Home (Sciles AU)

Chapter 2

Stiles POV

The next few months pass by in a breeze. I feel so much lighter and happier now that James is out of the picture. I finally feel like I can breathe again. I don't have to look over my shoulder all the time, scared that James will come home angry about something and then beat me as punishment... Or worse, punish Claudia. I'm just glad that I managed to get her out of that environment. I know it was taking a heavy toll on her. If we were there any longer, I would be worried that her development would have been affected somehow. She has already taken longer than most kids to learn how to talk. She's still quiet now, but when it is just her and I, Claudia does tend to talk a lot. She is still shy around Dad, Lydia, Jordan and Isaac, particularly Jordan and Isaac, but she does talk to them as well. She feels safe around them, but the one thing that those four can't get her to do is to fall asleep. I don't know why, I guess she doesn't feel 100% safe around them which is a shame. I hope that goes away with time. The only person that manages to get her to fall asleep is me, so I try to be at home with her as much as I can at night as possible. Sometimes, I will have things to do, but either my dad, Lydia, Isaac or Jordan to look after her, even though I know Claudia won't get any sleep and she will probably keep the others awake too.

I hate the fact that James did this to her. How can he say that he loves us when he does shit like this? I don't understand how he thinks he loves us. I used to really love him, he was the guy of my dreams, but those dreams quickly became nightmares. My only regret now is not getting out of the relationship earlier. I guess I didn't know any better though. James was my first ever boyfriend and my first ever partner. He knew what he was doing and I didn't. Maybe if I had been in a relationship before James, I would have known what he was doing was not right. I guess I just wasn't that lucky in high school. No one ever took fancy to me. They all loved my best friend Scott McCall though. He was always the talk of the school. First, he was with the beautiful Allison Argent. I thought that they would last, but apparently not. Then, he dated a new girl called Kira Yukimura. I don't know if Allison was okay with it, but it didn't matter, since they didn't work out anyway. After that, Scott hooked up with a lot of girls, but had no proper relationship through the rest of senior year. Scott became an even bigger talk of the school because of all of his hookups. I personally would hate having that stuff talked about behind my back, but it wasn't me. It was Scott. He didn't seem to care what people thought of him or his love life. I supported him with whatever relationship he was currently going through and I was there to pick up the pieces when the relationships fell apart. I wanted to be a best friend that Scott could always rely and count on being there for him through thick and thin. I was that best friend for a very long time. Since we were four right up until we graduated high school. We kind of lost touch after we both started college. It was sad, but I guess these things happen. Our lives became too different. Last I heard, Scott married this woman named Vivian. That was quite a number of years ago now. I was in my final year of college. I wanted to go to the wedding, as Scott had surprisingly invited me, but James didn't allow it.

So yeah, I haven't seen Scott or most of my really good high school friends in 10 years. I haven't seen them since high school. Sad, really, but I guess some things just don't work out. We had all planned to stay in contact, especially Scott and I, but we got busy and life got in the way. At least I still have Lydia and Isaac. I wonder what the others' lives are like right now? I think there is a high school reunion at the end of the year, since it'll be 10 years and all. I'm not sure I'll want to go though. What would I talk about? How I'm a failing journalist that can't find many stories to write about in this dull town? Or how I was in an abusive relationship for many years? Or how about Lydia Martin, the leading fashion designer of this generation, was a surrogate mother for my child? Yeah, none of those topics sound like fun things to talk about at some silly reunion. It'll only make the successful people feel more good about themselves while it will make people like me feel more down and empty. Sure, I've got some of the best people I could ever imagine being in my life and they make it not so horrible for me and I have a beautiful daughter, but my life is nowhere near perfect. It's barely scraping across the line of good. It is only getting across now because I left that abusive asshole James. I've barely got the money to keep Claudia and I afloat, but my friends and my dad help out wherever they can, no matter whether I ask for help or not. The house I'm renting is small, but it gets us by. It's not like Claudia or I need a big house. It's only the two of us. I'm not sad about me not having the best life. I can deal with the hardships of life. It's just that my heart breaks for Claudia. I want to give her the best, but I can't always provide that. It's not fair. She deserves more, but sometimes that's too much for me. It kills me a little on the inside, but I don't give up. I know I can't give up. I have to keep going for Claudia. My daughter means everything to me and I love her more than anything in this world.