Quartervois | Teen Wolf- Stiles Stilinski

the one with the breathing exercise

chapter ninety-eight

This was the second time Lydia Martin was here within the past week.

The first time she was here, because was worried about Aldrich Benston and now she’s here to try to make things go back to the way it was. She didn’t want to give up on Elyna that easily.

For almost three months, things have been a wretched mess. Everything that made sense before, didn’t anymore.

For three months, everyone had suffered.

She could see how much Elyna was hurting from inside and it broke her. She saw how the Pack was no longer a happy, smiling one after she left. She could see the way Stiles throw longing glances at Elyna when she was sitting in the other corner of the classroom- out of all the Pack, it hurt him the most. She could see how much it hurt everyone without Elyna.

She herself felt like she had lost a half of herself. Elyna was not only her best friend, apparently, she was her lifeline.
It made Lydia wonder how much was Aldrich and suffering. She had thought that nothing could have torn apart Elyna and Aldrich- their century old relationship was deeper than anything, but all it took was one small mistake.

Even the strongest of relationships could be fragile.

Aldrich was a mess. He made jokes to hide his depression. He busied himself in cases to avoid anything and everything about Elyna like the plague. He hadn’t been in her room since.
He couldn’t sleep and the nights when he remembered her too much, he would go to his study and work on cases that have been long closed.

It wasn’t like he didn’t know that Elyna was in Galloway. He found her location in just five weeks, but he had been too egoistic to go and get her back. He presumed that the indescribable pain that he had been feeling in his heart for the past few weeks, was just temporary. He presumed that he would soon learn to live without Elyna.

He often found hyping himself to be happy, because he had to no longer act as the unpaid, overworked babysitter of a hundred year old hot-headed, impulsive, stubborn teenage girl anymore.

Lydia found the Vampire in the kitchen with his head in the fridge, waiting for another blood bag to magically appear.
She cleared her throat, gaining his attention.
“Ah, Miss Martin,” he said, standing up straight. He glanced inside the fridge. “I’d offer you something to drink, but apparently I only have blood bags in here. And that too, are exhausted.”

“I’m fine without any drink.” She said, leaning against the countertop.

“What can I do for you today?” he said, rummaging the cabinets. There was nothing but a packet of expired biscuits and a can of bean soup. Aldrich grabbed the packet, opening up and munching a biscuit. It was soggy and stake but it was quite edible yet.

“I need to talk to you.” She said and followed him out of the kitchen and into the living room.

“Talk to me then, I’m all ears,” he said.

“It’s serious."

“I’m always serious.” He said, earning a pointed look from the Banshee. “Fine, tell me, what could possibly be so serious that you had to come to me?”

Lydia took a breath, “Its.... Elyna.”

Aldrich stood up, already shaking his head, his whole demeanor changing. “No, discussion over.”

“Mister Benston...” She started.

“No, no, no, no, no,” he shook his head. “Don’t even- don’t even bring her up.”

“But-”

“I don’t want to talk about her, Miss Martin.” He said sternly.

“I know you miss her.” Lydia said anyway. She watched his expression. A blind man could have seen how terribly he missed her.

“No, I don’t. I’m fine, better even. I don’t... I don’t miss her. I’ll get over it, just give me few more days, it’ll be like I never even knew her to begin with,”  he said, looking away to hide his face.

“You don’t mean that. I know you still love her,” she argued. Anyone could see that he missed her.

He was completely broken man, a man without purpose. This was raw pain that was eating him alive, and he was too stubborn to admit it.

“You don’t know that.” He said.

“I’m trying to bring our lives together.” She was getting frustrated. She couldn’t understand why he was fighting it. “Have you even seen what it has done to her? She is terrified of herself.”

A heartbeat of silence passed.

Aldrich turned around with a look of pure agony on his face.

“You .... You talked to her?” he whispered. The how is she stuck on his lips but he couldn’t bring himself to say it
.
“Yes, and she pushed me away. You are the only person who can help her, Mister Benston. Please, get her back.” She begged.

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. It's only you who can.”

“No, I can’t!” he said again, trying to control his anger. “She left me, why should I go to her?!”

“Because you left her first! You left her and made her emotionally unstable. You made her doubt herself, you made her start to fear herself!" She shouted, slamming her hands on the table.

“What would I have done then, huh? Sit back and enjoy the show while she purposely walks into the fire? She knew that her being with that Stiles Stilinski will kill her, yet she decided to be with him!” Aldrich shouted too. "How can I just let her do that?"

“You could have listened to her! You could have talked to her but you were so egoistic that you just abandoned her and never gave her a chance to explain herself!” Lydia said. “I’ve seen how many times she would stare at her phone during the classes, but at that time, I couldn’t understand why, but now I know that she was waiting for your message o-or your call, but you never contacted her, did you? Why don’t you understand that she’s dying out there?”

“You’re right.” He said, breathing out slowly, “I don’t understand and I won’t.”

Lydia watched him dejectedly and she sighed, admitting her own defeat. He was just as stubborn as her.

“I...I have to go.” She said quietly.

“I think that’s a good idea, Miss Martin.” He rubbed his face tiredly.

With that she turned around and marched out of the empty, lifeless, Benston household.