In the two months that followed Allison's death, Lydia had been with a lot of men. So many men that she had lost count. When she reached number 8 she stopped counting and just let it happen. She didn't care how many she was with, she didn't care that Scott knew. She just needed to feel anything but numb.
So she let them take her home, let them worship her just to leave right after and never see them again. It was a system of hers - never give them her real name or number, never take them back home and always wash up after. It worked pretty well if she did say so herself.
It was Saturday, Lydia was at a bar a town over and she was just sitting at the bar, sipping her drink, looking around the room. It was a sports bar filled with college boys. She could feel them looking at her.
She flipped her hair over her shoulder and caught one boy eyes. She smiled at him, a smile that wasn't true but he didn't know and she didn't care. She could feel the alcohol in her system, thank you, Danny, for the fake ID, as he moved towards her. She looked down as he approached her and he started talking to her, offered her another drink. After 20 minutes she stood up from her stool and he offered her his hand. She followed after him out of the bar, outside catching a glance at a pair of eyes she recognised. She ignored it, he was always there, lurking in the shadows. She didn't care.
A month after Allison's death the pack was at Scott's house, talking about the Deadpool. Lydia walked in late, her sunglasses still on and a heavy hangover. She sat on the couch next to Stiles and took a sip of her ‘coffee’, both Scott and Derek could smell it was more vodka than coffee and exchanged worried looks. Stiles put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squizz. Normally Lydia would say something, help the pack out but she never said anything anymore. She didn't care. They lost Allison, she couldn't bring herself to care anymore.
When everybody left the McCall house Derek stayed. He wanted to talk to Scott.
“You smelled it to, right?” Derek asked Scott. Derek wasn’t an alpha anymore but he still felt like Scott respected him enough to listen if he was worried or had anything else on his mind.
“Yeah. It's bad. I knew she used alcohol and men as a distraction, but it's getting out of hand. This week alone I've smelled 4 different men on her at school.”
Derek shook his head, how had it come to this? Lydia, the prettiest girl he had ever laid his eyes on, the girl he dreamt about, the one that he loved more than he had ever loved anyone before, how could he had let it come this far.
“You still love her, don't you?” Scott asked as Derek stood still, his eyes burning bright blue with anger as he thought about Lydia with all those men.
“I can't imagine a day when I won't,” Derek told him truthfully. “But she wouldn't believe me and she needs to live her life without me interrupting it.”
“Derek, if she knew she might …”
“No, Scott! I'm not forcing her to be with me, even if it's meant to be.”
“You wouldn't be forcing her to do anything. Lydia's a big girl, she can make her own decisions. She deserves to know.”
Derek sighed. “I know, I'll tell her when she's feeling better and I know what to tell her. In the meantime I'll keep an eye on her, she's bound to get into trouble this way.”
“Let me know if anything happens, I'll try to keep an eye on her at school and such.”
After that Derek followed her every time she did something beside going to school or the mall. He followed her when she went out and when she went with guys home. She knew he was there sometimes, she saw him but she ignored him. She didn't care.
