Worlds Apart (Teen Wolf)

28 - Ariel

"Try Maddy. It's got to be Maddy." Stiles paces his bedroom, determined to figure out the password for the code Lydia's grandmother left for her. 

Lydia sighs for what seems, like, the hundredth time. "Doesn't Maddy feel a little obvious as a cipher key?" She turns to me in front of the desk, where her laptop is placed. Lydia raises her brow in question at me. 

I turn my palms upwards in front of me. "I mean, it's worth a shot. What do we have to lose?" 

Stiles waves a hand in my direction. "She believes in me." 

"Fine." Lydia types the name out on the keyboard. 

On the laptop screen, the small rectangle text box replaces the word with 'ERROR' with a flash. The three of us share a collective groan. 

I fall back on Stiles' bed from where I was sitting on the edge of it. Mrs. McCall kicked the two of us out of the hospital early this morning, way before the sun was up, and told us to go home to get some sleep. She was giving text updates on how Stiles' father was doing in his surgery. 

"Okay, your name." Stiles throws out another idea. "She left the code for you, right? So, it's got to be your name."

Lydia types her name out, sighing when the 'error' message pops up again. 

"Your mom's name?" 

Another sigh.

"Do you have any beloved family pets?"

"Stiles!" I push myself up into a sitting position. I give him a look. 

Stiles throws his arms out by his sides, "Well, do you have any better ideas?"

The printer beeps from being out of paper. 

I climb back to my feet and close the small distance between us. "Not at the moment, but I think beloved family pets is taking it just a step too far."  

Lydia rolls her eyes.

I walk up behind Lydia's chair. "Okay, your grandmother left the ashes for you and the code was left for you, too." I place my hands on Lydia's shoulders. "You're supposed to be able to figure this out." 

"But no one else is." Lydia sighs, staring at the laptop. "Which is why she mad it hard."

The printer beeps once again. 

"Whoa! Okay!" Stiles throws his hands up in the air. He grabs a stack of paper and shoves it into the printer to stop it from beeping anymore. 

The printer whirls back to life, ceasing the beeping noise. 

He turns to me, pointing his finger. "You...'No one else."

"I'm sorry, what?" My eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. Why is he pointing at me? This is about Lydia. 

"You said 'no one else but you'." Stiles repeats. 

"What?" Lydia questions.

"Our guesses. They're all about Lorraine, right?" Stiles asks both of us. "We keep trying to guess a word that has something to do with her. So, maybe we should be trying to guess one that's about you." 

Lydia turns her head around. "Me? What about me?"

"What do you remember doing with your grandmother? You know, what was your guys', like, special thing? Did you guys go to the beach?"

I promptly add onto what Stiles is saying, "You know, did you like ice cream or-"

"We read." Lydia cuts me off.