The tale of a summer love

Chapter 2

Part 2

Lydia likes Sheriff Stilinski very much. He's been like a father to her ever since her own left her and her mother to fend for themselves five years ago, having decided that his other family was more important.

The Sheriff is kind, Lydia thinks, and she enjoys spending time with him. Of course, with Stiles too. Sometimes she wonders how strange it is that they've all become a family so easily, the Stilinskis and the Martins. And the McCalls, of course. There's no forgetting Stiles' other best friend, Scott.

They've been an inseparable trio for three years now, ever since - and much like with Lydia - Scott saw his father abandon him. Unlike what happened to the Martins, however, the McCalls saw Raphael leave them in favor of his job, and so Scott and his mother, a lovely lady named Melissa, moved to small town Beacon Hills, California, where the nurse had first worked after graduating.

Lydia was Stiles' best friend first, but Scott fit right in with them as if it was meant to be. Lydia doesn't think, even, that she's ever been this happy in her life before.

Or well, at least until recently.

Her thoughts are interrupted by her mother, who gently grabs her upper arm to catch Lydia's attention. Lydia notices now that their car has stopped and that they're already in front of the Stilinskis' household.

"Honey," her mother says, but her heart is too heavy at the moment to properly hear it. "Are you ready?"

Is she ready to help her best friend mourn the loss of his mother? Has she been ready any of the past days? Lydia doesn't know what to say, so she doesn't say anything. She opens the passenger door and gets out of the car instead.

The cold breeze that can be felt does nothing to appease the mid-July heat, and Lydia finds herself scorching under the blazing sun. It's her mother who ushers her from the spot, an arm protectively draped around Lydia's shoulders urging her to move forward.

Contrary to what's happened every single time they've been there before Claudia's passing two weeks ago, this time there's no Stilinski coming to meet them at the door. Instead, Natalie lets herself in using the spare key that is not so wisely hidden under a vase by the front door, and the house feels so devoid of life as they enter that both Martin girls stand still for a moment, and it isn't until they hear sobs coming from the kitchen that they move.

They spring to action, finding the Sheriff sitting on the floor and sagging against the cupboards as the man hugs his knees to his chest. It startles ten-year-old Lydia; she has never seen a grown man cry before and knowing that Stiles' father, someone who is so dear to her, is hurting makes the pain in her own chest press harder.

"Oh, Noah..." Her mother says, immediately kneeling on the floor beside her friend. Lydia stays rooted on the spot, mostly unresponsive. She watches as her mother comforts the Sheriff until the crying subsides, and the man - who always looked so sure of himself to young Lydia - is reduced to pure heartbreak and lack of will to breathe.

He doesn't get up and neither does her mother, and Lydia feels useless in that moment, knowing that nothing she can do will help ease the man's pain.

But maybe, just maybe she can ease her friend's.

As if reading her mind, her mother looks up and meets Lydia's eyes, whispering to her as if raising her tone would hurt the man further. "Honey, why don't you go ahead and find Stiles?"

Lydia nods apprehensively and starts making her way to her best friend's bedroom but the Sheriff's voice, broken and almost inaudible, stops her. "He's outside, by the tree house," he murmurs, not quite looking Lydia in the eyes. "He's always by the tree house now."