Violet's Return

Grow Up

"You have a family now, Stiles! You have to be more responsible!" The Sheriff yells, mid argument with Stiles downstairs.

"Is daddy in trouble?" Miles asks, sitting at Stiles' old desk coloring; Maggie sits atop it, back resting against the wall.

"He's an adult Miles, they're having an argument." Maggie answers, eyes trained on one of the old Mythology books she's looking over from my mother's collection.

I stand in the doorway, listening to them.

"I know!" Stiles yells back, and it sounds like he turns a chair over.

"There you go son, let that anger keep running your life!" Noah scoffs.

"I am so SICK of you judging me! I lost everything!" Stiles screams, emotion dripping from his words.

"And now you have it all back!" His dad counters. "It's time for your pity party to end. Grow up, son."

There's heavy footsteps and the front door slams, I assume the Sheriff has stormed out and left for work.

"Um, stay here for a minute okay?" I ask the twins, neither of them paying much attention to me, consumed by their designated tasks.

I head downstairs to check on Stiles, just in time to see him pulling a pint of liquor from one of the bags he still hasn't brought upstairs.

He unscrews the top and guzzles a great deal of it, it's obvious this is how he's come to cope with his life.

"Hey." I step into the room as he's lowering the bottle.

He freezes in place, I'm guessing he hadn't wanted me to see this part of him. He looks down, closing his eyes shamefully before tossing the bottle back into his open bag.

"Stiles, it's okay. It's not a big deal." I try to make him feel like I'm totally cool with his habit.

"Isn't it?" He asks, meeting my eyes with guilty ones.

I step quickly to hug him, I want him to know that I'm always here to help him through anything and everything.

"Sorry about all the yelling." He hugs me back, breath sharp with the aroma of alcohol.

"Oh, its fine." I step back, taking his hands in mine as we talk.

"The kids were hardly paying attention anyway. Though Miles did show some concern that you were in trouble."

This makes him smile and he entwines our fingers.

"I'm gonna get another job." He promises.

"I know." I smile at him and he looks grateful that I believe in him without question.

"But, I do still have access to the account-" I hesitate, hating to even speak her name. "She who shall not be named had set up for me. Its not enough for a house or anything but its enough to get us by for a while. If your dad still wants to let us stay, that is." I halfway joke, not entirely sure how long him and Stiles are gonna last living together.

"One: nice Harry Potter reference." He gently taps my nose, causing me to crinkle it with a smile. "Two: he'll definitely let you guys stay, but I'm not sure how he feels about me at the moment." He sighs, taking a seat on the couch and I join him.

"He's not wrong, though." He says, referring to their argument. "I never keep a job for long, I've broken several apartment leases and barely skate by financially." Stiles rests his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands and looking over at me.

"Its time I grow up." He says it as a vow to me, leaning in to kiss me soflty.

"Well, I could work too. I've never had a job, like literally ever-"