The Fire Within

Chapter 59

*Third POV*

At some point, Stiles stops paying attention to the TV show (it's annoying him too much anyway) and gazes over at Scott affectionately, once again realizing how lucky he is to have Scott in his life. They've been through a lot of stuff together. They've basically been through hell together. They've experienced both the good and the bad and have both been there for each other during their highest and lowest points. Stiles remembers that Scott was at his absolutely worst point when they were at that creepy motel in the middle of nowhere and Scott was standing in a puddle of gasoline while holding a flare. Stiles had never seen Scott so broken until that night, but he was there for him, just like he was there for Scott when Allison died. That was extremely rough on Scott as well, and Stiles was scared for a while that they might have a repeat of that night at the motel, but this time without the influence of wolfsbane.

Scott was crying throughout the whole funeral and hugged Stiles a lot and nuzzled his nose into Stiles' neck many times, almost as if he was making sure that Stiles was real and that it wasn't the nogitsune that both possessed Scott's best friend and killed his girlfriend. Stiles could understand why Scott would making sure again and again that Stiles was really Stiles. He tried to do the same thing for a long time. The nogitsune was a very traumatic experience that Stiles will never fully forget, no matter how hard he tries.

However, there's one particular memory that is starting to come to the surface of Stiles' mind above the rest, of something that happened when the boys were only about 10. Stiles' Dad suddenly got very sick, and it was a very terrible time for Stiles, especially since it hadn't been that long since Stiles lost his mother.

"Mr Stilinski, please pay attention to class and not the birds outside, okay? You've only got a few minutes until lunch, so I think you'll be fine to concentrate just a bit longer." The teacher sighs impatiently, and that results in a few giggles and snickers from around the room, including Jackson. This just makes Stiles just that more angry and he just wants to scream back at the teacher or just throw something at him, because he doesn't understand what Stiles is going through right now. Stiles also wouldn't mind attacking Jackson right now, but he doesn't. Stiles just takes a deep breath to keep himself as calm as possible and tears his gaze from the window and focuses back on the class.

The thing is though, he was paying attention to the teacher when he was gazing out the window. He wasn't daydreaming. He just didn't want anyone to see him cry just because he was thinking about his dad, who is still in hospital. The doctors don't know if he'll make it. They always tell Stiles that he will, but Stiles can hear their heartbeats. He always knows that they are lying or are uncertain when they talk to him, and that just makes Stiles feel worse. He hates spending so many days and nights at the hospital. It's a relief when Scott's mother takes him back to her place and he can try to forget about all of his problems at school and his worries about his dad, helped by Scott, of course. However, it still doesn't help the crushing loneliness that overwhelms Stiles at night when he sleeps in the McCall's spare bedroom. He always cries himself to sleep, scared that he's going to lose his dad and then he will have no parents. Sometimes, Scott will come into the room at night when Stiles' crying isn't as quiet as the phoenix thought it was and Scott would get into bed with him and they'd just cuddle together and Scott would comfort him, telling Stiles that it would be alright. It definitely helped Stiles, and he was very grateful to have his best friend there for him.

Right now though, Stiles just needs to get through this stupid class that Scott unfortunately isn't in with him. Stiles will just have to find Scott at lunch and get Scott to calm Stiles down before he gets too upset and starts a panic attack or just fights with someone because they get on his nerves and he just snaps. Stiles barely listens to what the teacher is saying right now, and just focuses on his breathing instead. It's a good technique that his mother taught him when he was really young.