The ways of our love

Chapter 4

The yelling becomes more evident as the group walks up the stairs. Lydia can't quite understand the words that are being said and maybe that's a good thing; already hearing Stiles' voice is making her feel uneasy, almost nauseous. Scott is leading the way upstairs; he'll go in first with Derek, followed by Isaac and Lydia, then Stuart. Lydia slows down her pace to give Scott and Derek enough time to talk some sense into Allison and Stiles, break them apart if they have to (the argument does sound heated). Scott, who was listening in on it, kept exchanging concerned looks with Isaac before disappearing with Derek into the loft.

The others wait outside the door for almost a minute. Someone inside might have said something because Isaac and Stuart both nod at the same time. Isaac looks down at Lydia, a little concerned. "You really don't have to do this."

Lydia shakes her head and takes a deep breath. Still holding Isaac's hand and leaving Stuart behind them for another minute, Lydia steps forward and opens the door. And he's right there, her Stiles, with cheeks flushed and heavy breathing probably from all the arguing, looking back at her like she knew he would. His eyes are not sparkling and there's not a smile on his face. He looks desperate; dead, at the lack of a better word. A tear rolls down his cheek and it takes Lydia all the strength she has not to go over there and wipe it away.

Stiles wants to run to her and make things right. Apologize over and over again until he can't anymore. Just looking at her is killing him. He's thought about this moment every single day that she's been away and it's still better and worse than he expected. He's thankful that she's back, that she's just ten feet away from him. Even if he doesn't like to admit it, he had accepted the possibility of Lydia not coming back to Beacon Hills, to the pack, to him. She's Lydia Martin after all. Why would she come back? Her whole life is ahead of her and what does the city, the pack, Stiles himself have to offer her? And even if he's glad that she did come back, it hurts. It hurts so much that it feels like there's this tangible force ripping his heart out of his chest and throwing it to the floor where it can be stepped on and even if Stiles knows, deep inside, that he could fight this feeling off by just talking to Lydia, not a word comes out.

No one says anything. Even if they wanted to, they probably couldn't. It's like all the air was sucked out of the room and to Lydia the silence is unbearable; it's consuming her and she wants nothing but to scream. Her grip on Isaac's hand is so tight that it's making the werewolf uncomfortable. Her voice comes out unsteady. "S- Scott?"

The Alpha nods slowly. "Stiles, I think you should sit down." Stiles is mostly unresponsive just looking at the strawberry-blonde like he's afraid she'll vanish if he looks away. Scott walks until he's behind his best friend and places his hands on the boy's shoulders, leading him towards the couch and making him sit. "Stiles, there's something we have to show you. I mean, someone..."

"Scott, just..." Lydia lets out the words like she's exhausted and in good honesty, she just wants to get it over with and leave. And she knows Scott; he'll mumble and go around the truth trying to find a better way to explain the situation and won't actually say it like he should. She's not in the mood for it; she's not even looking at Stiles and she knows his eyes haven't left her. It's making her edgy. "Stuart, just come in. It's okay."

Everyone is speechless as the two replicas are finally in the same room face to face. While everyone is looking at Stuart, Lydia is looking at Stiles. She watches his face go from cruel suffering to bewilderment in a second. He gets up from the couch instantly, of course, but voiceless. He does open and close his mouth several times but his mind is blank. Same can be said for Stuart because they are literally mirroring each other.

"W- What the...?" Allison stutters.

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It takes them a long time to sort it out. In that time, Stiles and Stuart walked around the other several times trying to figure out similarities. Actually, differences, because they are pretty much the same. Moles on the same spots, same height, same eye and hair color, even the way they gesture too much when they ramble. From what's at sight, they seem the same. Everyone got their round to look closely at the two of them, searching for the same things. Stiles is overwhelmed. Lydia being there and then this might be too much for him. Stuart is apprehensive, mostly because he doesn't know what's going on and he's completely surrounded by a whole pack of supernatural creatures, a pack that's not his own.