stairs to her bedroom, maybe she was.

And maybe she hadn't told him for a reason.

Opening the door to her bedroom, there was a scream and a curse as Eric struggled to put on his clothes. Aubree sat on the bed, desperately trying to explain what was happening but Stiles would listen. He was screaming at the top of his lungs, shouting at the girl, asking her how long this had been going on.

"Almost two months..." She admitted and he was yelling again. "Two months? That's how long we've been together!" His lungs burned. "YOU'VE BEEN FUCKING MY BEST FRIEND!" His legs felt weak. Vaguely, ever so vaguely in his mind did he remember throwing Eric against the wall, smashing a chair across his back, slamming the front door so hard the lock broke. He threw a rock through her bedroom window and prayed that it had somehow managed to hit her.

The next day Stiles sold his fathers house. He packed up every personal belonging of his, sold everything inside before selling the building himself. This was also the day he got fired from the club. So now with only one job and no home, Stiles often slept in his beloved jeep, parked in an alleyway behind his second job (and now his only job). He worked all the hours he could there until his boss was put out of business. She apologized profusely and Stiles assured her it was fine even though it wasn't but he certainly knew it want her fault.

And this is how we got to where we are now.

He was 21 when the restaurant was shut down and 22 the following day when he robbed a gas station. No weapon, no hurtful shove or threaten. He had requested a pack of cigarettes and asked what brands the man behind the counter had. As his back was turned, Stiles quietly looted the register before proclaiming he should quit smoking anyway and paying for his redbull with a stolen five.

After that, he became a bumper. He'd accidentally run into women on the streets and would swipe their cash from their purse while whoever the hell was falling for his smile and apology. A month later and he was renting a low maintenance apartment on the fifth floor of a grimy building, paying bills by swiping wallets. A month after that, Allison had slipped a letter under his door.

Two days prior to receiving the letter, he'd met Lydia.
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Authors note:

Thank you guys so much for helping me out with this chapter! I could've done it but I was like "hey lets get people involved" so thank you for the help:

@-HRoden for the Bartender Idea
@Cornflake24 for Aubree
@riy-fiction for waiter
And @marinaajocelyn for Eric!

I kind of picture Stiles as this "I used to count change at the store when I was little cause I could barely afford milk but it's okay cause now I'm ballin N' shit" type vibe idk. And thank the rest of you guys for commenting ideas, y'all are super freaking brilliant and I'm sorry I couldn't use everything and I kinda pulled a first come first serve thing my bad....

Oh and I'm sure you're all like "wait, where the hell is the part where he gets shot up?". Well I'm evil and that happens when the Sherriff still had his job SO GET PUMPED FOR ANOTHER FLASHBACK LATER.
Comment, read, enjoy!
-Chloe

P.s. Double update☺️