Toxic Waste

10. Nyctophobia

"He doesn't have any family you know."
"What?"
"Yeah they're all dead. Mom died from some rare disease and Daddy was an alcoholic." She leans in to whisper. "Drunk driver. Used to be a cop. Ironic given Stiles current situation."
"Why are you telling me this right now?!"

"Hey, Toots." Lydia and Allison straighten up with fake grins as the girls join him in the elevator. The machine seemed to pull them up slower than usual, Stiles smirking as he caught Lydia staring at him over Allison. Just as they were about reach the second floor, the lights went out and the elevator came to an abrupt stop.

"Shit not again. Would you call Cora and have her fix this?" Lydia commands Allison, a small light immediately illuminating her face.
"No reception." The brunette informs blandly, tapping the emergency button repeatedly on the wall. There was silence. Well, almost silence.

"You okay Stiles?" Allison asks, shining her phone screen his way. He was breathing particularly hard and even in what little lighting there was, both girls could see all the color drained from his face. Once again they'd begun to lose the cocky side of him.
"Yeah, uh, very fine." He nodded, not daring to look at them.
Lydia groans. "Please do not tell me you're claustrophobic."

"You're thinking of Isaac." Allison responds quickly with a snicker.
"No. No not claustrophobic I just don't like...never mind." He brushes it off, shaking his head while attempting to slow his breathing.
"He has Nyctophobia." Allison sighs.
"Mind your own goddamn business for once." Stiles barks.
"It's my job to know other people's business, dickwad, I'm the family therapist." She bites, stepping closer.

"Yeah? Well stay out of mine, Princess, otherwise I'll tell Scotty about how you fucked his best friend on your 'honeymoon'." He used the word to imply anniversary and Allison gasped with wide eyes.
"Isaac told you that?" Lydia couldn't analyze her emotion.
"Lucky guess, I know a cheater when I see one."

At this, Allison storms at him with yelled curses but Lydia pushes her back with yells of her own.
"You, shut the hell up!" She screams at Stiles, pointing a finger in his face.
"Or what?" He growls. It was almost instinct the way her palm swept across his cheek. And it sure scared the shit out of her when his fists met either side of the metal wall behind her. She screamed and he looked almost animalistic staring down at her, breathing hard with a scowl on his face and his chest so close to her. Dammit she didn't know she could be scared of this boy but in this moment she definitely was.

The lights flickered back on and his expression almost instantly softened. Caramel eyes wandered her pale features curiously with almost a sadness to them. He slowly retracted his hands and looked to the ground shamefully.
"I'm sorry..." He muttered, turning around to face the doorway. He pressed the button to the first floor and the elevator began moving down, all three silent until it opened on the main floor and let him out before the girls continued their journey back up.

Lydia turned to the see the small dents he'd made in the metal wall and Allison joined her gaze.
"Jesus, what is he, the Hulk?"
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Next day was work day, Lydia immediately rolled her eyes, already knowing who it was behind her.

"I-uh- hey." He mumbled, the girl not even so much as glancing at him. She picked up a large gun, checking its weight in her hands as if somehow that would scare him off. But he had to take a deep breath before stepping any closer. "I'm sorry, really. I caught Allison before she left and apolo–"
"Look, everyone here has had there fair share of shit. Even me. And I sure you have some dark and horrible past and maybe it's worse than the rest of us but I'm sure as hell not going to baby you so if you want to quit you better tell me right now. 'Cause this is your first and final offer." Lydia interrupts, a hand on her hip. He gulps and she takes this as a sign he was staying.

"Good. Isaac was trying
To start you off slow but since that isn't really working, I say we jump right in." She struts past him and towards the targets at the opposite end of the room, his sneakers following her heels close behind. She grips him by the shoulders and places him a good distance away from the target.
"Alright," suddenly she had a weapon in her hand and Stiles tried his best to remain calm. "this is your standard handgun. It's not loaded right now but I'm going to position you as if you were ready to shoot."

She passed it off to him with a reassuring look and he held it with uncertainty. Lydia told him once again to relax, focus on her and nothing else. So that's what he did. He tuned out everything but her voice as she lifted his arms, pushed back his shoulders, nudged at his feet. Finally, she kicked off her heels and rested her chin on his right shoulder, her chest pushed slightly against his back.

She told him to aim and he did so horribly causing her to meet his hand at the trigger and reposition it.
"Don't pull just gently squeeze." She mumbles in his ear.
"What? No-no I'm not shooting it." He starts to panic.
"It's not loaded. You're going to be fine." She whispered. With more reassuring words, he eventually did it, letting out a breath of relief as no bullet came out to actually his the target.

"Perfect." Lydia beams as he sighs and quickly hands her back the gun.
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Authors note:

I suck...😂
Comment, read, enjoy!
-Chloe