Not Quite The Same (Hiatus)

Chapter Fifteen

Lydia froze in the doorway. 

She noticed that the others were staring questioningly at her but she ignored them, slowly turning around to face Stiles. "What'd you say?" she asked in a whisper. 

He must've realized what he had said because his eyes widened slightly and he blanched. It was the first emotion Lydia personally had seen on Stiles since he had returned. His face was quickly erased, however.

"You're hair. It's strawberry blonde, not red." 

She stared at him, feeling ready to cry. 

"It's just an observation." he noted. 

Lydia simply nodded and turned around quickly and high tailed the hell out of there. Tears burned in her eyes, but she didn't dare let them fall. She stormed over to the others as Malia asked, "Are you alright?" 

Over the years, she had gotten a lot better at acting a bit more like a normal girl rather than a girl who had been a coyote for years upon years. She had struggled for a while without Stiles, who had helped her at first, but she eventually got it down. 

"He remembered." Lydia explained vaguely in a soft whisper. 

"'Remembered'? Remembered what?" Malia pressed, curious and concerned for her sad and apparent amnesic friends. 

"He remembered that my hair was strawberry blonde." she whispered, smiling at the ridiculousness of it all. "Of all things, he remembered that." 

To most, the observation meant nothing, saying that it wouldn't help him remember the bigs memories. But to the pack? That was another story. They all had known about Stiles' major crush on Lydia. He noticed everything about her. That she was the smartest person in their grade, that she was 'something' before any of them knew she was a banshee, and that she had strawberry blonde hair, not red. 

"It's something." Lydia added, meeting their eyes. 

"I still say we get him to the hospital." Isaac said, not blinking an eye. 

"I agree." Allison noted, looking between Lydia, Isaac and the others. "We need to pinpoint exactly what's going on before it gets worse." 

"He won't come with us." Lydia stressed. "He knows me but just barely, and he sure as hell doesn't trust me, let alone any of us. We're going to have to wait until we gain his trust." 

"That could take days, weeks, hell, even months." Kira told her. 

"We don't really have another plan, now do we?" Derek asked. "It's either we gain his trust and go from there or we force him into the hospital and take the chance of him running." 

They all stayed silent, thinking over his words. He had a fair point: they could get his trust, which could take a while, mind you, and help him from there or force him into the hospital to attempt to help him but risking the chance of losing him. Scott seemed to have made up his mind as he said, "We gain his trust and see what we can do.

"Lydia, he knows you somehow. You watch him for now." Scott continued. "The rest of us can go to the hospital and see what we can find on amnesia." 

"Scott, Stiles looks and seems to have proved that he could seriously hurt us. All of us." Malia told him. "Leaving Lydia alone might not be the best idea." 

"I can defend myself, and I don't think he wants to hurt me." Lydia insisted. 

"We should still have someone stay with you." Allison agreed.

"I'll stay." 

They all turned to Derek as he piped up. "I have a sketchy record, I could make things more suspicious than they already will be. I'll stay." he said, repeating his point. 

Scott stared for a moment before nodding. "Let's go." Scott said, turning to the others then turning and walking to their cars. All of them, beside Lydia and Derek, followed after him. 

Once they left, Lydia walked back to the house. Derek lagged behind but eventually followed. He waited outside, letting Lydia have her time with Stiles. He thought about that, about Stiles. He knew that Stiles wasn't himself, so to speak. Not just mentally, but physically too. Mentally, Stiles wasn't Stiles. He was someone else that they didn't know quite yet. Physically, it was the same case. Stiles was stronger, strong enough to take down an alpha. He was faster, stronger, something--someone--bigger than himself. In all honesty, it made Derek a bit nervous. Before, Stiles had to use a baseball bat, witty and sarcastic remarks, and quick thinking to defend himself. Now, it looked like he could take down an alpha and his pack without breaking a sweat. And that's what he did, really. He took down Scott and the others and that put him on edge. 

He was pulled from his thoughts as Lydia came back out, tears in her eyes. She glanced at Derek, who was looking at her with a concerned look. "I'm sorry." she said, her voice a bit raspy. "I just..." she paused as though trying to find the right words. "I can't be in there with him. Not when he doesn't know me." she swallowed thickly, choking down a sob. 

Derek got up from his leaning position on the house and put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll find a way to make him remember." he told her, his voice soft and tentative. He had gotten used to letting emotions slip in while being around the pack. "We have to." He said this almost wistfully. 

Lydia let out a huge sigh and said, "I need a sec. Can you... go in... with him?" She hesitated but added, "I know it might be awkward, but I don't want to leav--" 

"It's fine, Lydia." Derek told her, cutting her off. He stood up, saying, "I'll be in here." 

"Thank you." she breathed, closing her eyes briefly before walking away and into the clearing. 

Derek watched her walk off before turning to the doorway. He wasn't suspecting his emotions to get in the way. He was nervous, he realized. He didn't like that. He was suppose to be calm and collected, not nervous of talking to Stiles like some sort of crushing schoolgirl. He took in a deep breath, steeled his nerves and walked in.

(A/N: I need to stop with all the cliffhangers!)