Perfect Combinations~ Stydia One Shots

Breathless

Lydia was in second grade when she found out she had asthma. It wasn't too serious, but every so often she'd have to take a hit off her inhaler. Public speaking and scary movies made it act up the most.

Since Lydia wore a different purse everyday to match her outfit, she often forgot to put her inhaler in her new bag. Luckily, she usually never found herself in a situation where she needed her inhaler but didn't have it.

That changed in tenth grade. Lydia had to do an oral report on The Scarlet Letter. Halfway through her presentation, Stiles noticed her breathing was getting labored. Lydia's hands were shaking and she looked up from her index cards in fear. Stiles quickly realized an asthma attack was coming on and lunged for her backpack. He started rummaging through it, but it wasn't her usual purple bag. Lydia was wearing a green dress today so she opted for a light pink backpack. Only, she forgot to stick her inhaler in it. Stiles ran out of the classroom to get the nurse.

"What were you thinking?" Stiles yelled. Lydia was sitting on the bench outside the nurses office, taking deep breaths with her inhaler. It's required to give the school an inhaler if you have asthma. Stiles was glad he remembered this and got the nurse in time.

"I just forgot. I've never used it at school before. People would think I'm a geek." Lydia said. She was still a little out of breath.

"Lydia, you could have died." Stiles said angrily.

"Oh you're just being dramatic."

"Dramatic? 250,000 people die from asthma a year Lydia." Stiles stated. He saw Lydia look down at her hands in shame. His eyes softened. He crouched down and took her still shaking hands in his.

"I need you to understand how important it is for you to carry around your inhaler at all times. You can't keep forgetting it. This could've been serious." Stiles said gently. Lydia looked up at him.

"I'll remember. I promise." She said. Stiles nodded and pulled her into a hug. He frowned deeply. He didn't like seeing his best friend upset. His frown faded when he heard Lydia giggle.

"What are you laughing at?" He asked.

"I just think it's funny how I said reading The Scarlet Letter was gonna make me die of boredom, and then I almost died while giving a report on it. That would've been quite a death." Lydia laughed. Stiles stifled his laughter.

"That's not funny." He smiled.

"At least I would've gone out with a bang." She said.

"Stop." He warned.

"Just like Arthur Dimmesdale."

"STOP." He said again.

"Alright alright." Lydia rolled her eyes.

Stiles and Lydia laughed. Her asthma soon became the butt of all their jokes. The endless "breathless" jokes followed them all the way to college. Whenever they got a chance, an asthma joke would be made.

"Wanna hear a joke?" Lydia asked.

"Not at all." Stiles replied.